Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, I am so excited to begin my new
Speaker 1: season of Next Question, which starts next Thursday, February. For
Speaker 1: our first episode this season, we're kicking things off with
Speaker 1: the one and only actor, director Robin Wright, who's talking
Speaker 1: about her new film and directorial debut, Land. And we're
Speaker 1: also going to be talking with Robin about how things
Speaker 1: are changing for women in Hollywood. In the meantime, I
Speaker 1: had a really interesting conversation with Maryland Governor Larry Hogan,
Speaker 1: who I think is a rock star, and I wanted
Speaker 1: to share it with you as soon as possible. You know,
Speaker 1: at a time where there's so much talk about uniting
Speaker 1: our bitterly divided country, I think Governor Hogan could be
Speaker 1: used as a model for unity as an incredibly popular
Speaker 1: Republican leader of a very blue state near my home
Speaker 1: state of Virginia. Of course, we're talking about Maryland. I
Speaker 1: spoke with him about this unprecedented moment in our nation's history,
Speaker 1: what it means to be a common sense conservative, and
Speaker 1: why he thinks we're just at the beginning of a
Speaker 1: long and difficult battle for the soul of the Republican Party.
Speaker 1: Oh and I also asked him if he'd ever run
Speaker 1: for president, Governor Hogan, what in the world is going
Speaker 1: on with the Republican Party. Well, that's a really good question, Katie. Um,
Speaker 1: some of us are really trying hard to figure that out.
Speaker 1: I it's I never imagined it could get quite as
Speaker 1: bad as it's gotten at this point. I think we're
Speaker 1: really in the midst of, in the just the beginning
Speaker 1: of what is going to be a long, you know
Speaker 1: and difficult battle for the soul of the Republican Party.
Speaker 1: I mean, we're we're heading off in the direction where, um,
Speaker 1: you know, we're not going to be able to successfully
Speaker 1: win national elections anymore. Where it's gonna be difficult for
Speaker 1: the Republicans to ever get the House or the Senate back,
Speaker 1: or to win the White House back unless we can
Speaker 1: return to some sanity. Um. And there are a number
Speaker 1: of us who are trying to return to a more traditional,
Speaker 1: you know, common sense conservative party, more reaganesque, bigger tent
Speaker 1: party that can appeal to with a positive message that
Speaker 1: we can you know, try to work with Democrats on.
Speaker 1: But there's an awful lot of others who are wanting
Speaker 1: to take us down this path that has no chance
Speaker 1: of success. In fact, I was going to ask you, governor,
Speaker 1: are you in the minority? Is the Republican Party now
Speaker 1: squarely the party of Donald Trump? Well, I think it
Speaker 1: has been, and I think perhaps it still is, but
Speaker 1: I think his influence is is slowly beginning to diminish.
Speaker 1: I think after the loss of the election, after the
Speaker 1: the crazy conspiracy theories about the election being stolen, and
Speaker 1: then particularly after the insurrection at the Capitol. While he
Speaker 1: still has an awful lot of uh, you know, supporters
Speaker 1: in the Republican Party, it's dropped considerably and there are
Speaker 1: at least thirty or forty of the Republican Party who
Speaker 1: do not want to see Donald Trump involved in the
Speaker 1: party party in a substantial way. So it's it's still
Speaker 1: a majority, but a shrinking majority, and it's a majority
Speaker 1: of a much smaller party. Uh you know, it's we've
Speaker 1: been shrinking the base, and uh, we've got to growth.
Speaker 1: The basis that let's talk about his scathing statement about
Speaker 1: Mitch McConnell. What was your reaction to that. Well, on
Speaker 1: the one hand, it wasn't surprising, Katie, because we've seen,
Speaker 1: you know, these kind of attacks on fellow Republicans and
Speaker 1: on other people and kind of this angry rhetoric for years.
Speaker 1: But um, you know, Mr McConnell, who didn't vote for impeachment,
Speaker 1: I think I think, you know, really spoke how he felt.
