Gavin Newsom Wants ALL THE SMOKE With Donald Trump, MAGA Knee Pads & $400 Million Dollar Bribes

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to all the smoke. Jack it's been a minute. Broad.
Last time I seen you, your brains were like two
inches shorter on the back of your neck and you
came dripped and yeah, I heard him snapping. Yeah, it's
good to see you. See you man today, we got
a good one. Everybody knows how much I'm into politics

(00:21):
and policy, and when I got the call from my
guy Chris about this one, I was really excited. Yeah,
come on, Chris and John, we got some cool shit
coming with him. We'll tell you about that later. But anyway, man,
welcome to the show. The Governor of California, Gavin Newsom,
my guy. Thank you.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
That's my guy.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
Guy.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
I don't know what that's my guy.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
I want to get this out the way, off the rip.
When you were mayor of San Francisco, What the hell
were you thinking when you made April twelfth, two thousand
and eight, Stephen Jackson Day.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
See what they don't know is I was in the
community waiting for all the George Floyd if I've been doing,
I just don't know.

Speaker 4 (01:03):
Tell look at that, look at that hanging out and
bay View Man, Western Edition.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
We were everywhere.

Speaker 4 (01:09):
That's it, man, community. See, he was a community leader,
not just a leader on the floor.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Yeah, you didn't see it. You didn't see him after dark.
But I feel you.

Speaker 4 (01:17):
No, you're just aw You're all rob But I didn't
do one for you.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
Man.

Speaker 4 (01:23):
You know, depending how this thing goes, maybe I can
do one.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
Yeah, state ain't no telling.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
And the basketball court is still there as well. We
had we did a basketball court to the city.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
So yeah, tell us about that day and how special
it was to you because we were creating this rundown
and Jack's like, you know, he gave me a day.
I was like, huh, yes, I remember you telling me.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
About to Nita Berry that was working for the Warriors
at the time.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
When I got there, I was coming from a situation
where I got some trouble and then it was helping.
I wanted to clean my image up and I was
already already doing stuff in the community, and Oakland just
felt like a bigger port. Author went out the textas
it felt like a big home to me. So I
just got in the community, start doing things and it
just felt natural to the point where I was doing
something every weekend.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
I wanted to donate the court, giving.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
Stuff back and I was on it, uh, by you
and the city, and it was just something that I
never thought I have. But as of today, I have
four days in four cities, four different states. Can we
get a little.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Much. You set the tone, right, Yeah, he set the tone.

Speaker 4 (02:29):
That's kind of like monopoly. Maybe you can turn those
in for a key.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
Yeah. Yeah, Well you know you have.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
Upgrade four keys to four cities to four states.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
Yeah, yea what I'm talking about.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
So I appreciate it.

Speaker 4 (02:42):
I love that. First of all, I love that you
remember that. But also those days were fun. We started
literally going to Bayview and we did something I remember
never forget around those same years two thousand and six,
seven eight, back in the we believed it and we
started doing these basketball tournaments and we did March Gladness,
not March Madness. And it was with the Mayor's office,

(03:03):
the police department, and with folks in the community and
everyone sort of com mingling, everybody working together, and it
was just about relationship building and it was about trust
nothing else. Uh, But it was also about bonding with
the community and part of the city that people had
forgotten about. And we joke about it. Nine it's nine
four one two four as a zip code in Bayview.

(03:24):
I come from nine four one two three. That difference three.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
To four, that's big.

Speaker 4 (03:31):
I mean, come on night and day man from the
Marina District to Bayview. And for me, as a guy
I grew up in the Marina District, I made a
commitment to folks West Point, Middle Point. I'll never forget.
It was one of my last stops is as a
candidate for mayor, and I said I'm going to come back.
Everyone's like, yeah, coming back. No one comes back. And

(03:54):
I kept coming back over and over and over and
over and over and over again. And anyway, just a
point of you know, just now you're getting reminded myself
of these things, but also a point of pride those
relationships in that community.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
I love it. How's life? I mean every day you
wake up fighting a good fight. You're doing the hell
of a job. And I'm reposting and retreating. How's life
right now?

Speaker 4 (04:18):
I mean we're fighting. Man. Yes, I can't take what's
going on. I mean, nobles, I can't take it every
single day, every single hour. And it's not even about
DEM's versus Republicans, about this country and what we stand for.
Me they're literally putting American reverse, I mean quite literally
to a pre nineteen sixties world. You got the Supreme

(04:38):
Court talking about getting rid of the Voting Rights Act,
and that's very real. That may likely happen in just
a matter of months. I mean, they're rewriting history, sensory
and historical facts. It's an unsucking believable moment. All this
anti woke stuff is just anti black period, full stop.

(04:59):
All the CRT ESG DEI stuff, that's all this is.
It's this great purge and it's happening in real time.
And I'm just I'm sitting here and I feel like,
you know, luckily i'm governor, but like we're not doing enough.
We're not calling this out, we're not drawing a line here.
And again, it's not about Democrats or Republicans. It's about
who we've right. Wrong, man, Yeah, goddamn wrong. Daylight in darkness.

Speaker 1 (05:22):
I feel like anytime you want to make it harder
to vote, that means you can't stand and win with
your policy. Anytime you want to make it tougher for
people to have access to what our rights are, you
can't stand on what your policy is.

Speaker 4 (05:36):
Period. I mean, look, come on, where do we even
unpack this? Jesus, Oh, come on, I mean, this is
this is exactly why the President United States did something
unprecedented and he picked up the phone and he called
the governor of Texas and he says, I need five seats.
And this unprecedented. Never has a president of the United

(05:58):
States ever made a call and told a sitting governor
that you need to redistrict to get me five seats
because I'm quote unquote entitled to them for exactly the
reason you just said. Because he knows he's losing. He
knows he's unpopular in every single key category, and he's
going to lose the midterm elections. So the only way

(06:21):
that he can win is to rig it, to play
by his own set of rules or no rules at all.
And that's precisely what he did. Successfully. They got five
seats out of that, and we had a decision to make.
We can hold a candili visual, we could talk about
the way the world should be, I can write an
op ed and express concern about our country, or we

(06:44):
can step up. And so we're deciding we got this
proposition Prop. Fifty. But also you've seen it with my
social media. You've seen it with sort of a clarity,
of sort of conviction in terms of my point of view,
and really pushing back against all this.

Speaker 3 (06:58):
We had some great memories when we were in Oakland.

Speaker 2 (07:02):
We had some great times.

Speaker 3 (07:03):
The city was totally different twenty twenty five of the
crime and theft of down. What have you done to
reverse the way the city used to be because it was
way worse than we were.

Speaker 4 (07:12):
Well, I'll tell you. I mean a couple of years
ago in Oakland in particular, things were out of control
and it was interesting. I'll never forget. I had a
community meeting up in Sacramento where folks just demanded me
with me. I had some just legends and bishops and
community leer's just to mean the whole panopily small business.

(07:34):
Everybody came up there, went around and did this little
tabletop and one of the bishops, I mean, this is
how intents and bad things were. One of the bishops
goes to me and goes, after listening everybody else says,
I just have two words, and I said, what are they?
Goes Smith and Wesson. I'm like, damn, he goes, I
can't take a governor. You need to send more police.

(07:56):
This is out of control. And this from a person
of more authority that talks about what lies underneath and
how we have to deal with the underlying causes of
crime and violence, says not right now, you got to intervene.
It's out of control. And we did that with their permission,
with the community support, the head of the NAACP encouraging

(08:19):
and supporting a new partnership with our California Highway Patrol
just to put bodies on the street and just to
distill a sense of well being as we began and
knew our efforts to address some of the more systemic issues.
But that was a moment of clarity for me that
the community was like, don't give me your ten point
plan that's going to manifest over twenty years. We need

(08:41):
it now. And that arrested a lot of anxiety. And
as a consequence of that, incredible community work and a
lot of systemic change, things have turned the corner. San
Francisco's their homicie rates is seventy year low. We did
the same thing in San Francisco. It was an intervention
both in San Francisco and Oakland. We've done it now
Bakersfield and San Bernardino partnership new one here in Los

(09:05):
Angeles just about a month old, and again it's just
about recognizing new realities. Doesn't mean we walk away from
our values, our core values, doesn't mean we walk away
from these long term systemic investments. But at the same time,
we've got to meet the community where they are.

Speaker 3 (09:21):
It's a two part question. We know it's a lot
of work to do in Oakan to get it back.
What are some things that they can do to bring
Oakland back to life like it wasn't we was playing
there like it had some life in the city. And
also explain Oakland at the purest form when you remember
it open, when it was at his best.

Speaker 4 (09:40):
I mean, I've known Oakland for fifty years. Man. I
grew up in San Francisco, ended up moving to Maring County,
spend half my time in Marin City. Two foster brothers
that I got to know that became foster brothers because
I spent so much time in Rerin City from the families.

