# College Sports Act Passes Senate. Jack Smith Hearing Erupts. Roger Fortson Trial Begins

An episode of [#RolandMartinUnfiltered](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1434424449), 30 Sep 2026, 2 h 18 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/ec5a50b3-3ea1-4b6e-b91b-ae2e00387281/1de7a444-3ab2-48f7-b48a-b4d90189c352/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=9fce13f2-0092-4f32-888b-ae2e0038728f

9.29.2026 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: College Sports Act Passes Senate. Jack Smith Hearing Erupts. Roger Fortson Trial Begins The Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act, and it will now go to the House of Representatives. We'll talk with a profound sports journalists about what it means if this moves forward and the dangers the bill continues to pose. Things got extremely heated at a Senate hearing today as Jack Smith defended his prosecution of Trump. We're going to listen to all of the commotion that occurred. In Florida, jury selection took place for Eddie Duran's trial. The former white sheriff is charged with killing Roger Fortson, a Black senior airman. Evictions in Metro Atlanta are rising at an alarming pace and disproportionately impacting Black people who live there. Two people from the Legal Defense Fund and the Housing Justice League Board in Atlanta will join us later to talk about these findings. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, Anita Earls, will join us to talk about her campaign to retain her seat as she goes up against Republican challenger Sarah Stevens. And for tonight's Black Star Network Marketplace, this one is for all of you who love to knit, sew, or weave. The creator of the brand Yarn and Whiskey will join us to show how her love for fiber arts and textiles developed into a business. Black Star Network Partner: Chapter Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-Medicare, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options. ____ Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform 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.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Thank you.
[0:26] Speaker 2: Mark on the filter streaming live on the Black Star Network.
[0:30] Speaker 2: United States Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act and
[0:34] Speaker 2: it's now headed to the House. But there are many
[0:38] Speaker 2: that say that it is not going to get taken
[0:41] Speaker 2: up or even pass the House. We'll talk with sports
[0:43] Speaker 2: journalist Bonnie Jones about the dangers this bill poses to
[0:47] Speaker 2: to athletes, especially African Americans.
[0:49] Speaker 1: We'll also show you how things got.
[0:50] Speaker 2: Heated during today's Senate hearing as Special Prosecutor Jack Smith
[0:54] Speaker 2: defended his prosecution of the twice-impeached, criminally convicted con man-in-chief
[0:59] Speaker 2: Donald Trump. Evictions in Metro Atlanta are rising at an
[1:03] Speaker 2: alarming pace.
[1:03] Speaker 1: We'll talk to some folks about how this is disproportionately
[1:06] Speaker 1: impacting black folks who live there.
[1:09] Speaker 2: Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, Anita Earls,
[1:12] Speaker 2: will join us to talk about her campaign and how
[1:15] Speaker 2: critical it is for her to retain her seat as
[1:17] Speaker 2: she goes up against Republican challenger Sarah Stevens. In tonight's
[1:21] Speaker 2: ShopBlackStarNetwork.com Marketplace segment, it's for all of you who love
[1:25] Speaker 2: to knit, sew, and weave. The creator of Yarn and
[1:28] Speaker 2: Whiskey will join us to show how her love for
[1:31] Speaker 2: fiber arts and textiles have grown into a business. It
[1:35] Speaker 2: is time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin Unfiltered
[1:37] Speaker 2: on the Black Star Network.
[1:38] Speaker 1: Let's go.
[1:41] Speaker 3: Whatever the piss, he's on it.
[1:43] Speaker 4: Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine.
[1:47] Speaker 5: And when it breaks, he's right on time.
[1:49] Speaker 1: And it's rolling.
[1:50] Speaker 5: Best belief he's knowing.
[1:53] Speaker 6: Putting it down from sports to news to politics.
[1:55] Speaker 2: With entertainment just for kicks, he's rolling.
[1:59] Speaker 7: It's ongoing.
[2:06] Speaker 5: It's Roland Martin, yeah.
[2:11] Speaker 4: Rolling with Roland now.
[2:15] Speaker 5: He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best.
[2:17] Speaker 8: You know he's Roland Martin now.
[2:38] Speaker 2: At 77 to 22 last night in the United States Senate,
[2:43] Speaker 2: the bill regulates college athletics, including transfer eligibility and name,
[2:47] Speaker 2: image and likeness rights.
[2:48] Speaker 1: The bill now moves to the House.
[2:51] Speaker 2: Lawmakers are not scheduled to vote on any bills until
[2:54] Speaker 2: after November's midterm elections. The bill does not pass the
[2:57] Speaker 2: House during the lame duck session before a new Congress
[3:00] Speaker 2: takes over in January. The full process must start over.
[3:04] Speaker 2: Bomani Jones, the host of The Right Time with Bomani
[3:07] Speaker 2: Jones podcast, has had a lot to say about this bill.
[3:10] Speaker 2: He joins us right now. Bomani, glad to have you here.
[3:13] Speaker 2: Here's what I found to be so interesting last night.
[3:16] Speaker 1: I am.
[3:18] Speaker 2: You have Senator John Kennedy from Louisiana who stands up
[3:21] Speaker 2: and says, hey, let's speak up.
[3:23] Speaker 1: For the fans and cap ticket prices. Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
[3:25] Speaker 1: That's no. That's that's the marketplace. It's the marketplace.
[3:30] Speaker 2: And all of a sudden, Senator Cory Booker introduces a
[3:32] Speaker 2: bill saying, hey, let's cap coaches paid.
[3:35] Speaker 1: No, no, no, no, no. We can't do that. We
[3:37] Speaker 1: can't do that.
[3:38] Speaker 2: In fact, Nick Saban, of course, who has been a
[3:41] Speaker 2: huge supporter of this bill, was on ESPN First Take today.
[3:44] Speaker 2: And Nick Saban was saying, well, there's a big difference
[3:49] Speaker 2: between coaches and players.
[3:53] Speaker 9: What about those who would look at this and say, okay,
[3:56] Speaker 9: it makes sense as it pertains to the players, but
[3:58] Speaker 9: is there a cap on coaches and administrators and how
[4:01] Speaker 9: much money they can earn? How about that not being
[4:04] Speaker 9: addressed in the protect college sports?
[4:05] Speaker 10: Well, but these things are totally different markets. Like that's
[4:10] Speaker 10: like asking me, does a student scholarship equal the professor's pay?
[4:16] Speaker 10: I mean, how much value does a coach create for
[4:20] Speaker 10: a university? Well, if it's Nick Saban, it's an easy answer.
[4:24] Speaker 10: But there's a lot of coaches. That's a very challenging question.
[4:27] Speaker 1: To say the least.
[4:28] Speaker 10: But I think a better way to control that is contrast.
[4:31] Speaker 10: Rather than worry about amount of money people make, I
[4:35] Speaker 10: think the thing that has been difficult is when coaches
[4:38] Speaker 10: get fired and they have these huge buyouts, and everybody says, well,
[4:42] Speaker 10: how can the university afford to pay them that? I
[4:44] Speaker 10: think you can figure out, okay, you can't have any
[4:47] Speaker 10: more than... a five-year contract or whatever it is, and
[4:51] Speaker 10: maybe the buyout can only be so much. But I
[4:54] Speaker 10: think that's maybe a better way to approach it than
[4:57] Speaker 10: try to make these two things. They're different markets. You know, players'
[5:00] Speaker 10: market's different than coaches' market.
[5:03] Speaker 1: That's interesting, Bobani. Players' markets are different from coaches' markets.
[5:07] Speaker 11: Well, I think the most interesting part of that is
[5:09] Speaker 11: that the greatest value that a college coach has had
[5:12] Speaker 11: through the history of this sport is the ability to
[5:15] Speaker 11: procure the services of the players. The thing that's always
[5:18] Speaker 11: struck me about this now is that now that you're
[5:20] Speaker 11: paying players, there's no need for athletic departments, for example,
[5:24] Speaker 11: to put a whole lot of money into their facilities
[5:26] Speaker 11: to make them fancy so that the kids then ultimately
[5:28] Speaker 11: want to go there. No, you just give them the
[5:30] Speaker 11: money directly. Now that is the thing that makes the decision.
[5:33] Speaker 11: Guys are deciding where to go to school now without
[5:35] Speaker 11: even setting foot at the place because the decision is
[5:37] Speaker 11: about making money. So why do the coaches deserve that
[5:41] Speaker 11: much money? If the number one value that they provided
[5:44] Speaker 11: is now something that they pay directly to the players
[5:46] Speaker 11: rather than putting into their pocket.
[5:47] Speaker 2: Also, if I start looking at, uh, pro sports, uh,
[5:52] Speaker 2: Can you name me any other sport where the coaches
[5:58] Speaker 2: are actually earning more than the players? I don't know
[6:02] Speaker 2: of an NFL coach that is making more than Patrick Mahomes.
[6:07] Speaker 2: I don't know of an NBA coach that's making more
[6:10] Speaker 2: than Steph Curry or LeBron James.
[6:13] Speaker 3: No, not more than the top end. I think the
[6:15] Speaker 3: part of.
[6:16] Speaker 11: This that gives the game away is that when people
[6:18] Speaker 11: talk about what the runaway costs are in college athletics,
[6:21] Speaker 11: it's what Saban talked about.
[6:22] Speaker 3: It's the buyouts that they have to pay.
[6:25] Speaker 11: Like, for example, Lincoln Riley is a bit imperiled right
[6:28] Speaker 11: now as the coach at Southern California. The issue is
[6:31] Speaker 11: that for them to fire him, they'd have to pay
[6:33] Speaker 11: probably a $ 70 million buyout.
[6:35] Speaker 1: Same as Dabo Swinney. Dabo's like $ 62, $ 67 million.
[6:40] Speaker 4: Right.
[6:40] Speaker 3: And so I don't really have that big of a
[6:42] Speaker 3: problem with the.
[6:43] Speaker 11: Existence of the buyout because what the buyout does is
[6:46] Speaker 11: put a guarantee on the contract. And most coaches' contracts
[6:48] Speaker 11: are guaranteed at every level. The difference is it's supposed
[6:51] Speaker 11: to encourage you to give some level of patience with
[6:54] Speaker 11: these coaches. But this game is crazy. So rather than
[6:57] Speaker 11: look at that and be like, ooh, $ 70 million, we're
[6:59] Speaker 11: just going to have to figure out how to make
[7:00] Speaker 11: it work. They're like, hey, how do we go.
[7:02] Speaker 3: Find this $ 70 million in order to do this?
[7:04] Speaker 11: And if they want Lincoln Riley out of there bad enough,
[7:06] Speaker 11: they'll find the $ 70 million. Now, the way you wouldn't
[7:10] Speaker 11: have that buyout is if you had some sort of
[7:12] Speaker 11: cap on coaches' salaries, which is not something that I
[7:15] Speaker 11: think is appropriate. It's not something that I think is fair.
[7:18] Speaker 11: But if you were really trying to just slow down
[7:20] Speaker 11: the money, you would look at it on that end.
[7:22] Speaker 11: But no, this is about maintaining control of players as
[7:26] Speaker 11: much as anything else and to eliminate the leverage that
[7:29] Speaker 11: the courts in this country had given players because they
[7:32] Speaker 11: keep kicking the NCAAs butt in court about so many
[7:35] Speaker 11: of these things.
[7:36] Speaker 2: Yeah, and when I start looking at this whole deal,
[7:41] Speaker 2: when we talk about, again, capping players and not capping coaches,
[7:45] Speaker 2: so what Nick Saban just described, okay, Nick, why wasn't
[7:50] Speaker 2: you arguing for that to be in the bill?
[7:53] Speaker 5: Right.
[7:54] Speaker 12: No, this.
[7:55] Speaker 11: The bill itself, what worries me primarily about it is
[8:00] Speaker 11: the fact that I don't think the average person who's
[8:02] Speaker 11: been watching a college game day or any of these shows,
[8:05] Speaker 11: they named it very well, Protect College Sports Act. People
[8:08] Speaker 11: really get charged up about the idea that things are
[8:10] Speaker 11: out of control. And I do firmly believe that there
[8:12] Speaker 11: needs to be more structure around this. It is going
[8:15] Speaker 11: a little willy-nilly. Somebody needs to figure it out. Whether
[8:17] Speaker 11: it's Congress is a different discussion. But the issue is
[8:22] Speaker 11: not this is going crazy because the players are making
[8:24] Speaker 11: too much money. And that I feel is the way
[8:27] Speaker 11: that it has been positioned in this bill. I think
[8:30] Speaker 11: this bill also has a very interesting thing where I
[8:32] Speaker 11: would be curious to know how many of these politicians
[8:35] Speaker 11: who are so caught up in the notion of protecting
[8:37] Speaker 11: women's sports are if they've answered for the idea that
[8:41] Speaker 11: women's sports, the female athletes in college sports are really
[8:45] Speaker 11: going to be hurt by this bill. We only have
[8:47] Speaker 11: one program so far where we have information about where
[8:51] Speaker 11: the money has been paid out that they've gotten through
[8:53] Speaker 11: the revenue settlement this year. And it is Penn State,
[8:56] Speaker 11: and they paid out 0.6% of.
[8:58] Speaker 3: That money to female athletes.
[9:01] Speaker 11: If this is the structure for paying athletes, I'd love
[9:03] Speaker 11: to know how many of those protect girls sports people
[9:06] Speaker 11: understand that they're taking all the money out of their pocket.
[9:08] Speaker 1: Well, it's interesting.
[9:09] Speaker 2: I saw your clip on that. You said, well, I
[9:12] Speaker 2: initially read it. I read it at 6%.
[9:13] Speaker 1: Then you were like, no, it's 0.6.
[9:18] Speaker 3: Point. And I apologize. I thought six was ridiculous enough.
[9:22] Speaker 1: So see, this is what really also gets at me.
[9:26] Speaker 2: And I need people watching and listening to understand what
[9:30] Speaker 2: is happening. I was talking about this with DeMar Smith,
[9:33] Speaker 2: that the problem that so many people have is it's
[9:37] Speaker 2: like the NFL. Fans are, no, that's our team. No,
[9:42] Speaker 2: it's not your team. He or she owns it. The
[9:45] Speaker 2: billionaire owns it. And the fans feel as if they
[9:49] Speaker 2: are so invested that, oh no, so how dare you
[9:53] Speaker 2: guys decide that you should get paid three, four, five, six, eight, 10,
[9:58] Speaker 2: $ 12 million. it's just like in professional sports.
[10:01] Speaker 1: Fans will get pissed at the player.
[10:05] Speaker 2: For holding out for a higher salary, but will reward
[10:09] Speaker 2: an owner to build a multi-billion dollar stadium, use tax bonds,
[10:14] Speaker 2: and all sorts of stuff along those lines. And then,
[10:17] Speaker 2: because I love the owner of the Kansas City Chiefs
[10:19] Speaker 2: who said, yeah, we need a new stadium because it's
[10:23] Speaker 2: really for the fans. It's the fan experience. Now, player,
[10:27] Speaker 2: it's for you to make more money. And that's just
[10:29] Speaker 2: what this is all about. This bill is about the NCAA,
[10:33] Speaker 2: the schools, the conferences, and the networks to be able
[10:39] Speaker 2: to control the product on the field so they can
[10:43] Speaker 2: guarantee ratings and guarantee guys are not moving all around
[10:50] Speaker 2: and how that's just somehow created all of this chaos.
[10:54] Speaker 2: And so they only want to control one aspect, and
[10:57] Speaker 2: that's the players. And they're giving the NCAA this limited
[11:00] Speaker 2: antitrust exemption, to your point, because they've been getting their
[11:03] Speaker 2: butts kicked in court because they've frankly been violating the law.
[11:07] Speaker 1: Right.
[11:07] Speaker 11: And that's the issue is that the players have been
[11:09] Speaker 11: winning in court and these antitrust violations take away a
[11:11] Speaker 11: lot of the leverage and will make it far more
[11:13] Speaker 11: difficult for the athletes to ever reach a place of
[11:15] Speaker 11: collective bargaining because the leverage of going to the courts
[11:18] Speaker 11: is what creates the greatest possibility that they can get
[11:22] Speaker 11: to a place in a space where a collective bargaining
[11:26] Speaker 11: is what needs to be done. I am fascinated by
[11:31] Speaker 11: college sports because a big difference between them and the
[11:34] Speaker 11: pros is We understand that the teams and the pros
[11:37] Speaker 11: are trying to make a profit teams in college. are
[11:41] Speaker 11: trying to make money, but they're also trying to spend
[11:45] Speaker 11: it all. That's always been the game is that it
[11:47] Speaker 11: is a nonprofit. So nobody gets paid out any dividends
[11:49] Speaker 11: for that money. So they take in the money and
[11:51] Speaker 11: they send it all out. And these programs are taking
[11:53] Speaker 11: crazy losses across the country.
[11:55] Speaker 3: And they say keep up with the spending.
[11:57] Speaker 1: Right.
[11:57] Speaker 2: You know, because I worked at that late department of
[12:00] Speaker 2: Texas A & M. Jackie Sherrill, when he was the
[12:03] Speaker 2: head coach, I remember one year we bought we were
[12:06] Speaker 2: A & M was one of the first universities to
[12:09] Speaker 2: go digital video. And, man, we had like 30 or
[12:13] Speaker 2: 40 of the many VHS decks. I mean, it was
[12:19] Speaker 2: a really sophisticated thing.
[12:21] Speaker 1: Jackie Sherrill said, hey.
[12:23] Speaker 2: We make it, we spend it, because you might not
[12:26] Speaker 2: get it back next year.
[12:28] Speaker 1: He literally made that clear. No, no, we're going to
[12:30] Speaker 1: spend the money we make.
[12:32] Speaker 11: Right, and so that's where this gets to be interesting, though,
[12:35] Speaker 11: because it's never been about making a profit. That's why
[12:39] Speaker 11: this game is so weird. That's why they have so
[12:41] Speaker 11: many things to try to dial back when it comes
[12:43] Speaker 11: to the long-term debt they have to deal with with
[12:45] Speaker 11: these stadium additions and all these facilities that they've built
[12:48] Speaker 11: over the years, because the game was always.
[12:50] Speaker 3: Just to spend all the money. Now they have to
[12:52] Speaker 3: pay the players, and they're like, whoa, wait a minute.
[12:54] Speaker 3: Now this is a little bit unsustainable. We didn't realize
[12:57] Speaker 3: we were going to have to spend money.
[12:59] Speaker 11: That much money and that's when you hear about private
[13:01] Speaker 11: equity coming in because the money is so in the
[13:04] Speaker 11: money is so thrown off private equity messes everything up
[13:06] Speaker 11: private equity has never made anything better at any point
[13:09] Speaker 11: in time they have all these problems the budget for
[13:13] Speaker 11: paying players is not really one of them in large
[13:17] Speaker 11: part because when it's time to pay players they can
[13:19] Speaker 11: do it like they always have you just got to
[13:21] Speaker 11: pass the hat There are people who would love nothing
[13:23] Speaker 11: more than to put this money in. My buddy Stephen Godfrey,
[13:26] Speaker 11: who covers college football, makes the point that part of
[13:28] Speaker 11: why they want to go back to the old days
[13:30] Speaker 11: is it was cheaper to pay them under the table
[13:33] Speaker 11: than it was when everybody knew the prices.
[13:35] Speaker 1: Yeah. And and let's be real clear. Why?
[13:39] Speaker 2: Why is the SEC doing so much of this whining?
[13:43] Speaker 2: Because listen. They were they were doing very well playing
[13:48] Speaker 2: paying players under the table. Now, all of a sudden,
[13:51] Speaker 2: you got school. All you need is one dude with
[13:54] Speaker 2: a big check. Look at Cody Campbell at Texas Tech.
[13:58] Speaker 2: And then and then also we saw how the two
[14:01] Speaker 2: Alabama senators, well, they were trying to also cap the movement. Oh,
[14:05] Speaker 2: a conference can't have more than 20 teams. And it
[14:08] Speaker 2: was 19. Then they added 20.
[14:10] Speaker 1: Uh, SEC.
[14:11] Speaker 2: I mean, then of course the ACC, Miami and Florida
[14:14] Speaker 2: state were concerned because, Hey, will the F will the
[14:17] Speaker 2: ACC implode? They want to have the ability to be
[14:20] Speaker 2: able to move. And so one of the reasons why
[14:22] Speaker 2: that thing went from 19 to 20 was to get
[14:24] Speaker 2: the votes of the Florida senators, because that way Miami
[14:27] Speaker 2: and Florida thinking like, yeah, down the road, we can
[14:29] Speaker 2: go ahead and bounce out this joint and join the
[14:31] Speaker 2: big 10 or the SEC. I mean, that's what this,
[14:34] Speaker 2: so this, this, it is so crazy. to then listen
[14:37] Speaker 2: to how they also try to frame this. But money is, well, no, no, no.
[14:42] Speaker 2: This is about the student athlete. And then they hold
[14:45] Speaker 2: up this, this student organization as if they're the ones
[14:49] Speaker 2: who are speaking for the athletes. When they ain't talked
[14:53] Speaker 2: to no football players or basketball players, they don't really, no, no, no.
[14:57] Speaker 1: Let's hear from the crew.
[14:58] Speaker 2: Let's hear from the track athlete, the volleyball player, the
[15:01] Speaker 2: soccer player. They ain't talking to the revenue generating players.
[15:06] Speaker 11: They're completely removed from the process. That's kind of the
[15:09] Speaker 11: worst thing about this. I say this even with the
[15:13] Speaker 11: previous act, the SCORE Act, when the NAACP and the
[15:17] Speaker 11: CBC were trying to begin a boycott of those Southern schools,
[15:20] Speaker 11: they didn't have any athletes on the stage either. Like
[15:23] Speaker 11: all the grown people involved in this are speaking for them.
