Latest / The Breakfast Club / INTERVIEW: Ashley Allison Talks Midterm Election Day, record-Breaking Voter Turnouts, The Root 100 + more

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INTERVIEW: Ashley Allison Talks Midterm Election Day, record-Breaking Voter Turnouts, The Root 100 + more · The Breakfast Club

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hold up.
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: Every day I wake up. Wake your ass up. The
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Breakfast Club. Y'all finished or y'all done? Morning, everybody.
• 0:09
  Speaker 3: It's DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne Tha God. We are
• 0:13
  Speaker 3: The Breakfast Club. Lola Rose is here as well. We
• 0:15
  Speaker 3: got a special guest in the building.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Yes, indeed. Ashley Allison.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Welcome.
• 0:18
  Speaker 4: Hey, guys.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: How you feeling this morning? It's all happening tonight, Ashley. Well,
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: we saying tonight because it's airing tomorrow. But midterms.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
• 0:26
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: I mean.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: How you feeling?
• 0:29
  Speaker 4: Well, I just want it to be over.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: I'm so tired.
• 0:33
  Speaker 4: I feel good. You know what?
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Actually, I'm excited because the numbers of people going to
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: vote is breaking records.
• 0:42
  Speaker 4: And that means that people believe in.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: This democracy and know that they have some agency and
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: they do not like what's happening right now and they
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: want to change it.
• 0:50
  Speaker 4: So we'll see. I don't know.
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: It's surprising because people are exhausted.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: People are tired.
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: It feels like a passive engagement. They're like, I'm not
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: going to march. I'm not going to this. I'm just
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: going to go vote so this nonsense.
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: Can be over.
• 1:04
  Speaker 5: Is this a vote of confidence in the Democrats or
• 1:06
  Speaker 5: simply a rejection of Donald Trump? Because I feel like
• 1:08
  Speaker 5: voters always express skepticism in regards to Democrats. And people
• 1:12
  Speaker 5: like Haley Stevens don't make it.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Any better.
• 1:16
  Speaker 4: She will not live rent free in my head. So
• 1:18
  Speaker 4: I'm like done with her.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: You know, I actually think that there is a slate
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: of candidates this cycle. You look at Scott Colom in Mississippi.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: You look at Angie Nixon in Florida. You look at
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Abdul in Michigan, Tallarico in Texas.
• 1:33
  Speaker 4: Like.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: That is not the Democratic establishment. That is a new
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: wave of talent. And so I think people are excited
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: about folks. The guy and the pastor in Kansas, right? Like,
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: there's a new breed coming in. And I think that
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: if they win, they will try and set a new
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: agenda and reframe how the Democrats are, you know, being
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: perceived right now.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: But what about the people who I believe believe in
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: establishment self-preservation? That's what I believe Haley Stevens is.
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but I don't even think she's really a Democrat
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: at this point, you know?
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: So, I mean, it was like what she did.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: I was with her actually a week ago because I
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: did CNN with her.
• 2:11
  Speaker 4: And she lied to everybody. She like lied to my face.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: You know?
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: We talked for 20 minutes and I was just like,
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: she was like, yeah, you know, I think he can
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: do this.
• 2:20
  Speaker 4: I think it just is wild.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Wild work.
• 2:22
  Speaker 5: So how do Democrats gain power and then restore public trust?
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: They need to put an agenda for where it makes
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: housing more affordable. Programs that if you are a first
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: or a second time homeowner, you can buy a home.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: Bring down the cost of groceries. Come up, there are
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: different tax incentives, grocery taxes that you can take off of.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: We need to get out of this war in Iran.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: They are going to have to go in and put
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: forth an actual agenda. Now, the thing that's important for
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: people to remember is that Donald Trump will still be
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: the president and he will still have veto power. But
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: it is important not to just passively say, well, let's
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: wait till 2028 to make changes like there are there
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: are make Donald Trump say, no, I'm not going to
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: lower your groceries if Democrats get in power.
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: I fundamentally believe they can do that.
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: Now, do you think you talk about a new wave
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: of people coming in with this new wave? Do you
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: think they will learn from what we've seen Donald Trump do?
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: like from the first day of office, start just doing
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: issues just with the pen and saying, F everybody else.
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: I don't care how I look. I don't care if
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: you like me or not. I'm just doing what's in
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: my best interest that we really haven't seen.
