December 3, 2025 • 49 mins
Alex Padilla has worked in politics for decades, but many Americans came to know his name after he was apprehended during a DHS news conference. Now, the U.S. senator talks about how that incident shaped his fight against anti-immigrant policies, even if it means risking his own peace.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Danielle Alercon, executive producer of the Moment. A
quick announcement before the episode. Last week, the production house
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Speaker 2 (00:20):
We're braver.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
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now here's the episode.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
I'm Corca Ramos and I'm Bala Ramos and this is
the moment. Okay. So every week we try and bring
you episodes that talk about the moment that we find
our right. But I think this week in particular, I
(01:03):
think Ladinos, immigrants, millions of people throughout the Latin American
continents are literally trapped in the moment. Why because we
are potentially seeing a Trumpet administration that seems to be
on the verge of some type of military intervention in Venezuela. Right,
So that's happening across the ocean, and then within the mainland.
(01:25):
Inside of the United States, you also have a Trumpe
administration that continues to escalate. It's anti immigrant rhetoric, it's
anti immigrant agenda to the point and I'm quoting Trump
here to the point that they are now seeing things
that like people that do not conform to quote Western civilization,
do not belong in this country. So one of the
questions that we want to tackle today is what does
(01:48):
it mean to be a US Ladinos senator with power?
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Now?
Speaker 3 (01:51):
What do you do with that power? Do you take
a risk or do you stay silent?
Speaker 4 (01:56):
The question is so our next guest on the mall,
when is California Senator Alex Padilla. All that you might
remember that he was arrested during the summer when he
tried to Confrose Christino and the secretary of the Department
of Homeless Security. But I think this confrontation gave him
power and a lot of national dissibility.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
I think this is someone that is thinking with intention
about what it means to take risks under this socio
political environment. So we'll be talking to him, to Senator
Alex Padilla, about the way that he thinks about risks,
the way that he thinks about power, and how he
went from being a twenty six year old m T
grad to someone that is in the highest realms of
(02:37):
power in the United States.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
And someone who wants to be Senator. No, Senator Alex
Padilla when we come back again, Alisas, Yeah, you know,
you know Pawela my daughter. Right, I'm glad you met before.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
Thank you so much for talking to us.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
I know that this is an incredible an incredible time,
so difficult, so tense, and and we really appreciate the
opportunity just to have a platic state a conversation.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
Of course, of course, and.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
He's probably the only person that does not drink coffee.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
Here.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
We are not unknown fact.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Go ahead, that's fun fact.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
Okay, So thanks so much for talking to us. Okay,
let's do it.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
We'll senator welcome to the moment.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
What a moment it is.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
It is, what a moment it.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Is certain, that's that's I want to start with with
the moment that everyone is really thinking about right now,
and I think there are millions of Americans and millions
of Latin Americans that are thinking about Minezuela. So that's
where I want to start, because, of course, you know
that President Trump recently stated that we could potentially soon
expect military operations that go from sea to Venezuelan land.
(04:10):
And I think today we're talking to Monday, December first.
Today there's an expected meeting at the White House with
key administration officials. And then on the other hand, you
have Senator Schumer who just recently stated, Senator he said
that the United States may soon be closer to another
costly foreign war because of what the administration is doing.
(04:30):
And so my first question to you is what do
you think the trumpet administration is eyeing in Venezuela. Is
this about an invasion? Is it about regime change? What
do you think?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Yeah, you know, there's so much that is unknown about
the Trump administration on any question, especially something like this.
What is their motive, what is their rationale, what is
their logic? Because so much of what they do doesn't
have a rationale or a logic at least not by
standard terms. It could be regime change, it could be war,
(05:04):
it could be just for pursuit of oil or some
other mechanism, not so much in the national interest for
the United States of America, but Trump and his allies,
who's making money where? You know, sadly, that's the moment
that we're living in. Where we're living in the time
of a President Trump. Where whether it's in Venezuela, whether
(05:26):
it's in Russia, Ukraine, whether it's anywhere else, including here
in the United States. Trump has consistently demonstrated that he's
only after his own self interest. America first is just
a facade for him. And so for me, the analysis
begins there.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Well gives me pauses. Is even your mention of the
word war or even this potential idea that the Trumpet
administration may be seeking war in Venezuela in Latin America.
And I mentioned this because, as you know, more than anyone,
only Congress has the sole power and the sole authority
to declare war. So if that is potentially the case,
(06:06):
is there anything that Congress can do to stop the
Trump administration from potentially declaring a war in Minnezuela.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Well, The answer to that is yes. It is contingent
upon our Republican colleagues standing up and respecting their oath
of office and the Constitution.
Speaker 6 (06:26):
Right.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
This president has broken through so many norms, yes, and
his first rump, but especially in the second term. You know,
and sadly, there's very little, if anything that President Trump
says or does that surprises me or shocks me, because
we know him, We know who he is and how
he is. There's the little that comes out of the
cabinet and his White House staff that surprises the shocks
(06:50):
because their reflection of him. What has been the biggest
disappointment for me all year long is the failure of
Republicans in Congress, especially in the Senate, to stand up
for the Constitution, the rule of law, and not just
fold and give in to whatever Trump wants on any
given day. It's been the case when it comes to policy.
(07:12):
It's been the case when it comes to the budget.
It's been the case when it comes to even all
the apployments, all the nominations beginning with the cabinet, but
other important positions in the federal government that Republicans know
people who have not been qualified, including Pete Heseth by
the Way and others, but they vote to confirm them. Anyway,
(07:33):
when our congression Republicans is going to stand up and
serve as this co equal branch of government because they're
in the majority, Democrats are speaking up and we're voting
the right way to try to block a lot of
this stuff. But as long as Senate, as long as
the Senate and the House are in Republican majority, we
need our Republican colleagues to stand up and do what's right.
(07:56):
And if they don't do it, then all the more
reason to get ready for the midterm elections. They cannot
get here soon enough.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
So LENDU say about Venezuela, just to be concrete, have
you been informed that that something is imminent, that something's
gonna happen.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
We have not been informed or notified or briefed. We
have requested the information, including the legal rationale for why
the or how the administration has gone about the attacks
off the coast that they've already conducted. And again another
said practice of this administration is they have been the
(08:33):
opposite of transparent. They've been the opposite of forthcoming with information.
But we're going to keep pressing. I'm a little bit
more hopeful now because both the top Democrat and the
top Republican of the Armed Services Committee in both the
Senate and the House have publicly called for hearings and
investigation on what's happening in Venezuela and off the coast
(08:56):
of Venezuela. As I'm hopeful we'll get more of that
information sooner rather than later.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
SANATORI.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
You just mentioned it has said, and I want to
ask you about this that the Washington Points also reported
that the secret Stary of Defense order to kill two
survivors from an attack against a boat in the Caribbean.
So we don't know exactly what happened. But if this
is true, would it be a war crime?
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
I mean, depending on the context and some of the details,
important details, it could be a war crime. It could
be just murder. All the more reasonable. We need the details,
we need the specifics of what happened and who ordered what.
But ultimately there is a chain of command, uh, and
somebody closer to the ground reports to somebody reports to somebody.
(09:39):
The Secretary of Defense is Pete Hexseth and the commander
in chief is Donald Trump. It has to be accountability.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
Well, exactly.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
But if it was an illegal order, what would be
your role in that? The role of Congress.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
The role of Congress is to bring about accountability, to
find out who either gave an unlawful order. You know,
it's interesting because they're making all this noise about the
video that several members of Congress released last week, veterans
of the armed services who were communicating directly to active
service duty members telling them that they do not have
(10:17):
to abide by unlawful orders. Right and in the manual,
by the way, this is a classic example of an
unlawful order. But instead of being forthcoming with information, cooperating with,
Congress says to let's get to the bottom of what
happened here, they're attacking the members of Congress who appeared
(10:38):
in that video saying the very right thing. But they're
attacking them because they don't like the negative coverage or
the bad headlines. They're very sensitive to that. And now
my colleagues, so slack In from Michigan, Mark Kelly from Arizona,
are now being targeted. That's how this administration chooses to operate.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Before we turned to immigration, Senator, I just want to
take a step back because I'm I keep thinking about
this kind of moral debate that a lot of Latinos
are having about the United States role in Latin America. Right,
I think there are some Venezuelans that actually believe that
the United States has this sort of moral imperative to
(11:18):
intravene and then of course there's a lot of Latinos
that are completely opposed to that. And I don't have
to tell you about the United States very violent legacy
and history of interventions in Latin America. So I'm just
I'm curious about history exactly, And so I'm curious from
your standpoint, like how you view as yourself reflecting about
(11:39):
all of this, Like how how you see the United
States role in Latin America in this moment.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Yeah, I mean if we look at history, you know,
there's a lot of layers to it, right, that should
inform the thought process for going forward. Is it military intervention?
Is it? You know, we know the CIA has a
long history in many countries throughout Latin America. There's a
history of economic cooperation and partnership at times, and diplomacy, etc. Etc.
(12:06):
So look, we are the strongest country in the world
for sure, economically, militarily and otherwise, and I do think
we have a big role to play throughout the hemisphere.
In recent years, I know we want to touch on immigration.
