#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Syracuse hate crimes unchecked; FL Court: No poll tax for felons; Zimmerman sues Dem prez hopefuls

Episode Date: February 25, 2020

2.19.20 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Syracuse hate crimes go unchecked; Court rules Florida can’t bar ex-felons from voting over fines and fees; Trump pardons more white collar criminals; Nevada presidential debate preview; Zimmerman sues Dem prez hopefuls; Bowie State University has opened a free food pantry for the students #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: Are you looking to enhance your leadership or that of your team in 2020? Join Dr. Jacquie Hood Martin as she engages others to think like a leader. Register and start the online course today! www.live2lead.com/Leesburg Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Today's Wednesday, February 19th, 2020, coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, big debate night in Las Vegas. Mike Bloomberg will take the stage for the first time. Ooh, it's gonna be quite an interesting one.

We'll break it down. In Syracuse, student protesters are being suspended, but there are no reprimands for the students who actually have committed hate crimes. That makes no sense. An appeals court just ruled that Florida cannot require felons to pay fines and fees to vote. Also, Donald Trump pardoned 11 folks yesterday, most of them white-collar criminals. I wonder if Kwame Kilpatrick is going to get a pardon.

Uh-oh. Interesting, interesting. Trayvon Martin murderer George Zimmerman has filed a lawsuit against Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg because he actually says he's hurt. They call him a white supremacist. Get over it. And Bowie State University has opened a free food pantry for the students, the first of its kind.

It's time to bring the funk and roll the mic on the filter. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the mess, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the smooth, the fat, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling. Best believe he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks. 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, folks, tonight's debate in Las Vegas should be quite interesting. The candidates on the stage will be Senator Bernie Sanders, Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Elizabeth Warren,

former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Senator Amy Klobuchar. It's going to be a big night. Of course, the Nevada primary taking place on Saturday. Then, of course, next Tuesday is going to be the debate in Charleston, South Carolina, sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute,

airing on CBS. And then, of course, voting in South Carolina. Now, you know, everything is going to be all about Bloomberg tonight. The first time he's going to be on the debate stage, joining us right now is Teresa Lundy, principal founder, TML Communications, A. Scott Bolden, former chair, National Bar Association PAC. All right, folks, here's the deal here.

I think I've been saying this. Obviously, Bernie Sanders has vaulted to the lead in Nevada. Vice President Joe Biden is second. You see what's happening there, which you also have, of course, the upbeat jockey. No, he's not fading. No, he's not fading because, frankly, the other candidates are so far down,

it's really him and Sanders at the top. But I keep saying this. I really believe the person who really needs to kill tonight is Elizabeth Warren. I agree. I think Elizabeth Warren has been... She had her moment, and I'm not sure where the rest of her moments

are going to go. So I really do believe early on in the conversation, you know, she had some sparks. I know locally she's been really hitting the ground. But I'm not sure, you know, unless there's something a little bit different in her policy that she wants to do. I'm just not feeling the Warren buzz that it was before. So if you have an Elizabeth Warren that has something like 35,000 volunteers around this country, and she is pounding the pavement, she's got a plan for everything, and she's not moving, or she's moving in the other direction, that means something about her campaign, something about her is not connecting or resonating with the voters to the

point where she's expanding her base. If she's not expanding her base and she's going in the other direction, she needs to have a big night, but she also needs to stop attacking Bloomberg for investing his own money in this campaign. They're crying about his money, but money doesn't buy votes. The common denominator is still voting, and because she's going in the other direction, she needs to have a different message, otherwise she sounds like she's complaining. And that's for Bernie, too.

Eugene Craig, the reason why Scott is wrong is because here's the deal. I'm wrong? Only two states have voted. Who is third in delegates? Elizabeth Warren. So this whole idea that she's going backwards, it's simply not true.

The point I'm making is, if you look at the New Hampshire debate, of the late deciding people, Amy Klobuchar got almost a third of those folks because of her debate performance. Again, previous debates, Warren sort of fell by the wayside or got lost in all the back and forth.

Tom Steyer's not gonna be on the stage tonight. I do believe also her strong suit has been going after Wall Street, going after big money. That's where she really became known prior to coming to the United States Senate. That to me is gonna be the opportunity tonight. Bloomberg, based upon what we're already reading, his thoughts are going to be pretty much,

I'm just going to brush off everybody. And I think, look, you know, she's in a unique position here where she actually is collapsing right now. She is. She's collapsing. I have to agree with Scott here that she's collapsing. And I do think that she and others are going to walk into a landmine field of trying to attack Bloomberg on his cash when everybody on that stage has accepted cash from Bloomberg in one way or another.

Oh, and here's the other thing. They all raise money. What's the difference between raising a billion and spending your own billion? There's no difference between raising a billion and spending your own billion. You still need votes. That's common ground. Actually, actually, actually, with somebody like Elizabeth Warren who runs on, hey, let's get corporate interests out of politics. Let's get, you know, big, you know, corporate, you know, special interest dollars out of politics. You want somebody like Bloomberg who says, hey, listen, I'm beholden to nobody except myself.

It's my own dollars I have. But let's take it a step further. You know, look, I'm a Republican here. But one thing I can appreciate is somebody like Michael Bloomberg coming in and stepping up for black mayors across the country and helping them get across the finish line. Black DAs helping them get across the finish line. Black DAs help them get across the finish line. One of the reasons we were able, one of the reasons we actually saw impeachment is because of Bloomberg deploying his dollars and helping take back the house. And he's got to hit back with that. How he's invested his money.

And the thing is this, the thing is want to hit him on this, where was Bernie and Liz when folk were trying to take back the House and take back governorships and take back big houses in its midterm cycle? Bernie wasn't deploying his operation, and Liz wasn't deploying her operation. Joe was out there, and Bloomberg was deploying his dollars. The reason why it makes smart politics to go after the amount of money Bloomberg is throwing in is because it speaks to the whole issue of rich interest, in essence, buying elections. The reality is the reason Bernie Sanders is where he is right now, that's been his message. Absolutely.

I mean, to act as somehow that hasn't been the case. The reason Bernie Sanders has such fervent supporters is because that has been the biggest, most important thing where he touts average donation being anywhere from $19 to $27. Teresa. And so that's why we have to really say, Bernie and Elizabeth Warren has to stay focused on that message. If they veer off of that message,

I fear that they're going to lose a part of their base, of which that's been keeping them sustainable this entire time. But it's a false narrative. Hold on. One second. One second.

Let her finish. Thank you, Roland. So we also have to remember... You never say that to me when I'm on the show. Get over it. So we also have to remember, even through the town hall that happened on CNN yesterday, there was a very particular and direct question that went to Bernie Sanders, which was very clear.

And I forget the young woman's name. But she was like, if you win the Democratic nominee for the Democratic nominee, will you accept Michael Bloomberg? He got so, it was like almost like a backup statement. It was very interesting. Bernie Sanders has billionaires as co-chairs of his campaign. Ben and Jerry are billionaires. If he wants to, if Bernie and Liz and some of these

other holy-in-the-out people want to disavow big dollars, give the checks back. Nobody's going to get the checks back. They're contributors because they're trying to get to a billion. Give the max out checks back. If you are so holier than thou, don't accept max out donations. Elizabeth Warren has a super PAC that's going up on air this weekend.