(10:01):
And you know, I'm one of my closest friends, Marshawn Lynch,
who is Oakland personified. Hell, we start a podcast together
politically and and and and Marshawn's passion for Oakland, I
mean second to no one and getting me out there
walking the streets, going on these bike rides with Marshawan,

(10:21):
which is a whole another Who's who's that? Who's that
guy with the tie on? How he doing? So trying
to just do the thing you can't do through legislation.
You can't legislate spirit, you can't legislate pride. Got to
manifest it to your question, and that's what's been missing

(10:43):
for too long in Oakland and we've got to restore that.
I mean, I joke about it with you guys, and
I know you've talked about a ton. I mean you
lived it, but that we believe cam and those were
like those are special years man to like is that
I mean that represent don Nelson come on next level?
I mean Steve, Steve's fan for all of us now,
but but not what that represented with you guys, sort

(11:04):
of that peak and how performing and falling short. I
think you guys had some crazy ass. I remember he
was the NBA version of Bad News Bear. It was
a Bad News Bearers, Yeah, but it was, but it was,
but it was there was a spirit to that you'd
walk into that. There was no other arena like that,
no other arena like that. With all due respect to
what we have now, you walked into that that was

(11:26):
a different.

Speaker 2 (11:26):
It was energy.

Speaker 1 (11:27):
I mean I had Steve, you know, because I went
back and finished my career there and won a championship
and retired in seventeen. But I was talking to Steve
and he was just like, hey, I was doing TV
at that time, and to this day, there's never been
a louder arena. He's like, despite all the greatness this
team has had and accomplished, he's like, there was never anything.
I want to kind of piggyback on the sports side,

(11:49):
because obviously Oakland is the first city in the history
to lose all three professional sports teams, and I'm sure
that has a lot to do with how life is
over there now.

Speaker 4 (11:58):
And I grew up the Ricky Henderson, my god, my
favorite player. One of my favorite TV commercials, you know,
like a countdown clock. It was just his hands, let
it going like this, and then it was like Jesus,
I mean, come on and h and so just watching,

(12:18):
you know, obviously what just happened with the A's and
into Vegas. We tried everything we could to help Oakland
with with the Raiders. And I'm close with Mark Davis,
and you know, I consider him a friend. Today, it's
no indictment to him because I sincerely I know people
really turn on him. I don't think this. I know
this how he went the extra mile over the course

(12:41):
of years saying, just help me close this gap, help
me figure this out. He was sincere about it. And
I also candidly was part of the problem with the Warriors.
Let mean be full disclosure. I was sitting there as
mayor of San Francisco and there was all this buzz
about maybe they'd move. You know, I'm mayor of San Francisco,

(13:02):
and I'm like, and there was that sort of temptation
as mayor to be competitive. And I'll never forget to this.
I don't know. I don't think I've ever shared this.
I'll never forget getting a call from Larry Ellison and
he calls me up. He says, we were working on
America's Cup, which we got into San Francisco. He says,

(13:26):
add this to your announcements. We're gonna announce America's Cup.
But I'm buying the Warriors. I'm like, and I'm moving
it to San Francisco. I'm like, unbelievable. I'm the mayor
of San Francisco. I'm about to announce we're moving the
team as bad as I didn't, you know, not appreciating
the other side, right and that, but just from a
competitive side. And then I never forget that Friday comes.

(13:46):
I'm like, so they just announced the team announced that
my folks walk in said team was just sold. I said, fantastic,
said so when's Ellison? He says, no, Ellison didn't buy it.
He fell short. There's some new group. I don't know Lake,
I know who the new group. Well, I didn't know
these guys, and I remember just like my heart sank
like damn. And then I only to see I became

(14:08):
lieutenant governor and the next mayor announced the team was
moving to its original site. But look to your point, man,
no city has been devastated like and it was looking
it was a city that punched above its way too.
Oh right, I mean, how the hell? I mean the Raiders,
the Raiders, Fred Bullittna Cough and Kenny Snake's Stabler Hendrickson,

(14:31):
all these guys, Man branch Uh.

Speaker 1 (14:33):
So that's my second cousin, branch.

Speaker 4 (14:35):
Is that right? Yeah, yeah, see that's next level, mate.
You should have started with that. It will give me credibility.

Speaker 2 (14:41):
That's when they moved to Wars.

Speaker 3 (14:43):
For a lot of us guys that was there doing
the we believe that they kind of killed us because
we weren't just playing for like the city and team,
like the people that worked there. It was a lot
of older people that worked there that was surviving off
having those jobs and opening and when that left it,
like you know, it's like what about those people?

Speaker 2 (14:59):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 3 (15:00):
That's that's that's why when that's the only thing I
didn't like about the team moving the time fan Sisco
because a lot of people there, their whole life worked
at that arena, you know what I mean, and a
lot of livelihoods was taken from you.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
It became a business. I mean, it's the warrior is
because the on the court product was so good, it
became a business. And we understood that. I mean, used
to be able to smell weed in Oracle, you know,
it used to be a cloud above the court, you
know what I mean? And that was art era.

Speaker 5 (15:24):
Before illegal said this is the face talk about that
in a moment.

Speaker 4 (15:37):
But you know, it's interesting. Uh what you just said,
it's so interesting, no bs. When Marshaun went back left
obviously Seattle retired, uh, and then decided to play another
year at Oakland, he literally, I'll never forget. I said,
what now you doing? I said, it's amazing. I'm so
excited because I'm like, this is great. I want to
see back on the field. He goes, Man, you know,

(15:58):
it's for all these guys that he had a whole
right about that where he just said, these guys I
grew up with. These guys are losing their job. We
need to bring this back. And if you remember that
that season he played, he was out there on the
side of dancing and it won two inches Shorter was like,
you know, like and it's like in the middle of
the game, even they're down twenty points and people are

(16:19):
just going just trying to bring that spirit back, that pride, man,
And that's what sports. Look, you know, a lot of
people can dismiss sports, can't It brings people together. And
we just opened up on America and reverse this country
being torn apart around racial, religious, and ethnic lines and
every conceivable line red and blue. But there's still this

(16:42):
forgive me. But this sort of red, white and blue
that exists and persist with sports, and that's why I
don't want to see if sports politicized, I don't want
to see it weaponized. It's that last bastion and I
think it really really matters in that respect.

Speaker 1 (17:00):
Before we leave the Oakland conversation, best we Believe memory
or best Nelly memory? You have any stories or we
got some? But do you have any? No?

Speaker 4 (17:11):
Look, I mean, you know, I just I think about
just those Bay Area days growing up in the comanos eighties.
You know, I looked more like vanilla ice and well
that's a whole other conversation. But you know, they had
a flock of seagulls here. I don't even start with
the eighties. I hope there's no time for it.

Speaker 1 (17:32):
We're gonna we're gonna fron definitely find those photos, no question.

Speaker 4 (17:35):
But it's but oak it was you know, it wasn't
just Oka's but I mean, you guys appreciate it. Mean Valeo,
it was East Bay, and it was the Bay in
the Bay Bridge series and what the Bay Bridge represented
in that respect in Richmond, and you know, and and
just in the music scene was off the charts, man,
I mean that was funny. Gods More, it's just texting

(17:56):
E forty on something we just did today around insulin,
who's so active and what you know. He's a great guy,
obviously a huge warrior fan. Man, he's just like that.
But I mean, like I remember the idea even got
to meet you forty and got to know him. Man,
it was like a kid. He was there and I
was like, damn and too short, all these guys, and
then you had Tupac was a Marine City kid that

(18:18):
was like my bag went to tam High School. I
went to Redoo High School. I'm like Jesus, and I
mean you look back. I mean that was just a
different thing and again it's different still today and we've
got to sort of distill. I mean, that's the energy
we need back, and that's the work we have to do.
And that's just community building, man. And that's not a
politician selling anything down. That's got to be bottom up,

(18:40):
but it's got to be We've got to create the
conditions where people can find that sense of confidence, hope
and build community again and trust. And if there's one
thing that that's fraid out there, it's that sense of community,
inability to keep your door open. The idea that you know,
if your kids out there and up that you know this,

(19:02):
the other kids, families uncles going to say, come on,
get your aspects of village. Takes a village and and
that's that's that's the work we have to do.

Speaker 2 (19:11):
That's how we grew up. Let's go back to young yg.
Young Gaff.

Speaker 1 (19:19):
Started him, started him, Why g young? What was you?

Speaker 2 (19:25):
What were you into as a team, that's young?

Speaker 4 (19:30):
What was I into?

Speaker 1 (19:31):
Yeah? Baseball? I heard you were baseball, baseball guy, and
I was.

Speaker 2 (19:35):
I was a baseball player.

