Attention America and everyone. I told you this when I opened my show this morning that he is becoming more unhinged and something is going on. Donald Trump, the president of the United States, just banned three major news organizations from the White House, Politico, CNN, MSNBC, because he says they report fake news because they report what's coming out of his mouth. Are you listening to me? I've been sounding the alarm for years, and especially after his DOJ had me arrested. They are trying to control the media. There is no more First Amendment or freedom of the press if we allow this to go on. Please listen. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Okay. Hey everybody, look, we're here in Washington DC, the Congressional Black Caucus, the 55th annual Congressional Black Caucus. Yeah. And this morning, I tried to warn you guys about what's happening with Donald Trump. He is literally out of it and something is going on. We spent a lot of time talking about cognitive decline in Joe Biden, but guess what? Donald Trump is now banning three of the biggest news organizations, at least political news organizations, which is Politico, which is a print publication, online publication, also MSNBC and CNN. So far, according to my sources, they are still working. The journalists are still working over at the White House. But we'll see. We'll see if it's bluster. We'll see what it is. But I just want to show you guys around. This is a Congressional Black Caucus in the evening, getting close to six o'clock, and it's going to adjourn. Look at all these faces, but this is our second year here. We got some folks lined up that we're going to... How are you? Good to see you. Hi. Hi. Hi. Good to see you. Thank you. And so it's good to be here among all the folks. I love your outfit.
Where'd you get that?
National Sorority Zeta Phi Beta Incorporated. I'm representing the red and the gold.
Let me ask you something. Can I ask you about some news that's happening right now? So, well, the president just banned CNN, MSNBC, and Politico from the White House. What did you think?
I don't think he has anything else to do but resign. And all of that banning means nothing because that's only going to make us want to do what we are going to do in November.
Oh, wow. Okay. Thank you. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. So, we're going to walk through. Let's see. I think I want to go to see our friend Angela. Hey, how are you? Hi, Baton Rouge. How you doing? It's good to see you. I'm looking for a couple people that I'm supposed to be interviewing, including Monique Presley, who is here, who you guys know, a friend of the show. Also, we're on live. How are you? Are you enjoying the CBC?
I am. I am. Oh my goodness. It's Don Lemon.
Thank you very much. We're doing some breaking news. The president has banned CNN, MSNBC, and Politico from the White House.
It's a dark day. It's another dark day for our country. It's another dark day for journalists, for the First Amendment. You know, no president before, you know, has banned legitimate outlets from covering the White House, from covering this president. It's another dark day in Washington.
Do you think he's going to continue to do it or he's just going to back down? He's a bluster.
I think he's going to continue to do it. I think it's going to play out in the courts. I think we're going to see the courts side with these media outlets as they should. But we're going to see these media outlets spend a lot of money trying to defend themselves.
Are you concerned about what's going on with free speech, especially freedom of the press? You know what happened to me and Georgia Fort and others. Miss Nathanson over at the Washington Post, you know, having her devices confiscated. How do you feel about that?
I am, as a member of the press, as someone who doesn't take this responsibility lightly, I am really nervous as we're heading into the election that we're going to see a lot more of this as we get closer to November and even beyond. You know, the people deserve to know what their government is doing at all times. And moves like this from the president demonstrate that he's not interested. Neither is his administration.
Thank you, sir. Good to see you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Hi. How are you? Sure.
You're amazing, by the way.
Hey, how are you? Sure. Take the... Sure. Sure. Hey, how are you? How are you? Nice to meet you, y'all. I got to work now.
Thank you. I just passed your team member our book, 'We Voted About in the First Insurrection', which was focused on voting rights in 1898, uncovered history by HarperCollins, black and white. I just passed it to you.
I'll get it from him. Thank you so much. It's a pleasure. Good to see you. All right, so we're going to go. I want to go up. Well, come on, you got to walk with me. Come on, you got to walk with me. Where's your picture? I thought you said you weren't... I want to get a picture. All right, here we are. Thank you. Sure. Sure. Thank you. All right. I got to get my word. Good to see you. Let's go. It's backwards, ma'am. Sorry. There better not be a timer on here either. Duck a little bit. Duck a little bit. No. Put this down. But there you go. Let me do this. Okay. You ready? We're ready. Thank you. Nice to meet you guys. Thank you. We're going up the escalator. Hi.
Real quick. Thank you for calling out Trump's BS and thank you for making sure Black people have a voice in this election and every election after that.
Yes. Thank you so much. I appreciate you.
Say hi to New Orleans, please.
Hi. Say hi. Yo, you from New Orleans?
I'm from New Orleans. I grew up in the Seventh Ward. I went to Ursuline for high school. I'm an Ursuline girl. '96.
What are you doing New Year's Eve?
Are you not coming to New Orleans?
No, 'cause I live in Ghana.
Mhm. I did December. I get DEI. Oh wow. I get tattoo in December.
I love New Orleans every day. Every day. But New Orleans and Ghana are like this.
Who wanted to speak French? New Orleans. And hello Cameroon. And September is African Immigrant Heritage Month. Bonjour. Thank you. Like, you know. Thank you. Nice to see you guys. Take it easy.
Right. Can we get back to the news?
I know. I told my team, they said go to the CBC. I said, what you're, you know...
I was just going to ask if I could take a photo, but also thank you. I listen to you every morning and your political commentary around everything that's going on is spot on. I used to work the Hill myself and I'm glad I'm not there on the Hill. I'm in government relations.
Did you hear about the president banning CNN, MSNBC, and Politico from the White House?
Yes. And he, you know, he does not even have that control to do so, right? But he likes to try to utilize and leverage power that he doesn't have. Yes. Which is just amazing. That tells you that he doesn't know the law. He doesn't understand it. And we put him in office. Well, we didn't put him in office, but the American people did. But thank you so much for everything you do, educating. I just want to thank you. You have a wonderful day. Brother Don.
