In this episode, Ethan Elkind, Director of The Climate Program at Berkeley Law, talks about his book, Railtown and the importance of public transportation towards climate change. Then, you will hear some of the voices from the Democratic National Convention held in Chicago last week.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/erik-fleming1/support[00:00:00] Welcome. I'm Erik Fleming, host of A Moment with Erik Fleming, the podcast of our time. I want to personally thank you for listening to the podcast. If you like what you're hearing, then I need you to do a few things. First, I need subscribers. I'm on Patreon at patreon.com slash amomentwitherekfleming. Your subscription allows an independent podcaster like me the freedom to speak truth to power and to expand and improve the show.
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[00:01:11] Welcome to the podcast. Welcome to the podcast. Welcome to the podcast. Welcome to another moment with Eric Fleming. I am your host, Eric Fleming. And ladies and gentlemen, I am glad to be back. What a week.
[00:02:04] It was really, really an honor and a privilege to physically be at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
[00:02:41] Thank you, Eric Fleming.
[00:02:46] And I just want to thank the Democratic Party for putting on such a tremendously organized and entertaining convention.
[00:03:03] Thank you, Eric Fleming.
[00:03:11] Thank you, Eric Fleming.
[00:03:38] Thank you, Eric Fleming.
[00:03:43] Thank you, Eric Fleming.
[00:03:46] Thank you, Eric Fleming.
[00:04:03] Thank you, Eric Fleming.
[00:04:34] Thank you, Eric Fleming.
[00:04:36] This is your host, Eric Fleming, and we'll be back to ourgenre.
[00:04:49] And you know, this is a great day for everyone.
[00:05:08] and there's various reasons for that,
[00:05:11] primarily because most of the stuff was live on the spot.
[00:05:17] So I've done my best to make sure that you can hear
[00:05:22] the people that are interviewed,
[00:05:27] and you'll get something out of it for sure.
[00:05:30] You'll understand what they're saying,
[00:05:32] but that was the main concern,
[00:05:34] which is getting it,
[00:05:36] because you're dealing with a live event,
[00:05:38] you're dealing with a lot of people,
[00:05:39] a lot of noise.
[00:05:43] Even my standard guest,
[00:05:46] we had to make some adjustments,
[00:05:48] and you'll hear about that during the interview.
[00:05:52] But outside of the pristine audio quality,
[00:05:57] this is going to be a good show.
[00:06:01] And the other thing that's not going to happen
[00:06:06] is there won't be a moment of news.
[00:06:10] This will be basically just because the convention was the news.
[00:06:18] Right?
[00:06:18] So you're going to actually hear from people
[00:06:21] that were actually at the convention,
[00:06:24] at the newsworthy event.
[00:06:28] So Ms. Grace,
[00:06:31] we have to make off,
[00:06:34] and I hope that she's doing well
[00:06:42] without going into a whole lot of details.
[00:06:44] But as she hears this,
[00:06:48] I hope that she's doing well,
[00:06:49] and we'll get together next week.
[00:06:57] So with that,
[00:07:01] let's go ahead and get the program started.
[00:07:05] And my first guest
[00:07:11] is going to be Ethan Elkind.
[00:07:17] Ethan Elkind is the director
[00:07:19] of the climate program at CLEE
[00:07:23] and leads the Climate Change
[00:07:25] and Business Research Initiative
[00:07:27] on behalf of the UC Berkeley
[00:07:29] UCLA Schools of Law.
[00:07:32] He taught at the UCLA Law School's
[00:07:34] Frank Wells Environmental Law Clinic
[00:07:36] and serves as an Environmental Law Research Fellow.
[00:07:41] He has a background
[00:07:42] in the California Environmental Quality Act,
[00:07:45] climate change law,
[00:07:47] environmental justice,
[00:07:48] and other environmental law topics.
[00:07:51] 2005,
[00:07:52] he co-founded the NOCWAS,
[00:07:54] the NOCWAS,
[00:07:56] I'm going to try it one more time,
[00:07:58] the NOCWAS v. Watt,
[00:08:01] the NOCWAS v. Watt Institute.
[00:08:03] Inc.,
[00:08:05] a Native American nonprofit organization
[00:08:07] that provides
[00:08:08] alternative dispute resolution services
[00:08:12] and support for tribal governance,
[00:08:15] justice,
[00:08:15] and educational institutions.
[00:08:17] His book on the history
[00:08:19] of the modern Los Angeles metro rail system
[00:08:23] was published
[00:08:24] by the University of California Press
[00:08:25] in January 2014.
[00:08:27] 2014.
[00:08:29] And a lot of our conversation
[00:08:31] is going to be based off of that book.
[00:08:33] Ethan is also a regular host
[00:08:35] of the weekly call-in radio show
[00:08:37] State of the Bay
[00:08:38] on the San Francisco
[00:08:40] NPR affiliate
[00:08:44] KALW
[00:08:46] 91.7 FM
[00:08:48] airing Monday nights
[00:08:49] at 6 p.m. Pacific time.
[00:08:51] Ladies and gentlemen,
[00:08:53] it is my distinct honor
[00:08:54] and privilege
[00:08:55] to have as the guest
[00:08:56] on this podcast,
[00:08:58] Ethan Elkin.
[00:09:12] All right.
[00:09:13] I got Ethan Elkin
[00:09:15] on the podcast.
[00:09:19] And
[00:09:21] so,
[00:09:22] I'm going to let my listeners
[00:09:24] know what's happening right now.
[00:09:27] I've been trying
[00:09:28] to get Mr. Elkin on.
[00:09:29] He agreed to come on,
[00:09:31] but I'm here
[00:09:32] at the Democratic Convention
[00:09:34] and due to circumstances,
[00:09:36] I couldn't get to the studio
[00:09:38] where we can record stuff quietly.
[00:09:40] So,
[00:09:41] I'm literally in the middle
[00:09:42] of downtown Chicago
[00:09:43] interviewing this brilliant man
[00:09:45] and he's agreed
[00:09:46] to go ahead
[00:09:47] with this experiment.
[00:09:48] Ethan,
[00:09:48] how you doing,
[00:09:49] brother?
[00:09:49] You doing good?
[00:09:50] I'm good,
[00:09:50] Eric.
[00:09:51] Thank you for making time
[00:09:52] to chat.
[00:09:53] I'm glad you're out
[00:09:53] at the convention
[00:09:54] and hope you got a nice spot
[00:09:55] on the street
[00:09:56] to do this interview.
[00:09:57] It's really cool.
[00:09:58] It's like a flower bed
[00:09:59] and everything.
[00:10:00] It's like nobody's
[00:10:02] going to hit me.
[00:10:03] People are going to look
[00:10:04] at me funny
[00:10:04] because I'm dressed nice,
[00:10:05] but either way,
[00:10:06] it's cool.
[00:10:07] Look,
[00:10:09] I know,
[00:10:10] I really want to get,
[00:10:12] pick your brain about,
[00:10:14] you wrote this book,
[00:10:15] Railway,
[00:10:16] that talked about
[00:10:18] public transportation
[00:10:19] in Los Angeles.
[00:10:21] Rail town.
[00:10:22] Rail town.
[00:10:22] Rail town.
[00:10:23] I apologize.
[00:10:23] No worries.
[00:10:24] Kind of give the listeners
[00:10:27] an overview
[00:10:28] of what the book is about
[00:10:29] and why do you think
[00:10:31] it's important
[00:10:32] for the second largest city
[00:10:34] in the United States
[00:10:35] to have public transportation?
[00:10:37] Well,
[00:10:38] a lot of people
[00:10:38] don't even know
[00:10:39] LA has a rail system.
[00:10:41] You know,
[00:10:41] we think of Los Angeles
[00:10:42] as the,
[00:10:43] you know,
[00:10:43] the capital of car culture.
[00:10:45] So part of what I wanted
[00:10:46] to do is just
[00:10:47] answer these questions
[00:10:49] of how did LA get
[00:10:50] a modern rail transit network?
[00:10:52] They've got a pretty extensive network
[00:10:54] now over 100 miles
[00:10:55] of light rail,
[00:10:56] heavy rail.
[00:10:56] And so it was really
[00:10:57] just a chance
[00:10:58] to dig deep
[00:10:59] into how the system
[00:11:00] came about,
[00:11:01] how they got
[00:11:02] the political consensus
[00:11:03] to build it,
[00:11:04] how they got the funding,
[00:11:05] and ultimately
[00:11:06] became a story
[00:11:07] about a lot of the
[00:11:08] kind of crazy
[00:11:09] cast of characters,
[00:11:10] a lot of elected officials,
[00:11:12] advocates,
[00:11:13] elected officials
[00:11:14] at the hyper-local level,
[00:11:15] city council,
[00:11:16] county supervisor,
[00:11:17] all the way up
[00:11:18] to the White House.
[00:11:21] And we had a lot
[00:11:22] of involvement
[00:11:23] from,
[00:11:23] for example,
[00:11:25] President Reagan
[00:11:25] trying to stop
[00:11:26] the subway
[00:11:27] all the way up
[00:11:28] through about 2012
[00:11:29] is when the book
[00:11:30] leaves off.
[00:11:31] And so it just
[00:11:31] really tries to answer
[00:11:32] the question
[00:11:33] how the system
[00:11:33] came about,
[00:11:34] what were the factors
[00:11:34] that shaped it,
[00:11:35] and what are the hopes
[00:11:36] for the future of it?
[00:11:38] So your book
[00:11:40] doesn't cover
[00:11:40] the Elon Musk episode?
[00:11:44] I don't cover that
[00:11:46] because the book
[00:11:46] cuts off around 2012
[00:11:47] and Musk
[00:11:48] and the Boring Company
[00:11:51] tunnel that he wants
[00:11:52] to build,
[00:11:53] all that happened
[00:11:53] afterwards.
[00:11:54] Although I did actually
[00:11:55] get a tour
[00:11:55] of the Boring Company
[00:11:57] tunnel,
[00:11:58] which, you know,
[00:11:59] they were originally
[00:11:59] talking about Hyperloop,
[00:12:00] that has died down.
[00:12:02] So I haven't gotten
[00:12:03] into that aspect.
[00:12:04] But if I ever do
[00:12:05] a follow-up,
[00:12:06] you know,
[00:12:06] re-release or an epilogue,
[00:12:07] I think that would be
[00:12:08] a good chapter
[00:12:08] to mention for sure.
[00:12:10] So one of the,
[00:12:11] one of the politicians
[00:12:12] that was involved
[00:12:14] was Tom Bradley,
[00:12:16] the first black mayor
[00:12:17] of Los Angeles.
[00:12:18] Kind of talk about
[00:12:19] how he got sold
[00:12:22] on trying to do this
[00:12:23] and what happened
[00:12:25] that he wasn't able
[00:12:27] to follow through with it.
[00:12:28] Yeah,
[00:12:28] Tom Bradley is quite a figure
[00:12:30] and I feel like
[00:12:31] doesn't really get his due
[00:12:32] enough in the history
[00:12:33] of this country
[00:12:34] and African-American
[00:12:35] politicians and leadership.
[00:12:37] I mean,
[00:12:37] he was the first mayor
[00:12:39] of a major city,
[00:12:40] ran for governor,
[00:12:41] lost,
[00:12:42] pretty narrowly
[00:12:43] the first time
[00:12:44] and then again
[00:12:45] the second time
[00:12:45] in the 1980s.
[00:12:47] But yeah,
[00:12:47] he was a really interesting
[00:12:49] figure in Los Angeles.
[00:12:51] He was the son
[00:12:52] of sharecroppers
[00:12:52] and became a police officer,
[00:12:55] ran for city council
[00:12:56] and his vision
[00:12:57] for rail
[00:12:58] was about
[00:12:59] really knitting together
[00:13:00] the diverse communities
[00:13:01] of Los Angeles
[00:13:02] and he viewed rail
[00:13:03] as a way
[00:13:04] to link
[00:13:05] a pretty sprawling
[00:13:07] large city
[00:13:08] together,
[00:13:09] all these different
[00:13:09] communities
[00:13:10] and neighborhoods.
[00:13:11] So he saw that
[00:13:12] primarily as a way
[00:13:12] to allow people
[00:13:14] to finally get around
[00:13:14] and connect with each other
[00:13:15] in L.A.
[00:13:16] He also saw it
[00:13:18] as a source
[00:13:18] of economic development
[00:13:20] that it could
[00:13:20] essentially be
[00:13:21] a jobs program
[00:13:22] in terms of
[00:13:23] the construction
[00:13:24] but also in terms
[00:13:25] of the economic benefits
[00:13:26] that it would unleash
[00:13:27] and he really made it
[00:13:29] a centerpiece
[00:13:30] of his campaign.
[00:13:31] L.A.
[00:13:31] had up to that point
[00:13:32] really embraced cars
[00:13:34] and you had a lot
[00:13:35] of mayors
[00:13:36] who were anti-transit,
[00:13:37] a lot of anti-transit sentiment
[00:13:39] among a lot
[00:13:40] of the population
[00:13:41] and elected leaders
[00:13:42] but he made it
[00:13:43] a centerpiece.
[00:13:44] This is coming out
[00:13:44] of the hard
[00:13:47] experiences of traffic
[00:13:48] and air pollution
[00:13:50] in L.A.
[00:13:51] and he harnessed
[00:13:52] that frustration
[00:13:52] and got elected
[00:13:54] in part on a pledge
[00:13:55] to build
[00:13:56] a modern rail system
[00:13:57] in Los Angeles.
[00:13:59] Yeah.
[00:14:00] In your research,
[00:14:01] I know you focused
[00:14:02] in on L.A.
[00:14:03] but in the work
[00:14:05] that you do,
[00:14:06] have you found
[00:14:08] more of the
[00:14:11] African-American mayors
[00:14:13] more prone
[00:14:14] to talking
[00:14:16] about public
[00:14:17] transportation
[00:14:18] and other things
[00:14:19] or is it
[00:14:21] not so much
[00:14:21] race as it is
[00:14:23] progressive politics?
[00:14:24] I think it's
[00:14:25] probably a little bit
[00:14:26] more about
[00:14:27] progressive politics
[00:14:28] because,
[00:14:28] you know,
[00:14:29] I mean,
[00:14:30] historically,
[00:14:31] you know,
[00:14:31] the African-American
[00:14:32] community
[00:14:32] and most of
[00:14:33] American cities
[00:14:33] was in the sort
[00:14:34] of the heart
[00:14:35] of the city
[00:14:36] and was often
[00:14:37] very transit
[00:14:38] dependent neighborhoods.
[00:14:40] You had a higher
[00:14:40] proportion of riders
[00:14:42] from those communities.
[00:14:43] So I think
[00:14:43] the elected officials
[00:14:44] were reflecting
[00:14:45] what the constituents
[00:14:46] wanted,
[00:14:47] which was
[00:14:48] more access
[00:14:49] to jobs,
[00:14:50] cheaper mobility,
[00:14:52] better mobility.
[00:14:53] So I think
[00:14:53] in a lot of ways
[00:14:54] it's a reflection
[00:14:55] of the communities
[00:14:56] they're from
[00:14:57] but also
[00:14:57] just the nature
[00:14:58] of cities
[00:14:58] in general
[00:14:59] being more
[00:14:59] transit friendly.
[00:15:01] so I think
[00:15:02] that was,
[00:15:04] you know,
[00:15:04] it's sort of
[00:15:04] a mix of both.
[00:15:05] I think it's
[00:15:05] the progressive
[00:15:06] politics
[00:15:06] and the communities
[00:15:07] that these
[00:15:08] African-American
[00:15:09] elected officials
[00:15:10] are representing.
[00:15:11] But,
[00:15:11] you know,
[00:15:12] the subject
[00:15:13] of race
[00:15:13] and transit
[00:15:14] is really hard
[00:15:15] to separate
[00:15:16] because a lot
[00:15:17] of the resistance,
[00:15:19] particularly from
[00:15:19] upper income
[00:15:20] white areas,
[00:15:21] was based on race.
[00:15:22] They were worried
[00:15:23] transit was going
[00:15:24] to essentially
[00:15:25] desegregate their
[00:15:26] communities in ways
[00:15:27] that they didn't
[00:15:27] want to see happen.
[00:15:29] And also,
[00:15:30] because transit
[00:15:31] ultimately is a
[00:15:32] social service,
[00:15:33] you know,
[00:15:33] it's a subsidy,
[00:15:34] it's a government
[00:15:34] program to help
[00:15:35] provide mobility
[00:15:36] to those fundamentally
[00:15:38] who can't drive,
[00:15:39] can't afford to drive,
[00:15:40] unable to drive.
[00:15:41] I think,
[00:15:42] you know,
[00:15:42] that really changes
[00:15:43] the nature of the
[00:15:44] debate around transit.
[00:15:46] And ultimately,
[00:15:47] I think for transit
[00:15:47] to be successful,
[00:15:48] it's got to meet
[00:15:48] everyone's needs.
[00:15:50] It can't just be
[00:15:50] only for low-income
[00:15:51] people or those
[00:15:52] who can't drive.
[00:15:53] It's got to be
[00:15:54] for everybody.
[00:15:55] The problem is that
[00:15:56] the most important
[00:15:57] constituency to serve
[00:15:58] are those who
[00:15:59] have no other
[00:16:00] option and rely
[00:16:01] on transit as a
[00:16:02] basic necessity
[00:16:04] in their lives.
