Today on The Breakfast Club, Gov. Wes Moore Calls Out Congress, Talks Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Enriching Black Businesses. Listen For More!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wake that ass up in the morning.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Breakfast club.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
Yes, it's the world's most dangerous wanting to show to
breakfast club. Charlamagne the God just hilarious. Envy is out
but laurn l Ross And we have the twenty twenty
eight presidential candidate and the governor of Maryland.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Wes moorees here. How are you my brother back man?
It's gonna be bad.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Good to have you back, man. How you feeling. First
of all, I'm feeling great. Okay, I'm feeling great, man.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Listen. And you know, contrary to everything else going on
in the country, Maryland's doing great.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
We continue pushing, I mean, honestly, like getting really big
wins for our people, and so we're we're excited.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I wanted to.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Talk to you about all of that because you know,
I know that you're implementing a lot of great things
in Maryland, and I wonder what could be replicated on
a national level to protect us from a lot of
things that this administration is doing that hurt working class
people especially.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Well, here's the thing, I mean, I think right now
we're seeing you know, people you keep on talking about
what's the power of the president and how the presidency.
I think people all see right now, what's the power
of governors, what's the power of states? We have a
whole lot more authority than people sometimes give us credit for,
but frankly a whole lot more power and authority than
think a lot of governors understanding can take on. So,
for example, you know, Maryland has more exposure to these
(01:13):
federal cuts, the federal public service cuts that the Trump
administration is just arbitrarily and in many cases by the
way illegally doing. And so what Maryland has done, We've
come up with the most aggressive plan to be able
to say, how are we going to streamline and support
our federal workers, create advanced supports for them, but also
making sure that we can streamline them into available state
jobs that we need. So, for example, there are tens
(01:34):
of thousands of vacancies when it comes to credentialed educators
inside of the state of Maryland. We have thousands of
people in healthcare, nurses, etc. That we have as vacancies
in the state of Maryland. So I'm like, so, if
people who are qualified and who are interested, we're going
to streamline them, get them trained up, credentilled, and get
them inside of the classrooms, get them inside of our
(01:55):
health care facilities, because you're solving two problems, right, You're
solving a fact that we have a shortage of people
in education healthcare and at the same time creating jobs.
You're creating jobs, right. So I look at how Maryland
has moved now in just these first months where Maryland
now is going on really a fourteenth straight month of
amongst the lowest unemployment rates in the entire country. Maryland
(02:15):
has now has an unemployment rate of three percent, which
is below well below the national average, despite the fact
that we've had more federal cuts because the Trump administration
than most other states. And so I'm just like, as
as governors, you can be creative about making sure that
you can get your economy moving. You can be creative
about how you getting new businesses on board, about how
you're supporting your small businesses, how you're supporting your minority
(02:37):
owned businesses, and you don't have, like I don't wait
for permission from the federal government to do anything. And
that's the thing. I think that's the kind of posture
that you're watching governors now able to move in.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Am how do you continue to do that if somebody
like Trump says, you know what, we're not sending no
more federal aid to Maryland.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
I mean, here's the money come from.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
He's done that, okay, So so where's the money coming from.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Well, the money comes from you're actually having to build
coalitions with the private sector, you're building coalitions with with
your other independent partners. It also comes from making sure
that you're being creative about who your partner is actually
going to be. So for example, you know, I've said
very clearly, we've got to make sure that we're focusing
our economy on growth. You know. You know, we've gone
from this year loan, Maryland has gone from a three
(03:18):
and a half structural debth three and a half billion
dollars structural deficit that I inherited. So now Maryland has
a structural surplus, right. And part of the reason we're
able to do it is two reasons. One, we're able
to be very strategic about our budget and really have
some strategic cuts. There's about two and a half billion
dollars of cuts in Maryland's budget, the largest amount of
cuts that we've seen in sixteen years. But also what
(03:39):
we're doing is investing in new industries. You know, I
just came back from a trade mission in Japan and
Korea where we were talking with companies and life sciences
and IT and aerospace and defense. I'm going anywhere and
everywhere where we think there's unique opportunities and partnerships to
build our economy and then build an economy that diversifies
off of Washington, DC. And so we've just been very
(04:01):
intentional and focused when I've said, listen, I will work
with anyone that includes the federal government, but I will
bow down to no one. And we are going to
make sure we're going to protect our people and make
sure that our economy grows.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
And you all be wondering why I act like that,
Me and him act the same way.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
Now that was his version of Instagram Live.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
You already know, you already know.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Now how would you How would you graide Trump's first
hundred days back in offs?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
I mean, listen, I don't even need to because I
talk to the people. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
They told me the grade.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
When I'm talking to to the farmers in the Eastern
Shore who watched all their prices get jacked up. Whether
you're the poultry farmer, where you're the barley farmer farms
that have been around, and and agriculture is actually Maryland's
largest industry. Farms that have been around for over one
hundred years, who now say, I don't know if I
can survive the next six months. Right, I go talk
to the poor workers down to the Port of Baltimore,
(04:59):
you know, and that's one of the largest and most
effective ports in the entire country. Two thirds of the
country gets their goods from the Port of Baltimore, either
import or export. Right. And I talk to them who
are now watching a significant pullback in goods, which means
less hours for them, which means less work for them.
I talk to everybody who's going out to grocery stores
and watching rising prices. I talk to people whose job
(05:21):
it is to make sure that our food is protected,
Federal workers making sure that they're doing focusing on cybersecurity,
making sure that veterans are getting a proper burial, who.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Now are out of a job.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Ask them how Trump is going. I'm say, how the
first hundred days is going.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
I'm no Joe Biden fan, but when I heard Trump
say yesterday that the GDP, the falling GDP, was Biden's fault,
I'm like.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Well, that's just not true.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
What would you say to people, because you know more
about this than any of what would you say to
people when you hear that, when people say, well, that's
Biden's GDP.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Listen, you can't when when the stock market jumps, you
can't take credit, and when the stock market falls, you can't.
You can't deploy, you deploy blame. That's not the way
this game goes. You know, when you're the chief executive,
you take the good and the bad. That's part of
the job. That's what leadership actually means. And you cannot
look at the policies that have come on board those
(06:10):
thus far from this administration, the impact that it's had
on people and pretend like, well, that's someone else's fault.
It's just it's fundamentally not true. And if Donald Trump
wants to try to take credit for things that go well,
he also has to take blame for the fact that
this is the first time that we've seen our economy contract,
our economy gets smaller since two thousand and two. So
(06:32):
you know, if Joe Biden in two thousand and two
could have turned around and said, well, that's actually Trump's economy,
but he didn't because he actually chose to lead. Well,
Donald Trump take on that same responsibility. I understand this
is yours what.
Speaker 5 (06:45):
Things because I know you did the service your option. Yeah,
so you know, workforce is really important to you. But
in the firste hundred days, I'm looking at an article
that says one of the big effects to Maryland is
that one in every ten workers in the state is
employed by the federal government, and almost half of Maryland's
federal workers live in Montgomery and Prince Georgia's county. And
a lot of those people are gonna lose jobs. It's
going to heavily affect black people's right. So what initiatives
(07:08):
are you preparing now? Because they want those hits are happening,
they're going to fill it and you know what I mean,
in real time they won't need money and work they.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Are and you know, and we've actually been really aggressive
when it comes to not just protecting federal workers, but
also looking at the you know, when you look at
the racial wealth gap that is in the state of Maryland,
for example, you know, when I was first inaugurated, and
we've actually been able to address it when we come
on board, But it was eight to one when I
first became the governor, and I'm you know, I'm the
only black governor of the country, the first black governor
(07:36):
of the history of the State of Maryland, and only
the third African American ever elected governor in the history
of this country. And so when I came on and
said we have to address the racial wealth gap, the
fact that in our state it's eight to one, I
was like, the reason we have a racial wealth gap
is of a to one is not because one group
is working eight times harder. I mean, like, these are policies,
these are systems that are put in place that have
allowed certain groups to be able to gain wealth and
(07:59):
certain groups not right. And so we came in very
clear that we're coming to the focus of work, wages,
and wealth. When we came on board, and when we
talked about work and meant doing things like investing in
the service year option for every high school graduate now
is a chance to have a paid year service to
the State of Maryland. That we have made a historic
investments and apprenticeship programs. We have quadrupled the amount of
apprentices in the State of Maryland. And basically saying that
(08:22):
while four year college degrees are great, not everyone needs
to have one in order to be economically successful. And
we got a pipeline people into real occupations, trade school
trade schools, you know what I'm saying, and starting early
with that process with young people, because that not every
person Like listen, I joined the army when I was seventeen,
you know what I mean, And you know I went
to a two year college and things worked out pretty well.
(08:45):
So we have to make sure that everybody knows that
their path doesn't have to be the same, but their
path can be uniquely theirs and they can benefit from it.
That we've been able to pass not just the most
comprehensive procurement reform built in the history of the state
of Maryland, making sure that we're actually properly and evenly
allocating capital to small businesses, black businesses. Over three billion
(09:07):
dollars have gone to black businesses and MBE since I've
been the governor. Right, eighty six percent of all Maryland
contracts now require some form of MBE participation in it,
and that number was at thirty five percent Minority Business ENTERPRISEECT. Yeah,
So making sure we're being very clear that if we're
going to use state dollars, which by the way, oftentimes
is capital that's coming from from African American dax bayers
(09:30):
that we need to make sure that we're being even
and we're being fair about the way we're talking about
allocation of that capital that we have done. Not just
signed the largest part in in the history of the
United States, one hundred and seventy five thousand part in,
the largest mass part in the history of this country
for misdemeanor cannabis convictions. I just signed a bill on
expungement on sponge reform, the most comprehensive exponge reform that
(09:51):
our state has ever seen, on a bill that I
introduced and that I proudly signed that focus on making
sure we can give people a second chance and actually
clean their records. And so we've been very clear that
being able to add a culture of repair is something
that is really important to us because when when we
all do better, we all do better, and and and
and racism is really expensive and we're really trying to
(10:14):
address that in the state of Maryland. I'm proud of
the progress for making Jesse.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
You're you're from Maryland.
Speaker 6 (10:19):
I am, and I want to ask you, how is
it working with Mayor Brandon Scott Baltimore. Yes, my god,
Maryland is leading right now with black excellent. Shout out
to Angela also Brooks the most talked about most and
we got a lot going on in Baltimore.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
We got the C I double A. Is that continuing?
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Do you know? Yes, we we want C I double
A and we want that to be c I double
A b out of Baltimore at the end of it. Though, no,
it's not.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
I'm not going to a lot of people said, I'm sorry,
don't don't talk about Sorry, how about it's never come
to Delaware.
Speaker 6 (10:54):
So okay, you got that one.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Baltimore's got a better build up right now. Baltimore is
going to generate more economic activity. Baltimore City, for example,
right now has the seventh fastest growing economy in the
entire country. If you look at what's happening in Baltimore City,
Baltimore City is on a rise. And we were very clear.
