#RolandMartinUnfiltered - SCOTUS Birthright Ruling, Crockett vs MAGA, Moral Monday preview, Trump disrespects African reporter

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Starting point is 00:01:11 September 19th and 20th. On your feet! Streaming live only on Hulu. Ladies and gentlemen. Brian Adams, Ed Sheeran, Fade, Glorilla, Jelly Roll, John Fogarty, Lil Wayne, LL Cool J, Mariah Carey, Maroon 5, Sammy Hagar, Tate McCray, The Offspring, Do you remember Vine? It changed the internet forever and it vanished in its prime.

Starting point is 00:01:41 I'm Benedict Townsend and this is Vine. Six seconds that changed the world. The untold story of genius, betrayal and the app that died so that TikTok could thrive. From overnight stars to the fall that no one saw coming, we're breaking down what made Vine iconic. Listen to Vine on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Welcome to this Friday, June 27th, 2025 coming up on Roller Martin Unfiltered streaming live on the Black Star Network. Huge day at the Supreme Court, major decision regarding birthright citizenship and injunctions.

Starting point is 00:02:39 We'll break it all down. It is absolutely crazy what the right wing is doing. Also, Donald Trump talks to two African leaders and pretty much just insults black people. Yeah, we're going to talk about that and show you exactly what happened there. We continue to see what ISIS is doing, how they are mistreating people all across this country. And the right wing does not care because for them, Donald Trump is doing exactly what they all want to be done and also we lose one of our greatest one of the co-founders of the Whispers has passed away it's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin unfiltered on the

Starting point is 00:03:18 Black Star Network let's go He's got whatever the piss he's on it Whatever it is he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine And when it breaks he's right on time And it's rolling, best belief he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling, yeah It's Uncle Roroyal Yeah, yeah It's rolling, Martin, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Yeah. Now.

Starting point is 00:04:09 Our time. Two major Supreme Court rulings reshaping the legal landscape on reproductive rights and immigration. Millions of Americans could feel the effects immediately. In a 63 decision, the court ruled that states can block Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds, not just for abortion, but for essential services like birth control, cancer screenings, and STD testing. In a separate decision, the justices sided with Donald Trump, pushed to limit nationwide injunctions,

Starting point is 00:04:47 clearing the way for the administration to move forward with a plan to end birthright citizenship. A lot was said today. We're gonna play you what Trump and AG Pam Bondi said. We wanna go right to our guests on this because again, folks, it is unbelievable. Damon Hewitt, the president, executive director of the Laws Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

Starting point is 00:05:06 Joining us right now, Samuel Spital, the associate director and counsel from the Legal Defense Fund. Glad to have both of you. Damon, walk us through here. People need to understand here. First of all, the Supreme Court did not overturn the citizenship issue,

Starting point is 00:05:20 but explain to people exactly what did they do. Well, the court halfway punted, but also did some damage today. And the story of the damage will only be told in the coming months and years as other cases proceed. The Supreme Court did not actually decide whether birthright citizenship should be preserved, punted on that issue. The court also didn't dig deeply into the 14th amendment in a substantive way, which many of us feared, because I think that's a big political project on the right to start

Starting point is 00:05:51 undoing things like equal protection and what have you. But what the court did was it essentially did a process damage. It said, look, you can't actually do these nationwide injunctions. And that's a really big problem, because it's essentially like telling folks, well, if you experience a harm, it's only individual to you. In a case that wins big for one person, this thing essentially doesn't matter

Starting point is 00:06:18 for the next person who's in exactly the same circumstance under the exact same government policy. That is actually bonkers and is contrary to the interests of justice. Samuel, the right had no problem with nationwide injunctions when Biden was president, especially related to student loans and other issues. In fact, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton loved going to a particular judge, right-wing judge in Texas, to get those nationwide injunctions. Yeah, very, very, I would say ironic, but perhaps not ironic. I mean, as Damon said, this is a real

Starting point is 00:06:54 blow. And it is telling that this is the case that the Supreme Court decided to put this blow on our legal system. And one of the things I really wanted to lift up is Justice Jackson wrote a separate dissent, Justice Sotomayor had written the principal dissent. And what Justice Jackson said is, make no mistake about it, the court is dressing this up as sort of a legalistic, legalese type issue.

Starting point is 00:07:18 But really the effect of this decision is to say that the executive does not, the judiciary cannot make sure the executive follows the law. Because as Damon said, yes, a court can say with respect to the parties before it, I'm going to rule in favor of certain parties. But the court can't then say, okay, well, you're somebody who didn't get to court, you don't have a lawyer, you don't have the resources to do that. We can't tell the executive branch to follow the law for you. And that is a tremendous, tremendous departure from basic principles of the rule of law

Starting point is 00:07:47 and really quite dangerous for our democracy. Also had a particular case, Damon, that dealt with religious rights where they are allowing parents to say, hey, I don't want my child listening to LGBTQ storybooks or things along those lines. What could be LGBTQ today literally could be black history tomorrow.

Starting point is 00:08:10 Exactly, this is so-called opt out this whole, we believe manufactured parents rights movement, moms for Liberty, that type of stuff. What we're searching for, which isn't not readily apparent is what is the limiting principle? Like you said, well, what does it stop? This is essentially taking private discrimination, at least potential private discrimination,

Starting point is 00:08:36 and having the government or forcing schools to endorse it. And it's actually going to likely either do one or two things. It will throw school districts and individual schools and classrooms into chaos, trying to navigate around people's private biases or it's going to just water down curriculum period. So it's going to be, you know, test and drill and kill just whatever's on the, you know, the very basic curriculum. That's not good for anybody, including the students whose parents are forcing them to opt out.

Starting point is 00:09:01 Well, I mean, it is a perfect example. University of Alabama, Birmingham had a private scholarship, privately funded scholarship for black medical students, and they stopped it because of threats from the Trump administration, their attacks on DEI. What we are seeing is they will apply this stuff to any number of things. And so if these parents, Samuel,

Starting point is 00:09:23 are using this religious exemption or religious reason, they can slap that on anything. Yeah, I think one of the through lines from the decisions that we have seen, and you mentioned at the beginning, the decision with respect to access for folks on Medicaid to be able to go to Planned Parenthood as part of this sort of defund Planned Parenthood movement is a real sort of picking and choosing about who in our country is able to have the protections of the law, who is able to have legal rights enforced and who is not. And the Supreme Court has issued these very, very serious of troubling decisions about who is really protected by the rule of law in our country today

Starting point is 00:10:08 That you spoke of that Planned Parenthood decision. I mean Listen, they do more than just provide Abortion services. We're now talking about millions of people who don't have access to health services You you have the closing of it's not like, you know, for the longest, I think back to the seventies, early eighties, you had community centers and provided services, those things that long shut down. And so, you know, what next?

Starting point is 00:10:36 If these states, especially red states, will be targeting Planned Parenthood, Damon. Well, look, again, the question is, what does this all stop? There's been some success when it comes to the so-called big, beautiful bill, what Sam and our friends at the Legal Defense Fund call the big billionaire bonanza, and it really is that, or the kneecap America bill, as some of us call it. We have to stop at the past all these efforts to erode, undermine,

Starting point is 00:11:02 eviscerate both civil rights and social safety net. I think, though, Roland, going forward, what some of these moves are going to do, the Supreme Court decisions, other things happening on Capitol Hill, certainly what's happening in the White House, they are actually expanding our coalition. We know that black communities are canaries in the coal mine. When we get the coal, when folks get the coal, black market gets the flu. People understand that we are essentially been in a laboratory or being treated like we're in a laboratory when it comes to all these changes, all these erosions of rights. But more and more

Starting point is 00:11:36 Americans are starting to feel it. Women are feeling it with the Dove's decision over 20 Roe v. Wade. This Planned Parenthood piece is gonna hurt people not just in reproductive rights, but just basic healthcare. And if rural hospitals start to close, including in Appalachia, including in majority white counties in some of these states, more and more people are gonna start to feel the pain, but they're starting to wake up.

Starting point is 00:12:00 And so it's gonna expand the coalition of people who are willing to fight back, push back through political voice at the ballot box and beyond. Samuel, look, we keep telling people elections have consequences. Republicans, hard right. They've got a 63 majority on the Supreme Court. And one of the things we see is how these folks, they are attacking Justice Katanji Brown Jackson, calling her a DE higher, all this sort of stuff along those lines.

Starting point is 00:12:28 They don't want any pushback. And what people have to understand is that this is a court that clearly says we're going to let Donald Trump do a hell of a lot what he wants to do. People have to recognize that you're moving closer and closer to the executive branch, snatching tons of power from judicial, from legislative, and being as close as we've ever had to having a king. Yeah, and so that's exactly what Justice Jackson said and really so powerfully explained in her dissenting opinion

Starting point is 00:13:01 in the birthright citizenship case today. And I think one other thing that is really important to sort of pick up on one of the points that Damon was making is to remember what the history here of the birthright citizenship clause is. It was understood from time immemorial in England and the United States that anyone who was born in the country was a citizen. And then in the most notorious Supreme Court decision of ever, the Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court held that that did not apply to enslaved Black Americans. And so the Birthright Citizenship Clause in the 14th Amendment corrected that horrific decision

Starting point is 00:13:37 and held that it made clear that everyone born in the United States is a citizen. So it is that magnitude of a constitutional right that today the Supreme Court has held there are real limitations on the ability of district courts to enforce. Yeah, go ahead, sir, David. Well, I just want to add, like in the crux of decision, the money phrase, of course, as we all know,

Starting point is 00:14:01 is that there are no right, Negro has no rights which white men is bound to respect. So when we see these attacks, as you're talking about, Sam, on a key core, bed right... In sitcoms, when someone has a problem, they just blurt it out and move on. Well, I lost my job and my parakeet is missing. How was your day? But the real world is different.

Starting point is 00:14:26 Managing life's challenges can be overwhelming. So what do we do? We get support. The Huntsman Mental Health Institute and the Ad Council have mental health resources available for you at loveyourmindtoday.org. That's loveyourmindtoday.org. See how much further you can go

Starting point is 00:14:41 when you take care of your mental health. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this Taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them.

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Starting point is 00:16:01 Streaming live only on Hulu. Ladies and gentlemen. Brian Adams, Ed Sheeran, Fade, Glorilla, Jelly Roll, Do you remember Vine? It changed the internet forever and it vanished in its prime. I'm Benedict Townsend and this is Vine, 6 seconds that changed the world. The untold story of genius, betrayal and the app that died so that TikTok could thrive. From overnight stars to the fall that no one saw coming, we're breaking down what made Vine iconic.

Starting point is 00:16:48 Listen to Vine on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. The constitutional provisions, you got to wonder, are they reviving that mythology, that notion that there are no rights, that we have no rights, which are bound to be respected So it is a dangerous dangerous path, but these folks on the other side know exactly what they're doing, but we do too all right, then

Starting point is 00:17:18 Children I appreciate it. They keep up the legal battles. Thanks a lot Of course. Thank you folks are gonna go to a break. We come back with a panel about this here. We'll talk with them about a whole lot of other stuff. It is a wild, wild day. And when I show y'all some of the crazy crap that was said in the Oval Office as two African leaders stood next to Trump, y'all ain't gonna bleed a mess. What do I play?

Starting point is 00:17:42 You're watching Roller Margon filter on the Black Star Network. We don't stand up for Medicaid now. In spite of my honorable military service, the Senate will kill my child. I want the people that are trying to take this away from us to put yourself in our seats. Congresspeople, you got free health care, paid for by the people, and then you don't want

Starting point is 00:18:06 the people to have the same thing you have. That is sick, and we must challenge it. This bill will deny millions of people the health care that they need. This is policy violence. And we won't be silent anymore. This week on the other side of change. Mass incarceration. Trump administration is doubling down on

Starting point is 00:18:32 criminalization and how it is profitable. And there's something really, really perverse about saying that we need to put people in cages in order for other people to have jobs. Like that is not how our economy should be built. Only on the other side of change on the Black Star Network.

Starting point is 00:18:50 Hi everybody, I'm Kim Coles. Hey, I'm Donnie Simpson. Yo, it's So So do So So So All right, folks, welcome our panel to the show. Matt Manning, civil rights attorney, joining us out of Corpus Christi, Texas. Michael Imhotep, host of the African History Network show, joining us out of Detroit. I'll actually be in Detroit this Sunday for the NAACP Freedom Fund dinner. So picking up an award there. Also Eugene Craig, CEO X Factor Media out of Baltimore. Matt, I'll start with you.

Starting point is 00:21:33 Look, this is a right wing court. They are lovers of religious liberty. They will side with these right wing folks as much as they can. That's pretty much what that LGBTQ religious rights decision is. But when you look at this whole issue, the right absolutely wants to get rid of birthright citizenship. And in fact, listen to the crap Trump said from the White House podium today.

Starting point is 00:22:01 The Supreme Court has delivered a monumental victory for the Constitution, the separation of powers and the rule of law. In striking down the excessive use of nationwide injunctions to interfere with the normal functioning of the executive branch, the Supreme Court has stopped the presidency itself. That's what they've done. And really, it's been an amazing period of time, this last hour. There are people elated all over the country. I've seen such happiness and spirit.