[00:16:05] And so we can't
[00:16:05] lose sight of that
[00:16:06] as we do try to
[00:16:07] broaden the appeal
[00:16:07] of transit to
[00:16:08] higher-income
[00:16:09] individuals.
[00:16:11] Yeah,
[00:16:11] and that's kind
[00:16:14] of the situation
[00:16:14] we're dealing
[00:16:15] with in Atlanta,
[00:16:17] right?
[00:16:17] Where,
[00:16:18] and I guess
[00:16:19] the siren's
[00:16:20] coming through.
[00:16:21] Anyway,
[00:16:22] we got this
[00:16:22] situation in Atlanta
[00:16:24] where you have
[00:16:25] a couple of
[00:16:26] counties where
[00:16:26] people live.
[00:16:30] And they,
[00:16:32] you know,
[00:16:32] where a significant
[00:16:33] black population
[00:16:34] lives like Fayette
[00:16:35] County and
[00:16:36] Grenette County,
[00:16:40] well,
[00:16:41] Grenette County
[00:16:41] kind of has
[00:16:43] transportation.
[00:16:44] They have like
[00:16:45] a bus,
[00:16:47] an express bus
[00:16:48] that will take
[00:16:49] you from one
[00:16:50] part of
[00:16:51] Grenette County
[00:16:52] into the city.
[00:16:53] But that's
[00:16:55] it.
[00:16:56] But Fayette
[00:16:56] County,
[00:16:57] not at all.
[00:16:58] Because their
[00:16:59] argument was,
[00:17:00] we don't want
[00:17:00] crime to come
[00:17:01] to our county.
[00:17:05] What has been
[00:17:06] your,
[00:17:07] have you even
[00:17:08] delved into
[00:17:09] the correlation
[00:17:10] between crime
[00:17:11] and public
[00:17:12] transit?
[00:17:12] And,
[00:17:13] you know,
[00:17:14] like I said,
[00:17:15] that's one of
[00:17:15] the big arguments
[00:17:16] that people make.
[00:17:17] That was a,
[00:17:18] that was a
[00:17:18] frequent,
[00:17:19] you know,
[00:17:19] complaint or
[00:17:20] concern you
[00:17:21] would hear.
[00:17:21] I read through a
[00:17:23] lot of the
[00:17:23] constituent letters,
[00:17:24] you know,
[00:17:25] looking through the
[00:17:25] files of people
[00:17:26] like Tom Bradley,
[00:17:27] but also some of
[00:17:28] the other local
[00:17:28] officials just to
[00:17:29] see what the,
[00:17:30] their constituents
[00:17:31] were saying.
[00:17:32] And that was a
[00:17:32] frequent thing that
[00:17:33] subways bring
[00:17:34] crime.
[00:17:35] You know,
[00:17:35] a lot of people in
[00:17:35] LA had moved
[00:17:36] there from New
[00:17:36] York.
[00:17:37] And at that
[00:17:37] time,
[00:17:38] the New York
[00:17:38] subway was sort
[00:17:39] of famous for
[00:17:39] being a fairly
[00:17:40] dangerous place.
[00:17:42] That was a
[00:17:42] perception and
[00:17:43] maybe the reality
[00:17:43] to some extent.
[00:17:44] So crime was
[00:17:45] definitely one of
[00:17:45] the arguments
[00:17:46] people would use.
[00:17:47] It got a little
[00:17:48] absurd,
[00:17:48] you know,
[00:17:48] to the point
[00:17:49] where you really
[00:17:49] think someone's
[00:17:50] going to steal
[00:17:51] your television
[00:17:51] and then take
[00:17:52] it on the subway
[00:17:53] and write.
[00:17:54] Exactly.
[00:17:54] It's not making
[00:17:55] sense.
[00:17:56] But,
[00:17:56] you know,
[00:17:57] it was part of
[00:17:57] a whole suite of
[00:17:58] objections that
[00:17:59] people have
[00:17:59] around transit.
[00:18:01] I mean,
[00:18:01] some of it is
[00:18:02] more,
[00:18:02] is not even that
[00:18:03] sensational about
[00:18:04] crime.
[00:18:04] Some of it is
[00:18:04] just,
[00:18:04] we just don't
[00:18:05] want a lot of
[00:18:06] traffic.
[00:18:06] We don't want
[00:18:07] a lot more
[00:18:07] people.
[00:18:08] We don't want
[00:18:08] the disruption.
[00:18:09] You know,
[00:18:10] people generally
[00:18:10] are opposed to
[00:18:11] any change in
[00:18:12] their neighborhood.
[00:18:12] You know,
[00:18:13] I'm generalizing.
[00:18:14] But crime was
[00:18:15] definitely one of
[00:18:16] them.
[00:18:16] And by the way,
[00:18:16] you mentioned
[00:18:17] Atlanta.
[00:18:17] Atlanta played
[00:18:18] a big role
[00:18:19] in influencing
[00:18:19] what happened
[00:18:20] in L.A.
[00:18:20] and L.A.'s
[00:18:21] transit system
[00:18:22] in a couple
[00:18:23] ways.
[00:18:23] So Atlanta
[00:18:23] had a sales tax
[00:18:24] measure to fund
[00:18:26] its rail transit
[00:18:27] system in the
[00:18:28] 70s.
[00:18:28] I think it was
[00:18:29] maybe late 60s
[00:18:30] but I'm pretty
[00:18:30] sure 70s.
[00:18:31] That was a model
[00:18:32] for what L.A.
[00:18:33] ended up doing
[00:18:33] on sales tax.
[00:18:37] And then also
[00:18:38] one other thing
[00:18:38] is Jimmy Carter
[00:18:39] was governor
[00:18:40] of Georgia
[00:18:41] and he had
[00:18:42] a very negative
[00:18:42] view of Atlanta's
[00:18:43] rail system.
[00:18:44] So when he
[00:18:45] became president
[00:18:45] he was not
[00:18:46] all that supportive
[00:18:47] of L.A.
[00:18:49] pushing a rail
[00:18:49] system.
[00:18:50] He was much
[00:18:50] more in favor
[00:18:51] of a bus network
[00:18:52] for L.A.
[00:18:53] So I just
[00:18:53] wanted to
[00:18:53] flag that,
[00:18:54] that Atlanta's
[00:18:55] experience with
[00:18:56] rail definitely
[00:18:56] influenced what
[00:18:57] happened in L.A.
[00:18:58] Yeah.
[00:19:00] So this is
[00:19:02] a subjective
[00:19:03] question.
[00:19:05] Which public
[00:19:06] transportation
[00:19:07] system do you
[00:19:08] think is the
[00:19:09] best between
[00:19:09] New York
[00:19:10] and Chicago?
[00:19:12] Well,
[00:19:13] it's,
[00:19:14] you know,
[00:19:14] I actually
[00:19:15] have not
[00:19:15] ridden the
[00:19:16] Chicago system
[00:19:16] so I have
[00:19:17] to confess
[00:19:17] that.
[00:19:18] I mean,
[00:19:19] New York
[00:19:19] is the
[00:19:19] leader in
[00:19:20] terms of
[00:19:20] transit
[00:19:20] ridership.
[00:19:22] So,
[00:19:23] you know,
[00:19:23] it depends
[00:19:23] on kind
[00:19:24] of what
[00:19:24] your metric
[00:19:25] is to
[00:19:26] evaluate the
[00:19:26] two.
[00:19:27] I'll just
[00:19:27] say that
[00:19:28] New York
[00:19:28] is the
[00:19:29] big behemoth
[00:19:29] in the
[00:19:30] United States
[00:19:30] as a whole.
[00:19:31] I mean,
[00:19:31] it's,
[00:19:32] you know,
[00:19:32] and it's
[00:19:33] a function
[00:19:33] of the
[00:19:33] land use,
[00:19:34] right?
[00:19:34] Manhattan
[00:19:34] is a very,
[00:19:35] you know,
[00:19:36] condensed,
[00:19:37] dense urban
[00:19:38] area and
[00:19:39] without the
[00:19:39] subway that
[00:19:40] city wouldn't
[00:19:41] even function,
[00:19:42] you know,
[00:19:42] and I think,
[00:19:43] you know,
[00:19:43] there's an
[00:19:43] aspect of
[00:19:44] that with
[00:19:44] Chicago as
[00:19:45] well,
[00:19:45] but New
[00:19:46] York was
[00:19:46] really,
[00:19:47] you know,
[00:19:47] one of the
[00:19:47] first,
[00:19:48] it was New
[00:19:48] York and
[00:19:48] Boston that
[00:19:49] were the
[00:19:49] first two
[00:19:49] subway
[00:19:50] systems,
[00:19:50] so it's
[00:19:50] got a
[00:19:50] historic
[00:19:51] character to
[00:19:52] it.
[00:19:52] So I'm
[00:19:53] probably biased,
[00:19:53] but I give
[00:19:54] the nod to
[00:19:54] New York,
[00:19:55] but I
[00:19:55] don't,
[00:19:55] you know,
[00:19:56] wouldn't want
[00:19:56] to pit the
[00:19:57] transit systems
[00:19:58] against each
[00:19:58] other.
[00:19:58] Well,
[00:19:59] I've always
[00:20:00] said that
[00:20:00] New York,
[00:20:01] I've ridden
[00:20:02] on both,
[00:20:03] New York
[00:20:04] and Chicago
[00:20:04] are the
[00:20:06] best throughout
[00:20:07] the country
[00:20:07] to me,
[00:20:08] and,
[00:20:10] you know,
[00:20:10] it's just,
[00:20:11] it's just
[00:20:12] hard to
[00:20:13] fathom.
[00:20:13] I lived in
[00:20:14] Jackson,
[00:20:14] Mississippi for
[00:20:15] a long time,
[00:20:16] and it
[00:20:17] was a
[00:20:18] culture shock
[00:20:19] to be
[00:20:21] coming from
[00:20:22] a place
[00:20:22] where you
[00:20:23] basically had
[00:20:24] 24-hour
[00:20:25] public
[00:20:25] transportation
[00:20:26] to a
[00:20:27] place where
[00:20:27] everything
[00:20:29] shut down
[00:20:29] after 6pm.
[00:20:31] And it
[00:20:32] was so
[00:20:33] many people
[00:20:34] that needed
[00:20:35] to work
[00:20:36] right after
[00:20:37] 6,
[00:20:38] all these
[00:20:39] overnight jobs
[00:20:40] and all this
[00:20:40] stuff,
[00:20:40] so in the
[00:20:41] poorest state
[00:20:42] in the
[00:20:42] nation,
[00:20:43] you're forcing
[00:20:44] people to
[00:20:44] buy a car.
[00:20:46] And when
[00:20:47] I ran
[00:20:48] for the U.S.
[00:20:48] Senate,
[00:20:48] that was
[00:20:49] one of my
[00:20:49] things.
[00:20:50] I was like,
[00:20:51] it doesn't
[00:20:51] make sense
[00:20:52] that we
[00:20:53] need to have
[00:20:54] public
[00:20:54] transportation
[00:20:55] dollars to
[00:20:56] make sure
[00:20:57] that we're
[00:20:57] able to
[00:20:58] get people
[00:21:00] that need
[00:21:00] to get
[00:21:01] to work
[00:21:04] safely
[00:21:04] and comfortably
[00:21:06] without having
[00:21:07] to pay a
[00:21:08] car.
[00:21:08] So that
[00:21:09] was my
[00:21:10] thing.
[00:21:10] But anyway,
[00:21:11] let's get
[00:21:12] off that.
[00:21:13] And since
[00:21:13] I'm here
[00:21:14] in Chicago
[00:21:15] at the
[00:21:15] convention,
[00:21:18] what is
[00:21:18] it,
[00:21:19] you know,
[00:21:19] and they
[00:21:20] kind of
[00:21:20] touched on
[00:21:21] climate change
[00:21:23] in the first
[00:21:23] three days,
[00:21:24] but they
[00:21:25] didn't really
[00:21:25] explore it.
[00:21:26] They talked
[00:21:26] about other
[00:21:27] issues.
[00:21:27] What would
[00:21:28] you like to
[00:21:29] see the
[00:21:29] Democratic
[00:21:30] Party do
[00:21:31] more than
[00:21:32] what the
[00:21:33] Biden
[00:21:34] administration
[00:21:34] pushed
[00:21:35] through their
[00:21:36] legislative
[00:21:37] process,
[00:21:39] well,
[00:21:40] legislative
[00:21:41] process,
[00:21:42] legislation
[00:21:43] that they
[00:21:43] were able
[00:21:44] to push?
[00:21:44] Because
[00:21:44] they're
[00:21:45] shouting
[00:21:45] that as
[00:21:45] the
[00:21:46] biggest
[00:21:47] climate
[00:21:47] change
[00:21:48] legislation
[00:21:49] that's
[00:21:49] ever
[00:21:50] happened.
[00:21:52] One,
[00:21:52] do you
[00:21:52] agree with
[00:21:53] that?
[00:21:53] And two,
[00:21:54] what more
[00:21:54] should be
[00:21:55] done?
[00:21:55] Yeah,
[00:21:56] well,
[00:21:56] I would
[00:21:56] agree.
[00:21:57] The
[00:21:57] Biden
[00:21:57] administration
[00:21:58] has a
[00:21:58] really
[00:21:58] successful
[00:21:59] track record,
[00:21:59] mainly with
[00:22:00] the Inflation
[00:22:00] Reduction
[00:22:01] Act,
[00:22:01] which really
[00:22:02] boosted
[00:22:03] funding for
[00:22:04] all sorts
[00:22:04] of clean
[00:22:05] energy
[00:22:05] technologies.
[00:22:06] And
[00:22:06] it's
[00:22:07] been
[00:22:07] pretty
[00:22:07] transformative.
[00:22:08] The
[00:22:08] infrastructure
[00:22:09] law that
[00:22:09] they passed
[00:22:10] also was
[00:22:10] really
[00:22:10] important.
[00:22:11] And then
[00:22:11] they've
[00:22:11] done a
[00:22:12] bunch
[00:22:12] of
[00:22:12] regulatory
[00:22:13] things,
[00:22:14] approving
[00:22:14] California's
[00:22:16] regulations,
[00:22:16] for example,
[00:22:17] trying to
[00:22:18] tighten up
[00:22:18] fuel economy
[00:22:19] standards.
[00:22:19] They could
[00:22:19] have been
[00:22:19] more aggressive
[00:22:20] on those
[00:22:20] things,
[00:22:21] but it's
[00:22:21] pretty
[00:22:22] challenging.
[00:22:22] So I
[00:22:23] give the
[00:22:23] Biden
[00:22:23] administration
[00:22:24] really
[00:22:24] high
[00:22:24] marks.
[00:22:25] I
[00:22:25] actually
[00:22:26] don't
[00:22:26] think
[00:22:26] we
[00:22:26] should
[00:22:27] short
[00:22:27] change
[00:22:27] what
[00:22:28] President
[00:22:28] Obama
[00:22:29] did,
[00:22:29] because
[00:22:29] the
[00:23:10] and we could benefit from more leadership on that as well.
[00:23:15] So I think we just need to really accelerate
[00:23:17] the urgency and scale of what we're doing.
[00:23:25] And one other thing I'll mention,
[00:23:26] it has been talked about in the convention about housing.
[00:23:29] And this is where equity and climate really intersect
[00:23:33] because we have a major humanitarian crisis
[00:23:36] in this country, which is at our cities,
[00:23:37] which is where all the job opportunities are,
[00:23:40] are the high-income areas,
[00:23:41] the opportunities to advance in life
[00:23:44] are essentially now unaffordable for many people,
[00:23:47] especially those who don't have a college degree,
[00:23:50] working class, lower-income people.
[00:23:52] And so by shutting those people out of opportunities
[00:23:55] in high-income cities,
[00:23:56] we're really increasing inequality in the country.
[00:23:58] And we could solve both problems
[00:24:01] by allowing more housing to be built in our cities,
[00:24:03] more dense housing that would be transit-friendly
[00:24:05] and having transit knit those communities together
[00:24:08] kind of the way Tom Bradley was envisioning.
[00:24:10] You know, way back in the 70s in Los Angeles.
[00:24:14] So, yeah, and I agree with a lot of what you're saying.
[00:24:22] I'm kind of concerned, though,
[00:24:24] about how the transition is going to happen.
[00:24:31] Let's use California, for example.
[00:24:33] So, Governor Newsom and the California Assembly said,
[00:24:39] let's end gas-fueled cars by 2030.
[00:24:45] And so most of the automobile makers throughout the world
[00:24:50] are targeting 2030 to have an electric car line.
[00:25:00] What I think is going to happen is that by 2030,
[00:25:06] each car maker will have one electric model.
[00:25:10] And it will not be, their whole fleet will be electric cars.
[00:25:16] Are you as pessimistic as I am,
[00:25:18] or are you a little more hopeful that the automobile industry
[00:25:22] throughout the world is wise to be a failure?
[00:25:24] I'm more hopeful.
[00:25:27] Now, I just want to clarify, for California, it's 2035.
[00:25:30] There are some other jurisdictions and places around the world
[00:25:33] that are a little more aggressive.
[00:25:34] But California is 2035,
[00:25:35] and it's all new car sales by 2035,
[00:25:37] which is, you know, 11 years from now,
[00:25:39] has to be zero emission.
[00:25:42] So, I am pessimistic in the sense that the legacy automakers
[00:25:47] in this country are not really all in on this.
[00:25:49] They're making so much money selling gas cars
[00:25:51] that they are pulling back, in a lot of cases,
[00:25:54] on their electric vehicle goals.
