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D.L. Hughley Breaks The News
Getting Ready for Inauguration; Al Sharpton on Education; What Do Actuaries Do?
Aired January 17, 2009 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
D.L. HUGHLEY, HOST: Hey, now.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
HUGHLEY: Thanks so much. How are you guys doing? How are you doing? Very nice.
Well, good evening, everybody. Everybody doing good?
CROWD: Yes!
HUGHLEY: Good. Glad to have you here. I just want everybody to know, I still love Rod Blagojevich, and I still love him.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: I do. I love that guy. But we have a great show. We have Al Sharpton, who is going to be talking to us about what he calls the last great civil rights dilemma to deal with. And we're going to be talking to Bay Buchanan to tell us what's going on with the Republican Party.
And we're going to be talking about basketball and bowling. Because we know that Barack Obama will be our new president in a few days -- look at the black people!
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: It ain't going to be a takeover. It's going to be fine.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: But he will be our president in a few days. And one of the things he promised to do was to take out the bowling alleys and to put a basketball court in. So, that's going to be bad, you know brothers, I got next, you can't get in here.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: But I'm very excited about this Inauguration. And everybody is. Did you see this? Ben & Jerry's is getting into the act. They have a new ice cream called, "Yes, Pecan!".
(LAUGHTER) HUGHLEY: And I don't give a damn what it means, but that is my favorite ice cream, so I'm getting some. Everybody is getting in on the act. And this is just an amazing time. It really is. We have the first African-American president who is about to be sworn in, and it's so close to Martin Luther King's birthday. And we can't help but think about that. That's just an amazing thing.
And Martin Luther King's holiday was, you know -- of course, it was a long time coming, and you know Arizona was the last state to ratify the holiday? Like, I don't give a damn if you believe in him or not, that's a day off. Ain't it like...
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: For Friday off, I'll celebrate "Klan Day." I swear to God. I can't make the rally, all of my sheets are dirty.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: But I'm going to sleep late and barbecue.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: It is amazing. And, of course, the Gaza conflict still continues between the Palestinians and Israelis. And every day the Israelis have agreed to cease fire for three hours so that the workers can go in and give food and medicine to 1.5 million Palestinians, three hours to feed 1.5 million Palestinians. That ain't a cease- fire. That's just enough time to reload, ain't it? It's just less than -- it took longer than three hours to get to "Gilligan's Island" didn't it?
Bernie Madoff, he's still in the news, you know, the guy who -- just $50 billion. I don't even know how you know that many people when you rip off $50 billion worth of people. He ripped off his sister. He ripped off his mentor. And, you know, in New York, nobody does it like this.
In The New York Post there are a bunch of people staying up for it, "Bernie, it's not too late to do the right thing, jump."
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: That is New York, for you, ain't it? Don't threaten suicide. Here, jump, damn it, jump! They don't care, man.
"American Idol," a lot of you guys are fans of that, "American Idol." Any fans of "American Idol"? Look at her, she is the only one. Everybody else, either -- they're lying, they like it.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: I stopped watching it when that guy, the last time, who was it, Elliott Yamin? Do we have a -- Elliott Yamin? He was a great singer but I stopped watching it then because it stopped being about who you could sing and you have to have the right look to be "American Idol," like that dude was a great singer but had the worst teeth I've ever seen in my life.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: The dude had a mouth full of jumper cables. It was...
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: I was like, damn. English dude was going, whoa, who does your teeth?
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: And also a bunch of members of PETA, they broke -- they saved the giant lobster, you hear about this? It was -- the lobster was 140 years old, and they rescued him. PETA -- the lobster is 140, ain't that long enough? You've lived long enough. So they rescued him.
White folk, you all love animals, you all really do, man. White folk, they walk a dog without a leash, he don't even try to get away. If black people open the gate, we ain't got a dog no more.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: You ever seen a homeless dude with a dog? Ain't that the most pathetic? This is the longest walk ever.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: You're holding me back.
And then finally my favorite story, this is my absolute favorite story, and if anyone else thinks, only in New York. Did you see this story about the -- it is a man who is -- he gave his wife a kidney, right? And she recovered and then she started having an affair. And then she sued him for a divorce.
That's a pretty nice little organ donor lady right there. She's pretty cute. But then the man -- her husband, he either wants his kidney back, or he wants $1.5 million. And I thought that was reasonable as hell. That's pretty much...
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: You're going to give me my damn kidney back, I promise you are. Ask your new man to give you a kidney, how about that? You are going to give me my -- so I'm going to give you a kidney, and you go out and drink wine and my kidney filters the wine you drank with another man?
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: You'd better give me my damn kidney. I promise, I -- hey, would you want your kidney back?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd want my kidneys back. (LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: (INAUDIBLE), would you want your kidneys back? Would you want it back?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
HUGHLEY: Look at -- now come on, now! She can keep it? OK. That's it, that's it? What about you, would you want your kidney back?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
HUGHLEY: She's...
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: She said two! But you only gave me one. I want him to die, really?
