The Stephen J. Cloobeck Podcast - #008 Cari Champion

Stephen welcomes his friend American broadcast journalist and television personality Cari Champion for a chat about sports, politics, their friendship, Cari's story, and more!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Hard Truths. Steven J. Klueback again. We're going
to have a lot of fun. The show's always about
my dear friends coming on. And today we have a
dear friend who I met about five years ago, Carrie Champion.
She's got so many beautiful stories that I want to
hear about today that we some maybe we've talked about.

(00:20):
We're going to share it, but there's no notes, heeries.
You know, this is all organic and it's it's hard truths,
and that's what we're here to talk about. So you know, Carrie,
we met during COVID and we were going to film
this little sizzle reel to help people out there in need.

(00:40):
It was a feel good show. We didn't we didn't
even know each other. We were put together with Jason Kennedy,
a good friend of ours, and I remember meeting you.
I said, wow, this woman said dynamo, Oh yay, you
know you're She was like, who is this woman? You're

(01:00):
so larger in life?

Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yay.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
And I remember we were walking around my house with Bill.
Bill Rensick was there. He was big, and we made
him very uncomfortable really quickly, because you and I seem
to hit it off and what do do you think
you thought it was a handful.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yeah, if anyone spends five minutes with you, they understand
that you are a lot and a lot in the
best of ways, because there is this We live in
a world today where everyone thinks before they talk, and
I understand that that's something we should do.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
That's an etiquette.

Speaker 3 (01:33):
But you're very unfiltered, but in a way that is respectful,
and it is and I can understand there is a
an authenticity about you where I understand that's just truly
who you are. I think that's probably why you've been
a successful businessman. But the first thing that I thought,
I pull up into this, like this palatial home, and

(01:53):
I'm like, Okay, what's happening beyond the gates? When I
get here and I walk in, and I think, what
a be beautiful, beautiful home, just gorgeous to the point
where you're just like, but when you get in homes
like that, you feel like sometimes it feels unlived in.
It felt very lived in. And I don't know if
you remember this. You were taking us on a tour

(02:15):
and you were Bill. It was Bill and I maybe
Jason had been there.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
If Jason was on this tour.

Speaker 3 (02:20):
But I'm walking around and you had this this portrait
that was in your office that was really big, and
during that time it was like in terms of it
was large. It covered almost a wall in your office,
and it was so stunning to me, so shocking. I
had all of these emotions when I looked at this
portrait and I thought, oh gosh, I would want that.

(02:42):
I want that in my house. It's so gorgeous. Explained
to me, and you talk to me about that, that
painting that we saw that photo rather and the Tyler piece.
You know exactly what I'm talking about. So it was
a Tyler Shields piece, and you explained it to me,
and you were like, I can get away with this
because I think it's I think it's powerful. I think
that we should all understand what this means.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
And you had it in full display, and at that
moment you had my attention.

Speaker 3 (03:09):
Suffice to say, your son ended up ended up helping
me get two of those Tyler Shields piece of smaller versions,
but I ended up purchasing too.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
That's great. Tyler Shields was a good mentor to my
son Jake, who's a great photographer. Creative producer and doesn't
real estate have very talented. He's a little shy, but
he's the thoroughbred. I'm so proud of him, so proud
of all my kids. But yeah, that piece. I remember
when I bought that piece from Tyler Shields. It's very provocative.

(03:38):
And I showed it at that time to my adopted dad,
Senator Harry Reid, and he goes, I hope that's not
hanging in your new house or office and I'm like, no, no, no, no, Dad,
like Dennis la Menace because it is so provocative and
he's Mormon, and I was like, no, no, no, I

(03:59):
a little white lie that. No, it's actually in my
house and in my office.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
Uh huh.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
And no. It's meaningful to me because it I like
to see people's reaction, reaction because I am unabashed, I'm apologetic,
an authentic, but warm and compassionate. Because to me it
it I get to see who I'm dealing with when

(04:25):
people look at that, and it's I like to Yeah,
I like to see people's reactions to certain things.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
Same reaction in my house, it's in my office, and
I can tell how people feel about it, or I
can tell what lies have been told or what hard
truths are being ignored, no pun intended, And I'm like,
this is really beautiful. So from that moment on, I
say all that to say you just describe yourself perfectly.
But I say all that to say that, just from

(04:54):
that moment on, there was a connection and I was like, Okay,
he might be all right with me.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
He might be a little too much, but he's all
right with me.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
You were at that moment, and that's just an old
school saying that I get for my family in the South.
You're all way with me, which means you're more than
alright with me.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
Like you and I hit it off. We spent the
day together and we flew to Las Vegas to do
this and we just had such a beautiful time. And
we were teasing Bill because he could not admit he's
like the R word as a Republican for our word.
I mean, he's a cool dude, but he worked for Trump.

(05:31):
And it's funny because I could make him him skittish.
He's like saying, oh, I'm an independent. I'm like really, yeah,
It's like Dana White telling me he's not political.

Speaker 2 (05:40):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
He tried that on me. One time too. Yeah, Dana White.
You know, I I went to a UFC fight when
I was in charge of the Athletic Commission. We talked
about sports in a minute, because this is your world
and I want to hear more about this. I remember
I was in charge of the Athletic Commission and President
Trump came to a UFC event. He was no longer
President Biden was, I remember, and I went up to him.

(06:05):
My security team was very nervous about me confronting him.
I have a past relationship with him. I mean, we
were going to do the Las Vegas Tower together and
I said I couldn't do it for many reasons. I'm
positive he's negative. I have values. He doesn't. I have integrity.
He doesn't only paying my contractors quick. He never pays

(06:25):
his contractors. And it's just I have a heart and
I have integrity and he just lies into the eyes.
But so I just you know, I'm not I don't
have any fears. So I want to go say eye,
to be diplomatic and be thankful that he was there. Yeah,
And he asked me, he said, do you like doing
this job? And I'm like, that's great. You know, we've

(06:46):
improved athletics. We've you know, brought in these great fights
in the Nevada. It's a world class sport and UFC
is great. And I said, you know, miss President, there's
one thing I do know tonight. He goes, what's that
cluebec I go, you will hear my name announced in
the ring and won't hear yours?

Speaker 2 (07:07):
Did he really? Oh that's finny.

Speaker 1 (07:09):
Dana was like, hey, you know, I'm not really a Republican.
I'm like, can I.

Speaker 2 (07:13):
Say something about Dana?

Speaker 1 (07:15):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (07:15):
I know Dana.

Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yeah, And he's always been very kind to me, and
he's a good guy, and I have I have asked
him all the time, tell me about this relationship before,
before Trump was in office. The second time, I say,
tell me about this relationship. Why do you like him
so much? This is what I've asked him. I'm very
curious because I'm I genuinely, as a journalist, curious about

(07:39):
why people move that way. I don't want to pick
pick away or pick apart the person you admire, So
I want to know what is it about the fact
that you and I can connect and have a conversation
and you also at the same time he and I.
Because I respect a lot of things that data does
a lot of things.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
I don't respect that.

