June 16, 2025 • 30 mins
In this solo episode, Cari addresses what’s happening right now, starting with the disturbing military presence in Los Angeles during protests against ICE. She discusses the dangers of government overreach and why we all need to stay aware, because these issues don’t just affect the marginalized; they impact everyone.
Then we pivot to the court. and not the kind with judges. Cari highlights the rise of some of the NBA’s brightest new stars and what their moment means for the culture at large. It’s not just about the game, it’s about what they represent.
Lastly, she takes a moment to honor the one and only Ananda Lewis — a woman who shaped media, shifted narratives, and made space for so many of us to be seen and heard—her powerful and relevant legacy.
This one’s about truth, talent, and giving flowers while we still can.
Connect @CariChampion
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Naked Sports, the podcast where we live at
the intersection of sports, politics, and culture. Our purpose reveal
the common threads that bind them all.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
So what's happening in women's basketball right now is what
we've been trying to.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Get to for almost thirty years. From the stadiums where
athlete to break barriers and set records. Kaitlin Clark broke
the all time single game assists record. This is crazy
for rookies to be doing. Our discussions will uncover the
vital connections between these realms and the community we create.
In each episode, we'll sit down with athletes, political analysts,
(00:39):
and culture critics because at the core of it all,
how we see one issue shines the light on all others.
Welcome to Naked Sports. I'm your host, Carrie Champion. Hey, everybody,
welcome to another edition of Naked Sports. And Carrie, I
(01:00):
thank you all for being here. I believe that I
was on a vacation, at least that was in my mind.
I was in another country, enjoying myself. And then, of
course what we should never do is check our phones.
And I'm on the phone and I'm seeing what's happening
in my hometown. In LA, and I'm thinking this is
absolutely wild, why is this even happening? But I'm also
(01:21):
thinking I've seen this before. I've seen this in other
countries where they have dictators. I've seen this before when
we watch television movies. I've seen this before when I
watch The Handmaid's Tale. Don't watch it if you don't
want to be triggered. And so what's happening in LA
right now? And as other protests spread against Ice and
(01:44):
other countries, it's become really tragic to see mothers being
torn apart from their children. Protesters who are doing it
in peace, minding their own business, being bullied and or
hit and are shoved and or arrested by officers national guards.
(02:09):
Sometimes you can't tell the difference between the two because
simply it just looks like people are being disturbed when
they are exercising the right as a citizen of the
United States to protests. That is your right to do so.
You may not like it, but that is a right,
a fundamental right, that we have governed in our constitution.
(02:32):
But today I was reading as I prepared to record
this podcast, today, I was reading that there are more
US troops in Los Angeles than Iraq and Syria combined.
And let me read that again. There are more US
troops right now in this moment in La than there
are in Iraq, in Syria combined. The Pentagon projects that
(02:56):
the troops that are in Los Angeles, that deployment of
troops that came to Los Angeles to protect and serve
because it was apparently, in Sum's eyes, violent and they
needed to call in these troops that usually go overseas
to fight wars for US, They're now fighting your next
(03:18):
door neighbor. You know how much that costs? One hundred
and thirty four million dollars. And I thought we were
a country that needed to save money. I thought that's
why Elon was a part of DOGE. I thought that
people were figuring out ways to save money. You send
a handful of marines seven hundred on standby latest numbers
(03:44):
to come to Los Angeles and protect and serve what
I do not know because those streets are empty. I'm
from LA. So let me give you by design what
downtown Los Angeles looks like. Downtown Los Angeles is like
a downtown of any big top ten city. And you know,
downtown doesn't really describe where most people live. It isn't
(04:05):
except for New York. New York has the from my understanding,
the exception to this rule. Downtown Los Angeles isn't a hubbub.
It isn't where everything is happening. There aren't many people
who live in that community in terms of it's not
the space where you will see people congregating and going.
It's a small area. I say it's a small area
(04:26):
because it doesn't seem to fit the response. It's like
you take I tell you I have a boo boo
or cut myself, and then you decide to give me
a cast. I tell you that I slipped on the street,
and then you bluff off the entire street because you're like,
no one can walk on the street because it's a
(04:47):
dangerous street. I tell you I want a whisper of
orange juice in my mimosa, and you pour me a
full glass without the champagne. It's too much.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
It'.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
The military currently has more boots on the ground in
Los Angeles than in two Middle Eastern countries, including one
the United States was at war with. We're talking about Iraq.
President Trump has employed about forty eight hundred activated National
Guard and Marine troops combined to Los Angeles amid the
ICE immigration protests in the city. The US has twenty
(05:24):
five hundred troops in a rock to this date, fifteen
hundred in Syria. And this was all coming from ABC News.
So in short, there are more troops in LA than
there are in Syria where they're looking for ISIS. And
then there are in Iraq, where we have already pledged
our commitment to keep that entire country safe. Imagine that,
(05:49):
Imagine that where is the war on terrorism? It's definitely
not happening in a small section of Los Angeles known
as the Downtown LA area where A protests are happening.
Protesters are starting the spread in other countries and people
are upset.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
I'm scared. I'm scared.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Don't let me go.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
I have to go Elizabe to ICE is now removing
undocumented foster children from their foster humps, removing foster children
from their foster homes for deportation, y'all. I've been working
in the foster care system for twenty eight years. I'm
a former foster mom, and I adopted four children from
(06:32):
foster care and fostered many others, and I have represented
hundreds of children who are in foster care. And one
thing all of these children have in common is they
have all been through trauma to one degree or another.
We are taking children who have already been through trauma
(06:53):
and removing them from foster homes for deportation. There will
be a reckoning for this in this life or the next.
