on our social media pages as well as our metropolitan email. lawrence jones got a big show, maybe even two hours if he feels like it. thanks, casey. lawrence: our nation leaders are spending their night at the white house for the correspondents dinner. we'll hear from the president joe biden. in the heartland people are dealing with the fallout of those same leaders. america's once great cities are in decay. much of the blame falls squarely on the leaders who insisted on

pushing a radical program. the floodgates opened in 2020 when they came up with a bright idea to defund the police. they wanted us to believe take resources away from hot police would make us safer. major cities that embraced the idea found themselves in crime. and no city saw so much of a change in life than portland, oregon. portland jumped to the defunds the police movement in 2020. the council cut its budget by $15 million. in 2020 homicides increased 83% in portland.

that trend continues in 2021 and 2022. the city tried to combat growing crime by refunding the police in late 2021. but the force is struggling to bring back officers. portland has become a prime example of how quickly a city can fall into anarchy when there is a break down in the rule of law. burning down buildings, squatters. violence in the streets. last year there was k at the pry crime, it's not much better. >> they hapull up and break into the front door and try to drag off the atm machine. some 2,500 small businesses left portland since the start of the pandemic while its population

dwindles. joining me, portland mayor ted wheeler. i have the opportunity to talk with some of your folks, and i find them to be compassionate people. i want to play some of the sound from them when i talk with them. take a listen. >> the city was once great 10 years ago. there was a lot of people moving, flourishing, the last five, no good. >> there are a lot of problems the city has faced. the homeless situation has been pretty bad. >> i think it's changed over the years. i wouldn't necessarily say for the better. >> the mayor is working hard at taking care of his favorite constituents, people with tons of money and property in the city but not so much on the rest of us.

i would love to see him listen to the people instead of shutting them down when think try to speak. >> a lot of it has to do with homelessness. in front of my house i have six, seven camps. parked out. people doing drugs all day. >> those are your constituents. what would you say to them? >> those are some of my constituents. i certainly hear those criticisms. and i ema thries with those criticisms. we definitely have significant challenges in the city of portland around homelessness and criminal activity and liveability. these are the problems exacerbated in large cities across america. but there are a lot of great things happening in the city of portland. we were identified by "forbes"

as being the number one travel city in 2023. we booked our largest ever convention. we have businesses moving to the city of portland and investing in the city of portland. the initiatives we with have taken improving public safety and cleaning up the litter and graffiti. i encourage those who are struggling under the current environment to have the patience to see the work through. lawrence: i'm glad you talk about the police funding. it's something it seems you changed your position on. this ways you said before. >> the actions and reforms i will share today repurpose police dollars, reinvest in people to create a more racially just city and reform public

safety standard. at the end of the day, all of these things i believe will help lift the community and make us all safer. lawrence: in fact mr. mayor, it didn't make your city safer. especially for people who look like me, black and brown people in your community. it seems like you changed your position on this issue. why? >> not at all. what you are talking about is out of context. it was about a specific fund. we are having record recruiting for the portland police bureau. i'm proud of the investments i made in gun violence reduction teams. i am proud of the partnerships with our county and other governments around retail and auto theft. i have always been pro hub safety. as the police commissioner i made it my business to make city

safe for our citizens. we don't even make the top list of the top 30 most dangerous cities in america. the reason we -- lawrence: i gotcha. i hear the point your trying to make. this is not something my network is trying to get out of thin air. i spend most of my time with the people. i was invited into your city. i have been talking with residents there. they say they are unsafe. they say tents are surrounding their houses and squatters are taking over the city. i see it with my own eyes, people shooting up with drugs. they say because of policies you support. the police commander i talked to yesterday said you did defund the police and made an anti-cop sentiment under the guise of

racial justice. it's not something i am saying. these are your residents. >> look, i heard enough from fox news to know your network does take a very dim view toward the city of poarltd, towards me and towards others. but that's beside the point. we are one of the few major cities in america -- we don't have a recruiting problem for our police bureau. we don't have a funding problem. under my leadership we have improved our recruiting. we added new units. we negotiated a fair contract with our police officers that they seem very pleased with. and in fact yesterday we reached a settlement with the portland police association on body worn cameras. i feel luke our relationship is collaborative. that doesn't mean you won't find one person out of a thousand or even a hundred out of a thousand

who can't find reasons to be upset or critical or concern. i accept all of that. as the mayor i get the good, the bad and the ugly. but as a city we are improving. we are increasing criminal activity at the neighborhood level. we are working with specific neighborhoods to address homelessness, crimes, drugs, and those have been successful resets in areas where we have done that. so i will take criticism, but i also want you to hear that things are improving. lawrence: we'll have more of my interview with the mayor of portland ted wheeler. and monday at 8:00 p.m. the

mayor brags about new businesses arriving while walmart and other stores leave. jason rantz, you just heard from the mayor. i commend the mayor for coming on. but he could not admit his city is less safe. he could not admit he wanted to defund the police. what do you think of that interview? >> he won't admit it because he's the one who was mostly responsible. it was the mayor along with the council who decided to pursue these policies. he was the one who originally cut it. as a result of cutting that team we saw gun violence surge. at the same time we have seen populations dwindle and have seen businesses leave. he can be a publicist for his

city he leads. but for him to pretend that the city is not going through the crises it's going through, all that means to me is he's got his head in the sand or he doesn't think it's an actual problem. he should spend more time talking to people in his community. you will probably find a thousand people who complain and one person who thinks all is well. lawrence: we are playing sound from his people. to dismiss their concern instead of responding to the heart of the issue. i don't understand how he could be an effective leader. >> he's not an effective leader. what's important to note, you have conversations with folks in portland two years ago. like in seattle, it's very, very far to the left. anyone who citizes policies coming out of a liberal city,

more and more people keep speaking up and they are getting momentum because they can no longer stay silent. when you are walking with your kid to your favorite park and it's been taken over by homeless. or you go to a business that is closing down because they suffered their tenth break-in. lawrence: the folks i spoke with, they are still liberal and progressive, they just reached their breaking point. up next, what jamie failla is seeing live from the white house correspondents dinner. tony here from creditrepair.com, helping people see the true cost of bad credit. what are you doing to improve your credit?

should i be doing something? absolutely, unless you like paying thousands extra in high interest rates. did you know repairing your credit could save you thousands of dollars in lower interest rates? wait, i can repair my credit? of course you can. even if you have a good score, repairing your credit can make it better. start working to improve your credit. get started at creditrepair.com.