[00:25:56] But overall, I think the market is trending there anyways.
[00:25:59] So batteries are poised for some major leaps forward.
[00:26:03] They're getting a lot cheaper,
[00:26:04] which means you're going to have longer-range electric vehicles
[00:26:08] for a lot cheaper.
[00:26:09] China is starting to really dominate this market.
[00:26:12] And I think the trend lines are unmistakable.
[00:26:16] I think we're going to be able to get there.
[00:26:17] We're already, for example, in California,
[00:26:19] about 30% of new car sales are electric right now.
[00:26:22] So we're, you know, 30% is, you know, another 11 years.
[00:26:26] It's not impossible to imagine we get to 100.
[00:26:28] And again, with the continued innovation in batteries,
[00:26:32] I think we're going to get there.
[00:26:33] I think the bigger question is,
[00:26:35] are the legacy automakers going to really be able to survive
[00:26:38] this transition?
[00:26:39] Because they are, like I say,
[00:26:41] making so much money on gas cars right now,
[00:26:43] they're not putting enough resources
[00:26:44] into figuring out how to do EVs cheaply and successfully.
[00:26:50] Well, I think it's a combination of the automobile makers
[00:26:54] and the oil companies.
[00:27:00] Now, I've noticed that Shell has started putting out chargers.
[00:27:07] And I was just, you know,
[00:27:09] but that's the only oil company I've seen do that.
[00:27:12] Everybody else is still, you know,
[00:27:14] in the traditional gas business.
[00:27:17] So, you know,
[00:27:18] and the oil lobby has a bigger impact to me
[00:27:24] than the automobile lobby.
[00:27:27] So that's why I'm somewhat pessimistic about it
[00:27:31] because I just feel that we're in a situation
[00:27:35] where we're trying to deal with some other things.
[00:27:42] Yeah.
[00:27:43] And by the way,
[00:27:44] I would add the railroads, actually,
[00:27:46] they're making a lot of money shipping oil.
[00:27:48] So they're actually kind of quietly involved
[00:27:50] in lobbying to keep our oil infrastructure too.
[00:27:53] I mean, first of all,
[00:27:53] we're going to need oil and gas for a long time to come.
[00:27:56] Even if all new car sales by 2035 are electric,
[00:27:59] we've still got, you know,
[00:28:00] a whole bunch of used gas cars on the road.
[00:28:03] It's going to be a long time
[00:28:04] before we really phase out, you know, oil and gas.
[00:28:07] But what we're doing is building up
[00:28:09] an alternative industry, right?
[00:28:10] We've got companies like Tesla and Rivian.
[00:28:13] We've got all electric companies.
[00:28:14] We've got a whole battery supply chain.
[00:28:16] We're building up these companies
[00:28:17] that are going to match that lobbying force,
[00:28:20] you know, maybe not completely match it one-to-one,
[00:28:23] but they're creating jobs.
[00:28:25] They're benefiting, you know,
[00:28:26] local politicians and constituents.
[00:28:29] And that becomes a political force on its own.
[00:28:32] And when you couple that with the fact
[00:28:34] that the vehicles are getting cheaper
[00:28:35] and outperforming gas cars,
[00:28:37] I think the writing is on the wall.
[00:28:40] So Ethan, I normally start the interviews with a quote,
[00:28:46] and I didn't really give you that opportunity.
[00:28:53] So one of the quotes that's floating around here
[00:28:57] in the convention is do something, right?
[00:29:05] What's your take on that particular quote,
[00:29:08] do something as it pertains to climate change
[00:29:11] and making America a more cleaner, viable economy?
[00:29:19] Well, I'll start by saying what do something shouldn't mean
[00:29:22] or people shouldn't interpret it to mean,
[00:29:24] which is that any one person can solve the climate crisis
[00:29:28] by themselves.
[00:29:29] That, you know, that if we just ask people to recycle more
[00:29:32] or, you know, change their light bulbs,
[00:29:34] that that's going to solve it.
[00:29:36] These are broad systemic problems
[00:29:38] that are going to require systemic solutions.
[00:29:40] So when I hear do something,
[00:29:41] it's to me about what we can do collectively
[00:29:44] to change the system that is producing climate change.
[00:29:49] And when I say change the system,
[00:29:50] I mean work at the local level
[00:29:52] to get people elected in your communities
[00:29:54] who will support transit,
[00:29:56] who will support more housing near transit
[00:29:59] and more job opportunities that people can access
[00:30:02] by living in more affordable homes,
[00:30:04] you know, near transit and jobs.
[00:30:06] That means at the state level,
[00:30:07] you know, getting involved
[00:30:08] and encouraging your state governments
[00:30:10] to transition their electricity grids
[00:30:12] to 100% clean energy
[00:30:14] or to assign on to California's vehicle standards.
[00:30:18] That means at the federal level,
[00:30:19] working to get politicians elected
[00:30:21] who will fund the renewable energy we need
[00:30:24] and the transit we need.
[00:30:26] So people need to get involved politically to change it.
[00:30:28] I mean, it's great.
[00:30:29] I highly recommend people, you know,
[00:30:31] if they can't afford it,
[00:30:32] get an electric vehicle
[00:30:33] or some pretty inexpensive used versions.
[00:30:35] If they can electrify their homes,
[00:30:37] you know, get an induction range cooktop.
[00:30:39] It's better for your health anyways
[00:30:40] and it's more fun to cook on.
[00:30:41] If you can afford all that,
[00:30:43] do everything you can.
[00:30:44] Support the market.
[00:30:45] Use your consumer, you know,
[00:30:46] power to support the right companies.
[00:30:48] But more importantly,
[00:30:49] people need to get involved
[00:30:50] in electoral politics
[00:30:52] at the local, state, and federal level.
[00:30:55] All right.
[00:30:55] So where can people get a copy of your book
[00:30:59] and how can people reach out to you
[00:31:02] to talk to you in the middle of downtown Chicago,
[00:31:05] wherever else they want to talk to you?
[00:31:07] Well, you can find Railtown.
[00:31:08] It's available, you know, online, Amazon,
[00:31:11] I think maybe bookstores too,
[00:31:13] otherwise published by UC Press.
[00:31:15] So you can definitely get Railtown,
[00:31:17] order it online.
[00:31:18] It's probably the easiest way to do it.
[00:31:20] And I'm reachable.
[00:31:21] My information,
[00:31:22] I work at UC Berkeley Law School.
[00:31:24] So just email me.
[00:31:25] It's elkind,
[00:31:26] E-L-K-I-N-D
[00:31:27] at berkeley.edu.
[00:31:30] I also have an appointment
[00:31:31] at UCLA Law School,
[00:31:32] so you can reach me there too.
[00:31:33] So yeah, come reach out.
[00:31:35] I'd love to hear from folks
[00:31:36] if they have questions about transit,
[00:31:37] if they've read the book
[00:31:38] and want to chat.
[00:31:40] Always happy to talk.
[00:31:42] Well, Ethan Elkind,
[00:31:43] thank you for taking the time out
[00:31:45] to be on the podcast.
[00:31:48] And this is an open invitation.
[00:31:50] Hopefully the next time we'll talk,
[00:31:53] it'll be a lot more controlled circumstances,
[00:31:55] but I greatly appreciate you doing it.
[00:31:58] Thank you, Eric.
[00:31:59] It's my pleasure.
[00:32:00] Enjoy the rest of the convention.
[00:32:01] Big speech tonight from Kamala.
[00:32:02] So enjoy.
[00:32:03] That's right.
[00:32:04] All right, guys.
[00:32:05] We'll catch y'all on the other side.
[00:32:07] All right.
[00:32:07] Thank you.
[00:32:32] And so now it is time to
[00:32:35] get to the voices of the DNC,
[00:32:38] the voices of the Democratic National Convention.
[00:32:42] And the first set of voices
[00:32:43] you're going to hear
[00:32:45] is the other voices from protesters.
[00:32:50] And there are two different groups
[00:32:53] that I got to interview.
[00:32:58] The first one was
[00:33:00] the Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
[00:33:03] for president
[00:33:05] supporters.
[00:33:07] They were out protesting
[00:33:13] because the convention was divided up
[00:33:14] into two venues.
[00:33:15] You had the United Center
[00:33:17] where all the stuff
[00:33:19] that you saw on television
[00:33:20] took place.
[00:33:21] And then they,
[00:33:22] during the day,
[00:33:23] they were at the McCormick Place West.
[00:33:26] And that was where they were having
[00:33:28] all the caucus meetings
[00:33:29] and
[00:33:30] and
[00:33:30] breakout sessions
[00:33:32] and all that stuff
[00:33:33] during the day.
[00:33:33] So,
[00:33:36] the Kennedy folks
[00:33:37] were out
[00:33:43] protesting
[00:33:44] at McCormick Place.
[00:33:48] You know,
[00:33:48] it was a good,
[00:33:49] it was a decent crowd,
[00:33:51] about 20,
[00:33:52] 20 folks.
[00:33:54] Right?
[00:33:54] But,
[00:33:55] you know,
[00:33:55] they're all supporters.
[00:33:57] And so,
[00:33:58] I talked to Michael Caine
[00:34:01] who
[00:34:03] is the
[00:34:04] leader
[00:34:07] or one of the leaders
[00:34:08] of
[00:34:09] the American
[00:34:11] values
[00:34:14] 24-pack.
[00:34:16] and that
[00:34:17] that was
[00:34:18] that
[00:34:18] was the group
[00:34:20] that was financing
[00:34:21] or supporting
[00:34:23] um
[00:34:24] Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s
[00:34:26] campaign.
[00:34:28] Now,
[00:34:28] since
[00:34:30] all this
[00:34:31] is taking place,
[00:34:32] Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
[00:34:34] has dropped out
[00:34:34] and is supporting
[00:34:38] um
[00:34:39] Donald Trump
[00:34:40] now
[00:34:42] for the election.
[00:34:43] But
[00:34:44] when this took place
[00:34:47] literally
[00:34:49] you know,
[00:34:50] at the beginning
[00:34:51] of the convention
[00:34:51] Robert Kennedy
[00:34:53] was still an actor
[00:34:53] candidate
[00:34:54] so Michael
[00:34:55] Caine
[00:34:56] um
[00:34:57] is speaking
[00:34:58] on that behalf.
[00:35:00] The other
[00:35:01] protester
[00:35:02] um
[00:35:05] represented
[00:35:06] represents
[00:35:09] the movement
[00:35:10] to free
[00:35:11] Palestine
[00:35:12] that's pushing
[00:35:12] for the ceasefire
[00:35:14] all those things
[00:35:15] dealing with
[00:35:16] the Israeli
[00:35:16] Hamas conflict.
[00:35:19] And
[00:35:20] they were
[00:35:21] at Union Park
[00:35:22] which
[00:35:23] is not that far
[00:35:25] from the United Center
[00:35:27] as a matter of fact
[00:35:28] the way the event
[00:35:29] went that day
[00:35:30] that I interviewed
[00:35:31] them
[00:35:32] um
[00:35:32] they were having
[00:35:36] the rally
[00:35:37] and then they were
[00:35:38] on a march
[00:35:38] to the United Center
[00:35:41] right about the time
[00:35:42] that
[00:35:43] uh
[00:35:43] the delegates
[00:35:44] were being
[00:35:45] seated
[00:35:47] um
[00:35:48] on the first day
[00:35:49] that Monday
[00:35:51] um
[00:35:52] and
[00:35:53] there was a
[00:35:54] designated spot
[00:35:54] for them
[00:35:55] to march
[00:35:55] to
[00:35:56] and
[00:35:56] gather
[00:35:57] and all that
[00:35:58] stuff.
[00:35:59] So
[00:36:00] um
[00:36:01] out of the
[00:36:02] 20,000 plus
[00:36:03] people
[00:36:04] that showed up
[00:36:05] at
[00:36:07] the protest
[00:36:09] at Union Park
[00:36:11] I was able
[00:36:11] to talk to
[00:36:12] Nazwa
[00:36:14] Bawap
[00:36:15] and Nazwa
[00:36:16] is
[00:36:17] was one of the
[00:36:18] organizers
[00:36:19] of the rally
[00:36:19] and she
[00:36:20] was the
[00:36:21] spokesperson
[00:36:22] for the
[00:36:24] Palestinian
[00:36:24] youth movement
[00:36:25] and
[00:36:27] um
[00:36:27] very intelligent
[00:36:29] very
[00:36:30] um
[00:36:32] um
[00:36:33] media savvy
[00:36:34] uh
[00:36:36] young lady
[00:36:37] and um
[00:36:38] I think she
[00:36:39] articulated the
[00:36:41] position
[00:36:43] that needed to be
[00:36:44] presented
[00:36:45] from their
[00:36:46] side
[00:36:47] and so you'll get
[00:36:48] to hear that
[00:36:49] um
[00:36:52] and then
[00:36:53] I'll come
[00:36:54] once
[00:36:55] once you hear
[00:36:55] those
[00:36:56] then I'll come
[00:36:56] back
[00:36:57] and we'll
[00:36:57] go into
[00:36:59] the delegates
[00:37:01] all right
[00:37:02] so like I said
[00:37:03] the next voices
[00:37:04] you're going to
[00:37:05] hear are
[00:37:05] Michael Caine
[00:37:06] with American
[00:37:07] Values 24
[00:37:10] and
[00:37:10] Nazwa Bawap
[00:37:12] with the
[00:37:13] Palestinian
[00:37:14] youth movement
[00:37:15] all right
[00:37:29] this is Eric
[00:37:29] Fleming
[00:37:30] and who am I
[00:37:30] speaking with
[00:37:31] my name's
[00:37:31] Michael Caine
[00:37:32] uh
[00:37:33] I'm a
[00:37:33] I was a New
[00:37:34] York City
[00:37:34] public school
[00:37:35] teacher
[00:37:35] for 14
[00:37:36] years
[00:37:36] special ed
[00:37:36] teacher
[00:37:37] I got
[00:37:37] fired
[00:37:38] because I
[00:37:38] didn't get
[00:37:38] the COVID
[00:37:39] shot
[00:37:39] and that
[00:37:40] led to
[00:37:40] lawsuits
[00:37:41] and um
[00:37:41] Robert F
[00:37:43] Kennedy Jr.
