The Breakfast Club - Eric Garner Family And Reverend Al Sharpton Interview

Episode Date: July 27, 2015

Eric Garner Family And Reverend Al Sharpton Discuss The Events of Eric's Death Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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We are the Breakfast Club. We have some special, special guests with us this morning. The family of Eric Garner. His wife, Esau Garner. Did I say your name right? Yes, you did. Daughter, Emeril Garner. Good morning.

And Reverend Al Sharpton. Reverend Al Sharpton Daughter Emerald Garner. Good morning. And Reverend Al Sharpton. Reverend Al Sharpton. Good morning, good morning. Good morning. Well, first of all, thank you for joining us this morning. Thank you for having me. First, we want to send our condolences in that we're so sorry for your family. Absolutely.

Now, let's take it back a little bit. Let's start from the day that everything happened. What actually happened? We heard so much from the news, from media, from newspapers. We never really felt like we were going to be able to do that. And we saw the video. We saw the video. We know what happened.

Okay, well, that morning, you know, he had sinuses and stuff, so he was sneezing a lot. And I said, babe, why don't you stay in the house? And he said, oh, I can't make no money in the house, babe. I'm going out. So I said, okay. So he dropped me off where I was going. And he looked back at me and he said, babe, give me a kiss.

I've been married to him for 28 years. He never asked me for a kiss like that. So he's like, why are you looking at me like that? I said, because you never asked me for a kiss before. So I gave him a kiss. He said, you cooking? I said, yeah yeah I'm cooking fat boy that was my little nickname for him yes and he said um what you cooking I said pork chops

and rice and beans that sound good I say anything's good to you so then he looked I said all right love you see you later be careful and he looked back he said right back at you and he drove off um I went to my appointment or whatever I got home it was approximately about five minutes to three no about 2 45 you know he usually text me every couple of hours to let me know that he was okay everything was good if he was coming in early or whatever so he text me and he's like I'm okay so I'm like okay I go watch TV whatever my son gets up and he comes in the room, and he says, Ma, you still going to give me $20 I asked you for yesterday?

I'm like, yeah, boy, just give me my purse. So he hands me my purse. He goes outside. I lived on the first floor. So he immediately comes back in the house, and he's like, Ma, I think you should call Daddy. And I said, for what? I'm like, you know, he'll be home in a couple of hours.

I'm not going to bother him. He said, somebody just said they choked him that daddy got choked out on bay street so me in my mind i'm thinking okay he got arrested again let me just go sit outside keep my phone on so he's gonna call me bail him out whatever the case may be i get on the front bench and now my phone is ringing and it's ringing numbers that i've never seen before. Right. So I'm like, hello. They like pinky. You need to get down here quick. Your husband's not breathing. So I'm like, what? They're like, he's not breathing. They trying to revive him. They working on him or whatever. So I'm like, OK, so I call a cab. By the time the cab got there, I got another phone call that said, go straight to the hospital because they just put

him in the ambulance. So in my mind, I'm saying, okay, he probably had an asthma attack. So they're going to take him to the hospital. I shoot over to the hospital. But as I'm riding to the hospital, the tears start to flow because after you're married to somebody for so long, it's like a kindred spirit, you know, so you know when something's wrong. And I said to my girlfriend, I said, he's no longer here with us. And she said, Pinky, don't say that. That's my nickname.

Don't say that. You know, let's just wait till we get to the hospital. When I get to the hospital, they lead me all the way around to this little room that just had a desk and a phone. And I said to her, I said, it's a wrap just like that and she said don't say that so now i'm asking questions like where is he what's going on they're not telling me nothing so now i get ghetto i start kicking the door i start banging i start screaming you know what i'm saying like like let me know something you have me in

limbo i don't know if he's dead alive you're working on him what's going on they're like oh somebody's gonna talk to you in five minutes it them five minutes went on for two hours i was sitting in that room so i said i said to my girlfriend i said linda i'm going outside to smoke a cigarette but i really wasn't i'm going outside to smoke a cigarette. But I really wasn't. I was going outside to go around to the emergency exit and entrance and go in through that way since they wouldn't let me in through the two locked doors. But as I'm walking that way, God must have been with somebody that day because Uncle Larry intervened and was like, where are you going? I said, Uncle Larry, I'm going to smoke a cigarette. They're not telling me nothing. I need to know

something. We turned back around and walked back back by the time we got back to the double doors i see all these doctors coming toward me so i'm like okay here we go they come through the doors they looked at me they was like oh the family of eric garner so i said i'm right here i'm his wife and they just looked at me and said oh oh, we did everything we could, but we couldn't save him. Basically, I kind of blacked from like that moment until I don't even know how I got home. Right. You know, they let me go in and see him for a few minutes. I remember that. And then when I left, I got home. And, you know, of course, I was destroyed. And my son was playing basketball.

