draconian voting restrictions. texas just advanced a bill that among other things would make it a felony, you heard that right, a felony for an official to give a voter an absentee ballot application if they didn't request one. as of march 24th they've introduced 360 voter restriction bills in 47 states. in many states these restrictions will specifically be hard on black voters. look, i want to make this clear. this is not just in response to the 2020 election and the big lie. the voting rights of black americans have been under attack since the 15th amendment was passed, even if lawmakers don't explicitly spell it out, we see you. jamel boulie of "the new york times" wrote this about the jim crow era. there was no statute that said black people cannot vote. instead, southern lawmakers spun a web of restrictions and regulations meant to catch most blacks as well as many whites and keep them out of the electorate. and in a throwback to that time a writer for the conservative national review recently opined the republic might be better served by having fewer but better voters. like who, friend? land owning white folks? because that sounds very familiar. now corporate criticism of these bills have spread like wildfire. this was after the public pressure campaigns. this unusual move has the gop crying cancel culture. >> i found it completely discouraging to find a bunch of corporate ceos getting in the middle of politics. my advice to the corporate ceos of america is to stay out of politics, don't pick size in these big fights. >> now mcconnell later walked back those comments because i guess play boy remembered just how much corporations donate to his campaign. joining me now is new jersey congresswoman bonnie watson coleman and fernand amandi and host of "the strange days" podcast. congresswoman, i want to start with you. you've been very out front on this issue. you've penned a letter to the doj asking them to intervene here. for the folks at home, that's the question. what can we do? if it goes to the courts, congress, or if it goes to the people. tell me about this letter you penned to the doj. >> when i saw the voter suppression laws cropping up state by state by state and i thought about the connection between what has happened in terms of perpetuation of lies with regard to the transparency of the last election since the last election and i realized that these were being -- this was a coordinated effort. it scared me. it reminded me of all of the suppression and oppression that african-americans in particular have experienced in trying to cast their votes. it reminded me of the civil rights movement when people lost their lives just trying to get the right to vote and so this established in my mind a pattern, a pattern that was used -- that is going to be used to disenfranchise us, to try to be selective about who gets to vote and how easy it gets for some people to vote and how difficult it will be for others to vote. and so i wanted to make sure that we were addressing this, especially black women, since everyone says we were so significant in the outcome of the election and the outcome of organizations and things of that nature, i wanted to make sure that we were on the record early, that we see this as a problem, that we see this as a coordinated effort and that we want the justice department to look at it also to determine whether or not any of these laws or any of this sort of coordination represents some form of conspiracy, whether or not there is a civil issue here or a criminal issue here, but we need to be on record that we will do everything we can on our platform to hold hearings, ask questions, do investigations. we're going to ask the justice department, that is the real justice department now to look to see what laws you are to be enforcing and how you ought to interpret the collectivity of these laws that are so similar being offered across the states. >> well, congresswoman, i want to stick with you here because we all heard the sound from senator joe manchin this week saying that there is nothing he would do to abolish the filibuster. so essentially he's standing in the way of this progress. so when we look to congress, hr 1, this is essentially federalizing elections while the democrats hold the slim majority. it does not stand a good chance of passing. joe manchin is standing between this and the progress when it comes to voter suppression . what can congress do? it seems like he's on a power trip. maybe it's time to be ghost. you make the point of black women being on the front lines. what can we do? >> i think that joe's relationship with the other joe in the white house might be very helpful in moving forward some of this legislation that's so vitally important. i don't think that senator manchin would knowingly support the kind of voter suppression and use the institutions of the senate to do the things strom thurmond did and try to suppress the participation of african-americans. and i think that at the end of the day we'll be able to work out something with mr. manchin. >> i hope you're right because knowingly or unknowingly, the outcome is still the same. so, fernand, let me turn to you on this. something that's been very frustrating to me is this conversation around hr 1 and these voter suppression legislation bills that are coming up that we need to make the bill more palatable. i have to tell you, fernand, i have zippy interest in making my right to vote palatable to anybody, former gop operatives or current gop operatives who think their opinions matter in this. what do you say to people who say you can pass this legislation, just make us more comfortable with it? >> tiffany, i think it's important to reflect on what the congresswoman said in her comments earlier. she used two words that hit the nail on the head, coordinated effort. what the congresswoman is saying is that this is an actual conspiracy by the republican party, let's call out the culprits here, based on a fraudulent conspiracy theory, which is just a fig leaf to get at what's at the heart of this, race and power. given the demographic changes in america and the growth of the non-white voter electorate, there is an existential fear by the republican party that the more folks that exercise their right to vote, the more likely they are to stay out of power. and if we've seen the trend over the last 20 years, certainly in the popular national vote, that is exactly the trend. i think the other question that you and the congressman raised is critically important. it is, what is our plan? what can we as americans do about it. i think the truth of the matter is, we have to treat voting now as an act of survival because it is an act of survival. in the same way we never forget our birthdays or our anniversaries or the big days that we celebrate in life, we have to take the same approach to voting and not plan two weeks or two months out. right now what is your plan for 2022 and 2024? because these restrictions are going to be in place. you've seen it. you had it at the top of the segment. the map all over the country. the republicans are not going to stop because this is about their survival. so the countermeasure that we can do as americans acting in good faith is develop our voting plan. the other quick point you made, what is the biden administration going to do? i think they've done an outstanding job so far in these first almost 100 days in showing what a real american administration can look like. my one concern is, i have a sense that they feel that if they lead on policy, that is going to make the case. i'm not sure that that's the approach when you're in a power fight here. >> right. >> and that is why the passes of hr 1 is so critically important, tiffany. >> all right. fernand, you've brought up some important points. i want to bring in christina sensune amaris. she is mobilizing young voters. so happy you could join us this morning. i want you, because fernand brought up the point, about the voting electorate changing. i want you to take a listen to what tucker carlson said about this replacement theory on his show. >> i know that the left and the golden gate keepers on twitter become literally hysterical if you use the term replacement if you suggest the democratic party is trying to replace the current electorate, the voters now casting ballots with new people, more obedient voters from a third world. they become hysterical. that's what's happening. let's just say it. that's true. ever one wants to make a racial issue out of it. white replacement theory. no, no, no, this is a voting rights question. i have less political power because they're importing a brand-new electorate. why should i sit back and take that? >> yeah. he stays big mad all the time about the changing demographics of the country. so, christina, i mean, you hear them say