1 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, welcome to my new podcast, Bleep with Anna Navarro. 2 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:16,960 Speaker 1: And this week I gave you a play by play 3 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,120 Speaker 1: on how the bleep I got here, how the bleep 4 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 1: we got here as a country, all the bleeping things 5 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 1: that it may have happened this week, how the bleep 6 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:30,159 Speaker 1: we feel about it, and any other bleeping thing we 7 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: feel like talking about. And so, look, this podcast is 8 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:37,880 Speaker 1: a very new experience for me, and it's a very 9 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: liberating experience, a little nerve racking. 10 00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 2: I will say, you. 11 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: Know, I'm used to being a co host on the View. 12 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: I'm used to being a political commentator on CNN. That 13 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 1: means that I have a say in the topics that 14 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: we talk about, but I'm not the decision maker. And 15 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 1: a lot of time on TV, you get just a 16 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 1: few minutes to talk about an issue, to react to 17 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:08,520 Speaker 1: an issue. Here, we have much more time to break 18 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 1: things down, to analyze things, to go through the emotions 19 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: of what we're feeling about some of these things, to 20 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: talk about the hope and the things that are giving 21 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:23,399 Speaker 1: us some optimism. And so I hope to take you 22 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 1: through this journey. And I know there's a lot going 23 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: on right now in our country, in the world. I 24 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:33,240 Speaker 1: know a lot of us feel a great deal of angst, 25 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:36,959 Speaker 1: of anxiety, of sadness. So I'm hoping that this is 26 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: a little bit cathartic, not just for me, but for you, 27 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:46,399 Speaker 1: and that we have a conversation every week about what's 28 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 1: going on and how we feel about it and what 29 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 1: we can do about it. Why this show and why 30 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 1: now now? Because frankly, this is an election year. There 31 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 1: are less than three hundred days to the mid term elections, 32 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 1: and so I think it's very important that we are 33 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: engaged with what's happening in the world and in our country, 34 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: that we process it, that we channel whatever we're feeling 35 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: about it to the ballot box, that we start organizing, 36 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:25,959 Speaker 1: that we start feeling inspired, and that we don't normalize 37 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 1: or get numb to anything. 38 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:30,399 Speaker 2: All Right, So let's press rewind for a bit. 39 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:32,360 Speaker 1: I want to give you a breakdown on how I 40 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,440 Speaker 1: got here before we tackle how our country got to 41 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: where it is today. And I think this is important 42 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 1: because I think all of us are who we are 43 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:48,720 Speaker 1: plus our circumstances, plus our experiences, and for me, so 44 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:51,680 Speaker 1: much of what I lived and what I continue living 45 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:55,840 Speaker 1: has shaped not only who I am, but who I 46 00:02:55,880 --> 00:03:01,080 Speaker 1: am politically and how I respond politically. Well, I came 47 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:04,080 Speaker 1: here when I was eight years old, a little girl 48 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: from Nicaragua. I came here as a refugee before I 49 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:14,080 Speaker 1: knew what that word meant. I came to political exile 50 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: before I knew what that word meant. I came here 51 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:22,280 Speaker 1: because my parents chose to bring me here. It was 52 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 1: not a choice they made easily, and it was not 53 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 1: a choice they made happily. We had to flee a revolution, 54 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 1: We had to flee a left wing regime and dictatorship. 55 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 1: It is an incredibly hard decision for an individual to make, 56 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: for a family to make, and I think a lot 57 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: of the people who make it are thinking about their kids, 58 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: about the future, about not wanting their kids to be 59 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 1: raised in a dictatorship. So, yeah, I experienced regime change. 60 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: I experienced it when I was eight years old. And 61 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:00,760 Speaker 1: so much about what's happening in this country right now 62 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: centers around immigration and immigration enforcement. I am an immigrant, 63 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: and it's not a you. 64 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 2: Know, it's not an easy experience for me. 65 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:15,840 Speaker 1: I've actually learned to process it now as I got older, 66 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:18,679 Speaker 1: Because when you come here when you're eight years old, 67 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: you're not thinking about it, you're not analyzing it, You're 68 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 1: not you know, you're just doing You're being a kid, 69 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,440 Speaker 1: and you're trying to get used to these new circumstances. 70 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:31,119 Speaker 1: You may not understand why you are in these new circumstances. 71 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 1: I'll tell you my parents never sat me down and 72 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:39,039 Speaker 1: had a conversation about, Okay, this is happening, and we're 73 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:41,479 Speaker 1: going to get on a plane and we're going to 74 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: go establish a new life in Miami, and now we 75 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:48,920 Speaker 1: are political exiles and we cannot go back to our country. 76 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 2: I never had those conversations with my parents. 