Disavow your super PAC if you're so holier than thou. Here's the second part of that. Is Mike Bloomberg doing anything? Listen to your listening audience. Is he doing anything that's illegal? No. Immoral? No.

Unlawful? No. If the other candidates had a billion dollars to spend, are you telling me that they shouldn't be spending it? So you're complaining about the handicap. No, no, no. Not about buying votes. You can't buy votes with money.

No, no, no. You can buy name recognition. You can buy ad time. But the Compton nominator is still voting. What are you mad about? What are you mad about? One second. It is still a smart strategy when you look at the number of people who do not like Citizens United, the number of people who do not like dark money,

the number of people who oppose how money dark money, the number of people who oppose how money has overtaken politics. One second. I'm not done. I'm not done. I am not done. I am not done. When you're running, it's about how do I set myself apart from the other candidates?

You have Joe Biden, who is dependent upon large donors. You have Pete Buttigieg, who's dependent upon large donors. Again, when you look at what Sanders, how he has been able to rise, when you look at what made Elizabeth Warren, who really became a United States senator, it was looking at Wall Street big money interest. That still resonates among lots of people. But again, the other thing I think is going to happen tonight, and this is where, again, I keep bringing up

Warren for this reason. Vice President Joe Biden wrote the 1994 crime bill. Exactly. Senator Bernie Sanders, even though he spoke on the floor about the negative aspects of the crime bill, he still voted for it. Mayor Pete Buttigieg has his own issues in terms of African-Americans

in the police department in South Bend, Indiana. Senator Amy Klobuchar has to answer to the questions when it comes to who she's prosecuted. Bloomberg, stop and frisk, redlining comments, housing, homelessness, all of that sort of stuff. Again, the one person who can go after all of them tonight

on all of those issues is Warren. She's got the Indian thing and a Native American. No, okay, Renee. She drove, yeah, but she drove that narrative. That's not, first of all, that is not... That's not even in the category

where we're talking about. No, no, no. No, no, no. That is not a policy issue. Everybody else, everybody else, I'm telling you, tonight, I'm telling you,

tonight's debate and Tuesday's debate, I'm telling you right now, tonight's debate and Tuesday's debate could very well change the right now, tonight's debate and Tuesday's debate could very well change the fortunes up or down for any candidate. Joe Biden also has to, he must look alive. Not just look alive. He got it in him. He cannot have another lackluster performance.

He can't. He can't. That's his debate style. What are the top three things you would recommend Biden change his debate style? I do agree with you. Policy does matter. And one of the great Republican attitudes is personnel's policy. And the one thing that we cannot deny as black people when it comes to these presidential campaigns,

the one campaign that has stepped up for black America when it comes to hiring black consultants, when it comes to hiring black talent, when it comes to supporting black media, is Michael Bloomberg. I like the way the DNC has been doing it. These other candidates and campaigns that have the dollars to do it aren't doing it. The only one that did it was Castro when it comes to hiring senior black staff

or at an extreme senior level. And by defining that as decision makers. So if we're going to have a conversation about policy, personnel is policy. And when it comes to black America, what matters to black America, Bloomberg is leading the way. That's right. But I want to talk about, you talk about Elizabeth Warren.

I want to talk about what Bloomberg has to do. You know, when you're doing an oral argument in federal court, if you've got a losing case, or if you're on appeal, you get a lot of questions from the justices. You just do, right? And either you're going to slip punches, take a punch, and throw a right cross, politically speaking, or from a litigation standpoint, litigation-wise speaking, that tests your mettle. And you will evolve. We will see what type of debate he's prepared to have.

Because when you're under attack, that's when you have the greatest opportunity to show your chops. Not when you just, when there are no questions your way and you just present. Bloomberg has got to be able to take a punch, slip a punch, and throw a right cross. Because the world will be watching. They're going to dump on him or try to. And depending on whether he connects with that right cross counterpunch, politically speaking, they're going to walk away.

They're either going to keep dumping him, or they're going to stop dumping on him. So $60 billion in the bank, he ought to have prepared well enough to throw that right counter. He has to expect the stop and frisk is going to be here throwing down, probably within the first five to ten minutes. Exactly. Maybe by the question.

Maybe by the question. But what he has to come out with first and foremost is that the current occupant of the White House currently believes in stop and frisk, currently believes in police brutality, and currently believes as recently as two weeks ago. But that doesn't make him better or different, though. I'm not done. I'm not done. Murdering drug dealers, all right? Secondly here, he has to pivot to his very robust criminal justice reform plan. I MEAN, HE'S THE ONLY ONE ON THE RECORD.

AND HIS INVESTMENTS IN REFORMATION. ONLY ONE ON THE RECORD READY TO COME OUT AND CUT THE CURRENT PRISON POPULATION IN HALF OVER THE NEXT DECADE. BUT, BUT, BUT, BUT, BUT HERE'S THE DEAL. A PRESIDENT CAN'T CUT THE PRISON POPULATION IN HALF. ABSOLUTELY CAN'T. A PRESIDENT, NO. THE PRESIDENT, THE PRESIDENT VIA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE DOLLARS. NO. HE CAN'T SIGN LEGISLATION TO DO IT. WHAT KIND OF, WHAT KIND OF SUPPORT GOES A president? No. The president via Department of Justice dollars. He can't sign legislation to do it. What kind of support goes to the state level?

Again, again, again, again, again. Only way to cut prison levels on the state level is it happens on the state level. I agree with you. So here's a piece. But every level needs support. No, no, no. One second. That's just funding.

But the president can influence those state policies. I'm fully aware what the president can influence. Okay. What I also know is states still have all that power to do so. So this whole idea of terms of what he wants to cut. Look, here's the piece here. He still has to contend with the fact of five million stop and frisk stops during his mayoral tenure. And 95% did nothing. Now, you can sit here and all of a sudden

First of all, let me be clear. I didn't say that was a litmus test. What I say it is he has to address that. He can't just be, well, you know what? I mean, you know, I apologize. No, because the reality is as late as September of 2019 he was defending it he only apologized in November but the other pieces is here it was very interesting the last debate it was very interesting when they brought up criminal justice reform I was very surprised that nobody when Joe was sitting here I passed this and I passed that and I passed this and I passed that not a single person said jump back and you also passed a 1994 crime bill would you keep defending and I passed this, and I passed that. Not a single person said, and you also passed a 1994 crime bill, would you keep defending? And I was sitting

at home going, uh, is anybody going to hit Joe on this? And nobody did. Again, I think what has to happen is if you're a candidate, if you want to make a move, you can't wait for the moderators to do it.

You're going to have... I go back to that last debate. Tom Steyer, when he jumped in there and tried to make Biden apologize for one of his supporters in South Carolina saying that black candidates were only supporting Tom Steyer because he was paying them. Tom Steyer forced the conversation

to the issue of race. And it went on. And George Stephanopoulos allowed the conversation to continue. This is where, if I'm one of those candidates, I ain't waiting on the five, or whoever it's about. I ain't waiting on Chuck Todd, or that's the whole.