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: I would want my kidney back. What about you, big man, would you want your kidney back?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course I want my (INAUDIBLE).
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: Ain't no point...
(CROSSTALK)
HUGHLEY: And you want -- oh, see, he's taking it too far. You want everything? You want it back? That's not unreasonable. I think that that stuff applies, like, I love you, when we are together, I will help you. But if we break up, give me my kidney back. Give me my T-shirt back. Don't call my momma when your friend is over. So that's how we are.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
HUGHLEY: Here with me now to talk politics and the state of our political parties are Peter Beinart from the Council on Foreign Relations, and CNN political analyst Bay Buchanan, all the way from Washington, D.C.
Hey, Bay, how are you doing?
BAY BUCHANAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I'm well, D.L.
(CROSSTALK)
HUGHLEY: Now, Peter, I read an article you wrote. And you said that Obama's opening act looked a lot more like George Bush's than Bill Clinton's. How do you mean?
PETER BEINART, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Bush's -- beginning of his presidency was kind of a bait-and-switch. He talked about being a uniter, not a divider, compassionate conservative, spent a lot of time palling around with Democrats. He was a hard-core conservative from the beginning. Big tax cut.
I think Obama is doing the flip of that. He's palling around with a lot of Republicans, Rick Warren is going to be giving the invocation, a lot of centrist talk. But if you look at the agenda, what he's actually is pretty hard-core liberal. I happen to like that. But it's big-time aggressive stuff. And I think he's using the kind of patina of being a centrist to get that done.
HUGHLEY: Bay, you think that's the case?
BUCHANAN: I think anything can happen. Peter may be little more hopeful as a liberal that this is where he is going. And he may be right. And there are some that can be more moderate which others might be, D.L. He may be right. But I think there are some other indicators other than just the appointments which clearly were very much more moderate than I think a lot of liberals expected.
I think if you look at some of the policy, when it comes to spending, clearly he is going to feed that liberal agenda. But then he threw in the stimulus package, all of these taxes. He has abandoned his commitment to raise taxes on the rich. You hear Gitmo may not be closed quite so quickly, may have to wait a year.
And then there are some other areas as well that I think that he could be far more conservative -- maybe more moderate, I think, is a better word, than the liberals had hoped for.
HUGHLEY: I'll tell you -- so it sounds like you two have found some level of common ground. It's like you agree that he's -- some of stuff he's proposing works for everybody, right?
BEINART: If it works for Bay, it probably doesn't work as well for me.
(LAUGHTER)
BEINART: So that may be the choice that Barack Obama has to make.
HUGHLEY: No, but I think that there is a level of common ground, like there are things that we all agree on. Like I've watched a lot of his appointments and, you know, I have to say that they at least, for the most part, very competent, right?
BEINART: Yes, I think it's a pretty impressive group. It's a lot of people with experience, a very, very smart group of people. I think the stimulus package thing is huge. I mean, it's an unbelievable amount of money. And the fact that he's going to be able to get that through, even if some of it is tax cuts, that's a huge thing. I mean, this is the closest thing we're going to see in our lifetime to a New Deal. It's going to rebuild a lot of America. I think it's going to be a big thing.
HUGHLEY: But I do think -- well, even that, there are key Democrats that have had a problem with the stimulus package, some saying it's too much, some saying it's not enough. So he is -- even within his own party, there are definitely people kind of have misgivings about it.
BEINART: Congress always wants to get a say, make sure that they have some -- you know, some role in this. But I think basically the structure is going to be what he wants.
HUGHLEY: Bay, do you think -- you have a problem with the stimulus package as proposed?
BUCHANAN: No -- there's no question I have a problem with the stimulus package. And I think what the Democrats are concerned about is how he's spending it. They want, first of all, more money and how he is going to do it. Is it going to be truly a stimulus package?
You know, you hear a lot of different aspects of this, or more of just feeding a liberal agenda rather than true stimulus, what will create jobs out there. The key is, Obama's success or failure falls on this stimulus package. If it works, if the country turns around and the economy works, something all of us really want, to see the jobs starting to be created again, then he is going to do very well.
If he fails on that, and we can blame it because he didn't use it properly, didn't use the money as he said he would, to create new businesses and jobs, then he is going to fail.
HUGHLEY: Stick around. We are going to continue this conversation with Peter Beinart and Bay Buchanan when we come back.
(APPLAUSE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(APPLAUSE)
HUGHLEY: We're back with Peter Beinart from the Council on Foreign Relations and CNN political analyst Bay Buchanan, all the way from D.C.
Now, I watched President Bush's last press conference Sunday. And I wanted to feel bad for him. Like, because you get this kind of nostalgic kind of feeling. And halfway into it, I went, he just seemed so petulant and arrogant. It was hard for me to feel bad for him. Like he really doesn't seem to understand that he -- let me show you a sound bite so we can see. It just...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe the phrase "burdens of the office" is overstated. You know, it's kind of like, why me? Oh, the burdens. You know, why did the financial collapse have to happen on my watch? It's just pathetic, isn't it? Self-pity.