Speaker 4 (19:36):
I was obsessed with It's interesting I was at the time,
and forgive me father my sin. Back then, I was
a big Celtic fan, which was interesting, crazy, obsessed with
unheard of number seventeen all my life because I loved hablecheck. Yeah,
and that's why I love Mullin too, because you know

(19:57):
the same thing. He's a lefty. I was a lefty
obsessed with basketball and baseball. Divorce, classic divorce. Family. My
dad was great, later reconnected. Yeah he was never terrible,
but he just wasn't. He didn't raise us. My mom
was nineteen pregnant and divorced a few years later with

(20:19):
two kids. Came from no money and just hustled, you know,
worked hard, riding every single day. Two two and a
half jobs, no bullshit, literally two two and a half jobs,
part time book keeper, she did restaurant. That's how I
got in the restaurant business. She was a waitress for
years and years, and a part time property manager basically
just opening up and closing up rentals. And she just
taught me hard work and grit. And I struggled, couldn't

(20:42):
really read or write, bounced around a bunch of different schools,
and she said, we got to get out of San Francisco,
you're falling behind. Had pretty severe aslexia, and we end
up in Marine County, and and she just hustled.

Speaker 3 (20:56):
Man.

Speaker 4 (20:56):
We had roommates all the time because she couldn't afford
the rent. We our garage. There was a car. I
always said it was my car, wasn't my car because
we were running out for fifty bucks a month so
someone can store their car. I ended up being a
foster family. Yes, to help, you know, Sulaiman and Lard,
Joe and these guys. Stephen Ashby my buddy. But also

(21:17):
you know, it was also about paying the bills, man,
And it was just like hustling. And and so I
was out there kind of raising myself, turning on the TV.
Started you know, just getting obsessed, you know, sitting there
with the you know, the wonderbread and five stacks of
you know, like the white come on every day every

(21:48):
day in the backyard, just bouncing the basketball, throwing the
ball against the wall until the ball is just like fraying, man,
And that's it whole thing. So just and and then
you know, then this dident that was shitty students in
the back of his head down all of a sudden
started throwing the baseball a little fashion than everyone else
and started, you know, make a few free throws because

(22:08):
I was sitting there practicing five hundred of them every
damn night. And in high schools, I look up in
the stands. My dad's back up there, okay, and it's like, man,
and then he's bringing his friends and your captain of
the team, and you're like geez, you know, and it
just saved me. And it got me into college baseball.
I was like, I got a zero scholarship, but it
was the ticket, man. I was going to College of marine,

(22:30):
it's going to JC. Man. You know, I was ninety
sixty or nine eighty on my s A T and
that was cool. Like my mom's like it's okay, it's
okay to be average. Not sure that was the best
thing to say.

Speaker 2 (22:40):
Something that was good.

Speaker 4 (22:42):
Yeah, I thought you wasted.

Speaker 1 (22:47):
I think you get They couldn't. They couldn't average x
three scores to get.

Speaker 2 (22:57):
My basketball. I average couldn't get my score. That was crazy.

Speaker 4 (23:02):
So anyway, it got me into college. Man. So I'm
I'm here for two reasons. I'm here because of my
mom but and her her everything, but in politics from
this one guy Willie Brown, and and and because of sports,
which just gave me a sense of confidence. I didn't
have anything else. And so it's not I'm not bullshitting

(23:22):
you when I say the value I place. I mean
the value obviously you guys professionally and success and everyone
next level. But for me, just success at that level,
to stay out of trouble, to give a shit about
my teammates and not fuck up and not sitting there,
you know, smoking krakatoa whatever those you know back in
the day, like those weird ass cigarettes or smoking you

(23:44):
know whatever. Just kept me from getting this.

Speaker 2 (23:49):
My question though, before we go on compare a player
that's your game was like.

Speaker 4 (23:57):
I've the worst two people in my head. Uh he
just driving me great.

Speaker 3 (24:01):
Uh well, as you said, you like Chris Mullin, but
that don't mean your game was like you, oh what
you said you want to.

Speaker 4 (24:08):
Make I don't want to make sure that much, my
little eighteen footer. You know you don't buy it.

Speaker 1 (24:12):
So you had Jimmy No.

Speaker 4 (24:14):
I mean, I look, I was Will Clark was my
baseball hero, and I just tried to through. I mean,
I just I used to videotape. I have eight track
tapes like hundreds of or whatever, the VHS S tapes
of just him just editing every bat and just studying it,
just studying that sweet swim from the left side. And
then in basketball, I was, I just I was, you know,

(24:34):
it was more of a Danny Ainge tyme. Okay, just scrap.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
Well we got yeah, you got to have everybody loves.

Speaker 4 (24:41):
And he's just you know, kind of in your face
and just diving at the balls, just going. But I like,
you know you had that with Bird too. Man, That
dude would just slide. So when I see someone slide
jump in the stands.

Speaker 1 (24:51):
You love it?

Speaker 4 (24:52):
I love it.

Speaker 3 (24:52):
I for five points drafted me. So you're saying all
the stuff related that.

Speaker 1 (24:59):
Let let to check you.

Speaker 4 (25:00):
No what I think it is time for that key.
We're gonna trade that day. I don't know its ecided
about you.

Speaker 1 (25:08):
We might have to get that ancestry dot com n
I l A lot of people don't know that you've
brought to life the fair Play Act. Can you explain
how that came about and process?

Speaker 4 (25:23):
Could you apologize everyone watching?

Speaker 1 (25:25):
Well, I think I mean in fairness to you. I thought,
and we all thought, obviously athletes should be compensated for
what they're bringing to the table, for what the schools
have been making off of our backs and not touching. Obviously,
Ed Obannon is a brother of ours. I think right
now it's got to where it's kind of the wild
wild West. But at the same time, I think it
has to be something because at the end of the day,

(25:46):
ninety nine percent of student athletes don't go pro So no.

Speaker 4 (25:51):
For all those reasons. I signed it, and it's interesting.
I signed it with Lebron on the shop. It's kind
of wild. I brought the bill. I've never done that
and did it with him, which was wild on every level,
but it was important and Ron and his team were
unbelievably helpful and helping us get it across because we're

(26:11):
the first in the country to do And it was
all just this notion had I on name, image, likeness,
and I didn't know about the portal. I didn't you know,
didn't fully appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (26:20):
Yeah, is that right?

Speaker 4 (26:21):
Yeah, the phone starts ringing?

Speaker 1 (26:22):
Is that?

Speaker 4 (26:23):
Yeah, that's a cush up. That's the portal.

Speaker 1 (26:26):
Fucking age God, yeah, finish his thought.

Speaker 4 (26:30):
No, it's but it's uh it morphed. I mean the
last couple of years into something wildly different, I mean,
radically changed college sports and increasingly high school too.

Speaker 1 (26:39):
It.

Speaker 4 (26:39):
I mean, but now they're right sizing it. They're sort
of trying, they're figuring it out. It's I think it's
sort of finding itself and we're finding our path back.

Speaker 1 (26:47):
Yeah. I think there needs to be some regulations in
the portal. You know, I think I remember back in
our days, if you transferred, you had to sit out
a year whatever. And I don't want to be that drastic,
but your kids shouldn't be playing for four different teams
in four years kids shouldn't We're also going to talk
kids shouldn't be twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight. Excuse me,
those are grown men I'm talking about, but still in
college playing and taking the opportunities away from seventeen and

(27:08):
eighteen year old because to me, college is supposed to
be a development stop and obviously a free education for
athletes that get their scholarship, you know, hopefully spawn off
into the next level. And one thing that's really bothered
me obviously, I'm a father with kids. You know, I
got four sons coming down the pipeline. But you see
twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight year old dudes playing sports, Like,
come on, bro, like go get your education. The shit

(27:29):
is over, you know. I mean, so, I just feel
like there needs to be As a father, I feel
like there needs to be an age limit to be
able to play sports. And I understand put some people
go on missions and all this kind of stuff. I
think it should be an age limit. I think there
should be some porter regulation. And then, like you said,
the Nile, the money side is starting to kind of
regulate with what the schools are getting. But again, I
think overall, it was a great idea and it just

(27:52):
needs some more boundaries.

Speaker 4 (27:54):
No total exploitation, man. I mean these coaches getting twenty
five million dollar contracts, these kids on food STAPs, making
millions and millions of dollars for programs, blowing it up
with broadcast and advertisers, everybody making a buck. And then
these kids, to your point, ninety nine percent are never
going pro and this is the best thing that may
happen financially them. Sure there may be an academic please,

(28:15):
I mean, let's have that conversation, right right, they're student athletes,
really student athletes for these division. Come on, it sounds good.
So it's Look, it was the right thing to do.
Obviously it was a race, and that everybody now is
competing in that respect. I mean, look, my biggest concern
about college sports is I think it's inevitable that it
gets privatized in some respects. You got private equity that's

(28:38):
looking to buy out teams, buy out these things. I mean, this,
it's all it's morphin in. My bigger concern with four kids,
and I'm curious the two of you with your children
is and it's not an indictment, but I've got four
kids all in club sports and how that's become goddamn
professional pretty many?