And I saw one of his friends. And I said, could you do me a favor? Can you go up the block and tell my son I need him to come home ASAP? Don't say anything. Because by that time, everybody on the block knew. So I was trying to keep them from knowing before I could tell them. So he finally comes down the block and he's walking towards me. And I said, come here.

I call him boy because he was the first boy after four girls. So I said, boy. And he said, yes, ma'am. I said, your dad went to the hospital and he didn't make it. And he just like his whole aura. he had just won the championship game at that you know so his whole aura just changed and he just went in the house and I said you all right and he was like yeah but I knew he wasn't and then I called the rest of my children and they all came out to Staten Island and then we just you know we sat there and cried and everything for a few hours.

And then I see breaking news splash across the screen. I didn't know they had a video at that time. That was the first time you saw the video. That was the first time I saw the video. What were they telling you initially? How did they say he died initially before the video? That he had a heart attack, which I knew was BS. And what was so crazy is that his intentions was to do this last run,

and he was in the line for his SSI. So the next day he had a doctor's appointment to complete everything that you need to do to get, you know, SSI, you know, disability or whatever. And it was just. Was the video released that, it wasn't until a couple of days later or was it that same day it was the same the same day you watching me what happened you saw you video pops up on TV I only saw up to like the second I can't breathe and then my kids were like no ma cuz they had seen it right but they was like ma you don't need

to say i still haven't seen past uh the i can't breathe i haven't seen you know anything after that i just can't watch it it's like and then every time that something happens with the police it's like they're using his video as a an example but you have no compassion that i'm actually watching my husband die over and over and over again and it's just it's heartbreaking like now i'm at least able to speak about it without breaking down because you know i'm so tired of crying no i understand yeah but when it I understand. Yeah. But when it happens, it just seems like everything during that day and everything they did was wrong. From the choking to the paramedics to everything. It just seems like it just couldn't be right.

The thing that's so crazy is that my husband was a peacemaker. And he was the type, you know how it was back in the day. Don't make no noise on this corner because you bringing you bringing attention to you know what i'm saying so he was always breaking up the fights with the drunks and the homeless and stuff like that and that day he just broke up a fight you know he didn't make a sale they never saw any money being transferred they never saw anything they really had no probable cause to even say anything to him. And it was cigarettes they said, right? Cigarettes.

Right. Did you ever feel the need to speak out and tell people who the real Eric Garner was? Because, you know, they're bringing his police records. They're like, he got arrested this many times. Yes, I've done plenty of interviews, and I've told them all the same thing. He was a gentle giant, you know? He was a gentle giant you know he was a good guy he just he didn't know any other way to take care of me and six children you know he needed more than minimum wage right you know because of the way he

was raised you know his mom had a good job they lived in a house you know he had a very privileged life you know um and i guess he wanted the same for his children and knew that, you know, a regular job just wasn't going to do it. And the police officers were familiar with him. I mean, as the community, they knew he wasn't a violent person. They harassed us. We'd be going to the 99 cent store and they'd be, hey, cigarette guy. Or sometimes they would see me without him and say, hey, cigarette lady. They knew who it was. They knew it was about a cigarette. They knew exactly who Eric was. There wasn't no need for them to jump out the window the way

they did. None. None whatsoever because as you know he's been arrested a whole lot of times. Right. Never once for resisting arrest. You know what when it came out that you guys got a settlement what bothered me so much it was like they agreed to give you a settlement, but they still didn't prosecute any of the police officers.

Yet. Yet. That's why we had the big march and rally. Yes. Because the federal government can prosecute. You got to remember, they acquitted the cops with Rodney King. And we got the federal government to come in.

