0:02

Welcome to the beat. I am Ari Melbourne tonight.

0:05

We begin with this. The

0:07

Trump fans who infamously tried

0:10

to overthrow the government on January sixth,

0:12

what do you see in this picture a protest?

0:15

A riot? The makings of

0:17

some scattered illegal violence, or do

0:19

you see something worse? One

0:21

of the most severe felonies against the US,

0:24

which is now on trial tonight.

0:27

Do you see sedition?

0:31

That is what federal prosecutors see

0:33

and what some juries saw and have

0:35

now convicted, and it's our special report

0:38

for you right now. We

0:40

are living through a test of accountability. The DOJ's

0:42

effort to convict in these separate

0:45

sedition trials, two years out

0:47

from an attack that might fade out of

0:49

you for some people. Today, the

0:51

DOJ demanding Juries

0:53

continue to face what

0:56

it felt like, what happened,

0:58

the facts of that day.

1:02

Pertestors

1:02

are in the political landscape.

1:04

They just

1:04

controlled it. Pence

1:05

out really quickly. Yes,

1:06

they did. That's exactly what just happened

1:08

there.

1:09

A moment I never saw in my life. These individuals

1:11

just rushed through security. They

1:13

are inside statuary hall

1:16

Obviously, this is a huge victory for

1:18

these protesters. They have disrupted the

1:20

system in an enormous

1:21

way. I completely condemn the

1:23

violence in the cap I had spoken to

1:25

the president. I asked him to talk to the nation to

1:27

tell him to stop

1:28

this. This is not who

1:30

we are. Guarantee you if that was a Black

1:32

Lives Matter PROTEST IN D. C. THERE WOULD ALREADY

1:35

BE PEOPLE SHACKLED ARRESTED OR

1:37

DEAD. Reporter: SEVERAL FEDERAL CRIMES HERE AT

1:39

ISSUE. THERE'S TRESS PASSING, OBVIOUSLY,

1:42

going 2 property in an unauthorized

1:44

manner. If you enter that building with

1:46

a deadly weapon, that's a felony punishable

1:49

up to ten years.

1:49

Today was a dark day in the history of the United

1:52

States capital. It was

1:54

dark day. It was a dangerous crime

1:56

spree. THERE WAS THAT GLARING DOUBLE

1:58

STANDARD IN THE RESPONSE BY LAW ENFORCEMENT

2:01

WHO WERE OUT NUMBERED AND SURPRISE

2:03

BECAUSE THEN PRESIDENT TRUMP TOOK EXTREME

2:06

Culpable MEASURES TO KEEP HIS PLANS

2:09

A SURPRISE, THAT ALONE

2:11

ENDANGERING MANY POLICE

2:13

OFFICERS AMONG OTHERS. THAT'S

2:15

NOW CRIMINAL EVIDENCE AGAINST MR. TRUMP WILL COME

2:17

BACK TO THAT. BUT AS YOU SAW IN THAT Archival

2:19

FOOTGE FROM THAT TERRIBLE

2:21

DAY, SOME OF THE CRIMES that played

2:23

out in real time were straightforward. Trustpassing,

2:26

entering with a weapon. Over nine hundred

2:29

people indicted half convicted already, often

2:32

on those type of charges, straightforward

2:34

cases. You see trespassing?

2:38

You charge trespassing. You see

2:40

battery, you charge battery, and there was

2:42

a lot of videotape. But others

2:44

are not legally obvious, which I'm

2:46

gonna go through with you right now. In

2:49

casual English, people throw

2:51

around words like treason or sedition

2:53

or traitors. In law,

2:56

those are actually quite precise charges

2:59

defined through precedent, and

3:02

they're hard to prove in court. Consider

3:04

that until this year, the DOJ

3:06

had not won any

3:09

sedition case since all the way back in

3:11

nineteen ninety five hadn't even

3:13

tried win one in over a decade.

3:17

And the reason is, again, under law,

3:19

not just calling someone a traitor, but proving

3:21

sedition has extra requirements

3:24

even beyond the horrific violence you might see

3:26

or attacking a police officer or attacking a

3:28

government building. It's not enough for

3:30

example to attack one government building. The

3:33

crime REQUIRED THAT

3:35

SOMEONE IS ACTUALLY TRYING TO OVERTOW

3:37

THE ENTIRE GOVERNMENT ITSELF OR

3:40

VIOLENTLY HENDRIING A LAW OF THE U.

3:42

S. So for January

3:44

sixth, sedition means

3:46

proving that attackers, for example, communicated

3:49

leading up to the siege and intended to subvert

3:52

democracy. And

3:54

we should remember because we live in culture now

3:56

where people love to say, oh, didn't we know that or

3:58

okay, that standard? It's almost in

4:00

some circles considered, like,

4:03

you're smarter, cool to talk that way. But

4:05

two years ago going into this, None

4:08

of this was obvious. I just showed you how rare

4:10

these cases were, and some of the DOJ were nervous

4:13

about any theory of the case that tried to

4:15

prove full blown premeditated

4:18

sedition based on what happened in

4:20

the storm of the capital in the

4:21

sedition. let me tell you

4:24

why. There was another

4:26

right wing attack plot that

4:29

was pointed at the government.

4:32

But it failed when the DOJ

4:34

tried to bring a sedition case.

4:36

It was the Obama era DOJ that actually

4:38

and this is quite important they lost a

4:41

rare attempt at filing

4:43

a sedition prosecution

4:44

against a militia out

4:47

in Michigan. THE

4:50

ALLEGATIONS WERE SO FRIGHTENING, REALLY.