Speaker 1: And obviously he's concerned about winning the Senate back. And um,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm sure there were politics involved, but I
Speaker 1: think he meant the words that he said, and um,
Speaker 1: and I admired him for being willing to speak up,
Speaker 1: but for the President to attack him in the personal
Speaker 1: way that he did, it's, you know, it's kind of
Speaker 1: what we've come to expect. It seems that as if governor,
Speaker 1: people speak out against Donald Trump at their own risk. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, there's a lot of fear about Republicans list
Speaker 1: Chainey among them getting out primary. And I'm curious if
Speaker 1: you have gotten any backlash because you've been pretty outspoken
Speaker 1: about the fact that you would have voted to convict
Speaker 1: if you had been in the U. S. Senate. Well,
Speaker 1: not being in the Senate and not being in the
Speaker 1: House and not not not taking a vote may put
Speaker 1: me in a different position. It also didn't come as
Speaker 1: any surprise for me to speak out because I've been
Speaker 1: speaking the exact same way for the entire time since
Speaker 1: Donald Trump announced this presidential campaign, uh, you know, four
Speaker 1: years ago. So I think some people who haven't spoken
Speaker 1: out for four years are are experiencing, you know, and
Speaker 1: finally did are are getting the the brunt of the criticism.
Speaker 1: You know. I also happened to be in a state
Speaker 1: where I ran forty five points ahead of Donald Trump,
Speaker 1: and so, uh you know, he lost by thirty and
Speaker 1: I won by fifteen. Uh so he doesn't have quite
Speaker 1: the same influence over me. And and I'm also just
Speaker 1: not as concerned about, you know, what people think about it.
Speaker 1: I'm just you know, I just I've always been pretty
Speaker 1: blunt and say exactly what I think. Your father was
Speaker 1: a real profile encourage back in nineteen seventy four when
Speaker 1: he was the only Republican to vote for all three
Speaker 1: articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon. But there are very
Speaker 1: few profiles encouraged today. Only seven Republican Senators voted to
Speaker 1: convict Donald Trump in that impeachment hearing. Why do you
Speaker 1: think that's the case. Well, thank you for mentioning my dad.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm awful proud of him. I learned a
Speaker 1: lot about integrity and public service from him. He was
Speaker 1: the first Republican in Congress to come out for Nixon's impeachment.
Speaker 1: He was on the House Judiciary Committee. He was the
Speaker 1: only Republican to vote for all three articles of impeachment.
Speaker 1: So talk about he was one the only one. Uh.
Speaker 1: And here we had seven senators and ten members of
Speaker 1: the House, and you know, I uh, you know, I
Speaker 1: admire them for voting their conscience and having the guts
Speaker 1: to stand up. I can tell you without any question
Speaker 1: that there were far more senators and far more House
Speaker 1: members and plenty of my colleagues that are governors who
Speaker 1: felt exactly the same way, but who haven't spoken up
Speaker 1: and and and didn't cast those votes because they were
Speaker 1: afraid of the retribution and the attacks and being primaried.
Speaker 1: And the ones who did did so at their own risk.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, my dad back in the seventies,
Speaker 1: he suffered, He knew he was potentially ending his political career,
Speaker 1: but he did what he thought was right for the country.
Speaker 1: And I think some of those folks, I really admire
Speaker 1: the fact that they had the guts. There just weren't
Speaker 1: enough of them. Well, what about the fact that there
Speaker 1: weren't enough of them? Are these people just addicted to
Speaker 1: power over country, party over country, anything over country. I'm
Speaker 1: not sure I would characterize it quite like that, Katie.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's hard for me to put myself in
Speaker 1: and judge how people were making these decisions, um, and
Speaker 1: how they arrived at their conclusion. Some people really, UM
Speaker 1: didn't know. I think sincerely didn't believe thought he was wrong,
Speaker 1: thought he insight in the violence, but that they that
Speaker 1: you couldn't shouldn't impeach a former president, and that the
Speaker 1: election was over. Some people, I think thought that we
Speaker 1: needed to put Donald Trump behind us and not continue
Speaker 1: the the talk. And some people I think maybe thought
Speaker 1: he was guilty and didn't have the guts to vote
Speaker 1: that way. UM. So it's a little bit of all that.
Speaker 1: But I don't I wouldn't say they, you know, I
Speaker 1: don't want to characterize what they did because I I
Speaker 1: can't put myself inside of their own minds and their
Speaker 1: hearts and figure out what they how they decided their vote.