that is the fear. this is the fear, right? that more black and brown voters are going to find their way to the polls. it's always been the fear. how do we combat that? particularly when you have folks in the media who are trying to present this as though there's another side to this debate other than voter suppression? >> nothing makes me angrier getting the question, what is your response to the fraud? let's be clear, there is no fraud being perpetrated by black and brown voters. i live in texas. the largest battleground state in the country where the majority of our population is now brown and black and we have a legislative body largely that doesn't look like our population and they have a choice. they can try and win on the merit of their ideas and actually respond to our needs or, guess what, we're going to vote for a party and candidates that do. instead of doing that, instead of trying to represent that. it will break them in any way imaginable. the congresswoman is right. this is a calculated, cunning effort to look at the patterns of black and brown voters and try and divide them. here in texas it's a beautiful image that people are seeing. every year in texas 270,000 young people of color turn 18. we dropped this week next gen america 1/4 million rose petals while we sang amazing grace. it was so powerful and so beautiful. the point of it was that we're fighting their darkness with our light, their ugliness with our beauty and that you can -- if you try and cut a rose bush down, it will grow back. as communities of color, the last thing i want to say is that we are well aware that people mobilized, marched, some died for us to have this right to vote and we are not going to give it up without a righteous fight. at the end of the day democracy has always been a threat to the powerful and elite and it will continue to be and that's why we have to work so hard and be so vigilant to defend it. >> righteous fight and righteous anger. i know a lot of people across the country feel it. it is ironic that we're talking about voting rights at the same time black americans are fighting for their lives being gunned down by some members of law enforcement so it feels incredibly frustrating like a throw back as we talk about these things on the show this morning. thank you so much, congresswoman bonnie watson coleman, fernand and christine. coming up, the key testimony in the derek chauvin trial that may have put a dent in some of the defense's claims. plus, could this trial actually change the future of policing or are we about to fall for the okey-doke? 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(snap) fine jewelry for every day, minus the traditional markups. ♪♪ in my opinion, the law enforcement subdual restraint and neck compression was more than mr. floyd could take by virtue of the heart conditions. >> if we look at the other contributing conditions, those other contributing conditions are not conditions that you consider direct causes, is that true? >> they are not direct causes of mr. floyd's death, that's true. they're contributing causes. >> and in terms of manner of death, you found then and do you stand by today that the manner of death for mr. floyd was, as you would call it, homicide? >> yes. i would still classify it as a homicide today. >> that was the medical examiner who performed george floyd's autopsy after former police officer derek chauvin knelt on this man's neck for over nine minutes. he was among the medical experts who undercut this week the defense's claim that floyd died of a combination of heart disease, drugs and high blood pressure. we'll hear more of what the defense has to say soon with the prosecution expected to rest its case early next week. joining me now to discuss all the testimony we heard is cheryl dorsey, retired lapd police sargeant and author of "black and blue" and ellie masal. ellie, you're the legal expert here so i want to start with you. look, before we get into the legal issues, i just want to focus on the humanity. take a listen to the police chief describing what happened to mr. floyd. >> once there was no longer any resistance and clearly when mr. floyd was no longer responsive and even motionless, to continue to apply that level of force to a person proned out, handcuffed behind their back, that in no way, shape or form is anything that is by policy, is not part of our training and it is certainly not part of our ethics or our values. >> ellie, before you respond, now i want you to listen to the pulmonologist describing when there was no life left in mr. floyd. >> i'm not hearing it. i remember it. >> it's coming. i think the control room is pulling it now. >> the virus is spreading because we have too many people who have seen the end in site, think we're at the finish line already. >> yeah, that's obviously the wrong sound bite. you remember. you recall the point where the pulmonologist is saying there is no life left. at this point we see there is no life left in mr. floyd. i think the bigger question here is his family has to sit through that testimony. his daughter will likely hear that testimony at one point and it just punctuates the point that black lives matter. not matter more, not matter less, they just simply matter. what's your take just from the humanity of listening to this kind of testimony every day all day for the past couple of weeks. >> it's been very hard, to be honest. it's really triggering while you're trying to go about your normal life and you're constantly being reminded that these cops just took this man's life with impunity. the analogy that i've tried to make when we look at what the defense is doing in response to this compelling testimony, imagine if after 9/11 the defense lawyers for the terrorists had said, well, you know, if they hadn't gone to work that morning, they'd be alive. imagine if the boston marathon bomber, if they made the mr. blond defense. well, if they hadn't of done what they were told not to do, they would have been alive. of course we don't let terrorists blame the victims for the terrorism. that's not what happens in this country unless the victim is black. when the victim is black the white domestic state sponsored terrorists which is what derek chauvin and his accomplices were, when the terrorism is against black people it is suddenly okay for lawyers to make the arguments and judges to allow evidence suggesting that the victim of the terrorism was at fault for their own death and it's just -- it's crazy making and it's wrong. >> it's wrong and crazy and, cheryl, i want to ask you -- i want you to take a listen. we have that sound bite from the pulmonologist describing the moment where mr. floyd had no life left. >> at the beginning you can see he's conscious. you can see slight flickering and then it disappears. so one second he's alive and one second he's no longer. that's the moment the life goes out of his body. >> so, cheryl, people keep saying we see cracks in the blue wall and all the police officers are testifying against him and, you know, forgive me for being a skeptic, but i am not ready to fall for the okey-doke here. oh, you'll give us this one blood sacrifice so the next time we won't scream bludy murder when there are some in law enforcement who get off as using black people as target practice. as someone who was a law enforcement officer, what's your take on the alleged story of the blue wall cracking? >> listen, i've said all along that the police chief and those under him get no brown any points from me. they had to tell the truth. they had to admit to everything that we saw that they saw. and, listen, the reason why they get no brown any points is because the police chief knows exactly who derek chauvin is. they grew up on that department together. that supervisor on scene testified. i know chauvin. i've worked for him since 2008 and so if you know this guy is a loose cannon, if you know he is a city liability, why would you keep him in uniform? why would you allow him to go out and live to offend again. but for mr. floyd having died, he would have received a 19 personnel complaint so they'd get no brown any points for me for doing that thing that they had to do, damage control. they've already paid the family $27 million and you heard the chief say the first call he made when he saw the real video was to the mayor and he probably said, sir, you better open up your checkbook because chauvin is at it again. >> 100%. you make such good points. ellie, the whole defense seems to be -- their argument seems to be that officer chauvin was fearful of his life because of these bystanders. so fearful that his glasses never came off his head, so fearful this man never took his hand out of his pocket, he knelt with a callous impunity on mr. floyd's neck. so how do you make the case that this officer was so fearful