You know, it's funny. When I first ran, I was like,
we've got to put a real focus on Baltimore, and
people is like, of course, you say that you're a
(11:21):
Baltimore and you're a Homer. I was like, I'm not
saying it because I'm Baltimore, and I say it because
I'm very good at math. Tell me a single state
that is clicking on all cylinders and the city and
the state's largest city is not. And the answer is
it doesn't exist. That you got to invest in your
largest city. In that case, in the state of Maryland,
it's Baltimore. And so Baltimore if you look at what's
(11:41):
happening again, the seventh fastest growing economy in the entire country,
the Hamas the violent crime rate in Baltimore City in
the state of Maryland. Maryland's having amongst the fastest and
most impressive drops in violent crime anywhere in the entire country.
Baltimore City before I became the governor, when eight straight
years of three hundred plus homicides in Baltimore City. Now,
the homicide rate in Baltimore City, the last time it
(12:04):
was this slow, I wasn't born yet. Wow, it is
literally having amongst the fastest drops in violent crime anywhere
in America. So so shout out to to Mayor Scott,
shout out to the entire team, because you know, this
is this really is this is going to be this
is going to be Maryland's decade. But in order for
it to be Maryland's decade, it's got to be Baltimore's time.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
To baltimore'slother Nick's Fish House in Baltimore. They just showed
me some lov and all this. I want to shout
them much.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Yeah, shout out to interview with the governor, just because.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
The only thing that can hurt you and Maryland right
now is the Poland? So what'll be doing.
Speaker 7 (12:32):
About that Poland?
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Is bad? I wish there was an executive board I could.
Speaker 7 (12:35):
Sunt on that way.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
You know what I love about Maryland.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
A couple of months ago, I was in Maryland for
my daughter's cheerleading competition.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
I was a what's that place called? Just National Harbor
was it?
Speaker 3 (12:48):
And literally that's the first time people were coming up
to me saying, Yo, with everything that Elon Musk and
Doge is doing.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Don't I don't know if I'm gonna have a job.
My wife don't know if she's gonna have a job.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
And these were just regular every day working class people
that was so concerned and they probably did ended up
end up losing their jobs because ten thousands of jobs
got lost.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
And so I was like damn man.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
That's what really made me realize what they were doing
was impacting you know, every day working class people in
that way.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
And what they're doing is illegal. Yes, I mean, listen,
if you look at every one of these decisions that
Donald Trump is making, and let's be clear, when people
say he's passing all these bills, no he's not. Actually
there's hardly any bills as this executive orders executive orders
right over one hundred and fifty executive orders, and all
of his executive orders can really fall into three different categories. Right,
(13:38):
it's ineffective, it's performative, or it's illegal. Right, those are
the three buckets that every one of his executive orders
really pretty much fall into. And the problem is is
when you're talking about all these cuts and you're talking
about the elimination of the Department of Education, do you
know what, Donald Trump does not have the authority to
eliminate the Department of Education in latterly, that's Congress, right,
(14:00):
because Congress is the one that that allocates the capital
for it. So this is actually a moment when we
need to see Congress have a spine. We need to
see Congress step up, because right now Congress. Uh, you know,
the president is chumping you. He's pretending like you don't
even exist. So I'm really curious to see is Congress
going to step up and do its job?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Well, no, they already I mean a lot of them
have already had been.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
The need completely benefiting completely benthany do you I.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Have conversations like that? Is it worth you calling them
out publicly? Especially you know Democrats in Congress?
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Oh yeah, and not not only is it worth that
we do? And and I think and and and actually
in shout out, I mean our congressional delegation, uh, you know, actually,
led by Senator Chris van Holland Angelo also Brooks, is
actually doing a really good job because I think our
Congression delegation is really helping to hold the line on
a lot of these things, on a whole collection of
different issues. But but but Congress is the one that
(14:54):
that fundamentally has to pass a budget. Congress is the
one that fundamentally has to make sure that laws can
get to a president's desk. Congress is the one that
needs to make sure they actually hold on to their authority.
And we need in this moment, we need leaders to lead.
That's what we need. And that's again one of the
really I think unique things that we're saying about governors
(15:15):
right now is that we have a chance to uniquely
show a different way. We have a chance to show,
you know what, even in this time of chaos, we
can still drive the fact that in Maryland we're having
historically low unemployment rates, that even in this time of chaos,
that we are having historic drops in violent crime within
our state, that even in this time, even in this
time of chaos, we're still able to pass legislation that
(15:38):
is not just important, but also is scalable and can
take place around the country. So that's a great thing
about being a chief executive in this moment, But we
still need Congress to do his job.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
Well.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
When you see the power that Trump wields, right like
we had congressman I agreeing up here, and I was
like I said to him, I said, Man, I didn't
even know presidents had this kind of power, And he was.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Like, neither did I.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
So when you see the kind of power that he wills,
is it make you push the levels of your power
as governor? Do you use like, well, damn, let me
see what I can do?
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Well, you know, I Actually, I think the things that
we were doing even before Donald Trump came out is
I've always been wanting to say I'm always gonna push
to make sure that we are doing justice to a job.
You know. I keep a clock that sits on my
desk every single day that tells me how many days
I have left in my first turn and I'm gonna
running back because I'm running for re election in twenty six,
(16:26):
but it tells me, in fact, right now, it's six
hundred and thirty four days left before my reelection. The
reason I keep that clock on my desk is it
reminds me, do not waste a day.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Man.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
You got six hundred and thirty four days right now
until this time is up and someone else eventually will
sit in the seat as the governor Maryland. I'm not
going to waste a day. And so I do think
that our ability to be able to be creative about
the levers that we're using to make change, the levers
that we're using to make sure that we were doing
important things like raising a minimum wage in the state
(16:59):
of Maryland, because I want you to be the days
when you have people who are working jobs, and in
some cases multiple jobs, and still living at or below
a poverty line. Right, that we are going to make
sure we're aggressive about doing things like funding having a
storic funding of childcare because parents shouldn't have to decide
between is my kid gonna be okay? Or can I
go back to the workforce?
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Right, that's why Jess was off for so long that
none knows.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
But but this is real. This is a this is
a real thing. I mean, it's situations like my mom, my, mom, mom.
I I was raised by an immigrant single mother who
worked three different jobs and did not get her first
job that gave her benefits until I was fourteen years old.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
She was Jamaican, right, that's right, Yeah, that's common for
Jamaica's one job that you wanted to do that.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Part time. But I mean, like, but but, and here's
the thing about it. This is a woman who went
on to earn a master's degree and didn't get her
first job that gave her benefits until her son was fourteen.
So when people are having conversations about inequitable pay between
men and women or the racial wealth gap, I tell
people like I don't need a white paper to explain it,
(18:08):
you know what I mean? Like I grew up in
this that when we're doing the work that we're doing
right now in the state of Maryland around young men
and boys, about making sure that we are protecting our
young men and boys and making sure we are lifting
them up. Because it's not just because when you look
at the data, how drastic and staggering some of this
data is that we're seeing right now around on young
men and boys. It's because I came up in this.
(18:29):
I was eleven years old when I had handcuffs on
my wrists, So I get this, and so our ability
to now use these seats and use these moments and
not waste a single day is something that I take very,
very seriously. And frankly, I didn't need Donald Trump to
show me the power of the executive because I think
in Maryland we've been showing the power of an executive.
You know for the past two years.
Speaker 6 (18:51):
What are your thoughts on Trump not wanting to bring
home kill mar Garcia because he was living in Maryland.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
I was the guy that was wrong to report it.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
And here's the thing for me, this actually has nothing
to do with immigration, because people will talk about this
is a you know, I love what he's doing right, immigration,
I said, well, first of all, if Donald Trump really
wanted to fix immigration, he could do it simply by
calling up Speaker Johnson and saying, I need a comprehensive
immigration bill on my desk next week. And you know
we'll be on his desk next week, a comprehensive of
(19:19):
immigration built. Because Donald Trump is the votes, he's got
the House, and he's got the Senate. This has nothing
to do with immigration. This just simply has to do
with violating the constitution.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
That's what this is.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
And so when I think about the case of Abregio Garcia,
my point is this due process matters in this. He
needs to come home, he needs to stand trial and
then let a judge decide what is what the long
term what you know, what is what is what is
long term? You know a situation is going to be
not Donald Trump. You know, if they say, well he
(19:53):
was doing X, Y and Z okay, fine, let him
come home, let him stand trial, and let him do
what basic due process offers to every single person. And
if all of that determined is true, then absolutely he
should then face consequences and face the sentencing. But but
not because Donald Trump looked at a photoshop picture and
(20:13):
said this is going to be his fate because that
is a very very dangerous slippery slope. And so my
whole thing is this, just follow the Constitution, follow due process,
and follow what the Supreme Court in a nine zero
decision said that he needs to come home and stand trial.
I just I stand with the law on thiss and
I stand with the Constitution correct me.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
On some things, right because they mister Garcia has acknowledged
that he entered the US illegally in twenty twelve, So
was he he.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Was here illegally, that's he was undocumented, That's right.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
So if he's undocumented, does the Constitution still apply to him?
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Yes, Okay, there's still constitutional protections, okay, and and and
not only and especially because what he is being held
for or tried for right now are things that he
has not not only not been convicted for, not even
had a formal accusation of. So this is the problem,
is that so Donald Trump right now is trying to
rewrite the Constitution. Donald Trump right now is violating the
(21:07):
Constitution by not allowing him to come home and have
due process. So yes, so the constitution still offers, uh,
you know, still offers what is the guidance around the
federal government's responsibility, around states responsibility, and that still does
fall under the situation of Killbergo Garcia.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
I think that's what's missing in this whole conversation, the
fact that, you know, Martin Luther King Jr. Said an
injustice anywhere as a threat to justice everywhere. So if
you see somebody not receiving due process when they're supposed to,
that could impact any of us at any given time.
And none of us want to just be snatched off
the street and the port it to another country just
because and.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
And and listen, here's the danger today. It's k Abergio Garcia.
Who is it tomorrow, Laura Larrosa.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
Oh my god name.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
You know, I'm just saying it couldn't be saying. I'm
using an example and you.
Speaker 6 (21:53):
I'm trying to try to get him, and you can't
tell them that you're from Dela because they like, oh please,
nobody's gonna even respect then why would y'all put me
in it?
Speaker 2 (22:01):
No, but we're just using it as an example. It
could be anybody.
Speaker 7 (22:03):
Charlie Magne the guy, but it could be anything.
Speaker 5 (22:06):
He's coming for you, for me, did you watch the
interview that when Trump sat down with Terry Morin.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
I didn't watch the whole thing, okay.