Maybe this is a little bit of a seguey. We've
talked about how many people have left not just Mexico,
(12:28):
but countries throughout the hemisphere seeking either asylum or at
least better opportunity in the United States of America. Some
people embrace that, some people don't. But the point I've
made over the last several years was by colleaguesists. If
we want to get our arms around the migration challenges
throughout the hemisphere, we need a partnerships and alliances built
(12:51):
throughout the hemisphere in a very constructive way, not just
immigration law, but a regional economy and beyond intervention, you know,
just saying intervention could be a good thing, that guaranteed
to be a good thing, that details the specifics matter.
If this was under almost any other administration, I'd have
(13:12):
higher hopes for a productive, constructive dialogue and framework for it.
But under this administration, I'm surely suspect.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
So speaken of US military international broad I want to
ask you, Senator about the tragic and deadly shooting so
to US and National guards last week they were shot
by a twenty nine yurood Afghan national who happened to
help the US in Afghanistan. So obviously this attack should
never have happened and it should be completely condemned. I
(13:41):
think we agree that violence is never never the way.
But do you think that the Trump administration might be
using this incident as another excuse to attack all immigrants,
including those of US who have been naturalized.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Sadly, no doubt, and lett me echo your comment.
Speaker 5 (13:59):
Hood.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Hey, you know, my heartbreaks for the victims of the
shooting and their families, the young lady who lost her
life from West Virginia, the young man who's still in
critical condition. It Violence, especially political count says, has no
place in the United States of America or anywhere for
that matter. So that's not how to respond. But once again,
(14:22):
leave it to this administration to exploit this strategy, this
tragedy for their mass deportation agenda, whether it's mass deportation
of people who are in the United States that they
would love to get rid of, or to keep people
from lawfully seeking asylum or seeking refuge in the United States.
(14:44):
We have to modernize our immigration laws no doubt and
reduced to backlogs, look at the vetting process, et cetera.
But we should not completely close our borders just because
you know, one person and we don't know all the
details of the shooting. Was this person radicalizes, when and
where and how? Was it a mental health breakdown? I
don't know. There's a lot that we don't know about
(15:05):
this incident yet, But we can't use that as an
excuse to just say no to so many other people
who have requested to come to the United States that
have been waiting. They've been through the process, they've been
properly vetted thus far. So we have to be able
to continue that process, improve upon it, but not to
(15:26):
just close ourselves off from the rest of the world
because of this one incident.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
You know, and I do want to emphasize, I think,
for our listeners and for our viewers, just how drastic
these immigration changes are, right because I think we've you know,
the news is all over the place this week, of course,
and everyone is focused on different things, but I think
we've lost focus of just exactly what the Trumpet administration
is proposing in light of, of course, this tragic attack,
(15:51):
and just to name a few things, Senator, As you know,
this goes beyond them sort of closing the doors on Afghans, right,
they are basically essentially saying on a broader scale that
all asylum applications have been paused, regardless of nationality. They're
saying things like, and I'm quoting the administration here, they're
saying things like they want to remove anyone who is
(16:13):
not in assets to the United States. They are also
saying things that they will remove anyone who is quote
non compatible with Western civilization. And so I just want
to give you an opportunity to once again react to
this and kind of give us a sense of the
profound changes that we're seeing in the immigration system.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Right. And so what I'm about to say may sound
like an exaggeration, but it is not, because you've seen
it from Donald Trump since day one. They went to
this administration throughout his first term and from the moment
he first declared the candidate for president into twenty sixteen
election cycle, when it came down that golden escalator, right
(16:53):
and escapegoating, insulting, villainizing Latinos put out the marker of
you know, who is of value or who comports with
American life, or who's making that determination? Is it him,
is his court picks, is it his Department of Justice,
is his Secretary of Homeland Security. That should be alarming
(17:18):
to everybody because we know how discriminatory this administration, its policies,
and its actions have been the fact that he's closing
the doors off or the pathways off for refugees and
the some seekers. I mean that was the day one
of this administration back in January twentieth. The southern border
of the United States has effectively been closed, but these
(17:41):
more recent announcements is really sort of more global unless
from until he makes a determination. We recently had a
required consultation between the administration, its officials from Department of State,
Department of Homeland Security, and representatives of Congress but the House,
in the Senate, but the Democrats and Republicans on how
(18:01):
many refugees we may want to consider resettling into the
United States. It's something that happens every single year. Sometimes
it's a low numbers, sometimes it's a higher number, and
we have action planned and investments around that. This year,
they wanted to take it practically to zero except for Africaners,
(18:21):
right white South Africans who Trump without providing for us
any rationale, justification or legal analysis. But he's single handed
to claims that these people have been discriminated by their government,
so they're going to be the global exception to Donald
Trump closing the doors?
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Is this about race, Senator, I mean to be blunt like,
is this about the Trumpet administration attempting to widen America?
Speaker 2 (18:50):
So you know, it's hard to see it any other way. Again,
going back to the rhetoric that began when he first
announced for president, not this second term, before the first
tim when he won in twenty sixteen, when he came
down to escalators and describe people like my parents, who,
as you know, are immigrants from Mexico to United States,
(19:11):
you know, as by and large rapists, drug dealers, criminals, etc.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Most immigrants are
hard working, law abiding, etc. But Donald Trump has a
different vision of the future of America and who he
considers is worthy of being an American. That's what we're
(19:34):
up against. Just because he said it doesn't mean that
we're going to let it happen, and that, I think
just reinforces the importance of the work that we do
day and day out to defend the American dream.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
Something happened to you last June, Senator, you were forcibly
removed from our ristill know and press conference and throng
to the floor by federal agents. I have never seen
anything like this happening to a US senator. So something
similar happened to me at a press conference with Donald Trump.
They took me out forcibly from the press conference. And
(20:19):
I want to ask you to take us back to
that moment, Senator, But it happened so many months ago
that I wonder if and you've been asked about this
so many times, that I wonder if you have now,
at the end of the year, a different perspective and
actually what happened, and if you have a new reason
(20:40):
why you decided to confront the homeless Security secretary.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
No, I think if there's anything new, it's only reinforcing
what we felt at the time. Right this is June,
in the first week of these intensified ice rays in
the Los Angeles area, I was hearing anecdotally at the
(21:06):
time that so many of the people that were being stopped,
that were being detained, that were even being arrested in
some cases deported without due process. We're not the dangerous,
violent criminals that Donald Trump likes to talk about so much.
I'm sure there was some in that group, but the
vast majority are people with no criminal history, and so
(21:28):
you have to ask who are they. They tend to
be people who are working in jobs that are essential
to the United States. Don't take my word for it.
In the first Trump administration, at the beginning of the
COVID pandemic, the Trump Department of Homeland Security at the
time designated workers in healthcare, in construction, in agriculture, in
(21:51):
the food supply chain, and transportation, etc. As essential workers.
But now they seem to be the disproportion of the
Trump mass deportation agenda. So when I went to the
press conference unexpected, it happened to be in the same building,
just down the hall when I heard it was happening,
(22:11):
and I was hearing the rhetoric from Secretary and Nome
echoing the rhetoric from Donald Trump about the need to
liberate the city of Los Angeles from its elected leaders,
from the mayor, from the governor. First of all, that's
ultimately anti American, But the presentation they were giving with
a PowerPoint presentation of maybe five or six names, over
(22:34):
and over again in the context of hundreds that they
claimed that were arrested. You know, I was trying to
get the data how many people are truly the violent
criminals you talk so much about, and they refused to
give data. Since then, we've learned, depending on depending on
the region, it could be seventy percent, eighty percent, maybe
even more don't have that criminal history. So when it
(22:56):
came back from that experience in Los Angeles, to answer
your question, hey, I shared a couple of things with
my colleagues. One just the facts of what did and
did not happen that day, Because of course they turned
right around and accused me of trying to be belligerent,
not introducing myself. You know, all these lines.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
You're getting planet right. I mean, you just happened to
be there.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
You never plan it.
Speaker 5 (23:17):
There was not a plan.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
I'll tell you why I was even in that building,
you know, because after months and months and not getting
any answers from the Secretary or the department here in Washington,
you know, in committees and in hearings, not getting any
responses to the letters and formal inquiries we had made
to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice.
I was in Los Angeles as the tensions were escalating,
(23:40):
and I had a confirmed briefing with General Gee of
the Number two of Northern Command within the Department of Defense. Finally,
I was going to get information from a career professional
in the Department of Justice, in the Department of Defense
because this had become a military operation. They had federalizing
deployed National Guards troops and they were sending in the
(24:02):
Marines to Los Angeles again, another unprecedented act by this administration.
So I showed up at the Federal Building in West
Los Angeles at my scheduled appointment briefing time, escorted throughout
the time by an FBI agent and a National Guards member.
And when my briefing was delayed because I learned Secretary
(24:26):
and Normans having a press conference a couple of doors
down the hall, I asked, can we go listen it?
And they escorted me into the press conference. That's why
I was there.
Speaker 5 (24:35):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Yeah, so, yeah, important detail for anybody who was accusing
me of crashing, not introducing myself, you know, posing a threat,
you know all that bs. But the important lessons that
came from that day. You heard me say that day.