without actually calling mr. chauvin to the stand? do you think we'll see that? >> i don't think we'll see chauvin come to the stand and i don't think they have to quite frankly to make their case. this is what the law allows them to do. look, any reasonable human being watching that video knows what happened. the law does not require cops behave like reasonable human beings. they only require them to behave like cops. that is so low that as long as they behave like any other officer on the scene might have, then they can get away with murder. the testimony the prosecution has put on from the other police officers should, to my mind, blunt this defense argument that chauvin behaved like a reasonable cop. literally, other cops are saying he didn't. then we have to think about the jury. you have to remember, this jury has been seeded with ignorance. it was seeded with people who did not see the video, which is almost impossible not to do in this country, or saw the video and couldn't decide whether black people needed to be choked to death. it's not talking to me, trying to convince you. that ship sailed long ago. they're trying to convince 12 people that have been picked specifically for not knowing things and so that's what -- that's what threatens me. no, they don't need to put chauvin on the stand. they need one juror to refuse to see a reason. >> yeah. or to make it okay for you to find this man not guilty. ellie, you're so good. cheryl dorsey, you are so amazing. i've been wanting to have you on the show for a long time. thank you for being on. loved having you. don't go anywhere at home. we just hit a new milestone with more than 1/5 of the country now fully vaccinated. i'm among them. i got my second shot this week. you can see the video on twitter. why are cases still rising? 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>> tiffany, i think we're rounding the bend. just because we're rounding the bend doesn't mean we need to do a sprint on the last 100 yards. i put it that way. every good track athlete knows when you turn your head, your competitor out paces you and gains ground. sometimes i think that's what we're doing in our nation. we know we are vaccinating more and more americans and people are relaxing. they're letting up. they're saying this is over but premature victory costs lives and premature victory could put us at the point where we not have isolated outbreaks across the nation but that the whole nation is a hot spot again. hope and vigilance is how we have to continue to fight this battle. >> so one thing that people have talked about is getting to herd immunity. children are going to have to play a role in that. they make up 24% of the population. how soon can children get vaccinated? is that a contributing factor to reaching herd immunity? >> definitely. we know pfizer is applying for emergency use authorization for use of this vaccine in those aged 12 to 15. that's encouraging. as the fda goes through that data and the fda is able to verify what pfizer has publicized in the press, that this vaccine is 100% effective at preventing coronavirus disease, then we are that much closer to achieving community immunity. after that age group, the 12 to 15-year-olds are proving to be safe and effective, we're going to look at those younger and younger until we can say those 6 months and above are safe to receive the vaccine. i expect 12 to 15-year-olds may be vaccinated by early fall but not the younger kids until the end of the year. >> something i want to ask you about because this has been popping up on twitter all week and in my dms, on social media and it's really bothering me because it's impacted people in my family. this conspiracy theory. we've lost some people this week. people are dying because of the vaccine. we finally got to a place where people were lining up trying to get the vaccine. now people are saying i'm going to ease up on the vaccine. so and so died. they're linking it to the vaccine. can you please address this once and for all for people who are doing this prison yard fill loss so he pfizering trying to tell people not to get the vaccine? >> definitely. we had over 100,000 people participate in the coronavirus vaccine trials and i was one of those persons and there were no deaths attributed to the vaccine. had there been deaths attributed to the vaccine, we would not have been able to have those vaccines approved for emergency use authorization. now we have even more accumulating data and evidence with over 178 million americans who have been vaccinated. approximately 35% have received one dose, 25% have received two doses. no one has died because of the vaccine. i want people to understand the difference between causation, a direct link, and correlation. do people get sick for other reasons? yes. are people having medical events at increased rates than what we see in your general population? no. that's why we know that the vaccine is not driving any significant concern. >> and just really quickly, we're out of time, but i want to get your quick opinion on these vaccine passports. as a public health official, how important do you think these are? >> look, my concern is always equity first. lead with equity, don't respond with equity. i don't have as much of a problem as us thinking about vaccination verification for international travel, but i don't want to see restricted movement within our borders. president biden was pretty clear that the federal government is not going to mandate a vaccine passport. we need to focus on getting more americans vaccinated, increasingly the black and brown groups were decimated by this virus. think about as people are fully vaccinated, how do we allow them to resume some semblance of a life. that's where the focus needs to be. >> thank you so much, dr. purnell. you'll have to do an idy. i got through as many as i could. we'll have to do live. >> okay. >> don't go anywhere at home. up next we're going to account for every dollar of wealth that white families have. black families have just 10 cents. now corporations say they want to help. you get that paper, but do they? stay with us. ice t, stone cold calling on everyone to turn to cold washing with tide. ♪ this is a cold call! ♪ hello, my name is ice t. can you spare a few seconds to learn about cold water washing with tide? hi my name is steve. did you know washing in cold can save you $100 a year on your energy bill. why wouldn't you turn to cold? it helps the environment. what? because stone cold said so. plus, tide cleans great in cold. ♪ this was a cold call! ♪ seeing blood when you brush or floss can be a sign of early gum damage. new parodontax active gum repair kills plaque bacteria at the gum line to help keep the gum seal tight. new parodontax active gum repair toothpaste. we started with computers. we didn't stop at computers. we didn't stop at storage or cloud. we kept going. working with our customers to enable the kind of technology that can guide an astronaut back to safety. and help make a hospital come to you, instead of you going to it. so when it comes to your business, you know we'll stop at nothing. everybody' smart enough to know we've been sleighted. i don't mean 40 acres and a mule because we past that. we need help. for us to be on our own two feet, us meaning youth, black people, for us to be on our own two feet we do need help. >> the great urban philosopher tupac shakur. today black families have 90% less wealth than white families. for every dollar a typical white family has, a black family has 10 cents. now corporate america says it's going to help narrow that gap. starbucks, goldman sachs and others this week announced an initiative called 90 to 0. that seeks to shrink the wealth gap by hiring more black workers. joining us is the author of "winners take all." i know how you feel on this subject, on the issue of can corporate america help close the wealth gap, but i just want to quickly reference a point that diddy made. he released a letter to corporate america. he said black america can weaponize our dollars the same way that you understand the power of our dollars, we understand our dollar to take them away from any corporation that does not give us the economic inclusion we deserve. if you love us, pay us. not a token investment, charity check. granted, there are issue with bad boy artist. if you eliminate the messenger and focus on the message, does he have a point? does corporate america have a role to play in narrowing the wealth gap? >> well, i agree with what he said, not with what corporate america is doing. he's actually saying people have a power to withhold their hard-earned money from institutions that are failing them. so when you talk about this question of the black/white wealth gap, there is no question that it is one of the most serious problems in this country, enduring