4:52

THE GOVERNMENT SAID THAT THE HUTARY MALICIA

4:54

WAS PLOTING TO FOR THROW THE GOVERNMENT

4:57

AND THEY SAID THAT THE Sedition WAS GOING TO

4:59

KILL A POLICE OFFICER, BOM THE POLICE

5:02

OFFICER'S FUNERAL JUDGE General Judge

5:04

Victoria Roberts said there wasn't

5:06

enough evidence to show that there was a concrete

5:08

firm plan that it was anything

5:11

more than just tough talk. The

5:13

legal lesson there was clear. It's

5:15

one thing for prosecutors to proclaim sedition,

5:19

file the big char. Get the headlines,

5:21

get the all the attention

5:23

and scrutiny. It's another thing to

5:25

win a sedition case. Even against

5:28

people like that who are not sympathetic, they

5:30

were caught, discussing and vowing

5:33

that they were going to murder a police officer,

5:36

and then bomb I'm the fuel of a police

5:38

officer. Not sympathetic. But

5:41

again, I'm not talking about whether your plans

5:43

sound nice. I'm talking about whether it

5:45

is to the legally required level that

5:47

you are actually trying

5:49

to not just hurt people in government,

5:51

which is bad in a separate crime. But

5:54

use that plotting or attack

5:56

to overthrow our government itself. And

5:59

let me show you specifically the judge. In that

6:01

case, I'm reminding you about found

6:04

that the serious crime of a conspiracy to

6:06

murder law enforcement was still a far

6:08

cry from actually overthrowing the government.

6:11

So these sedition cases, which can

6:13

hit convicts with twenty years in prison

6:15

on top of whatever other crimes they

6:18

might be convicted of, are a

6:20

huge deal. Rarely pursue.

6:23

And that is the factual context

6:25

for the Garland DOJ deciding to

6:27

go at

6:28

him, throw the book at him aggressive.

6:31

Sedition. And that means

6:33

the DOJ says it has the evidence that this

6:35

was all more than violence, more than plots,

6:37

like I showed you in Michigan, that it was extensively

6:39

coordinated. That it was a Trump

6:41

boosting plot against the

6:43

entire US government because it was

6:46

the violent muscle of the coup. 2

6:49

overthrow the lawful election with planning

6:51

and prep and strategy and the DOJ

6:53

having hard evidence on tape.

6:57

Problems established a command structure

7:00

in anticipation of coming back to DC

7:02

on January

7:02

sixth. You

7:03

better get your DC folks a Saturday.

7:06

Yeah. If you

7:06

don't, there's we know more Republic or we

7:08

wind up in a in a bloody fight. We all

7:10

know that. But

7:11

the oath keepers set up quick

7:13

reaction ENFORCES OUTSIDE OF THE CITY

7:15

IN REGENIA WHERE THEY STOREED ARMs. WHAT

7:17

IT WAS GOING TO BE WAS AN ARMED

7:20

REVOLUTION. THE NIGHT OF JANUARY fifth,

7:22

and regain Tareo and Stuart Rhodes

7:25

met in a parking garage in Washington DC.

7:27

2, the

7:30

oath keepers went into the capital to

7:32

the east doors and 2 stacked

7:34

formations. The prowable has instigated

7:36

the first breach of the capital

7:39

just before one o'clock

7:40

PM. Mister Tareo said in an encrypted

7:43

chat, make no mistake, and we did

7:45

this. You

7:47

may hear the audio there is from

7:49

one of the ways that America had

7:51

this presented through those

7:54

Very news were the January sixth committee hearings,

7:56

but the source was a DOJ indictment, the encrypted

7:58

text there. That was a time when the DOJ's evidence

8:01

was at issue, not the committee. That

8:04

quote, we did this,

8:07

an ugly confession in past tense

8:09

by someone who wants to take away

8:11

your democracy. And

8:13

who would hurt you unless you're on

8:15

board with the Trump coup.

8:19

Well, there is a modicum OF

8:21

A LEGAL PROCESS AND JUSTICE IN THIS COUNTRY.

8:23

THAT IS NOW DAMNING EVIDENCE AT

8:25

THAT VERY MILITIA LEADERS TRIAL

8:27

WHICH IS HAPPENING THIS WEEK. Big

8:29

news, big story. Attorney general

8:31

Garland and some legal experts now

8:34

have moved the

8:34

needle. They've won those other sedition cases,

8:36

and they view sedition when

8:39

you look at January six as part of the

8:41

baseline for legal accountability.

8:45

The justice to apartment remains

8:47

committed to holding all January

8:50

six perpetrators at

8:52

any level. Accountable under

8:55

law. These charges are very rare.

8:57

Prosecutors have an unusual

9:00

volume of evidence here against

9:03

2 Rhodes and the other members of this

9:05

organization. You're allowed to plan a

9:07

protest. You're not allowed to plan

9:10

taking over the government. Taking

9:13

over the government literally. That's

9:16

what is an issue in now, this current

9:18

trial. Now, of course, it's January.

9:21

Or two years out from that attack, but the seditionists

9:23

are now facing this process,

9:26

judged by a jury of their peers, and many are

9:29

facing prison. Four

9:31

of those oath keep oathkeeper leaders,

9:33

convicted of sedition just

9:35

this week. That's the second such

9:38

conviction for members of that. Group after its top

9:40

leaders to erode was convicted on the

9:42

same charge last month. He

9:44

awaits sentencing and could face up

9:46

to sixty years in prison

9:48

which would put him on a path to spend

9:51

the rest of his life in prison 2 die

9:53

incarcerated for his

9:55

efforts to criminally

9:57

overthrow your government on behalf

9:59

of Donald Trump, who summons

10:01

so many people like him to Washington. So

10:04

these verdicts can set precedent for sending

10:06

other violent Trump fans to prison. They

10:08

can help koo proof our democracy if

10:10

there is all of this real accountability because

10:13

others may think twice about

10:15

what happens if you go spend the

10:17

next time, the next January sixth. There will

10:19

be future January sixth because this

10:22

is a process. But

10:24

do you 2 give up the rest of

10:26

your life on earth and your liberty

10:28

for that one day? The

10:30

other cases are ongoing. The former leader of the

10:32

other Rydwing militia group I showed you of the Proud

10:34

Boys is on trial for this

10:36

sedition case. For allegedly

10:38

plotting the use force to keep then

10:41

president Trump in office illegally, also

10:44

in his case facing up to twenty years in prison.