If this is how they will treat a senator with
a question, imagine how they're treating so many people around
the country when the cameras are not on. You know
(24:56):
how so many immigrants with no credical history are being detained,
physically assaulted, you know, even deported without due process rights.
United States citizens are being rounded up in these raids
all because of our appearance. The Supreme Court has sanctioned
how you know, ice and Border Patrol and others are
(25:19):
going after immigrants based on their appearance, their accents, that
perceived occupation. That's racial profiling. And so that was an
important takeaway that it need to share with my colleagues
and they remind them every day. Number two, this happened
to be in Los Angeles, and it happened to be
about immigrants' rights because remember Donald Trump was escalating because
(25:41):
the people of Los Anges were standing up and speaking
up and for the most part, peacefully protesting. And I
shared with my colleagues they have this playbook now that
they can deploy in any city in America for any
issue when they want to culch descent and what has
happened since now there's no sational Guard troops rolling the
streets of Washington, d C. Look what's happened in happening
(26:05):
in Chicago and in Portland, in North Carolina, and it's
it's again only uh expanding because that's what Donald trump
fixation has been. The economy isn't is hurting most working families.
You know, they do not want to release the Epstein files.
They're losing these terraf wars. There's so much bad that's
(26:28):
happening from this administration. When it's all going downhill, and
they want to distract and change the subject, they come
back to immigrant bashing and how how much more they
can escapegoat immigrants and really discriminate against people.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
And I have to to say, Centator, when when I
when I saw you this summer, when when that happened
to you, it reminded me of watching my father getting
kicked out of that press conference. There was a lot
of similarity in that. And I think it also comes
down to just again this general idea of what Latinos
(27:05):
are doing in this moment to stand up when you
have the privilege in the platform to speak up, do
you or do you not? And I think you're obviously
an example of someone that has done this many times
in your career. You didn't just do this this summer,
but then you did it again recently. I mean you
you recently walked out of a Senate Judiciary Subcomittee on
Border Security and Immigration hearing, and I want to listen
(27:26):
to what you said.
Speaker 6 (27:28):
Americans have had enough. They're sick of mask agents disrespecting daycares,
schools and churches, disappearing loved ones, and intimidating our communities.
Americans are demanding that we do something. So, mister Chairman,
it's clear to me that this hearing will not be
a serious or constructive conversation. And for that reason, I
(27:51):
refuse to give oxygen to the fire of disinformation and
propaganda that this sharing was set up to ignite. And
I refuse to be part of this, you rade.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
My question to you, Senator, is, in a moment when
the President of the United States is essentially telling democratic
lawmakers that they should be arrested and put on trial,
why do you take the risk? I mean, why do
you keep taking these risks? And why is it important
for you to speak up?
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Look, it's why we do what we do It's why
I do what I do, because at the end of
the day, we have a very simple choice to make.
Every every single day that we wake up, we see
what's wrong with what's going on in the country right
now because of this administration. Do we just stay quiet,
(28:40):
Do we try to just turn the other way and
wait for times to change and circumstances to change, or
do we speak up and engage and try to be
the change that we know we need, not just for
us here today, but for future generations. It is not easy,
it is not fun. But I didn't take this job
(29:02):
because it was going to be easy. I took this
job because it's important. And I owe it, you know,
to my parents who struggle and sacrifice so much to
create opportunity for my brother, my sister, and I here
in the United States of America. And I owe it
to my children and future generations, their generation who will
inherit this country. This is our opportunity to make our mark.
(29:23):
And sometimes you get to work on really good things,
try to make the country better. But right now we're
playing a lot of defense, trying to keep the horrible
things from happening.
Speaker 5 (29:34):
So as let me just ask you, when you were arrested.
What did you tell your children?
Speaker 2 (29:41):
You know, among the many, many things that raced through
my mind, because immediately I thought, Okay, these images are
going going to go viral real quick. They were politically
policy wise, hou is this going to help or hurt
a conversation about accountability of the administration, maybe the efforts
for immigration reform, because we still need to modernize our
(30:01):
immigration laws. But on a very personal level, You're absolutely right, Oh,
my god, Angel's going to see this exactly, what's she
going to think? How's she going to feel? My kids
are going to see this.
Speaker 6 (30:12):
You know.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
I've worked hard to try to be a good role
model for my kids, to show them the good examples,
and now they're going to have this image of their
father being handcuffed and for what for doing his job,
for asking a question. And the images were troubling. I'm
not gonna lie. It's taken a lot for us as
a family to process. But I think maybe the example
(30:34):
of courage of standing up for what's right and speaking
up for what's right, even when there's consequences from bad people,
it's worth doing, and it's maybe more important to do
in those moments. But I hope you can appreciate this.
What I did not anticipate, what I did not think
of in that moment was not just about my wife
(30:57):
and my kids, but how was it going to affect
my father of course and those But my dad and
I talked pretty regularly, but he started calling two three
times a day.
Speaker 5 (31:13):
Mm hmm uh. And he was protecting you.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Lastancia. Better look at and says yo pensando Mexicos. You know,
as a father, I'm thinking of my kids. I'm a
fifty two year old man, husband, father, and I wasn't
thinking how my dad would see me. My dad was
still seeing his kid and how that affected not just him,
(31:42):
but a lot of the extended family, a lot of
the extended friends who know send. Even people who have
reached out to me in my office from throughout the
country who don't know me personally can relate. I can
relate to my family's journey because it's their family's journey.
And it goes back to again, if this this is
how this administration is going to treat a center with
(32:02):
a question, just imagine what's happening. But the flip side
of that, and I know you both can appreciate this.
This is how nervous and scared this administration gets. From
one center with a question, imagine how fearful they are
when they see millions of people taking to the streets
(32:22):
to peacefully protests. We saw it in the first No
King's March, which was two days after my encounter with
Homeland Security, and they saw it even more so in
the second No King's Day March. Right. They saw it
again in the election last month in Virginia and New Jersey,
(32:43):
in Georgia, in Pennsylvania, in California when we pass Proposition fifty,
and they're going to see it again in the next
No King's March, and they're going to see it again
in the midtrum elections. Not automatically. We still have to
do the work, but we know the stakes if we
don't do the work. And so, to answer you a question, again,
that's why I do what I do.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
So can I just ask really quickly that do you
think that this makes the administration fearful or does it
make them more resentful? Because in some way you see
an administration that is simply escalating their anti emigrant rhetoric
and there's nothing stopping their mass raids.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
No, I think it's both. I think it's both. I
think I think they're fearful because they've seen that the
consequences of it, not just the poll numbers. A lot
of people quickly pull, you know, point to the pole
numbers of Trump's approval ratings and you know how he's
had immigration or the economy or anything else, et cetera.
But I know behind closed doors, they're hearing it. Oh
(33:46):
they're hearing it, but they're they're vindictive, they're stubborn, and
they're just going to double down because that's how Donald
Trump is. So my question, as I mentioned earlier, is
not for him, and it's not for his cabinetministration. It's
from a Republican colleagues in Congress who were who took
an oath to do to represent their own constituents. And
(34:08):
when Donald Trump is doing something to hurt people in
Republican districts and states represented by Republicans in the Senate,
what are those members going to do right by their
constituents in what I means saying no to Donald Trump,
that is what needs to change your going forward.
Speaker 5 (34:25):
So let me ask you about that.
Speaker 4 (34:26):
The next step we're the use of calling you, Senator Padilla,
and I thought there was going to be a time
when we were going to call you go Ernador. But
then something happened and you decided not to run for
government of California that next year.
Speaker 5 (34:40):
What what happened?
Speaker 6 (34:41):
Why? Let me?
Speaker 4 (34:43):
Can I tell you a phrase in Spanish before you answer?
And in Mexico there's a phrase. Can you said, total
political respira aspidra. I don't know about the translation, but
it would be if you breath. As a politician, you
always looking for more power.
Speaker 5 (35:03):
So what happened?
Speaker 2 (35:05):
You know, it was a very tough decision. I'm not
gonna lie. You've told all my friends and family. There
was one thousand and one considerations. What's the best thing personally,
what's the best thing politically, what's the best thing professionally?
You know, what makes more sense for my wife and
my kids? And so the answer was not no to
running for governor. The answer was not now, you know,
(35:27):
because maybe we revisit, depending on circumstances, in four years
or eight years. I'm still relatively young. But among the
reasons is the practical reality bit in politics. Long enough
to know that once you're a candidate for something, a
lot of what you say, and a lot of what
you do is you through that lens, right and so
(35:51):
knowing that we have a lot of fights in our
hands right now, and God only knows what we're going
to have to face over the next year. I didn't
want Republicans or anybody else to be dismissive of anything
I say or do by just saying he's only saying
that because he's running for governor. He's only doing that
because he's running for governor. I need it to be
completely focused, you know, time, effort, attention, energy to the
(36:15):
fights right now because they're so pivotal, because they're so critical.