problems in this country and unlike what corporate america will tell you, we actually know how to solve that problem. reparations would be the first thing we should talk about and the most significant thing that is ambitious enough to deal with the kind of numbers you talked about. frankly, all kinds of things we talk about in garden variety politics will make a difference. unions are very helpful to low wage workers or disproportionately black and brown. better health care prevents people from going into debt which hurts that wealth gap. not having to go into student debt and then be in that student debt for the entirety of your life and end up paying social security -- taking money from social security to pay student debt as many people do. that is something where if we fix it will improve the wealth gap. here's the truth. when starbucks and goldman sachs and other companies come forward with these initiatives, what they're doing is getting to a noble spot but they're trying to distract people from the fact that they over here in the back room are causing -- still causing the problem, fueling the problem that they're out front massacre raiding of solving. starbucks is a company that has been very hostile to unions. >> right. >> let's talk to black workers about what it's been like to attempt to unionize at starbucks. goldman sachs helped cause the financial crisis. what did that do to millions of black homeowners? >> yeah. disproportionately impacted. >> when the arsonists show up in a firefighting costume, we should not call them chief. >> you make a good point. i think my challenge with this, we did invite people from 90 to zero, the campaign on. they weren't available. i look forward to having them on soon. >> i guess they weren't available. >> wes moore is leading up robinhood. i trust that we'll have him on the show soon. i will make this point. when i hear these efforts, we're going to hire more black workers. it speaks to a cultural shift. i'm over that. i'm ready for the power shift. i don't want you to hire me. i want to be in a position where i'm hiring you. i'm going to have more black people around me. how comfortable are you when a black woman is your boss? how does corporate america meet public policy to help create that pipeline? i think that's the question that corporate america has to ask themselves. what's your take on it? >> that's incredibly important and i think the more you have that kind of diversity then you have decision makers making decisions that are different. i think that's where it becomes 1,000 times more important. what you're talking about is still a very small number of people. there aren't that many of those jobs in this country. there's a few thousand of those jobs we could say. even if all of them went to people of color, black people, that's still leaving most of the community still in the situation you opened the segment with. so when we talk about something like raising the minimum wage or when we talk about a policy like reparations or when we talk about who's lobbying against the public options, right? that's where you have the opportunity to potentially benefit millions, tense of millions of people. and it's very interesting that all of these people who show up doing black squares on instagram last summer, talking about wanting to hire this, doing that, robin d'angelo readings at camp fires on their op sites, those same companies are behind the curtains through their lobbyists in washington pushing against minimum wage increases, against taxes like the corporate tax increase that joe biden has proposed to fund a stronger recovery and rebuilding of this country that would, again, disproportionately benefit those communities. so these people have to stop asking the question that they love do ask which is what new initiative should we ask? they need to start asking, what have we been doing? what are our lobbyists doing? how are we showing up in those communities and hurting them every day, stabbing them in the back every day through policy and corporate practice and then showing up once a year with some fancy t-shirt and being like it's our corporate social responsibility fishtive to help you. we have to stop being fooled by this and it's on us to realize the arsonists cannot reinvent themselves as firefighter. >> i want you to not make a lot of plans on saturday mornings. this is a conversation that's ongoing. you have to come back. thank you for shedding light on this. i would love to have you back on with somebody from the campaign so we can have the much-needed debate. coming up, people held in a st. louis jail shattered windows, started fires demanding court dates. in this week's make it make sense. e. ♪ (car audio) you have reached your destination. 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to ask your doctor about kesimpta. dramatic results. less rms drama. it doesn't happen often. everyday people taking on the corporate special interests. and winning. but now, the for the people act stands on the brink of becoming law. ensuring accurate elections. iron-clad ethics rules to crack down on political self-dealing. a ban on dark money. and finally reducing corporate money in our politics. to restore our faith in government. because it's time. for the people to win. connection," and it's time for us to make it make sense. >> hi. i'm stacy marks from lower maryland. i have a family member that is incarcerated in a maryland state prison. for the past year and through the entire covid the prison has been on 23-hour lockdown with one hour to take care of themselves to make phone call, take showers. what i want to know is what's the plan for vaccinating prisoners so they can be returned to a normal schedule and out of a 23-hour lockdown. currently, from what we understand there is no current plan in place to make sure the prisoners will come off the 23-hour lockdown. prisoners deserve to come back to some sort of normalcy in their space. i would appreciate if you can take a look at this. >> thank you so much for that, stacy. it sounds like a nightmare and given the disparities in criminal justice we certainly know what a lot of those prisoners look like. thankful for your question and the powerful reminder that as most folks start to see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, we cannot lose site of some of the marginalized and purposely invisible people in this society. covid continues to wreak havoc, something we start when people held at a jail stage an uprising for the fourth time since december. inmates earn seen hanging from broken windows, throwing debris to the streets below and chanting we want court dates. dates which have been delayed for months because of the pandemic. over the past year there have been several uprisings at prisons all across the country as the incarcerated protest their conditions and these conditions are things like a lack of mask, sanitizer and distancing that helped covid spread through the system at an alarming rate and that's according to the marshal project. we know at least 392,000 people in prison have tested positive and more than 2500 have died, and those numbers are almost certainly higher, but still, thankfully vaccines are finally slowly reaching prisons. in 45 states inmates are now eligible for the vaccine and even florida is beginning to offer the shot in its prisons. one of the last states to do so. the marshal projects data in collaboration with the associated press shows that nationwide less than 20% of state and federal prisoners have gotten their jab. part of the problem is access. many states drag their feet on offering the vaccine to those inside with tennessee even doing so to avoid a, quote, public relations nightmare. this is in a state where one-third of prison verse tested positive and 40 have died. another problem is a lack of information and a pervasive sense of distrust of the prison medical system. in some places, a large number of inmates and prison staff are straight-up refusing the vaccine when offered. to combat this, some states are offering incentives according to the a.p. inmates in pennsylvania, for example, who take the shot will get $25 in their commissary accounts. meanwhile, in george a wan warden offered chips and cookies in exchange for being vaccinated. the vaccines cannot come soon enough. the safety precautions have also taken a toll like an end to personal visits from the outside. more than 30 states are still blocking personal visits including eight that also won't even allow legal visits. that means visits from their attorneys. in the era of covid typical access to prisons have been gutted and life completely up ended for individuals like your brother. stacy, you're absolutely right. prisoners do deserve to return to some sense of normalcy. they are human beings who deserve to be able to visit with their loved ones and their lawyers to leave their cells for more than an hour a day and to not die a preventable painful death from this awful disease particularly as some prisoners complain about not having organic food. folks at home, please, we love looking at your questions. if you have a question and you're not seeing answered anywhere else, send us your video. you know what to do. we'll make it make sense. don't go anywhere, though because coming up in the next hour she's got the grammys and soon she could have an oscar. the amazing singer her is coming to "the cross connection." stay with us. stay with us if you love it, spoon it. ♪ your favorite candy flavors twisted, ♪ chopped or layered into cool, creamy desserts that are made to spoon. new colliders desserts. find them near the refrigerated pudding. 