And I don't believe President-elect Obama will be full of self- pity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUGHLEY: I just -- I just don't like how he came off. I just -- I think I wanted to feel something redeeming about him, but it was like, get out of here.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: Like that was -- it's hard to like him. It really is.
(APPLAUSE)
BEINART: You notice what he said, the financial collapse happened on my watch, like it was a tornado or an earthquake. No, it partly happened because a $50 trillion financial industry developed that his government decided not to regulate. And then it went poof. So it didn't just happen on his watch. He bears some responsibility.
HUGHLEY: But Democrats bear responsibility too.
BEINART: Absolutely, they bear responsibility. But if you look at his appointments to the SEC and the other regulatory commissions, these were people put -- a lot of them put in specifically not to regulate what was going on on Wall Street.
And so, you know, the guy who talked about the responsibility era when he came into office is not talking a lot of responsibility, as far as I can tell.
HUGHLEY: Do you think that that is going to be a problem with Republicans going on, Bay, that they are going to still have to deal with some level of the Bush legacy?
BUCHANAN: No question. And even amongst our own, we really feel that the Republicans came in and promised great things and we really expected them at least to fight for the principles that the party stood for, that we really -- the core of what we value. And we feel that the Republican Congress and the Republican president didn't do that.
And so we're much more cautious about who our leaders are, listening to -- will they really have the kind of backbone to really battle for those things that are so important for the country?
And of course, the American people, 90 percent thought we went in the wrong direction. They blamed the people in power at the time, and that's Republicans. So all of that falls on our shoulder and we have to take responsibility for it one way or the other. HUGHLEY: Now you said you are going to basically listen to your leaders and make sure that they kind of fit the bill for the agenda you want to forward, right? That was -- but Kenneth Blackwell, who is running -- vying for the position of RNC chairman, made this statement. And I couldn't believe it.
And he was talking about homosexuality. He said: "I've never had to make the choice because I've never had the urge to other than a heterosexual. But if in fact I had the urge to be something else, I could have in fact suppressed that urge. The fact is, you can choose to restrain from that compulsion. And I think in fact you don't have to give in to the compulsion to be a homosexual."
Which means that is the gayest thing I've ever heard in my life, first off.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: Because I don't know how you suppress an urge you don't have, But, OK. But...
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: But I made the point to make this point, that he is vying for the leadership role of the Republican Party. He's one of the six that is being seriously considered to be the voice of the Republican Party. And yet he espouses stuff like this. And I think it's going to be hard to connect with everyday Americans when you say stuff like that.
(LAUGHTER)
BUCHANAN: You know, this is the key. In Hollywood, in the national media, with the establishment here in Washington, people think that this is an issue or the culture war issues, all of them, whether it be abortion, immigration, whether it be the marriage issue, that this is not important to Middle America.
That these are issues that are just divisive and they are wrong. This goes to the heart of the issues and so many lives and in this country, they truly believe that the culture is who we are. It's our identity. And we must fight for it.
And so I have nothing but respect for Kenny, what he said. And I think it will resonate with millions of Americans, maybe not on the left. I don't expect it to. But somebody should represent our side. And they haven't in many, many...
(CROSSTALK)
HUGHLEY: Well, Bay, somebody did represent your side for eight years. Somebody really did represent your side for eight years.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: And honestly, I'm not trying to be facetious. But this last election was a referendum on the way they saw his judgment, the way that they saw him parsing out his judgment. And I think that -- I made that point to make this one. That the only way the Republican Party is going to ever continue to be viable is if it lets go of these ideas that are so divisive.
I mean, I can understand him having a problem. I can understand him saying something that he believes. But if you're in the leadership role, when you say it, they believe everybody means it. And that's how America is going to look at this.
BUCHANAN: But, you know, D.L., just think of what you just said. That we have to let go of these divisive issues. Well, these issues are divisive because the left or the media or someone other than us has said, you shouldn't say that, it's divisive.
Well, that's something that you've reacted to. You've decided you didn't like so now I can't talk about it. That's what's ridiculous. What is great about this country is we can have people on both sides who are passionate and disagree and walk away as friends.
We're allowed to speak those things that are important to us and speak it with great passion and try to move the country in that direction. And for one side just to say, you guys be quiet, you can't talk about that, or we are going to call you divisive, is absurd.
It's called political intimidation. And we've responded to it too long. And it's time our leaders start opening their mouths and speaking loud and boldly again.
BEINART: Bay, look, they have -- you. Bay and Kenneth Blackwell have every right to say what they want to say. But my America is the story of a country that becomes more and more equal over time, and more and more free over time.
You break down barriers to groups that historically have been disenfranchised. That's what we're seeing today. And I think for gays and lesbians, that is in many ways the next -- final frontier.
We are not there yet. It is still perfectly acceptable to say, for people who want to be head of the Republican National Committee, basically you can't live the way you want to live, even though it doesn't hurt anybody else.