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: I think they're campaigning like that, honestly.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: I think that if you look at the way Tallarico
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: campaigns versus the way Angie Nixon campaigns, it's not what
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: you've seen in past elections. They are themselves. And I
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: think that is, whether you like it or not, Donald
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: Trump is himself. And that is actually what people are
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: looking for for politicians. It's to be authentic, to be
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: true to who you are. And if you don't like it,
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: then don't vote for me. But I'm not changing who
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: I am.
• 3:57
  Speaker 6: Do those pressures and that be yourself change, though, once
• 4:00
  Speaker 6: they get from the ballots, like actually sit in a seat?
• 4:02
  Speaker 6: Because that's always the thing as well, too. It's like
• 4:04
  Speaker 6: I feel like on a Democratic side, we'll get that.
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: And we'll get all the hope.
• 4:07
  Speaker 6: And then they get in and there's all these restrictions
• 4:09
  Speaker 6: and things that they can't push through because they don't
• 4:10
  Speaker 6: have the support.
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: That's for everybody.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: I think some people, but look at like an Aiyana Perthley, right?
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: She has been who she has been from day one.
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: I don't like Barack Obama was who he was when
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: he got into office. He, you know, he was hopes
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: and dreams and he most, a lot of black people
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: wanted him to be the first black president.
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: He's like, I'm the president for everybody.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: So I think if you know who you are going in, you,
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: it's easier for you to stay who you are once
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: you're inside.
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: What does, And I know you don't want to talk
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: about Haley Stevens, but I'm not.
• 4:41
  Speaker 5: I just want to know, what does that tell you
• 4:43
  Speaker 5: about the ideological divisions inside the Democratic Party? I think
• 4:46
  Speaker 5: sometimes we talk about Democrats versus Republicans, but to me,
• 4:49
  Speaker 5: this is establishment Democrats versus people that are actually trying
• 4:52
  Speaker 5: to change the establishment.
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: I see that differently.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: I think she is a sore loser, and it was
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: about herself. When she did that, every Democrat said what
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: she did was wrong, from Chuck Schumer to AOC.
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: And that is the spectrum, right?
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: So I don't think that what Haley Stevens did is
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: actually the establishment's perception of that race. She did something
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: that was selfish, that was about her self-interest, and was embarrassing.
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: She embarrassed herself.
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: It feels like Democrats always need a bad guy, though.
• 5:33
  Speaker 5: just to keep corporate status quo.
• 5:34
  Speaker 4: What do you mean, Charlamagne?
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: Like the Fettermans of the world, who's the dude's name
• 5:39
  Speaker 5: from West Virginia?
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: I can't remember his name.
• 5:40
  Speaker 6: Joe Manchin.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: Joe Manchin of the world, the cinemas.
• 5:41
  Speaker 5: They always need at least one person just to appease
• 5:45
  Speaker 5: those corporate PACs that they know they need money from
• 5:47
  Speaker 5: to let you know, hey, we're not all going all
• 5:50
  Speaker 5: the way.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: To the left.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Look, I think if when Joe Manchin was in office,
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: if Joe Biden could get him to do more to work.
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: With him, he would have.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: I don't think that Joe Manchin's behavior... was actually, again,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: aligned with the Democrats. I think he was doing his
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: own thing. He was thinking about himself and his constituents. Now,
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: I didn't agree with it, but they could have got.
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: Joe Manchin or even Fetterman, for the most part, votes
• 6:13
  Speaker 4: with the Democrats, though. Every once in a while, he skews.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: But I don't think that is saying that, like, this
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: is the Democratic Party putting those folks forward.
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: I think they're surprised.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: Joe Biden was pissed when Joe Manchin would do some
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: of the things he would do, you know, trying to
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: block his bills.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: So how do you explain people like Angie Nixon in Florida?
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: She's got the people, she's got the energy, but the
• 6:37
  Speaker 5: establishment Democrats don't want to put no money towards our government.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: Yes, I think that that is because I'm from Ohio, right?
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: And I have said from really since 2016, Democrats stopped
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: investing in Ohio because.
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: of the population shift, right? I thought that was a
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: bad idea.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: I think if you actually invest in states and talk
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: to your voters, you can win a state like Ohio.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: And that's what you're seeing right now with Amy Acton
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: and Sherrod Brown.
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: The same thing goes for Texas.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: Is that really after 2016, Democrats were like, you know,
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: That state's not in play. And so they started to
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: disinvest in that state.
