1 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:06,120 Speaker 1: This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to. Here's the thing, 2 00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:10,879 Speaker 1: My chance to talk with artists, policy makers, and performers, 3 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:15,520 Speaker 1: to hear their stories. What inspires their creations, what decisions 4 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:21,720 Speaker 1: change their careers, what relationships influenced their work. My guest today, 5 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:26,120 Speaker 1: Anthony Weiner is the subject of a documentary simply titled 6 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:30,080 Speaker 1: Weener that opens in theaters later this month. The film 7 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:33,919 Speaker 1: covers the former congressman's two thousand thirteen bid for New 8 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,600 Speaker 1: York City mayor, which ultimately ends in his defeat amid 9 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:42,560 Speaker 1: a sexting scandal. This was Weener's second time facing this issue. 10 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: The first resulted in his resignation from Congress. But in 11 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 1: spite of his problems, Weener does emerge in the film 12 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: as an effective campaigner and one who is not without 13 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: his supporters. It's easy to see why he's a natural. 14 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: He's charismatic and quick on his feet. If you had 15 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:07,120 Speaker 1: won the election, the last election you ran for, how 16 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:08,520 Speaker 1: do you think things would be different right now in 17 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:10,960 Speaker 1: the city. I've always had this theory about mayors in 18 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: New York City that we go from personality like mayors, 19 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,959 Speaker 1: you know, the coaches, the Giuliani's and then we'd like 20 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: to kind of take a deep breath afterwards and have 21 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 1: more of a commer or technical maybe. Guy and I 22 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:26,399 Speaker 1: had the theory that we were due after Bloomberg for 23 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:30,040 Speaker 1: more personality, kind of someone really enjoyed it, someone really 24 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: like engaging in it, so and mixing it up a 25 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,039 Speaker 1: little bit more, and the blaza hasn't quite been man. 26 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:35,840 Speaker 1: I think there's kind of an appetite a little bit 27 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: for a different head of personality. I would obviously be 28 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 1: a different type of mayor than he. I mean a 29 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: little more peripatetic, a little bit more like doing stuff. 30 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: I had a thousand ideas, a little ideas, big ideas 31 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: that I would have like been doing every single day, 32 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:51,160 Speaker 1: less kind of like this thematic thing that he's got 33 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: going about being a progressive mayor. All that being said, 34 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: you know that it's not as hard as a job 35 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:59,040 Speaker 1: as it used to be. You know, Money's boy. Well, 36 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 1: so much of being a mayor is defined in the 37 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: past has been to finding these two big things. One 38 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:07,919 Speaker 1: is the budget has always been very tough, very dependent 39 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 1: on Washington, very depending on Albany. The second thing is 40 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 1: that you get buffeted used to get buffeted by the 41 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,520 Speaker 1: tabloid wars constantly in New York City, Like, you know, 42 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:19,919 Speaker 1: chewing up mayors was what the tabloids used to do, 43 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: and they're just not what they used to be. Like, 44 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: you don't have the day to day headwind being a 45 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 1: politician New York City that you would have in the past. 46 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: And then the third thing is just that progressively, over 47 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: the course of time, government at all levels has gotten 48 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:36,440 Speaker 1: more competent. It's less driven by just you know, guys 49 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: who knew guys who knew guys and three fifty employees. 50 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:41,240 Speaker 1: It's not saying that every one of them is good, 51 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: but are ways of spotting and weeding out the ones 52 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: who aren't that good. I mean, you know, a day 53 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: to day sanitation man works pretty hard, knows his job 54 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 1: pretty well. Technology is a good way of keeping up 55 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:53,360 Speaker 1: with them. So those types of things have made the 56 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: city less breakable than it used to. So you don't 57 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 1: think the police is a kind of a closed chop 58 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: and it's you gotta know somebody to be get a 59 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: job well, less so than maybe it used to be. 60 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: What I will say is this is that the size 61 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,120 Speaker 1: of the police department being bigger it's bigger than the FBI, 62 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: it's one, it's one of the biggest parlemoud people. I mean, 63 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 1: they're not all out on the street at the same time. 64 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: But then they're arguably one of the larger paramilitary forces 65 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: in the world, and they're incredibly efficient to do a 66 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:26,360 Speaker 1: good job. But invariably, every so often you're gonna have 67 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: problems within any agency that large. But you know, very 68 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: rarely does someone stop a cop on the street and 69 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 1: day I didn't get mug today, Thank you for that. 70 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: Like you basically only see the cops when there's a problem. 71 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: You know something's going wrong. But the recent pressure, in 72 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: my view of the recent pressure on statistical improvement every 73 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:45,840 Speaker 1: day since crime has basically been eliminated in so many 74 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: people's lives. I mean, it's a completely different city than 75 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 1: it was in the seventies when I was growing up. 76 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: I mean, you know, the idea of like you know, 77 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:55,119 Speaker 1: I have a four year old son, like you, when 78 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: you were old enough to have a bike, you're old 79 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: enough to have your bike stolen. Basically you're old enough 80 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: to be the idea of Wilding and Central Park in 81 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:03,680 Speaker 1: the exactly. I mean, it's just even little things like 82 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: if you had nothing to do when you wanted to 83 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: get mugged, you got on the L train. You know. 84 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 1: Now you get on the L train and it's all 85 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: these hipsters and nothing else, and it's, uh, it's just 86 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:15,120 Speaker 1: a much, much safer, better city. And so we're not 87 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:17,560 Speaker 1: used to it. We're not a customers culturally to say 88 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 1: things are better, but things are amazing now. One thing 89 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:22,160 Speaker 1: I wanted people to understand. I mean, you said that 90 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: the budget was at the mercy of Albany and of Washington, 91 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 1: and the city is still it's safe to say, in 92 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:32,279 Speaker 1: receivership from the economic crisis of years ago. They really 93 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 1: don't handle their own finances without some rubber stamp from Albany. Correct. Well, Look, 94 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:39,280 Speaker 1: the City of New York is a creation, a constitutional 95 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 1: creation of the state legislature and of the of the 96 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:45,760 Speaker 1: State Constitution. As such, it's not it's still The Mayor 97 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 1: of New York City is a fairly powerful mayorality compared 98 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:50,240 Speaker 1: to a lot of other cities, and the city Council 99 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:52,239 Speaker 1: has a lot of responsibility. When you say it's a creation, 100 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:54,279 Speaker 1: what do you mean meaning the five counties have a 101 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: special right, meaning literally, the political subdivision of the City 102 00:04:57,560 --> 00:04:59,280 Speaker 1: of New York was a creation of law, is the 103 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 1: creation of of the of the state constitution, and as 104 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:05,920 Speaker 1: such you're at the whim. And all throughout state law 105 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:08,599 Speaker 1: you'll see things like cities of excess of a million 106 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: people must do a B or C. And you do 107 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:13,680 Speaker 1: have a state legislature. That's still so, where does the 108 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 1: city's money come from? I mean, for people who don't 109 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:20,280 Speaker 1: understand the political process and as much detail as you do, 110 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: they nonetheless recall that basic kind of primmer where federal 111 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:27,840 Speaker 1: dollars come largely from income tax, and state from sales tax, 112 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:30,600 Speaker 1: and municipal dollars from property tax. Is that still true 113 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: in New York City that the problems comes from. Here's 114 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: here's where the city less so than most cities, like, 115 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:38,480 Speaker 1: for example, our education budget is not tied to property 116 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 1: taxes as it is in Long Island, a lot of 117 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:42,159 Speaker 1: suburbs and a lot of cities around the country, because 118 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 1: we have two giant engines of revenue. One is the 119 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:47,799 Speaker 1: financial sector, which you know when you hear about people 120 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: getting needs of scene bonuses, we're getting a piece of 121 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:53,000 Speaker 1: the action on those bonuses. Although the day to day 122 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 1: transaction type of things don't create revenue for the city. 123 00:05:55,680 --> 00:05:58,040 Speaker 1: But all the deals, the big deals, we're getting a 124 00:05:58,040 --> 00:05:59,839 Speaker 1: little piece of that. And the second thing is real estate, 125 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,799 Speaker 1: which has I mean, it said, mind bogglingly high levels. 126 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 1: I mean, you can literally buy a forty million dollar 127 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:08,960 Speaker 1: apartment in New York City and it's um. Those two 128 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 1: revenue streams are very very strong. Now we do have 129 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 1: a byzantine property tax assessment system, which has apartments being 130 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:18,679 Speaker 1: taxed a certain level, co ops being attached a certain 131 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:23,480 Speaker 1: certain level, and that it's it's another very complicated thing. 132 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:25,080 Speaker 1: What it it is. It's kind of like one of 133 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:28,280 Speaker 1: these things, you know, camel is a horse designed by committee. 