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House Heads Home Early, Texas Family Sues After Pregnant Woman Dies & Chris Brown Rejects Texas Honor · The Breakfast Club

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Congress just got back from summer break, so why are
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: House members already packing up and going home?
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: He's literally giving us the rest of September and all
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: of October as a vacation. Why is Johnson acting this way?
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: And a pregnant mother dies in Texas, and now her
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: family is taking on the state and some of her doctors.
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: Tira Walker is dead because not one of her health
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: care providers would give her the one medical procedure that
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: would have saved her life.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: And Chris Brown was honored by Texas lawmakers. Then came
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: the backlash. Why Brown now says they can keep the honor.
• 0:42
  Speaker 4: First off, I want to offer an apology.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: It's Friday, September 18th. From the Black Effect Podcast Network,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: I'm Amy Brown. This is Front Page. And here are
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: the day's biggest stories. Stay with me. House members just
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: got back to Washington from summer break, and now they're
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: going home again. After just seven legislative days, Speaker Mike
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Johnson ended the House session early Wednesday, sending members home
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: to campaign ahead of the midterm elections. And they aren't
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: scheduled to return until after Election Day. And the timing
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: is interesting. Republican Congressman Thomas Massey was trying to force
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: a vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hexeth over the
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: war with Iran. Because Massey filed it as a privileged resolution,
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: the House would have had to deal with it quickly.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: But with lawmakers now gone, that vote can't happen until
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: they come back. But Johnson says that's not why he's
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: sending everyone home, and he dismissed Massey's impeachment effort as
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: a stunt.
• 1:45
  Speaker 5: That's ridiculous. It's a publicity stunt by someone who wants attention.
• 1:49
  Speaker 5: It will immediately be tabled, of course, but we probably
• 1:53
  Speaker 5: won't do that today. We'll probably do it when we
• 1:54
  Speaker 5: come back.
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: But it's a stunt.
• 1:56
  Speaker 5: Secretary Hexeth has done an extraordinary job in the Department
• 1:59
  Speaker 5: of War.
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: We're in the.
• 2:01
  Speaker 5: Middle of international conflicts right now, and we should not
• 2:03
  Speaker 5: be playing games with national security.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: But Hexeth isn't the only unfinished business lawmakers are pointing to.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: California Congressman Ro Khanna says there are major issues Congress
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: should be in Washington working on.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: Mike Johnson just adjourned Congress. He's literally giving us the
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: rest of September and all of October as a vacation.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: What other job does this? Why is Johnson acting this way? First,
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: he doesn't want to vote on Massey and Mai, Epstein 2.0,
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: that would give state attorneys the ability to prosecute the
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: Epstein class. Second, he doesn't want to vote on Pete
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: Hegseth's impeachment because he knows it will pass. And third
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: and most concerning, he doesn't want to vote on AI
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: regulation because the tech billionaires are telling him not to.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: We need to be back doing the people's work.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: And more than 100 Democrats asked Johnson to keep lawmakers
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: in Washington to work on stronger AI safeguards before leaving
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: for the election. And this isn't the first time the
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: House calendar has been shortened. By AP's account, 28 legislative
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: days have been removed this year and four added back,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: a net loss of 24 days. Johnson's position is that
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: the House has already gotten a significant amount of work done.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: He has called this one of the most productive Congresses
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: in decades. But for now, the House is done voting
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: until the midterms. And now to Texas, where a family
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: says a pregnant woman knew something was seriously wrong. She
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: asked for an abortion because she feared she could die
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: and never received one. Her name is Tiara Walker. She
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: was 37 years old. This was a wanted pregnancy, but
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: Walker already had several serious health problems, including high blood
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: pressure and diabetes. She had also experienced preeclampsia during an
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: earlier pregnancy. Preeclampsia is dangerously high blood pressure during pregnancy,
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: and in several cases, it can kill the mother. According
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: to her family's lawsuit, Walker's health became worse during her pregnancy.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: Her family says she repeatedly told her doctor she was
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: afraid of continuing the pregnancy and that it could kill
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: her and ask for an abortion. They say she never
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: got one. Here's what one family attorney told CBS.
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: Tira Walker is dead because not one of her health
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: care providers would give her the one medical procedure that
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: would have saved her life. And they would not do
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: that because of the immense culture of fear that has
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: been created in.
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: The state of Texas.