For those of you who are supporting this, there will
be a reckoning for this in this life or the next.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
I think something really powerful was coming from this moment.
And I know that some of you only want to
hear about sports, you don't want to hear about politics.
But this affects everyone, and we can't keep our head down,
and we can't ignore it, and we can't scroll past it,
and we can't say it's not happening, because it will
come to your doorstep in some former fashion. I am
(07:33):
born and raised. I am not worried about Ice arresting me.
But if in the fact they got jiggy, if they
got a little freakish with it, they could if they
wanted to just to give me a hard time, just
to give you a hard time, they can do whatever
they want to do. That is the point. That's why
people are protesting there needs to be some sort of reform.
(07:54):
In my opinion, you can't just run out here and
just arrest anyone because you feel like it or maybe
they look like what is going on and right now,
while they're only attacking people in certain Latin communities, let
them you know where they headed next. I don't even
have to tell you. I don't even have to tell
you who's next. You already know who's next. You're not
(08:16):
safe just because you are a you're not an immigrant
of the Latin region. You're not safe. No one is
really truly safe, which is why people are protesting. Governor Newsom.
Gavin Newsom Gavin Newsom with the podcast I'll say this
to you, sir. I have criticized you before in the
(08:39):
past because you go back and forth, forth and back,
and it feels like to me a lot of your
stances come from an area where you were trying to
gather favor as opposed to just saying what you truly feel.
As someone who gives opinions on CNN, I understand how
that is. I understand when you get nerve when you
(09:00):
stand ten toes down on what you believe and you
know it could affect your bottom line for you. In
that case, it could be a loss of constituents, it
could be a loss of perhaps a presidential bid because
you think you want it, your stakes are higher. But
for so long it felt as if you were playing
a game, like you were catching on to fire. When
(09:22):
it came to the nil deals in California and you
were sitting with Lebron, felt like, oh, let me hang
out with these people. And then you did the podcast
and I'm like, well, what's going on? And then you
changed your mind on you know, boys, trans kids in sports, girls'
sports more specifically, all of that to me made me
think I didn't know really where you stood. I'm not
(09:45):
criticizing you on your choices. I'm criticizing you on what
seemed like your inability to stay focused. But when I
tell you, I have a whole new respect for you
in this moment because of the way in which you
handled Donald Trump, our current president, and what you said
about it.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
And he never once brought up the National Guard. He's
a stone called liar, he said he did, stone called
liar never did.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Was a very civil conversation.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
I've always wanted to approach engagement with the president of
the United States in a respectful and responsible way. But
there's no working with the president. There's only working for him.
And I will never work for Donald Trump.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Powerful he's upset and I'm sure that what we are
going to see. And I often have said this about journalism,
these are war times. You may not think this is wartime,
but these are war times. Whenever troops are being deployed
on any city street to keep the peace, while the
(10:53):
governor did not ask for it, no one else called
for it, because usually that is the protocol. The last
time that this happened, the last time that the President
of the United States. I'll give you three instances, big ones,
when the President of the United States said, listen, I
don't like what's going on over there in that state,
and I am now going to deploy the National Guard.
(11:15):
There are three instances of my homegrow Katie. Katie Curic
talked about them on her podcast, and I thought, wow,
this is crazy. One of which being was when they
needed to desegregate schools. What in Alabama? Are you telling
me that this rises to the occasion of desegregation? Take
(11:38):
listen however you want.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
Is many of you know the Trump administration deployed the
National Guard to Los Angeles. Over the weekend, President Trump
signed a memorandum to send troops to quote address the
lawlessness that has been allowed to fester end quote. My
Tina and I thought it would be useful to explain
how incredibly rare this is. Historically, National Guard troops are
(12:03):
brought to manage a situation at the request of the
state's governor. For example, following the riots in south central LA,
after all four officers were acquitted in the videotape beating
of Rodney King, a state of emergency was declared and
Governor Pete Wilson requested that President George Herbert Walker Bush
(12:24):
deploy National Guard troops. This time, the National Guard was
sent in without any requests by Governor Gavin Newsomb, who
claimed their presidence would quote be purposely inflammatory and only
escalate tensions. Now Governor Newsomb is suing President Trump for
calling in the Guard and deploying them on the streets
(12:46):
of LA. Now, the National Guard has been deployed in
other situations without the consent of the governor. In nineteen
fifty seven, President Eisenhower sent them to Little Rock, Arkansas,
to ensure that Brown view of education. The Supreme Court ruling,
which paid the way to school desegregation, was enforced. In
(13:07):
nineteen sixty three, President Kennedy federalized the Guard after Alabama
Governor George Wallace attempted to block the entrance of the
University of Alabama. President Lyndon Baines Johnson called in the
National Guard to protect civil rights demonstrators during the march
between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama. In other words, this is
(13:28):
the first time since nineteen sixty five that the National
Guard has been deployed without the knowledge or approval of
a state's governor. By the way, as of this afternoon,
three hundred National Guard troops are currently in Los Angeles,
and now we're just learning they're sending in the Marines.
