Stephen A. Smith Full Interview - The Chris Cuomo Project

if I'm talking about politics and I got Chris Cuomo on one day and Sean Hannity another those two individuals are very compelling in and of yourself but then when you combine that with the fact that I'm talking to you it's like what the hell is he talking to them about why would he be talking to them [Music] [Music] welcome to another episode of the Chris fomo project it's great to see you keep spreading the word subscribe follow don't forget the free agent gear here it is on the back are you free why first of all free agent open mind open heart willing to listen even when you disagree and the question are you free is because a lot of us are tied uh to feelings and attachments and confirmation bias that we have to examine and it's not that Democrats are bad it's not that Republicans are bad it's not that they're both the same and equally a problem in all situations but it's that this system isn't working and we need to be free thinkers and think of ourselves again as part of a nation and not a team or tribe I want you to buy the merch the same way I do so stop asking me for free stuff because the money we're going to put together in a pool and we're going to give away to people and causes that matter now I've already made now two decisions for us that are just coming out of my pocket so please buy this stuff so we have more money to give now the reason I want to talk about understanding how to be different and to be expansive in your thinking is because our guest today is doing just that Stephen A Smith you know who he is big name in sports First Take has been number one forever he has a gazillion views every time he says anything he is intentionally and cleverly provocative but now he's expanding he has his own podcast called No Mercy k-n-o-w where instead of just being provocative he's being evocative he's making you think and feel about things that have nothing to do with sport but everything with getting better how about taking a listen and a look at Stephen A Smith [Music] I take athletic reads every day why because it is cheaper than taking all those supplements it's one scoop in the water once a day it's already been scientifically balanced so that everything in there goes together which is a big problem in taking supplements separately and it helps keep the train running on time and that's very important to somebody especially at my age and Stage gut health is huge okay so what's in a scoop of ag1 athletic reads one 75 high quality vitamins minerals Whole Foods Source ingredients probiotics and adaptogens adaptogen's the big thing now they all come together to help you start the day right and it's just one and done that's great it's a special blend it's proprietary they already figured it out how to help gut health again that's my main thing but also your nervous system energy recovery immune system Focus I mean again all the good things all wrapped up in one less than one gram of sugar very important no GMOs No nasty chemicals no 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hire all in one place so you don't waste as much time all the different sites having to vet their quality all the content all the Readiness one place you find Top Talent fast with indeed Suite of powerful hiring tools indeed instant match assessments virtual interviews nobody wants to wait indeed U.S data shows over 80 percent of indeed employers find quality candidates whose resume on indeed matches their job description the moment they sponsor a job all right I don't know really three million businesses worldwide I'd use indeed three million so start hiring now with a 75 dollar sponsored job credit to sponsor your job post at indeed.com CCP offer good for a limited time you get a 75 dollar credit at indeed.com CCP indeed.com CCP if you don't know what CCP stands for you need a job terms and conditions apply need to hire you need indeed first things first early happy birthday to you thank you appreciate it buddy thanks so much man you have had many gifts given to you in your life yeah and now you are doing something that as a friend I'd say why are you doing that why do you want to expand into a discussion of knowing Mercy k-n-o-w Mercy I'm jealous of that name I said that when you came on why would you want to take a career where the controversy that comes your way you court right in sports you're a master right why start expanding into a world that is really ugly that is really divided really vicious not Jets Patriots but people who see themselves as enemies of one another why do you want to go there because I care um and doing sports the way that I do it and the fact that I have the audience that I have you start realizing that what are you running from this stuff from because you can anyway because so much stuff has invaded the World of Sports and it's touched Beyond those parameters per se that you find yourself discussing those issues when you're supposed to just be a sports reporter I can give you Trayvon Martin I can give you Castile in in Minneapolis in Minnesota I can give you the whole Colin Kaepernick controversy and how that was politicized and ultimately hijacked I can give you a plethora of things that have transcended the world to sports invaded it and forced sports pundits like myself to touch on issues to the point where we're walking the streets and they're treating me like I'm Chris Cuomo that's terrible I don't think so but it's like this they either agree or they