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: The only reason that you would not give her an
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: abortion is if you wanted her to die, which I
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: don't think was the case, or if you were scared
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: of the law.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Walker kept going to the hospital. Then on December 27th, 2024,
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: About 20 weeks pregnant, she went to the emergency room again.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: This time, doctors diagnosed her with preeclampsia. Her discharge paperwork
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: even said that in severe cases, delivery may be the
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: best treatment. But Walker was discharged and sent home. Days later,
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: her 15-year-old son found her unresponsive in bed on his birthday.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: She died. An autopsy found preeclampsia and hypertensive cardiovascular disease
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: contributed to her death. Now her family is suing Texas
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Texas Medical Board Executive Director,
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: UT Health San Antonio, and several doctors who treated her.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: And this case really comes down to one big argument.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: Did Texas's abortion law stop doctors from giving Walker the
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: care she needed? Her family's attorneys say yes. They argue
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Texas's strict abortion restrictions have created so much fear among
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: doctors that some are afraid to perform an abortion even
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: when a mother's life may be in danger. But Texas
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: did have an exception for medical emergencies. And there is
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: a disagreement over whether Walker's death was caused by the
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: abortion law itself or by failures in her medical care.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: Doctors who reviewed the case for CBS criticized the decision
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: to send Walker home with severe preeclampsia. One anti-abortion physician
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: group also said her death appeared preventable, but argued the
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: problem was inadequate medical care, not Texas's abortion law. And
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: that is now what a court will have to sort out.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: And finally, Chris Brown says Texas can keep its honor.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: And here's how we got here. Chris Brown and Usher
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: are currently on a massive stadium tour together, and they're
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: selling out stadiums across the country. The tour started with
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: a sold-out show in Denver, and demand has been so
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: strong they've added more dates in several cities. Last weekend,
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: during their stop at AT & T Stadium outside Dallas,
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: Texas State Representative Vinton Jones and Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett came
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: on stage. Crockett recognized Brown and Usher's contribution to music
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: in the congressional record. Jones separately presented Brown with the
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: state of Texas legislative recognition. But after the concert, Jones
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: faced backlash because of Brown's past. In 2019, Brown pled
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: guilty to felony assault for attacking Rihanna, who was his
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: girlfriend at the time. And more recently, Brown pled guilty
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: in London to a fray connected to a 2023 nightclub incident. Now,
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: a fray basically means using or threatening violence in a
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: way that makes someone fear for their safety. Prosecutors say
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: Brown hit a music producer with a bottle and pled
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: guilty to a fray, while the more serious assault charges
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: against him were dropped. He's scheduled to be sentenced next month. Now,
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: after the backlash over the Texas honor, Representative Jones went
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: on Don Lemon's show and apologized, specifically addressing Black women,
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: women and survivors of domestic violence.
• 8:00
  Speaker 4: First off, I want to offer an apology.
• 8:03
  Speaker 6: And I think that this is a very important conversation
• 8:06
  Speaker 6: around domestic violence. And I want to offer my apology
• 8:10
  Speaker 6: to Black women, to women, and to anyone who has
• 8:13
  Speaker 6: experienced domestic violence, and really express that it was not
• 8:18
  Speaker 6: my intention to be able to stoke the traumas that
• 8:25
  Speaker 6: goes into that, as well as the background of this situation.
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: We were here.
• 8:31
  Speaker 6: At the request of the venue to come in and
• 8:35
  Speaker 6: to be able to honor the importance of this evening
• 8:39
  Speaker 6: that was going on.
• 8:40
  Speaker 4: So both Chris Brown and Usher.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: Chris Brown did not like that apology. He basically said,
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: I didn't ask you for this award. You came to me.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: Brown and his Dallas shows were already sold out and
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: accused Jones of backing away from the honor because of
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: political backlash. Then Brown told him, keep the award. Brown
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: has had a very different response to Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: He thanked her for recognizing him and apologized for any
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: backlash she received because of it. And this has now
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: opened another part of the conversation. Where does redemption come in?
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: Brown was a teenager when he assaulted Rihanna that does
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: not erase what happened. And critics point out that the
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: Rihanna case isn't the only legal trouble he's been in since.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: But others are asking how long should something... someone did
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: as a teenager follow them and at what point does
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: accountability leave room for redemption because almost two decades later
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: brown remains one of the biggest r & b artists
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: in the world touring selling out stadiums and drawing hundreds
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: of thousands of fans and that's really where this debate
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: is now can you acknowledge what someone did hold them
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: accountable for it and still recognize what they've accomplished since
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: that's your front page I'm Mimi Brown. This podcast was
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: brought to you by the Black Effect Podcast Network.