According to the Wall Street Journal, roughly five hundred Marines
(13:52):
are deploying to Los Angeles to protect federal buildings and
personnel in the weake of weekend protests over immigration and
that have already led President Trump to federalized National Guard troops.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
The troops are.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
Expected to arrive as soon as tonight, and they will
be under the US Northern Command, which is responsible for
US military operations in North America. This whole thing is
getting weirder and weirder, and according to a lot of people,
pretty damn scary. Let me know what you all think.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
And so, because I feel that we are at war
within this country. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised, and
I've been saying this for years, not years, I've been
saying this for the last year or so. I wouldn't
be surprised if civil war robot. This is what we're
(14:46):
watching right now. I need you to understand. Is is
to me the equivalent of a very bad movie that
does that in well but also in real time. What's
happening is so shocking because it's never happened to us
in recent memory in this country, and people don't know
how to respond, which is why Gaviner Newsom is like,
(15:08):
I'm gonna sue Trump. I don't know what that's gonna do,
but let me see, let me stop it in the courts,
let me prolong this process. But what we're going to
start seeing, outside of really great journalism and people sticking
to the truth and saying what they feel, what we're
also going to see in real time is real leaders
step up. And I don't necessarily know if Governor Newsom
is that real leader. But we're going to see the
(15:29):
current administration pressure some of these states that don't agree
with the administration Donald Trump. We're going to see people
legitimately start to step up, and we're going to see
our leaders, and we're going to see our warriors, and
we're going to see our protectors. And that is what
happens in times like this. Everything has to and not
(15:50):
in any type of literal terms, because I don't want
this to happen, but everything has to burn down to
the ground so it can be rebuilt, so people can
come out new and fresh, so that we can find
new leaders, so that we can find new voices, and
that we can really truly come together and understand what
it means to be in a situation where you have
no absolute control, no sovereignty over yourself. We're so used
(16:14):
to Americas coming and going as we please. These certain
small liberties are being taken away every single day. And obviously,
if you even are a legal citizen of this country
and your parents came here from another country and you
were born here, or your parents are now legal citizens
and they've got their citizenship, you're feeling nervous. I don't
know much about it. Because I was born and raised,
so it doesn't quote unquote affect me in this moment,
(16:37):
but it candidate will it candidate will and so that
is why I really truly look, I'm here for the
best of times. I love to laugh and giggle with
the best of them, but I need people to pay
attention to what's happening, because it's just the beginning. And
we've been saying that, but it's just the beginning. I
find it really interesting that on January sixth, the insurrection,
(17:02):
where were the troops? Where were the National Guards? I
saw a video of police officers bludgeoned, not to death,
but beat people died and it was no big deal. Really, really, y'all,
don't think this is crazy. Please stop having short memories.
What is happening right now as a state of emergency
(17:26):
and we have to be on guard, we really truly do.
I hate to only talk about the politics of it all,
but I when I got off of vacation and I'm
watching these images, I'm like, am I coming to a
third world country? As I returned back home? Am I
coming back home to a dictatorship where I had just
left a dictatorship? Am I coming back home? To that
(17:48):
what's happening around the world. People are familiar with this
in other countries. We're very spoiled I think here and
so talking just to some people, even in my travels,
they understand what's happening. They described it in such an
elegant way that makes it seem like, yeah, it just
happens all the time. Governments topple all the time, people
(18:09):
get upset with the government and fight back all the time.
People demand more all the time. It's not always state
stability and chaos. And that is what's happening in real time.
We're watching whatever we thought, whatever illusion of stability that
we had in this country disappear. Huh. I don't want
to be so dramatic, but I do want you to
(18:30):
pay attention. PSA public service announcement. It's up to us
y'all to at least be informed. You ain't have to
talk about it at work, you don't talk about it
with Sally next door, but we do have to be informed.
We're gonna take a quick break because we have to
pay some bills. We'll be right back in just a
few moments. I got to move on to one interesting
(18:57):
take or replay. I want to know what y'all think
about tyresee Halliburton. By the time you hear this. By
the time you hear this, we're deep into the finals
currently two to one. That man shut down an entire garden,
(19:17):
Madison Square garden. That man got his dad reinstated so
his dad could watch the games again. That man's voice
changes mid sentence two, three, four or five times. Take
a listen. Uh, gradually, we didn't make shots, make or
miss league. You shot twenty percent from Yeah, we got
to shoot better from You know, we'll shoot better. You
(19:38):
know that's not that's not us.
Speaker 5 (19:40):
But uh, you know, you gotta find ways to win,
and we just couldn't do that today.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
So we'll see where we can get better.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Watch film and be ready to go for a game four.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
It was just two different people that almost felt like three.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Wait, he'd be a great voice actor.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
But that man might be That man Stephen A. Smith
is like, not, he's not a superstar? Is it because
he's light skin? Is that it? I think? I mean,
when's the last time.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
We call.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
A light skin player a superstar? Steph, Steph Steph Curry
was my light las skin. I don't know what's going on?
Is it because he wears odd clothes during the tunnel.
I don't know. None of those things bother me. I
don't mind his odd clothes, don'tline his busboy suits, and
I don't even mind his predilection to play in the snow.
(20:30):
I don't even mind. That doesn't even bother me. None
of that bothers me because I think he is a really,
really great player, and I don't know if he can
be a bona fide superstar yet. But I'm telling you
he's climbing up. He's climbing up. I mean, he's getting
so much respect, and people are gonna have to get
over the fact that he's light skinned. Y'all so mean
to these light skinned men. I don't like it. They
(20:53):
can play basketball. Steph showed you all that. Let a
new Steph live, Let a new Steph live. So let
him be the great light skin stuff if he needs
to be. But if I had to be honest with you,
I think the Pacers might win at all. New York
should love that too, But I think the Pacers might
win at all. I love Sga. I thought Sga was
(21:15):
the man. I wanted him to win it all because
he is so deserving yes, deserving of MVP, deserving of
just I just like everything about him. He just he
I rock with him, you know what I mean. But
that Pacers team is deep. They got player after player
after player after player after player after player after player
and in Tyreson right here, just like his name main Tyrese.