Speaker 1: When we come back, we're going to have more of
Speaker 1: my conversation with the Governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan. It
Speaker 1: comes to this, Fike, Governor Hogan, over the heart and
Speaker 1: soul of the Republican Party. How do you reconcile the
Speaker 1: fact that of Republicans say they have a positive view
Speaker 1: of President Trump and over half would vote for him
Speaker 1: again in it's a little surprising, um, but you know,
Speaker 1: he uh he, he really has had quite a following
Speaker 1: over the past four years. And uh you know, I
Speaker 1: think that's going to continue to diminish as time goes on,
Speaker 1: and and you know, I think we're just getting by
Speaker 1: the election. It's surprising to me that so many people
Speaker 1: believe this, this talk about the election being stolen, which
Speaker 1: doesn't have any basis in fact. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: some of my Republican governor colleagues who were very strong
Speaker 1: supporters of the president, you know, they certified the elections,
Speaker 1: and you know, they wouldn't overturn the election, and they're
Speaker 1: telling us there just wasn't any truth to these rumors.
Speaker 1: But it's amazing how many people believe them. And it's
Speaker 1: all about you know, social media and and disinformation, and
Speaker 1: we've got to figure out how many how so many
Speaker 1: people were misled. Well, at this juncture, it does seem
Speaker 1: that more centrist moderate Republicans such as yourself are in
Speaker 1: the minority. Still So how do you change that's statistic?
Speaker 1: How do you bring more people to your side if
Speaker 1: you will what you believe the GOP should be. Well,
Speaker 1: it's not gonna be easy, Katie, and I don't have
Speaker 1: a I don't have a magic wand to make everything
Speaker 1: magically go back to normal again. But in my opinion,
Speaker 1: this was kind of a hostile takeover of the Republican
Speaker 1: Party four years ago. Donald Trump was lifelong Democrat and independent.
Speaker 1: It just became a Republican mostly supported Democrats its whole life.
Speaker 1: While while I was chairing youth for Yan Trump was
Speaker 1: working for the Democrats in eight and eighty four. So
Speaker 1: how how this came about is we can go back
Speaker 1: and figure it out. But I don't know whether we
Speaker 1: are going to be successful or not quite Frankly, it's
Speaker 1: something we're going to decide over the next two years
Speaker 1: or four years. But as a lifelong you know, Republican
Speaker 1: who believes in my party and wants to return to
Speaker 1: a more traditional Republican party, I'm I think it's worth
Speaker 1: fighting for. Some people have given up. I understand that, um,
Speaker 1: and some people say it's a it's kind of hopeless,
Speaker 1: But UM, I'm not gonna give up, and I happen
Speaker 1: to believe we we do have a chance. And uh,
Speaker 1: I think if if we want to win purple states,
Speaker 1: if we want to win competitive districts, in suburban congressional districts,
Speaker 1: if we want to elect Republican governors in places like Maryland,
Speaker 1: one of the blue states in the country, and in
Speaker 1: New England with Charlie Baker in Massachusetts, and Phil Scott
Speaker 1: and Vermont and Krista new New in New Hampshire, Democratic states.
Speaker 1: You know, we we we can't keep alienating large swaths
Speaker 1: of the electorate, and we can't just keep trying to
Speaker 1: focus on a smaller and smaller base. You know, in Maryland,
Speaker 1: I've I've you know, won overwhelmingly with with suburban women,
Speaker 1: with Democrats and Independence and Conservatives and Republicans, And you've
Speaker 1: got to find a message that can appeal to more people,
Speaker 1: because successful politics is about, you know, uh, addition and multiplication,
Speaker 1: not subtraction and division. You can't win elections if you
Speaker 1: can't convince people that your ideas are the right ones.
Speaker 1: There's some talk Governor about potentially starting a new party,
Speaker 1: a third party. I've heard it called the p Trade Party,
Speaker 1: and other things Um, what do you think about that idea?