Speaker 5 (22:17):
But did you see the part I said, the tattoo thing,
because they were going back and forth about the tattoos
or whatever. When you see stuff like that, because then
media picks it up the other way and uses these
tattoos that Trump that there's evidence that doesn't support what
Trump is saying, but they use it as a well,
he deserved what he got and how do how do
you guys in the government didn't fight that because the
public opinion sways so much.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
It's I didn't see the whole interview. I saw I
did see clips of it, and I saw that part.
And what's really sad to me is it isn't just
the fact that we have a president of the United
States who is literally buying into conspiracy theories, uh and
and photoshop pictures in front of our eyes. What really
also bothers me about it is it's the people around
(23:00):
him who enable this. Is the people around him who
tell them this is true. The people around him will
feed him these pictures and say, yes, mister president, you
know he had MS thirteen on his knuckles when he didn't.
And so it's and this goes back to and this
goes back to the idea that in many ways, this
has nothing actually to do with kill Marlburgo Garcia. This
(23:23):
has nothing even to do with his situation. This just
simply has to do with are we willing to follow
the law? We Are we a country of laws? Or
are we now a country where president of the United
States gets to pick and choose which laws we follow,
which laws we don't. Are we a country that actually
follows the constitution? Are a country that listens when the
Supreme Court and a unanimous decision. And let me be clear,
(23:44):
this Supreme Court hardly ever decides anything.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Is Trump's card exactly, this is Trump's card. He put
three people on nine zero.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
The man needs to come home and stand trial. And
we have a we have an administration right now that's
literally using the Constitution as a suggestion box, you know
what I'm saying. So that's fundamentally the problem and what
we continue to, you know, deal with, and the fact
(24:13):
that the relationship between the federal government and our states
really has been ruptured.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
So when you run for president in twenty twenty eight,
I am not run when you run for president in
twenty twenty eight, and and Trump runs again for his
third term, what if the point of even running.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Because you know it's just gonna be all for.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Show wes like you know it, because because literally the
thing that bothers me the most is people are normalizing
that conversation like Trump running for a third ten.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Well, then Obama can run it. If Trump runs for
a third term, it's over. The fight is fixed.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
We notice I am so one, I'm not running, okay,
But also I also believe that anyone who's talking about
twenty twenty eight is really delusional because they don't understand
what's going on in twenty twenty. I agree. I think
anybody is talking about twenty twenty eight right now doesn't
understand the situation we are in right now, where we
(25:05):
have people who are getting laid off, who have devoted
their life to public service, who are getting laid off
because someone who wasn't willing to take the same oath
that they took now tells them their job is useless.
Right that, we have situations where we have small businesses,
some cases generational small businesses that are going to go
out of business simply because we have these arbitrary tariff
(25:27):
policies that have nothing to do with economics but have
everything to do with ideology. Right that we have that
we have children who rely on the Department of Education,
kids who are you know, children who are receiving special
needs right, kids who are in rural areas and parts
of my state, who now are going to watch their
funding not just cut, but in many ways evaporated, because
(25:48):
we have a president of the United States who somehow
believes the Department of Education is not important anymore. Right. So,
I think for anyone who's talking about twenty twenty eight
or trying to make moves for twenty twenty eight, my
answer is this, I really hope you wake up and
realize the world we're living in right now and understanding
what's at stake.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
I think that they're talking about twenty twenty eight because
they really don't have any plans for now, Like they
don't even they've never seen this before, right, and they
don't know how to fight it.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
So they're just resorting back.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
To what they know, which is the next election midterms
in twenty twenty six, you know, presidential election in twenty
twenty eight.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
But that's why I think leadership matters, right, And that's
why I think that's why I'm really proud of the
work that we're doing inside of the State of Maryland,
Because in the State of Maryland, we basically just said,
you know, I'm gonna lead regardless, and our state's gonna
lead regardless. And so when you're looking at the momentum
that we now have within the State of Maryland, the
fact that we have gone from a structural deficit to
a structural surplus, that for the first time in ten years,
(26:43):
we're watching labor force participation actually increase, and new jobs,
new business starts actually increasing in the State of Maryland
for the first time in ten years. The fact that
we are watching new partnerships and new builds, things like
the service Yeer option, you know, things like making sure
that we're giving people second chances when they're coming back home,
like that kind of stuff matters because I think people.
(27:04):
One thing I always learned in the military was this,
no one pays attention to how you perform when times
are easy, because when you're easy, you can show me anything.
I mean, if you ever want to learn anything about anybody,
watch them when it was hard, right, Watch them when
it was tough. Watch them when the heat got turned up.
Watch them. Did they curl up in the fetal position
(27:26):
and just sit there and take it, or did they
actually mobilize? And I think what you're seeing in the
state of Maryland. When we knew we had this crisis,
for example, of violence, that I walked into and saying,
I refuse to be a governor that will just sit
there and attend funerals and offer thoughts and prayers while
my people are dying on the streets, right And so
(27:47):
we came in and we said we were going to
have the most aggressive push to be able to curtail
violence in our state. And now Maryland has amongst the
fastest drops and violence anywhere in the country. When we
saw what happened in the Key Bridge, when we saw
a ship the size of three football field slam into
the Key Bridge, knocking out the port of Baltimore, and
when people said it's going to take eleven months to
(28:08):
be able to clear the channel, when we got together,
we supported those families of the six people who we
lost that day, and we got that channel cleared in
eleven weeks. And when we watch this onsot, we're now
standing from the Trump administration where it is very clear
my state has become public imming number one for these folks.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
I get it.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Why is it because of you? Well, I think boss
is a lot of proximity. And just look at the
decisions that they're making when you're going out, when you're
going after the NIH the National Suit of Health, when
you're going after Social Security, right, you know what those
also are. In addition to things that are that are
some of America's crown jewels, they are also Maryland assets.
When you stand up there to press conference and say, yeah,
(28:46):
the FBI building, which by the way, was going to
be responsible for about four billion dollars of economic activities,
seven thousand jobs, something that we worked on for a
decade independent of politics, and Maryland won that bid fair
and square. And to watch a present in the United
States in a press conference stand up there and say, yeah,
that's not going to the state of Maryland because they
are a liberal state. At least he showed it. At
(29:07):
least he showed himself.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Have you have you met him yet? Have you all spoken?
We have, okay, and we have all those conversations like, uh.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
You know, they're interesting.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
You never see the photo. Ops, you stay away from
the cameras when you were around him.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Huh, well, no, you know, it's funny. I actually I
actually met with him during the Army Navy game, because
you know, because I go to the Army Navy game
every almost every year, and when he came to the
Army Navy game last year, we had a chance to
meet and we talked about the bridge, and I explained
to him why the one hundred percent financing, why the
(29:40):
cost share for the bridge was so important, because this
was a port that really serves the entire country, that
this was a unique situation because we are currently in
litigation the reason that the porter, the reason that the
the Key Bridge collapsed was not because of an act
of God or because of a storm. It was because
of negligence, because the ship the size of three football
field slammed into it. Right, and we're currently litigation, and
(30:02):
so the American people are going to be made whole
on that. So I walked them through it. I talked
about the economics. I was thankful that Congress actually passed
one hundred percent cost share, and so we're in the
process right now making sure we're going to fulfill the
commitment to the American people. But I've met with him
before and again, I will work with anybody. But partnership
only works when it's both ways. Partnership doesn't work when
(30:22):
you're given and you're getting nothing back in return.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
Yeah, I've heard you talk about the importance of finding
common ground with the Trump administration, But when you think
about all the moves that they've currently made, what opportunities
do you see for y'all to collab?
Speaker 2 (30:35):
I don't, I can't see it.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Partnership only works when it's both ways. And if you're
coming after my people, you're if you're literally trying to
creator our economy, that's not partnership. And so it's just very,
very difficult to be able to say that this administration
has been a good part and forget about to me,
(30:58):
to my people, to the people of Maryland. And I
think when you go around the state of Maryland, you
you will hear exactly what I am saying. There is
a level of frustration that people have right now about
the situation where where we as a state are actually moving,
not because of our relationship with the federal government, but
(31:20):
in many ways, in spite.
Speaker 6 (31:21):
Of you signed into the second look in the expungement
reform right, and some people feel that expungeon records may
heighten the sense like heighten the public safety, you know,
giving people giving some people a second chance, and you
give some criminals a second chance, they feel like, you know,
they're gonna make it.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
It's gonna make it hard for certain people who are
hard for.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Those you know what I mean, Like.
Speaker 6 (31:49):
You know what I'm saying, a lot of times that's
the case. A lot of times it's not What would
you say to the people that feel that way?
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Yeah, I mean, first, I would say, I understand the
concern of something. I also know this, like I'm a
I'm a child of God, and my faith teaches me
that that we we believe in second chances and we
should offer second chances. I also know that when you
look at things like the Second Chance Act, Uh, not
(32:15):
only are there there's certain crimes that are not eligible
for for the second for the for the Second Chance Act.
So so there are some specific carbouts about you know,
people who it's you know, when it's had something dealing
with you know, sexual assault, dealing with children or you know,
you you know, something to deal with law enforcement. So
there's certain things that do not fall into the category.
But also with the Second Chance Act does do it
(32:36):
says it's not saying it's automatic that you happen. It's
just simply saying you have a chance to petition, to
have a second chance and have a second look. And
so it's just simply giving an opportunity for people who
in many ways, uh you know, have have now been
caught up in this system for a long period of time.
And for us to say that that you know that
(32:59):
that we don't believe that every sentence should be a
life sentence, and that again, my faith does teach me
that second chances should actually mean something and there should
be pathways for it in in in certain cases, and
people should have again just the opportunity to petition. This
is not automatic, but it is the opportunity to petition.
And I do think for the people who then will
(33:20):
then qualify these are people who are ready to enter
back into society and be contributing members to society.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
You know, if people forget about the the second chance,
if you get the number after that three the three
strake law two.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
Kamerlynd doesn't have a three strake law right.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
Well, and here's the thing, it's like we have to
who of us haven't needed second chances?
Speaker 2 (33:45):
And if you mess that up, that's on you.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
I mean, I'm like again, I'm a person who is
needed second and third and eighth chances, and it's because
people gave me a second chance. It's because people help
me to understand that the world was bigger than what
was just directly in front of me, and that not
all of my prior decisions helped to determine my future.
That I'm now standing here as a sixty third governor
(34:07):
of my state. Right, I believe in second chances, and
I believe that people should earn the right to be
able to have a second chance as long as you
have those certain things that are in place, and people
should have the right to petition for it. And so
I just find it really you know, at times when
i'm people when people like no, no, no, no no,
I just find it really rich because for a lot
(34:28):
of times the people who are like no, no, no, no, no,
who are people who are standing there because someone in
their life said.
Speaker 5 (34:32):
Yes, sure, talking of second chances.
Speaker 4 (34:36):
Right.