(21:37):
Let's just call him Hallie. He's running around here being
real good. It's as simple as that. I'm giving it
to him. He will be the Finals MVP. The Pacers
will win it. It will be a great series because
these two teams are amazing. Okase deserves this moment as
(21:58):
well as a great team, a great rue organization. What
we're looking at, really, honestly, the take here is that
these are the new superstars of the NBA. As Steph
Curry and Lebron James and James Harden and Kevin Durant
and the ol gs start to see the sunset rising
really quick, of the sun setting really quick on their careers,
(22:21):
these guys are rising in real time like these are
the new faces of the NBA and the NBA to
do themselves a favor and get more storylines. Let it
get ugly, let them get mean, Let people not like
each other. Let's create rivalries. People will be locked in
and they'll pass the torch appropriately. If you all don't mind,
(22:45):
I I just want to take a few minutes to
talk about a nondugulous I'm sure you all have heard
by now that she passed away of stage four breast
cancer and she was fifty two years old. And I
want to tell you that I had Jesse Collins on
the show, the executive producer of the BET Awards, and
(23:07):
I asked him what teen Summit meant to him? What
was it, what did it stand for? What was its legacy?
And he mentioned that teen Summit was a place where
people who were burgeoning adults had real issues, real questions,
and they wanted to talk it out and they wanted
to share what they were feeling. It's funny.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
I was just watching Forever this weekend, mar Brocker Keel's
new show.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
It's like.
Speaker 5 (23:35):
Teen Summit was that for us back then, because there
was no Forever. There wasn't anything showing what young black
kids were going through socially and politically, and just nothing.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
There was nothing.
Speaker 5 (23:50):
I mean, you had, you had The Cosby Show, but
that was a sitcom, so it wasn't like getting into
the weeds of it. Teen Summit was that, you know,
this is the air of parents who really weren't like
so tell me about your feelings. But how do you
feel about like then there was none of that. There
was like, go clean room, nothing else matters. Do you choors,
(24:13):
do you chores? Do you homework? Have you asked in
the house before the sun comes in?
Speaker 1 (24:16):
And that's it for streets coming on.
Speaker 5 (24:19):
Yes, teen Summit was a place where you could discuss
that and see people talk about that and really like
think about what your point of view is on things
and make it make you understand that you're supposed to
have a point of view on things.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Yes, there's no rumor today on teen Someone, We've got
some great surprises.
Speaker 5 (24:39):
Coming your waist.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Let's talk about the controversy that recently happened in Florida.
Speaker 5 (24:43):
I believe with two Life Crew so that that, to
me was what was important about that show.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
I haven't seen programming like that ever. I would love
to see a program that is popular, cultural and me
at the intersection of all of the of the ideals
of what we'd like to discuss sports, culture, entertainment, politics.
You go on teen somemit did that, and it gave
(25:10):
a lot of teenagers a voice, or helped them find
their voice, or it told a lot of kids that
your opinion does matter. And one of the great hosts
of that show, Ananda Lewis, was mentioned here on Naked
Sports just not that long ago as Jesse talked about
this huge anniversary show of bat and the show was
(25:32):
amazing and when they were doing the reunions, people were
very very It took us back. People were very happy.
It made you nostalgic to see so many people that
you grew up with. I'm talking for myself as well.
There were a few notables missing, and they had discussed
why they missed, but Ananda, I'm sure they tried to
(25:56):
reach out to her. I'm sure, and just days later
after the airing of that show, she passed away. And
so for me, Ananda was what could be as a
person who was coming up in this business and wanted
to be on air and didn't see myself to see
(26:20):
someone because I knew at seven years old that I
wanted to make a difference use my voice, and I
didn't know where I would do that, but to see
a teenager doing it in such a powerful way, and
then leaving and going to MTV and creating her own
there as well. Powerful and before I got my first
real job, I remember being in LA and seeing Ananda
(26:45):
at the Universal Studios Center. It's an area in LA,
That's how I'll describe it for you all. And she
was walking and she was on the phone and she
was laughing and talking and joking and just being really amazing.
And I wanted to say something to it or she
could see, like we made eye contact and she could
see my face and I was like, you know, I
got excited. If you guys, you can't if you're not watching,
(27:07):
I was like, oh my god. And I didn't say
anything because I was scared they want to bother That's
also LA too, you don't want to bother people. And
I remember just thinking, Wow, I just saw Ananda Lewis.
And over the years, I hadn't had the opportunity to
meet her, but so many of my colleagues have and
(27:27):
they all talked to her and they all hung out
with her, and they said she was just an amazing soul.
And my friend Kelly Carter did a story on Ananda
and it was about her fight with breast cancer when
she decided that she was going to fight her way
in not the typical way, and why she decided to
(27:49):
do that, And I wanted to share just a few
minutes with you all, or a few parts of the
interview so you can understand her, her passion, her her
zest for life, because she always has such a great personality.
She was one of those people there was TV ready,
(28:09):
like she could command the room. And I'm listening to
her give this interview with Kelly Carter, arguably knowing that
the n was nigh, it was near, it was coming.
Speaker 6 (28:22):
I know by forty seven, I should have had my
first mammogram, right And I didn't do that because I
saw my mom do it for thirty years and she
still ended up being diagnosed with breast cancer. I didn't
have the understanding then that I had now.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
So I say this to Ananda, thank you for showing
so many Brown girls it is possible and there is
a way. Thank you for being positive up up until
the very last moment. You can even go on her
ig page and see how positive she was. And then
I also just want to thank you for having the
courage to be you and do you. May you rest
(29:01):
in peace, all right? Y'all. Thank y'all for listening to
this edition of Naked Sports. I got some sports in,
but the overall message is this, we really, truly, truly
need to pay attention to what's happening in this country.
You can ignore what's going to be at your doorstep
(29:23):
sooner rather than later. You just can't. It's just that simple.