134 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:30,159 Speaker 1: It's a little bit like over the course of time, 135 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: different constituencies have put their finger on the scale and 136 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:37,839 Speaker 1: now created this weird system. So you're born in Brooklyn, yeah, 137 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: and you went to Plattsburgh way up there in the boondocks. 138 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 1: It's a province of Canada. Virtually, it is I need 139 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: to be close enough that a thirty minute car ride 140 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:49,279 Speaker 1: can get me six and a half percent alcohol bre 141 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: That was basically the criteria when my dad and I 142 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:53,120 Speaker 1: were talking, like where do you want to go to school? Son? 143 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 1: It's you know, he's like, will he do. He's just 144 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:57,599 Speaker 1: a neighborhood lawyer guy. And my mom was a school teacher. 145 00:06:57,640 --> 00:06:58,920 Speaker 1: But you know, like I basically said I was not 146 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 1: good a student. They say, you can go anywhere you want. 147 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: It's a sunny state over Seniork or a Cunee school, 148 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:06,440 Speaker 1: anyway you want. So I just I kind of look, 149 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 1: what's the furthest one away that I can go play 150 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:10,720 Speaker 1: hockey every day? And who was the tougher one? Your 151 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 1: mother or your father? Who are you? Like, I'm probably 152 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:15,240 Speaker 1: more like my dad and that I'm sucked up in 153 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:17,120 Speaker 1: the same way he is. But you know it's uh, 154 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 1: probably my dad had the greatest kind of influence on 155 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:23,080 Speaker 1: the path I took in life, for good reasons and 156 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: bad reasons. That you know, he was the he inspired 157 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: you to go into politics, and not in that way, no, 158 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 1: but he would be the one like arguing all the 159 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,120 Speaker 1: time and like, hey, you to defend your positions and 160 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 1: that kind of stuff. But you know, it's funny you 161 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 1: actually had you you were there a little bit at 162 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:40,960 Speaker 1: the birth of my career. In a strange one, Let's 163 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: see if you can figure it out. Has to do 164 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 1: with Chuck No Glen Gary, Glenn Ross. You guys, you 165 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 1: guys were filming while I was running for city council 166 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: for the first time. You guys were filming. It's externals, 167 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 1: I know what you guys call them by the Sheepshead 168 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 1: based subway stop and I don't know, I think the 169 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: outsides of the thing. And so crowd would form, like 170 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:05,960 Speaker 1: people in line. I'm like, what's going on? And she 171 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 1: say bad? Like where not? You say, get some signs, 172 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: get some signs. Totally, I'm like working the lines and 173 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:12,880 Speaker 1: I'm like a Jewish version out of that guy who's 174 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: in this movie. I'm a Jewish version. I'm the Jewish Alpacino. Yeah, 175 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 1: because you know, when you're running for city counts, like 176 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:20,920 Speaker 1: a gathering of like twenty people is wow, I hit 177 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:23,120 Speaker 1: the jackpotty. And then I'm thinking, I, well, I should 178 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:25,360 Speaker 1: probably make an issue of all this double parking. These 179 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,360 Speaker 1: guys are doing, these Hollywood guys. But but yeah, that 180 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:32,720 Speaker 1: was it. Uh, that was like politics, don't you you did? No, No, 181 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:35,160 Speaker 1: I totally do. I totally do a movie. And we're 182 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 1: gonna get to the movie. In the movie, you're waving 183 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:39,800 Speaker 1: that band or your and you look like a kid 184 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:42,480 Speaker 1: you're so happy. Yeah, and these people are all jumping 185 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,599 Speaker 1: up and down and they part of you loved retail politics, No, 186 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:47,400 Speaker 1: I love I love that stuff. I don't know who 187 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 1: you were talking to, Um, maybe it's only been Jerry Seinfeld. Way, 188 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:52,439 Speaker 1: it's like all that. I just love power. It's clearly 189 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: deals a power. People don't understand that, you know, to 190 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,320 Speaker 1: go into polo, going to any profession and to really 191 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 1: enjoy to love it. And like a lot of a 192 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:05,800 Speaker 1: lot of times you're doing you're enjoying the the constituent 193 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 1: parts of a job, like being in Washington and sitting 194 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:13,080 Speaker 1: there and being committee hearings and passing laws that gratifies it. 195 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:15,240 Speaker 1: That obviously scratches an itch. You want to make the 196 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 1: world better, But there's an element of that that is 197 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: really not completely on the level because you're not really 198 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:23,200 Speaker 1: passing laws all that often. You're usually having hearings of 199 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: things that you've heard before, etcetera. But when you're at 200 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: home and you're you know, solving the problem from someone 201 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:31,240 Speaker 1: because they came in and they can't figure out you know, 202 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:34,560 Speaker 1: my my my husband has actually happened. My husband dropped 203 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:36,199 Speaker 1: his dentures down the sewo we don't know who to 204 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 1: call it. They get the back and you're like trying 205 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: to figure out, well, if it got washed out, I 206 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:43,959 Speaker 1: gotta call this guy. You want what switched to your 207 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: throat so this guy's dns don't get washed away. Whatever 208 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:49,320 Speaker 1: it is, you've got to kind of like you are. 209 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:51,600 Speaker 1: You're either good at that or you're not, like unpacking 210 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: how to do it, and you have to like it. 211 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:57,560 Speaker 1: Like I have run against in my day, people who, 212 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: no doubt would be excellent presentatives in the classic sense, 213 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 1: going there and casting the right vote and probably giving 214 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: a good speech or writing a good book. But they 215 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,120 Speaker 1: clearly didn't like the other stuff. And the other stuff 216 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:13,080 Speaker 1: is not inconsequential. And I don't you know anyone who 217 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:15,120 Speaker 1: makes it, say, to congress or to be a mayor 218 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:17,640 Speaker 1: of a city, they've got to like that. You cannot 219 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:20,360 Speaker 1: fake that stuff. And I legitimately that's the only part 220 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:21,760 Speaker 1: of the job I really miss, is that is that 221 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:23,560 Speaker 1: kind of stuff. You were in Congress? How long were 222 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:25,000 Speaker 1: you in the countress? I was in I was in 223 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:26,960 Speaker 1: a city council for seven years. I was in Congress, 224 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:30,000 Speaker 1: I guess thirteen years. In Congress for thirteen years. What 225 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:31,840 Speaker 1: was the shortest thing you did the city council. Now 226 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:34,280 Speaker 1: that you know, seven years, I mean like basically that 227 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:36,160 Speaker 1: the TikTok for me is I mean I never had 228 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:38,280 Speaker 1: you know, I have no marketable skills because I never 229 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: had a real job out of college. I up at Plattsburgh. 230 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:44,760 Speaker 1: I wrote my congressman, who I had a look up 231 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:46,720 Speaker 1: in one of these guide books in the library. Who 232 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 1: my congressman was, sent Ruck Schumer A letter spelled his 233 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:51,800 Speaker 1: name wrong. Can I come in violence and I basically 234 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:54,320 Speaker 1: do an internship there. They're like, you're there for six 235 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:57,000 Speaker 1: or seven years? Well what happened was I was an 236 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:59,640 Speaker 1: intern's finished six seven years. But I basically you know, 237 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:02,559 Speaker 1: liked and quill I failed upwards, you know, like for 238 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: a while. Yeah, you're pretty good up in to mail 239 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:07,719 Speaker 1: was about six years. Just about everything that I mean, 240 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:10,040 Speaker 1: he if you can only have one political kind of 241 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: mentor kind of guy you know so much exactly Eskimo, 242 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 1: someone who you know, when I started working for Chuck, 243 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:18,760 Speaker 1: I was six three, had blonde here in a little nose. 244 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:22,240 Speaker 1: I kind of morphed into this semitic collectible version of myself. 245 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:25,160 Speaker 1: But uh, you know, like because he did the inside 246 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:27,840 Speaker 1: game and the outside game about as skillfully as anyone does. 247 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:30,600 Speaker 1: Um So, then I just kind of like I did 248 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:32,920 Speaker 1: a few years in Washington in the eighties, and then 249 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 1: when I decided I wanted to try it myself, I 250 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 1: had this brilliant idea. I was going to move to Florida, 251 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:42,080 Speaker 1: where they're just there were like adding districts left and right, 252 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:44,000 Speaker 1: just so much population was being and I figured, a 253 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:46,720 Speaker 1: Jewish guy from Brooklyn, I'll fit and find down there, 254 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 1: and Chuck I would have been I would have named 255 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:52,520 Speaker 1: I would have fit in great. You know, it would 256 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:55,680 Speaker 1: obviously you would have to lose the anthony somehow, but 257 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:58,040 Speaker 1: um and Chuck said, no, you should come back and 258 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:01,560 Speaker 1: work in my district. David okay, David Winer, Yeah, I 259 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:05,720 Speaker 1: mean totally the library. Yeah yeah, vote even though even 260 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:09,360 Speaker 1: though votes for a Winer, it just worked so perfectly, Dad, Yeah, okay, 261 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:11,120 Speaker 1: all right, thanks that that might have been the problem. 262 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:14,520 Speaker 1: That was probably it. I wish I was spoken to thank. 