[15:27] Speaker 11: And that is kind of the worst part. The student
[15:30] Speaker 11: advisory group of the NCAA is the ones that they
[15:32] Speaker 11: put forward to say that they support the bill. Like
[15:34] Speaker 11: they are a figurehead organization. of the NCAA. They are
[15:36] Speaker 11: kind of the student arm of the NCAA. They are
[15:39] Speaker 11: not an unbiased group, and they are not necessarily reflective
[15:43] Speaker 11: of what the larger student body in college athletics is
[15:46] Speaker 11: going to have to say. And I think that's one
[15:48] Speaker 11: of the parts that really gets lost in this, is
[15:50] Speaker 11: that the players, and truthfully, there obviously is an emphasis
[15:54] Speaker 11: on black athletes because of their role in football and basketball,
[15:57] Speaker 11: but But also everybody's really kind of getting done wrong
[16:01] Speaker 11: in this as an athlete because they don't have a
[16:03] Speaker 11: much say so about this. And not only do they
[16:05] Speaker 11: not have a say, so the point of the legislation
[16:08] Speaker 11: in part is to prevent them from having to say so.
[16:12] Speaker 2: What has been very peculiar to me and I've heard
[16:18] Speaker 2: so many different stories. So I'm pulling it right here.
[16:23] Speaker 2: It says this was a story from ESPN on June 16th.
[16:28] Speaker 2: And it said the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NFLPA,
[16:34] Speaker 2: National Basketball Players Association, tell Congress they backed the college
[16:37] Speaker 2: sports bill.
[16:39] Speaker 1: But I've had others.
[16:41] Speaker 2: I was talking to Liz Shuler, who has the AFL-CIO,
[16:44] Speaker 2: who said, no, the NFLPA is not in support of
[16:48] Speaker 2: the bill. I hit some basketball players, some current players,
[16:53] Speaker 2: and waiting to hear back from them. Did the players
[16:56] Speaker 2: even vote or was this the executive? director of the
[16:58] Speaker 2: Players Association, who said he's behind it. So when I
[17:01] Speaker 2: talked to Sam Mitchell last week, former NBA player and coach,
[17:04] Speaker 2: he said, why in the hell would a players union
[17:09] Speaker 2: be behind this bill? He said, when our job is
[17:12] Speaker 2: about making sure that athletes can get as much as
[17:16] Speaker 2: they make. And then then it's like, well, the NFL
[17:18] Speaker 2: played P.A. They're not really really in support of it.
[17:22] Speaker 1: But I haven't seen a press release from the NFLPA
[17:24] Speaker 1: saying they're against it. I reached out to them today.
[17:26] Speaker 1: I'm waiting to hear back. What do you make of
[17:29] Speaker 1: these players association on the pro level weighing in these unions,
[17:34] Speaker 1: weighing in on a bill that strips the ability of
[17:37] Speaker 1: players to form a union?
[17:40] Speaker 11: Well, I spoke with someone from the NFLPA over the
[17:43] Speaker 11: summer about that, and he explained to me that. There
[17:49] Speaker 11: were things in that bill that they liked or, you know,
[17:52] Speaker 11: that they felt like were making progress to where they
[17:54] Speaker 11: thought things should have ended up and that they were.
[17:57] Speaker 3: Asked about that. And we're like, yeah, you know, we
[17:59] Speaker 3: think it's kind of sort of headed in the right direction.
[18:00] Speaker 11: And then they look up and it says that they
[18:02] Speaker 11: endorsed it. That was the way it was explained to
[18:04] Speaker 11: me from someone who works at the union. But at
[18:07] Speaker 11: the same time, I haven't seen like a full throated
[18:09] Speaker 11: rejection of what this is, which is what one. would
[18:12] Speaker 11: expect under these circumstances i think that though in a
[18:16] Speaker 11: weird way is a big part of why i don't
[18:18] Speaker 11: think this is going to get through the house because
[18:20] Speaker 11: so many people had to throw some little extra thing
[18:23] Speaker 11: on it in order to get through the senate and
[18:25] Speaker 11: it went through the senate overwhelmingly but once this goes
[18:27] Speaker 11: to the house where i don't think there's been that
[18:30] Speaker 11: much of an appetite for this in the first place
[18:32] Speaker 11: i think it's just going to turn into such chaos
[18:34] Speaker 11: as people try to get more and more and get
[18:36] Speaker 11: their little bit and get their little bit and by
[18:38] Speaker 11: the end it's going to be so incomprehensible that it
[18:40] Speaker 11: just winds up getting voted.
[18:41] Speaker 2: Down It also jumps out at me. Millions of dollars
[18:45] Speaker 2: are being spent to lobby this bill. The networks are
[18:48] Speaker 2: putting money in. And I made perfectly clear that ESPN
[18:53] Speaker 2: should have been transparent by saying Disney has been putting
[18:56] Speaker 2: money in to support this whole deal. They were not
[18:59] Speaker 2: saying that on the air. And so you were hearing
[19:02] Speaker 2: so-called just perspectives.
[19:03] Speaker 1: No, no, no, no.
[19:04] Speaker 2: That was the position of the parent company, Disney. But
[19:08] Speaker 2: the thing that really jumps out at me when I
[19:10] Speaker 2: look at The response here is you had a well-funded group.
[19:16] Speaker 1: That was supporting this.
[19:16] Speaker 2: And you had this sort of hodgepodge fledgling, you know,
[19:21] Speaker 2: groups that were against it. And I think Speaker Mike
[19:25] Speaker 2: Johnson really did the opposition a great favor because when
[19:29] Speaker 2: he recessed the House, because he did not want.
[19:32] Speaker 1: Them voting on.
[19:35] Speaker 2: The discharge petition from Congressman Thomas Massey, the Republican out
[19:39] Speaker 2: of Kentucky. to impeach Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. So,
[19:45] Speaker 2: bill passes the Senate, it ain't got anywhere to go.
[19:48] Speaker 2: House not coming back to after the election. This is
[19:51] Speaker 2: a period. And I think it's been picking up your show,
[19:54] Speaker 2: pro football talk. I've seen Chris Sims and Florio and
[19:57] Speaker 2: Dan Levitard and others. I've seen the opposition grow. Last week,
[20:01] Speaker 2: I talked to Hall of Famers Nancy Lieberman, Ralph Sampson,
[20:04] Speaker 2: George Rogers. And I think really what should be happening
[20:09] Speaker 2: is that the opposition really should be getting as many
[20:13] Speaker 2: retired players, Hall of Famers and others weighing in on
[20:15] Speaker 2: this and hopefully current players. will speak out on this.
[20:20] Speaker 2: And then you'll have these college basketball and football players
[20:24] Speaker 2: weighing in on this as well. Just your thoughts on
[20:28] Speaker 2: how the opposition, how.
[20:29] Speaker 1: You see it as they're working to try to build
[20:33] Speaker 1: support to oppose this from coming up in the House.
[20:37] Speaker 11: Yeah, I think that media is probably going to be
[20:39] Speaker 11: the strongest arm. I think that we have seen enough
[20:42] Speaker 11: to indicate that current athletes are only willing to go
[20:45] Speaker 11: but so far on anything that matters. I say that
[20:48] Speaker 11: with no judgment. I think it's just kind of a
[20:51] Speaker 11: matter of fact sort of thing at this point. I
[20:54] Speaker 11: think the question becomes interesting is how and when do
[20:58] Speaker 11: we hear the message from actual athletes?
[21:00] Speaker 3: That are in school.
[21:01] Speaker 11: And I think that perhaps winds up being the most
[21:03] Speaker 11: compelling thing that could work. But in the meantime, I
[21:07] Speaker 11: think the biggest thing that those in opposition to this
[21:10] Speaker 11: can do is get the word to people what exactly
[21:13] Speaker 11: this bill is, because those who are in favor of
[21:17] Speaker 11: it are like, hey.
[21:19] Speaker 3: Most people agree.
[21:20] Speaker 11: That we've got this thing that stuff feels a little
[21:22] Speaker 11: out of control. Whether it is or not is not
[21:24] Speaker 11: the point. It feels that way to people.
[21:26] Speaker 3: Okay, cool.
[21:26] Speaker 11: And they're like, well, here are a couple things that
[21:28] Speaker 11: we could do. And they start talking about a salary cap. Well,
[21:30] Speaker 11: then those people are like, well, a salary cap's in
[21:32] Speaker 11: all the games.
[21:33] Speaker 3: Yeah, that makes sense. That stuff, you know, that stuff
[21:35] Speaker 3: works for people.
[21:35] Speaker 1: Way to go.
[21:36] Speaker 11: Salary cap. And then people are like, okay, cool. You
[21:38] Speaker 11: tell them about a little bit of the bill and
[21:40] Speaker 11: you can go along with it. There are parts of
[21:41] Speaker 11: it that you could tell me that I would go
[21:43] Speaker 11: along with it. For example, the rules that prohibit athletes
[21:46] Speaker 11: from charging usury rates or excuse me, agents from charging
[21:49] Speaker 11: usury rates to these college athletes. Yeah, you can get
[21:51] Speaker 11: me behind that.
[21:52] Speaker 3: That's a great idea. It's just when you keep reading
[21:54] Speaker 3: more and more and you're like, hey, hey, hey, wait
[21:56] Speaker 3: a minute. This is too much.
[21:58] Speaker 11: And so people need to know what the more is
[22:01] Speaker 11: that's in the bill. And I think that gives them
[22:03] Speaker 11: a different impression than just simply being told that this
[22:06] Speaker 11: is something that will protect college sports.
[22:08] Speaker 1: Absolutely.
[22:09] Speaker 2: My panel has questioned that the Mustafa Santel got a
[22:11] Speaker 2: lead former senior advisor for environmental justice, the EPA. Your
[22:14] Speaker 2: question for Bobani Jones.
[22:17] Speaker 7: Yeah, it was good to see you, brother. And thank
[22:18] Speaker 7: you for everything that you do.
[22:20] Speaker 13: You just mentioned just a second ago, one of the
[22:23] Speaker 13: possibilities that could make the bill better. I'm a former
[22:27] Speaker 13: college athlete. I'm not necessarily in.
[22:30] Speaker 7: Favor of it.
[22:31] Speaker 13: But for what are two or three other things that
[22:34] Speaker 13: you think could have made it stronger?
[22:37] Speaker 3: I mean, honestly, I think.
[22:39] Speaker 11: I can't think of this bill in the context of
[22:41] Speaker 11: how to make it stronger. I can only think in
[22:43] Speaker 11: the context of how to get it out of here.
[22:46] Speaker 11: For me, I think that the antitrust provisions are somewhat
[22:53] Speaker 11: necessary for things like negotiating television deals. However, anything that
[23:01] Speaker 11: prevents athletes from collective bargaining or disincentivizes the larger institutions
[23:06] Speaker 11: from creating a world where the athletes can collectively bargain,
[23:09] Speaker 11: that part I am vehemently opposed to.
[23:13] Speaker 3: Um i would definitely if i'm.
[23:15] Speaker 11: Looking at how to improve things in college sports a
[23:17] Speaker 11: big thing i'm looking to make sure to do is
[23:19] Speaker 11: something to make sure that these contracts are real contracts
[23:22] Speaker 11: because one thing that we found in the early years
[23:24] Speaker 11: of the nil stuff is it was all over the
[23:26] Speaker 11: place exactly how enforceable these contracts are these guys are
[23:29] Speaker 11: signing deals that sometimes come with provisions that say that
[23:32] Speaker 11: if you try to transfer you got to pay up
[23:34] Speaker 11: millions of dollars in order to go somewhere Right. So
[23:37] Speaker 11: they wind up being all these contracts have great potential
[23:40] Speaker 11: to be imbalanced. And a big part of why they
[23:44] Speaker 11: have potential to be imbalanced is that the surrounding support
[23:48] Speaker 11: industry around this for athletes is not built up as quickly, obviously,
[23:51] Speaker 11: as the schools are. So there is no fully functioning
[23:54] Speaker 11: economy of agents and people who are there to give
[23:57] Speaker 11: advice and various sorts of advisors. And so they're running
[23:59] Speaker 11: all kinds of all kinds of game on people in
[24:01] Speaker 11: many times, many times in terms of what's in the deals.
[24:04] Speaker 11: And then these guys are also often running game on
[24:07] Speaker 11: the players in terms of what it is that they charge,
[24:09] Speaker 11: because it's the Wild West is brand new.
[24:11] Speaker 3: People don't exactly know what's going on here to me.
[24:14] Speaker 11: If you want to protect college sports, you want to
[24:17] Speaker 11: protect college athletes. That's the number one thing to me
[24:19] Speaker 11: that needs to be done is to look out everything
[24:22] Speaker 11: about this. And this is something that the courts have
[24:23] Speaker 11: said about the NCAA is that, uh, as a lawyer
[24:26] Speaker 11: named Tom Mars out of Arkansas, who's came up with
[24:28] Speaker 11: this defense that the NCAA is, um, mission statement is
[24:32] Speaker 11: that they are there to per basic, long and short
[24:34] Speaker 11: is that they are there to provide and improve the
[24:36] Speaker 11: experience of college athletes. And they have one cases, including
[24:40] Speaker 11: the Trinidad Chambliss case with Ole Miss is, uh, Everything
[24:44] Speaker 11: the NCAA does should be to protect the interests of
[24:48] Speaker 11: the college athlete, first and foremost, because you say that
[24:50] Speaker 11: is your purpose.
[24:51] Speaker 3: Congress has no such thing.
[24:53] Speaker 11: Everything that is done, the first question should be asking,
[24:56] Speaker 11: how does this help the athletes?
[25:00] Speaker 1: Dr. Avis Jones-Weaver, host of the Fearless Politics podcast. Your question.
[25:05] Speaker 14: You know, as you mentioned, I agree that at this point,
[25:10] Speaker 14: the best remedy is to scuttle this altogether. But as
[25:15] Speaker 14: it's heading to the House, it looks like there might
[25:18] Speaker 14: be a slim chance of that. Is there anything that
[25:20] Speaker 14: you would suggest that the viewers could do to help
[25:24] Speaker 14: to really stop this before we go too far, or
[25:29] Speaker 14: have this come back in some sense, perhaps in future years,
[25:34] Speaker 14: with after sort of pushing how important this may be
[25:37] Speaker 14: to our community, to the different party, a democratic party,
[25:40] Speaker 14: and maybe it can come up again if we were
[25:42] Speaker 14: to have a new president and Congress, because right now, obviously,
[25:47] Speaker 14: we have limited options.
[25:49] Speaker 11: Yeah, I think the difficult part for me in a
[25:51] Speaker 11: lot of ways in answering that outside of the somewhat cliche,
[25:54] Speaker 11: call your congressman. And I think that actually can have
[25:58] Speaker 11: some measure of effect because this is something that affects
[26:00] Speaker 11: a lot of people because college sports are the home
[26:03] Speaker 11: team for people who don't have home teams.
[26:05] Speaker 5: Right.
[26:06] Speaker 11: Like if you're if you're not a place that has
[26:07] Speaker 11: major league teams or they got them late or whatever,
[26:10] Speaker 11: college sports is something that affects everybody. They are the
[26:13] Speaker 11: like the idea that the fans are the boss. They
[26:15] Speaker 11: kind of are, especially if you're talking about a state school,
[26:18] Speaker 11: for example, like, you know, that's kind of how that works.
[26:20] Speaker 11: So on one level, you can engage in a level
[26:23] Speaker 11: in that it have that engagement with whoever it is
[26:26] Speaker 11: that makes the decision where you live. But I think
[26:29] Speaker 11: I wrote I guess it's about 15 years ago, wrote
[26:31] Speaker 11: something like around the King holiday thing.
[26:34] Speaker 3: And it was about college sports.
[26:35] Speaker 11: And the truth is, this has always been a bit
[26:37] Speaker 11: of a civil rights issue, especially when the guys were
[26:39] Speaker 11: not being paid.
[26:40] Speaker 3: There's a wealth transfer issue. There were all of these things.
[26:43] Speaker 11: But in the end, this is a very vulnerable group
[26:45] Speaker 11: and always has been a vulnerable group and did not
[26:47] Speaker 11: really become that much less vulnerable just because they have money.
[26:51] Speaker 11: I've always felt that we needed to speak more as
[26:54] Speaker 11: a public, not just as black people, but everybody else
[26:57] Speaker 11: to understand that we're in this world where actual factual
[27:01] Speaker 11: parents show up at colleges and try to have parent
[27:03] Speaker 11: teacher conferences with professors like you care that much about
[27:07] Speaker 11: your kids and then. like turn a blind eye to
[27:10] Speaker 11: what happens to everybody else is in this place. Often
[27:13] Speaker 11: people who need more help and more support under these circumstances.
[27:15] Speaker 11: I've always felt that we need to have a much
[27:17] Speaker 11: broader discussion and an understanding that this is a vulnerable
[27:22] Speaker 11: group and they have been right for exploitation for as
[27:25] Speaker 11: long as these games have gone on. And if you
[27:28] Speaker 11: ever had to be diligent about something, this is what
[27:29] Speaker 11: we learned with this Voting Rights Act thing. If you
[27:31] Speaker 11: ever had to be diligent, you always have to be diligent.
[27:34] Speaker 11: And they will always need some level of protection and
[27:37] Speaker 11: support from the larger group, because otherwise the schools will
[27:41] Speaker 11: run roughshod over them, as they have for decades.
[27:46] Speaker 1: Dr. Larry J.
[27:46] Speaker 2: Walker, university professor and former senior congressional staffer.
[27:52] Speaker 1: Sure.
[27:52] Speaker 15: My question, when I look at this bill, essentially the
[27:55] Speaker 15: intersection of capitalism, race and college sports. And when you
[28:00] Speaker 15: look at the numbers of Democrats who voted for this bill,
[28:02] Speaker 15: I'm curious your take on this. You know, we talk
[28:04] Speaker 15: a lot about some of these individuals who voted for
[28:06] Speaker 15: this bill who are Democrats would say that they're pro
[28:08] Speaker 15: worker or even pro union. And I'm curious about you
[28:12] Speaker 15: talked about vulnerable populations and what this says about particularly
[28:15] Speaker 15: the race aspect, what it says about less about party
[28:18] Speaker 15: affiliation and what it says really says about ideology.
[28:22] Speaker 14: Yeah.
[28:22] Speaker 11: So I think it's an interesting question because I think
[28:25] Speaker 11: that a lot of elected officials are put in an
[28:28] Speaker 11: awkward position in this because everybody loves the University of
[28:32] Speaker 11: blank and blank state. And if you start getting pressure
[28:35] Speaker 11: from the athletic departments there, people tend to like fall
[28:38] Speaker 11: on the side of that.
[28:39] Speaker 3: That's the only reasonable explanation.
[28:42] Speaker 11: That I've ever had for how the left puts itself
[28:44] Speaker 11: in a position of being so supportive of this. Except
[28:47] Speaker 11: for the fact that, let's be honest here, while you
[28:49] Speaker 11: say that all those people would say that they are
[28:52] Speaker 11: pro worker, we are not really talking about a party
[28:54] Speaker 11: that has been pro worker for a while now.
[28:57] Speaker 7: Right.
[28:58] Speaker 11: And I think what we have here probably exposes the
[29:01] Speaker 11: ideology a bit more. as you say it, then it
[29:04] Speaker 11: is a contradiction of what the ideology is that is
[29:08] Speaker 11: presently in place. But what is interesting when this gets
[29:10] Speaker 11: to the House is the wide range of opposition to
[29:14] Speaker 11: this bill. I want to make sure I get this
[29:15] Speaker 11: one organization's name right that I've talked to somebody about
[29:18] Speaker 11: that's opposed to this.
[29:19] Speaker 3: But like the AFL-CIO, yes, they are opposed to this
[29:23] Speaker 3: bill or were opposed to the score. You know who
[29:25] Speaker 3: else is?
[29:25] Speaker 11: The American Economic Liberty Project, which is every bit as
[29:30] Speaker 11: right wing as it sounds like it is. Before they
[29:34] Speaker 11: started tinkering with this, the opposition to it was bipartisan.
[29:38] Speaker 3: I think once it goes to the House.
[29:40] Speaker 11: That's going to wind up happening again because, A, it
[29:43] Speaker 11: offends so many people in so many ways, but B,
[29:46] Speaker 11: the thing to always remember about college sports is that
[29:49] Speaker 11: the people who don't know very much about it, when
[29:51] Speaker 11: you try to explain to them, it sounds bat-boo-boo crazy.
[29:55] Speaker 1: Right.
[29:55] Speaker 11: Like if you go talk to somebody from another country
[29:57] Speaker 11: about these games and try to explain it to them
[29:59] Speaker 11: and how it all works, it doesn't make any sense
[30:01] Speaker 11: in the world. Out of that group of 435, there
[30:04] Speaker 11: are a lot of people that are like, wait a minute,
[30:05] Speaker 11: wait a minute.
[30:06] Speaker 3: You say this works how? And you say they want
[30:08] Speaker 3: to do this.
[30:09] Speaker 11: And that's the best chance it has to fall because fundamentally,
[30:12] Speaker 11: college sports is crazy town.
[30:14] Speaker 1: It is.
[30:15] Speaker 2: And yes, there are things in this particular bill that
[30:19] Speaker 2: I do think are necessary. I just simply cannot and
[30:23] Speaker 2: will not support them putting a cap on what players
[30:27] Speaker 2: can make. I also have a significant problem that with
[30:30] Speaker 2: this strips the players of ability from being able to
[30:34] Speaker 2: unionize and do collective bargaining.
[30:37] Speaker 1: You cannot.
[30:38] Speaker 2: When you look at we look at pro sports, that
[30:41] Speaker 2: is a union. negotiating with a league when it comes
[30:45] Speaker 2: to collective bargaining and revenues.
[30:48] Speaker 1: What this is, and.
[30:49] Speaker 2: You made this point on the podcast, I made this
[30:50] Speaker 2: point last week, this so-called settlement, I'm sorry, this cap,
[30:55] Speaker 2: that initial 20.5, they took a lawsuit settlement that a judge,
[31:02] Speaker 2: that still was another particular case, but a judge placed
[31:05] Speaker 2: that 20.5 million and they said, oh, we're just going
[31:08] Speaker 2: to take that Put this in the bill. There's no
[31:11] Speaker 2: rhyme or reason. No one can explain how they arrived
[31:15] Speaker 2: at that number. It wasn't based upon any. I mean,
[31:19] Speaker 2: you got like two, three economic degrees.
[31:21] Speaker 1: What? No math model.
[31:23] Speaker 4: Not what?
[31:24] Speaker 1: Which is all of a sudden. Yeah, we're just going
[31:26] Speaker 1: to make it.