Speaker 5 (34:37):
Going back to Kim Mark Garcia, so I know that
Senator Holland is like he went and visited Salvador, and
people were upset that you quickly said that you weren't
planning to go there. Why were people upset about you
not going there when you already have boots on the ground.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Yeah, I mean, and that's thing I was. I've been
in very close touch with Senator van Holland. I applauded
him when he went. We spoke before before or before
he went, and so you know, I know that as
a member of the Senate, there are certain responsibilities and
there's certain uh, there's certain uh uh pathways that they
have that I, as a governor, do not. That they
(35:14):
have certain jobs that they can do. As a governor,
there's certain I know my job is different. Uh. We
have always been completely aligned on making sure that due
process is followed, making sure that we can bring kill
Maarr back home so he can then stand trial. And
so I've been saying in lockstep with Center van Holland
(35:34):
the whole time. I applauded him going down and making
sure that he could come back and report back to
the family that he had that he put eyes on him,
uh and said that he's that he's that he's physically okay.
Because remember when Chris went down there. Nobody was sure
because no one had heard from him. And so Chris
going down there to say I now have seen him,
I know he's okay. Was a really important thing, not
(35:57):
just for the large society, but it was really important
for the family. But I also know as a governor,
I have certain responsibilities and restrictions on things that I
can do, and I'm going to make sure that we're
leading from from the perks that I said.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
I think I think you'll have to stop making it
about Garcia and just start making it about making it
about the issue of due process.
Speaker 1 (36:14):
That's all it is.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
Yeah, because people because it's too you know, they love
to do that at to folks. The point the things
in his character and we I really don't know, but
let's talk about the constitutional violation that's happened.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
And Chelman, you're absolu right, because I'm not. I am
not and I won't defend him.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
His situation, I don't know his background, I don't know
I have never met with him. So I'm not defending
the person. I'm defending the constitution, right, I'm defending the
fact that there is due process and we've got to
be able to follow that. And frankly, once due process
happens again, if a judge rules that no, you know,
(36:53):
he is a threat to side, he is this, he
is that he needs to be set back, then you
know what, go ahead. Because there is nothing that I
care about more and I think people are saying that
with our track record in Maryland, there's nothing I care
more about than public safety. Like I make sure that
our people are safe. I will make sure we have
made historic investments in local law enforcement. We have made
(37:14):
historic investments, and not just our state's attorneys, but also
Maryland's one of the only states that actually puts balance
sheet into the US Attorney to make sure we're getting
trigger pollers off the street, to make sure we're getting
violent offenders off the street. That we've made historic investments
in violence prevention programs and violence interrupts, you know, people
like we are us and safe streets that are down
in Baltimore. So no one can ever question my commitment
(37:38):
to public safety. But also I think you can be
committed to public safety and committed to the Constitution, and
I don't think that those two things are at odds
with one another.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
I got two more questions because I know you gotta go.
I love the fact that governors have their boots on
the ground. And I saw Governor Jos Shapiro on Bill
Maher and I forgot what Bill asked him, but he
was just like, look, I'm not focused on what they
got going on in DC. I'm focused on what I
got going on in Pennsylvania. So I like that, how
do we keep you from being a corny DC type
(38:12):
in DC?
Speaker 1 (38:13):
So corny man, listen, you know the You know how
I guess is I didn't come from that. You know
what I mean? Like, like, listen, when when I first
ran for governor, I ran against statewide elected officials. I
ran against cabinet secretaries, the former head of the DNC,
the former head of the Democratic Party ran for governor,
(38:33):
and then me, guy who'd never run for office for
my life. But I was connected to the people, right.
It was the people that made me the governor. It
wasn't a party, it wasn't a political establishment. In fact,
the political stablishing wanted somebody else. So when I got
into that seat, I decided, I'm not going to turn
into something that I never was in the first place.
(38:56):
You know what I mean, so the way I have
continued to lead is I'm about the people. I will
always stand with the people. A political party does not
give me my talking points.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
Good, don't let them change you, because you know they're
already talking about you in twenty twenty eight and they'll
be like, well's come over and start saying this, and
start doing that, and meet this person and take money
from this person.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
And then you know what I mean, Like, I don't.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
I don't. I don't play that game because I didn't
get here. That's not how I got here in the
first place. Man, Or like I mean, like I'm I am,
I am. I am the most improbable governor in this
country when you think about my journey, right, when you
think about my life path, and you know, and and
and again, I'm a person of faith. And Hezekiah Walker, No,
he's got a line he says, when I think about
my story, I can't help but give God glory. There
(39:36):
you go. I know where my strength comes from. My
strength doesn't come from a political party. My strength don't
come from political bosses. I don't. I don't.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
I don't.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
I don't follow that. I follow the people that got
me here in the first place the people who bucked
the political system, which was the people. And so I'm
not at all concerned about becoming a creature of something
that didn't create me in the first place. And actually,
I think that the main thing that people can do
right now is stay true and stay committed and stay authentic.
(40:06):
You know, when people say, well, what direction should people
go in or how should people talk or whatever like that,
I always find that question so confusing. I'm like, be authentic,
because if you're not authentic, the people will suss it out,
and the people will snuff it out, and they'll take
care of you the way they take care of you.
Speaker 3 (40:21):
My final question, this is something that I love about you.
Is something that doctor Lumar Johnson loves about you, the
fact that.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
You have a black woman.
Speaker 3 (40:30):
Because so many people in positions of power like you
and government, especially black people, they don't.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Now, love is love, love who you want to love.
Speaker 3 (40:36):
But as a man who loves to see black men
with black women, and I have a beautiful black families.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
I love it. What is the importance to that.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
You know, It's funny when when I got married we're
married now, but eighteen years my wife, she's beautiful, man,
and she's just an amazing human being. And I remember
when we said our vows. This shows you how corny
I was when we first got we give our vows,
and I'm like, you know my vows. I'm gonna keep
it fresh and sexy.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Jesus Christ, I'm gonna keep that sound like someone fly
a party Baltimore.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
But you know what he was to me. She said,
I will be your greatest defender. I will be your
greatest defender. That's what Black women are and that's what
they've always been. Like I'm telling you, man, when you
think about what black women have meant to us, you know,
the whole you know, we was you know, raised by women.
(41:44):
A game came from women, you know what I'm saying. Like,
Black women have always been our anchor. Black women have
always been our guide. Black women have always been the
ones to when the whole world denied us, they defended
us and they lifted us up. And you know, and
I think about this where even the work that we're
(42:04):
doing right now in Maryland around our young men and boys,
do you know who beautifully have been some of the
greatest champions of the work that Maryland is doing that
really the nation leading work on supporting our young men
and boys women because they know that's talking about their
sons and their husbands and their fathers and their uncles
(42:28):
and their friends. And it's so beautiful to watch because
it is very indicative of how Black women and women
as a whole have always been our greatest defenders. That
when the whole world came at us, oftentimes it was
women who stood in front of us with shields and
(42:50):
say not today. And I'm so i cannot be more
lucky about the fact that I've married my best friend.
I married someone who I love and who I respect
and who I adore, and someone who you know, I'm
so thankful is on my side because I never want
to be on the other side of her spirit ever,
(43:14):
but someone who I am who.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
I would ride for because she's always wroth.
Speaker 2 (43:21):
Oh my god, beautiful.
Speaker 5 (43:33):
She's the first African American first lady to say she is.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
She sure is, she sure is. She's a beast too,
She's a beast. Y'all gotta come down, y'all gonna come.
Speaker 4 (43:41):
In fact, you're gonna have crabs if we come.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
Oh absolutely absolutely. And in fact, she is the co
chair of the Prignance festival, so for y'all, so you know,
you know, pregnant, so pregnant, pret pregnant. The second Yes,
it's a second leg of the Triple Crown, one of
the biggest horse races inside of the entire country. But
(44:05):
it's but it's also it's a big deal because it's
a whole festival around it and it's in beautiful Park Heights, Baltimore,
the home of Brandon Scott. But my, but my amazing wife,
our States First Lady is the coach chair. You got
to see what she is doing the build out. She's
having club quarantine. Uh d Nice is coming down there,
bringing a bringing, Jada kids, bringing too short, I mean,
(44:27):
bring everybody from seventeenth.
Speaker 4 (44:31):
Yes, I'll be there at me fourteenth, full week of stuff.
Speaker 3 (44:36):
Well, right, Governor Westmore, thank you brother. We appreciate you man.
We love the work you're doing in Maryland, and I mean,
you know, somebody need to replicate it on the national stage.
And I hope that you know, somebody gets the opportunity
to so, because I don't know if we will have
a democracy in twenty twenty eight or night, but we'll see,
oh we.
Speaker 1 (44:54):
Will, as long as we don't as all, we're gonna
forfeit it. Yeah, now that's what I'm saying, like like,
I mean, like we have to understan and it's like
the power does belong to the people. That's the beauty
of where we're at right now. And I'll say this
one thing for our close too, And this is why Maryland,
I think actually is really important in this situation. I'm
a big I'm a big history buff, so like, especially
(45:16):
in really difficult times, I generally tend to lean on history,
and I like a lot of Maryland history, and you know,
in really difficult times like now, I'll read about famous
Marylanders like Harriet Tubman or Frederick Douglass or Third Good Marshall,
And I think to myself, imagine having a conversation with
Harriet Tubman, who, by the way, one of the great
(45:37):
things about being governor is I have the power to commission.
And I made Harriet Tubman a general last year, so
she's now General Harriet Tubman. And I think about what
would a conversation be like with General Tubman telling her
about the dangers of this moment. And I think about
the way she would look at me and say, do
you know what I've been through. M hmm. Do you
(45:59):
know what it was like when I had to run
from my life for my freedom in the middle of
the night, running from dogs and people were guns. And
then when I finally made it to Pennsylvania and I
got my freedom, I then decided to go back to
bring more people and where she became one of the
greatest conductors in the underground railroad.
Speaker 2 (46:21):
Right.
Speaker 1 (46:22):
And I think to myself, what a conversation where Harriet
Tubtan will be like telling her how tough my job is,
how difficult we've got it, and watch her look at
me and say I would have shot him.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
Yeah, why are you arguing with people in Congress.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
In the middle of the night. Not get what you
you know what I'm saying, but like, let's let's not
forget where we come from, Like for all these people like,
oh this is tough, and oh this please don't forget
our history. Please don't forget our ancestors. Please don't forget
what they had to go through. And listen, you know,
(47:08):
as Kate I says, we're gonna be.
Speaker 2 (47:12):
Don't take the Harriet tell meing thing out of context.
That was a nice black joke.
Speaker 7 (47:17):
We're not trying to shoot anybody, Okay, think about exactly.
Speaker 4 (47:28):
But you know, tell okay, I know you gotta go.
Do you listen to Votto?