263 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:17,800 Speaker 1: Uh So. Yeah. So I basically came back round for 264 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 1: the city council, won a six way raised by a 265 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:22,199 Speaker 1: couple hundred votes, and it was like your years in 266 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:26,520 Speaker 1: the city council. Um it was great. I mean, look, 267 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:28,160 Speaker 1: I was a kid. I was electors at the time. 268 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: I mean, now I think people have gotten life was 269 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:33,680 Speaker 1: like twenty seven got elected and um had apprentice for 270 00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:36,200 Speaker 1: the job, you know, ran against all the county organizations 271 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:38,240 Speaker 1: and county machines and everything else and still one. And 272 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:40,480 Speaker 1: so when I got in, I didn't really owe anyone 273 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:42,000 Speaker 1: all that much, so I can kind of do really 274 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:43,719 Speaker 1: what I wanted. And what was something you did that 275 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:46,240 Speaker 1: was memorable to you? Like, what, what's something that defines 276 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:48,160 Speaker 1: your period? Well, the thing I mean, I had a 277 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:50,360 Speaker 1: signature issue that kind of was visited on me. That 278 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:54,200 Speaker 1: so since I wasn't kind of an insider guy, I 279 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 1: didn't have great committee picks, And so I was interested 280 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:00,880 Speaker 1: in the idea that people in public housing part of 281 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: the reason they have such crummy lot in life is 282 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:05,760 Speaker 1: that their representation is never very good because who the heck, 283 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:07,800 Speaker 1: you know, they're not a lot of they're not heavily voting, 284 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:10,000 Speaker 1: they're overly poor, a lot of headaches. So I asked 285 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 1: them to create for me a subcommittee on public housing, 286 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:17,320 Speaker 1: and by as fortune or misfortune would have it, in 287 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:20,400 Speaker 1: the mid nineties, there started to be this circumstance where 288 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:22,680 Speaker 1: there were these terrible fires in the hallways of the 289 00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:26,040 Speaker 1: public housing developments, and no one knew what was going on. 290 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:29,880 Speaker 1: And I had a mole in the fire department who 291 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:33,560 Speaker 1: kept sending me documents that showed that a buddy of 292 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:39,200 Speaker 1: Rudy Giuliani had started a paint company because he can 293 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:42,200 Speaker 1: make money selling it to the Giuliani administration, and the 294 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:46,840 Speaker 1: paint was horrible and flammable, and that people would be 295 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:49,240 Speaker 1: in the hallways and smoke in the in the lobbies 296 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:51,280 Speaker 1: in the hallways, and it was creating these terrible fires 297 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:54,280 Speaker 1: and people were dying. And because I was getting all 298 00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:57,200 Speaker 1: of these in these documents, I knew what was going 299 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 1: on and was able to stop it, but not not 300 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:03,120 Speaker 1: until I basically had this head on war with the 301 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:06,959 Speaker 1: Giuliani administration. Um what was eventually done about though we 302 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:11,880 Speaker 1: basically eventually the Julian administration fesst up and they but 303 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:14,160 Speaker 1: the guy had a business and they repainted everything like that, 304 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:15,920 Speaker 1: which was my original thing is you got to repaint 305 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:17,600 Speaker 1: all this stuff, like it's not enough just to like 306 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: do asst housing city public housing, you know, and um, 307 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:23,360 Speaker 1: it's like a cousin of Giuliani or something like that. 308 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:27,240 Speaker 1: How did Giuliani react? Not very well? A funny story. 309 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:29,880 Speaker 1: So finally the New York Times does a story about 310 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 1: it because another one of these stare hole fires, and 311 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:35,760 Speaker 1: I get another document, and the fire commissioner and now 312 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:37,680 Speaker 1: the mayor himself both say they have no way of 313 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:39,880 Speaker 1: knowing this was a problem. And I had a document 314 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,200 Speaker 1: that was directed to the fire commissioners to stamp received 315 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:45,560 Speaker 1: by his office. So I hold a press conferensations around 316 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: the time of Christmas cold Day. I'm at the bottom 317 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:50,200 Speaker 1: of the steps of City Hall, which is where city 318 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:53,800 Speaker 1: councilmen do their press conferences, and I'm releasing this document. 319 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 1: I'm standing in front of the cameras and I'm like, 320 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:59,080 Speaker 1: and I'm here to deliver this, this document to the mayor, 321 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 1: who says that they had no idea of knowing, showing 322 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:04,560 Speaker 1: that they indeed did, and a cameraman and remember my 323 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: back is to city Hall. My camera says we should 324 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:08,000 Speaker 1: give it directly to Mary. So that's why I'm here. 325 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:10,720 Speaker 1: Says no, directly to him. He's right there. So the 326 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 1: mayor had walked up the steps with his son Andrew 327 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 1: by the hand. It was right before Christmas. It was 328 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:18,240 Speaker 1: a cold day, It's like a Sunday or something like that, 329 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,080 Speaker 1: And the New York Times captured this picture of me 330 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:22,880 Speaker 1: at the bottom of the stairs and him at the top, 331 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:25,920 Speaker 1: me holding this letter and him like Zeus at the 332 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:29,280 Speaker 1: top of the stairs, like glaring at me down. The 333 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:33,040 Speaker 1: footnote of that story is he became convinced that someone 334 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 1: in his office had given me his schedule to know 335 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:38,920 Speaker 1: exactly when he was going to be walking up with 336 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:43,400 Speaker 1: his son, and that one I had violated the whatever 337 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:46,080 Speaker 1: code I don't known't involved the families, you know, whatever 338 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: it is. And he began an inquisition within his shop. 339 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 1: How did we get in my stay when it's just 340 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:55,800 Speaker 1: weird fluke of scheduling that I happened to be standing 341 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:57,600 Speaker 1: there on a Sunday because I had this this semeon. 342 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:00,160 Speaker 1: It was one of the I mean that that was 343 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: the van going tension with him after that. Oh well, 344 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:04,760 Speaker 1: I had been on. Giuliani famously kept a list, you know, 345 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:06,720 Speaker 1: one of these Nicksonian kind of ship lists, and I 346 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 1: had been on that early on, and and it would 347 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:12,120 Speaker 1: probably just made it worse. But yeah, he sends someone 348 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:15,520 Speaker 1: out to say that, uh, the mayor wants see you, 349 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 1: which was then still a big deal. I mean, let 350 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:18,320 Speaker 1: me go. I'm as this a councilman. I mean I 351 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:20,800 Speaker 1: would run into the mayor, but to be quality, and 352 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:23,480 Speaker 1: I'm what's gonna happen? I mean, did you want to 353 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:25,040 Speaker 1: apologize that you want to take this letter, did you 354 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 1: want to say here's what we're doing about it? Or 355 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:29,320 Speaker 1: did he just want to yell at me? Whatever it was? 356 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:34,000 Speaker 1: And so I'm waiting outside, uh for him to summon 357 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:37,840 Speaker 1: me in about thirty minutes good bye, and the same guy, 358 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:40,480 Speaker 1: the same staffer that had said, wait, the mayor wants 359 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:42,440 Speaker 1: to see you, came out city changed. He doesn't want 360 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:44,440 Speaker 1: to see you. You can go, And apparently he was 361 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 1: the game he was playing. I don't think it was that. 362 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:49,480 Speaker 1: I think that he was so livid at this that 363 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: just wanted to tear my head off, and someone talked 364 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:54,640 Speaker 1: about and someone basically said yeah, and he changed his 365 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:56,280 Speaker 1: focus on instead. I want to find out how the 366 00:16:56,280 --> 00:16:59,080 Speaker 1: hell he knew my schedule. But that's all. That's all 367 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: secondary that that what it Well, it was the first 368 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:03,680 Speaker 1: time I kind of had a real issue in the city, 369 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:06,679 Speaker 1: how really doing good things. It was not kind of 370 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:08,919 Speaker 1: like this weird fabricated thing because it really was a 371 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:13,080 Speaker 1: dangerous situation. Um. And then the following year, I think 372 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:16,520 Speaker 1: I Chuck announces he's running for Senate against the motto. 373 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:20,000 Speaker 1: So then I announced that I'm gonna run, and I 374 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:21,720 Speaker 1: didn't have much of a chance of winning. It was 375 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:24,159 Speaker 1: like three men versus one woman, three guys from Brooklyn, 376 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,000 Speaker 1: one woment from Queen's and again just by you know, 377 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 1: didn't have kind of really just a good strategy, just 378 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:31,800 Speaker 1: running and had knocked in a lot a lot of doors, 379 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:35,560 Speaker 1: won by a couple hunch of votes. Now you go 380 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:42,119 Speaker 1: to Washington and you're there for six terms, and again, 381 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:44,480 Speaker 1: what's what's a highlight? Aments It's tough to distill it 382 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:46,359 Speaker 1: down twelve years into you know, we give us one 383 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 1: or two highlights of what the kind of work you 384 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:50,439 Speaker 1: were doing. Well, I mean, you've got us ever you 385 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:52,840 Speaker 1: were representing, Chuck was serving the Chuck's district. So I'm 386 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:58,040 Speaker 1: representing democratic district in New York City, but not as 387 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,119 Speaker 1: liberal as you might have met. For example, Obama in 388 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:05,439 Speaker 1: two thousand eight only got in my district. You know, 389 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:07,240 Speaker 1: it's it's it was as a matter of fact, when 390 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:09,880 Speaker 1: I had my scandal, and I left the Republican took 391 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:11,679 Speaker 1: it for for a brief cup of coffee, and then 392 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:15,400 Speaker 1: they redrew it again. So it's a pretty conservative district, 393 00:18:16,119 --> 00:18:19,639 Speaker 1: and I kind of developed a rhythm after a while 394 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:22,639 Speaker 1: of prosecuting it by kind of like the old adage, 395 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:24,480 Speaker 1: there's nothing in the middle of the road but dead 396 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:27,400 Speaker 1: possums and yellow yellow lines, like, I'm going to really 397 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:31,200 Speaker 1: kind of lean into being being who I am and 398 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:33,320 Speaker 1: kind of being progressive on some stuff, being hawkish, and 399 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:35,280 Speaker 1: you're kind of being true to who I was, and 400 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:38,080 Speaker 1: rather than trying to shoot this middle line kind of 401 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:41,240 Speaker 1: leaning into stuff. But the real difference in Washington was 402 00:18:41,359 --> 00:18:43,040 Speaker 1: when you were in the majority, you're getting stuff done, 403 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:45,080 Speaker 1: and when you're in the minority, warrant it's the bottom line. 404 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:47,040 Speaker 1: And I was in the minority most of the time. 405 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:49,480 Speaker 1: A couple of weeks, while you're yelling at the top 406 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:53,600 Speaker 1: of your lungs of that podium on YouTube, I'm not dude, 407 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:56,240 Speaker 1: I wasn't. I yelled once, and even in the midst 408 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: of my most ferocious yelling, I observed regular order. I 409 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: called him a gentleman. I'm aout criticizing, No, I'm just 410 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:04,480 Speaker 1: I'm just saying that there's a little bit of yelling. 