[00:37:43] was really
[00:37:44] the only person
[00:37:44] to step up
[00:37:45] and stand
[00:37:46] with me
[00:37:47] when it
[00:37:47] wasn't popular
[00:37:47] and we're
[00:37:48] still suing
[00:37:49] and those
[00:37:49] lawsuits
[00:37:50] are still
[00:37:50] going
[00:37:50] and now
[00:37:51] I work
[00:37:52] for an
[00:37:52] organization
[00:37:53] called
[00:37:53] American
[00:37:53] Values
[00:37:54] 2024
[00:37:54] it's a
[00:37:55] super PAC
[00:37:55] that's
[00:37:56] endorsed
[00:37:56] Bobby
[00:37:56] Kennedy
[00:37:57] to be
[00:37:57] the next
[00:37:57] president
[00:37:58] Michael
[00:37:59] why do
[00:37:59] you think
[00:37:59] that
[00:38:00] Robert
[00:38:01] should
[00:38:01] be
[00:38:02] the next
[00:38:03] president
[00:38:03] of the
[00:38:04] United States
[00:38:04] um
[00:38:05] the number
[00:38:06] one reason
[00:38:07] is he
[00:38:07] does not
[00:38:09] bring
[00:38:09] vitriol
[00:38:10] he does
[00:38:11] not bring
[00:38:11] um
[00:38:12] nastiness
[00:38:14] personalities
[00:38:15] he brings
[00:38:16] issues
[00:38:17] he challenges
[00:38:18] Trump
[00:38:18] he challenges
[00:38:19] Biden and
[00:38:19] Harris
[00:38:19] on the
[00:38:20] issues
[00:38:20] not on
[00:38:21] anything
[00:38:22] personal
[00:38:23] not on
[00:38:24] anything
[00:38:24] that is
[00:38:26] just very
[00:38:27] Jerry Springer-ish
[00:38:27] nowadays
[00:38:28] in the political
[00:38:29] process
[00:38:30] and that
[00:38:31] message of
[00:38:31] heal the
[00:38:31] divide
[00:38:32] that he
[00:38:32] puts out
[00:38:32] there
[00:38:33] really
[00:38:33] caught
[00:38:33] me
[00:38:33] uh
[00:38:34] and
[00:38:34] I
[00:38:35] think
[00:38:35] it's
[00:38:35] something
[00:38:35] that
[00:38:36] we
[00:38:36] need
[00:38:36] we need
[00:38:36] somebody
[00:38:37] that
[00:38:37] could
[00:38:42] everyone
[00:38:42] pointing
[00:38:42] Hitler's
[00:38:43] everyone's
[00:38:44] a fascist
[00:38:44] and
[00:38:45] and
[00:38:45] the
[00:38:45] dialogue
[00:38:46] just
[00:38:46] ends
[00:38:46] off
[00:38:47] so
[00:38:47] that's
[00:38:47] the
[00:38:47] number
[00:38:47] one
[00:38:48] issue
[00:38:48] for me
[00:38:48] but also
[00:38:49] beyond
[00:38:49] that
[00:38:50] um
[00:38:50] he
[00:38:51] has
[00:38:51] fought
[00:38:51] against
[00:38:52] corporate
[00:38:52] capture
[00:38:53] for some
[00:38:53] 40 years
[00:38:54] as an
[00:38:54] environmental
[00:38:55] attorney
[00:38:55] uh
[00:38:56] attacking
[00:38:56] Santo
[00:38:57] as well
[00:38:58] too
[00:38:58] going after
[00:38:59] the FDA
[00:39:00] and other
[00:39:00] federal
[00:39:01] health
[00:39:01] agencies
[00:39:02] that
[00:39:02] are
[00:39:03] captured
[00:39:03] by
[00:39:03] big
[00:39:04] pharma
[00:39:04] are
[00:39:04] captured
[00:39:05] by big
[00:39:05] health
[00:39:06] and he
[00:39:06] is not
[00:39:07] a
[00:39:07] traditional
[00:39:07] politician
[00:39:08] he has
[00:39:08] spent
[00:39:08] the majority
[00:39:09] of his
[00:39:09] life
[00:39:09] fighting
[00:39:09] for the
[00:39:10] common
[00:39:10] man
[00:39:10] fighting
[00:39:11] against
[00:39:11] corrupt
[00:39:11] corporations
[00:39:12] uh
[00:39:13] in a
[00:39:13] certain
[00:39:14] sense
[00:39:14] he
[00:39:14] reminds
[00:39:14] me
[00:39:14] a little
[00:39:15] bit
[00:39:15] of
[00:39:15] nadir
[00:39:15] although
[00:39:16] not
[00:39:16] not
[00:39:16] exactly
[00:39:17] i got
[00:39:17] very excited
[00:39:18] when
[00:39:18] nadir ran
[00:39:18] many years
[00:39:19] ago
[00:39:19] as well
[00:39:20] too
[00:39:20] uh
[00:39:21] and so
[00:39:21] some
[00:39:38] people
[00:39:38] on the
[00:39:38] democratic
[00:39:38] side
[00:39:39] especially
[00:39:41] are
[00:39:41] sitting
[00:39:42] there
[00:39:42] talking
[00:39:42] about
[00:39:43] uh
[00:39:43] uh
[00:39:44] you know
[00:39:45] he's
[00:39:45] he's
[00:39:46] not
[00:39:46] going to
[00:39:46] do
[00:39:46] anything
[00:39:47] but
[00:39:47] divide
[00:39:47] votes
[00:39:48] and
[00:39:48] pull
[00:39:48] votes
[00:39:49] away
[00:39:49] from
[00:39:49] folks
[00:39:49] what's
[00:39:50] what's
[00:39:50] the
[00:39:51] campaign's
[00:39:51] response
[00:39:52] to that
[00:39:52] i don't
[00:39:53] understand
[00:39:54] why
[00:39:54] the
[00:39:54] democratic
[00:39:54] party
[00:39:55] has
[00:39:55] become
[00:39:55] so
[00:39:56] adverse
[00:39:56] to
[00:39:56] democracy
[00:39:57] i don't
[00:39:58] understand
[00:39:58] why
[00:39:59] more
[00:40:00] choices
[00:40:00] is such
[00:40:01] a bet
[00:40:01] i mean
[00:40:02] it's like
[00:40:02] coke or
[00:40:03] pepsi
[00:40:03] that's all
[00:40:04] you can
[00:40:04] have
[00:40:04] and if
[00:40:04] you want
[00:40:05] to bring
[00:40:05] a sprite
[00:40:05] and you
[00:40:06] are
[00:40:06] anti-democratic
[00:40:07] it just
[00:40:09] it blows
[00:40:09] my mind
[00:40:10] especially
[00:40:10] when we're
[00:40:11] seeing
[00:40:11] bobby kennedy
[00:40:12] has gotten
[00:40:12] over a million
[00:40:13] signatures
[00:40:14] across the
[00:40:15] country
[00:40:15] he is on
[00:40:16] all 50
[00:40:16] state ballots
[00:40:17] new york
[00:40:17] new york is
[00:40:18] involved in
[00:40:19] lawfare
[00:40:19] a dnc-backed
[00:40:20] super PAC
[00:40:21] is suing him
[00:40:22] to get him
[00:40:22] off when he
[00:40:22] has over
[00:40:23] 100,000
[00:40:24] signatures
[00:40:24] in that
[00:40:24] state
[00:40:25] the most
[00:40:25] signatures
[00:40:26] anyone's ever
[00:40:27] gotten in
[00:40:27] new york
[00:40:28] to get on
[00:40:28] the ballot
[00:40:28] so we
[00:40:29] know what
[00:40:29] the people
[00:40:30] want
[00:40:30] the people
[00:40:30] want a
[00:40:31] choice
[00:40:31] and the
[00:40:32] democrats
[00:40:32] don't
[00:40:33] and it's
[00:40:33] shocking
[00:40:34] you know
[00:40:34] bobby says
[00:40:35] this all
[00:40:35] the time
[00:40:36] john
[00:40:36] john f kennedy
[00:40:38] and his
[00:40:39] father bobby
[00:40:39] kennedy
[00:40:40] senior
[00:40:40] they fought
[00:40:41] to expand
[00:40:41] voting rights
[00:40:42] that was a
[00:40:43] center part
[00:40:44] of the
[00:40:44] platform of
[00:40:45] the kennedys
[00:40:45] bringing that
[00:40:46] to the
[00:40:47] democratic
[00:40:47] party
[00:40:47] really wasn't
[00:40:48] there before
[00:40:49] the kennedys
[00:40:49] the kennedys
[00:40:50] brought civil
[00:40:50] rights
[00:40:51] into the
[00:40:52] democratic
[00:40:52] party
[00:40:53] and he
[00:40:53] says he
[00:40:53] thinks that
[00:40:54] his father
[00:40:54] and uncle
[00:40:55] would just
[00:40:55] be aghast
[00:40:56] at what's
[00:40:56] going on
[00:40:57] today
[00:41:04] and i
[00:41:04] agree
[00:41:05] with that
[00:41:05] i don't
[00:41:05] see more
[00:41:06] choice as a
[00:41:07] bad thing
[00:41:07] i think we
[00:41:08] need even
[00:41:08] more than
[00:41:09] three choices
[00:41:10] but we're so
[00:41:11] trapped in this
[00:41:12] duopoly system
[00:41:13] of republican
[00:41:14] and democrat
[00:41:14] it feels like
[00:41:15] it's the only
[00:41:16] thing we'll ever
[00:41:16] have
[00:41:17] and i think
[00:41:17] that needs
[00:41:18] to be
[00:41:18] challenged
[00:41:18] so you
[00:41:20] one of the
[00:41:21] things that's
[00:41:21] been put on
[00:41:22] the national
[00:41:23] media was
[00:41:23] that uh
[00:41:24] he hasn't
[00:41:25] been on
[00:41:26] all 50
[00:41:27] state ballots
[00:41:27] so you're
[00:41:28] saying that
[00:41:29] his name
[00:41:30] will be on
[00:41:31] every state
[00:41:31] ballot
[00:41:32] so let's
[00:41:33] be really
[00:41:34] clear about
[00:41:35] that he
[00:41:35] has collected
[00:41:36] enough
[00:41:36] signatures to
[00:41:37] appear on
[00:41:38] every state
[00:41:38] ballot
[00:41:38] okay each
[00:41:39] state has
[00:41:40] their own
[00:41:40] certification
[00:41:40] process
[00:41:41] bobby made
[00:41:42] new york as
[00:41:43] an example
[00:41:43] i'm a native
[00:41:44] new yorker
[00:41:45] bobby made
[00:41:46] it onto the
[00:41:46] new york ballot
[00:41:47] he had three
[00:41:48] times the
[00:41:49] signatures that
[00:41:50] he needed to
[00:41:50] get on the
[00:41:50] ballot the
[00:41:51] dnc brought
[00:41:52] a lawsuit
[00:41:52] they just
[00:41:53] knocked them
[00:41:53] off now
[00:41:54] he's in the
[00:41:54] appeals process
[00:41:55] so new york
[00:41:56] is the one
[00:41:57] question mark
[00:41:57] right now
[00:41:58] there are
[00:41:59] plenty of other
[00:42:00] lawsuits out
[00:42:01] there he's
[00:42:01] winning every
[00:42:02] single one
[00:42:02] besides this
[00:42:03] so he is
[00:42:04] not currently
[00:42:05] as of august
[00:42:06] 19th on
[00:42:07] every single
[00:42:08] ballot but
[00:42:09] he has
[00:42:09] collected enough
[00:42:10] signatures to
[00:42:11] be on all
[00:42:12] of them
[00:42:12] now the law
[00:42:13] fair is starting
[00:42:14] now he has
[00:42:14] to go through
[00:42:15] the lawsuit
[00:42:15] he's already
[00:42:16] spent somewhere
[00:42:16] between 10 and
[00:42:17] 15 million
[00:42:18] dollars just
[00:42:19] on the
[00:42:19] lawsuit i was
[00:42:21] told bobby was
[00:42:21] going to come
[00:42:22] to chicago last
[00:42:23] night for a
[00:42:25] fundraiser he
[00:42:25] can't he's in
[00:42:26] court he's in
[00:42:27] court oh we
[00:42:27] he had to
[00:42:28] cancel that and
[00:42:29] that quite honestly
[00:42:30] that is a
[00:42:32] campaign strategy
[00:42:32] of the democrats
[00:42:34] to make it more
[00:42:35] difficult for him
[00:42:35] to raise money
[00:42:36] to get out on the
[00:42:37] campaign trail how
[00:42:38] can you do that if
[00:42:39] you're in court in
[00:42:40] new york just two
[00:42:41] weeks ago he was in
[00:42:41] court for five
[00:42:43] straight days he had
[00:42:44] to stay in albany
[00:42:44] and and be in
[00:42:46] court all that time
[00:42:46] and then a lot of
[00:42:48] the liberal media is
[00:42:49] saying like oh he
[00:42:49] hasn't had a campaign
[00:42:50] event in four weeks
[00:42:51] of course he hasn't
[00:42:52] because he's
[00:42:53] dealing in the
[00:42:54] courts um
[00:42:55] so i i forgot
[00:42:57] what your question
[00:42:57] was but my point
[00:42:58] is overall i just
[00:43:00] see an unfair
[00:43:00] system that seems
[00:43:01] so undemocratic
[00:43:03] it shocks me what
[00:43:04] the democratic party
[00:43:05] is doing today
[00:43:06] so mike why why
[00:43:07] did you get all
[00:43:08] these beautiful
[00:43:09] people to show up
[00:43:09] here at the
[00:43:10] democratic convention
[00:43:11] um we we wanted
[00:43:13] to make these
[00:43:14] statements about let
[00:43:15] bobby debate let
[00:43:15] him get on stage
[00:43:16] i think that's the
[00:43:17] biggest message that
[00:43:18] we have here i
[00:43:19] firmly believe if
[00:43:20] he gets on the
[00:43:21] national debate
[00:43:22] stage he'll be the
[00:43:22] president if they and
[00:43:24] that's why they don't
[00:43:25] because he has a
[00:43:26] real true in-depth
[00:43:28] platform where
[00:43:29] kamala has joy
[00:43:30] uh trump is insane
[00:43:33] i mean so
[00:43:34] and and and trump
[00:43:36] is a great debater
[00:43:37] without really saying
[00:43:38] anything he knows
[00:43:39] how to do the
[00:43:39] boxing match
[00:43:40] bobby really goes
[00:43:41] into the substance
[00:43:42] so one of our big
[00:43:43] messages let bobby
[00:43:44] debate if this is a
[00:43:45] democratic society
[00:43:46] his voice should be
[00:43:47] heard um and end
[00:43:49] the law fair like i
[00:43:50] just detailed
[00:43:51] earlier um taking
[00:43:53] this man on in the
[00:43:54] courts to say
[00:43:55] silence the voice
[00:43:56] of the people
[00:43:57] is 100 percent
[00:43:59] the wrong way to go
[00:44:00] for the democratic
[00:44:01] party for our
[00:44:02] country um so
[00:44:03] those are those
[00:44:04] are our big
[00:44:04] messages and also
[00:44:05] everybody here is a
[00:44:06] huge bobby
[00:44:07] supporter
[00:44:07] many of us have
[00:44:09] personal stories
[00:44:09] about how he
[00:44:11] has impacted our
[00:44:12] life fought for us
[00:44:13] uh educated us
[00:44:15] for years and
[00:44:16] decades you know
[00:44:16] and there's a lot
[00:44:17] of people here
[00:44:18] that would give
[00:44:18] blood for him
[00:44:19] i'm one of them
[00:44:19] you know and uh
[00:44:20] as long as bobby's
[00:44:21] in this race
[00:44:22] i'm behind
[00:44:23] 100 so the
[00:44:25] majority of my
[00:44:26] listeners are
[00:44:26] african-american men
[00:44:28] in their
[00:44:29] 30s to
[00:44:31] and on up
[00:44:31] what what is the
[00:44:33] message that robert f
[00:44:34] kennedy jr is sending
[00:44:36] to get those
[00:44:38] individuals to vote
[00:44:40] for him
[00:44:40] he has an excellent
[00:44:42] plan for economic
[00:44:44] revitalization of
[00:44:45] any uh community
[00:44:47] that is disenfranchised
[00:44:49] and that is uh
[00:44:50] pushed down
[00:44:51] uh his father
[00:44:52] had started an
[00:44:53] organization in
[00:44:54] bedford stuyvesant
[00:44:55] in brooklyn
[00:44:56] that is still around
[00:44:57] today that bobby
[00:44:57] kennedy was a part of
[00:44:58] talk about how to
[00:44:59] revitalize uh the
[00:45:01] community of of bed
[00:45:02] stuy uh that's
[00:45:04] something he takes
[00:45:04] very very seriously
[00:45:06] um bobby kennedy
[00:45:08] is definitely
[00:45:09] against uh a
[00:45:11] criminal justice
[00:45:12] system that does
[00:45:13] not have justice
[00:45:14] truly at its core
[00:45:15] where you see that
[00:45:17] the jails are being
[00:45:17] populated predominantly
[00:45:19] by black men in a
[00:45:21] proportion that does
[00:45:22] not make sense when
[00:45:22] you look at the rest
[00:45:23] of society that's
[00:45:24] something that he
[00:45:25] is very firmly stands
[00:45:27] against and take
[00:45:28] some shots for
[00:45:29] because there's a
[00:45:29] lot of conservatives
[00:45:30] that like bobby
[00:45:31] when he says that
[00:45:32] they oh wait what
[00:45:33] are you what are
[00:45:34] you talking about
[00:45:34] here what's this
[00:45:35] equity stuff uh and
[00:45:37] to his credit he
[00:45:38] does not back down
[00:45:38] on uh he still
[00:45:40] speaks to that
[00:45:40] because it's what
[00:45:41] he believes in um
[00:45:42] and um i would
[00:45:44] encourage people to
[00:45:44] go to kennedy24.com
[00:45:47] that's his website
[00:45:48] i don't speak for
[00:45:49] the campaign i'm
[00:45:51] with uh super pack
[00:45:52] american values
[00:45:53] go to av24.com
[00:45:55] dig into his
[00:45:56] platforms that
[00:45:56] because it is
[00:45:57] loaded with
[00:45:58] information it's
[00:45:59] another thing we're
[00:45:59] lacking from the
[00:46:00] harris campaign right
[00:46:01] now i think we're a
[00:46:02] month in and we
[00:46:03] haven't seen what
[00:46:04] her platform is yet
[00:46:05] but go to kennedy24.com
[00:46:07] you'll learn a lot
[00:46:08] about his platform
[00:46:08] all right michael thank
[00:46:10] you for your time
[00:46:11] thank you so much
[00:46:12] i appreciate you
[00:46:14] all right this is
[00:46:15] eric flam and
[00:46:15] hopefully you can hear
[00:46:16] me i've got a
[00:46:17] special guest go
[00:46:18] ahead and state
[00:46:19] your name
[00:46:19] hi um i'm
[00:46:21] i'm a member of
[00:46:22] the palestinian
[00:46:22] youth movement
[00:46:23] all right uh
[00:46:26] tell me about
[00:46:27] what's going on
[00:46:28] here today
[00:46:29] here at union
[00:46:30] park
[00:46:31] so we are here
[00:46:32] at union park
[00:46:33] right now
[00:46:34] um there are
[00:46:34] thousands of people
[00:46:35] from all across
[00:46:36] who came from
[00:46:37] all across the
[00:46:37] country and who
[00:46:38] are in chicago
[00:46:39] to protest against
[00:46:40] the uh... dnc
[00:46:41] which is happening
[00:46:42] uh... very close by
[00:46:44] here in the city
[00:46:45] um all these
[00:46:46] thousands of people
[00:46:47] have come for a
[00:46:47] lot of different
[00:46:48] reasons but one
[00:46:49] of the uh... main
[00:46:50] focuses one of the
[00:46:51] main demands
[00:46:52] is uh... is
[00:46:54] palestine and
[00:46:54] ending the genocide
[00:46:55] in gaza and
[00:46:56] specifically um
[00:46:57] ending u.s.
[00:46:59] military aid to
[00:46:59] israel um it's
[00:47:00] clear that the
[00:47:01] um that the
[00:47:03] biden administration
[00:47:03] uh was very
[00:47:05] unpopular because
[00:47:06] of their stance
[00:47:07] towards uh the
[00:47:09] genocide of palestinians
[00:47:10] in gaza by
[00:47:12] israel and it's
[00:47:13] for that reason and
[00:47:14] it's because of the
[00:47:15] hard work of our
[00:47:15] movement and people
[00:47:16] from all across the
[00:47:17] country protesting
[00:47:18] for uh... months
[00:47:19] on end uh... and
[00:47:21] demanding change
[00:47:22] that biden uh...