And those cops were convicted. Abner Lawima, the Justice Department federal government, came in. Those cops are still in jail. And I know National Action Network and I were involved in leading on both of them. So we never thought that the Staten Island grand jury was going to indict, because a DA works with the cops. You've got to have an outside entity that does not have a conflict of interest to deal with that. So that's why we had the big march over the weekend. And that's why we are continuing. You know,

the day this happened and the mother of Eric called us at National Action Network, I was in Nevada doing the voter rights stuff. So when I got the call, Cynthia Davis, who heads our Staten Island office, I said, we'll have Kirsten Foy or Kevin McCall, some of the young guys I have on staff that we're trying to push out there, let them handle it. She said, no, you need to see this video, really. I said, y'all know how to do this. I'm in Nevada with the office here.

And when I saw the video, I took the red eye back and helped them through the funeral and all that. In fact, Emeril works on staff now at National Action Network. Because what people don't realize, when a policeman has a question or issue,

his union provides them with lawyers, funds, helps his kids if they need it need all of that they have an institution if you don't have an institution like national action network what we do to fight an institution what are they supposed to do on their own how do they deal with legal and media and kids and all of that so the media tries to demonize those of us in the movement and praise the unions with a counterbalance to the unions saying you want to fight. We're willing to fight and we'll put our resources in.

We don't want nothing out of a settlement or nothing because this is what we do. But for the law to not protect the civil rights, which is a federal issue of Eric Garner, is where we are now. So those police are not scot-free. Money is not justice. Money is just dealing with the loss. Justice is they need to have to be accountable for what they did. I like what you just said, too, Reverend. Because a lot of people do try to discredit you.

And they like to say you're an ambulance chaser and you're there for the money and things like that. Well, first of all, they will tell you we've given money, paid for the funeral. I don't want a dime back. NASH Ashnera doesn't get a dime back. And we're not ambulance chasers. We're the ambulance. They call us. I've never been involved in a case that we were not called. Never.

But you have to ask yourself, why do they spend so much time discrediting any of us that come out there? Because they want to keep things the same way. Isn't it funny? You've never heard a victim come forward and say, well, Rem Al made us give. And we've got millions of dollars for you. You've never heard a victim come forward and said, well, Red Mal made us give. And we've got millions of dollars for you.

You've never heard none of them say that. It's always your attackers and your haters. And I can't feel bad. They do it to the President of the United States. If they ask Obama for his birth certificate, they'll sure ask me for anything. Now, one of the main issues I feel like that has to be hurtful is when all of this happens, everyone has the video and felt like well you know something has to happen because we see what they did was wrong and then they are demonizing Eric Garner and that has to really hurt because you're like I know him I know what he didn't do anything wrong in this case why are they making him out to be such a

terrible person because they have to make excuses for what they did you know they have to make it seem like he was a menace like we saw the video though so yeah but you know it's the prior history why he was targeted that day you know what I'm saying like it wasn't about what he did that day it was what what he did for the five years leading up to that day you know he caused a lot of officers to be investigated through IAB. He had officers transferred out of the 120. He would always make noise. They wanted him to shut up. They wanted him, you know, they would take his money and voucher it and then give him a hard time giving it back. You know what I'm saying? So he was tired of that.

You know, he was tired of them harassing him. If you notice, he said, it stops today. Y'all are going to leave me alone one way or the other. And what hurts me the most is that two days before that, like, we had just come home from a family reunion that weekend. I have the picture in my phone that we took, the last picture of him alive three days before he was murdered. And he, it was like they couldn't stop him, you know,

because he knew the law. You know, he was one of them that would go in jail and sit in law library and learn every little, you know, every little you know every little detail so he knew that New York State law allows a person to have two cartons on your person you're allowed to have three cartons in your house five up to five in your house so the reason he had the three packs could have been a I smoke a lot he could have said I bought these for my wife you know these are my wife's cigarettes. They didn't see him make a sale. They just know the history. And they were so angry that he would pay the fine and get right back out there. Or he

would do a little bit of time, a couple of days and get right back out there. You know what I'm saying? But see our position, and I've said this to the fans from day one, if he was dead wrong, you've got to look at, go back to your point. We saw the video. It is against police procedure to use a chokehold. If he was dead wrong, the policemen used something against them. If he was dead wrong, he said

11 times, I can't breathe. So you don't have the right to keep using a chokehold wrong, let a man beg for his life and you still do it, and then leave him laying there in the gutter. So as I've always felt from day one with this, that we don't have to prove anything about him because you don't sentence a guy to death. If he was selling cigarettes, if he was wrong and all that, you sentence him to death. You use something that's illegal to choke hold him? You let him lay

there? I mean, what are we talking about? And that is exactly why we questioned the grand jury. He just said, we saw the tape. Well, what did they see? To say the cop did nothing wrong. They saw the same tape we did. What happened in the grand jury? That's what I wanted to know. I wanted

to know, what don't you see that I see? Because I see what they did wrong. Another thing that concerns me is the young man that filmed everything. Orda. Right, Orda. Now he's upset and he's been thrown in jail and targeted and had all these charges brought against him. Does that mean that it's scary for somebody to film? It's two people, though.

