Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: As we seize upon the voice of San Francisco, not
Speaker 2: just Nancy Pelosi, but the Mayor of San Francisco. London
Speaker 2: Breed is in Chicago, part of this convention and with
Speaker 2: us right now at the table. Mayor, it's great to
Speaker 2: see you. Thanks for joining.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 2: You have known Kamala Harris for a long time. You've
Speaker 2: been friends for twenty years outside of politics. You know
Speaker 2: this candidate, this nominee better than most people who we're
Speaker 2: going to talk with this week. And I understand that
Speaker 2: she's had wonderful advice for you over the years. I
Speaker 2: wonder what your advice is for her at this convention
Speaker 2: on Thursday night.
Speaker 3: Wow, me give Kamala Harris advice. I'm not used to that.
Speaker 2: One only a friend could.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: But the one thing I would say, when she is
Speaker 3: herself and giving it her all and speaking from the heart,
Speaker 3: there is nothing like it. She is strong, she is firm,
Speaker 3: she has committed to doing this work. But also she's
Speaker 3: a very compassionate person who deeply cares about justice and
Speaker 3: taking care of people. And she's proven that time and
Speaker 3: time again with the work that she's done.
Speaker 1: Over the years.
Speaker 4: Well, certainly she's leaned into her past experience as a prosecutor.
Speaker 4: Of course, she was the DA of San Francisco before
Speaker 4: she became Attorney General of the state of California. And
Speaker 4: we've heard different iterations on the stage last night of
Speaker 4: this election, being something of a prosecutor up against a felon.
Speaker 4: How hard do you expect her to lean into that image,
Speaker 4: knowing that for some segments of the Democratic Coalition especially,
Speaker 4: it may actually be a bit problematic.
Speaker 3: Well, I think it's important for her to talk about
Speaker 3: the work that she did. So not only did she
Speaker 3: prosecute people in San Francisco when we were dealing with
Speaker 3: the height of gun violence. I mean, she prosecuted people
Speaker 3: who committed murder. And it's important to make it clear
Speaker 3: that she was basically not holding any bars and doing
Speaker 3: that work. But at the same time, people who were
Speaker 3: in jail for small offenses. Her back on Track program
Speaker 3: provided a second chance at life as long as people
Speaker 3: were willing to put in the work to get through
Speaker 3: the program. So I think that you could support both.
Speaker 3: She wrote a book about it. She said, it's not
Speaker 3: about being tough on crime, it's not about being soft
Speaker 3: on crime, but it's about being smart on crime and
Speaker 3: making sure that there's fairness, there's justice, and there's balance.
Speaker 2: Well, to stick with that theme for a moment, you
Speaker 2: have something in common with this city of Chicago, and
Speaker 2: that you are held up San Francisco Chicago by Republicans
Speaker 2: on a regular basis as an example of what is
Speaker 2: wrong with progressive politics when it comes to crime. I
Speaker 2: know that you've tried to make strides in San Francisco,
Speaker 2: and how do you message that, Yes, what you're hearing
Speaker 2: so much from the other.
Speaker 3: Side, Well, we have made strides, and in fact, San
Speaker 3: Francisco has one of the lowest crime rates of any
Speaker 3: major city in the country. This is the lowest crime
Speaker 3: rate we've had in over a decade, and not to mention,
Speaker 3: we are on track to have even one of the
Speaker 3: most the lowest homicide rates we've had in the history
Speaker 3: of our city. So when you FactCheck and you look
Speaker 3: at the data and look at actually what's happening in
Speaker 3: San Francisco, people will be surprised. When I talk to
Speaker 3: other mayors, they're like, I wish I had those kind
Speaker 3: of small, big city problems, and the data doesn't lie.
Speaker 3: And I think If people look deep into what is
Speaker 3: going on in San Francisco, they'll see that it is
Speaker 3: one of the safest cities in the country.
Speaker 4: Of course, it's not just about crime, though, it's about
Speaker 4: the wier issue of homelessness. To you yourself have called
Speaker 4: for tough love when it comes to the notion of
Speaker 4: clearing out tent encampments, for example, is that tough love
Speaker 4: working without progress.
Speaker 1: On that front. Yeah, it's been challenging.