Just pivot and go for it. Just pivot and go for it. Because, again, though, if you're Klobuchar, if you're Buttigieg, if you're Elizabeth Warren, you don't have a damn thing to lose. At the end of the day, look, you're way down in the bottom. Right. You got to go.

I mean, this whole, like, all the people talking about, oh, no, I think Elizabeth Warren should keep going with a unifying message. I'm like, no. No. Because when you're in a dogfight, I got to swing. Right. And I'm going to come out and swing. That's what I'm going to do.

So with Bloomberg, if I'm advising Bloomberg in regard to stop and frisk, the reality is I've invested in reformative justice programs. He's got to respond, not just by apologizing, but he's got to talk

about reparative justice. What he's prepared to do to make up for those 5,000 stop and frisks that some people died as a result of being arrested and being held at Rikers Island. And how hard is it for him to say, I was wrong?

Exactly. There's power in that. To simply say, I thought I was right, but looking at the numbers, looking at, I was wrong. And, and, and,

he also said, unlike this president, I'll admit when I was wrong. And this is what I'm going to do to repair it. But, but, we're used to these people with their egos

Never wanting to say I was wrong He will set himself apart from the rest of the field because every last one of them when they would when they are faced with Track record. Yeah, it goes that they go into defensive mode rather than essentially, hey, Phil found, you know, this is what happened, let me fix it, you know? And he's in the deal. And it connotes authenticity. And here's also what hasn't come up.

I'm telling you, if I'm warned or any one of those candidates, I will turn to them and I will say, if all 12 of your years, you, Mayor, fought the Central Park Five settlement, and thank God Bill de Blasio was elected, because the only reason those five young men were able to have any financial recourse was because you were no longer the mayor. There you go.

See, I mean... That's so interesting. I mean, that's not fair. That's not fair, because that's a very complicated case. No, it's not. There were a lot of politics in that case. No, it's not.

And there was still evidence against those individuals. No, it's not. Until somebody else came forward. No, that is wrong. You don't know what I know about that case. But you're wrong. You don't know what I know about that case. So we can't talk.

Okay, but you're wrong. The reason you're wrong is that they were released. Yeah. They were released long after. Bloomberg fought the settlement after the judge had already cleared the young man. Because it wasn't clear that they were entitled to those funds regardless of the judge's order.

And by the way, the judge's order was very limited. Let's be clear. And so now it gets real complicated. Let's be clear. So you don't know as much as I know why the mayor fought it. One mayor signed the deal. Well, we laid the foundation for De Blasio to be able to pay them.

No, he didn't. Yeah, we did. We set it up that way. No, he didn't. He fought it. Bloomberg fought it. By the way, this is role-playing. I'm role-playing.

Oh, yeah, you're role-playing. I'm role-playing people. This is why we retain Scott. No, but it's very simple. But again, though, my deal is that is a recent story because of the Able toVernay Netflix movie. My whole, my whole, and you turn to him and say, will you apologize to the exonerated five? I'm going to do that through reparative justice programs and in my criminal justice reform.

No, just apologize to the five. Hold on, hold on. I was wrong. And then I would say. And I'm going to repair it. And then I would say. Now what? Now I'm taking the wind out of your argument. Then I would say, and I'm going to repair it. Then I would say, then I would say, then I would say,

then I would say, you're a filibuster in this issue. No, I'm not. I would say, you sound just like Donald Trump. Oh, my goodness. You double down. Again, no.

All billionaires aren't the same. Yes, sir. All billionaires aren't the same. Well, first of all, you can't compare me to Donald Trump. Again, I'm a good billionaire. I would hit him on that.

I would hit him on that. I would hit him on that I would hit him on that I would hit him on that because what time is nice you have to score you have to score well this fair the other thing is this rolling you can't let me tell you something let me tell you something they get past those two things and and Mike comes out and just says and apologizes for him then you got nothing to hit him on after that exactly right ain Ain't nothing else to hit him on after that. That's the wind out of his tail. But he has to admit it, though. There's nothing else to hit him on after that. Well, no, first of all, you can still...

You gonna hit him on redlining? No, you can still deal with redlining. You can still deal with housing. You can still deal with not desegregating New York schools. I mean, it's a long line. New York got a lot of problems. And being in Nevada. Black people.

And being in Nevada, you can hit him on labor contracts in New York City. Black people can't afford politically to have a purity test or a litmus test on any of these now, on any of these candidates. I said nothing about purity or litmus. What I say is, if I'm running against another candidate, my job is to separate myself from you.

So you're going to do Trump's job. My job. You're going to do Trump's job for him? Guess what? When you run in the primary, that's why it's called a primary. You're going to cut each other up, and then Trump wins, right? That's why I call running. Pull some punches.

Pull some punches for America's sake. Beating Trump is the number one obligation, the number one priority for the Democratic nominee. You got to win the primary. You got to win. But if I do as much damage, more damage. The thing is, I disagree with Scott here. Why am I cutting them out?

Why am I cutting everybody out? Because it's called a primary. I disagree with Scott here. Have respect for the Democratic Party. Listen, you want everything to come out in the primary. You want to hone in your defenses during the primary. And I'm going to tell you this. The RNC, Trump victory, Trump for America, DJ, they are going

to hit whoever the nominee is with everything and a nuclear bomb. You don't cut each other up before you have to. You cut Trump up. I'm not saying you don't have a robust debate, but you certainly can, for example, make part of your argument, be critical of Joe Biden because of his association, for example, with Barack Obama, which we saw in an earlier debate. My point is there's a way to have a robust debate, but you don't need to be doing GOP talking points against each other to help yourself win. It's a fight to defeat yourself. If you're running against five other people, it's called you run to win. And let's be clear. Before it was five, it was 12, then it was 20.

So before we even got to this five, everybody had to cut each other in order to get here. So now that we're here, we want the best of the best to understand what their past situations and the policies they put forth in the past. This is policy. If we're talking about what you did in the past, if we're talking about what you did in the past, then we can't talk about the future.

We've got to talk about the future. The other thing is this. What's the problem with you bleeding-heart liberals on this planet? Who said I was a liberal? I'm moderate. See, that's the assumption of the Democrats. Eugene, Eugene, Scott, stop talking. The other thing is this, right? I'm going to tell you something.

Eugene, stop talking. Every last one of the Democrats running has a race issue in their past. Exactly. Precisely for the reason that... Will you stop talking? Let him finish. He'll meet you, Kosai. Eugene, go.

The era that we're in right now is not the era we were in a decade ago. We're in the post-Trayvon Martin, not post-whip, current Trayvon Martin, current Black Lives Matter era, right? And so the discussion around criminal justice reform is one that's been formulated over the last roughly eight years or so.