It was two people that taped it. I appreciate everything that Ramsey Orta has done. But with him being in the life, you know, in the spotlight, as I should say, like me, I can't go out and cuss somebody out and slap somebody because I'll be splashed across the news screen tomorrow. So he should be more mindful of what he's doing, knowing that he's being watched by the police. But he should not be harassed. The catch-22 for us in talking about National Action Network

is that if I helped him as I'm doing the family, they will then say that I'm trying to tamper with a witness. So I could not come near him. I would love to do a lot for him. But then the last thing they want, the first thing they want, rather than Tampa, oh, Red Mal was giving him something.

That's why he testified a certain way. So we had to keep our distance there to protect the case, which is still pending with the Federal Justice Department. Do you still see those police officers? I don't live on Staten Island anymore. Yeah, they moved me like almost immediately, like two weeks after. I couldn't stay there no more. Who moved you? The

city? Yeah. Okay. The city moved me and I moved like two weeks. Like two weeks I was gone. One, because I'm three blocks away from the precinct. My kids have asthma. So if anything happens, you call 911. Those would be the officers that would come to my rescue. I was just telling the young man out front that the day before yesterday, I was on 125th Street. And, you know, the traffic was really slow. And we passed by these two female African-American officers. And they actually reached in the passenger side of the car and said to me, do you have your seat on? I had my seatbelt on. I just had it under instead of across my chest. But what gives you

the right to reach in the car? Right. And, you know, and then she sees my shirt because I had my husband's shirt on, you know, because the one year just passed. So I've been wearing the shirt and she goes, oh, well, all officers aren't bad. And I looked at her and I said, well, I thought you were going to drag me out the car and choke me like you did mine. And not only that, we just saw Sandra Bland. Two female black officers.

Sandra Bland. We just saw her. And don't forget, it was two of the three cops that killed Sean Bell were black. So, I mean, it's not that we deal with only white cops. We deal with police if they're wrong. One of the things, and that's why I'm so happy that we have her on staff working with our other young people,

because a lot of young people that want to get involved don't know what to do. We just started a new site on nationalactionnetwork.net for just the youth called Shift Daily for people that can write and people that want to express themselves. They want to speak for themselves because you got guys out there like me that's been out there for years, but let these young people speak for themselves. So we started a site so they can express themselves, talk for themselves, and lead their generation so that people that listen to you, which I understand is everybody understands, right,

can go to nationalactionnetwork.net and say, I can write, go to our shift daily. And the young folk run it. And she's committed her life, her sister, her brothers, to fight for justice because the continuation of the struggle is what's important because it's not getting better. Have you seen it like this before, Reverend I? I mean, you know. I mean, you come from the era of Jim Crow and all that. No, I wouldn't come from Jim Crow. I ain't going there. I ain't going there.

I ain't going there. But the 80s and 90s, I've seen it as bad. The difference is we didn't have technology. So not everybody sees it. And you didn't have the cell phones. You didn't have the video. But I've seen it bad. And we won by continuing to rally them up.

You talk about what a marching game. Governor Cuomo wouldn't have had a special prosecutor now if there was not the cameras on police. Now, these are incremental, but it's a step towards something. We've got to keep going. But I've seen it bad. But we put Abner and Williams cops in jail because we stayed on it. There cannot be a movement without a goal. And it cannot be a movement without people being committed for the long haul.

We've got to stay on this. If they can choke a man to death on tape and beg for his life and walk away, then what are we saying? Ain't none of us what we claim we are. Now, Emerald, like he said, social media is so big. How are you coping and dealing with it? Because, I mean, you might see memes today. People say some mean things sometimes on the social media stuff. I mean, it's kind of hard when people tag you to that

stuff. So, you know, I see it constantly. I'm nosy, so I read the comments. I read, you know, what people say. I read the Instagram, the Twitter. I read it. I don't respond because, you know, the best response is no response. My job is to make sure that people know who my father was as a person.