Okay. Thank you. All right. All right. All right, guys. I got to get to work.
Thank you so much. Nice to meet you. Hi. The man. What's going on? Oh, hi. How are you feeling?
I am excited, especially to be around so many beautiful, amazing Black people. It's been excellent. Plus, as a content creator and online educator, I think being able to come to these events and show people that what we do matters has also been really, really amazing. Answering questions for folks, especially that don't really engage in social media, and trying to teach them and let them know the power, especially ahead of the current election, because digital media matters, social media matters, all of it matters.
What panels have you been to? Which one is the most inspiring?
You know, it's been the mainstage panel that they did, that Benjamin Crump did with Arian Simone, I think is the name. That was really nice because it felt like there was a really good combination of the literacy as well as talking about what happened with Nola Wells in combination with somebody like Benjamin Crump, I think, talking about authorship in the moment. So they really crossed a lot of different areas and I think that was great.
Thank you. Nice. What's your name?
Abiola. Nice to meet you.
Thank you. Have a good one.
Thank you. Look out. All right. Here we go. So, we're going to... There was a panel here that I wanted to attend and someone I wanted to interview and I'm going to see if she's here. Look out. Look out. We're about to make you play jump rope right there. Hey, boo. Hey, boo. How are you? Good to see you. Are you having a good convention? All right. Now, did you see Angela? Did she leave? Okay. Good. That's what we're going to see right over here. Hey, how are you? Good to see you. Let's see if Angela's still here. I don't know if she is. We're going to go try to find out where Miss Angela is. She's in front of here. We're going to go get her and talk about what she's doing. Okay, let's see here if we can find... I'm on the hunt. On the move. Have y'all seen Angela Rye? Hi. Where's Angela Rye? CNN. Where's Angela Rye? Oh, there she is. There she is. Hello, Angela. Come over. How are you? Yes, we came for you. Okay, Angela. Where are the stairs? Can we go sit right there? Okay, come on. All right, you stay here. I'm going to hop up here and I'll get Angela. Hi, guys. Let's do it on... This is going to be quick. How long do you need? They're not ready yet. Let's do... Okay, come on. We're ready now. Okay. I'm going down here. Wow, you look great. Thank you, brother. You clean up well. Okay. I think right down here. Down here. They're really taking care of her.
All right. So, Angela, you're... How long have you been... This is Angela Rye, everyone. Native Land Podcast with Bari. It's just you and Bari right now, right?
Andrew was just on the other day to tell him happy birthday. Yeah.
Okay. Good. He's doing well.
Great. So, you've been affiliated with the Congressional Black Caucus for what, like two decades now? How long?
Don't do me. No, it's... So, this is the CBC Foundation, which is a sister organization to the member organization, the CBC. I was the executive director and general counsel 2010 to 2012. I think those are my years. So, for that long. But I've been doing ALC since 2005 when I moved here.
Wow. Wow. How was the convention?
It was amazing. The theme was or is rooted, ready, and rising. And I think it's really important given everything that's going on, some of which you've experienced firsthand, for us to find our foundation, to get ready for the fight, and figure out how we rise collectively. So, I think it's a smart thing. It's good.
Lots of talk about politics and I'm sure November coming up. How are folks feeling?
I think they feel like us, like, you know, like what is going to happen? Tired, tired, concerned, confused about all of the attacks. You know, why would you ever want to make it more difficult for people to vote, to access the ballot box, to learn about their candidates, to vote for their interest? It's really very puzzling. And then now $5,000 if the Republicans win, which is not ever going to happen, right?
I don't know. You tell me.
Let me... So your panel finished what, like 15 minutes?
Oh, two seconds ago. And you still have... Can you show them there's still people still... still crowded around?
Yeah. So SPLC sponsored this forum. It was an amazing conversation. I don't know if you know, Ryan Haygood just became, I think he's the first Black president of SPLC. So, is that right? That is right. I got a lifeline. Oh Lord, she scared me. She got a lifeline. But yes, so he's making history in that role. Southern Poverty Law Center's first Black president.
What's our takeaway here?
Our takeaway is that we need to be in conversation. That unity, as the folks in Gary, Indiana in 1972 said during the convention, does not require unanimity. It does require us to be in close dialogue, loving each other, even when it's a rebuke, and figuring out a path forward because it's necessary.
Look, you and I have been in this game together. You've been for a long time, but we've been in the TV game together for quite some time, both working in mainstream media and seeing behind the scenes. And what a difficult... the level of difficulty is a little crazy. But right now, did you hear the president banned MSNBC, CNN, and Politico from the White House? Your thoughts on that as a member of, as a journalist?
My thoughts are I have never seen in our lifetime such a war on the freedom of the press. And again, I'm looking at your face, always concerned about how you're doing and managing what you're up against. But at every turn, they are trying to wage war on us, on people's access to real, accurate information. They only want people in there that'll sell people wolf tickets. And it's dangerous. So, it doesn't surprise me because nothing he does surprises me anymore. But it is woefully... it's just, it's sick.
It's really sick. There's no other way to describe it. Like, what is the rationale for it? I didn't see why.
Because they report fake news.
Oh, they report fake news. So, what does Fox and him do exactly?
We've been talking about this since 2010.
Angela Rye, make sure Native Land Podcast... when do you post?
Well, so my solo pod is on Tuesdays. Bari does every other Monday, and by the way, today's his birthday, so make sure you tell him happy birthday. And then Thursdays are our big podcast days.
Okay. So, three times a week.
Three times a week. So, make sure you check Native Land Podcast. Check it out on YouTube. Give him some numbers. Native Land Pod.