So, you know, and I think a lot of these candidates have to walk in with that understanding of, hey, look, what was the norm during the time that I served in X, Y, and Z was the norm. I apologize for what happened, what I took part in, the system that I took part in, but this is how I make it better. And that goes- It's called their racial baggage. I agree. Their criminal justice baggage. called their racial baggage. I agree. They're not going to apologize but if they have a reparative justice program, that's much more

sellable. Or a robust economic justice program. How simple is it to apologize? You won't find one political consultant that's in their ear that will tell them that there's power in authenticity, integrity, and apology, and it is. This one.

Are they fearless enough to do it and to count on the American people to accept that apology that's empowering and to move forward and still ask for their vote? Absolutely. Now, that's a powerful response. There's a model for it. This guy named Bill Clinton that may or may not have been impeached and had his— He wasn't. Well, he was impeached, but he wasn't convicted. He actually apologized after his impeachment. It's called record high approval ratings in the country afterwards.

So it can be done. But you've got to be fearless to do it. And most of these candidates aren't fearless enough to do it. But the point is, now you want candidates to be fearless. That's right. But then you were complaining when I said your candidate should go after your opposition. I'm saying don't cut off the Democratic Party or your Democratic Party. Because you're going to need them.

The big difference. No, here's the deal, though. You can't see the difference. I can explain it to you. Hold on, hold on. The reason you have Donald Trump right now is because. One second, one second. Here we go.

Donald Trump didn't care about cutting up other Republicans. And that's the issue. And guess what? They all were playing presidential politics. Exactly. Donald Trump said, let's go ground to pound. And so here's a piece. Democrats, if you want to win, you got to swing.

All that Michelle Obama, we go high when they go low? No. That was early on in the reality. That was when it was swing. They go low, you take their ass to the ground. Hey, hey. I'm not listening to me. I want to be heard. I want to be heard.

What about me? I'm trying to be heard. First of all, we're not listening to you. You don't listen, period. You could be wrong about some things. What have you been wrong about in your political life? In your political thinking? Name the top three times you've been wrong. Number one. I was wrong booking you on the show today.

Oh! We'll be coming back, rolling Martin and Sultry back in a moment. You walked into that one. To me, there are no greater patriots in America's long history than the black citizens who are willing to die for a nation that was denying them their rights. Mike Bloomberg is the only Democratic presidential candidate that has a real plan to fight for those sacrifices that have been taken for granted for far too long. And I've got to think it was in hopes that their service and sacrifice might redeem those rights

for their children and grandchildren. Introducing the Greenwood Initiative, a bold new plan to help black Americans create generational wealth. One, we will help a million more black families buy a house. Two, we will double the number of black-owned businesses. Three, we will help black families triple their wealth over the next 10 years to an all-time high. Mike will get it done. Visit mikeforblackamerica.com to learn more. There are concrete proposals that we can afford and that we can get done and we will. I'm Mike Bloomberg and I approve this message.

Paid for by Mike Bloomberg 2020. Check out Roller Barton Unfiltered. YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. It's Roller Barton Unfiltered. See that keep it real. It's Roland Martin Unfiltered. See that name right there?

Roland Martin Unfiltered. Like, share, subscribe to our YouTube channel. That's youtube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. And don't forget to turn on your notifications so when we go live, you'll know it. Martin! You are not judged from the height you have risen, but from the depth you have climbed.

Abolitionist and autobiographer, Frederick Douglass. Did you not hear me? All right, folks, are you looking to enhance your leadership or that of your team in 2020? Join our newest online course, The Mastermind Group, How Successful People Think. Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin will be your guide as you learn timeless leadership principles to apply to daily living.

Scott, you should be registering. Offer expires February 28th. Register for or start the online course today by www.livetolead.com forward slash Leesburg. Live to, number two, lead.com forward slash Leesburg. All right, folks, in Syracuse. Remember we had the students on and we talked about the protesting of hate crimes on that campus. Well, now the students are complaining by saying that those protesting racism are

actually being suspended. The group Not Against SU staged an occupation on Monday night inside of Kraus Heinz Hall administrative building where Chancellor Kent Savaroot's office are located. The students who have called for his resignation live streamed the protest on social media and also posted the suspension letters they received. The letter reads in part, this is a warning that unauthorized presence at Krause-Hinds Hall outside its regular operating hours of 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. is in violation of the campus disruption policy. Failure to comply with this directive will result in disciplinary charges through the Code of Student Conduct and may result in an interim suspension from the university. The university has suspended roughly 30 students for protesting white supremacy,

hate crimes that students say have not been properly dealt with by school officials. While suspended, students who live on campus are only allowed in the dormitories and dining halls, but not in any other Syracuse University-owned property. Any student found in violation of this could be arrested for trespass. What's crazy here, Teresa, is that the students have committed the hate crimes. None have been suspended. But they're suspending the protesters.

Right. It's sort of weird. Well, it's a disgrace. And I think the students were absolutely right. But again, I think we need to... This is the first I'm actually seeing this today, so I'm a little shocked, because this is the type of news that

has to keep going nationally so we can start having those dialogues and probably doing something a little bit more, but obviously it's a disgrace. Well, there's a dichotomy here that's not being discussed. That is, the administration would argue

that these controlled protests by white nationalists or those who have committed these crimes are either under investigation or otherwise. Uh, in regard to the students, they don't want... The administration doesn't want to counter protests, and so they're threatening to arrest them for trespass. If I were the students, I'd press the issue the way you're pressing it on this package

and then get arrested for trespass, right, and get to court and make an even bigger issue that would fly in the face of the administration's position. The administration wants to intimidate them and control their protests or reduce their protests, eliminate it, as opposed to them forming protesting in those areas where they've been told they can't,

get arrested, and then try the case, if you will. I think that's a great idea. Try the case, because that will force the administration to put their policies and that comparative between the hate crime, those people who put them in the head ground, it will be a comparative in court where a jury or a judge will have to render a decision. The administration doesn't want that.

I bet you they changed their policies after that. The administration absolutely does not want that. Federal courts across the country, especially over the last decade, 15 or so years, have ruled time and time and time again that essentially free speech zones, which, you know, Syracuse is kind of de facto trying to put in place here when trying to control protests, are unconstitutional. Why isn't civil obedience a first amendment issue? Just like the hate crimes, they would argue, which is hate speech, would argue they have a right on first amendment. And I would take it a step further. I would take it a step further. If the university is acting slow and moving slow on these hate crimes,

I do what the folk down in North Carolina did with the Silent Sam statue. You go after the major donors of the endowment and you put in front of them and say, listen, I want to continue to give major gifts to this university that is covering and hiding and not actively taking up cause against hate crimes that are taking place on this campus. And once you start hitting that endowment,

then you'll see action from the university. You can do that or sue them for discrimination or sue them for uneven enforcement of these First Amendment issues. I mean, if there was only a high-power corporate lawyer here that could help them with that lawsuit. If you had to retain her, I'd be happy to do it. I'm sorry. Do you know one? What is into you today?

No, I'm just asking. We're going to break. We come asking. We're going to break. We come back. We're going to talk about Florida and Amendment 4. That's next on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Mike Bloomberg is the only Democratic presidential candidate that has a real plan for black youth in education. It's called the Greenwood Initiative.