You know somebody by the type of children they raised. I know my mother's looking at me because I tell her all the time, mind your social media, whatever. Mind what you say. She want to jump through the computer. She wants to jump through the computer. It's important for people to know.

It's funny. When I did MSNBC with Rev, you know, I don't wear my hair out. He watches it every night. I don't wear my hair out. We all don't mind a little promo, right? I don't wear makeup and stuff like that. So my daughter goes, Ma, you going on MSNBC? Let them do your makeup.

Let them do your hair. So I'm like, all right. So, you know, I had the long flowing curls and everything. So the first mean comment that I saw was, wow, she looked really homely when we first saw her. But now she has this long, luxurious weave. And I just laugh because, like, my mother's Jewish and my dad is Native American. My hair's down my back naturally. I do not have a weave.

But that's the first thing that people think when they see a black girl with long hair. It's got to be a weave. Because she went and got the bundles. Yeah. Because she went and got the Remy bundles. I don't feel bad. He talks about my hair, but we won't get into that.

Yeah, so, you know, my kids always tell me, Ma, don't respond. But I can't sit there and not say nothing. But like the Rev said, the Rev always said, you know, I always say I have two personalities. I'm Esau. Like, right now, I'm Esau. But you can catch Pinky. Pinky.

You know, you catch Pinky. Pinky can come at any given time. Any given time. So the other day, Rev kind of got a little shooken up. So when everybody cooled off, he looked at me and said, they done brang the pinky out of me. Did you give her any perm tips at all? See, I told you he'd go under his head.

I don't need a perm. I'm trying to be Rev and Al, MSNBC Dash Action Network, but I go back to Brownsville with you and me if we can get together. You know, I come off Saratoga. You want to go there, we can talk about it. Let me ask you guys something.

Now, I get this a lot. People would tweet me and email me and say they've suffered some injustice. This happened. How do I get that attention? How do I get that media attention? Call 212-360-6070. Emerald will pick up the phone and transfer it to the crisis manager. Right.

Because people always say, this happened to me, or this happened to my friend, and I need to make sure. But that's why you have organizations that do that, that know how to deal with media, that vet these things out. That's what we do. And we know we're going to get flack for it.

I mean, you're never going to be popular. But I grew up in the movement, and I was trained by guys that do that, that have now, I've been able to build National Action Network. That's how you do that. There's a lot of injustices. That's why we want people to be able to go to the sites. And there's a lot of young people out there that want to express themselves. And that's why we're pushing this. And that's why we like to have people like Emeril and them who have lived it because they can feel it. They understand it because they've lived this.

Now the money, the $5.9 million, can you ever really enjoy that money? I'm going to keep it a hundred. Yeah, I can enjoy it. I'd rather have it and enjoy it with him. You would give it all up to bring him. Oh, I would give it up in a heartbeat to have my husband back. We were married 28 years. And I'm not gonna

say it was perfect right by a long shot but he was perfect for me and i was perfect for him there you go what made you um accept the money after turning it down initially that's another misconception i never i never knew nothing about the money i was i was in pa they called me in pa and said so you turned down i'm like turned down what right what? Right. You know, I never turned it down. I never even heard about it. When I came back, it was 5.9. Was that his mother that had something to do with the settlement? I can't even speak on that.

I can't speak on that. That's, you know, a whole nother issue. I can't even speak on that. But as far as I'm concerned, I never refused it. Right. My thing was, it wasn't about, it's not about the money for me. Of course. It's about getting justice.

Like, you know, everybody said, oh, you should have held out for more money. No, I want to get the money off the table. I want to let them know that my focus is getting justice. Yeah, it's a little money. Yeah, to make my life a little easier, to make my kids' life easier. You know what I'm saying? But it was easy enough with me and my husband raising my six children and my three grandchildren that now I have to answer questions.

Where's Papa? Where's Papa? You know, where's Grandpa? My granddaughter's three. And, you know, it's cute when she says, no justice, no peace. And she sees Rev and she says, justice no peace and she sees rev and she says justice grandma justice because she calls him justice so you know it's cute but it's also a shame that a three-year-old knows throw your hands up don't shoot hold your hands up don't shoot rest in

peace grandpa you know no it's good it's good like you know i have a 11 year old son and when he's seen the video i mean it's good and it's bad it's good. You know, I have an 11-year-old son and when he's seen the video, I mean, it's good and it's bad. It's good because he gets to see what the world is really like. You know, he's not living in this shell where nothing can happen, but it's sad because it makes him fearful of police officers. It makes him fearful to go out.