Speaker 1: Is that sort of a pie in the sky notion? Well,
Speaker 1: you know, you hear it from both ads. There's definitely
Speaker 1: a divide in the Republican Party, you know. Uh, but
Speaker 1: you've heard they were talking about a mega party that
Speaker 1: President Trump was said he wouldn't rule out, you know,
Speaker 1: starting up party of his own. Uh. You know that
Speaker 1: more traditional Republicans are, I think, trying to get their
Speaker 1: own party back. Um, And so I think we're going
Speaker 1: to figure that out. It's very difficult to have a
Speaker 1: third party or hav any. I think there's an overwhelming
Speaker 1: majority of Americans that once when survey showed about seventy
Speaker 1: three percent of the people in America are somewhere in
Speaker 1: the middle. They really aren't happy with the Democratic Party
Speaker 1: moving too far to the left. They're not really happy
Speaker 1: with where the Republican Party is. They're either moderate or
Speaker 1: right of center, left of center. They're not only extremes
Speaker 1: of either party. And I think it is where most
Speaker 1: voters are. But it's very difficult of a process to
Speaker 1: figure out how you nominate people that can appeal to
Speaker 1: those people. Lindsey Graham has said that he is quite
Speaker 1: worried about the midterm elections in two. Given the rift
Speaker 1: that we've seen exposed between Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump
Speaker 1: there now at each other's throat, I'm more worried about
Speaker 1: two than I've ever been. I don't want to eat
Speaker 1: our own President Trump is the most consequential Republican in
Speaker 1: the party. We don't have a snowball's chance in hell
Speaker 1: of taking back the majority without Donald Trump. How concerned
Speaker 1: are you about that? Well, he ought to be concerned,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure you know the leader McConnell is concerned
Speaker 1: as well. Look if if if they start primary senators
Speaker 1: or congressmen who don't agree with the president or don't
Speaker 1: support the president and elect, you know, kind of more
Speaker 1: Q and On supporters and really people that are out
Speaker 1: there on the fringe. They may be able to defeat
Speaker 1: them in a primary, but they're going to lose all
Speaker 1: those elections in November. And you know, I'm of the
Speaker 1: opinion we have to nominate candidates that can appeal to
Speaker 1: more people and win in November. It doesn't matter who
Speaker 1: you knock off in a primary. Apparently the Trump e
Speaker 1: ist Republicans are at the state and local level much
Speaker 1: more so than in the nation's capital. So how do
Speaker 1: you handle that, Trent and what can you do about that? Well, so,
Speaker 1: you know, it's uh the way these it's the same
Speaker 1: thing in that in both parties. Really the most activists
Speaker 1: folks are usually on the central committees at the run
Speaker 1: the local parties. They're not necessarily the actual leaders of
Speaker 1: the party in those states, and they're usually not elected officials,
Speaker 1: but you know they're certainly the Trump team took over
Speaker 1: most of the state party apparatus. Um, you're seeing some
Speaker 1: of those uh, party officials attacking uh, you know, the
Speaker 1: United States senators and congressmen who had the audacity to
Speaker 1: stand up and tell the truth and for people like Sindy,
Speaker 1: people like Cindy McCain. Yeah, going after Cindy McCain and
Speaker 1: Governor Doug Doocey and uh, and you know, it's it's
Speaker 1: just crazy. So, you know, the governors that were strong
Speaker 1: Trump supporters, like Doug Doocey in Arizona or Governor Kemp
Speaker 1: in Georgia or being attacked by the Republicans, and you know,
Speaker 1: it just doesn't make any sense. But you know it's
Speaker 1: I wouldn't put a lot of mistake in that it
Speaker 1: doesn't really matter. You know, like for example, in two
Speaker 1: thousand fourteen, you know, I'm the second Republican in fifty
Speaker 1: years to get elected, only kind of want two hund
Speaker 1: forty three years to get reelected my state party. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, Apparatus did a convention where I came in
Speaker 1: fourth place, but I'm the highest vote getter ever state.
Speaker 1: So I'm not sure they have as much influence as
Speaker 1: you think. And uh, they can criticize or censure all
Speaker 1: they want, but leaders are going to step up and lead.
Speaker 1: It sounds as if you think that Republicans could potentially
Speaker 1: cannibalize themselves by putting for candidates that are extreme right
Speaker 1: or very much you know, Trump followers, but cannot then
Speaker 1: have success on election day. I think that's the biggest,
Speaker 1: the big the biggest concern, because look, um, political parties
Speaker 1: exist because you want to win election, so you get
Speaker 1: a chance to govern, so you can you know, push
Speaker 1: your ideas and your agenda. If we nominate people that
Speaker 1: are unelectable in November, we don't get to run anything.
Speaker 1: We don't get the we don't're not gonna have a
Speaker 1: Republican president. We're not gonna have any Republicans controlling legislative bodies,
Speaker 1: We're gonna lose our big majority among governors. We're gonna
Speaker 1: lose legislative bodies. You know. We we have to elect
Speaker 1: in the primary, nominate the people that are most electable,
Speaker 1: or we're gonna lose a whole lot more seats. The
Speaker 1: more pro Trump of GEOP becomes, the more it could
Speaker 1: help the Democratic Party. Well, that's exactly my point, Katie.