• 7:17
  Speaker 4: And I think that that is wrong, too.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: The other reason why is because Ohio and particularly Florida
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: is so expensive to run in because of the media markets.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: So some of it is just like we don't have
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: unlimited resources as Democrats. And some of it is that
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: we disinvested in states. And that was a mistake because
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: you look at a state like Mississippi, you look at
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: a state like South Carolina, like we have to put
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: more states in play.
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: At this point.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: And, um, I think some Democrats are waking up. I
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: think it is unfortunate that they are not supporting engine
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: extent in the way they should. She is so dope.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: She might be surprise people. I think there'll be a
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: lot of surprises.
• 7:56
  Speaker 5: And some things are just for optics, right? Like to me,
• 7:58
  Speaker 5: I think it's politics. I think you should do things
• 8:00
  Speaker 5: just to show, hey, we're not against what Angie Nixon
• 8:03
  Speaker 5: is talking about. We're not against what Dr. Syed is
• 8:05
  Speaker 5: talking about. We want affordable health care as well. We
• 8:08
  Speaker 5: want affordability in this country too. Don't seem like you're
• 8:10
  Speaker 5: against it.
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think they should be supporting Angie Nixon. Well,
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: I'm like, team Angie.
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: Now, we've seen a lot of people vote for Donald Trump.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 8:21
  Speaker 4: Right?
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: And hopefully it's changed their thoughts on things, right? They
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: rode with somebody that obviously slapped them in the face.
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: Mm-hmm.
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: Do you feel like politically and people should open up
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: their arms to those people?
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, I'm not a baby with the bathwater
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: type of girl, okay? So I'm highly disappointed in people
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: who voted for Donald Trump, especially when I think they
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: voted against.
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: Their own self-interest. Mm-hmm.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: But if you see the error in your ways, we
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: ain't got to be best friends. But, like, if you
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: want to come over and vote for the side I'm
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: playing for, I will take that vote.
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: I'm not above that. Like, politics is a math game, right?
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: So you got to put points on the board.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: But I also think that we don't need to over-index
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: trying to get voters who will never vote for Democrats.
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: Right?
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: Like, they're... We should be doing more investing into the
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: black community, into the Latino community, into some of the
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: other coalitions, young people, rather than always over-investing in people
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: who have said over and over, I don't believe in
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: the world that you believe in.
• 9:26
  Speaker 4: And so at some point, I'm not going to keep
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: courting you.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: Or keep trying. What's the difference between... Go ahead, Laura.
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: No, go ahead.
• 9:34
  Speaker 5: I was going to say, what's the difference between campaigning
• 9:36
  Speaker 5: for black votes and actually governing in ways that benefit
• 9:40
  Speaker 5: black communities?
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: So I think a lot of people make promises to
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: the black community. Like so I on the route, we
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: did this series called What's Popular where I was really curious, like,
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: what are you going to do for black voters?
• 9:52
  Speaker 5: Right.
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: So we reached out to we reached out to Abdul's team.
• 9:56
  Speaker 4: I did an interview with him. We reached out to
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: Mike Rogers team. Mike Rogers did not respond.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: To us.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Right. I wasn't just trying to talk to Democrats. I
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: was trying to talk to everyone because I think it's
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: important for people to say what they're going to do
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: for black voters. So you should have a plan for
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: us before you are elected. And Abdul went through his stuff.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: I don't know what Mike Rogers plan is because he
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: did not speak with us.
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: And thinking about us.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: Mike Roberts is nothing about Black people.
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: He was in a Black church. I don't know.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: And so then we need to now, as voters, if
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: we elect Abdul or if we elect Angie or we
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: elect Donald Trump, because some people voted for Donald Trump
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: and they say they're going to deliver for us, they
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: need to deliver for us. And so what does that
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: look like? That means when your elected official is in
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: your district, having conversations with them, don't disappear after Election Day.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: I always say that Democracy, this politics.
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: Thing, is like being in a relationship.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: You can have a one-night stand where you vote on
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: election day and then you never see the person again.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: Or you can be in a long, loving relationship where
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: you do have fights sometimes in relationships.
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: You can tussle. But at the end of the day,
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: you need to be in conversation and in relationship with
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: your politicians. And they need to be in relationship with
• 11:07
  Speaker 4: the community.
• 11:08
  Speaker 6: I was going to ask you before he got to this.
• 11:11
  Speaker 6: What do you think that relationship and conversation looks like?