411 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 1: You you were very wound up. There was one time 412 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:09,320 Speaker 1: I was yelling and the other time it's just being 413 00:19:09,359 --> 00:19:11,280 Speaker 1: a New Yorker. Brother. That's the way the way we're all. 414 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:15,280 Speaker 1: You brought the New York to But so I I 415 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:18,520 Speaker 1: mean it is I mean what happened in Washington since 416 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:19,919 Speaker 1: the time I was there in the eighties as a 417 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:22,879 Speaker 1: stafford to when I got elected, there used to be 418 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:26,560 Speaker 1: a core of let's say, a quarter of the place 419 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:29,280 Speaker 1: that you do you would like to hang out with, 420 00:19:29,359 --> 00:19:31,159 Speaker 1: like you would like to have arguments with Democrat and 421 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:33,880 Speaker 1: Republican like that took the time to learn stuff, had 422 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:37,159 Speaker 1: a philosophical view on it, kind of wanted outcomes, like 423 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:39,080 Speaker 1: they wanted to do stuff like if you sat across 424 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:40,280 Speaker 1: the tables, is what do you want? What? What do 425 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:42,440 Speaker 1: you want? And you can kind of then it becomes 426 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:44,800 Speaker 1: a little where then it's a problem solving thing that 427 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: actually is not. It's kind of interesting now and that 428 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:51,280 Speaker 1: has given way, and maybe I contributed to it has 429 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:54,680 Speaker 1: given way to a different type, which is you guys 430 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:57,719 Speaker 1: that are basically like this ain't gonna happen. It's not 431 00:19:57,760 --> 00:19:59,400 Speaker 1: on the level. We basically are just going to fight 432 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:02,399 Speaker 1: about this, So let to be really skillful at the 433 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:05,080 Speaker 1: Christians and Lions element of the show of like where 434 00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 1: we go out and we fight over stuff, and those 435 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:12,440 Speaker 1: types of people are now the center of gravity in Washington. 436 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:15,159 Speaker 1: And so notwithstanding of the fact that you might be 437 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:17,240 Speaker 1: one of those people and you're good at it, it 438 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:19,120 Speaker 1: kind of is a shitty way to kind of like, 439 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:21,439 Speaker 1: you know, go through like what you can sit in 440 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:25,720 Speaker 1: the Judiciary Committee and you can see an issue of 441 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:29,720 Speaker 1: gun control or of of abortion rights or something like that, 442 00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:32,320 Speaker 1: and you're basically pressing play. You know, you might be 443 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:34,160 Speaker 1: good at it, but you're just pressing play on your 444 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:36,960 Speaker 1: speech that you gave and you you understand how to triangulate, 445 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:39,480 Speaker 1: You understand what the other guy is gonna say. So 446 00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:43,280 Speaker 1: the part of it that's frustrating is that you're not 447 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:46,440 Speaker 1: passing laws, So like, now why are you there. You're 448 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:49,879 Speaker 1: there to do this show and that's okay for thirty 449 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:51,720 Speaker 1: minutes a week maybe, but it's not there to be 450 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:55,240 Speaker 1: there all week doing it. And then my other problem 451 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:57,919 Speaker 1: was I was in a weird space in that I 452 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:00,919 Speaker 1: was kind of young, like you there, it's still an 453 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:04,679 Speaker 1: older place and you know, you know, going out, you know, 454 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:06,480 Speaker 1: having a bunch of drinks and just hanging out with 455 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:09,320 Speaker 1: fat cigar like they didn't do anything for me. And 456 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:11,720 Speaker 1: and I don't think the people are venal and I 457 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:13,960 Speaker 1: don't think that they're not decent people. And you don't 458 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:16,160 Speaker 1: get Washington unless you're being elected by people and you've 459 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:18,479 Speaker 1: got something on the ball. It wasn't the kind of 460 00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:20,439 Speaker 1: crowd that you wanted to spend days and days and 461 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:22,640 Speaker 1: days on end with. And that's really all you're doing 462 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:25,239 Speaker 1: now is sitting around stewing in your juices and you know, 463 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:28,919 Speaker 1: waiting for the next you know, vote MP, vote to impeach, 464 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:30,760 Speaker 1: your vote to overturn some law that you care so 465 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:33,199 Speaker 1: in a career in which someone's got to leave a 466 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:35,560 Speaker 1: position for that position to become opened up, and meant 467 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:38,399 Speaker 1: you it gets to be two thousand eleven and you 468 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:41,639 Speaker 1: decide is mayor something you thought about before? But five 469 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:45,240 Speaker 1: I ran and I had an amazing experience. You know, 470 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:48,960 Speaker 1: I had zero expectations of me, nothing, you know, of 471 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:51,440 Speaker 1: the polls. I didn't have to get my seat to run. 472 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:54,680 Speaker 1: I ran because it's the job, that's the job, that's 473 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:56,800 Speaker 1: the job. I was you know, that's the job iways 474 00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:59,600 Speaker 1: meant to do. Like I like problem solving. I like 475 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:04,239 Speaker 1: being the kind of the spokesman of a thing. I 476 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:07,240 Speaker 1: like the city, like I just it's like, I love it. 477 00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:09,880 Speaker 1: I love the city. I love I love the neighborhoods, 478 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:13,520 Speaker 1: I love the idea. I I'm something of a student 479 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:16,120 Speaker 1: of it, and like I admire mayors and I liked 480 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:20,240 Speaker 1: what they do. And I also um realized that I 481 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 1: didn't have a legislative temperament sit there and do three 482 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:26,119 Speaker 1: yards in a cloud of dust for five years to 483 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:29,200 Speaker 1: work on an immigration bill someday that's sort of study 484 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:31,960 Speaker 1: copyright law and like be the expert on that. I 485 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:33,440 Speaker 1: just didn't have that temperament. I just want to get 486 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:35,280 Speaker 1: ship done, and I wanted to do it quickly. I 487 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:37,159 Speaker 1: wanted to do stuff. And when you're the mayor of 488 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:38,359 Speaker 1: the City of the York, the stuff you can do 489 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:40,920 Speaker 1: with a phone call is a lot. You can solve 490 00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:43,160 Speaker 1: a lot of people's problems that way. So in two 491 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,080 Speaker 1: thousand five, I ran as a I mean, I don't 492 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:47,280 Speaker 1: know how it's put. It is about as long as 493 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:49,480 Speaker 1: shot as you can get. We're running against Bloomberg was 494 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:52,560 Speaker 1: on the Republican side, and I had a borough president 495 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,040 Speaker 1: Manhattan Borough President of the Bronx who had run before 496 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:58,080 Speaker 1: city council speaker and then me. Um. But it was 497 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:01,919 Speaker 1: a great experience. I I made run off, surged at 498 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:05,639 Speaker 1: the end, did it just right, was relaxed the whole time, 499 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,439 Speaker 1: doing my thing of doing issues every single day. No 500 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:11,160 Speaker 1: one cared, no one was showing up, but I liked 501 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 1: doing it, and I just put myself in a position 502 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:16,560 Speaker 1: to take advantage when the other guys either made mistakes 503 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:19,920 Speaker 1: or took me too lightly. Um. Two thou We're gonna 504 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:22,480 Speaker 1: run again two thousand nine was my moment boarded that 505 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 1: when the extended the term limits right, that was the 506 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:30,399 Speaker 1: tough I've never been so outraged. That was so jarring 507 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:33,119 Speaker 1: to me because it was really even for someone who's 508 00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:35,240 Speaker 1: a politician for a long time in New York City, 509 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:39,040 Speaker 1: you understands how things goes, the sheer goal of it. 510 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:42,040 Speaker 1: A rich guy buying buying it for the third time, 511 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:44,600 Speaker 1: actually spent a hundred million or more nineties something million 512 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:46,600 Speaker 1: on the previous TIF. You add it all together, it's 513 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:48,800 Speaker 1: a quarter of a billion dollars we know of. And 514 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:51,560 Speaker 1: then it's all the walking around money there, but that 515 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:55,159 Speaker 1: part having a free spending guy, it's one thing, but 516 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:57,919 Speaker 1: he basically bought the newspapers to do this, right, I mean, 517 00:23:57,960 --> 00:23:59,639 Speaker 1: you don't get away how would you get away with 518 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 1: over just for your listeners who are in steep to 519 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:04,000 Speaker 1: New York. The voters of the City of New York 520 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:05,640 Speaker 1: put term limits in. I donmight have a big, big 521 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:09,200 Speaker 1: fan of terments, never have been. The voters then again 522 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:12,200 Speaker 1: were asked to consider it. A few years later, they 523 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:14,679 Speaker 1: again reaffirmed it says we still want to do it. 524 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:17,600 Speaker 1: How was the city council empowered to set it aside? 