Speaker 1 (28:56):
Yeah, the hell is that?

Speaker 2 (28:57):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (28:57):
I don't get it because I think we all did
the same. I grew I lettered in force sports in
high school, and I went from one sport to another sport,
to another sport to another sport. But now in this
day and age, if you play outside of your main sport,
you almost get behind. But then at the same time,
a lot of these kids burn out either turn of
someone sent me something the other day or just this morning.

(29:18):
Where the top five kids in class of twenty twenty two,
was that it? And if the top five kids in
class of twenty twenty two only one of them in
the NBA, and those are the top five players, money
and everything, And it's just like there's I think when
you make it a job too early and it becomes
a job, it's a beautiful job when you get to
where he and I rat and it's the business and

(29:39):
you get paid, well, it's a job. But I feel
like parents now are some are vicariously living through their kids.
But it's twelve months for kids, and that's too much.
You can't force the gift e though.

Speaker 3 (29:49):
You can't force a gift, like, if it's gonna happen,
it's gonna happen, you know what I mean. Support your
kids whatever they want to do, get behind them one
hundred ten percent. But you can't force what God has
as for them. It don't work like that. And a
lot of parents are doing it. It's passed living through
their kids. They're trying to force something to happen that
might not be meant for their kids, right and that

(30:10):
and that kills kids confidence, That kills their motivation and
kill it kills every all the drive that they have
to be something in life because you're forcing me to
be something. It's not what I want to do. And
I'm putting all my time in it. Now I'm successful.
Now I'm not successful in it. I'm crushed. Kids confidence
is crushed. So the parents got to stop doing that.
That's what I think they're doing instead of it more
just living through them. They're trying to force something to

(30:31):
happen that they ain't meant to have.

Speaker 1 (30:32):
And one more thing too, before we get off this topic,
I think to the coaches in it, aren't coaching anymore.
It's a money play now and everyone will and I
get you want to win but we came in it
and I feel like we're falling behind. And as you know,
Black Americans and baseball. In basketball, it's becoming an overwater game.
Like it's just like everyone wants to make the money

(30:55):
off the tournament and make the money for the fees,
but you're not teaching the kids how to play the
essence of the game we grew up loving. Again, it's
it's it's more of a business now at a younger age,
which is which is hurting our kids in the long rund.

Speaker 4 (31:07):
How the hell do you? I mean, I get three sports?

Speaker 1 (31:09):
How the hell do you have four? Track? Footballast baseball?

Speaker 4 (31:12):
So you did the track I knew they.

Speaker 1 (31:14):
I figured football, baseball, all American football and basketball, but
tracking baseball, I just did it just out of trouble.

Speaker 4 (31:20):
Is it not the case?

Speaker 1 (31:20):
Too?

Speaker 3 (31:21):
American softball was nice softball?

Speaker 4 (31:26):
Damn good? Like just whatever it is.

Speaker 1 (31:29):
Something like it, maybe not him, but something like him,
something like that.

Speaker 4 (31:37):
Okay, let's unwind that. But it's but also part of
that is you're you're you're you're now bringing in to
wherever you land in terms of that sport that is
the one you're excelling at most. You're bringing in those
skills and the attributes from those other experiences that otherwise
you wouldn't have. You get the footwork from a soccer
player in the basketball you see.

Speaker 1 (31:59):
This from foot ball? Yeah, all of it.

Speaker 4 (32:01):
No, but that's a well, the whole club thing is something,
and just the money in that space and then in
knocking out from a socio economic perspective, locking out folks,
it simply cannot afford all that travel, cannot afford the
hotel rooms, can't afford, the time off work, can't afford
the private seems like everybody in the club day has
a damn private trainer.

Speaker 1 (32:18):
And a lot of these trainers ain't done ship in
their life to be able to be a trainer.

Speaker 3 (32:22):
Got cut from the Church league, yo, all that you
made you made the Church league team.

Speaker 2 (32:30):
They've got cut from the.

Speaker 1 (32:31):
Church charging one hund one hundred and fifty dollars an hour? Like, bro,
what's your accolades?

Speaker 2 (32:35):
Bro?

Speaker 1 (32:36):
I'm not hating on any what's your accolades? To be
charging this much?

Speaker 4 (32:38):
One couldn't by the way, master.

Speaker 2 (32:40):
Can cross fit?

Speaker 3 (32:43):
Okay, you know we call we raced you to the
name YG. Let's get to your og. Willie Brown, you said,
I'm standing here because of Willie Brown.

Speaker 2 (32:51):
That was a simple pointment that changed the trajectory of
my life.

Speaker 4 (32:55):
You explain that, I mean, come on, he fucked me out.
I was running a small business, got right out of
call pt pen to paper. I had thirteen investors seventy
five hundred bucks each, open a little business with a
part time employee, Pat Kelly, who just passed away. She
was with us for almost thirty years and just was grinding,

(33:17):
happy but complaining about doing business in San Francisco. And
I was in the newspaper saying, the hell's going on
this new mayor Willie Brown ain't done shit for small business.
It's bullshit that all. And then get a phone call
says the mayor would like to have you down a
city hall. It was around would like to say he

(33:38):
would like to appoint you to the film Commission. I'm like,
how do you the commission?

Speaker 1 (33:41):
How old are you at this time?

Speaker 4 (33:42):
Early twenty five, twenty six, And I'm like, film com
I've died and gone to heaven, got my little business,
and I'm going to be in the film Commission. I
love movies. Get down there to get sworn in. About
fifty people he's swearing a bunch of commissioners and he
goes and Gavin newsom DA DA DA the new chair
of the Parking and Traffic Commission, And I'm like, what
the hell just happened? I had no idea what chair

(34:03):
even like the president of Parking and Traffic a real job.
And I'll never forget kron for News was there and that,
you know, like, which was a big deal to me
back in the day. They asked me my vision on
parking and traffic. I'm like, dude, I like, if that
tape ever you want hit pieces? Do you think that that?
I mean, that original interview is pretty much going to
end any prospects I have for anything else and inspiration desperation. Man,

(34:28):
I'm sitting there, I'm chairing it. And nine months later
there's a vacancy on our county Board of Supervisors and
for whatever reason, tag I was it. And just that's
why I'm here. It's always had my back. I've screwed
up a million times. No one more loyal than Willie
Brown when I'm doing too well, no one more willing
to challenge me and call you know, called me out.

(34:50):
You ain't all that important, too very important and you know,
he's ninety years young plus, and it's just they don't
make it like him anymore. And the coin of the
realm is just relationships, trust truth. He was a social
justice warrior, racial justice war, economic justice where his values

(35:11):
were there. But he was a practitioner. He's a practitioner.
He just he makes things happen. And that was then
I'll just end on that. What he taught me more
than anything else, besides loyalty and relationships is get shited done. Man.
It's not about talking about things. You're not here to
make a point. You got to make a goddamn difference.
And so taking that entrepreneurial mindset that I had, you know,

(35:32):
I've had the privilege of opening twenty small businesses, restaurants, hotels, wineries,
peak weight about a thousand employees. And I don't say
that to impress you, but to impress upon you a
passion for entrepreneurialism, right, But taking that entrepreneurial mindset to
the work of governing, and that's been a sweet spot
for me and all the work I've done. And Willie
Brown was the one just that created that platform and

(35:55):
that opportunity. And so I'm humbled by that. I have
grace and humility that I didn't get here quote unquote
on my own, but I had to do. You know,
once that door is open, you got it. You gotta perform.
And uh. And he's just always been there to help guide.
And you know, Kamala was blessed in so many ways.
We all we grew up together. I mean, when you

(36:16):
know you had Kama here, we I get sworn in
as mayor Kama and I walked across the street. She
was that am I swearing in and walked right across
the street swearing her in for district attorney. And uh,
I mean a relationship goes back decades. And and Willie
Brown was a constant for both of us, and they
were just really blessed, really cool.

Speaker 1 (36:35):
Potentially gearing up for twenty twenty eight. Get in at
the as president.

Speaker 4 (36:41):
But president of my new rotary club. There you go,
there you go, or actually club sports we go maybe
more lucrative. Actually this conversation.

Speaker 2 (36:51):
We ride. We ride, eight babe, we ride.

Speaker 1 (36:54):
But one thing I think you've done, which is kind
of taken the world by storm, is really gone hard
on social media. Since June, You've gained two million followers
on TikTok, two million follows or over two million followers
on Instagram, two plus on x Why did you feel
it was so important to kind of start tapping in

(37:15):
Because I think this last election is when people kind
of started thinking outside the box and understanding the power
of social media. But then also situations like this, I
mean high paid media and there's the Foxes and the
CNNs and all that other shit, but people started realizing
the importance of sitting down and connecting to the communities
that these shows hold, but then also the power of

(37:35):
social media.