• 11:14
  Speaker 6: Because I know you guys invest in our newsroom. Like,
• 11:17
  Speaker 6: that's your, like, thing at the root. But do people
• 11:19
  Speaker 6: really want to hear from the newsroom on a day-to-day on, like,
• 11:22
  Speaker 6: the trail of the politicians? Or do they want the
• 11:24
  Speaker 6: politicians to set up a phone and talk to them
• 11:26
  Speaker 6: right on Instagram so we can really feel and see
• 11:28
  Speaker 6: where you are and what you're doing?
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: Our numbers say that they want to hear from us
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: because we're a trusted source. So since it's been a
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: year since I bought the root, we.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: I thought I'd be flying.
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: She was here when she first... Listen, I'm going to
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: tell you, they felt like they didn't fly to me.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: You've been doing a good job, though.
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: I love it. It's been a blessing, but it's hard work,
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: you know?
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: It is, yeah.
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: But our numbers are growing.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: Like, on our Instagram, our YouTube, our viewers on our website,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: it's because they're looking for people they can trust to
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: tell the truth to them. And they also wanted a
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: politician to pick up their phone and do it.
• 12:03
  Speaker 4: And so sometimes.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: We reach out to the politicians and we have conversations
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: with them. But it has been a year and our
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: numbers are, if they're indicative of what people and where
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: they want to get their stuff, they are coming to
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: the root.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: How do you choose what to amplify? The reason I
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: asked that, because I was looking at this Tucker Carlson story, right?
• 12:20
  Speaker 5: Where Tucker Carlson said that Donald Trump may drop a
• 12:23
  Speaker 5: nuke on Iran over the next seven days.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: To me, that's something to talk about. You know, how
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: do you handle a situation like that?
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: I mean, we would do some of our own research
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: and we would call some of our sources. I think
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: there's one thing to amplify that story.
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: I think there's something else to help people make sense
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: of what that means. Right.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: So if you are it's Election Day and you feel
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: like it costs too much money to put gas in
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: your tank. What? And that's because of the war in
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: Iran right now. What would dropping a nuke on the action?
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about what like a nuclear weapon is. Let's
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: talk about the destruction that it causes.
• 13:00
  Speaker 6: It's over.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: The end of civilization is below it.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: So I think it is not just about promoting what
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: Tucker Carlson says. I think it is helping your community,
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: helping your readers understand what the repercussions of those actions are.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: I also think it's like we posted something today. There
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: was a man who finished the marathon. It was his
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: 43rd marathon. And it was like, So he did the
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: New York City Marriott and walked across the finish line.
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: He said it's his last one. And why are we
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: showcasing him? Because it's somebody who was committed to himself,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: to the community. And so I think it's a balance,
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: but it's celebrating some joy when there's tough conversations, making
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: sense of the moment.
• 13:36
  Speaker 6: And I think a lot of the stuff that we've
• 13:37
  Speaker 6: studied in history about America is actually starting to maybe
• 13:40
  Speaker 6: about to be happening. That's something you said at this point.
• 13:42
  Speaker 6: I'm like, well, what am I supposed to do? As
• 13:44
  Speaker 6: a day-to-day person, what does that mean for me? We
• 13:46
  Speaker 6: don't practice bunkers and all that stuff.
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: So what do we do?
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: It's unprecedented stuff, right?
• 13:50
  Speaker 5: When you see the Pentagon preparing to be off the
• 13:54
  Speaker 5: grid for 90 days, and you see all of these
• 13:55
  Speaker 5: countries telling people that they should stockpile, and you see
• 13:57
  Speaker 5: Chris Murphy saying, I saw you know, what Donald Trump
• 14:00
  Speaker 5: has planned after the midterms for Iran.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: And it's insane is what he said. Then he has
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: a stroke.
• 14:06
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: So now a super conspiracy brain is going. Like, what
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: the hell?
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: Well, I'm not going to go down that conspiracy. I'm
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: going to walk you back, Charlamagne.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: Come on, come on back. What the hell of a coincidence?
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: Well, I just hope Senator Murphy is okay. That's the
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: most important thing.
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: Because he is a real fighter for working class people.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think people need to wake up and realize that,
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: why this election matters so much is because we do
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: have somebody in the Oval Office who could do something
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: like that. And the way our government is set up
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: is we have the Supreme Court, we have the executive branch,
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: and we have the legislative branch. And whatever you think
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: of the Supreme Court, they have done some overreach. They've
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: done some really problematic rulings. But the legislative branch is
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: the checks and balances on the executive branch. And so
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: when you have a one-party rule, when you have the president...