Speaker 3 (07:55):
He does, but he he told me and you know,
his own way. Yeah, sure, I'm open to discussing it.
I'm not ashamed of what he stands for and what
I like.

Speaker 2 (08:04):
And I see why he likes him.

Speaker 1 (08:06):
I don't what did he say to you? Why does he.

Speaker 3 (08:10):
He thinks he is a great businessman. He thinks he is, Uh,
he's a boss. I think that's very important for men,
especially when you're looking for leadership. And quite frankly, a
lot of the white men in the world didn't feel
like they had a place.

Speaker 1 (08:25):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (08:25):
The president gives a lot of white men who felt
displaced a place. They feel like their voices can be heard.
They can relate to his you know, for lack of
a better word, machismo. Right, he's this tough guy and
they like that. They respect that it's hard earned. They
feel like there's power in leadership there and and people
I hear it all the time from from from all

(08:47):
sorts of men, black men, white men, purple men like
I understand, not understand, but I can see why they say.
He gives us a place to go. I don't feel disenfranchised.
You don't see that with the Democratic Party. You don't
feel as if you belong with that party. And sadly,
I think you know, the Democratic Party has become something

(09:08):
where we're looking for real leaders.

Speaker 2 (09:10):
To step up soon soon.

Speaker 3 (09:12):
And I am saying this as a woman who is
not registered either way. But if I had to vote,
obviously I would lean more towards the side of justice
for me and marginalize people, and that would not be
in this stance a Republican. But I am so so
sad that for whatever way, for whatever reasons, the party

(09:33):
feels off track and there doesn't feel as if there
is a leader.

Speaker 2 (09:37):
And I want a leader.

Speaker 3 (09:38):
I want to see some real If we have two
options and I have to choose between the lesser two evils, obviously,
I'm not voting for Trump because I don't believe in
what he stands for, but.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
I'm looking for leadership.

Speaker 3 (09:48):
Well, hello, hello, That's why I turn to you. We're
looking for leaders Well.

Speaker 1 (09:52):
Look, and the difference is everyone matters with me. Yeah,
I'm a bus boy. Yeah I serve he likes to
be served, correct, But I got brass balls. I'm not
afraid to poke him because California needs a fighter, and
you know what I've been around politics and policy want

(10:15):
her life. But I stand up and take care of
people and a protector. I am that badass and you know,
but I have a big heart that take care of people.
And I see everyone as everyone and what I don't
like about what he does. And it's so easy to
critique because I watch what he's doing and I'm like,
I wouldn't do it that way. I like the leadership

(10:38):
and the strength, but drop the mic, dude. It's like
he doesn't want to drop the mic. Oh no, And
I'm more interested in no pride of authorship. He wants
all pride of all.

Speaker 2 (10:52):
That he want.

Speaker 3 (10:52):
But this hasn't changed since he's since he has been
forward facing in any any perspective in real estate and business.
The Apprentice, the television show. My very first real television
job was in West Palm Beach, Florida, and he would
let us, you know, come tomorrow lago and film him
so we could talk about The Apprentice.

Speaker 2 (11:12):
It's never not been this way.

Speaker 3 (11:15):
I think that he has found a base that and
he's you know, he's weaponized hatred and anger and frustration
and everyone.

Speaker 2 (11:23):
You know, where I believe that comes from everyone's angry though.

Speaker 1 (11:25):
No, but well it doesn't that be that way. It doesn't,
And that's I believe there is a higher, better way.
And I've been around politics policy thirty nine years. But
you know I understand what motivates him and what motivates
me is the opposite. Yeah, so it's it's I'm a protector.

(11:49):
I like to I want to see everyone aspire.

Speaker 3 (11:52):
Let me ask you this, why do you think that
he is favored and or in office and or beloved
and people are blind to whatever mistakes he may make because.

Speaker 1 (12:07):
The Democrats have lost their way. When I grew up
in southern California, Okay, and I know you did too,
and I want to talk about that. We both grew
up in the valley. You in the San Gabriel Valley, Yeah,
in the San Fernando Valley. It is the valley. We're
valley kids. Yeah, and our little valleys are larger than
most states. Yeah, But we grew up in this great

(12:28):
cultural environment in Southern California where we aspired. I mean,
when you were growing up and when I was growing up,
I never thought I'd be doing what I ever done,
But we were given this great, beautiful cultural environment where
there was great education. There was just a great vibe

(12:48):
in southern California. Everyone live in southern California. Everyone live
in California. Yeah, because California is a country. It's beautiful,
about fifty eight counties. And you know, the Democratic Party
lost its way?

Speaker 2 (13:01):
What do you mean by that?

Speaker 3 (13:02):
Every time I talk to a Democrat in leadership and
or assuming to be in leadership, I go, when did
you lose your way? When did the party lose its way?
I need specifics because that's the only way we can
get to the solution.

Speaker 1 (13:13):
Okay, Well, I've been thirty nine years involved quite a
bit of time. Even though I'm a child or act
like a child every day, and my kids remind me
every day, my friends around me, it's like you're just
such a child, Stephen, and no. But I've had all
these great experiences and I've traveled the world, and well,

(13:34):
we have to have collaboration. Collaboration is really important to me. Integrity, sure, collaboration.
These are hard truths, and we forgot to collaborate, and
we started to get noisy on both sides. Instead of
having that hard center where we can go to a
little bit to the left and a little bit to

(13:54):
the right. So I grew up on a cul de
sac and you had to turn the left to get
on the cold de sac. What happens when you get
to the end of a gold secund that's around? So
when you when you do that, and in my particular instance,
you got to turn right. Yeah, which is the right answer?

(14:14):
And are you saying Californian?

Speaker 3 (14:19):
Are you saying that the party became very loose and
didn't really have any definition and there were no defined
ways in which the party wanted to move.

Speaker 1 (14:29):
They forgot what it's like to make a payroll and
great jobs, and they started to become purists instead of
being and living in the real world of what it's
like to put food on the table, to have children
that are educated well, and I value those important principles,

(14:51):
and they start to demonize that what is wrong with
having aspiration? Look at you nothing. I think you grew up.
It's interesting you grew up in Pasadena. Yeah right, yeah,
So what was it like growing up in Pasadena? You
had Altadena, you got Pasadena, sure, but Pasadena wasn't Pasadena redlines.

Speaker 3 (15:13):
Yeah, Altadena was probably where most of the black families lived.
We lived in Pasadena. Altadena was the way in which
a lot of African American families that migrated from the
South came to the West, and that was their way
to build their fortune. You know, obviously for people who
don't own a home, and people or first generation homeowners

(15:34):
or first time homeowners, that is your opportunity to wealth
and or some sort of security, and Altadena provided that
for a lot of black families. I think we lived
in Pasadena. My mother never owned a home. I own
a home now, and I think that, to me was
a breakthrough of what it could be. This is what
I think happened when I look at the Democratic Party.