[00:47:23] stepped out in the
[00:47:23] first place so
[00:47:25] kamala harris uh...
[00:47:26] is now the uh...
[00:47:27] is going to be the
[00:47:28] democratic nominee
[00:47:29] uh... going to the
[00:47:30] november election
[00:47:31] and it's uh... and
[00:47:33] she knows that this uh
[00:47:34] that that this
[00:47:35] policy that the u.s.
[00:47:36] has towards uh...
[00:47:37] israel towards
[00:47:38] uh palestinians in
[00:47:39] gaza towards
[00:47:40] palestine is uh...
[00:47:41] a very unpopular
[00:47:42] position to have
[00:47:44] uh... and that's
[00:47:45] why she called for
[00:47:46] a ceasefire even
[00:47:47] though they took
[00:47:47] even though they
[00:47:48] took the teeth off
[00:47:49] what this what
[00:47:50] ceasefire means
[00:47:52] um... she knows
[00:47:53] that it's an unpopular
[00:47:53] opinion so if she
[00:47:55] wants to gain the
[00:47:56] support of people
[00:47:57] who abandoned
[00:47:57] biden then she
[00:47:58] needs to not just
[00:47:59] call for a ceasefire
[00:48:00] but end all u.s.
[00:48:02] military aid to
[00:48:02] israel so you said
[00:48:03] took the teeth out
[00:48:04] of ceasefire go
[00:48:06] into a little more
[00:48:06] detail about that
[00:48:07] yeah so historically
[00:48:09] uh... a ceasefire
[00:48:10] crowd behind me
[00:48:13] but historically a
[00:48:15] ceasefire has uh...
[00:48:17] has had uh...
[00:48:18] more meaning to it
[00:48:19] a ceasefire has
[00:48:20] meant uh... that
[00:48:21] the u.s.
[00:48:23] wouldn't give
[00:48:24] support to a country
[00:48:25] committing a
[00:48:26] genocide but what
[00:48:27] happened is that the
[00:48:28] biden administration
[00:48:29] claims that they
[00:48:30] support a ceasefire
[00:48:31] but they don't
[00:48:33] support negotiations
[00:48:34] and they continue
[00:48:34] supplying israel with
[00:48:36] the aid and the
[00:48:36] weapons that they
[00:48:37] are using to murder
[00:48:38] tens of thousands
[00:48:40] of palestinians in
[00:48:41] gaza that's why
[00:48:42] hundreds of thousands
[00:48:42] of people are here
[00:48:43] in chicago and
[00:48:44] have been processing
[00:48:45] across the country
[00:48:45] in order to uh...
[00:48:48] uh... end the
[00:48:48] genocide
[00:48:49] outside of what
[00:48:50] you said with uh...
[00:48:51] i'm sorry with uh...
[00:48:53] president biden
[00:48:54] stepping back and
[00:48:55] not running for
[00:48:55] re-election what
[00:48:56] else do you hope
[00:48:57] to accomplish by
[00:48:58] by uh... having
[00:49:00] the rallies and
[00:49:00] stuff here
[00:49:02] um... other than
[00:49:03] what i just said
[00:49:04] you mean
[00:49:04] yeah other than
[00:49:05] what you just said
[00:49:05] i'm sorry
[00:49:06] sorry did i
[00:49:06] stop the
[00:49:07] no
[00:49:09] oh okay
[00:49:11] my bad i just
[00:49:11] touched your
[00:49:12] bone by accident
[00:49:12] um yeah so i
[00:49:14] think that the
[00:49:15] the main like
[00:49:15] obviously our main
[00:49:16] demands are for
[00:49:17] the genocide
[00:49:18] in gaza to
[00:49:18] end um
[00:49:19] we also have
[00:49:20] other demands
[00:49:20] which are uh
[00:49:21] which have been
[00:49:22] highlighted at this
[00:49:23] protest which is
[00:49:23] ending u.s.
[00:49:24] um aid to uh
[00:49:25] israel but of
[00:49:27] course there's
[00:49:27] also our demand
[00:49:28] of lifting the
[00:49:28] siege on gaza
[00:49:29] of rebuilding
[00:49:30] gaza once we
[00:49:31] do get that
[00:49:31] ceasefire
[00:49:32] insha'Allah and
[00:49:33] then of course
[00:49:34] um uh... ending
[00:49:35] the colonization
[00:49:37] of palestinian lands
[00:49:38] ending the
[00:49:38] occupation um
[00:49:39] and and and
[00:49:41] and ending uh
[00:49:42] zionist violence
[00:49:43] against palestinians
[00:49:44] um that's kind
[00:49:46] of the message
[00:49:46] that's that's the
[00:49:47] message uh...
[00:49:48] here today
[00:49:48] and that's the
[00:49:49] central demand
[00:49:50] here today
[00:49:50] so why do you
[00:49:52] think that
[00:49:52] this besides
[00:49:54] the history
[00:49:54] that's gone on
[00:49:55] between the
[00:49:56] united states
[00:49:57] and israel
[00:49:57] politically
[00:49:58] why do you
[00:49:59] think it's been
[00:50:00] kind of hard
[00:50:00] to get
[00:50:01] the masses
[00:50:03] of americans
[00:50:04] behind
[00:50:04] what y'all
[00:50:05] trying to do
[00:50:06] or am i wrong
[00:50:08] are most americans
[00:50:09] going to go to
[00:50:11] the majority of
[00:50:12] americans don't
[00:50:14] want their money
[00:50:15] going to uh...
[00:50:16] aid a genocide
[00:50:17] they don't want
[00:50:17] their money going
[00:50:18] to weapons
[00:50:18] the majority of
[00:50:19] americans want
[00:50:21] their money to
[00:50:22] go to uh...
[00:50:24] better schools
[00:50:24] more free education
[00:50:27] um...
[00:50:28] free health care
[00:50:28] that's what i think
[00:50:29] the american people
[00:50:30] want
[00:50:30] um...
[00:50:31] all right
[00:50:32] so after
[00:50:33] after the convention
[00:50:34] is over
[00:50:35] what's the game
[00:50:36] plan going into
[00:50:37] november
[00:50:38] i think the game
[00:50:39] plan going into
[00:50:40] i think that the
[00:50:42] um...
[00:50:42] can i have to play
[00:50:43] notes for a second
[00:50:46] so i think that
[00:50:48] sorry i just want to
[00:50:49] say that i think that
[00:50:50] the
[00:50:51] uh...
[00:50:52] that uh...
[00:50:53] having uh...
[00:50:53] an end to the
[00:50:53] genocide in gaza is
[00:50:55] is a key issue going
[00:50:56] into the election
[00:50:57] um... i think that uh...
[00:50:58] this is not a uh...
[00:51:00] a single issue
[00:51:02] um...
[00:51:03] vote as some people
[00:51:03] have been claiming
[00:51:04] this is uh...
[00:51:05] an issue of humanity
[00:51:06] i mean uh...
[00:51:08] if they can do this
[00:51:09] to people in and
[00:51:09] to our people in
[00:51:11] gaza
[00:51:11] what does that mean
[00:51:12] that they can do to
[00:51:13] other people across
[00:51:13] the world
[00:51:14] what does that mean
[00:51:15] they can do to us
[00:51:15] here
[00:51:15] what does that mean
[00:51:16] they do do to us
[00:51:17] here
[00:51:20] kamala harris is
[00:51:21] going to have to
[00:51:22] uh... not just say
[00:51:23] that she supports
[00:51:24] a ceasefire
[00:51:25] but demonstrate
[00:51:26] that by uh...
[00:51:27] pushing by pushing
[00:51:28] the biden administration
[00:51:29] which she is still
[00:51:30] a part of
[00:51:31] um... into ending
[00:51:32] all usa to israel
[00:51:34] and i think that
[00:51:34] that's the message
[00:51:35] uh... from people
[00:51:36] that we've been
[00:51:37] hearing uh...
[00:51:37] from uh... today
[00:51:38] all day
[00:51:39] and uh... that's
[00:51:40] the message that
[00:51:41] we're sending
[00:51:41] to the democrats
[00:51:42] and then um...
[00:51:43] yeah
[00:51:44] so do you
[00:51:45] do you feel that
[00:51:47] the democrats
[00:51:48] are the only
[00:51:49] political
[00:51:50] organization
[00:51:51] that will
[00:51:51] give you
[00:51:52] the voice
[00:51:53] that you need
[00:51:54] or are you
[00:51:55] looking at
[00:51:55] other options
[00:51:57] are we looking
[00:51:58] at what
[00:51:59] other options
[00:52:00] um... i think
[00:52:01] that the uh...
[00:52:02] i i think
[00:52:03] that you know
[00:52:03] the rnc
[00:52:05] happened
[00:52:06] a couple months
[00:52:06] ago
[00:52:07] uh... the
[00:52:08] coalition
[00:52:08] that put together
[00:52:09] this process
[00:52:10] is the same
[00:52:10] coalition that
[00:52:11] also marched
[00:52:11] on the rnc
[00:52:12] so um...
[00:52:13] clearly like
[00:52:15] uh...
[00:52:15] we clearly
[00:52:16] are pushing
[00:52:17] our politicians
[00:52:17] to hear
[00:52:19] uh...
[00:52:19] our voices
[00:52:20] on this
[00:52:20] but uh...
[00:52:22] this isn't
[00:52:22] the only avenue
[00:52:23] obviously
[00:52:23] like we're
[00:52:25] going to keep
[00:52:25] organizing
[00:52:25] we organized
[00:52:26] during
[00:52:27] throughout the
[00:52:27] biden election
[00:52:28] we organized
[00:52:29] before the
[00:52:30] biden
[00:52:31] before the
[00:52:31] biden administration
[00:52:32] we organized
[00:52:33] uh...
[00:52:34] while trump
[00:52:34] was in office
[00:52:35] and we're
[00:52:35] going to keep
[00:52:35] organizing
[00:52:36] uh...
[00:52:37] no matter
[00:52:37] who becomes
[00:52:38] the next
[00:52:38] president
[00:52:38] and we're
[00:52:39] going to keep
[00:52:39] building power
[00:52:40] in our
[00:52:40] community
[00:52:40] and uh...
[00:52:42] fighting for
[00:52:42] uh...
[00:52:43] an end to
[00:52:44] the israeli
[00:52:44] genocide in
[00:52:45] gaza and
[00:52:46] israeli
[00:52:46] colonization
[00:52:47] of our
[00:52:47] homeland
[00:52:47] uh...
[00:52:49] thank you
[00:52:49] so much
[00:52:49] all right
[00:52:50] all right
[00:53:01] um...
[00:53:02] again i
[00:53:03] want to
[00:53:03] thank michael
[00:53:04] and naiswa
[00:53:06] for representing
[00:53:07] representing
[00:53:07] their organizations
[00:53:08] and taking
[00:53:09] the time out
[00:53:10] to talk
[00:53:10] to me
[00:53:12] during their
[00:53:13] events
[00:53:15] and now
[00:53:16] um
[00:53:19] you'll hear
[00:53:20] from
[00:53:21] people
[00:53:22] that were
[00:53:26] delegates
[00:53:26] at the
[00:53:27] convention
[00:53:29] um...
[00:53:30] the very
[00:53:30] first voice
[00:53:31] you're going
[00:53:31] to hear
[00:53:33] and kind
[00:53:35] of set
[00:53:35] it up
[00:53:35] i guess
[00:53:36] a little
[00:53:36] bit
[00:53:36] the
[00:53:37] the
[00:53:38] convention
[00:53:39] was
[00:53:39] very
[00:53:40] very
[00:53:40] optimistic
[00:53:41] very
[00:53:42] positive
[00:53:43] a lot
[00:53:44] of joy
[00:53:45] a lot
[00:53:45] of excitement
[00:53:47] um...
[00:53:48] a lot
[00:53:49] of hope
[00:53:50] as far
[00:53:51] as how
[00:53:51] that's
[00:53:52] going to
[00:53:52] go but
[00:53:52] what you'll
[00:53:54] what you'll
[00:53:55] see
[00:53:55] or you'll
[00:53:58] hear from
[00:53:58] the folks
[00:53:59] that i
[00:54:00] talked to
[00:54:00] was that
[00:54:01] there's
[00:54:01] a pragmatism
[00:54:02] to all
[00:54:03] of that
[00:54:03] good
[00:54:04] feeling
[00:54:07] um...
[00:54:08] and
[00:54:09] that
[00:54:11] there's
[00:54:11] an
[00:54:14] understanding
[00:54:14] that work
[00:54:15] needs to
[00:54:15] be done
[00:54:17] so
[00:54:18] i was
[00:54:19] very
[00:54:19] fortunate
[00:54:19] to have
[00:54:20] virgie
[00:54:20] rollins
[00:54:22] who is
[00:54:23] the chair
[00:54:23] of the
[00:54:24] democratic
[00:54:25] national
[00:54:25] committee
[00:54:25] black
[00:54:26] caucus
[00:54:26] she's
[00:54:27] been
[00:54:27] the chair
[00:54:28] for a
[00:54:28] while
[00:54:30] um...
[00:54:31] was able
[00:54:31] to get
[00:54:31] her
[00:54:32] and then
[00:54:33] the three
[00:54:35] delegates
[00:54:36] i was able
[00:54:37] to get
[00:54:37] on the
[00:54:37] floor
[00:54:37] because
[00:54:39] one of
[00:54:40] the
[00:54:40] cool
[00:54:40] things
[00:54:41] that
[00:54:41] happened
[00:54:41] you know
[00:54:42] they
[00:54:42] they
[00:54:43] rank
[00:54:43] you know
[00:54:44] you
[00:54:45] as far
[00:54:46] as
[00:54:47] in the
[00:54:47] press
[00:54:48] to access
[00:54:51] so i
[00:54:52] had
[00:54:52] incredible
[00:54:53] access
[00:54:53] i was
[00:54:54] in
[00:54:55] um...
[00:54:56] if i
[00:54:57] wanted
[00:54:57] to do
[00:54:57] like a
[00:54:58] live
[00:54:58] stand-up
[00:55:00] um...
[00:55:01] if i
[00:55:01] had that
[00:55:01] kind of
[00:55:02] equipment
[00:55:02] and all
[00:55:03] that kind
[00:55:03] of stuff
[00:55:04] i could
[00:55:05] have done
[00:55:05] it
[00:55:07] um...
[00:55:08] there
[00:55:08] i could
[00:55:10] have
[00:55:10] been given
[00:55:11] a position
[00:55:12] to be
[00:55:12] there
[00:55:14] uh...