Speaker 1: And that's the point I'm trying to make. I mean,
Speaker 1: I know, you know it's like, well, you're not a
Speaker 1: true believer, so we have to get rid of you.
Speaker 1: Well I am. I do happen to be the most
Speaker 1: popular governor in America who had the only one to
Speaker 1: win in Maryland two or four three years. So maybe
Speaker 1: you shouldn't get rid of me because you're not going
Speaker 1: to get you know, one of these guys you and
Speaker 1: on is not going to get elected governor might stay.
Speaker 1: I'll be continuing my chat with Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.
Speaker 1: Right after this. There was some speculation that you might
Speaker 1: challenge Donald Trump in that didn't happen. But are you
Speaker 1: considering a possible run in I never really seriously considered.
Speaker 1: In there were a lot of people kind of encouraging that,
Speaker 1: but I never you know, formed an exploratory or tick
Speaker 1: took it too seriously. I just didn't think it was possible.
Speaker 1: In four, I get that question a lot, and I'm
Speaker 1: not trying to duck your question, but we really are.
Speaker 1: I have a really important day job in the middle
Speaker 1: of a state of emergency, trying to save lives, trying
Speaker 1: to vaccinate millions of people, working on our economic recovery,
Speaker 1: and I'm really going to try to stay focused on
Speaker 1: doing that important day job for at least the next
Speaker 1: two years of my term. And there's plenty of time
Speaker 1: between now and four to worry about. But I am
Speaker 1: gonna do what I can to, you know, save my
Speaker 1: party that I've been a part of my whole life,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna speak out and continue to try to
Speaker 1: be a voice. And the abstract is it's something that
Speaker 1: appeals to you, governor, Well, it's certainly something not something
Speaker 1: I would rule out, especially if I felt the call
Speaker 1: to duty. If I if I as if you know,
Speaker 1: I was somebody who could run a credible challenge and
Speaker 1: could potentially get to take the party back on track.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm more concerned about a future for the
Speaker 1: Republican Party than than my future in the party. But um,
Speaker 1: you know, obviously, you know it's something we're gonna certainly
Speaker 1: take a look at. Governor, How can I I know
Speaker 1: you were very concerned on January six, tell me your
Speaker 1: reaction to the insurrection on Capitol Hill and the actions
Speaker 1: you took as a result. But I was shocked and outraged.
Speaker 1: I was in my office on a on a video
Speaker 1: conference with the ambassador from Japan to the United States,
Speaker 1: and my my chief of staff, came in. It was
Speaker 1: much like George Bush when he was reading to the
Speaker 1: kids in nine eleven, when when when somebody whispered in
Speaker 1: his ear, my chief of staff says, the capital is
Speaker 1: under attack. Uh. And you know I quickly excused myself
Speaker 1: from the the call the conference with the ambassador. I
Speaker 1: immediately called security team and my chiefest staff have talked
Speaker 1: with the mayor of d C who was desperately asking
Speaker 1: for our assistance. I called my security team together and
Speaker 1: within five minutes time, some in person, some on the
Speaker 1: conference video conference. It was our the the Adjutant General
Speaker 1: of our Maryland National Guard, the Superintendent of the Maryland
Speaker 1: State Police are homeland security by all all of our
Speaker 1: security team together about ten people, and immediately said what
Speaker 1: can we do? How fast can we move? Um? We
Speaker 1: called up our entire Maryland State Police UM instant response
Speaker 1: team that are all riot trained. Immediately sent them heading
Speaker 1: towards Washington. UH and we uh. We had this discussion
Speaker 1: about the National Guard. The mayor of d C was
Speaker 1: requesting help from our National Guard. It's a unique situation
Speaker 1: because you don't have a National Guard in DC. They
Speaker 1: don't have the authority every state governor. If Pennsylvania says, hey,
Speaker 1: we need help, we just send them over in Virginia.
