WEBVTT - How Morgan DeBaun Built a $40M Media Empire & Acquired 3 Black-Owned Brands

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<v Speaker 1>Earners.

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<v Speaker 2>What's up.

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<v Speaker 1>can keep pushing your vision forward. This episode is brought

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<v Speaker 1>to you by P and C Bank, a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>people think podcasts about work are boring, and sure, they

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<v Speaker 1>definitely can be, but understanding of professional's routine shows us

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<v Speaker 1>how they achieve their success little by little, day after day.

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<v Speaker 3>Let's talk about this, the rollback of DI, the rollback

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<v Speaker 3>of corporate involvement with black organizations. You are in the

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<v Speaker 3>crossfires of that because you work with a lot of

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<v Speaker 3>corporations and you have a black event, right, Yeah? Has

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<v Speaker 3>that impacted you? What's your thoughts on this? Because a

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<v Speaker 3>lot of time people just hear this, but it doesn't

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<v Speaker 3>really matter if it doesn't impact you personally. So you,

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<v Speaker 3>as somebody that's operating at a high level and have

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<v Speaker 3>a lot of corporate relationships, what's your thoughts on everything

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<v Speaker 3>that's been happening.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, you know, our business is over forty million in revenue.

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<v Speaker 2>Half of it is aprotech, half of it is media.

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<v Speaker 2>So on the media side, revenue is up. Like all

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<v Speaker 2>these consumer advertisers are completely like cappin when it comes

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<v Speaker 2>to D and I, like it's very much a political fodder.

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<v Speaker 2>But when it comes to their bottom line and their

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<v Speaker 2>top line, you have to invest in black audiences and

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<v Speaker 2>consumers like we are where growth is, multiculturals, where growth is.

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<v Speaker 2>They already have the white consumers, so they can't put

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<v Speaker 2>their foot off the gas and not advertise to us.

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<v Speaker 2>Now how they advertise that shifts slightly. But actually the

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<v Speaker 2>tariffs are having a bigger impact on the media business

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<v Speaker 2>than the D and I executive orders really, So yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>so the D and I executive order was basically saying

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<v Speaker 2>like you can't have preferential treatment. So all the programs

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<v Speaker 2>and you know, these big commitments of we're going to

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<v Speaker 2>spen one hundred million dollars on black old media, like

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<v Speaker 2>they were honoring those anyways, So nothing really changed, Like

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<v Speaker 2>you are already going to spend what you were going

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<v Speaker 2>to spend with me, regardless of what you said you

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<v Speaker 2>were going to do, so nothing changed from our end

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<v Speaker 2>for the tariffs. The tariffs require people to be more

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<v Speaker 2>risk averse because they're not quite sure what's going to happen.

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<v Speaker 2>And Trump is changed in his mind constantly, I mean

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<v Speaker 2>literally Friday afternoon, like dude, what are you doing? You know,

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<v Speaker 2>So there, when people become unstable, they become more risk averse.

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<v Speaker 2>They become slower, you know, they slower with payment terms,

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<v Speaker 2>They're slower with are we going to release this product line?

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<v Speaker 2>Are we not going to release this product line. Advertising

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<v Speaker 2>is tied to campaigns and launches, so things get held

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<v Speaker 2>up because things are stuck in the ports or whatever.

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<v Speaker 2>That impacts how much they're willing to spent on advertising

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<v Speaker 2>those products and services.

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<v Speaker 1>That's interesting, I mean, and the other side of it,

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<v Speaker 1>and we've seen it as well, especially in media, when

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<v Speaker 1>there's uncertainty, when people are unsure, then they go to

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<v Speaker 1>trusted sources for news. Have you seen an uptick obviously

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<v Speaker 1>in your space during this I don't even know this

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred days, yeah, right.

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<v Speaker 2>Exactly, traffic stuff. I mean, media companies do well under

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<v Speaker 2>Trump because these chaos you kind of have to you

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<v Speaker 2>have to stay involved, and because people know they can't

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<v Speaker 2>trust mainstream media anymore. They're looking for alternative platforms, Like y'all.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, I'm sure your traffic on your YouTube is

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<v Speaker 2>probably skyrocketing. I saw Martin.

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<v Speaker 3>He's good for business.

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<v Speaker 2>He's good for business. He's not good for society, but

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<v Speaker 2>he is good.

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<v Speaker 1>Things. Thank you, thank you for drawing that line.

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<v Speaker 2>But I do think I mean, even Roland Martin, I

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<v Speaker 2>think that like three hundred thousand subscribers in like ninety days.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, these are crazy numbers, but it's because people

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<v Speaker 2>are looking for reliable sources and people they trust that

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<v Speaker 2>they know they're going to get the truth from.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. I saw that you began investing into the stock

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<v Speaker 1>market at the age of thirteen, which I think is amazing.

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<v Speaker 2>What lessons from investing so.

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<v Speaker 3>Early have you taken into your media empire?

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<v Speaker 1>Mmm?

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<v Speaker 2>Cash is king. You know, the more cash you can

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<v Speaker 2>sit on, the more you can take advantage when the

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<v Speaker 2>moment strikes. You know, I've done three acquisitions in the

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<v Speaker 2>last you know, five years of black owned businesses. The

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<v Speaker 2>only reason we'll be able to do that is because

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<v Speaker 2>we had cash waiting for a moment that made sense

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<v Speaker 2>for us. And then the other thing is like when

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<v Speaker 2>it comes to investing. And I've also raised venture funding,

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<v Speaker 2>which you know, you guys have talked about quite a bit.