Starting point is 00:22:36 Sometimes you don't see that, but this case is very important. I was elected on a historic mandate, but in recent months, we've seen a handful of radical left judges effectively try to overrule the rightful powers of the president to stop the American people from getting the policies that they voted for in record numbers. It was a grave threat to democracy, frankly, and instead of merely ruling on the immediate cases before them, these judges have attempted to dictate the

Starting point is 00:23:05 law for the entire nation. Thanks to this decision, we can now promptly file to proceed with numerous policies that have been wrongly enjoined on a nationwide basis. And some of the cases we're talking about would be ending birthright citizenship, which now comes to the fore. That was meant for the babies of slaves. It wasn't meant for people trying to scam the system and come into the country on a vacation.

Starting point is 00:23:32 This was, in fact, it was the same date, the exact same date, the end of the Civil War. It was meant for the babies of slaves, and it's so clean and so obvious. But this lets us go there and finally win that case because hundreds of thousands of people are pouring into our country under birthright citizenship. And it wasn't meant for that reason.

Starting point is 00:23:51 It was meant for the babies of slaves. So thanks to this decision, we can now properly file to proceed with these numerous policies and those that have been wrongly enjoined on a nationwide basis, including birthright citizenship, ending sanctuary city funding, suspending refugee resettlement, freezing unnecessary funding, stopping federal taxpayers from paying for transgender surgeries and numerous other priorities of the American people. All right, Matt, thoughts? So I'm going to address the religious liberty thing first and say I'm actually going to

Starting point is 00:24:32 take the opposite tack. You know, I don't know how we can live in a country where we talk about not having an establishment clause or not having, you know, having the free exercise of religion and then say that people cannot opt out. I think it becomes a bigger issue if the Supreme Court in subsequent cases says that a public school is now required to provide a religious class for those who opt out. And I understand all the policy arguments on it, but I also believe very strongly in religious freedom.

Starting point is 00:24:59 So I don't actually have an issue with that case. I get where it comes from. I think that there are some policy issues that could cascade out of that, but I think if we're going to honor the First Amendment, we have to do that. So I actually don't have an issue with that decision. However, as it relates to the birthright citizenship,

Starting point is 00:25:17 I have a big issue with that one because this court decides to be textualists and follow exactly what it says when it wants, and then it allows the president to have unprecedented expansion of executive power. But here's the long and short of it. I lost a case today in Houston. I lost a case where morally I could not be more right, but I lost it because my client lives in texas in the fifth circuit. If she lived in pennsylvania, she would have been able to bring the claim that I brought. I

Starting point is 00:25:42 specifically asked the court to extend to her the same able to bring the claim that I brought. I specifically asked the court to extend to her the same ability to bring the claim that she would have if she lived in a different state that she does not have because she lives here in Texas. The reason I tell you that is this, that is the real crux of this case and the crux of this whole issue. We live in a country that is super-federalized.

Starting point is 00:26:01 We know what's happening. I'm talking to you. You're in D.C., I'm in Texas, Michael's in Michigan, and the brother Eugene is in Baltimore. That is not something that existed in terms of technological ability when this country was founded. I tell you that to say we have a legal fiction

Starting point is 00:26:16 that we continue to perpetuate in terms of states' rights and in terms of you have a different basket of rights living in one place as opposed to somewhere else. Nationwide injunctions are kind of an outcropping of that. The idea that a judge one place could stop the executive across the board is what the Supreme Court bought on. But the reason that's stupid is because the people

Starting point is 00:26:38 who are affected by that same policy in Maryland or in Michigan or in Texas, a judge should be able to make a competent ruling that affects all of those people because the harm to those people is universal. So the legal fiction that exists here is the idea that, you know, what we all know to be true that a judge who's listening to it, who makes a decision when there's all these people who are similarly situated does not apply because it didn't apply in, you know, 18th

Starting point is 00:27:03 century England is bogus. But that's the legal fiction that we deal with. That's the legal fiction I deal with every day. And I don't know how we resolve that until we as a country are honest about the fact that we live in a country where everything is simultaneously viewed. We see what happens across the country, across the world, in real time. So it no longer really exists to say that what happens to a person in Pennsylvania should be governed

Starting point is 00:27:27 by different rights and different rules than what happens to a person in Texas. And I think that's the fundamental tension that we're seeing here. And I don't know how that will be resolved until our constitution has an amendment or until we start to have a more expansive interpretation of the constitution and the laws as they apply.

Starting point is 00:27:44 Eugene, very simple. They don't want that to happen. They want how it should be decided in the Fifth Circuit to be the case for the entire nation. That's what they want. Eugene, if you don't fix that damn mute button, I'm gonna whoop your ass. You know, I'm a serving reader.

Starting point is 00:28:07 You are worse than NOLA with that damn mute button. Come on, man. Nothing on the homie. But the thing is, that's right. That's the thing about it, but I think also, they don't understand the can of worms that they're talking about, right? Okay, if conjunction, our Ruby Nationwide,

Starting point is 00:28:23 either it to be just faith or to the district as Dyson? Now you're going to have to do a little bit of action all over the place. And then on top of that, and next time you have a Democrat president or whatnot. Actually, hold on, hold on, hold on, Eugene, I'm gonna stop you there for some reason. Your audio is actually distorted. So y'all, y'all work with Eugene on that. Michael, if we're gonna sit in and talk about the birthright citizenship, that means that Baron Trump's gotta go. Cause he's an anchor, baby. Yeah, you know, when the same rules apply to them,

Starting point is 00:29:03 they never wanted to apply to them. Okay, so this is what we're dealing with. Now, let's take a step back. This is all straight out of Project 2025. This is what we were warning people about, Roland. You and I and others here on the show, this is what we were warning people about because this all deals with the fear

Starting point is 00:29:19 of the browning of America. This deals with the fear that by the year 2043, white people will no longer be the majority population in this country. The 2020 census scared a lot of these white Republicans when the percentage population of white people in this country dropped below 60 percent for the first time since 1790, when the first census was taken. It dropped to 57 percent.

Starting point is 00:29:44 Then you have Donald Trump saying the 14th Amendment was for the babies of slaves. Yes, it was the brainchild of Representative Thaddeus Stevens out of Pennsylvania, one of the radical Republicans. Yes, it built upon the Civil Rights Act of 1866. And, yes, it was primarily—Section 1, primarily for former slaves, but it was for former slaves, not just babies of slaves. I don't know what this fool is talking about. And then this also came about 1868.

Starting point is 00:30:18 It was ratified July 9, 1868, when Louisiana, South Carolina ratified the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. One of the reasons why it came about was because of the Dresd Scott decision, March 6, 1857, as your guest just talked about, where Chief Justice Taney, who wrote the majority decision, said that the Negroes had no rights, that white people were bound to respect. He said they were not citizens. But also, just so people understand, the U.S. Supreme Court, in that case, also ruled that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was unconstitutional because it robbed slave owners of the Fifth Amendment right to due process.

Starting point is 00:31:00 And that nullified Dred Scott, whose real name was Sam Blow, it nullified part of his argument, because he was taken into Illinois, which was a free state, and he went into Wisconsin, which was a territory. And the reason why Wisconsin was free territory was because of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. So, this gets into a lot of law, gets into a lot of history, gets into the U.S. Constitution. But this is what we warned people was going to happen. OK?

Starting point is 00:31:31 We're seeing it unfold now, so we have to continue to fight. Lawsuits are being filed right now. Maryland and New Hampshire have announced they're filing class action lawsuits, as reported by the New York Times, against this. So this fight continues. Hopefully, we got— is everything straight with Eugene? We got Eugene back. Eugene, can you hear me?

Starting point is 00:31:51 Oh wait, hold on. All right, there we go. We seem to be better. There we go. All right then, now you can make your points. I was just gonna say that, you know, they should be prepared for everything that comes with class action lawsuits across the country, flying all over this country.

Starting point is 00:32:07 And then on top of that, when you end up with President Harris in 2028, going into 2029, you know, Republicans have been probably the bigger abusers of racial-wide influences than Democrats. We saw with everything that was in Obamacare, DACA, the student loan forgiveness, you know, you name, they were quite priority here. Next we'll go around, they will have that tool in their toolbox and class action lawsuits move much more slower than the actual still wins on us. Well, good luck, Republicans. Well, what I would hope happens here is that this wakes folk the hell up and realize that when you sit elections out, when you complain about things but then

Starting point is 00:32:53 you don't vote and you don't maximize your vote, then you see what happens. And so, you know, people need to realize that this thing is real. We warned folks about this and now they're seeing the real effects of right-wing rule in America. And of course, you know, Trump was speaking at the then you had a attorney general, Pam Bondi, who I guess she forgets she's the Attorney General for the United States. She looks like she's a legal counsel. general for the United States. She looks like she's a legal counsel. Americans are finally getting what they voted for. No longer will we have rogue judges striking down President Trump's policies across the entire nation. No longer. Today in the 6-3 opinion, Justice Barrett correctly holds that the district court lacks authority to enter nationwide or universal injunctions.

Starting point is 00:33:49 These lawless injunctions gave relief to everyone in the world instead. If a baby is giggling in the back seat, they're probably happy. If a baby is crying in the back seat, they're probably hungry. But if a baby is sleeping in the backseat, will you remember they're even there? When you're distracted, stressed, or not usually the one who drives them, the chances of forgetting them in the backseat are much higher. It can happen to anyone. Parked cars get hot fast and can be deadly.

Starting point is 00:34:20 So get in the habit of checking the backseat when you leave. The message from NHTSA and the Ad Council. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this Taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them.

Starting point is 00:34:51 From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. Ad free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple podcasts. Our iHeart Radio Music Festival, presented by Capital One, is coming back to Las Vegas.

Starting point is 00:35:40 Vegas! September 19th and 20th. On your feet! Streaming live only on Hulu. Ladies and gentlemen. Brian Adams, Ed Sheeran, Fade, Chlorilla, Jelly Roll, John Fogerty, Lil Wayne, LL Cool J, Mariah Carey, Maroon 5, Sammy Hagar, Tate McCragg, The Offspring, Tim McGraw.

Starting point is 00:35:58 Tickets are on sale now at AXS.com. Get your tickets today, AXS.com. Get your tickets today, AXS.com. Do you remember Vine? It changed the internet forever and it vanished in its prime. I'm Benedict Townsend and this is Vine, six seconds that changed the world. The untold story of genius, betrayal

Starting point is 00:36:19 and the app that died so that TikTok could thrive. From overnight stars to the fall that no one saw coming, we're breaking down what made Vine iconic. Listen to Vine on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. At the parties before the court, as the Supreme Court held today, they turned district courts into the imperial judiciary.

Starting point is 00:36:45 Active liberal justices, judges have used these injunctions to block virtually all of President Trump's policies. To put this in perspective, there are 94 federal judicial districts. Five of those districts throughout this country held 35 of the nationwide injunctions. Think about that. Ninety-four districts and 35 out of the 40 opinions with nationwide injunctions came from five liberal districts in this country. No longer. No longer. These injunctions have blocked our policies from tariffs to military readiness to immigration to foreign affairs, fraud, abuse, and many other issues. The judges have tried to seize the executive branch's power, and they cannot do that. No longer. No longer. These injunctions have allowed district court judges to be emperors.

Starting point is 00:37:46 They vetoed all of President Trump's power, and they cannot do that. This has been a bipartisan problem that has lasted five presidential terms, five different presidents, and it has ended today. presidents and it has ended today. I literally cannot stand the sound of her voice. Neither cannot stand it.

Starting point is 00:38:19 And but it but here's the thing Matt that I think is important. They gonna do what the hell they want to do. The previous attorney general. I'm sorry as hell. And I'm gonna keep saying this and saying it again. When you get power, you exercise it. Well, first, let me give you good news that you may not know. I was trying to find the exact numbers, but Pam Bondi's brother ran for president of the D.C. bar.

Starting point is 00:38:50 Oh, got his ass dusted. Demolished. I mean, just demolished. I don't even remember the percentage, but I think it was sub 10%. So there's one benefit, you know, at least the D.C. lawyers were like, no, we're not the ones. But yeah, I mean, you're right. And I think that's a lot of what we're seeing.

Starting point is 00:39:05 I think the Supreme Court is taking the tack that allows it to get where it wants to go. This whole thing about the imperial, all this stuff is obviously histrionics. But the thing about this court or this president is you wanna talk about bipartisan from all of those presidents from the, five administrations before, what was bipartisan is the Justice Department

Starting point is 00:39:27 had a separation from the White House so that you didn't become the White House's in-house law firm. The White House has its own counsel. Pam Bondi is not supposed to be essentially his outside counsel. That's how DOJ is operating. And whether you wanna debate the merits

Starting point is 00:39:42 of the nationwide injunctions, it goes back to the federalism issue I was talking about before. If you read the syllabus to this opinion, all they talk about is how nationwide injunctions in courts of equity were something that don't have an analog in 18th century England. But the reason I think that is stupid is because we're at the point where we don't live in 18th century England. The law has to change and it necessarily has to evolve with time.