Speaker 3: But since I've been in office, we've helped over fifteen
Speaker 3: thousand people exit homelessness. We've never even had a point
Speaker 3: in time account with more than like eight thousand or
Speaker 3: so people, So it's been.
Speaker 1: Really a tough struggle.
Speaker 3: But we also have to make sure when people are
Speaker 3: rejecting what we're offering in terms of services, we are
Speaker 3: now no longer just leaving them out on the streets,
Speaker 3: and we're being a lot more aggressive.
Speaker 1: To a certain extent.
Speaker 3: It's working because more people are accepting help, but there
Speaker 3: are still a really tough group of people, mostly tragically
Speaker 3: because of drug use. That's having an impact. We're still
Speaker 3: struggling with that, but we're still making progress. The streets
Speaker 3: look better, it looks cleaner, we have one neighborhood that
Speaker 3: continues to experience more challenges than others. But when you
Speaker 3: come to San Francisco and you drive around our city
Speaker 3: and you look around.
Speaker 1: Our city, people are always like, what is everyone talking about?
Speaker 3: So you've got to come see it for yourself and
Speaker 3: then check the facts in terms of the data as
Speaker 3: to what really is happening in San Francisco.
Speaker 2: Well, if we can hold on to the issue of
Speaker 2: housing more broadly here, this is a big deal for
Speaker 2: this campaign and for this economy right now. And I
Speaker 2: know for a fact that that's not new for you.
Speaker 2: You've actually made this a major issue for you as
Speaker 2: a city official, as a commissioner, as mayor taking different ideas,
Speaker 2: experimental ideas to see what can be done to create
Speaker 2: more housing. I know that there's an effort to get
Speaker 2: people to a point where they can afford a first
Speaker 2: time home, but you need something to move into. You've
Speaker 2: suggested a lot of different ideas and tried them out,
Speaker 2: like converting empty public housing, for instance, city housing, city buildings. Rather,
Speaker 2: what advice do you have for the campaign that could
Speaker 2: be a national model create more housing in this country.
Speaker 3: Well, Kambala Harris said it on the stage to say,
Speaker 3: getting rid of the red tape that makes it difficult
Speaker 3: to produce housing.
Speaker 1: And fortunately in California.
Speaker 3: That just happened with a bill that was passed by
Speaker 3: the state legislature led by Senator Scott Wiener from San Francisco,
Speaker 3: and that bill will allow housing to be as of
Speaker 3: right if the zoning already allows.
Speaker 1: For you to do for six eight stories.
Speaker 3: Why is there so many obstacles that are able to
Speaker 3: get in the way, And now that won't happen as
Speaker 3: long as you're following what the existing.
Speaker 2: Laws requirements for us. Yes, yes, San.
Speaker 3: Francisco, definitely we could have those or not have those.
Speaker 3: We were making our city more of a transit first
Speaker 3: city as well as protected bike lanes allowing different modes
Speaker 3: of transportations to thrive in our city. So it's all
Speaker 3: of the above, and bureaucratic red tape is at the
Speaker 3: heart of the challenges that exist. And I love the
Speaker 3: fact that our vice president soon to be president, put
Speaker 3: that at the forefront of the conversation in California is
Speaker 3: already leading the way.
Speaker 4: Well, certainly she has to at the forefront of the conversation.
Speaker 4: Have these notions of the economy, knowing it ranks so
Speaker 4: highly consistently in polls is the top issue for voters.
Speaker 4: Another issue that ranks highly, though, is the border in migration.
Speaker 4: You hear frequently in the Republican camp that every state,
Speaker 4: every city is now effectively a border city. How do
Speaker 4: you view that issue when it comes not just to
Speaker 4: the city of San Francisco, but the state of California
Speaker 4: as a whole. And what the appropriate if we're going
Speaker 4: with a tough love kind of message here way is
Speaker 4: to deal with migration in the border.
Speaker 3: Well, it's important for them to implement the plan that
Speaker 3: they're talking about to make sure that there's a significant
Speaker 3: level of accountability. But I also want to be very
Speaker 3: clear because it's not just one thing. It's not just
Speaker 3: about people. It's also about substances. And in fact, the
Speaker 3: National Guard, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the US Attorney's Office
Speaker 3: who's working with us locally and including our state representatives,
Speaker 3: the California Highway Patrol, the National Guard, they are all
Speaker 3: collaborating on using technology in a way that is making.