I can catch me on CNN on Friday nights. I
will be doing the show there, or you can see
it on my Instagram. Carrie Champion is my Instagram. Make
sure you just tune in, pay attention, and I'll try
to inform you as best I can. Naked Sports written
(29:45):
and executive produced by me Carrie Champion, produced by Jaquies Thomas.
Sound designed and mastered by Dwayne Crawford. Naked Sports is
a part of the Black Effect podcast network in iHeartMedia
Welcome to Naked Sports, the podcast where we live at
the intersection of sports, politics, and culture. Our purpose reveal
the common threads that bind them all.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
So what's happening in women's basketball right now is what
we've been trying to.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Get to for almost thirty years. From the stadiums where
athlete to break barriers and set records. Kaitlin Clark broke
the all time single game assists record. This is crazy
for rookies to be doing. Our discussions will uncover the
vital connections between these realms and the community we create.
In each episode, we'll sit down with athletes, political analysts,
(00:39):
and culture critics because at the core of it all,
how we see one issue shines the light on all others.
Welcome to Naked Sports. I'm your host, Carrie Champion. Hey, everybody,
welcome to another edition of Naked Sports. And Carrie, I
(01:00):
thank you all for being here. I believe that I
was on a vacation, at least that was in my mind.
I was in another country, enjoying myself. And then, of
course what we should never do is check our phones.
And I'm on the phone and I'm seeing what's happening
in my hometown. In LA, and I'm thinking this is
absolutely wild, why is this even happening? But I'm also
(01:21):
thinking I've seen this before. I've seen this in other
countries where they have dictators. I've seen this before when
we watch television movies. I've seen this before when I
watch The Handmaid's Tale. Don't watch it if you don't
want to be triggered. And so what's happening in LA
right now? And as other protests spread against Ice and
(01:44):
other countries, it's become really tragic to see mothers being
torn apart from their children. Protesters who are doing it
in peace, minding their own business, being bullied and or
hit and are shoved and or arrested by officers national guards.
(02:09):
Sometimes you can't tell the difference between the two because
simply it just looks like people are being disturbed when
they are exercising the right as a citizen of the
United States to protests. That is your right to do so.
You may not like it, but that is a right,
a fundamental right, that we have governed in our constitution.
(02:32):
But today I was reading as I prepared to record
this podcast, today, I was reading that there are more
US troops in Los Angeles than Iraq and Syria combined.
And let me read that again. There are more US
troops right now in this moment in La than there
are in Iraq, in Syria combined. The Pentagon projects that
(02:56):
the troops that are in Los Angeles, that deployment of
troops that came to Los Angeles to protect and serve
because it was apparently, in Sum's eyes, violent and they
needed to call in these troops that usually go overseas
to fight wars for US, They're now fighting your next
(03:18):
door neighbor. You know how much that costs? One hundred
and thirty four million dollars. And I thought we were
a country that needed to save money. I thought that's
why Elon was a part of DOGE. I thought that
people were figuring out ways to save money. You send
a handful of marines seven hundred on standby latest numbers
(03:44):
to come to Los Angeles and protect and serve what
I do not know because those streets are empty. I'm
from LA. So let me give you by design what
downtown Los Angeles looks like. Downtown Los Angeles is like
a downtown of any big top ten city. And you know,
downtown doesn't really describe where most people live. It isn't
(04:05):
except for New York. New York has the from my understanding,
the exception to this rule. Downtown Los Angeles isn't a hubbub.
It isn't where everything is happening. There aren't many people
who live in that community in terms of it's not
the space where you will see people congregating and going.
It's a small area. I say it's a small area
(04:26):
because it doesn't seem to fit the response. It's like
you take I tell you I have a boo boo
or cut myself, and then you decide to give me
a cast. I tell you that I slipped on the street,
and then you bluff off the entire street because you're like,
no one can walk on the street because it's a
(04:47):
dangerous street. I tell you I want a whisper of
orange juice in my mimosa, and you pour me a
full glass without the champagne. It's too much.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
It'.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
The military currently has more boots on the ground in
Los Angeles than in two Middle Eastern countries, including one
the United States was at war with. We're talking about Iraq.
President Trump has employed about forty eight hundred activated National
Guard and Marine troops combined to Los Angeles amid the
ICE immigration protests in the city. The US has twenty
(05:24):
five hundred troops in a rock to this date, fifteen
hundred in Syria. And this was all coming from ABC News.
So in short, there are more troops in LA than
there are in Syria where they're looking for ISIS. And
then there are in Iraq, where we have already pledged
our commitment to keep that entire country safe. Imagine that,
(05:49):
Imagine that where is the war on terrorism? It's definitely
not happening in a small section of Los Angeles known
as the Downtown LA area where A protests are happening.
Protesters are starting the spread in other countries and people
are upset.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
I'm scared. I'm scared.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Don't let me go.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
I have to go Elizabe to ICE is now removing
undocumented foster children from their foster humps, removing foster children
from their foster homes for deportation, y'all. I've been working
in the foster care system for twenty eight years. I'm
a former foster mom, and I adopted four children from
(06:32):
foster care and fostered many others, and I have represented
hundreds of children who are in foster care. And one
thing all of these children have in common is they
have all been through trauma to one degree or another.
We are taking children who have already been through trauma
(06:53):
and removing them from foster homes for deportation. There will
be a reckoning for this in this life or the next.
For those of you who are supporting this, there will
be a reckoning for this in this life or the next.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
I think something really powerful was coming from this moment.
And I know that some of you only want to
hear about sports, you don't want to hear about politics.
But this affects everyone, and we can't keep our head down,
and we can't ignore it, and we can't scroll past it,
and we can't say it's not happening, because it will
come to your doorstep in some former fashion. I am
(07:33):
born and raised. I am not worried about Ice arresting me.
