1 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:06,840 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio News. 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:10,560 Speaker 2: Joining us now for more from Bloomberg's Washington, DC bureau 3 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:13,399 Speaker 2: are two special guests, Martin Luther King, the third Chairman 4 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 2: of the Drum Major Institute and son of the late 5 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:18,920 Speaker 2: doctor Martin Luther King Junior, and Andrea Waters King, president 6 00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 2: of the Drum Major Institute. Welcome to you both. Thank 7 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:26,279 Speaker 2: you for being here on Bloomberg on this election day. Martin, 8 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:29,160 Speaker 2: if I could just begin with you, a Kamala Harris 9 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 2: has not throughout her campaign leaned into the historic nature 10 00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:35,239 Speaker 2: of her candidacy, not only that she would be a 11 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:38,600 Speaker 2: woman potentially elected president, but a black and South Asian 12 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:41,239 Speaker 2: woman at that. What does it mean to you as 13 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 2: you have spent so much of your life fighting for equality. 14 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: Well, I think it demonstrates that people are very concerned 15 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: about the issues, not necessarily the ethnicity and the fact 16 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: that we've had a black president and not a woman 17 00:00:56,240 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: that is extraordinarily important. However, I think extand on the 18 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: issues is what people How is my life going to 19 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: change under your leadership? And I think she's demonstrated what 20 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 1: she intends to do if she becomes president of the 21 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: United States. 22 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 3: Arred Do you agree, because the potential to make history 23 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 3: is very compelling to some voters here when you back 24 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 3: off this race, that's been a major backdrop since Kamala 25 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 3: Harris reached the top of the ticket. Or is it 26 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 3: in fact kitchen table issues that drive people today? 27 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 4: I think it's a combination of both. Obviously, as a 28 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:33,240 Speaker 4: black woman and as the mother of a black daughter, 29 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 4: it is something that we are extremely proud of to 30 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:40,679 Speaker 4: have the vice president hopefully soon to be president heading 31 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:45,080 Speaker 4: our country. Also, we're also at a time when women 32 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 4: have progressively lost rights, and so I think that you're 33 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,600 Speaker 4: seeing women coming together and standing together and in fact, 34 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 4: we really might be the deciding vote in this election today. 35 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 2: Well, it certainly could be women that ultimately make or 36 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 2: break this thing for Kamala Harrison, although will depend on turnout, 37 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 2: and that is what both of these candidates Andrea have 38 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 2: been really fighting for in the final stretch here. Are 39 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 2: you confident that voters are going to be getting off 40 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 2: the couches and participating in this election. 41 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:23,959 Speaker 4: Absolutely. We have spent so many weeks and months ourselves 42 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:26,919 Speaker 4: out with the canvassers. We were just in North Fulton 43 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 4: on Friday, and I'll tell you The excitement that we 44 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:34,360 Speaker 4: are seeing is something that since the announcement of this 45 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 4: candidacy up until now, is something that's continuing to grow. 46 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 4: And we saw that in the numbers of early voting, 47 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 4: certainly in Georgia making breaking records, and we also are 48 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:48,919 Speaker 4: seeing that in early voting around the country. I do 49 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:52,360 Speaker 4: think that we're going to continue that's going that will 50 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 4: uphold today. 51 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 3: Mister King, I wonder your thoughts over the past couple 52 00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 3: of months some of the rhetoric that we've heard on 53 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 3: the campaign trail. We just opened with comments that Kamala 54 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:04,639 Speaker 3: Harris made before the NABJ. Donald Trump had some comments 55 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 3: to the NABJ as well that questioned her racial identity, 56 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 3: and it's a narrative that he has pushed through the 57 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:15,079 Speaker 3: course of this cycle. Some have called it corrosive, some 58 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 3: have called it dated, Some say it doesn't matter. 59 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 1: What do you think, Well, I think that it should 60 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:26,119 Speaker 1: be irrelevant the ethnicity again of a person, it should be. 61 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: We maybe haven't gotten there with some people, but as 62 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 1: it relates to you know, black men, specifically black men, 63 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: I believe we are going to support overwhelmingly the candidacy 64 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: of the vice president to help her become the president, 65 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: along with a vast coalition of others. 66 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 2: But Donald Trump has spent a great deal of time 67 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 2: vying for the vote of black men and talking about 68 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 2: how he is doing better with them than Republicans have 69 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 2: in the past. And considering, mister King that you said 70 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 2: issues are ultimately what matters here? What issue is it 71 00:03:57,360 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 2: that there is a disconnect with at least some black 72 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 2: men and Kamala Harrison the idea she has put forward. 73 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: So I think when you talk about the prospect of 74 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:12,640 Speaker 1: supporting UH small and disadvantage businesses, when you talk about 75 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:16,680 Speaker 1: getting UH a loan that might be forgive forgivable. I 76 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:21,000 Speaker 1: think when you talk about UH the fact that reducing prices, 77 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: I mean black men, like every man wants to be 78 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 1: able to take care of their families. Every woman wants 79 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: to be able to take care of their families. And 80 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 1: when you talk about these bread and butter issues, I 81 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:35,160 Speaker 1: believe there is an opening there, there's support. I just 82 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: think that at the end of the day, the vast 83 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:40,799 Speaker 1: majority of black UH people are going to be supportive 84 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: of the vice president. 