We'll make public college tuition free for all low-income students. We'll forgive college loans for students who were exploited by failed for-profit colleges. Mike knows investing in our teachers is investing in our children. We'll also recruit more black and Latino teachers as we did in New York City because studies show they can make all the difference. And we'll also invest much more in heavily historically black colleges and universities because many of the HBCUs are struggling. And the first step to achieving generational wealth is taken in the classroom. We'll incentivize state and localities to create financial literacy classes.

Mike will get it done. Visit MikeForBlackAmerica.com to learn more. There are concrete proposals that we can afford and that we can get done, and we will. I'm Mike Bloomberg, and I approve this message. Paid for by Mike Bloomberg 2020. If you want to support Roland Martin Unfiltered, be sure to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar that you give to us supports our daily digital show. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. As Roland Martin Unfiltered, support the Roland Martin Unfiltered daily digital show by going that keeps it black and keep it real. As Roland Martin Unfiltered support the Roland Martin Unfiltered Daily Digital Show

by going to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing 50 bucks each for the whole year. You can make this possible. RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. All right, so a lot of y'all are always asking me about some of the pocket squares that I wear. Now, I don't know. Robby don't have one on. on now I don't particularly like the white pocket squares I don't like even the silk ones and so I was reading GQ

magazine a number of years ago and I saw this guy who had this this pocket square here and it looks like a flower this is called a shibori pocket square this is how the Japanese manipulate the fabric to create this sort of flower effect. So I'm going to take it out and then place it in my hand so you see what it looks like. And I said, man, this is pretty cool. And so I tracked down, it took me a year to find a company that did it. And so they make about 47 different colors. And so I love them because, again, as men, we don't have many accessories to wear. So we don't have many options. And so this is really a pretty cool pocket screen. And what I love about this here is you saw when it's in the pocket, you know, it gives you that flower effect like that.

But if I wanted to also, unlike other, because if I flip it and turn it over, it actually gives me a different type of texture. And so, therefore, it gives me a different look of texture, and so therefore it gives me a different look. So there you go. So if you actually want to get one of these shibori pocket squares, we have them in 47 different colors, all you got to do is go to rollinglessmartin.com forward slash pocket squares. So it's rollinglessmartin.com forward slash pocket squares. All you got to do is go to my website and you can actually get this.

Now for those of you who are members of our Bring the Funk fan club, there's a discount for you to get our pocket squares. That's why you also got to be a part of our Bring the Funk fan club. And so that's what we want you to do. And so it's pretty cool. So if you want to jazz your look up, you can do that. In addition, y'all see me with some of the feather pocket squares. My sister was a designer. She actually makes these.

They're all custom-made. So when you also go to the website, you can also order one of the customized Feather Pocket Squares right there at RolandSMartin.com forward slash pocket squares. So please do so. And, of course, it goes to support the show. And, again, if you're a Bring the Funk fan club member, you get a discount. This is why you should join the fan club. All right, y'all. Federal appeals court has ruled that Florida can't bar felons who served their time from registering to vote

simply because they haven't paid all fines and fees stemming from their cases. A three-judge panel in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a Tallahassee federal judge's decision that the law implementing Amendment 4 amounted to an unfair poll tax. Amendment 4 was passed overwhelmingly by voters in 2018 to allow as many as 1.6 million formerly incarcerated folks to regain their right to vote. Joining me right now to talk about this is Conor Maxwell, Senior Policy Analyst for Race and Ethnicity Policy at the Center for American Progress. american progress all right connor so this is me going back and forth the governor ron desantis he wanted a ruling for the state supreme court they affirmed the uh the bill passed by the legislature now the federal courts are intervening

yeah absolutely so as you said back in, voters overwhelmingly passed a measure to restore voting rights to people with prior felony convictions. This affected over 1.5 million Floridians, disproportionately black and brown people. This stemmed from a long history in Florida of measures enacted to prevent people of color from voting. And once voters enacted it, Governor DeSantis led an effort to undermine that ballot initiative to impose these measures requiring people with prior felony convictions to pay off fines and fees in order to vote. As you said, a federal district court ruled that Florida could not hold people—could not impose a—an 11th Circuit Court of Appeals

recently upheld that. So now it will likely be appealed to the Supreme Court. But hopefully—you know, we're really optimistic here that come November 2020, millions, over a million people with prior felony convictions in Florida will finally be able to cast those ballots on Election Day. And what also jumps out here, obviously, this is going to be going back and forth. I mean, look, Republicans in Florida, they don't want to see these folks casting ballots because this could literally flip the state. I think that's absolutely what their intention was behind this. As I said before, folks in Florida have a long history of trying to prevent Black people from voting. Rather than

going into these communities, trying to appeal to them, trying to help them to find jobs, housing, opportunities, they instead try to suppress their vote, keep them from the ballot box in order to to help them to find jobs, housing, opportunities. They instead tried to suppress their vote, keep them from the ballot box in order to maintain control of the state. So it's a long history here, and they're only gonna continue to push it further. And what's really scary about this ruling here, Roland,

is that even if the ruling stands in the long term, it's still up to the individuals to prove they're unable to pay back their fines and fees in order to get their civil rights back. And so it's, and Florida will actually set those standards for what determines someone's ability to pay. All right, then. Conor Maxwell, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you so much. All right, folks, this is where, for me, I hope there are other ballot issues that take place around the country

to change state constitutions than the one in Florida. Listen, this is major. 1.6 million voters that now have their full... It's a game changer. It's a game changer. Their full franchise back. I think Republicans should probably be terrified. I think Democrats need to organize.

But, you know, it amounted to a poll tax. It amounted to an illegal poll tax. And, you know, I'm glad, you know, this is the power of the courts. This is the importance of having a good federal judiciary right here in play. You know, could you imagine if, you know, this is the 11th Circuit was, you know, fully stacked with Trump appointees right now? I mean, you would have seen this very, very racist loss. You know what's interesting about this, though, is that the original legislation was silent on fines

and that in some subsequent litigation, the group representing these 1.6 million felons or the interest groups, conceded at one point the silence and that the fines and other levies that were put forth, because they weren't covered, that they may have some exposure. Watch for the legislature, depending on what the makeup is of the Florida legislature. I can't remember. It's as red as that wall.

Watch them, because I always thought that this case, what would happen, Roland, was that the legislature would take it back up and then add that more specific language into the legislation and then try to push it through. Here, the plaintiffs were able to convince a federal court and

state court that the sentence was the sentence and that if I could vote, if these 1.6 could vote, then they could vote. And that includes if they hadn't paid their fines. That's a huge victory for that group. But the question is now going to be with, I can't remember if Florida's on Super Tuesday or the week after, with the Florida primary approaching as swiftly as it is, are they going to go back to the federal court

to get an injunction for extended voter registration? So they can appeal it to the Supreme Court. Or no, no, just to have an injunction to keep the window for voter registration open. Now that you have essentially 1.6 million people that may not be registered to vote and should have the opportunity to vote. And essentially we, three weeks,

maybe a month out from the Florida primary, you know. So, you know... Well, it also depends. What is the financial barrier for that? If they were to extend it for them... I mean, they could do the same day registration right there at the polls. But vigilance is the key.