give your small business one tech solution that checks all the boxes. it's all here with the comcast business complete connectivity solution. peace of mind with cyberthreat security. the power of the largest, fastest reliable network. plus, save up to 75% a year with comcast business mobile. the complete connectivity solution. from the company powered by the next generation 10g network. get started for just $49 a month. and ask about an $800 prepaid card. comcast business. powering possibilities™.

lawrence: we are moats away from the start of the white house correspondents dinner in washington, d.c. the press is seated. the president has arrived. and so has jimmy failla on the red carpet. what are you up to this year.

you have got a brother behind you. i knows who jimmy failla is. that's what it is. all the brothers hoff jimmy failla because jimmy failla can dress. >> we brought some real swag to the swamp. if anybody says anything about my jacket i have two guys i can hire to beat them up. lawrence: do they bring the -- >> they are sitting at my table right now. the weirdest thing happened. i knew i was going to be on tv, so i left my hotel to get a subway and 2:30 in the moaning. these dudes shoved me and said it was what? >> maga country. >> this is what you need to know. the white house correspondents

dinner has all the energy of nba weekend but all the stars got picked last in gym. lawrence: no swag, no nothing. >> no swag. you know how many people have come up to this pink jacket? they defunded the fashion police. they love this pink jacket. lawrence: are is the reception. it's full of dems. >> have the people in the room had any reaction to you being here? >> we are americans first. >> for $500, they will beat up anybody in the middle of the night. they do not discriminate.

>> they got the robe, they got the bleach. the hardest thing to find around here is a subway. i was in the dinner and i feel so bad for the wear it. karine jean-pierre was sitting by me and when i asked her what she was going to eat she had to look in the binder. the whole dinner is being held up so hopefully we'll be on time. >> don't let maga country get you in trouble. >> i will stay safe. lawrence: let's bring in our panel, tom shillue and kelly o'grady. i want to gauge your excitement of this event. joe, we know the president's approval rating is low.

i want you to hear from the american people i talked to in new york city. how would you describe joe biden. >> he's nice. >> nice. lawrence: what comes to mind when you think about president joe biden. >> i like joe. i feel like he's a little bit old right now. >> with regard to age. >> he's getting old. he would be a good grandpa. >> he's old. he's old. >> only cool. >> excuse me, i'm putting on my sunglasses. lawrence: how would you describe joe biden? >> not dedicated at all. >> give me a break, that's a bunch of malarkey. >> he did us a favor the first time and i think he should bow

out. >> what did he do? he beat donald trump. lawrence: what comes to mind when you think of joe biden. >> i don't really care about him. >> as long as the country is safe and peaceful. >> we are all in this together. lawrence: let me tell you i love going on the street because they always tell you what they think. how is he going to be received in a more friendly crowd. >> the friendly crowd in manhattan. >> the press that kind of concealed him. how will he be received? >> he will get rousing press. he will talk about a free and pair press and transparency.

but never judge him on his words, always judge him on his actions. he has had fewer press conferences than any president in 40 years at this point of his presidency. he gives a speech, gives remarks, then turns his back on reporters as they are trying to ask questions. when he does take questions, it comes from a predetermined list. some reporters play ball and say here is the question in advance. he will celebrate the press tonight and monday go back to ignoring them. lawrence: it's all about the timing, delivery of the joke. he will have the prompter to guide him. i'm assuming big thoughts. is he going to be able to land the bunches though? >> i worked with him before, he's a funny guy. i think this is a hell gig. it's a hard gig to do.

it's a big audience, a billing opportunity. but it's hard in a room like this when you are playing with people at the round tables. it's kind of cavernous. the best way to approach it is to read the teleprompter. make sure you get your jokes down. just plow through it and don't worry about the audience reanswer. that's what fouls you up. if you ever try to work the crowd, it's an awkward crowd to try to work. lawrence: when it comes to the jokes, do you think it will be an equal opportunity? or is it going to be skewed to one group of people? >> i wish i could say it will be equal opportunity. but past correspondents dinners show it might be skewed. i think he will tout the economy

and howe well it -- how well it. 37% approve. on the economy only 16% think he's doing well. >> i know we do this every single year. it's supposed to be a moment of pause where everyone is supposed to laugh. but i don't think people are feeling the politicians and laughing. i don't think they like these guys doing this event. >> it's a different comedy central. six of the seven hosts for this dinner have come from comedy central. give me a shillue or ricky gervais.

this is a dinner that once had bob hope. or conan o'brien. the gravitas i think is gone and half the country is resigned to look at this and say i know the jokes will all go one way, so why should i bother. lawrence: tom shillue, do you think greg gutfeld? is in very time for the king of late night to be invited here. >> it's quite predictable. in 2019 they were acting like they were under attack because of the trump administration. they had pins. it was one of those things, it was like the ribbon. it was some kind of phrase about free speech. as if donald trump saying fake

news and poking fun at them. what donald trump did to them what is they have always been doing to him. he roasted them back and they didn't like it. who is the biggest censor of all? joe biden and his administration. they started taking journalists off their platform. lawrence: it's time to hear from the people affected most by america's crime crisis. we'll take you back to the white house correspondent dish where. * is getting ready to speak

(music throughout) get the royal treatment. join the millions playing royal match today. download now.

lawrence: here is a live look at the white house correspondents dinner in washington, d.c. criminals have been emboldened all across the country. it's the average day americans suffering the most. fear that used to live in the shah dose have become a reality for many of us. i talked to a group who have

become all too familiar with that loss. lawrence: thank you all for joining me tonight. i want to go to you first. you still have the scars of your experience from a career criminal. how did we get here? >> a lack of the wrong bills, a lack of not making sure the people are safe. lawrence: who do you hold responsible for that? >> honestly, i am going to say to say i hold the city responsible. this guy was under their control. they are the ones that made him free on parole. so i blame them. >> jessica, you never thought that the tragedy would hit you at home when utsss you lost your son. >> he was 18, a senior in high

school. he was killed at at gas station the in 2018. kim you lost your partner. >> he was 33 years old and he was murdered by a couple of friends in 2015 in the city of oakland in front of his home. lawrence: andy, you have been crime stoppers. what do you think we need to stop crime in our society? >> i have been a victim advocate for 30 some years. crime victims are the only unwilling participants in the criminal justice system. everyone else chose their role from law enforcement, judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, media, victim advocates. but i have never seen anyone who said pick me, i want to be a

victim of a crime. the least we can do is look out for the victims' rights and their well-being and their due process. in the last few years i have seen a seismic shift where we are more concerned about the defendants' rights and in some cases we treat defendants as victims themselves. lawrence: you say, look, there is a lot when it comes to our leaders and we have to change this. did you say it also starts in the home. what did you mean by this? >> it's crazy. a lot of parents are scared of their children. if you are scared to discipline your child, of course they are not ready when you go out into the community. how do you expect someone else to discipline them if their own parents can't discipline them. >> you are still living with this, do you feel like there is a wake-up call or anything when