10:47

These are serious serious

10:49

sentences. Now those are three

10:51

separate cases against individuals who belong

10:53

to extremist groups who physically

10:56

storm the capital. And

10:58

this is most important part. And let me tell you,

11:01

both things can be true. The DOJ

11:03

can be very aggressive in one place and

11:05

still have a lot of open questions about

11:08

the higher level people who were present that

11:10

day. And this

11:12

is vital. We have seen evidence

11:15

multiple indications that

11:17

there was contacts, that there was

11:19

awareness. THAT THERE WERE PEOPLE

11:21

ON THE TRUMP TEAM WHO

11:24

HAD A VERY CLEAR IDEA ABOUT STORMING THE CAPITAL

11:26

AND EVEN THE VIOLENCE AND ARMED

11:29

members, militias included of

11:32

that criminal plot.

11:35

Allies of Trump, supporters, of

11:38

Trump? I

11:40

overheard the president say something's 2 impact

11:42

of. You know, I I don't I think

11:44

that they have weapons. They're

11:47

not here to hurt me, take the ethane bags away,

11:49

let my people end. They can march the capital from

11:52

here. Video from the day of the

11:54

siege showing Roger Stone

11:56

a confidante of former president Donald

11:58

Trump flanked by men wearing insignias

12:01

of a militia group. Take that, I think,

12:03

bags away.

12:04

What my people is. So like me to condemn

12:07

process. And write process. Stand

12:10

back and stand

12:11

by. They're not here hurt me and they can march

12:13

the capital from here. They

12:17

were not here to hurt him. They

12:20

were there to hurt. The

12:22

honorable members of the police. They

12:25

were there to hurt members of congress.

12:27

They were hurt there to hurt the vice president.

12:30

They wanted to assassinate Trump's vice president,

12:32

they made that clear. And Trump

12:34

told the militias to stand by in advance,

12:37

and he summoned people to DC. And

12:39

he hit his plan to send those armed people

12:41

to the capital. And warned they were

12:43

armed, he sent the armed

12:46

people to the capital. And he tried

12:48

to join them. And he

12:50

defended them during and

12:52

after. And he has sensed about pardons

12:54

for them. And some of them

12:56

are now convicted, sedition, others

12:59

on trial this week, and we will report out

13:01

how they fare in the legal process. It

13:04

was legally and historically bold for

13:06

the DOJ to pursue these crimes

13:10

as formal sedition

13:13

cases. And so far, the

13:15

DOJ prosecutors are winning those cases.

13:18

Everything I just said in the last moment

13:21

about Donald Trump are just

13:23

facts supported by evidence. They're not

13:25

opinions They're not personal

13:27

tax on him. But they

13:30

are facts the country has to weigh as he

13:32

currently tries to return to the

13:34

White House. And the next question

13:36

is whether anyone who was not on-site that

13:38

day will face even a sliver

13:40

of accountability as compared to the

13:42

sedition even on lesser charge. We

13:46

know those people who are

13:48

now convicted sedition. They didn't come up

13:50

with the plot alone. They didn't choose January

13:53

sixth They weren't constitutional law experts.

13:55

They didn't know about the Trump plots until

13:58

Trump aides and allies pushed them

14:00

out in public and got everyone there.

14:03

And so while there is a lot going on that

14:05

sometimes doesn't make the news, these trials are significant.

14:08

I showed you how rare they are. There is an open

14:10

question about what this leads

14:12

to and whether there will be full accountability.

14:17

That's our special report, our top story tonight,

14:19

and we return with the DOJ vet, and we're back

14:21

in just sixty seconds.

14:29

WE'RE BACK WITH WE'RE ACTING U. S. THE SURGEDAL

14:31

NEEL CATCHEWELL AS WE LOOK AT Sedition

14:33

CASES, NEEL, does it

14:35

matter that the DOJ is

14:37

pursuing and often winning these cases?

14:40

And part 2, What about the potential

14:43

accountability for others? Bauchner: Yeah,

14:45

Arie, it matters hugely, and I love the

14:47

special report because it really emphasized

14:50

how rare these Prosecutors for

14:52

sedition conspiracy are. conspiracy

14:55

is one of the gravest crimes in

14:57

the entire United States code. And

15:00

yet here, about twenty

15:02

people, the justice department is charged with seditious

15:04

conspiracy. They're charged about a thousand

15:06

people with respect to January sixth.

15:09

But they've isolated twenty for being,

15:11

you know, essentially the worst of the worst. And

15:13

I think that's a really important thing.

15:15

You call it koo proof, And I think just

15:17

to flesh that out, it's basically the

15:19

department doing its job

15:21

zealously and powerfully to send

15:23

a signal that if anyone else is gonna

15:26

mess with American democracy, they're

15:28

gonna face these seditious conspiracy

15:30

charges. So all of that I think

15:32

is really great and terrific in the

15:34

justice department deserves a lot

15:36

of praise for what they've been doing.