Yeah, but that's still a cost factor for the state. The justice groups and the Democratic groups who are behind this and this huge victory, they've got to stay vigilant. Because the GOP in these states, let me tell you something. There's a reason that the GOP and federal, that they suppress voting rights for people of color. They know that when we vote, we vote for Democrats. We win. And so this policy or these efforts statewide, especially across the South, are for a purpose. Because Republicans cannot win without suppressing the black and brown vote. I keep trying to tell Republicans if they want to actually get black votes, stop suppressing

the vote. Exactly. They come up with an urban agenda. I'm just letting you know, black people ain't gonna roll with you. Right. Just letting you know. To stay in Florida, folks, George Zimmerman has filed a lawsuit against presidential candidates, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who he says defamed

him while paying tribute to Trayvon Martin on what would have been Martin's 25th birthday. A lawsuit claims the candidates defamed Zimmerman for political gain in misguided and malicious attempts to bolster their standings among African-American voters, all at Zimmerman's expense. It also alleges that Warren and Buttigieg connected Martin's shooting death with gun violence while he claims he was

acting in self-defense when he killed Martin. They both tweeted about Martin on February 5th, the day that would have been Martin's 25th birthday. Of course, you see the tweets. How many 25th birthdays have been stolen from us by white supremacy, gun violence, prejudice, and fear? Now, nowhere in there was George Zimmerman's name even mentioned. So what's this punk ass talking about? Okay, so he's going to lose this lawsuit. You know as a media veteran that Zimmerman's a public figure, right?

And so it has to be purposeful. And the drafter or the communicator has to know of its falsity. And they defame that individual anyway. It's the highest standard of the First Amendment lawsuit, the highest standard. He doesn't meet it barely. So what's he looking for? Some type of settlement? They're not going to settle with him. Because if this goes, if this stays in the media, this helps those presidential candidates. But it was Zimmerman neutral. These tweets were Zimmerman neutral. And so I'm not sure who he got to file this lawsuit,

but he certainly got to file it. Oh, I'm sure he can tell somebody in a Trump organization to do that. I'm so sick of his ass. I'm pretty sure he could find some pro-Cathedrant lawyer that would file an lawsuit. Pro bono. Yeah, but you've got to worry about Rule 11. And Rule 11 says you have to have a good faith basis and a viable argument, viable claims in order to file in federal court or state court.

If not, you could be penalized or you could be fined or even your license, quite frankly, under Rule 11 sanctions if the court finds that this was filed in bad faith or you did not have a colorable claim. So the lawyer who did this or the lawyers who did this, maybe they know more than we know in the media right now or what's

been public, but it's hard to find a lawyer to do something when you have this Rule 11 piece in place. I just find it fascinating that out of all of the tweets that happened during Trayvon Martin's anniversary, he chose the presidential candidates. Yeah, because of the attention. I get it, but we need to put that out there.

If you're judgment-proof or you're a member of the public and you attack Zimmerman, it's not worth filing a lawsuit Yeah, right but if you have access to money or or the or the plaintiff believes that you are sitting on a pot of money and that You could settle then you're a much more viable target. How does guys still walk on the streets? It's the only question That's more complicated than stuff. We don't have enough time. Brother, what do we have next? You want me to ask the next?

I'll ask the next question. Okay, so tell me what the GOP is saying. Oh, wow. Tell me what the GOP is saying. I know damn well. I know damn well. Ain't nobody listening to what Scott's got to say next. Nobody is listening to what Scott wants to talk about next.

Let's talk about something else next. But again, I want to get rid of... Play the theme song, Roland. I want to get rid of... I'm sick and tired of George Zimmerman. All right, y'all. I'm tired. Go somewhere.

Go under that rock where you're supposed to be living. All right, yes. Y'all must say, you're next, Roland. He's going to sue you. Yeah, go under that rock. Well, the good thing is, if he sues him, you got to be defensive. Yeah, go under a rock. Wow. Roland's going to have to pay Mike Bloomberg is the only Democratic presidential candidate who understands that wealth creation

and the current racial wealth gap is linked to past racism and has a plan to address the impact on Black America. The crimes against Black Americans still echo across the centuries, and no single law can wipe out that slate clean. The time has come, I think, to fully commit ourselves to acknowledging our history and righting our country's wrongs, and that's exactly what I will do as president. It's called the Greenwood Initiative. One, we will help a million more

black families buy a house. Two, we will double the number of black-owned businesses. Three, we will help black families triple their wealth over the next 10 years to an all-time high. Mike will get it done. Visit mikeforblackamerica.com to learn more.

There are concrete proposals that we can afford and that we can get done, and we will. I'm Mike Bloomberg, and I approve this message. Paid for by Mike Bloomberg 2020. Yesterday, Donald Trump pardoned a number of folks, including Michael Milken, and I love all his drainage swamp,

but he pardoned all these corrupt individuals, including former Illinois Governor Rob Ligovic. Now, here's what's interesting. All of these people, Trump and all the rest of the other people, said, you know what, it was just unfair. Rob Ligovic got sentenced to 14 years. In fact, Chicago

Mayor Lori Lightfoot gave an interview where she said that that likely was the longest ever for a political corruption. Well, that's actually not true. Also, Angela Stanton, Scott's buddy right there, who's on, you know, that likely was, you know, the longest ever for a political corruption. Well, that's actually not true. Also, Angela Stanton, Scott's buddy right there, who's on, of course, the show, she also had her felony conviction. She was pardoned as well. She, of course, is the adopted daughter of Alveda King, who, of course, is a big time Trump supporter. But Mayor Lightfoot was wrong because the reality is Kwame Kilpatrick, former mayor of Detroit, got 28 years in prison.

So the question is this here. And I've been hearing for the last year that folks out of Detroit have been really pushing, not just the last two years, pushing Trump on partnering or commuting Kwame Kilpatrick. Do you think Trump will try to use that as a play for black folks in Detroit? Absolutely. Maybe. The reality is all of these cases are different and in different jurisdictions

and they were state prosecutions. So, Kwame Kilpatrick, he may do it, that would be a shrewd. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Kwame was a Kwame state, not federal? So, Rodame Kilpatrick, he may do it. That would be a true... No, no, no, no, no. They're not state. They're not state. So, Ra was federal. Was Kwame State federal? Ra was...

You're absolutely right. Some were state, some were federal. Yeah, Ra... He could try that. The problem with Kilpatrick is this. He got those 28 years, not just because he was convicted of the corruption, but he was also...

He was violating court orders along the way. And at the sentencing, showing contrition and showing, you know, But he was also, he was violating court orders along the way. And at the sentencing, showing contrition and showing, you know, apologizing to the court, the court was not having it. I've appeared before that judge who sentenced Kwame Kilpatrick. And him violating it by going, some of these orders in the interim of going to Canada without permission, violating probation, violating his bail obligations and stuff, I think, and what I've read, it played a lot into the Senate. Now, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame,

Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, Kwame, No, no, one second. It was in both. It was in both. It was in both. Violating probation was in state court. Okay. The 28 years came in federal court.