I love California and I'm honored to represent California here
in the Senate. If the position of governor becomes the
right thing to do at some point in the future, great,
But right now, I think, you know, my best service
is here.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
You You You speak like someone that is completely aware
of their power and how to use that power with
a lot of intention, which which brings me to to
someone like New York City mayor, like Zorim I'm Danny,
and someone like him that was suddenly capable of entering
a White House and against all odds charming someone like
(36:59):
President Donald Trump. And I'm wondering when you saw that moment,
if you think that there was anything for Mayor Karen
Bass from Los Angeles to learn from this interaction between
Mom Donnie and President Trump, particularly when it comes to
her protecting LA's immigrant community, Like, is there something for
(37:21):
Mayor Bass to to learn from that?
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Yeah, I don't know what the details have been of
any communication between Mayor Baths and President Trump. Maybe there's
been a lot that I'm unaware of because it's been private,
or or maybe there's been very little. All I know
is what a lot of people I think have learned
and have come to respect of now Mayor elect on
Donnie is firmness, honesty. Right, when you're comfortable for what
(37:54):
you stand for, what you're trying to accomplish, and you're authentic,
you're direct, you're honest then and that's undeniable. It's undeniable.
So not just for Mayor Bath, but for anybody. There's
a lot that you can agree with, different elected official,
same party, different political party. Maybe it's not that you
disagree with, but if you're true to why you're trying
(38:16):
to serve, right, and I have to do this every
single day in the Senate, especially because of the rules
of the Senate, have to find Republican colleagues to go
along with me. I might disagree with somebody on ninety
percent of the issues, but if you can find one
area of common ground, then let's focus on that and
try to make some good based on that one piece
and continue to move forward.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
What has that been like for you, Senator, because in
many ways, this is almost the first time in your
political career where you have to work across the aisle, right,
Because I mean your whole career in California, in many
ways you were in the Democratic majority. I'm starting from
your career in the La City Council. So what has
it been like for you to now be in a
(38:57):
minority and have to work across style.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
We just only half joking on that last piece. When
you live your whole life as a minority, you know
what it's like to be in the minority. But put
in the political context, you know a little experience when
I was in the state legislature. Yes, democratic majority, a
strong Democratic majority, but at the time, some of the rules,
including the passage of a budget required to by Parisian
(39:23):
vote threshold, so you know, there was some foundation laid
there for reaching across the aisle. But here, you know,
it's there's a lot of the official part of the business.
What committees do you sit on? How many votes to
pass a certain bill, or you know, things like that,
But the informal part of it, it really is based
on working relationships. And I've come to relish that part
(39:46):
of the job. It's not just me meeting colleagues and
getting to know them to try to find those areas
of common ground, but the importance of making sure that
they get to know me and they to know my journey,
my perspective, not just because it's me and my family specifically,
but people like us, right representing the most populous state
(40:10):
in the nation, the most diverse state in the nation,
home to more immigrants than any state in the nation.
So when we engage in these conversations about the economy,
for example, and we go look at different sectors, you
want to talk about travel and tourism. I know it's
important to Maine, for example, at certain types of the year,
you want to talk about agriculture, not just workers who
(40:30):
work the fields, but workers in food processing facilities, the
meatpacking plants, the price of beef. Right, you go sector
by sector by sector, and you can quantify the benefit
of immigrant labor. Right, what would our economy be, what
would prices to consumers be if we were absent a
good chunk of the workforce. Look at California alone, especially
(40:53):
post the Herraic fires from last January, forty percent of
the construction workforce in California is immigrants, mostly legal immigrants,
some undocumented. You know, I'm sure that's the case. Goes
back to these ice rates. They're not discriminating, they're detaining
undocumented immigrants, they're detaining legal immigrants, they're they're detaining United
(41:16):
States citizens. That's having an economic impact. So, you know,
it's not always the easiest.
Speaker 3 (41:23):
To be going to say, so you're saying that it
can work. So essentially, what you're saying is that if
you humanize immigrants and immigration, that there are some of
your Republican colleagues that that that do have a soft spot.
Speaker 2 (41:37):
There is that what you're saying, I think there's an
opening for sure. Okay, So we need to grow that
opening and have it reached a point where they're finally
willing to say no to trump wants on immigration. On
any given day. So we're trying to create that circumstance,
trying to create that environment, you know, But to your
(41:59):
question by reaching out to Republicans or others from across
the country, Like I said, it's it's a challenge, and
in some ways that's the beautiful challenge of our democracy.
How do one hundred of us come together into one
chamber from different states, different life experience, different political agendas
to try to find a consensus around something. You know,
my golden opportunity is to bring the California perspective, the
(42:23):
son of immigrants perspective, the mechanical engineering degree from MIT perspective.
You know what makes me unique as part of this
big mix that we call United States Senate and the
Congress and try to improve the outcomes.
Speaker 5 (42:40):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 4 (42:45):
As we only have a few moremnus with you, So
so let me let us ask just a couple of
final questions here. You once mentioned and I remember that
your father told you that he wanted you to work
with your with your mind and not with your back.
Could you tell me that phrase in Spanish commercal.
Speaker 2 (43:05):
Cod convera hoven uh it possibly can tell no lends
as asma and travel carts for loss gondo, trava mask
can saloo crescas has gone to many. In to Spider,
(43:33):
I would no trava manuel pera sou for by the
ther par para me sava when education located to and
persona parque consern group of chili recom. I mean if
(44:02):
a million colive mispaisk or with your m.
Speaker 3 (44:22):
I mean, I think a lot of people don't know
that you that you do have a degree from MIT.
And so when I found that out, I was I
was wondering why you chose a Korean public service? Like
how did you make that that decision? Also, I do
I do want to remind people that that you are
someone that at the age of twenty six entered politics.
(44:44):
I mean, I remember when I was twenty six, I
barely could make my own bed. But at twenty six
years old, you knew that you wanted to enter the
world of politics, which is which is so daunting. So
how how did you go from from an MIT degree
to a Korean public service?
Speaker 2 (45:00):
And I get the question a lot because it is
so uncommon right, and I only half jokingly tell people, Well,
to me, it's common sense. Engineers are trained to solve problems.
Isn't that what like the officials are supposed to be doing.
But the truth, the true story is this. I graduated
from MIT. The year was nineteen ninety four, and I
(45:22):
came home to California. I was back in Los Angeles
that fall when I started seeing political ads on television.
You remember this well, Governor Pete Wilson, of course, I remember,
up for re election. He was down in the polls,
and his supporters, what a coincidence. They qualified a measure
(45:42):
for the ballot that was known as Proposition one eighty seven.
It was a measure that asked the people of California,
should we make immigrants and children of immigrants no longer
eligible for public services? Things like if you don't know
have private health insurance and you count on going to
the county CLI when you're sick, all of a sudden
that is taken away from you. There was language in
(46:04):
that measure that would have required school staff imagine teachers
and administrators schools to report to the authorities in each
child they suspected quote suspected of being undocumented. How cool?
How unlawful? And I saw the governor himself on the
commercial saying basically, California is going downhill, and it's the
(46:26):
fault of people like your parents and communities like yours.
That's what I heard, because when you talk about immigrants,
I know my parents as an example, hard working, trying
to achieve their American dream. I looked at all my
friends throughout the community, the kids that went to school with,
used to play baseball with, their parents were buying large
immigrants also doing the same thing, working hard, trying to
(46:48):
make a better life. That those ads that campaign was offensive,
it was enraging, and it's what convinced me to you
know what, Maybe it's for a short term, maybe it's
for as long I'm going to set this engineering degree aside,
I have to get involved in politics. We had been
active in our community on some local issues, but I
never really thought electoral politics was where I belonged until
(47:13):
that moment. And so it began with organizing and registering voters.
It led to working for Center Diane Feinstein once upon
a time. It led to managing some political campaigns before
running for office myself just a few years later, and
as they say, the rest is history.
Speaker 4 (47:31):
So just one final question, Senator, before you live, of course,
both your parents are immigrants from Mexico as just like me.
Your father was a lank of your mother worked as
a housekeeper. So it seems that the American dream really
has worked for you. But I wonder what would you
say one of your children said, Hey, that Papa make politica.
I want to get into politics. What would you say, Agane.
(48:01):
We remind ourselves we're not trying to raise three boys.
You're trying to raise three gentlemen. And our dabst parents
is to expose them to everything possible, let them find
their interests, of them, find their passion and support them.
It could be in sports, it could be in music,
it could be becoming a university professor, could be a lawyer, doctor,
(48:21):
And one or two, or even all three of them,
do you find the spark, the passion for public service,
then of course I'll do anything I can to help them.
Speaker 5 (48:31):
Another thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 7 (48:38):
The Moment is a production of Rayan Bulante Studios in
partnership with Iheart's Michael Tura podcast network. Our staff includes
Danila Racon, Miguel Santello Coloone and Lisa Cerda, with help
from Paol Lean Diego Colso, Natal and al Salo Joe.
The CEO of rian Bulante Studios is Carolina Gret executively
(49:00):
Users and I Heart are Early in Santana and Leo
Gomes Down lou Careta, Villan Hunger and Mark Halton also
serve as producers. Some designed final mix and theme song
by Eleas Gonzalds. Our hosts Aremus and Paula Ras And
if you like this episode, please share the world. Recommend
(49:21):
the moment to anyone who might enjoy unpacking these complicated
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Speaker 3 (49:39):
Thanks for listening.