[00:55:14] i had
[00:55:14] access to
[00:55:15] that area
[00:55:15] i had
[00:55:16] access to
[00:55:17] where
[00:55:17] mostly
[00:55:20] in the
[00:55:21] press
[00:55:21] that
[00:55:22] didn't
[00:55:22] have
[00:55:22] floor
[00:55:23] access
[00:55:24] but
[00:55:25] on the
[00:55:25] floor
[00:55:25] you
[00:55:25] really
[00:55:26] didn't
[00:55:27] now
[00:55:27] unless
[00:55:27] you
[00:55:27] were
[00:55:27] in
[00:55:28] one
[00:55:28] of
[00:55:28] the
[00:55:28] studios
[00:55:29] set
[00:55:29] up
[00:55:31] for
[00:55:31] their
[00:55:32] major
[00:55:32] networks
[00:55:32] you
[00:55:33] weren't
[00:55:34] sitting
[00:55:35] you were
[00:55:35] moving
[00:55:35] around
[00:55:36] trying
[00:55:36] to
[00:55:36] interview
[00:55:37] people
[00:55:38] and
[00:55:39] so
[00:55:39] if
[00:55:39] you
[00:55:39] weren't
[00:55:40] given
[00:55:40] floor
[00:55:40] access
[00:55:42] from
[00:55:42] the
[00:55:42] gym
[00:55:43] then
[00:55:44] they
[00:55:44] gave
[00:55:45] you
[00:55:45] floor
[00:55:45] access
[00:55:46] excuse
[00:55:46] me
[00:55:47] for
[00:55:47] an
[00:55:47] hour
[00:55:50] during
[00:55:50] the
[00:55:51] convention
[00:55:52] i mean
[00:55:52] a half
[00:55:53] hour
[00:55:53] during
[00:55:53] the
[00:55:53] convention
[00:55:54] so
[00:55:54] i
[00:55:54] ended
[00:55:54] up
[00:55:54] getting
[00:55:55] two
[00:55:55] days
[00:55:57] based on
[00:55:58] how
[00:55:58] hours
[00:55:59] were
[00:55:59] for
[00:55:59] time
[00:56:00] on
[00:56:00] the
[00:56:01] floor
[00:56:02] and
[00:56:02] that
[00:56:02] was
[00:56:02] pretty
[00:56:03] good
[00:56:03] because
[00:56:03] i was
[00:56:04] able
[00:56:04] to
[00:56:04] catch
[00:56:04] up
[00:56:04] with
[00:56:05] some
[00:56:06] old
[00:56:06] friends
[00:56:06] of
[00:56:07] mine
[00:56:08] from
[00:56:09] mississippi
[00:56:09] from
[00:56:10] georgia
[00:56:11] young
[00:56:11] democrats
[00:56:12] you
[00:56:13] know
[00:56:14] all
[00:56:14] sorts
[00:56:15] of
[00:56:15] media
[00:56:15] people
[00:56:15] if
[00:56:16] you
[00:56:16] follow
[00:56:16] me
[00:56:16] on
[00:56:16] facebook
[00:56:19] or
[00:56:19] instagram
[00:56:20] you'll
[00:56:21] see the
[00:56:22] evidence
[00:56:22] of all
[00:56:22] that
[00:56:23] i'm
[00:56:23] talking
[00:56:23] about
[00:56:23] but
[00:56:25] um
[00:56:27] like i
[00:56:27] said
[00:56:28] i was
[00:56:28] able to
[00:56:28] talk to
[00:56:29] miss
[00:56:29] rollins
[00:56:30] uh
[00:56:31] and then
[00:56:31] the
[00:56:31] delegates
[00:56:32] were
[00:56:33] uh
[00:56:34] dr
[00:56:34] kimberly
[00:56:34] hardy
[00:56:35] and
[00:56:36] she
[00:56:36] is
[00:56:37] the
[00:56:38] second
[00:56:38] vice
[00:56:38] chair
[00:56:39] of
[00:56:39] north
[00:56:39] north
[00:56:40] carolina
[00:56:40] democratic
[00:56:41] party
[00:56:42] and
[00:56:43] marisol
[00:56:44] garcia
[00:56:45] she
[00:56:46] is
[00:56:46] the
[00:56:47] democratic
[00:56:47] national
[00:56:48] committee
[00:56:48] woman
[00:56:48] for
[00:56:49] the
[00:56:49] state
[00:56:49] of
[00:56:49] arizona
[00:56:50] and
[00:56:51] then
[00:56:51] justin
[00:56:52] douglas
[00:56:53] who
[00:56:53] is
[00:56:54] a
[00:56:55] county
[00:56:55] commissioner
[00:56:56] in
[00:56:56] dolphin
[00:56:57] county
[00:56:57] pennsylvania
[00:56:59] so
[00:57:00] i
[00:57:00] picked
[00:57:00] those
[00:57:01] three
[00:57:02] um
[00:57:03] because
[00:57:05] those
[00:57:05] three
[00:57:06] are
[00:57:06] battleground
[00:57:07] states
[00:57:09] and
[00:57:09] you know
[00:57:11] there's
[00:57:11] seven
[00:57:11] in all
[00:57:12] that
[00:57:13] they're
[00:57:13] calling
[00:57:13] battleground
[00:57:14] or swing
[00:57:15] states
[00:57:15] so
[00:57:16] to be
[00:57:17] able to
[00:57:17] get
[00:57:17] the
[00:57:18] mindset
[00:57:19] of
[00:57:20] activists
[00:57:21] in
[00:57:22] in
[00:57:23] three
[00:57:23] of those
[00:57:24] battleground
[00:57:24] states
[00:57:25] i felt
[00:57:25] was very
[00:57:26] important
[00:57:26] for the
[00:57:27] context
[00:57:27] of covering
[00:57:28] the
[00:57:28] convention
[00:57:30] and
[00:57:30] so
[00:57:31] you'll
[00:57:31] get to
[00:57:32] hear their
[00:57:32] assessments
[00:57:33] as well
[00:57:33] again
[00:57:34] i
[00:57:34] apologize
[00:57:34] for the
[00:57:35] quality
[00:57:35] of the
[00:57:36] audio
[00:57:36] it's
[00:57:36] not
[00:57:36] going
[00:57:37] to be
[00:57:37] perfect
[00:57:39] or pristine
[00:57:40] but you'll
[00:57:42] be able
[00:57:42] to understand
[00:57:43] um
[00:57:44] what these
[00:57:45] delegates
[00:57:46] are saying
[00:57:48] so
[00:57:49] let's go
[00:57:50] ahead
[00:57:50] and
[00:57:51] kick
[00:57:52] this
[00:57:52] off
[00:57:53] it'll
[00:57:53] start
[00:57:53] off
[00:57:54] with
[00:57:54] the
[00:57:54] first
[00:57:54] voice
[00:57:55] you'll
[00:57:55] hear
[00:57:55] is
[00:57:55] miss
[00:57:56] virgic
[00:57:56] rollins
[00:57:57] then
[00:57:58] you'll
[00:57:58] hear
[00:58:03] from
[00:58:04] arizona
[00:58:04] and
[00:58:05] close
[00:58:05] out
[00:58:05] with
[00:58:06] justin
[00:58:06] douglas
[00:58:06] from
[00:58:07] pennsylvania
[00:58:20] i'm eric
[00:58:21] flemon
[00:58:21] and i am
[00:58:23] here talking
[00:58:24] to virgie
[00:58:24] rollins
[00:58:25] the chair
[00:58:26] of the
[00:58:26] democratic
[00:58:27] national
[00:58:27] committee
[00:58:27] black
[00:58:28] caucus
[00:58:28] how you
[00:58:29] doing
[00:58:30] i'm doing
[00:58:31] great we
[00:58:32] just had
[00:58:33] four successful
[00:58:34] events and
[00:58:35] this has been
[00:58:36] awesome
[00:58:37] you know my
[00:58:38] team did a
[00:58:38] great job and
[00:58:40] i think we
[00:58:40] shared a lot
[00:58:41] of information
[00:58:42] this week
[00:58:44] about black
[00:58:45] people and
[00:58:46] what they
[00:58:46] ought to be
[00:58:47] doing and
[00:58:47] how we're
[00:58:49] going to
[00:58:49] manage to
[00:58:50] get the
[00:58:50] vote out
[00:58:51] start with
[00:58:52] voter registration
[00:58:53] and talking
[00:58:54] to people
[00:58:54] and listening
[00:58:55] to people
[00:58:56] and training
[00:58:57] people and
[00:58:58] sharing
[00:58:58] information
[00:58:59] so you've
[00:59:00] been doing
[00:59:00] this a long
[00:59:01] time
[00:59:01] as far
[00:59:02] and you
[00:59:03] how do you
[00:59:04] gauge the
[00:59:05] excitement
[00:59:06] in this
[00:59:07] election
[00:59:07] right now
[00:59:08] these 76
[00:59:08] days
[00:59:09] leading into
[00:59:09] it as
[00:59:10] opposed to
[00:59:10] previous
[00:59:11] elections
[00:59:11] the thing
[00:59:13] the thing
[00:59:14] is is that
[00:59:15] it sort
[00:59:16] of brought
[00:59:16] back 2007
[00:59:18] 2008
[00:59:19] but it's
[00:59:21] it's like
[00:59:21] an elevated
[00:59:22] higher
[00:59:23] with kamla
[00:59:24] because you
[00:59:25] know we
[00:59:26] went through
[00:59:26] this real
[00:59:27] bad era
[00:59:28] with covid
[00:59:29] and the
[00:59:30] trump era
[00:59:31] and then
[00:59:32] now it's
[00:59:33] people are
[00:59:34] excited because
[00:59:35] it's bringing
[00:59:35] a new
[00:59:36] hype and
[00:59:37] energy back
[00:59:39] you know
[00:59:40] she's
[00:59:40] you know
[00:59:41] she's
[00:59:41] diverse
[00:59:42] and I
[00:59:43] think that's
[00:59:43] helping
[00:59:44] so what
[00:59:45] do you want
[00:59:46] people to
[00:59:47] do in
[00:59:48] these next
[00:59:49] few days
[00:59:49] to get
[00:59:50] involved with
[00:59:50] the campaign
[00:59:51] and to
[00:59:52] make sure
[00:59:53] that she
[00:59:54] wins
[00:59:54] the most
[00:59:55] important thing
[00:59:56] now is
[00:59:57] to start
[00:59:58] talking to
[00:59:58] people
[00:59:58] start sharing
[00:59:59] information
[01:00:00] start
[01:00:02] telling them
[01:00:03] where they
[01:00:03] can go
[01:00:04] and get
[01:00:04] involved with
[01:00:05] the campaign
[01:00:06] we've got
[01:00:06] a bunch of
[01:00:07] campaign
[01:00:07] offices
[01:00:08] open all
[01:00:08] over the
[01:00:09] country
[01:00:09] and in
[01:00:10] their state
[01:00:10] just find out
[01:00:11] where their
[01:00:11] campaign office
[01:00:12] volunteer
[01:00:13] phone bank
[01:00:14] do whatever
[01:00:15] they can
[01:00:15] to make
[01:00:16] sure that
[01:00:17] they're talking
[01:00:17] to people
[01:00:18] and sharing
[01:00:18] their people
[01:00:19] and listening
[01:00:19] to people
[01:00:20] about their
[01:00:21] issues
[01:00:21] all right
[01:00:22] thank you
[01:00:22] madam
[01:00:22] thank you
[01:00:23] thank you
[01:00:24] he's behind
[01:00:24] you
[01:00:29] all right
[01:00:29] I'm Eric
[01:00:30] Fleming
[01:00:30] and who
[01:00:31] am I
[01:00:31] with
[01:00:31] Dr.
[01:00:32] Kimberly
[01:00:32] Hardy
[01:00:32] second
[01:00:33] vice
[01:00:33] chair
[01:00:33] of the
[01:00:34] North
[01:00:34] Carolina
[01:00:34] Democratic
[01:00:35] Party
[01:00:35] so
[01:00:36] doc
[01:00:37] tell me
[01:00:38] something
[01:00:39] a few
[01:00:40] weeks ago
[01:00:41] they said
[01:00:41] North Carolina
[01:00:42] wasn't in play
[01:00:44] now
[01:00:44] it seems
[01:00:45] as though
[01:00:46] that North
[01:00:46] Carolina
[01:00:47] is
[01:00:47] leaning
[01:00:48] toward
[01:00:49] Harris
[01:00:49] what
[01:00:50] what do
[01:00:50] you think
[01:00:51] has happened
[01:00:51] or was
[01:00:52] that a
[01:00:52] misconception
[01:00:53] in the
[01:00:54] first
[01:00:54] I believe
[01:00:55] that was
[01:00:55] a misconception
[01:00:55] the Biden
[01:00:56] Harris team
[01:00:57] has been
[01:00:57] on the ground
[01:00:58] in North Carolina
[01:00:58] for months
[01:00:59] they've not
[01:01:00] just been
[01:01:00] on the ground
[01:01:00] but they've
[01:01:01] been investing
[01:01:01] in the community
[01:01:02] so for example
[01:01:03] they've been
[01:01:04] picking key
[01:01:05] counties
[01:01:05] around the state
[01:01:06] to do joint
[01:01:08] office space
[01:01:08] with
[01:01:09] if there are
[01:01:10] county parties
[01:01:11] that don't
[01:01:11] have a
[01:01:11] physical
[01:01:12] space
[01:01:12] they've been
[01:01:13] going in
[01:01:13] and doing
[01:01:14] MOUs
[01:01:14] and sharing
[01:01:15] that space
[01:01:16] with our
[01:01:16] county party
[01:01:17] we've been
[01:01:17] co-sponsoring
[01:01:18] events
[01:01:18] when they're
[01:01:19] hiring up
[01:01:20] for their
[01:01:20] side of
[01:01:21] those
[01:01:21] county
[01:01:21] offices
[01:01:21] they're hiring
[01:01:22] from within
[01:01:23] the local
[01:01:23] community
[01:01:24] I mean
[01:01:24] Kamala Harris
[01:01:26] up to a
[01:01:26] couple of
[01:01:27] weeks ago
[01:01:27] had been
[01:01:27] in North Carolina
[01:01:28] 16 times
[01:01:29] as you know
[01:01:30] I'm not just
[01:01:31] the vice president
[01:01:31] but before
[01:01:32] the switch
[01:01:33] happened
[01:01:33] and so
[01:01:34] Michael Regan
[01:01:35] has been here
[01:01:36] multiple times
[01:01:37] they've done
[01:01:37] so much
[01:01:38] great infrastructure
[01:01:39] work with us
[01:01:39] we've benefited
[01:01:40] so much
[01:01:40] from their policy
[01:01:41] so
[01:01:41] North Carolina
[01:01:43] has been
[01:01:43] in play
[01:01:43] all along
[01:01:44] and so
[01:01:45] I think
[01:01:45] what you all
[01:01:46] might be seeing
[01:01:46] or what some
[01:01:47] folks might be seeing
[01:01:48] with North Carolina's
[01:01:48] enthusiasm
[01:01:49] is in the line
[01:01:50] with all of the
[01:01:51] state's enthusiasm
[01:01:52] we're about to
[01:01:53] make an amazing
[01:01:54] historic moment
[01:01:55] happen
[01:01:55] we may be changing
[01:01:57] the face of the
[01:01:58] way America looks
[01:01:59] to the global
[01:02:00] community
[01:02:01] and the way we look
[01:02:01] at each other
[01:02:02] as neighbors
[01:02:02] because of the
[01:02:03] excitement and
[01:02:04] enthusiasm
[01:02:04] that's come
[01:02:05] with her being
[01:02:06] the nominee
[01:02:07] but no
[01:02:08] we've been in play
[01:02:09] with that administration
[01:02:10] for many many
[01:02:11] many years
[01:02:11] do you think
[01:02:12] that this
[01:02:13] particular convention
[01:02:15] has been
[01:02:16] more enthusiastic
[01:02:18] more in line
[01:02:20] with getting behind
[01:02:21] the candidate
[01:02:22] than in previous
[01:02:23] conventions
[01:02:23] I don't know
[01:02:24] because you know
[01:02:25] in 08
[01:02:26] we were all in
[01:02:26] for Barack
[01:02:27] and 16
[01:02:28] we were all in
[01:02:28] for Hillary
[01:02:29] right
[01:02:29] like the enthusiasm
[01:02:30] of the convention
[01:02:31] I've been told
[01:02:32] it's like the Superbowl
[01:02:33] for Politico
[01:02:34] and it really
[01:02:35] really is
[01:02:36] and so
[01:02:36] we're always all in
[01:02:38] for Barbara candidates
[01:02:39] because they represent
[01:02:40] the ideals
[01:02:41] and the values
[01:02:41] of the people
[01:02:42] in this country
[01:02:43] whether they are
[01:02:44] voting for us
[01:02:44] or not
[01:02:45] so the enthusiasm
[01:02:47] the all in
[01:02:48] I think we would
[01:02:49] have been all in
[01:02:50] for Biden
[01:02:50] you know
[01:02:51] we're all behind
[01:02:53] those people
[01:02:54] who are doing
[01:02:55] things to help
[01:02:56] our communities
[01:02:57] and the families
[01:02:57] that live in
[01:02:58] so I don't know
[01:03:00] that this is
[01:03:01] more or less
[01:03:02] now again
[01:03:03] harkening back
[01:03:04] to the historic
[01:03:05] nature of it
[01:03:05] I mean
[01:03:06] that alone
[01:03:07] is going to drum up
[01:03:08] 08 style enthusiasm
[01:03:10] for having a black
[01:03:10] presidential candidate
[01:03:11] or 016
[01:03:12] for having a woman
[01:03:13] candidate
[01:03:14] this combines
[01:03:15] the best of all
[01:03:16] those people
[01:03:16] and so
[01:03:17] this is a moment
[01:03:18] that's not just
[01:03:19] going to be
[01:03:20] extraordinarily important
[01:03:21] for everybody
[01:03:22] in at large
[01:03:23] but women of color
[01:03:25] in particular
[01:03:26] this is a moment
[01:03:27] unlike even
[01:03:28] the Hillary moment
[01:03:29] because
[01:03:30] this tells us
[01:03:32] that absolutely
[01:03:33] literally now
[01:03:35] everything is possible
[01:03:36] for us
[01:03:37] if we want to lead
[01:03:38] at that level
[01:03:38] so
[01:03:39] last question
[01:03:42] when you go back
[01:03:43] to North Carolina
[01:03:43] you knocking on doors
[01:03:45] you talking to folks
[01:03:46] what do you say
[01:03:47] to convince somebody
[01:03:48] to say
[01:03:49] well I'm kind of
[01:03:50] on the fence