Speaker 1: Arrest at the border for the illegal.
Speaker 3: Fentanyl that continues to come into cities like San Francisco,
Speaker 3: and so that aggressive effort using technology can help us
Speaker 3: address those issues in addition to the challenges with people
Speaker 3: who are coming over the border. I believe that Kamala
Speaker 3: Harris is the right person to implement a really tough strategy,
Speaker 3: but also a compassionate and understanding one, especially because it
Speaker 3: is so complicated in that we are a city, we
Speaker 3: are a country built on immigrants, and so we have
Speaker 3: to make sure that we're balancing that as well.
Speaker 4: You say that she's the right person, and yet, and
Speaker 4: I'm sure you've heard this frequently in the last several weeks,
Speaker 4: Republicans argue she was put in charge of the border issue.
Speaker 4: Maybe not given the actual borders our title, but this
Speaker 4: was an issue she was supposed to own as vice president.
Speaker 4: She has been vice president for over three and a
Speaker 4: half years. If she couldn't get control of it, then
Speaker 4: how are we supposed to believe she could get control
Speaker 4: of it when she's actually sitting in the Oval office herself.
Speaker 1: Well, here's the thing.
Speaker 3: Control means different things, And I go back to my
Speaker 3: experience of the control around illegal stuff. Senses that are
Speaker 3: making it across the border, the number of arrests, the
Speaker 3: number of drugs that have been confiscated as a result
Speaker 3: of the efforts of the White House of the Federal
Speaker 3: partners that I mentioned earlier has yielded significant results, and
Speaker 3: I believe that that component of what they're doing even
Speaker 3: now has been impactful and will continue to be more
Speaker 3: impactful in terms of some of the other challenges they
Speaker 3: have to continue to make sure that there's you know,
Speaker 3: a push.
Speaker 1: I mean, everyone's talking.
Speaker 3: About a wall of this and a wall that a
Speaker 3: wall is not going to you know, continuously keep people out.
Speaker 3: The goal is to try and get a better control
Speaker 3: over the border and making sure that we're implementing the
Speaker 3: right policies and being fair and equitable in our strategies,
Speaker 3: and developing better relationships with the countries, you know, in
Speaker 3: order to help support them so that we don't experience
Speaker 3: this challenge of everyone trying to you know, flee from
Speaker 3: a particular location to get into the United States.
Speaker 1: That's a big part of it as well.
Speaker 2: Well. What happened to California's workforce and economy if Donald
Speaker 2: Trump did become the next president and shut down the border,
Speaker 2: as he says, if you had no immigration in the workforce,
Speaker 2: could your economy sustain itself well?
Speaker 1: That's I don't believe so.
Speaker 3: I think it's immigration is an important part of, you know,
Speaker 3: how our society works, and we need to make sure
Speaker 3: that we're balancing that with the.
Speaker 1: Needs of the people that we're here to serve.
Speaker 3: And ultimately, we're seeing some incredible opportunities within the job
Speaker 3: markets all over the state of California, and our goal
Speaker 3: is to do everything we can to balance that. But
Speaker 3: going back to some of the illegal activities around the drugs,
Speaker 3: that is the thing that is harming our economy the most,
Speaker 3: and that is the thing that is important to focus
Speaker 3: on as we continue to move in this direction.
Speaker 4: Well, if you listen to Donald Trump, he has said
Speaker 4: repeatedly that he actually thinks the economic problem with migration,
Speaker 4: in part is that migrants are coming to this country
Speaker 4: and they're taking black jobs.
Speaker 1: He said this on.
Speaker 4: Multiple occasions, and it was certainly noted by the former
Speaker 4: First Lady Michelle Obama last night.
Speaker 3: Who's gonna tell him that the job he's currently seeking
Speaker 3: might just be one of those black jobs?