Speaker 4 (37:36):
We got our eyes kicked in the last election. We
did just you can't sugarcoat it. We did yeah, period,
full stop, and we missed some treadlines that are headlines now.
We weren't talking to young men who are more disengaged
and dissatisfied as a cohort, multi ethnic it's not just
young white men, young folks thirty and younger. It's they're

(37:58):
doing worse than their parents first generation in history. They
claimed that can't afford housing, I can barely afford utilities
or rent, and just don't see them a future that's
particularly bright. And Republicans started to connect to that in
a deep and meaningful way. Democrats neglected that. We neglected

(38:18):
to understand the weaponization agreements that was going on in
Fox and Won American News and Newsmax, and the fact
that fourteen to the top fifteen cable networks are all
on Fox. We missed this sort of what's happening with
you guys and where you guys are starting to organize
and having authentic two way conversations, And as a consequence,

(38:39):
we got again our ass kicked. And so I've been
trying to sort of reconcile that myself and I've been
going through another a process. That's why I started the
podcast with Marshaun, created this new podcast, why I started
going on Fox, why I got involved in debates with
other governors like Ron de Santis, And that's why to
your question on the social media side, that I've radically

(39:02):
changed my approach to communicating in that respect. But I'll
tell you nothing created more clarity than what happened here
in LA when Donald Trump federalized four thousand National Guard,
where he sent the United States military not overseas. He
never set the military overseasons first term, he still hasn't

(39:22):
done in a second. He sent them to the second
largest city in the United States and a seven hundred
active duty marines to your city here in LA And
it just required a different level of communication and clarity.
And so I just want in mind to stretched never
goes back to its original form. I just we said,
everything we're doing is not working. They're sort of chasing

(39:43):
this their shape, shifting the narrative. We're constantly responding to it.
We have got to get on the offense and more importantly,
I got to call the bullshit. And so we put
a mirror up to Trump. This guy's sitting there with
memes as stressed up as the pope. He's putting you know,
he's the new Superman thing. He's the Superman hero. He's
putting himself on Mount Rushmore. He's putting all these all

(40:05):
cap tweets that if my nine year old put something
like that or talk like that, he'd be in the corner.
He would't have his devices for a month. This is
the president of goddamn United States. And we started to
put a mirror up and we started to model that
in a way to expose it. And what was amazing
is we didn't expose Trump in that respect. We exposed

(40:27):
his universe. The folks at Fox were like, this is
very up in arms unbecoming of the governor. If I
were his wife, I'd wash his mouth with soap. The
governor knew something. And I'm like, literally, that's parroting precisely
what your president has been doing for the last ten years.
And you've been celebrating. You've never called him out once.

(40:48):
And it really started to breakthrough. Man. People started paying attention,
and now we just were not fucking around. You come
at us, let's go, and let's go. And I'm telling you,
at the core of the problem with the Democratic Party,
I submit this is my humble I mean, we can
get into its inflation, it's interest rates, it's incumbency, it's
the view with kama I might be Israel whatever. No weakness, period, weakness.

(41:16):
Trump is weakness masquerading as strength. Democrats weakness, and that
fundamentally has to be addressed. We can get into the
issues we were dominant in terms of the vast majority
of issues the American people with Democrats, not all of them,
but the vast majority. But at the end of the day,
that's the issue we have to dress. And I'll never
forget Bill Clinton said it better than anybody else after

(41:38):
decades ago. He said, when we got selected in a
midterm election, he said, given the choice, I love this
classic Clinton. Given the choice, the American people will always
support strong and wrong versus weak and right. And I
just think it's important what I'm trying to do is
not just express strength in terms of communication, but to

(42:02):
demonstrate it in terms of the work we're doing on
the ground and using our moral authority and our formal authority.
That's what Proposition fifty is all about, man. I mean,
organizing a response to what's happening in this country and
organizing people to feel empowered, to give them a voice,
to give us choice and be it'll push back against

(42:24):
the son of a bitch. And so that's the approach
we're taking. And you're right, it's very different than it
was in the past. And I it's for me just
a way of being accountable and looking at my damn.

Speaker 1 (42:34):
Kids and you guys, I like that. I mean, we
had Michelle Obama on and I particularly asked. I was like,
you know, you have a famous quote of you know,
when they go lo, we go high, Like do we
still have to do that? And she smiled and obviously
said no, like I think we got to meet them
where they're at. Yeah, and again right to your point showing,
you know, turn the mirror around like this is the
kind of dumb, weak, little dick energy you guys are on,

(42:55):
and we're gonna throw it right back in your face.

Speaker 4 (42:59):
I mean, come on, man, do you see this? That's
not you Never he's never, he's never heard words like that.
He's very sensitive.

Speaker 1 (43:09):
This is what he does, what he does.

Speaker 4 (43:13):
Come on, it's how can he not call out all
this ship? I mean, it's you know, but the problem
is it's just it's it's they're flooding the zone, right
and it could be overwhelming, and people then start to
tune out, man, and this guy's just tuning up. And
so we got to stay tuned in to extend this.
And we've got to show up. And you can't give in, man,

(43:36):
you can lose this country. No bullshit. It's not the
rule of law anymore. It's the rule of dawn. He
didn't give a shit about the law. I mean, he's
already taken. Congress doesn't exist. They're completely soup and they're
on their back. Yes, and sir, what else do you need.
The courts are increasingly the same. I mean this whole system,
three co equal branches, guy, and even going to get this,
I do remember even with nine sixty s a t

(43:58):
that they taught us in seventh grade, three co equal
branches of government, popular sovereignty, rule of law. You know,
oversight that's gone. Man. This guy is wrecking this country.
And again, it's not about being Democrat or Republican. I
married into a big Republican family, a deep respect and
love for people I disagree with. On our podcast, I've

(44:19):
had Charlie kirkh On, had Steve Bannona, I had guys
that were running my recall campaigns literally the people like
Nu Gingridge that were literally leading the effort to get
me recalled as governor. I want to reach out to
folks I disagree with the stand up, but at the
same time, we have to understand these guys aren't fucking around.
They're not fucking around. These guys are surgical, and so

(44:43):
we have to get our shit together the Democratic Party.
And that's what I'm trying to trigger, that deeper understanding,
but also iterating myself and being accountable, not just to
identify a problem, trying to solve it.

Speaker 1 (44:55):
At the same time, I feel like I think a
unified message from the Democrats is what we've kind of
always lacked, hated to love it. MAGA has things they
stand on. It's a lot of crazy stuff, but they
stand together unified on that. Why do you feel the
messaging and our ability or excuse me, the democratic ability

(45:17):
to come together has faltered for so long.

Speaker 4 (45:21):
Well, it's a great question. I mean, I think we
we're builders. They're not builders. This guy's got a wrecking ball.
Tearing things down is easy, man, it's easy. I mean
building things up, putting the scaffolding you had. Come on
up here. We'll talk about the the IRA and the
Chips and Science Act, and the Infrastructure Bill and the

(45:43):
work they had to do with Safer Community's Bill. Each
one of those those hard work man, four hundred bipartisan
bills building things, Obamacare, building something, wrecking it, taking it away,
ain't no damn no bildy. That's easy to do, and
in so many ways it's unifying for those that feel

(46:05):
they're struggling, don't understand why their needs are not being met.
I mean, at least this guy shows up says I
see you back to young men. Trump's I see you.

Speaker 2 (46:14):
I mean, his.

Speaker 4 (46:15):
Prescription has been shit. He promised you'd be wealthier and healthier.
You're poor and you're sicker right now in the last
nine months with Donald Trump. But it's not about that.
And so I just think showing up where people are
listening to people, showing respect, don't talk down to people,
don't talk past people. We could be a little too
precious sometimes Democrats and little.

Speaker 1 (46:36):
More by the book, Yeah, a little.

Speaker 4 (46:38):
Virtue signaling a little bit, you know, sometimes talking to
We've got to watch all that. But I think fundamentally
the organizing principle can't just be about what we're against
and right now, it has to be in the context
of the situation, which is Trump and Trump is and
we've got to push back in the immediate But to

(46:58):
answer that question in a way that is affirming, where
you see yourself in that vision, where you feel heard,
that you feel you are part of a journey that
we can go on together. That has to be the
defining framework and principle moving forward as we transition away
from this situational struggle with Trump to getting our party

(47:22):
back on track a positive alternative vision. But we're builders
at the end of the day, and that's a deep
point of pride and we can't lose those that set
of values either.