What I was going to ask you is now do you have family members coming out the woodwork because they get this segment? Right now, I'm sitting in my lawyer's office, right? Now do you have family members coming out the woodwork because they get this right now. I'm sitting in my lawyer's office right now. Mind you, my husband had this for boys. Right. OK.

Three of them, unfortunately, are now gone. You know, his brother was killed 18 years ago upstate. Another brother was killed in Newark last October. Well, October before last and my lawyer goes um he saw I said yeah he said uh does Eric have a brother named such and such and I'm like yeah he's like well uh he's I said but he's locked up like you know he's been locked up in and out all our marriage I've never I've seen him maybe three times. He had the nerve to call my lawyer, call him and say that he wanted to be included on the wrongful death of his brother, Eric Gardner.

And I laughed, you know, because I put it on social media the other day. If you wasn't on my bus at the beginning of this journey, you will not be on my bus at the end. This bus is express. It don't make no stops. It don't accept transfers. There you go. None of that. So if you wasn't with me from July 17th till now, see you when I see you, homie. Absolutely.

Not pinky. Now I work at NAN, so people call and they'll say, oh, you know, because I use an alias at NAN so they don't oh you're Emma Garner so I'll be like

you know hey you know they're like so how do we get in contact with the Garner family so I was like what is you know what is the nature of your call oh because I'm a cousin

and I need to so who are you how are you related oh I'm so and so's brother's cousin I said well I'm his daughter and I've never met you a day in my life

oh well I'm your aunt because of this this that and the other I said well I don't know you I'm sorry daughter. That is ridiculous. And I've never met you a day in my life. Oh, well, I'm your aunt because of this, this, that, and the other. I said, well, I don't know you. I'm sorry. What about the one-year-old daughter they say is out there now? DNA is confirmed. DNA is confirmed. She's my sister.

She is his daughter. But like I said from the beginning, my husband denied it, okay? And I will believe my husband over a hood rat any day, okay? So my loyalty was to him. But we ain't going to retry all of that. But DNA is confirmed. But DNA is confirmed. And again, we are dealing with ordinary, regular people who don't ask to be victims.

And people can make judgments all they want. This man should not be dead. And he should not be at the hands of police. Now, Reverend Al, let me just ask you a question. Donald Trump. This man throws shots, books, kettlebells,

anything he could possibly throw at you, he throws at you. What did you do to Donald Trump? Well, you know, years ago, Donald Trump and I clashed over the Central Park jogger case. Right. When they arrested and charged those young guys, one of the grandmothers of one of the kids that they had to let go, Briscoe was his name, had called us.

And we went in and Donald Trump was the one that bought the full page ads calling the wolf packs. And we marched on him. And I don't think he ever got over that. Since then, we've been all right, not all right. I used to see him at Tyson fights. I've been to his office back and forth. But every time he'd get a shot, he would. Since he's been talking about President Obama,

I've been, like, all in on my TV show and NAN and all of that. So he's very thin-skinned. He's like a bully. He cannot take a punch. He can talk about everybody, but when you attack him, he just loses it. You see what he's doing to other Republicans. He got up and gave out one of his cell phones.

So I think that he's thin-skinned. And me knowing that, I just keep going at him because I learned as a kid, if you keep stroking a bully, he's going to beat himself. You don't even have to fight. And that's what's happening with John. I love what you said. I thought you said he's an Apollo-acking Lincoln sinner.

Yeah, he's an amateur. James Brown was like my father. And James Brown told me the first time I went to Vegas with him, I was about 19 or 20, he said, there's a difference between a lounge act and somebody playing the main room. I said, what you mean? He said, in the lounge, you got to compete with people drinking, the bar, the barmaids, the gambling. He said, in the main room, people are sitting there eating dinner.

They bring their wives. So you got to have choreography, a rehearsal, polish. He said, you do whatever you got to have choreography or rehearse show polished he said you do whatever you got to do in the lounge to get attention you're competing with so much other stuff he said reverend when you do your lounge act to get to the main room he said do what you got to do but when you get a main stage you got to really be good and i think donald trump doesn't understand you run for president now you're not cutting a real estate deal on the West Side. He's bringing an unpolished act to center stage run for president. When I ran for president, I had to talk policy.