You cannot be a first class citizen in the United States today. What we know in American history is when give people first class citizenship, what you get back in return is more than you can ever imagine. That has basically been the strength of this country. And I think Bay is on the wrong side of history.
HUGHLEY: Well, Bay, I will agree with you this, that we do have leaders -- like , I, for one, have a huge problem with the Democratic Senate -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. I do.
I think that he has a tendency -- like he is almost everything I've come to dislike about members of the Democratic Party, where he's so wishy-washy and he will say one thing and do another. And I want to shout out at the TV, have some balls and say what you mean.
The one thing, even though I agree (sic) vehemently with a lot of Republicans, say, they speak at least the courage of their convictions and I think Democrats have a tendency to try to be all things to all people. And I particularly find that to be true with Harry Reid.
BEINART: Let me put in a word for Harry Reid. Harry Reid stopped Bush's Social Security privatization plan in 2005.
HUGHLEY: That's probably the only thing...
(CROSSTALK)
BEINART: That was a big, big deal. Think about this...
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
BEINART: Think about this, imagine if we had privatized Social Security before this financial collapse? Imagine what it would mean for average people, not just that their 401(k)s, but that their Social Security was down 40 percent. Harry Reid stopped that cold. He was very smart tactically about it. I think it was actually the end of the Bush presidency.
HUGHLEY: Well, I disagree. I think -- I do think that he stopped it, but he stopped it because he had the wind of the American people at his back. Americans were opposed to that so he championed the cause.
He didn't fight at a time -- if he would have had that same passion when we were going to war, if he had spoke to convictions then -- I think if you believe something, you should believe whether a poll tells you to believe it or not.
And that war didn't have happen if Democrats would have stood up and said, hey man, I don't care what the country thinks or what the polls say, this is wrong and we are not going forward. And I think as the leader of the party, he has to bear some responsibility for that.
BUCHANAN: You know, D.L., you are absolutely right. I agree with you...
HUGHLEY: Wait a minute.
(LAUGHTER)
BUCHANAN: ... on both sides, Democrats and Republicans.
HUGHLEY: Wait a minute. But that's both of them. I mean, I've seen them...
BUCHANAN: I agree with you entirely. You know, there is something that the American people really respond to, whether they agree with you or not, they respect leadership. They respect guts. They respect people who truly believe something and are willing to stand up and say it, and let the people say, here it is.
You may not agree with me, but here's what I believe in. Vote for me or don't vote for me. But we don't have that anymore. We have pollsters who really define what our party leaders do. And they bring in the polls and here's how you say it in order to sell it.
And I'm worried that Barack Obama has fallen into that category, to be quite honest. He sent a stimulus package up to the Hill, $700 billion. In one day they said, we don't like this. And he says, oh, if you don't like that, try something else, whatever you want.
Well, why did he send it up there if he didn't think it was something that really needed to be done?
HUGHLEY: Well, you're right. Bay, I have to agree with you on some of those things. We don't have leadership, but we will in about four days. So...
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
HUGHLEY: Thank you, Peter Beinart, Bay Buchanan. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(APPLAUSE)
HUGHLEY: Well now, when Barack Obama promised change in the White House, no one realized how sweeping the change would be. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD NIXON, 37TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In all of the decisions I have made in my public life, I have always tried to do what was best for the nation.
HUGHLEY (voice-over): In 1969, President Richard Nixon did the unthinkable. He built a bowling alley in the White House. Shockwaves from this controversial move are still being felt today.
But Barack Obama wants to bring change to America and the White House.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT-ELECT: I'm going to tear up the bowling alley in the White House. We are putting up a basketball court.
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
HUGHLEY: Will he follow through on his bold campaign promise? I went to Venice Beach to talk to some serious basketball players.
"SUPERFLY": And they call me "Superfly."
"CRUCIAL": It starts out, this is "Crucial."
"THE INFAMOUS EASTWOOD": They call me "The Infamous Eastwood."
HUGHLEY: And I went to a bowling alley to talk to serious bowlers.
"ALAN ALDERMAN": They call me "Alan Alderman."
(LAUGHTER)
"MANNY ESPINA": They call me "Manny Espina."
"ANNETTE AKA 'MOM'": They call me "Annette," but most of the people call me "Mom" because I bake chocolate chip cookies for them.
HUGHLEY: Where do these people stand on this hot button issue?
(on camera): One of the things he wants to do is to take the bowling alleys out of the White House and he's going to put basketball courts in there. What do you think about that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Basketball courts?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As both a bowling businessman and a fan, I'm against it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obama, don't take the bowling alley out, please. Leave it in.
"ALDERMAN": Keep the bowling alley the way it is.
HUGHLEY: One of the things he discusses tearing out the bowling alley in the White House and putting in basketball courts.
"MOM": I can understand that. Have you seen him bowl?
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: He's going to rip out the bowling alley and put basketball courts in the White House. What do you think of that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's -- give him so due. I mean, not too many out there bowling.
HUGHLEY: Yes, yes, but then he's going to have brothers like you all showing up, "I got next."