it comes to our community leaders. it seems like we are on repeat he single weekend. every day of the week, we are playing the same old stories of people being victimized. >> there is only so much the system can do. no matter how much cost they put out there or how many cameras, the people have to play a major part as well like what we were saying about kids in the home. people have to play a major part as well. this is our community. lawrence: andy, i have got to ask you this. no one thinks this will impact them until it does. >> in the last 30 years i have been monitoring and watchdogging the criminal justice system and i can tell you the revolving door at the courthouse with regards to bail reform as led to a significant increase in

violent crime. lawrence: what would you say to our lead officers this crime crisis is disproportionately hurt black and brown neighborhoods. >> i personally don't feel like local and state federal leaders do what they are supposeo supposed to do to adequately address issues within our communities. a lot is swept under the rug. we are lied to believe that we can be comfortable. they are supposed to implement a lot of programs such as the violence prevention program. but it only goes so far. that's one of the reasons our community throughout oakland and everywhere is suffering. lawrence: jessica, what about that? >> we want to be heard. we oppose efforts to defund the

police, in fact we advocate for adequate funding to train for police, conflict resolution skills and tactics to discourage excessive use of force. lawrence: my last question for you. what do you think? if we want to solve this issue today, what is something we can do immediately to improve our environment? >> well, first things first, we have to get the people the help they need. the people are crying for help. give them the help they need. if it's a mental state or physical state. they need to figure it out. we can't just have them walking in the streets. we are mind our business trying to get to where we need to get to. lawrence: thank you all for

joining me. i appreciate you all. hundreds of professors signed a letter demanding america's founding and the constitution be erased from the school curriculum. we'll hear live from president biden as he speaks at the white house course intere

lawrence: a fox news alert. the white house correspondents dish. they are giving out award. president biden is expected to take the podium. as soon as he does we'll give you his speech. 700 professors at the university of north carolina signed a letter that require new courses

that include america's founding and the constitution. they say it's an ideological force feed of the constitution. corey, this is -- you are supposed to learn in middle school, high school, about the constitution. but apparently this is force feeding. >> we hit a new rock bottom when it comes to the ideological indoctrination in our university system. it's time to defund these universities. we spend $300 billion a year in taxpayer money. per student, that's more than we spend at the k-12 level. why should we continue to subsidize these liberal professors. lawrence: why are we dumbing things down for our kids.

>> the idea behind thought teaching american history is to:persuade us that we have nothing in common with each other and the greatest country inned world history is ... loneliness prepares us for totalitarianism. we watched as they tore down statues of our founding fathers and did away from columbus day. erasing history is what totalitarians do. we just can't cover it here. lawrence: we should defund them. they have all this endowment money. students are going into debt over the school. they should be fine without federal funding. >> and we can get the federal

government out of the student loan business that prop up the system. but we can take the universities back. look what chris ruffo is doing in florida with new college. and to not allow the left to take them over. and we should push to give taxpayers their money back. lawrence: also parents have to be mindful during their selection process. because they are funding it, too. the moms and dad and grandmas and grandfathers. they are signing those checks. >> i'm not as optimistic as corey. i think the colleges are largely lost. there will be exceptions. but things have gotten so bad, i think the battle is the k-12 space because they are coming for the kids to do the same thing they did in colleges, and

that's where we need to really mount that knight fight right now. that -- mount that fight. i don't know that they are salvageable. lawrence: even our military. we have milley on the red carpet taking selfies with the press. thanks for joining me. coming up, more of my exclusive interview with portland mayor ted wheeler. and president biden is moats away from speaking at the white house correspondents dinner where they are saving democracy.

ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term

policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com.

lawrence: you are looking live at the white house correspondents dinner in washington, d.c. president biden is expected to speak. we'll brit to you live when he begins to speak. >> we need to feel secure. we need to go home and sleep and

don't think about what's going to happen. every time somebody calls me in the moaning, something happened in the restaurant, my neighborhood, across the street, here and there. it's too much for us. lawrence: i can't thank you enough for joining the program and taking the tough questions. measure 110 is something we may agree on. many people agree with decriminalizing hard drugs. they said they were going to allocate 100 million per year for treatment. a lot of people agreed with that. now we are three years out which means people should have gotten $300 million for treatment. but now we are see nothing services for these people. there are more people addicted to drugs. it covers the housing and job training. but the treatment centers, the

detox, was that a failure from the state? >> i would say first of all, that was not a government action. here in the state of oregon, citizens can bring inner tifers. and it has not lived up to its promise. increased treatment across the state, increased funding for treatment. that funding has been very slow to materialize. and the way that it's been implemented in my opinion is flawed because it doesn't include treatment programs. it includes other ancillary types of services, but if you can't invest in treatment it won't be successful. there are people in the state legislature trying to make it more effective and i would support those efforts. lawrence: there is a lot of

people that still like portland is the progressive dream, they come to portland for that experiment. would you say what's happening in portland is a failed experiment? a lot of people come here because they believe in portland and the ideas that are happening there. but it doesn't seem like it's working. >> well, first of all, again, i don't agree with you. i'm optimistic about the future of the city. but i will say this. the experiences we are having around housing, homelessness, public safety, drug addiction. a lot of these are representative of upstream failures. we don't have a good mental health safety net. or a substance abuse treatment network. portland is very expensive as it is up and count west coast.

all of those safety nets were tested. when people fall through the safety nets they end up on our streets. we are work from the ground up in partnership with the sector, the faith community and other governments to right size things and move forward. lawrence: i think we can agree we both want what's best for your citizens, your residents. i appreciate you coming on today to take the tough questions and i hope you will come back soon. thank you, mr. mayor. i can't think of anything more cruel than allowing people to get addicted to drugs and not giving them treatment after you promised it to them. to see the rest of my interview with ted wheeler tune into fox at 8:00 p.m. monday.

tyrus, what do you think? >> hats off to you. great line of questioning. you tried to be polite. tried to bring him in. you are dealing with facts. as eloquent as your questions were, all the answers were in feelings. you basically stopped police funding, you made it harder for criminals to be apprehended. but to hair we didn't have a fail safe. we didn't know mental health would be an issue. you tried to give hill. let's find some common ground and work on our streets safe. that's the problem with the progressive first world agenda. it's sad to see people aren't going to get the help they need. >> even when it doesn't work. let's double down on it. >> we break a few eggs. i had it that saying.