(15:56):
I think it became a party of elites. I think
the only thing that was in me was to go
to school and get a good education. It wasn't about
helping your neighbor, your next door neighbor and making sure
everybody was taken care of. It was about getting an
education and taking care of yourself. And if that, if
you do that, America will live up to its promise.
We did the hard work. Martin Luther King Junior and

(16:16):
the Civil Rights movement did the hard work. The way
that we were educated in this country would make you
think racism was over. When Martin Luther King Junior passed away,
when he was murdered and assassinated, they were like, Okay,
racism is over, so now you all have made it,
and we just lost. To me, the party had lost
its way because there weren't that those same values to

(16:37):
still fight for what is right, but keep the main
thing the main thing, and be okay with saying these
hard truths.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
We can't.

Speaker 3 (16:43):
I don't think the Democratic Party should be the party
for everybody. I think that a lot of people were
too busy playing politics and not saying what they wanted,
and people got fed up with it. And now I
look around and even as a contributor on CNN, I
listened to the words that are being used to listen
to the marketing from the Republican Party, and it's quite

(17:03):
frankly genius. If you tell me that there are a
ton of trans athletes trying to play girls sports, I'm
up in arms. And that's not even a real thing.
There are over ten thousand NCAA college athletes. Yep, maybe
a dozen might be trans.

Speaker 2 (17:21):
Not a real issue.

Speaker 3 (17:23):
However, while it's not a real issue, and they're making
it an issue. What is the solution.

Speaker 2 (17:28):
If I was.

Speaker 3 (17:28):
Running for office and I was a Democrat, I try
to find a solution because it will be an issue.
But if you say, oh, no, we don't mind, and no,
we don't mind. There are people I just had dinner
a small example with my best friend. She was married
to a top ten athlete Will He's already a Hall
of Famer. They have two girls. They play volleyball. I

(17:49):
say this, she is a brown woman. She's a Mexican
American woman. Her family came here, made did all the things.
She fits all the stuff.

Speaker 2 (17:57):
Check check check check, check, check check.

Speaker 3 (17:58):
Her kids are genetically have a predisposition to be excellent
because of who their father was. She goes, I don't
think if I had children, i'd say this out loud.
But I don't want trans girls playing sports with my daughter.
I don't think it's fair. I would never say that
out loud because people would think I'm discriminating, and people
would think that I'm being unfair. And I am a

(18:20):
Mexican woman born in this country. I don't want anybody
to think that I'm being unfair. And she said, right now,
the Democratic Party can't even say what I'm saying because
they are embarrassed to say it out loud because they
have made themselves the party of everybody, and they feel
like they can't say no, they can't do what you
say they should be doing. Well, you talk about these
hard truths. This is her point of view.

Speaker 1 (18:41):
Okay, So the Democratic Party, in my opinion, has allowed
the less than one percent control the message, correct the mass,
and that's what had changed. Okay. Look, I believe in

(19:02):
a better climate for the children. I want my children
to live in a great we all do healthy world.
But I'm not gonna mandate ev cars. I mean, look,
it's too much. I'm not gonna I'm also not going
to allow our money our money because unfortunately the politicians

(19:24):
that we've elected think that their money. They forgot about it.
It's our money and it's our rights because we're proposition state.
We got to take it back over. And these are
hard jers. I mean they think they're smarter, they're not.
And it's not their money. Why would we fight a
lawsuit that we know we're going to lose when I
know there are farm workers that have to go to

(19:46):
a food bank because they don't have enough money for food?
In what world do farm workers need to go to
a food bank? And we're blowing to three hundred million
dollars on a losing lawsuit.

Speaker 2 (19:56):
We're just we're in a bad space.

Speaker 1 (19:57):
Well that's why I'm here to fix it and I
to get involved. But if I don't, who will? If
you don't, who will. You're willing to say some things.

Speaker 3 (20:06):
I'm uncomfortable saying some things, but I'm willing to say
some things because I can't help it.

Speaker 2 (20:10):
It's in my DNA. I wish I could. I wish
I could not say something no.

Speaker 1 (20:15):
But you are also like me, unapologetically authentic, and we
need more of this. It's okay. I'm gonna make it
okay here. Yeah, this is a safe space, and it's
okay because you know what, when we do it with
love and this is the difference. This is why we
could kick Donald's ass because he was trained by Roy Kohane.

(20:40):
We lies and denies. You got to look at how
a person was trained, who were their mentors.

Speaker 3 (20:47):
So I I okay, So let me be clear. I
am completely disappointed on both sides. I don't I am disappointed,
and if someone does come around, this is what My
girlfriend caused this right now, and as a journalist, she goes,
these are this is wartime journalism. We are we are

(21:07):
living in a world where journalists are afraid to speak truth.
I watched Scott Pelly give a commencement speech. He refused
to mention Donald Trump's name, but we all knew what
he was talking about. And the reason why he couldn't
mention his name was because his company's being super Donald
Trump for sixty million dollars.

Speaker 1 (21:23):
Well, that's intimidation and that's mafia.

Speaker 3 (21:26):
And that's what the temperature is now for people who
are supposed to be the truth seekers and tell the truth.
That is the temperature for the people who are these
elected officials. Everyone is afraid of the fear, the power,
the money, and that's why we're in a bad space.
So if you're here to speak the truth and get uncomfortable,
that's what people are asking for.

Speaker 1 (21:45):
I'm not getting uncomfortable.

Speaker 2 (21:47):
Well they might get uncomfortable.

Speaker 1 (21:49):
Others may get uncomfortable, but they're thinking what they're thinking,
what I'm saying. Sure, they're just afraid to say it.
I'm not because I'm comfortable with it, because it's actually
the right answer, because I'm doing it for the right reasons. Sure,
just rolling up my sleeves and I'm saying enough enough
because I'm worried about my children's future and everyone else's

(22:12):
children's future. And if I don't do this, then I'm
not doing my part.

Speaker 2 (22:17):
Sure.

Speaker 1 (22:17):
And when my friends said to me, you know you're crazy.
What are you doing this for? Your life's great? I
go because you don't want to do it. Yeah, because
you don't want to do it. And you know what,
I'll go out there because I'm good. I'm going to
say these hard truths. And you know, look, when it
comes to sports and what you talked about. I took biology.

(22:40):
I was gonna be it. I was gonna be a surgeon.
And I took genetics and xx is x x and
x y s x y. And when you say that
it's it's not competitive. It's not competitive, and I don't
want to get hurt. When I was in charge of
boxing in UFC, we always made sure it was a

(23:02):
fair fight, fair fight. No one was doing drugs, there
are no enhancements. A fair fight, fair fight. You want
a fair fight, fair fight, and if you're a good athlete,
you should only want a fair fight so otherwise, why
would you want to compete if you know it's not

(23:23):
going to be a competitive fight and you have some
type of advantage.