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: I'm here with one of my favorite NBA players, Baron Davis. How are you doing, Baron?
BARON DAVIS, NBA PLAYER: I'm good.
HUGHLEY: We are here at the Clippers training facility. So do you think that Obama should take out the bowling alley? DAVIS: I have no problems with that. Sign me up.
HUGHLEY: You think he should do it?
DAVIS: I'll help do the construction.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: What makes bowling exciting?
"ESPINA": I like to see the pins explode when you throw the ball.
HUGHLEY: The pins explode? That's it?
"ESPINA": I get a kick out of that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With basketball, that's what brings people together, with bowling, you know, you can do that by yourself, midnight, stuff like that.
HUGHLEY: Gatorade is the official drink of the NBA. What is the official drink of bowling?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Apple martini.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: Ain't no bowler going to drink apple martini, that's you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Apple martini.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would be either Miller or Bud.
HUGHLEY: All right. So beer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The official drink for bowlers here is beer.
HUGHLEY: Beer, of course, that's everywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But for me, it's an apple martini.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: You have been watching too much "Sex and the City," that's what you've been doing.
"EASTWOOD": See, they don't got to put in as much work as a basketball player.
HUGHLEY: So you think basketball players are better athletes than bowlers? "CRUCIAL": But, of course, but, of course, we're active. We're way more active.
HUGHLEY: Where do bowlers do better than basketball players?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where do bowlers do better than basketball players?
(LAUGHTER)
"ESPINA": They have it easier because the ball is lighter than ours.
HUGHLEY: Right, because that ball -- what is it?
"ESPINA": Our ball is 16 pounds.
HUGHLEY: Oh yes, that ball is a 16 ounces.
"EASTWOOD": I would have to disagree because if you keep shooting that same ball a hundred times to get as good as I am, and these guys right here, then it will get heavy itself.
"CRUCIAL": A hell of a lot heavier than their balls.
(LAUGHTER)
"SUPERFLY": I don't really like to get in other people's balls.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: Who is the Baron Davis of the Professional Bowels Association?
DAVIS: I don't know anybody.
HUGHLEY: Anybody like you or you don't know?
DAVIS: I don't any professional bowlers.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY (voice-over): If Obama gets rid of the lanes, bowling, a noble sport that has been around since the beginning of time, may be in trouble.
What can bowling do to save itself?
(on camera): The NBA, their slogan is "where amazing happens." What will a great slogan be for bowling?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Where drunk and over 60 happens."
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Bowl when you're old." UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
HUGHLEY: That's California.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Apple martini!"
(LAUGHTER)
"MOM": "Grab your balls and go bowling."
(LAUGHTER)
"MOM": What's wrong with that?
HUGHLEY: Nothing is wrong...
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: Thank you very much. Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(APPLAUSE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HUGHLEY: In a public letter to President Obama, Reverend Al Sharpton calls attention to the last great civil rights battle facing the country. He's here now to explain how we can reach equality in our schools. Please give it up to Al Sharpton.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
HUGHLEY: Now you've called education the last great civil rights battle. And you assert that you believe charter schools are one of the key components.
REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: I think charter schools -- school choice, period, but the overall quest for accountability. I think that when you look at the fact that we have so many young people going to school and they can't read and write, many of them not graduated.
A friend of mine, James Intomay (ph), who used to be a big musician, he's a radio announcer now, he showed me the data where -- this is government data, 53 percent -- only 53 percent of African- Americans are graduating high school. So how are we going to get the next Barack or the next Michelle Obama if we don't stop and say, wait a minute, administrators, principals, teachers, we all have got to be held accountable on why these schools are not working.
HUGHLEY: I think if we paid our teachers what they are worth, literally, treated them like how valuable that they are, I think it would go the furthest that... SHARPTON: I think you need both. I think charter schools are very good because I think it gives people options. I think that you can be creative, you can adjust hours. But I think the paying of teachers, A, they are underpaid. And I think you ought to give incentives for better-performing teachers.
Suppose if you give teachers an incentive to go into neighborhoods that are so-called trouble and they would even make more money as they deliver. We give bonuses on Wall Street. We don't give bonuses in schools. And I think that we have got to invest in raising education. I do.
(APPLAUSE)
HUGHLEY: One of the things I was talking -- I was reading your letter, and I thought back to when I was a kid. When I was a kid, one of my teachers lived on my street. But if you really live and have to see those children grow up, and you have to be involved in their lives and all aspects, I think it would contribute -- I'd have to walk past my teacher every day, and I promise you, I could tell when I was in trouble, because I would come home and her car would be parked in my driveway.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: And I was like, damn, Ms. Prentice (ph) is there. But...
SHARPTON: No, I think that's very important. You know, a well- known educator, Dr. Adlai Sanford (ph), was telling how we must have teachers that understand the kids. A lot of teachers have no connection to the environment and the cultures that the kids come out of.