Okay. So Trump could commute or pardon the president. Yeah, the federal side. The other thing is the money piece that was at issue. The higher the money piece is on the federal citizen's guidelines, she stayed within those 28 years. I don't think she went above the guidelines because he was convicted of several criminal and corrupt violations No, no, no, no, not several 24

24 I Can see Trump absolutely? Use in Kwame's case to try to make a play of things They're willing to throw anything at the wall right now his wife, but it won't let him but but but the but the other thing is I think there's one thing we probably should highlight here. I know Milken and the corrupt

police chief and whatnot, Carrick, got their parts of commutations. But I think probably the only thing that matters here is the three people that got parts of commutations as a promise that he made to Alex Johnson. I'm not giving Trump credit for shit, but I do think this is probably something that should be highlighted,

that, you know, there are three regular ordinary people that, you know, got commutation as part, as a promise that the president made to Alex Johnson when he released her. How do you define that word? Okay, should he get it, though? Should he get... For instance, was 28 years too long?

Was that too long of a prison sentence for Carmen DePache? I will say this. Murderers and men in manslaughter have gotten less. And I think when it comes to parity within the criminal justice system, I do think crimes of violent and public trust are at the top of that chain, at the top of that ladder. But do I think 28 years for... It is harsh. 28 years

is far more time than most politicians get in these corruption cases. William Jefferson, the former congressman in New Orleans, he got 13 years. And now a number of counsel thrown out later then eventually was free with time served. But he had 13

years. So the longest for corruption, the longest for corruption is Kwame, but he had 13 years. So the longest for corruption, the longest for corruption is Kwame Kilpatrick, 28 years. Oh, I understand. Negative narrative that led to that 28 years. Oh, no, no, I know, I know. He got in half that. No, no, no, I understand that.

Kwame is a, Kwame is a. He kept pissing the court off. Put the two way down, put the text messages down. No, no, no, he kept, no, no, no. Stop going to Canada. No, no, no, it wasn't, he was, no. I'm going to Canada. No, no, no. It wasn't, he was just going to Canada. It wasn't even just that.

It was when he said, they're like, are you receiving money from friends? No, I'm not. Here is a video of you getting a Western Union

$1,000 at Walmart. I mean, it was like, it was constant lying to the court. Exactly. And that played a huge role, I think, in why he also got 28 years.

And so we'll see what happens, whether or not Donald Trump also... If you don't respect the court, the court doesn't respect you. Exactly, but when you're in the system like that, you can't jaywalk, you know? You cannot jaywalk. And, you know, it's like my mother used to say, these defendants don't believe fat meets greasy. The judge gonna prove to you that fat meets greasy.

Right. And in Quill Patrick's case, she did. Fat meets greasy. Well, so we'll see. We'll see if all of these so-called rumors are gonna actually happen. Go to my iPad. What do you want to see?

Do you see it? I don't see it. Do you see it? Uh-huh. All right. Y'all should be, I don't know, you should be able to see it. Do you see it? Uh-huh. All right. Y'all should be, I don't know, you should be able to see it. There we go.

Let's pull it up. Let's see. Do we have it now? All right. Let me know if we got it now, if you see it. So where's Amy Klobuchar? Uh-huh. I told y'all, I'm going to call out Senator Amy Klobuchar every single day that she ignores black media and black voters.

So since middle of January, we've been trying to, of course, get Senator Klobuchar on the show. Her people aren't even returning emails. We have emailed Tim Hogan, National Communications Director for Amy Klobuchar. We have emailed him. We've called him. No response whatsoever. I've heard from a couple other folks on our campaign who have passed on our notes to the communications team. Now, here's the deal. I told you all yesterday, Washington posted a story.

But they had to ask a former Democratic official for a list of black turkeys in South Carolina. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't care who you are. Look, at least Pete Buttigieg is making an effort to actually talk to black people. He actually has endorsements of African-Americans. I don't know nobody black who's endorsed Amy Klobuchar. Why do you care if she's fifth or sixth in the polls?

And how do you know she's not talking to black media? She's not. She may not be talking to Roland Marlowe. Because if you paid attention for the last several times I've done this, you would have known that multiple other black journalists have reached out to me who said, thanks for calling her out because our calls have not gotten returned. Color of Change wanted her to do a podcast, their podcast. They said, no, we can't do it at your office.

Okay. They said, you need to book a hotel room right next to the Capitol. I'm not done. Color of Change booked the hotel room right next to the, hotel room next to the Capitol to do the podcast. Her people canceled. Never rescheduled. Now, I have talked to, well, you can whine about that all you want to,

but the point I'm making is this. It does not matter if you are fifth or sixth. What I'm saying is this here. If you are a presidential candidate, then you are going to need or you're going to be required to talk to black folks. I don't care who you are. But that's her issue. That's not your issue. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. Somebody who's black in the media. I'm sorry. Excuse me. And I'm going to call her out with that being her issue. That's not your issue. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Somebody who's black in the media. I'm sorry. Excuse me. And I'm going to call her out with that being her issue. But why do you care? Easy. If she doesn't care, why should she care?

Easy. She's running for president. I got it. She has an obligation to talk to voters. And, and, and. She doesn't have an obligation to do black media. Yes, she does. Yes, she does.

You're damn right. You're damn right. Because I don't want to hear them later on if they didn't support black voters. You're damn right. She's talking about groups and organizations. Who? And she's talking about black voters. She hasn't been here.

And she's not doing black media. What is this? I don't like it, but she's got a right to do that. If a week and a half out before the South Carolina primary, she's asking the DNC, can you send me some list of some black churches? She ain't talking to black voters. A week and a half out from South Carolina,

if she calls you, do you say yes? I'm saying yes to everybody. Do you say yes if she calls you a week before the South Carolina primary? Let me be clear. Let me be clear. Let me be clear. We've had, between this show and my TJ and Tom Jordan morning show statement before it went off, December 31st,

we had Senator Warren, Senator Harris, Senator Booker, Julian Castro, Beto O'Rourke, Pete Buttigieg, Marianne Williamson, Andrew Yang, Tom Steyer, we've had Bernie

Sanders, we've had, no, hell no, we had Tulsi. Oh my God! Wait a minute, man! Bernie Sanders. We've had, no, hell no, we had Tulsi. We've had Delaney. We've had Delaney. I talked to Tim Ryan. So all those folks. No, no, right, no, right, no, right, right.