But if in the fact they got jiggy, if they
got a little freakish with it, they could if they
wanted to just to give me a hard time, just
to give you a hard time, they can do whatever
they want to do. That is the point. That's why
people are protesting there needs to be some sort of reform.
(07:54):
In my opinion, you can't just run out here and
just arrest anyone because you feel like it or maybe
they look like what is going on and right now,
while they're only attacking people in certain Latin communities, let
them you know where they headed next. I don't even
have to tell you. I don't even have to tell
you who's next. You already know who's next. You're not
(08:16):
safe just because you are a you're not an immigrant
of the Latin region. You're not safe. No one is
really truly safe, which is why people are protesting. Governor Newsom.
Gavin Newsom Gavin Newsom with the podcast I'll say this
to you, sir. I have criticized you before in the
(08:39):
past because you go back and forth, forth and back,
and it feels like to me a lot of your
stances come from an area where you were trying to
gather favor as opposed to just saying what you truly feel.
As someone who gives opinions on CNN, I understand how
that is. I understand when you get nerve when you
(09:00):
stand ten toes down on what you believe and you
know it could affect your bottom line for you. In
that case, it could be a loss of constituents, it
could be a loss of perhaps a presidential bid because
you think you want it, your stakes are higher. But
for so long it felt as if you were playing
a game, like you were catching on to fire. When
(09:22):
it came to the nil deals in California and you
were sitting with Lebron, felt like, oh, let me hang
out with these people. And then you did the podcast
and I'm like, well, what's going on? And then you
changed your mind on you know, boys, trans kids in sports, girls'
sports more specifically, all of that to me made me
think I didn't know really where you stood. I'm not
(09:45):
criticizing you on your choices. I'm criticizing you on what
seemed like your inability to stay focused. But when I
tell you, I have a whole new respect for you
in this moment because of the way in which you
handled Donald Trump, our current president, and what you said
about it.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
And he never once brought up the National Guard. He's
a stone called liar, he said he did, stone called
liar never did.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Was a very civil conversation.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
I've always wanted to approach engagement with the president of
the United States in a respectful and responsible way. But
there's no working with the president. There's only working for him.
And I will never work for Donald Trump.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Powerful he's upset and I'm sure that what we are
going to see. And I often have said this about journalism,
these are war times. You may not think this is wartime,
but these are war times. Whenever troops are being deployed
on any city street to keep the peace, while the
(10:53):
governor did not ask for it, no one else called
for it, because usually that is the protocol. The last
time that this happened, the last time that the President
of the United States. I'll give you three instances, big ones,
when the President of the United States said, listen, I
don't like what's going on over there in that state,
and I am now going to deploy the National Guard.
(11:15):
There are three instances of my homegrow Katie. Katie Curic
talked about them on her podcast, and I thought, wow,
this is crazy. One of which being was when they
needed to desegregate schools. What in Alabama? Are you telling
me that this rises to the occasion of desegregation? Take
(11:38):
listen however you want.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
Is many of you know the Trump administration deployed the
National Guard to Los Angeles. Over the weekend, President Trump
signed a memorandum to send troops to quote address the
lawlessness that has been allowed to fester end quote. My
Tina and I thought it would be useful to explain
how incredibly rare this is. Historically, National Guard troops are
(12:03):
brought to manage a situation at the request of the
state's governor. For example, following the riots in south central LA,
after all four officers were acquitted in the videotape beating
of Rodney King, a state of emergency was declared and
Governor Pete Wilson requested that President George Herbert Walker Bush
(12:24):
deploy National Guard troops. This time, the National Guard was
sent in without any requests by Governor Gavin Newsomb, who
claimed their presidence would quote be purposely inflammatory and only
escalate tensions. Now Governor Newsomb is suing President Trump for
calling in the Guard and deploying them on the streets
(12:46):
of LA. Now, the National Guard has been deployed in
other situations without the consent of the governor. In nineteen
fifty seven, President Eisenhower sent them to Little Rock, Arkansas,
to ensure that Brown view of education. The Supreme Court ruling,
which paid the way to school desegregation, was enforced. In
(13:07):
nineteen sixty three, President Kennedy federalized the Guard after Alabama
Governor George Wallace attempted to block the entrance of the
University of Alabama. President Lyndon Baines Johnson called in the
National Guard to protect civil rights demonstrators during the march
between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama. In other words, this is
(13:28):
the first time since nineteen sixty five that the National
Guard has been deployed without the knowledge or approval of
a state's governor. By the way, as of this afternoon,
three hundred National Guard troops are currently in Los Angeles,
and now we're just learning they're sending in the Marines.