525 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:20,680 Speaker 1: Well that the way the low was written, No, it's 526 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:24,560 Speaker 1: you can Well it's a good question, I believe, and 527 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:26,280 Speaker 1: it was challenged in court, and I believe you can 528 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:28,879 Speaker 1: make a pretty good argument that there should be a 529 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:32,160 Speaker 1: hierarchy of things. And when the voters vote on something, 530 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:33,720 Speaker 1: the only way to undo it is when you do it. 531 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:35,639 Speaker 1: We don't do a lot of referendums in our city. 532 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,639 Speaker 1: We just don't do it. And so this California, right, 533 00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:41,240 Speaker 1: it's very unusual. And so this was an unusual constructor. 534 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 1: This was one of those rare cases that the City 535 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:46,080 Speaker 1: of New York had done something by voter referendum. So 536 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:48,240 Speaker 1: the city council said, it's a law like any other. 537 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:50,520 Speaker 1: We make laws and pass laws all the time. We 538 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:52,560 Speaker 1: can get out from under it. I think the courts 539 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:56,800 Speaker 1: made a mistake in a collegeing, but the courts generally speaking, 540 00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:00,679 Speaker 1: really do let legislatures do their thing unless they think 541 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:04,280 Speaker 1: there's a real important reason to step in. And at 542 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:07,520 Speaker 1: any rate, the city council and the mayor who had 543 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:10,240 Speaker 1: repeatedly said he would never support changing tournaments, and the 544 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:12,600 Speaker 1: city council repeatedly said they would never change it, so 545 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,040 Speaker 1: they ran. They both campaigned saying they would ever do 546 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:17,720 Speaker 1: any such thing. It was so feign and you can't 547 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,200 Speaker 1: imagine it was such an unpopular thing. I was about 548 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: s the New Yorkers wanted it to stay. It is 549 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 1: so voted to put them in the first place, and 550 00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:30,199 Speaker 1: that kind of an undoing of the public will, notwithstanding 551 00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:32,480 Speaker 1: the substance when I can, I don't care about terminists. 552 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:34,760 Speaker 1: I mean this case, it impacted me on the poster child. 553 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:36,280 Speaker 1: Who would impact it because I was going to run, 554 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:40,200 Speaker 1: but it was so offensive to me. I really could 555 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,240 Speaker 1: not imagine it would ever happened. Like the very scaffolding 556 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:46,320 Speaker 1: of our relation of citizens relationship to their government was 557 00:25:46,359 --> 00:25:48,680 Speaker 1: now being undone right because it's it's one thing to 558 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:51,320 Speaker 1: change the law that happens, and even a popular law 559 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:54,320 Speaker 1: that happens. When you start saying we're gonna put something 560 00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:56,679 Speaker 1: out to vote for you, the people, and we're going 561 00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:59,439 Speaker 1: to kind of discard it for our own self interest, 562 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:02,160 Speaker 1: the psychic over there's also there's been on a republic 563 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:04,040 Speaker 1: sense to it as well. I mean, and this is 564 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 1: New York City, this is not like some sleepy town. 565 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:09,640 Speaker 1: So my position was, if you want to do this 566 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:11,359 Speaker 1: and you believe it's the right thing to do, let 567 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:13,520 Speaker 1: people voteing in. And I said I will join you 568 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:15,400 Speaker 1: and putting that on the ballot. If that's what people say, 569 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:19,720 Speaker 1: then so be it. But um, I had seen what 570 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:22,239 Speaker 1: it was like to run against a billionaire and I 571 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:23,800 Speaker 1: had to decide whether I wanted to do it again. 572 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 1: Remember something else that and actually really complicated the decision 573 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:29,600 Speaker 1: for me. Barack Obama just been elected. There was this 574 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:32,840 Speaker 1: notion that finally we in Congress, like all these things 575 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 1: I wanted to do that I was telling you earlier, 576 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:36,600 Speaker 1: you really don't do you just sit around and do 577 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 1: nothing or you're in the opposition party, you could do 578 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 1: like you know, healthcare for him, holy cow, you know, 579 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:44,159 Speaker 1: the stimulus, like these things that we were on the 580 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:48,440 Speaker 1: verge of doing. Um so like when I I think 581 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:50,280 Speaker 1: I wrote it up in from New York Times, like 582 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 1: explaining why I made the decision I did. It's not 583 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:54,560 Speaker 1: often you get a chance to kind of like a 584 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:56,399 Speaker 1: lot of people say, well, I want to spend more 585 00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:57,919 Speaker 1: time with my family. That's why I'm gonna do, Like, 586 00:26:58,160 --> 00:26:59,800 Speaker 1: I really do want to go back to Washington he 587 00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:02,119 Speaker 1: gets some stuff done. I was, no, it was no longer. 588 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:03,439 Speaker 1: Like I didn't have a sense that it was now 589 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:05,240 Speaker 1: or never. I was now, like leading in all the polls. 590 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 1: I thought, I could, you know, maybe wait for for 591 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:09,440 Speaker 1: for some more time. But it was a very painful 592 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:12,359 Speaker 1: because I had that I thought I I was was 593 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:15,040 Speaker 1: my moment and it uh, it didn't work at But 594 00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:17,960 Speaker 1: I think it's a scar on Bloomberg's legacy that really 595 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:23,199 Speaker 1: can't be removed. After the break. Anthony Weener on the 596 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:26,840 Speaker 1: difference between politicians and movie stars when it comes to 597 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:33,160 Speaker 1: surviving scandals. Explore the Here's the Thing archives where Ed Rowlins, 598 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:38,040 Speaker 1: Republican campaign advisor talks about the Jimmy Carter presidency. You know, 599 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:40,199 Speaker 1: he was a micromanager. He was an engineer, and he 600 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:42,560 Speaker 1: wanted he wanted to manage everything. And the reality of 601 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:46,080 Speaker 1: the president isn't a management job. The president is an 602 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:49,840 Speaker 1: inspirational job, and he sets a direction. He has four 603 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:52,919 Speaker 1: or five big decisions to make every day. If you 604 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:56,399 Speaker 1: have an inability to make decisions, then they basically stack 605 00:27:56,480 --> 00:28:00,320 Speaker 1: up on you. Take a listen that. Here's the thing. Org. 606 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:17,800 Speaker 1: This is Alec Baldwin, and you're listening to here's the thing. 607 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:22,560 Speaker 1: My guest today is Anthony Weiner. Wiener is a former 608 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:25,919 Speaker 1: congressman and has run for New York City mayor twice. 609 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:29,960 Speaker 1: He's also the veteran of two major scandals that brought 610 00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:34,000 Speaker 1: unwanted fame to him and his wife, Huma Abaden, a 611 00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:39,000 Speaker 1: longtime aid and current vice chair of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. 612 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:44,920 Speaker 1: Wiener says the unrelenting media coverage and painful public interactions 613 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:48,640 Speaker 1: led to some very dark days, and somehow he managed 614 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:51,640 Speaker 1: to pick himself up again. The reason I had the 615 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:55,000 Speaker 1: problems that I did was the reason that I was 616 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:58,920 Speaker 1: able to survive it, and that some wiring, some emotional 617 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:02,400 Speaker 1: wiring that wasn't attached just right made it possible for 618 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:04,520 Speaker 1: me to do dumb things and kind of reach out 619 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:07,280 Speaker 1: and be connected to strangers and things like that and 620 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:10,560 Speaker 1: have conversations over this whatever it did, not never meet 621 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:12,760 Speaker 1: them and be fine with that. It might be the 622 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:15,960 Speaker 1: same kind of emotional miss wiring that made it possible 623 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,760 Speaker 1: for me to be in this storm and not let 624 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:23,360 Speaker 1: it completely debilitate me. Your compartmentalize. I don't even know 625 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:26,000 Speaker 1: if it's that formal a thing that happens. I just 626 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,080 Speaker 1: don't think that. It's kind of like, to some degree, 627 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:30,960 Speaker 1: the emotional input is not getting in, like it's not firing, 628 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:34,520 Speaker 1: you know, not firing correctly, and so you don't kind 629 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:36,440 Speaker 1: of feel it as much. But all that being said, 630 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:38,400 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna lie to you that I was not 631 00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:41,400 Speaker 1: reading my clips during this stuff. I was not watching 632 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:45,240 Speaker 1: John Stewart scure me. I was not, and so it 633 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:47,800 Speaker 1: might have been harder for many people who were around me, 634 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:50,680 Speaker 1: Like I remember my friend Harry calling me up while 635 00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:53,040 Speaker 1: as everything's going on, and there's twenty TV stations outside 636 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:55,520 Speaker 1: my house, and this is when the scandal first broke, saying, ye, 637 00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:56,720 Speaker 1: you want me to come over and bring you some 638 00:29:56,720 --> 00:29:58,800 Speaker 1: food or something like that, whatever it is in it, 639 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:00,840 Speaker 1: It dawned on me pretty you wanted to make sure 640 00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:03,560 Speaker 1: I was gonna do something nuts to myself and commit 641 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:06,640 Speaker 1: suicide or something like that. It was harder actually for 642 00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:11,080 Speaker 1: people watching it happen. But he represented one of the 643 00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:14,280 Speaker 1: fifty different views of my scandal, like everyone looked at 644 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:17,040 Speaker 1: as a Roy Sach test for their own experience. You know. 645 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:19,280 Speaker 1: So some people as many people come up to me 646 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:20,880 Speaker 1: in the streets now and say, my god, you were 647 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:22,800 Speaker 1: treated terribly to come up to me and said, boy, 648 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:24,640 Speaker 1: what an idiot you are? Has come up to me 649 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:26,280 Speaker 1: and say, you know, why are you out on the street, 650 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:29,000 Speaker 1: why aren't you home? You know, with with with your 651 00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:30,800 Speaker 1: with the bill of your Mets hat pulled down over 652 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:33,720 Speaker 1: your eyes. Everyone views the thing and sometimes and I 653 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:36,400 Speaker 1: would get calls from people who I hadn't spoken to 654 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:39,920 Speaker 1: in a while being the most generous friend. And it 655 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:41,640 Speaker 1: occurred to me after a while, as grateful as I 656 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:44,720 Speaker 1: was for that gesture, that is probably because something happened 657 00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:47,000 Speaker 1: in their lives that they're like before before, for the 658 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:50,600 Speaker 1: grace of God, they're you know, go I kind of thing. Um, 659 00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:53,320 Speaker 1: so I don't really. I didn't like view the presses 660 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:55,200 Speaker 1: of God. This is like so outrageous what they're doing 661 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:58,280 Speaker 1: to me. I'm like, I know their role in my world. 