Hi, I'm Danielle Alercon, executive producer of the Moment. A
quick announcement before the episode. Last week, the production house
that makes this podcast, Ryan Blant the Studios, began its
most important fundraising campaign of the year. These are difficult
times in our region, but at amble of the Studios,
we choose to see the world as it is. We
choose not to look away. And we do this because
we know that you're with us together.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
We're braver.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Plus, we have great news. News Match will double the
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now here's the episode.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
I'm Corca Ramos and I'm Bala Ramos and this is
the moment. Okay. So every week we try and bring
you episodes that talk about the moment that we find
our right. But I think this week in particular, I
(01:03):
think Ladinos, immigrants, millions of people throughout the Latin American
continents are literally trapped in the moment. Why because we
are potentially seeing a Trumpet administration that seems to be
on the verge of some type of military intervention in Venezuela. Right,
So that's happening across the ocean, and then within the mainland.
(01:25):
Inside of the United States, you also have a Trumpe
administration that continues to escalate. It's anti immigrant rhetoric, it's
anti immigrant agenda to the point and I'm quoting Trump
here to the point that they are now seeing things
that like people that do not conform to quote Western civilization,
do not belong in this country. So one of the
questions that we want to tackle today is what does
(01:48):
it mean to be a US Ladinos senator with power?
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Now?
Speaker 3 (01:51):
What do you do with that power? Do you take
a risk or do you stay silent?
Speaker 4 (01:56):
The question is so our next guest on the mall,
when is California Senator Alex Padilla. All that you might
remember that he was arrested during the summer when he
tried to Confrose Christino and the secretary of the Department
of Homeless Security. But I think this confrontation gave him
power and a lot of national dissibility.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
I think this is someone that is thinking with intention
about what it means to take risks under this socio
political environment. So we'll be talking to him, to Senator
Alex Padilla, about the way that he thinks about risks,
the way that he thinks about power, and how he
went from being a twenty six year old m T
grad to someone that is in the highest realms of
(02:37):
power in the United States.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
And someone who wants to be Senator. No, Senator Alex
Padilla when we come back again, Alisas, Yeah, you know,
you know Pawela my daughter. Right, I'm glad you met before.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
Thank you so much for talking to us.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
I know that this is an incredible an incredible time,
so difficult, so tense, and and we really appreciate the
opportunity just to have a platic state a conversation.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
Of course, of course, and.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
He's probably the only person that does not drink coffee.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
Here.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
We are not unknown fact.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Go ahead, that's fun fact.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
Okay, So thanks so much for talking to us. Okay,
let's do it.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
We'll senator welcome to the moment.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
What a moment it is.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
It is, what a moment it.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Is certain, that's that's I want to start with with
the moment that everyone is really thinking about right now,
and I think there are millions of Americans and millions
of Latin Americans that are thinking about Minezuela. So that's
where I want to start, because, of course, you know
that President Trump recently stated that we could potentially soon
expect military operations that go from sea to Venezuelan land.
(04:10):
And I think today we're talking to Monday, December first.
Today there's an expected meeting at the White House with
key administration officials. And then on the other hand, you
have Senator Schumer who just recently stated, Senator he said
that the United States may soon be closer to another
costly foreign war because of what the administration is doing.
(04:30):
And so my first question to you is what do
you think the trumpet administration is eyeing in Venezuela. Is
this about an invasion? Is it about regime change? What
do you think?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Yeah, you know, there's so much that is unknown about
the Trump administration on any question, especially something like this.
What is their motive, what is their rationale, what is
their logic? Because so much of what they do doesn't
have a rationale or a logic at least not by
standard terms. It could be regime change, it could be war,
(05:04):
it could be just for pursuit of oil or some
other mechanism, not so much in the national interest for
the United States of America, but Trump and his allies,
who's making money where? You know, sadly, that's the moment
that we're living in. Where we're living in the time
of a President Trump. Where whether it's in Venezuela, whether
(05:26):
it's in Russia, Ukraine, whether it's anywhere else, including here
in the United States. Trump has consistently demonstrated that he's
only after his own self interest. America first is just
a facade for him. And so for me, the analysis
begins there.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Well gives me pauses. Is even your mention of the
word war or even this potential idea that the Trumpet
administration may be seeking war in Venezuela in Latin America.
And I mentioned this because, as you know, more than anyone,
only Congress has the sole power and the sole authority
to declare war. So if that is potentially the case,
(06:06):
is there anything that Congress can do to stop the
Trump administration from potentially declaring a war in Minnezuela.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Well, The answer to that is yes. It is contingent
upon our Republican colleagues standing up and respecting their oath
of office and the Constitution.
Speaker 6 (06:26):
Right.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
This president has broken through so many norms, yes, and
his first rump, but especially in the second term. You know,
and sadly, there's very little, if anything that President Trump
says or does that surprises me or shocks me, because
we know him, We know who he is and how
he is. There's the little that comes out of the
cabinet and his White House staff that surprises the shocks
(06:50):
because their reflection of him. What has been the biggest
disappointment for me all year long is the failure of
Republicans in Congress, especially in the Senate, to stand up
for the Constitution, the rule of law, and not just
fold and give in to whatever Trump wants on any
given day. It's been the case when it comes to policy.
(07:12):
It's been the case when it comes to the budget.
It's been the case when it comes to even all
the apployments, all the nominations beginning with the cabinet, but
other important positions in the federal government that Republicans know
people who have not been qualified, including Pete Heseth by
the Way and others, but they vote to confirm them. Anyway,
(07:33):
when our congression Republicans is going to stand up and
serve as this co equal branch of government because they're
in the majority, Democrats are speaking up and we're voting
the right way to try to block a lot of
this stuff. But as long as Senate, as long as
the Senate and the House are in Republican majority, we
need our Republican colleagues to stand up and do what's right.
(07:56):
And if they don't do it, then all the more
reason to get ready for the midterm elections. They cannot
get here soon enough.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
So LENDU say about Venezuela, just to be concrete, have
you been informed that that something is imminent, that something's
gonna happen.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
We have not been informed or notified or briefed. We
have requested the information, including the legal rationale for why
the or how the administration has gone about the attacks
off the coast that they've already conducted. And again another
said practice of this administration is they have been the
(08:33):
opposite of transparent. They've been the opposite of forthcoming with information.
But we're going to keep pressing. I'm a little bit
more hopeful now because both the top Democrat and the
top Republican of the Armed Services Committee in both the
Senate and the House have publicly called for hearings and
investigation on what's happening in Venezuela and off the coast
(08:56):
of Venezuela. As I'm hopeful we'll get more of that
information sooner rather than later.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
SANATORI.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
You just mentioned it has said, and I want to
ask you about this that the Washington Points also reported
that the secret Stary of Defense order to kill two
survivors from an attack against a boat in the Caribbean.
So we don't know exactly what happened. But if this
is true, would it be a war crime?
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
I mean, depending on the context and some of the details,
important details, it could be a war crime. It could
be just murder. All the more reasonable. We need the details,
we need the specifics of what happened and who ordered what.
But ultimately there is a chain of command, uh, and
somebody closer to the ground reports to somebody reports to somebody.
(09:39):
The Secretary of Defense is Pete Hexseth and the commander
in chief is Donald Trump. It has to be accountability.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
Well, exactly.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
But if it was an illegal order, what would be
your role in that? The role of Congress.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
The role of Congress is to bring about accountability, to
find out who either gave an unlawful order. You know,
it's interesting because they're making all this noise about the
video that several members of Congress released last week, veterans
of the armed services who were communicating directly to active
service duty members telling them that they do not have
(10:17):
to abide by unlawful orders. Right and in the manual,
by the way, this is a classic example of an
unlawful order. But instead of being forthcoming with information, cooperating with,
Congress says to let's get to the bottom of what
happened here, they're attacking the members of Congress who appeared
(10:38):
in that video saying the very right thing. But they're
attacking them because they don't like the negative coverage or
the bad headlines. They're very sensitive to that. And now
my colleagues, so slack In from Michigan, Mark Kelly from Arizona,
are now being targeted. That's how this administration chooses to operate.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Before we turned to immigration, Senator, I just want to
take a step back because I'm I keep thinking about
this kind of moral debate that a lot of Latinos
are having about the United States role in Latin America. Right,
I think there are some Venezuelans that actually believe that
the United States has this sort of moral imperative to
(11:18):
intravene and then of course there's a lot of Latinos
that are completely opposed to that. And I don't have
to tell you about the United States very violent legacy
and history of interventions in Latin America. So I'm just
I'm curious about history exactly, And so I'm curious from
your standpoint, like how you view as yourself reflecting about
(11:39):
all of this, Like how how you see the United
States role in Latin America in this moment.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Yeah, I mean if we look at history, you know,
there's a lot of layers to it, right, that should
inform the thought process for going forward. Is it military intervention?
Is it? You know, we know the CIA has a
long history in many countries throughout Latin America. There's a
history of economic cooperation and partnership at times, and diplomacy, etc. Etc.
(12:06):
So look, we are the strongest country in the world
for sure, economically, militarily and otherwise, and I do think
we have a big role to play throughout the hemisphere.
In recent years, I know we want to touch on immigration.