Starting point is 00:40:07 And what I see the Republicans do in this conservative court is they hearken back to this crazy, you know, Scalia-type textualism every time they wanna get to the point that they want to get to, which is giving Donald Trump what he wants. They're just finding a vehicle to get to that destination. And that, I think, is intellectually dishonest, but I also think it's dishonest with what we are as a country. We are no longer a country of 50 little states, 50 little fiefdoms. No matter how much we

Starting point is 00:40:34 try to convince ourselves of that, we live in a country that is a globalized nation now. And the legal fiction that we're going to keep acting as though that isn't reality is just not going to get us anywhere, and it it's gonna continue to divest us of rights, particularly when you live in a Texas or a South Carolina or somewhere that does not want you to have rights, when the people in power are just continuing to give rights to people who look like them and divest them from others.

Starting point is 00:40:57 So, I mean, we have to get to the point where we're honest intellectually about the country we live in. And again, here's the reality. The folk who actually give a damn, they're gonna have to go hard at the ballot box. And it's as simple as that, Eugene. They gotta go hard.

Starting point is 00:41:16 I mean, you're dealing with people who want to, I keep telling people, they wanna lock in power for the next 100 years. This is not, this ain't no cute little exercise. This is real power. Listen, you know what I'm trying to tell you? I'm the one trying to tell you. You had a Secretary of State trying to tell you, you had the Vice President trying to tell you. And now for the second time around, people are realizing they both are right

Starting point is 00:41:48 and they're feeling the effects of it. We saw what Jefferson Beauregard did in 2017 with Trump's power and then the first term. Right now, I'm seeing what Pam Bondi's willing to do for Trump as Trump takes power in the second term. And the thing is this, the midterm is still a year and a half away, which gives them a very long time to do a whole lot of damage. While people are out protesting Vice President Harrison's rallies and you have folks up in Dearborn and some other places,

Starting point is 00:42:18 they were going to put pro-cross vote and everybody's saying bad word, but what is Sleepy Joe doing? What is Sleepy Joe doing? Well Sleepy Joe made sure he could perform as he does as possible at both the appellate and district court level because of situations that we all saw coming just like this. That's why we're seeing the that the institution has helped be in fact, you know, Pam Bonney just today filed a lawsuit against the entire Maryland federal judiciary, because they don't like the rule that's coming out of Pam. I believe we're one of those five districts that she's pointing out and whatnot. But the thing is this, people have to vote like their lives depend on it, because their

Starting point is 00:42:58 lives literally depend on it. Absolutely. Michael, about 30 seconds before I go to break. Well, seeing that display from Pam Bonney today is absolute disgrace. And when you study the history of the U.S. Department of Justice, it was created in 1870, largely to enforce the new rights of black people, like voting rights. OK? So when you look at what they're doing today, this is what you get.

Starting point is 00:43:22 And she's acting like Donald Trump's defense attorney as opposed to being the people's attorney. That's what the attorney general is supposed to be, the people's attorney. Yep. But she serves one person. All right, folks, going to break, we come back. How is it you have a political assassination in Minnesota and for mainstream media, they just sort of forget it actually happened.

Starting point is 00:43:46 Well today, home president Joe Biden paid respects to the, of course, the former house speaker of Minnesota. I'll show you some of that when we come back. I'm Roland Martin, unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Don't forget, support the work that we do. Joe and I bring the funk, thank love it. You wanna join via cash app, you can use the Stripe Cura code,

Starting point is 00:44:05 this is it right here. And of course, if you're listening, just go to blackslotnetwork.com, RolandMartinunfiltered.com to get the code for that. Check some money or to make it payable to Roland Martin Unfiltered. Seated to PO Box 57196, Washington DC, 20037-0196.

Starting point is 00:44:24 Pay panels are Martin unfiltered, Venmo are M unfiltered, Zell rolling at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartinunfiltered.com. We'll be right back. If we don't stand up for Medicaid now, in spite of my honorable military service, the Senate will kill my child.

Starting point is 00:44:45 I want the people that are trying to take this away from us to put yourself in our seats. Congresspeople, you got free health care, paid for by the people, and then you don't want the people to have the same thing you have. That is sick, and we must challenge it. Yeah! This bill will deny millions of people the health care that they need. This is policy violence. And we won't be silent anymore. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens,

Starting point is 00:45:19 America's wealth coach, the wealth gap has literally not changed in over 50 years according to the Federal Reserve. On the next Get Wealthy, I'm excited to chat with Jim Castleberry, CEO of Known Holdings. They have created a platform, an ecosystem to bring resources to Black blacks and people of color so they can scale their business. Even though we've had several examples of African Americans and other people of color being able to be successful, we still aren't seeing the mass level of us being lifted up.

Starting point is 00:46:01 That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Black Star Network. Hello, I'm Marissa Mitchell, a news anchor at Fox 5 DC. Hey, what's up? It's Sami Roman and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. So So So So Well, Trump wants Congress to skip their holiday recess to pass his big, beautiful bill. But guess what?

Starting point is 00:47:39 It's getting slammed left and right. Even if you look at a Fox News poll, a significant number of Americans do not want, nor do they support the big, beautiful bill because they know how they're gonna be impacted. These folks literally are trying to cut additional SNAP benefits in order to do the 3.8 trillion dollar tax cuts. They wanna stay like, yo, we gotta hook up,

Starting point is 00:48:06 we gotta hook up the billionaires, the millionaires. In fact, this was a Fox News poll. They dropped this poll. Right here folks, taking June 13th through the 16th, their own poll shows 59% of Americans oppose the big beautiful bill compared to 38%. You've got folks like Senator Tom Tillis, North Carolina Republican, who's sitting here going,

Starting point is 00:48:32 yeah, my state's gonna lose a lot of money if this bill passes. But here's the other thing that I think Democrats should be doing more of, and that is exposing who the right is trying to hook up. This is what Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett laid out on the House floor when she said, "'Y'all, follow the money.'"

Starting point is 00:48:59 Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have repeatedly told people when asked about the rationale for actions of this administration to follow the money. Yesterday in the House Budget Committee we heard alarming testimony from expert witness Robert Gordon. He reminded of those motives in the Republicans reconciliation bill when he explained the lucrative opportunities for powerful private contractors to profit off of the red tape and the bill created in Medicaid. Republicans beautiful bill for billionaires requires increased work

Starting point is 00:49:35 check-ins for people to retain that Medicaid. For employment data states are likely to use the work number from Equifax, which costs over $20 per person per search. Under the bill, more than 18 million people would have to be checked every month. That equates to $360 million per month, and that is $4.32 billion per year, or roughly $43 billion over the bill's 10-year budget. Going to the vendors who make money who are going to be processing this, follow the money. Now, this follows Republicans wanting to get rid of and just gut the e-filing system.

Starting point is 00:50:24 Guess who that helps? People like H&R Block and other tax preparation companies. You got Republicans saying, I don't know of any Americans who ask for this. Oh, you don't know if any Americans ask, hey, can there be a filing system from the IRS that I don't have to pay for, that makes it easier to file my taxes?

Starting point is 00:50:46 This is a joke Eugene what they are doing is they are simply throwing the billions of dollars at other people They don't care about the taxpayer and I'm telling you right now This is where I said it if I'm if I'm congressman Jeffries if I'm Ken Martin I got me a David Letterman top 10. I'm having I'm Congressman Jeffries, if I'm Ken Martin, I got me a David Letterman top 10. I'm having, I'm calling it the most egregious thing of the day or whatever. They gotta keep hammering this thing.

Starting point is 00:51:17 And even going to, I said this about having joint hearings, but going to red states and saying, hey, y'all about to get jacked and you don't even know it. Look, the whole, and look, this is what Republicans and Democrats all the time, right? The Green New Deal has never actually passed and the best Green New Deal,

Starting point is 00:51:38 but every Republican voter, high IQ, low IQs, can tell you what a Green New Deal is. And that's just, they were demonizing people that would essentially receive benefits for greening our energy economy. The same thing when, during Obamacare time, when the death panels were all the grave, right? Which actually turned out to be not true at all.

Starting point is 00:52:02 Democrats have to do everything possible to expose who would be the benefactors and end users of the dollars that are going to be passed on through the big, beautiful bill, whether it be, you know, taxpayers, whether it be, you know, hey, the accountant's adding more lines in the tax bill, whether it be people like Eric Pence, who are something that make billions of dollars off of immigration enforcement, you know, already begging Trump, hey, let us open up our own seaside. You gotta go all the way to Honduras or Venezuela somewhere where we can do it for you.

Starting point is 00:52:30 And states kind of did the same thing. You see, also on the flip side, right? There's a reason why Elon was lashing out after the bill came out because, hey, they're paying for this bill by taking away the tax credits and subsidies that make Tesla profitable. So these are all opportunities for Democrats to exploit, to continue to chop away support

Starting point is 00:52:52 at this bill, and while at the same time showing how it directly hurts and affects them. Will you tell me that, hey, my federal government's about to spend billions of dollars, and while they're doing that, you know, in western North Carolina that got ravaged by natural disasters is not getting a dime, or not getting what they need to rebuild. That's something that will flip multiple houses in North Carolina in the next election, if done properly. Well, indeed, indeed.

Starting point is 00:53:18 Smokey the Bear. Smokey the Bear. Then you know why Smokey tells you when he sees you passing through. Remember, please be careful, the bears. Learn more at SmokeyBear.com. And remember... Only you can prevent wildfires. Brought to you by the USDA Forest Service, your state forester, and the Ad Council. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes.

Starting point is 00:53:59 But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this Taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad.

Starting point is 00:54:34 It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st, and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. Ad free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple podcasts. Our iHeartRadio Music Festival, presented by Capital One, is coming back to Las Vegas

Starting point is 00:55:07 September 19th and 20th streaming live only on Hulu Brian Adams and Sharon fade Glorilla jelly roll John Fogarty Lil Wayne. Hello cool. J Mariah Carey Maroon 5 Sammy Hagar Tate McCrae the offspring Tim McG Tickets are on sale now at AXS.com. Get your tickets today, AXS.com. Do you remember Vine? It changed the internet forever and it vanished in its prime.

Starting point is 00:55:36 I'm Benedict Townsend and this is Vine. Six seconds that changed the world. The untold story of genius, betrayal, and the app that died so that TikTok could thrive. From overnight stars to the fall that no one saw coming, we're breaking down what made Vine iconic. Listen to Vine on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Starting point is 00:56:01 And you know, we often are showing Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett breaking these things down on various committee hearings. And so we usually, of course, are showing you those five minute breakdowns for the Crockett Chronicles. But we got the Crockett Chronicles live. So roll it. All right, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett is in the house. Glad to have you.

Starting point is 00:56:36 What's happening? Look, you always go somewhere. I don't even know what city you in on a given day. I got tracked you on Instagram. So where you at now? I'm still in this city until the morning. Gotcha. You still in, uh, the wild lands of DC. All right. We were just talking about again, uh, how is so important to walk people through what's really in this bill and how

Starting point is 00:57:01 they're going to get screwed. Uh, We showed a video yesterday or a couple of days ago, you doing that as well. And that has to be the constant strategy of Democrats, hammer, hammer, hammer, and even go on Fox News to do it. Their own poll is showing this bill ain't popular. Yeah, I think that's right. I think that when we do communication, we have to figure out who is best suited to do what.

Starting point is 00:57:30 We've seen some very effective communicators from our party go on to Fox News. And if you are effective when it comes to that very hostile and non truth environment, then I think it absolutely is a good place to put those voices, especially right now. Listen, there are those that want to make it seem like it's partisan, or they want to make it seem as if this is anti-Trump, when really this is pro-American and this is pro-democracy to push back. And I think the more that we can couch this in the terms of hurting the people

Starting point is 00:58:06 and hurting all people, urban as well as rural, black, white, brown, yellow, I think the better we will be. But so long as people believe that this is just us going against Trump, I think that we'll fail. Absolutely. And look, you even have Republicans who are praising how Mom Donnie

Starting point is 00:58:30 ran his race by saying he kept focusing on cost, affordability, access. That's the stuff that was resonating with people across the board. And I think by doing that and by saying, hey, this bill gets passed, your cost going to go up. You're going to be, you know, the rich gets up more, you're going to get less. And they are taking things away from you that Americans, especially a lot of broke red states need. Yeah. Yeah, that's exactly right. And I'm glad that you brought up the race in New York because it's been quite disgusting, the things that have resulted from his win.

Starting point is 00:59:10 Listen, I don't really care who you supported. I mean, half of these people didn't even participate as it relates to this mayoral. But the idea that it's okay to go out and do all types of hateful things just because this is someone who's Muslim. I think that we all have to stand together and denounce that. We have freedom of religion in this country, and so many have decided that they would attack him or his religion simply because they don't want to talk about his substance, the things that you're talking about, the things that actually potentially won him the election, talking about affordability. They want to continue to distract with their hate and their inflammatory rhetoric.