662 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:02,440 Speaker 1: I always have The underlying challenge that I have is 663 00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:05,520 Speaker 1: I'm a guy name winer with pictures out there that 664 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:07,719 Speaker 1: that ded of sending it is hard for people to understand, etcetera, 665 00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:12,520 Speaker 1: and that, and that you can't plow through the tabloid 666 00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:14,680 Speaker 1: and the talk shows and everything else. So there's just 667 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:16,600 Speaker 1: that you did. You're not left with enough oxygen, And 668 00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:19,200 Speaker 1: how are skillful? You know? I have this conversation with people. 669 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:21,200 Speaker 1: I think if anybody could do what you could. I 670 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:24,440 Speaker 1: said to my priests once, I said, who passed away? 671 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:26,920 Speaker 1: I said to him, you'd say confession now face to face. 672 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:29,040 Speaker 1: They have what's called reconciliation no more in the booth 673 00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:31,520 Speaker 1: with the screen. They come in and I said, what's 674 00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:33,160 Speaker 1: that like for you? He says, Well, the women come 675 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:34,800 Speaker 1: in and say that they've met a guy at work 676 00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:37,080 Speaker 1: and there in love and they have real feelings. And 677 00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:38,560 Speaker 1: the guy comes in and says he's met a woman 678 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:40,280 Speaker 1: at work and he's just fooling around with her. It's 679 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:42,600 Speaker 1: just sex. And he goes, but I come from the 680 00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:46,120 Speaker 1: Thomas Aquinas school, where the sins of the flesh or 681 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:48,520 Speaker 1: the least of our concerns. He said, I want someone 682 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:51,520 Speaker 1: to walk into this reconciliation says to me, bless me, father, 683 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:53,800 Speaker 1: for I have sinned. I have an abundance of pride 684 00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:56,320 Speaker 1: when someone will say that to me, because now I 685 00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:58,320 Speaker 1: know we're getting somewhere. Well. I can tell you that 686 00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:03,440 Speaker 1: everyone you included apparently think they have the magic words 687 00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:07,360 Speaker 1: to say. But what complicates all of this is is 688 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:09,560 Speaker 1: that I am limited by the idea that I know 689 00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:11,920 Speaker 1: what I did is is serious and a very narrow 690 00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:14,560 Speaker 1: sense of the impact that I had on my wife 691 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:16,960 Speaker 1: and my family and everything else. And so all that 692 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:19,680 Speaker 1: being said, I don't have a lot part of you know, 693 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:21,000 Speaker 1: you asked the question how do I do it with 694 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:25,280 Speaker 1: the press today. I don't believe in letting the cultural 695 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:27,800 Speaker 1: shame keep me in a place. You know what I'm 696 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:31,239 Speaker 1: saying that that they may be right, they may be right, 697 00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:33,480 Speaker 1: I might be an asshole, and and I definitely it 698 00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:35,120 Speaker 1: sound like I don't feel great deal of regret. And 699 00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:36,840 Speaker 1: then I don't every once in a while to say 700 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:39,200 Speaker 1: say fun, you know that was close I could have 701 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:42,040 Speaker 1: really had this dream thing that I wanted. But now 702 00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:45,160 Speaker 1: standing here, it's a fairly binary choice I have. I 703 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:48,160 Speaker 1: either go and be there's the best I can me 704 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:50,800 Speaker 1: and do the best I can, or I throw in 705 00:32:50,840 --> 00:32:52,800 Speaker 1: the towel and be and And it wasn't in the 706 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:55,760 Speaker 1: in the internet culture that we have the number of 707 00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:57,480 Speaker 1: people who are so fired up at the idea that 708 00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:00,440 Speaker 1: I have the audacity to still live my life. And 709 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:02,280 Speaker 1: this is why I kind of why I ran in 710 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:05,520 Speaker 1: two thousand and thirteen again after this. If you're an actor, 711 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:07,840 Speaker 1: if you're you know, Tom Cruise, and you have some 712 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:11,520 Speaker 1: crazy scientology thing, or you're you have a messy divorce 713 00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:15,760 Speaker 1: or whatever it is, you go, do you know, uh, 714 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:19,120 Speaker 1: Mission impossible five and it's done. You Basically you're out 715 00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:20,880 Speaker 1: on your press store. People are asking you about how 716 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:23,080 Speaker 1: you did that stunt, people paying, they go see the movie. 717 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:25,560 Speaker 1: If you're Alex Rodriguez, you go play baseball, get a 718 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:27,920 Speaker 1: couple of home runs one after another, you win a pennant. 719 00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:31,760 Speaker 1: You're thing he's done. In politics, you don't just say 720 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:34,600 Speaker 1: I'll be okay, I'll be the Secretary of Defense for 721 00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:36,360 Speaker 1: a while. Like you don't do that because the path 722 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:40,600 Speaker 1: to get there is really difficult. And so this notion 723 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:45,360 Speaker 1: of like getting back on the train. Everyone not everyone, 724 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:46,760 Speaker 1: but a lot of people have the same thing. Well, 725 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:49,400 Speaker 1: you should go back and run for something again. You know, 726 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:51,440 Speaker 1: I had a nice run. I mean I had a 727 00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:53,040 Speaker 1: you know, I served in the city council. As you 728 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:55,360 Speaker 1: said in Congress, I did it for a while. It's 729 00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:58,200 Speaker 1: not and but it's not easy just to kind of say, 730 00:33:58,240 --> 00:33:59,800 Speaker 1: all right, let's put it behind you by running for 731 00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:03,479 Speaker 1: something again. I think I would like to do it. 732 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:06,040 Speaker 1: I am sensitive to the idea that the nature of 733 00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:08,920 Speaker 1: my scandal might jam people up if they're like, oh, 734 00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:11,919 Speaker 1: he's out, he's in the room with you know, teaching 735 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:14,200 Speaker 1: you know, you know, teaching college students or something like that. 736 00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:15,880 Speaker 1: So I've kind of not put people in the position 737 00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:17,520 Speaker 1: of asking them to do that kind of the film 738 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:20,440 Speaker 1: you talk about you went to therapy, What did that 739 00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:24,520 Speaker 1: do for you? A lot of it is about getting 740 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:26,560 Speaker 1: in touch with this idea about what what motivates you 741 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:28,479 Speaker 1: would animate you. And there's no doubt about a couple 742 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:30,600 Speaker 1: of things about me that that we just kind of 743 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:33,879 Speaker 1: touched on it became obvious, is that I'm very into 744 00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:36,359 Speaker 1: the action, And I don't spend a lot of time 745 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:41,040 Speaker 1: thinking about what's animating the action because and and political 746 00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:44,239 Speaker 1: and that exactly. Politics is the great job for that. 747 00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:46,759 Speaker 1: You've got a problem to fix, Just go fix the thing. 748 00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:48,719 Speaker 1: You know, You're not spending a lot of time navel 749 00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:50,400 Speaker 1: gazing about it. You just go fix the thing. But 750 00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:53,960 Speaker 1: in emotional life and in a healthy person, you're thinking 751 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:56,680 Speaker 1: for a moment, you're taking deep breaths, you're understanding what's 752 00:34:56,719 --> 00:34:58,879 Speaker 1: motivating you to do something. Like people would say after 753 00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:01,040 Speaker 1: my scandal, it so what else did you do that? 754 00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:03,480 Speaker 1: I mean, that was weird, like you're having communications with 755 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:05,960 Speaker 1: people you haven't met and whatever it is. And I 756 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:08,160 Speaker 1: would have to say, you all, honestly, I'm not really sure. 757 00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:11,560 Speaker 1: It wasn't like I was like thinking it through and like, Okay, 758 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:14,920 Speaker 1: this is gonna be. It was me acting obviously in 759 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:17,480 Speaker 1: something in a kind of impulsive way that was that 760 00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:20,560 Speaker 1: was wrong. So there was a little bit of that 761 00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:22,880 Speaker 1: and also a little bit of like figuring out like 762 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:25,759 Speaker 1: what went wrong early on in my life that led 763 00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:27,680 Speaker 1: me not to have that kind of wiring. All that 764 00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:30,200 Speaker 1: well done, But none of it turns back the clock, 765 00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:31,960 Speaker 1: and none of it really changes all that much about 766 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:33,640 Speaker 1: it just kind of makes you more aware of help 767 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:36,759 Speaker 1: you stuff. I think it did only in as much 768 00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:39,040 Speaker 1: and maybe I understand a little bit about why I 769 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:42,320 Speaker 1: was doing stuff and make me a little bit understand 770 00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:45,000 Speaker 1: what was animating me about stuff. But you know, Congress 771 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:47,680 Speaker 1: made me crazy too. I mean not to not that obviously, 772 00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:49,880 Speaker 1: I don't blame the job, but I was saying the 773 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:54,920 Speaker 1: idea that of a place that you're getting rewarded for 774 00:35:55,080 --> 00:36:00,400 Speaker 1: being glib and good at arguing and and clever on 775 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:03,120 Speaker 1: format and performing and clever on your feet and like 776 00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:07,839 Speaker 1: being the guy who can summarize the Obamacare exactly. I'm 777 00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:11,600 Speaker 1: like that, like and so that kind of stuff. And 778 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:13,840 Speaker 1: also the weird kind of feedback loop you get in 779 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:17,719 Speaker 1: Congress in the Internet age is you can find thirty 780 00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:20,000 Speaker 1: thou people who think that Michelle Bachman is a smart person. 