but that's what we are being told by the progressives in portland. things are rough now, but they will be better. we know it. we have a good feeling. we are going to give programs that don't exist. we aren't going to hire people based on merit to get those programs in order. what you see is what you get. as long as we feel good about it, that's fine. that's the problem. we need facts, not feelings. lawrence: he didn't want to talk about facts. brother, thanks so much for joining me tonight. >> keep fighting the good fight. lawrence: don't go anywhere. our complete coverage continues next.

so much more now? other companies are charging you more and more for less and less. and we hate that! that's why force factor has partnered with walmart to provide amazing supplements at great prices for all americans. force factor products use clinically studied patented ingredients to powerfully improve your health. they're also delicious, easy

to use and affordable. that's why force factor is now the number one best selling herbs and supplements brand at walmart. rush to walmart and unleash your potential with force factor. (music throughout) get the royal treatment. join the millions playing royal match today. download now.

fox news alert, welcome back to special country. thank you for being with me. live look in washington d.c. with the president moments away from taking the podium. when he does, we will bring you that live. also our panel standing by to bring complete coverage tonigho, the man himself, jimmy failla live from the red cross in washington from the behind the scenes action. i'm drawing from my preapproved, tell us about your outfit choice for the red carpet tonight. [laughter] you seem -- >> i have a list of people i'm supposed to call on, the first question does go to you. clarence jones crossed country host, lawrence jones, how are my

outfit choices with the what has correspondents dinner? >> you need your glasses, that's what it is. >> first of all, i want to thank you for letting me participate in the live bar for four hours before i went on live tv, wait to look out for my career. i used to think we have something but can i tell you something about my fashion? pink jacket is crushing. there's a lot of fashion on the red carpet, do you know what it is? everybody thinks i'm a former figure skater that got fat because everyone here is a celebrity, they are like as a figure skater, he won the gold in 94 and now he's all chubby but still comes out so it's going good have you know. >> i've always appreciated your fashion, i get criticism about my flash sometimes and they always say you are a brother, you can get away with it but jimmy, you are like forget that, i'm a brother inside, i will go to the red carpet the way i want

to. >> let me tell you how we roll. when you are a star, you don't read the room, you lead the ro room. do you want to know how many brothers have talked to me about the jacket? all of them. everybody here is like yo, that's a dope coat, man. everybody else -- thank you. that's what we are doing, lawrence jones. we are having a good party. the president just got on stage, it took a minute because he went the wrong way but he's shaking invisible hands and sniffing babies and there should be a speech any minute. >> apparently some democrats can't understand the lack of excitement around joe biden. listen. [laughter] >> sometimes it frustrates me when i hear people in some democrats say joe biden doesn't like them, doesn't send a thrill of the like. as a man of tremendous, he's in public service for the right reason. >> she just can't understand,

doing it for the right reason. >> do you know what biden's reelection is? have you ever been to a wedding where everybody in the church knows they shouldn't be getting married? like nobody there wants to say anything? that's the democrats right now. i'm not sold. just so you know, gavin newsom was very prominent on the party scene in d.c. last night. i saw him at multiple parties for real. he's out here working the refs hard. he met everybody in the media and even said hello to fox. i met kamala's harris doug, second gentleman. >> was he kissing julie? >> right on the lips. you know what i did to make them feel comfortable? i repeated myself twice every time i used a phrase so i was like you know, how are you

doing? and when you are doing, it's about how you are doing it which is the most important and he's like kamala? but it was a good time, man. [laughter] >> standby, jimmy. let's bring in our panel. fox news contributor joe concha as well as foxbusiness correspondent kelly o'grady. i got to meet for the first time yesterday, so excited. we are always doing it across because she's in l.a., her office is next door to mine now. joe, a lot of fanfare, i just have to go to milley doing selfies. we are at an all-time low. we could be in a war very soon. our enemies don't respect us and you've got woke four-star general doing selfies with the press. >> china may be going into taiwan soon. russia and ukraine, a stalemate, a goat go nuclear at some time.

we see what's going on with sudan, 16000 americans left behind there. general billy maybe take the night off, this is a bad look that you are there starstruck over being with these journalists right now. bottom line to get back to what you're saying about joe biden before and how jimmy was, 77% of voters don't want him to run again. majority of voters democrats don't want him to. robert f jenny kennedy, thomas governor, he's getting nearly 20% of the vote, what does it tell you about where democrats are right now with this president? >> is there any upside the president? could this give him a little boost and this is the president walking out right now, him and joe biden. >> we only have 20 minutes then? [laughter] >> that's from earlier today. >> i don't think so. you heard the frustration from that person on msnbc saying why

isn't there more excitement? we had a couple of years of this. look at what's happening in the economy. you see he didn't even give a speech when he announced his run, it was a video so do we really think this is going to insight excitement? this is past his bedtime. >> do you think the media groomed him to be this way? i remember covering the campaign in 2020, he just stayed in the basement. we be begging him to do polls and everything and he got elected president and he's doing the same thing. >> i think that's exactly right, he's able to do this before so why should he change it now? he's a couple years older. the other day he was some event and couldn't remember how many grandchildren he had so anytime he's going out, you see those moments happen and i do think the media allow this to happen and they are giving him his questions ahead of time and he's not even that eloquent when he

answers them, what does that tell you? >> is it just the age thing or is it just he starting to fade away? look at former president trump, he's posting rallies so is it strictly age or everybody at different times? >> i don't even believe the age thing is that big of a factor. obviously is old, he can't remember where he is, that's b bad. but he's effective enough to do what he's doing which is hurting the country so every time they play this uncle joe, i feel all of the people in the permanent ruling class in washington d.c. love the fact that biden is just kind of a figurehead and you have more competent people running things. that's the way they like it, that's why they chose them as their nominee and work with him to run so they can play this kind of uncle joe, he's just been around washington all these years and he's a charming guy

and rise the amtrak and all this. really, i don't care if he's senile or not, i don't like the job he's doing. >> will it reflect that? there's a lot of material with sleepy joe so will it reflect that? >> it's going to reflect the material he likes. he loves the old uncle joe. i don't even think he minds the stuff about sniffing people's heads because it falls under this quirky old man category with the ice cream, they will talk about aviator shades so they will poke fun of his character but it's in a way i think he likes. you can bet it will poke fun of his policies. >> part of his problem is in big moments he doesn't show up. didn't go to nashville, still did not show up for those people but this was a president elected on average guy. amtrak. another train crashes and he doesn't go greet the people.