Speaker 2 (47:35):
Shut up jes. Thank you, appreciate you, We thank you
for coming. Governor west Moll Wake up in the morning
Breakfast Club
Wake that ass up in the morning.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Breakfast club.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
Yes, it's the world's most dangerous wanting to show to
breakfast club. Charlamagne the God just hilarious. Envy is out
but laurn l Ross And we have the twenty twenty
eight presidential candidate and the governor of Maryland.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Wes moorees here. How are you my brother back man?
It's gonna be bad.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Good to have you back, man. How you feeling. First
of all, I'm feeling great. Okay, I'm feeling great, man.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Listen. And you know, contrary to everything else going on
in the country, Maryland's doing great.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
We continue pushing, I mean, honestly, like getting really big
wins for our people, and so we're we're excited.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I wanted to.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Talk to you about all of that because you know,
I know that you're implementing a lot of great things
in Maryland, and I wonder what could be replicated on
a national level to protect us from a lot of
things that this administration is doing that hurt working class
people especially.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Well, here's the thing, I mean, I think right now
we're seeing you know, people you keep on talking about
what's the power of the president and how the presidency.
I think people all see right now, what's the power
of governors, what's the power of states? We have a
whole lot more authority than people sometimes give us credit for,
but frankly a whole lot more power and authority than
think a lot of governors understanding can take on. So,
for example, you know, Maryland has more exposure to these
(01:13):
federal cuts, the federal public service cuts that the Trump
administration is just arbitrarily and in many cases by the
way illegally doing. And so what Maryland has done, We've
come up with the most aggressive plan to be able
to say, how are we going to streamline and support
our federal workers, create advanced supports for them, but also
making sure that we can streamline them into available state
jobs that we need. So, for example, there are tens
(01:34):
of thousands of vacancies when it comes to credentialed educators
inside of the state of Maryland. We have thousands of
people in healthcare, nurses, etc. That we have as vacancies
in the state of Maryland. So I'm like, so, if
people who are qualified and who are interested, we're going
to streamline them, get them trained up, credentilled, and get
them inside of the classrooms, get them inside of our
(01:55):
health care facilities, because you're solving two problems, right, You're
solving a fact that we have a shortage of people
in education healthcare and at the same time creating jobs.
You're creating jobs, right. So I look at how Maryland
has moved now in just these first months where Maryland
now is going on really a fourteenth straight month of
amongst the lowest unemployment rates in the entire country. Maryland
(02:15):
has now has an unemployment rate of three percent, which
is below well below the national average, despite the fact
that we've had more federal cuts because the Trump administration
than most other states. And so I'm just like, as
as governors, you can be creative about making sure that
you can get your economy moving. You can be creative
about how you getting new businesses on board, about how
you're supporting your small businesses, how you're supporting your minority
(02:37):
owned businesses, and you don't have, like I don't wait
for permission from the federal government to do anything. And
that's the thing. I think that's the kind of posture
that you're watching governors now able to move in.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Am how do you continue to do that if somebody
like Trump says, you know what, we're not sending no
more federal aid to Maryland.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
I mean, here's the money come from.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
He's done that, okay, So so where's the money coming from.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Well, the money comes from you're actually having to build
coalitions with the private sector, you're building coalitions with with
your other independent partners. It also comes from making sure
that you're being creative about who your partner is actually
going to be. So for example, you know, I've said
very clearly, we've got to make sure that we're focusing
our economy on growth. You know. You know, we've gone
from this year loan, Maryland has gone from a three
(03:18):
and a half structural debth three and a half billion
dollars structural deficit that I inherited. So now Maryland has
a structural surplus, right. And part of the reason we're
able to do it is two reasons. One, we're able
to be very strategic about our budget and really have
some strategic cuts. There's about two and a half billion
dollars of cuts in Maryland's budget, the largest amount of
cuts that we've seen in sixteen years. But also what
(03:39):
we're doing is investing in new industries. You know, I
just came back from a trade mission in Japan and
Korea where we were talking with companies and life sciences
and IT and aerospace and defense. I'm going anywhere and
everywhere where we think there's unique opportunities and partnerships to
build our economy and then build an economy that diversifies
off of Washington, DC. And so we've just been very
(04:01):
intentional and focused when I've said, listen, I will work
with anyone that includes the federal government, but I will
bow down to no one. And we are going to
make sure we're going to protect our people and make
sure that our economy grows.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
And you all be wondering why I act like that,
Me and him act the same way.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
Now that was his version of Instagram Live.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
You already know, you already know.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Now how would you How would you graide Trump's first
hundred days back in offs?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
I mean, listen, I don't even need to because I
talk to the people. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
They told me the grade.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
When I'm talking to to the farmers in the Eastern
Shore who watched all their prices get jacked up. Whether
you're the poultry farmer, where you're the barley farmer farms
that have been around, and and agriculture is actually Maryland's
largest industry. Farms that have been around for over one
hundred years, who now say, I don't know if I
can survive the next six months. Right, I go talk
to the poor workers down to the Port of Baltimore,
(04:59):
you know, and that's one of the largest and most
effective ports in the entire country. Two thirds of the
country gets their goods from the Port of Baltimore, either
import or export. Right. And I talk to them who
are now watching a significant pullback in goods, which means
less hours for them, which means less work for them.
I talk to everybody who's going out to grocery stores
and watching rising prices. I talk to people whose job
(05:21):
it is to make sure that our food is protected,
Federal workers making sure that they're doing focusing on cybersecurity,
making sure that veterans are getting a proper burial, who.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Now are out of a job.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Ask them how Trump is going. I'm say, how the
first hundred days is going.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
I'm no Joe Biden fan, but when I heard Trump
say yesterday that the GDP, the falling GDP, was Biden's fault,
I'm like.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Well, that's just not true.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
What would you say to people, because you know more
about this than any of what would you say to
people when you hear that, when people say, well, that's
Biden's GDP.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Listen, you can't when when the stock market jumps, you
can't take credit, and when the stock market falls, you can't.
You can't deploy, you deploy blame. That's not the way
this game goes. You know, when you're the chief executive,
you take the good and the bad. That's part of
the job. That's what leadership actually means. And you cannot
look at the policies that have come on board those
(06:10):
thus far from this administration, the impact that it's had
on people and pretend like, well, that's someone else's fault.
It's just it's fundamentally not true. And if Donald Trump
wants to try to take credit for things that go well,
he also has to take blame for the fact that
this is the first time that we've seen our economy contract,
our economy gets smaller since two thousand and two. So
(06:32):
you know, if Joe Biden in two thousand and two
could have turned around and said, well, that's actually Trump's economy,
but he didn't because he actually chose to lead. Well,
Donald Trump take on that same responsibility. I understand this
is yours what.
Speaker 5 (06:45):
Things because I know you did the service your option. Yeah,
so you know, workforce is really important to you. But
in the firste hundred days, I'm looking at an article
that says one of the big effects to Maryland is
that one in every ten workers in the state is
employed by the federal government, and almost half of Maryland's
federal workers live in Montgomery and Prince Georgia's county. And
a lot of those people are gonna lose jobs. It's
going to heavily affect black people's right. So what initiatives
(07:08):
are you preparing now? Because they want those hits are happening,
they're going to fill it and you know what I mean,
in real time they won't need money and work they.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Are and you know, and we've actually been really aggressive
when it comes to not just protecting federal workers, but
also looking at the you know, when you look at
the racial wealth gap that is in the state of Maryland,
for example, you know, when I was first inaugurated, and
we've actually been able to address it when we come
on board, But it was eight to one when I
first became the governor, and I'm you know, I'm the
only black governor of the country, the first black governor
(07:36):
of the history of the State of Maryland, and only
the third African American ever elected governor in the history
of this country. And so when I came on and
said we have to address the racial wealth gap, the
fact that in our state it's eight to one, I
was like, the reason we have a racial wealth gap
is of a to one is not because one group
is working eight times harder. I mean, like, these are policies,
these are systems that are put in place that have
allowed certain groups to be able to gain wealth and
(07:59):
certain groups not right. And so we came in very
clear that we're coming to the focus of work, wages,
and wealth. When we came on board, and when we
talked about work and meant doing things like investing in
the service year option for every high school graduate now
is a chance to have a paid year service to
the State of Maryland. That we have made a historic
investments and apprenticeship programs. We have quadrupled the amount of
apprentices in the State of Maryland. And basically saying that
(08:22):
while four year college degrees are great, not everyone needs
to have one in order to be economically successful. And
we got a pipeline people into real occupations, trade school
trade schools, you know what I'm saying, and starting early
with that process with young people, because that not every
person Like listen, I joined the army when I was seventeen,
you know what I mean, And you know I went
to a two year college and things worked out pretty well.
(08:45):
So we have to make sure that everybody knows that
their path doesn't have to be the same, but their
path can be uniquely theirs and they can benefit from it.
That we've been able to pass not just the most
comprehensive procurement reform built in the history of the state
of Maryland, making sure that we're actually properly and evenly
allocating capital to small businesses, black businesses. Over three billion
(09:07):
dollars have gone to black businesses and MBE since I've
been the governor. Right, eighty six percent of all Maryland
contracts now require some form of MBE participation in it,
and that number was at thirty five percent Minority Business ENTERPRISEECT. Yeah,
So making sure we're being very clear that if we're
going to use state dollars, which by the way, oftentimes
is capital that's coming from from African American dax bayers
(09:30):
that we need to make sure that we're being even
and we're being fair about the way we're talking about
allocation of that capital that we have done. Not just
signed the largest part in in the history of the
United States, one hundred and seventy five thousand part in,
the largest mass part in the history of this country
for misdemeanor cannabis convictions. I just signed a bill on
expungement on sponge reform, the most comprehensive exponge reform that
(09:51):
our state has ever seen, on a bill that I
introduced and that I proudly signed that focus on making
sure we can give people a second chance and actually
clean their records. And so we've been very clear that
being able to add a culture of repair is something
that is really important to us because when when we
all do better, we all do better, and and and
and racism is really expensive and we're really trying to
(10:14):
address that in the state of Maryland. I'm proud of
the progress for making Jesse.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
You're you're from Maryland.
Speaker 6 (10:19):
I am, and I want to ask you, how is
it working with Mayor Brandon Scott Baltimore. Yes, my god,
Maryland is leading right now with black excellent. Shout out
to Angela also Brooks the most talked about most and
we got a lot going on in Baltimore.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
We got the C I double A. Is that continuing?
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Do you know? Yes, we we want C I double
A and we want that to be c I double
A b out of Baltimore at the end of it. Though, no,
it's not.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
I'm not going to a lot of people said, I'm sorry,
don't don't talk about Sorry, how about it's never come
to Delaware.
Speaker 6 (10:54):
So okay, you got that one.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Baltimore's got a better build up right now. Baltimore is
going to generate more economic activity. Baltimore City, for example,
right now has the seventh fastest growing economy in the
entire country. If you look at what's happening in Baltimore City,
Baltimore City is on a rise. And we were very clear.