781 00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:23,640 Speaker 1: Like you can find stuff, so you get reinforced even 782 00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:26,440 Speaker 1: when it should be moments where you're like, that was 783 00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:28,719 Speaker 1: not a good day. I should not have said that 784 00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:31,400 Speaker 1: to that guy. I shouldn't have shut down Megan Kelly 785 00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:32,840 Speaker 1: that way. I should have thought I had been more 786 00:36:32,880 --> 00:36:35,360 Speaker 1: thoughtful and more whatever it is. And then you you 787 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:37,200 Speaker 1: know in the internet world, it's like, oh my god, 788 00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:38,799 Speaker 1: you're like, I love it when you go on Fox 789 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:40,759 Speaker 1: because you kicked their ship out of them and everything else. 790 00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:44,040 Speaker 1: That's so great. When maybe the things that animated me 791 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:48,200 Speaker 1: to go into politics and to be good at it, 792 00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:53,080 Speaker 1: meaning wanting to win fights for people that were the 793 00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:55,359 Speaker 1: underkind of the underdogs, like being in there, like not 794 00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:58,920 Speaker 1: backing down, not liking bullies. Not that what made me 795 00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:01,200 Speaker 1: a democrat. It made me someone who is progressive, made 796 00:37:01,239 --> 00:37:03,600 Speaker 1: me someone who liked arguing with people who I thought 797 00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:05,600 Speaker 1: were wrong and who were in plicit of power when 798 00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:10,360 Speaker 1: other people were. Probably that type of kind of feistiness 799 00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:14,920 Speaker 1: and battling. I think it's probably the same wiring that 800 00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:17,719 Speaker 1: doesn't leave you enough space to kind of think, all right, 801 00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:20,400 Speaker 1: maybe everything is in a fight, maybe everything isn't a conflict. 802 00:37:20,440 --> 00:37:22,040 Speaker 1: Maybe you should kind of get in touch with like 803 00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:25,359 Speaker 1: some other emotion or some other feeling. Um. But it 804 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:28,799 Speaker 1: does like a warrior, like you like it when people say, yeah, 805 00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:30,879 Speaker 1: we like that you're fighting and that kind of thing. 806 00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:32,440 Speaker 1: And but then it became more and more of well 807 00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:34,560 Speaker 1: I need more people to like that I'm fighting, or like, 808 00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:36,560 Speaker 1: what do you think about me? Fighting or this this 809 00:37:36,640 --> 00:37:39,960 Speaker 1: type of stuff. I don't think it's particularly healthy, but 810 00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:43,680 Speaker 1: it is. You know, it probably is the same things 811 00:37:43,719 --> 00:37:45,960 Speaker 1: that drive me, that drove me to be good at 812 00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:48,279 Speaker 1: some elements of my life, led me to be fucked 813 00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:51,000 Speaker 1: up at other elements. What are you doing now? Not 814 00:37:51,120 --> 00:37:52,600 Speaker 1: a lot. I mean, you know, I've got a four 815 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:55,319 Speaker 1: and a half year old at home that I kind 816 00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:59,200 Speaker 1: of like the stillness of being the guy who's taken 817 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:03,080 Speaker 1: care of him and like that. I mean, it's like, 818 00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:06,520 Speaker 1: it's funny, it's funny. I was very self conscious about 819 00:38:06,520 --> 00:38:10,120 Speaker 1: this idea of being a you know, stayed on dad 820 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:12,240 Speaker 1: is a little bit of exaggeration, but being a dad 821 00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:16,160 Speaker 1: as a primary right, being a dad as kind of 822 00:38:16,200 --> 00:38:17,799 Speaker 1: that's my job. What's my job is dad? And with 823 00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:19,279 Speaker 1: whom it being on the road as much as she is, 824 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:21,440 Speaker 1: and my sense of obligation of like giving her some 825 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:23,120 Speaker 1: space to be able to do her things. Now that 826 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:26,560 Speaker 1: she sat, unfortunately and helped me to do my things, 827 00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:28,960 Speaker 1: I want to let her do hers. And she's got 828 00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:31,480 Speaker 1: the deal. She has stuff that they didn't resolve in 829 00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:33,360 Speaker 1: two thousand and eight. You know, she came so close 830 00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:35,360 Speaker 1: working on that campaign and wants to get this done 831 00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:37,040 Speaker 1: and to give her the sense that you can do 832 00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:39,279 Speaker 1: whatever she needed that Jordan was going to be okay. 833 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:41,480 Speaker 1: But there's another element to it. It's kind of like, 834 00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:44,600 Speaker 1: why does my redemption as a politician, as a public 835 00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:47,160 Speaker 1: figure have to be as a public person and a politician. 836 00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:49,800 Speaker 1: Why can't it be just doing this other important element 837 00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:52,600 Speaker 1: of my life? Really well, like no one may see 838 00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:55,080 Speaker 1: me being a dad, and it might not be something 839 00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:56,839 Speaker 1: you can measure, like I get this number of votes 840 00:38:56,920 --> 00:38:58,960 Speaker 1: or this number of people that wrote me positive letters 841 00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:01,320 Speaker 1: or this number of times I was on hardball or something, 842 00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:03,399 Speaker 1: But I know I'm really good at it, and I'm 843 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:06,000 Speaker 1: doing it every day. And and like you seem to 844 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:08,319 Speaker 1: me like someone who was at a place, you're at 845 00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:12,000 Speaker 1: a level, you're at a stage, and there are multiple stages, 846 00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:14,840 Speaker 1: and I've been there, you're at there's multiple stages, and 847 00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:18,080 Speaker 1: even though our circumstances are different, multiple stages of recovery 848 00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:21,759 Speaker 1: from these dynamics. And let's say it's eight stages and 849 00:39:21,760 --> 00:39:25,279 Speaker 1: you're at stage five, let me finish, and you've got 850 00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:26,879 Speaker 1: a couple more stages to go. And when you get 851 00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:29,920 Speaker 1: to that stage, there's something you're going to do that 852 00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:34,280 Speaker 1: you have to do. Who gives a fuck about whether 853 00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:36,720 Speaker 1: this college kids in the class you should be teaching 854 00:39:36,719 --> 00:39:41,360 Speaker 1: the class. I don't know. You're right, people, that's a 855 00:39:41,440 --> 00:39:43,600 Speaker 1: very good way to look at it, in that I'm 856 00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:46,080 Speaker 1: still getting my footing. I mean, there's a lot of 857 00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:49,160 Speaker 1: currents here right. One is the wife's got the big 858 00:39:49,160 --> 00:39:50,960 Speaker 1: thing going. No no, no, one just some fine own 859 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:54,239 Speaker 1: personal thing. One is the world looking through my thing 860 00:39:54,640 --> 00:39:57,840 Speaker 1: through their own lens and deciding this disqualifies me for 861 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:00,880 Speaker 1: some other thing. And besides politics, I don't know about hell. 862 00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:02,600 Speaker 1: I don't want him to be on the board of 863 00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:05,600 Speaker 1: Coca Cola less we want to Cocola associated with that guy. 864 00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:08,760 Speaker 1: Or on the other hand, you know a radio station 865 00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:11,719 Speaker 1: that wants me to be a shock shock jock on 866 00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:14,279 Speaker 1: their station because as it's great, okay, weener like whatever 867 00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:18,040 Speaker 1: it is. So I'm still filtering what other people think. 868 00:40:18,120 --> 00:40:22,279 Speaker 1: And then totally I would I would. I would love it. 869 00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:25,719 Speaker 1: I love a splitting headache every day. The other thing 870 00:40:25,800 --> 00:40:28,520 Speaker 1: is that, um, it's a synops thing, right, Like my 871 00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:31,040 Speaker 1: synops has fired in a certain way for so long. 872 00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:35,400 Speaker 1: Like I know politics and I know governance, and I 873 00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:36,880 Speaker 1: know the latter, and I know how to do this, 874 00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:38,400 Speaker 1: and I know how to climb and whatever it is. 875 00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:40,840 Speaker 1: I might not have been guaranteed success with without my scandal, 876 00:40:41,040 --> 00:40:44,759 Speaker 1: but I know it really well. And now I've got 877 00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:47,160 Speaker 1: to redirect somewhere else midlife. I'm fifty one years old, 878 00:40:47,200 --> 00:40:49,400 Speaker 1: so I've got to like redirect to a different place, 879 00:40:49,640 --> 00:40:51,560 Speaker 1: and that takes a little while to do. And then 880 00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:56,080 Speaker 1: there's this third element of I'm so happy with Jordan's 881 00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:58,839 Speaker 1: and kind of like being at this peaceful place where 882 00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:01,400 Speaker 1: I don't feel like I've got to go on and 883 00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:05,879 Speaker 1: be again measure my life by how many prests I'm 884 00:41:05,920 --> 00:41:09,640 Speaker 1: doing that week, And it's figuring out. I think there's 885 00:41:09,640 --> 00:41:12,640 Speaker 1: a happy medium, a quiet place where you go, hey, listen, 886 00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:15,120 Speaker 1: you might not become the mayor of New York, but 887 00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:17,480 Speaker 1: somebody who could become the mayor of could learn something 888 00:41:17,480 --> 00:41:19,480 Speaker 1: from you that you passed. You could help make a 889 00:41:19,560 --> 00:41:21,919 Speaker 1: mayor but firmly believe it. But how do you do yours? 890 00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:23,279 Speaker 1: You can pay it forward, but how do you do 891 00:41:23,320 --> 00:41:26,640 Speaker 1: your thing? So you like, you've got the stuff that 892 00:41:26,719 --> 00:41:28,880 Speaker 1: you're known for and the TV stuff that is in 893 00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:31,279 Speaker 1: the movies, which you're amazing. And and and then I'm a 894 00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:34,440 Speaker 1: big fan. You've got this which scratches this it's that 895 00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:37,120 Speaker 1: you're able to do, and then you have this, you 896 00:41:37,160 --> 00:41:39,799 Speaker 1: have amazing family in this two tiered sense that you've 897 00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:41,239 Speaker 1: got the little ones, you get the old ones, and 898 00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:43,279 Speaker 1: everything else. That's the kind of thing I want to 899 00:41:43,320 --> 00:41:46,040 Speaker 1: try to find. Like maybe I still do a little 900 00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:48,520 Speaker 1: bit of teaching people about politics and talk about politics, 901 00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:51,600 Speaker 1: but I gotta tall something. If tomorrow I can call 902 00:41:51,600 --> 00:41:53,759 Speaker 1: it the new owner of the Islanders and like help 903 00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:55,600 Speaker 1: run their team because they're not doing a great job, 904 00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:58,080 Speaker 1: I would do it. I would totally do it, totally 905 00:41:58,080 --> 00:42:00,879 Speaker 1: do it. And if I if you know, I live 906 00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:02,400 Speaker 1: in fear of whom I saying I want to move 907 00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:04,080 Speaker 1: back to Washington work for Hillary, Like I live in 908 00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:06,040 Speaker 1: fear because I love New York City. If there's some 909 00:42:06,080 --> 00:42:08,920 Speaker 1: way that I can contribute here somehow without actually being like, 910 00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:10,680 Speaker 1: you know, like hood Hillary is gonna win? Is that 911 00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:12,120 Speaker 1: what she wants to see She's going to do? I 912 00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:14,160 Speaker 1: don't know, you know, it's funny she is. Here's the 913 00:42:14,200 --> 00:42:16,120 Speaker 1: straight strength of whom is that she's the vice chair 914 00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:20,080 Speaker 1: of the campaign. She is constantly living in this planning 915 00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:22,800 Speaker 1: mode that has to be by almost by definition seven 916 00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:25,719 Speaker 1: eight days ahead, thinking about media buys, think about state 917 00:42:25,719 --> 00:42:28,240 Speaker 1: by state primaries, and everything else in her own life, 918 00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:32,000 Speaker 1: having a conversation with her of like what happens? What 919 00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:34,400 Speaker 1: what if you win New York? And then like do 920 00:42:34,560 --> 00:42:36,839 Speaker 1: we have time maybe to go to Disneyland with Jordan? 