Speaker 3 (23:28):
I just wish there was someone who said, let's talk
about the humanity of it while we While I don't
think it's and we recently had that incident in northern California, Yeah,
I wish someone said, listen, we haven't figured this out.
We're trying to figure this out. Because I give them credit,
they tried to figure it out, and I thought that

(23:48):
was great. I thought, Okay, let's find some happy compromise.
But in the process we're forgetting about the human There's
still a young teenager being criticized and harassed and being
treated poorly by people who feel like they're protesting the
right way. Instead of protesting policy, they're protesting this kid.
And I'm like, this person is still a kid. This

(24:09):
child is still a child. And for the big thing
that I think a lot of politicians are missing, and
these people who are angry, whether it be right or left,
the humanity of it all.

Speaker 1 (24:19):
So I've got concept. Can we bring back sanity and humanity?

Speaker 2 (24:24):
Can we bring that back?

Speaker 1 (24:25):
Sanity and humanity? How simple is this? Right, all these things,
but even in California, and when I did my due
diligence in California, I because of my experience, and everyone
wants to do policy papers that are thirty and fifty
pages long. It's bullshit. How about simple solutions. We can

(24:49):
fix the affordability crisis. I know how to do that.
I know how to fix the homeless crisis because I've
been involved in building, I've been involved in charities with
the homeless crisis. And now to solve the entertainment crisis
in California.

Speaker 2 (25:04):
How do you saw that?

Speaker 3 (25:05):
Tell me why we bring it out Hollywood back if
you're running for office.

Speaker 1 (25:08):
It's really making it. We're making an investment in Hollywood.
We're not giving tax incentives to anyone. Okay, we forgot
this great export. We did not invest in this esport.
We allowed it to be taken away. Yeah, and now
we have to be competitive and we can using our
GDP of the state and investing in We're not giving

(25:30):
tax incentives to anybody. We're investing in We're investing in agriculture,
We're investing in innovation, We're investing in manufacturing. We're investing
in travel and tourism. Because we all benefit because we're
customers in California.

Speaker 3 (25:42):
And I want to be clear, I love that you're
specifically talking about the state. I am going to always
this is my home state. I'm always going to be
a fan of protecting the state and making sure that
there's a purity here that I grew up, that I
grew up in and that you grew up in.

Speaker 2 (25:58):
And that's why we love it.

Speaker 3 (25:59):
There's a difference between meeting someone I really truly believe
this born and raised in southern California, versus meeting someone
who was born and raised in another part of the
United States of America. We I don't think and I
have this conversation often the people that I know who
are from here, from LA even making it that simple,
really down to earth, really easy, very very like, come one,

(26:24):
come all. It is a very care free approach. I
live in New York, now I can. There is a
clear difference. There's a care free approach.

Speaker 1 (26:32):
I could. I couldn't live in New York. I mean
it's too much, so much for a lot of people.
I would go to New York. I have PTSD from
being York. I got PTSD. No I had to you know,
First of all, I grew up here. I did not
even go to the East Coast till I went to
college in Boston, and that was an adjustment. And then

(26:52):
I went to New York. But then I went to
New York for business.

Speaker 2 (26:56):
That's where you go.

Speaker 1 (26:58):
And all I know, I'm just like walking up down
Park Avenue, begging for money, getting a lot of no's.
So I got PTSD being in New York. And but
you know, growing up on the strip in Las Vegas too,
that's the Middle East. No that you think you make
it New York. You make it on the Strip in
Las Vegas. You like combat, that's full on combat. But

(27:22):
I grew up with southern We have Southern California values.
We got California values, and it's so unique, it's so unique,
and I tell you all over the world, this is
the best place in the world. We had such a
and I want to bring that back where we had
the bully pulpit of the United States. And as California goes,
the rest of the United States follows. We just lost it.

(27:45):
We let it go. We let it go because I
think I think we took it for granted, of course
took and it was taken away. Yeah, because they said, oh,
they're not paying attention.

Speaker 3 (27:57):
I'm about to go be in a new relationship and
I'm gonna go and y'all don't deserve me. I'm gonna
put on a little back dress and go find me
a new boo. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely, exact.

Speaker 2 (28:05):
Same thing, same You got a new boo? No, I'm
in theory California went.

Speaker 1 (28:12):
So.

Speaker 2 (28:17):
We did not come to talk about my booze? Did we?
Did we talk about this?

Speaker 1 (28:23):
You do?

Speaker 2 (28:23):
You have a new boo?

Speaker 1 (28:24):
No? You know what my new boo is?

Speaker 2 (28:27):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (28:27):
Work fighting for California.

Speaker 2 (28:29):
I love it.

Speaker 1 (28:30):
That's my new booth.

Speaker 2 (28:31):
That's all you need to do. That's all you need.

Speaker 3 (28:34):
My advice to you stay single and continue to fight
for California.

Speaker 1 (28:38):
Stand straight, try, try your best. I know I'm gonna
kick ass.

Speaker 2 (28:42):
Mabel's helping.

Speaker 1 (28:44):
She's helping. She's my Babel's getting married at the end
of the year. I'm walking her down there.

Speaker 2 (28:50):
I'm sorry you feel are you? Are you feeling okay?

Speaker 1 (28:52):
I'm feeling good about it.

Speaker 2 (28:53):
Okay? Are you sad? No?

Speaker 1 (28:55):
I'm thrilled. I'm gonna have it. I've got two kids now,
I've got one getting married at the end of the
ear and I get another one that's good to get engaged,
and I'm actually good with it. I thought I was
going to freak out about this, yeah, but I'm actually
good with it.

Speaker 2 (29:10):
I want to say this about you.

Speaker 3 (29:12):
I think that if people don't get a moment to
understand you, that they will have different preconceived notions.

Speaker 2 (29:18):
And I know that because I experience that. But your
heart is so.

Speaker 3 (29:21):
Very big in general to people you do not know.
You do not know me, and you'll say, hey, do
you want I can do this for you?

Speaker 2 (29:28):
Do you need that? I'll help you with that. Do
you want to come here? You want to do that?

Speaker 3 (29:31):
You're very giving in ways that I think are not
not normal because people are always thinking there is more
to it. I love the idea of someone with that
type of heart. Even when we first met and we
wanted to do the show about helping other people and
being not necessarily undercover boss, but more of the person

(29:51):
who's like, oh, you need this to help your business, Well,
then why don't I give you thirty thousand dollars to
get out of debt? Like that was the idea of
this show that you and I were initially trying to
do during COVID shout out to Jason Kennedy.

Speaker 2 (30:04):
And that's generally who you are.

Speaker 3 (30:06):
And so for me, someone having that type of heart,
a servant's heart, service heart, I think that's what we need.
But we also truly need people to make it plain.
Donald Trump has taken the language of politics out of it.
So as I sit here and talk to you, I'm
telling you, make it plain. There's no more dancing around

(30:27):
what the policy is. If you don't like something, I
don't like it. I think that's bull I think it.

Speaker 2 (30:32):
Should be this.