77 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 1: It was a different generation where you know, you didn't 78 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: have these conversations with your kids. And also, I think 79 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:03,000 Speaker 1: that it there's a lot of unknowns. My parents didn't 80 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: know how long this was gonna last. My parents were 81 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:08,919 Speaker 1: always hoping that we would be back in Nicaragua in 82 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:11,719 Speaker 1: a short order and that things would go back to 83 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: some level of normalcy there. Well, forty five years later, 84 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 1: here I am feeling very much an American, yes, Latina, yes, 85 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:29,080 Speaker 1: a woman, yes, an immigrant, and yes, an American. 86 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:30,359 Speaker 2: And I know that. 87 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:33,839 Speaker 1: Bothers some people, and some people don't want you to 88 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:39,839 Speaker 1: call yourself Nicauan American or Cuban American, or put in 89 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,920 Speaker 1: fill in the blank, a hyphenated American. But you see, 90 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:46,480 Speaker 1: I think one of the beauties about America is that 91 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: you can hold on to your traditions and your identity 92 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 1: and you can also be one hundred percent American. Becky 93 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:57,799 Speaker 1: g who I know and love, says it best. She says, 94 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: I'm not fifty percent this or fifty that, I am 95 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: a two hundred percenter. I'm one hundred percent of each. 96 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: And that's how I feel about it as well. And 97 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:15,240 Speaker 1: that entire subject matter, the Civil War, the fight against 98 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:21,600 Speaker 1: the Sandinistas that consumed my life growing up. We were 99 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:27,320 Speaker 1: hanging on every word in every news article, every piece 100 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: of news that came out of what was happening in 101 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:37,239 Speaker 1: Nicaragua and that fight, and that explains why I became 102 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:43,160 Speaker 1: a Republican and why Ronald Reagan played such an important 103 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:46,680 Speaker 1: role in my life. So we come here in nineteen 104 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:53,880 Speaker 1: eighty September. It was an election year. I didn't know it. 105 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 1: I was eight years old, but I do remember that 106 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:05,280 Speaker 1: everybody in my family, everybody I listened to, everybody who 107 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:08,640 Speaker 1: came in and out of my house, everybody in Miami. 108 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: Everybody was voting for Ronald Reagan, and large part of 109 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 1: it was because Reagan was going to free Nicaragua, Reagan 110 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: was going to free Cuba. Reagan was going to fight communism. 111 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:25,520 Speaker 1: Reagan was going to support the freedom fighters, and he 112 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: was going to stand with the people who were being 113 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:34,040 Speaker 1: oppressed by these left wing regimes. And I realized that, 114 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 1: you know that it needs some historical context. Now, we 115 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 1: were in the middle of a Cold War, and I 116 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: think a lot of people were very unhappy with the 117 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:47,880 Speaker 1: way that Jimmy Carter had gone about it. And saw 118 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: in Ronald Reagan this cowboy on a horse that was 119 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 1: going to save us from these dictators and we're gonna 120 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:00,080 Speaker 1: be able to go home. And so that's all I 121 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 1: knew about Ronald Reagan growing up. That's all I knew 122 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 1: about the Republican Party growing up. I don't think at 123 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:08,120 Speaker 1: that age I even knew that there was a Republican 124 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:10,679 Speaker 1: Party and a Democratic Party. I just knew that Ronald 125 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 1: Reagan was gonna take us to the Promised Land. Today, 126 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: as an adult, things are much more new ones, things 127 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:23,760 Speaker 1: are much more complex. There were good things about Ronald Reagan. 128 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: There were bad things about Ronald Reagan. But when I 129 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:28,200 Speaker 1: was an eight year old, nine year old, ten year 130 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: old kid listening to Ronald Reagan's speeches and listening to 131 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:34,080 Speaker 1: ron Old Reagan speak at the State of the Union 132 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:38,080 Speaker 1: and say that he was a freedom fighter too, That's 133 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:41,640 Speaker 1: all I needed to hear. That was the one issue 134 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 1: that in my household, that in my community, that was 135 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:48,240 Speaker 1: the one issue we cared about, and that was. 136 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:49,440 Speaker 2: The issue he was speaking to. 137 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 1: So I became a Republican when I did understand about 138 00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:00,960 Speaker 1: partisanship and when I did understand about political engagement, I immediately 139 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:05,320 Speaker 1: became a Republican. That is what everybody around me was. 140 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 1: And also the Republicans that represented South Florida were just 141 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:14,320 Speaker 1: a completely different class of human beings what we know 142 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:18,400 Speaker 1: now as Republicans. It was people like Jeb Bush. It 143 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: was people like Ileana Ross Layton, the first Latina congresswoman elected. 144 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:28,920 Speaker 1: It was people like Lincoln Diaz Bulard. These people would 145 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:31,839 Speaker 1: stand in Congress and would represent their constituency and that 146 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:34,600 Speaker 1: meant me. And they could speak in Spanish and I 147 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:38,319 Speaker 1: can understand what they were saying, and they cared about 148 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:44,200 Speaker 1: our fight for freedom. A far cry from the Republicans 149 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:50,120 Speaker 1: that are in power now, Ronald Reagan, why were Republicans 150 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: as well? 151 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:51,160 Speaker 2: Listen. 