Starting point is 00:59:55 And I think that we all have to tell them that, no, not on our watch, and focus on us. Stop focusing on all these nonsensical attacks that have nothing to do with whether or not the person is qualified to do the job. Ultimately, I think that if he is going to win the general election, it will be because he continues to focus on the people. Anybody that decides that they want to focus on things such as his religion or the fact that he's not necessarily born here, then I think that those people are going to lose.

Starting point is 01:00:29 I just think that the average American is tired of the nonsense and wants people that are looking out for them and whether or not they are going to survive Trump 2.0. And right now, a lot of people are finding out that Trump 2.0 is not 2.0 because it's an upgrade, but instead it's a downgrade. Well, this is also why, again, where you go, how you communicate, all those things are important. Listen, there are some people in the Democratic Party, in the U.S. House, they don't like

Starting point is 01:00:59 your style. They don't like your tone. They said the exact same thing about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the same thing about Congresswoman Ayanna Presley, Katie Porter. We can go, same thing. And here's the reality. And I get this wherever I go.

Starting point is 01:01:23 People are looking for someone who's a fighter. And there are people even on the right who say, hey, I may not agree with your policies, but hey, you're out there fighting. And this is not a time to play it safe, do the usual Washington DC, oh no, my gentle colleague, all that nonsense. They ain't trying to hear that.

Starting point is 01:01:47 Yeah, you're absolutely right. I mean, one reason that Fox News is obsessed with me, even though I'm never on there, but I'm always on there, is because they are trying to telegraph to their own followers, because I actually break through even to Republicans. And I think that that is what's so scary for them. It's not whether or not Democrats like me, it's whether or not Republicans like me.

Starting point is 01:02:10 Frankly, anybody that is fighting and is just laying it out, I am known for really bringing the receipts. I'm known for making sure that I back up what I say with the facts. It ends up being irrefutable. That's what people are looking for right now. I just read a quote from one of the candidates in the mayoral in New York, and he said, right now the fight in the Democratic Party isn't about progressive versus conservative Democrats. It's actually the fighters versus those that will fold.

Starting point is 01:02:46 And I think that that's absolutely right. I think that the fight isn't necessarily specifically over the policies so much as it is over who it is that people believe are actually fighting for them. Talked about Fox going after you. Trump really can't stand you. He can't stand that. And he placed a call to the governor of Texas saying, can't you change those congressional lines

Starting point is 01:03:16 to get rid of that black woman? That ain't what he said, but that's pretty much what he said. They want to change the congressional lines to get rid of your district, which is gonna be a little hard to get around Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, because you are kicking us behind.

Starting point is 01:03:35 What says that, that means you're getting under Donald Trump's skin. Yeah, this is one of the most alarming things that hasn't really been put out into the atmosphere is that Donald Trump knows that he's deeply unpopular, but he doesn't care. And so he remembers what happened in his first term when he only had the House during that first half of his term. So instead of allowing the people to rise up like the people most likely are planning

Starting point is 01:04:03 to do so that the Democrats can take over the House, he's decided that he wants to go after multiple seats in the House as relates to Texas. The first two phone calls that I got from the House, this is while they were still in session, and this was before any reporting had come out, was that he wanted to come after myself and Al Green. Ultimately, once reporting started to come out, it said that he wanted to try to squeeze out an additional five seats. We only have 13 Democratic seats in the state of Texas right now to 25 Republican seats, which is completely skewed and gerrymandered as it is.

Starting point is 01:04:42 So yeah, this is his little project to hopefully hold on to the house the same like he did in North Carolina. And he's also planning to go after Ohio as well and targeting two women there in the state of Ohio. So people need to wake up and understand that like ultimately, if we don't have the numbers, it's not because we're not out here working. It's not because we're not out here working. It's not because we're not trying to win. But when the system is rigged against you, there's only so much that you can do. So it'll be interesting to see what some of our blue state governors decide to do, whether

Starting point is 01:05:16 or not they decide to push back and say, hey, two can play this game. If you want to sit up here and try to play with those Democrats that are in red states, then we can play with the Republicans that are in blue states. So we'll see ultimately how this kind of shakes out. But he's already called a special session in the middle of July, I believe, I believe around like July 15th. And we will find out whether or not he's going to put redistricting on the call. We talk about again, gifts from, or I call it manner from heaven. The gifts being given Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell gave Democrats,

Starting point is 01:05:54 I think a really great gift when he was asked the question about Medicaid cuts in his home state. This is literally what the senior senator from Kentucky, the man who was the city majority leader said, they'll get over it. Yeah, that's a hell of a thing for somebody to say who has guaranteed health care for life and has a platinum, a platinum health care plan that's far different than a lot of those broke conservative people in Kentucky. Yeah, I mean, you've got to wonder. I mean, they're saying the quiet part out loud nowadays,

Starting point is 01:06:39 right, like for a long time, their policies have harmed those that they are supposed to serve. But they have gotten to the point that they are down with saying, listen, I'm here to be your gravedigger. I am not here to serve you. I am not here to represent you. I am not here to do what is going to be best for you and your family.

Starting point is 01:06:58 Instead, I'm going to just go ahead and help to put you six feet deep. And ultimately, listen, if you're down with that, if you believe that making that sacrifice is what you should do in this country, then so be it. I look at service a little differently. And so I'm going to keep pushing the real truth out there about how harmful it is and explain that I am against this because I know that the people that elected me from Texas 30 and sent me to DC, that they are against it

Starting point is 01:07:30 because that's someone's mother, that's someone's grandmother, uncle, father, sister, brother, child. And so I think that it is completely contradictory to this idea that this is the party that is of Christian values. No, you're not. This is the party that is pro-life. No, you're not. Listen, when it comes to being a Christian, it's not what you say is what you do. It is through the actions that we interpret whether or not someone is actually Christian. And I

Starting point is 01:08:00 don't know what is least Christian about these folks, whether it is trying to act like, you know, women should not have access to the health care that they need, or if it's literally just ripping away health care at all, or for all people, in the name of helping out those that truly do not need a leg up. To that particular point, Nicholas Kristof had this story here, his column in the New York Times, he talked about how all the food subsidies

Starting point is 01:08:32 being cut by the United States. He said, a child dies of malnutrition every 15 seconds as 185,535 boxes of special food for starving children are stacked in a warehouse in Rhode Island paid for by American taxpayers After shutting USAID the Trump administration is just sitting on the boxes and I have said before Numerous times these people are not pro-life. They are anti-abortion But they as sure as hell are not pro-life and they are not lovers of Jesus Christ Yeah, no, I mean it most people did not understand and I think that a lot of people still don't understand how the vast majority of our

Starting point is 01:09:13 Aid works whether we're talking about USAID or whether we're talking about eight that we send over say Military aid or anything like that. We usually don't go dropping bags of money. What we do is we contract with those that are here in our country and we spend that money with people here, so they're able to make money. We're then able to tax that money. We're technically getting some of that money back, and then we are then sending that overseas.

Starting point is 01:09:44 Whether we're talking about defense contracts, because when we do things, we don't just say, oh, yeah, you can have certain weapons. We send those weapons from the United States, and we send them over. We don't give people access to our secrets and things like that. Same thing with the food. What happened is most people didn't understand is that we were buying food from local farmers and that's where the money was going

Starting point is 01:10:10 and then they would send the food overseas. But unfortunately, the farmers lost out as well as the people that were supposed to be on the receiving end. Essentially all we did was commit this great waste in the age of, let's get rid of waste and fraud and abuse. I think everything about the way that this administration has operated has not only been wasteful but fraudulent and abusive.

Starting point is 01:10:41 I hope that the American people are waking up. We heard testimonies of various farmers that decided to go out there publicly and talk about the harm that was being done. As someone who served on the Ag Committee, I can tell you that I have been on my fair share of farms. And this idea that we continue to keep people divided, we should not. If the farmer is surviving in rural America, then that very well means that we are surviving, no matter if we're in urban, rural, or suburban America, because we're able to eat. We should want our farmers to survive. And our farmers should want us to make sure that we're making the investments and things such as SNAP benefits, because that means that that grocery store is going to buy food from them.

Starting point is 01:11:28 That means that the people that are going to the grocery store are going to be able to buy the food. The issue is that we have allowed ourselves to be divided at every step of the way, instead of understanding that we need each other to survive. Last question. You sought the House Oversight Committee ranking member seat. Democrats chose Congressman Robert Garcia. I opened this talking about your constant travel,

Starting point is 01:11:52 doing all kind of stuff, traveling the country, raising money, being away from home, all those sort of different things. And then you got folks on Capitol Hill, people that you're on part of saying, oh, she's not a team player, which is sort of weird if you are going on behalf speaking in people's districts.

Starting point is 01:12:08 They're asking you to come in, they're asking you to donate. You raise a lot of money, you donate it to others. So it had to be upsetting to hear people say, you're not a team player. And so what focus now? Because obviously people still want you, media folks always calling you left and right, but that's a hell of a thing to say when your track record says, I helped a lot of people out with money, time, and energy.

Starting point is 01:12:38 Yeah, I want people to know that like, I mean, when you're in politics in general, like, I mean, everything is a competition, number one, and number two, you know, somebody's got to lose. I mean, clearly there was only one spot. And so I do want to clear the air on this idea that like, this is about a win or loss. For me, it's more so just some of the things that were said that were really disheartening in this race, right? Don't let biased algorithms, or degree screens, or exclusive professional networks, or stereotypes. Don't let anything keep you from discovering the half of the workforce who are stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time to tear the paper ceiling and see the stars beyond

Starting point is 01:13:29 it. Find out how you can make stars part of your talent strategy at tearthepaperceiling.org brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this Taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them.

Starting point is 01:14:03 From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Inc. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Starting point is 01:14:34 Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st, and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Our iHeart Radio Music Festival, presented by Capital One, is coming back to Las Vegas. Vegas! September 19th and 20th. On your feet!

Starting point is 01:14:55 Streaming live only on Hulu. Ladies and gentlemen. Brian Adams, Ed Sheeran, Fade, Glorilla, Jelly Roll, John Fogarty, Lil Wayne, LL Cool J, Mariah Carey, Maroon 5, Sammy Hagar, Tate McCray, The Offspring, Do you remember Vine? It changed the internet forever and it vanished in its prime. I'm Benedict Townsend and this is Vine. Six seconds that changed the internet forever and it vanished in its prime. I'm Benedict Townsend and this is Vine, six seconds that changed the world.

Starting point is 01:15:29 The untold story of genius, betrayal, and the app that died so that TikTok could thrive. From overnight stars to the fall that no one saw coming, we're breaking down what made Vine iconic. Listen to Vine on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And the only thing that I really wanted my colleagues to do is to make an assessment of who could be effective in this moment. And ultimately, if the caucus would have been

Starting point is 01:15:59 like, yo, like person X is like most effective in this moment, then that's one thing, right? It was just kind of some of the other stuff that was being said that was really, really disheartening for me, but at the end of the day, I am still the vice ranking member on oversight. I am still someone who sits on that committee. And so I am gonna do what I need to do on oversight. I'm gonna do what I need to do on judiciary.

Starting point is 01:16:24 And it's just clear that, you know, leadership specifically, because I decided not to push it to the full caucus because of the message that elected and appointed leadership decided to send by the number of votes that I was given, even though I had more commitments than that going into the leadership meeting. So I said, OK, it's cool. Like y'all sent a message that y'all aren't really open to working with me. So I read the message loud and clear. For me though, I think about the fact that there's a lot of time that I have

Starting point is 01:17:03 missed in the state of Texas in general. And so I'm not going anywhere, but I am gonna move a little differently. I think that working with people like my pastor, Pastor Freddie Haynes, or working with Pastor Jamal Bryant, or working with Reverend, or I'm sorry, Bishop Jackson, or like there's so many others. I think that I'm gonna dig into like what I'm doing specifically with my advocacy and

Starting point is 01:17:30 partnering up with those that are in the Black faith community, making sure that they have access to the information that they need. I think that I'm also gonna dig in at the state level instead of kind of spreading myself then not getting enough rest because I'm constantly on flights. I've got well over 2 million miles because I have kind of been going and going. So we've got these statewide elections that are going to take place in Texas. And so I think that those candidates can use me across the state of Texas to hopefully

Starting point is 01:18:04 get us to some kind of wins. So I'm gonna dig in more locally as well as kind of the black faith community. That's probably where I'm gonna expend a lot of my resources and my energy. All right then, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, we appreciate it, long week, get some rest. Yeah, thank you.

Starting point is 01:18:24 All right, thanks a bunch. Yeah, thank you. Alright, thanks a bunch. Folks, gonna go to break. We'll be right back. Roland Martin, unfiltered, on the Block Star Network. We don't stand up for Medicaid now. In spite of my honorable military service, the Senate will kill my child. I want the people that are trying to take this away from us to put yourself in our seats. Congresspeople, you got free health care paid for by the people, and then you don't want the people to have the same thing you have. That is sick, and we must challenge it.