[31:27] Speaker 2: And of course, then they had to add that retention
[31:29] Speaker 2: in there because they got exposed by it. And I
[31:32] Speaker 2: was like, well, no, no, we can spend up to
[31:34] Speaker 2: 50 million dollars. But the bottom line here is they
[31:38] Speaker 2: can't explain that. As DeMar Smith said, NFL players, they
[31:43] Speaker 2: get X percentage damn near half of what the league
[31:47] Speaker 2: brings in.
[31:48] Speaker 1: That's collective bargaining. This ain't it.
[31:52] Speaker 3: Now, they just came up with a number. They literally did.
[31:54] Speaker 11: It just went more and more and more because the
[31:56] Speaker 11: SEC and Big Ten, I feel like they were like, hey, guys,
[31:59] Speaker 11: let's be honest about this. we're going to pay more
[32:01] Speaker 11: than $ 20 million. That's another important.
[32:03] Speaker 3: Part of this.
[32:03] Speaker 11: Those of us who grew up in the wild west
[32:05] Speaker 11: of college sports where nobody got paid, but you could
[32:08] Speaker 11: do a little something here, do a little something there,
[32:10] Speaker 11: you would get caught by the mall cops of the NCAA.
[32:13] Speaker 11: This new bill, you got to deal with the federal
[32:15] Speaker 11: government if you go over the number.
[32:17] Speaker 1: Right.
[32:18] Speaker 11: And so nobody really wants to play that game. And
[32:21] Speaker 11: so the big schools are like, we got big money
[32:22] Speaker 11: and we want to be able to spend big money.
[32:24] Speaker 11: And they were able to get that number up. The networks,
[32:28] Speaker 11: their concern is they broadcast the games. They want some
[32:31] Speaker 11: stability with the conferences and they want the conferences stable.
[32:33] Speaker 3: To be what they want them to be.
[32:35] Speaker 11: So there are provisions there to make it more difficult
[32:37] Speaker 11: for a team to leave a conference, for example. I
[32:39] Speaker 11: think you have to wait at least three years or
[32:41] Speaker 11: something like that in order to leave conferences. Everybody's doing
[32:45] Speaker 11: what they can to protect the money and caught in
[32:47] Speaker 11: the middle of the people that actually play the games.
[32:49] Speaker 2: Well, folks out there, and I've said this here, what
[32:54] Speaker 2: NIL has done, it has created a significant number of
[32:58] Speaker 2: young black millionaires. It is as opposed to that player
[33:01] Speaker 2: busting his butt for four or five years playing college ball,
[33:04] Speaker 2: hoping he goes to the NFL to buy mom and
[33:07] Speaker 2: daddy a house. Hell, he can buy mom and daddy
[33:09] Speaker 2: a house right now as a college freshman. And my
[33:13] Speaker 2: whole deal is this here. Ain't no guarantee. This is
[33:15] Speaker 2: what I said to George Rogers, Bomani Jones. That kid, Lattimore,
[33:19] Speaker 2: who played in South Carolina. Unbelievable running back. Broke a
[33:22] Speaker 2: lot of George Rogers' record. Blew both of his knees out.
[33:26] Speaker 2: Never played in the NFL. Never played in the NFL.
[33:29] Speaker 2: But had he been able to maximize his value, he
[33:32] Speaker 2: probably could have made 20, 30 million bucks at South Carolina.
[33:36] Speaker 2: So all this idea of Nick Saban, oh, would it
[33:40] Speaker 2: create none of that? That's the 1%. It's a lot
[33:44] Speaker 2: of cats in college who can make some paper who
[33:47] Speaker 2: will never, ever see the NBA or see the NFL.
[33:53] Speaker 2: I believe they should be maximized as much money as
[33:55] Speaker 2: they can. Because that's called capitalism.
[33:59] Speaker 3: That's the game they say they're playing.
[34:00] Speaker 1: Indeed. Well, I necessarily appreciate it.
[34:03] Speaker 2: Tell folks where they can check out the podcast.
[34:05] Speaker 1: All right.
[34:05] Speaker 11: Check us out the right time with Bobani Jones available anywhere.
[34:08] Speaker 11: You get your audio podcast. You can also find us
[34:11] Speaker 11: on YouTube. You catch me on social media and most
[34:14] Speaker 11: of the platforms. I'm at Bobani underscore Jones.
[34:16] Speaker 1: My brother. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot.
[34:18] Speaker 3: All right, man, take it easy.
[34:19] Speaker 1: All right, have a good one, folks.
[34:21] Speaker 2: Again, this is real, and I really hope that, and
[34:25] Speaker 2: by the way, I didn't ask Bhavani about this here.
[34:28] Speaker 1: Bhavani's still there? Is he still there?
[34:32] Speaker 2: Damn, I should have meant to ask him about the
[34:36] Speaker 2: HBCU part of it, because that still, you know, just
[34:42] Speaker 2: rubs me raw. The reality that how they include the
[34:45] Speaker 2: HBCU as a part of this bill, knowing damn well
[34:48] Speaker 2: the bill don't contain them getting a billion dollars.
[34:52] Speaker 1: And that's just that's just a deal. But so we'll
[34:54] Speaker 1: see what happens when it comes to the House. I
[34:56] Speaker 1: want to talk about.
[34:57] Speaker 2: Benefit Kitchen Show on YouTube. Let me give all y'all
[34:59] Speaker 2: a shout out. Of course, we launched this show eight
[35:02] Speaker 2: years ago, the network four years ago. And recently, folks,
[35:07] Speaker 2: we actually crossed one billion views on YouTube.
[35:12] Speaker 1: That's right. One billion views on our YouTube channel.
[35:16] Speaker 2: And so I want to thank all of y'all for
[35:17] Speaker 2: making that possible, for watching this show, for checking out
[35:20] Speaker 2: our content and sharing it.
[35:23] Speaker 1: And so onward to two billion. It's time for a break.
[35:27] Speaker 1: I'll be right back. Roland Martin on the Blackstar Network.
[35:29] Speaker 2: All right, folks, let me get personal for a second.
[35:34] Speaker 2: My mom had questions about her Medicare, so she called Chapter,
[35:38] Speaker 2: a Medicare advisory company, and she texted me right after
[35:41] Speaker 2: saying it's a great benefit.
[35:43] Speaker 1: It was easy.
[35:43] Speaker 2: A real person walked her through the whole thing, and
[35:46] Speaker 2: now she understands better what's going on.
[35:48] Speaker 1: But it also is not just her.
[35:50] Speaker 2: A woman in Yonkers wrote in saying the process was
[35:53] Speaker 2: so simple, the enrollment was easy, and she was so
[35:55] Speaker 2: glad she called. Then there's Marilyn, 90 years old in Florida,
[35:59] Speaker 2: living on Social Security. Her premium climbed every single year
[36:03] Speaker 2: north of $ 400 a month for coverage she could barely
[36:06] Speaker 2: afford anymore.
[36:07] Speaker 1: So what does she do? She called Chapter.
[36:10] Speaker 2: They found her the same top tier coverage for hundreds
[36:13] Speaker 2: of dollars less. 90 years old and finally somebody in
[36:17] Speaker 2: her corner. I hear stories like that again and again
[36:19] Speaker 2: from our community. The Medicare system was not built to
[36:23] Speaker 2: work for you. Too much fine print, too many plans.
[36:26] Speaker 2: Yet Chapters Advisors are independent and honest. The only Medicare
[36:29] Speaker 2: Advisors that compare every plan nationwide. They're focused on one thing,
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[36:50] Speaker 1: 724-264-8281.
[36:50] Speaker 3: That's Chapter.
[36:58] Speaker 16: This week on the other side of change, we're talking
[37:00] Speaker 16: about privacy or safety. It's a false choice and it's
[37:03] Speaker 16: one that's rarely applied evenly. This episode is going to
[37:06] Speaker 16: examine the rapid, largely unregulated spread of mass surveillance technology, especially.
[37:11] Speaker 17: The United States has no actual meaningful privacy protection.
[37:15] Speaker 12: Had not outlawed any of this.
[37:17] Speaker 17: So all of us are for sale. All of us
[37:20] Speaker 17: just have a little price tag next to it. And
[37:22] Speaker 17: the government or a private company or a criminal organization
[37:26] Speaker 17: can just buy all this stuff. And that's good for business.
[37:29] Speaker 18: You're watching The Other Side of Change only on the
[37:31] Speaker 18: Blackstar Network.
[37:43] Speaker 19: Now, I know this is going to be a weird
[37:45] Speaker 19: video to make because I'm wearing an NAACP t-shirt, but
[37:49] Speaker 19: I'm in Mississippi, in Biloxi, at the coast of the
[37:54] Speaker 19: bottom of America, barefoot, just to make this video to
[37:59] Speaker 19: say happy anniversary to Roland Martin Unfiltered.
[38:02] Speaker 4: Uncle Roland, I love you.
[38:04] Speaker 19: You have done so much for the culture, for our people,
[38:06] Speaker 19: for our community, and for young people like me. You
[38:09] Speaker 19: have supported unapologetically our careers.
[38:13] Speaker 4: You have made ways.
[38:14] Speaker 20: And this is how I know.
[38:15] Speaker 19: That Roland Martin Unfiltered is successful is because the people
[38:18] Speaker 19: that you invite and people that you bring onto your
[38:20] Speaker 19: show go on and do really incredible things to change
[38:22] Speaker 19: the world.
[38:23] Speaker 20: And I am one of those beneficiaries.
[38:25] Speaker 19: I love you. I hope that many, many, many, many, many, many,
[38:29] Speaker 19: many more years to come. This show continues to expand
[38:33] Speaker 19: and grow and reach not only a larger audience, but
[38:36] Speaker 19: now I've seen, you know, your show is actually organizing
[38:39] Speaker 19: people more now.
[38:41] Speaker 20: And I'm a huge.
[38:41] Speaker 19: Fan of your leadership, of your vision for the network,
[38:44] Speaker 19: of your vision for the show. How unapologetically unfiltered you
[38:48] Speaker 19: are encourages all of our viewers and all of our
[38:50] Speaker 19: panelists and everybody in the network to be also unapologetically unfiltered.
[38:55] Speaker 20: And, you know, I got your back.
[38:56] Speaker 19: I love you. Happy anniversary from Biloxi, Mississippi, with an
[39:01] Speaker 19: NAACP T-shirt on. Can't wait to catch up.
[39:05] Speaker 21: Love you.
[39:07] Speaker 1: All right, folks.
[39:15] Speaker 2: Welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered. Hey, if you're watching
[39:17] Speaker 2: on YouTube, do me a favor. Hit that like button, y'all.
[39:20] Speaker 2: We should be crossing a thousand likes every single show.
[39:24] Speaker 2: So if you're watching on YouTube right now, hit that
[39:27] Speaker 2: like button.
[39:28] Speaker 1: Y'all are commenting. You got lots to say. So hit
[39:31] Speaker 1: that like button. All right, y'all.
[39:34] Speaker 2: It was lots and lots of drama today on Capitol
[39:37] Speaker 2: Hill when special prosecutor Jack Smith testified before the United
[39:41] Speaker 2: States Senate. Of course, he was investigating the criminal activity
[39:45] Speaker 2: of the twice impeached, criminally convicted, felon-in-chief Donald the Con Trump.
[39:50] Speaker 2: Smith was questioned about his investigative tactics, and he pushed
[39:53] Speaker 2: back against repeated Republican efforts to paint him and his
[39:56] Speaker 2: team as partisan political hacks during this hearing. And boy,
[40:00] Speaker 2: did it get funky. Here's what Smith said in his
[40:04] Speaker 2: opening statements.
[40:05] Speaker 22: Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member Durbin, members of the committee, thank
[40:10] Speaker 22: you for the opportunity to discuss my work as special counsel.
[40:14] Speaker 22: I've been fortunate to serve a country that I love
[40:17] Speaker 22: for nearly 30 years in local, national, and international settings.
[40:23] Speaker 22: My service has spanned both Republican and Democratic administrations. I
[40:28] Speaker 22: am not a politician, and I have no partisan loyalty.
[40:33] Speaker 22: My career has been dedicated to serving our country by
[40:37] Speaker 22: upholding the rule of law and the core principles upon
[40:40] Speaker 22: which our country was founded. I believe there is no
[40:44] Speaker 22: role for politics in the proper administration of justice. A
[40:48] Speaker 22: prosecutor's decisions must be based on the facts and the law.
[40:53] Speaker 22: The status, power, prominence, or political affiliation of the subject
[40:59] Speaker 22: of an investigation must play no role in the decision
[41:03] Speaker 22: to investigate, prosecute, or decline to prosecute. I approach my
[41:10] Speaker 22: role as special counsel following these principles. The special counsel's
[41:14] Speaker 22: office followed Justice Department policy, observed legal requirements, and took
[41:20] Speaker 22: actions based on the facts and the law. I stand
[41:25] Speaker 22: by my decisions as special counsel, including my decision to
[41:28] Speaker 22: bring charges against President Trump. I made those decisions without
[41:34] Speaker 22: regard to President Trump's political association, activities, beliefs, or candidacy
[41:40] Speaker 22: in the 2024 presidential election. Our investigation developed proof beyond
[41:47] Speaker 22: a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in serious crimes
[41:52] Speaker 22: against our nation. If asked whether to prosecute a former
[41:56] Speaker 22: president today based on the same facts, I would do
[42:01] Speaker 22: so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or
[42:05] Speaker 22: a Democrat. The charges against President Trump were the result
[42:10] Speaker 22: of the evidence. Grand juries in two separate districts reached
[42:14] Speaker 22: this conclusion based on his actions, as alleged in the
[42:19] Speaker 22: indictments they returned. Rather than accept his defeat in the
[42:24] Speaker 22: 2020 presidential election, President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme
[42:29] Speaker 22: to overturn the results and prevent the lawful transfer of power.
[42:34] Speaker 22: After leaving office in January of 2021, President Trump illegally
[42:39] Speaker 22: kept classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago social club and repeatedly
[42:45] Speaker 22: tried to obstruct justice to conceal his continued retention of
[42:49] Speaker 22: those documents. Highly sensitive national security information was held in
[42:55] Speaker 22: a bathroom and a ballroom where events and gatherings took place.
[43:01] Speaker 22: As with my appearance before the U.S. House of Representatives
[43:05] Speaker 22: Committee on the Judiciary, I am prepared to answer your
[43:08] Speaker 22: questions truthfully. I stand by my testimony before the House
[43:12] Speaker 22: of Representatives, and I will not be silenced by continued
[43:17] Speaker 22: threats of prosecution from the President or others. As I
[43:23] Speaker 22: appear before you today, it is my belief that the
[43:27] Speaker 22: rule of law faces challenges unlike any we have experienced
[43:31] Speaker 22: in our lifetime. Individuals are threatened with criminal prosecution because
[43:36] Speaker 22: they are perceived to have opposed the President. Predetermined outcomes
[43:42] Speaker 22: increasingly seem to take precedence over the Justice Department's longstanding
[43:47] Speaker 22: core values and traditions. History teaches that the rule of
[43:51] Speaker 22: law is rarely destroyed.
[43:52] Speaker 1: All at once.
[43:54] Speaker 22: It's often weakened by attacks on the institutions and the
[43:58] Speaker 22: public servants sworn to uphold it. Since January of 2025,
[44:03] Speaker 22: we have witnessed precisely such an effort including the vilification
[44:08] Speaker 22: of the agents, prosecutors, and staff who worked on my team,
[44:11] Speaker 22: simply because of their unwavering dedication to the rule of law.
[44:18] Speaker 22: I myself have been threatened with jail by the President
[44:22] Speaker 22: of the United States. However, I remain confident that the
[44:26] Speaker 22: rule of law will endure because so many continue to
[44:30] Speaker 22: uphold it faithfully each day. Throughout our legal system, public
[44:36] Speaker 22: servants have remained faithful to their oaths despite extraordinary pressure
[44:41] Speaker 22: to do otherwise. Their example demonstrates that while fear may
[44:47] Speaker 22: be contagious, courage is as well. Thank you for the
[44:53] Speaker 22: opportunity to testify today. I look forward to your questions.
[44:58] Speaker 2: Yeah, I might look forward to the questions, but you
[45:00] Speaker 2: did have a whole bunch of idiots, especially folks like
[45:04] Speaker 2: Ted Cruz, who was just saying some of the most outrageous,
[45:08] Speaker 2: insane stuff.
[45:10] Speaker 1: Here's some of what that fool had to say. Mr.
[45:18] Speaker 23: Smith, you and I have never met. But your team
[45:23] Speaker 23: wanted to know to whom I spoke, when I spoke
[45:26] Speaker 23: to them, and for how long. You subpoenaed records associated
[45:32] Speaker 23: with my phones, both personal and office. And you sought
[45:36] Speaker 23: and obtained a court order to prevent me from knowing
[45:39] Speaker 23: about it. For years, you were able to ask your
[45:43] Speaker 23: questions in secret without me in the room. Today, the
[45:49] Speaker 23: Senate gets to ask questions. And unlike you, we will
[45:53] Speaker 23: do so in public.
[45:55] Speaker 4: You have insisted that politics played no role.
[45:58] Speaker 23: In your investigation. The American people can judge for themselves.
[46:05] Speaker 23: Let's start with your subpoenas. Did your team subpoena records
[46:11] Speaker 23: concerning the Republican National Committee?
[46:15] Speaker 22: We subpoenaed a number of records.
[46:18] Speaker 4: That's a yes or no question.
[46:22] Speaker 22: I do not have. I just want to be clear
[46:23] Speaker 22: with you, Senator. I do not have a recollection of
[46:25] Speaker 22: every subpoena. We did subpoena numerous records.
[46:29] Speaker 4: Did your team subpoena the RNC?
[46:31] Speaker 22: I would have to look at those records, but we did.
[46:33] Speaker 4: You're testifying you don't remember? Yes, no, or I don't remember.
[46:35] Speaker 4: There's your three options.
[46:37] Speaker 22: It is very possible. I do not have a recollection.
[46:40] Speaker 4: Did your team subpoena Turning Point USA?
[46:45] Speaker 22: Again, I would have to look at the records.
[46:46] Speaker 4: Do you have any idea who you subpoenaed? Can you name?
[46:49] Speaker 1: All right.
[46:50] Speaker 4: Let me help you. Did your team subpoena the Conservative
[46:53] Speaker 4: Partnership Institute?
[46:56] Speaker 22: That I do remember.
[46:57] Speaker 1: OK, good.
[46:58] Speaker 4: We found one.
[46:59] Speaker 23: And I can explain why your team did your subpoenas
[47:02] Speaker 23: demand communications with Fox News.
[47:06] Speaker 22: The subpoenas that we issued did ask for communication regarding
[47:11] Speaker 22: ad buys because it was relevant to the false statements
[47:14] Speaker 22: we were investigating.
[47:15] Speaker 23: Purchasing advertising on a news agency you somehow believe is criminal.
[47:19] Speaker 23: Did your team seek and obtained donor and fundraising data?
[47:25] Speaker 14: No.
[47:25] Speaker 22: I would have to look at the subpoenas, but again,
[47:27] Speaker 22: I'm happy to.
[47:28] Speaker 4: You don't know if you had donor and fundraising data?
[47:31] Speaker 22: I'm happy to explain why we issued these.
[47:33] Speaker 4: Do you know if you had donor and fundraising data?
[47:36] Speaker 22: I would have to look at the subpoenas.
[47:37] Speaker 4: You don't know?
[47:39] Speaker 23: Are you testifying right now you don't know if you
[47:41] Speaker 23: obtained donor and fundraising data? You can sigh all you like.
[47:47] Speaker 23: It's a very simple question. You know damn well you did.
[47:50] Speaker 23: You've been questioned about the checks that you guys got.
[47:54] Speaker 23: You know the answer. So why don't you answer the question?
[47:58] Speaker 23: Did your team obtain donor and fundraising information?
[48:02] Speaker 4: It's a yes. You can say yes.
[48:05] Speaker 22: I do not recall the attachments to specific subpoenas. I'm
[48:09] Speaker 22: happy to.
[48:10] Speaker 4: So you're testifying. You're testifying.
[48:12] Speaker 23: You don't remember if you got donor and fundraising material.
[48:15] Speaker 1: Really?
[48:18] Speaker 22: I do not recall because I've not seen those subpoenas
[48:21] Speaker 22: in a very long time, but I'm happy to explain
[48:23] Speaker 22: why we issued them.
[48:24] Speaker 23: All in all, look, I get you want to dance
[48:26] Speaker 23: and avoid the questions. I understand it because you can't
[48:28] Speaker 23: answer a simple, straightforward question. All in all, you issued
[48:31] Speaker 23: 197 subpoenas to 34 individuals at least and 163 businesses,
[48:37] Speaker 23: and you sought records on at least 430 Republican individuals
[48:42] Speaker 23: and entities.
[48:43] Speaker 4: Is that right? And you're going to say you don't remember.
[48:44] Speaker 4: Is that correct?
[48:46] Speaker 22: I do not recall those numbers.
[48:48] Speaker 3: I understand.
[48:49] Speaker 23: You know, if you look at the list, there is
[48:51] Speaker 23: one thing that is consistent. Every name on it is
[48:56] Speaker 23: a Republican.
[48:56] Speaker 4: Is it your view? Is it a crime to be
[48:58] Speaker 4: a Republican?
[49:00] Speaker 22: Absolutely not, sir.
[49:01] Speaker 4: Is it a crime to write a check to Republicans?
[49:05] Speaker 4: It is not.
[49:05] Speaker 22: And I'm happy to explain why we issued these subpoenas,
[49:08] Speaker 22: if you'd like.
[49:10] Speaker 1: Sure.
[49:11] Speaker 22: Briefly, we had to conduct an investigation about whether any
[49:15] Speaker 22: person or entity violated the law with respect to the
[49:20] Speaker 22: attempt to block the peaceful transfer of power to make
[49:23] Speaker 22: that decision.
[49:23] Speaker 3: Yes, I understand.
[49:24] Speaker 23: And you use that as an excuse to engage in
[49:27] Speaker 23: a massive fishing expedition targeting over 400 Republicans. And it
[49:31] Speaker 23: was disgraceful. Let's just talk about the United States Senate.