The three people. No, no, no. So here's the deal. Here's what happened. When Biden got into the race, his campaign hit me and they said, hey, it was a Wednesday, April 24th. They offered up a surrogate to come on Tom Joyner's morning show. I said, no. There will be no surrogates

until the candidate comes on. So Biden did the interview with Tom Joyner. I wasn't a part of the interview. It was on a different day. So Biden came on Joyner. I wasn't a part of the interview. It was on a different day. Okay? So Biden came on Joyner. Biden hasn't come on this show. And I've made it clear to his campaign team, no surrogate from the Joe Biden campaign

will be allowed to come onto this show before the candidate comes on. That is a rule that I had at Tom Joyner. It was a rule that I had at TV One's News One Now. It was a rule that I had at Washington Watch. It's always been my rule there. I will not take cigarettes. Sanders has done it. Sanders has done it. And in fact, the Sanders people, and in fact, the Sanders people, they've had multiple surrogates on. They're actually

trying to set up a second interview with him as well. Same with Buttigieg. Same with Warren. We're working on also possible town halls with them as well. But here's the point here. As someone in black media, as somebody who's also the lawyer for NNPA, the black newspapers, you should understand this. And that is, and that is, you- I understand it all. No, no, no, no. And what it is is,

you have to call those folks out who want to ignore black media. And so you do it quietly. We gave them a whole month. I'm talking about, this is not like we emailed and called and they hit us back. No, no, no, no. But it doesn't have to be race-based. That's why she hadn't done your show.

Okay, first of all, first of all, that's cute. That's cute. She doesn't want to identify the questions for black media. She goes out and makes sure her Midwestern folks see her. She covers her face. Black people ain't her face. And makes sure they hear the argument that they could come home to her.

OK. But the thing is, the base of the Democratic Party are black people, particularly black women. She needs to come to black media and address anti-dress. And you know what? She doesn't have to. She ain't in much dress. You know why she ain't in much dress?

She raised $12 million over the last week. She's going to be around a bit. Why isn't that enough? She's not going to win the nomination. Let me tell you, that's the down one for her. If she's fighting for her country, she needs to address every aspect of it, including black media and black people. But that's why she's not going to win.

If she was one, two, or three, I could understand that. And I'm not letting her off the hook. What I'm saying is the fact that she's not doing black media or apparently not doing black media, that's her loss. And it shows in the polls. Scott, Scott, Scott, it doesn't matter if it's her loss. What I am going to do is be very consistent. I'm going to call people out.

So, Amy, I'm calling you out again. This is real simple, Amy. If you say you want all voters, you better talk to black people. You're polling at 0.5% among black people. And so, Scott, I don't care about how it's all up to her. Again, it's called accountability. And this is it. If you want to appeal to black voters, you're going to talk to black media.

And I'm just going to keep calling you out until you do. And if you want to keep ignoring us, that's not a problem. If you don't want to reschedule with color change, that's not a problem. If you don't want to talk to black newspapers, that's not a problem. But what I am going to do is let black voters know that you won't talk to black media and you're also ignoring black journalists at mainstream organizations. Would you like me to do a roll call? I have receipts.

Uh-oh. She certainly ought to be dealing with black journalists. But let me ask you, maybe this format, this format that we're in right now, maybe it's not best for her. Maybe she'd like to take it another... Maybe she could do it another format. Let me say it again. Harris, Booker, Warren, Steyer, Yang, Williamson.

Excuse me. Excuse me. So everybody else has done it except you? Nice try. Scott, try to find new defense. All right, y'all. Be sure to support what we do at RobomartUnderfiltered.com by going to our website, join our Bring the Funk fan club.

Scott finally gave. First of all, let me tell you what happened. And how much did I give? Let me tell finally gave. First of all, let me tell you what happened. And how much did I give? I invested. Scott sat here. Scott being a Kappa, did not like the Alpha shirt I'm wearing. It's inappropriate.

And he also don't like this Alpha ring. It's inappropriate. Kiss that ring. It hurts. He said, why can't you wear a suit? Why can't you wear a jacket? Kiss that ring. Kiss that ring. Kiss that ring. It hurts. It hurts. So he said, I'll pay you. He said, why can't you wear a suit? Why can't you wear a jacket?

He said, I'll pay you $10,000 if you put a jacket on and take that off. So I told Chelsea, go to my office. A suit jacket. Chelsea, bring me that. So I told him, now, y'all, Teresa, sit right. Teresa, did he say jacket? I said suit jacket. Teresa, he said jacket. OK, wait a minute. Teresa, did he say jacket? I said suit jacket. Teresa, he said jacket.

Okay, wait a minute. Suit jacket. Teresa, did he say jacket? Did I say suit jacket? Here we go. He said jacket. All right. We're going to find out who's who.

You know what? Did I say suit jacket? Here is the truth. I'm a moderate dim too. Come on. Because you said. Come on, what did he say? Roland, he said jacket.

And then you said. He said jacket. Then I said suit jacket. So Chelsea... Then he goes and put on an outfit jacket. Went to my office, got my jacket. You need a polo. Is this a suit jacket?

Got my jacket. Or is this a windbreaker? You know how they mean that. Hey. You know how they mean that. If you tell me... Put out the polo. So then he was like, oh, damn, he got me.

No. Then it was like... I said, that's too cute. then if you take the jacket off, I'll finally contribute a thousand to the fan club. That's right. So I made his ass give me his American Express card,

so I charged it right here. So Scott finally... Are you bragging or complaining about me giving you a thousand dollars? No, first of all, it should have been 10,000, but you reneged.

You're not a man of your word. You attack me too much on this show. You attack me too much on this show. You attack me too much on this show. I called a lawyer. I'm a lawyer. What are you expecting? I called a lawyer. What are you expecting, reneging live on air?

See, God knows what he'll do in the face. See, it's two people. Don't mess with him, man. That's not his own show. It's two people. Don't ever mess with him, man. This guy's own show. It's two people you should always be careful

when it comes to words. Lawyers. Lawyers and journalists. Yeah. Oh, well, yeah. I pay attention to all of it. You know what I meant. No.

You know what I meant. Oh, that's what I told you. You knew what I meant. Let me real clear. I didn't mean put on an alpha jacket. You know that. Y'all, if this was a court of law. Oh, I'd win.

The judge would say. I'd win. Not with this witness. The judge would say overruled. You didn't pay me. You can get back on the show. You ain't got to back me on the show. You didn't pay me. You didn't pay me.

I'm lying, y'all. Go to rolandmartinandchilcher.com. Join our Bring the Funk fan club. We can give you a square PayPal, of course, as well as a cash app as well. I finally gained. Every dollar for this show goes to support what we do. I'll be traveling tomorrow to Los Angeles for the NAACP Image Awards American Black Film Festival Honors.

We'll be live in L.A. I'll be there on Friday. I'll be traveling tomorrow. So I'll be a guest host tomorrow. I'll be live from the show on Friday from Los Angeles. And we'll be live from the red carpet at the NAACP pre-show on Friday. Then on Saturday, we'll be live from the NWACP Image Awards red carpet. And then on Sunday, live from the American Black Film Festival Honors red carpet there as well.

Then, of course, I fly back on Monday. And then next Tuesday, we'll be in South Carolina for three days for, of course, the debate there as well. So looking forward to all of that. All right, folks, I got to go. Y'all enjoy the debate tonight. We'll have a great conversation about it tomorrow. I got to go. I know a lot of cops. 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. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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.

It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersilling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Sure.

Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at the recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to it. It makes it real. It really does.

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast.