My mom had to go through at that age. Being in the third or fourth grade. For us to be in a position where we can see stories of kids thats going through the same thing that i went through, it makes it even more like yes, we did this. This is why we should have did it. How do you conquer those fears . Jaden was his name, talked about Hearing Gunshots and that sort of things, being tempted by drugs and all those things. How do you think how do you get them to understand thats not the path they have to take . I think being in a Support System and thats what this is all about. I think for me, when i did go to school, or when i was playing Little League sports, you know, being around kids and being around people that have fun and kind of speak the same language as you, it allows you to kind of escape away from the drugs and the violence and the gunshots and things that go on on an everyday basis, and thats what were here for. Im opening the schools to be able to get these kids minds and bodies away from we made the
A recap of the days news. Trying to divide us. But i think kind of . Yeah. Is. Is. Not kind of. Hes dividing us, and what i noticed over the last few months that hes kind of used sport to kind of divide us, and thats something that i cant relate to. I know that sport was the first time i ever was around someone white. You know . And i got an opportunity to see them and learn about them, and they got an opportunity to learn about me, and we became very good friends, and i was like oh, wow, this is all because of sports. And sports has never been something that divide people. Its always been something that brings people together. Do you remember your First Experience of someone different from you . Do you remember what it was and what was your reaction . It was different. I mean, first, from they ate dinner at a different hour than ive ever ate dinner before. Like earlier . Yeah. Like supper at 6 30 in the afternoon. I thought it was the afternoon. They called it the evening time. It was the first time i ever seen a pantry. You understand . For me, everything when i grew up, everything was on top of the refrigerator. My white friends had a pantry. They kind of lived life without no care, no worry. And i wanted to get to a point maybe i could live life without no care and no worry either being around a lot of my white friends flow growing up. It was pretty cool. And even bedtime. 7 30, 8 00. Yeah. None of that for me. Im glad you mentioned that. Ive been watching you, especially for a long time. This is not the first time ive interviewed you. I interviewed for your website and other things you did. But theres been something has changed in you over the last year or two. Is it Whats Going On in the country racially . Is it politically political . I think its a little bit of everything. I think it starts with the Trayvon Martin situation, and the reason it starts with that, i believe, is because having kids of my own, having boys of my own, it hit home for me to see and learn the story and to think if my boy left home and he never returned. You know . That kind of that kind of hit a switch. That kind of hit a switch for me. And from that point on, i knew that my voice and my platform had to be used for more than
they always used it to say okay, this is even more motivation. This is even more a way for me to even be more powerful, and theyre the reason were here today. Your challenges become goals, and your haters become your motivators. Absolutely. So you were talking about the using athletics to divide people. Yeah. You heard what the Man In Charge what the president said about marshawn, about steph, about, you know, it seems like its kaepernick. Yeah. Men of colors who have means and
thats popular to try to negate people from thinking act the positive things they can be doing and try to get our minds to not be as sharp as possible right then. Either from Football Players kneeling. Look at kaepernick who was protesting something he believed in and he did in the most calm way possible. Very respectful. He did his due diligence. Everyone knew why he did it. Look at the nfl players still kneeling. You look at steph and Marshawn Lynch and all these instances why hes trying to divide our sport, but at the end of the day sport is the reason why we all come together. Yeah. What do you i just wonder where we go from here, because to a lot of People Charlottesville was it. I mean, you tweeted, i think you said is this what our country is, make America Great again . I think that was for everybody like all right, thats enough. I cant believe this. Absolutely. I mean, we all felt that. It didnt matter what color you are to feel that tension, to feel like our great country, you know, that we all wake up every day in the land of the free as we believe with great opportunity to be even more than
what people even expect you to become for that to happen, you just felt like that was that was kind of the tipping point. Will you i guess maybe you were surprised. Maybe you werent. The whole nword incident at your house when it was painted . I dont know if i was surprised. I dont know if i was hurt. I dont know if i was disappointed. It was so many different emotions. More importantly, it was the conversation that i had to have with my boys that it was that hurt me. But at the same time it also enlightened me and also knew that no matter as i stated, you know, when i did an interview after that, that no matter how big you can become, no how successful you are, no matter what you do in your community or profession, being African American in america is always
tough, and they always going to let you know that you are the nword no matter who you are, and that was just a reset. Even when you have lebron status, lebron money. It doesnt you think its harder when you see the incidents about being black, just living, do you think its harder now or were just seeing it because of cell phones . I think its always been there. But i think the president in charge now has given people they dont care now. They throw it in your face now. Would you ever run for office . Run for office . Would you ever be a politician and run for office . I dont think so. I dont think so. I dont know. Im being serious. If someone tried to recruit a lebron to run for president ,
they said listen, theyve got no one. If you dont run, trumps going to win. Would you run . Well, in that case i may. If they had no one, i mean, i believe theres some people out there, i hope. Lets see first. Lets see first. You would run . Last question is what do you hope happens from this school . I got to tell you i walked through. I am impressed. Everybody is impressed. This is a great thing youre doing. What do you want to happen . What do you want in to go from here . Every kid that walk through the doors, every kid from the 240 kids were starting with now third and fourth grade to the 2022 when were going to have first through eighth grade, we want every kid that walks through the school to be inspired, to come away with something, something where they can give back. It could be anything, but just
for kids in general all they want to know is that someone care. And when they walk through that door, i hope they know someone care. And youre going to l. A. But is your heart here . My heart is always here. Akron, ohio, thats why im doing this school right here today. You excited about l. A. . Absolutely. One more question. What would you say to the president if he was sitting right here . I would never sit across from him. You dont want to talk to him . No. Id sit across from barack, though. I loved sitting down with lebron today. What i loved is that he is his his authenticity. I was sitting down with a celebrity who didnt care about oh, were going to offend this demographic or somebody might not buy my record because of this or may not come to a game because of this. Lebron is who he is. He says it like he means. Im so glad hes around to do that and more people should continue to do that in this environment. Thank you, lebron james. Mr. President , think about that. Professional athlete doing a good thing for his community. That would be nice to talk about. We have more to come in the next hour when he gives me an exclusive tour of his school. Plus youll find out why hes giving every one of his students a new bike. When we come back, youll hear lebron say pretty blunt things about President Trump, but will he keep taking aim at the white house . This is not a bed. Its a hightech revolution in sleep. The new sleep number 360 smart bed. It intelligently senses your movement and automatically adjusts on each side to keep you both comfortable. And snoring . How smart is that . Smarter sleep. To help you lose your dad bod, train for that marathon, and wake up with the patience of a saint. The new sleep number 360 smart bed, from 999. Smarter sleep will change your life. A place with flexible fmeal plans. E. And 24hour room service. A place where seniors get the care they need in the comfort of home. Home instead senior care. So what can you do . Shes saying a whole lotta people want to buy this house. But you got this Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans makes the complex simple. Understand the details and get approved in as few as 8 minutes by americas largest mortgage lender. Welcome back. You heard my exclusive interview with superstar lebron james. We talked about the new school he opened in akron, ohio. We talked about racism in the country and lebron wasnt afraid to speak his mind about President Trump. Lets does now. A former ohio senator and former assistant to president bush. Both nina and scott are political cnn commentators. Chris, ill start with you. Let me remind everyone of what laura ingram said in february. Must they run their mouth like that . Unfortunately a lot of kids and some adults take these ignorant comments seriously. Look, there might be a cautionary lesson in lebron for kids. This is what happens when you attempt to leave high school a
year early to join the nba. And its always unwise to seek political advice from one who gets paid 100 million a year to bounce a ball. Oh, and lebron and kevin, youre great players but no one voted for you. Millions elected trump to be their coach. So keep the political commentary to yourself, or as someone said, shut up and dribble. I mean i mean, its just. Let me start from the beginning. Must they run their mouths like that . Like, really . I almost said a bad word. Who does she think she is to talk to someone about that . 100 million to dribble a basketball . Thats not what it is, and look at what hes doing now. Im sorry. Go on. I just. You know this one dimensional view of anyone is a problem. Right . I want to be able to talk about sports, so im not going to be a guy who says that athletes cant talk about politics. I would also say that theres a lesson in trumps victory that Laura Ingram Doesnt Touch Which is that im not sure that the average person is looking for a political pundits view on things as much as theyre looking for views of other people in the culture they respect. Again, just because theyre good at a sport doesnt mean you cant have opinions about other things. Lebron james, kevin durant, stuff curry, draymond green, whoever you want to name im not a politician. I do real estate. But youre the president so the president of the United States should never talk politics . Thats my point. Donald trump should never talk politics . Right. Theres nothing i hate more in my own life on twitter than if i tweet something about
sports or music and people say stay in your lane. Talk about politics. No one is one dimensional. That goes beyond that. Her tone, the language she used. Theres no question when you say things like shut up and dribble, and when youre dealing with a league, particularly the nba thats overwhelmingly African American, race goes with it and donald trump and the way in which he treats athletes and the way in which hes reacted to athletes, theres no question that who is the country rocker . Whats his name thats always saying the nasty things thats always invited whats his name . Ted nugent . Its how he feeling at the time. I think he should sit across from President Trump and school him a little bit. Let me in on laura ingram. Go on. Just an insult. I just remind me of how African Americans were treated in the 20 th century, 19th century, 18th
century. Just shut up and do what we tell you to do. She really showed her bigot ri and her racism to think that the only thing that lebron james or any other athlete can do is to shut up and dribble a ball. Just absolutely insulting. Call it what it is. Flat out. So, scott, you heard what nina said. She said maybe he should sit across from him and try to school him a little bit. Speaking of schools, i promise is a school. You say lebron should work with President Trump. Why is that . Well, i think this president has shown that when celebrities of his status speak to him, he listens. Even on the issue of using president ial pardons hes taken the advice of celebrities. If i were lebron james who i have a lot of respect for, i would take a step back and say if i ever got the chance to meet the president , i would see how other people of similar Celebrity Status have used that opportunity to effect positive change. The president used pardon power to right old wrongs on alice and jack johnson. I think if lebron james talked to trump about the great story hes promoting at this school which is a wonderful story, and im glad youre doing the story tonight, i think the president would listen to that. I think theres something going on in our world. We want to hear from nontraditional people about whats happening in our world and the public affairs. A voice lebrons could be more valuable than he knows. I think lebron knows that the president would be using him as a prop and he doesnt listen when it comes to race. He doesnt speak, by the way, theres a caveat i didnt say. He doesnt speak about Kim Kardashian or people who look like her the way he speaks about
people who look lebron james. Thats right, or me. But don, this is the thing. The president may take that advice on that. He has an Attorney General that has increased the war on drugs, that has increased talking about penalizing people with the mandatory minimums. He has a division in sync with the purges going on from the voter rolls. He says one thing when it benefits him, but talking about doing Global Change and dealing with systemic racism and discrimination, he has no parts of really trying to correct that. When we come back, well talk more. I was talking to lebron about the school but clearly he wanted to discuss these issues. These are issues that are really important to him, and hes not exempt from racism because hes lebron james and a multimillionaire. The nword was spray painted across his house not long ago. Well talk about that. When did you see the sign . When i needed to create a better visitor experience. Improve our workflow. Attract new customers. Thats when fastsigns recommended fleet graphics. Yeah now business is rolling in. Get started at fastsigns. Com. I knew at that exact moment. Im beating this. My main focus was to find a team of doctors. Its not just picking a surgeon, its picking the care team and feeling secure in where you are. Visit cancercenter. Com breast sfx [cell phone dialing] no. No, no, no, no, no. Cancel. Cancel. Please. Aaagh being in the know is a good thing. Thats why discover will alert you if your Social Security number is found on any one of thousands of risky sites. Heres what he had to say about his Los Angeles Home being vandalized with the nword. I dont know if i was hurt. I dont know if i was disappointed. There was so many different emotions. More importantly, it was the conversation that i had to have with my boys that it was that hurt me. But at the same time it also enlightened me no matter how big you can become, no matter how successful, no matter what you do in your community or profession, being African American in america is always tough, and they always going to let you know what you are the nword, no matter who you are, and that was a reset. So back with me now, our panel. I know people watch and they say why are you guys talking about race . Youre race baiting. Its not that bad. It is that bad. And stop saying that. Start examining yourself. Why dont you want to talk about it . Maybe i should be more open to talk about it. Maybe i should learn more about my neighbors of color or people who are not like me. What is it that i dont know . What is it that im not exposed to . What am i not learning rather than every single time saying there is no racism. Its all behind us. Slavery was a long time ago. Thats all really bullshit if youre watching at home and saying that. Not even lebron james is exempt from the racism and bigotry. That could be one of the most powerful pieces of the interview, that and when he was talking about when he decided to start to say more. Even being lebron james, and his kids, he was worried about them going out and maybe never coming home. To your point, i think its really important, and we get away from this in politics all the time. I think its really important to remember the things that unite us sometimes as opposed to the
things that divide us. A father worried about his son encourages him to speak out more than he had previously. A president who whatever you think of him, uses weaponizes race to score political points and has since prior to being a political candidate brings out a Basketball Superstar to talk more openly about sort of being a citizen of the world. Those are, i think, good things in that we need more people to hear lebron james speak and not be able to just stereo type well, hes good at basketball, but im not interested in his views. He is a citizen. You do not sacrifice being a citizen because youre excellent at something. He has a huge profile. People, i think, will at least hear him. I dont know if theyll listen and change, but theyll at least hear him. But hes at least a