You know, it's funny. When I first ran, I was like,
we've got to put a real focus on Baltimore, and
people is like, of course, you say that you're a
(11:21):
Baltimore and you're a Homer. I was like, I'm not
saying it because I'm Baltimore, and I say it because
I'm very good at math. Tell me a single state
that is clicking on all cylinders and the city and
the state's largest city is not. And the answer is
it doesn't exist. That you got to invest in your
largest city. In that case, in the state of Maryland,
it's Baltimore. And so Baltimore if you look at what's
(11:41):
happening again, the seventh fastest growing economy in the entire country,
the Hamas the violent crime rate in Baltimore City in
the state of Maryland. Maryland's having amongst the fastest and
most impressive drops in violent crime anywhere in the entire country.
Baltimore City before I became the governor, when eight straight
years of three hundred plus homicides in Baltimore City. Now,
the homicide rate in Baltimore City, the last time it
(12:04):
was this slow, I wasn't born yet. Wow, it is
literally having amongst the fastest drops in violent crime anywhere
in America. So so shout out to to Mayor Scott,
shout out to the entire team, because you know, this
is this really is this is going to be this
is going to be Maryland's decade. But in order for
it to be Maryland's decade, it's got to be Baltimore's time.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
To baltimore'slother Nick's Fish House in Baltimore. They just showed
me some lov and all this. I want to shout
them much.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Yeah, shout out to interview with the governor, just because.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
The only thing that can hurt you and Maryland right
now is the Poland? So what'll be doing.
Speaker 7 (12:32):
About that Poland?
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Is bad? I wish there was an executive board I could.
Speaker 7 (12:35):
Sunt on that way.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
You know what I love about Maryland.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
A couple of months ago, I was in Maryland for
my daughter's cheerleading competition.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
I was a what's that place called? Just National Harbor
was it?
Speaker 3 (12:48):
And literally that's the first time people were coming up
to me saying, Yo, with everything that Elon Musk and
Doge is doing.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Don't I don't know if I'm gonna have a job.
My wife don't know if she's gonna have a job.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
And these were just regular every day working class people
that was so concerned and they probably did ended up
end up losing their jobs because ten thousands of jobs
got lost.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
And so I was like damn man.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
That's what really made me realize what they were doing
was impacting you know, every day working class people in
that way.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
And what they're doing is illegal. Yes, I mean, listen,
if you look at every one of these decisions that
Donald Trump is making, and let's be clear, when people
say he's passing all these bills, no he's not. Actually
there's hardly any bills as this executive orders executive orders
right over one hundred and fifty executive orders, and all
of his executive orders can really fall into three different categories. Right,
(13:38):
it's ineffective, it's performative, or it's illegal. Right, those are
the three buckets that every one of his executive orders
really pretty much fall into. And the problem is is
when you're talking about all these cuts and you're talking
about the elimination of the Department of Education, do you
know what, Donald Trump does not have the authority to
eliminate the Department of Education in latterly, that's Congress, right,
(14:00):
because Congress is the one that that allocates the capital
for it. So this is actually a moment when we
need to see Congress have a spine. We need to
see Congress step up, because right now Congress. Uh, you know,
the president is chumping you. He's pretending like you don't
even exist. So I'm really curious to see is Congress
going to step up and do its job?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Well, no, they already I mean a lot of them
have already had been.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
The need completely benefiting completely benthany do you I.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Have conversations like that? Is it worth you calling them
out publicly? Especially you know Democrats in Congress?
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Oh yeah, and not not only is it worth that
we do? And and I think and and and actually
in shout out, I mean our congressional delegation, uh, you know, actually,
led by Senator Chris van Holland Angelo also Brooks, is
actually doing a really good job because I think our
Congression delegation is really helping to hold the line on
a lot of these things, on a whole collection of
different issues. But but but Congress is the one that
(14:54):
that fundamentally has to pass a budget. Congress is the
one that fundamentally has to make sure that laws can
get to a president's desk. Congress is the one that
needs to make sure they actually hold on to their authority.
And we need in this moment, we need leaders to lead.
That's what we need. And that's again one of the
really I think unique things that we're saying about governors
(15:15):
right now is that we have a chance to uniquely
show a different way. We have a chance to show,
you know what, even in this time of chaos, we
can still drive the fact that in Maryland we're having
historically low unemployment rates, that even in this time of chaos,
that we are having historic drops in violent crime within
our state, that even in this time, even in this
time of chaos, we're still able to pass legislation that
(15:38):
is not just important, but also is scalable and can
take place around the country. So that's a great thing
about being a chief executive in this moment, But we
still need Congress to do his job.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
Well.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
When you see the power that Trump wields, right like
we had congressman I agreeing up here, and I was
like I said to him, I said, Man, I didn't
even know presidents had this kind of power, And he was.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Like, neither did I.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
So when you see the kind of power that he wills,
is it make you push the levels of your power
as governor? Do you use like, well, damn, let me
see what I can do?
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Well, you know, I Actually, I think the things that
we were doing even before Donald Trump came out is
I've always been wanting to say I'm always gonna push
to make sure that we are doing justice to a job.
You know. I keep a clock that sits on my
desk every single day that tells me how many days
I have left in my first turn and I'm gonna
running back because I'm running for re election in twenty six,
(16:26):
but it tells me, in fact, right now, it's six
hundred and thirty four days left before my reelection. The
reason I keep that clock on my desk is it
reminds me, do not waste a day.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Man.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
You got six hundred and thirty four days right now
until this time is up and someone else eventually will
sit in the seat as the governor Maryland. I'm not
going to waste a day. And so I do think
that our ability to be able to be creative about
the levers that we're using to make change, the levers
that we're using to make sure that we were doing
important things like raising a minimum wage in the state
(16:59):
of Maryland, because I want you to be the days
when you have people who are working jobs, and in
some cases multiple jobs, and still living at or below
a poverty line. Right, that we are going to make
sure we're aggressive about doing things like funding having a
storic funding of childcare because parents shouldn't have to decide
between is my kid gonna be okay? Or can I
go back to the workforce?
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Right, that's why Jess was off for so long that
none knows.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
But but this is real. This is a this is
a real thing. I mean, it's situations like my mom, my, mom, mom.
I I was raised by an immigrant single mother who
worked three different jobs and did not get her first
job that gave her benefits until I was fourteen years old.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
She was Jamaican, right, that's right, Yeah, that's common for
Jamaica's one job that you wanted to do that.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Part time. But I mean, like, but but, and here's
the thing about it. This is a woman who went
on to earn a master's degree and didn't get her
first job that gave her benefits until her son was fourteen.
So when people are having conversations about inequitable pay between
men and women or the racial wealth gap, I tell
people like I don't need a white paper to explain it,
(18:08):
you know what I mean? Like I grew up in
this that when we're doing the work that we're doing
right now in the state of Maryland around young men
and boys, about making sure that we are protecting our
young men and boys and making sure we are lifting
them up. Because it's not just because when you look
at the data, how drastic and staggering some of this
data is that we're seeing right now around on young
men and boys. It's because I came up in this.
(18:29):
I was eleven years old when I had handcuffs on
my wrists, So I get this, and so our ability
to now use these seats and use these moments and
not waste a single day is something that I take very,
very seriously. And frankly, I didn't need Donald Trump to
show me the power of the executive because I think
in Maryland we've been showing the power of an executive.
You know for the past two years.
Speaker 6 (18:51):
What are your thoughts on Trump not wanting to bring
home kill mar Garcia because he was living in Maryland.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
I was the guy that was wrong to report it.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
And here's the thing for me, this actually has nothing
to do with immigration, because people will talk about this
is a you know, I love what he's doing right, immigration,
I said, well, first of all, if Donald Trump really
wanted to fix immigration, he could do it simply by
calling up Speaker Johnson and saying, I need a comprehensive
immigration bill on my desk next week. And you know
we'll be on his desk next week, a comprehensive of
(19:19):
immigration built. Because Donald Trump is the votes, he's got
the House, and he's got the Senate. This has nothing
to do with immigration. This just simply has to do
with violating the constitution.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
That's what this is.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
And so when I think about the case of Abregio Garcia,
my point is this due process matters in this. He
needs to come home, he needs to stand trial and
then let a judge decide what is what the long
term what you know, what is what is what is
long term? You know a situation is going to be
not Donald Trump. You know, if they say, well he
(19:53):
was doing X, Y and Z okay, fine, let him
come home, let him stand trial, and let him do
what basic due process offers to every single person. And
if all of that determined is true, then absolutely he
should then face consequences and face the sentencing. But but
not because Donald Trump looked at a photoshop picture and
(20:13):
said this is going to be his fate because that
is a very very dangerous slippery slope. And so my
whole thing is this, just follow the Constitution, follow due process,
and follow what the Supreme Court in a nine zero
decision said that he needs to come home and stand trial.
I just I stand with the law on thiss and
I stand with the Constitution correct me.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
On some things, right because they mister Garcia has acknowledged
that he entered the US illegally in twenty twelve, So
was he he.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Was here illegally, that's he was undocumented, That's right.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
So if he's undocumented, does the Constitution still apply to him?
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Yes, Okay, there's still constitutional protections, okay, and and and
not only and especially because what he is being held
for or tried for right now are things that he
has not not only not been convicted for, not even
had a formal accusation of. So this is the problem,
is that so Donald Trump right now is trying to
rewrite the Constitution. Donald Trump right now is violating the
(21:07):
Constitution by not allowing him to come home and have
due process. So yes, so the constitution still offers, uh,
you know, still offers what is the guidance around the
federal government's responsibility, around states responsibility, and that still does
fall under the situation of Killbergo Garcia.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
I think that's what's missing in this whole conversation, the
fact that, you know, Martin Luther King Jr. Said an
injustice anywhere as a threat to justice everywhere. So if
you see somebody not receiving due process when they're supposed to,
that could impact any of us at any given time.
And none of us want to just be snatched off
the street and the port it to another country just
because and.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
And and listen, here's the danger today. It's k Abergio Garcia.
Who is it tomorrow, Laura Larrosa.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
Oh my god name.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
You know, I'm just saying it couldn't be saying. I'm
using an example and you.
Speaker 6 (21:53):
I'm trying to try to get him, and you can't
tell them that you're from Dela because they like, oh please,
nobody's gonna even respect then why would y'all put me
in it?
Speaker 2 (22:01):
No, but we're just using it as an example. It
could be anybody.
Speaker 7 (22:03):
Charlie Magne the guy, but it could be anything.
Speaker 5 (22:06):
He's coming for you, for me, did you watch the
interview that when Trump sat down with Terry Morin.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
I didn't watch the whole thing, okay.