[49:35] Speaker 23: You issued subpoenas for more than 20% of the Republicans
[49:40] Speaker 23: in the Senate seeking their phone records. You did so,
[49:46] Speaker 23: and then you obtained orders, non-disclosure orders from Judge Boasberg.
[49:54] Speaker 23: I believe Judge Boasberg should be impeached for his complicity
[49:57] Speaker 23: in your abuse of power. Now, Judge Boasberg signed orders
[50:01] Speaker 23: that I want to read. from the order Judge Boasberg
[50:04] Speaker 23: signed that I didn't know about, that the Republican senators
[50:08] Speaker 23: targeted here didn't know about, I want to read from
[50:11] Speaker 23: the order.
[50:12] Speaker 4: Quote, the court finds reasonable grounds.
[50:17] Speaker 23: To believe such disclosure, in other words, disclosing to me
[50:21] Speaker 23: that you were subpoenaing my phone records, will result in
[50:25] Speaker 23: destruction of or tampering with evidence Intimidation of potential witnesses
[50:30] Speaker 23: and serious jeopardy to the investigation.
[50:32] Speaker 1: Mr.
[50:33] Speaker 23: Smith, do you have any evidence whatsoever to believe that
[50:36] Speaker 23: I and 20% of the members of the Republicans in
[50:39] Speaker 23: the Senate will engage in destruction or tampering of evidence
[50:45] Speaker 23: and intimidation of potential witnesses?
[50:48] Speaker 22: No, we had powerful evidence that Donald Trump and his associates.
[50:52] Speaker 4: Am I Donald Trump?
[50:53] Speaker 22: You are not, sir.
[50:54] Speaker 4: Are the members of the Senate Donald Trump?
[50:58] Speaker 7: No.
[50:58] Speaker 24: No.
[50:58] Speaker 4: Was this order directed at Donald Trump?
[51:02] Speaker 23: No, I believe that your office draft this order that
[51:04] Speaker 23: Judge Boasberg signed and he signed them like he was
[51:07] Speaker 23: signing Denny's menus one at a time over and over
[51:10] Speaker 23: and over again.
[51:11] Speaker 4: Facts be damned. Did your office draft this?
[51:15] Speaker 22: I'd have to look, but I'm assuming that's the correct order.
[51:18] Speaker 22: And if so, we did. And I'm happy to explain
[51:20] Speaker 22: why we did.
[51:21] Speaker 3: If you'd like.
[51:22] Speaker 4: I want you to tell us right now. Are you
[51:24] Speaker 4: an officer of the court?
[51:26] Speaker 1: Yes.
[51:27] Speaker 23: I want to tell us, did you have a shred
[51:28] Speaker 23: of evidence that 20% of the Republicans in the Senate
[51:35] Speaker 23: will destroy evidence and intimidate witnesses?
[51:39] Speaker 22: We had a strong reason to believe that Donald Trump
[51:43] Speaker 22: would destroy evidence.
[51:44] Speaker 23: That was not directed at Donald Trump. It was stated
[51:48] Speaker 23: disclosing it to members of the Senate.
[51:50] Speaker 22: No, it was stated disclosing it to anyone. And we
[51:53] Speaker 22: do not have to, uh, wait for someone to be injured,
[51:57] Speaker 22: for an investigation to be obstructed. We had strong reason
[52:01] Speaker 22: to believe that Donald Trump would obstruct our investigation, given
[52:06] Speaker 22: the obstruction alleged in the Florida indictment, given the attempts
[52:10] Speaker 22: to intimidate witnesses in the election case, given the threats
[52:14] Speaker 22: that were later made to witnesses in the election case. I,
[52:18] Speaker 22: as a prosecutor, have a duty.
[52:19] Speaker 1: Mr.
[52:19] Speaker 23: Smith, are you aware of the statute 2 U.S.C. section 6628?
[52:25] Speaker 22: Yes, I am.
[52:26] Speaker 23: That specifically protects Senate communication records and makes this non-disclosure
[52:33] Speaker 23: agreement that you gave Judge Boasberg and that he signed
[52:36] Speaker 23: that makes it illegal.
[52:38] Speaker 4: Were you aware of it at the time?
[52:42] Speaker 22: I do not recall discussing this statute at the time.
[52:44] Speaker 4: Did you bring it to the judge's attention?
[52:49] Speaker 22: I do not recall this being part of our application.
[52:52] Speaker 4: So instead....
[52:55] Speaker 23: You gave the judge an order that was contrary to
[52:57] Speaker 23: federal law, and you got the judge to sign order
[52:59] Speaker 23: after order after order that was contrary to federal law.
[53:02] Speaker 25: Is that right?
[53:03] Speaker 1: No.
[53:04] Speaker 22: We sought to follow department policy and.
[53:06] Speaker 3: The law at all times.
[53:07] Speaker 23: Excuse me, does department policy contravene federal statute?
[53:11] Speaker 22: It does not, and we intended to follow them both.
[53:14] Speaker 22: We submitted these nondisclosure orders consistent with the law and
[53:18] Speaker 22: department policy.
[53:23] Speaker 23: By the way, when you sought My phone records from
[53:27] Speaker 23: AT & T, a number of senators had their phone
[53:31] Speaker 23: records with Verizon. Verizon, unfortunately, was more than happy to comply.
[53:37] Speaker 23: AT & T declined to hand over my phone records
[53:41] Speaker 23: because they concluded doing so would be unconstitutional. It would
[53:44] Speaker 23: violate the speech and debate clause. Now, ordinarily, when a
[53:49] Speaker 23: prosecution seeks and issues a subpoena and the individual receiving
[53:54] Speaker 23: the subpoena refuses to turn it over, ordinarily, the prosecution
[53:58] Speaker 23: goes to court to enforce that.
[53:59] Speaker 4: Is that right?
[54:03] Speaker 22: I do not believe that's what happened in this case, sir.
[54:05] Speaker 23: In this case, you didn't do a damn thing because
[54:07] Speaker 23: AT & T didn't hand it over because they concluded
[54:09] Speaker 23: it violated the speech and debate clause.
[54:11] Speaker 4: And you know what your team said? Never mind.
[54:13] Speaker 23: Nothing to see here. We're not going to fight because
[54:15] Speaker 23: you knew if you went to court, you would lose.
[54:21] Speaker 22: Our work in our securing these subpoenas and nondisclosure orders
[54:26] Speaker 22: was consistent with the law, the toll records.
[54:28] Speaker 23: It was explicitly contrary to federal statute. It was explicitly
[54:32] Speaker 23: contrary to the federal constitution.
[54:35] Speaker 4: Let me ask you this. Do you have any regrets?
[54:42] Speaker 22: Regrets regarding my work as special counsel?
[54:44] Speaker 1: Yes. Yes.
[54:46] Speaker 22: I regret that the people I worked with have been
[54:50] Speaker 22: unfairly fired and vilified.
[54:52] Speaker 4: Of course, of course, you can't bring yourself. Well, let
[54:55] Speaker 4: me say congratulations.
[54:57] Speaker 23: Because you have succeeded where Richard Nixon failed, which is
[55:02] Speaker 23: weaponizing the Department of Justice and the federal government to
[55:05] Speaker 23: go after your political opponents. Congratulations. You are stepping into
[55:10] Speaker 23: the shoes of John Mitchell. And yet your abuse is
[55:13] Speaker 23: far greater than John Mitchell. And I understand for the
[55:17] Speaker 23: rest of your life, you're going to be hailed as
[55:19] Speaker 23: a hero in the resistance movement. I assume you have
[55:24] Speaker 23: a pink hat somewhere at home and people will be
[55:28] Speaker 23: proud of you for resisting, but I'll tell you what
[55:30] Speaker 23: you have done. You have brought the Department of Justice
[55:35] Speaker 23: into disrepute because instead of being apolitical, instead of enforcing
[55:41] Speaker 23: the law, you willingly were conscripted as a foot soldier
[55:45] Speaker 23: for the DNC.
[55:47] Speaker 4: And you know what you also did?
[55:49] Speaker 23: You reelected President Donald Trump because the American people were
[55:53] Speaker 23: disgusted at your willingness to abuse power in partisan ends.
[56:03] Speaker 23: Javert from Les Mis would look at you with astonishment.
[56:11] Speaker 23: I believe you have no regrets. I believe you have
[56:13] Speaker 23: convinced yourself that this witch hunt targeting half the country
[56:18] Speaker 23: for partisan ends was justified. Well, let me say, you
[56:23] Speaker 23: have brought the Department of Justice into disrepute and you
[56:27] Speaker 23: have done enormous damage.
[56:29] Speaker 4: And I believe.
[56:34] Speaker 23: Your conduct represents the most egregious abuse of power in
[56:39] Speaker 23: the history of the Department of Justice.
[56:43] Speaker 2: OK, it's a bunch of the clips I got to go.
[56:46] Speaker 2: Here's what I find to be most hilarious about this.
[56:50] Speaker 2: These idiots, Ted Cruz, John Kenny, you were only talking
[56:54] Speaker 2: to Republicans because y'all were the ones who were trying
[56:58] Speaker 2: to steal the election.
[57:01] Speaker 1: The reason they didn't investigate any Democrats or try to
[57:04] Speaker 1: get their records because the Democrats were not meeting with insurrectionists.
[57:09] Speaker 2: The Democrats were not planning to stop the count. The
[57:12] Speaker 2: Democrats were not trying to steal the election. It was
[57:17] Speaker 2: Ted Cruz and Jim Jordan and Andy Ogles and Ron Johnson.
[57:29] Speaker 1: I mean, it was the Republicans.
[57:32] Speaker 2: So if y'all were not trying to steal the election,
[57:35] Speaker 2: you probably would not have been investigated.
[57:39] Speaker 20: Absolutely.
[57:40] Speaker 14: And first of all, Ted Cruz, Ted Cruz, Ted Cruz,
[57:44] Speaker 14: where do I begin? I have zero respect for a
[57:50] Speaker 14: man who is going to kowtow to another man who
[57:54] Speaker 14: accuses his father of being a murderer and.
[57:57] Speaker 20: Tells the world that his wife is ugly.
[58:00] Speaker 14: I mean, any man that does not have the balls
[58:03] Speaker 14: to stand up to another man after saying that about
[58:07] Speaker 14: his family, is worthy of zero respect. Now, as it
[58:11] Speaker 14: relates to this specific issue, you're exactly right. There is
[58:15] Speaker 14: only one party that literally aided and abetted an insurrection.
[58:22] Speaker 20: That was a coup.
[58:24] Speaker 14: And I clearly remember, as if it was yesterday, a
[58:28] Speaker 14: lot of those people who are sitting up in there,
[58:30] Speaker 14: rather smug today, running for their lives.
[58:34] Speaker 7: I'll say that. OK, running for their lives.
[58:38] Speaker 20: In the midst of this.
[58:39] Speaker 14: All of these people that have so much to say today,
[58:42] Speaker 14: like Ted Cruz, somewhere in a corner cowering as this
[58:47] Speaker 14: was going on. I also remember that when two of
[58:51] Speaker 14: the insurrectionists were literally in the chamber looking at people's desks,
[58:58] Speaker 14: I remember one of them saying, oh, this is Ted Cruz.
[59:02] Speaker 20: He's on our side.
[59:06] Speaker 7: If you want to sit.
[59:07] Speaker 14: Here and play revisionist history, you can sit here and
[59:10] Speaker 14: try to replay revisionist history.
[59:12] Speaker 20: But the reality is we all saw what we saw.
[59:16] Speaker 7: We know what we know.
[59:18] Speaker 14: And we also know on the very first day of
[59:21] Speaker 14: this demon's administration and this second set of inflictions of
[59:28] Speaker 14: pain that he's hurling against this country, Trump on day
[59:32] Speaker 14: one sat there and released all of these criminals, all
[59:37] Speaker 14: of these insurrectionists. And one other thing that they did
[59:39] Speaker 14: that I think you left out of your overview of
[59:42] Speaker 14: everything that happened, they also tried to seek fake electors.
[59:47] Speaker 14: They tried to do everything possible to steal that election.
[59:52] Speaker 14: So to sit here and make up this fantastical tale
[59:57] Speaker 14: About somehow it's crazy that they would be investigated. And
[1:00:02] Speaker 14: somehow it's actually the current the people who are actually
[1:00:06] Speaker 14: investigating that crime are somehow abusing the Department of Justice.
[1:00:12] Speaker 14: When is this administration that has packed the Department of
[1:00:16] Speaker 14: Justice and every other agency with loyalists? who are all
[1:00:20] Speaker 14: about wreaking revenge on his perceived enemies instead of actually
[1:00:25] Speaker 14: representing the American people. It's just disgusting. And while they're
[1:00:29] Speaker 14: waiting with all of this, I will say it's not
[1:00:32] Speaker 14: going to save them in November because all the histrionics
[1:00:35] Speaker 14: that they're trying to do right now, all the kabuki
[1:00:39] Speaker 14: theater that they are playing in Congress as a result
[1:00:42] Speaker 14: to that hearing today. It's not going to make the
[1:00:44] Speaker 14: cost of gas go down. It's not going to make
[1:00:48] Speaker 14: food cost less. It's not going to put those crazy,
[1:00:51] Speaker 14: dumbass MAGA people who voted for them that are now
[1:00:55] Speaker 14: getting their farms ripped away from them because of these
[1:00:58] Speaker 14: tariffs and everything else that's happening. It's not going to
[1:01:01] Speaker 14: change that. So you can continue to try to be
[1:01:04] Speaker 14: desperate and put on all of these shows to try
[1:01:07] Speaker 14: to get clips for Fox News But the reality is
[1:01:11] Speaker 14: you're going to lose and you're going to lose badly
[1:01:13] Speaker 14: in November. And there's nothing you can do about it.
[1:01:15] Speaker 2: It's just laughable to see them being so worked up
[1:01:18] Speaker 2: when it was without a doubt, Larry, that these Republicans
[1:01:23] Speaker 2: were trying to aid in a bit in stealing the elections.
[1:01:30] Speaker 15: They must think that we're all insane. It reminds me
[1:01:33] Speaker 15: a bit of the upside down from Netflix's Stranger Things,
[1:01:38] Speaker 15: some kind of parallel universe that we didn't experience what
[1:01:41] Speaker 15: we experienced not really just a couple of years ago.
[1:01:44] Speaker 15: And so, Roland, they want us to pretend like none
[1:01:46] Speaker 15: of this happened.
[1:01:47] Speaker 1: And you're right.
[1:01:47] Speaker 15: I think the point that you made earlier is the
[1:01:50] Speaker 15: reason why these records were subpoenaed is because you, Senator
[1:01:54] Speaker 15: Cruz and other individuals, prior to the insurrection, among some
[1:02:00] Speaker 15: of the other issues he was responsible for investigating, were
[1:02:05] Speaker 15: intimately involved. This is not some kind of mass conspiracy,
[1:02:09] Speaker 15: some movie on television, where.
[1:02:12] Speaker 4: We don't know who's responsible.
[1:02:14] Speaker 15: Some of the people who were in that room Like
[1:02:18] Speaker 15: you said, their records were subpoenaed for a reason, but
[1:02:20] Speaker 15: also they conspired with many of these insurrectionists. The other thing, Roland,
[1:02:24] Speaker 15: is that when we look at this, U.S. history is
[1:02:27] Speaker 15: really important, and a lot of Americans don't make the connection.
[1:02:30] Speaker 15: What happened in terms of those individuals who were responsible
[1:02:34] Speaker 15: for causing the Civil War, those Confederates? It mirrors in
[1:02:40] Speaker 15: terms of what happened with the insurrection and that both
[1:02:43] Speaker 15: groups were never truly punished. And because from years ago,
[1:02:48] Speaker 15: those individuals who pulled away from this nation and caused
[1:02:50] Speaker 15: a civil war were never punished. There's a direct correlation
[1:02:53] Speaker 15: to where we are right here today. This idea that
[1:02:56] Speaker 15: somehow these events never happened and you reshape it and,
[1:02:59] Speaker 15: you know, shape history in terms of whatever you want
[1:03:01] Speaker 15: to do it.
[1:03:02] Speaker 4: And listen, you know, he was Smith was given.
[1:03:05] Speaker 15: A job to do. And as he highlighted in his
[1:03:07] Speaker 15: opening speech, he had plenty of evidence. And once again,
[1:03:10] Speaker 15: when you hold, don't hold individuals responsible. This is where
[1:03:13] Speaker 15: we are today because if he had been charged and
[1:03:16] Speaker 15: then found guilty or impeached, we wouldn't be in this situation.
[1:03:21] Speaker 15: But this once again highlights the power of whiteness in
[1:03:25] Speaker 15: America and also politics in power.
[1:03:29] Speaker 2: So highlights, unfortunately, Mustafa when Merrick Garland dragged his ass
[1:03:34] Speaker 2: and took so long. Had he appointed Jack Smith the
[1:03:38] Speaker 2: moment he was sworn in, this prosecution would have actually
[1:03:42] Speaker 2: gone to trial, but he waited.
[1:03:47] Speaker 13: Yeah, I mean, when we talk about, you know, the
[1:03:49] Speaker 13: most egregious things in relationship to what has played out,
[1:03:54] Speaker 13: it has often been the silence and the inaction of individuals.
[1:03:58] Speaker 13: There is also the action, but folks not moving forward.
[1:04:01] Speaker 7: When they need to.
[1:04:03] Speaker 13: Not making, you know, the intentional effort to hold people
[1:04:07] Speaker 13: to justice in a form or fashion that normally would
[1:04:10] Speaker 13: have happened. I worked with the Department of Justice on
[1:04:13] Speaker 13: a number of things over the years, and they usually
[1:04:16] Speaker 13: follow the letter of the law, as you heard. also
[1:04:19] Speaker 13: going to a judge, of course, to be able to
[1:04:21] Speaker 13: get the sign off, to be able to move forward. So,
[1:04:24] Speaker 13: you know, their anger, um, is in this place that
[1:04:27] Speaker 13: anger should have been focused on Trump because he is
[1:04:31] Speaker 13: the one, um, who brought all these different types of
[1:04:34] Speaker 13: things into play and gave people reasons to believe that
[1:04:38] Speaker 13: they can do these egregious sets of actions. Um, so
[1:04:42] Speaker 13: we should just be very clear about that. We should
[1:04:44] Speaker 13: also be very clear, you know, that, um, The folks
[1:04:48] Speaker 13: that were there on January the 6th and participated deserved
[1:04:53] Speaker 13: to be investigated and then are found guilty to be prosecuted.
[1:04:57] Speaker 13: So when Senator Cruz says these types of things, His
[1:05:01] Speaker 13: sets of energies are directed in the wrong direction. He
[1:05:05] Speaker 13: should be upset about what's currently going on inside of
[1:05:09] Speaker 13: our country in relationship to the impacts that are happening
[1:05:13] Speaker 13: to everyday people.
[1:05:14] Speaker 7: Bob Marley once said that you.
[1:05:15] Speaker 13: Will never find justice in a world where criminals make
[1:05:19] Speaker 13: the laws. And that's the situation that we currently have
[1:05:22] Speaker 13: going on. And we have got to get out, we've
[1:05:25] Speaker 13: got to vote, and we've got to change this dynamic.
[1:05:27] Speaker 7: But don't just change the dynamic.
[1:05:29] Speaker 13: Remember how we got to this moment so that we
[1:05:32] Speaker 13: never have to repeat it again.
[1:05:34] Speaker 2: The more embarrassing was Missouri Senator Eric Schmidt, who literally
[1:05:39] Speaker 2: blasted Jack Smith for attending a basketball game between the
[1:05:43] Speaker 2: Atlanta Hawks and meeting with Fulton County Prosecutor Fonny Willis
[1:05:48] Speaker 2: when he was actually attending an Iowa Hawkeyes game.
[1:05:52] Speaker 1: Against the University of Maryland. He looked like an absolute fool.
[1:05:56] Speaker 2: He got embarrassed, and then the right wing tried to
[1:05:58] Speaker 2: cover this whole thing up, like, oh no, that was
[1:06:00] Speaker 2: a brilliant line of questioning. No, the dumbass got confused
[1:06:05] Speaker 2: by the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Atlanta Hawks. What an
[1:06:09] Speaker 2: absolute idiot, and that's why when they showed this placard,
[1:06:12] Speaker 2: they flashed it. They would not let Smith actually look
[1:06:15] Speaker 2: at it, but then again, that's the same Eric Schmidt
[1:06:18] Speaker 2: who gave a white nationalist, white supremacist speech last year,
[1:06:23] Speaker 2: which we covered as well.
[1:06:24] Speaker 1: All right, y'all, go into a break. We come back.
[1:06:26] Speaker 1: We're going to talk about evictions in Atlanta. Major, major issue.
[1:06:30] Speaker 2: You're watching Roland Martin on the filter on the Black
[1:06:32] Speaker 2: Star Network. Support the work that we do. Join our
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[1:07:07] Speaker 2: about doing the work that, frankly, no one else is doing.
[1:07:10] Speaker 2: We center African-Americans as what we focus on, as what
[1:07:13] Speaker 2: we talk about. We don't deal with gossip. We don't
[1:07:15] Speaker 2: deal with entertainment. We're not dealing with all this other
[1:07:18] Speaker 2: stuff that other people involved in. That's of no interest
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[1:07:22] Speaker 1: It's about black folks. That's what we focus on.
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[1:07:50] Speaker 1: All right, folks, let me get personal for a second.
[1:07:52] Speaker 2: My mom had questions about her Medicare, so she called Chapter,
[1:07:55] Speaker 2: a Medicare advisory company, and she texted me right after
[1:07:58] Speaker 2: saying it's a great benefit.
[1:08:00] Speaker 1: It was easy.
[1:08:01] Speaker 2: A real person walked her through the whole thing, and
[1:08:03] Speaker 2: now she understands better what's going on.
[1:08:06] Speaker 1: But it also is not just her.
[1:08:07] Speaker 2: A woman in Yonkers wrote in saying the process was
[1:08:10] Speaker 2: so simple, the enrollment was easy, and she was so
[1:08:13] Speaker 2: glad she called. Then there's Marilyn, 90 years old in Florida,
[1:08:16] Speaker 2: living on Social Security. Her premium climbed every single year
[1:08:20] Speaker 2: north of $ 400 a month for coverage she could barely
[1:08:24] Speaker 2: afford anymore.