A lot of teachers have the attitude, and this is only some, because most teachers are exceptional and take great danger. But the ones I'm concerned about are ones that come in with the mindset, well, these kids are trouble and they can't learn.
No, every child can learn. We have to find the right teacher to match what that environment and make education work. If we don't close this achievement gap, we have a very, very dismal future.
HUGHLEY: You're absolutely right. And I think everybody can learn but me. I couldn't have learned. There was nobody who could me, I promise you. But...
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: I promise you...
(CROSSTALK)
SHARPTON: You did all right. You know, you did all right.
HUGHLEY: Touche. (LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: But I think in addition to all of that, isn't personal responsibility -- because I'll tell you what, there are a lot of black children who want to do well in school and if they do well in school and they are educated and they are trying to further themselves, they'll hear, you're acting white.
SHARPTON: Right.
HUGHLEY: Or, why are you doing that? Like, I remember I was in school, and I changed my grades in the eighth grades, I changed my grade because I wanted to have a good summer. And I changed all of my...
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: And I changed all of my grades, A-A-A everywhere. Ms. Williams (ph) knew I had done it. And she called me to the office, she said, look, here, I'm going to tell you what, you are going to go to all of the celebrated classes that you say you got an A in, and either you're going to pass them and I let this go, oh you'll fail and I'll tell your momma what happened.
SHARPTON: Well, I think you...
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: I'd never seen so many Asian kids in my life. I promise you, I was like, where do you all go to school now? I have never seen you here before?
(LAUGHTER)
SHARPTON: Guaranteeing -- I think you hit a key. I think it's very important. Because I think we have got to change this responsibility issue in our community. And I think an opportune time, that's why the National Action Network and I and are raising the profile only now.
With Barack Obama in, Michelle Obama in, you no longer can run around acting like it's cool just to be a thug or a knucklehead. We can be president. So don't be trying to rap the -- I have two daughters, don't be trying to rap to my daughters if you can't at least think on an presidential level or CEO level.
We have got to raise the bar of expectations.
(APPLAUSE)
SHARPTON: But I think a lot of it, though, is we can't also just blame the system. I mean, I have spent all of my life fighting the power and will continue to. But at the same time we have got to do our part. The teacher cannot take care of the fact that if you're not home making sure they do the homework, making sure that they care about themselves and have self-esteem, you can't put it all on the teachers.
And I think that we have got to take a lot of our excuses off the table and say, OK, yes, there is still a lot of unfairness. But it has been more unfair than this and we made a way anyhow. We have got to stop the jive now and excuses that we have excel or we have got to make these kids understand they are expected to excel.
HUGHLEY: I used to not understand the value of education. I really didn't. I didn't learn how to read well until I was out of school and I would be on the road and I would read newspapers and stuff. I would always pray to God, I don't know what I'm going to be, but, God, help me be something. I want to be something. I just want to count.
And I think that if people could see that, I'm the dude who literally didn't get out of 10th grade, and I'm on CNN doing something I love, and you see a president of the United States, who came from a single-parent home, who literally is the leader of the free world, you can't tell me there's nothing you can't do. I won't believe it, I won't believe it.
(APPLAUSE)
SHARPTON: And we've got to get that message out. And let me say this. Parenting has nothing to do with their education, it has something to do with their knowledge and pushing you. My mother grew up in the segregated South, in Alabama, she didn't finish school. And she would make me do my homework, telling me every night, because I couldn't do it don't mean you couldn't.
In fact, you'd better do it. And she watched me walk across the stage when I graduated at Tilden High School in Brooklyn, proud because she never took that trip. And I owed it to her to get that degree, to get that diploma and go on.
So I think that in many ways we have got to tell our children, not that you ain't nothing, your daddy wasn't nothing, you will never be nothing, but that whatever we want to be, you can be. And I'm going to fight for you to be able to fulfill what I could never be.
(APPLAUSE)
HUGHLEY: Now, I understand, and I found this hard to believe, but you and Bush are teaming together on education.
SHARPTON: No -- well, I went to his conference.
(LAUGHTER)
SHARPTON: Let's not got too far. I went to his -- he had a conference.
HUGHLEY: Can I just say something?
SHARPTON: Yes.
HUGHLEY: Bush and education should not be in the same sentence, you know?
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: That's like an oxymoron. Like, well, that will tell the kids, you ain't got to learn and you can still be president. No, I'm just kidding.
(LAUGHTER)
SHARPTON: Well, I went to his conference on No Child Left Behind. And he commended us for at least dealing with education. I commended him for raising the issue. I don't agree with all of the policy. And I don't think he totally funded -- you know, sometime they left -- no child behind, they left the money behind.
(LAUGHTER)
SHARPTON: But at least we started the achievement discussion. And I was surprised that he had such kind words to say and I think he was surprised that -- I came out and I disagreed over every issue that he has come out with. But I put it this way, I thought about it late one Saturday night. And I turned on CNN and I said, if D.L. could stand up for Blagojevich, I can at least talk to Bush.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: Reverend Al Sharpton, everyone!