disagree with you and so even though my expertise involves a game people use it to touch on other issues it's no longer about the X's and O's because remember something about sports that I believe in you would know better than me in terms of as it pertains to politics but I believe this to be true when it comes to sports there is no such thing as an expert in these people's eyes unless you're an Insider can you tell me who's getting traded can you tell me what this what they're saying the reason is as to why they've gotten traded why they've gotten cut why they've gotten suspended or anything like that but when it comes to the actual X's and O's watching the game itself you can't tell a sports fan anything they think they know all they want to hear is whether or not you agree with them and why although a lot of people might feel that way about issues and particularly political issues that permeate our society they're not experts they don't truly truly know and at their heart at their core they might have the ingrained belief they might have an ideology but in the end they don't really know unless they watch people who report on it and talk to people who are involved in it they don't know and so for me I look at it from the standpoint discuss these issues give them your perspective just don't act like you know something you don't know I I have no problem telling somebody to go watch CNN go watch Fox News go watch MSNBC go watch this guy this guy I told people to watch Chris Cuomo watch Don Lemon look at what they're saying talk to them and literally saying I don't know this is how it looks for my vantage point and I think that because I have that kind of connection with such a large audience I mean they're talking about over the last several years per year I've been seeing on YouTube Alone by over 1.5 billion people on average so I'm like these people are watching me okay fine then be responsible enough to try and make a difference and that's why I do it do you think it will translate because our interest in sports not only is uh in some ways culturally more ingrained than our politics no matter how heavy the issue is right but it's a release yeah it's a relief even though you can get angry yeah hate your team hate what you say hate this guy hate that one but it's different than how they feel about political animus do you think it translates I think to some degree it does and the reason why is because let's say for example your jets just won a game okay and we're excited 40 points there you go there you go hold on to it don't know who my congressman is but I know they scored 40. exactly right so you do that right and by Tuesday okay what else is going on and so in that moment you're talking about something it might be something like just breaking news this week Daniel Snyder and the Washington football team and some of the trouble he's allegedly in and how he's got dirt on NFL owners and potentially the commissioner and how he's going to fight tooth and nail to hold on to his football franchise Draymond Green getting suspended by the gold you know not really suspended took some time off because he got into a fight with a teammate in Jordan pool and how that's ravaged the Warriors organization these are things that didn't have anything to do with per se with the X's and O's of a football or a basketball game but people want to hear about that so what happens now we're getting into a conversation well if you're Daniel Schneider what do you mean you got dirt on owners what dirt what kind of things have they been doing what's been going on we're thinking about the Ray Rice controversy from years ago we're thinking about DeSean Watson recently you're thinking about stuff that's transpired that's transcended beyond the field of play if you're in the basket if you're talking about basketball okay what's going to happen is he going to get traded what's going on within the organization what kind of stuff has been percolating on NFL on NBA franchises is this occurrence normal does it happen all the time what are the kind of things we're talking about so people are interested in just the X's and O's and in that moment that you're talking to them about those things it puts thought in their head and because because you have different opinions and people who are articulating a message about recognizing one of the things that I said for example is when I said be careful because again you have a situation where Devonte Adams for the Las Vegas Raiders I was pushed a an equipment mental camera person or whatever the guy went straight to the police he got up fine look just fine fine hours later we heard he was at the police department and he's filed charges and Devonte has gonna have to you know appear in court it's the money play well if you have money and everybody knows you money you're a Target so that's a bigger message now that person was just watching the football game but because he was watching the football game and he saw what transpired and then he's watching First Take or another show it's now like okay I hear that loud when you go out in the streets you got that kind of thought in your head and that's how you help change take up take place so no Mercy k-n-o-w Mercy but in politics there is no mercy that's true it is a Bloodsport Thunderdome so how do you get people to even you know listen is hard enough but to care enough to forgive it's interesting that you ask that question because you've been doing television and you've been reporting for years