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: the Congress, the Senate, all Republicans, there is no checks
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: and balances. It's very clear they are not checking that man.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: And so with the split government, if you have the
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: Democrats in the House or the Democrats in the Senate
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: and the House, they can do some intervention because Congress
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: is supposed.
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: To have the power to declare war.
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: There are very few instances where the president actually can
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: declare war, and they are not checking him on this
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: right now.
• 15:23
  Speaker 5: But what about when you hear Republicans have already been
• 15:25
  Speaker 5: planning to govern without Congress? They know they're going to
• 15:29
  Speaker 5: lose in midterms, so they don't care about the rule
• 15:31
  Speaker 5: of law.
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I will say this, that in my former life,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: when I was a civil rights advocate, I still am,
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: but when I got paid to do that work, there
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: are a lot of people right now in the civil
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: rights community and the democracy community that are working to
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: make sure that this election is protected, that people, when
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: their votes are... Sometimes people don't feel like there's a plan.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: People have been working around the clock since 2020 to
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: make sure that the election is safe and that if
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: Congress tries to govern without not.
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: Seat people, the litigators are in place, people are in place.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: And I have to have faith that the system will
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: hold and not just the system that people will not
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: allow that overreach of power. Like at some point folks
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: will say, whether they voted for Republicans or Democrats, like
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: you did lose.
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: And now you need to like step aside. So there are,
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: there are, Hope we don't need them. But there are
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: people ready to protect this election.
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: And fight for our democracy. And there's some of the
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: best to do it.
• 16:29
  Speaker 5: What do you think about, I don't know if you saw,
• 16:31
  Speaker 5: Big Sister General Kamala Harris said that we shouldn't impeach
• 16:35
  Speaker 5: Donald Trump if we take control. But I think people
• 16:37
  Speaker 5: missed the other things she said around that.
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm torn on that.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: I was actually having a conversation with The Independent about
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: this last night. And he's like, you guys just said
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: you're going to impeach Donald Trump. Look, I think the
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: voters are very clear. that they do not like the
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: corruption that is happening in this system. And they want
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: somebody to be held accountable. I think there are ways
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: for people to be held accountable that don't include impeaching
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: Donald Trump. And so I think that if the Democrats
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: take the House, there should be oversight hearings and investigations.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: But that's not the only thing you can do. People
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: want their lives to improve. So that is like you
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: can do oversight hearings. and investigations, but you also have
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: to put forth an agenda to improve the quality of
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: people's lives, or we will be right back in the
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: same position we were in 2024.
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: So what should voters realistically expect Congress to do about affordability?
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: Well, I think that they can draft some legislation on
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: housing reform, on, like I said, the grocery piece, doing
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: some supplements for the farmers right now that are struggling
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: so much in rural areas. And then they have to
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: ensure that, you know, Donald Trump could veto it.
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: But then I think that people need to make that.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: Message clear that it is Donald Trump that is stopping
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: those initiatives to go in.
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: But they have to present those.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: They have to then— they might have to negotiate with Republicans
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: and not get everything they want. I mean, I know
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: people sometimes want folks to do everything perfectly. Like, that
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: is really hard in Congress. Like, you have to compromise.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: You have to— when I worked in the White House, I
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: would be like, we need to do this and we
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: need to do that. And it's like, well— That's not
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: how it works. Like, I wasn't going to let perfection
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: be the enemy of good, right? Or an enemy of progress.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: So they can pass bills. And if Donald Trump vetoes them,
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: then the voters need to take that into account in 2028.
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: It just seems easy because it seems like a human thing, right?
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: It's not like you're asking for frivolous-ish. I mean, you're
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: asking for food.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: Food, water.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: Affordable food, affordable water. Affordable health care, affordable gas. The basics.
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: The basics. Doesn't seem like it's a far ask.
• 18:42
  Speaker 4: It's not. It really isn't. And I think that's what
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: voters will say at the election, I hope.
• 18:48
  Speaker 5: Are we witnessing a normal midterm backlash or just something deep?
• 18:52
  Speaker 4: Well, what is normal?
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: I'm serious.
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: I'm like, what are we doing, folks?
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: So historically, when you have a president, there is backlash, right?