Speaker 3 (30:33):
Don't politic talk me because I don't want to hear it,
because I'm not gonna believe you. I'm speaking as someone
who is a constituent, but I'm also speaking as someone
who has done the work, who's talked to these people
on the streets who explain why they voted for Donald Trump.
He made it real plain, and I think that's the
problem with politicians now. They don't make it plain, they
don't make it simple. The first time I ever really thought, oh,

(30:54):
I love me some Gavin Newsom was when he was like,
I will never work for Donald Trump. I was like, well,
talk yo shit, Like I need to hear that in
this climate.

Speaker 1 (31:03):
Yeah, it's I can't.

Speaker 2 (31:04):
You can't talk business to me and think I understand you.

Speaker 1 (31:07):
No, I get It's really simple. I will make your
world more affordable, livable, and workable. I will protect you.
I will always tell you the truth. Yeah, okay, and
I believe that I will always tell you the truth.
And sometimes it's hard, and I'm going to make sure

(31:28):
that everyone's protected protected. I'm like, we're dealing with like
the National Guard coming into California, and I called up
the governor and I'm like, Gov, is your national Guard?
Would you tell Donald to get the fuck out of
our state? That's not his stay out of our state.

(31:48):
We're country, pal, don't push us around.

Speaker 3 (31:52):
The last time the National Guard was sent in at
the president's request without that state's governor being required, it
was in nineteen sixty five, and that was during a
time in which they were trying to desegregate school's universities
in the South. What happened in California didn't even equal

(32:16):
what happened in the South. And so that's when I.

Speaker 1 (32:22):
We don't have leadership in this state that's protecting us.

Speaker 3 (32:27):
I look, I don't know how you get passed. I'm
not a politician. I don't know how you get pasted
Donald Trump and the fear of what could happen if.

Speaker 1 (32:33):
You know what you do is you have a leader
that he respects. You're sitting right next to him.

Speaker 2 (32:42):
Okay, we'll talk to shit because I want to know
who he respects.

Speaker 1 (32:45):
It an, it's really simple. I just say, knock it off,
get the fuck out of our state.

Speaker 2 (32:54):
That's the language we need.

Speaker 1 (32:55):
It's really simple.

Speaker 2 (32:56):
That's the language we need.

Speaker 1 (32:57):
Okay, we're California, that's the language we need. It's like
we're here. You need us more than we need you.
But guess what, we got to work together because we
got ninety four billion dollars that we're contributing to you.
So you think we got to kiss your ring, why
don't you come kiss our ring?

Speaker 3 (33:17):
I wish And if leadership across the country did that,
we see a whole different world, which I think maybe
in respect.

Speaker 1 (33:24):
I don't get me wrong. I would just I just
say knock it the fuck OFFI.

Speaker 2 (33:29):
It just enough.

Speaker 1 (33:34):
Go sit on your gold toilets, okay, and have somebody
bring you goddamn McDonald's. Yeah, because you must be on
that toilet a lot. If you eat McDonald's all the time,
and I just don't. I'm not eating McDonald's.

Speaker 2 (33:48):
You don't eat McDonald's.

Speaker 1 (33:48):
I did. I love it.

Speaker 2 (33:50):
McDonald's.

Speaker 1 (33:51):
I'm into heavy handed now in Studio City. It's good burger.
I've never had burger Tommy's too.

Speaker 3 (33:58):
Okay, but remember that time we ate what did we
eat barbecue in Vegas?

Speaker 1 (34:02):
Oh? No, fried chicken?

Speaker 2 (34:04):
Was it your? Was KFC or something?

Speaker 1 (34:06):
No?

Speaker 3 (34:06):
What was that?

Speaker 1 (34:07):
Popeyes?

Speaker 2 (34:08):
Okay?

Speaker 1 (34:08):
No, that's my go to? Okay, Taco Bell.

Speaker 2 (34:10):
Popyes, okay, I remember.

Speaker 3 (34:12):
But you don't eat McDonald's. I have a hard time believing.

Speaker 1 (34:16):
That Frenchies are really really good.

Speaker 2 (34:17):
Yeah, how could you?

Speaker 1 (34:18):
Frenchies are great.

Speaker 2 (34:19):
Don't be above it.

Speaker 3 (34:20):
Let's come together, above it, let's meet, let's let's just
come across the aisle.

Speaker 1 (34:23):
We both like McDonalds, all right, double quarter protect with cheese.

Speaker 3 (34:27):
I mean, come on, I like a filet of fish.
I can't really criticize them for like a McDonald's.

Speaker 1 (34:32):
We had to have that on Fridays in school, lay
a fish. I went to an Episcopalian prep.

Speaker 2 (34:37):
School and they gave you file of fish.

Speaker 1 (34:39):
We had to eat fish on Fridays, filet of.

Speaker 2 (34:40):
Fish or just a fish sandwich.

Speaker 1 (34:43):
It was a fish sandwich. But we did have at
Meadow Oaks when I went to Moreland Hills.

Speaker 2 (34:48):
This is important.

Speaker 1 (34:49):
We had Taco Bell on Wednesday. This is important, Taco Bell.
But on Fridays we got.

Speaker 2 (34:54):
What's your favorite fast food from? Is it? Is it?

Speaker 3 (34:56):
If you had a choice between in and Out and
Dell Taco? Two different Oh wait, let's just keep it Burger's,
Taco Bell, del Taco.

Speaker 1 (35:04):
Where would you go Taco Bell?

Speaker 2 (35:06):
Mm hmm, I don't know what would you pack of?

Speaker 1 (35:10):
What? Crunchy tacos? Come on with chicken or beef?

Speaker 2 (35:14):
Beef beef?

Speaker 1 (35:16):
Don't mess it up?

Speaker 2 (35:16):
Okay, Jack in the box tacos. Do you like those?

Speaker 1 (35:19):
The mini tacos are good, really great.

Speaker 3 (35:22):
Yeah, but those are really good. Okay, in and out
McDonald's in and out.

Speaker 2 (35:26):
Fat Burger?

Speaker 1 (35:27):
Oh, in and out? Please over fat Burger.

Speaker 3 (35:31):
This is crazy, This is blasphemous. I can't even continue on.

Speaker 1 (35:36):
The best studio for the best burger handed studio, City
Tallow fries rock Okay fried chicken.

Speaker 2 (35:48):
I'm a popeyees I love Popeye.

Speaker 1 (35:50):
That's my favorite.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
I love Originally it just depends.

Speaker 3 (35:54):
I go back and forth. It depends on the mood
that I'm in. Its depends. It just depends on my mood.
I will tell you though, I just came back from Portugal.
I have a confession.

Speaker 1 (36:04):
In Portugal, I was.

Speaker 3 (36:05):
In Lisbon and they have the allegedly the most beautiful McDonald's.
It's considered the most beautiful. True story, Google it. They
allegedly have the most beautiful McDonald's. One of the folks
I was traveling with made us go to this McDonald's
and I've never seen anything more elegant. It was something
out of it felt like it was something out of
the thirties. It was gorgeous, it was like's. It was well,

(36:28):
I mean, I don't know how much big mac. No,
it was just a big Mac. And then it was
a big Mac. It's a big mac. People come there
for the American experience.

Speaker 1 (36:39):
What do they call it big Mack in Paris?