85 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 4: May I also add, we also are talking about someone 86 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 4: who said that he won the last election, and we 87 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:50,680 Speaker 4: also are talking about someone who said that he had 88 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 4: audiences that the largest in inauguration history, or audiences that 89 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:57,840 Speaker 4: were larger than the March on Washington, no matter what 90 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:02,479 Speaker 4: photo evidence stated to the Montrerie. So let's talk about 91 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:05,200 Speaker 4: the facts when they come out. Let's not necessarily take 92 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 4: Donald Trump at his word. 93 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 3: Well, Andrea at Waters King, tell me how you would 94 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,159 Speaker 3: describe then, some of the racial rhetoric that we've heard 95 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 3: on the campaign, culminating with that massive Trump rally at 96 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 3: Madison Square Garden that had jokes that we couldn't tell 97 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 3: on the air. 98 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 4: Not only jokes that we wouldn't tell on the air, 99 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:27,039 Speaker 4: those are things that we teach our children that are wrong. 100 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 4: You know, I worked for many years monitoring hate groups 101 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:32,599 Speaker 4: and hate crimes such as the klu Klut's Clan, Neil Nazis, 102 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,760 Speaker 4: and skinheads, and it is very alarming for me to 103 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 4: see the very rhetoric that we were researching at the 104 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 4: time actually now being said from the anals of some 105 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 4: of the highest levels of power in our land. And 106 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:53,160 Speaker 4: also to not only see this type of these words 107 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:55,800 Speaker 4: that are being saying, but also seeing those things being 108 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 4: passed into laws. So it is very troubling, which is 109 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:01,240 Speaker 4: why I think that we're going to see, and we 110 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 4: have seen, such a strong standing for unity in this country, 111 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:09,159 Speaker 4: for a path forward, for turning that page on the 112 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 4: hate and the visiveness of the past. 113 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,120 Speaker 1: And let me add one thing, because the question is 114 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:19,919 Speaker 1: what is sustainable? Most people understand when we are building 115 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,479 Speaker 1: a world of peace and justice and righteousness. If you're 116 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 1: advocating vitriol, it is not sustainable. My dad would say, 117 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 1: we must learn non violence, or we may face non existence. 118 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 1: We don't want to face that. We're going to face building. 119 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:39,120 Speaker 1: What my father and mother would say is the beloved community. 120 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 2: Well and so much, sir. Of what they were fighting 121 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 2: for was the right to vote. And obviously many more people, 122 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:47,480 Speaker 2: in part because of their work, do have the right 123 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:50,039 Speaker 2: to vote today. But given in the lead up to 124 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:52,719 Speaker 2: this election some of the legal action we have seen 125 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 2: questions around who can and cannot be purged from voter 126 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:59,360 Speaker 2: rules this close to an election, how ballots can be counted, 127 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,719 Speaker 2: which ballot are valid if there are mistakes. Do you 128 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:05,600 Speaker 2: have concerns about the right to vote being rolled back 129 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 2: for at least some segments of the population. 130 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: I certainly always have concerns I've always wondered why we 131 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 1: purge people from voting, but yet we can drive as 132 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 1: drivers forever and you're never removed from the driving roles. 133 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:24,560 Speaker 1: If you understand the analogy. The fact is you may 134 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: not vote one year or two years, but you shouldn't 135 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 1: be removed. You still have that right. But yet we 136 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: orchestrate the kind of results that we want to see. 137 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: And I think those who say, let's support the John 138 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 1: Lewis Voting Rights Bill, which all people need, not any 139 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 1: one ethnic group, that's the right course. And the hope 140 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: is that Kamala Harris wins and in fact the legislative 141 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 1: bodies will pass that legislation. 142 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:50,920 Speaker 3: For once and for all, or if there's an expectation 143 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:53,960 Speaker 3: that Democrats will say control of the House. Do you 144 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:56,560 Speaker 3: see some hope for the John Lewis Voting Rights Bill 145 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 3: in Washington if that happens. 146 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 4: Absolutely. We have been working for that federal legislation for 147 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 4: years now, and we have confirmation from soon to be 148 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 4: President Kamala Harris that that is something that she will 149 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 4: push forward. I think, with the power of the House 150 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,920 Speaker 4: behind her, that that will become an ultimate reality. And 151 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 4: you know that people have talked about the fact that, yes, 152 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 4: there's been record turnouts, that does not mean that we 153 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:27,920 Speaker 4: do not need to secure federal voting rights once and 154 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 4: for all. Our daughter has progressively lost rights since the 155 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 4: day that she was born. The crowning achievement of voting 156 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:38,840 Speaker 4: that was her grandparents' legacy has been eroded. Yes, we've 157 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 4: had great organizers, but we should not continue to fight 158 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 4: that battle. Voting rights are birthrights and should be in 159 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:45,840 Speaker 4: this country. 160 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 3: I want to thank you both for an important conversation 161 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 3: with us in our Washington Bureau. Martin Luther King the 162 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 3: Third or Andrea Waters King, thank you for joining us 163 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:56,080 Speaker 3: today on Bloomberg TV and radio.