[1:08:25] Speaker 1: So what does she do? She called Chapter.
[1:08:27] Speaker 2: And they found her the same top tier coverage for
[1:08:30] Speaker 2: hundreds of dollars less. 90 years old and finally somebody
[1:08:34] Speaker 2: in her corner. I hear stories like that again and
[1:08:37] Speaker 2: again from our community. The Medicare system was not built
[1:08:40] Speaker 2: to work for you. Too much fine print, too many plans.
[1:08:43] Speaker 2: Yet Chapters Advisors are independent and honest, the only Medicare
[1:08:47] Speaker 2: advisors that compare every plan nationwide. They're focused on one thing,
[1:08:51] Speaker 2: what actually works for you. If you're already in the
[1:08:54] Speaker 2: right plan, they'll tell you.
[1:08:56] Speaker 1: No games.
[1:08:57] Speaker 2: People who switch to a chapter saved an average of
[1:09:00] Speaker 2: $ 1, 100 a year. All it takes is 20 minutes. You
[1:09:03] Speaker 2: talk to a real person and it's completely free help.
[1:09:06] Speaker 2: So call chapter at 724-264-8281.
[1:09:08] Speaker 7: 724-264-8281.
[1:09:08] Speaker 1: That's chapter.
[1:09:17] Speaker 16: This week on the other side of change, we're talking
[1:09:19] Speaker 16: about privacy or safety. It's a false choice and it's
[1:09:22] Speaker 16: one that's rarely applied evenly. This episode is going to
[1:09:25] Speaker 16: examine the rapid, largely unregulated spread of mass surveillance technology,
[1:09:29] Speaker 16: especially the.
[1:09:30] Speaker 17: United States has no actual meaningful privacy protection.
[1:09:34] Speaker 5: Has not outlawed.
[1:09:35] Speaker 1: Any of this.
[1:09:35] Speaker 17: So all of us are for sale. All of us
[1:09:39] Speaker 17: just have a little price tag next to it. And
[1:09:41] Speaker 17: the government or a private company or a criminal organization
[1:09:45] Speaker 17: can just buy all this stuff.
[1:09:47] Speaker 5: And that's good for business.
[1:09:48] Speaker 18: You're watching The Other Side of Change only on the
[1:09:50] Speaker 18: Blackstar Network.
[1:09:52] Speaker 8: I was already a lawyer when my brother was murdered.
[1:09:55] Speaker 8: His killer was never brought to trial. That loss didn't
[1:10:00] Speaker 8: put me on this path, but it has shaped how
[1:10:02] Speaker 8: I walk it. As a justice, I hold criminals accountable,
[1:10:07] Speaker 8: keep communities safe, and ensure every victim gets their day
[1:10:12] Speaker 8: in court.
[1:10:13] Speaker 5: I'm Anita Earls.
[1:10:15] Speaker 8: As a justice, I won't stop working until the law
[1:10:18] Speaker 8: works for everyone.
[1:10:30] Speaker 24: Hey, this is Jeffrey Osborne, and I want to shout
[1:10:32] Speaker 24: out to my brother, Roland Martin.
[1:10:35] Speaker 5: Hey, anniversary.
[1:10:38] Speaker 24: Roland Martin Unfiltered. Man, you have the greatest show there
[1:10:41] Speaker 24: is out there, man. You bring it to us straight forward.
[1:10:44] Speaker 24: You handle every topic. You handle every platform from politics
[1:10:49] Speaker 24: to criminal justice to entertainment to sports. You bring it
[1:10:53] Speaker 24: to us. You take the facts.
[1:10:55] Speaker 1: On, head on.
[1:10:57] Speaker 7: My brother, I love you.
[1:10:58] Speaker 20: I love you for what you do.
[1:11:00] Speaker 24: And I'm hoping that I'll be standing here, you know,
[1:11:03] Speaker 24: on your 10th anniversary. and your 15th and your 20th
[1:11:06] Speaker 24: because we need you, brother.
[1:11:08] Speaker 1: We need you to be around.
[1:11:09] Speaker 24: So happy eighth anniversary, my brother. You've always been there
[1:11:14] Speaker 24: for me. You've always been there for all of us.
[1:11:16] Speaker 3: Hey, love you.
[1:11:20] Speaker 2: All right, folks, the eviction eviction finals in Metro Atlanta
[1:11:30] Speaker 2: quickly increased disproportionately impacting black folks. According to research from
[1:11:33] Speaker 2: Princeton University's Eviction Lab, Metro Atlanta led the nation in
[1:11:37] Speaker 2: eviction filings in 2025, and that pace has continued this year.
[1:11:41] Speaker 2: The research focuses on Metro Atlanta's five largest counties, Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb, DeKalb,
[1:11:46] Speaker 2: and Clayton. As of August 1st, more than 142,000 eviction
[1:11:50] Speaker 2: cases have been filed across the five-county Metro Atlanta region
[1:11:53] Speaker 2: this year. And, of course, black people make up about 52%
[1:11:55] Speaker 2: of renters in the region, but they represent nearly 70%
[1:11:58] Speaker 2: of eviction cases. Allison Johnson, the executive director of the
[1:12:02] Speaker 2: Housing Justice League Board, and David Wheaton, assistant policy counsel
[1:12:06] Speaker 2: for the Legal Defense Fund, joins us. So, okay, first
[1:12:09] Speaker 2: and foremost, what's going on? You know, are these folks, Allison,
[1:12:14] Speaker 2: are they homeowners or are they renters?
[1:12:17] Speaker 1: They're both. And is it from homes or apartments or
[1:12:21] Speaker 1: is it a combination?
[1:12:22] Speaker 20: It's a combination of both. But increasingly, it's renters.
[1:12:28] Speaker 26: Yeah, we'll be able to talk more about that in
[1:12:32] Speaker 26: the next question, I think. But right now, it's a
[1:12:36] Speaker 26: very imbalance between homeowners foreclosures and evictions right now.
[1:12:46] Speaker 20: But sorry, renters are leading the way with evictions right now.
[1:12:51] Speaker 1: And what is it?
[1:12:52] Speaker 2: Is it economically driven or you have homeowners trying to
[1:12:56] Speaker 2: frankly get people out so they can sell those homes?
[1:13:00] Speaker 20: I think it's both.
[1:13:01] Speaker 26: It's politically driven and it's economically driven. People are not,
[1:13:05] Speaker 26: wages haven't risen. People are having a very hard time
[1:13:08] Speaker 26: with the amount of rent they have just exacerbated in
[1:13:12] Speaker 26: our cities.
[1:13:13] Speaker 20: We have no way of controlling those rents.
[1:13:16] Speaker 26: There is no way to control the corporate landlords that
[1:13:19] Speaker 26: have just taken over in.
[1:13:21] Speaker 20: The state of Georgia. So it's a combination of both.
[1:13:26] Speaker 1: So, David, how can folks be assisted?
[1:13:31] Speaker 8: Yeah.
[1:13:31] Speaker 12: So, I mean, there's many things that people can do.
[1:13:34] Speaker 25: I think at the Legal Defense Fund, we're working with
[1:13:36] Speaker 25: the Housing Justice League to try to bring legislation to
[1:13:39] Speaker 25: try to help renters who are facing evictions. One, you know,
[1:13:43] Speaker 25: trying to increase eviction prevention funds so that there are
[1:13:46] Speaker 25: funds available for people who are going through a financial crisis,
[1:13:49] Speaker 25: who are low income.
[1:13:50] Speaker 12: We're also trying to end junk fees in the state
[1:13:53] Speaker 12: of Georgia. State of junk fees have been proven to
[1:13:55] Speaker 12: disproportionately impact people of color. We were happy to stay
[1:13:59] Speaker 12: alongside with the Housing Justice League. and Senator Kim Jackson
[1:14:02] Speaker 12: to support Senate Bill 414 in the state of Georgia
[1:14:05] Speaker 12: that would eliminate junk fees. That's something that we're looking
[1:14:07] Speaker 12: forward to doing again. So people can get involved with
[1:14:11] Speaker 12: the Housing Justice League, with LDF, as we try to
[1:14:13] Speaker 12: fight to push for eviction prevention and other mechanisms that
[1:14:17] Speaker 12: would help black renters.
[1:14:21] Speaker 2: And obviously, when you look at how this stacks up
[1:14:24] Speaker 2: across the country, what other areas are experiencing similar to
[1:14:30] Speaker 2: what's happening there in Atlanta?
[1:14:33] Speaker 25: Yeah, so there are just so many other areas. I
[1:14:35] Speaker 25: just want to also point out that this is not
[1:14:36] Speaker 25: just an Atlanta issue. This is a national issue. This
[1:14:38] Speaker 25: is a national crisis. We are experiencing an affordable housing
[1:14:41] Speaker 25: crisis in this country, but particularly in the Atlanta metro area,
[1:14:46] Speaker 25: there's just a severe lack of affordable housing for people
[1:14:50] Speaker 25: who are low income. Just to give you a few
[1:14:53] Speaker 25: facts right now, for somebody who is working a minimum
[1:14:56] Speaker 25: wage job right now, they have to work 163 hours
[1:14:59] Speaker 25: per week or have four full-time minimum wage jobs just
[1:15:02] Speaker 25: to afford a two-bedroom apartment in the city of Atlanta
[1:15:05] Speaker 25: right now.
[1:15:05] Speaker 12: So we know, again, this is.
[1:15:07] Speaker 25: Not just happening, but we know that prices in Atlanta
[1:15:10] Speaker 25: particularly are going up.
[1:15:12] Speaker 12: And like Allison said, there are no mechanisms available.
[1:15:14] Speaker 25: For us to try to bring prices down, unfortunately, for
[1:15:17] Speaker 25: renters right now without state lawmakers ending the preemption of
[1:15:23] Speaker 25: rent stabilization legislation that's currently being debated right now.
[1:15:26] Speaker 2: Allison, you've got a U.S. Senate race, a governance race
[1:15:29] Speaker 2: going on. Is this part of the conversation?
[1:15:33] Speaker 26: This is definitely a part of the conversation because the
[1:15:35] Speaker 26: most important thing is that you can't fully participate in
[1:15:39] Speaker 26: democracy if you are being displaced. We know the intricacies
[1:15:43] Speaker 26: of what happens when families are even, they even sent,
[1:15:48] Speaker 26: they even are meeting the needs, are not meeting the
[1:15:52] Speaker 26: needs of.
[1:15:53] Speaker 20: Having stable housing.
[1:15:55] Speaker 26: One thing it does is it really destabilizes families It
[1:15:58] Speaker 26: increases homelessness. It reduces the economic earning and mobility. It
[1:16:03] Speaker 26: damages credit. It disproportionately harms Black families, and it disrupts
[1:16:09] Speaker 26: the children's education. And when you're couch surfing, when you're
[1:16:14] Speaker 26: going from place to place, you have no address, you
[1:16:17] Speaker 26: have no way to confirm that you have been registered
[1:16:19] Speaker 26: to vote. So this plays a major role and what's
[1:16:23] Speaker 26: going to happen in our statewide elections, not just our
[1:16:26] Speaker 26: Senate race, but we have a governor's race that's coming up,
[1:16:30] Speaker 26: and we need for that person to make sure that
[1:16:33] Speaker 26: they are supporting our low-income families, our homeowners, and those
[1:16:37] Speaker 26: who are at risk of being homeless, and those homeless
[1:16:40] Speaker 26: folks in our communities as well.
[1:16:44] Speaker 1: Questions for my panel, first off.
[1:16:46] Speaker 4: Larry.
[1:16:49] Speaker 15: Yeah, thank you for all your advocacy work. Is there
[1:16:51] Speaker 15: any conversation regarding a moratorium to address some of these
[1:16:55] Speaker 15: short-term challenges?
[1:16:58] Speaker 20: Yeah. So that's I was going to talk about that. Yes.
[1:17:00] Speaker 26: So we are trying to put forth a statewide moratorium
[1:17:04] Speaker 26: because we know that when a statewide moratorium pauses, particularly
[1:17:09] Speaker 26: during an election cycle, it really does give people an
[1:17:13] Speaker 26: opportunity to fully participate in democracy because.
[1:17:17] Speaker 20: This is a crisis.
[1:17:19] Speaker 26: It causes it causes for a critical response. And we
[1:17:22] Speaker 26: have been trying to press and push our legislators to
[1:17:27] Speaker 26: have a session where housing is a priority. And Atlanta
[1:17:32] Speaker 26: and Georgia, our legislators, more than half of them are
[1:17:36] Speaker 26: property owners. So it's been very challenging and very difficult,
[1:17:40] Speaker 26: but we're continuing to push them to have not just
[1:17:43] Speaker 26: this conversation, but to move to action that we have
[1:17:46] Speaker 26: got to be able to respond to everyday Georgians about
[1:17:49] Speaker 26: this issue and this crisis that we have to get
[1:17:53] Speaker 26: ourselves out of.
[1:18:02] Speaker 1: Mustafa?
[1:18:03] Speaker 7: Oh, yes.
[1:18:05] Speaker 13: So I've done some work in this space. So I'm
[1:18:08] Speaker 13: curious what you all think about affordable housing construction and
[1:18:11] Speaker 13: the role that it can play if we can help
[1:18:14] Speaker 13: folks to transition from rental housing to that. I know
[1:18:17] Speaker 13: it's not often difficult, but it can be a stabilizing force.
[1:18:21] Speaker 22: And I think the.
[1:18:21] Speaker 13: Second question is also, many of us will remember when
[1:18:24] Speaker 13: we went through the COVID pandemic, the rental assistance, the
[1:18:28] Speaker 13: emergency rental assistance program, there was about $ 21 billion that
[1:18:32] Speaker 13: went into that. Would something like that be helpful, not
[1:18:36] Speaker 13: only in Atlanta, but across the country?
[1:18:40] Speaker 4: Yeah, that's a great question.
[1:18:42] Speaker 1: Yes.
[1:18:42] Speaker 25: I mean, that's one of the things that us, LDF
[1:18:44] Speaker 25: and the Housing Justice League are really fighting for, is
[1:18:47] Speaker 25: to get eviction, emergency rental assistance, funds.
[1:18:51] Speaker 12: For low-income families.
[1:18:52] Speaker 25: As you said, that was really critical during the COVID-19 pandemic,
[1:18:57] Speaker 25: and we believe it can be really critical to provide
[1:19:00] Speaker 25: support for families who are struggling to afford their rent.
[1:19:05] Speaker 25: And then to the first part of your question, yes,
[1:19:07] Speaker 25: I mean, affordable housing construction is something that.
[1:19:10] Speaker 4: We really, really need.
[1:19:13] Speaker 25: Unfortunately, we don't have guardrails right now, particularly in the
[1:19:18] Speaker 25: city of Atlanta, on the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, trying
[1:19:21] Speaker 25: to get more funds from that trust fund to actually
[1:19:23] Speaker 25: be used for affordable housing and developing affordable housing. And
[1:19:27] Speaker 25: we're trying to think about solutions of how we get
[1:19:29] Speaker 25: more affordable housing in the city of Atlanta. Because like
[1:19:32] Speaker 25: you said, when we're able to transition people from homelessness
[1:19:35] Speaker 25: to be able to get somewhere, to be able to
[1:19:37] Speaker 25: find a place for affordable housing, that's really, really beneficial.
[1:19:41] Speaker 25: But right now there's just such a lack of affordable
[1:19:43] Speaker 25: housing in the city of Atlanta. So we definitely need
[1:19:46] Speaker 25: more housing is both supply side and demand side issues.
[1:19:52] Speaker 1: Um, Avis.
[1:19:54] Speaker 3: Yeah.
[1:19:55] Speaker 14: So, you know, I was really struck by the data
[1:19:57] Speaker 14: that you shared that in order for a family to
[1:19:59] Speaker 14: afford a two bedroom house, uh, at minimum wage or
[1:20:03] Speaker 14: a two bedroom apartment, uh, at minimum wage, they'd have
[1:20:05] Speaker 14: to work for full-time jobs. Uh, and we're looking at
[1:20:08] Speaker 14: that stat that we're sharing right here, a 24% filing rate.
[1:20:12] Speaker 20: There is a surge.
[1:20:14] Speaker 14: It sounds like, uh, of people who are now being
[1:20:17] Speaker 14: pushed out of their homes in Atlanta, And the ideas
[1:20:20] Speaker 14: that have been discussed here are very important and would
[1:20:22] Speaker 14: definitely work in the long term. But I am concerned
[1:20:25] Speaker 14: about the people in the short term. Is the city
[1:20:28] Speaker 14: prepared to handle this surge of families that are now
[1:20:33] Speaker 14: being pushed out into the streets and really don't have
[1:20:36] Speaker 14: any place affordable to go?
[1:20:39] Speaker 20: No, we don't think that our city is ready to.
[1:20:43] Speaker 26: We've already seen and what we are seeing and witnessing
[1:20:46] Speaker 26: and experiencing is is a huge increase in homelessness. And
[1:20:51] Speaker 26: not just with individuals, most people visualize this homelessness as.
[1:20:55] Speaker 20: A black male living on the street. But what we
[1:20:58] Speaker 20: are seeing is.
[1:20:59] Speaker 26: That we have parking lots where people are living with
[1:21:02] Speaker 26: their families in cars at night. What we are also
[1:21:05] Speaker 26: seeing is that our motels, our extended stays, have become
[1:21:09] Speaker 26: places of stability for families. Right now in the state
[1:21:14] Speaker 26: of Georgia, not just in Atlanta, but in DeKalb County,
[1:21:17] Speaker 26: there are 10,000 families.
[1:21:19] Speaker 20: Living in extended stays.
[1:21:21] Speaker 26: What we also see, understand is that we have got
[1:21:26] Speaker 26: to be able to use the public land that we
[1:21:29] Speaker 26: have to construct these housing units so that people will
[1:21:33] Speaker 26: be able to go into these units and be able
[1:21:36] Speaker 26: to stabilize their families. The other thing I wanna say
[1:21:40] Speaker 26: is that We've got to be able to make sure
[1:21:43] Speaker 26: that we have stronger tenant protections. We have very minimal
[1:21:47] Speaker 26: tenant protections here in the state of Georgia. We need
[1:21:52] Speaker 26: tenant protections that will help secure stability, like just cause,
[1:21:55] Speaker 26: like rent stabilization, like source of income, like eviction ceilings.
[1:22:00] Speaker 26: All of those little things matter in order for us
[1:22:03] Speaker 26: to be able to sustain people. But there is not
[1:22:05] Speaker 26: only a surge. This is something that's happening everywhere.
[1:22:09] Speaker 1: Every day.
[1:22:10] Speaker 26: You can come to Atlanta on a Tuesday and a
[1:22:13] Speaker 26: Thursday and enter the courtrooms. And what you will see
[1:22:16] Speaker 26: is a mass hurting of evictions ending in default, meaning
[1:22:22] Speaker 26: that people only have seven days to leave their communities
[1:22:25] Speaker 26: and leave their homes.
[1:22:27] Speaker 20: Their homes.
[1:22:28] Speaker 26: Our public school system right now, we have 22,000 empty seats.
[1:22:33] Speaker 26: And that is mainly due to people being displaced out
[1:22:36] Speaker 26: of their communities, which then is putting pressure for those
[1:22:41] Speaker 26: schools in our communities of being closed.
[1:22:44] Speaker 20: So we're not ready to handle that. Even more surges
[1:22:47] Speaker 20: of evictions.
[1:22:50] Speaker 2: If folks are facing a potential eviction, where should they call?
[1:22:56] Speaker 20: They should call Housing Justice League.
[1:22:57] Speaker 26: We do have a hotline and we have some minimum
[1:23:01] Speaker 26: resources that can help stabilize them. We work in partnership
[1:23:06] Speaker 26: not only with LDF, but AVLF and also Atlanta Legal Aid.
[1:23:11] Speaker 26: We can provide some resources to help them through this eviction,
[1:23:15] Speaker 26: navigate this convoluted process of an eviction, but also to
[1:23:18] Speaker 26: help get them stabilized.
[1:23:20] Speaker 20: But what they really need to be doing is they
[1:23:22] Speaker 20: need to be.
[1:23:23] Speaker 26: Joining organizations like Housing Justice League to organize and to
[1:23:27] Speaker 26: really fight for the political change that needs to happen.
[1:23:30] Speaker 26: We need to be electing officials that have the political
[1:23:33] Speaker 26: will to think about poor, black, low-income people and working
[1:23:37] Speaker 26: class folks.
[1:23:39] Speaker 1: All right, Ben. Allison and David, we certainly appreciate it.
[1:23:43] Speaker 1: Thanks a lot.
[1:23:44] Speaker 7: Thank you.
[1:23:46] Speaker 2: Folks, in Florida, opening statements began for the trial of
[1:23:48] Speaker 2: a former white sheriff who killed a black airman. Former
[1:23:50] Speaker 2: Okaloosa County Sheriff's Deputy Eddie Duran killed 23-year-old senior airman
[1:23:54] Speaker 2: Roger Forston inside his apartment in May 2024. Duran, who
[1:23:58] Speaker 2: was responding to a domestic disturbance call, says he acted
[1:24:01] Speaker 2: in self-defense when Forston, who was alone, opened the door
[1:24:04] Speaker 2: with a gun pointed at the ground. The video shows
[1:24:07] Speaker 2: Forston had his left hand up, palms showing, gesturing towards
[1:24:10] Speaker 2: the deputy when he opened the door. Duran shot Forston
[1:24:13] Speaker 2: within seconds of the door opening. Prosecutors questioned why Duran
[1:24:16] Speaker 2: did not identify himself as law enforcement. Duran is charged
[1:24:20] Speaker 2: with first degree manslaughter.
[1:24:21] Speaker 1: He's facing a maximum 30 year sentence. Well, guess what, folks?
[1:24:26] Speaker 1: In our latest hashtag.
[1:24:28] Speaker 2: We tried to tell you segment, a black Trump voter
[1:24:31] Speaker 2: in Florida is now rethinking his voting choice after a
[1:24:35] Speaker 2: reporter asked him, well, does he regret voting for the
[1:24:40] Speaker 2: twice impeached, criminally convicted con man, Donald Trump?