Speaker 2 (36:41):
I don't know. I haven't been to McDonald's in Paris,
but I have been to Paris.

Speaker 1 (36:44):
I think it's called El Royal.

Speaker 3 (36:46):
Okay, can I say something back to the chicken? Yeah,
they offer chicken at this McDonald's and I it was
chicken wings. Dare I say it might be better than Popeye's. No, okay,
I don't want to find Have you.

Speaker 2 (37:00):
Been in Lisbon?

Speaker 1 (37:01):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (37:02):
Have you been to this McDonald's.

Speaker 1 (37:04):
No, but operated resorts in Portugal.

Speaker 3 (37:07):
Well, you haven't been to McDonald's in Lisbon. I'm the
expert here, sir.

Speaker 2 (37:14):
That those chicken wings were fired?

Speaker 1 (37:17):
Yeah, like order things?

Speaker 2 (37:19):
Oh no no no, no, no, no, no no no. I
can't do that.

Speaker 3 (37:21):
You can't do that anymore either, since you've done it,
got healthy heart, jevity, Now you got to eat.

Speaker 1 (37:30):
I'm gonna ask you a question. This is a question.
I want to know.

Speaker 2 (37:33):
What are we talking about?

Speaker 1 (37:33):
No, but listen, No, this is important.

Speaker 2 (37:36):
This is important.

Speaker 1 (37:37):
So you grew up to be a journalist. Be a journalist.
You grew up with the mom, mom and dad.

Speaker 3 (37:45):
I grew up in a single parent household. My dad
and I were not close until I probably graduated from
high school. He was in and out of my life.
My mother raised me and I wanted to be a reporter.
When I saw this woman on the TV one day,
well two women. One woman was a local anchor here
on ABC News, and I think her name might have
been Angela black. At the time, I can't really remember,

(38:07):
but I remember saying, this woman looks familiar. And then
sometime later I saw this other woman who was an
African American woman who had so much power. Like I
walked past the television and she was on and talking
and I just stopped and stared at her.

Speaker 2 (38:22):
You may have heard of her. Her name is Oprah,
and so with Oprah Winfrey. Are you familiar?

Speaker 3 (38:26):
No, Yeah, she's kind of famous. And when I saw
her on TV, I was like, I want to shoot. Well,
she's she talks for little she's not so much anymore.
She's a billionaire and she now she travels and drinks
tequila and she pops around with her best girlfriend, Gail,
and they go to different events and they surprise people
just you know.

Speaker 2 (38:44):
But before that, she did some things.

Speaker 1 (38:46):
I heard of a guy that she's kind of hooked
up with. Oh, which one Stebman.

Speaker 2 (38:50):
I heard of him too.

Speaker 3 (38:51):
He's good, and so that's why I wanted to be Yeah,
i've never met Sepman. Actually I love Stepman for being
Oprah forever because I couldn't even imagine that relationship. But
she was the reason I wanted to be on air.

Speaker 1 (39:03):
You know he does psychological work.

Speaker 2 (39:05):
Yes, he's he has to.

Speaker 3 (39:08):
He's a very cerebral man. He has to be extremely intelligent,
especially with someone like Oprah, and have such a good
sense of self because.

Speaker 2 (39:15):
Of all that she is.

Speaker 3 (39:17):
And I love that they keep their relationship private, Like
I love that about them. To be able to do that,
it's unheard of, unheard.

Speaker 1 (39:26):
She's an epic woman. I mean epic that that was
your idol she was. And it wasn't so.

Speaker 3 (39:34):
Much that she was Oprah because she wasn't Oprah at
the time. It was so much her authenticity, which is
why people used to press her to run for office.
She was so authentic, her weight, battles her, her issues
with her mother, her her family betraying her as she grows,
you know, to the highest of levels. She put it
all out there and we were going through the emotions

(39:55):
with her, and there is something to be said for authenticity.
Everybody can't do it, but she managed it so well.

Speaker 1 (40:02):
And because she's not afraid.

Speaker 3 (40:04):
She wasn't afraid naive or she was also naive. She
was also the naive to say is a really it's
a it's a strong thing that you should think about.

Speaker 2 (40:12):
It really is helpful, you know what.

Speaker 1 (40:16):
I buy it because I have been naive at times,
because I'll do some crazy ass shit and it helps you,
and you know, portually it's worked more times than it's
not correct, but it also allows you to learn how
to pivot quick. And you know, she's she's what's so
great about Oprah is she's about service. It's so real

(40:39):
and and I just so love what she does because
it is real. It's just she's thrown out car keys
to people and I relate to that. And you know,
she wants people's lives to be better. And she gets
the energy as I do. When I see others do well.
I get that energy, which is so odd opposite of

(41:01):
you know, Donald Duck and the way he operates is
just me, me, me, me me. It's just I just want
to everyone do well. I don't need anything, Okay. What
gives me just so much happiness is just to see
others aspire. I mean, I want your career to be great.
I want all my friends career. I want all my
friends to do well. It's all I care about in life.

(41:24):
I believe today I want all the kids to do well.
I want to teach them and just watch their success.

Speaker 3 (41:31):
Authenticity which you have, Honesty which I would assume I'm
going to talk to Mabel about this later.

Speaker 2 (41:39):
You have as well.

Speaker 3 (41:40):
And I think that as you put yourself out there,
you admit all the things you've done right, but more importantly,
all the things you've done wrong.

Speaker 1 (41:48):
Oh, I'm not a perfect guy. You know, none of
us shocking, shocking?

Speaker 2 (41:52):
Are you kidding? Let me write that down. I didn't
know that.

Speaker 3 (41:55):
Yes, I know it's perfect, and that's what we love.
I want to know it's MESSI I want to know
that you've figured it out when it wasn't messy. And
then I also want you to speak plain. That's it
you success, key to success.

Speaker 1 (42:06):
One hundred percent, and I know there is a pathway
to it, and we're going to try to break through
that where we can get to a point where we
can have non viatrolla language with each other. But you
know what, I will never know what it's like to
grow up in Pasadena as a black woman ever, unless
I talk to you and ask, unless you ask.

Speaker 2 (42:28):
Here's the thing.

Speaker 3 (42:30):
I think that what we forget is that. And I'm
not giving anybody credit because I think I have empathy
for everybody just because I am a marginalized person. But
people look and say, oh, you've made it, you're successful,
you're not marginalized. But I immediately know what it feels
like to be overlooked and not heard and or seen,
and it is not. Race isn't something that is a

(42:51):
convenient thing for me. I deal with it when I
walk in a room, when I meet people, when I
say hello, that's the first thing you see. You see
my race and my gender. And for people who are
you know, heterosexual, white males, they don't have that issue.
Race is something that they could either pay attention to
or not pay attention to if it's inconvenient for the day.
They don't need to talk about it. So when I
see people who are genuinely trying to make a difference

(43:14):
and not ignoring the plight of humanity, I feel as
if I want to pay attention. And I think that most.

Speaker 2 (43:23):
People agree with that.