>> it's one thing if he tries and fails but at least two seat effort that he cares. this is a president who works 24/7, 24 hours a week, seven months a year. you see his schedule. some days he calls it 9:00 a.m., oftentimes he has one of it and that's it. almost every weekend he's in delaware. i'm all for are in dark but there's something, kelly brought it up, the fact that he announced his campaign over video. the reason is because you can produce, edit and package them in a way that he actually does look vibrant and confident and doesn't have to take any questions after the announcement so we will see videos out of the campaign not a lot of campaigning. >> to be there when i wake up for "fox & friends", i, too, call in at 9:00 a.m. i go home and take a nap. >> you just turned 40 so is

stuff. >> i go to the gym after "fox & friends". that's my thing. you got to just get. he got to shower. you can't be a slob. you'll marry, you have to worry about that. do you think -- his performance, it is a performance, go being too hard but do think there's accountability from the press to joe biden? is holding democracy, how can you have democracy if the commander-in-chief won't speak to the people? >> i think it's an excellent question, this entire dinner, this entire organization is about protecting the first amendment and celebrating that and with how the media is treating the president, the fact that he isn't taking accountability so i don't expect

him to take accountability. he just announced his campaign run so you without look at inflation, it was 10% and now by percent, is still hurting average americans. >> by the way, it's not just joe biden who refuses to speak to the quest. the democrat national committee announced they will do prior debates. they are heading it for a reas reason. >> let's bring in jimmy failla. you got some news? who just walked past? >> it's almost go time. >> they are sweeping the room. >> secret service just went by, the woman who cuts up biden's foot for him, that happens. [laughter] go talking smack about biden okay but biden is telling his advisors he's going to be president truman said don't forget so we are underestimating him. >> the only saving grace for him is kamala's numbers are worse.

>> she's pulling behind isis right now. she's like three points behind. not pretty. >> are you going to get the chance to go? do you have an appetite to go in and listen? >> not only if i'm going in, if he goes in, i'm going to pull a will smith. [laughter] >> you better hope kamala doesn't pull one. anyway, thanks, jimmy. [laughter] >> good stuff, guys. >> we will have more coverage of the white house correspondents different dinner coming up. don't go away. tony here from creditrepair.com, helping people see the true cost of bad credit. what are you doing to improve your credit? should i be doing something? absolutely, unless you like paying thousands extra in high interest rates.

did you know repairing your credit could save you thousands of dollars in lower interest rates? wait, i can repair my credit? of course you can. even if you have a good score, repairing your credit can make it better. start working to improve your credit. get started at creditrepair.com. like you've never seen it before. four regions 20 contestants welcome to the united tastes of america northeast is bringing it. what's up west side is the best side in the southwest france for everybody. shopping your for everybody. shopping your knives. master chefgotcha. united states of america take that. wednesday, may 24th on fox that whoa! bruh! i'm fine. . that smack looked bad. not compared to the smack down i'm giving you. you sure you're, ok? you know you're down . cooked bad200 points, ?

compared to the smackdown. i'm giving you you sure you're okay you you sure you're okay ? you're right?y, she convinced me to get help. i had a concussion that could've been game over. in actual reality, you've only got one life. help. i had a concussion could have been. actual reality. you've only got one life. don't mess with your melon. you hit it get it checked off his campaign for reelection. how both parties are reacting and what the race when i was his age, we had to be inside to watch live sports.

but with xfinity, we get the fastest mobile service and can stream down the street or around the block! hey, can you be less sister, more car? all right, let's get this over with. switch to xfinity mobile and get the best price for 2 lines of unlimited. just $30 a line per month. i should get paid more for this. you get paid when you win. from xfinity. home of the 10g network.

fax news alert. the president has just taken the podium at the correspondents dinner. let's listen to it to be optimistic. that's where we stand right now. the entire family. everyone in this hall stairs with you. we're working every day to secure his release. opportunities and tools to bring him home. we keep the faith. where else to keep the faith for austin, austin tice his mom deborah is here tonight. she knows tomorrow, several conversations at conferences with me and my senior staff. we are not giving up. as i told you at this dinner last year. as i told you in the oval office. you raised an incredible son. when he was a kid. he was an eagle scout. a big brother. born protector. us

marine. three tours in iraq and afghanistan. austin. awesome as a fearless journalist. in the future lawyer. as a consequence of austin showing the world the cost of war. he's been attained in syria for nearly 11 years. it's simply wrong. it's outrageous, and we are not ceasing our effort to get him find him and bring him home. tonight. our message is this journalism is not a crime. evan and austin should be released immediately, along with every other american held hostage are wrongfully detained abroad. paul whelan. unjustly held in russia for more than four years. it was brave sister i've met with and his family has

never quit fighting for paul. and i promise you neither will i. and neither will this administration until we get him home. and there are other americans being done justly held in iran, venezuela, china and elsewhere. stories may not make headlines or hashtags. but every day every day. their family. looks at that empty chair. the kitchen table. birthdays. anniversaries. holidays without them. the pain. living in limbo. in a sense, it's almost worth the pain of having lost a child and looking at empty chair. the stress of not knowing. the sorrow. of uncertainty. but i want them and their families, you know? chill, and i understand we see them. there are not forgotten. and i promise you. i am working like

hell to get them home as a nation. never give up on hope. things can get better. things can turn things can change. tonight unlike last year. brittney griner share with their wife, cheryl. for me. alright, kid. stand up. come on. i love you, britney. this time last year, we were afraid for your brittany. hoping you know how hard all those were fighting for your release. it's great to have you home. and boys. i've been hardly wait to

see you back on the court kids. remember your promise. i get to bring my granddaughter my allstate girls to see it right? because of our unrelenting efforts. we've been able to bring home dozens of hostages and wrongfully detainees wrongful detainees in afghanistan. burma haiti ran rhonda venezuela across west africa around the world. what we're doing everything we can to prevent these cases occurring in the first place. for example. the state department added the threat of detention. as a new risk indicator to his travel advisors. to go along with the threat of kidnapping. the warren americans were these threats are highest abroad. i also recently signed an executive order, increasing the consequences for criminal groups and terrorists who engage in appalling practice. treating you and beings as bargaining chips. political

pawns. just two days ago. my administration announced the first sanctions under this new authority. punishing individual security service in russia and iran. part of the wrongful defense detention of americans. above all. across government. experts are working day and night. bring our fellow americans home. much of which, as you well know. we can't talk about concern that backfire. from my commitment. my commitment is to bring them home. just as i know your commitment to continue to be in a free and fearless press. and that's what we honor tonight. this is not hyperbole. you make it possible. you make it possible for ordinary citizens, the question authority. and yes, even the laughing authority. without fear, intimidation. that's what makes