Speaker 1: But in d C, we have to get the sign
Speaker 1: off from the Secretary of Defense. So we kept running
Speaker 1: it up the flagpole, you know, and we kept being
Speaker 1: denied by the Department of Defense. Meanwhile, while these meetings
Speaker 1: are going on, I get a call from Stenny Hoyer,
Speaker 1: the Majority Leader, who says to me, you know, you
Speaker 1: know someone a panicked voice says he's in He's been
Speaker 1: whisked away to a bunker or some undisclosed location with
Speaker 1: Speaker Pelosi and with Chuck Schumer. And he's saying, Governor
Speaker 1: this you know the Capitol police have been overwhelmed and
Speaker 1: they've taken over the capitol. Can you send us help,
Speaker 1: you know, just you know, begging for help. And I said,
Speaker 1: you know, Stenny, we have several hundred members of the
Speaker 1: you know, Maryland State Police on the way. They should
Speaker 1: be there shortly, um And he said, we need to
Speaker 1: Can you send the National Guard? And I said, I've
Speaker 1: called up my national Guard. We called up a thousand
Speaker 1: members of the National Guard. But we don't have authorization.
Speaker 1: And Stenny was yelling across the room too. He's saying, hey,
Speaker 1: you know, Hogan says they don't have authorization, and he says,
Speaker 1: you know. The Hoyer says no. The Chuck says, you do.
Speaker 1: And I'm saying, Stanny, I'm telling you I don't. We've
Speaker 1: been told three times by the Department Offense we don't
Speaker 1: have authorization. Does back and forth, back and forth. About
Speaker 1: two hours later, I'm still in the meeting with my team,
Speaker 1: talking about where are the guards stationed outside of DC,
Speaker 1: how many police are in there. I get a call
Speaker 1: on my cell phone from Ryan McCarthy, the acting Secretary
Speaker 1: of the Army. He is on a number of my
Speaker 1: personal phone. I don't even recognize and I but I answered, anyway,
Speaker 1: you know in Virginia number, And he says, can you
Speaker 1: send the National Guard in the d C. And I
Speaker 1: was like, Uh, yeah, We've been waiting for two hours.
Speaker 1: So we Maryland National Guard were the first first ones
Speaker 1: from outside of DC to arrive from Maryland State Police
Speaker 1: were next to arrive after the Metropolitan Police. Uh. And
Speaker 1: we we did everything we could to support them, we said,
Speaker 1: a thousand members of the National Guard, we said, I
Speaker 1: think members of the Maryland State Police and so of
Speaker 1: our allied county police forces at Prince George's and Montgomery County.
Speaker 1: But the hoops who had to jump through. Governor, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's just unbelievable. Do you believe that a nine eleven
Speaker 1: style commission will be able to get to the bottom
Speaker 1: of it? And this is the right thing to do,
Speaker 1: to investigate what happened and why, you know, I do
Speaker 1: think we need full transparency and I think we need
Speaker 1: to get to the bottom of exactly what happened and why.
Speaker 1: You know. Frankly, I'm so busy focused on the COVID crisis.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know all the details of
Speaker 1: what the proposal has been on the on the establishment
Speaker 1: of the commission that heard the speaker talk about. My
Speaker 1: concern is that, uh, you know, we really need a
Speaker 1: fair and objective process. Um. And if it's just another
Speaker 1: if it's a partisan process just run by the House Democrats, um,
Speaker 1: it's not likely to have you know, it's we're gonna
Speaker 1: be mired in the same divisiveness and dysfunction with Republicans
Speaker 1: and Democrats retreating to their corners. I think time is
Speaker 1: gonna tell exactly how Donald Trump and his administration comes
Speaker 1: out of this. I think still got things to address
Speaker 1: and potentially in court cases and certainly the court of
Speaker 1: public opinion. But I'm not sure that another congressional effort
Speaker 1: is really what we need right now, as we have
Speaker 1: to really focus on this COVID crisis that is killing
Speaker 1: people across the country. We're fighting variants, we need vaccines,
Speaker 1: and we need the economic recovery package. We need a
Speaker 1: compromise bill. Get That's really I'm more concerned about that
Speaker 1: right now than arguing more about what happened last month. You,
Speaker 1: in fact, this week signed Maryland's one billion dollar bipartisan
Speaker 1: relief bill, which you said will help Marylanders barely hanging
Speaker 1: on right now, Um, can you just give us an
Speaker 1: update on what the situation is like in your state
Speaker 1: and the continued frustration that you're feeling about vaccine distribution,
Speaker 1: and if you're feeling more hopeful with President Biden's plan
Speaker 1: to get people vascinated. Well, yeah, sure. Well I'm very
Speaker 1: proud of the fact that just on Monday, I signed
Speaker 1: into law this Relief Act of One, which was our
Speaker 1: signature piece of legislation. I said it was the most
Speaker 1: important thing for our legislative session to focus on. My legislature.