Maybe this is a little bit of a seguey. We've
talked about how many people have left not just Mexico,
(12:28):
but countries throughout the hemisphere seeking either asylum or at
least better opportunity in the United States of America. Some
people embrace that, some people don't. But the point I've
made over the last several years was by colleaguesists. If
we want to get our arms around the migration challenges
throughout the hemisphere, we need a partnerships and alliances built
(12:51):
throughout the hemisphere in a very constructive way, not just
immigration law, but a regional economy and beyond intervention, you know,
just saying intervention could be a good thing, that guaranteed
to be a good thing, that details the specifics matter.
If this was under almost any other administration, I'd have
(13:12):
higher hopes for a productive, constructive dialogue and framework for it.
But under this administration, I'm surely suspect.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
So speaken of US military international broad I want to
ask you, Senator about the tragic and deadly shooting so
to US and National guards last week they were shot
by a twenty nine yurood Afghan national who happened to
help the US in Afghanistan. So obviously this attack should
never have happened and it should be completely condemned. I
(13:41):
think we agree that violence is never never the way.
But do you think that the Trump administration might be
using this incident as another excuse to attack all immigrants,
including those of US who have been naturalized.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Sadly, no doubt, and lett me echo your comment.
Speaker 5 (13:59):
Hood.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Hey, you know, my heartbreaks for the victims of the
shooting and their families, the young lady who lost her
life from West Virginia, the young man who's still in
critical condition. It Violence, especially political count says, has no
place in the United States of America or anywhere for
that matter. So that's not how to respond. But once again,
(14:22):
leave it to this administration to exploit this strategy, this
tragedy for their mass deportation agenda, whether it's mass deportation
of people who are in the United States that they
would love to get rid of, or to keep people
from lawfully seeking asylum or seeking refuge in the United States.
(14:44):
We have to modernize our immigration laws no doubt and
reduced to backlogs, look at the vetting process, et cetera.
But we should not completely close our borders just because
you know, one person and we don't know all the
details of the shooting. Was this person radicalizes, when and
where and how? Was it a mental health breakdown? I
don't know. There's a lot that we don't know about
(15:05):
this incident yet, But we can't use that as an
excuse to just say no to so many other people
who have requested to come to the United States that
have been waiting. They've been through the process, they've been
properly vetted thus far. So we have to be able
to continue that process, improve upon it, but not to
(15:26):
just close ourselves off from the rest of the world
because of this one incident.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
You know, and I do want to emphasize, I think,
for our listeners and for our viewers, just how drastic
these immigration changes are, right because I think we've you know,
the news is all over the place this week, of course,
and everyone is focused on different things, but I think
we've lost focus of just exactly what the Trumpet administration
is proposing in light of, of course, this tragic attack,
(15:51):
and just to name a few things, Senator, As you know,
this goes beyond them sort of closing the doors on Afghans, right,
they are basically essentially saying on a broader scale that
all asylum applications have been paused, regardless of nationality. They're
saying things like, and I'm quoting the administration here, they're
saying things like they want to remove anyone who is
(16:13):
not in assets to the United States. They are also
saying things that they will remove anyone who is quote
non compatible with Western civilization. And so I just want
to give you an opportunity to once again react to
this and kind of give us a sense of the
profound changes that we're seeing in the immigration system.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Right. And so what I'm about to say may sound
like an exaggeration, but it is not, because you've seen
it from Donald Trump since day one. They went to
this administration throughout his first term and from the moment
he first declared the candidate for president into twenty sixteen
election cycle, when it came down that golden escalator, right
(16:53):
and escapegoating, insulting, villainizing Latinos put out the marker of
you know, who is of value or who comports with
American life, or who's making that determination? Is it him,
is his court picks, is it his Department of Justice,
is his Secretary of Homeland Security. That should be alarming
(17:18):
to everybody because we know how discriminatory this administration, its policies,
and its actions have been the fact that he's closing
the doors off or the pathways off for refugees and
the some seekers. I mean that was the day one
of this administration back in January twentieth. The southern border
of the United States has effectively been closed, but these
(17:41):
more recent announcements is really sort of more global unless
from until he makes a determination. We recently had a
required consultation between the administration, its officials from Department of State,
Department of Homeland Security, and representatives of Congress but the House,
in the Senate, but the Democrats and Republicans on how
(18:01):
many refugees we may want to consider resettling into the
United States. It's something that happens every single year. Sometimes
it's a low numbers, sometimes it's a higher number, and
we have action planned and investments around that. This year,
they wanted to take it practically to zero except for Africaners,
(18:21):
right white South Africans who Trump without providing for us
any rationale, justification or legal analysis. But he's single handed
to claims that these people have been discriminated by their government,
so they're going to be the global exception to Donald
Trump closing the doors?
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Is this about race, Senator, I mean to be blunt like,
is this about the Trumpet administration attempting to widen America?
Speaker 2 (18:50):
So you know, it's hard to see it any other way. Again,
going back to the rhetoric that began when he first
announced for president, not this second term, before the first
tim when he won in twenty sixteen, when he came
down to escalators and describe people like my parents, who,
as you know, are immigrants from Mexico to United States,
(19:11):
you know, as by and large rapists, drug dealers, criminals, etc.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Most immigrants are
hard working, law abiding, etc. But Donald Trump has a
different vision of the future of America and who he
considers is worthy of being an American. That's what we're
(19:34):
up against. Just because he said it doesn't mean that
we're going to let it happen, and that, I think
just reinforces the importance of the work that we do
day and day out to defend the American dream.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
Something happened to you last June, Senator, you were forcibly
removed from our ristill know and press conference and throng
to the floor by federal agents. I have never seen
anything like this happening to a US senator. So something
similar happened to me at a press conference with Donald Trump.
They took me out forcibly from the press conference. And
(20:19):
I want to ask you to take us back to
that moment, Senator, But it happened so many months ago
that I wonder if and you've been asked about this
so many times, that I wonder if you have now,
at the end of the year, a different perspective and
actually what happened, and if you have a new reason
(20:40):
why you decided to confront the homeless Security secretary.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
No, I think if there's anything new, it's only reinforcing
what we felt at the time. Right this is June,
in the first week of these intensified ice rays in
the Los Angeles area, I was hearing anecdotally at the
(21:06):
time that so many of the people that were being stopped,
that were being detained, that were even being arrested in
some cases deported without due process. We're not the dangerous,
violent criminals that Donald Trump likes to talk about so much.
I'm sure there was some in that group, but the
vast majority are people with no criminal history, and so
(21:28):
you have to ask who are they. They tend to
be people who are working in jobs that are essential
to the United States. Don't take my word for it.
In the first Trump administration, at the beginning of the
COVID pandemic, the Trump Department of Homeland Security at the
time designated workers in healthcare, in construction, in agriculture, in
(21:51):
the food supply chain, and transportation, etc. As essential workers.
But now they seem to be the disproportion of the
Trump mass deportation agenda. So when I went to the
press conference unexpected, it happened to be in the same building,
just down the hall when I heard it was happening,
(22:11):
and I was hearing the rhetoric from Secretary and Nome
echoing the rhetoric from Donald Trump about the need to
liberate the city of Los Angeles from its elected leaders,
from the mayor, from the governor. First of all, that's
ultimately anti American, But the presentation they were giving with
a PowerPoint presentation of maybe five or six names, over
(22:34):
and over again in the context of hundreds that they
claimed that were arrested. You know, I was trying to
get the data how many people are truly the violent
criminals you talk so much about, and they refused to
give data. Since then, we've learned, depending on depending on
the region, it could be seventy percent, eighty percent, maybe
even more don't have that criminal history. So when it
(22:56):
came back from that experience in Los Angeles, to answer
your question, hey, I shared a couple of things with
my colleagues. One just the facts of what did and
did not happen that day, Because of course they turned
right around and accused me of trying to be belligerent,
not introducing myself. You know, all these lines.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
You're getting planet right. I mean, you just happened to
be there.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
You never plan it.
Speaker 5 (23:17):
There was not a plan.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
I'll tell you why I was even in that building,
you know, because after months and months and not getting
any answers from the Secretary or the department here in Washington,
you know, in committees and in hearings, not getting any
responses to the letters and formal inquiries we had made
to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice.
I was in Los Angeles as the tensions were escalating,
(23:40):
and I had a confirmed briefing with General Gee of
the Number two of Northern Command within the Department of Defense. Finally,
I was going to get information from a career professional
in the Department of Justice, in the Department of Defense
because this had become a military operation. They had federalizing
deployed National Guards troops and they were sending in the
(24:02):
Marines to Los Angeles again, another unprecedented act by this administration.
So I showed up at the Federal Building in West
Los Angeles at my scheduled appointment briefing time, escorted throughout
the time by an FBI agent and a National Guards member.
And when my briefing was delayed because I learned Secretary
(24:26):
and Normans having a press conference a couple of doors
down the hall, I asked, can we go listen it?
And they escorted me into the press conference. That's why
I was there.
Speaker 5 (24:35):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Yeah, so, yeah, important detail for anybody who was accusing
me of crashing, not introducing myself, you know, posing a threat,
you know all that bs. But the important lessons that
came from that day. You heard me say that day.
If this is how they will treat a senator with
a question, imagine how they're treating so many people around
the country when the cameras are not on. You know
(24:56):
how so many immigrants with no credical history are being detained,
physically assaulted, you know, even deported without due process rights.