Speaker 1 (47:32):
TikTok being bought by Murdoch, the Murdoch's Larry Ellison, Twitter
controlled by Elon Mark Zuckerberg, you know, CosIng up with Trump.
How dangerous are these type of situations where they're almost
controlling every aspect of media. We saw all the badges
pulled from the Pentagon yesterday, like it's it's crazy.

Speaker 4 (47:55):
I mean, I'm surprised Trump doesn't sell knee pads with
his initials asters as he's selling perfume that smells like success.
And you know, Trump watches and crypto selling out this
country the greatest grift in modern American history. I mean,
what more evidence we need? A four and a million

(48:17):
dollar plane, of which you are subsidizing with an additional
billion dollars with cuts to food stamps and healthcare one
billion dollars a year money to retrofit is four hundred
million dollar private plane that was a gift from the Kataris.
Or the fact that he's sitting there with an Indonesian
president talking about connecting with his son Eric for their
new golf course deal as it relates to the big
Middle East piece plan or all the work that they've

(48:38):
done in Vietnam to waive all the environmental work for
the new golf course, or the UA or the saudis
taking care of the new Trump towers. This is sick
what's going on in the goddamn country, aiding and abedded
by law firms that have completely sold out universities that
are selling out. And it will not be the case
with the UC and of USCA cannot happen. But you're

(49:01):
seeing it across the board. And you mentioned media. You
didn't mention one thing. Watch what's about to happen. Paramount
is going to not just own CBS, They're about to
own CNN, HBO, They're going to buy Warner Brothers. You
talk about this additional and concentration. Who got TikTok? Who
are those folks? The Murdochs and these are his friends.

(49:25):
Crony capitalis not free enterprise. I started my wine store
man as I'm a free enterprise guy. I believe in capitalism,
not state capitalism, not crony capitalism. Not taking ten percent
of Intel, not taking fifteen percent of the profits of
AMD in Nvidia to allow them to sell chips to China.

(49:49):
The hell is going on in this country and Republican
parties nowhere to be found. Ronald Reagan's rolling is goddamn grave.
I sit in Reagan's desk as the former governor of California,
rolling in his grave. The hell is going on in
this country. So people need to speak up, and the richest,
most powerful human beings are doing exactly the opposite. Crazy

(50:13):
back to the damn knee pads. And so that's why
that's why I'm looking, man, That's why I'm here. That's
why I'm doing the social mad That's why I'm doing
PROV fifty. And it's not enough. I mean, it's got
to be all of us standing up and again not
from position to hate. Everyone wants to be loved. We
all need to be loved, man. We all want to
be protected, connected, respected. It's not about who you vote for,

(50:37):
but it's about who we are find some sense of
community again and belonging and in this continent. So you
asked me how I feel about it. I mean this
code red, man, it is code red. And so I
just I pray enough people have the courage of their
convictions and stand tall and firm against.

Speaker 1 (50:57):
This ice fring student loan forgiveness bonuses to sign up,
paying them more than teachers, kidnapping our neighbors. How do
we recover? Obviously you passed, I forgot what it was called.
But obviously no, not the masking, not even allowed to
have masks on. But how do we overcome this? Because

(51:18):
now the masks men literally jumping out of the back
of you hauls, man.

Speaker 4 (51:24):
Jumping out of the back of unmarked cars. People in
masks without any identification, throwing people, Americans, tourists, some people
your documentation, some without color of their skin, disappearing on
the basis of the color of their skin. We talk
about authoritarianism, and people say, well, do you feel here?

(51:46):
I said, for guys like me, maybe not yet of
the black and brown community, are you kidding me? Scared
to walk your dog, scared to show up your graduation,
go to the clinic to get an immunization shot, worried
the school crossing guard's going to turn you in, not

(52:07):
even showing up for a funeral of a family member.
It's not just on the base of skin. It's where
you congregate. It's the language you speak, or your accent.
In the United States of America in twenty twenty five,
people disappearing, no due process rights. I met a kid,
sixteen year old kid fourteen, excuse me, Jesus in Ventura.

(52:29):
Couldn't even talk to me. He was literally bawling. Every
time he tried to talk, he started. He was like
literally curling up in a ball. His mom and dad disappeared.
He couldn't get back in the House's no brothers and sisters,
no aunt's, uncles, cousins. He grew up in Ventura County,
speaks perfect English. His mom was going with her husband
to the same packing facility in Ventura and they smashed

(52:51):
the window and they disappeared. That's America in twenty twenty five.
Donald Trump terror on the streets of America, taking black
helicopters and getting people to repel and sitting there as
kids are in their diapers in their cribs, with people
that are naked, that are sleeping, and literally putting guns
to their head and zip tying them and throwing them

(53:13):
out in the streets and sidewalks. That's happening in America
right now today, Donald Trump. So this is serious, and
it's happened in this city. First city was terrorized continues
to this day. Now you got in Portland, you got
it in places like Illinois. They've threatened San Francisco yesterday.
This is serious moment. So yeah, we did the first bill.

(53:35):
As prior to sign the first bill, say, take your
damn masks off? What are you scared of? What are
you afraid of? Show your ID. I want to physically
see it, and I want you to pull it out.
I mean, I don't know. I just I read the
Bill of Rights, I read the US Constitution. I mean,
I know what Habeas Corpus is. President was asked about
it the other day. He said, who's Habeas? Literally said that,

(53:56):
look it up. I'm not bullshitting you. President of the
goddamn United States said, oh, you asked them about Habeas again,
this is a nine to sixty sat.

Speaker 1 (54:06):
Guy, I can't call it. Ben UCLA, my alma mater
is under attack. Can you explain what the Trump administration
is trying to do and how you were trying to
counter that?

Speaker 4 (54:18):
Well, everyone was selling out, man.

Speaker 1 (54:20):
A lot of people bent the knee.

Speaker 4 (54:23):
I mean, the University of Pennsylvania, you obviously saw. I
been in Columbia and Brown university. And then it was
a big announcement at least in the New York Times
that Harvard was about to sell out. And then he
came in he wants a billion dollar fine. Is let's
just understand this. He wants a billion dollars from from
your own model because of alleged anti semitism that has

(54:45):
all been cleaned up. And in fact, the Anti Defamation
League called out California is the leading state in terms
of policies to address anti Semitism. How the Wall Street
Journal just called me. I didn't think this was possible,
actually had a positive editorial calling out the work we're
doing in the state to address anti Semitism. And he's

(55:06):
now assessing a one billion dollar five. This is the
same son of a bitch president United States who had
dinner with Nick Fuentis lecturing us about anti Semitism. The
same president of United States who hasn't said one damn
word about these young college Republicans and young Republicans period,
some as old as thirty, that we're out there referring

(55:29):
to certain communities as monkeys, watermelon people. I won't even
get into the n words. Twenty nine hundred pages. This
just happened the last forty eight hours. President has said nothing.
JD Vance has said nothing. Sent him to the gas chamber.
We love Hitler, wanting to get into all the other stuff.

Speaker 2 (55:50):
JD.

Speaker 1 (55:50):
Not to cut you off. JD said, we're too focused
on kids being kids, and none of these people are kids.
These are grown ass men.

Speaker 4 (55:57):
Are members of the state parties working for state records
from New York State all the way to arizonaous and
JD Vance said, well, they're just edgy, right, and then
he decried cancel culture. Really, the same folks that cancel
bud Light and Big Bird talking to us about cancel culture.
Goddamn break.

Speaker 1 (56:16):
I got a question too.

Speaker 4 (56:17):
I need some more coffee.

Speaker 1 (56:19):
Yeah, or in honor of Marshall puts the PA trinity
in there. I want to ask you something because I
had a chance. Some friends of my organized they sit
down with Mayor Karen Bass about a month and a
half ago. And obviously California is a big, beautiful state

(56:40):
who's easy to attack. And I feel like, again, this
kind of goes back to messaging. The positive steps moving
forward are never highlighted. It's always the small cracks or
the lies that are perpetuated and blown up into a
big situation. How do you feel outside of the mission
you're driving on social media? How do you feel that
people that Noah love California and really know what's going on?

(57:02):
How can we help push the truth along and help
get the truth out there, what is actually going on?
Step by step in in the winds that we are
succeeding because they want to talk a lot of shit,
but everyone fourth art is the kind. I mean, I
know you have the numbers, but everyone loves California. It's expensive, yeah,
but everybody loves California. So how can we as a unit,

(57:23):
as a group of people help push the right message?