152 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:54,880 Speaker 1: I became a legal permanent resident and I became a 153 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:59,840 Speaker 1: US citizen thanks to the Immigration Reform Act that was 154 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 1: passed and signed by Ronald Reagan in nineteen ninety six. 155 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:07,400 Speaker 2: It's called nineteen eighty six. 156 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:13,440 Speaker 1: So why did I also love and admire Reagan. I 157 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:16,480 Speaker 1: became a US citizen because of Ronald Reagan. When we 158 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:21,160 Speaker 1: first came to the country, we applied for political asylum, 159 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:24,240 Speaker 1: so I know what it's like to go through the 160 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:29,080 Speaker 1: arduous process. It was difficult, it was years of weight, 161 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:32,080 Speaker 1: it was going in front of judges. And I'm talking 162 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:37,719 Speaker 1: back in the nineteen eighties. It's much worse today. And then, 163 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:41,600 Speaker 1: all of a sudden, as our political asylum claim was 164 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: making its way through the system, there was an amnesty. 165 00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:50,440 Speaker 1: There was an amnesty. That word that has become a 166 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: bad word today with Republicans. Well, Ronald Reagan signed an 167 00:10:56,240 --> 00:11:01,959 Speaker 1: amnesty law in nineteen eighty six. My family became legal 168 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 1: permanent residents and then citizens thanks to that amnesty law 169 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:09,480 Speaker 1: passed by Ronald Reagan. It was referred to as the 170 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 1: Simpson Masoli Law. 171 00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:13,920 Speaker 2: Later in my years. 172 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 1: I met Alan Simpson, who was a Senator from Wisconsin, 173 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:23,320 Speaker 1: from Wyoming, and got to thank him for that. So 174 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:28,439 Speaker 1: I owe my legal status in this country to Ronald Reagan. 175 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:34,280 Speaker 1: And you know, part of that legal process that we 176 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:39,080 Speaker 1: went through has shaped my life so much. I think 177 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:43,560 Speaker 1: so many of my views on immigration as a result 178 00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:48,120 Speaker 1: of what we went through. I was never here. I 179 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:53,960 Speaker 1: personally was never in this country without status because my 180 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:56,520 Speaker 1: parents had money and they were able to send me 181 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:59,760 Speaker 1: to a private school, and that meant that I could 182 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:04,040 Speaker 1: be with a student visa and remain in status as 183 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:07,920 Speaker 1: our political asylum was making its way through the system 184 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:12,040 Speaker 1: as we applied for amnesty law. So I never fell 185 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:14,960 Speaker 1: out of status because if you go to a private school, 186 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:19,960 Speaker 1: you can get the special student visa. But for the 187 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:23,160 Speaker 1: grace of God, I could have been a dream at kid. 188 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 1: And that's why when we talk about the dreamers, it 189 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: is so close to my heart and it is an 190 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:33,520 Speaker 1: issue that I am passionate and emotional about because I 191 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 1: know what it's like to be an eight year old 192 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:41,400 Speaker 1: kid who has no agency to make your own decisions 193 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:45,360 Speaker 1: and gets brought to this country by your parents, not 194 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:48,480 Speaker 1: by any fault of your own, and you don't know 195 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:50,000 Speaker 1: if you're here legally or illegally. 196 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 2: You don't know what any of that means. 197 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:55,800 Speaker 1: And so yes, I think we owe those young people 198 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:59,960 Speaker 1: who are today fully immersed in America, who are Americans 199 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,680 Speaker 1: in every way except legally, we owe them to stop 200 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:07,120 Speaker 1: using them as political pawns and to find a. 201 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:08,920 Speaker 2: Solution for these folks. 202 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 1: So that's basically the story of how I made it 203 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:17,120 Speaker 1: to this country. I think that's the story of why 204 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:21,840 Speaker 1: I became a Republican, of why politics was so. 205 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:22,400 Speaker 2: Important to me. 206 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:25,440 Speaker 1: Now I want to tell you a little bit about 207 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:30,160 Speaker 1: when I stopped voting for Republicans. 208 00:13:38,679 --> 00:13:39,880 Speaker 2: Well, welcome back, But. 209 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:42,040 Speaker 1: Before we continue, I should do something I should have 210 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:44,520 Speaker 1: done at the beginning, which is introduce you to Chatcha. 211 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:46,720 Speaker 1: Gotta tell you, a lot of people think she's a 212 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:50,199 Speaker 1: stuffed animal because she's so well behaved, and she will 213 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:53,600 Speaker 1: be here most weeks. She's used to listening to her 214 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 1: mother talking rant and just behaving. So let's pick up 215 00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:01,880 Speaker 1: what we left off. I was telling you of why 216 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:04,560 Speaker 1: I had become a Republican and why I stayed at 217 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:09,680 Speaker 1: Republican for so much of my life. Part of it 218 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:13,760 Speaker 1: was because of people like John McCain. I had the 219 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:17,559 Speaker 1: honor of my life. In two thousand and eight, John 220 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:21,480 Speaker 1: McCain asked me to be his national Hispanic chair for 221 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:23,040 Speaker 1: his presidential campaign. 222 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:26,480 Speaker 2: And I love the guy. I loved him at hello. 223 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: He was authentic, he had strong opinions, He was well 224 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:35,280 Speaker 1: informed about so many of the issues I cared about. 