15:39

Now the other part is What about

15:41

everyone else? What about the people off-site

15:44

at the White House? Perhaps even Donald Trump

15:46

himself? Sedition conspiracy

15:48

is hard against those people. I'm not saying

15:50

it's impossible. We just don't know the facts

15:52

because the word conspiracy requires

15:55

an agreement, a meeting of the minds

15:57

of some sort. And often criminals

16:00

don't write down their agreements and things

16:02

like that. Now Trump very well may have

16:04

or others, we don't know. But

16:06

there's another crime called aiding and abetting,

16:09

and that doesn't require the same

16:11

type of mental agreement of

16:13

minds. And so I suspect PROSECUTORS ARE

16:15

LOOKING VERY STRONGLY AT THAT SET

16:17

OF CHARGES? YEAH, YOU MENTIONED AATING AND

16:19

A BEDDING OR THERE COULD BE THE CONSPIRACY TO DEFOD

16:23

the US. And that's one that the people may

16:25

remember from the January sixth committee in its effort

16:27

to sort of show what a roadmap could be that DOJ's

16:30

got to make its own ON CALLS.

16:32

BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT THAT, EVEN IF YOU TAKE

16:35

DONALD TRUMP OUT OF THE MIX FOR THE SAK OF ARGUMENT,

16:37

IS THAT SOMETHING THAT COULD ATTACH to people

16:40

like Eastman or Giuliani or even Meadows

16:42

who seemed aware of a lot

16:44

of this knowing that there was 2

16:46

be a movement towards the capital. Absolutely.

16:49

Both both sets of charges, I think,

16:52

are a fair game for prosecutors. They obviously

16:54

have to button down the facts and what

16:56

Eastman and others did. But it

16:58

sure looks like from as an outsider just

17:00

on the public record and what we know from

17:03

what Congress is uncovered that these

17:05

people were aiding and abetting in

17:07

insurrection, and that is a crime.

17:10

And one of the things, Ari, that this jury

17:12

verdict that you're reporting on that

17:14

happened yesterday does is that Pure is

17:16

the lie that a lot

17:18

of these January six people have been saying,

17:20

which is, oh, this is just a spontaneous kind

17:23

of uprising on January sixth.

17:26

That was the defense that they tried before the

17:28

jury. They called it like a like

17:31

a soccer stampede or something

17:33

like that. The jury had none of that

17:35

Ari. After listening to the evidence,

17:37

they said, nope, this was something

17:39

that was planned in advance. And that

17:41

they were that these defendants were responsible

17:43

for. Yeah. You laid out and it's important.

17:46

We really want to get your sedition we look

17:48

at these cases in the news right now. Neil,

17:50

thank you as always. A quick programming

17:52

note. The beat is coming to Washington. I'll

17:54

be there the day after tomorrow with John Flannery.

17:57

That's Thursday. And we are doing

17:59

an event. You can go to MSMBC dot

18:01

com slash REDC

18:05

in Washington. I think we have this. Yep. MSBC

18:07

dot com slash RADC. There are some

18:09

tickets left. You'd have to go tonight though.

18:11

RADC there is the URL

18:13

and you can join me in John Flannery. We were discussing

18:16

accountability for the coup and my forward to

18:18

January sixth report and much

18:20

more. So if you're in Washington, join us. We

18:22

tell you what else is coming up tonight. We

18:25

talk 2. The one and only Steven

18:27

a Smith making his deep debut on

18:29

politics, Obama, culture, and a lot

18:32

more. That's coming up later in the hour. But first,

18:34

We've been watching this case

18:37

against the Fox News Empire for lies

18:39

with Murdoch going under oath, an update

18:41

coming up.

18:48

Fox News has been under pressure and a bill billion

18:50

dollar defamation case from voting machine

18:52

company Dominion. Now there's a case

18:54

against another Fox style media

18:56

company with similar problems. The right wing

18:59

organization, 0AN.

19:02

Now, they tried to, in a way, go

19:04

out foxing fox because they went even

19:06

farther with now completely

19:08

debunked and false claims about voting

19:11

machines. Now they've filed their

19:13

own new response to the lawsuit. They

19:15

deny any defamation, lies, or

19:17

liable. They also admit that they had a

19:20

person, Christina Bob, who they identified

19:22

as a reporter, meaning there's some idea of

19:24

independence there who was working for

19:26

the Trump legal team. Wild.

19:30

Dominion ramping up the legal action against both

19:33

of these networks AND RUPPER MURDOG RECENTLY

19:35

WENT UNDER oath, SERIOUS PRESSURE THERE,

19:37

HANITY HAD TO ADMID UNDER oath. IN

19:39

THIS CASE THAT HE DIDN'T BELIEVE ANY

19:41

OF TRUMP'S LIES, EVEN FOR, QUOTE, ONE SECOND

19:44

WHILE HE WAS SAYING THIS TO HIS AUDIENCE.

19:48

DIMINION CAME ON TO HEAVY FIRE AFTER

19:50

ALLEGATIONS THAT THEIR MACHINES CAUSE THOUSANDS

19:52

OF VOTES IN ONE MICHIGAN COUNTY TO

19:55

BE SWITCHED FROM DONALD TRUMP TO JOE BIDEN.

19:58

Didn't believe it for a second, which includes

20:00

the seconds that he said that on air.

20:03

These are big cases that like the Alex Jones

20:05

too can deal with pressure and

20:08

accountability and changing the way

20:10

we have lies that fed one of the other stories tonight,

20:12

which was a violent insurrection and

20:14

convicted sedition. We will stay on

20:16

these stories. Now let me tell you about something

20:18

that we're absolutely thrilled for that is up

20:20

next on the beat. None other

20:22

than the man, the myth, the legend Stephen a Smith

20:25

sports politics activism. He's

20:27

in the building when we come back.