According to the Wall Street Journal, roughly five hundred Marines
(13:52):
are deploying to Los Angeles to protect federal buildings and
personnel in the weake of weekend protests over immigration and
that have already led President Trump to federalized National Guard troops.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
The troops are.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
Expected to arrive as soon as tonight, and they will
be under the US Northern Command, which is responsible for
US military operations in North America. This whole thing is
getting weirder and weirder, and according to a lot of people,
pretty damn scary. Let me know what you all think.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
And so, because I feel that we are at war
within this country. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised, and
I've been saying this for years, not years, I've been
saying this for the last year or so. I wouldn't
be surprised if civil war robot. This is what we're
(14:46):
watching right now. I need you to understand. Is is
to me the equivalent of a very bad movie that
does that in well but also in real time. What's
happening is so shocking because it's never happened to us
in recent memory in this country, and people don't know
how to respond, which is why Gaviner Newsom is like,
(15:08):
I'm gonna sue Trump. I don't know what that's gonna do,
but let me see, let me stop it in the courts,
let me prolong this process. But what we're going to
start seeing, outside of really great journalism and people sticking
to the truth and saying what they feel, what we're
also going to see in real time is real leaders
step up. And I don't necessarily know if Governor Newsom
is that real leader. But we're going to see the
(15:29):
current administration pressure some of these states that don't agree
with the administration Donald Trump. We're going to see people
legitimately start to step up, and we're going to see
our leaders, and we're going to see our warriors, and
we're going to see our protectors. And that is what
happens in times like this. Everything has to and not
(15:50):
in any type of literal terms, because I don't want
this to happen, but everything has to burn down to
the ground so it can be rebuilt, so people can
come out new and fresh, so that we can find
new leaders, so that we can find new voices, and
that we can really truly come together and understand what
it means to be in a situation where you have
no absolute control, no sovereignty over yourself. We're so used
(16:14):
to Americas coming and going as we please. These certain
small liberties are being taken away every single day. And obviously,
if you even are a legal citizen of this country
and your parents came here from another country and you
were born here, or your parents are now legal citizens
and they've got their citizenship, you're feeling nervous. I don't
know much about it. Because I was born and raised,
so it doesn't quote unquote affect me in this moment,
(16:37):
but it candidate will it candidate will and so that
is why I really truly look, I'm here for the
best of times. I love to laugh and giggle with
the best of them, but I need people to pay
attention to what's happening, because it's just the beginning. And
we've been saying that, but it's just the beginning. I
find it really interesting that on January sixth, the insurrection,
(17:02):
where were the troops? Where were the National Guards? I
saw a video of police officers bludgeoned, not to death,
but beat people died and it was no big deal. Really, really, y'all,
don't think this is crazy. Please stop having short memories.
What is happening right now as a state of emergency
(17:26):
and we have to be on guard, we really truly do.
I hate to only talk about the politics of it all,
but I when I got off of vacation and I'm
watching these images, I'm like, am I coming to a
third world country? As I returned back home? Am I
coming back home to a dictatorship where I had just
left a dictatorship? Am I coming back home? To that
(17:48):
what's happening around the world. People are familiar with this
in other countries. We're very spoiled I think here and
so talking just to some people, even in my travels,
they understand what's happening. They described it in such an
elegant way that makes it seem like, yeah, it just
happens all the time. Governments topple all the time, people
(18:09):
get upset with the government and fight back all the time.
People demand more all the time. It's not always state
stability and chaos. And that is what's happening in real time.
We're watching whatever we thought, whatever illusion of stability that
we had in this country disappear. Huh. I don't want
to be so dramatic, but I do want you to
(18:30):
pay attention. PSA public service announcement. It's up to us
y'all to at least be informed. You ain't have to
talk about it at work, you don't talk about it
with Sally next door, but we do have to be informed.
We're gonna take a quick break because we have to
pay some bills. We'll be right back in just a
few moments. I got to move on to one interesting
(18:57):
take or replay. I want to know what y'all think
about tyresee Halliburton. By the time you hear this. By
the time you hear this, we're deep into the finals
currently two to one. That man shut down an entire garden,
(19:17):
Madison Square garden. That man got his dad reinstated so
his dad could watch the games again. That man's voice
changes mid sentence two, three, four or five times. Take
a listen. Uh, gradually, we didn't make shots, make or
miss league. You shot twenty percent from Yeah, we got
to shoot better from You know, we'll shoot better. You
(19:38):
know that's not that's not us.
Speaker 5 (19:40):
But uh, you know, you gotta find ways to win,
and we just couldn't do that today.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
So we'll see where we can get better.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Watch film and be ready to go for a game four.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
It was just two different people that almost felt like three.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Wait, he'd be a great voice actor.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
But that man might be That man Stephen A. Smith
is like, not, he's not a superstar? Is it because
he's light skin? Is that it? I think? I mean,
when's the last time.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
We call.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
A light skin player a superstar? Steph, Steph Steph Curry
was my light las skin. I don't know what's going on?
Is it because he wears odd clothes during the tunnel.
I don't know. None of those things bother me. I
don't mind his odd clothes, don'tline his busboy suits, and
I don't even mind his predilection to play in the snow.
(20:30):
I don't even mind. That doesn't even bother me. None
of that bothers me because I think he is a really,
really great player, and I don't know if he can
be a bona fide superstar yet. But I'm telling you
he's climbing up. He's climbing up. I mean, he's getting
so much respect, and people are gonna have to get
over the fact that he's light skinned. Y'all so mean
to these light skinned men. I don't like it. They
(20:53):
can play basketball. Steph showed you all that. Let a
new Steph live, Let a new Steph live. So let
him be the great light skin stuff if he needs
to be. But if I had to be honest with you,
I think the Pacers might win at all. New York
should love that too, But I think the Pacers might
win at all. I love Sga. I thought Sga was
(21:15):
the man. I wanted him to win it all because
he is so deserving yes, deserving of MVP, deserving of
just I just like everything about him. He just he
I rock with him, you know what I mean. But
that Pacers team is deep. They got player after player
after player after player after player after player after player
and in Tyreson right here, just like his name main Tyrese.
(21:37):
Let's just call him Hallie. He's running around here being
real good. It's as simple as that. I'm giving it
to him. He will be the Finals MVP. The Pacers
will win it. It will be a great series because
these two teams are amazing. Okase deserves this moment as
(21:58):
well as a great team, a great rue organization. What
we're looking at, really, honestly, the take here is that
these are the new superstars of the NBA. As Steph
Curry and Lebron James and James Harden and Kevin Durant
and the ol gs start to see the sunset rising
really quick, of the sun setting really quick on their careers,
(22:21):
these guys are rising in real time like these are
the new faces of the NBA and the NBA to
do themselves a favor and get more storylines. Let it
get ugly, let them get mean, Let people not like
each other. Let's create rivalries. People will be locked in
and they'll pass the torch appropriately. If you all don't mind,
(22:45):
I I just want to take a few minutes to
talk about a nondugulous I'm sure you all have heard
by now that she passed away of stage four breast
cancer and she was fifty two years old. And I
want to tell you that I had Jesse Collins on
the show, the executive producer of the BET Awards, and
(23:07):
I asked him what teen Summit meant to him? What
was it, what did it stand for? What was its legacy?