Speaker 3 (43:24):
In our country and right now, we need and what
I'm seeing. So if I am working and I'm sitting
next to Scott Jennings, that oftentimes happens when I do CNN,
and I know for a fact, in my heart of hearts,
I know he knows what I'm talking about.

Speaker 2 (43:40):
But if it's.

Speaker 3 (43:41):
Inconvenient for his party, for him, for anyone else, they
don't want to pay attention to it, and so I
just would love to take whatever this inconvenience is that
people feel like they don't have to talk about or
they are exhausted from hearing. I would love for someone
to be able to say, I'm taking up that mantle.
I want to talk about it. I want to do

(44:02):
the work, and I don't want them to look like me.

Speaker 2 (44:04):
I'm tired.

Speaker 1 (44:05):
You know what I want. I want you to do
well and everyone.

Speaker 2 (44:10):
Yeah, why do you think I'm in here.

Speaker 1 (44:12):
I'm at the point in my life where I just
want to give, give gift and just help everyone. Yeah,
help everyone out and just have everyone do well. And
I'll go fight that goddamn fight for anybody and protect.
I will go run in the fire and save. I
will cook whatever meal you want. I will serve it

(44:34):
to you and make sure we have a good dinner
and clean the plate and I will have fun doing it.
I will sweep the floor, and I'm okay with it.
All the job, the job I do, any job. I'm
not afraid to do all those jobs and I've tried
to teach my children today, I'm gonna have to make

(44:54):
you fight a little bit too. I Am not just
going to be that cool dad that just gives you everything.
You have to work for it. You show up early,
you stay late, you go to work with running nose,
no mental health day pal, Sorry, get your ass out
of bed.

Speaker 2 (45:11):
Don't tell this generation that.

Speaker 1 (45:13):
Well, no bullshit. That's the problem because we did it
to them and I won't allow it. Yeah, I get
in fights with my friends. I said, what is wrong
with you? Would you kick your kids ass?

Speaker 3 (45:26):
I honestly, if I look at where we are at
the country, and I'm not blaming generations, I honestly believe
this history repeats itself and it's just time to burn
it all down and build it back up. And that's
just what America gets, what America deserves.

Speaker 1 (45:39):
And yeah, we had two terrible leaders to choose from.
We had two terrible leaders to choose from.

Speaker 2 (45:46):
Listen, we haven't had leadership in a long time.

Speaker 1 (45:48):
So it's time for new leadership and people to stand up.
And the problem has been those that have been successful
or have experience, experience leaders This is leaders. Uh huh,
They're not willing to go out there because of the
paparazzi or maybe the negative press story. I don't care.

(46:11):
I'm just like everything about me's on the internet. And
what I'm saying when I'm trying to articulate maybe not well,
is people don't have the brass balls to just go
out there and and help and serve.

Speaker 3 (46:24):
You know, I just and this is like, it's all perspective.
Look who look who the president is. You talk about scandal,
you talk about what he's been through, he ignores it.
I I will say this, when you talk about the
journalism that you grew up with. I don't think we've
ever seen anything like this so publicly done in our
poult is, so we don't know how to address it.

Speaker 1 (46:46):
All of this is okay, Oh it's all new. Then
why don't we aggressively called bullshit on our constitution? The
emoluments Clause I.

Speaker 2 (46:57):
Journals. I agree.

Speaker 1 (46:59):
What you're saying aggressively is saying, okay, Trump, No, you
can't have your names on buildings. No, I can't sell
cell phones, No you can't sell sneakers, No you can't
have cryptocurrency, blind trust, and where the fuck are your
tax returns? I Okay, So, by the way, have you
ever paid taxes?

Speaker 2 (47:18):
Never?

Speaker 3 (47:19):
I am in agreement with you. But what I want
to be very clear about the journalism that you grew
up with may have felt different, but they weren't dealing
with leaders like Donald Trump.

Speaker 1 (47:30):
So why why don't you aggressively call them out?

Speaker 3 (47:33):
And the reason why, as I mentioned earlier, why people
aren't calling out Donald Trump because he's suing these companies
and winning, and people are capitulating to his power. The
board of directors, the people who are the bosses, and
they are making it very difficult for people who were
employed by them to do their job.

Speaker 2 (47:49):
Journalists.

Speaker 3 (47:50):
Yes, we're going to see some great journalism, and yes
we'll see moments where people really show us the truth.
I think what Jake Tapper did in telling us how
they covered up what was going on with Joe Biden
was amazing journalism.

Speaker 2 (48:00):
I mean, people were afraid to do it.

Speaker 3 (48:02):
But there's also going to be those a majority of
people who work in front of the camera who were
just talking he has because they are employed by people
who are saying, don't go too hard on Donald. I
don't want his I don't want his his wrath coming
down in our company. I don't want him to sue us.
We're watching these companies fold and capitulate and give him
hundreds and millions of dollars to leave them alone. It

(48:24):
is almost impossible to do great journalism when your boss
is paying the president of the United States to go
away and not bother you. I think, and I'm not
saying that anybody is good for what they're doing. That's
why you're seeing a lot of journalists who were linear,
forward facing, big market journalists doing small things now like
they're doing their sub stack, they're doing YouTube, they are
taking away the fact, they're taking it away from these

(48:47):
big networks and they're creating their own because this is
the only way that they can speak truth to power
and not be intimidated by their bosses or the board
of directors or stockholders or whoever is trying to control
the narrative. And we're going to see see more of that.
So the journalism that you're familiar with is just a
new type of journalism. It's just not that traditional sit
in front of it.

Speaker 1 (49:06):
Nobody everyone knows substack No.

Speaker 3 (49:13):
Subsac is a blog where you can it's essentially a
vlog where you can do video. You can, You can
create your own people subscribe, you send out a newsletter.
To me. That's where I get a lot of my
journalism from too. A lot of my excuse me, my
news is.

Speaker 2 (49:27):
From all the.

Speaker 3 (49:29):
You don't have the time, but you make the time
for things that matter. Like you're like, okay, so what
is going on with this big beautiful bill, what's going
on with DULs There are things that you just want
to be informed about because it does and it'll ultimately
come to your front door.

Speaker 1 (49:41):
But don't you have to then pay attention to do
who's writing it.