20:42

Welcome back. We know our politics are polarized

20:44

right now. You can find yourself in political debates at

20:46

a dinner party or a work or even in a sports

20:48

stadium. That's famously led some

20:50

people to demand athletes leave

20:53

politics at the edge of the field. A

20:55

claim that's meant to sound neutral, when

20:57

it actually involves censoring many

21:00

efforts to back reform, you may recall

21:02

one conservative anchor info infamously

21:05

condescending the athletes exercising their

21:07

free speech rights by saying they should, quote,

21:09

shut up and dribble. hypocritical

21:12

demand from someone who talks politics

21:14

for a living. It also shows how

21:16

powerful political protests can be on the field

21:18

from kneeling to protests. Police

21:21

brutality in America, which by the

21:23

way is a peaceful and quiet act

21:25

that still roiled many conservatives 2

21:28

more sophisticated multipronged efforts by

21:30

leaders like LeBron James leveraging sports

21:32

and economic and political capital

21:35

to pursue his ideas along

21:37

with others about change. Do

21:40

those efforts matter beyond sports? Well,

21:43

here's one way to answer. Ask

21:46

Barack Obama. The former president

21:48

found them important enough to confer with James

21:50

about how to balance that economic pressure

21:52

campaign and boycott with a sustainable

21:55

model. For police reform, just to pick

21:57

one example. So all this matters.

21:59

And this is about sports and justice, and

22:02

the passion in America,

22:04

which can unite the two.

22:06

So you know we need a guest who can tackle all

22:08

of that. And we have him here

22:10

right now making his beat debut

22:13

tonight, the iconic, unique, ardent

22:16

spirited, and sometimes

22:18

ineffable. Anchor of

22:20

first take on ESPN Steven

22:22

a Smith. Pleasure to meet you, man. How are you doing?

22:25

Pleasure to have you here for the first time. How are you doing?

22:27

It's good to be here. It's good to be. I like it. I like it. I like

22:29

it. Pretty small. You know you know what

22:31

you weigh around TV studio. Let

22:33

me show on the book again, which is straight

22:36

shooter. Doing well on the list. It's

22:38

out now, go pick it up, straight shooter,

22:40

a memoir of second chances in first takes.

22:43

Let's start with that point. Yeah. The

22:45

revival of the

22:48

activist athlete in America. Why do you

22:50

think

22:51

people actually do care and

22:53

the discourse can be shaped by some of our

22:55

athletes? Because it's necessary, and the athletes

22:58

are not blind. They come from

23:00

communities that are disenfranchised. They

23:02

recognize those who are voiceless

23:05

who lean on them and depend

23:07

on them to give a voice to those whose

23:09

voice don't resonate quite as profoundly.

23:12

And as a result, there's a level of sensitivity

23:14

and attachment that comes to those communities

23:17

that is inescapable. It's in bread that

23:19

are born with it. And it's never going away.

23:21

And so when you take those things into account

23:23

that you see the level of divisiveness that

23:25

exists within our country, you see

23:27

elected officials who are opposed to represent

23:30

the people who have spent far too much time representing

23:32

themselves and their own personal interests

23:34

as opposed to the people. When you have all

23:36

of those things going on, the athletes

23:38

not only deem it necessary based

23:41

out of cynicism or skepticism,

23:43

they're not only deem it necessary, based

23:46

out of a compassion and a passion

23:48

for their own communities. They deem it

23:50

necessary to get involved because they

23:52

feel that the people on Capitol

23:54

Hill are corrupt and don't really represent

23:56

the American people the way that they should

23:58

be. So the athletes are gonna use

24:00

their platforms, they have a voice, and they recognize

24:03

the fact that when they speak, there are

24:05

millions upon millions of people who are going

24:07

to listen their followers far

24:10

exceeds subscribers or viewers

24:12

on television and what have you. They know

24:14

this and they take advantage of it and I don't

24:16

blame them one bit for it. DO YOU THINK

24:18

THAT THE REACTION IN SOME PARTS OF AMERICA

24:21

TO SPECIFICALLY OFTEN BLACK ATHLETES

24:24

VOICES THESE ISSUES reflects

24:26

kind of this this contradictory 2

24:28

towards black Americans and black entertainment?

24:31

I don't know if contradictory is is

24:33

what it is. I think that we all recognize

24:35

that there are a lot of people from all

24:38

communities that are highly intelligent. They

24:40

know what's going on. They they exercise

24:42

common sense. It's just that on far

24:44

too many occasions. I mean, look at politics you

24:46

covered this. This is what you do for a living,

24:48

so you know what I'm talking about. Literally,

24:51

if you're a politician, Once the

24:53

campaign is over, I

24:55

keep repeating this to everybody. Do you

24:57

realize they don't have to work anymore? Because

25:00

all you have to do is go on Capitol

25:02

Hill. And if you are Republican, you

25:04

pull that level on behalf of the r.

25:06

You pull that level on behalf of the d next to

25:08

your name. That's all you have to do. And

25:11

you don't have to worry about anything else.

25:13

You know, as a black man, I

25:15

can't even tell you, and I'm not speaking on

25:17

behalf of every black person, but there were

25:19

a whole lot. I would dare say a

25:21

vast majority of African Americans,

25:23

of black people in this country that would absolutely

25:26

positively petrified that Hersha

25:28

Walker was going to win the

25:31

the senate the senate seat in Georgia

25:33

over senator Rafael Warner. We were get

25:35

to death. Do you think he was qualified for this

25:37

point? I'm getting ready to get to that point. The answer

25:40

would be hell no. There's no way.

25:42

I'll go a step further that when Dave

25:44

Chappell, Joe on Saturday Night Live

25:46

that he was observably stupid. The fact

25:49

that the matter is most black folks weren't laughing.

25:51

We were not in our head. Yeah. That's how we feel.