so have I I started off as a high school reporter I became a college writer and ultimately ended up being a probe writer for the Philadelphia choir a few years and I woke up every morning and the number one objective was what can I write about and what can I report on and what can I talk about that people are most interested in what would be most compelling where the pros at that the politicians think they are but they're not necessarily so how many times have we seen politicians and they're completely detached from reality they're focused on what they think their constituents will like and what they know and they fight they try to focus on that but they don't have a damn clue a lot of times as to what people really really want to talk about what really resonates with folks and that's why a lot of times they engage in spinning you're looking at them and saying you have any idea how detached and tone deaf you appear to be right now and I say to you that when I'm talking my ability to get folks to listen of course there's going to be a challenge because it's a genre that I haven't really ventured into too much in the past but I'm thinking about real life issues and if I'm thinking about real life issues it's because it's real life to all of us not me I I don't go in front of a microphone or in front of a camera thinking about what I want to talk about I think about what the audience most wants me to talk about and I think about the platform I have available to me who that demographic is who that constituency is and I Target them and so if I believe that I'm talking to you about what you want to know about then all of a sudden it'll show itself in the numbers if I'm doing a podcast and I got LL Cool J the hip-hop Community is going to listen I got Snoop Dogg the hip-hop Community is going to listen I got Dana White UFC Community is going to listen but also the sports Community is going to listen because he's a very compelling figure in the World of Sports if I'm talking about politics and I got Chris Cuomo on one day and Sean Hannity another first of all those two individuals are very compelling in and of yourself but then when you combine that with the fact that I'm talking to you it's like what the hell is he talking to them about why would he be talking it up that alone Sparks an interest it's like wait a minute what the hell is going on and then all of a sudden I look at the numbers and the numbers show that that is exactly the case because people gravitated to that kind of stuff because they were interested in hearing what in God's name what I be conversing with you guys about all of those things play a role and then you hear what you hear you make sure that these people have something to say based on the questions that you ask you're an absolute priority exceptional you've done it for years where you're talking to somebody you ever had one of those guests and you looked at them and you're like I'll spice this up because they born as hell if I don't I mean I got to make sure I ask some some pointed questions I gotta ask some capella stuff to peel something out of them for my viewer that's how you got to think about it I think that you're right in the fundamental idea that you have to figure out what's going to connect to the audience yes where it gets tricky is you move past the what what is that thing and now you have to struggle with the how and the why um for instance uh the Parkland shooter yes was sentenced the fighting a sentence okay right so now what do you do with that I'm thinking about it for my show should he have been given the death penalty there's one there is Disappointment yes okay and then there is the death does not you know get Justice by begetting More Death that's right it is a very hard conversation it's a very unsatisfying conversation uh the death penalty is really at the end of the day of social instruction it's really not a legal issue of course you have cruel and unusual punishment uh issues and jurisprudence around it but you can find a way to not make it cruel and unusual I don't know why we messed well there's a bias against bullets in the case law but really there's no easier way to kill somebody than to just put some lead in that's right you know but we've moved away from that but in discussing something like that he doesn't get the death penalty yeah what do you say well first of all you do debate whether or not the death penalty was warranted you do debate the whole issue of the death penalty being in existence because you have some people who are diametrically opposed to it totally but then that ultimately transitions you to the issue of crime and punishment and is it really to our satisfaction particularly in this day and age because even though what he did was far more heinous than a lot of things that we could point to as it pertains to the issues of crime you and I both know that people when they have a complaint about an issue they tend to lump everything into the same Bowl you see you see these people on the streets this guy assaulted this person and they're in and out of jail they didn't even have to pay bail what's going on with our country what has happened this is the kind of mentality people will gravitate towards even though that particular instance had nothing to do with something that happened on you know on the streets of New York City their subway station where when somebody got assaulted but they clearly there clearly was not murder involved people conflate these issues all the