this nation strong. tonight. let us show ourselves in the world are strength. i just by the example of our power, but by the power of our example folks. i know a lot of changing the press. i've had a lot of conversation with a lot of you. this is not your father's pressure from 20 years ago. no, i'm serious. and you all know better than i do. but still it is absolutely consequential and essential. after all, i believe in the first amendment. not just because my good friend jimmy madison wrote it. a lot of ways just inter sums up my first two years in office. i'll talk for 10 minutes, take zero questions and cheerfully walk away. yeah,

i know. i just announced my reelection campaign. some of you. some of you scoop that i'd announced in the video. really you really are starting your heart and i just blurted out, didn't you? right? and look. i get that age is completely reasonable issue. so everybody's mind. and everyone , everyone. i mean, the new york times in line. binds, advanced stage the big issue. trump's, however, is not. so that was the new york times pit spot. i apologize. i love that guy. i should do an interview

with him. you might think i don't like rupert murdoch. that's simply not true. how can i just like a guy who makes me look like harry styles? call me old. i call it beans season. you saying ancient i say i'm wise. the same over the hill. don lemon would say that's a man who was crying. folks it's wonderful. be back here again. proving i haven't learned a thing. i want everybody to have fun tonight, but please be safe. if you find

yourself disoriented and confused, either you're drunk. marjorie taylor green. thank you for hosting. i love npr. because they whispering in the mic like i do. but not everybody loves npr. even musk tweeted that it should be defunded. well the best way to make npr go away. freeland must have by it. yeah. and that's more true than you think, anyway. this dinner is one of the two great traditions in washington. the other one is underestimated me in kamala.

the truth is we really have a record to be proud of. vaccinated the nation. transform the economy. historic legislative victories and midterm results. but the job isn't finished. i mean, it is finished for tactical carlson. what do you warn about like that? do you think that's not reasonable? give me a break. just give me a break. look. like often say. don't compare me the almighty. compare me to alternative. we had a 12 million jobs that's just counting. the lawyers defended the president. have rhonda santis. i had a lot of random sentences. roger sanders jokes ready. but vicky, but mickey mouse beat the hell out of me. you got there first. how long.

can't be too rough in the guy. after his reelection as governor. he was asked if he had a mandate. he said. hell, no, i'm straight. that's straight. give you time to think that went through. got it. yeah. look y'all keep reporting. my approval ratings is 42. but what do you what? i think you don't know this kevin mccarthy called me and asked me, joe, what the hell is your secret? i'm not even kidding about that one. the speaker is trying to climb a big win this

week. the last time in public is voted on something this that hapless it took 15 tries. that was good. lord. it's great to cable news networks are here tonight. msnbc owned by nbcuniversal. fox news owned by dominion voting systems. last year. your favorite fox news reporters able to attend because they were fully vaccinated and boosted this year. well that's $787 million settlement. they're here because they couldn't say no to a free meal. and how. i'd call

fox. honest fair and truthful, but then i could be sued for defamation. it ain't nothing compared what they do to me. look. i hope the fox news team finds this funny. my goal is to make them laugh as hard as cnn did when they read read the settlement. but then again see cnn was like, wow, they actually have $787 million. whoa! folks. i go where people are the daily show. it is a great guy. he once dubbed me the jay z and delaware. don't let that look in your face. you

did. tonight. he asked me to keep it short. even offered me 10 bucks if i keep it under 10 minutes. that's a switch of president being offered hush money. i'm gonna leave the jokes to the pros. let me conclude. on a generally serious note. roy was burned and birmingham born in birmingham, alabama. he graduated from a great hbcu, florida a and m started in journalism following the footsteps of his father, roy wood sr. who covered the civil rights movement. during black history month. this year, i hosted the screening of the movie, too. the story of emmett till and his mother is a story of a family's promise and laws. the nation's reckoning with hate, violence and abuse of power. it's a story that was

seared into our memory and our conscience the nation's conscience. when mrs till insisted. have an open casket for her murdered and maimed 14 year old son. be the means by which he was transported. she said. let the people see what i've seen. the reason i was world saw what she saw. was because of another hero in this story. the black press. that's a fact. magazine. chicago defender. the black radio and newspapers are on flinching and brave. and making sure america's saw what she saw. i mean it. b wells. b wells. once

said, and i quote way to right wrongs turn the light of truth. upon the wrongs. turn the light of truth upon the wrongs. that's the sacred view and my view, that's the sacred charge. of a free press. and i mean that that's what someone. we still miss so much. will you honor posterity's light stood for on iphone. you know? she was among the very best we talked about at the table. she moderated my first evaded for vice president. it was a trusted voice for millions of americans. quite understood. the louder noise. more it's on all of us to cut through the

noise. to the truth. truth matters. as i said last year at this dinner poison is running through our democracy. and parts of the extreme press. truth. buried. by lies. lies living on is truth. why's tall for profit and power. why is it conspiracy and malice? repeated over and over again. designed to generate a cycle of anger. hate. and even violence. cycle that emboldens history to be buried. books to be banned. children and families be attacked by the state. the rule of law and our rights and freedoms to be stripped away. were elected representatives of

the people. are expelled from state houses. for standing for the people. i made clear. that we know in our bows and you know it, too. our democracy remains at risk. i've also made it clear as i've seen throughout my life. it's within our power. each and every one of us to preserve our democracy. we can we must. we will. i'd like to make a toast. i had a class. my grandfather ambrose, finnegan said. if you ever make a toast without looking, you got hold of your left hand. think i'm kidding. i'm not. i'm probably only irish. you ever met, never

drinking his life anyway. i like to make a toast seriously. this inflection point in history. first commit. it will be a nation that will embrace light over darkness. truth over lies. and finally, finally, finally. restore the soul of the nation. here here. ladies and gentlemen. i'll give you that. i'm going to turn us over to roy. roy. reporting is yours. i'm going to be fine with your jokes. but i'm not sure about dark brandon. all yours, pal.