25:53

Okay, whether we know it definitively or not

25:55

based on the things that he said, I mean, after, oh my

25:57

god, the man wants that up there at a at

25:59

a press conference. And literally as

26:01

a black man said that the word cool,

26:03

a black person being called, the word cool was a

26:06

compliment. This is what he said. I have

26:08

to tape. So, look, trust you me. lot

26:10

of us were not happy at the thought that

26:12

he could have a seat in the senate, but we

26:14

also understand that I pressed you on that. Excuse

26:16

me. Can I press you on that, please? At

26:18

the same time, was it

26:20

a type of progress that Georgia,

26:23

this deep south state, actually

26:25

seemed to have absolutely not. Perhaps I won't even let

26:27

you finish that

26:27

sentence. Absolutely not. You know what they

26:29

say? I'm gonna let you finish it. No. No. Okay.

26:31

Well, the reason why I'm saying that is because,

26:33

look, If you're a Republican, what

26:35

you care about is that he's going to

26:37

vote in support of those policies. So

26:40

it's not like he was the most qualified. I mean,

26:42

my goodness you had you had Mitch

26:44

McConnell and others on Capitol Hill questioning

26:46

the level of competency that he had. But you

26:48

knew that if he ended up in that

26:50

seat, he was going to vote with the Republican, so

26:52

basically, that's what you care about. Look at George Stanford

26:54

2 get you on that one. Sure. You'd say if it

26:56

was more qualified individual, even with different ideologies,

26:59

that would be progress to have diversity. Sure.

27:01

But not absolutely. Now let me show you

27:03

some of the reaction to something that you

27:05

talk about division that you'd want to

27:07

be well received, which is The

27:10

government I don't care who's running it. The

27:12

government gets a political prisoner

27:14

and a athlete

27:15

back. Mhmm. And then we get reaction

27:17

at least on part of the right like this.

27:21

Biden said he did this because he was under

27:23

a tremendous amount of pressure

27:26

from black women.

27:29

Really? A convicted Russian arms

27:31

dealer, AKA, merchant of

27:33

death, in exchange for an

27:35

America a hating lesbian pothead. Look,

27:37

we're all glad that Britney Greiner is

27:39

home and so home safely. But

27:42

she has she kneeled for

27:44

the national anthem in the past. There's

27:46

the matter of indented tea, which

27:48

is central to equity. Rainy

27:51

Greiner is not

27:51

white, and she's a lesbian. Out

27:53

of line? Some of it

27:55

was in my opinion, but

27:58

not all of it. Here's the deal. If

28:00

you're an American citizen, you

28:03

have the right to have

28:05

the opinion. The person

28:07

that was relieved relieved or

28:09

or released for prison on behalf

28:12

of this superstar athlete

28:15

is find somebody with the nickname merchant

28:17

of death who tried to kill all American

28:19

citizens. So if you're questioning the

28:22

equality of the swap -- Mhmm. --

28:24

I think that's within bounds. Mhmm.

28:26

Now if it were me, invite and seat,

28:28

going to get Britney Greiner. There's no doubt

28:30

about it. She's an American citizen. She's

28:33

represented in America regardless of her refusal

28:35

to kneel fact of the matter is that she's represented

28:37

this country in Olympic competition. You

28:39

know, she violated she you know, she

28:41

didn't violate our laws. We knew that it was

28:43

politicized, etcetera, etcetera, I'm going together.

28:45

But here's the major reason I'm going together.

28:48

You have to understand they tried to get

28:50

others. Russia, you know

28:52

this. Russia was like, no. Harsh.

28:54

You can have. You can't have anybody

28:57

else. So is that -- Oh. -- your proof of life? Nothing.

28:59

It's horrible. Nothing. So if it's her

29:01

or nothing, I'm going to get her. Now,

29:03

obviously, I would have preferred not to release

29:05

the merchant of death, but nevertheless,

29:08

I definitely want to bring her home, and I'm not

29:10

gonna throw shade on the fact that the president of the United

29:12

States and his administration got one of our

29:15

great American citizens back regardless of

29:17

what you may feel about her political positions in

29:19

the past. I'm quite sure, particularly at

29:21

this moment in time, she appreciates being

29:23

an American sedition, more than she ever has in

29:25

her life. And I think that we need to look at it

29:27

in that regard and move forward with that

29:29

level of thinking? Fax.

29:32

Fax. Fax. Yes. So

29:34

let me turn to a fact that sounds

29:36

like a compliment. Of you.

29:38

Okay? But I'm going somewhere. Okay? Okay. Come

29:40

with me. Alright. To listen

29:42

to you for the first time, even if folks don't watch

29:44

ESPN, is to hear someone who

29:47

is obviously very

29:49

intelligent, very informed, and

29:52

so adept with

29:54

every point in every word. And

29:57

yet, in your book,

30:00

you write that you were

30:03

forced to assess are instructed to repeat

30:05

fourth grade. I got left back. Overheard

30:07

your parents through a kitchen window.

30:10

Your dad's voice was a matter of fact. Give it

30:12

up, Jared. The boy just ain't

30:14

smart. Right. He's not going anywhere

30:17

accepted. And you took that as

30:19

responsibility to change his thinking. Yes.

30:22

First question, How did that

30:24

feel when you heard that? He was devastated when

30:27

you were born in fourth grade and

30:30

your own father doesn't believe in you and that's

30:32

something that he verbalized to your mother

30:34

in a fashion that was encouraging her to

30:37

give up on me before my life even started.

30:39

It definitely was devastating, but there were

30:41

things that I was able to peel from it

30:44

that ultimately inspired me and propelled me

30:46

the way I am today. Number one, I had

30:48

the greatest mother in the world who refused to give

30:50

up on me. God rest us. So she

30:52

passed away in twenty seventeen. She was always my

30:54

biggest cheerleader. She was always the greatest

30:56

woman I've ever known 2 my life. And so you

30:58

had that. I had that at my disposal.