time and when you know that about an audience you pay attention to it and even if it's to discuss it just to educate folks and teach them how to separate one from the other the important point was is that you touched on something that was in their mind that was on their mind that was in their heart and soul and when you tug on those things you got interest and when you have that interest then all of a sudden people are going to listen to you when you least expect it my concern for you is because I like you thank you it is different when you upset somebody about the state of politics than when you do it with the state of play that's true their feelings are rooted in Anonymous that is different you know even if they are big Cowboys fans right and you're just hating on them that's right it's different than Hey listen I don't think you should feel this way about this diversity issue yeah because and this is what I my 25 years in this business has taught me you hating my team or hating on my team right pisses me off it makes me angry that's my ego right it does not scare me right I am not afraid by your point of view exactly the end of the day it's a game the game's gonna be played they're going to win or lose my life is going to go on right politics especially the way it's been going on recently is a fear Dynamic so it's not just that Stephen A is saying something I don't agree with it's not even that I don't like it you are threatening me because what you're saying I believe it makes me less safe about guns I'm gonna I'm gonna get killed now I'm not gonna be able to protect pregnant because what do you say death penalty so now people are going to be more likely to do this because I can't kill them I can't and it is a very strong psychological pull that defeats the rational at times yes but I'm not scared man I'm just not I trust my rationale I trust my willingness to be reasonable I know there's some out here in this real world I know there's some Crooks there's some hardcore criminals in this real world I know that at any given moment you can encounter all of that but not to borrow off an oak cliche to whom much is given much is required and when I view the position that I'm in I didn't ask to be in this position I never expected it but when they tell you you reach a minimum of 1.5 billion people and when you've had the number one show for 11 straight years and you know you you know you you dreamed of being able to make a million dollars one day and now that's just not a problem and it's because of your voice and your ability to resonate with people you do get to a point where yeah the fun and games are the fun and games and it's great but is that all you want to be about you want to make a difference you want to make a difference and so you know you talk about honesty all the time just be honest I'm lying you know it drives you crazy when people try to come on your show and they tell you a lie and I don't blame you because you know it it can piss you off but for me I want people to know that's why I'm I'm not shy about saying I don't know based on the evidence that has been given this is how I feel if you think I'm wrong tell me why let's have that discussion and stop being a punk and thinking that just because you feel that way you want to hate on somebody who feels differently and you want to inflict violence upon them excuse me if your argument is sound and you've got a foundation upon which it can sit on then why can't you just State what your case is instead of wanting to threaten somebody just because they feel differently than you this is America and last time I checked it ain't just about freedom of speech it's about freedom of thought now you've got to be responsible enough and caring enough not to want to create such a divide that you're willing to allow harm to come to others just because they think differently than you I'm not that guy I want people to know you could come in my face and think totally different than me and it's okay are you willing to justify it let's have a conversation and there's a mercy in that there's a mercy in that you and I grew up in the same place you grew up in Hollis proper I grew up in Hollis wood 197th Street Hillside up the hill I was on 203rd yeah what did it mean for you to this day to be from Hollis Queens how does it inform how you see the world well it has a lot to do with it because it but but it wasn't just Hollis it's like yeah I'm a black man I was a black kid I was growing up in the streets of Hollis it was poor it was lower class the outside we weren't in the projects but the outside it it wasn't indicative of what was on the inside the holes in the roof no heat in the house sitting by the stove and the stove is open and you got to sit there just to get some heat there's no food because we could barely you know we couldn't afford any food and stuff like that we want government cheese and bread um rats and roaches running around and stuff like that you grow up with all of that you have those experiences so you know how to do without you know how to survive you know how to scratch and Claw in that regard it was incredibly helpful what isn't helpful is when you're segregated and isolated in terms of not having white folks around you if you're black not having Latino folks around you if you're black because you're not exposed enough so it's us and it's them and that divide when you have politicians and people in the public that want to manipulate folks so they can peel from folks what