Speaker 5 (22:17):
But did you see the part I said, the tattoo thing,
because they were going back and forth about the tattoos
or whatever. When you see stuff like that, because then
media picks it up the other way and uses these
tattoos that Trump that there's evidence that doesn't support what
Trump is saying, but they use it as a well,
he deserved what he got and how do how do
you guys in the government didn't fight that because the
public opinion sways so much.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
It's I didn't see the whole interview. I saw I
did see clips of it, and I saw that part.
And what's really sad to me is it isn't just
the fact that we have a president of the United
States who is literally buying into conspiracy theories, uh and
and photoshop pictures in front of our eyes. What really
also bothers me about it is it's the people around
(23:00):
him who enable this. Is the people around him who
tell them this is true. The people around him will
feed him these pictures and say, yes, mister president, you
know he had MS thirteen on his knuckles when he didn't.
And so it's and this goes back to and this
goes back to the idea that in many ways, this
has nothing actually to do with kill Marlburgo Garcia. This
(23:23):
has nothing even to do with his situation. This just
simply has to do with are we willing to follow
the law? We Are we a country of laws? Or
are we now a country where president of the United
States gets to pick and choose which laws we follow,
which laws we don't. Are we a country that actually
follows the constitution? Are a country that listens when the
Supreme Court and a unanimous decision. And let me be clear,
(23:44):
this Supreme Court hardly ever decides anything.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Is Trump's card exactly, this is Trump's card. He put
three people on nine zero.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
The man needs to come home and stand trial. And
we have a we have an administration right now that's
literally using the Constitution as a suggestion box, you know
what I'm saying. So that's fundamentally the problem and what
we continue to, you know, deal with, and the fact
(24:13):
that the relationship between the federal government and our states
really has been ruptured.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
So when you run for president in twenty twenty eight,
I am not run when you run for president in
twenty twenty eight, and and Trump runs again for his
third term, what if the point of even running.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Because you know it's just gonna be all for.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Show wes like you know it, because because literally the
thing that bothers me the most is people are normalizing
that conversation like Trump running for a third ten.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Well, then Obama can run it. If Trump runs for
a third term, it's over. The fight is fixed.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
We notice I am so one, I'm not running, okay,
But also I also believe that anyone who's talking about
twenty twenty eight is really delusional because they don't understand
what's going on in twenty twenty. I agree. I think
anybody is talking about twenty twenty eight right now doesn't
understand the situation we are in right now, where we
(25:05):
have people who are getting laid off, who have devoted
their life to public service, who are getting laid off
because someone who wasn't willing to take the same oath
that they took now tells them their job is useless.
Right that, we have situations where we have small businesses,
some cases generational small businesses that are going to go
out of business simply because we have these arbitrary tariff
(25:27):
policies that have nothing to do with economics but have
everything to do with ideology. Right that we have that
we have children who rely on the Department of Education,
kids who are you know, children who are receiving special
needs right, kids who are in rural areas and parts
of my state, who now are going to watch their
funding not just cut, but in many ways evaporated, because
(25:48):
we have a president of the United States who somehow
believes the Department of Education is not important anymore. Right. So,
I think for anyone who's talking about twenty twenty eight
or trying to make moves for twenty twenty eight, my
answer is this, I really hope you wake up and
realize the world we're living in right now and understanding
what's at stake.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
I think that they're talking about twenty twenty eight because
they really don't have any plans for now, Like they
don't even they've never seen this before, right, and they
don't know how to fight it.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
So they're just resorting back.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
To what they know, which is the next election midterms
in twenty twenty six, you know, presidential election in twenty
twenty eight.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
But that's why I think leadership matters, right, And that's
why I think that's why I'm really proud of the
work that we're doing inside of the State of Maryland,
Because in the State of Maryland, we basically just said,
you know, I'm gonna lead regardless, and our state's gonna
lead regardless. And so when you're looking at the momentum
that we now have within the State of Maryland, the
fact that we have gone from a structural deficit to
a structural surplus, that for the first time in ten years,
(26:43):
we're watching labor force participation actually increase, and new jobs,
new business starts actually increasing in the State of Maryland
for the first time in ten years. The fact that
we are watching new partnerships and new builds, things like
the service Yeer option, you know, things like making sure
that we're giving people second chances when they're coming back home,
like that kind of stuff matters because I think people.
(27:04):
One thing I always learned in the military was this,
no one pays attention to how you perform when times
are easy, because when you're easy, you can show me anything.
I mean, if you ever want to learn anything about anybody,
watch them when it was hard, right, Watch them when
it was tough. Watch them when the heat got turned up.
Watch them. Did they curl up in the fetal position
(27:26):
and just sit there and take it, or did they
actually mobilize? And I think what you're seeing in the
state of Maryland. When we knew we had this crisis,
for example, of violence, that I walked into and saying,
I refuse to be a governor that will just sit
there and attend funerals and offer thoughts and prayers while
my people are dying on the streets, right And so
(27:47):
we came in and we said we were going to
have the most aggressive push to be able to curtail
violence in our state. And now Maryland has amongst the
fastest drops and violence anywhere in the country. When we
saw what happened in the Key Bridge, when we saw
a ship the size of three football field slam into
the Key Bridge, knocking out the port of Baltimore, and
when people said it's going to take eleven months to
(28:08):
be able to clear the channel, when we got together,
we supported those families of the six people who we
lost that day, and we got that channel cleared in
eleven weeks. And when we watch this onsot, we're now
standing from the Trump administration where it is very clear
my state has become public imming number one for these folks.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
I get it.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Why is it because of you? Well, I think boss
is a lot of proximity. And just look at the
decisions that they're making when you're going out, when you're
going after the NIH the National Suit of Health, when
you're going after Social Security, right, you know what those
also are. In addition to things that are that are
some of America's crown jewels, they are also Maryland assets.
When you stand up there to press conference and say, yeah,
(28:46):
the FBI building, which by the way, was going to
be responsible for about four billion dollars of economic activities,
seven thousand jobs, something that we worked on for a
decade independent of politics, and Maryland won that bid fair
and square. And to watch a present in the United
States in a press conference stand up there and say, yeah,
that's not going to the state of Maryland because they
are a liberal state. At least he showed it. At
(29:07):
least he showed himself.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Have you have you met him yet? Have you all spoken?
We have, okay, and we have all those conversations like, uh.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
You know, they're interesting.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
You never see the photo. Ops, you stay away from
the cameras when you were around him.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Huh, well, no, you know, it's funny. I actually I
actually met with him during the Army Navy game, because
you know, because I go to the Army Navy game
every almost every year, and when he came to the
Army Navy game last year, we had a chance to
meet and we talked about the bridge, and I explained
to him why the one hundred percent financing, why the
(29:40):
cost share for the bridge was so important, because this
was a port that really serves the entire country, that
this was a unique situation because we are currently in
litigation the reason that the porter, the reason that the
the Key Bridge collapsed was not because of an act
of God or because of a storm. It was because
of negligence, because the ship the size of three football
field slammed into it. Right, and we're currently litigation, and
(30:02):
so the American people are going to be made whole
on that. So I walked them through it. I talked
about the economics. I was thankful that Congress actually passed
one hundred percent cost share, and so we're in the
process right now making sure we're going to fulfill the
commitment to the American people. But I've met with him
before and again, I will work with anybody. But partnership
only works when it's both ways. Partnership doesn't work when
(30:22):
you're given and you're getting nothing back in return.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
Yeah, I've heard you talk about the importance of finding
common ground with the Trump administration, But when you think
about all the moves that they've currently made, what opportunities
do you see for y'all to collab?
Speaker 2 (30:35):
I don't, I can't see it.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Partnership only works when it's both ways. And if you're
coming after my people, you're if you're literally trying to
creator our economy, that's not partnership. And so it's just very,
very difficult to be able to say that this administration
has been a good part and forget about to me,
(30:58):
to my people, to the people of Maryland. And I
think when you go around the state of Maryland, you
you will hear exactly what I am saying. There is
a level of frustration that people have right now about
the situation where where we as a state are actually moving,
not because of our relationship with the federal government, but
(31:20):
in many ways, in spite.
Speaker 6 (31:21):
Of you signed into the second look in the expungement
reform right, and some people feel that expungeon records may
heighten the sense like heighten the public safety, you know,
giving people giving some people a second chance, and you
give some criminals a second chance, they feel like, you know,
they're gonna make it.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
It's gonna make it hard for certain people who are
hard for.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Those you know what I mean, Like.
Speaker 6 (31:49):
You know what I'm saying, a lot of times that's
the case. A lot of times it's not What would
you say to the people that feel that way?
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Yeah, I mean, first, I would say, I understand the
concern of something. I also know this, like I'm a
I'm a child of God, and my faith teaches me
that that we we believe in second chances and we
should offer second chances. I also know that when you
look at things like the Second Chance Act, Uh, not
(32:15):
only are there there's certain crimes that are not eligible
for for the second for the for the Second Chance Act.
So so there are some specific carbouts about you know,
people who it's you know, when it's had something dealing
with you know, sexual assault, dealing with children or you know,
you you know, something to deal with law enforcement. So
there's certain things that do not fall into the category.
But also with the Second Chance Act does do it
(32:36):
says it's not saying it's automatic that you happen. It's
just simply saying you have a chance to petition, to
have a second chance and have a second look. And
so it's just simply giving an opportunity for people who
in many ways, uh you know, have have now been
caught up in this system for a long period of time.
And for us to say that that you know that
(32:59):
that we don't believe that every sentence should be a
life sentence, and that again, my faith does teach me
that second chances should actually mean something and there should
be pathways for it in in in certain cases, and
people should have again just the opportunity to petition. This
is not automatic, but it is the opportunity to petition.
And I do think for the people who then will
(33:20):
then qualify these are people who are ready to enter
back into society and be contributing members to society.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
You know, if people forget about the the second chance,
if you get the number after that three the three
strake law two.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
Kamerlynd doesn't have a three strake law right.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
Well, and here's the thing, it's like we have to
who of us haven't needed second chances?
Speaker 2 (33:45):
And if you mess that up, that's on you.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
I mean, I'm like again, I'm a person who is
needed second and third and eighth chances, and it's because
people gave me a second chance. It's because people help
me to understand that the world was bigger than what
was just directly in front of me, and that not
all of my prior decisions helped to determine my future.
That I'm now standing here as a sixty third governor
(34:07):
of my state. Right, I believe in second chances, and
I believe that people should earn the right to be
able to have a second chance as long as you
have those certain things that are in place, and people
should have the right to petition for it. And so
I just find it really you know, at times when
i'm people when people like no, no, no, no no,
I just find it really rich because for a lot
(34:28):
of times the people who are like no, no, no, no, no,
who are people who are standing there because someone in
their life said.
Speaker 5 (34:32):
Yes, sure, talking of second chances.
Speaker 4 (34:36):
Right.