[1:24:46] Speaker 17: If you could go back to 2024, talk to your
[1:24:48] Speaker 17: younger self, what would you tell him before he went
[1:24:51] Speaker 17: to go vote?
[1:24:54] Speaker 1: Should have voted different. Feel hoodwinked.
[1:24:57] Speaker 3: Been hoodwinked.
[1:25:01] Speaker 1: Why? Broken promises.
[1:25:04] Speaker 22: What were you expecting?
[1:25:08] Speaker 13: Good economy.
[1:25:09] Speaker 5: No wars.
[1:25:12] Speaker 1: Simple. No, you're an idiot. See, it's really cracking me up.
[1:25:20] Speaker 1: All of these people who say, oh my God, I
[1:25:22] Speaker 1: was hook weak. I didn't realize. I had no idea.
[1:25:27] Speaker 1: So the first four years.
[1:25:30] Speaker 2: Didn't tell you how this thing was going to go.
[1:25:32] Speaker 2: And now all of a sudden things are going badly.
[1:25:35] Speaker 2: Now y'all want to say, oh, please welcome me with
[1:25:37] Speaker 2: open arms. I just didn't know what I was doing.
[1:25:40] Speaker 1: No, you knew exactly what you were doing.
[1:25:43] Speaker 2: That was one of the black men right there who
[1:25:45] Speaker 2: was stupid enough to vote for Donald Trump. I guess
[1:25:49] Speaker 2: grabbing women by their vagina. Yeah, that wasn't that wasn't
[1:25:52] Speaker 2: any big deal. I guess destroying farmers wasn't any big deal.
[1:25:57] Speaker 2: The constant attacks on black women and others.
[1:25:59] Speaker 1: No. But now all of a sudden, there won't be
[1:26:01] Speaker 1: no wars.
[1:26:02] Speaker 24: No.
[1:26:02] Speaker 2: What y'all mad about. And I've seen many of these clips.
[1:26:05] Speaker 2: Y'all mad that y'all not got to pay for gas, too. See,
[1:26:08] Speaker 2: let's just cut to the chase. All these folk who
[1:26:11] Speaker 2: voted for Trump, they really said it was everybody else.
[1:26:14] Speaker 2: It was everybody else. Well, they're going to attack everybody else.
[1:26:16] Speaker 2: We good, we good. Now you got Trump calling off
[1:26:21] Speaker 2: the TPS for Salvadorians, a couple hundred thousand.
[1:26:24] Speaker 1: Now they're telling ICE, hey, hey, hey, hey, stop arresting people.
[1:26:28] Speaker 1: You know why?
[1:26:28] Speaker 2: Because the Latino numbers have dropped through the floor. Oh,
[1:26:32] Speaker 2: so y'all thought it was Muslims in the first time,
[1:26:35] Speaker 2: but he came after y'all. Everything that we're seeing, every
[1:26:39] Speaker 2: single thing that we're seeing, they told us they were
[1:26:42] Speaker 2: going to do, Mustafa.
[1:26:44] Speaker 1: They literally put together a document. Now, all these F.A.F.O.
[1:26:48] Speaker 2: People now understand that the common sense black people, we
[1:26:53] Speaker 2: were trying to tell it is like him was going
[1:26:55] Speaker 2: to happen.
[1:26:56] Speaker 1: But now they don't want to. Now they want to
[1:26:58] Speaker 1: pay attention. Too late.
[1:27:04] Speaker 13: At the time that they had a bite at the apple,
[1:27:06] Speaker 13: they did absolutely nothing to improve the lives of black folks.
[1:27:11] Speaker 13: Nothing around housing, nothing around education, nothing around transportation, nothing
[1:27:15] Speaker 13: around job creation. Our numbers went down in each and
[1:27:19] Speaker 13: every one of those categories. If that wasn't enough for you,
[1:27:23] Speaker 13: then they gave you a project 2025.
[1:27:25] Speaker 7: They gave you agenda 47.
[1:27:27] Speaker 13: And if you looked at it, once again, it had
[1:27:30] Speaker 13: absolutely nothing in it that was going to benefit your community,
[1:27:33] Speaker 13: but they expected your vote and you gave it to
[1:27:35] Speaker 13: them for free. And now you're just standing there looking silly.
[1:27:39] Speaker 13: And I'm just reminded of the quote that says that
[1:27:42] Speaker 13: all skin folk ain't kin folk. And we have to
[1:27:44] Speaker 13: be very aware of that fact. And we've got to
[1:27:48] Speaker 13: make sure that we're dealing with it in an accountable fashion.
[1:27:51] Speaker 2: You know, Ava says people are also saying, well, no,
[1:27:54] Speaker 2: you shouldn't be criticizing them. You should be welcoming them
[1:27:57] Speaker 2: with open arms. No, I can cuss you out while saying,
[1:28:01] Speaker 2: you know, vote on this side here, but I can
[1:28:03] Speaker 2: still cuss you out.
[1:28:06] Speaker 5: Absolutely.
[1:28:07] Speaker 14: And they deserve every last curse word. I mean, here's
[1:28:10] Speaker 14: my thing. When I hear these people with the wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah.
[1:28:15] Speaker 14: I had no idea. I mean, first of all, stop lying.
[1:28:19] Speaker 14: Let's just be real. You didn't want to vote for
[1:28:22] Speaker 14: the black woman. Let's just let's just be real. That
[1:28:25] Speaker 14: was your problem, because it's no way that you could
[1:28:29] Speaker 14: have survived the first era of Trump and think this
[1:28:33] Speaker 14: man was not a liar and think this man was
[1:28:36] Speaker 14: actually competent. I mean, let's remind ourselves a million times.
[1:28:40] Speaker 14: people died on his watch during COVID as he's standing
[1:28:43] Speaker 14: behind the podium telling people to drink bleach.
[1:28:48] Speaker 4: That actually happened.
[1:28:51] Speaker 20: That level of incompetence is in that man.
[1:28:54] Speaker 14: This is the same person that was running around the
[1:28:56] Speaker 14: country saying people are eating cats and dogs.
[1:28:59] Speaker 20: Somalis are eating cats and dogs. You didn't see that.
[1:29:02] Speaker 1: You didn't find that racist patients, patients, Haitians.
[1:29:06] Speaker 14: I'm sorry.
[1:29:07] Speaker 20: Eating cats and dogs.
[1:29:08] Speaker 14: And so it is really crazy to me that anyone
[1:29:13] Speaker 14: can sit here and act like they actually are surprised
[1:29:19] Speaker 14: with what we're seeing now. Because he is who he's
[1:29:22] Speaker 14: always been. He's a con man. He's a businessman who
[1:29:26] Speaker 14: found a way to go bankrupt six times, including with casinos.
[1:29:32] Speaker 14: What kind of idiot can't run a casino with a profit?
[1:29:36] Speaker 14: And so it's just, it's a lie. It's a way
[1:29:38] Speaker 14: for them to cover up their own misogynoir. Because it
[1:29:42] Speaker 14: is hard for me to believe anyone would be so
[1:29:45] Speaker 14: stupid as to believe anything that comes out of this
[1:29:48] Speaker 14: man's mouth that would in any way relate to anything
[1:29:53] Speaker 14: having to do with his competence and his ability to
[1:29:55] Speaker 14: keep his word. He's never done it and he's doing
[1:29:57] Speaker 14: it now.
[1:29:58] Speaker 15: Ava said it right on the nose when she talked
[1:30:02] Speaker 15: about intersection of sexism and racism.
[1:30:04] Speaker 3: As it relates to VP Harris.
[1:30:06] Speaker 7: I don't know who that brother is.
[1:30:07] Speaker 15: I don't know whose family members claim him after he
[1:30:10] Speaker 15: went on television to talk about how he voted a
[1:30:12] Speaker 15: couple of years ago. Whether it's him or these farmers,
[1:30:17] Speaker 15: the problem in this society now is that a lot
[1:30:19] Speaker 15: of people are self-centered. And they think that when there's
[1:30:22] Speaker 15: a particular issue, policymaker, local, state, here at the federal level,
[1:30:26] Speaker 15: that if it doesn't impact me, I'm okay.
[1:30:30] Speaker 5: And fortunately, there's a small percentage of Black folks that
[1:30:32] Speaker 5: have fell.
[1:30:33] Speaker 15: For that belief, that idea also. But we know how
[1:30:36] Speaker 15: society works. We're always at the bottom of the race-based
[1:30:41] Speaker 15: caste system. So these policies, which were clearly outlined, know
[1:30:47] Speaker 15: are going to impact us disproportionately, particularly black women. And
[1:30:49] Speaker 15: we've seen that play out by the hundreds of thousands
[1:30:51] Speaker 15: of black women who've lost jobs. This idea that we
[1:30:56] Speaker 15: didn't know any of this was coming, they telegraphed it.
[1:30:59] Speaker 15: You know, they put out multiple, as we talked about,
[1:31:03] Speaker 15: they put out multiple publications clearly saying how they want
[1:31:06] Speaker 15: to dismantle the government as if it was a state.
[1:31:11] Speaker 15: And they had successfully gotten rid of You know, civil rights,
[1:31:16] Speaker 15: you know, a variety of civil acts, statutes and initiatives
[1:31:22] Speaker 15: that help some black folks move up the ladder. So
[1:31:26] Speaker 15: now that ladder has been pulled and a number of
[1:31:30] Speaker 15: black folks are falling. And now white Americans find out
[1:31:34] Speaker 15: that our economy, the way our economy works is if
[1:31:38] Speaker 15: one group is disproportionately impacted, guess who's next?
[1:31:42] Speaker 2: Again, y'all might want to pay attention. All right, folks,
[1:31:44] Speaker 2: speaking of that, so many people have been fixated, obviously,
[1:31:49] Speaker 2: on these U.S. Senate races and these congressional races, these
[1:31:54] Speaker 2: governor's races. But you've heard me say continually on this
[1:31:57] Speaker 2: show that we cannot ignore down-ballot races and really critical
[1:32:03] Speaker 2: statewide races like Supreme Court races. Now, I've broken down
[1:32:09] Speaker 2: numerous times in North Carolina, How? There was a point
[1:32:13] Speaker 2: when Democrats could have had a 6-1 majority in the
[1:32:15] Speaker 2: Supreme Court when Sherri Beasley ran for Chief Justice. She
[1:32:18] Speaker 2: lost by 401 votes. Republicans now have a 5-2 majority.
[1:32:22] Speaker 2: Last year, they had a Democrat who won by 700-some-odd votes,
[1:32:27] Speaker 2: and Republicans, they fought tooth and nail to try to
[1:32:31] Speaker 2: beat her. Well, there's another crucial race this year involving
[1:32:35] Speaker 2: Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls. Late last week, she dropped
[1:32:39] Speaker 2: this new ad.
[1:32:42] Speaker 8: I was already a lawyer when my brother was murdered.
[1:32:45] Speaker 8: His killer was never brought to trial. That loss didn't
[1:32:49] Speaker 8: put me on this path, but it has shaped how
[1:32:52] Speaker 8: I walk it. As a justice, I hold criminals accountable,
[1:32:57] Speaker 8: keep communities safe, and ensure every victim gets their day
[1:33:01] Speaker 8: in court.
[1:33:03] Speaker 5: I'm Anita Earls.
[1:33:04] Speaker 8: As a justice, I won't stop working until the law
[1:33:08] Speaker 8: works for everyone.
[1:33:12] Speaker 2: Justice Anita Earls is going to be facing Republican challenger
[1:33:14] Speaker 2: Sarah Stevens.
[1:33:15] Speaker 1: She joins us right now.
[1:33:17] Speaker 2: This, of course, is an election to determine who holds
[1:33:20] Speaker 2: the associate justice seat for the next eight-year term.
[1:33:23] Speaker 1: Justice Earls, thanks a bunch.
[1:33:25] Speaker 2: I have spent a lot of time trying to walk
[1:33:28] Speaker 2: people through and connect the dots when it comes to
[1:33:32] Speaker 2: these Supreme Court races, and I think the easiest way
[1:33:35] Speaker 2: to say it Folks, if you're upset and mad by
[1:33:38] Speaker 2: what's happening with the United States Supreme Court, understand that
[1:33:40] Speaker 2: state Supreme Courts are the final arbiters of the law
[1:33:46] Speaker 2: in these states. And they are just as important to
[1:33:49] Speaker 2: your state, to North Carolina and others as the United
[1:33:52] Speaker 2: States Supreme Court is.
[1:33:55] Speaker 8: Well, in fact, I would make the argument that because
[1:33:58] Speaker 8: of rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court, our state Supreme
[1:34:02] Speaker 8: Courts have become even more important. So when the U.S.
[1:34:05] Speaker 8: Supreme Court ended women's right of access to abortion, they said,
[1:34:10] Speaker 8: we're leaving it to the states. And more recently, when
[1:34:14] Speaker 8: the U.S. Supreme Court essentially ended effective enforcement of the
[1:34:18] Speaker 8: Voting Rights Act, that means it falls to the states
[1:34:21] Speaker 8: to protect our right to vote. And there are some
[1:34:24] Speaker 8: rights that are not in the US Constitution, but are
[1:34:27] Speaker 8: in state constitutions. And in North Carolina, perhaps most significantly,
[1:34:31] Speaker 8: that's the right to a sound basic education, in a
[1:34:35] Speaker 8: uniform system of public education. And so whether you care
[1:34:38] Speaker 8: about schools, whether you care about your vote counting equally,
[1:34:42] Speaker 8: whether you care about bodily autonomy as a woman and
[1:34:45] Speaker 8: the right to make choices about what happens to your
[1:34:48] Speaker 8: reproductive health, all of those things are now essentially at
[1:34:52] Speaker 8: the state level for all our states. And North Carolina,
[1:34:55] Speaker 8: being the purple state that it is, has quite a
[1:35:00] Speaker 8: multi-cycle history of very close state Supreme Court elections.
[1:35:06] Speaker 2: Well, and what you just laid out there, first of all,
[1:35:08] Speaker 2: the U.S. Supreme Court said when they overturn Roe v. Wade,
[1:35:11] Speaker 2: it's going to leave it up to the states. When
[1:35:13] Speaker 2: it came to gerrymandering, they said leave it up to
[1:35:16] Speaker 2: the states. And so even so you talk about voting
[1:35:20] Speaker 2: rights as well. And so, you know, and we've seen
[1:35:22] Speaker 2: when the North Carolina Supreme Court was majority Democrat, in
[1:35:27] Speaker 2: terms of how they ruled. And I mean, look, when
[1:35:30] Speaker 2: that court flipped, it was crazy. The Republicans, when they
[1:35:33] Speaker 2: came in, they literally overturned decisions y'all had just made, what,
[1:35:38] Speaker 2: two or three months previously?
[1:35:40] Speaker 4: Yes.
[1:35:41] Speaker 5: Now, that is quite extraordinary.
[1:35:44] Speaker 8: It is something that has not happened in the over
[1:35:46] Speaker 8: 200-year history of our court. And because what they did
[1:35:50] Speaker 8: was take the very same case and say, we're going
[1:35:53] Speaker 8: to rehear that. And the implications for the entire country
[1:35:57] Speaker 8: just from North Carolina's Supreme Court flip, let me just
[1:36:01] Speaker 8: make it clear for folks. In 2022, Our court said
[1:36:06] Speaker 8: extreme partisan gerrymandering violates the rights of North Carolinian voters
[1:36:11] Speaker 8: under the state constitution. We're not the first state to
[1:36:14] Speaker 8: do that. Pennsylvania had issued an earlier opinion to the
[1:36:18] Speaker 8: same effect. And it was a very nonpartisan decision. So
[1:36:22] Speaker 8: at that point, the court was four Democrats, three Republicans.
[1:36:26] Speaker 8: And I was on the court, happy to join the
[1:36:28] Speaker 8: majority that said, here are four measures that the legislature
[1:36:32] Speaker 8: can use to decide whether the maps are fair. And
[1:36:36] Speaker 8: as long as they meet those measures, and it wouldn't
[1:36:39] Speaker 8: matter if Democrats are drawing, Republicans are drawing, It's just
[1:36:42] Speaker 8: got to be fair. And that fairness requirement is based
[1:36:47] Speaker 8: on actual voting patterns, not necessarily.
[1:36:50] Speaker 5: How people are registered.
[1:36:51] Speaker 8: But then the new court came to power, and they
[1:36:55] Speaker 8: didn't say districts are fair. They said, actually, we as
[1:36:59] Speaker 8: a court have no power to do anything about it.
[1:37:01] Speaker 8: So when our districts were drawn under the prior ruling
[1:37:04] Speaker 8: requiring them to be fair, North Carolina sent seven Democrats
[1:37:08] Speaker 8: and seven Republicans to Congress. The court flipped as of
[1:37:12] Speaker 8: January 2023. They reversed themselves. And I, of course, dissented
[1:37:18] Speaker 8: at that point. But the legislature then was free to
[1:37:22] Speaker 8: draw however they wanted. And in 2024, North Carolina sent
[1:37:26] Speaker 8: 10 Republicans and four Democrats to Congress.
[1:37:32] Speaker 5: So it's just math.
[1:37:34] Speaker 8: If we had kept that 7-7 delegation from the beginning
[1:37:37] Speaker 8: of the Trump administration, the U.S. House of Representatives would
[1:37:40] Speaker 8: have been in control of Democrats. I think what difference
[1:37:45] Speaker 8: that would have made for the checks and balances at
[1:37:47] Speaker 8: the national level.
[1:37:48] Speaker 2: And in fact, they gerrymandered Don Davis, Congress of Don Davis' district.
[1:37:52] Speaker 2: And so now what they want is an 11-3 Republican
[1:37:54] Speaker 2: majority after November. You talked about that particular case as well.
[1:37:59] Speaker 2: When Democrats controlled North Carolina Supreme Court, The issue of
[1:38:03] Speaker 2: racial racial gerrymandering also was up where a federal court
[1:38:08] Speaker 2: also ruled there was this laser-like precision targeting of black voters. And,
[1:38:14] Speaker 2: you know, and these are the issues that, again, come
[1:38:16] Speaker 2: to the state's highest court. We just saw what happened
[1:38:19] Speaker 2: in Missouri. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled unanimously Republicans could
[1:38:24] Speaker 2: not use a map that would wipe out the district
[1:38:26] Speaker 2: of Congressman Emanuel Cleaver. And so, you know, a state
[1:38:30] Speaker 2: Supreme Court is really, really vital to so many issues
[1:38:35] Speaker 2: that people face every day in North Carolina.
[1:38:40] Speaker 5: Absolutely.
[1:38:40] Speaker 8: And so that's why my campaign today released a second ad,
[1:38:45] Speaker 8: which folks can see.
[1:38:48] Speaker 5: My website is earlsforjustice.com.
[1:38:51] Speaker 8: My second ad explains how the court impacts how much
[1:38:55] Speaker 8: people pay for electricity in this state, which is a
[1:38:58] Speaker 8: huge issue because the evidence before the court was that
[1:39:02] Speaker 8: hundreds of thousands of residents in North Carolina can't.
[1:39:05] Speaker 5: Afford their electric bill every month.
[1:39:07] Speaker 8: And under state law, It is the court's responsibility to
[1:39:11] Speaker 8: review what the Utilities Commission does. When Duke Energy asked
[1:39:15] Speaker 8: to raise electricity rates for the western part of the state,
[1:39:20] Speaker 8: our court.
[1:39:21] Speaker 5: Looked at that and said, sure, that's fine.
[1:39:23] Speaker 8: I dissented because state law says we are to set
[1:39:28] Speaker 8: electricity rates at the lowest reasonable rate. And the reason
[1:39:31] Speaker 8: for this particular rate increase was so that Duke Energy
[1:39:36] Speaker 8: shareholders could receive a 10.1% rate of return on their
[1:39:41] Speaker 8: investment instead of the 9.8% rate of return they were
[1:39:45] Speaker 8: already receiving.
[1:39:46] Speaker 5: And I believe that.
[1:39:47] Speaker 8: State law requires our court put people over profits. So
[1:39:53] Speaker 8: whether you're worried about your electric bill, what quality of
[1:39:56] Speaker 8: education your children are getting, whether your vote will count
[1:40:00] Speaker 8: and count equally, all of those things are decided by
[1:40:03] Speaker 8: our court.
[1:40:04] Speaker 1: And you said that new ad is where?
[1:40:08] Speaker 8: On earlsforjustice.com, earls4justice. com is my website. And you can find
[1:40:17] Speaker 8: that new ad there and also volunteer or contribute to
[1:40:21] Speaker 8: my campaign.
[1:40:22] Speaker 1: All right.
[1:40:23] Speaker 2: So we're going to pull that up in just a moment.
[1:40:27] Speaker 2: Questions from my panel. First off, Avis.
[1:40:33] Speaker 14: Thanks for being here tonight. I think it's just important
[1:40:36] Speaker 14: just to reiterate. I know you've said it, but I
[1:40:40] Speaker 14: think it's so important that we reiterate how important this is.
[1:40:45] Speaker 14: For me, in this moment, the courts beyond this crazy
[1:40:49] Speaker 14: Supreme Court is the last line of defense in this
[1:40:53] Speaker 14: specific administration. There have been so many things that have
[1:40:57] Speaker 14: gone to other court systems. So can you let us
[1:41:00] Speaker 14: know about when people are voting for you and they're
[1:41:02] Speaker 14: voting to make sure that there is a justice on
[1:41:05] Speaker 14: the court that's going to protect their rights, what are
[1:41:08] Speaker 14: they getting?
[1:41:10] Speaker 5: Well, my background is as a civil rights attorney.
[1:41:13] Speaker 8: So for 30 years, that means I stood up with
[1:41:16] Speaker 8: people whose rights were being violated in one way or
[1:41:18] Speaker 8: another and sought to use the legal system to ensure
[1:41:22] Speaker 8: that their constitutional rights would be respected, whether that's voting rights,
[1:41:27] Speaker 8: employment discrimination cases, housing discrimination, First Amendment cases and school
[1:41:32] Speaker 8: desegregation cases, just the full range of civil rights litigation
[1:41:37] Speaker 8: was what I engaged in prior to running for the
[1:41:40] Speaker 8: court the first time in 2018. And what I tell
[1:41:44] Speaker 8: people is that my goal has always been throughout my
[1:41:47] Speaker 8: career to guarantee equal justice under the law. I followed
[1:41:51] Speaker 8: in the footsteps of the noted civil rights attorney, Julius Chambers,
[1:41:56] Speaker 8: and had at various points in my career, the opportunity
[1:41:59] Speaker 8: to work with him. So I really see the impact
[1:42:02] Speaker 8: on our communities. As you saw in that ad, the
[1:42:06] Speaker 8: things that our communities experience are things that.