they can and then leave you your own devices once they get what they want to encourage that divide that's when it becomes even more problematic exactly and so the thing about it for me where I was blessed in a way that I don't believe a lot of black folks are is that my grandmother was white my mother's from a mixed marriage and so yeah I was taught what racism is through the streets through what I saw whatever my mother and father never brought a race ever it was my white grandmother who told me what white racist to watch out for and she taught me to compartmentalize even though she was in St Thomas Virgin Islands I would go out there twice a year you know once I became like 10 years old 11 years old stuff like that and we talked all the time over the phone she no one loved me more and my mother loved me a lot but my Grandmama I mean nobody loved me more than her Chris and she would literally say this is how some white folks are but this is how you can tell the difference between the two and it harkened me back to Martin Luther King content of character not color of skin what we were aspiring for as black people but I also took it and learned to apply it to my thinking towards white people I didn't look at white people and think that they were racist just because they were white I'm like no he's pretty cool you know I had a guy in high school I went to Thomas Edison Vocational Technical High School in Queens New York I haven't seen this guy since high school his name was Nolan I keep forgetting his last name but his first name was Nolan he was my my classmate an electrical installation and he was this dude he was a white dude could fight his ass off was ready to beat anybody down all the time right nobody messed with them so much so he couldn't find a fight to get into and you know what fights he would get into anybody that messed with me anybody that messed with me he was like I could ball I was in class I was a good dude I wasn't I wasn't this black dude that walked around thinking that every white dude was racist and he loved me anybody that messed with me he was ready to bust their ass excuse my language instantly and when you got that kind of experience it's like yeah it's interesting how you were able to collect experiences and add them uh because before you were the man in high school that's another thing you're one of the few guys in your business I know who does not talk about being a player very often no because I wasn't good enough you went to college on a scholarship I did I did would you go Winston said I went to Winston-Salem State but before that I was at Fashion Institute of Technology everybody was teasing me about that because of Junior College they used to tease me like what the hell did you major it was so cool that's right but it was funny because we were 35 and four in junior college and the funny part about it is the basketball team we were the home we were pretty much I can't say only of course there are exceptions but for the most part we were the heterosexual dudes at the school guys only made up like five percent of the school populace and the rest of most of them were gay because it was the fastest technology and so they used to laugh at us but we were like all the girls are coming this way well you know it's interesting though you know you don't you don't talk a lot about being a ball player you're a college ball when you were a kid yeah you had today what they would have identified like that yes as issues with reading and processing yes sir back then you were just a Target exactly and you understand that experience too yeah you were a big man on campus yeah you know you're the the biggest sound in the room in the business yeah you know what it's like to have people come at you no question how do you keep that inside you how it was as a kid to be able to have to deal with people coming at you everybody uses whatever they can as different sources of motivation I'm in the fourth grade I get left back with a first grade reading level Donald Miller Mark McKnight Willie Johnson Marshall Lewis Bobby Williams Rasheed Williams Cardell Brooks I can give you names of everybody that laughed at me and this was over 40 years ago it was Tony Johnson Billy Johnson you know Stevie Miller Fonzie I mean everybody everybody I remember everybody's face in everybody's name at that moment you come to me and I met somebody a year ago two years ago 10 years ago 15 years ago I see their face but I might not remember their names because I'm not great with names I remember the names and faces of every single person what did it mean to what you thought about yourself I Was Defeated um I thought I was dumb um I thought I would never make anything of myself I was ashamed embarrassed and I talk about this in my book that's coming out in January my father no belief in me whatsoever basically he tried to encourage my mother to give up on me my mother wasn't having it she was not having it my older sister lender who was an educator at the time she along with the best my best one of my best friends Big Brothers his name was Tipper and my sister's name was Linda separately without even knowing each other that well they would teach me how to read and write and that's why when I ultimately became a journalist my mother was so proud it wasn't that I was just as Law Abiding Citizen that didn't go to jail and I was making an honest living it was like it was what I was making a living in the very thing that was my Achilles heel is what I was now