225 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:41,480 Speaker 1: He cussed, he drank, He was fun, he was honest, 226 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:43,840 Speaker 1: he was loyal. I mean, there were so many things 227 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:48,000 Speaker 1: about him that just inspired me. He really cared about 228 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:53,680 Speaker 1: public service. It was the center of his life since 229 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:57,640 Speaker 1: he was born, born into a family of service that 230 00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:00,720 Speaker 1: had served their country. He was a war he he 231 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: was somebody that inspired me and taught me so many lessons. 232 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,960 Speaker 1: I miss him terribly today. I missed even the sound 233 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:10,760 Speaker 1: of his voice, but more than the physical sound and 234 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:15,000 Speaker 1: literal sound of his voice. Missed his voice in the 235 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:21,320 Speaker 1: American debate and with John I got to travel. With 236 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:24,800 Speaker 1: that campaign, I got to travel the United States, go 237 00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:28,040 Speaker 1: to places and cities I had never been, and do 238 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:33,600 Speaker 1: things I had never imagined I would do. And after 239 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:38,640 Speaker 1: I finished that campaign, after John lost, I was there 240 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:45,720 Speaker 1: the night of the concession speech at the Arizona Builtmore Hotel, 241 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:48,840 Speaker 1: It was a very sad night, but it was also 242 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:53,960 Speaker 1: a night where John McCain showed class, showed that in 243 00:15:54,000 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 1: America we accept election results. Was conciliatory and genuinely Barack 244 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:05,800 Speaker 1: Obama good luck. Before working for John, before doing this 245 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:09,000 Speaker 1: in the John McCain campaign, I had been involved in 246 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:14,680 Speaker 1: local campaigns in Miami and congressional campaigns in Miami state campaigns. 247 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:15,720 Speaker 2: I worked for Jeb. 248 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 1: Bush when he became governor for five whole minutes. Hated 249 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 1: each and every one of them. Really could never get 250 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:28,520 Speaker 1: used to living in Tallahassee or the chain of command 251 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:34,160 Speaker 1: and the bureaucracy that comes with working inside of government. 252 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:37,520 Speaker 1: And yeah, Tallahassee was hard for me because in Miami. 253 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:40,040 Speaker 1: You know, I get to Tallahassee and I remember. 254 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:42,280 Speaker 2: Going to the supermarket for the first time. 255 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:47,040 Speaker 1: And seeing this sign on one of the isles. It 256 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:51,320 Speaker 1: said ethnic sections. And I get to the ethnic section 257 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:56,760 Speaker 1: and there's like taco bell shells and chee cheese salsa, 258 00:16:57,640 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 1: and that was about it. The ethnic section was maybe 259 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:05,879 Speaker 1: two feet wide. Well, you know, I was used to 260 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:10,040 Speaker 1: living in Miami where the entire place, the entire supermarket 261 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:14,480 Speaker 1: is an ethnic section. It was a very difficult cultural 262 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:16,879 Speaker 1: shift for me that I did not do well on. 263 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:21,120 Speaker 2: But going back to McCain, I love the guy. 264 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:25,840 Speaker 1: And after I finished that campaign, because of that campaign, 265 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:28,480 Speaker 1: I got on national TV a lot. 266 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:30,200 Speaker 2: I was a campaign surrogate. 267 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:34,159 Speaker 1: So I'd go on different networks and different radio and 268 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 1: TV programs on behalf of the campaign that brought me 269 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:44,919 Speaker 1: to CNN. After John lost, CNN kept calling me to 270 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:47,880 Speaker 1: come in and give commentary. And I gotta say, at 271 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:49,840 Speaker 1: first it was incredibly flattering. 272 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:50,120 Speaker 2: Right. 273 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:53,360 Speaker 1: You get there and you get hair and you get makeup, 274 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:57,960 Speaker 1: and I had falls eyelashes, and my mom's friends would 275 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:00,760 Speaker 1: call her and tell her they'd just seen me on TV, 276 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:02,639 Speaker 1: and my mom was so proud. 277 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:03,120 Speaker 2: It was great. 278 00:18:03,119 --> 00:18:07,119 Speaker 1: And then one day I realized that this was really 279 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:09,399 Speaker 1: time consuming and I was making no money. It was 280 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:13,840 Speaker 1: costing me more money than it was giving me. And 281 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:15,600 Speaker 1: so I told CNN, if you want me to keep 282 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:17,920 Speaker 1: coming back, you got to start paying me. And to 283 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:22,240 Speaker 1: my shock, they did. And that was the start of 284 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:27,680 Speaker 1: my life as a pundit and as a political commentator 285 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:31,639 Speaker 1: and contributor on CNN, where I've been now well over 286 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:36,360 Speaker 1: a decade. And as a pundit on CNN I was 287 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:43,760 Speaker 1: the staunch Republican Hispanic pundit for CNN, and then Donald 288 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:49,560 Speaker 1: Trump started to run. I had supported every Republican running 289 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:54,959 Speaker 1: for president before that, every Republican voting for anything before that. 290 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 1: And then Donald Trump comes down that escalator and the 291 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:04,919 Speaker 1: first thing he says is calling Mexicans rapists and criminals. 