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>> well, hopefully he didn't have much of a future especially in the political world. tiffany, you are absolutely right. there is nothing funny happening to the young women that are wrapped up in this and frankly, what is happening to young folks every day across this country within that industry. we have to make sure that we are clear about what the standards should be for any adult figure, let alone for someone who seeks public office and public service. unfortunately, matt gaetz is thumbing his nose at the fact that we should have higher expectations for the folks who sit in our congress at the very least, they should be people who only have consensual sex with willing adults. this shouldn't be a difficult thing and it shouldn't be a debate and yet we find the gop being completely silent about something that they want to make sure we don't ask too many questions about because if we ask questions about matt gaetz then we will be asking questions not only about a lot of members about the gop and unfortunately a lot of white men across the political spectrum who believe that holding -- being held accountable, rather, is actually an offense to them. so this is par for the course. it is quite typical of folks like matt gaetz and we have to get to the bottom of this and stop this once for all. >> it's like it's their country and they're above any accountability and the argument is ridiculous. i want you to take a listen to something the congressman said yesterday in mar-a-lago, and i want to get your reaction to the other side. >> i'm built for the battle and i'm not going anywhere. when you see the anonymous sources and insiders forecasting my demise, know this. they aren't really coming for me. they're coming for you. >> i mean -- i want to alert the congressman, you ain't that important. what has he done that people are going to come after him. ali, tell me, why would someone even bother to invent this ridiculous story and come after him? >> where have you heard that line before though, tiffany? >> donald trump. >> that is direct from donald trump. they're not really coming for me, they're coming for you. the thing that matt gaetz is going to turn is that the trump defense only works for donald trump because donald trump's co-conspirators they came out here like we did. paul manafort, roger stone, they took all the weight for donald trump and never flipped. matt gaetz's co-conspirators, they're looking more like deangelo. joel greenberg not to talk to somebody about what he knows and that's going to be the essential legal difference between what we're seeing with gaetz and what we saw horribly for five years with donald trump. matt gaetz doesn't have pardons to dangle to keep his co-conspirators quiet. he doesn't care about a pardon and he can't offer one no way. >> victor, i want to bring you in, because this congressman is dating women your age, essentially, which is so gross. it's interesting to me as we talk about qanon and weirdo conspiracy theorists that the government is being run by pedophiles. hey, the call might be coming from inside your own house, but as a young person with old guys hitting on your young friend, what's your take on this entire situation that someone twice your age could be looking at your peers? >> all of this is so absurd and so shocking. just as i think about how shocking this is i remind myself of what happened back in december of 2020 when matt gaetz attended a party where he was seen without a mask and shoulder to shoulder with other people and governor phil murphy came out and said being a knucklehead isn't beyond the pale for matt gaetz, but what concerns me more with people like matt gaetz, ted cruz and marjorie taylor-greene. you don't see morals and principles anymore. i may be young, but i think there was once a time when republicans actually embraced personal responsibility, family values and denounced cancel culture and now they're the first to denounce and cancel anyone who speaks out against them. as we head into the coming elections and the republicans and the broader electorate will have to do some serious soul-searching about what it means to be an elected official. is it going to the bahamas or cancun, mexico, and possibly engaging in illegal activity and representing their constituents and actually engaging in real governance and real legislation. i just hope that we can dig deep and confront this behavior and return to a time when facts, truth and morals actually prevailed. >> i mean -- the truth from a gen-zer on this show. victor shi for president. i think you made some really good points there, victor. as covid vaccinations become more readily available, the so-called vaccine passports are one idea that has emerged in recent weeks and businesses that like the idea and some critics say it could lead to discrimination. brittany, i'll come back to you on this. what's your feeling? would you feel comfortable having this passport or should we call it something else. would that make people more comfortable having this documentation that you've been vaccinated. >> like so many things in the world, tiffany, this is incredibly complicated. i do think that shifting the language so that we can be talking about proof of vaccination versus a vaccine passport could help us deal with the nuance without people automatically becoming incensed and defensive. i also think we have to critically ask questions of equity here. look, we've seen all throughout this pandemic, americans in particular, white americans most certainly traveling often to countries that are filled by and run by people of color and thumbing their nose at the regulations that those countries have set to keep them and their citizens safe. we have seen the cases of folks refusing to quarantine, the people who have refused to wear masks even while abroad, putting other people in other countries often with fewer resources in danger. we need vaccinations all the time to travel from this country to others, and i understand why this has to be a part of the conversation when we talk about issues of global equity. we also need to be talking about what equity looks like, though, for access to the vaccine. >> right. >> because if we're requiring proof of vaccinations from people who have had a difficult time getting it either here or abroad, we're not actually solving the problem that we think we are. these are difficult and nuanced conversations and we need to make sure that we're centering people who are hardest hit as we figure out the solution. >> victor, you're young. you grew up at a time when everybody had smartphones in their hand. so this isn't odd to you to be attached to these devices all of the time, i assume. would you feel comfortable having something on your phone or some sort of documentation that shows you've been vaccinated. >> at its core requiring proof of vaccination whether digital or a paper copy is something that our country and world will need at some point to have some semblance of normalcy. we'll have to address equity issues and security issues and privacy concern, but i think back to my time when i had to enroll in college and public high school and think that this isn't some new or noble idea. my parent his to make sure i was vaccinated against hepatitis and polio, and when i traveled in high school and i was vaccinated to protect myself from the yellow fever. at the end of the day this idea showing that you were vaccinated against covid-19, is not just about protecting yourself, but those around you. this culture war is why it's been so challenging to confront these issues and the biggest question we have to face is how do we get that chunk of the population that doubts vaccinations and vaccine passports and social distancing to accept the fact that covid-19 passports is about documentation, protecting yourself and those around you. >> yeah. victor makes a good point, ellie because some governors have banned any type of idea of a passport and my concern is you have all these antivaxxers. i don't trust you. i got the vaccine and you'll sit on the flight next to me or people i care about. what's the path forward? >> i can't with these people. these are people that will rip a breast-feeding child away from their mother if a mother doesn't have proper documentation and they're complaining about needing documentation to go to aruba? they need to drink a glass of shut up! we need to live in a world that vaccines once they are available to everybody, as they are not right now, as brittany says we have work to do. once they're available to everybody, we can absolutely, legally require to not cough on me and get me sick when i'm trying to go to the walmart. this is not breaking new legal ground. as victor was just pointing out, we do it for schools all of the time and we do it for travel to other countries all of the time. these people need to stop making everybody sick for the purpose of their culture war. the end. >> yeah. somebody said y'all going to make me lose my mind, up in here, up in here and that brings us to the next topic. the music world mourned the loss of a giant on friday when rapper dmx passed away at the age of 50. his first five albums topped the billboard chart. in later years he became known for his struggles with loss and it is such a sad loss, brittany. it's dark and hell is hot dropped when i was in college and rough riders was everybody's theme song for a minute. there's just something about his life that reflects what happens when kids are just out there left to their own devices and you know, don't really have a lot of guidance. what's your response or reaction to dmx's untimely passing? >> well, i mean, honestly i find myself praying for his family and his loved ones as they continue to try to move forward, but he is someone who was very open about the amount of turmoil that he dealt with in his life. he was introduced to hard drugs by an adult he trusted when he was just a young teenager. he has been open about the abuse this he dealt with inside of his own household due to his own mother, and so we have to recognize that this is actually an opportunity to do two things. one, it is to honor all of the folks who really found their freedom through his music, whether you love dmx lyrically or not, whether you love hip-hop or not, we recognize that just like marvin gay there are folks who walk that line transparently between the secular and dmx did that and people were able to find their healing because he was so open. it is an opportunity for us to push back and challenge systems that continue to dehumanize and criminalize people suffering from addiction. it affects parents and it affects siblings and it affects children. we have to make sure our institutions and conversations are fighting the disease and not the people who have it. stigmatizing this disease is exactly what's leading to issues like this and this is the time to be having that conversation. >> i want you to take a listen to dmx talking about the adult britney reference lacing a joint the first time he had it. take a listen. >> i found out that he laced the blunt with crack. my take -- why would you do that to a child? >> correct. [ bleep ] 30, you know what i'm saying and he knew how i looked up to him. he knew i looked up to him, you know what i'm saying? why would you do that to somebody who looks up to you? >> he was 14 years old at that time. it's just so tragic. your thoughts, elie? >> it is so important on what brittany was just saying. this is a man who did not spend his life in and out of therapy. he did not spend his life in and out of clinics and he spent his life in and out of jail because he was sick and nobody helped him and they kept incarcerating him and incarcerating him instead of helping him. his last incarceration stint was for tax fraud which i'm not going to excuse, but now do ivanka. right? now do jared. go get tax frauders if we care about tax fraud, but stop criminalizing everything a black person does in this world. >> dmx is from mount vernon, so i feel connected and i am so sorry that he's gone, but the whole story here is one of over incarceration and over policing of black bodies, who as brittany say, actually need help, not jail. >> yeah. look, this was a heavy conversation, so just on a musical note and to end us on a lighter note and something for us to look forward to. prince has a new album coming out. i'm very excited about it. another person who was taken from us way too soon. his new album drops in july. i know i cannot wait to download it, and i think they're showing some of the music coming up on another network this weekend, but just two people gone way too soon. thank you so much, brittany cunningham, victor shi, did such an amazing job on your cross connection debut and elie mystal. don't go anywhere, the sports world is getting in on the politics game. i'll talk sports with espn's bomani jones up next. stay tuned. bomani jones up next stay tuned ato made from scratch. raise the jar to all five layers. raise the jar to the best gelato... you've ever tasted. talenti. raise the jar. struggling to manage my type 2 diabetes was knocking me out of my zone, you've ever tasted. but lowering my a1c with once-weekly ozempic® helped me get back in it. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic® ♪ my zone? 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introducing self protection from xfinity. designed to put you in control. with real-time notifications and a week of uninterrupted recording. all powered by reliable, secure wifi from xfinity. gotta respect his determination. it's easy and affordable to get started. get self protection for $10 a month. >> i believe, as does everyone in our organization, that the right to vote is fundamental in our democratic society. there have been calls for boycotts and other punitive measures. unfortunately, those actions often impose the greatest burdens on the most vulnerable in our society, and in this case that includes our friends and neighbors here in augusta who are the very focus of the positive difference we are trying to make. >> yes. concern for the little guy. that's what the game of golf brings to mind. the masters is under way in augusta, georgia, where protesters have gathered this morning to call on the pga to take a stand against georgia's jim crow voting law. meanwhile, players and coaches on friday urged the ncaa to do more to fight a wave of transphobic. >> as a trans athlete i am not a threat to the sports because i am a woman. i think the ncaa can do more. >> joining me now to discuss all of this and more is bomani jones, host of the espn podcast, the right time with bomani jones and a clark, atlanta university graduate. i don't know a lot about sport, but i love talking about it and it's my favorite part of the show. i want to start with the masters, i thought their statement about staying in georgia was pretty garbage. >> they're not going to leave georgia. i'm surprised that they talked to us, it is a private club, and i don't know why they would pick this thing up that has been revered over years and then decide they'll move to south carolina or something like that. no. they put out a statement in large part because the easy thing to forget about this, these are the titans of industry that are the members of this club in large part and the titans of industry are out on this bill. no matter how they feel in their hearts they kind of had to talk about it a little bit and say this, say that, but no, they were never going to leave augusta. that would be stupid. >> let me ask you about the voter suppression thing because a lot of people have said, athletes can have a role to play in this, they don't have to play in states that are enacting voter suppression and student athletes can band together and refuse to go, but is that a fair responsibility to lay at the foot of athletes? do they have a role to play here? should we be asking that of them? >> i mean, if you play for a team in atlanta, for example, and you decided that because of this you didn't want to live there anymore and you wanted to be traded. that is an understandable thing you can do and decision you want to make and the idea that anyone should be responsible for it. at the end, athletes are employees in the system and nobody will look at the franchise and say all right, guys are you going to move because of the voting legislation? we are fairly selective in our ways in who we decide should or should not do something. what it typically is in this these cases, like microsoft getting ready to open in southwest atlanta, now you have power saying we're not going to do this anymore and nobody's asking coca-cola if they're going to move to nashville. >> that's a fair point. i want to ask about deshaun watson. i haven't followed this story closely and i am shocked that 22 women have accused deshaun watson of inappropriate behavior. one is a masseuse who made advances toward him, i haven't covered this a lot and it hasn't broken in sports circles. what's your take on this thing? these are cosby-like numbers and do you really think that all 22 of them are lying or whatever the number came out to be with cosby? we're in a similar place with watson with the similar allegations that we have stacked up with each other and his lawyer, rusty harden, probably the best lawyer in the city of houston being the best point guard and it's hard to be at the top of that list. when all of these accusations started coming in and he said, well, we know one of them is not telling the truth. one? this is the best that you've got. the best lawyer that you can probably hire under these circumstances and there hasn't been a single statement that he's been made in public and maybe this isn't, you know, as tony busbee, the lawyer for the plaintiffs that he's making it out to be. this will be a bigger story outside of sports at some point because the closer and closer we get to training camp the closer and closer you get to deshaun watson having to show up. i don't think anything that the nfl, unless something drastic changes, will allow him to come on to a team facility any time soon. i don't see this given how the accusations are stacking up. >> i want you to listen to some sound. so many people sent this to me knowing i don't watch football, a lot of people sent this to me and i want you to listen to hubert davis. >> i know that it is significant that i'm the fourth african-american head coach in any sport in the history of the university of north carolina. i'm very proud to be african-american, but i'm also very proud that my wife is white, and i'm very proud that my three beautiful, unbelievable kids are a combination of both of us. >> i mean, i don't even know what to ask you, bo, but what is playboy talking about? what was your thought when you heard that. >> that he should have work shopped that one before he came out there. bottom line is you are the first black head coach of the university of north carolina. that is a big deal. it's not something to be downplayed. one it's the top two programs for basketball and for the past 50, 60 years and one of the professionally progressive, and so for him to get up there and say this i'm not going to make this about you being black. no, that was all about you being black and my assumption is that he'll make a tent argument, and i'm the fourth black coach and i love this women and we have this type of a world. he 100% blew it. i'll say the absolute wrong thing in the wrong way in this moment and will probably never live it down with a segment of the population. >> bomani, you always say the right thing in the right way so i hope you don't plan to do a lot on saturday mornings because we'll be asking you back all of the time. so many people told me, you have to update his photo. he has hair now. coming up a little later, the incredible singer her joins us to talk about her oscar nomination. we'll be right back. about her o nomination we'll be right back. ♪♪ it's the easiest because it's the cheesiest. kraft. for the win win. not everybody wants the same thing. that's why i go with liberty mutual — they customize my car insurance so i only pay for what i need. 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[ crowd cheering ] [ engine revving ] [ race light countdown ] ♪♪ ♪♪ when you save money with allstate you feel like you're winning. safe drivers save 40% saving is easy when you're in good hands. allstate. click or call for a quote today. the last year has been irrevocably changed by the world. globally, more than 3 million people have succumbed to the coronavirus, more than 560,000 of those were americans, and on top of that loss, we are also collectively experiencing the trauma of violent images like the death of george floyd and others, political discord, economic distress and so much more. joining me now is reverend dr. t the collegiate church and author of "fierce love," a bold path to a better life and a better world. also dr. kelly cyrus, board member of the committee to protect medicare. thanks so much for joining me. dr. lewis, i want to start with you because we're experiencing massive loss, but there's also just the day to day of managing life, you know? whether work is driving you crazy or you're going through a divorce, your marriage didn't survive covid or that man or woman ghosted you, you're arguing with your friend, family drama, whatever it may be, what is your advice for folks just having a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. >> thank you for having me and great show. you're doing a great job. >> thank you. >> it's like being in a pressure cooker, everyday life exacerbated by covid and think of moms and dads tripping over toys in their house, i live in a small apartment in new york, raising their children at home and they're in front of screens, plus who can unsee a knee on mr. floyd's economic? who can unsee ahmaud arbery being hunted by those trucks. so i think what i want to say is blessed are they that mourn for they will be comforted and that's a spiritual piece of wisdom from scriptures, and wisdom from psychology. if we let ourselves fully feel the pain, the heartache, the disappointment and the sorrow with our friend and spiritual community on the yoga mat. what makes us resilient and gives us a chance to recover, that's why we have memorials and that's why we have wakes, that's why we do protests to extrovert the inside feeling so it doesn't turn into the need to medicate in some kind of way. feel it in community and it will help to get through it better. >> so dr. lewis says feel it in community. dr. cyrus, i want to ask you, we've seen a significant decline in church membership among all generations, but specifically among gen-zers. i'm just curious your thoughts because there are people who are struggling with life who never sit in a pew, who may not believe in anything. i just wonder what piece of advice for them as they try to navigate life, as people who don't believe. what can we do? >> it's actually quite similar to what dr. lewis is saying, try to channel that energy in a productive way, and so one specific suggestion i have is just keep it moving. so often when it's hard to get out of bed and it seems so hard to get to the mailbox or run an errand, but try to get yourself physically moving. it's really important to get that energy out of your body and channel it physically. i think another thing i will say is connecting with people who are there right in front of you who might have something to offer ask distract your mind from what you might be thinking of. distraction is an incredible coping mechanism. not too much distraction, but being able to do an activity, and turn off the derek chauvin trial. maybe learning and trying to understand the source of what's going on. there's so much history to be learned about colonization any white supremacy and its impact on communities right now, there are so many different ways that don't require medication or necessarily a specific spiritual belief as well and using your own body. >> dr. lewis, they feel like they need to talk to somebody, but they don't have health insurance and they can't really afford to pay $200 an hour to a therapist. what are some resources for folks. they're not suicidal and not about to hurt themselves, but they have a hard time and just want to talk it out. what are some resources for those folks? >> that's great. i think there are so many online resources right now. so, i mean, you can google online psychological support. there are meditations online and people you can talk to, psychologists and psychiatrists online and hot lines for people that feel suicidal and covid, although this is a horrible situation we're in, that the whole world has gone global and you can connect with affinity groups with people with trans children, and all of these things are free, and other spaces because of the digital situation we find ourselves in and many people's work situations is a little bit of help to offer for medical help around mental health. >> all right. just really quickly before we go, dr. cyrus, did you want to add to anything dr. lewis said? >> just to recognize when that suffering might be taking that toll. in my world we like to use time measurements at least for grief and you're starting to grieve someone and it's starting to go beyond six months or so, you might want to talk to someone, a counselor or a therapist and this might be increased anxiety and depression or an increase in substance abuse that is taking its toll most days of the week and impacting that, and seeing that over and over again is giving you flashbacks of a negative experience and that's occurring than, say, three months after a traumatic experience, it doesn't have to be medication and it has to be counseling and it can be therapy. think about how much time you are suffering and if it's impacting your life day to day. there is nothing wrong with asking for help. >> absolutely. nothing is wrong with asking for help. thank you so much, ladies. jacki lewis and dr. sire u us, you've been a blessing. we'll get musical inspiration. grammy winner and first-time oscar nominee. she looks so beautiful. 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something big and with several frammys, not just one, several grammys in the bag she is up for her new well-deserved oscar for her song in the biopic, judas and the black messiah. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> i am so excited to say the four-time grammy award-winning, first-time academy award nominee, r and b superstar h.e.r. joins me now. i am so excited. when the team heard we would have you on the show, they were, like, no way! yes, way! thank you and welcome. i am rooting for you for this oscar. when you wrote this song for "judas and the black messiah," what did you emote as you were bringing that beautiful melody to life? >> oh, my gosh. i was so blown away by the story and by the movie and i am so surprised of the details of fred hampton, i really didn't know that we weren't taught in school. i talked to chaka king and everybody from the movie and they were kind of, like, we don't want it to be sad. we want it to be hopeful and when i started writing and singing that melody and thought of this theme of fighting for somebody, fighting for love, fighting for a people and fighting for freedom and this was this continuing theme i was and listening to marvin gay and we had the percussion going and it was just right and it was hopeful and the beauty and pain. >> you can feel it. you feel the beauty and pain in our lived experience in this country and something i thought was interesting. i've read that you addressed this song to the oppressor. tell me what went into that thinking? >> you know, i think it was the idea of, like, just kind of showing, like, no matter what, we are still standing and for as long as we're standing and we're always going to fight and you can't take power away from people and very much what fred hampton's message was about, being a revolutionary and what that meant and what it meant to have power in the people. >> and it's a song, really for the movement because you think about what fred hampton was fighting then, we're still fighting now. we're fighting voter suppression and we're seeing what happened in the derek chauvin murder trial of killing george floyd so it's very timely. i'm very curious and you are on the front lines of the movement with this song. what responsiblity, if any, do you think artists have on speaking out on these issues and using the platforms to address the social injustice we see today? >> yeah. i mean, in the purest way, it starts with compassion. you know, obviously, when we are an artist and you have a platform, you have an influence. you have an impact on people and people listen especially when the mike is passed to you. people are listening. i know there are girls out there who look up to me in a different way and when i use my voice and i use my own personal feelings and experiences and i share my perspective with the world. i know it's giving people insight because i have an influence. i have a responsibility to be mindful of my influence and to be mindful of the messages that i shared and that's a really important thing, and i never imagined that i'd be in a position to create change, and to be able to be a part of a movement or start a movement, you know? you never think you can do something like that. we always think they're just one voice and we have to take advantage of it and do what we've got to do. >> when you lend your voice to these movements, audience responds and the awards community responds as well. i want to shift gears a little bit, and i lover your music and it's post-breakup music and it's empowering music for women. i'm just curious when you sit around and think, i have to listen to some h.e.r. music ever. do you ever listen to your own music? >> i love my music because it relates to what i go through and i love to reminisce sometimes so yeah. yeah. sometimes i do. sometimes i do. definitely. >> so if you do that, what's your favorite h.e.r. song? >> oh, man, i don't know! i don't know. i have a lot of songses that relate to different situations. i don't know. i don't think i can pick a favorite. >> asking an artist to choose their favorite son is like asking a mother to choose her favorite kid especially if you write a lot of your own music. i completely get it. look, if you win this oscar you are pretty much half way to an egat! are we going to see you on broadway or the movies? what can we expect to you? >> that's definitely a goal. i've been in music 100%, but i'm definitely trying to act and be in movies. you'll definitely see me in some movies and tv very, very soon and hopefully my festival will happen, lights onfest in the bay area and we'll keep it going on. more glasses, more music. >> and tell us about the lights on festival in the bay area. i have a lot of friends out that way. what's the thinking behind the festival? >> you know, it's crazy. i kind of felt like we did it the first time in 2019 and i felt like i threw the coolest r and b party ever and i think people think r and b is dead and it was sold out to see ari len next on, janel wiko and there were a lot of different people that i definitely think are leading right now and they are a part of r and b. so r and b is not dead and it's alive and well and it's a celebration. >> i have to tell you, i have a lot of friends in the bay area and i'm preparing you now, i will flash shamelessly my press pass because i want to be in the spot in the coolest spot at this lights on festival so you will definitely see this face there. for the album, though, i'm curious, who are some of your favorite collaborations that you did on this upcoming album? >> you know what? i don't want to share any with you. i want it to be a surprise because i'm really, really excited. it's supposed to be my debut album, but clearly, it's not a debut. so it is my -- my upcoming album and there's a lot of dope artists on there. i worked really hard on it for the past two years. so i don't want to share too much. i want it to be a surprise. >> want to be surprised and that's quite all right. the second it's available to download it, i can't thank you enough for taking the time for coming on the show today and i'm rooting for you in the oscars in the words of issa, i'm rooting for everybody black. thank you so much, h.e.r. for joining us, we really appreciate you and good luck to you. >> thanks. coming up, lindsay riser talks to former congresswoman katie hill about the matt gaetz controversy and william barber on the effort to recruit poll watchers. we'll be right back. recruit po watchers we'll be right back. i may not be able to tell time, but i know what time it is. [whispering] it's grilled cheese o'clock. ice t, stone cold calling on everyone to turn to cold washing with tide. know what time it is. ♪ this is a cold call! ♪ hello, my name is ice t. can you spare a few seconds to learn about cold water washing with tide? hi my name is steve. did you know washing in cold can save you $100 a year on your energy bill. why wouldn't you turn to cold? it helps the environment. what? because stone cold said so. plus, tide cleans great in cold. ♪ this was a cold call! ♪ seeing blood when you brus h or floss can be a sign of early all right. that's our show. thank you so much at home for watching "the cross connection." i'll be back next saturday at 10:00 a.m. eastern. you can catch me in just a few minutes on the gram. i'll be live with dr. jason johnson and stay tuned because my friend lindsay riser is in for alex witt. hey, lindsay. >> hey, tiffany. thank you. >> i'm looking forward to your show today. i understand you have a big interview. >> we do. we have a lot going on. the latest on capitol hill with representative matt gaetz and the latest on the funeral arrangement for prince philip. all of that and more. >> looking forward to it. thanks, lindsay. ♪♪ ♪♪ good day from msnbc world headquarters in new york. it's noon in the east, 9:00 out west. this is alex witt reports. i'm lindsay riser. alex is off. breaking news this hour. new information on the funeral memorials for prince philip as the commonwealth mourns his death and condolences pour in from all over the world today for queen elizabeth's husband of more than 70 years. just a short time ago a traditional 41-gun salute for the prince. covering the reagan developments for us,