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HUGHLEY: I love Governor Blago -- I can't say the name. But I love the governor of Illinois, the embattled Governor Blagojevich, because he is only doing what people do, man. You get in power, you do some stuff. I think that he's just acting just human. And there are a lot of people who disagree with me. Chicago-based journalist Kathy Chaney. Give her a big round of applause.
(APPLAUSE)
HUGHLEY: How are you doing, (INAUDIBLE)?
KATHY CHANEY, CHICAGO-BASED JOURNALIST: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
HUGHLEY: It is -- it is good to see you. Now my first question is, you are no relation to Dick Cheney, are you, you know?
(LAUGHTER)
CHANEY: No. I'm C-H-A-N-E-Y, no E.
HUGHLEY: Oh, that -- give me a vowel. (LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: Now I was watching you, and the reason I had you on the show, because in addition to the fact I thought you were very bright and you were very articulate about the subject, I watched you on a CNN interview about the appointment of Roland Burris as the junior senator from Illinois, and you said, I'm part of a younger generation and I know that there are younger candidates that are capable as well as Burris to handle the job.
So you can't dispute his qualifications. He's very qualified.
CHANEY: Oh, he's very qualified. I don't dispute it at all. He has a stellar reputation. However, this scandal is just pretty much overshadowing it and it also appears as though, you know, this is maybe his last chance to go to a higher office and he just seized the opportunity.
HUGHLEY: Who would you have liked to have seen been appointed to that position?
CHANEY: I have to throw Jesse Jackson Jr.'s name back into the fold. I mean, he is well-qualified. He has paid his dues, 13 years. We have state senator Kwame Raoul, who represents our president- elect's...
HUGHLEY: Well, maybe you couldn't you pick Kwame because...
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: ... the last Kwame we have in office in Detroit...
CHANEY: Different Kwame.
(LAUGHTER)
CHANEY: Completely different Kwame.
HUGHLEY: I don't think another Kwame is going to get elected nowhere. When your mayor has got to wear an ankle bracelet, that's pretty much -- what I loved about Roland Burris was that he wanted to be senator. He really did. He wanted it. He had the fire in his belly. So I just -- I can understand your kind of misgivings about it.
But I just that you're getting a guy who qualified, and who is at least passionate about it. Now Governor Blagojevich, you think that he -- of course, he has been impeached, and it was 150-1?
CHANEY: Well, it was 114-1 before the new legislature was voted in on Wednesday. Now it's 117-1, and the only lone vote to not impeach him was his sister-in-law, Deborah Mell.
HUGHLEY: You're damn right.
(LAUGHTER) HUGHLEY: How are you going to go to Thanksgiving dinner and you tried to impeach me? What is that?
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: But you really -- I mean, isn't that kind of -- and I made this point, I was talking to Bobby Rush last week, Illinois has had 1,000 elected officials in Illinois over the last 100 years have been convicted. So isn't that kind of just the way things happen in Illinois? That's just what it is?
CHANEY: Unfortunately, unfortunately. But do we have some good, so we can't let...
HUGHLEY: No, I know. Look, I make this point all of the time. I think Illinois is a great state. As a matter of fact, I think they are ahead of the curve. I think that people need to stop making the mistake of trying to legislate human behavior. Humans in power will do things that (INAUDIBLE) authority. That's what they'll do.
We'll steal, we'll lie, we'll cheat. I can't convict somebody of doing exactly what I would have done. I just -- I have that problem.
(LAUGHTER)
CHANEY: OK.
HUGHLEY: I just wouldn't have cussed on -- like, white folks, you all don't know a lot about wiretapping, so you ought to -- I know the police are listening, but I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do. That was the only thing. But you think they still have to physically remove him from the office?
CHANEY: Oh, definitely. I mean, you have to realize his legal representation is half of the R. Kelly defense team.
(LAUGHTER)
CHANEY: And I covered that trial -- really, I covered that trial in court every day. And Ed Genson and Sam Adam Jr. are great attorneys, and whenever they were up at that, it was never boring. They are good at what they do. And they are advising him well. That's why he is continuing on to fight. So it's going to be very interesting. And he is not giving up without a fight.
HUGHLEY: No. And really, let's be realistic, if you can get R. Kelly off...
(LAUGHTER)
CHANEY: Exactly. Exactly.
HUGHLEY: I probably shouldn't finish this.
(LAUGHTER)
CHANEY: Thank you very much, Kathy Chaney, everybody.
CHANEY: Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
HUGHLEY: All right. Well, we all know the job market is discouraging, but the top three recession-proof jobs are mathematicians, statisticians, and actuaries. Now I think we all kind of know what a mathematician does. But here to explain what an actuary does is the real, live chief actuary for AON Consulting, Tonya Manning.
How are you, Tonya?
(APPLAUSE)
TONYA MANNING, CHIEF ACTUARY, AON CONSULTING: I'm great. How are you?
HUGHLEY: OK, let me get right to it. What the hell is an actuary?
