#RolandMartinUnfiltered - VP Kamala Harris Talks Black Agenda With Roland in North Carolina

Episode Date: October 14, 2024

VP Kamala Harris Talks Black Agenda With Roland in North Carolina Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. 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'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. 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.

Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication.

Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. I'm Vice President. Roland Martin. Ready to bring the funk? I'm trying. I'm trying. Let's get right to it. Right before I walked out there, someone posted a clip.

And usually this, the clip, I'm not not gonna sit here and say i'm doing anything specifically for african americans but folk don't talk about what you said right before when you said that public policy that benefits black folks it benefits everybody else right even we look at historically civil rights act uh voting rights act it actually didn't just impact african americans it impacted everyone else but but talk about that because so many people have only clipped that one part without understanding the public policy implications. That's too bad. That's too bad. I'm sorry to hear that. Right. So, you know, that that I mean, going back even before.

But Dr. King was very clear, right? If you have certain policies that recognize one, then not everybody starts out on the same base. If you have public policy and I'm talking about economic public policy specifically at this point, but if you have public policy that recognizes historical barriers and what we need to do then to overcome, first to speak truth about them and then overcome them, that in the process of doing that, not only are you directly dealing with the injustices and the legal and procedural barriers that have been focused on black folks, but by eliminating those barriers, everyone actually benefits, right? And I know is going to have a profound impact on black folks around economic policy, but everyone will benefit from them. I intend to create as president what I have named an opportunity economy that taps into the ambitions and the aspirations and the dreams of the American people and then addresses those in a way that recognizes, unlike my opponent who was handed $400 million on a

silver platter and then filed bankruptcy six times. Not everyone has access to those kinds of resources, but when you give people access to those resources, they thrive and we all benefit. Opportunity economy. That's why I say I'm going to make sure that we give first-time homebuyers a $25,000 down payment assistance. Because, again, we know that when you look at the history of how black folks have been denied the opportunity for homeownership, be it redlining or what we know has still been happening around bias in home appraisals, that it is a barrier to achieving intergenerational success. But when we address it by doing things like helping folks get their foot in the door with a down payment assistance,

they will have the ability to be on that track of intergenerational wealth building. My plan for extending and expanding the child tax credit, $6,000 for the first year of a child's life. Because our parents, just like any parent, have a natural desire to parent their children well, but not always the resources to do that. So $6,000 in the first year of your child's life helps you buy that car seat or crib or the clothes that are necessary to build the foundation for that important phase of their development that gets them on the right track. I do want to do the housing piece because what I think is not being talked about, the

building of new housing stock. Yes. And so because of the home foreclosure crisis, we literally built under 9 or 10 million homes in 2010, 2020. We're underbuilt now as well. The fewest homes being built since the 1940s. Yes. So a huge part of this problem with housing is that we don't have the stock.

So talk about that piece there because you've got demand, but you don't actually have right now the available homes. So I'm glad you actually presented the point the way you did because let's also go back to what you know in my history on this in terms of being attorney general. When I took on the big banks and because they were doing predatory lending and a lot of the folks who were targeted with that predatory lending were black folks who are being told, oh, you don't need to worry about it. You're going to get we're going to give you this money. And so you can buy

a home without actually doing the analysis to figure out if they'd be able to afford to pay it back, right? And folks trusted the banks that if you're going to loan me the money, then you must have determined I have the ability to actually, right, be able to see it through. And the foreclosure rates for black homeowners during that crisis. 53% of black wealth wiped out. That's exactly right, Roland. And I took on and sued the big banks and ended up delivering $20 billion for the homeowners of California. The former President Obama recently mentioned the fact that I actually took on the Department of Justice and the administration saying I'm not going to do a deal that brings crumbs to the table. But not just when you're entering general, because even right now, the DOJ, Civil Rights

Division, the redlining lawsuits, mortgage discrimination. We have been taking all of it. Mortgage discrimination, also discrimination in home appraisals. We've taken on the fact that, you know, those stories about a black family is trying to get their appraised, their home appraised. They want to get a second mortgage. They want to sell the house, whatever. And they get their home appraised. They want to get a second mortgage. They want to sell the house, whatever. And they bring in the appraised.

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.

From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-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 iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way.

Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King,

John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette.

MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. 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 iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple 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 taylorpapersceiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. The appraiser looks around, looks at the family pictures and appraises it for less than it's worth. The family knows that. They're not stupid. The black folks got to remove photos. So then they remove photos and everything else, right? They remove all of that. And then they ask a white family that's a friend of theirs, come in, they put up their pictures and the house gets appraised for more racial bias. We're taking

that on for the first time. And I want to give due credit to former Secretary of HUD Marcia Fudge for being a leader on that. These are the things we've taken on. And as president, to your point about supply, I'm going to create tax incentives for home builders and developers to build 3 million new housing units by the end of my first term because a big part of jacking up the prices has been there's low, the supply is not meeting demand, so the prices are higher. And when you couple that with $25,000 down payment assistance, we have the ability to give people the opportunity to achieve what generations before called the American dream, but which has been out of reach for too many people. My work around thinking about how it's going to directly impact black folks is knowing that when you look at racial bias in home appraisals, when you look at the disproportionate rates of black homeownership to other people having homeownership, it's too low and it's not because we don't aspire to have a home or buy a home. My work is about looking at small businesses, knowing they're at the backbone of our economy in the neighborhood, in communities, and giving folks an extension of a tax deduction. So it's not just $5,000 for a startup small business, but $50,000 because nobody can start up a small business on $5,000.

I'm glad you mentioned small business. I was talking to a black restaurant owner in Houston and we're talking about the corporate tax rate. And one of the things that he said was he said, listen, I'm looking at her proposal. I'm looking at what was the place beforehand. He said, because when it got cut, it puts five hundred thousand dollars in my pocket. When I was in Georgia, Senator Warnock's campaign in 2022, a black woman said, hey, she said, I get reproductive rights. She said, I'm not having any kids, but I do care about taxes. And so that's one of the things that I'm hearing from a number of African-American business owners who are saying, OK, what will vice president if she's president deal with corporate tax rate? And so you talked about increasing it. Does that mean a certain capital? Let's say you 50 million, 100 million revenue or less.

Will that go up or will that corporate tax rate apply to all all businesses? So, first of all, the corporate tax rate years ago was in the 30s. So I'm not doing that. But in terms of tax cuts for middle-class families, my agenda is all about tax cuts for middle-class families and no tax rate hike for anybody making less than $400,000 a year. But my approach is also about giving 100 million Americans a tax cut in terms of middle-class tax cuts. Donald Trump, on the other hand, first of all, like he did before, he will do again and has pretty much pledged that he will give a tax cut for billionaires in the biggest corporations.

Donald Trump has indicated that basically what I call a Trump sales tax will be in place, which is a 20% tax on everyday goods and services, which economists have estimated will cost the average American family $4,000 more a year. Goldman Sachs. Including the small businesses. Of course, including small businesses. Not to mention what he is doing. If you look at Project 2025, what they're proposing in terms of cutting off, for example, we see Hurricane Helene, what we have seen happen in terms of Milton, cutting off the SBA ability to give small businesses that have experienced an extreme weather event, a disaster, giving them additional resources.

This man doesn't want to help small businesses. He cares about the kinds of people who run the businesses he runs, big developers, billionaires. He's not looking out for middle class folks. You look at what he is proposing in terms of cutting, if you look at the cost that middle class families bear, health care costs. We have capped the cost of insulin $35 a month for seniors. Black folks are 60% more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes. Under Project 2025, they would undo that $35 cap. You look at what he is planning to do that is about undoing, getting rid of the Department of Education and Head Start programs. Who do you

think that's going to affect? So there is, first of all, a danger in terms of understanding, there are two choices in this election, and understanding what Donald Trump intends for middle class families. Two, look at it in the context of how he actually thinks and talks about black folks in America. And you and I have talked about this before. He is not looking out for folks when he was a landlord and would not rent to black families, sued for it when he took out a full page ad in the New York Times against those five teenagers, black and Latino, who were innocent, saying they should be executed. The Central Park Five. When you look at the first black president of the United States and he had birthed their lives. And now you look at black immigrants, legal immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. And he gets on a debate stage and says they're eating their pets. Come on.

This man is dangerous. Not to mention Rowland. Let's fast forward to right now. His staff won't let him do a 60-minute interview. Every president for the last half century has done one, anyone who's running for president. Everyone has done it except Donald Trump. He will not debate me again. I put out my medical records.

He won't put out his medical records. And you have to ask, why is his staff doing that? And it may be because they think he's just not ready and unfit and unstable and should not have that level of transparency for the American people. There's a real choice in this election. You mentioned Department of Education. I was on a call a couple weeks ago, Jeffrey Canada, Steve Perry, Jalen Rose and others who are supporters of school choice, parental choice. And what they've complained about is that you haven't heard a lot about education in the last several months. And they were talking about these. 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. 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 iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava

for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown.

Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple 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 taylorpapersceiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Educational outcomes of African-Americans post-COVID. Yeah. And they said the numbers are depressing. Yeah, it's bad. In terms of your focus with education, one, do you support public charters?

Do you support, again, how we deal with those numbers? Because at the end of the day, if our kids are staying behind, that's just going to make it even more difficult for them when it comes to getting jobs. And so that education plan for America, if you're president. So I have supported public charters, but here's the thing that we have to just focus on in this election. First of all, Donald Trump would get rid of the Department of Education, which means that as a vehicle for funding a lot of what we need to do around public education for our children, it would be getting rid of Head Start. And we know how many of our children have benefited from that in the earliest stages of their development, which are the most critical to them being able to be successful as they go through the

educational process. So there is a huge contrast between me and him. And frankly, I don't think he wants to talk about education, which is why it has not become an issue on the debate stage, because he doesn't have a plan, which takes me back to a fundamental point. He doesn't have a plan for much of anything that is about the people who are going to be watching this interview. I invite everyone always and again, watch his rallies. He will talk full time about himself. He will talk about his personal grievances and he will not talk about you and any plan that he has for you or your children or your future. How's it make you feel when he trashes black cities?

So in 2020, he talked about voting in Fulton County, Atlanta. Philadelphia, Detroit. There was a partial recount of Wisconsin only in Milwaukee. The comments that he just made about Detroit basically being a living hell. And Oakland, D.C., Chicago. Pretty damn. Come on. Come on.

Pretty good damn ad y'all dropped out. I actually liked it. Jamil Hill and I talked about it. But again, he's singling out cities where there are significant African-Americans and that's who he's talking about. Black people. Yes. Yes. Yes.

You know, there's this whole I talked with somebody once who said, you know, if you just look at where the the the stars are in the sky. Don't look at them as just random things. If you just look at them as points, look at the constellation. What does it show you? So you just outlined it, Roland. What does it show you? That the cities that he picks on in terms of black population or black mayor are both. Come on. We're North Carolina, and this has been a battle battleground over voting rights. Federal judges eight years ago said there was laser-like precision targeting African-Americans. That is still a major issue. You've got the Supreme Court with their decision regarding Section 2, Section 4, the Voting Rights Act. And so if Congress doesn't move, what can you do to shore that up? Because that continues to be a major issue.

And with so many African-Americans now moving from northern locations of Midwest back to the south. Yeah, we're seeing these problems in Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas and others. Well, to your point, you mentioned North Carolina, which has been well documented, you look at, even though I must say that North Carolina has a governor, Roy Cooper, who has tried to do everything he can to ensure that voting rights are intact, but he does not have a veto-proof majority in the statehouse. Plus, Dems lost the Supreme Court as well. Well, and so, you know, I think that we should all, whoever's in North Carolina watching this, Josh Stein running for governor, it's going to be very important.

Pay attention to those state house races because those, if there is a, if they can change the balance in the state house, then they will be able to push through more protections for voting rights. But to your point, in Georgia they passed a law preventing people from giving food and water to folks who are standing in line to vote, which is the height of hypocrisy, because, you know, what happened to love thy neighbor, right? There is a full-on intent by some to attack hard-fought, hard-won freedoms and rights, including the right to vote. And part of it, if you track it, is if you look at the successes that we had,

in particular in 2020, and in the height of a pandemic when people just said they were going to vote, they knew and they understood how important it was. Thereafter, you saw in state after state attempts by state legislatures to make it more difficult for people to vote. And here's what I would say to your listeners. Don't let anybody take you out the game. There is an intent to make it more difficult. There is an intent to suggest to a lot of folks that their vote won't matter. But the intention that people will not vote, which is an attempt to silence folks. And what we know is the greatest progress we have achieved is when we jump over those obstacles that have been purposely laid. 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. 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 iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for the War on Drugs podcast. We are back.

In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne.

We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush.

What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up

and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org, brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. To do what we know is about progress. And this election is going to be no different. They've already started with the misinformation and the lies. We know that there is foreign interference, and I have to say to everybody listening to this, don't let them take your voice.

Because I was part of the Senate Intelligence Committee when we investigated Russia's interference in the 2016 election. Black folks were targeted with misinformation because there was an assumption that you're already targeting a group of people who already have learned, based on a lived experience, that things aren't necessarily designed to work for them, and manipulate that in a way that suggests to people that their vote won't matter. Because if you do that, they won't vote.