Speaker 1: Democratic in both the House and the Senate um, and
Speaker 1: I called on them to work with us in a
Speaker 1: bipartisan way. It's more than a billion dollars in tax
Speaker 1: relief and economic stimulus for struggling Maryland families and small
Speaker 1: businesses and people who've lost their jobs. And it passed
Speaker 1: nearly unanimously. One Republican in the House voted against that,
Speaker 1: every Democrat and every Republican in the Senate voted forward.
Speaker 1: So it's what I've been saying. I had a meeting
Speaker 1: in the Oval Office with Joe Biden for an hour
Speaker 1: and a half on Friday, and I said to him,
Speaker 1: I really think it would be better if you could
Speaker 1: find a compromise that the Republicans could get on board with.
Speaker 1: And this was, you know, earlier in the day, I
Speaker 1: went back to Annapolis and passed the bill nearly unanimous
Speaker 1: lee with my Democratic legislation, I was trying to put
Speaker 1: my money where my mouth is. Um But on the vaccines,
Speaker 1: it's very hopeful that we now have vaccines, the fact
Speaker 1: that they're actually out a year or eighteen months before
Speaker 1: anyone imagined they could be. Operation Warp Speed was a success,
Speaker 1: but we just don't have enough vaccines. And all the governors,
Speaker 1: we have calls every week with the coronavirus. The team
Speaker 1: from from the Biden administration, Jeff Science, is heading that up.
Speaker 1: We have on there all of the cabinet officials and
Speaker 1: you know, the head of the CDC and everybody, and
Speaker 1: we had the lines of communication are good. We have
Speaker 1: set up huge infrastructures. Were now doing about sticking the
Speaker 1: thirty thousand needles a day and people's arms vaccinating them.
Speaker 1: But we only received twelve thousand a day from the
Speaker 1: federal government. We could do a hundred thousand a day
Speaker 1: if we had the vaccine supply. And it really it's
Speaker 1: a it's a race between from between vaccines and variants.
Speaker 1: Very scary stuff out there, and we just have to
Speaker 1: have more. So we had calls today with some of
Speaker 1: the manufacturers. UM. We we've been talking everywhere about how
Speaker 1: do we increase this capacity. It's nobody's fault. It's not
Speaker 1: uh to criticize anyone. Everybody's trying their best. It's all
Speaker 1: hands on deck. It's the federal, state and local governments
Speaker 1: and the private sector working together. But it's way too slow.
Speaker 1: We we just need more vaccines. Every state does. When
Speaker 1: you expressed your frustrations to President Biden, did you get
Speaker 1: anything that encouraged you or made you more optimistic about this? Well, I,
Speaker 1: first of all, I was I was optimistic in that
Speaker 1: he reached out. You know that the president and Vice
Speaker 1: President spent an hour and a half with four governors
Speaker 1: in the Oval Office, two Republicans and two Democrats and
Speaker 1: actually listened and said, you know, very sincerely that they
Speaker 1: do want to work in a bipartisan way and that
Speaker 1: we we are all in this together. And um, and
Speaker 1: he did listen to some of our concerns about the
Speaker 1: vaccine rollout. It wasn't criticism on our part, but we
Speaker 1: were basically saying, look, we need more understanding of when
Speaker 1: and how many and where because as we're making the
Speaker 1: decisions about we have distribution points in Maryland, and yet
Speaker 1: we don't know kind of when we're getting a supply
Speaker 1: or how many or where they're sending them to pharmacy.
Speaker 1: So a little more coordination and and they've promised to
Speaker 1: try to improve some of those things with US. Governor Hogan,
Speaker 1: thank you so much. You're always so fun to talk
Speaker 1: to and and so like direct and you actually answer
Speaker 1: the questions. It's a real pleasure. Well, thank you very much, Katie,
Speaker 1: I really appreciate it. Thanks for the opportunity. Next Question
Speaker 1: with Katie Kuric is a production of I Heart Radio
Speaker 1: and Katie Curriic Media. The executive producers are Katie Kurik,
Speaker 1: Courtney Litz, and Tyler Klang. The supervising producer is Lauren Hansen.
Speaker 1: Our show producer is Bethan Macaluso. The associate producers are
Speaker 1: Emily Pinto and Derek Clements. Editing by Derrek Clements, Dylan Fagin,
Speaker 1: and Lowell Berlante. Mixing by Dylan and Fagin. Our researcher
Speaker 1: is Gabriel Loser. For more information on today's episode, go
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