Starting point is 01:19:03 This bill will deny millions of people the health care that they need. This is policy violence. And we won't be silent anymore. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr. A very different take on Juneteenth with the one and only Dr. Senyatta Ame. We'll explore the amazing foods, remedies, and rituals that are a part of our history and the Juneteenth holiday. So it's our responsibility to return the healthier version

Starting point is 01:19:35 to our folks instead of just the red liqueurs marketed to us, the red sodas, and the other things. I mean, why does the Kool-Aid man have to sound like Louis Armstrong? He's like, oh, yeah! Yeah, right. An enlightening and tasty hour of The Black Table,

Starting point is 01:19:52 only on the Black Star Network. What's up, y'all? This is Wendell Haskins, aka Winn Hogan, at the Original Cheese Ball Classic. And you know I watch Roland Martin unfiltered. Let's go to our panel, Michael, Matt, and Eugene. Listen, you know, I talked yesterday that, okay,

Starting point is 01:20:23 for the House Oversight Committee they chose, Congressman Robert Garcia, I know who he is. Again, I look at stuff every single day. Didn't stand out to me. They claimed he's really silent. OK, gotcha, great, whatever. But for the life of me, I don't understand why,

Starting point is 01:20:41 if you are a Democrat, if you are a Democrat leader, Hakeem Jeffries, if you are DNC Chair Ken Martin, if you are any of them, I want my best people on the field. I want my best communicators. And if I've got somebody who's raising a hell of a lot more money than other people, who is selling out

Starting point is 01:21:06 dinners, that speaks louder than how somebody is moving on Capitol Hill. You use, you put your best players on the field, not on the bench. I'll start with you, Michael. Yeah, I think so. Representative Jasmine Crockett is highly intelligent, highly effective. I follow her on YouTube as well as Instagram. I think it was Thursday night. She dropped a 37-minute video to update people on what's going on with the big ass ugly bill, how it's going

Starting point is 01:21:45 to hurt people in urban America, as well as in rural America when it comes to Medicaid and about 16 million people losing health insurance. So she is a rising star in the Democratic Party. That's somebody you want up front. And first and foremost, she is a real fighter. She is a real fighter. And I watched her five-minute segments that she posts when she is challenging these Republicans and people that they have testifying in different committees in the House of Representatives. So, yeah, that's somebody that you want out front and she can attract a lot of youth as well.

Starting point is 01:22:25 Okay, that's another factor here. So yeah, I think, and this is not taking anything away from Representative Garcia, but yeah, you want somebody like her out front in a leadership position. Absolutely, Matt. Yeah, I mean, I think Michael said a lot of it. I think she's incredible in terms of how she stands up

Starting point is 01:22:48 and fights and frankly, from just an optic standpoint, I don't understand how you don't have somebody who communicates as effectively as she does and who fights as voraciously as she does when you have the marketer in chief, when he's trying to pass Trump accounts, when everything is alliteration, even the big beautiful bill, everything's about sound bites, everything's about rhetoric.

Starting point is 01:23:09 She's very good at, you know, incisively picking apart ideas, but she's also very good at packaging those ideas in a memorable way. The Democrats have to realize that they're, you know, fighting fire with policy is not going to get you down the road if you have the wrong communicators of that policy. It needs to be fire and policy. And when you're not picking people who are able to bring that energy and keep that energy, then you're not able to get that messaging across. And that's what I think is so strange about this. I don't understand why the Democrats haven't figured out a way to put these rural Republicans, people like people from Texas, in a bind

Starting point is 01:23:44 when you look at these big tax cuts that are going like people from Texas, in a bind when you look at these big tax cuts that are going to affect people's lives in a measurable way. It seems they would have figured out a coherent policy to attack those Republicans who are going to have the same reaction, just like Chuck Grassley did in the video you played months ago, where people are just literally there screaming until they're red in the face because they're not getting what they bargained for with this Trump presidency. It seems like the Democrats should be lashing onto that

Starting point is 01:24:10 and leveraging that a little better. And I don't know why they haven't figured out how to do that just yet, but I think that also necessitates that those Republicans grow a spine and be willing to stand up against the president and we know that they're not doing that. So I'm not sure how they reconcile that,

Starting point is 01:24:23 but it seems to me part of that is through consistent, strong messaging. Eugene? I'm putting my consultant hat on for a second here, right? Elections come down to three things, money, media, and manpower. Baskin-Crock is one of the highest fundraisers, not just in the Democratic caucus, but in Congress, right? And when you're bringing on the crop of new candidates, getting your bench together, you

Starting point is 01:24:50 need somebody like her that can help people raise money, right? Give the co-sign, right? Give the co-sign to the small and large donors that say, hey, this person has my mark and sale of approval, and, you know, open up your wallets. Media, Fox News is obsessed with her. CNN is obsessed with her. We have our, we black owned, so we're gonna cover it regardless.

Starting point is 01:25:14 But at the end of the day, the ability to garner media where you have 530 odd members of Congress fighting for the same air time is valuable. Manpower, she's able to mobilize people across the country. And particularly, you know, I understand, you know, her wanting to move around and move differently, but I think also she has to keep in mind that black women across the country are looking at her for leadership. And, you know, the ability to mobilize people is a special, special one. And look, she's in that rarefied air of people that could actually be a difference-maker

Starting point is 01:25:56 and a lot of toss-up elections, especially with particular constituencies. So I do think that, you know, House leadership, I don't know what his team is thinking about some of these things. I don't know what Ken Martin is thinking about some of these things. But if I'm both of them, I'm trying to figure out the best way possible to use her effectively. In 2012, 2013, when you had your Rand Pauls, Marco Rubio, your Ted Cruz, Scott Walker, Jim Jordan made his name, you know, Darrell Isol was making a lot of money. Like, race had all these dudes deployed out across the country

Starting point is 01:26:32 and made sure, you know, hey, one of y'all going to merge our presence in Canada, but right now, all y'all hot. So, it is 3,000 counties, 50 state parties, multiple district parties. We have 500 or so candidates coming at the federal level. I need y'all out here raising money. I need y'all out here mobilizing voters. I need y'all out here dominating the airwaves. That's what the DNC, that's what both the DNC, the DCCC and Democratic leadership on the Hill needs to be doing with her. Like you have somebody special. You know, they kind of fumble with AOC, don't fumble again with what you have in front of you. Well, so let me address the moving around thing.

Starting point is 01:27:14 This is how I read that. The way I read that, Matt, is all y'all folk who I've given money to, and I've traveled to your areas speaking at your democratic dinners, where were y'all at where I needed your vote? See, this real simple. You don't keep putting yourself out there for folk who ain't got your back.

Starting point is 01:27:40 And so remember, this is the second time she's tried to run for a particular position before it was on the communications committee, the leadership in terms of for the caucus. They went with Debbie Dingo out of Michigan. Okay, got it. Now you got this here. If I'm her, that's exactly how I'm saying it. I'm like, all right, y'all don't sit here and want to roll with me.

Starting point is 01:28:01 Y'all hating on me. Talking about I'm not a team player. You know, sitting here all this like behind my back. So you know what? I ain't going to sit here and keep giving y'all money, spending time, speaking at your dinners and all this sort of stuff. I'm going to go do some stuff that I want to do and some other areas that I care about because it's clear that if you ain't got my back, well, I ain't gonna keep showing up for you. If I'm with her 100%.

Starting point is 01:28:32 I mean, yeah, everybody's been in that group project where they have to do all the work. I mean, and that's what it comes down to. And yeah, I don't think you're wrong. I mean, I will say, I ask, you know, what is the, what do we need from her right now? And I understand the idea of like, I'm gonna move around cause you're not showing me love

Starting point is 01:28:50 when I'm doing all of this work for you. But I also realize that we need someone to stand strong right now against, you know, an assault on basically every aspect of our lives. And she's doing that. And maybe I think that there's a fair question about whether that moving around, so to speak, needs to come later once things are settled.

Starting point is 01:29:09 But also, you know, this is gonna be four years of a current onslaught from this administration and maybe that will energize other people to come out. Although it seems that Democrats are just not finding their footing in terms of messaging or anything in terms of stopping that onslaught. So I don't wanna put all that on her shoulders either, because I think, you know,

Starting point is 01:29:27 sometimes they try to play that both ways. You're not a team player, but when we're getting outsized performance from you and you decide to step back to let other people step up and they don't, then you become, you're not a team player. It's going to catch 22. Well, but see, I don't necessarily think it's, I don't, again, I don't believe she's saying,

Starting point is 01:29:46 I'm going to step back so y'all can step up. I think it's, you know what? I'm not about to keep killing myself, doing all this stuff if you ain't, listen, the phrase, if I scratch your back, you scratch mine. At the end of the day, if you doing stuff for folk and then they ain't doing nothing for you,

Starting point is 01:30:09 it's like a one way street. So why do I need to keep doing stuff for y'all? I get it. I totally understand it. And again, Michael, I just think it is beyond dumb. I think it is beyond dumb that if you are democratic leadership, you are not fully embracing of Jasmine Crockett, AOC, Ayanna Pressley, and others,

Starting point is 01:30:34 because here's the reason, I showed the video. We played a video yesterday. A sub-Congressman, oh my God, y'all pull that video up. He was sitting here, he got two other people behind him, and he talking about the bill, the big, the big, the whatever the hell bill, and I'm sitting here going, ain't nobody listening to this man,

Starting point is 01:30:57 ain't nobody listening to him. Again, I'm understanding messaging. It's not just what you say, it's how you say it. Like, I don't even know who this dude is, but ain't nobody responding to this. Yeah. That's it. We are here with an urgent message.

Starting point is 01:31:21 Republicans right now are attempting to jam through a bill that would present the largest loss of health care and food assistance in American history. And why? All to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. Now just a few weeks ago the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office confirmed that if their bill becomes law, it will be 16 million Americans who will lose their healthcare. This bill includes the largest Medicaid cuts in American history,

Starting point is 01:31:58 large cuts to the Affordable Care Act, and even more than $500 billion worth of cuts to Medicare. Unfortunately, as bad as that is, it's not all. It also includes hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to nutrition assistance programs. You can see why we like to call what Trump has labeled the big, beautiful bill, actually what it really is, the big Republican betrayal of working Americans.

Starting point is 01:32:29 Now, I talked about the tax cuts and one of my colleagues behind me will talk a little bit more about that. But when you take all of this bill and wrap up its component parts into this one bill, what you find is this. For every American household that makes under $55,000 a year, they will be poorer as a result of this bill. So it's quite clear, under this Republican betrayal, the poor get poorer, the rich get richer, and the middle class falling further behind. This is wrong.

Starting point is 01:33:10 It's not just bad economics. It is deeply immoral. I know I'm hot, guys. I got it. He put me to sleep. Were any of y'all engaged for those 90 seconds? No, I'm pretty sure. And here's Heather with the weather. Well it's beautiful out there, sunny and 75, almost a little chilly in the shade.

Starting point is 01:33:50 Now let's get a read on the inside of your car. It is hot. You've only been parked a short time and it's already 99 degrees in there. Let's not leave children in the back seat while running errands. It only takes a few minutes for their body temperatures to rise, and that could be fatal. Cars get hot fast and can be deadly. Never leave a child in a car.

Starting point is 01:34:11 A message from NHTSA and the Ad Council. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this Taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.

Starting point is 01:34:35 Cops believed everything that Taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibbillion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, bad. Our iHeart Radio Music Festival presented by Capital One is coming back to Las Vegas September 19th and 20th. On your feet! Streaming live only on Hulu. Ladies and gentlemen. Brian Adams and Sheeran, Fade, Chlorilla, Jelly Roll, John Fogarty, Lil Wayne, LL Cool J,

Starting point is 01:35:40 Mariah Carey, Maroon 5, Sammy Hagar, Tate McRae, The Offspring, Tim McGraw. Tickets are on sale now at AXS.com. Get your tickets today, AXS.com. Do you remember Vine? It changed the internet forever, and it vanished in its prime. I'm Benedict Townsend, and this is Vine, Six Seconds That Changed the World, the untold story of genius, betrayal, and the app that died so that TikTok could thrive.

Starting point is 01:36:11 From overnight stars to the fall that no one saw coming, we're breaking down what made Vine iconic. Listen to Vine on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. So nobody, I like, I, I'mma, I'mma tell you what it is. It's the big Republican something working people. Oh my God. So you know, I know you're going to play the, I know you're going to play the video when you call my name. I'm sorry to cut you off.

Starting point is 01:36:48 But this is something, I'm glad you played it though. This is something I was thinking about earlier today. I consume a lot more media and news than the average person. And a lot of these African American politicians I follow on social media as well. From my analysis, a lot of the black politicians fight harder than the white ones do. Okay? What we just saw, first of all, he looks like he wants to run for president, number one. Number two, it's boring.