What was I going to do about the war in Iraq? What was I going to do about health care? He's up here talking about other people. Why would you be running for president attacking me? It shows that you don't know what you are dealing with which is why the same poll that says he's number one at 24 percent 62 percent of those people said but i don't know if i can vote for him for president because they can't imagine him really running the free world he's entertaining but we don't want him to run for president he's saying what i want to say getting it off his chest but i really don't want him in charge

right yeah because that makes me nervous he's like I see so many people that are for him, I'm like, this is for my head. You dig down in that poll, 62% said they wouldn't vote for him for president. But the good news is he's distracting from the other guys. So, I mean, he has destroyed them. The other problem he's got is I don't know how he comes back in the business. He's lost his media contacts. Soon, he's not going to be able to keep his name up on bill. He's killing his own brand.

I like that. He's like a reality TV star who's trying to be on a sitcom now. All these dudes who funny on Instagram, when you put them on stage and do a real stand-up show, they can't make you laugh. You see why I was watching Uncommon Sensitive? There we go. I love that. I love that. I'm going to use that. I'm going to be like a Baptist preacher. I'll give you credit the first time,

second time. You also said too, you said that Donald Trump is wasting people's time, but you said when you ran for president, you knew he wasn't going to win, but you wanted to further a cause. Yeah, you run for two reasons, to win or for a cause. I wanted to make sure that things like criminal justice, things like why were y'all cutting things like summer jobs and youth programs, things that a president needs to deal with on the other side of America was in those debates.

And I think what shocked them is, you got to remember, I ran against John Kerry, who is now the Secretary of State. I ran against Lieberman. I ran against the governor of Florida. People never thought I'd get on that stage and debate and keep up with them, and in many cases, win the debate. But I knew the cause would be hurt if I got up there and embarrassed everybody. And Donald Trump, rather than rise to the occasion has lowered the standard and I think that if you're sincere about a cause you understand that you've got to do what you got to do even if it makes me uncomfortable I liked acting the way I acted but if I'm gonna be about the cause if I'm gonna help the gardeners I got to be able to present their case in a way that can get results not just air my anger what do you anticipate happening now?

The first debate starts in August 6th. I mean, moving forward with this case. Justice Department. We marched on Saturday. We are in front of the Justice Department asking them to prosecute like they did in the Louima case and the Rodney King case. And we're continuing to ask for a federal special prosecutor nationally as a new law. And what can the average person do to make sure this prosecution

happens? The average person can go to nationalactionnetwork.net, deal with our petitions, come to the rallies. The Garner family's been there every Saturday, 145th and Lenox at 9 o'clock, and we're just going to keep rallying. We're going to keep the pressure on. Why? Because we've done it before. When people talk about

I got a different way, tell them, show me where it's got results. I can show you where we helped the police prosecute. They don't need to donate to the National Action Network. No, well, they can go to nationalactionnetwork.net for that. But the foundation that Emerald has started for the family and their work, let her do that. Well, we have a foundation. We're up and running.

We'll have our five on one C3 within, I think, two weeks, a few weeks. So the foundation is basically focusing on scholarships

for young people because my brother got a scholarship, but his scholarship didn't cover food. It didn't cover transportation to come back home and it didn't cover clothes.

He's 6'6". So, you know, he went to size 15. He got big feet. Oh, he's 6'8". And he got big feet. So, you know, and he got big feet so you know there's a lot

of other young kids out there that need help I'm a single parent so of course I'm going to help the single mothers out there you know different type of programs I did mothering programs you know while I was pregnant with my daughter and after my daughter so maybe I could um you know partner with them it's called the nurse family partnership and I just want to help the community because we are the next leaders of the free world. Like we're, we're going to, my daughter's three and she's going to grow up. She's going to see what's going on. She's going to be afraid of the police. You know, my cousins, they're like, you know, they're young. So I want to teach them that not all police are bad, but it's certain things that you do and that you don't do. You know, sometimes they ask why I got to do this or why

I got to do that. But I'm going to tell you why you have to do it, why you have to pull your pants up, why you have to pull your pants up why you have to take your hat off when you walk into a building you know little things like that that little kids need to know growing up

and stuff that my father taught me is what I want to bring to the foundation don't forget about your mother I mean you know I got you too but you know

you're a celebrity on your own I was a backbone people don't care about us I did everything tell them Pinky yeah I, I'm going to keep his head up. You know,

but, you know, for moms who think they down, you know, I'm going to help out. Like, I tell people, you know, it starts at home. You know what I'm saying? It starts at home. When your child is two, and you know, that's the no, you stop them from saying no the first time, and then you don't have to worry about them saying it for the rest of their life.