292 00:19:06,359 --> 00:19:12,520 Speaker 1: And that just hurt my heart because I understood at 293 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:18,400 Speaker 1: that moment that he was giving free reign to stereotypes, 294 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 1: racist tropes and stereotypes. And I also understood that where 295 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:30,280 Speaker 1: I think a lot of other Hispanics, where some Hispanics 296 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:33,359 Speaker 1: may not have because you would say, well, he's talking 297 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:37,000 Speaker 1: about Mexicans, why do you care? Well, because I understand 298 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,399 Speaker 1: that for a large First of all, just talking that 299 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:42,439 Speaker 1: way about Mexicans in itself is wrong. But if that 300 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:44,760 Speaker 1: wasn't enough, I also understand that there's a lot of 301 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:47,919 Speaker 1: racist people in this country who think that Latin America 302 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:51,360 Speaker 1: is just one big Mexico. There's little Mexicos, there's mid 303 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 1: sized Mexicos, and there's big Mexicos, and that for people 304 00:19:56,200 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 1: who see Latinos as that as rapists and criminals, it 305 00:20:00,359 --> 00:20:02,639 Speaker 1: doesn't matter if you came here as a political exile, 306 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:04,640 Speaker 1: or you came here as an economic refugee. 307 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:05,760 Speaker 2: It doesn't matter if you. 308 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:08,560 Speaker 1: Came here in nineteen sixty or nineteen eighty or in 309 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:13,200 Speaker 1: twenty ten. It doesn't matter if you are a criminal 310 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:17,360 Speaker 1: or if you are a hard working, decent person contributing 311 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:18,760 Speaker 1: to this country. 312 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:19,880 Speaker 2: None of that matters. 313 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:23,560 Speaker 1: What matters is the color of your skin. What matters 314 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:28,880 Speaker 1: is your accent. What matters is the vowels in your 315 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:34,720 Speaker 1: last name. And so when you give free reign to racism, 316 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:40,919 Speaker 1: racists usually are don't leave racism in a little box. 317 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:43,200 Speaker 2: When people are. 318 00:20:43,359 --> 00:20:49,960 Speaker 1: Bigoted and a precedent or a person in power emboldens that. 319 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:53,480 Speaker 2: It's not just about Mexicans. 320 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:56,400 Speaker 1: It's not just about Nicaraguan's, it's not just about Cubans, 321 00:20:56,440 --> 00:21:00,560 Speaker 1: it's not just about Somali's. It's usually but a much 322 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:01,920 Speaker 1: larger swath of people. 323 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:02,600 Speaker 2: And it's wrong. 324 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:05,959 Speaker 1: It is wrong if it's about one person or if 325 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:07,879 Speaker 1: it's about one hundred million people. 326 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:12,119 Speaker 2: Racism is wrong. I had never really. 327 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:16,720 Speaker 1: Been as sensitive to racism because I was raised in Miami, 328 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:21,080 Speaker 1: and in Miami, so many of the people empower, so 329 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:24,640 Speaker 1: much of the establishment, so much of the corporate elite, 330 00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:27,720 Speaker 1: look like me and sound like me, and have similar 331 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:32,320 Speaker 1: stories like mine. But all of a sudden, you know, 332 00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:37,399 Speaker 1: you start traveling the country and it hit me, It 333 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:40,080 Speaker 1: hit me what was happening. I remember, as a young 334 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:43,239 Speaker 1: kid one time I was you know, I was, you know, 335 00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:46,560 Speaker 1: in my twenties, probably speaking at a political event, and 336 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:47,600 Speaker 1: I remember. 337 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:50,760 Speaker 2: The question was asked to the panel. 338 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:53,040 Speaker 1: It was a political panel, and the question was asked 339 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,120 Speaker 1: of latinos of Hispanics, do you remember the first time 340 00:21:56,160 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 1: you were discriminated? And everybody on that panel when into 341 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:07,040 Speaker 1: great detail, really moving stories about the first time they 342 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:08,399 Speaker 1: had felt discriminated against. 343 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:09,840 Speaker 2: Some of them it. 344 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:14,440 Speaker 1: Was in grade school. Some of them was in their 345 00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:19,280 Speaker 1: school playground. And I'm sitting there sweating beabies. My palms 346 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:22,639 Speaker 1: begin to sweat because I can't remember a story. I 347 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:25,760 Speaker 1: can't remember a single time that I had been discriminated. 348 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:31,760 Speaker 1: So comes my turn, and I say, listen, I'm a Latina, 349 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:35,920 Speaker 1: I'm a woman, I'm a nam mgrant, I got an accent, 350 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:40,120 Speaker 1: I'm chubby. The likelihood that I've been discriminated is one 351 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:44,560 Speaker 1: hundred percent. But I'm so fucking arrogant. I probably didn't 352 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:50,359 Speaker 1: realize it and So racism is something that I think 353 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:54,080 Speaker 1: in a place like Miami, I was able to be 354 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 1: oblivious to and ignore. But as I went out into 355 00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:03,960 Speaker 1: the country, as I went out into this world, as 356 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:10,359 Speaker 1: my pond got bigger, I realized the problem that it 357 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:22,480 Speaker 1: is and the harm that it causes. So let's go 358 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:25,280 Speaker 1: back to Donald Trump, shall we. So he comes down 359 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:28,920 Speaker 1: the escalator, he talks about Mexicans, calls them rapists and criminals, 360 00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:32,720 Speaker 1: and then he goes on to do so many things. Honestly, 361 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:36,640 Speaker 1: Donald Trump was like I always thought to myself, my God, 362 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:39,639 Speaker 1: if he had made a list of things that he 363 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:45,199 Speaker 1: could say and do to make me not vote for 364 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:48,840 Speaker 1: a Republican, to make me break with the party, to 365 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:53,960 Speaker 1: make me denounce this Republican nominee, Donald Trump could not 366 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:57,080 Speaker 1: have been done a better job. It was like if 367 00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:59,720 Speaker 1: he had a list of things he could do and 368 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:00,600 Speaker 1: say to. 369 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 2: Piss me off. 370 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:08,160 Speaker 1: I remember being at the first Republican debate, Republican primary 371 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:09,440 Speaker 1: debate in twenty sixteen. 