That was the intention. You said don't let them take you out of the game. What do you say to a young black woman, a young black man out there, who is seriously considering the couch, who says my vote doesn't matter, who says that I have not seen policies that have changed my life, because that's there. That thought process is there. Folks 65 and older vote the highest, but as you keep going down, that number just goes even lower and lower and lower. So what do you say to that young brother or sister who's watching?

Yeah. Why they should vote, but why they should trust you to be the 47th president? So first of all, your vote does matter. It is because folks voted that we have capped the cost of insulin at $35 a month, that we are on the path to doing what I intend to do, which is saying that your medical debt cannot be on your credit score, putting $16 billion in HBCUs, having the lowest black unemployment in recent history, the work that we have done that has been about investing in black businesses, the work that we have done that has been about understanding the importance of having representation at every

level, including a black woman on the United States Supreme Court for the first time. It's because people voted and demanded that. And the reality of how this system works is that we each have many ways that we are powerful. And one of those ways very significantly is through our vote. People sit down and they'll watch and say, okay, well, those folks aren't going to vote anyway. I don't need to listen to them. That's how this works. I don't feel that way. I'm going to go everywhere. That's why I'm in rural parts of North Carolina and Georgia and other places where people say, oh, your votes aren't there. But my people are there. People are there. That's how Obama won the state in 08. 14,100 votes.

The point is, is that I'm saying that not everyone and the system doesn't necessarily work that way. The hard reality of the system is that often the people whose policies get pushed through are the people who actually demand what they want through their vote. Squeaky wheel gets the most grease. Often. Often. That is the way it works. And when people who are, and I'm not talking about myself, just anybody who's running for office,

when they see young black people are voting, they're going to say, well, I better know they're going to vote anyway. I better know what they want. I better listen to them. What do they want? Because I see that they turn out in big numbers. Criminal justice. One of the things I keep hearing. Biden has administration didn't get George Floyd Justice Act passed through. But what you have, though, is a very aggressive civil rights division that and I've covered all the stories, the number of former police officers, they've actually sent to prison, corrections officers, jailers. And I haven't heard some of the highest numbers in recent history.

And certainly compare those numbers to Trump administration. Well, and you see a stark difference. He had one person practice investigation that 12 under this deal. Exactly right. Will you continue having that aggressive of a DOJ civil rights division? Because the work that's being done, I mean, it doesn't get a lot of attention. It talks about a lot, but it's actually happening, the work that Kristen Clark and others are doing.

They're doing extraordinary work. And that is the work that would continue in a Harris administration. Let me tell you something. And again, because, Roland, I have to keep stressing not only the importance of every point, but the contrast between me and Donald Trump. Under Donald Trump as president, those cases were not happening with any vigor or commitment.

And not only that, he took resources out of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. We put resources into the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice so they could do the job they're supposed to do. And that absolutely would continue under me and my leadership. And it's about looking at what people have done, what they say. Again, you know the record of Donald Trump on these issues. You know the record of where he is on things like stop and frisk, right? And what the Project 2025 talks about. So there is a real contrast here on criminal justice, as there is on almost every issue that we have discussed.

FBI director said white domestic terrorism was America's greatest threat. How do you get folks who are not black to understand that hate crimes are still real? These things are actually happening in the country, and they have to be dealt with and addressed. Because when you talk about that, folks go, oh, no, these things are not happening. But the reality is they are, and African-Americans still are number one when it comes to hate crimes being reported against us. Well, and I know that because I published the hate crimes report every year when I was attorney general in California. And it is, to your point, about talking about it and making people clear

that we have actually seen a spike in hate crimes across the board. And it does not help when you have somebody who is a former president and running to be president again, who is constantly fanning the flames of hate and division in our country constantly. You often asked about Israel, Gaza, Ukraine. I never hear come up conversations about Africa.

You travel there. Fastest growing, six of the top ten fastest growing economies. Very young continent. A lot of folks complain about Chinese investment. But in terms of your presidency, dealing with the continent in those countries, what would that look like? Because that's the future. 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. 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 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English.

I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corps vet.

MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them.

Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pregame to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Of this world, when you look at, again, those economies, and I've been to several countries and those presidents are saying, hey, we want to be with me. Come on. I didn't go that trip. But well, but if you if you win, I'll go on the next.