[01:03:50] it's interesting
[01:03:51] that you ask that
[01:03:52] because I got a chance
[01:03:53] to talk to
[01:03:54] Adam Kinzinger today
[01:03:55] one of those two
[01:03:57] Republicans
[01:03:57] on the January 6th
[01:03:58] committee
[01:03:58] takes it to Trump
[01:03:59] all the time
[01:04:00] he's a Republican
[01:04:01] and I asked him
[01:04:02] what do you all
[01:04:03] think is the message
[01:04:04] that would resonate
[01:04:05] with those folks
[01:04:06] who are leaning
[01:04:07] but are still
[01:04:08] Republican
[01:04:08] they're not
[01:04:09] maggotrump
[01:04:10] they're Republican
[01:04:12] he said
[01:04:13] and he said it
[01:04:13] very well
[01:04:14] it's about
[01:04:14] the character
[01:04:15] of the person
[01:04:16] I think at this point
[01:04:17] we all know
[01:04:18] there's some policies
[01:04:19] that we haven't agreed
[01:04:20] on for a minute
[01:04:21] and we're probably
[01:04:23] not going to agree
[01:04:23] on everything
[01:04:23] going forward
[01:04:24] but what we can
[01:04:25] agree on
[01:04:26] is that whoever
[01:04:27] represents us
[01:04:28] whoever is the face
[01:04:29] of this nation
[01:04:30] internally as well
[01:04:31] as externally
[01:04:32] should have character
[01:04:33] and integrity
[01:04:33] should have the morals
[01:04:35] and the values
[01:04:35] that reflect
[01:04:36] what our democracy
[01:04:37] stands for
[01:04:38] and who actually
[01:04:38] wants to strengthen
[01:04:39] it
[01:04:43] and who
[01:04:44] is going to be
[01:04:44] I don't think
[01:04:46] this is going
[01:04:46] to be a hard sell
[01:04:47] I think if any
[01:04:48] of those folks
[01:04:49] are doing their
[01:04:50] due diligence
[01:04:50] to watch
[01:04:51] the convention
[01:04:52] they can't help
[01:04:53] to walk away
[01:04:53] saying these people
[01:04:55] are just like me
[01:04:57] their issues
[01:04:58] are my issues
[01:04:59] you'll remember
[01:04:59] we haven't just
[01:05:00] been putting
[01:05:01] politicals up
[01:05:01] we've been putting
[01:05:02] women who are
[01:05:03] dealing with
[01:05:03] all kinds of
[01:05:04] maternal health issues
[01:05:05] we've been dealing
[01:05:06] with people
[01:05:06] who have disabilities
[01:05:07] veterans
[01:05:09] unions
[01:05:09] that's just
[01:05:10] America
[01:05:11] that's not a
[01:05:12] political issue
[01:05:12] that's a person
[01:05:13] issue
[01:05:14] and when you
[01:05:14] continue to reinforce
[01:05:16] that whoever
[01:05:16] leaves us
[01:05:17] needs to be
[01:05:18] someone invested
[01:05:18] in those communities
[01:05:19] I don't think
[01:05:20] it's a person
[01:05:21] alright
[01:05:21] well thank you
[01:05:22] for that
[01:05:22] I'm Eric Fleming
[01:05:34] and you are
[01:05:35] I'm Marisol Garcia
[01:05:37] from Arizona
[01:05:37] and do you have
[01:05:40] a position there
[01:05:40] I'm an 8th grade
[01:05:41] social studies teacher
[01:05:42] and I serve
[01:05:43] as a union president
[01:05:44] ok
[01:05:45] so
[01:05:46] why do we think
[01:05:48] that Arizona
[01:05:48] is in play
[01:05:50] for Compahead
[01:05:51] Arizona
[01:05:52] has been in play
[01:05:52] for a couple
[01:05:53] cycles now
[01:05:54] because
[01:05:54] about 20 years
[01:05:55] ago we made
[01:05:56] a commitment
[01:05:56] to start organizing
[01:05:57] our communities
[01:05:59] our neighbors
[01:05:59] within the
[01:06:01] Latino community
[01:06:01] the black community
[01:06:02] really wanted
[01:06:04] to organize
[01:06:04] year round
[01:06:05] so that
[01:06:05] when elections
[01:06:06] came around
[01:06:07] it wouldn't be
[01:06:07] just for an election
[01:06:08] but to make our
[01:06:09] communities stronger
[01:06:10] now how long
[01:06:12] have you been
[01:06:12] engaged in
[01:06:13] organized politics
[01:06:14] like this
[01:06:15] you said
[01:06:15] you're a labor
[01:06:16] union
[01:06:16] since I was 17
[01:06:19] I walked
[01:06:20] from Leon Panetta
[01:06:20] I'm from California
[01:06:21] so I decided
[01:06:22] to go walking
[01:06:23] but I started
[01:06:24] teaching
[01:06:25] and didn't have
[01:06:25] time for anything
[01:06:26] other than teaching
[01:06:27] and then I realized
[01:06:28] I had to get back
[01:06:30] involved in politics
[01:06:30] because politics
[01:06:31] is a role
[01:06:32] to get my professional
[01:06:32] so I know
[01:06:34] you got a big
[01:06:35] senate race
[01:06:36] there too
[01:06:37] how does that
[01:06:38] look as far
[01:06:39] as Ruben Gallego
[01:06:40] yes
[01:06:41] yeah Ruben's
[01:06:42] my current
[01:06:43] congressional representative
[01:06:44] he was amazing
[01:06:45] representing the
[01:06:46] community
[01:06:46] which is predominantly
[01:06:47] black and brown
[01:06:48] community in the state
[01:06:49] and I think
[01:06:50] he's been working
[01:06:51] really hard
[01:06:52] to engage voters
[01:06:53] from both sides
[01:06:54] of the aisle
[01:06:55] to just lift up
[01:06:56] why he could do
[01:06:57] the job
[01:06:58] at a statewide
[01:06:59] vote for a senate
[01:07:00] he's also running
[01:07:01] against Kerry Link
[01:07:02] who recently lost
[01:07:03] to a gubernatorial race
[01:07:04] so he just hit
[01:07:05] the ground running
[01:07:06] and is running
[01:07:07] he was here
[01:07:08] with us yesterday
[01:07:08] and will probably
[01:07:09] be speaking tonight
[01:07:11] okay
[01:07:12] so what's the
[01:07:14] difference between
[01:07:14] this election
[01:07:16] as opposed to
[01:07:17] previous elections
[01:07:17] because that's
[01:07:18] kind of the aura
[01:07:20] that this is
[01:07:21] more exciting
[01:07:22] this is a
[01:07:22] more hopeful
[01:07:23] opportunity
[01:07:24] right well I think
[01:07:25] we have a candidate
[01:07:25] that just permeates
[01:07:27] joy and thoughtfulness
[01:07:28] and reminds us
[01:07:29] of people that we
[01:07:30] know
[01:07:30] reminds us that
[01:07:32] politics doesn't
[01:07:33] have to be ugly
[01:07:34] and slimy
[01:07:36] and then we have
[01:07:36] a teacher on the
[01:07:37] ballot as vice
[01:07:38] president
[01:07:38] so for our
[01:07:39] members this is
[01:07:40] the most exciting
[01:07:40] thing
[01:07:41] and a union
[01:07:41] member
[01:07:42] educator
[01:07:43] and I also
[01:07:44] think we know
[01:07:45] this is
[01:07:46] I think
[01:07:46] was it Obama
[01:07:47] who said
[01:07:47] this is a sequel
[01:07:48] we already knew
[01:07:49] nobody's going to
[01:07:50] do
[01:07:51] the first time
[01:07:51] he told us
[01:07:52] we didn't
[01:07:52] believe him
[01:07:53] and I think
[01:07:53] now people
[01:07:54] have actually
[01:07:55] believed him
[01:07:55] so when you
[01:07:56] go back to
[01:07:56] Arizona
[01:07:57] and you talk
[01:07:58] to some folks
[01:07:59] that are kind
[01:07:59] of like
[01:08:00] undecided
[01:08:01] or whatever
[01:08:01] what are you
[01:08:02] going to tell
[01:08:03] them to try
[01:08:03] to convince
[01:08:04] them to vote
[01:08:04] for vice
[01:08:05] president
[01:08:05] here
[01:08:06] I'm going
[01:08:06] to tell
[01:08:06] them that
[01:08:07] we have
[01:08:07] somebody
[01:08:07] who actually
[01:08:07] cares about
[01:08:08] public education
[01:08:09] wants to fund
[01:08:09] public education
[01:08:10] want to
[01:08:12] I'm going to
[01:08:12] remind them
[01:08:13] that the vice
[01:08:14] president is a
[01:08:15] teacher and
[01:08:16] that would be
[01:08:16] an amazing
[01:08:16] thing to have
[01:08:17] somebody actually
[01:08:18] representing us
[01:08:19] there and
[01:08:19] three that
[01:08:20] the very
[01:08:21] stake of our
[01:08:22] jobs our
[01:08:23] profession is
[01:08:23] on the line
[01:08:24] if we lose
[01:08:25] this nationally
[01:08:26] thank you so
[01:08:28] much
[01:08:29] I'm Eric
[01:08:30] Fleming and
[01:08:31] who am I
[01:08:31] speaking with
[01:08:31] Justin
[01:08:32] Douglas
[01:08:32] Dauphin
[01:08:33] County
[01:08:33] commissioner
[01:08:34] delegate for
[01:08:34] Pennsylvania
[01:08:36] so Pennsylvania
[01:08:37] is going to be
[01:08:38] one of the most
[01:08:39] important states
[01:08:40] in this election
[01:08:41] how is everybody
[01:08:42] feeling in a
[01:08:43] delegation right
[01:08:44] now as far
[01:08:45] as their chances
[01:08:46] we're excited
[01:08:46] like I mean
[01:08:48] the energy
[01:08:48] that has been
[01:08:49] brought in
[01:08:50] down ballot
[01:08:51] all the way
[01:08:51] down
[01:08:52] it's pretty
[01:08:52] amazing
[01:08:53] to see
[01:08:53] you know
[01:08:54] what Kamala
[01:08:55] has brought
[01:08:55] to the race
[01:08:56] and I
[01:08:57] personally
[01:08:58] think
[01:08:58] it's going
[01:08:59] to make
[01:08:59] a difference
[01:09:00] and
[01:09:01] Keystone
[01:09:01] of this
[01:09:02] election
[01:09:02] is the
[01:09:03] Keystone
[01:09:03] State
[01:09:04] Pennsylvania
[01:09:04] and you're
[01:09:05] going to see
[01:09:06] us deliver
[01:09:06] for Kamala
[01:09:07] and all the
[01:09:09] way down
[01:09:09] the ballot
[01:09:09] so I'm
[01:09:11] from down
[01:09:11] south
[01:09:12] okay
[01:09:12] what part
[01:09:13] I'm in
[01:09:14] Georgia
[01:09:14] nice
[01:09:15] and I
[01:09:15] live in
[01:09:16] Mississippi
[01:09:16] you guys
[01:09:16] going to
[01:09:16] deliver
[01:09:17] Georgia
[01:09:17] for us
[01:09:17] too
[01:09:18] well
[01:09:18] I think
[01:09:20] so
[01:09:20] but
[01:09:21] the question
[01:09:22] I wanted
[01:09:22] to ask you
[01:09:23] was
[01:09:23] the old
[01:09:24] joke was
[01:09:25] there's
[01:09:25] Philadelphia
[01:09:26] there's
[01:09:26] Pittsburgh
[01:09:26] and then
[01:09:27] there's
[01:09:27] Alabama
[01:09:28] how can
[01:09:29] y'all in
[01:09:30] the middle
[01:09:30] of Pennsylvania
[01:09:31] work to get
[01:09:33] those votes
[01:09:33] that's a great
[01:09:34] question
[01:09:34] I'm in the
[01:09:35] middle of
[01:09:35] Pennsylvania
[01:09:36] I'm in
[01:09:36] Harrisburg
[01:09:37] I'm in
[01:09:38] Dauphin County
[01:09:39] Dauphin County
[01:09:39] has been
[01:09:40] red
[01:09:41] it's been a red
[01:09:43] county since
[01:09:43] the Civil War
[01:09:44] I ran for office
[01:09:45] last year
[01:09:46] in November
[01:09:46] we flipped the
[01:09:47] county blue
[01:09:48] with my victory
[01:09:49] for the first
[01:09:50] time since the
[01:09:51] Civil War
[01:09:51] so it's
[01:09:52] turning
[01:09:52] it's taking
[01:09:53] creativity
[01:09:54] it's taking
[01:09:54] different candidates
[01:09:55] but at the same
[01:09:56] time I think
[01:09:57] Humble represents
[01:09:58] that
[01:09:58] and I think
[01:09:59] you're going
[01:09:59] to see massive
[01:09:59] turnout in the
[01:10:00] middle of the
[01:10:00] state
[01:10:01] what you call
[01:10:02] Alabama
[01:10:02] I would say
[01:10:03] is really
[01:10:04] you know
[01:10:05] Harrisburg
[01:10:05] I think
[01:10:06] is going to
[01:10:06] surprise a lot
[01:10:07] of people
[01:10:07] in the surrounding
[01:10:07] parts
[01:10:08] suburbs
[01:10:08] outside
[01:10:09] okay
[01:10:09] so
[01:10:11] as you
[01:10:12] when you get
[01:10:12] back from
[01:10:13] Chicago
[01:10:13] yeah
[01:10:14] you go
[01:10:15] back home
[01:10:16] what is
[01:10:17] what is the
[01:10:17] message you're
[01:10:18] going to tell
[01:10:19] to your
[01:10:19] undecided
[01:10:20] or
[01:10:21] kind of
[01:10:22] more
[01:10:22] conservative
[01:10:23] leaning
[01:10:23] neighbors
[01:10:24] I mean
[01:10:25] the choice
[01:10:25] is clear
[01:10:26] is the way
[01:10:26] I frame it
[01:10:27] do you want
[01:10:29] felons to be
[01:10:29] your next
[01:10:30] president
[01:10:30] do you want
[01:10:30] a prosecutor
[01:10:31] who's always stood
[01:10:32] up for those
[01:10:33] who are underserved
[01:10:33] and overlooked
[01:10:34] those communities
[01:10:35] that often
[01:10:36] are the last
[01:10:36] to the table
[01:10:37] bringing those
[01:10:37] people to the
[01:10:38] table
[01:10:38] you know
[01:10:39] I think
[01:10:39] we need
[01:10:40] those kind
[01:10:40] of leaders
[01:10:41] her authenticity
[01:10:42] and her push
[01:10:43] for ensuring
[01:10:44] that people
[01:10:45] who often
[01:10:46] are underserved
[01:10:47] get served
[01:10:49] versus
[01:10:50] Donald Trump
[01:10:51] who's somebody
[01:10:51] who's only ever
[01:10:52] served himself
[01:10:53] you compare those
[01:10:54] two things
[01:10:55] and I think
[01:10:55] like I said
[01:10:56] the choice
[01:10:57] becomes clear
[01:10:57] you can get into
[01:10:58] the weeds
[01:10:58] with policies
[01:10:59] and everything
[01:10:59] as well
[01:11:00] but character
[01:11:01] is where it
[01:11:01] starts
[01:11:02] and I think
[01:11:03] her character
[01:11:03] really ultimately
[01:11:04] has people
[01:11:06] excited
[01:11:06] about the future
[01:11:09] thank you
[01:11:10] we are back
[01:11:24] so
[01:11:25] I want to thank
[01:11:26] Chairman
[01:11:27] Chairwoman Rollins
[01:11:28] Dr. Hardy
[01:11:32] Ms. Garcia
[01:11:33] and Commissioner
[01:11:35] Douglas
[01:11:37] for taking
[01:11:38] the time
[01:11:38] out to
[01:11:40] talk
[01:11:42] to me
[01:11:44] and I hope
[01:11:45] that you all
[01:11:49] got a good
[01:11:50] sense of
[01:11:51] what I talked
[01:11:52] about
[01:11:53] about the hope
[01:11:54] and the
[01:11:55] pragmatism
[01:11:55] that's connected
[01:11:56] to the remaining
[01:11:57] days
[01:11:58] of this
[01:11:59] presidential election
[01:12:00] from the Democrats
[01:12:03] so
[01:12:03] again
[01:12:05] it was
[01:12:05] an incredible
[01:12:06] experience
[01:12:07] as many years
[01:12:09] as I've been
[01:12:09] an activist
[01:12:11] and an elected
[01:12:12] official
[01:12:13] in the Democratic
[01:12:16] Party
[01:12:16] I've never
[01:12:17] attended a
[01:12:18] convention
[01:12:19] so to
[01:12:20] be able
[01:12:21] to knock
[01:12:22] that off
[01:12:22] of my
[01:12:22] bucket list
[01:12:23] is
[01:12:27] tremendous
[01:12:29] and you know
[01:12:30] on a personal
[01:12:30] I got to
[01:12:31] hang out
[01:12:32] with some
[01:12:33] family
[01:12:33] and some
[01:12:33] friends
[01:12:34] and all that
[01:12:34] before everything
[01:12:35] went down
[01:12:37] and it wasn't
[01:12:38] like I was
[01:12:39] a delegate
[01:12:40] so I didn't
[01:12:40] get to party
[01:12:42] like everybody
[01:12:43] else
[01:12:44] and hang
[01:12:44] out
[01:12:45] but
[01:12:47] and some
[01:12:48] of those
[01:12:48] interviews
[01:12:48] if you
[01:12:50] listened
[01:12:50] on Patreon
[01:12:51] you heard
[01:12:52] a few
[01:12:53] of those
[01:12:53] interviews
[01:12:53] prior to