doing as a profession did your father validate it never he was just hard yeah I think the the better word is indifferent he just he cared about him green chefs I dig it ccof certified meal kit company that's all the rage these days I don't have the time I don't want to spend the money I don't want to have more than I need green Chef it makes eating well easy there are plans there they fit every lifestyle you can do keto failing vegan vegetarian gluten free or me seafood I see food I eat it anything you want you're going to have something that tastes good and is balanced green Chef offers a range of recipes that will suit any preference okay green Chef is the number one meal kit for eating well dinners that work for you not the other way around we got enough to do green Chef's exciting new ingredients recipes delicious meals keep you satisfied and healthy and you get to eat well without sacrificing taste which is nice when you want to eat choose fast and fit for meals under 700 calories and ready in 25 minutes or less now here's what I know it's hard to count calories it's hard to get the mix right and it's hard to have it taste good on a regular basis especially when you're pressed for time okay green Chef takes all of the thinking out of it so you want to check it out of course you do you go to greenchef.com chris135 and use code Chris one three five what does that number mean oh you get a hundred and thirty five dollars off across five boxes and your first box ships for free green Chef the number one meal kit for eating well foreign the role of loss is always important I lost my father you lost both your parents but you lost your mother who was a hub for you yes she was you lost a brother yeah at a time when you weren't supposed to yeah car accident he wasn't supposed to go yeah what does that do inside you as part of your process of relating to people and situations well first of all I value Brotherhood when it comes to uh men I could see a Chris Cuomo I could see a whole bunch of friends that I have people that I've been fortunate and blessed enough to uh get to know in my adult life the Brotherhood that I have with the Omega Sci-Fi fraternity um that that I became a part of in 2012. the word Brotherhood is very very important to me because what it says to me is I got you no matter what I might chastise you I might tell you you're wrong I might tell you what you need to change and I'm good with all of that as long as you got me it matters because my brother always had me it didn't matter what anybody said didn't matter what anybody thought it didn't matter what he felt in the moment he needed to say to me to up my game it always came from a place of it don't matter what I say how hard I seen right now you will never stay in the abyss that you may ultimately fall into as long as I'm around cause I won't let you and when I say to people my brother how you doing that's my way of saying to them that's exactly what I'll do for you it doesn't mean I'm going to agree with you it doesn't mean I'm not going to chastise you if I think you're wrong but I got you that's what my brother meant to me and he meant that way to me not just as a brother but as a father figure because he was more of a father figure to me than my my father in the case of my mother it's a different emotion I'm a dad I'm an uncle I'm a little brother to five for the four older sisters and all of those things but I've never been a husband I never wanted to get married until later on in life because I was dedicated to my career and I was traveling on the road so much and I knew there was no way I was going to honor marital vows being on the road 200 plus days out of the year it just wasn't going to happen but when it came to my mother I never cared Chris until she passed and I'll never forget it as long as I live my mother passes away in June 1st 2017 her funeral is a few days late it's on a Tuesday it's the night before it's the day before game three and she died night of game night before game one of the NBA finals this is approaching game three it was a Tuesday and we're in the funeral home and then we go through all of that stuff and everybody looked at being a of course I was profoundly sad to have lost her did you know that you were going to lose her was she sick had it been extended been battling cancer for about eight years and um but here's where it hit me at this moment I'm just I'm just by myself man I'm driving this day we buried her and I said oh my goodness the woman that I loved most in the world that I knew loved me unconditionally no matter what is gone what am I going to do now and I say that as a single person as somebody that's married I'm speculating but I think I'm speculating accurately you can have a parent you can be loved by your parents but they're passing the Baton to your wife that's the person that's got you right or you know ride or die you see them say there are no questions and that's why that's why you walk down that aisle that was Mom and I never thought about it being devoid a gap in my life until that day and when that day happened I was like this I'm all alone and I never ever ever felt more lonely in my life than the day I buried her what did you do with that I pulled over on the side of the road near Hollis and I just cried and I just stayed away my sister to my church she was around my sisters were around they brought down the block and nobody knew I was just I was destroyed destroyed man I mean when I tell you um I've never felt that