Starting point is 01:37:18 It's not going to engage people. It's not going to get them to stop. If that was scrolling on social media, TikTok or Instagram, it's not gonna get people to stop to actually watch it. But not only that, did you hear anything specific, like you got to illustrate, oh, I was just like... That's my next point, because you need to have some illustrations,

Starting point is 01:37:39 some poster boards behind you, breaking down bullet points, things like this. But hold on, But how he look, he look like one of those FBI Department of Justice news conferences. What attorney- He looks like he- What the attorney general was standing there

Starting point is 01:37:55 and you got the US attorney over here, an investigator. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to announce that we have filed federal charges. Y'all, this thing is, oh my God. Right, it looks like he wants to run for president. And the other thing is- What, student council president?

Starting point is 01:38:18 No, president of the United States. No, that ain't even president of the United States. But the other thing is, they listen to these white political consultants, OK, these white political consultants, who never won, most of them never won an election themselves where they were the candidate. And they listen to them on how to present themselves to the public. That's why that stuff is not working.

Starting point is 01:38:42 That's why Jasmine Crockett, Ayanna Pressley, Nakeema Williams, that's why, Lamonica MacGyver, that's why they're so effective and they resonate with a lot of people, especially African Americans. I just, Eugene, I'm sorry. That's just, again, if I'm trying to sit here and talk to people about how this bill is so awful, I want to send out my fire-breather. I want to send out my folk who gonna flame their asses. That's what I want to do. I agree. The thing is this, right, I go back to the 2015 presidential cycle.

Starting point is 01:39:26 The reason we know Ted Cruz's name and the reason we know Jim Jordan's name is because they were fire breathing. They were lighting them up. You know, the right one crazy about AOC, not because she, you know, popped off a Democrat powerhouse, but because she was able to go out there and light people up. It was Mayweather, Dianaanna Presley, and now with Jasmine Crockett. If I'm Democrat right now, I am looking to build up that next wave of Jasmine Crockett. And I'm probably more likely, if I'm the NCCR, which I'm not, but if I was,

Starting point is 01:39:56 I would be doing everything possible to empower her to be able to go grab that next wave and the next wave. Because going to look 2026, 2028, you're gonna need everybody, this is a 3000 plus county battle that's being fought. They just announced, they just announced Dan Bank is not gonna run for reelection. That's a prime pickup seat, right?

Starting point is 01:40:16 And guess what? You're probably gonna want a Dazzler and Crockett to go in there and help some startup, young Democrat that's gonna run in that seat, raise some money. But if you're getting people like her for the sidelines and not keeping them on the field, you're already setting yourself up for losses. Absolutely. Absolutely. They just crazy. They just crazy. And that's just who they are. So it's a trip. All right, y'all, gotta go to a quick break.

Starting point is 01:40:46 We'll be right back. Roll them on Unfiltered on the Blackstone Network. If we don't stand up for Medicaid now, in spite of my honorable military service, the Senate will kill my child. I want the people that are trying to take this away from us to put yourself in our seats. Congresspeople, you got free health care paid for by the people, and then you don't want

Starting point is 01:41:11 the people to have the same thing you have. That is sick, and we must challenge it. This bill will deny millions of people the health care that they need. This is policy violence. And we won't be silent anymore. We've never known him to be filtered. Is there another way to experience Roland Martin than to be unfiltered? Of course he's unfiltered. Would you expect anything less?

Starting point is 01:41:49 Watch what happens next. The other day I had that crazy, I had crazy conservative, Shelley Winter out of Atlanta on the show, talking about, of course, why all of these black Trumpers, these little MAGA folk, it's amazing how they real quiet on black stuff. I'm gonna get to them in a second. But Bishop William Barber is with us. Matter of fact, Bishop,

Starting point is 01:42:40 I'm gonna ask you this here, Bishop. There's this John Amanchukwu, a Nigerian immigrant. I think he's actually in Wake, North Carolina, something like that. You know, he's the one who's aligned with Trump. He wears his little 47 hat on Instagram and YouTube and all this stuff. He's joining with Trump on Banned and Books.

Starting point is 01:43:03 He's all about talking about this stuff. He's joining with Trump on Bannon Books. He's all about talking about LGBTQ stuff. But it's amazing how folk like him, when Trump was trashing African nations, this African immigrant don't say nothing. When they have an anti-black agenda, this African, go on, show his face. Just show his face, his little almond choucou. They ain't got nothing to say. So it's amazing when they love talking,

Starting point is 01:43:27 they show up at Black History Month receptions, Bishop Barber, but when we look at how the policies are going to negatively impact black people, these so-called pastors like John Armantruku, it's amazing how quiet they are. You know, that problem with that, and I'm sorry my voice is a little bad tonight, Roland, I've got a brockle thing. But the problem with it is that's their theology.

Starting point is 01:43:53 Their only thing they're looking at is getting paid. They become chaplains of Trump, if you will. They are not prophets. They don't speak against injustice. And they really don't care about the least of these and the people many times sitting in their own pews. They are content with a few accolades for amendment and whatever air time they can get. And it's actually, well, to be quite honest,

Starting point is 01:44:20 it's damnable that they're sinful. And that's why we have to counter it. That's why we have to have shows like what you're doing. That's why I was listening a minute ago and just listening to what you were saying even about the Democrats. They all, what I think they need to do is do like SNCC used to do. SNCC, before you could go out and speak,

Starting point is 01:44:39 they put you in a room and you had to go through a battery test and you had to be pushed and you had to be trained because this is no time to have weakness in the public square. You know, literally rolling. I was thinking about you and I were talking about the other day. With DEI, they are attacking, you know, DEI with this bill, we will D-I-E die. This is a killer bill. It's not just a piece of legislation.

Starting point is 01:45:12 You can't talk about it calmly. Anita, you're talking about 51,000 people dying in the first year with this budget bill. And every year for 10 years, that's a half million people that will die from the impact of this bill, in addition to the 250,000 people who are already dying from poverty

Starting point is 01:45:35 every year in this country. There's no way in the world we can listen to these, as you say, these pastors who won't say a word about what's really happening to our communities. And there's no way we can be calm about this stuff, man. This is the time, if you ever been loud and strong and accurate, it's the time to stand up now. Well, absolutely.

Starting point is 01:45:57 And that's one of the reasons why, look, you're having this Moral Mondays event on Monday, 11 a.m. when I called out National Baptist Convention USA leaders in Kojic and the missionary folk for taking the 300 grand from Target, I asked the question, okay, are y'all gonna be at the march on Monday? Where are y'all on these issues?

Starting point is 01:46:17 And I say the same thing to this ignorant, MAGA pastor, Nigerian immigrant out of North Carolina. It's like, oh, you call yourself pro-life, but you ain't got nothing to say about massive cuts to USAID, and people across the world are dying. Children are dying because of starvation.

Starting point is 01:46:38 They say nothing. They say nothing about how, political, and it's already the other day, how the city Republicans are trying to do more cuts to the SNAP program to pay for the $3.8 trillion tax cuts. These folks ain't pro-life. No, no, there's nothing pro-life about it. In fact, Roland, this is the largest transfer of wealth from poor people than was transferred from the slave to the slave master. This bill, on the one hand, they want to add 10,000 more ICE agents with masks on their face.

Starting point is 01:47:15 And the only way they're going to do that is they want to cut millions of children off of free lunch and millions of people off of SNAP. And basically what they're trying to do with this bill is undermine the Affordable Care Act. And ultimately they wanna get rid of things like Medicare. And we have to remember, Medicaid, Medicare, those are victories that came out of the civil rights movement. Those are our victories.

Starting point is 01:47:41 Those are victories that came out of a lot of blood, sweat and tears. And death is, that's why I refuse to call it the big beautiful bill. Nobody should be using that language if you're against it. Don't repeat what they're saying. This is the big deadly destructive bill. And that's why Roland, on Monday,

Starting point is 01:48:00 we've been doing more on Monday when we first went about 120 folks showed up there, the've been doing more Monday. When we first went about about 120 folks showed up, they arrested three of us. The next time 10 times more people came, these folks even arrested a girl with cerebral palsy in her wheelchair, holding her Bible. This is what you're dealing with. And so more people are coming back this Monday

Starting point is 01:48:23 and we're bringing caskets. We're bringing 51 caskets to outline how many people are gonna die in the first year. We're gonna bring the information on how bad this is for each state, because that's the other thing Democrats ought to be doing. They ought to have impacted people every time they're talking about it.

Starting point is 01:48:43 And they ought to be telling people, you're talking about 400,000 people in North Carolina. You're talking about 200,000 people in South Carolina. This is no time to be talking in generalities and platitudes. This is a battle. And when you add that, this bill, and this deadliness, to what the Supreme Court did today and how they are going after the 14th Amendment.

Starting point is 01:49:09 Roland, people need to understand, and in black churches, if you're not talking about this stuff, what the hell are you really preaching about? Because you're talking about the 14th Amendment. If you ultimately undermine that, you are undermining the amendment that allowed for the rebirth of America itself. Every everything we hold true, everything we want, women's rights, civil rights, labor rights, all of them are rooted in the 14th Amendment. Now, they didn't end it today, but they did something that is so bad.

Starting point is 01:49:45 And that is that if a judge finds that somebody's done something illegal, and they can't stop it until we find out if it's unconstitutional, the only way you can stop it now is you've got to get plaintiffs in every state to file a class action. If we don't watch this stuff and start raising the temperature and the fire, I heard somebody say black folk need to be sitting out there. What do you mean sitting out there? Do you know how many black people need Medicaid? Do you know how many black people would die, will die if they don't have Medicaid, if they

Starting point is 01:50:18 don't have Medicare? I mean, this is not a time for us to sit down. This is a time for us to analyze every piece of public policy and ask the question, how is this going to impact black people in this country and make sure that our voices are heard loud and strong and continually and consistently? Again, was taking place on Monday is crucial. And I showed this video right here to your point.

Starting point is 01:50:50 Here were people in wheelchairs and they had ties on them, arrested them because they were protesting Medicaid cuts. And they arrested y'all for praying in the Capitol rotunda. But when a right wing evangelical came in there singing, oh, they came out and they were, it was like a worship service in there. Exactly, and that's the contradiction. And that's why they'll get there really mad

Starting point is 01:51:21 because we didn't choose prayer because we think we're weak. Prayer means we see this as holy work. We're not going anywhere. But here we are praying against what they're doing and getting arrested and putting in paddy wagons. I mean, I'm not talking about no catch and release. They are literally arresting us, putting us in paddy wagons.

Starting point is 01:51:42 They beat me up in it. But I'm not worried about the arrest because we're trying to arrest the attention of the nation. But on the other hand, they had a press service the same day we did the first small Monday and they didn't say a thing about the things that God really cares about. That's how you treat the least of these.

Starting point is 01:51:59 But brothers and sisters should be, I need you to come out. We need people that we'll pray, people that was a man. And Roland, they have told us this. They said this time they have the orders that if we come and we even, and more than 30 people pray in the plaza, they're gonna arrest them.

Starting point is 01:52:19 Now, what you need that? So, wait, wait, wait, hold on, hold on. So, they, so if you stand, so now if you stand outside of the U S capital, you can get arrested for, for yes sir. We have been told that and it's called praying and it's called praying and not, not, not y'all. They coming out with bear spray, uh, no pepper spray and don't see ties and attack. Yeah.

Starting point is 01:52:44 They are arrested folk for praying. Right, against what they're doing in Congress. What we were told was that if 30 people stand in that plaza, 30 now, if 30 stand in that plaza, and it doesn't matter if they're in robes, it doesn't matter if they're in wheelchairs, if 30 of them stay in there and pray, they will consider that illegal, emoting,

Starting point is 01:53:13 illegal protest and will arrest them. That's what they're saying. And so we're going, nobody's going, because we're trying to arrest the attention of this nation. I've been with every movement. You know I have about DEI. I'm gonna stay with those movements, but I'm also challenging people, we better pay attention to these policies

Starting point is 01:53:36 that are being passed, because this particular bill roller, they're passing this for 10 years, 10, not five, 10 years. And if they do this, you won't be able to undo it for 10 years. I mean, you could undo it, but it takes so much effort. The level of destruction that they're talking about. And you want to really know how evil this is.

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Starting point is 01:54:29 and the Ad Council. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country cops called this Taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them.

Starting point is 01:54:56 From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st,

Starting point is 01:55:30 and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Our iHeartRadio Music Festival, presented by Capital One, is coming back to Las Vegas. Vegas! September 19th and 20th. On your feet! Streaming live only on Hulu.