[01:12:55] the podcast
[01:12:56] but I felt
[01:12:57] that
[01:12:58] not enough
[01:12:59] people
[01:13:00] probably
[01:13:00] listened to
[01:13:01] it on
[01:13:01] Patreon
[01:13:01] and so
[01:13:02] I wanted
[01:13:02] to make
[01:13:02] sure
[01:13:03] that those
[01:13:03] voices
[01:13:04] were heard
[01:13:06] by the
[01:13:07] bigger
[01:13:07] audience
[01:13:09] but
[01:13:10] you know
[01:13:11] putting
[01:13:11] those episodes
[01:13:12] together
[01:13:12] and then
[01:13:13] live
[01:13:13] streaming
[01:13:14] on
[01:13:14] chatter
[01:13:16] which
[01:13:16] I'm
[01:13:17] to be
[01:13:17] frankly
[01:13:18] honest
[01:13:18] was a
[01:13:18] challenge
[01:13:19] but
[01:13:19] it
[01:13:20] got
[01:13:20] done
[01:13:21] and
[01:13:23] the
[01:13:25] first
[01:13:25] three
[01:13:26] nights
[01:13:26] of the
[01:13:26] convention
[01:13:29] were
[01:13:30] live
[01:13:31] stream
[01:13:31] on
[01:13:32] chatter
[01:13:32] and
[01:13:33] to be
[01:13:35] honest
[01:13:35] the
[01:13:35] fourth
[01:13:36] night
[01:13:37] the
[01:13:38] night
[01:13:38] that
[01:13:38] Vice
[01:13:39] President
[01:13:39] Harris
[01:13:40] was
[01:13:40] going
[01:13:40] to give
[01:13:40] her
[01:13:40] speech
[01:13:42] yeah
[01:13:43] I took
[01:13:43] a point
[01:13:44] of personal
[01:13:44] privilege
[01:13:44] and decided
[01:13:46] to have
[01:13:47] that
[01:13:47] moment
[01:13:49] so
[01:13:49] if there
[01:13:50] were some
[01:13:50] folks
[01:13:51] on chatter
[01:13:52] who are
[01:13:52] upset
[01:13:53] so be
[01:13:54] it
[01:13:56] but
[01:13:57] this
[01:13:58] is one
[01:13:58] of
[01:13:59] this
[01:13:59] this was
[01:14:00] a once
[01:14:00] in a
[01:14:01] lifetime
[01:14:01] moment
[01:14:01] to
[01:14:02] physically
[01:14:02] be
[01:14:03] in the
[01:14:03] building
[01:14:03] when history
[01:14:04] is being
[01:14:04] made
[01:14:06] and I
[01:14:07] chose to
[01:14:07] be
[01:14:07] there
[01:14:12] yeah
[01:14:12] and
[01:14:14] trying
[01:14:14] to take
[01:14:15] the time
[01:14:15] to just
[01:14:17] record
[01:14:17] that on
[01:14:18] the phone
[01:14:18] while I
[01:14:19] was in
[01:14:19] the air
[01:14:19] not really
[01:14:21] I wanted
[01:14:21] to enjoy
[01:14:22] the moment
[01:14:22] and I
[01:14:23] made some
[01:14:24] connections
[01:14:25] while being
[01:14:26] in the
[01:14:26] building
[01:14:28] you know
[01:14:31] and
[01:14:32] hopefully
[01:14:33] we're
[01:14:33] going to
[01:14:34] be able
[01:14:35] to take
[01:14:35] advantage
[01:14:36] of that
[01:14:36] for
[01:14:38] the podcast
[01:14:40] and
[01:14:43] hoping it
[01:14:44] will be
[01:14:44] beneficial
[01:14:45] so
[01:14:48] that's
[01:14:48] that
[01:14:48] but
[01:14:49] it was
[01:14:49] just
[01:14:49] good
[01:14:49] being
[01:14:50] home
[01:14:50] in
[01:14:51] Chicago
[01:14:51] too
[01:14:53] I
[01:14:53] miss
[01:14:54] that
[01:14:54] city
[01:14:54] a lot
[01:14:57] and I
[01:14:58] know
[01:14:58] people
[01:14:58] have
[01:14:59] their
[01:14:59] opinions
[01:14:59] about
[01:15:00] Chicago
[01:15:00] but
[01:15:01] I'm
[01:15:01] going to
[01:15:02] tell
[01:15:02] you
[01:15:03] as
[01:15:04] biased
[01:15:04] as I
[01:15:05] can
[01:15:05] be
[01:15:05] Chicago
[01:15:06] is the
[01:15:06] greatest
[01:15:07] city
[01:15:07] on this
[01:15:07] planet
[01:15:08] barna
[01:15:11] it's
[01:15:11] it
[01:15:12] has
[01:15:12] its
[01:15:13] warts
[01:15:13] it
[01:15:13] has
[01:15:14] its
[01:15:14] faults
[01:15:15] but
[01:15:16] is
[01:15:17] known
[01:15:18] as the
[01:15:18] city
[01:15:19] of
[01:15:19] big
[01:15:19] shoulders
[01:15:19] for a
[01:15:20] reason
[01:15:21] despite
[01:15:22] any
[01:15:23] negatives
[01:15:23] you may
[01:15:24] have
[01:15:25] Chicago
[01:15:26] functions
[01:15:26] Chicago
[01:15:28] is
[01:15:28] beautiful
[01:15:29] Chicago
[01:15:29] is
[01:15:32] captivating
[01:15:35] clean
[01:15:36] whatever
[01:15:37] adjective
[01:15:37] you know
[01:15:37] entertaining
[01:15:38] you can
[01:15:39] find
[01:15:39] whatever
[01:15:39] you want
[01:15:40] if you're
[01:15:40] into sports
[01:15:41] Chicago
[01:15:41] is your
[01:15:42] town
[01:15:42] if you're
[01:15:42] into
[01:15:43] the
[01:15:43] art
[01:15:44] Chicago
[01:15:44] is your
[01:15:45] town
[01:15:45] if you're
[01:15:47] into
[01:15:48] academics
[01:15:48] Chicago
[01:15:49] is your
[01:15:49] town
[01:15:49] anything
[01:15:50] that you
[01:15:51] can
[01:15:51] think
[01:15:51] of
[01:15:51] that
[01:15:53] you
[01:15:53] want
[01:15:53] a
[01:15:53] city
[01:15:53] to
[01:15:54] have
[01:15:54] Chicago
[01:15:55] has
[01:15:55] it
[01:15:57] and
[01:15:59] the
[01:16:00] fact
[01:16:00] that
[01:16:01] it
[01:16:01] is
[01:16:01] the
[01:16:02] most
[01:16:02] centrally
[01:16:02] located
[01:16:03] of the
[01:16:03] three
[01:16:03] major
[01:16:04] cities
[01:16:06] it's
[01:16:11] always
[01:16:11] been a
[01:16:11] transportation
[01:16:12] it's
[01:16:12] just
[01:16:13] a great
[01:16:13] city
[01:16:14] the
[01:16:15] food
[01:16:15] everything
[01:16:17] doesn't matter
[01:16:18] what your
[01:16:18] culinary
[01:16:18] tastes
[01:16:19] are
[01:16:19] Chicago
[01:16:20] I
[01:16:21] guarantee
[01:16:22] you
[01:16:22] has
[01:16:22] a
[01:16:22] restaurant
[01:16:23] for you
[01:16:23] or
[01:16:24] two
[01:16:25] or
[01:16:25] three
[01:16:25] yeah
[01:16:29] so it was
[01:16:30] just fun
[01:16:30] being in
[01:16:31] Chicago
[01:16:32] and
[01:16:34] the convention
[01:16:35] taking advantage
[01:16:36] of some of the
[01:16:36] city's major
[01:16:37] landmarks
[01:16:39] and some of the
[01:16:40] delegates even
[01:16:41] got to
[01:16:41] go to a
[01:16:42] Cubs game
[01:16:44] the way that
[01:16:45] the schedule
[01:16:45] worked out
[01:16:46] so
[01:16:46] you know
[01:16:49] it was just
[01:16:49] it was just
[01:16:50] an amazing
[01:16:51] amazing
[01:16:52] time
[01:16:52] now
[01:16:53] there were
[01:16:54] some
[01:16:54] negatives
[01:16:56] as I
[01:16:57] highlighted
[01:16:57] people were
[01:16:58] protesting
[01:16:58] and one of the
[01:17:00] big issues
[01:17:00] behind the
[01:17:01] scenes was
[01:17:02] that nobody
[01:17:02] from
[01:17:03] that
[01:17:05] viewpoint
[01:17:06] was allowed
[01:17:07] to speak
[01:17:07] now
[01:17:08] there was
[01:17:11] a couple
[01:17:12] whose son
[01:17:13] is being
[01:17:14] held hostage
[01:17:16] one of the
[01:17:17] eight Americans
[01:17:17] that's still
[01:17:18] being held
[01:17:19] hostage
[01:17:20] by Hamas
[01:17:21] they were
[01:17:22] allowed to
[01:17:22] speak
[01:17:23] but then
[01:17:23] there was
[01:17:24] nobody
[01:17:25] allowed to
[01:17:26] speak
[01:17:26] from
[01:17:29] the
[01:17:29] ceasefire
[01:17:31] viewpoint
[01:17:33] and
[01:17:33] there were
[01:17:34] a couple
[01:17:34] of
[01:17:35] Palestinian
[01:17:35] state
[01:17:36] legislators
[01:17:37] that had
[01:17:37] been
[01:17:37] tapped
[01:17:38] to do
[01:17:38] it
[01:17:38] one of
[01:17:39] them
[01:17:39] was
[01:17:39] from
[01:17:39] Georgia
[01:17:41] but
[01:17:42] in
[01:17:42] the
[01:17:42] end
[01:17:43] they
[01:17:43] made
[01:17:44] a call
[01:17:44] not
[01:17:45] to
[01:17:50] same
[01:17:50] time
[01:17:51] so
[01:17:54] you
[01:17:54] will
[01:17:55] understand
[01:17:55] so
[01:17:55] the
[01:17:56] convention
[01:17:56] started
[01:17:58] going by
[01:17:59] central
[01:17:59] time
[01:17:59] the convention
[01:18:00] started
[01:18:00] at 4 o'clock
[01:18:02] that's when
[01:18:03] they started
[01:18:03] letting people
[01:18:04] in
[01:18:04] the actual
[01:18:05] program
[01:18:05] starts
[01:18:06] around
[01:18:07] 530
[01:18:08] and so
[01:18:09] you have
[01:18:09] speakers
[01:18:10] up until then, until 7.
[01:18:13] And then at 7 o'clock was when, you know,
[01:18:18] the program was geared toward a national audience.
[01:18:23] So, you know, an argument could have been made,
[01:18:25] you could have put somebody in between 5.30 and 7.
[01:18:28] They chose not to do that.
[01:18:34] But Vice President Harris
[01:18:37] made a particular emphasis,
[01:18:39] and it was a dramatic moment
[01:18:42] because you hear her directly talking,
[01:18:45] but what you didn't hear in the audience
[01:18:47] was that there were people chanting
[01:18:50] Free Palestine.
[01:18:53] And then the minute that she
[01:18:56] made the declaration that
[01:19:03] Palestinian self-determination
[01:19:05] was going to be part of her administration,
[01:19:08] her agenda,
[01:19:11] that ended.
[01:19:16] So that's just a real-time reaction
[01:19:19] that I saw.
[01:19:21] So it was,
[01:19:22] there was that,
[01:19:23] and then
[01:19:26] there was,
[01:19:27] there was some concern that
[01:19:30] in the Democratic Party platform,
[01:19:32] which they adopted like the first day,
[01:19:38] that there wasn't any specific mention
[01:19:42] of police reform or addressing brutality
[01:19:45] and all that.
[01:19:47] And again,
[01:19:48] in the President's,
[01:19:49] Vice President's remarks,
[01:19:52] she did allude to that.
[01:19:56] And that is something that
[01:19:58] from her previous record
[01:20:01] as Attorney General
[01:20:02] and a DA,
[01:20:03] that she
[01:20:05] has a personal interest in.
[01:20:09] What that will actually look like,
[01:20:11] we will find out in the coming days.
[01:20:12] And considering some of the decisions
[01:20:15] that are happening right now
[01:20:17] in,
[01:20:18] in cases
[01:20:19] that we have covered
[01:20:21] or that we have dealt with
[01:20:23] over the last four years,
[01:20:26] it'll be interesting to hear
[01:20:28] what she has to say specifically
[01:20:31] about
[01:20:32] criminal justice reform,
[01:20:36] police reform,
[01:20:38] the whole nine yards.
[01:20:42] And then the,
[01:20:43] the ultimate issue,
[01:20:44] and I'm going to get more into it
[01:20:45] next week,
[01:20:46] it looks like.
[01:20:48] Because
[01:20:49] there's a bigger picture behind it,
[01:20:51] but I want to address it
[01:20:52] in a fair way.
[01:20:58] It was,
[01:20:59] it was brought up
[01:21:00] and it's kind of
[01:21:01] lighting up social media
[01:21:02] that reparations
[01:21:03] wasn't discussed at all.
[01:21:04] In 2020,
[01:21:06] it actually was a question
[01:21:07] that when the presidential debates,
[01:21:09] it still might be a question
[01:21:10] at the presidential debate
[01:21:14] in September,
[01:21:15] but
[01:21:16] it wasn't mentioned at all
[01:21:20] at the convention.
[01:21:22] and,
[01:21:26] you know,
[01:21:27] so there were some people
[01:21:28] and I noticed
[01:21:29] this,
[01:21:29] this brother,
[01:21:32] Ernest Krim,
[01:21:33] who's a history teacher.
[01:21:36] he's,
[01:21:37] he teaches in Chicago.
[01:21:38] So he was,
[01:21:39] he attended some events
[01:21:41] and he,
[01:21:41] he gets
[01:21:44] minority leader,
[01:21:46] Jeffries,
[01:21:49] in a one-on-one.
[01:21:51] And,
[01:21:52] you know,
[01:21:52] Jeffries basically told him
[01:21:53] the history of HR 40
[01:21:57] and,
[01:21:57] you know,
[01:21:59] with Sheila Jackson Lee
[01:22:00] passing
[01:22:02] and a declining health.
[01:22:04] Prior to that,
[01:22:05] it was,
[01:22:06] kind of killed the momentum,
[01:22:08] not to mention
[01:22:09] that the Republicans
[01:22:09] in the House
[01:22:10] weren't going to let it happen.
[01:22:12] So,
[01:22:13] he made a commitment
[01:22:14] to
[01:22:15] Professor Krim
[01:22:18] on his social media platform
[01:22:20] that
[01:22:21] if
[01:22:22] the House,
[01:22:23] if he's the speaker,
[01:22:26] then
[01:22:27] they will
[01:22:29] push that through.
[01:22:32] Hopefully,
[01:22:33] there'll be a majority
[01:22:34] in the Senate
[01:22:35] to push it through.
[01:22:37] And,
[01:22:38] and what we're talking
[01:22:39] about is a study,
[01:22:41] not,
[01:22:42] not actual
[01:22:43] reparations.
[01:22:44] It'll be a study
[01:22:45] committee
[01:22:46] approved
[01:22:48] to figure out
[01:22:49] financially
[01:22:51] and policy-wise
[01:22:53] what would represent
[01:22:56] reparations.
[01:22:57] It would allow
[01:22:57] for
[01:22:58] people in the community
[01:23:01] to
[01:23:02] express
[01:23:05] what they would
[01:23:06] want to see.
[01:23:07] Right?
[01:23:08] So,
[01:23:09] we'll see how that goes.
[01:23:13] But,
[01:23:14] and like I said,
[01:23:16] I'm going to,
[01:23:16] I'm going to deal
[01:23:17] with that a little more.
[01:23:18] So,
[01:23:19] I just,
[01:23:21] I just
[01:23:21] bring it up
[01:23:22] because
[01:23:23] as beautiful
[01:23:24] and as exciting
[01:23:26] as that convention
[01:23:27] was,
[01:23:27] it was clearly
[01:23:28] better than
[01:23:29] the Republican convention.
[01:23:31] I am so glad
[01:23:32] I didn't
[01:23:33] try
[01:23:34] to
[01:23:35] get to
[01:23:36] Milwaukee
[01:23:37] because what
[01:23:38] I saw on television
[01:23:39] compared to
[01:23:41] what I experienced
[01:23:41] in Chicago
[01:23:42] is no.
[01:23:45] It just,
[01:23:51] I know,
[01:23:52] you know,
[01:23:53] you know that
[01:23:53] I'm not
[01:23:55] unbiased
[01:23:57] when it comes to
[01:23:58] this.
[01:24:00] The program
[01:24:01] is unbiased,
[01:24:02] but not me.
[01:24:05] and so,
[01:24:07] I expressed
[01:24:08] my opinion,
[01:24:08] but
[01:24:10] my,
[01:24:10] I guess
[01:24:13] whatever,
[01:24:13] whatever opinion
[01:24:14] you got,
[01:24:15] you can come on.
[01:24:18] but I'm so glad
[01:24:19] that I went
[01:24:20] and
[01:24:23] I hope
[01:24:24] that this show
[01:24:28] expresses
[01:24:29] how much
[01:24:30] I enjoyed it
[01:24:31] and
[01:24:32] it was informative
[01:24:33] for you.
[01:24:35] It was worth
[01:24:36] me going
[01:24:37] in other words.
[01:24:39] So,
[01:24:41] we will be
[01:24:42] back to
[01:24:43] quote unquote
[01:24:44] normal
[01:24:45] next week
[01:24:46] as far as
[01:24:50] how the
[01:24:51] program's
[01:24:51] laid out,
[01:24:52] but I just,
[01:24:53] you know,
[01:24:54] because it was
[01:24:54] a special event,
[01:24:56] it was something
[01:24:58] really,
[01:24:58] really important
[01:24:59] for the podcast
[01:25:00] to be present
[01:25:01] at.
[01:25:03] And,
[01:25:05] yeah,
[01:25:06] so,
[01:25:06] don't be surprised
[01:25:08] if some things
[01:25:09] kick off
[01:25:10] down the road
[01:25:12] because of
[01:25:13] this podcast
[01:25:16] being physically
[01:25:17] present and
[01:25:17] represented
[01:25:18] at the
[01:25:19] Denver Crack
[01:25:19] National Convention.
[01:25:21] All right,
[01:25:22] guys,
[01:25:22] that's it for me.
[01:25:23] Until next time.