United States citizens are being rounded up in these raids
all because of our appearance. The Supreme Court has sanctioned
how you know, ice and Border Patrol and others are
(25:19):
going after immigrants based on their appearance, their accents, that
perceived occupation. That's racial profiling. And so that was an
important takeaway that it need to share with my colleagues
and they remind them every day. Number two, this happened
to be in Los Angeles, and it happened to be
about immigrants' rights because remember Donald Trump was escalating because
(25:41):
the people of Los Anges were standing up and speaking
up and for the most part, peacefully protesting. And I
shared with my colleagues they have this playbook now that
they can deploy in any city in America for any
issue when they want to culch descent and what has
happened since now there's no sational Guard troops rolling the
streets of Washington, d C. Look what's happened in happening
(26:05):
in Chicago and in Portland, in North Carolina, and it's
it's again only uh expanding because that's what Donald trump
fixation has been. The economy isn't is hurting most working families.
You know, they do not want to release the Epstein files.
They're losing these terraf wars. There's so much bad that's
(26:28):
happening from this administration. When it's all going downhill, and
they want to distract and change the subject, they come
back to immigrant bashing and how how much more they
can escapegoat immigrants and really discriminate against people.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
And I have to to say, Centator, when when I
when I saw you this summer, when when that happened
to you, it reminded me of watching my father getting
kicked out of that press conference. There was a lot
of similarity in that. And I think it also comes
down to just again this general idea of what Latinos
(27:05):
are doing in this moment to stand up when you
have the privilege in the platform to speak up, do
you or do you not? And I think you're obviously
an example of someone that has done this many times
in your career. You didn't just do this this summer,
but then you did it again recently. I mean you
you recently walked out of a Senate Judiciary Subcomittee on
Border Security and Immigration hearing, and I want to listen
(27:26):
to what you said.
Speaker 6 (27:28):
Americans have had enough. They're sick of mask agents disrespecting daycares,
schools and churches, disappearing loved ones, and intimidating our communities.
Americans are demanding that we do something. So, mister Chairman,
it's clear to me that this hearing will not be
a serious or constructive conversation. And for that reason, I
(27:51):
refuse to give oxygen to the fire of disinformation and
propaganda that this sharing was set up to ignite. And
I refuse to be part of this, you rade.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
My question to you, Senator, is, in a moment when
the President of the United States is essentially telling democratic
lawmakers that they should be arrested and put on trial,
why do you take the risk? I mean, why do
you keep taking these risks? And why is it important
for you to speak up?
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Look, it's why we do what we do It's why
I do what I do, because at the end of
the day, we have a very simple choice to make.
Every every single day that we wake up, we see
what's wrong with what's going on in the country right
now because of this administration. Do we just stay quiet,
(28:40):
Do we try to just turn the other way and
wait for times to change and circumstances to change, or
do we speak up and engage and try to be
the change that we know we need, not just for
us here today, but for future generations. It is not easy,
it is not fun. But I didn't take this job
(29:02):
because it was going to be easy. I took this
job because it's important. And I owe it, you know,
to my parents who struggle and sacrifice so much to
create opportunity for my brother, my sister, and I here
in the United States of America. And I owe it
to my children and future generations, their generation who will
inherit this country. This is our opportunity to make our mark.
(29:23):
And sometimes you get to work on really good things,
try to make the country better. But right now we're
playing a lot of defense, trying to keep the horrible
things from happening.
Speaker 5 (29:34):
So as let me just ask you, when you were arrested.
What did you tell your children?
Speaker 2 (29:41):
You know, among the many, many things that raced through
my mind, because immediately I thought, Okay, these images are
going going to go viral real quick. They were politically
policy wise, hou is this going to help or hurt
a conversation about accountability of the administration, maybe the efforts
for immigration reform, because we still need to modernize our
(30:01):
immigration laws. But on a very personal level, You're absolutely right, Oh,
my god, Angel's going to see this exactly, what's she
going to think? How's she going to feel? My kids
are going to see this.
Speaker 6 (30:12):
You know.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
I've worked hard to try to be a good role
model for my kids, to show them the good examples,
and now they're going to have this image of their
father being handcuffed and for what for doing his job,
for asking a question. And the images were troubling. I'm
not gonna lie. It's taken a lot for us as
a family to process. But I think maybe the example
(30:34):
of courage of standing up for what's right and speaking
up for what's right, even when there's consequences from bad people,
it's worth doing, and it's maybe more important to do
in those moments. But I hope you can appreciate this.
What I did not anticipate, what I did not think
of in that moment was not just about my wife
(30:57):
and my kids, but how was it going to affect
my father of course and those But my dad and
I talked pretty regularly, but he started calling two three
times a day.
Speaker 5 (31:13):
Mm hmm uh. And he was protecting you.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Lastancia. Better look at and says yo pensando Mexicos. You know,
as a father, I'm thinking of my kids. I'm a
fifty two year old man, husband, father, and I wasn't
thinking how my dad would see me. My dad was
still seeing his kid and how that affected not just him,
(31:42):
but a lot of the extended family, a lot of
the extended friends who know send. Even people who have
reached out to me in my office from throughout the
country who don't know me personally can relate. I can
relate to my family's journey because it's their family's journey.
And it goes back to again, if this this is
how this administration is going to treat a center with
(32:02):
a question, just imagine what's happening. But the flip side
of that, and I know you both can appreciate this.
This is how nervous and scared this administration gets. From
one center with a question, imagine how fearful they are
when they see millions of people taking to the streets
(32:22):
to peacefully protests. We saw it in the first No
King's March, which was two days after my encounter with
Homeland Security, and they saw it even more so in
the second No King's Day March. Right. They saw it
again in the election last month in Virginia and New Jersey,
(32:43):
in Georgia, in Pennsylvania, in California when we pass Proposition fifty,
and they're going to see it again in the next
No King's March, and they're going to see it again
in the midtrum elections. Not automatically. We still have to
do the work, but we know the stakes if we
don't do the work. And so, to answer you a question, again,
that's why I do what I do.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
So can I just ask really quickly that do you
think that this makes the administration fearful or does it
make them more resentful? Because in some way you see
an administration that is simply escalating their anti emigrant rhetoric
and there's nothing stopping their mass raids.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
No, I think it's both. I think it's both. I
think I think they're fearful because they've seen that the
consequences of it, not just the poll numbers. A lot
of people quickly pull, you know, point to the pole
numbers of Trump's approval ratings and you know how he's
had immigration or the economy or anything else, et cetera.
But I know behind closed doors, they're hearing it. Oh
(33:46):
they're hearing it, but they're they're vindictive, they're stubborn, and
they're just going to double down because that's how Donald
Trump is. So my question, as I mentioned earlier, is
not for him, and it's not for his cabinetministration. It's
from a Republican colleagues in Congress who were who took
an oath to do to represent their own constituents. And
(34:08):
when Donald Trump is doing something to hurt people in
Republican districts and states represented by Republicans in the Senate,
what are those members going to do right by their
constituents in what I means saying no to Donald Trump,
that is what needs to change your going forward.
Speaker 5 (34:25):
So let me ask you about that.
Speaker 4 (34:26):
The next step we're the use of calling you, Senator Padilla,
and I thought there was going to be a time
when we were going to call you go Ernador. But
then something happened and you decided not to run for
government of California that next year.
Speaker 5 (34:40):
What what happened?
Speaker 6 (34:41):
Why? Let me?
Speaker 4 (34:43):
Can I tell you a phrase in Spanish before you answer?
And in Mexico there's a phrase. Can you said, total
political respira aspidra. I don't know about the translation, but
it would be if you breath. As a politician, you
always looking for more power.
Speaker 5 (35:03):
So what happened?
Speaker 2 (35:05):
You know, it was a very tough decision. I'm not
gonna lie. You've told all my friends and family. There
was one thousand and one considerations. What's the best thing personally,
what's the best thing politically, what's the best thing professionally?
You know, what makes more sense for my wife and
my kids? And so the answer was not no to
running for governor. The answer was not now, you know,
(35:27):
because maybe we revisit, depending on circumstances, in four years
or eight years. I'm still relatively young. But among the
reasons is the practical reality bit in politics. Long enough
to know that once you're a candidate for something, a
lot of what you say, and a lot of what
you do is you through that lens, right and so
(35:51):
knowing that we have a lot of fights in our
hands right now, and God only knows what we're going
to have to face over the next year. I didn't
want Republicans or anybody else to be dismissive of anything
I say or do by just saying he's only saying
that because he's running for governor. He's only doing that
because he's running for governor. I need it to be
completely focused, you know, time, effort, attention, energy to the
(36:15):
fights right now because they're so pivotal, because they're so critical.
I love California and I'm honored to represent California here
in the Senate. If the position of governor becomes the
right thing to do at some point in the future, great,
But right now, I think, you know, my best service
is here.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
You You You speak like someone that is completely aware
of their power and how to use that power with
a lot of intention, which which brings me to to
someone like New York City mayor, like Zorim I'm Danny,
and someone like him that was suddenly capable of entering
a White House and against all odds charming someone like
(36:59):
President Donald Trump. And I'm wondering when you saw that moment,
if you think that there was anything for Mayor Karen
Bass from Los Angeles to learn from this interaction between
Mom Donnie and President Trump, particularly when it comes to
her protecting LA's immigrant community, Like, is there something for
(37:21):
Mayor Bass to to learn from that?