thank you, mr president. i think. it is now my great pleasure to introduce our headliner for the night. roy wood jr. he is a correspondent for the daily show, who just had a killer week as guest host. but roy doesn't just play a fake journalist on tv. that degree from florida a and m university is in broadcast journalism. and while pursuing comedy roy spent 13 years in morning radio in birmingham, alabama. at the same station, where his father, a pioneering

radio journalist, once worked. without further ado, let's give it up for roy wood jr. yes, sir. give it up for dark, brandon. happy to be here. real quick, mr president. thank you left some of your classified documents up here. you can get don't give them to him. i'll put them in a safe place. he don't know where to keep them. i must happy to be here, though happy to be here. very happy. very happy to be here. um so it's a pleasure to be here amongst our country's greatest

leaders. distinguished media organizations, both property brothers and dr fauci. you see fauci take a picture with him that show new booster shot. but you all look good though i've been i've been watching and looking around all night. y'all look good. you're dressed nice. you've got the nice threads on you got the jewelry glistening. look like everybody got a little piece of that settlement money from fox news. and that's all i have to say about that. because i'm not gonna have dominion on my ass. i loved me . matter of fact, let me just say right now, my favorite voting machine is dominion voting machines. when i go to the polls, i make sure it is a dominion machines. use. if you're election needs the truth dominion in your booth. i have it again soon. there's three

people you don't want to see in the courtroom. that's dominion, cardi b or gwyneth paltrow, you don't lose. um. i'd like to thank tamara keith and the white house correspondents association for having me. thank you. i'm well aware that not everybody in this room knows who i am. so let's just address the elephant in the room. i know what it is half this room. think i'm keenan thompson. the other half think of louis armstrong. president biden thinks something to daddy your family matters. nonetheless. i'm happy to be here at this event amongst government officials who speak to msnbc. former government officials who now works at msnbc. and future government

officials who currently work at msnbc. and often overlooked purpose of tonight's dinner, you know, serious, business overlooked purpose of tonight's dinner is to award scholarships to students who have shown great achievements in journalism. that's right. be brave young souls are the future of the industry. and i'd like to stop right now and to congratulate tonight's top scholarship recipient, arizona state senior jorge santos. oh yeah. george couldn't be here tonight. he's auditioning for rupaul's drag race. that's not bad. we say good luck to you, george. sachet away. also speaking of drag queens, can we stop with the groom and stuff? can you stop talking about that drag queens are not at a school

to groom your kids. stop it. and even if they were most of them kids gonna get shot at school. it ain't nobody problems. don't grown passed legislation. boobs gonna bother me? i'm like i'm like mitch mcconnell. i ain't got no soul. tumultuous time in the media, though we got layoffs everywhere. buzzfeed news, npr axios washington post espn. paramount global right now is considering office from byron allen and tyler perry. to purchase b e t. that's how bad it is out there. these companies are so broke their giving b e t back to black people. which by the way, is not what we meant when we said black people want to reparations. we met cash. you can give it to us, and i'm

harriet tubman twenties. but tonight we're all unified under one thing. and that scandal. scandals. scandals have been devouring careers this year. the untouchable carlson is out of a job. okay some people celebrate it. tucker staff. i want you to know that i know what you're feeling. i work at the daily show, so i, too have been blindsided by the sudden departure of the host of the fake news program. got caught up. got caught up like that dude from vanderpump rules. text message stuff. i don't know what vanderpump rules is about. just watching a couple of times. my friends told me it's like b m f, but for white people that succession no

succession is power for white people know crossing is powerful white people. no that's white power, you know, never mind. don't worry about that. but don't worry about that. we gotta get tucker back on the air, mr president, because right now there's millions of americans that don't even know why they hate you. fox claimed dominion conspired with the democrats. to rig the election. and the democrats should be flattered that they thought that y'all were smart enough to rig an election. what not needed to run off to be the werewolf. but it's not over for you. fox news you still got bad, more bad news coming down the pipe. that smartmatic voting machine lawsuit is coming. that's right . smartmatic is coming for you . and they want more money than

me. let me just sit right now. my favorite voting machine. is the smartmatic voting machines. your election needs the truth. put smartmatic in your booth. but i think it's fair that we should give credit where credit is due. carlson is the first host to get fired from fox news for something that's only partially about how he treats women. that's progress. he shot at the ceiling. speaking of, don lemon is out of a job. don lemon. my dog done limit. don lemon released a statement saying he got fired from cnn, then cnn released a statement saying that they offered donna meeting they had to part ways because don lemon can't even accurately report a story about don lemon. i still think that

don deserve more seeing there. that ain't how you fire somebody. it's messed up. how funny is it that you work in the news? then watch on the news that you got fired from the nubes. don lemon is now the most obnoxious guy in the history of cnn. that's not fair. even jeffrey toobin, looking at don lemon. like who he rubbed me the wrong way. letting down go was the wrong move. you shouldn't have let him go. not this soon. seeing their first off. don was fine. when y'all was letting him drink. you shouldn't have cut off his liquor. you don't fire your host after the first couple of scandals, let the standards the scandals got to stack up. you got to get some. you got to get ratings. yes don lemon was a diva and he said a couple of women are raggedy interface, but that's a

promotion at fox news. but i ultimately understand why cnn did what they did. i get it. it's about morals. should be no place on air for someone who speaks with wild disregard. it doesn't consider the blowback to their coworkers or their company. thankfully cnn has taken steps in the right direction. we got rid of don lemon, and they have now given us show to charles barkley. the charles barkley's co host, gayle king. we said good luck. i think it's gonna be a good show. the whole show is gonna be charles barkley saying something crazy. then gayle king looking into the camera, charles arliss. scandals. that's what connexus. so many scandals, the king of scandals president donald trump. for

just for a moment. can we just all acknowledge? can we just all be honest and just say that the trump arrests didn't hit like we thought it was gonna hit we're so desensitized to scandals now that trump arrest it didn't do what i thought it was gonna do. the trump arrest was like a pop brown and you ate four hours ago. do i feel justice? let's go feel like justice. let me try one of them. georgia raymond brown is maybe that'll here. okay, that was that's got some kick to it. i can't follow trump's scandals. there's too many trump scandals to keep up with keeping up with trump's scandals is like watching star wars movies. you gotta watch the third one to understand the first one. then you can't miss the second one because it's got easter eggs for the fifth one. donald trump is the only politician who's scandals got spinoffs on disney plus. but the trump arrests. it made everybody question what they believe. you thought you lean

one way politically. then trump got locked up. everybody started waffling. but republicans between a rock and a hard place. donald trump. locked up. for years. all republicans have been saying for years. we gotta get tough on crime. trump got arrested. we meant black crime. same thing with the liberals to liberals was all confused. after trump got arrested. we got to abolish prison. trump got arrested. bring back righteous. how about y'all? but for me? um the easiest scandal to follow. was the trump document scandal. that was the one that was easy to follow a simple it's some stuff that's supposed to be in the white house. that ain't and the media. y'all did yours job. y'all jumped on that story. as soon as the trump document story broke. everybody was down tomorrow, lago, we're reporting live from the documents and we're going to find him. and

