Talk about Police Brutality and profiling. April. Next question mr. President. [laughter] mr. President i need to find out from you. April ryan how did a selfdescribed workingclass black girl from baltimore get to ask for us president s questions i get called out by every one of them. This is your life and 23 years later and i was out there working and they recognized my work and said we may have a position open and i said okay i thought it was for the dc bureau chief i did not know was for the white house. I even got folded washington and anchored on the weekends but never in my wildest dreams would i imagine i would be questioning for american president s and they call me by name. E. T i did the work. I started local. Being baltimore. I love baltimore city. It was about 36 miles away south and so lets try this. I thought i would be there may be only stay two or three years and i have been here 23. I just started out being a reporter and i realized coming in washington power was having a president call your name and the peep telling me a present needed to call me by name like cothe late thelma brown the widow of brown she said they need to call you by name and my cousin who is married to formerma congressman ed town i did not understand the concept with that i did after it started to happen to be a reporter c that the president will call on by name and it makes a difference. People take note of you and i was covering bill clinton a couple of times before 9 11 when we could walk around the white house and run into a president. I will never forget one time he was Walking Around eating pretzels walking through the hallway saw me and came into the press area and gave salutations i said mr. President and one of your newest reporters and he called me by name i will never forget the press secretary said why youpr so on the heart of the issue of me calling you by name . Is that because thats my name the first time he didnt he did not call my name but then it changed and then it was a press conference. January 101997 he walked into the white house and you recounted the presidency in black and white you are ready to leave after three days. Yes. [laughter] its a very different animal. It breeds. And there is a heartbeat to it. It is a whole different scenario it is hurry up and wait. It is a push for information. More than a desire but the need to get information out and push it out to the public whether the americans to the highest office in the land where everything comes through war and peace and everything in between. Its a different beat who hurry and wait for that one person you feed on every word they say. I have never seen anything like it and never willit again. The hill is a different beat running around looking for all types of congressional leaders or senators or congresspeople but at the white house its that one person but one thing i will say it has been daunting and overwhelming. I was green but i will say that i had to view the president in the white house in this Historic Place it was the most interesting place i had ever been but january 13 was actually my start date and that wasas the day i said okay. We are in here everything is ready to go. Do you have an office at the white house . If thats what you call it. In my first book people could not believe it is like a small phone booth. Many young people dont understand what a phone booth is so thats what it looks london but its the size of a phone booth may be two of them put together a claustrophobics need not apply thats what i call home in 1600 pennsylvania avenue and that is my office space believe it or not people fight for that. Back to the president you write my appearance of the Briefing Room was a red flag for some. Yes. In 1997 the issue was right about one of race was on the table but in talking to bill clinton interviewing for the book its always been on the table but the problem is it doesnt always get asked about by the these reporters talk about china or russia and the cerebral policies and issues and when you have issues of race, a lot of times it does not lead until it bleeds. So i found in the white house race is dealt with at a crescendo moment that was trey von martin or Something Like that but i was always asking issues of race beyond the crescendo moment and people would look at me know i dont have an agenda i was covering stories of a portion of america the high negative in every current one category underreported and underserved. Thats how i came to the white house people than they realized some of these questions i were asking was real it isnt conjecture it is real. Its interesting now looking back 23 years later my dear friend from msnbc said able right and made our race issue popular its unfortunate thats the case black america and Brown America why should there bea, questions especially the highest numbers of every category. America urban Ready Networks the oldest Radio Network that has been in the white house over 40 years. We primarily serve urban america with news and information we are a Heritage Network meeting with black media and undergoing change like everyone else so when i say Mainstream Media has a cold they are on life support so to see mainstream newspapers we are trying to find our way as well and its hard for us because we have an mdience tried and true to realize that when others dont ask we will. Host december 2nd, 2009 during the Obama Administration. You write about this in your book, here is an exchange he had with then press secretary. In the white house she came out with maybe call the belle of the ball to overshadow the first lady. Its getting around washington and democratic and republican circles highranking. Thats another issue. Are you done speaking . I have not heard any of that criticism. The president and the first lady and the entire white house staff are grateful for the job she has done and she has done a terrific and wonderful job to pull off a lot a big and important events at the white house spirit did the hul president invite her . Did she by herself . The social secretary puts the name on the list. April. Calm down. This happens to my son and he does the same thing. I am. Ou one being serious. Yes she was at the dinner she was at the dinner. Im going to get back to the topics of men and women in afghanistan. Host you are visibly uncomfortable. Those moments and i will see a lot of those that make me cringe because this iss my life. It does make me cringe because that was an ugly moment but i will say this. Lets set the scene about that moment the first black president becomes president history was made but at that time you all remember the story the state dinner and the assassination attempt had just happened talking about the state dinner and it was the first state dinner i believe in the social secretary at the time did not follow protocol from other administrations mind you i have been in the white house to administrations prior to this i had even been a guest and invited guest at this time president s were inviting the press to come in so i knew the protocol. So when the call had been moved the press office would be there and secret service would be there but in the meantime the protocol have beenen changed there was a reality show going on at the same time housewives of washington dc they were on the show and they thought it was cute for the reality show to crash the state dinner. Not only did they crash it but they got close to the president of the vice emanuel sond rahm my concern wasnt the tv show or the theatrics my concern as a reporter i am hearing from sources were very close to the situation outside of this white house to say this never should have happened because of the Death Threats. So what robert gates was trying to do was to show hisisth loyalty to the press secretary Desiree Rogers who ultimately left the terms of that leaving you can take it however you want but it was not pleasant the way i understand it. And robert gibbs was trying to be loyal to her at thed rt time. Now fastforward about one or two years later after i wrote the first book that was tents we never got over that at the time. And he apologized to me he said april, i had to make you look crazy. I said but the social secretary said you to do in her any favors and shes still arguing with me. I saw her once in new jersey. That was a hotbed and she said he was not being loyal to me and i said desiree said you are not being loyal to her he said let me tell you something. She rolled up under the bus and stayed there. The protocol was not followed. She was the social secretary was totally different being a part of the event she wasnt watching it she had her own table with her own guest. The issue was the breach of security and compromising of two men who are historic figures who had Death Threats. That is the whole issue. Robert was trying to be loyal to then social secretary but that was broken but it was the historic nature so thats all that was. Since and i have received an apology from robert gibbs that i spoke to ms. Rogers she gave me her account of the event. It was ugly but at the end of the day he apologized it was ugly because robert gibbs told me how the game is played it showed me of what was to come. Host when he said april calm down, what was your immediate thought . He was making it personal. That this is a real situation so yes im five generations removed from the last american slave and i have no problem being considered african but i am africanamerican and with the African Press corps so there was a question ultimately w he couldnt help himself president george w. Bush could not help himself. Host wasnt like to be called out at the one by the president quick. You have to go with it if you makeke a scene the president knows your people did this just move on you are trying to fade into the background how do you do that with a white president notices the africanamerican reporter from Us Press Corps is in the African Press corps. Do i stand up and say no . You have to pick your battles and learn how to fight another day if i make a scene in the room im thrown up in canada asked the questions one thrown out and cannot ask the question. Is this different president . Of course. You can see it. That has been different he is a different type of president. Hes a different type ofen person he is not a traditional president in any way or shape or form. Ot he is a ruthless businessman who became president of the unitede states. He doesnt like questions that challenge him or that do not put him in a good light. I ask press secretary of obama or whoever the question is on the table whether good or bad or indifferent and the president has taken it to heart and is very upset and call me names publicly. I have never had that happen before. I have been chastised by robert gibbs. In public and behind the scenes i have had talks from josh earnest to Ari Fleischer with other press secretaries and dana perino quietly if they are not happy with a question that this is beyond the pale. Host february 16, 2017. So we will do a lot of work on the inner cities i have great people lined up. Will you include the cdc in yourur conversations with your inner cities are you going to include the Congressional Black Caucus . You want to set up the meeting . Ar set up the meeting. Set up the meeting i would love to meet with a black ulcaucus i think thats great the Congressional Black Caucus. I think thats great. I actually thought i had a meeting with congressman cummings he was alli i excited and then he said i cant move it might be bad for me politically. Host you talk about that incident and under fire. I sure do. I will hit the congressman cummings piece first. That piece of Elijah Cummings and i were very good friends. We hail from the same place in baltimore and congressman cummings called me right away right after inauguration to say President Trump wants to meet with me. He met with him at thes inauguration marches and said they want to talk about Prescription Drug i prices. The problem is the new administration could not figure out how to make it happen