921 00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:38,960 Speaker 1: And as I can't, I can't think of I can't think, 922 00:42:39,080 --> 00:42:42,680 Speaker 1: I can't, So to have a conversation about January seventeen 923 00:42:43,040 --> 00:42:46,520 Speaker 1: not even conceivable. Um So, all of that being said, 924 00:42:46,960 --> 00:42:49,319 Speaker 1: I kind of like what you. I kind of see 925 00:42:49,360 --> 00:42:50,879 Speaker 1: you as kind of that kind of rhythm I want 926 00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:53,279 Speaker 1: to have, Like I I want to figure out the 927 00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:55,719 Speaker 1: kind of things that I like doing. I do like 928 00:42:56,280 --> 00:42:58,719 Speaker 1: kibbitt singer about politics, but I don't want to go 929 00:42:58,800 --> 00:43:03,200 Speaker 1: do split screen arguing with people again. And and I 930 00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:05,960 Speaker 1: I find much more pleasure and having people stop me 931 00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:07,480 Speaker 1: on the street and I explained to them that what 932 00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:10,200 Speaker 1: they just heard is bullshit and that it's that's not 933 00:43:10,440 --> 00:43:13,680 Speaker 1: really And I am fascinated with this thing that everyone 934 00:43:13,719 --> 00:43:15,640 Speaker 1: is trying to figure out, which is how younger people 935 00:43:16,160 --> 00:43:20,400 Speaker 1: are consuming information about politics and governance and how to 936 00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:23,840 Speaker 1: participate in that conversation in a way like find like 937 00:43:23,920 --> 00:43:26,280 Speaker 1: they're talking and they're doing so you go to Reddit, 938 00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:29,239 Speaker 1: for example, and like this notion of apathy or the 939 00:43:29,280 --> 00:43:32,319 Speaker 1: notion that these young people don't care. We've left them 940 00:43:32,320 --> 00:43:34,640 Speaker 1: to some degree in electro politics, but that doesn't mean 941 00:43:34,640 --> 00:43:36,160 Speaker 1: that there's not so some way to find them. And 942 00:43:36,200 --> 00:43:40,319 Speaker 1: Bernie's tapping into maybe something or so I'm fascinated with 943 00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:43,080 Speaker 1: that is kind of almost an academic level, like where 944 00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:45,560 Speaker 1: is the new conversation about governance and politics going on? 945 00:43:45,640 --> 00:43:47,200 Speaker 1: And how do you find it and how do you 946 00:43:47,280 --> 00:43:50,799 Speaker 1: inform it a little bit um And I do think 947 00:43:50,800 --> 00:43:53,880 Speaker 1: that we're kind of getting close to an almost existential 948 00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:57,160 Speaker 1: crisis in our democracy that the founding fathers did not 949 00:43:57,360 --> 00:44:00,600 Speaker 1: think through. They would thought through about something happening too fast, 950 00:44:01,040 --> 00:44:04,000 Speaker 1: did not think through this scenario where a relatively small 951 00:44:04,080 --> 00:44:06,280 Speaker 1: number of people can stop anything from happening at all. 952 00:44:06,680 --> 00:44:08,400 Speaker 1: And how we kind of figure out a way to 953 00:44:09,520 --> 00:44:11,920 Speaker 1: jerry rigged the system to fix that problem or to 954 00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:14,440 Speaker 1: work around it. So these things interesting me, last, but 955 00:44:14,520 --> 00:44:17,080 Speaker 1: not least, what do you want your son to know 956 00:44:17,239 --> 00:44:19,759 Speaker 1: that you know? What do you want your son to 957 00:44:19,880 --> 00:44:25,640 Speaker 1: learn that you've learned? Well? The I'm force fed a 958 00:44:25,640 --> 00:44:28,160 Speaker 1: tougher version of that question of like, well, what do 959 00:44:28,239 --> 00:44:32,560 Speaker 1: you want Jordan's to know about about Dad? Like what 960 00:44:32,719 --> 00:44:34,160 Speaker 1: like I don't care about that? What would you like? 961 00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:35,719 Speaker 1: What kind of man do you want Jordan to be? 962 00:44:35,960 --> 00:44:38,040 Speaker 1: I guess I, you know, one of the things if 963 00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:41,440 Speaker 1: there's been a salutary and there are several, But I 964 00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:46,319 Speaker 1: look at the public maelstrom around people's foibles a lot 965 00:44:46,360 --> 00:44:50,080 Speaker 1: differently than I did. You know, you you develop an 966 00:44:50,120 --> 00:44:53,160 Speaker 1: appreciation for people who are chewed up and spit out 967 00:44:53,239 --> 00:44:56,800 Speaker 1: in this build up, tear down kind of thing, and 968 00:44:57,000 --> 00:44:59,799 Speaker 1: it's given me, you know what I want someone to have. 969 00:45:00,680 --> 00:45:04,920 Speaker 1: I want someone like Jordan's to have this notion of perspective, 970 00:45:05,040 --> 00:45:09,560 Speaker 1: like you know, there's bad stuff, there's not so bad stuff. 971 00:45:09,600 --> 00:45:12,920 Speaker 1: They're complex people doing good and bad things and like 972 00:45:13,840 --> 00:45:17,080 Speaker 1: and the well, we lose a little that nuance. And 973 00:45:17,080 --> 00:45:19,080 Speaker 1: I'm not saying that in defense of me so much 974 00:45:19,120 --> 00:45:22,319 Speaker 1: as I say that now I view the world a 975 00:45:22,360 --> 00:45:25,120 Speaker 1: lot more that way. You know who you are, not 976 00:45:25,719 --> 00:45:28,000 Speaker 1: who you are on your worst day. That's not who 977 00:45:28,040 --> 00:45:29,680 Speaker 1: I am. Right, no one should be defined by the 978 00:45:29,680 --> 00:45:33,160 Speaker 1: shittiest thing they've ever that they've ever done. Um, But 979 00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:35,560 Speaker 1: I and I think that we're in a world that 980 00:45:35,640 --> 00:45:39,160 Speaker 1: in a weird way, we have this this cacophony of 981 00:45:39,200 --> 00:45:44,799 Speaker 1: information going on, but everyone is tugging to this absolute 982 00:45:45,160 --> 00:45:49,480 Speaker 1: pure place, like we've lost this conversation. Nuance is lost, 983 00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:53,000 Speaker 1: like it's almost it's almost considered contemptible in political life, 984 00:45:53,040 --> 00:45:57,239 Speaker 1: like just have a nuanced, thoughtful position on something. And 985 00:45:57,400 --> 00:46:00,200 Speaker 1: I guess I want him to be someone to to 986 00:46:00,360 --> 00:46:04,080 Speaker 1: grow up being someone that sees that sees complexity, that 987 00:46:04,160 --> 00:46:07,640 Speaker 1: sees that, you know, good stuff happens in badstone humanity 988 00:46:07,880 --> 00:46:09,840 Speaker 1: and like see the and and see see that that 989 00:46:09,960 --> 00:46:12,880 Speaker 1: kind of stuff and I and not be so sure 990 00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:16,960 Speaker 1: that you've got it right. Um, And that's kind of 991 00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:19,399 Speaker 1: like those are the conversations I most like having when 992 00:46:19,960 --> 00:46:21,920 Speaker 1: people are sure they've got something right, and I see, 993 00:46:21,960 --> 00:46:24,919 Speaker 1: you know what, that's not really right, so and answer 994 00:46:24,920 --> 00:46:27,640 Speaker 1: your question kind of to see complexity, see new ones. 995 00:46:27,640 --> 00:46:28,880 Speaker 1: One of the reasons I love the city is that 996 00:46:28,920 --> 00:46:31,239 Speaker 1: there's ways to do it, and hopefully I'll find some ways. 997 00:46:31,560 --> 00:46:33,600 Speaker 1: I'm going to just finish with this one more time. 998 00:46:33,920 --> 00:46:35,279 Speaker 1: I know you're going to ignore me because you're just 999 00:46:35,320 --> 00:46:38,400 Speaker 1: a tough You're very thing. I'm ready. I wasn't aware 1000 00:46:38,400 --> 00:46:40,080 Speaker 1: that I that you had you had said something, I 1001 00:46:40,120 --> 00:46:44,680 Speaker 1: had to go ahead, and that's something on Did I 1002 00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:47,200 Speaker 1: leave some opening? No, No, you've been been very gracious. 1003 00:46:47,200 --> 00:46:49,399 Speaker 1: You have been very You've been very open. Get back 1004 00:46:49,440 --> 00:46:56,160 Speaker 1: on the ice. The metaphorical, I get back on the metaphor. 1005 00:46:59,360 --> 00:47:01,879 Speaker 1: I love your brother. But let me just it's not 1006 00:47:02,320 --> 00:47:06,040 Speaker 1: it's not like it's not like it's like, yeah, go 1007 00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:09,520 Speaker 1: ahad so go out for run for some by the way, something, 1008 00:47:09,680 --> 00:47:11,880 Speaker 1: Get back on, get back on the ice and public 1009 00:47:11,880 --> 00:47:14,120 Speaker 1: a lot. Am I doing here? Right? I think that 1010 00:47:14,160 --> 00:47:16,400 Speaker 1: I'm doing what you said. I mean I'm here. You know, 1011 00:47:16,440 --> 00:47:19,080 Speaker 1: when people ask me questions, I usually answer them right. 1012 00:47:19,120 --> 00:47:22,000 Speaker 1: I mean I'm not. I'm not. What's done is done? Dude, 1013 00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:23,919 Speaker 1: MyD you Is there anything have I have? I said? 1014 00:47:24,360 --> 00:47:27,160 Speaker 1: I mean, you're doing this half of you know, boy, 1015 00:47:27,280 --> 00:47:29,160 Speaker 1: this is kind of tough and everything else, and half 1016 00:47:29,160 --> 00:47:31,080 Speaker 1: hold your head up. I mean, you too are giving 1017 00:47:31,080 --> 00:47:33,680 Speaker 1: me conflicting message. No, no, Michael, my message is not 1018 00:47:33,719 --> 00:47:35,799 Speaker 1: conflicting my message. I want you to get back out 1019 00:47:35,800 --> 00:47:37,520 Speaker 1: there and get into what you're also asking me to do, 1020 00:47:37,600 --> 00:47:39,480 Speaker 1: like reflection on a dark period of my life and 1021 00:47:39,520 --> 00:47:41,839 Speaker 1: that kind of stuff. And you know, I think that 1022 00:47:41,840 --> 00:47:44,640 Speaker 1: that's only normal because what interested in advance of you 1023 00:47:44,719 --> 00:47:46,480 Speaker 1: doing the one. I'm curious what your thoughts are on 1024 00:47:46,520 --> 00:47:48,560 Speaker 1: the other. Like when I when I went through what 1025 00:47:48,680 --> 00:47:52,200 Speaker 1: I went through in my life. Oh, I did a 1026 00:47:52,200 --> 00:47:54,120 Speaker 1: lot of I was curled up in a fetal position 1027 00:47:54,160 --> 00:47:56,040 Speaker 1: for months doing a lot of thinking. And it does 1028 00:47:56,200 --> 00:47:58,480 Speaker 1: change you. Yeah. Well, that's the other thing that you 1029 00:47:58,520 --> 00:48:00,760 Speaker 1: realize pretty quickly when you've been through of these things 1030 00:48:01,880 --> 00:48:04,239 Speaker 1: and no one gives a shit right like you think 1031 00:48:04,280 --> 00:48:06,839 Speaker 1: when you're in the middle of it. Now, when it's 1032 00:48:07,719 --> 00:48:10,120 Speaker 1: you know, I mean all, with with all due difference, 1033 00:48:10,120 --> 00:48:11,640 Speaker 1: your ship was nothing. Come out of mind was like 1034 00:48:12,040 --> 00:48:15,960 Speaker 1: becoming like a ridiculous thing. Um, But it doesn't matter, 1035 00:48:16,080 --> 00:48:19,040 Speaker 1: it doesn't look I can't say stuff like other people 1036 00:48:19,080 --> 00:48:21,240 Speaker 1: could say, Like I can't say I didn't murder anyone, 1037 00:48:21,320 --> 00:48:23,720 Speaker 1: and I didn't go to jail. I didn't I frankly, 1038 00:48:23,840 --> 00:48:25,279 Speaker 1: I think I did my job pretty well even in 1039 00:48:25,360 --> 00:48:27,200 Speaker 1: the height of this thing and everything else, and that 1040 00:48:27,320 --> 00:48:31,400 Speaker 1: even when it's yourself. Well, but I just right, because 1041 00:48:31,400 --> 00:48:33,439 Speaker 1: it's it's I. I can't say those things. Other people 1042 00:48:33,480 --> 00:48:36,640 Speaker 1: have to judge those things. But all of that being said, 1043 00:48:37,320 --> 00:48:40,160 Speaker 1: it's true, I'm walking streets. I'm not. I don't you know, 1044 00:48:40,239 --> 00:48:43,120 Speaker 1: it's not I'm I'm okay and other people are not 1045 00:48:43,200 --> 00:48:45,719 Speaker 1: okay and I'm and I fully, I fully get that 1046 00:48:45,760 --> 00:48:48,319 Speaker 1: and I and I appreciate the opportunity to have have 1047 00:48:48,640 --> 00:48:51,799 Speaker 1: talks like this and I'm trying to be as transparent 1048 00:48:51,880 --> 00:48:54,080 Speaker 1: or like you can't run for mayor after having a 1049 00:48:54,080 --> 00:48:55,719 Speaker 1: scandal and then suddenly say, oh, I'm not talking about 1050 00:48:55,719 --> 00:48:58,160 Speaker 1: that anymore. It's like I'm a public person. It didn't 1051 00:48:58,160 --> 00:49:01,000 Speaker 1: work out, um, but I still get to be be 1052 00:49:01,120 --> 00:49:02,880 Speaker 1: it of you. By the Great Alec Bola. Is there 1053 00:49:02,920 --> 00:49:04,880 Speaker 1: anything else you'd like to say before we wrap it up? 1054 00:49:05,239 --> 00:49:10,800 Speaker 1: I want to give you the last word. Uh no, no, 1055 00:49:11,040 --> 00:49:13,759 Speaker 1: you you do. This is your This is a god 1056 00:49:13,800 --> 00:49:18,760 Speaker 1: this is uncomfortable. Is a solid B plus interview. We're done. 1057 00:49:21,480 --> 00:49:24,640 Speaker 1: I do know this much. Anthony Weiner will find his 1058 00:49:24,719 --> 00:49:28,640 Speaker 1: way back into public service. His brother Jason said, quote 1059 00:49:28,760 --> 00:49:31,120 Speaker 1: no one has been harder on him than he has 1060 00:49:31,160 --> 00:49:34,520 Speaker 1: been on himself, and he believes that the scandals could 1061 00:49:34,560 --> 00:49:39,040 Speaker 1: make his brother a better politician. This is Alec Baldwin 1062 00:49:39,480 --> 00:49:41,319 Speaker 1: and you're listening to. Here's the thing