[1:42:10] Speaker 5: My family has also experienced.
[1:42:13] Speaker 8: We know what it's like to be the victims of
[1:42:16] Speaker 8: crime when the system is not working for us, but
[1:42:20] Speaker 8: we also know what it's like to be in a
[1:42:23] Speaker 8: system that's not treating us fairly. And that's all I'm
[1:42:27] Speaker 8: trying to guarantee, that no matter who you are, whether
[1:42:31] Speaker 8: you have money or not money, whether you're a business
[1:42:34] Speaker 8: or an individual, the government or an individual, big business,
[1:42:38] Speaker 8: every litigant that comes before us should be treated equally.
[1:42:42] Speaker 1: This is the commercial that you were just referencing.
[1:42:45] Speaker 7: Okay.
[1:42:46] Speaker 8: The law is supposed to protect you. That's why I
[1:42:52] Speaker 8: ruled against an unfair utility rate hike that will cost
[1:42:56] Speaker 8: our families more. You deserve honest math, fair prices, and
[1:43:00] Speaker 8: a court that follows the law to put people before profits.
[1:43:05] Speaker 5: I'm Justice Anita Earls. On the court, I hold everyone.
[1:43:09] Speaker 8: Accountable, no matter how rich or powerful. And I won't
[1:43:13] Speaker 8: stop until the law works for everyone.
[1:43:15] Speaker 13: All right.
[1:43:18] Speaker 1: Question, Larry.
[1:43:21] Speaker 15: So my question relates to, you know, North Carolina has
[1:43:24] Speaker 15: a significant population of black voters. I think it's over 20%
[1:43:28] Speaker 15: of the population that advises black. And you talked about
[1:43:31] Speaker 15: your civil rights background, which is critically important during these
[1:43:35] Speaker 15: challenging times. What else are some of the other issues
[1:43:38] Speaker 15: when you're you know, someone who may be reluctant to
[1:43:42] Speaker 15: go out and vote? And they're a Black voter. What
[1:43:46] Speaker 15: are some of the things you're talking about and encouraging them?
[1:43:49] Speaker 3: Why don't you go out and vote for you?
[1:43:52] Speaker 1: Yes.
[1:43:53] Speaker 8: Well, I do think it's important for people to understand
[1:43:56] Speaker 8: that my commitment to civil rights does come from my
[1:43:59] Speaker 8: personal experience growing up in a mixed race family at
[1:44:02] Speaker 8: a time when my parents' marriage, my father was black,
[1:44:05] Speaker 8: my mother was white, their marriage was illegal in most
[1:44:08] Speaker 8: of the country and certainly in the state where they met.
[1:44:11] Speaker 8: So I appreciate what it means when our civil rights
[1:44:14] Speaker 8: laws are not being enforced fairly. I think the other
[1:44:18] Speaker 8: thing that people should understand is that Experience matters on
[1:44:23] Speaker 8: our court. My opponent, Sarah Stevens, is a career politician,
[1:44:29] Speaker 8: 17 and a half years in the General Assembly, and
[1:44:35] Speaker 8: has never argued a case in our court. Not only that,
[1:44:39] Speaker 8: but more than 15 laws that she voted for have
[1:44:42] Speaker 8: been found to be unconstitutional by other courts, including, as
[1:44:46] Speaker 8: I mentioned earlier, some of those racial gerrymandering laws.
[1:44:49] Speaker 5: That the U.S.
[1:44:50] Speaker 8: Supreme Court unanimously threw out as unfair to black voters.
[1:44:55] Speaker 8: So real difference in our records. Voters will have a
[1:44:59] Speaker 8: really important choice. And as you mentioned, this state is 22%
[1:45:04] Speaker 8: African American. When I joined the court, I was the
[1:45:07] Speaker 8: third person of color on the court. Because of two
[1:45:10] Speaker 8: election cycles and retirements, I am now the only one.
[1:45:14] Speaker 8: And if I lose, our state Supreme Court will no
[1:45:18] Speaker 8: longer be reflective of the diversity of the population of
[1:45:21] Speaker 8: this state.
[1:45:22] Speaker 5: And as someone who did.
[1:45:23] Speaker 8: Voting rights work for 30 years and worked hard around
[1:45:27] Speaker 8: the state to make sure that all voters had an
[1:45:30] Speaker 8: opportunity to elect their candidates of choice, I think that
[1:45:34] Speaker 8: would be a real step backwards. I think about one
[1:45:39] Speaker 8: of my heroes, Justice Pat Timmons Goodson, the first African-American
[1:45:42] Speaker 8: woman to serve on our court.
[1:45:45] Speaker 5: She said very movingly.
[1:45:46] Speaker 8: I'm really proud to be the first African-American woman on
[1:45:51] Speaker 8: this court.
[1:45:51] Speaker 5: But what is more important to me is that I
[1:45:54] Speaker 5: not be the last. And now that mantle has fallen
[1:45:57] Speaker 5: on my shoulders.
[1:46:00] Speaker 2: Before I go to Mustafa, let me also remind folk
[1:46:03] Speaker 2: that these Republicans were so evil in North Carolina. You
[1:46:07] Speaker 2: gave an interview talking about diversity in the justice system.
[1:46:12] Speaker 1: And these idiots tried to they really want to impeach you.
[1:46:17] Speaker 8: Well, there were threats to impeach me, and we have
[1:46:22] Speaker 8: a judicial standards commission that has the power to recommend
[1:46:26] Speaker 8: to our court, our court votes at the end, whether
[1:46:28] Speaker 8: to remove a judge or justice from office. And there
[1:46:32] Speaker 8: were two different complaints filed against me, both of them
[1:46:36] Speaker 8: based on things I said publicly, that potentially could have
[1:46:41] Speaker 8: removed me from office. And one of those was a
[1:46:44] Speaker 8: complaint about the fact that I talked about racial equity
[1:46:47] Speaker 8: in the justice system. And I commented on a study
[1:46:51] Speaker 8: that a Solicitor General had done, not me, but a
[1:46:54] Speaker 8: study of who argues in our court. That study found
[1:46:57] Speaker 8: that at the time period that they were looking at,
[1:47:00] Speaker 8: African-Americans and women were underrepresented in the attorneys who appear
[1:47:04] Speaker 8: in our court. I also talked publicly about the fact
[1:47:07] Speaker 8: that our Supreme Court at the time hired 72 people
[1:47:12] Speaker 8: And only two were African-American, the woman who I have
[1:47:16] Speaker 8: on my staff as an assistant and the man who
[1:47:19] Speaker 8: manages our buildings.
[1:47:20] Speaker 5: And that is not reflective of the workforce of this
[1:47:23] Speaker 5: court or the state.
[1:47:25] Speaker 8: So I had to file a First Amendment lawsuit in
[1:47:28] Speaker 8: federal court to defend my right to say these things.
[1:47:32] Speaker 8: Groups across the country came out and supported me. the
[1:47:35] Speaker 8: NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the ACLU within North Carolina, the
[1:47:39] Speaker 8: North Carolina Black Alliance, the black churches, people. And I
[1:47:44] Speaker 8: think that's what made the difference at that point. And
[1:47:47] Speaker 8: this was before the Trump administration. So I just, North
[1:47:52] Speaker 8: Carolina has been in the forefront in the past few
[1:47:55] Speaker 8: years of vote suppression and in the forefront of trying
[1:47:59] Speaker 8: to silence the voices of advocates for equality in the state.
[1:48:05] Speaker 8: And so fortunately, ultimately, the complaint against me was dismissed.
[1:48:10] Speaker 5: And so then I did not need to go forward
[1:48:13] Speaker 5: with my lawsuit.
[1:48:14] Speaker 8: But I think it's important for people to know that
[1:48:20] Speaker 8: my record is one of not backing down in the
[1:48:24] Speaker 8: face of opposition, because I know how important it is
[1:48:28] Speaker 8: that people who historically have been underrepresented and not had
[1:48:34] Speaker 8: a voice in our government deserve to have fair representation.
[1:48:38] Speaker 1: Mustafa?
[1:48:41] Speaker 7: Justice Earls, it's good to see you. I have worked
[1:48:43] Speaker 7: all over North Carolina.
[1:48:45] Speaker 13: And some folks have been texting me when you came
[1:48:48] Speaker 13: onto the show just now. And they asked me to
[1:48:51] Speaker 13: ask you about environmental issues, public health issues. We know
[1:48:55] Speaker 13: in North Carolina, we've got the certified animal feeding operations.
[1:48:59] Speaker 13: We've got PFAS in the water, a number of different things.
[1:49:02] Speaker 13: But they just ask if you could talk a little
[1:49:04] Speaker 13: bit about how important the courts are in making sure
[1:49:07] Speaker 13: that we have cleaner air and cleaner water and a
[1:49:11] Speaker 13: couple of the other things that are in that space.
[1:49:14] Speaker 5: Well, I would make two responses to that.
[1:49:16] Speaker 8: And the first goes back to that fundamental democracy deficit
[1:49:21] Speaker 8: that we have, because when you have extreme partisan gerrymandering,
[1:49:25] Speaker 8: it means that the legislature is not being— is not representative
[1:49:29] Speaker 8: of all the people of the state, is not representative
[1:49:32] Speaker 8: of how people actually vote. And so, whether it's the
[1:49:36] Speaker 8: environment— all of the environmental issues you mentioned but also things
[1:49:40] Speaker 8: like access to affordable house, affordable health care, whether people
[1:49:45] Speaker 8: have affordable housing. All those issues are impacted by if
[1:49:48] Speaker 8: the legislature is not addressing people's needs. So I feel
[1:49:52] Speaker 8: like to get to those issues, we first have to
[1:49:54] Speaker 8: have a fair democracy. But the second thing I would
[1:49:56] Speaker 8: say is, yes, our court does make decisions that impacts
[1:50:01] Speaker 8: the ability of the state government to enforce our environmental laws.
[1:50:05] Speaker 8: And The two trends that I've seen happen are cases
[1:50:09] Speaker 8: that make it harder for state agencies to protect the environment,
[1:50:13] Speaker 8: to put conditions in permits that they give to businesses
[1:50:17] Speaker 8: that might be polluting, as well as with the PFAS question.
[1:50:22] Speaker 8: We were scheduled to have an oral argument in a
[1:50:25] Speaker 8: case where the state attorney general said, was seeking damages
[1:50:28] Speaker 8: for individuals injured. And the issue before our court was
[1:50:34] Speaker 8: gonna be whether or not the Attorney General even had
[1:50:37] Speaker 8: the power to.
[1:50:39] Speaker 5: Bring that case.
[1:50:42] Speaker 8: I did write one opinion in that case earlier about
[1:50:45] Speaker 8: whether or not DuPont, the defendants, could be sued in
[1:50:49] Speaker 8: North Carolina. Fortunately, I think for the individuals involved, the
[1:50:54] Speaker 8: case settled.
[1:50:56] Speaker 5: On the eve of our oral argument.
[1:50:58] Speaker 8: And I say fortunate because for all the parties, it's
[1:51:02] Speaker 8: always best to come to a resolution in the litigation
[1:51:06] Speaker 8: and get relief rather than waiting for our court to
[1:51:09] Speaker 8: act or any court to act. So those issues will
[1:51:13] Speaker 8: continue to come before our court. And it is important
[1:51:17] Speaker 8: to have someone whose orientation is the importance of enforcing rights.
[1:51:32] Speaker 2: I also want to remind people of a couple of things,
[1:51:34] Speaker 2: because when we talk about control, we talk about power.
[1:51:41] Speaker 2: So you take right now, you have a Democratic governor,
[1:51:44] Speaker 2: you have a Democratic lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general,
[1:51:51] Speaker 2: and the Republican legislature, they have consistently stripped power from
[1:51:57] Speaker 2: the Democratic governor, unlike what they did with the Republican governor.
[1:52:03] Speaker 2: So right now, when it comes to who controls the
[1:52:05] Speaker 2: appointments to the state board of elections, they stripped the
[1:52:08] Speaker 2: power from the governor and gave it to the state auditor,
[1:52:12] Speaker 2: which I guess he's the highest ranking Republican.
[1:52:14] Speaker 1: In the state.
[1:52:16] Speaker 2: When Sherry Beasley was chief justice, the legislature was actually
[1:52:20] Speaker 2: considering stripping the power of the state Supreme Court, which
[1:52:24] Speaker 2: is the highest court, and giving it to the appeals court,
[1:52:30] Speaker 2: which is below the Supreme Court, because Republicans control that,
[1:52:34] Speaker 2: not the Supreme Court. I say that so people understand
[1:52:37] Speaker 2: how Republicans in North Carolina have abused political power in
[1:52:43] Speaker 2: order to strip Democrats of power when Republicans lose.
[1:52:49] Speaker 8: So, yes, that issue is actually pending in our court.
[1:52:53] Speaker 8: So we are about to hear oral arguments. It's going
[1:52:56] Speaker 8: to be the week after the election. But what I
[1:52:59] Speaker 8: want you to understand is prior, when there was actually
[1:53:03] Speaker 8: a Republican governor, Pat McCrory, the Republican legislature did seek
[1:53:08] Speaker 8: to take power away from Governor McCrory, and that case
[1:53:11] Speaker 8: came to our court. And our court ruled six to
[1:53:15] Speaker 8: one— this was before I was on the court— the court ruled
[1:53:17] Speaker 8: six to one that that was unconstitutional and that the
[1:53:21] Speaker 8: legislature had exceeded its powers. There was one dissent, and
[1:53:25] Speaker 8: that was Chief Justice Newby. At the time, he was
[1:53:27] Speaker 8: just Justice Newby.
[1:53:29] Speaker 5: But he dissented.
[1:53:31] Speaker 8: And if you look at the rulings that have been
[1:53:33] Speaker 8: handed down so far in the cases addressing this issue
[1:53:38] Speaker 8: of what power does the legislature have to take powers
[1:53:41] Speaker 8: away from the governor and give it either to themselves
[1:53:44] Speaker 8: or to other executive officials.
[1:53:49] Speaker 5: The Chief Justice's view is now the majority view.
[1:53:53] Speaker 8: And the concern is that this, so, I'm not gonna
[1:54:00] Speaker 8: comment on the case because it's pending in front of us.
[1:54:03] Speaker 8: But what I can say is that without a doubt,
[1:54:07] Speaker 8: those issues are on our docket and issues that implicate
[1:54:13] Speaker 8: all sorts of matters about who has power in the state.
[1:54:17] Speaker 8: And what I can tell you about, because it's public,
[1:54:20] Speaker 8: I did write a dissent in the Board of Elections case.
[1:54:25] Speaker 8: The governor, so understand in that case, The trial court said,
[1:54:29] Speaker 8: this is unconstitutional. This was a three judge trial court
[1:54:33] Speaker 8: appointed by Chief Justice Newby. The legislative defendants appealed to
[1:54:38] Speaker 8: the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals, in a
[1:54:41] Speaker 8: two-to-one decision, ruled that it was constitutional. But in the meantime,
[1:54:47] Speaker 8: the governor asked the Court of Appeals and then asked
[1:54:50] Speaker 8: our court to stop what had been ruled as an
[1:54:54] Speaker 8: unconstitutional law, stop it from going into effect while the
[1:54:57] Speaker 8: appeal is pending.
[1:55:00] Speaker 5: But we essentially have a shadow docket, just like the U.S.
[1:55:02] Speaker 5: Supreme Court.
[1:55:03] Speaker 8: And on that shadow docket, the majority declined to give
[1:55:07] Speaker 8: a stay. And I wrote a dissent explaining why I
[1:55:09] Speaker 8: thought we should stay that law until there's an opportunity
[1:55:16] Speaker 8: to complete the appellate process. And in that dissent, I
[1:55:21] Speaker 8: explain some of the reasons why I think that there
[1:55:24] Speaker 8: was merit to the trial court's ruling. But obviously a
[1:55:29] Speaker 8: full opinion awaits after we hear the oral arguments in
[1:55:32] Speaker 8: those cases.
[1:55:33] Speaker 2: Last question I have for you, and that is typically
[1:55:37] Speaker 2: what happens, who's at the top of the ticket impacts
[1:55:41] Speaker 2: a down ballot. And for months now, everyone has been saying, oh,
[1:55:46] Speaker 2: Roy Cooper has this in the bag. Last poll shows
[1:55:49] Speaker 2: he's up anywhere from 8 to 10 points. And so
[1:55:52] Speaker 2: I've been hearing from people in North Carolina that there's
[1:55:56] Speaker 2: a perception that, you know, the gas, you know, food
[1:55:59] Speaker 2: is being lit up off the gas, gas pedal. What
[1:56:03] Speaker 2: are you saying to African-Americans and to others in North
[1:56:07] Speaker 2: Carolina that, listen, election ain't over until all the votes
[1:56:11] Speaker 2: are counted? And what I'm concerned about Is that if
[1:56:15] Speaker 2: there is a belief that, oh, Cooper has this in
[1:56:18] Speaker 2: the bag, we don't have to worry about it. That's
[1:56:21] Speaker 2: going to impact your race and other races that are
[1:56:24] Speaker 2: on the ballot. Is that of a concern to you?
[1:56:26] Speaker 2: And what are you telling your supporters that they have
[1:56:29] Speaker 2: to be doing in this less than 40 days before
[1:56:32] Speaker 2: we have Election Day? And also you got early voting
[1:56:34] Speaker 2: is going to be coming up as well.
[1:56:37] Speaker 1: Right.
[1:56:39] Speaker 8: Absolutely, I have been pointing to the fact that, as
[1:56:43] Speaker 8: you mentioned earlier, Sherry Beasley lost by.
[1:56:45] Speaker 5: Just 401 votes.
[1:56:47] Speaker 8: My colleague Justice Riggs won by only 734 in an
[1:56:51] Speaker 8: election where top of the ticket, Governor Stein won by
[1:56:55] Speaker 8: a huge margin. So there were some close to 200,000
[1:56:59] Speaker 8: voters who voted in the governor's race in 2024 and
[1:57:03] Speaker 8: did not vote in the.
[1:57:04] Speaker 5: Supreme Court race.
[1:57:06] Speaker 8: And so what we, right now the polling is showing
[1:57:10] Speaker 8: me essentially in a statistical tie with my opponent. There's
[1:57:16] Speaker 8: more undecided voters, but what I, you know, Governor Cooper has,
[1:57:21] Speaker 8: I think, convincingly been telling folks that the margin is
[1:57:26] Speaker 8: going to get closer in his race as we get
[1:57:29] Speaker 8: closer to election day. And I do, believe me, I
[1:57:34] Speaker 8: understand why people are frustrated feeling that their votes don't count.
[1:57:38] Speaker 8: That is one of the impacts of extreme partisan gerrymandering.
[1:57:42] Speaker 8: It is not only devaluing the voting strength of one
[1:57:46] Speaker 8: party in a particular election, it has multiplier effects as
[1:57:51] Speaker 8: people get more and more discouraged and and feel like
[1:57:54] Speaker 8: their vote doesn't matter because the outcome in all the
[1:57:57] Speaker 8: districts is already determined.
[1:57:59] Speaker 5: So I get it why people are discouraged.
[1:58:02] Speaker 8: But what they have to absolutely know is that North
[1:58:07] Speaker 8: Carolina is a very purple state. Every vote counts. We
[1:58:12] Speaker 8: know that there are some of the tactics that were— some
[1:58:16] Speaker 8: of the arguments that were used to try to throw
[1:58:18] Speaker 8: out ballots in 2024— are now laws that people have
[1:58:24] Speaker 8: to follow. And the Board of Elections and the General
[1:58:29] Speaker 8: Assembly have been changing our voting procedures, making it easier
[1:58:33] Speaker 8: to challenge voters. And so what I hope people will
[1:58:36] Speaker 8: appreciate is that the reason they're trying to keep you
[1:58:40] Speaker 8: from voting is because your vote is powerful.
[1:58:44] Speaker 20: Right?
[1:58:46] Speaker 8: So every vote matters. You have to vote all the
[1:58:49] Speaker 8: way down the ticket. Your voice has to be heard.
[1:58:53] Speaker 8: And it will have an impact. Even in North Carolina
[1:58:56] Speaker 8: this year, my seat's the only one on the ballot.
[1:58:59] Speaker 8: So we're in a bit of a holding pattern. But
[1:59:01] Speaker 8: in two years, three Republican seats are up for election.
[1:59:05] Speaker 8: And if we're able to take those three seats, we
[1:59:08] Speaker 8: will be back to a court that will enforce people's rights.
[1:59:11] Speaker 8: So you have to have a little bit of a
[1:59:15] Speaker 8: long-range vision. But I understand, you know, coming from a
[1:59:18] Speaker 8: civil rights background, I know that I stand on the
[1:59:22] Speaker 8: shoulders of people who toiled long and hard for the
[1:59:26] Speaker 8: long-range vision of their communities finally having the representation that
[1:59:32] Speaker 8: they deserve. And We need everyone to join us in
[1:59:37] Speaker 8: that effort and to believe in our, have faith and
[1:59:41] Speaker 8: believe in the power of our vote and that we
[1:59:45] Speaker 8: still have a democracy where it makes a difference.
[1:59:47] Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I mean, I have been telling folks that
[1:59:51] Speaker 2: by electing you, holding your seat this year, puts Democrats
[1:59:55] Speaker 2: in position, winning those three seats in 2028 in the
[1:59:57] Speaker 2: presidential year, then that then takes that court back. And
[2:00:02] Speaker 2: what can happen in North Carolina is what we've seen
[2:00:04] Speaker 2: in Wisconsin. When that state Supreme Court flipped, you begin
[2:00:08] Speaker 2: to see different rulings when it came to ballot drop boxes,
[2:00:11] Speaker 2: when it came to partisan gerrymandering, racial gerrymandering and things
[2:00:15] Speaker 2: along those lines. And so certainly good luck, Justice Earls.