there were twists and turns and bumps and bruises. He wasnt hiding they just didnt know how to make it happen. So right after that they figured it out and talked about Prescription Drug prices and i ha go into details of the conversation of the meeting there is even a list from the president from what congressman cummings said now going back for full disclosure, this may have been a misinterpretation of the president im related to former congressman townes from new york he is my cousin on my mother side. I would call him to confirm things and he was a how did you get that . He was shocked i was not hicalling him for information i would just call to confirm information as you have to confirm your sources. So people may have told him but actually i met president then donald trump through ed towns in trump tower many years ago i clinton fundraiser actually a fundraiser for my cousin ed towns i had never been to a fundraiser and he was my cousin i said i would like to see what happens at these fundraisers. Ii never contributed to any politician so that nobody knows if i am a democrat or republican or independent he did find me interesting i tried to hold a conversation but he moved on it was bill clinton at the time. He monopolize clintons time so much so much that the guest at the fundraiser were upset because they wanted to talk to bill clinton. And take pictures with them so maybe thats where he gets that from but also there was a person berating me giving a false narrative a very good the time who at has now left the building. And just a few weeks prior to that there was a big altercation with that person andeen the oval office the press office it spilled out into the hallway and the oval office it was ugly so when he saidd that i felt it was a continuation of that i didnt look at it as racial slight more than sinister but there is so much that goes into all of this. Ms. Ryan. Good afternoon. I follow the president ial press conferences i have seen quite a few so most of the time the president has the conference on the lawn of the white house as he is in transit. Sometimes the helicopter is behind him spinning theme rotors. I find it extremely difficult a, to hear the question that the reporter asks. It would be helpful if there was a mechanism for the question to be made clearer. Host thank you very much. I love his question. Im praying that the president is watching. You never now. It is exasperating for you, we try to get the sound as the helicopter is motoring and powered up to go to Andrews Air Force base. It is awful. He moves around and just friday when he had that press conference in the briefing roo room, we said mr. President please come back. It was saying, people raising their hand and he called on that he was standing still. It was a civilized backfo and forth. He cannotre ignore me at the conference i thought it was funny he kept looking at me and calling on other people youis cannot miss me. He saw me. Im glad he did because i had questions like anyone else good bad or indifferent. So i pray we will start having press conferences on the regular as in the building not outside. Not only a that its over 300 some odd days we dont have a press secretary giving a briefing theres too much on the table for us not to be usasking questions about what is going on in this white house and what the white house is doing ord saying. Mercury is a man credited opening the White House Briefing and has since regretted his decision due to so much posturing for the cameras on both sides. He has change that now he sent ae letter. And with those press briefings number one just a few weeks ago and with the tele band and coronavirus and so much and not having a pre one a press briefing and is not just American People are not given the information they have no clue. And then you dont have the press asking and then to ask questions to flush issues out. This is not a grudge match. It is about humanity and giving people information that they need and back and forth right now just on coronavirus alone it is lifeanddeath. Everything comes to the white house war and peace and everything in between. Everything is spoken in that building. Host the next call w w from michael in new a york. Caller ca hello. I will Say Something its not meanspirited but the k,fortunate incident and ferguson april and many other black journalist and democrats were saying this happened because of racism. I said that . When did i say thats be 14 you and others. You have a video . I would love for you to send that. Go ahead. Let me say this before you go further i said this to anyone at the time blacks have been brought to this nation almost 400 years ago there have been policing issues with the black community from slavery on. It has not changed. Now if you want to say its racism that is fine but there are issues between the community and police but good policing of that is racism and that the third book under fire they call me a race spader thats not tru true. Caller hi. I would like to say i appreciate the opportunity because i would like to point out with that in valuable access that she enjoys. Why am i a fraud . Caller if i could continue. No less and Important Media analyst from the hill who was one of the verys few played it out when you ask the question irrelevant to the 21st century about slavery if the white house was in favor or against of slavery not reparations i could see that be an issueue now. But you asked that question pointed out that you only do this to attract attention to yourself. That is the commentators opinion so put it in context the only reason why i ask about that issue of slavery is because the chief of staff brought up the issue and there is a question there was a compromise of slavery and it was fought over slavery and then to keep slaves. And then Senior Administration officials the only reason i brought that up because it is still an issue. But you have the cbc in those on capitol hill dealing with the issue of reparations trying to come up that is still a hotbed issue are not lookin