My kids know when I call their name, they answer me. Yes. Don't haunt. No. What? You know what I'm saying? It's a certain level of respect. And look now, you know, I used to say, oh, wait till your father get home. I don't have that option anymore. So now it's me raising two boys. One's 15, one's 20. He thinks he's grown. The 15-year-old thinks, you know, they're 6'6 and 6'8. So I'm looking

at them and I'm like, I'm not going to chase you. I'm not going to do nothing. I'll wait until you go to sleep and get a hammer and bust you in your head. I'll get a table. I'll get a hammer. When we moved from Staten Island to, man, I cannot find my hammers. They hid them.

I had one on top of the refrigerator, one by the couch, and one by the bed. Okay? And they hid all three of them. I have no hammers in my house right now. You're going to invest some of that money, right? Because we don't want to see y'all two years from now and y'all in blue all the money. Well, I like to shop. So my biggest thing would be shopping.

Emeril, you got to hold it down. Hold it down. I am the CFO, CEO, everything of the foundation. She's just going to go and talk to people. That's going to be her job. She's not going to be in control of the finances of the foundation. I ain't in the money thing at all. I just help.

It would be good once people get these settlements, though, to have financial advisors and plans. Right. That's what we're working on. I have people calling me, want to be my financial advisor. You don't need no random person. So how can you advise me on something that you have not done? You know what I'm saying?

Like, how you can sell me out and spend $100,000 when you ain't never seen $100,000? Right. You know what I'm saying? So my thing is, I just want to be comfortable, you know, and be able, because I'm going to be alone for the rest of my life. I'm 48,

and I never knew the difference between being alone and being lonely, and now I do. Gotcha. You know. And Reverend Al, I have one other question

for you, Reverend Al. 10-10, October 10th. Minister Farrakhan, 20-year anniversary of the Million Man March. Are you a part of that march? Our organization has been to the meetings, and I spoke at the first one and the 10th one, and I'm supposed to be in Cuba that weekend. You know, we've had a longstanding trip, but we're trying to work it out,

but we definitely support it. We support the 40 day march at NAACP. We all, anything that's about justice, we support and they support us. Do you think we need a voice in the presidential race this year? Like how you said that somebody just to come in and speak about the issues that we're facing right now? I think we need a voice

and or we need to put the pressure on those running for president. What people don't understand is that we are about a year and a half away from life without President Obama. And a lot of us may have wanted to see him to do more, but he certainly turned it around where they started dealing with some of our stuff.

We don't know what's going to happen after him. And the next president put another right wing on the Supreme Court. We could lose voting rights. We could lose health care. All of this stuff. So we've got to really press now, which is why a lot of us are on the ground organizing

for real. And can I say one thing? All the guys, like, you know, I got so much support after my husband passed, you know. And I see all the guys, you know, that I knew, you know, that's on the block, you know. And I tell them, even though you're on the block, vote. You know what I'm saying? Your vote is important. And if enough of you vote, maybe

Dan Donovan wouldn't be the congressman of Staten Island right now. You know, if they just come out and vote, it takes five minutes to just go put your vote in, get your ID, go put your vote in and help us move along because we're being killed and they think it's okay to pay us right give them some money they'll shut up I'm not gonna shut up I don't care how much money I get I'm gonna keep I'm gonna keep on running my mouth until I can't running no more until there's justice for me Trayvon Martin, Ramali Graham, Mike Brown, all these young guys that were taken unarmed and

not a menace. Well, thank you Issa O'Garner, Emma O'Garner, Reverend Thank you for having me. I really enjoyed it. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning. Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag.

This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God. What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakatistan. That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast, Post Run High, is all about.

It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions, but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love. I forgive myself. It's okay. Have grace with yourself. You're trying your best, and you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hello, my undeadly darlings. It's Teresa, your resident ghost host. And do I have a treat for you. Haunting is crawling out from the shadows and it's going to be devilishly good. We've got chills, thrills, and stories that'll make you wish the lights stayed on. So join me, won't you? Let's dive into the eerie unknown together. Sleep tight, if you can.

Listen to Haunting on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show, Civic Cipher. That's right. We discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence. And we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle. We're going to learn how to become better allies to each other.

So join us each Saturday for Civic Cipher on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.