Speaker 4 (57:25):
God, I love that you know, and you guys can
appreciate this. As successful as you both are, you're nothing
but a mirror of your consistent thoughts. Whatever you focus on,
you find more of period, full stop. And there's this
California derangement syndrome that's out there. Man, it's out of control.
It's a whole industry that's been built upon bashing California

(57:46):
twenty four to seven. I mean Fox was built on it.
I mean Trump is I mean, it's just I mean,
it's twenty four to seven just as a war with
this state, and I'm struggling with this and I love
the question. I appreciate you asking this question because we
need help and I'm not No one's going to deny.
Every state in this country is struggling with affordability. Every

(58:07):
state in this country is addressing with the issue of homelessness,
and almostness went up eighteen point one three percent last year.
Across the country went up just three percent here still unacceptable.
Unsheltered homelessness was flat last year, one ze point four
to five percent, lower than forty four other states. They
never mentioned any of the other states that saw double
digit increases. They don't mentioned the other states that have

(58:27):
affordability crisis. Seven of the top ten murder states are
Republican states. The highest states with deaths of despair, issues
of maternal mentality here, infant mortality, the lowest wages, the
lowest productivity rights, the taker states, all these red states.
They don't mention it, but they go after the state
of California. That's a donor state. At eighty three point
one billion dollars last year, more that we gave the

(58:49):
federal government than we received from the federal government. Dominating
in every fucking category. Give me a major category. This
state dominates in manufacturing, dominates in two way trade, dominates
in venture capital, dominates with more engineer, scientists, more Nobel laureates.
No one even comes close. Five new mino moral laureates
from your damn u see system Trump zero last week

(59:12):
California five. In terms of the new Nobel laureates, m
Ai center of the universe, we have no peers in
quantum infusion. Center of the universe. Most diverse state in
the world's modjestified verse, democracy, point of pride, ability to
live in, advance together across our differences. The fourth largest
economy in the world four point one trillion dollars a year.

(59:34):
Eat your heart out, Germany. I mean, this is unlike
anything we have ever experienced. A state that punches so
much above its weight. Fourteen percent of the US GDP,
where the tenpole of the US economy in terms of
innovation and entrepreneurism, and yet twenty four to seven. You

(59:55):
see what the hell's wrong with it? And again I'm
non naive. Go down to skid Row naive. We talked
about Oakland, some of the challenges turning around my old
city challenges very much turning around and we're making progress,
We're punching, but we do have a challenge, and that
is really celebrating our wins man as opposed to the

(01:00:18):
triumphem of all the negative that comes out and everyone
just sort of coloring that in and making it so
much bigger than it is.

Speaker 1 (01:00:25):
Coming down the home stretch from Tupac to NWA to
Kendrick Lamar, these all California artists who have global voices
for justice and change. What do you think it says
about the state's role in shape not just hip hop,
but kind of the democratic culture. And interesting not to
forget that you actually signed the bill not to protect lyrics.

(01:00:46):
Oh yeah, as well with.

Speaker 4 (01:00:47):
Two Short and forty and jay Z and others. A
Craft was a big part of that. Man.

Speaker 1 (01:00:53):
That was a huge good dude, was really great.

Speaker 4 (01:00:56):
I appreciate that. I really all those guys came together.
We had a meeting that really brought that issue home
to me man in a really powerful way. I was
so honored to be part of that. And Kendrick, you
know our state poet laureate. From my perspective, I mean,
come on, man, I mean you didn't even add Snoop
in those guys, and you know, I'm running around my

(01:01:17):
Snoop sketchers everywhere. I usually I'm wearing everybody. Everybody am
I wearing? Sorry Snoop? Sorry? Brother?

Speaker 1 (01:01:25):
Yeah, stupid, But it's.

Speaker 4 (01:01:29):
Uh, you know, it's that's again what makes we could have?
I mean, I've gone on for forty five more minutes
about what makes California great. I mean, we I was
I just spent last week. We were highlighting some nation
leading test scores. It's relased every grade, every classroom, every cohort,
African Americans, Latinos and Compton Unified schoolders talk about Compton

(01:01:50):
one of the best urban school districts in this country,
crushing it, I mean, and then you start thinking about
Compton and the history of Compton, just and who came
from out of Compton, and you music and the culture,
arts and the expression that's still alive today and the success.
But back to that's a picture that again will never
be painted in the national media. The success of Compton

(01:02:12):
Unified Damn School District or La Unified School District that
also had back to back years of significant growth after
years of struggle, we got a great new superintendent. Amazing
things happening. But we started with all that music scene
up in the Bay Area, the music scene down here,
but the art artistic express We do the California Hall
of Fame every year, and the biggest problem is, like, man,

(01:02:35):
we have to just pick ten a year. I mean,
there's no other state that comes close and you're like,
oh God, I didn't know that person's from here, Like, oh,
that means like in every category, the folks that come
from this state, because we have a state of mind, man,
this sort of quality of imagination. If the future happens

(01:02:55):
here first, where America is coming attraction and that my
set persists, I think in every aspect of our culture.
And I think that's the job of leaders Karen Bass
and others. But leadership could be found anywhere. And this
notion of defining leadership in those terms not positions of

(01:03:15):
formal authority, but those leaders in the community, those with
the moral authority. Back to community building, back to Oakland man,
back to that sense of pride and spirit, the things
that the elected officials can't create. Man, And our job
is climate control. Create the climate. It's not command and control.
That's Trump selling down his vision It's about creating those

(01:03:36):
conditions where success becomes irresistible. Man, it just appears, there's
no denying it. And I think so much of what
is expressed in the context of our music scene is
expressed in that respect.

Speaker 3 (01:03:53):
You might not be in California Hall of Fame yet,
me and you both know what hall of fame you are.

Speaker 1 (01:03:58):
Yeah, we'll talk about that later, quick hitters. First thing
to come to mind. It could be the most important
question I've asked you all day as the president of
the hair club. What is your hair routine of Top
of Top hair club?

Speaker 2 (01:04:11):
President?

Speaker 1 (01:04:12):
What's your hair routine? Yeah, I'm the president. Seriously several claims.

Speaker 3 (01:04:15):
Yeah, he's gonna do that about ten times the show because.

Speaker 1 (01:04:21):
I gotta make sure you. I got to make sure
I volume state what you got? What he is?

Speaker 4 (01:04:25):
What's the product?

Speaker 1 (01:04:26):
Man? What is it?

Speaker 4 (01:04:26):
Seriously?

Speaker 1 (01:04:27):
You want to really know? Do you want to really know?

Speaker 4 (01:04:29):
You have your own product?

Speaker 2 (01:04:30):
Now?

Speaker 1 (01:04:30):
No, you should, Jurgons, just a little squirt fresh out
of the shower and just rub through.

Speaker 4 (01:04:38):
Seriously, just you, Jurgons.

Speaker 1 (01:04:40):
It's Italian black right here. Check this ship is Mount Nursed.
Don't ask him nothing.

Speaker 4 (01:04:48):
It's mountainnursed it. What do you got? What do you do?

Speaker 2 (01:04:52):
I'm forty seven with a full half line still growing.

Speaker 1 (01:04:56):
See that that this is taking him seven years for
hit to get to the.

Speaker 2 (01:05:02):
This is not a marathon. It's not a spring. This
is a marathon.

Speaker 1 (01:05:07):
So inquiring minds wanted to know you still got a
nice head of hair. What's your routine?

Speaker 4 (01:05:11):
I remember in high school we had our fortieth reunion.
I swear I got this. Uh, Tracy's her name. She
comes up to me, she goes, you remember me? I said, oh,
I think I remember. I was the cheerleader. Uh for basketball.
It's like, oh yeah, Tracy Green, Tracy, how are you?
She goes, do you remember the cheer? I said, what's
the cheer? She goes, dippity Do, dippity do, Gavin, Gavin,

(01:05:32):
we love you.

Speaker 1 (01:05:33):
I'm like that.

Speaker 4 (01:05:34):
Dippity do was my go to hair back And then
I'm so glad we get to edit this out. God,
this is uh yeah, we got final final editing rights here.
But so that's how I started with dippity too. And
uh and now it's just some weird styling creams thing.

Speaker 1 (01:05:55):
I don't know what that working though. It's congratulations.

Speaker 4 (01:05:58):
Man, it's great though, I gotta do. I gotta you
that just for men.

Speaker 1 (01:06:00):
No, don't do it, keep it, no dives.

Speaker 2 (01:06:04):
You actually looked the same since the last time I
seen you.

Speaker 4 (01:06:08):
I appreciate you, man, agent, because he's got he's going
to get his key before you do.

Speaker 1 (01:06:12):
Man, It's okay, I'm with him.

Speaker 2 (01:06:15):
Yeah, comes from being real. I take it. One album
you can listen to with no skips. Ooh about it?

Speaker 4 (01:06:24):
Oh come on, I mean the idea of an album
is strange too, because that ages me. That's just weird.
I mean that brings me back to like Pablo Cruise
days the Earth Wind and Fire and Yellow and you know,
back what I remember buying those albums. Yeah, literally that
was kind of the mind that pop. I do love
my Pablo Cruise, I mean back in the day. I
think I still have those albums, old Billy Joel albums,

(01:06:46):
et cetera. But no, it's it's so different, so curated. Now,
it's so wildly different. Uh and uh and it's like
and I'm I'm all over the damn place with like
you know, like in this country music face now okay, yeah,
which is hard, you know, which also has a lot
of crossover appeal.