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: The party in power usually loses the midterms. We didn't
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: see that happen in 2022. And I think that was
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: a misread by Democrats because they thought it was the
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: Joe Biden policy agenda. But it really was because you
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: remember that was the summer that the Dobbs decision came
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: down that overturned women's right to have an abortion, right?
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: And so- That animated the electorate.
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: I think we're seeing record numbers, though, because I think
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: people don't like what's happening in our politics writ large
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: and they want.
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: To do something to shake it. We'll see.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: I think that the states that are in play right now,
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: I don't believe the polling. I never believed polling. The
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: states that are in play right now, I don't think
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: it is just about a midterm. I think it is
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: about the electorate waking up and realizing, for example, yesterday
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: when I was on my way up here from New York,
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: I was in a car, and I was driving down
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: 14th Street in D.C., And there's a.
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: Line down the block.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: And I'm like, what's going on? And when I get
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: to the end of the corner, they're handing out food.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: And I'm like, and I'm looking, and the reason why
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: I was like, what's going on is because, like, I
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: think people have this image of what poverty looks like.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 20:23
  Speaker 4: And these folks have fits on like me.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: I get what you're saying.
• 20:26
  Speaker 6: You know?
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: Because they can't feed themselves.
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: That's how I was last year. You know, I do
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: a lot of work with the food bank.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 20:33
  Speaker 5: And when the government was shut down, I saw that. Like,
• 20:37
  Speaker 5: people are one paycheck away. It don't mean you homeless
• 20:40
  Speaker 5: or in poverty. People have been paying their bills fine,
• 20:42
  Speaker 5: but missed the paycheck, now they got to be at.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: The food bank.
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: And I have to believe, and I do believe, those
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: people go to work every day.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: That's right.
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: They were standing with their kids. Like, this is America.
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: This is in Washington, D.C., literally 10 blocks from the
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: White House, and people are waiting in line down a
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: block to get a cooked meal.
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: Like... That is why you are seeing people. And it's
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: not just food. It's gas. It's housing. It's health care.
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: It's the tension and the hate that people feel. You
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: don't even know sometimes if you look at somebody the
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: wrong way. Folks are so on edge right now. And
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: I think people are saying, we got to wake up.
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: And I actually think young people, too, play a role
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: in this. Because they are like, I mean, I'm a millennial.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: I still feel like I'm young. But they look at
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: us and they're like, we're not doing.
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: It the way y'all did it. We don't like this.
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: We're going to be more inclusive.
• 21:38
  Speaker 5: And I think this is one of the first times
• 21:41
  Speaker 5: you can directly point and say, gas is high because
• 21:44
  Speaker 5: of this war.
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: This war, yes.
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: And you shouldn't have a chance. Retail prices are high
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: because of your tariffs.
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: You didn't release the F-15. You can directly point. You
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: know exactly what the problem is.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 21:55
  Speaker 4: And then you have a ballroom. Yes.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: Or you have a Halloween party where you serve king crab. Dang. Right?
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: And have a zero that you can pet. That's right.
• 22:06
  Speaker 4: But I'm waiting in line to get food for my kid.
• 22:11
  Speaker 6: Or I gotta go steal King Crab's from a tractor
• 22:14
  Speaker 6: trailer in the middle of Philly and sell it in
• 22:17
  Speaker 6: the hood.
• 22:17
  Speaker 4: Oh, really? Oh, I did see that.
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: Don't act like you ain't copped something.
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: You got it.
• 22:26
  Speaker 5: I do want to ask you, I feel like you've
• 22:27
  Speaker 5: been protecting your peace lately, right? I mean, we know
• 22:29
  Speaker 5: you're the media owner, the roots.
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: You do a lot of things.
• 22:32
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: But I feel like I don't see you as much
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: on CNN as I used to.
• 22:36
  Speaker 4: Oh, well, I.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: I'm wondering if that's on purpose.
• 22:40
  Speaker 4: I went to Africa for three weeks. Oh, I took a.
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: Listen.
• 22:43
  Speaker 4: Where'd you go in Africa? Okay, I took my mom.
• 22:46
  Speaker 6: Okay.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: We went to Kenya for a week, Rwanda for a week,
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: and Tanzania and Zanzibar for a week.
• 22:52
  Speaker 5: Oh, wow.
• 22:53
  Speaker 4: And we had a family wedding in Rwanda, and it
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. And, like, you know.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: I think folks know this, but right when I bought
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: The Root, the very next... No, when I found out
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: I was going to get the chance to buy The Root,
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: the very next day I found out my mom was
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: having quadruple bypass.