Speaker 5 (34:37):
Going back to Kim Mark Garcia, so I know that
Senator Holland is like he went and visited Salvador, and
people were upset that you quickly said that you weren't
planning to go there. Why were people upset about you
not going there when you already have boots on the ground.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Yeah, I mean, and that's thing I was. I've been
in very close touch with Senator van Holland. I applauded
him when he went. We spoke before before or before
he went, and so you know, I know that as
a member of the Senate, there are certain responsibilities and
there's certain uh, there's certain uh uh pathways that they
have that I, as a governor, do not. That they
(35:14):
have certain jobs that they can do. As a governor,
there's certain I know my job is different. Uh. We
have always been completely aligned on making sure that due
process is followed, making sure that we can bring kill
Maarr back home so he can then stand trial. And
so I've been saying in lockstep with Center van Holland
(35:34):
the whole time. I applauded him going down and making
sure that he could come back and report back to
the family that he had that he put eyes on him,
uh and said that he's that he's that he's physically okay.
Because remember when Chris went down there. Nobody was sure
because no one had heard from him. And so Chris
going down there to say I now have seen him,
I know he's okay. Was a really important thing, not
(35:57):
just for the large society, but it was really important
for the family. But I also know as a governor,
I have certain responsibilities and restrictions on things that I
can do, and I'm going to make sure that we're
leading from from the perks that I said.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
I think I think you'll have to stop making it
about Garcia and just start making it about making it
about the issue of due process.
Speaker 1 (36:14):
That's all it is.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
Yeah, because people because it's too you know, they love
to do that at to folks. The point the things
in his character and we I really don't know, but
let's talk about the constitutional violation that's happened.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
And Chelman, you're absolu right, because I'm not. I am
not and I won't defend him.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
His situation, I don't know his background, I don't know
I have never met with him. So I'm not defending
the person. I'm defending the constitution, right, I'm defending the
fact that there is due process and we've got to
be able to follow that. And frankly, once due process
happens again, if a judge rules that no, you know,
(36:53):
he is a threat to side, he is this, he
is that he needs to be set back, then you
know what, go ahead. Because there is nothing that I
care about more and I think people are saying that
with our track record in Maryland, there's nothing I care
more about than public safety. Like I make sure that
our people are safe. I will make sure we have
made historic investments in local law enforcement. We have made
(37:14):
historic investments, and not just our state's attorneys, but also
Maryland's one of the only states that actually puts balance
sheet into the US Attorney to make sure we're getting
trigger pollers off the street, to make sure we're getting
violent offenders off the street. That we've made historic investments
in violence prevention programs and violence interrupts, you know, people
like we are us and safe streets that are down
in Baltimore. So no one can ever question my commitment
(37:38):
to public safety. But also I think you can be
committed to public safety and committed to the Constitution, and
I don't think that those two things are at odds
with one another.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
I got two more questions because I know you gotta go.
I love the fact that governors have their boots on
the ground. And I saw Governor Jos Shapiro on Bill
Maher and I forgot what Bill asked him, but he
was just like, look, I'm not focused on what they
got going on in DC. I'm focused on what I
got going on in Pennsylvania. So I like that, how
do we keep you from being a corny DC type
(38:12):
in DC?
Speaker 1 (38:13):
So corny man, listen, you know the You know how
I guess is I didn't come from that. You know
what I mean? Like, like, listen, when when I first
ran for governor, I ran against statewide elected officials. I
ran against cabinet secretaries, the former head of the DNC,
the former head of the Democratic Party ran for governor,
(38:33):
and then me, guy who'd never run for office for
my life. But I was connected to the people, right.
It was the people that made me the governor. It
wasn't a party, it wasn't a political establishment. In fact,
the political stablishing wanted somebody else. So when I got
into that seat, I decided, I'm not going to turn
into something that I never was in the first place.
(38:56):
You know what I mean, so the way I have
continued to lead is I'm about the people. I will
always stand with the people. A political party does not
give me my talking points.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
Good, don't let them change you, because you know they're
already talking about you in twenty twenty eight and they'll
be like, well's come over and start saying this, and
start doing that, and meet this person and take money
from this person.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
And then you know what I mean, Like, I don't.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
I don't. I don't play that game because I didn't
get here. That's not how I got here in the
first place. Man, Or like I mean, like I'm I am,
I am. I am the most improbable governor in this
country when you think about my journey, right, when you
think about my life path, and you know, and and
and again, I'm a person of faith. And Hezekiah Walker, No,
he's got a line he says, when I think about
my story, I can't help but give God glory. There
(39:36):
you go. I know where my strength comes from. My
strength doesn't come from a political party. My strength don't
come from political bosses. I don't. I don't.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
I don't.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
I don't follow that. I follow the people that got
me here in the first place the people who bucked
the political system, which was the people. And so I'm
not at all concerned about becoming a creature of something
that didn't create me in the first place. And actually,
I think that the main thing that people can do
right now is stay true and stay committed and stay authentic.
(40:06):
You know, when people say, well, what direction should people
go in or how should people talk or whatever like that,
I always find that question so confusing. I'm like, be authentic,
because if you're not authentic, the people will suss it out,
and the people will snuff it out, and they'll take
care of you the way they take care of you.
Speaker 3 (40:21):
My final question, this is something that I love about you.
Is something that doctor Lumar Johnson loves about you, the
fact that.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
You have a black woman.
Speaker 3 (40:30):
Because so many people in positions of power like you
and government, especially black people, they don't.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Now, love is love, love who you want to love.
Speaker 3 (40:36):
But as a man who loves to see black men
with black women, and I have a beautiful black families.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
I love it. What is the importance to that.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
You know, It's funny when when I got married we're
married now, but eighteen years my wife, she's beautiful, man,
and she's just an amazing human being. And I remember
when we said our vows. This shows you how corny
I was when we first got we give our vows,
and I'm like, you know my vows. I'm gonna keep
it fresh and sexy.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Jesus Christ, I'm gonna keep that sound like someone fly
a party Baltimore.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
But you know what he was to me. She said,
I will be your greatest defender. I will be your
greatest defender. That's what Black women are and that's what
they've always been. Like I'm telling you, man, when you
think about what black women have meant to us, you know,
the whole you know, we was you know, raised by women.
(41:44):
A game came from women, you know what I'm saying. Like,
Black women have always been our anchor. Black women have
always been our guide. Black women have always been the
ones to when the whole world denied us, they defended
us and they lifted us up. And you know, and
I think about this where even the work that we're
(42:04):
doing right now in Maryland around our young men and boys,
do you know who beautifully have been some of the
greatest champions of the work that Maryland is doing that
really the nation leading work on supporting our young men
and boys women because they know that's talking about their
sons and their husbands and their fathers and their uncles
(42:28):
and their friends. And it's so beautiful to watch because
it is very indicative of how Black women and women
as a whole have always been our greatest defenders. That
when the whole world came at us, oftentimes it was
women who stood in front of us with shields and
(42:50):
say not today. And I'm so i cannot be more
lucky about the fact that I've married my best friend.
I married someone who I love and who I respect
and who I adore, and someone who you know, I'm
so thankful is on my side because I never want
to be on the other side of her spirit ever,
(43:14):
but someone who I am who.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
I would ride for because she's always wroth.
Speaker 2 (43:21):
Oh my god, beautiful.
Speaker 5 (43:33):
She's the first African American first lady to say she is.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
She sure is, she sure is. She's a beast too,
She's a beast. Y'all gotta come down, y'all gonna come.
Speaker 4 (43:41):
In fact, you're gonna have crabs if we come.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
Oh absolutely absolutely. And in fact, she is the co
chair of the Prignance festival, so for y'all, so you know,
you know, pregnant, so pregnant, pret pregnant. The second Yes,
it's a second leg of the Triple Crown, one of
the biggest horse races inside of the entire country. But
(44:05):
it's but it's also it's a big deal because it's
a whole festival around it and it's in beautiful Park Heights, Baltimore,
the home of Brandon Scott. But my, but my amazing wife,
our States First Lady is the coach chair. You got
to see what she is doing the build out. She's
having club quarantine. Uh d Nice is coming down there,
bringing a bringing, Jada kids, bringing too short, I mean,
(44:27):
bring everybody from seventeenth.
Speaker 4 (44:31):
Yes, I'll be there at me fourteenth, full week of stuff.
Speaker 3 (44:36):
Well, right, Governor Westmore, thank you brother. We appreciate you man.
We love the work you're doing in Maryland, and I mean,
you know, somebody need to replicate it on the national stage.
And I hope that you know, somebody gets the opportunity
to so, because I don't know if we will have
a democracy in twenty twenty eight or night, but we'll see,
oh we.
Speaker 1 (44:54):
Will, as long as we don't as all, we're gonna
forfeit it. Yeah, now that's what I'm saying, like like,
I mean, like we have to understan and it's like
the power does belong to the people. That's the beauty
of where we're at right now. And I'll say this
one thing for our close too, And this is why Maryland,
I think actually is really important in this situation. I'm
a big I'm a big history buff, so like, especially
(45:16):
in really difficult times, I generally tend to lean on history,
and I like a lot of Maryland history, and you know,
in really difficult times like now, I'll read about famous
Marylanders like Harriet Tubman or Frederick Douglass or Third Good Marshall,
And I think to myself, imagine having a conversation with
Harriet Tubman, who, by the way, one of the great
(45:37):
things about being governor is I have the power to commission.
And I made Harriet Tubman a general last year, so
she's now General Harriet Tubman. And I think about what
would a conversation be like with General Tubman telling her
about the dangers of this moment. And I think about
the way she would look at me and say, do
you know what I've been through. M hmm. Do you
(45:59):
know what it was like when I had to run
from my life for my freedom in the middle of
the night, running from dogs and people were guns. And
then when I finally made it to Pennsylvania and I
got my freedom, I then decided to go back to
bring more people and where she became one of the
greatest conductors in the underground railroad.
Speaker 2 (46:21):
Right.
Speaker 1 (46:22):
And I think to myself, what a conversation where Harriet
Tubtan will be like telling her how tough my job is,
how difficult we've got it, and watch her look at
me and say I would have shot him.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
Yeah, why are you arguing with people in Congress.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
In the middle of the night. Not get what you
you know what I'm saying, but like, let's let's not
forget where we come from, Like for all these people like,
oh this is tough, and oh this please don't forget
our history. Please don't forget our ancestors. Please don't forget
what they had to go through. And listen, you know,
(47:08):
as Kate I says, we're gonna be.
Speaker 2 (47:12):
Don't take the Harriet tell meing thing out of context.
That was a nice black joke.
Speaker 7 (47:17):
We're not trying to shoot anybody, Okay, think about exactly.
Speaker 4 (47:28):
But you know, tell okay, I know you gotta go.
Do you listen to Votto?
Speaker 2 (47:35):
Shut up jes. Thank you, appreciate you, We thank you
for coming. Governor west Moll Wake up in the morning
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