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Yeah, I don't know what the details have been of
any communication between Mayor Baths and President Trump. Maybe there's
been a lot that I'm unaware of because it's been private,
or or maybe there's been very little. All I know
is what a lot of people I think have learned
and have come to respect of now Mayor elect on
Donnie is firmness, honesty. Right, when you're comfortable for what
(37:54):
you stand for, what you're trying to accomplish, and you're authentic,
you're direct, you're honest then and that's undeniable. It's undeniable.
So not just for Mayor Bath, but for anybody. There's
a lot that you can agree with, different elected official,
same party, different political party. Maybe it's not that you
disagree with, but if you're true to why you're trying
(38:16):
to serve, right, and I have to do this every
single day in the Senate, especially because of the rules
of the Senate, have to find Republican colleagues to go
along with me. I might disagree with somebody on ninety
percent of the issues, but if you can find one
area of common ground, then let's focus on that and
try to make some good based on that one piece
and continue to move forward.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
What has that been like for you, Senator, because in
many ways, this is almost the first time in your
political career where you have to work across the aisle, right,
Because I mean your whole career in California, in many
ways you were in the Democratic majority. I'm starting from
your career in the La City Council. So what has
it been like for you to now be in a
(38:57):
minority and have to work across style.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
We just only half joking on that last piece. When
you live your whole life as a minority, you know
what it's like to be in the minority. But put
in the political context, you know a little experience when
I was in the state legislature. Yes, democratic majority, a
strong Democratic majority, but at the time, some of the rules,
including the passage of a budget required to by Parisian
(39:23):
vote threshold, so you know, there was some foundation laid
there for reaching across the aisle. But here, you know,
it's there's a lot of the official part of the business.
What committees do you sit on? How many votes to
pass a certain bill, or you know, things like that,
But the informal part of it, it really is based
on working relationships. And I've come to relish that part
(39:46):
of the job. It's not just me meeting colleagues and
getting to know them to try to find those areas
of common ground, but the importance of making sure that
they get to know me and they to know my journey,
my perspective, not just because it's me and my family specifically,
but people like us, right representing the most populous state
(40:10):
in the nation, the most diverse state in the nation,
home to more immigrants than any state in the nation.
So when we engage in these conversations about the economy,
for example, and we go look at different sectors, you
want to talk about travel and tourism. I know it's
important to Maine, for example, at certain types of the year,
you want to talk about agriculture, not just workers who
(40:30):
work the fields, but workers in food processing facilities, the
meatpacking plants, the price of beef. Right, you go sector
by sector by sector, and you can quantify the benefit
of immigrant labor. Right, what would our economy be, what
would prices to consumers be if we were absent a
good chunk of the workforce. Look at California alone, especially
(40:53):
post the Herraic fires from last January, forty percent of
the construction workforce in California is immigrants, mostly legal immigrants,
some undocumented. You know, I'm sure that's the case. Goes
back to these ice rates. They're not discriminating, they're detaining
undocumented immigrants, they're detaining legal immigrants, they're they're detaining United
(41:16):
States citizens. That's having an economic impact. So, you know,
it's not always the easiest.
Speaker 3 (41:23):
To be going to say, so you're saying that it
can work. So essentially, what you're saying is that if
you humanize immigrants and immigration, that there are some of
your Republican colleagues that that that do have a soft spot.
Speaker 2 (41:37):
There is that what you're saying, I think there's an
opening for sure. Okay, So we need to grow that
opening and have it reached a point where they're finally
willing to say no to trump wants on immigration. On
any given day. So we're trying to create that circumstance,
trying to create that environment, you know, But to your
(41:59):
question by reaching out to Republicans or others from across
the country, Like I said, it's it's a challenge, and
in some ways that's the beautiful challenge of our democracy.
How do one hundred of us come together into one
chamber from different states, different life experience, different political agendas
to try to find a consensus around something. You know,
my golden opportunity is to bring the California perspective, the
(42:23):
son of immigrants perspective, the mechanical engineering degree from MIT perspective.
You know what makes me unique as part of this
big mix that we call United States Senate and the
Congress and try to improve the outcomes.
Speaker 5 (42:40):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 4 (42:45):
As we only have a few moremnus with you, So
so let me let us ask just a couple of
final questions here. You once mentioned and I remember that
your father told you that he wanted you to work
with your with your mind and not with your back.
Could you tell me that phrase in Spanish commercal.
Speaker 2 (43:05):
Cod convera hoven uh it possibly can tell no lends
as asma and travel carts for loss gondo, trava mask
can saloo crescas has gone to many. In to Spider,
(43:33):
I would no trava manuel pera sou for by the
ther par para me sava when education located to and
persona parque consern group of chili recom. I mean if
(44:02):
a million colive mispaisk or with your m.
Speaker 3 (44:22):
I mean, I think a lot of people don't know
that you that you do have a degree from MIT.
And so when I found that out, I was I
was wondering why you chose a Korean public service? Like
how did you make that that decision? Also, I do
I do want to remind people that that you are
someone that at the age of twenty six entered politics.
(44:44):
I mean, I remember when I was twenty six, I
barely could make my own bed. But at twenty six
years old, you knew that you wanted to enter the
world of politics, which is which is so daunting. So
how how did you go from from an MIT degree
to a Korean public service?
Speaker 2 (45:00):
And I get the question a lot because it is
so uncommon right, and I only half jokingly tell people, Well,
to me, it's common sense. Engineers are trained to solve problems.
Isn't that what like the officials are supposed to be doing.
But the truth, the true story is this. I graduated
from MIT. The year was nineteen ninety four, and I
(45:22):
came home to California. I was back in Los Angeles
that fall when I started seeing political ads on television.
You remember this well, Governor Pete Wilson, of course, I remember,
up for re election. He was down in the polls,
and his supporters, what a coincidence. They qualified a measure
(45:42):
for the ballot that was known as Proposition one eighty seven.
It was a measure that asked the people of California,
should we make immigrants and children of immigrants no longer
eligible for public services? Things like if you don't know
have private health insurance and you count on going to
the county CLI when you're sick, all of a sudden
that is taken away from you. There was language in
(46:04):
that measure that would have required school staff imagine teachers
and administrators schools to report to the authorities in each
child they suspected quote suspected of being undocumented. How cool?
How unlawful? And I saw the governor himself on the
commercial saying basically, California is going downhill, and it's the
(46:26):
fault of people like your parents and communities like yours.
That's what I heard, because when you talk about immigrants,
I know my parents as an example, hard working, trying
to achieve their American dream. I looked at all my
friends throughout the community, the kids that went to school with,
used to play baseball with, their parents were buying large
immigrants also doing the same thing, working hard, trying to
(46:48):
make a better life. That those ads that campaign was offensive,
it was enraging, and it's what convinced me to you
know what, Maybe it's for a short term, maybe it's
for as long I'm going to set this engineering degree aside,
I have to get involved in politics. We had been
active in our community on some local issues, but I
never really thought electoral politics was where I belonged until
(47:13):
that moment. And so it began with organizing and registering voters.
It led to working for Center Diane Feinstein once upon
a time. It led to managing some political campaigns before
running for office myself just a few years later, and
as they say, the rest is history.
Speaker 4 (47:31):
So just one final question, Senator, before you live, of course,
both your parents are immigrants from Mexico as just like me.
Your father was a lank of your mother worked as
a housekeeper. So it seems that the American dream really
has worked for you. But I wonder what would you
say one of your children said, Hey, that Papa make politica.
I want to get into politics. What would you say, Agane.
(48:01):
We remind ourselves we're not trying to raise three boys.
You're trying to raise three gentlemen. And our dabst parents
is to expose them to everything possible, let them find
their interests, of them, find their passion and support them.
It could be in sports, it could be in music,
it could be becoming a university professor, could be a lawyer, doctor,
(48:21):
And one or two, or even all three of them,
do you find the spark, the passion for public service,
then of course I'll do anything I can to help them.
Speaker 5 (48:31):
Another thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 7 (48:38):
The Moment is a production of Rayan Bulante Studios in
partnership with Iheart's Michael Tura podcast network. Our staff includes
Danila Racon, Miguel Santello Coloone and Lisa Cerda, with help
from Paol Lean Diego Colso, Natal and al Salo Joe.
The CEO of rian Bulante Studios is Carolina Gret executively
(49:00):
Users and I Heart are Early in Santana and Leo
Gomes Down lou Careta, Villan Hunger and Mark Halton also
serve as producers. Some designed final mix and theme song
by Eleas Gonzalds. Our hosts Aremus and Paula Ras And
if you like this episode, please share the world. Recommend
(49:21):
the moment to anyone who might enjoy unpacking these complicated
times with us. And if you like the moment, Protaene's
podcast Espannon check out brian Bulante Studios. Our shows brian Bulante,
Elilo and Central are really worth a listen. I'm laure
Rojasa Ponte.
Speaker 3 (49:39):
Thanks for listening.
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