(LAUGHTER)
MANNING: An actuary works with companies to help them understand what kind of risk they have taken on in the way they have chose to run their business. And every business has got risk involved and, boy, that has been pretty apparent with the recent economic events. So we go in. We help them figure out how big that risk is, how they can either prevent that risk, mitigate it, or maybe even leverage that risk.
HUGHLEY: Now do you have to be mathematician to be an actuary?
MANNING: No, you don't have to be a mathematician. There are actuaries who have all kinds of different backgrounds. But that's certainly the most typical. But what you have to do is really understand and be good at math, have some real good quantitative skills, be analytical and also be able to communicate all of this analytical and mathematical knowledge to people in the business so they can take that information and figure out to use it.
HUGHLEY: Well, it would be boring as hell, right, that's pretty much...
(LAUGHTER)
MANNING: I don't think so.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: Yes. MANNING: Maybe that's why I'm an actuary.
HUGHLEY: Well, you know, of course you're good at math, you're home every Saturday, that's...
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: Well, not you, you're a hot actuary. But there has got to be one that's lonely.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: No, but it is. I mean, like, the level of numbers, it's probably hard to kind of connect with, isn't it? I mean, that's why they are always looking for actuaries and mathematicians, kind of hard to buckle down and (INAUDIBLE).
MANNING: Yes, well, I mean, it's not everyone's gig, as you would say. There's not everyone out there who enjoyed math in high school and pursued it in college and then decided to make a career out of it. You're exactly right.
HUGHLEY: OK. Let me ask you something. I was reading the research. And you guys are very funny, actuaries, like -- well -- well. But I read some of the jokes and they were funny. What is your best joke you all tell at the -- I don't know if you have a water cooler, what do you actuaries stand around and talk?
MANNING: Oh, we stand around our spreadsheets.
HUGHLEY: Oh, your spreadsheets.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: OK. So give me your best actuary joke.
MANNING: Well, let's see, what is the difference between an extroverted actuary and an introverted actuary?
HUGHLEY: I give up.
(LAUGHTER)
MANNING: All right. The extroverted actuary is going to look at your shoes and their shoes when they are talking to you.
HUGHLEY: You're hilarious!
(LAUGHTER)
MANNING: Now that's old school.
(CROSSTALK)
HUGHLEY: You are hilarious.
(LAUGHTER)
MANNING: Do you feel you job is threatened, D.L.?
HUGHLEY: No.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: I didn't know that -- oh, well. Well, I am glad -- so where does -- like are there -- but you guys work in all kinds of countries. You work for governments. Like who was the -- like an actuary that we might know? Like who was -- who...
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: Do you all have any actuary alumni that we might go, oh, I didn't know he was an actuary?
MANNING: Well, if you saw that movie that Jack Nicholson was in, "About Schmidt," he played -- in his role he was an actuary. I think he was a retiring actuary.
(LAUGHTER)
MANNING: OK. We're working on it. And the famous economist, Milton Friedman, do you know him? He was a Nobel Prize-winning economist. He wasn't an actuary, but he did take actuarial exams, he gave it a few shots -- he gave it a shot at a few of them. Passed them. Not so lucky at some others, and decided he was going to pursue another job. So it worked out pretty for him there.
HUGHLEY: Well, I think you're adorable. And I'm going home to rent "About Schmidt," I promise you.
(LAUGHTER)
MANNING: Oh, that's absolutely...
HUGHLEY: One more time, Tonya Manning.
MANNING: Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
HUGHLEY: And as we have been discussing, the country is facing record high unemployment. And no industry is immune. The World Wrestling Entertainment company, the folks who brought you "Friday Night Smackdown," announced that they are firing 10 percent of their workforce and making other cuts across the board. In today's economy, this could affect us all. You check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUGHLEY (voice-over): Wrestling, an all-American sport. But if the WWE fails, it won't fail alone. Countless wrestler-driven goods and services will be put into a financial "camel clutch," leaving America down for the count. Starting with losses in the spandex market. Plummeting sales of body oil and mustache bleach. Without the WWE, the demand for precious metals will sharply decrease, along with the demand for folding chair repair.
With wrestlers unemployed, the streets will soon be overrun by wild gangs engaging in fake violence, which will delay the delivery of water and groceries, which will end in famine.
If you want your children to live, do the only responsible thing, put the recession in a "Boston crab" for America.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(APPLAUSE)
HUGHLEY: When we come back, I have one more thing I want to say to President Bush before he leaves office.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
HUGHLEY: Oh, well, thank you guys. And I would like to thank all of my guests. But before we leave, I just want to say just one more thing, I'm going to the Inauguration of Barack Obama. And Bush is leaving the office. And we probably won't get a chance to see him again until the trial.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: But this week, I've struggled to find something nice to say that would still be truthful. As you may know, I have disagreed with many of the things he has done. I found him horrible. But I wanted to say something nice but truthful.
So after much deliberation, I have come up with this. George W. Bush, out of all the presidents America has had, you were the 43rd.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: Good night, everybody. See you next week. Thank you!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