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: Surgery, right?
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: So I negotiated this deal in her hospital room, caring
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: for her, right? After you go through something like that,
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: the value.
• 23:16
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 23:18
  Speaker 4: Like, it's like what you've been spending all your time, right?
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: And so I was just like, hey. And then I
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: sent her back home and I stayed in Europe for
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: a week, right? And I was just like, I'm blessed
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: enough to be able to do it and I don't
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: take it for granted. And I'm very clear on that
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: because we just had this conversation how some people are
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: really struggling with that.
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: And I take my blessings not for granted at all
• 23:37
  Speaker 4: and I'm very grateful. And I was like, you know,
• 23:40
  Speaker 4: I'll see you in a month, right? Like, you'll be
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: here when I get back. And so, no, it's not intentional.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: I'm just like, And listen, I'm traveling all the time
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: and you have to be on set. And my first
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: responsibility is to make sure I preserve this institution, the root,
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: and that I care for it. And if that means
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: I can't do as much CNN, that's why.
• 24:01
  Speaker 6: You're prioritizing the things that matter for you, for your
• 24:04
  Speaker 6: real life and your legacy.
• 24:05
  Speaker 5: Because you know you're going to be arguing with some
• 24:07
  Speaker 5: white man on CNN as soon as you get on there.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: Yes, I do.
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: I do.
• 24:09
  Speaker 4: I do. Yeah. But I love it still. It's fun.
• 24:15
  Speaker 6: I just love to hear a Black woman in your
• 24:16
  Speaker 6: position say that out loud because you feel like there's
• 24:20
  Speaker 6: like a tug of war when you get to that
• 24:22
  Speaker 6: point where you want to prioritize things that are not
• 24:24
  Speaker 6: just work.
• 24:25
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and I'm also trying to prioritize my health as well, right?
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: Like, I really ran myself into the ground last year. Like,
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: when I went to the doctor, I had high cholesterol
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: and high blood. And I'm like, I'm 44.
• 24:36
  Speaker 4: I can't be on all these... You know what I mean? Like,
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: I want to live a long, healthy life. And so....
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: You know, the older they say this, I never thought
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: I was going to be that girl. But like the
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: older you get, the more you just like.
• 24:47
  Speaker 4: Prioritize other things.
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: So predictions for the midterms.
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: Oh, I don't like to do predictions.
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: I don't.
• 24:55
  Speaker 4: I swear to God, I have not done predictions.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: I won't say it on air. I just like I'm
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: keeping it inside. I know what I'm praying for, the
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: outcome I'm praying for. And it's not about party, actually.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: It's there's something bigger that needs to happen in this
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: country that needs to shift. it is disturbing a lot
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: of times when I see all the hate that is
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: around here it's not healthy for humans to experience that
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: and so I'm not doing any predictions I'm just praying
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: for people to know their agency in this midterm to
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: engage in this democracy and that when the results are
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: the results that we accept them and we have peace
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: in this country and we don't have another January 6th
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: or anything like that and that adults in power.
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: Will do the right thing You got the Route 100, too. Yes.
• 25:43
  Speaker 4: On a good note, you're trying to get me to
• 25:44
  Speaker 4: go all like, Democrats and I'm not predicting anything. I
• 25:48
  Speaker 4: will say this. I think there's going to be some
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: surprises in midterms, good and bad.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: I do.
• 25:53
  Speaker 4: I think the map is going to look different this year.
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: It already does. I just do. I really, really do.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: And I think that's exciting for politics because I think
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: we can't forget about the South. We can't forget about
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: the Midwest. Can't forget about Texas. So I think some
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: stuff will be surprising to folks. And we do have
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: the Route 100, and.
• 26:15
  Speaker 4: We're going to be announcing it last year. Y'all are
• 26:17
  Speaker 4: on the list. We'll be announcing it November 12th, and
• 26:21
  Speaker 4: we'll be celebrating in December.
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: Okay. Ashley Allison, y'all. Thank you for joining us this morning.
• 26:27
  Speaker 4: Thanks for having me.
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: Appreciate you. And it's the Breakfast Club.
• 26:29
  Speaker 4: Good morning.
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: Hold up. Every day I wake up. Wake your ass up.
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: It's the Breakfast Club. Y'all finished or y'all done?