Montel Williams: GOP Must Support LGBT Community
WILLIAMS: I can't remain silent when we direct hate towards an entire race of people, Hispanics, when we direct hate towards an entire religion, Muslims. I can't stand silent when we direct hate towards the LGBT community. We're hating our own daughters, our own sons, our own wives. It blows my mind that I put on a uniform to defend this Constitution against all and we have people right here who would actually take away the rights from as many as they could.</s>BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Montel Williams speaking at an event held here in Cleveland by the American Unity Fund, calling on Republicans to do more for the LGBT community. Also speaking at that very event, Caitlyn Jenner, who's quite candidate about the difficulties of being trans and being Republican. Montel Williams, long time host of "The Montel Williams Show", joins me now. Good to see you, my friend.</s>WILLIAMS: Thanks for having me, Brooke.</s>BALDWIN: My goodness. Talk to you about this morning. What's your message?</s>WILLIAMS: Well, I looked into a room where I would think that probably ten years ago, you would never have seen that many different cultures of people.</s>BALDWIN: Yes.</s>WILLIAMS: All Americans. From black, white, Hispanic, Asian, to people who were clearly straight, people who were clearly conservative, all there understanding that if we truly are the Party of Lincoln, we truly are the Party of Reagan, Reagan himself said in 1984, we are the party that includes all. We are not a party and there's no place for bigots, period.</s>BALDWIN: You feel like the Republican tent is not big enough?</s>WILLIAMS: I feel like they've definitely shut the door and don't care. I think it's time to change that rhetoric. Again, I stepped away from the party when the party completely stepped away from me, and made me understand they didn't want me to be a part. I became an independent but that didn't change my conservative values. It didn't change the way I feel about issues. So I still like to lobby with, I want to be next to, I want to talk to. But why can't we even have a conversation? I was up this morning, I'm glad that there was a group of people there willing to listen.</s>BALDWIN: It's so interesting, you know, you've come on the show enough. We've talked politics, you are so passionate about the governor of this state. You wanted John Kasich to be the guy. You wanted him to be on the stage. Instead, he's not even in the building. You know, he is not showing up for Donald Trump. Where are you now? What are you feeling? Are you supporting Donald Trump?</s>WILLIAMS: What I'm trying to do is get the rest of America to stop drawing lines in the sand and going along with other people --</s>BALDWIN: Who's drawing the line? Is Donald Trump drawing the line? Is Hillary Clinton drawing the line?</s>WILLIAMS: You listen to rhetoric and don't study yourself, you draw the line. I would like to see America stop for just a second and start reading the truth. All this garage over Melania. First of all, I'd say that we all owe that lady herself an apology. I'm going to say, why? It's not her fault! She got thrown into this whole mess and had to read words that someone put in her hands. Who you should be going after is the party for having allowed that to happen. Yet today, I've not heard one person actually call out the people who led the party in the last two days and lied and lied. Let's talk about lies.</s>BALDWIN: Twenty minutes ago, where were you with my panelists? They were making that very point.</s>WILLIAMS: Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie. So, wait a minute. But that's not just to disparage one side. Just go back to say, I'm going to do my research. If we find that exactly what transpired, transpired is true, that will assuage my bad feelings. Then I'll look at the other politics. What I want to know is, what are you going to do for veterans? What I want to know is because when you say both sides say I'm going to contain ISIS, that means you need troops. You know how often I've been here talking about the fact that until we fulfill the debt we have with troops, how dare you even think about sending other children off to die.</s>BALDWIN: Chris Christie on Jake Tapper just a little while ago. He thinks Donald Trump gets some of the security briefings, he will send troops in. You think that's a good thing?</s>WILLIAMS: Well, let's make sure we understand this and I want the rest of the American public to agree, when I went and joined the military in 1974, 83 percent to 84 percent of our Congress and Senate had served or had a family member that has done the same. Right now today, you have less than 16 percent. Somebody say, let's say it's less than 20 percent that have served or had a family member in the game. How dare you send the rest of the 85 percent or 80 percent of this country's children off to die when you wouldn't do it yourself? So, I'm just saying, before we commit more lives, let's agree to pay the debt we owe. What you've seen, Brooke, in the last three months, we have two clear cases of people who were soldiers who were suffering from PTSD. We have a ticking time bomb in this country. And I'm not disparaging my fellow soldiers because it is not their fault the debt has not been paid.</s>BALDWIN: Come back once you have gone off to marinate and figure out, I'm curious to see which way you go.</s>WILLIAMS: Thank you. Thank you so much.</s>BALDWIN: Thank you, my friend. I really appreciate it. Montel Williams here in Cleveland. Coming up next, we do have new details speaking out about the deadly ambush in Baton Rouge. What the attacker there told friends and family about his own mental health and what he says he was doing days before the shootout. Stay with us.