Starting point is 01:55:50 Ladies and gentlemen. Brian Adams, Ed Sheeran, Fade, Glorilla, Jelly Roll, John Fogerty, Lil Wayne, LL Cool J, Mariah Carey, Maroon 5, Sammy Hagar, Tate McCray, The Offspring, Tim McGraw. Tickets are on sale now at AXS.com. Get your tickets today, AXS.com. Do you remember Vine? It changed the internet forever, and it vanished in its prime. I'm Benedict Townsend, and this is Vine,

Starting point is 01:56:20 Six Seconds That Changed the World, the untold story of genius, betrayal, and the app that died so that TikTok could thrive. From overnight stars to the fall that no one saw coming, we're breaking down what made Vine iconic. Listen to Vine on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Came out of COVID rolling,

Starting point is 01:56:44 and 300,000 of the 1 million people that died during COVID did not die because of COVID. They died because of the lack of access to healthcare. Stunning. And again, this so-called preacher, this so-called preacher out of North Carolina, John Armand Chukwu, silent. Silent, silent on the attacks on the poor, silent on Medicaid, what we're trying to do. Here, he's silent on Trump not even sending hurricane relief to his own state of North Carolina. But he would rather sit there and get his little

Starting point is 01:57:25 little invite to the White House, wear his little cute little 47 hat, and be happy that Trump has assigned him to lead the effort to ban books, because he wants to call things perversion, and he wants to attack saying, oh, they got all this sexual stuff in these very books. But this Nigerian immigrant, who claims to be a preacher, silent on attacks

Starting point is 01:57:48 on Africans, silent on children around the world dying because of USAID's cuts, silent on the attacks of the poor, silent on all of that, but they claim they love Jesus. That's right. And well, the fruit is known by the, she is known by the fruit of the bear. And while, and he's worried about who's going to sleep with who in a book and not worried about the way, you know, that all of us are getting screwed, if you will, in this bill

Starting point is 01:58:16 and in these policies that Trump is passing. And it's not just him. Joel Osteen, let's call it out, all of them, the big beggars, Creflo, Joel Osteen, what's her name? Joyce. Joyce Myers. Joyce Myers, the guy down in Texas, the big church, none of them are saying a word about the things that Jesus said was the fundamental way you judge a nation and that's how it treats the least of these

Starting point is 01:58:47 But what's even more damnable is if we who know better and I'm saying black church If all these conventions we're having this summer if you're having a convention Or you're having a preaching gathering and you're not talking about this. And I'm not just talking about mentioning it in a sermon for one second and get an amen. If you got thousands of people gathering and you're not informing them of what's going on and how what's going on is directly opposed to Jesus saying the Spirit of the Lord is anointed me

Starting point is 01:59:21 to preach good news to the poor and healing to the brokenhearted. If you're not dealing with this, then it is a form of theological malpractice to be, to have all these gatherings and not be dealing with what's happening to the people that are sitting right in your pew. William Barber will be there with you on Monday. More Mondays, folks, beginning at 11 a.m. They'll be gathering at the Lutheran Church. Show the graphic, please. Come on, show the full-screen graphic. That's gonna be taking place, again, on Monday. Then there'll be 11 a.m.

Starting point is 01:59:54 They will march to the Supreme Court for a news conference there where impacted people will be speaking. That's important because we get tired of these rallies where you got politicians running their mouths, but folk who are impacted by these policies will be speaking. And then we'll be covering all of that live

Starting point is 02:00:14 right here on the Black Star Network. Bishop, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. And we're going back to that rotunda and we're going in that plaza. All right. And we'll get- Whatever they do, they do it,

Starting point is 02:00:23 but we're not gonna stand down. And our cameras will be right there with you. Thanks a lot. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. All right. And whatever they do, they do it, but we're not going to stand down. And our cameras will be right there with you. Thanks a lot. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. I'm going to go back to my panel here. See, this is the thing that trips me out. That's why I had to call out this little trifling pastor, Eugene, a so-called pastor, because I saw his little comments. He was attacking Pastor Jamal Bryant on Twitter for the Target boycott.

Starting point is 02:00:47 And so he was running his little mouth. And so then when I responded on Twitter, then a little fool, he gonna have more to say about me. And I'm sitting here like, dude, you can try to sit here and call me names all you want to. You can try to sit here and question my manhood. First of all, I don't give a damn about you. I mean, when I say I don't give a damn about you. I mean, when I say I don't give one damn about you.

Starting point is 02:01:08 But here's what I do know. I do know you kiss more Trump ass than Melania. What I do know is that when we look at the impact of policies on people who are hurt, your simple Simon ass don't say nothing. You quiet, you call yourself a, see, I love it how he wants to preach and speak against what he calls perversion of homosexuality and LGBTQ.

Starting point is 02:01:42 But he ain't got nothing to say about attacks on the poor. He ain't got nothing to say about policies that are leaving folk starving. He ain't got nothing to say about his own state trying to recover from the hurricane, and Trump said, no, y'all ain't getting more relief because they elected a Democratic governor. It's amazing how all that other stuff in the Bible, he ain't got nothing to say. But then he wanna run his little mouth

Starting point is 02:02:20 and try to call somebody and say, man, you a joke. You a joke. That's what you a joke. You a joke. That's what you are. You an absolute joke. And all you care about are your nice little cute invites to the White House. And that's why I called Negroes like you the help. Listen, and they come in all shapes and sizes, right?

Starting point is 02:02:42 You know, at this point, you know, we're over a decade in dealing with these black MAGA folks that are just like him. They've accomplished nothing, they've done nothing, they've done nothing for the community. But they have everything to say. I'm dealing with somebody on the other side of the aisle. I've got what I consider to be a lesbian predator in cell that's like literally harassing me in both clubhouse and Twitter, but has also also, guess what, nothing for the community, has no competence, has no achievements, nothing actually tangible outside of harassing people that are actually doing things. But when it comes to the real issues, when it comes to real impact, they are nowhere

Starting point is 02:03:17 to be found, they have no input, they have no actual action that they can put behind things and show, hey, this is what I tangibly did, and this is what I tangibly produced. And so, you know, Reverend Barber, he's picked up the Poor People's Movement mantle, and he's the conscience of the nation at this point. And folk like this Nigerian pastor, we're not even going to give airtime to his name, just sit down, shut up. I've been telling people a lot at this point, just get out the way and let those that will do, let those that will accomplish,

Starting point is 02:03:52 let those that will achieve, let those that want to provide tangible results do it. I bet his Jollof Rice is trash. Probably. Probably is. Let me, so again, and we know he ain't gonna say that. Y'all, there were a couple of African presidents, Congolese, what's up Matt?

Starting point is 02:04:17 I don't know, it's just funny. I mean, you just attacking the man, Joe Love Rice, that's hilarious. Yeah, cause more than likely, he hanging around MAGA, he probably preferred meatloaf and unseasoned chicken and raisins and potato salad. That's probably what he's doing, because he wants to assimilate. All right, and here's a perfect example.

Starting point is 02:04:39 Trump today had a couple of African presidents in the Oval Office. And if y'all wanna see stupidity, just share stupidity, just roll this bush. Ugh, ugh. Here we have Hariana, who is from the continent of Africa. She's been a reporter here in the United States for many years, and she has a story to share

Starting point is 02:04:58 with the press, with the media, and with these two fantastic leaders who have joined you today. So, Hariana, please. Why don't you come up here and talk so they can see? Sure. and with these two fantastic leaders who have joined you today. So, Ariana, please. The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard.

Starting point is 02:05:08 The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard.

Starting point is 02:05:16 The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard.

Starting point is 02:05:24 The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is heard. The President's voice is hope. And President Chisake also mentioned at the end of my interview that when peace finally come to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he's thinking to nominate you as a Nobel Prize Peace because he said you deserve, you have been working to bring peace in the world, not only at the Congo, and he's very hopeful to meet you in the future. That's so nice. Boy, what a, and he's very hopeful to meet you in the future. That's so nice. Boy, what — and that's so beautifully stated. And Caroline said — number one, she did say — and I shouldn't say this because it's politically incorrect — she said, she's beautiful, and you are beautiful.

Starting point is 02:05:56 I'm not allowed to say that, you know. That could be the end of my political career, but I said anyway. But you are beautiful, and you're beautiful inside. So I wish I had more reporters like you. So you covered Africa for a long time? Yes, for over 10 years. I covered even your first administration. Yes, I know that.

Starting point is 02:06:16 That's great. Well, thank you. That's so nice that you said that. Appreciate it. And I have one more question, Mr. President. Since we know in July or in the future both President of Rwanda and the Congo will be coming to the United States.

Starting point is 02:06:28 In Africa, President John Lorenzo, the President of Angola, he's also the leader of African Union. He worked very hard to bring peace, but unfortunately... Let's get him here. Yes, that's right. Okay, would you invite him for me? Of course.

Starting point is 02:06:41 Okay. No, we'll have. I know that he works very hard, and he's the head of essentially the union. So the union all over Africa, not the kind of union that we have. This is the union all over Africa and I'd love to have him. So you'll let him know. Of course, Mr. President.

Starting point is 02:06:58 Thank you very much. Thank you. Now you'll go back to where you belong, right? That's great. That's a great job. It's real knowledge and a real heart, too. Congratulations. Okay.

Starting point is 02:07:12 Now, first of all, these are the foreign ministers of both countries, but he's over the union over all the African Union. He don't even know what the hell the African Union is. Y'all, he ain't got no clue what that is. But here's the real deal, okay? This is, I'm about to show y'all, this is really what that's all about. Okay, what Trump was all about, that wasn't about no peace. It was about African minerals.

Starting point is 02:07:36 Watch. Exactly. That part. Cobalt tantalum. So I'm a little out of my league in that one because I didn't know too much about it. I knew one thing. They were going at it for many years and with machetes, it is one of the worst, one of the worst wars that anyone's ever seen.

Starting point is 02:07:58 And I just happened to have somebody that was able to get it settled. I mean, just a brilliant person who is very comfortable in that part of the world. It's a very dangerous part of the world. They said, are you uncomfortable there? People are being killed. Schoolchildren are being raided and killed. And I don't even want to say how, but as viciously as I've ever heard, are you uncomfortable? No, that's the part of the world that I know. Very comfortable. Was able to get them together and sell it. And not only that, we're getting for the United States a lot of the mineral rights from the Congo as part of it.

Starting point is 02:08:30 They're so honored to be here. They never thought they'd be coming to it. Look, this is a very tough part of the world. They never thought, they were just telling me, they never thought they'd ever be coming to the White House, and they're so honored. Oh, so we couldn't end the war, Michael, because it was right. Let's be sure to snatch the minerals from the Congo.

Starting point is 02:08:55 Yeah, Roland, that's what this is about. So I saw some of this broadcast at Live the Day ABC News online on Facebook. I read the piece from the Associated Press. And so this is the height of hypocrisy. And this is the U.S. trying to outflank China when it comes to tapping into the mineral wealth in Africa. And according to the Associated Press, the mostly untapped minerals are estimated to be worth as much as $24 trillion by the U.S. Department of Commerce, their analysis.

Starting point is 02:09:33 These are the minerals in the Congo. But notice, OK, if Donald Trump cares so much about African nations and about six million have been killed in this conflict. OK? If he cares so much, why did he revoke the temporary protective status of Cameroonians? Why did he revoke the temporary protective status of Haitians? OK? Why did he allow Elon Musk to kill USAID and only about $40 billion to spend a year on USAID, and it's estimated by the Boston University model that 300,000 people have died worldwide because of the cuts to USAID. Tens of thousands of them are in Africa.

Starting point is 02:10:15 Donald Trump did not announce a refugee program today for the victims and for those who have been displaced from the Congo or Rwanda because of the conflict. But what did, what was announced today from the Trump administration is that 1,000 white South Africaners are going to come to the US because they're looked at as refugees trying to escape a genocide in South Africa. But 95% of the people killed in South Africa

Starting point is 02:10:43 are black South Africans. First of all, a genocide that don't exist. A genocide that doesn't exist, but he's not allowing black South Africans to come here. No, because the opposite word is black. And again, and what you have, Matt, you have these African immigrant preachers from North Carolina who don't say nothing

Starting point is 02:11:04 as Trump just sit here and dismisses and disrespects African nations. But yeah, this whole thing, it was about the money. Yeah, exactly. And a lot of them are grifters in there about their money and their own social personal influence. But I'm glad you mentioned that because I read an article in preparation of this today

Starting point is 02:11:22 and even MSNBC, the way they reported it, I mean they talked about the piece and they just put a little codicil in there about all of the minerals that were coming from it and it almost looked like they touted western investment and I really found it disgusting because we know that the real reason they're going in is to raid those minerals. So I mean that's all it is, that's all it's about is money. And these same people who purport to be religious leaders and they're just about the dollars in their pocket, I mean, are disgusting, but also a lot of it's not surprising. White pastors stood in the pulpits

Starting point is 02:11:54 and talked about slavery being ordained under God 150 years ago, right, or 200 years ago. That's no different than what we see. I mean, the truth is, when people are living their true religious or their true moral values, you can differentiate those people from the people who find social capital in purporting to live those values.

Starting point is 02:12:12 And that's what we're seeing. And frankly, both black and white people who are leaning on the teachings of Christ, leaning on doctrinal teachings, but are not doing the real things like being out and feeding the poor. And in our own state, Roland, Greg Abbott is touting the legislature's decision, passing the bill to put the 10 commandments up. But a couple of days later, he removes millions

Starting point is 02:12:37 of dollars in SNAP benefits for Texas people who need it. I mean, I don't know how those two things can coexist, but the reality is nobody's calling them out about it. And if they do, it's not the majority voice. It's not the majority West Texas and Republicans who are saying these are not the values we purport to live. Uh, it's, it's more about whiteness and about money. That's what it comes down to. Yeah. Cause they don't actually, um, they don't actually believe in those values. Uh,

Starting point is 02:13:04 all right folks, uh, last we're here, we lost a legendary figure, that's right. Vocalist Walter Scott, co-founder of the iconic group, The Whispers, passed away at the age of 81. Walter was battling for the last six months, he was battling cancer, lost that battle with cancer. He and his brother found it, found it, the Whispers. And of course, we know so many of their hit songs.