And he mentioned that teen Summit was a place where
people who were burgeoning adults had real issues, real questions,
and they wanted to talk it out and they wanted
to share what they were feeling. It's funny.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
I was just watching Forever this weekend, mar Brocker Keel's
new show.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
It's like.
Speaker 5 (23:35):
Teen Summit was that for us back then, because there
was no Forever. There wasn't anything showing what young black
kids were going through socially and politically, and just nothing.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
There was nothing.
Speaker 5 (23:50):
I mean, you had, you had The Cosby Show, but
that was a sitcom, so it wasn't like getting into
the weeds of it. Teen Summit was that, you know,
this is the air of parents who really weren't like
so tell me about your feelings. But how do you
feel about like then there was none of that. There
was like, go clean room, nothing else matters. Do you choors,
(24:13):
do you chores? Do you homework? Have you asked in
the house before the sun comes in?
Speaker 1 (24:16):
And that's it for streets coming on.
Speaker 5 (24:19):
Yes, teen Summit was a place where you could discuss
that and see people talk about that and really like
think about what your point of view is on things
and make it make you understand that you're supposed to
have a point of view on things.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Yes, there's no rumor today on teen Someone, We've got
some great surprises.
Speaker 5 (24:39):
Coming your waist.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Let's talk about the controversy that recently happened in Florida.
Speaker 5 (24:43):
I believe with two Life Crew so that that, to
me was what was important about that show.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
I haven't seen programming like that ever. I would love
to see a program that is popular, cultural and me
at the intersection of all of the of the ideals
of what we'd like to discuss sports, culture, entertainment, politics.
You go on teen somemit did that, and it gave
(25:10):
a lot of teenagers a voice, or helped them find
their voice, or it told a lot of kids that
your opinion does matter. And one of the great hosts
of that show, Ananda Lewis, was mentioned here on Naked
Sports just not that long ago as Jesse talked about
this huge anniversary show of bat and the show was
(25:32):
amazing and when they were doing the reunions, people were
very very It took us back. People were very happy.
It made you nostalgic to see so many people that
you grew up with. I'm talking for myself as well.
There were a few notables missing, and they had discussed
why they missed, but Ananda, I'm sure they tried to
(25:56):
reach out to her. I'm sure, and just days later
after the airing of that show, she passed away. And
so for me, Ananda was what could be as a
person who was coming up in this business and wanted
to be on air and didn't see myself to see
(26:20):
someone because I knew at seven years old that I
wanted to make a difference use my voice, and I
didn't know where I would do that, but to see
a teenager doing it in such a powerful way, and
then leaving and going to MTV and creating her own
there as well. Powerful and before I got my first
real job, I remember being in LA and seeing Ananda
(26:45):
at the Universal Studios Center. It's an area in LA,
That's how I'll describe it for you all. And she
was walking and she was on the phone and she
was laughing and talking and joking and just being really amazing.
And I wanted to say something to it or she
could see, like we made eye contact and she could
see my face and I was like, you know, I
got excited. If you guys, you can't if you're not watching,
(27:07):
I was like, oh my god. And I didn't say
anything because I was scared they want to bother That's
also LA too, you don't want to bother people. And
I remember just thinking, Wow, I just saw Ananda Lewis.
And over the years, I hadn't had the opportunity to
meet her, but so many of my colleagues have and
(27:27):
they all talked to her and they all hung out
with her, and they said she was just an amazing soul.
And my friend Kelly Carter did a story on Ananda
and it was about her fight with breast cancer when
she decided that she was going to fight her way
in not the typical way, and why she decided to
(27:49):
do that, And I wanted to share just a few
minutes with you all, or a few parts of the
interview so you can understand her, her passion, her her
zest for life, because she always has such a great personality.
She was one of those people there was TV ready,
(28:09):
like she could command the room. And I'm listening to
her give this interview with Kelly Carter, arguably knowing that
the n was nigh, it was near, it was coming.
Speaker 6 (28:22):
I know by forty seven, I should have had my
first mammogram, right And I didn't do that because I
saw my mom do it for thirty years and she
still ended up being diagnosed with breast cancer. I didn't
have the understanding then that I had now.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
So I say this to Ananda, thank you for showing
so many Brown girls it is possible and there is
a way. Thank you for being positive up up until
the very last moment. You can even go on her
ig page and see how positive she was. And then
I also just want to thank you for having the
courage to be you and do you. May you rest
(29:01):
in peace, all right? Y'all. Thank y'all for listening to
this edition of Naked Sports. I got some sports in,
but the overall message is this, we really, truly, truly
need to pay attention to what's happening in this country.
You can ignore what's going to be at your doorstep
(29:23):
sooner rather than later. You just can't. It's just that simple.
I can catch me on CNN on Friday nights. I
will be doing the show there, or you can see
it on my Instagram. Carrie Champion is my Instagram. Make
sure you just tune in, pay attention, and I'll try
to inform you as best I can. Naked Sports written
(29:45):
and executive produced by me Carrie Champion, produced by Jaquies Thomas.
Sound designed and mastered by Dwayne Crawford. Naked Sports is
a part of the Black Effect podcast network in iHeartMedia
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