Speaker 1 (01:07:04):
Yeah right, I mean absolutely, they're saying a lot of
real ship in country music. Like I had some friends
that with the high school Like I'm cool, Like, listen
to what they're saying. I'm like, Oh, they're really telling
the story. I mean they're drunk and fucking with their
dogs and doing all kinds of other ship, but they're
telling the real story.

Speaker 3 (01:07:17):
Of hottest songs this year has been a mash up
with a country song and an R and B beat.
That's what they've been dancing too. I can't think of it.
I can't think of the guy's name. Huh shit boozy, no, no, no, no,
I don't want to go downtown in Little used to.
That's all.

Speaker 2 (01:07:32):
There's now with another round, the one they've been doing
a dancing too.

Speaker 3 (01:07:35):
It's a it's named Waller, Waller his song and they
and they mashed it with an R and B beat,
and that's been the biggest song this year.

Speaker 1 (01:07:44):
Damn there. If you were to send off a smoke signal,
which normally means we're calling attention and directing people somewhere,
what would you be directing the people towards?

Speaker 4 (01:07:55):
Well, I mean, I look, I'm forgive me for being
a little selfish in this respect, but this ballot man,
November fourth, just the whole thing. We will lose our
country if we lose the midterm elections. It's not complicated.
And this is not hyperbole. This is not me. I've
never been this guy. I've always been like, come on,

(01:08:16):
we'll be all right, We're resilient. This is different. This
guy is an invasive species. Man. This is different. This
is different. I wasn't joking. It is about the rule
of dawn. And you look at the Declaration of Independence.
It's the last thing anyone needs to look up. Look
at the list of grievances from the founding fathers. Read

(01:08:38):
them today. Taxation without representation and tariff policy that's increased
the price for every single person watching. You checked how
much your coffee costs. Check how much of a pound
of beef or quarter pounds of beef has cost the
grocery store. Oh, let's go. I mean furniture, appliances, cars,
I mean this is seriously, I mean in every category,

(01:08:59):
this is failing. But we have to reconcile that we
still have agency and power and we can do something
about it. And that's why we are giving this. You know,
we've given this gift of an opportunity to blow back
in on November fourth with Proposition fifty, which just says
we're going to fight fire with fire. And I'll tell
you brought up Michelle and trust me, man, I remember

(01:09:21):
you asked her that because that was a clip scene everywhere,
because she she you're right. She didn't say yes. She
said no. She said when we go high. But she
I think I.

Speaker 1 (01:09:32):
Strategcause strategic, strategic, And I was like, oh, that's good.

Speaker 4 (01:09:37):
Like don't waste your egg.

Speaker 1 (01:09:38):
Yeah, we got to god damn play.

Speaker 4 (01:09:40):
That's what Prop fifty is about. Instead of sitting there
screaming and yelling and you know, I told you holding
hands and writing, hop ed we put something on the
damn ballot. I've had to raise one hundred million dollars,
no bullshit, over one hundred me in ninety days. We
put this on the ballot, and it's our chance to
fight fire with fire, push back against Trump. It's a

(01:10:03):
redistricting plan, but it's about power at the end of
the day, and it's about holding the line and holding
Donald Trump accountable. And everybody has the ability to do
that by voting yes on Prop fifty. It's in your mailbox.
The last day of the election is November fourth, but
election day is today, and it's tomorrow, it's next week.

(01:10:23):
Because all you have to do is simply send that
ballot back.

Speaker 1 (01:10:27):
Yes on fifty, ranked these three in your order? M J.
Kobe lebron Hell you do that to me? Yeah, and
put you on the spot.

Speaker 4 (01:10:37):
I hate this.

Speaker 1 (01:10:38):
It's okay, it's not okay.

Speaker 4 (01:10:44):
That ain't right, man, I told you always on the shop.

Speaker 1 (01:10:46):
I know, I get it.

Speaker 4 (01:10:47):
And I grew up with how many posters of MJ. Man,
Jesus Kobe, Jesus Christ. You know what I love? In politics?
We have something called ra choice voting, so you can
you don't have to vote for one or the other.
You could just you know, you could have So I
think that's a you know, we I think what I

(01:11:07):
just said, that's what you just said. I think, Kobe.

Speaker 1 (01:11:11):
I mean you could throw it to me. You could
throw any three up and have them one, two, three,
And I respect it, you know what.

Speaker 4 (01:11:15):
I forgive me, and but I you know i'd be lying.
You want my my private thoughts, I will make very clip.
I just have so much mad respect for Lebron Man.
I love the beauty, the beauty of m J. Man
just just the grace. But the grit this this I

(01:11:35):
mean and his grit. Don't get me wrong, jesuscribe me
in assassin in terms of being you guys are smart
on this there. I have a lot of conversations with.

Speaker 1 (01:11:42):
Her about this too, which is really interesting.

Speaker 4 (01:11:45):
Is obvious reverence. But and it's not just shape shifting.
Lebron just to me represents something else, just the mindset, this,
this sustainable values.

Speaker 1 (01:11:57):
The greatest superstar of all time, and what he's done.

Speaker 4 (01:12:00):
Off the court, how he comports himself, that matters to me.
What he represents his kids, to his best friends. Man
being with them, they're still with him, says something about
his character. I've seen him at his low moments as
high moments. I just think he's a special dude. And
and I thought, you know, what the hell he's gonna retire.

(01:12:22):
We have one more season with that little you know
ad campaign he just put out, and this so bitch
could be around for three, four, five years.

Speaker 1 (01:12:29):
That's amazing.

Speaker 4 (01:12:31):
So that's that's my I'd so there, MJ. Sorry, Kobe
Jesus Man, no disrespect, no disrespect. That's my list. Am
I going to get out of here?

Speaker 2 (01:12:41):
You're good.

Speaker 4 (01:12:42):
And if we don't talk about the Dodgers, okay, they're
gonna be.

Speaker 3 (01:12:47):
If you could see one guest on our show, who
would it be? But you have to help us get
your answer on the show.

Speaker 1 (01:12:54):
Yep, got to go in that rollodex of yours.

Speaker 4 (01:12:58):
Well, I want Donald Trump on the show.

Speaker 2 (01:12:59):
I said that too.

Speaker 4 (01:13:02):
I got some question and he's you know, he's one
of those guys I have a well on that subject.
No one has a more interesting I think relationship to
the president and elected office than I do. Because the
very nature that we've had one as a democratic governor
going at him. We're already involved in forty two lawsuits

(01:13:23):
against him one hundred and forty for the first term.

Speaker 3 (01:13:28):
Uh and lawsuits lawsuits against So I'm going to not
ever go to jail for nothing, bro, I'm going to
do some shit just to see when y'all check y'all
temperature that it is crazy.

Speaker 1 (01:13:37):
Hey, hey, bad, yeah, remember what color you are? Right?

Speaker 4 (01:13:43):
Oh, by the way, you have nothing to complain about it.
He's the only that son of a bitch just told me.
He said, do some should get arrested. So he's already
he's already called for my arrest, which is something. And
by the way, when you and God is my witness,
I sat down with our lawyer to actually game out
what that would look like. And the idea that I'm
even that again in twenty twenty five, that a governor

(01:14:07):
of any political stripe is gaming out at President United
States saying on the tarmac that the guy should be
arrested and actually figuring out what it would look like,
how we do the bail, how we would actually work
to get me out, and how we have to avoid
any obstruction as it relates to an arrest, which will
create the real pretext for a real arrest. Is insane,
but that But the point I guess I'm saying is

(01:14:27):
despite all that, could pick up the phone and have
conversations with him. He's an interesting guy in that respect,
and so he'd be an interested I'd say all that
to not dismiss the notion that I could one day see.

Speaker 1 (01:14:40):
Him come to all the smoke I've been saying that, Yeah, well, Gay,
we appreciate your time. Man, continue to fight the good fight.
We are behind you, and man, appreciate thank you. I
appreciate you man Newsomse, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Speaker 4 (01:14:54):
Got to close.

Speaker 1 (01:14:56):
Oh that's a wrap. You can cass us on all
the Smoke YouTube and the Drafting is Network. We'll see
y'all next week.

Speaker 2 (01:15:04):
M hm.

Speaker 3 (01:15:09):
Mm hm h

Speaker 1 (01:15:20):
M hmmm

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Hosts And Creators

Stephen Jackson

Matt Barnes

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;} Gavin Newsom Wants ALL THE SMOKE With Donald Trump, MAGA Knee Pads & $400 Million Dollar Bribes