Dennis Rodman - Conversation about North Korea Visit lyrics

CHARLES SMITH: We received a letter from the DPRK Olympic Committee on-- an invitation to do this game. This isn't about Dennis. I'm sorry-- like I said, I didn't like Dennis, I competed against him, we were not friends, and over the last 3 years, we've become brothers. I mean, we go out on the road and we have a great time together and we do a lot of good stuff. But understand this: understand that he is not here, and I am not here, none of these guys are here to talk any sense into any politician and to have any-- other than basketball diplomacy, which I feel is about having a relation-- utilizing the relationship with others in an accommodating way through basketball, which we did today with the North Korean team-- that's what we're here for. Do you really think that the leaders here are going to listen to what we have to say? And we're not here to do that. That's not what we're here to do. We're here specifically to put smiles on people's faces, everlasting memories in the minds of individuals, and hopefully with the good work that we do we give to charity while we're here. And we're just going to be an example to how we are as Americans through the sport of basketball. So please don't continue to put politics into that. This is not what we're here for. CHRIS CUOMO: I get it, Charles. I get it. I get why you're there. The problem is it's more complicated than basketball. It just is. It's more complicated than basketball, fellas. I'm sorry. CHARLES SMITH: See, you know, you say it's more complicated than basketball. Basketball is not complicated to us, and that's what we do. We're not in here for complications. And again, we apologize for what has-- kind of the storm that has been created from our presence. We're not apologizing for doing what we do. Those people today, the North Korean team, meeting the citizens, we're connecting people to basketball and people to people. CHRIS CUOMO: I get it. CHARLES SMITH: It's all relational. CHRIS CUOMO: Charles, it's all good. That's all good. CHARLES CUOMO: When you say you get it, but that's all we're doing. So don't-- DENNIS RODMAN: Don't fight him. CHRIS CUOMO: The game has been presented as a birthday present to the ruler. I'm not here to fight with you guys. I respect what you're doing. I'm just concerned for the family of this man who is held there. And I am concerned, as many Americans are, about giving a birthday present to a man who is seen as a ? who just had his uncle executed. Dennis, you understand the issue. It's not about hating on American basketball players. CHARLES SMITH: Yeah but you can continue to talk about the different activities that take place here. We have activities that-- there's activities that take place all over the world. We are using basketball as a bridge for cultural exchange. And that's all about communication. Again, we're not here to deal with the politics. The date of the game is the date of the game. It was arranged that way. We're here to deal with people. Now, let me give you a couple of examples. When we spoke to the North Korean players today through their translators, they asked us questions about professional basketball, they asked us questions about how we live, they asked us questions about the game-- we interacted with them. We represented our country in basketball in a way that we know that we should do, and we were very professional about it. The fans, afterwards, said things like, "We had no idea. You guys are retired, you guys are a lot older, but your sk** is superior, and you've taught us a lot." And they thanked us for that, they thanked Dennis for putting this together. That's the joy that we get out of this. And that's where we're going to sit, and that's where we're going to stay, and that's what we're going to do. CHRIS CUOMO: And I wish you good luck and effectiveness. I wish you good luck and effectiveness in influencing the people there. I hope it's a good cultural exchange. Dennis, let me end on this: you do have a relationship with this man. You've said it many times. You've seen it demonstrated. Are you going to take an opportunity, if you get it, to speak up for the family of Kenneth Bae, and to say, "Let us know why this man is being held," that this is wrong, that he is sick. If you can help, Dennis, will you take the opportunity? DENNIS RODMAN: The one thing about politics, Kenneth Bae did one thing. If you understand-- no, I got it, I got it. If you understand what Kenneth Bae did, do you understand what he did to this country? CHRIS CUOMO: What did he do? DENNIS RODMAN: No no. You tell me! You tell me, why is he captive here in this country? CHRIS CUOMO: They haven't released any charges. DENNIS RODMAN: No, no. Let me do this. I would love to speak on this. CHRIS CUOMO: Go ahead. DENNIS RODMAN: You know, you got 10 guys here, 10 guys here that left their families, left their damn families to help this country in a sports venture. You got 10 guys-- all these guys here. Does anyone understand that? Christmas, New Year's-- CHRIS CUOMO: We do. And we wish them well with the cultural exchange. DENNIS RODMAN: No no no. I don't give a sh**-- I don't give a rat's a** what the hell you think. I'm saying, look at these guys here. Look at them. CHRIS CUOMO: Yeah, but Dennis, don't put it on them. Don't use them as an excuse for the behavior that you're putting on yourself. DENNIS RODMAN: They came here! They came here! CHRIS CUOMO: Basically, you were saying that Kenneth Bae did something wrong. We don't even know what the charges are. Don't use these guys as a shield for you, Dennis. CHARLES SMITH: Listen, listen-- DENNIS RODMAN: Shield? (To Chris Smith) Let me do this! (To Chris Cuomo) Really? Really? I'm going to tell you one thing. People around the world, around the world, I'm going to do you one thing: you're a guy behind the mic right now. We're the guys here doing one thing. We have to go back to America and take the abuse. Do you have to take the abuse that we're going to take? Do you sir? Let me know. Are you going to take the abuse? We're going to get it. But guess what though. One day, one day this door is going to open because these 10 guys here, all of us-- Christie, Vin, Dennis, Charles, all these guys-- I mean everybody here, if we could just open the door just a little bit for people to come here and do one thing-- CHARLES SMITH: And Dennis makes a great point. There are other Americans here on this trip. You have to understand that we're not alone. We're in pa**age with about 50 people, there are other Americans that have been to Korea, in and out of Korea, they're here on the tour, they're here with us, we've interacted with them, as well. The key is you can bait Dennis or any of us-- CHRIS CUOMO: Charles, that's not my intention. That's not my intention. It really isn't-- CHARLES SMITH: Let me finish. If that's not your intention, we've said numerous times that we're not here for any political aspects. We're not here to talk about politics. So outside that, any questions that come back through that, is baiting us to get into politics. That's not what we're here for. Every man sitting here understands that. CHRIS CUOMO: Charles, I understand it, as well. I wish you good luck with the cultural exchange, but you know the issues that are in play. Good luck with the game. I hope it has the results that you want it to, and I wish you a safe trip home. Thank you for joining us this morning.