[2:00:20] Speaker 2: And we really hope folk show up and show out
[2:00:24] Speaker 2: and return you to the Supreme Court.
[2:00:27] Speaker 8: Well, thank you so much. I appreciate you covering these issues.
[2:00:32] Speaker 8: They are so important to our community and they impact
[2:00:34] Speaker 8: the entire country.
[2:00:35] Speaker 5: So thank you.
[2:00:36] Speaker 1: All right. Thanks a lot.
[2:00:38] Speaker 2: Again, folks, let me go over the voting registration deadlines.
[2:00:43] Speaker 2: But this is critically important. Alabama, they do not have
[2:00:46] Speaker 2: in-person early voting. So that's that's early voting. But remember,
[2:00:50] Speaker 2: you have voter registrations before we get to early voting.
[2:00:52] Speaker 2: We got to deal with voter registration. And please, I
[2:00:56] Speaker 2: need folk to check your status. Do not assume that
[2:01:00] Speaker 2: you're good, especially in Texas. There have been some issues there.
[2:01:04] Speaker 2: I really need folk to check their status.
[2:01:07] Speaker 1: Nope. Do not switch the calendar yet. The voter registration deadlines, folks,
[2:01:11] Speaker 1: October 4th, October 4th.
[2:01:14] Speaker 2: If you live in Alaska, Rhode Island, and South Carolina,
[2:01:18] Speaker 2: your last day to register is October 4th, which is
[2:01:25] Speaker 2: next Monday. October 5th, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas.
[2:01:41] Speaker 2: October 6th, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico. October 7th, Missouri. October 9th,
[2:01:47] Speaker 2: North Carolina, Oklahoma. Folks, listen to me, North Carolina. Y'all
[2:01:52] Speaker 2: have got to do what's right. I'm telling y'all. You
[2:01:56] Speaker 2: heard me say it. You heard Justice Earle say it.
[2:01:59] Speaker 2: Sherry Beasley, she was a chief justice of the North
[2:02:04] Speaker 2: Carolina Supreme Court.
[2:02:06] Speaker 1: She lost by 401 votes yesterday. And you had more
[2:02:11] Speaker 1: than 200,000 black folks who were eligible but did not vote.
[2:02:18] Speaker 1: So October 9th was North Carolina, Oklahoma. October 10th is Delaware.
[2:02:22] Speaker 2: October 13th is Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon,
[2:02:29] Speaker 2: West Virginia, District of Columbia. October 14th, Wisconsin. The 16th, Connecticut.
[2:02:35] Speaker 2: The 19th, Alabama, California, Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Dakota. The
[2:02:39] Speaker 2: 20th is Wyoming. Twenty third, Idaho, Nebraska, Utah, Virginia. OK,
[2:02:45] Speaker 2: the October 24th, Massachusetts, New York State, October 26th.
[2:02:49] Speaker 1: Hawaii, Colorado, Washington, New Hampshire.
[2:02:53] Speaker 2: They vote registration varies from six to 13 days before
[2:02:55] Speaker 2: Election Day. Contact your local supervisor's office for the deadline.
[2:02:59] Speaker 2: North Dakota has no voter registration. All you need is
[2:03:02] Speaker 2: a valid I.D. showing a North Dakota residential address to vote. Vermont,
[2:03:07] Speaker 2: you can register through Election Day. And so I just
[2:03:10] Speaker 2: want people to understand that. And so, again, y'all, this
[2:03:13] Speaker 2: is a huge, huge election. Do not just focus on
[2:03:16] Speaker 2: top of the ticket.
[2:03:17] Speaker 1: You must go all the way down.
[2:03:19] Speaker 2: Also, when I say go all the way down, in
[2:03:22] Speaker 2: some states, there are constitutional amendments.
[2:03:25] Speaker 1: That are on the ballots.
[2:03:27] Speaker 2: Virginia has three constitutional amendments on the ballot, one dealing
[2:03:32] Speaker 2: with reproductive rights, one dealing with same sex marriage. And
[2:03:37] Speaker 2: I believe same sex marriage is one of them. But
[2:03:40] Speaker 2: the other one is restoring the voting rights of formerly incarcerated. Y'all,
[2:03:44] Speaker 2: that's three. That's three constitutional amendments. And so we have
[2:03:47] Speaker 2: to understand that's all. And matter of fact, in Virginia,
[2:03:51] Speaker 2: they're voting early right now. Yeah, they're voting early right
[2:03:54] Speaker 2: now in Virginia. So just letting folks know we've got
[2:03:56] Speaker 2: to maximize what's happening at the ballot.
[2:03:59] Speaker 1: Let me go to a quick break.
[2:04:00] Speaker 2: We come back. We're going to have our shot. All right, folks,
[2:04:07] Speaker 2: let me get personal for a second. My mom had
[2:04:09] Speaker 2: questions about her Medicare. So she called Chapter, a Medicare
[2:04:13] Speaker 2: advisory company, and she text me right after saying it's
[2:04:16] Speaker 2: a great benefit.
[2:04:17] Speaker 1: It was easy.
[2:04:18] Speaker 2: A real person walked her through the whole thing, and
[2:04:20] Speaker 2: now she understands better what's going on.
[2:04:23] Speaker 1: But it's also not just her.
[2:04:24] Speaker 2: A woman in Yonkers wrote in saying the process was
[2:04:27] Speaker 2: so simple, the enrollment was easy, and she was so
[2:04:30] Speaker 2: glad she called. Then there's Marilyn, 90 years old in Florida,
[2:04:33] Speaker 2: living on Social Security. Her premium climbed every single year
[2:04:37] Speaker 2: north of $ 400 a month for coverage she could barely
[2:04:41] Speaker 2: afford anymore.
[2:04:42] Speaker 1: So what does she do? She called Chapter.
[2:04:44] Speaker 2: They found her the same top tier coverage for hundreds
[2:04:47] Speaker 2: of dollars less. 90 years old and finally somebody in
[2:04:51] Speaker 2: her corner. I hear stories like that again and again
[2:04:54] Speaker 2: from our community. The Medicare system was not built to
[2:04:57] Speaker 2: work for you. Too much fine print, too many plans.
[2:05:00] Speaker 2: Yet Chapters Advisors are independent and honest. The only Medicare
[2:05:04] Speaker 2: advisors that compare every plan nationwide. They're focused on one thing,
[2:05:08] Speaker 2: what actually works for you. If you're already in the
[2:05:11] Speaker 2: right plan, they'll tell you.
[2:05:13] Speaker 1: No games.
[2:05:14] Speaker 2: People who switched with Chapter saved an average of $ 1, 100
[2:05:18] Speaker 2: a year. All it takes is 20 minutes. You talk
[2:05:20] Speaker 2: to a real person and it's completely free help. So
[2:05:24] Speaker 2: call Chapter at 724-264-8281.
[2:05:25] Speaker 15: 724-264-8281.
[2:05:25] Speaker 3: That's Chapter.
[2:05:41] Speaker 5: Well, hello, big brother.
[2:05:42] Speaker 6: Congratulations on making eight years at the Black Star Network.
[2:05:46] Speaker 6: You know, the number eight represents new beginnings. So my
[2:05:50] Speaker 6: prayer for you is that you would have a fresh vision.
[2:05:53] Speaker 6: And as you hear the voice from God, you will
[2:05:56] Speaker 6: continue to go out and.
[2:05:57] Speaker 5: Be the voice for the people. Best wishes.
[2:06:22] Speaker 2: All right, folks, a single-handed scarf in the early 2000s
[2:06:25] Speaker 2: sparked my next guest's passion for fiber arts and textiles.
[2:06:30] Speaker 2: Tammy Williams created Yarn and Whiskey to show how her
[2:06:33] Speaker 2: fiber practice incorporates a variety of fiber-making products, from weaving
[2:06:37] Speaker 2: and knitting to sewing, usually beautifully pattern, colorful fabrics and
[2:06:41] Speaker 2: materials inspired by African patterns, prints and textiles. Tammy joins
[2:06:45] Speaker 2: us right now from Brooklyn.
[2:06:47] Speaker 1: All right, Tammy.
[2:06:48] Speaker 2: So what kind of products are we talking about when
[2:06:52] Speaker 2: you say these fiber making products?
[2:06:58] Speaker 18: Okay, so I'm an avid knitter. I knit and I
[2:07:02] Speaker 18: do a little bit of crochet and I weave and
[2:07:05] Speaker 18: do some embroidery as well.
[2:07:08] Speaker 20: So I took my hobby.
[2:07:10] Speaker 18: And a market that I know really well because I've
[2:07:14] Speaker 18: been knitting for about 25, almost 30 years now. So
[2:07:20] Speaker 18: I took my passion for knitting and I created a
[2:07:23] Speaker 18: business related to knitting.
[2:07:28] Speaker 5: And then, so I make bags.
[2:07:31] Speaker 18: What I do is I make bags for knitters, but
[2:07:35] Speaker 18: I quit my job in IT and I ended up
[2:07:38] Speaker 18: going back to school for a textile design. So now
[2:07:42] Speaker 18: I make my bags with my own textile designs and
[2:07:46] Speaker 18: I also make scarves.
[2:07:47] Speaker 2: So like this right here, this is, um, this is
[2:07:52] Speaker 2: called the lovely one scarf.
[2:07:55] Speaker 5: Yes. That's the lovely one.
[2:07:56] Speaker 18: Silk scarves, silk scarf I was inspired on a trip
[2:08:02] Speaker 18: to Italy.
[2:08:03] Speaker 21: I went to the Efezi gallery and we you know
[2:08:12] Speaker 21: we're not on the walls in these galleries no I
[2:08:15] Speaker 21: decided to make my own gallery you know.
[2:08:19] Speaker 18: I could do that as a textile designer.
[2:08:20] Speaker 3: I can do whatever I want with fabric.
[2:08:23] Speaker 1: All right.
[2:08:24] Speaker 18: Whatever I want.
[2:08:25] Speaker 14: Yeah.
[2:08:26] Speaker 1: Okay.
[2:08:27] Speaker 2: So this one is lovely ones.
[2:08:30] Speaker 1: This one right here.
[2:08:30] Speaker 5: It looks good on you.
[2:08:32] Speaker 1: Okay.
[2:08:32] Speaker 2: So next one is this, is this, is this big
[2:08:37] Speaker 2: Dahiya energy?
[2:08:39] Speaker 1: Dahlia. Sorry. I'm looking at the top, looking at the
[2:08:42] Speaker 1: writing here. I don't see that L. Uh, but it's
[2:08:46] Speaker 1: all good. Uh, so this, this is pretty colorful here.
[2:08:50] Speaker 8: Yeah.
[2:08:51] Speaker 18: You know, that one was inspired by one of my customers.
[2:08:54] Speaker 18: She has a beautiful Dahlia garden. Um, so I drew
[2:08:58] Speaker 18: a flower and I, it's filled with a bunch of
[2:09:01] Speaker 18: collages that I made. That's why it's so colorful.
[2:09:04] Speaker 1: Okay. All right. Gotcha. And let's see here.
[2:09:07] Speaker 2: Uh, this next one I have is called amnesia. So, um,
[2:09:11] Speaker 2: are we made.
[2:09:13] Speaker 1: To forget this one?
[2:09:14] Speaker 2: Like why is it, why is it, Why is this
[2:09:18] Speaker 2: one called Amnesia?
[2:09:22] Speaker 5: I made this scarf.
[2:09:24] Speaker 20: I made this design.
[2:09:25] Speaker 18: It's a collage that I made when I was studying abroad.
[2:09:29] Speaker 18: I had quit my job at the age of like
[2:09:33] Speaker 18: 40-something to go back to school to learn textile design.
[2:09:37] Speaker 18: And I got to do a semester away in the
[2:09:40] Speaker 18: Scottish borders.
[2:09:42] Speaker 13: And.
[2:09:44] Speaker 5: I don't know.
[2:09:44] Speaker 18: I guess I called it amnesia because I kind of
[2:09:47] Speaker 18: went into a kind of flow state when I was
[2:09:50] Speaker 18: making the collage.
[2:09:52] Speaker 13: Okay.
[2:09:52] Speaker 1: All right. Cool. Let's see here. Question from the panel. Avis,
[2:09:56] Speaker 1: you first.
[2:09:58] Speaker 14: Well, first of all, those are absolutely gorgeous. I love
[2:10:03] Speaker 14: the bright colors and the beautiful designs, especially Dahlia and
[2:10:07] Speaker 14: even Amnesia.
[2:10:08] Speaker 7: I'm just loving them all. Okay, I'm loving them all.
[2:10:10] Speaker 20: And I'm thinking about.
[2:10:11] Speaker 14: The beautiful ways in which people can wear them. You
[2:10:13] Speaker 14: also mentioned, though, that you have bags. So are these
[2:10:17] Speaker 14: scarves that you would suggest people use as a tie
[2:10:20] Speaker 14: onto the handle of the bags and then they can
[2:10:21] Speaker 14: wear them like inserts in their blazers?
[2:10:24] Speaker 13: Yes.
[2:10:25] Speaker 14: In what ways do you suggest that people style them
[2:10:27] Speaker 14: in order to make the most out of these punches
[2:10:29] Speaker 14: of color that you're giving them?
[2:10:32] Speaker 18: Yeah, I see them as a separate product from the
[2:10:35] Speaker 18: bags that I make. The bags that I make are
[2:10:38] Speaker 18: for crafters primarily, and this is a different product. I'm
[2:10:42] Speaker 18: trying to reach a different market of people who, you know,
[2:10:45] Speaker 18: want a pop of color around their neck or a
[2:10:48] Speaker 18: scarf around their head or, you.
[2:10:51] Speaker 5: Know, just something to.
[2:10:54] Speaker 18: give their outfit a little bit more distinction and a
[2:10:58] Speaker 18: little bit more personality and uniqueness. That's how I see
[2:11:04] Speaker 18: people wearing them. I wear them on my hair and
[2:11:07] Speaker 18: I wear them around my neck.
[2:11:10] Speaker 3: Awesome.
[2:11:10] Speaker 1: All right, cool. Let's see here. Mustafa. That's how you
[2:11:17] Speaker 1: should wear it, Mustafa.
[2:11:20] Speaker 4: You know what?
[2:11:21] Speaker 13: I wear a lot of silk scarves to protect my hair,
[2:11:23] Speaker 13: so I feel you on that.
[2:11:26] Speaker 1: Ms.
[2:11:27] Speaker 7: Williams, your stuff is just fire.
[2:11:29] Speaker 13: I'm really loving looking at all the different designs and
[2:11:32] Speaker 13: colors that you use. I'm curious, the name Yarn and Whiskey,
[2:11:37] Speaker 13: you got to drop some knowledge on us on the
[2:11:39] Speaker 13: whiskey part of this.
[2:11:40] Speaker 7: How has that inspired your work?
[2:11:42] Speaker 8: Right.
[2:11:43] Speaker 1: Were you drinking when you were doing this?
[2:11:46] Speaker 18: I enjoy whiskey. I do like some whiskey. So when
[2:11:50] Speaker 18: I first started knitting, there used to be these cafes
[2:11:53] Speaker 18: in New York where I live that would sell yarn
[2:11:56] Speaker 18: and they would sell wine.
[2:11:57] Speaker 5: And I always thought it would be.
[2:11:58] Speaker 18: I used to want a whiskey bar, a cocktail bar,
[2:12:03] Speaker 18: and a yarn shop that people can just come in
[2:12:05] Speaker 18: and have a drink and maybe have a little piece
[2:12:08] Speaker 18: of cake or something and knit with their friends.
[2:12:12] Speaker 5: But those places closed.
[2:12:15] Speaker 18: And I see.
[2:12:16] Speaker 5: You know, people wanting.
[2:12:17] Speaker 20: To gather more.
[2:12:18] Speaker 18: I feel like there might be a pop-up happening with
[2:12:21] Speaker 18: some yarn and whiskey soon.
[2:12:23] Speaker 5: I think I have to make that happen.
[2:12:26] Speaker 1: All right then, getting some whiskey in the scars. Whiskey
[2:12:30] Speaker 1: in the scars. All right, y'all. So if y'all want
[2:12:33] Speaker 1: to check out and get you one of these scarves.
[2:12:35] Speaker 2: You see this one here, and I got this one
[2:12:38] Speaker 2: right here. Let me go back to showing y'all this one.
[2:12:42] Speaker 2: I really like the color on that one. I'm sure
[2:12:45] Speaker 2: I'm sure Avis and her fellow AKAs will be grabbing
[2:12:50] Speaker 2: this one.
[2:12:52] Speaker 7: Absolutely.
[2:12:53] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[2:12:53] Speaker 8: Yeah.
[2:12:53] Speaker 1: Yeah. We already know. We already know. Of course.
[2:12:56] Speaker 2: And we don't forget amnesia. Y'all don't forget amnesia. Go
[2:13:01] Speaker 2: to shop Blackstar Network dot com shop Blackstar Network dot com.
[2:13:05] Speaker 1: Check out the scars of.
[2:13:06] Speaker 2: Yarn and whiskey and you can get them there. Don't
[2:13:09] Speaker 2: forget when you support these products, you also supporting amnesia.
[2:13:13] Speaker 2: Roland Martin on the filter and the other shows on
[2:13:15] Speaker 2: the Black Star Network.
[2:13:17] Speaker 1: Shop BlackStarNetwork.com. And of course, we're going.
[2:13:20] Speaker 2: To place these here on our display table. Tammy, you
[2:13:26] Speaker 2: are the 89th Black-owned business. That is, you're the 89th
[2:13:33] Speaker 2: Black-owned business. So we got to find a place for them.
[2:13:37] Speaker 2: So we'll figure something out. But you're the 89th Black-owned
[2:13:41] Speaker 2: business owner. It's on ShopBlackStarNetwork.com. And so, folks, y'all can
[2:13:46] Speaker 2: check it out. So, Tammy, we really appreciate it.
[2:13:47] Speaker 1: Thanks a lot. Rock on.
[2:13:49] Speaker 5: Thank you so much for having me. And congratulations on
[2:13:52] Speaker 5: eight years.
[2:13:53] Speaker 1: All right. Thank you so very much. Let me thank Tammy.
[2:13:56] Speaker 1: I appreciate it. So, again, y'all, for Yarn and Whiskey's scarves,
[2:14:00] Speaker 1: go to ShopBlackStarNetwork.com, our marketplace segment on ShopBlackStarNetwork.com. Let me
[2:14:05] Speaker 1: thank Mustafa and Avis for being here. on today's show.
[2:14:09] Speaker 1: Larry as well. He had to go.
[2:14:10] Speaker 2: I certainly appreciate it. Folks, don't forget, support the work
[2:14:14] Speaker 2: that we do. Join our Bring the Funk fan club.
[2:14:17] Speaker 2: Your contributions are critically important to allow us to be
[2:14:19] Speaker 2: able to do all the work that we do to
[2:14:21] Speaker 2: cover the stories that we cover.
[2:14:23] Speaker 1: So it's all vitally important.
[2:14:25] Speaker 2: So you want to contribute via cash out, use the
[2:14:27] Speaker 2: Stripe QR code.
[2:14:28] Speaker 1: You see it right here. As for credit cards as well.
[2:14:30] Speaker 1: If you're listening, go to BlackstoneNetwork.com for all the ways
[2:14:33] Speaker 1: to give.
[2:14:34] Speaker 2: Checks and money order. Make it payable to Roland Martin Unfiltered.
[2:14:37] Speaker 2: PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 200-379-0196.
[2:14:43] Speaker 1: PayPal's R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo RM Unfiltered.
[2:14:46] Speaker 18: Zale.
[2:14:47] Speaker 2: Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Download the Black Star
[2:14:53] Speaker 2: Network app.
[2:14:53] Speaker 1: Apple phone. Android phone. Apple TV. Android TV. Roku.
[2:14:57] Speaker 2: Amazon Fire TV. Samsung Smart TV. Also, get our Roland
[2:15:03] Speaker 2: Martin Unfiltered swag. Get our Roland Martin Unfiltered swag. Um, uh,
[2:15:09] Speaker 2: go by going to shop, black star network.com shop, black
[2:15:13] Speaker 2: star network.com for our swag. Uh, and of course, if
[2:15:17] Speaker 2: you want to support all of our black owned.
[2:15:19] Speaker 1: Products, again, all the products that you see right here, folks,
[2:15:22] Speaker 1: all the products you see right here, these are all
[2:15:24] Speaker 1: of our shop, black star network.com 89 different black owned companies.
[2:15:30] Speaker 2: I mean, we've got, I wasn't here for these shoes. Yo,
[2:15:34] Speaker 2: these are wild. I wasn't here that day. So so
[2:15:38] Speaker 2: those are the the red black kids, those loafers.
[2:15:41] Speaker 1: We got handbags and we got animal treats.
[2:15:44] Speaker 2: Y'all, we got books and we got anime and we got.
[2:15:49] Speaker 1: Eye mask, black.
[2:15:50] Speaker 2: On toilet paper, tissue, crossword puzzles, dolls, you name it.
[2:15:56] Speaker 1: And so I want y'all to peruse our marketplace. Listen,
[2:15:58] Speaker 1: we got Christmas coming up. And so I want y'all
[2:16:01] Speaker 1: to say I want I want our folks to sell out.
[2:16:05] Speaker 2: All these products, you got Black Friday, Black Monday, you
[2:16:09] Speaker 2: name it.
[2:16:10] Speaker 1: Well, we black every day.
[2:16:11] Speaker 2: So we black, we got Black Sunday, Black Monday, Black Tuesday,
[2:16:15] Speaker 2: Black Wednesday, Black Thursday, Black Friday, Black Saturday.
[2:16:19] Speaker 1: And so we will try to support these companies.
[2:16:21] Speaker 2: So go to shopblackstarnetwork.com, shopblackstarnetwork.com. Let me also shout out
[2:16:28] Speaker 2: the Negro League Museum in Birmingham. When I was there,
[2:16:32] Speaker 2: I got this Birmingham Black Baron shirt. And so glad
[2:16:36] Speaker 2: to rock it here on the show.
[2:16:37] Speaker 1: All right, y'all. That's it.
[2:16:39] Speaker 2: I'm going to see y'all tomorrow right here. Roland Martin
[2:16:41] Speaker 2: Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.
[2:16:44] Speaker 18: Holla!

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