Starting point is 02:13:37 We know so much about, you know, terms of the singing and the beat goes on. So many songs, 70s and 80s, you name it, man, they had it going. And so, so many people remember their music. When they talk about iconic band groups, they certainly talk about the Whispers. Of course, born in Texas, moving to Los Angeles

Starting point is 02:14:03 where they grew up, they of course, born in Texas, moving to Los Angeles where they grew up. They of course just did so many amazing things. And not only that, folks, he missed our performances and many folks were concerned about that, about them. And, you know, last year, last year, I went to, I was in St. Louis for a concert. And in fact, what's interesting is that, it was interesting is that I went to St. Louis. It was a Frankie Beverly Mays, the OJs, and the Whispers.

Starting point is 02:14:38 And I wanted to see my good buddy, Eddie LaVert. And I had never met the Whispers. We had them on the show and again had never met them. This is a photo that I took. Y'all can bring the music down please, thank you. This is a photo I took of them, the twins after the show. It was great to see them. Of course, like I said, both both of them are huge fans of this show. We

Starting point is 02:15:06 talked, we talked for a bit there after they finished their performance. And it was, it was great to chat with them. Of course, they were on stage performing. This is some of that performance right here in St. Louis. And man, it's pretty sad that man, this concert was June 22nd last year. And we've now lost Walter and of course, Frankie Beverly who passed away last year as well. And in fact, the twins were on our show in 2020. Here's some of that interview. We have seems like I got to do wrong before they notice me.

Starting point is 02:15:49 We said we got to get in on this and sing about what's happening in our country right now. And so you put this together and then of course shot your socially distance video. video. I mean the thing is we've had we've had BB whiners on that we've had. Terry Ellis and and a lot of artists trace songs of the video a lot of artists have really been moved.

Starting point is 02:16:22 To speak to these issues and really it's a throwback to when Marvin Gaye put out his album, when Curtis Mayfield. You have a history of artists who use music to speak to social issues. That's exactly right. We first did it in 19... You remember 1965 and the Watch Rides. We were from South Central, Watch, California. the watch rides, we were from South Central, watch California. Right after that, we were brought the song,

Starting point is 02:16:48 seems like I gotta do wrong. And we spoke about it then, but here we are 50 years later and you know, they say history repeats itself. We see the same thing and it angers us, you know, because maybe this time, Roland, they'll get the idea of what we've been trying to say. But this is not, you and I know that this is not, you know, this didn't just start yesterday.

Starting point is 02:17:09 It's been here for a long time. Go ahead, someone else, go ahead. No, you're right. I mean, it has been here for a long time. And like Walter said, back in 65, we've had this, and this is nothing new. It's just now we have those beautiful things called cameras and iPhones and Androids

Starting point is 02:17:32 that are basically now in everybody's hands. And then what's happening now is people are getting to see it for what it really is. Before, when I was growing up and I gave a pullover by a police officer, you didn't have the advantage of taking these kinds of things or them seeing how they actually act when they're around you. But now today, you can pull out your camera,

Starting point is 02:17:56 people will just stop on the street and pull out their camera just to make sure that everybody is being honest. And this is the end result of it. Folks, we're going to restream that interview with the Whispers. I'm gonna ask our, let's see, group right here. Let's see, which one of y'all has any level

Starting point is 02:18:16 of musical sophistication in taste? Won't be Matt. I do, of course. It's not gonna be Matt. Let's see. Okay, all right, okay. Like we are. I do, of course. It's not gonna be mad. Let's see. Okay, all right, okay. Like we are, like we know that Eugene, he probably ain't there but he.

Starting point is 02:18:31 Now look, this is black music, nothing, you know I can deep dive in them crazy, like anybody else now, don't play me now, don't play me now. Okay. I might be the only one on the panel, don't play me. Okay, give me two whisper songs.

Starting point is 02:19:05 I got Olivia and Rock Steady, I'm in it now. Huh? I always had to be so good no one could ignore me. That's why I set it up by hitting you with two furs, knowing damn well your ass wasn't 3D. Knew that. Michael Goode. I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling, the limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree.

Starting point is 02:19:26 It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at tearthepapersceiling.org, brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

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Starting point is 02:20:20 It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two and three on May 21st and episodes four, five and six on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. for good plus on Apple podcasts. Jelly Roll, John Fogarty, Lil Wayne, LL Cool J, Mariah Carey, Maroon 5, Sammy Hagar, Tate McCrae, The Offspring, Tim McGraw. Tickets are on sale now at AXS.com. Get your tickets today at AXS.com. Do you remember Vine? It changed the internet forever and it vanished in its prime. I'm

Starting point is 02:21:23 Benedict Townsend and this is Vine, six seconds that changed the world. The untold story of genius, betrayal and the app that died so that TikTok could thrive. From overnight stars to the fall that no one saw coming, we're breaking down what made Vine iconic. Listen to Vine on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Go ahead. Oh yeah, I remember the Whispers. I grew up listening to them. My parents were playing the Whispers in the house on the stereo. I grew up in the 70s and 80s. And I remember

Starting point is 02:21:59 in the 80s when they came out with Rock Steady and they came out with the other song and the beat goes on. So I remember seeing those videos on Friday night, Friday night video. So some of us were seeing those Whispers for the first time when they were, you know, reintroduced, they reintroduced to another, introduced to another generation I should say. But others, you know, I grew up listening to Al Green, the Whispers, Teddy Penegrass. I live in Motown. Grew up with the Motown sound. Listened to Sam Cooke and Lou Rawl. So, but at the same time, you know, I listened to— Man, we're talking about the Whispers.

Starting point is 02:22:35 I understand that, but I'm just saying— I ain't asked for your whole musical palette. I ain't asked for your musical palette. I'm just deep in the music. We're talking about the Whispers. Hey, Ro. I did not ask for your whole playlist. We're talking about the Whispers. I did not ask for your whole playlist. We talking about the Whispers. No, no, no.

Starting point is 02:22:48 This is Black Music, Mom. We're talking about the Whispers. Stay on subject, Michael. Michael, stay on subject. Michael, stay on subject. You ain't got to give us a historical walkthrough on music. It's the Whispers. All right, Michael.

Starting point is 02:23:04 OK, you got anything to choose in this battle? Absolutely. Rather than I heard you was lost and turned out like Olivia. I mean, you feel me? That it? You trying to-

Starting point is 02:23:20 Come on man, I know the whispers. You trying to show us- I know Confusion. I mean, Earthquake, Fire, My Favorite Root, right? You trying to show us your Google skills? No, come on man, I know the whispers. You trying to show us your confusion? I know, I mean, I'm gonna fire my favorite crew here. You trying to show us your Google skills? No, come on man, I know that song. Okay, all right. You know I play Roland, come on now.

Starting point is 02:23:32 You play what? I play many instruments, several instruments. What? I play keys, I play guitar, I play trumpet, I play bass. Really? We ain't seen no evidence of any of that. We ain't seen no, is there any? I'm a brother of 5-Mute Office Symphony.

Starting point is 02:23:49 I'm a brother of a music fraternity. Oh, let's go. Truth. I mean, you could have been packing the equipment and being in the fraternity. Oh, here we go, here we go. You bet. All right.

Starting point is 02:24:00 I mean, we ain't seen no evidence of your musical ability. I'm just simply saying. Hey, ask anybody who knows me. They'll tell you. It's all right. We don't know nobody who know you. Well, I guess that's true. I suppose that's true.

Starting point is 02:24:14 See, we can't ask nobody. I suppose that's true. I suppose that's true. Again, folks, Codellus' go out to the family. Walter Scott and Codellbusters go out to, the Wistbusters again, one of our iconic groups. And it was great to have them on the show five years ago.

Starting point is 02:24:31 It was great to finally meet them in person last year. I'm glad I made that trip to, again, it was the last time I saw Frankie Beverly, last time, first time I've actually met them in person as well, so it was great to be there. All right, folks, that is it for us. Don't forget. So here's the deal. Monday. So let me thank Michael, let me thank Eugene, let me thank so-called musical genius Matt. We appreciate that. I need to see some evidence of these so-called musical skills. And so appreciate that.. Don't forget Monday 11 a.m.

Starting point is 02:25:05 We will be live right here on the Black Star Network covering Moral Mondays in DC from the Supreme Court and the US Capitol. We will be there, multiple cameras there covering the whole scene. We look forward to that. So we want y'all to tune in as well. Folks, support the work that we do

Starting point is 02:25:23 by joining our Breena Funk fan club. The work, oh, hold up before I do that, on Sunday I am going to be in Detroit. I'm going to be in Detroit on Sunday accepting the William William Mongrel Trotter Award from the NAACP. Now they have one of the largest, one of the largest, not the one of the largest, the largest NAACP Freedom Fund dinner in the country. Typically more than 10,000 people attend that dinner

Starting point is 02:26:02 on an annual basis. And so look forward to being there. Be signing some books as well, right before. So again, gonna be there. Reverend Wendell Anthony, he sent me a photo of some of the honorees there. All of the different folks who are going to be honored there. And we were going back and forth.

Starting point is 02:26:26 It's a crazy busy week. I gotta be back. I'm literally leaving first thing in the morning on Sunday, excuse me, on Monday to get back here to cover the event taking place right here in DC. But I will be there, Detroit. Look forward to being there. In fact, this is the first time

Starting point is 02:26:44 I've actually been back to the dentist. Funny, they're honoring Reverend Dr. Jeremiah Wright. The last time I was at the dentist was when he keynoteed there in 2007. And so look forward to being there. All right, folks, that is it for us. If you want to support the work that we do, join our Bring the Funk fan club.

Starting point is 02:27:03 And of course, the goal is to get 20,000 by our fans contributing on average 50 bucks each a year it's $4.19 a month 13 cents a day you support this show and all the other shows on the network this is the QR code for sure you're gonna give me a cash app use the stripe app to do so this is the QR code of your listening go to rollingmarkdownfilter.com for the link check some checks money ordered. Send them to, first of all make it payable to rolling Martin unfiltered. Send them to P.O. Box 57196 Washington D.C. 20037.0196. PayPal R Martin unfiltered, Venmo RM unfiltered,

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Starting point is 02:28:02 and so get our new merchandise, rolandmartin.craderdashbrain.com. If you bought a, if you bought gear, you have not gotten it, be sure to hit us up so we can help you get that. Also, of course, shop out the Black Own products that we have. You see them on our table right here. Of course, Black Own toilet paper, we've got barbecue sauce, other items, we got coffee, all that sort of stuff. And so we should have a tight shot of that, y'all. We should do that every day, a tight shot of our stuff. So again, get the products. You're going to shopblackstartnetwork.com.

Starting point is 02:28:34 Also be sure to support Fanbase. Download the app. If you want to invest in Series A fundraising, go to startengine.com forward slash fanbase. Folks, that's it. See y'all on Sunday from Detroit, Monday from a nation's capital. Until then, have a fabulous, fabulous weekend. Holla!

Starting point is 02:28:52 Oh, we always end the show, of course, with our donors. So we're gonna run the donors, and then we're gonna go to True Talks. Go. So So So So So So So So So So I'm gonna be a good boy. So So See you next time. When your car is making a strange noise, no matter what it is, you can't just pretend it's not happening. That's an interesting sound. It's like your mental health. If you're struggling and feeling overwhelmed,

Starting point is 02:34:28 it's important to do something about it. It can be as simple as talking to someone or just taking a deep calming breath to ground yourself. Because once you start to address the problem, you can go so much further. The Huntsman Mental Health Institute and the Ad Council have resources available for you at loveyourmindtoday.org. I know a lot of cops, they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot

Starting point is 02:34:51 your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Our iHeartRadio Music Festival, presented by Capital One,

Starting point is 02:35:20 is coming back to Las Vegas. Vegas! September 19th and 20th. On your feet! Streaming live only on Hulu. Ladies and gentlemen. Brian Adams, Ed Sheeran, Fade, Glorilla, Jelly Roll,

Starting point is 02:35:31 John Fogarty, Lil Wayne, LL Cool J, Mariah Carey, Maroon 5, Sammy Hagar, Tate McCragg, The Offspring, Tim McGraw. Tickets are on sale now at AXS.com. Get your tickets today! AXS.com. Do you remember Vine?

Starting point is 02:35:49 It changed the internet forever and it vanished in its prime. I'm Benedict Townsend and this is Vine. Six seconds that changed the world. The untold story of genius, betrayal, and the app that died so that TikTok could thrive. From overnight stars to the fall that no one saw coming, we're breaking down what made Vine iconic. Listen to Vine on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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