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<v Speaker 2>So I raised over twelve million dollars. You got to

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<v Speaker 2>treat every dollar that you get as your last and

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<v Speaker 2>you gotta figure out how you're gonna flip it. That's

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<v Speaker 2>the same thing with investing. When you get those moments

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<v Speaker 2>where you have unreasonable games, you got to take some

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<v Speaker 2>chips off the table for sure. Do not get greedy, okay,

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<v Speaker 2>And if we had listened to that, we all will

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<v Speaker 2>be doing really well right now. If we had sold

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<v Speaker 2>in November December being like this is looking pretty darn good,

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<v Speaker 2>and now that money would be worth basically sixty seventy

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<v Speaker 2>percent more because the stocks are down. So you sold

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<v Speaker 2>at the high, plus you're getting everything at the low.

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<v Speaker 2>That's a double win.

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<v Speaker 3>So can you walk us through, like some of your

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<v Speaker 3>acquisitions that you made, Yeah, for sure companies.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. The first one I bought was Traveloir So Travenoor

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<v Speaker 2>was an Instagram brand. They had group trips, which was amazing.

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<v Speaker 2>They did trips in Bahia and Johannesburg and Almafi Coast

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<v Speaker 2>with little you know, Grandma's cooking pasta and stuff, and

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<v Speaker 2>they had no media brand. Well, what we know is

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<v Speaker 2>that black travelers have huge discretionary income and are like

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<v Speaker 2>really growing because millennials and Gen Z we spend on

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<v Speaker 2>experiences way more than our parents did. So I was like,

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<v Speaker 2>all right, how do I build out Blavity in a

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<v Speaker 2>way where we're off of interest groups not just being black,

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<v Speaker 2>but like what black people are interested in, and travel

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<v Speaker 2>is one of them. So we bought Travel Noir that

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<v Speaker 2>was like twenty seventeen. I talked about it in my

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<v Speaker 2>book Rewriting Your Rules. And then the other brand that

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<v Speaker 2>we bought was Shadow and Act, same but for entertainment

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<v Speaker 2>in Hollywood. You know, black people watch more TV than

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<v Speaker 2>any other demographic in the country, and we just love

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<v Speaker 2>TV and we love watching TV as an activity with

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<v Speaker 2>other people, which is different. So that was the second

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<v Speaker 2>brand we bought. And then two years ago I bought

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<v Speaker 2>a brand called R and B House Party, which is

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<v Speaker 2>a traveling party series, so that we could build out

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<v Speaker 2>blavity Fest, which is our new festival which will be

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<v Speaker 2>in Atlanta at the end of May with two chains

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<v Speaker 2>and Kirk Franklin and all types of programming around black wealth.

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<v Speaker 2>So just starting out our experiential business on the blavity side,

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<v Speaker 2>which is super important for our business.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you reference the book, rewrite your rules, let's talk

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<v Speaker 1>about it. You said, master yourself, master your method, master

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<v Speaker 1>your growth. Break that down for us.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, you know, I'm from Saint Louis originally, and nobody

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<v Speaker 2>really told me the game. What they told me was

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<v Speaker 2>you work hard, you get a good job, you go

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<v Speaker 2>to school the best education you can get, and like

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<v Speaker 2>it should all work out. And that's just not true.

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<v Speaker 2>Like there are so many people watching this where it's

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<v Speaker 2>like you did all the things you like, had the

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<v Speaker 2>good job, and you did all the things that you

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<v Speaker 2>did what was right. And we're watching a system, more

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<v Speaker 2>so today than ever before. We're the people who are

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<v Speaker 2>making the rules. They're making them for all of us

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<v Speaker 2>to follow, but they're not even following them. So what

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<v Speaker 2>do you do? You know, you have to decide for

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<v Speaker 2>yourself how you want to interact in that kind of system.

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<v Speaker 2>So this book is basically a framework to help you

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<v Speaker 2>figure out, well, if success is it? Like do all

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<v Speaker 2>these things and then you died this golden eag at

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<v Speaker 2>the end, what is my definition of success? And how

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<v Speaker 2>do I get there? What is the strategy and the

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<v Speaker 2>frameworks that I need to have in order to do it.

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<v Speaker 2>So it really is a workbook and a playbook for

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<v Speaker 2>people to be able to do that, you know, leveraging

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<v Speaker 2>all the ups and downs with blavity and the things

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<v Speaker 2>that I've done. But more importantly, like whether you're a

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<v Speaker 2>career nine to five or an entrepreneur, like you can

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<v Speaker 2>do what you want to do, but you have to

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<v Speaker 2>define it for yourself.

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<v Speaker 4>An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child

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<v Speaker 4>in Massachusetts. An MS thirteen gang member from El Salvador

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<v Speaker 4>accused of murdering a Texas man of Venezuelan charged with

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<v Speaker 4>filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just

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<v Speaker 4>of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President Donald J.

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<v Speaker 4>Trump's leadership. I'm Christy Noman, the United States Secretary of

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<v Speaker 4>Homeland Security. Under President Trump, attempted illegal border crossings are

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<v Speaker 4>at the lowest levels ever recorded, and over one hundred

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<v Speaker 4>thousand illegal aliens have been arrested. If you are here illegally,

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<v Speaker 4>your next you will be fined nearly one thousand dollars

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<v Speaker 4>a day, imprisoned, and deported. You will never return. But

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<v Speaker 4>if you register using our CBP home app and leave now,

0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:35.280
<v Speaker 4>you could be allowed to return legally. Do what's right,

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<v Speaker 4>leave now. Under President Trump America's laws, border and families

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<v Speaker 4>will be protected.

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<v Speaker 2>Sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security,