31:01

Number two, I had her inspiring me never to

31:03

give up on myself. And number three,

31:05

because he doubted me, it incentivizes me

31:08

to prove wrong. And that mentality

31:10

that I had towards him is something

31:12

that I carried with me throughout my life

31:15

moving forward, high school, college, the

31:17

professional ranks. It doesn't matter what challenge

31:19

you put in front of my face. The number

31:21

one thing you could do to inspire me

31:23

was to doubt me because I was gonna be incentivized

31:26

to prove you wrong. Because it was something that I was

31:28

a customer 2 throughout my entire life and doing

31:30

so successfully. And I certainly wasn't going

31:32

to 2. And I loved that when I loved it when I was

31:34

younger. There's a saying I

31:37

use their hate as my steam power

31:40

my dream. I like that. like that.

31:42

Before I let you go, yeah. We're gonna

31:44

flip it. Sure. Because you do your thing. You're so good

31:46

at it. We're gonna flip it. Okay.

31:49

And look at presidents

31:51

Mhmm. Playing sports. Okay. I get

31:53

you on that. Go back. Let's take a look. Let's take

31:55

a look. Twenty

31:58

four.

32:14

Wow. That's what I do. That's

32:18

what I do. Yeah.

32:20

Break break them down. Well, I'm gonna tell

32:23

you the j from Barack Obama

32:25

was pretty sweet. I mean, to shoot it from

32:27

the left from the right side. He's a lefty

32:29

and and net it like that. Like he said, that's

32:31

what he does. He's got that style of that that kind

32:33

of style, that kind of swag. I gotta give

32:36

president Obama some love. But I also

32:38

gotta give George w Bush some love.

32:40

Mhmm. For it to be, I actually actually 2

32:43

put him first. And here's why. You

32:44

put him above a bar in in this regard.

32:46

Making new? A bar was just leaving and

32:49

just somebody handing a basketball, and

32:51

he dragged it. When George

32:53

W Bush went on the mound

32:55

and threw that strike right down the middle.

32:58

Yeah. It was right after nine eleven.

33:00

Mhmm. It's a lot of pressure. He

33:02

had to go out there and he had to make

33:04

sure he did it right with thousands

33:07

watching in attendance, tens of thousands

33:09

watching in attendance and millions watching

33:12

across the country, if not across the world.

33:14

That man walked on the mound. And I would

33:16

dare say one could easily

33:18

argue considering his presidency in

33:21

some people's eyes. That was his finest

33:23

moment. I mean, should

33:25

do it. That was that was his finest moment.

33:27

I mean, think about it. That that there was never

33:30

there has never been universal praise

33:33

for him. I see what people are gonna do one

33:35

way or another about him, the president of which

33:38

sides you were. But that night,

33:40

when he walked on that mountain at Yankee Stadium

33:42

in a playoff game, and threw it

33:44

right down the middle. Let me tell you something.

33:46

A lot of people look that there wasn't a single

33:49

person in this country rooting

33:51

against George w Bush at that moment

33:53

and he showed up. And you showed up.

33:55

There it is. Stephen a Smith. Thank

33:57

you. We're gonna hear the voice

33:59

of Mitch McConnell, Bernie Sanders, and Donald

34:02

Trump all at once. What does that mean we'll explain

34:04

a must see coming up?

34:12

AND NOW WE TURNED TO A SPECIAL GUESS,

34:14

THE ACTION COMMETION MATT friend who's absolutely

34:16

exploded online because of

34:18

something he does very well, impressions.

34:21

Let's take look at some of his

34:23

work with very well known politicians,

34:26

celebrities, and other icons.

34:30

Here we go. Here it comes, Summer. Here

34:32

comes some chirping on hub and bun

34:35

rows. NFT's non

34:37

fungible trumps. Hello, everybody.

34:40

It's your favorite president Donald

34:42

John Trump, better than Lincoln, better

34:44

than Washington. And we were talking about how

34:46

nobody does a good impression of me. Now there's

34:48

just one guy who's twenty three years

34:50

old. He doesn't impress you to me on on TikTok

34:53

or whatever you 2 it. I think

34:55

it's okay. He's also winner of King

34:57

and Thompson's ultimate comedy spirits has

34:59

been traveling the nation, spreading

35:01

laughs in a little political commentary

35:03

along the way. He's also been

35:05

on the Simpsons doing a

35:07

first voice there. And I gotta say, Matt, welcome

35:10

to the beat. Your voices are pretty uncanny.

35:12

Thank you so much. It's great to be here. Great

35:14

to meet you. Great thrilled. Yeah. Well,

35:16

look, where there's so much we could talk about because there's

35:18

political questions, but first, I just 2 play

35:21

a little bit of someone I've seen you do well. This

35:23

is not fake. This is the real

35:25

Mitch

35:25

McConnell. Okay.

35:28

There's no question. None. That

35:31

president Trump is practically and

35:34

morally responsible for

35:38

provoking the events of

35:40

the day. Let's

35:42

hear it. Well, well, Sean. President

35:46

Trump is is morally responsible

35:49

for provoking the events of January

35:51

sucks, but he's less responsible than

35:54

the African Americans you provoked because

35:56

Trump is an American. Not an

35:58

African American school, they don't. So

36:01

alright. So it's very good. Yeah.

36:03

What are you talking about?

36:06

What do you see? Is this how this

36:08

is my question to you as someone who habits him?

36:10

Yeah. Is

36:11

this just really how he talks or do you

36:13

think you are impersonating an

36:15

artifact? Yeah. I think I try to go

36:17

for vocal and physical accuracy

36:19

and then blend my own comedy in there. So

36:21

in terms of my inspirations, I love, you

36:23

know, Phil Hartman, Dana Harvey, and then I try

36:25

to go for the vocal accuracy of, like, a

36:27

rich little So kind of infusing

36:30

little things that I say in there. Yeah.