372 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:11,360 Speaker 2: It was at. 373 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:18,960 Speaker 1: The arena where the Cavaliers play in Cleveland, huge place, 374 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:21,040 Speaker 1: and there was a bunch of people on the stage 375 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:23,800 Speaker 1: because there was a bunch of people running at the time, 376 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:30,040 Speaker 1: that was that famous debate where Megan Kelly asked him 377 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:36,160 Speaker 1: about calling women names, and Megan Kelly said to him, 378 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:42,760 Speaker 1: you've called women fat, slobs, pigs, and he answered, yeah, 379 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:46,000 Speaker 1: but that was just Rosie O'Donnell. So I was holding 380 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 1: my phone on my lap and my phone began vibrating, 381 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:53,000 Speaker 1: and when I looked down, it was a text from Rosy. 382 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:57,800 Speaker 1: And Rosie, who is my friend who I'd met on 383 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:02,159 Speaker 1: the view, was saying to me, I'm watching this debate 384 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:05,560 Speaker 1: right now with my children. How do I explain what 385 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:08,640 Speaker 1: just happened to them? I couldn't explain it to her. 386 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:13,360 Speaker 1: The entire arena had laughed when he answered that when 387 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:18,520 Speaker 1: he said, yeah, but that's just Rosie O'Donnell. Then we 388 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:25,760 Speaker 1: saw him mock a disabled reporter. That hit me like 389 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:28,680 Speaker 1: a ton of bricks right in my chest. I have 390 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:35,119 Speaker 1: a severely disabled brother. My brother, Danielle, is self injurious artistic. 391 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:38,680 Speaker 1: He's got the mental and motor skills of an eleven 392 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:43,360 Speaker 1: month old kid. He doesn't speak, he can't feed himself, 393 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:48,080 Speaker 1: he makes strange gestures and sounds. He's now in his sixties. 394 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:54,040 Speaker 1: But I grew up watching kids. When we would be 395 00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:58,600 Speaker 1: out with Danielle stare at him and mimic his gestures, 396 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:02,040 Speaker 1: mimic his sounds. I had never in my life seen 397 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:05,879 Speaker 1: an adult, much less an adult wanting to be the 398 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:11,359 Speaker 1: leader of the free world, mimicking and mocking and doing 399 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:14,960 Speaker 1: the gestures of somebody with a disability. I cannot think 400 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 1: of something that denotes more cruelty and immaturity and stupidity 401 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:24,360 Speaker 1: and lack of leadership and moral compass than doing that, 402 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:28,040 Speaker 1: picking on the vulnerable amongst us, just for a laugh, 403 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:31,280 Speaker 1: just for fun, just to make a point. I mean, 404 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:34,440 Speaker 1: that's that's just something that to me was incredibly unacceptable. 405 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:36,040 Speaker 1: That wasn't enough. 406 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:37,800 Speaker 2: Then. I remember one time. 407 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:43,560 Speaker 1: Donald Trump had done an interview and he was going 408 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:46,479 Speaker 1: through a legal case. This was during the campaign, and 409 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:50,880 Speaker 1: the judge, his name was Judge Curiel. He was Mexican American. 410 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:53,880 Speaker 1: He was a he was an American judge whose parents 411 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:58,919 Speaker 1: were from Mexico. Who's who's who descended from Mexican immigrants. 412 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:04,399 Speaker 1: And when Trump got asked about him, Trump's answer was, Oh, yeah, 413 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:10,520 Speaker 1: he's a Mexican, as if completely discounting the fact that 414 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:14,040 Speaker 1: this man had gone to law school, worked hard, become 415 00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:19,040 Speaker 1: a judge, and was able to. 416 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:18,320 Speaker 2: Be a judge. 417 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:20,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, none of that matter. The only thing that he 418 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:23,880 Speaker 1: cared was he was just a Mexican. And that day 419 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:25,920 Speaker 1: I was in Washington and I was going to CNN 420 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:28,639 Speaker 1: and I got into a car. I got into a 421 00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:34,240 Speaker 1: taxi caab and the taxi driver recognized me by my voice. 422 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:39,120 Speaker 1: Taxi drivers in places like Washington, DC keep CNN on 423 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:42,439 Speaker 1: in their cars all the time, and they may not 424 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:43,960 Speaker 1: know what I looked like, but they knew what I 425 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:48,879 Speaker 1: sounded like. And he was an Ethiopian taxi driver, I remember. 426 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:51,520 Speaker 1: And he told me he'd come here from Ethiopia, and 427 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:54,159 Speaker 1: he said he had three children. He told me he 428 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:58,520 Speaker 1: worked as a taxi driver twelve hours a day, six 429 00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: days a week to put his children through college and 430 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:07,399 Speaker 1: so his children could be professionals. And he said to me, 431 00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:11,560 Speaker 1: so does this mean that in Donald Trump's America, no 432 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:16,200 Speaker 1: matter how hard I work to make my children professionals, 433 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:18,920 Speaker 1: all they're going to be designated and labeled as as 434 00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:23,480 Speaker 1: they're just Ethiopians. And that hit me so hard. Went 435 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:27,159 Speaker 1: on CNN Wolf Blitzer's show later that day and just 436 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:34,359 Speaker 1: blasted what Trump had done. And then there was Access Hollywood. 