then we found out. joe biden had documents, too, and it was like it's not a big deal. it's not a big deal. everybody got documents. everybody got document. mike pence has some doctors. look the chinese spy balloon. would you look at that? well done. media. happy to be here. very happy to be here. if there's one person that could use a scandal, it's ron desantis. that boy is just running around just passing every controversial law he can think of thinking that's gonna activate voters. that's not how you activate voters in this country. ron everybody know how you do politics. this is a miracle we don't pass laws. you make a promise to voters. and then you don't do it. that's what the great leaders in this room understand. you know how to make things not happen. the

only thing the only thing run to santos has done that. i gotta give him credit for this boy that got people riled up all the stuff they can't understand. don't nobody. they don't know what critical race theory is. get these people riled up about something that they can't even define like crypto n. f. t s. ask any republican that's anti crt as any republican trying to explain to your t they sound like a democrat trying to explain the charges against trump. it's bad everywhere. just got to stop it. we've got to stop it. we got the files. we got files. we'll be right back. i'm rachel maddow. i have files. rachel maddow, get them files on you. it's a wrap. i think republicans. y'all would be surprised, man, if you all would just be real about what crt is that you can be surprised. some black folks might might meet you halfway but you got to tell the truth. you can't lie to black people call it what it is. anti crt

policies are in attack. and black history and an attempt to erase the contributions of black people from the history bus. that's what it is. you are trying to erase black people, and a lot of black people wouldn't mind some of that eraser as long as that black person is clarence thomas. billionaire named harlan crow. flying clarence thomas all over the world unreported trips like an instagram model, taking plans. to the maldives and the beaches and all the paid for his mama's house. this billionaire pay for clarence thomas mama's house. i gotta get. i gotta i gotta give it up to billionaires. billionaires, boy, y'all y'all are relentless . yeah y'all always come up with something new to buy. like just when you think of everything you could buy on irving billionaire will come up with a new thing. y'all by space rockets u boat twitter.

this man bought a supreme court justice. do you understand how rich you have to be to buy supreme? a black one. on top of that? there's only two in stock. in harlan crow owns half the inventory. we can all see clarence thomas. but he belongs to billionaire harlan crow. and that's what an n f. t s. everybody's got some scandals, though. despite the challenging times we live in. i look around this room and i see people that are hard working. many of you. i don't even think you should be working that hard. we should be inspired by the events in

france, they rioted. when the retirement age went up two years to 64. they rioted. because they didn't want to work till 64. meanwhile in america, we have an 80 year old man begging us for four more years of work. begging. let me finish the job. that's not a campaign slogan. that's a plea. let me finish. let me finish it. i do. i do wish you the best of luck on the campaign trail. president um you got a lot of things that you're going to have to navigate a lot of hurdles. you've had quite a few scandals. you know, we don't know. we know about the documents. we know about the laptops, but there's been no scandal more damaging than the scandal of is joe biden awake?

say what you want about our president, but when you wake up from that nap work gets done. mike those off, but mm infrastructure bill. total student loan forgiveness. did we free brittany grinder free brittany ground. but i think the most insulting scandal to fall to the feet of the biden administration. was placed at the feet of our madam vice president. the scandal of what does kamala do? which is a disrespectful question. that's a disrespectful question, because nobody ever asked that question of the vice president until a woman got the job. i don't know what mike pence did. the only thing i know about

mike pence is that he's really good at playing hide and seek at the capitol. you gotta be crafted to catch mike pence and that capital, baby no, all the nooks and crannies. put the camera on her on a mike pence joke. don't do that. he said. they're trying to set you up. madam vice president at the end of the day. as a vice president. the only thing the only thing you got to do is just be better than dick cheney. that's the bar. just be better than dick cheney. they made a documentary about dick cheney. now i don't know much about the job of vice president, but i do know if they can make a documentary about your time as vice president. you, vice president and correctly. and if a vps job is really just waiting to step in to save the country in case

of emergency, then the job of vice president is the perfect job for a black woman shouldn't be, but it is. and whatever you do accomplish whatever you do accomplish, all they're gonna do is just give the man credit for anything you do immigration stuff you don't knocked out then you got all this banking and you've got the internet down there. you have taken care of all this postpartum stuff. they just going to give a man credit for what you've done, by the way, mr president. great job of being the first woman vice president. i don't even know how you did that part. wonderful job. happy to be here. but tonight. tonight is all about you all the journalists the defenders of free speech. people who show truth to the world through different mediums through television through print through radio through whatever china let us see on tiktok. but the industry that covers all of

these scandals isn't immune to them yourself. the issue with good media is that most people can't afford that. all the essential fair and nuanced reporting. it's all stuck behind a paywall. people can't afford. let people can't afford food, not healthy food. they can't afford an education, they sure can't afford to pay for the truth. say what you want about the conspiracy theory, but at least it's affordable. i mean, unless you alex jones because you about 900 make. and i understand that we have to put this stuff behind the paywall because creating the truth is important people can't afford the truth. but you walk can't afford to go find the truth for free. the work you do is journalist is important. it's essential. it's dangerous. my father was an embedded reporter on the front lines with black platoons in vietnam. he was in the south african soweto riots he covered that.

the civil war in rhodesia, which we know today is zimbabwe. my father came back home and co founded the national black network because they wanted to tell black stories. what's up american urban radio networks now and they've been doing it 50 years and that's part of what my father wanted to build. you know? and i know it was hard because you know black daddy's love telling you when something was difficult. they were shooting at me, boy, but i never dropped my tape recorder. my daddy tell war stories like brian williams. alright let's hope didn't laugh at that one. okay, so i have enough. good journalism costs. that's the truth of the matter. good journalism costs of people. but it also costs the journalists could even cost you your freedom. we talked about evan

of the wall street journal, sitting in a russian prison as we speak on espionage charges. which espionage charges by the way, that's the foreign equivalent of saying someone fits the description. evident hundreds of journalists. imprisoned all over the world simply for doing their job. we got to defend brave journals. most of national stories in this country. at some point, we're first a local story. those stories and championed by reporters at outlets that many of them have now folded if we can't figure out a way to pay local reporters than as a country, we're only left with that many more blind spots to where the bull is happening. you hear about all these newsrooms getting cuts? that's every article that tamra has been sending me to last two months. it's just the new room is getting cut cutting people

cutting budgets, but you never hear about the multimillion dollar executives reducing their salaries within these organizations. now, how do we fix this? i don't know. i'm a comedian. i was just up there. it's not my job to have the solution that's on y'all. but local local reporting it's very important. my mother is here tonight. i know she's furious right now because i'm trying to put on camera, but my mother was amongst a group of black student protesters fighting for equality in the sixties that delta state university and. that was a dangerous time. but those types of incidents were covered by local reporters and some of the shame that came from the national embarrassment of treating people inhany