Speaker 4: One of those moments I think we've all seen on
Speaker 4: social media a lot in the last twelve hours, certainly,
Speaker 4: but she of course was on that stage speaking as
Speaker 4: a black woman, and a powerful one at that, someone
Speaker 4: who was the first Lady of the United States speaking
Speaker 4: on behalf of another woman of color who is now
Speaker 4: the Democratic nominee and will be formally accepting it on Thursday.
Speaker 4: You yourself are a woman of color as well, And
Speaker 4: I wonder, as we consider the historic nature of this cannady,
Speaker 4: how the appropriate way to talk about that is, especially
Speaker 4: in the face of language like we're hearing from Donald Trump.
Speaker 4: Do you address it head on or do you ignore it?
Speaker 3: Well, I think you address it head on, and I
Speaker 3: think it has been addressed. For example, implying somehow that
Speaker 3: Kamala Harris is.
Speaker 1: A DEI candidate and he.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's unbelievable when you look at her qualifications
Speaker 3: of her, just look at her resume in comparison to his,
Speaker 3: There is no comparison.
Speaker 1: He wasn't born into privilege. She worked really hard to.
Speaker 3: Get a law degree on her own, to really fight
Speaker 3: for a number of positions that she ran for, and
Speaker 3: to push for the kinds of policies that have helped
Speaker 3: to support Americans and the rights of women, LGBTQ community, and.
Speaker 1: So on and so forth.
Speaker 3: I can go on and on but you know, that's
Speaker 3: one of the challenges that sometimes, you know, women and
Speaker 3: women of color have, is well, how did you get there?
Speaker 3: It must have been someone else, And you know, to
Speaker 3: be very clear, you know, when the main goes through
Speaker 3: the same process, that doesn't get questioned. And I think
Speaker 3: that's kind of the frustrating part of this, which is
Speaker 3: why I love being a part of the Democratic Party
Speaker 3: because you see people who are elevating women. You see
Speaker 3: many men who spoke last night at the DNC, you know,
Speaker 3: highlighting Kamala Harris in such an extraordinary way, and I'm
Speaker 3: really proud, and it's no comparison. I think it's important
Speaker 3: for us to remind the American people not just of
Speaker 3: her qualifications, but why is this a race in the
Speaker 3: first place?
Speaker 1: In light of what Donald Trump has done.
Speaker 3: To really, you know, create a huge barrier in this
Speaker 3: country overall, with his policies, with his pushes, with his lives,
Speaker 3: with his disrespect and his divisiveness, there should not be
Speaker 3: a question. But we are going to continue to elevate
Speaker 3: Kamala Harris and do everything we can to ensure that
Speaker 3: she gets elected the next president of the United States.
Speaker 2: Just lastly, we hear from Donald Trump and Republicans that
Speaker 2: Kamala Harris, you're the mayor of San Francisco, is just
Speaker 2: another San Francisco Liberal. How do you respond to.
Speaker 3: That, Well, I would respond, I mean the Republicans continue
Speaker 3: to point to San Francisco, but at the end of
Speaker 3: the day, oftentimes they are picking up their iPhone, you know,
Speaker 3: which was introduced in San Francisco, calling their ubers or
Speaker 3: Lyft companies started and based in San Francisco, to go
Speaker 3: to their Airbnb company still and started in San Francisco,
Speaker 3: and then to go and tweet something nasty about our city,
Speaker 3: which again was a company until recently in San Francisco
Speaker 3: thirty four billion dollars a venture capitalist investment last year alone.
Speaker 1: The AI capital of the world. That's what I will say.
Speaker 3: You can continue to try and put out a narrative,
Speaker 3: but the facts tell a different story, and we point
Speaker 3: to the facts and the economy and everything that San
Speaker 3: Francisco stands for on the world stage. Everything that everyone
Speaker 3: is using as far as technology, it starts right in
Speaker 3: San Francisco.
Speaker 1: And again we're looking.
Speaker 3: Forward to making sure Kamala Harris gets elected, because then
Speaker 3: San Francisco will be on a whole nother national stage.
Speaker 4: All right, San Francisco, Mayor London Breed. Great to have
Speaker 4: you here with us in Chicago. We'll set you in
Speaker 4: San Francisco sometime. We appreciate your time. Mayor, thank you
Speaker 4: so much for joining us,