Speaker 3 (49:46):
Which is why I the same way that I consume CNN,
I consume Fox News the same way. The same way
that I follow conservative bloggers, I follow people who are
not conservative, I think right now, because there are no
checks and balance and people don't believe in the truth anymore.
I could read something, I'm like, this doesn't sound truthful,
but I just continue. You have to research you, I

(50:07):
think every day everyday, citizens who are not journalists have
to be journalists. You have to determine what's true or
what's not true. That's literally what we're doing right now,
which is why to me, when you are running for office.
Anybody can say anything about you with AI. They could
say you did this and it's not true. You're going
to have to really truly. And that is what I've
noticed what made Donald so successful. He stopped caring about

(50:31):
conservative journalism, traditional journalism. He went to all of the
podcasts and he talked to his bros. And he sent
a message out and the bros were happy, and the
bros sent that message out and it took over. Before
it finally got to us, it had been seen over
I don't know, I would guess upwards of fifteen million
times before it came to the simple people at CNN

(50:52):
and we're just sitting there talking about it. It had
been all over the internet all day long, and the
truth or whatever version of the truth, had already been
out there. And that is because, as he made it plain,
he knew who to go to. It was strategic. I
am saying to the Democratic Party find the same way.
You have a podcast. You're answering the call, but make
sure you're getting out to your version of the bros,
or create your version of the bros. And you control

(51:14):
the narrative and you tell the truth. You don't rely
on what I do anymore because you can't. There's too
many talking heads like I'm not saying I'm in that,
like what I'm doing is not important. But what I
am saying is that I know that people are taking
advantage of this time and creating their own networks, creating
their own blogs, own their own narratives to combat what's happening.

(51:35):
There is a different type of journalism. It's not what
we're used to, and we got to get familiar with
it and understand it.

Speaker 1 (51:40):
That's a great explanation because I was trying to explain
this to a lot of people and you just did
find that.

Speaker 2 (51:46):
Great, We'll moving there. We're done. We're done with that.

Speaker 1 (51:48):
We're done with that. So let me ask a question.
So this is it's a question I ask everyone. It's
important question because I have thought about this. Okay, if
you had one day with somebody who's no longer here
on planet Earth, no one day, just I want you
to think about this. This is important. It could be Socrates,

(52:09):
it could be Aristotle, George Washington, Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman,
uh Bill Clinton, Kareem app Jewelsh, bar Wilt Chamberlain. This
is sports who is not here elgind Baylor. I met
Elgin Baylor. I met Will Chamberlain. Wil Chamberlain was.

Speaker 2 (52:29):
A friend of mine, hang out together, not in that way.

Speaker 1 (52:34):
I was a little boy, so I was just I
didn't even understand what he was up to. He was
the man he was, he was no you know what.
He was kind to me. Just a little Jewish boy.
I like that, and he was just nice to me
all the time. It was just he's he was a legend.
And I met Ernie Banks. Uh. My dad had a

(52:57):
lot of My dad was a big sports guy. I'm
not sports guy, which is crazy. I ran the Athletic
Commission and I'm not a sports guy. Maybe maybe that's
why I put my finger in Dustin Boy's chest one night.
I didn't even know who was. That was kind of silly,
the guy whoregor.

Speaker 2 (53:14):
No, it's fine, it's completely fine.

Speaker 1 (53:15):
But he did pay attention. He was being a knucklehead.
He sat down that night. He's just being silly. But
so one day, one day, somebody's not here, who would
you want to spend the day with.

Speaker 3 (53:26):
I've been asked this question in very different ways, and
so sometimes I'll say I wish I could talk to Jesus.
But I do that anyway. So that's that's that is
a thing I But if I, if I the mood
that I have been in right now, the space that
I live in right now, I would like to talk
to a disruptor who at one point was considered public

(53:49):
Enemy number one. But after time went on, because time
always tells your story, after time went on and they
started to settle into the world and people became more
aware of the world in which we lived in, that
person became a hero. That happens often here in the
United States of America. You can be considered public Enemy

(54:11):
number one, but if you live long enough and the
world starts to reveal itself as it does, you then
are a hero. And so one person that I think of,
there are quite a few that I would love to
spend a day with, but the one person is Muhammad Ali.
He was vilified, and he was bold, and he was unapologetic,

(54:34):
and he had something to lose. People when they have
something to lose don't want to fight. They get quiet.
But he got louder. And he not only did he
in so many ways even defy the nation of Islam,
he defied this country and told this country, that this
war wasn't right that they were in at the time,

(54:54):
and that he would not be a part of it.

Speaker 2 (54:56):
He lost his entire career and he had to.

Speaker 3 (54:57):
Fight his way back up the And only when he
could no longer talk did he become a hero to
many people in this country. When he was affected with
illness and it didn't allow him to put his words
together and he couldn't really talk at all he could
do was smile and laugh, he became a figure that
wasn't as scary, and his words, in perspective weren't as terrifying.

Speaker 1 (55:21):
Did you interview him?

Speaker 2 (55:22):
I've never had the opportunity. I've interviewed his daughter.

Speaker 1 (55:25):
I was what would what would you say to him?
What would you I want to know? What would you
ask him?

Speaker 3 (55:30):
And why was he so fearless? Where does that come from?
Why were you willing to risk it all, not knowing
whether or not you could get it back? Where where
does that come from? I rarely meet the person who
is willing to put everything they have on the line.
I'm even talking about myself, my livelihood, my family. Why
I don't meet many people who do that?

Speaker 1 (55:52):
Are you willing to do it?

Speaker 2 (55:53):
No?

Speaker 3 (55:53):
Why I'm scared. Why, in very many ways, I don't
want to I'm scared in this sense. I don't mind
I speaking truth to power. I don't mind. But if
you said to me, Carrie, you're about to be homeless,
You'll never work in this business again, you won't have
any any rewards. Your family is going to be destitute,
and we're gonna come after them, and we're going to
tear you down. I don't know if I'm ready for

(56:16):
that fight. Willingly, unknowingly sure, but willingly, knowingly writing it
all down, this is the plan.

Speaker 2 (56:26):
I don't do that.

Speaker 3 (56:27):
I do it naturally. I put my foot in my
mouth all the time. Naturally. I say things that are
in approach, that are considered controversial all the time. But
it's an instinct. It's not a plan. It's what I'm doing.
I'm talking on this podcast. I'm sure somebody will be
mad at something I said here. But he was very
clear and he had a plan. And very few athletes,
especially at that time, especially during the sixties, they weren't

(56:51):
speaking up, they weren't fighting against power. They were happy
to finally be in the family, finally be considered, finally
be in a league, where peapeople respected them finally not
be segregated, segregated, and he did it knowing everything was
on the line. And there's not that many athletes that
I can think of, and there's ways to go about it.

(57:11):
Jackie Robinson would also be someone else, but I'm just saying,
Muhammad Ali Jackie Robinson did it differently. But he got
so fed up towards the end of his career. He
was I mean when I say he was a man
of anger because of all of the shit that he
went through. I understood why he was so angry towards
the end of his career and why he was so
bold and spoke out. But he had to play this
role in order for us to get to a space

(57:32):
where we understood that it was more about black and
white unifying.

Speaker 2 (57:36):
As opposed to being separate.

Speaker 3 (57:37):
But there are people who make these huge sacrifices knowingly,
knowingly going into it knowing that it's probably going to
tear their spirit apart, probably going to break them down
in ways that they have never that they can even imagine,
and whether they get built back up, they wouldn't know.
And Muhammad a Lee to me justified that, exemplified that was.

Speaker 1 (57:55):
That and that I will take the heart and rock
you very much and I'm grateful you're here.

Speaker 3 (58:02):
California, California, get a clue.

Speaker 2 (58:06):
See the cob as the California send the chair. This
is a due See the comment with the bar us
through s