kind of pain I've never felt that kind of emptiness in my life and I cried and then I remembered what she had said to me she was lying in bed just a few weeks before she died and it was a few weeks before she because the last day she was transitioning she was just looking with this blank stand she didn't go in this painful I never experienced nothing like that before I never saw it but days before that weeks before that I'm sorry she had looked at me and she said what you looking so sad for she said this is how it's supposed to be if you love me and I know you do you won't be I respect the fact that you're being sad I get that thank you I love you and I'll miss you too she said but this is how it's supposed to be because if you love me you don't wish for the alternative you don't wish for you to be the one that's about to leave and I'm the one that has to stay and go on with life without you parents are supposed to go first not your children and I held on to that and I held on to it because Chris I have told that story to every single man that has come up to me and has lamented the pain that they're in because their parents are gone I've told that to every man you know the Islanders where you're from where your grandmother's from yeah they say a boy doesn't become a man until he loses his father but it's obviously um a transferable yeah property yes that it's not until they're gone yeah and I think your mother did a great job thank you not on you I'm saying in that in that in that moment of this is the way it's supposed to be right very often we're not prepared by the people we're afraid of losing for their loss right my father didn't get a chance uh to do that my father's passing was terrible because all he was about you know he was a ball player you know he played for the Pirates in the farm league was a great basketball player played into his 70s but he was not about the physical oddly even though he had been a pro athlete he was all about his mind right all about his mind yeah and he lost his mind and and it was even worse than Alzheimer's where he was like somewhere else he was there knowing that he was losing his mind it was very painful for us wow um so he didn't get a chance to do that kind of transitioning uh as you said yeah and you know people think I'm making this up when I say this and I always I laugh I've learned long ago there's very little you can convince people of um about you you know they're going to take what they want they think you're better than you are they think they're you're worse than you are right my father was very worried about the family staying together I've only known love in the extreme because my family has been put into such extreme circumstances right and it's unnatural so my family is all about hard times because you are bathed in extremes and tragedy right and so we've always had to be like that that's why it's been a little bit unusual for me and look I I understand my own situation in a way a lot of people don't I get why the big J journalists aren't able to see the Fine Line distinction between my transparency with my audience um the cooperation of my bosses and my commitment to my family right I get it I get why this big shot journalist who interviewed me said well I wouldn't help my brother it's ridiculous we'll go ahead I get it right on the written test right of what are you supposed to do in this case right I don't know any other way I have and I applaud you for that look it's always nice to have somebody appreciate anything it was never a choice like for me I never thought hmm should I help my brother like that's all he had ever done for me right oh I had a guy this nut who lived down the street from us throw a pitchfork in my head just missed me raise the side of my head I made my mother late she was going to something for the American Cancer Society she was screaming my name and I came running up the street and I was holding my head like this being known as a prodigious liar even young in my life she was of course suspicious and I was like he threw a pitchfork in my head that's why and she was like yeah I'll give you a pitchfork in there and I moved my hand and she saw the blood boob she went down Andrew created order damn right out of that and he always has yes and it's interesting when you talk about your brother saying I got you the only time my brother's ever been harsh in correction with me is when he sees me acting in a way that doesn't recognize what I had done wrong in the past right that's when because he doesn't say it to me in the moment right I never talk to him right about what was what wasn't I knew the facts as they lay before me I knew what he had been saying that's it yeah and it's a very unusual Bond it's a very unusual Bond because so much of love in life is conditional yeah and it is it's an interesting thing to have in your life yeah where you would not be able to convince me that well in this scenario your sister Madeline Your Sister Margaret your sister Maria uh you know big boy yeah they're not going to be there yeah I can't imagine that I can imagine in Good Times I can imagine it today yeah um that you know they don't like what I did they don't like Mike what this is whatever it is but if I were in trouble and that's because we had to learn that because we were there was so much trouble well let me say this and and I don't mean like you know criminals did something but there was a lie I got you antagonist I got you let me let me speak very very candidly not