Well, let me tell you. So this has been you preaching to the choir. I've been listen, I believe so strongly. And I've and that is part of the work I've done as vice president, that we've got to change the narrative around the relationship between the United States and the continent of Africa. For a long time, it has been one that has been about aid as opposed to partnership. Or investment, right. Partnership. Yep. Which includes U.S. investment. So the work I've done as vice president has been to begin to change that relationship,

including the delegation that I took to the continent, which was focused on I brought billions of dollars and worked on billions of dollars of U.S. investment in the continent and in countries on the continent of Africa, looking at what we need to do around. Also, I've been partnering with technology companies around digital inclusion, so ensuring that folks have access to fintech, to financial banking and sectors. But to your point, the median age on the continent is 19. By 2050, one in four people on Earth will be on the continent of Africa. That is so, so, so exciting.

If we see it in terms of global policy, for the opportunity it presents to invest in partnership and to do the work that is about understanding the mutual benefit. So that is very much on my agenda as a priority. It has been as vice president, and it will continue to be if I am and when I am elected president. I mentioned those countries. When we talk about immigration, it has been African-Americans, it's been in some quarters extremely contentious. And I've said, wait a minute, there are people who are coming from African nations who are coming from Haiti, who are coming from Bermuda, who are coming from different countries. And you have these battles happening in Chicago and New York. What do you say to African-Americans specifically about immigration and how are you

going to deal with that? Because there was a reason folks were being sent to various cities to create the tension. But it's talked about. It's there. It is a real concern. So what do you say to African-Americans specifically who say, shut it all down, folks can't come in, close the border, who sound in many ways like mad at folks? So, first of all, I have prosecuted transnational criminal organizations for the trafficking of guns, drugs and human beings. I have had a career, including now, of prioritizing that we must have a secure border. And in fact, on the issue of immigration, let's be clear, some of the most conservative members of the United States Congress, together with others, had a bill to secure the border even more, and Donald Trump got wind of it,

and because he thought it would hurt his political chances in this election, told them not to put it up for a vote. He killed the bill that would have put 1,500 more border agents at the border, which is why the Border Agent Union supported it. That bill would have stemmed the flow of fentanyl, which is affecting people of every race and background and geographic location in our country. That bill would have given more resources to prosecute transnational criminal organizations. Donald Trump told them, cancel that bill because

he wants to run on a problem instead of fix a problem. I'm about fixing problems. And that includes when I am elected president, bringing back up that border security bill and I will sign it into law. We also must have an immigration system that is humane and orderly. We have to increase the number of asylum judges. We need to make sure that people who are fleeing harm, that we give them a chance to explain their situation in a meaningful way, because America also is a place that we have said, we will receive people who are fleeing persecution. They got to make their case. And then they got to be on a path where they earn the right to be here and become citizens, which means we need to have a comprehensive immigration policy that includes requiring people to earn and work hard to earn their citizenship.

The last question is that your folks are dancing back here. So I see them all in my periphery. So y'all can relax, Cedric. Congressman. Well, you know, he's a Saints fan, too. We'll talk about that. Why do you want this? Why do you want to be president? there's somebody who's saying, why should I trust her with the power of being commander in chief? I love our country, Roland. I believe in the American people. And I know we are a people who have the character that have ambition, that have aspirations and dreams. And I intend to be a president who meets people with opportunities for them to not just get by, but get ahead. I believe in our country and the importance of its strength in terms of what that means to the world. As vice president of the United States,

I have met over 150 world leaders, presidents, prime ministers, chancellors, and kings. I know the importance of America retaining respect as a power around the globe. And that's why I am putting in the hard work of working to earn every person's vote so we can actually turn the page on what has been otherwise years of an attempt to divide us as a nation, to have Americans point their fingers at each other. Years of belittling people and promoting fear, people are exhausted with that.

They're ready to turn the page. They're ready for a new generation of leadership that's about charting a new way forward. And that's what I intend to do with a sense of optimism and being clear-eyed about the challenges that folks face and the opportunities that we have to address those challenges in a way that strengthens our nation. Well, we certainly appreciate it.

And let me wish you a happy early birthday. Thank you. I'm not going to say the age because I'm not trying to have all these sisters get an attitude and tell them, I can't believe you did that. But, you know. Yeah, for your well-being, I would advise you not to do that. But it'll be published anyway. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

I appreciate you. Thank you. 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'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. 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 star-studded a little bit, man.

We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. 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. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. Arapahoe, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth.

Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. This is an iHeart Podcast.