36:32

It doesn't say Schuylkillkillkill doo. Right.

36:34

You you put your your your flavor

36:36

on it. Yes. So you're equal opportunity.

36:39

You also have had fun with

36:41

Bernie Sanders. Yep. I wanna get into

36:43

his authenticity because one of the things people like about I mean, one of

36:45

the things disagree with his ideas is Larry

36:46

Davis. He's like, you you think that's the real guy.

36:49

So let's warm you up with a little real burning. Let's

36:51

go. Let

36:54

me say something that may not be

36:56

great politics. But

36:59

I think the secretary is right.

37:02

And that is that the American people

37:04

are sick and tired of hearing about

37:06

your damn emails.

37:10

Miss the Melber, it

37:12

is clear to me that we are sick

37:15

and tired of hearing the damn

37:18

rap lyrics on the show. We

37:22

must come together and interview

37:25

rappers, not in the twelfth tenth

37:27

of one percent, but much poorer

37:30

representation matters. So

37:33

is it easier to

37:35

impersonate someone who is probably more authentic

37:37

themselves or doesn't matter. You know, I don't I've never really

37:39

thought about it in terms of authenticity. It's a really good

37:41

question. I I just

37:43

kinda try to there's certain voices

37:46

and physical physical things that

37:48

these politicians I mean, there's endless material

37:50

the people running our country out. I was look watching

37:52

the Kevin McCarthy. This feels

37:54

like a giant just

37:56

a giant gift for someone like me. They they don't

37:59

even seem real, frankly, the people

38:01

leading this

38:01

country. I mean, many on on both sides, honestly.

38:04

When you're 2, do do the politics

38:06

ever interfere or you find people can

38:08

still

38:08

laugh? I think people can still laugh the

38:10

way I'm approaching it in my stand up.

38:13

It it depends on the context of where Like, I

38:15

if I start to go to some other different states,

38:17

I might have to change Melber a little bit of

38:19

the presentation of the

38:20

comedy. But I think For the most part, people

38:22

are laughing if they're coming into a comedy club. Yeah.

38:25

haven't been Will Smith. I'll put it that way. Respect.

38:28

You're twenty four, so you might have a

38:30

great run ahead of

38:31

you. Mhmm. Who knows? Well, probably not mine.

38:33

We 2 be optimistic. Right? Let's

38:35

be with certainty on this. We're

38:37

already at Melbourne. We're doing pretty well. I

38:39

have not had an in person interview

38:42

with the former president. If I

38:43

did, I would ask him. Oh, would you

38:45

ask? Look at look at this, Mark. What are you gonna

38:47

ask?

38:49

Did you know they were going storm the capital? And

38:51

does that make all the party doing anything to speak?

38:53

Why can't you see what he is doing? Do all these people

38:55

watching? And out what you're doing, it's so disgusting.

38:57

And and you know that. Because there was no

39:00

storming. There was no storming. Okay.

39:02

A lot of people were they're gonna get we're gonna

39:04

send them home like a dog. We're gonna send

39:06

them home back to China.

39:08

Yeah. That's what they did. It's pretty it's

39:10

it's pretty un Kanel. It's very uncanny, but

39:13

what's not uncanny is you're saying we sent

39:15

them there, which totally is not true. Thank

39:17

you very much, China.

39:20

The thing about the drum is you can say whatever you

39:22

want, honestly, in that voice. Alright. Then we do

39:24

your lightning round. Let's click it. I'm ready.

39:26

Has SNL called. Not to my

39:28

knowledge. Would you take the call? Yeah. Of course.

39:30

I mean, it's that would be the dream

39:32

become true on a comedy

39:34

hero. Seth

39:36

McFarland's a big

39:37

one. Bill Hader. TikTok as a

39:39

force for comedy is life

39:43

changing, honestly. I mean, I don't know that I

39:45

would be here right now. I graduated college in

39:47

the pandemic. The discoverability of

39:49

it having people like

39:51

you. Like, this is the dream right now being honest

39:53

you, this is unbelievable. Well, trying to be cool.

39:55

Dream bigger. Oh my god. Dream bigger.

39:57

I don't know if you take requests. I

39:59

please. A lot of DJs that don't like requests.

40:02

Okay. Alright. My little girl's slow, so

40:04

you can warm it up. Donald

40:06

Trump, get enough of them.

40:09

Using a song quote

40:11

or Rappler quote 2

40:13

make a point. Again, that's Donald Trump.

40:16

Using a song or lyric to make

40:18

some kind of

40:18

point. I would say, Cold

40:20

forty five and two zig zags,

40:23

maybe that all we need. We could go to the

40:25

park after dark and

40:27

smoke that tumble weed. And

40:30

the beauty of that line

40:31

Is that the beauty of that line has gone

40:33

crazy wrap by app for a man. The reason I selected

40:35

it is because you asked about this in the context

40:37

of Trump. And what this accomplished is.

40:39

Number one, it made absolutely no sense.

40:42

And number two, there was no

40:43

context. I never thought I would say this at the end of

40:45

an interview, but Can we get one

40:47

more China?

40:53

China. Okay. We

40:56

love that. China. China.

40:59

MSNBC. This is what they're stooping to.

41:01

Okay? From a crappy news cycle is slowed.

41:04

That friend on the beat. Thank you, sir. Washington

41:05

impression.

41:08

What's a good Trump impression? You could tell me at Ari Melber

41:11

as I've told you, The best way to always connect with

41:13

me is at r a Melber dot com.

41:15

That's it for us.