just about myself but about you and your family on this on this podcast my mother and father it was never an option to vote for anyone other than Mario Cuomo ever ever because their belief was when I see him I believe that he believes because again if you're growing up and you're poor there's a rat race man and and and this is why honesty is so important this is why so many other elements come into the equation because with people that are in the streets scratching and chloring just to make ends meet they just don't know they don't have time they don't have time and they care about whatever one issue they care about but they're not watching the big picture they're not watching everything under the umbrella so ultimately inevitably what it comes down to is finding somebody that you trust they either gonna do the right thing in what I believe or there's a perfectly logical explanation as to why they didn't I might not like it but I trust them that was your father it really was like I'm not you know when you grow up the way I do yeah and you do what I do I'm more fair about family than most people are yeah because it's just the nature of how I grew up and being a journalist or something yeah but he really did I believe you believe what he was saying and he would not change positions on the basis of popularity that's why he lost the election 1994 he was very popular personally the economy was in the tank and it was a dominant social issue that was the death penalty he would not shut up about how forget about that the death penalty isn't administered fairly right um which was a big legal issue for him but morally he was like look you can't have a social instruction that death is okay right um and a lot of people a lot of Italian people did not agree with him right even the Catholic church was sideways on that for a long time right and he would not leave it alone yeah Not only would he just not would he not change his position he wouldn't shut up about his position okay and it was beating him yeah he was the real deal you didn't have to like all his positions I didn't like all his positions I don't even agree with him about the death penalt right my feeling is a society should change should decide what its social instruction is and I felt that he was giving us much too much credit for civility yes I was like this is the most this is the most violent Society I've ever been around in my life right and I've been the sub-Saharan Africa I've been to Central America it's bad I've been here though I've Been Everywhere it's bad right the Middle East there's no code when it comes to violence too often in this country right there are plenty of great Americans I'm General that's right but the general ethos is that he was that and I was always proud of him for that I didn't like that he didn't run for president I didn't like that he didn't take the Supreme Court because he was like oh you got that deadly sin Pride he's like you got Pride that's a deadly sin and I said well I just I wanted that for you I wanted that for the family I wanted that and he's like it's not what it's about it's not what service is about and I get it I get it but he was different now I'll tell you who else is different I am a fan of you I love the way you use because I get I get the game Stephen I want you to know that when I watch you I have friends who'd be like Stephen A and like they'll say something about like oh he was so loud on this I need to shut up I was like he got you yeah I always say that I say he he got you he got you yeah yeah you know how to provoke but the reason I wanted you here and I'm so happy for you in moving forward the way you are you don't just provoke you have the ability to evoke and you're going to make people get into their fields and talk about things on a deeper level to try to create some understanding and if not a little bit of a forbearance of animus that we do know as mercy and I wish you the best with it I'm always available thank you my man thank you same to you good because I need you a lot more than you need me please I got you that that shouldn't be the case let me tell you something you keep doing what you're doing because we need you and listen I don't always agree with you I agree with you a lot but not always but the fact of the matter is you're desperately needed because you're fair you're fair and that you're fair and you're knowledgeable and the combination of the two things we can't get any better as a society if we don't have people in positions of influence who don't have those two components available to them and you do and so to me you've got there's nobody rooting for you more than me I can tell you that right now I appreciate it I need it and I'm trying keep doing your thing I'm trying keep doing your thing brother God bless thanks a lot man I got you I appreciate it got you too my man take it easy foreign [Music] 's head and a lot more than Sports the podcast is no k-n-o-w mercy it's great having Stephen A Smith don't forget about the Chris Cuomo project follow subscribe spread the word get that free agent merch and don't forget my show is on news Nation 8 P.M you can go to the website and find out where to find it on television near you please join the family I'll see you next time [Music] thank you [Music] [Music]

Channel: The Chris Cuomo Project

Views: 100,585

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Id: i1szoBYchlc

Length: 49min 34sec (2974 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 18 2022