Talk with Radio Talk Show Host 'Broadway' Joe Booker
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, let's get back to the Trent Lott controversy. Lots of people are still talking about the Republican senator. And joining us on the phone now is "Broadway" Joe Booker, program director and morning drive DJ for KIPR. It's the number one urban station in Little Rock, Arkansas. Good to hear from you. Thanks for joining us. "</s>BROADWAY" JOE BOOKER, KIPR RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Hey, it's great to be here, Fredricka.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, so it's the buzz on your radio station, as well. What are some of your listeners saying?</s>BOOKER: Well, I think the question that we're going to do today is can we get anyone to call in and say that Trent Lott should stay and not step down? The last couple of days, all of our listeners are really, really, they want him to step down. One of the things, also, we just sent the Democratic senator, Mark Pryor, to Congress and we're kind of wondering, he hasn't said anything yet. However, our Republican, Blanche Lincoln, has said something. So there are many questions here, many questions here. And even after the thing on BET, we still, we're still not understanding why he's not in -- and another thing is why the president hasn't said anything about him stepping down, other than, you know, putting it in his court. But I'm kind of sure that today we'll be talking about it again. It is the buzz of the morning.</s>WHITFIELD: So it sounds like a lot of venting going on on your air waves, not necessarily debate, and a lot of those listeners are complaining or at least expressing that they wish they would hear from President Bush on the topic?</s>BOOKER: Yes. He hasn't really said that, you know -- and it took him a while to even say anything. But he really said...</s>WHITFIELD: He acknowledged it, but he hasn't necessarily taken sides is what you're saying?</s>BOOKER: Exactly. Exactly. So even, like I said, our new senator that we sent in is a Democrat and he hasn't said anything yet. So our listeners are definitely wanting him to step down.</s>WHITFIELD: Hmmm. What are some of the suggestions, if any, that your listeners are giving as to how this case ought to be handled on the Hill?</s>BOOKER: Well, a lot of people are saying that basically this, his past record has shown what he has done and what we've heard is actually what the man really is. The BET interview was more of one of those apologies that when you look at the record, you can see that he hasn't really changed. And what's really amazing about it is Strom Thurmond voting showed that he is even kind of coming back to the right side, even though he said that he is. But Strom Thurmond seems to be a better senator than Lott. So I...</s>WHITFIELD: So your listeners aren't necessarily saying that after seeing the BET interview that aired on Monday night, it didn't necessarily change any minds among your listeners?</s>BOOKER: No. And one of the worst things that you can do is start using other black people for examples, and that was one of the things that he did. You know, he started using other black people for examples, I've hired a few and that kind of thing, and that's just not the way to go.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, "Broadway" Joe of KIPR from Little Rock, Arkansas, thanks very much for joining us. Have a great show today.