437 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:39,480 Speaker 1: Oh wait, before Access Hollywood. He attacked John McCain. He 438 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:42,400 Speaker 1: said John McCain was not a hero. He said he'd 439 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:45,640 Speaker 1: liked people who hadn't been captured. I mean, really, the 440 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:50,040 Speaker 1: idea of a guy who dodged the draft, calling John McCain, 441 00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:54,040 Speaker 1: who basically hung from his thumbs for five years at 442 00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:58,200 Speaker 1: the Hanoi Hilton, was tortured every day of his life 443 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:01,560 Speaker 1: after that, John lived in pain. John couldn't lift his hands, 444 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:07,080 Speaker 1: his arms above his shoulders. John couldn't brush the top 445 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:12,800 Speaker 1: of his own head. John suffered so much emotionally and physically, 446 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:15,800 Speaker 1: though he never complained and he never talked about it, 447 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:21,120 Speaker 1: for serving his country. And for Donald Trump to be 448 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:25,280 Speaker 1: little John McCain and attack him was just, you know, 449 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:28,160 Speaker 1: so disgusting. And it wasn't the first time he was 450 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:29,760 Speaker 1: gonna do it or the last time he was gonna 451 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:34,600 Speaker 1: do it. In that same campaign, we saw him attack 452 00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:42,000 Speaker 1: a gold Star family whose son had died serving our 453 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:47,400 Speaker 1: country because he was a Muslim. And then there was 454 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:51,720 Speaker 1: the access Hollywood stuff. Still, to this day, I will 455 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:56,880 Speaker 1: never understand. I will go to my deathbed not understanding 456 00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:01,520 Speaker 1: how in the hell a majority of women and a 457 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:07,320 Speaker 1: majority and Christians and people of moral compass in America 458 00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:11,560 Speaker 1: could have voted for a man who we heard and 459 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:17,960 Speaker 1: saw on video boast about sexual assault. I to this 460 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:23,200 Speaker 1: day refuse to normalize that, to forget it, or to 461 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:28,680 Speaker 1: understand it. And that's how I came, for the first 462 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:31,200 Speaker 1: time in my life, vote for a. 463 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:37,080 Speaker 2: Democrat candidate for president. I voted for Hillary Clinton. It 464 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:38,360 Speaker 2: wasn't easy. It was hard. 465 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:40,959 Speaker 1: I got to tell you, I had an absentee ballot 466 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:45,200 Speaker 1: in my suitcase that I carried around for weeks. For 467 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:47,560 Speaker 1: weeks in Florida, they send you your absente ballot, like 468 00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:50,000 Speaker 1: a month before the election. I put this in my 469 00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:54,760 Speaker 1: suitcase and I slept it. That absentee ballot had probably 470 00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:58,640 Speaker 1: platinum status on American airlines that traveled to so many cities. 471 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,680 Speaker 1: Because it was really hard for me to bring myself 472 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:06,200 Speaker 1: to not vote Republican, and for a long time I 473 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:07,440 Speaker 1: used to say that I was going to write in 474 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:08,680 Speaker 1: a candidate. I used to say I was going to 475 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:10,840 Speaker 1: write in my mother's name. I used to say that 476 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:12,840 Speaker 1: on TV and it would upset my mother greatly. I 477 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:15,520 Speaker 1: think she was like genuinely nervous she might get elected. 478 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:21,400 Speaker 1: So I just couldn't though I could not vote for 479 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:25,280 Speaker 1: Donald Trump. I didn't care that the letter behind his 480 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:29,600 Speaker 1: name was Republican. I didn't care that most of the 481 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:33,280 Speaker 1: people around me and my community were going to vote 482 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:34,200 Speaker 1: for him. 483 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:36,920 Speaker 2: I couldn't. I couldn't do it. 484 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:40,400 Speaker 1: I couldn't do it in twenty sixteen. I couldn't do 485 00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:42,960 Speaker 1: it in twenty twenty. I couldn't do it in twenty 486 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:47,440 Speaker 1: twenty four. But that was the first time, and it 487 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:51,800 Speaker 1: was my hand was shaking when I filled it out, 488 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:54,720 Speaker 1: and I realized I couldn't just write in somebody because 489 00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:55,520 Speaker 1: I was in Miami. 490 00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:56,520 Speaker 2: I was in Florida. 491 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:03,640 Speaker 1: Remember back when Florida was a purple state and a 492 00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:08,200 Speaker 1: presidential election was decided because of Florida and because of 493 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:11,280 Speaker 1: five hundred and thirty four votes in Florida. That happened 494 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:15,040 Speaker 1: in the year two thousand. So as a Floridian in 495 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:18,080 Speaker 1: twenty sixteen, I didn't have the luxury of throwing away 496 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:21,760 Speaker 1: my vote. And also just morally, that's kind of so 497 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:25,960 Speaker 1: lazy and not acceptable to me, kind of cowardly. 498 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:27,320 Speaker 2: So I voted. 499 00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:30,920 Speaker 1: I voted for Hillary Clinton. I would do it ten 500 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:34,840 Speaker 1: times over today. But that's the story of how I 501 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:39,400 Speaker 1: became a Republican. Why I stayed a Republican and why 502 00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:44,120 Speaker 1: for the first time and since then have not voted Republican. 503 00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:48,040 Speaker 1: So listen, there's there was one hundred reasons in twenty 504 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:50,800 Speaker 1: sixteen for me to vote against Trump. There were even 505 00:32:50,840 --> 00:32:54,800 Speaker 1: more reasons for me to vote against Trump in twenty twenty. 506 00:32:54,960 --> 00:33:00,600 Speaker 1: He had targeted immigrants and the Latino community maligned so much. 507 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:05,200 Speaker 1: There were even more reasons in twenty twenty four. By 508 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:11,080 Speaker 1: then we'd seen January six. How forget access Hollywood as 509 00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:14,520 Speaker 1: if that wasn't bad enough, How anybody could vote for 510 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:21,760 Speaker 1: Trump after January six is another thing I will never understand. 511 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:23,000 Speaker 1: And look, things are not good. 512 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:25,400 Speaker 2: Things are not good in this country. 513 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:27,800 Speaker 1: I knew things were going to be bad for the 514 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:31,520 Speaker 1: Latino community and the immigrant community. I didn't know they 515 00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:33,560 Speaker 1: were going to be this bad. I didn't know we 516 00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 1: were going to see masked armed men shooting people in cars, 517 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:46,360 Speaker 1: dragging pregnant women through the streets, deporting four year old 518 00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:54,680 Speaker 1: cancer victims, detaining US citizens, creating a state of terror 519 00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:56,000 Speaker 1: in this country. 520 00:33:56,800 --> 00:33:59,080 Speaker 2: I didn't know that. 521 00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:03,920 Speaker 1: We were gonna get to a point where people were 522 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:09,080 Speaker 1: gonna have to go out and protest law enforcement. Law enforcement. 523 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:12,000 Speaker 1: If that's what we're calling. If that's what we're calling Ice, 524 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:16,320 Speaker 1: and what's you know, what's happened in Minneapolis. 525 00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:25,120 Speaker 2: That's been that's been a year in the making. It's been. 526 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:32,320 Speaker 1: The maligning of the immigrant community. It has been arbitrary 527 00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:39,160 Speaker 1: targeting of immigrants. He said he was going to go 528 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:43,440 Speaker 1: against and deport the worst of the worst. In some cases, 529 00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:45,320 Speaker 1: he's deporting the best of the best. 530 00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:49,760 Speaker 2: And it's not only who he's deporting. 531 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:54,440 Speaker 1: It's not only the fact that he's lying about deporting 532 00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:58,440 Speaker 1: people with criminal records. It's how they're going about it. 533 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:04,480 Speaker 1: It's the purposeful spectacle of cruelty. It is the masks, 534 00:35:05,239 --> 00:35:08,719 Speaker 1: it is the arms. It is the chasing of anybody 535 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:13,000 Speaker 1: that looks brown or has an accent. It is that 536 00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:17,520 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court of the United States has basically legitimized 537 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:23,439 Speaker 1: racial profiling. Getting killed by an ICE agent. But I'll 538 00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:28,040 Speaker 1: tell you what inspires me. In America, we give a shit. 539 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:29,840 Speaker 2: We give a shit. 540 00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:33,799 Speaker 1: About others, not just about ourselves. In America, we give 541 00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:38,279 Speaker 1: a shit when somebody is abusing power. In America, we 542 00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:43,839 Speaker 1: give a shit when we see people treated worse than 543 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:47,799 Speaker 1: we would allow animals to be treated. In America, we 544 00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:51,800 Speaker 1: give a shit when we see violations of the constitution, 545 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:58,880 Speaker 1: and so that gives me hope. Large crowds gathering in Minneapolis, Guys, 546 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:02,200 Speaker 1: it's like, you know, freezing weather and it's snow and 547 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:07,160 Speaker 1: it's this is not like protesting in Miami in January. 548 00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:11,399 Speaker 1: This is protesting in Minneapolis in January. And despite the 549 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:14,960 Speaker 1: fact that these people have a reason to be fearful, right, 550 00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:19,719 Speaker 1: scores of people from Minneapolis showed up, showed up to 551 00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:22,759 Speaker 1: say we are not going to take it. Showed up 552 00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:25,960 Speaker 1: to say you should be ashamed about what happened and 553 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:31,720 Speaker 1: what you're doing, and to quote the mayor of Minneapolis, 554 00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:33,040 Speaker 1: get the fuck out of our city. 555 00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:36,240 Speaker 2: And you see that kind of. 556 00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:43,880 Speaker 1: Impromptu outrage that leads to action is one of the 557 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:46,880 Speaker 1: things about this country that inspires me and that I 558 00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:51,520 Speaker 1: think makes us so unique and makes us American, and 559 00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:56,279 Speaker 1: something that I hope to tap into in this podcast, 560 00:36:56,920 --> 00:37:00,080 Speaker 1: something that I hope we all find within. 561 00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:03,600 Speaker 2: Ourselves as we go through. So that's where we are. 562 00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:07,920 Speaker 1: By the way, not every podcast is going to be 563 00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:12,200 Speaker 1: this heavy. I think talking about my childhood and exile 564 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:16,200 Speaker 1: and revolution, you know, those are kind of heavy duty 565 00:37:16,239 --> 00:37:20,160 Speaker 1: things I hope to have laughs. I hope to have guests, 566 00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:23,160 Speaker 1: maybe a couple of other dogs can join us every 567 00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:26,960 Speaker 1: now and then. Maybe one day we'll drink, Maybe one 568 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:32,480 Speaker 1: day we'll eat. What I do want the running theme 569 00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:36,680 Speaker 1: to be is that we each have a role to play. 570 00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:41,920 Speaker 1: We can all do something, we all we each have 571 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:47,680 Speaker 1: a platform, and we've got to channel that energy. We 572 00:37:47,760 --> 00:37:52,360 Speaker 1: got to channel the anger and turn it into real action. Well, 573 00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:56,960 Speaker 1: thank you for being here on. 574 00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:59,560 Speaker 2: My first podcast. You know what, go ahead. 575 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:02,560 Speaker 1: And raid us, but also leave us a message, Leave 576 00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:04,400 Speaker 1: me a message. I would love to hear from you. 577 00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:07,040 Speaker 1: I'd love to hear about what you want us to 578 00:38:07,080 --> 00:38:10,319 Speaker 1: talk about, what you want to see in this podcast 579 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:14,880 Speaker 1: and what's giving you hope and how you're going to 580 00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:17,960 Speaker 1: do your duty and make a difference as an American. 581 00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:19,719 Speaker 2: See you next week. 582 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:23,840 Speaker 1: Bleep with Anna Navarro is a High Finite Media group 583 00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:28,319 Speaker 1: production in partnership with Iheart's Michael Duda podcast Now. For 584 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:32,600 Speaker 1: more of your favorite shows, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 585 00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:34,440 Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.