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INTERVIEW: D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser Speaks On Trump's Takeover To 'Clean Up D.C' · The Breakfast Club

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  Speaker 1: Morning, everybody. It's deej Envy, Jesse, Larry Chalamagne, God.
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  Speaker 2: We are the Breakfast Club. We got a special guest
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  Speaker 2: in the building. We have the Mayor of DC, Muriel Bowser.
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  Speaker 3: Welcome, Thank you, thanks for having me on the Breakfast Club.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you for calling in. I want to set the
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  Speaker 4: stage real quick so people know why you calling in,
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  Speaker 4: mad Bosa. You know, on Monday, President Trump announced he'd
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  Speaker 4: be invoking Section seventy forty of the DC Home Rule
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  Speaker 4: Act of nineteen seventy three, which is basically giving him
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  Speaker 4: temporary control over the nation's capital. And he's also activated
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  Speaker 4: the National Guard because he said the crime rate is
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  Speaker 4: just through the roof right in DC. Why do you
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  Speaker 4: think this is happening, mad Bowser, Well, I.
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  Speaker 5: Mean Trump had The President has had a long fascination
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  Speaker 5: with d C. He left d C during the height
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  Speaker 5: of COVID, and I think he had a picture of
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  Speaker 5: homelessness that has struck with him. You heard him on
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  Speaker 5: the campaign trail talking about d and in a lot
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  Speaker 5: of ways, d C is a proxy for American cities,
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  Speaker 5: and his administration has taken a very aggressive stance against
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  Speaker 5: American cities.
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  Speaker 3: He thinks that people in cities don't support him.
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  Speaker 5: He's very aware of the number of people that voted
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  Speaker 5: for him in d C, and so he has taken
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  Speaker 5: an aggressive stance.
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  Speaker 3: I heard some of what you've said.
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  Speaker 5: The numbers just don't justify the action. We have seen
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  Speaker 5: a precipitous lessening of crime in the city, violent crime,
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  Speaker 5: especially after a post COVID spike that we acknowledge and
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  Speaker 5: we got after and we drove down the numbers in
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  Speaker 5: twenty twenty three. We reported last year the lowest level
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  Speaker 5: of violent crime in thirty years. So we're not taking
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  Speaker 5: our foot off the grad gas. We're continuing to work.
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  Speaker 5: But we think that this action kind of plays into
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  Speaker 5: his narrative about cities, about using force, about being tough
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  Speaker 5: on crime. And I can say a little bit more
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  Speaker 5: about why DC is different, but it's times like this
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  Speaker 5: when America needs to know why your nation's capital, a
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  Speaker 5: place where seven hundred thousand tax paying Americans live, should
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  Speaker 5: be the fifty first state.
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  Speaker 2: Now, Mayor, you know, a lot of we're talking to
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  Speaker 2: may Mariel Bowser from the mayor of d C. Now,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of people say, well, you know, well, maybe
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  Speaker 2: it's needed. You know, when they look at different cities.
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  Speaker 2: It does look beat up.
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  Speaker 1: Sometimes it does look dirty.
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  Speaker 2: And I see Trump made an analogy of something about
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  Speaker 2: He was like, when I go to a restaurant with
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  Speaker 2: my dad and when my dad says it sees that
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  Speaker 2: the door of the restaurant is dirty, we know not
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  Speaker 2: to go there. And that's how people look at d C.
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  Speaker 2: So what do you say to those people that said, well,
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  Speaker 2: maybe it is needed, maybe we do need to clean
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  Speaker 2: it up a little.
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  Speaker 1: Bit, what do you say? That's not crime though.
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  Speaker 5: And it's also not how people look at d C.
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  Speaker 5: When people come to d C elected officials, leaders of
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  Speaker 5: nations that he likes to point to, they meet with
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  Speaker 5: me as well, and they tell me how beautiful the
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  Speaker 5: city is, how green the city is, how they were
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  Speaker 5: surprised at how many parks and wide avenues that the city.
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  Speaker 5: Keep in mind, this is the nation's capital, built on
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  Speaker 5: La Nfont's plan. That is a magnificent and beautiful city.
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  Speaker 5: So this idea that DC is dirty is obviously there
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  Speaker 5: are places where people that are and we clean up.
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  Speaker 5: We have some of the best city services of any
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  Speaker 5: city in America.
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  Speaker 3: Our Department of Public Works is.
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  Speaker 5: On top of cleanliness, and our partnership with the federal
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  Speaker 5: government is always welcome on issues that we share. Keep
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  Speaker 5: in mind that the Feds own more property in DC
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  Speaker 5: than they own in most places, including the National parks,
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  Speaker 5: the Pocket parks, the Circle parks, where we have seen
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  Speaker 5: some of the homeless problem, and where they're responsible for
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  Speaker 5: cleaning up, dumping the trash, and cutting the grass, some
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  Speaker 5: things that they haven't been on top.
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  Speaker 3: Of in recent months. So the FADS have a.
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  Speaker 5: Really outsized role in DC when it comes to keeping
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  Speaker 5: federal parks clean.
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  Speaker 3: Now, we want to work with them on that, and
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  Speaker 3: we have the teams to do that, but it's just
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  Speaker 3: not it's not right to say that d C is dirty.
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  Speaker 4: Listen, but you also don't deploy the FBI and the
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  Speaker 4: National Guard just because something is not clean. I don't
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  Speaker 4: understand that logic.
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  Speaker 1: That's what's crazy.
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  Speaker 4: But I do want to ask you something man about it.
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  Speaker 4: Do you believe President Trump had the legal authority to
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  Speaker 4: deploy the FBI in National Guard into DC without the
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  Speaker 4: sea's consent.
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  Speaker 5: Well, this is the primer on DC that I like
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  Speaker 5: to give in times like this when we're in the
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  Speaker 5: national news.
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  Speaker 3: We are unique.
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  Speaker 5: We are not a state, and so when you hear
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  Speaker 5: DC residents talk about we got to become a state,
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  Speaker 5: we got to become a state. It's not you know,
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  Speaker 5: it's not just an easy topic because what it says
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  Speaker 5: is that we don't have full autonomy. We have a
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  Speaker 5: limited home rule and our home rule charter gives the
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  Speaker 5: president the ability to declare an emergency, a public safety emergency,
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  Speaker 5: for almost any reason, and that doesn't really give him
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  Speaker 5: the right to take over the police department. And if
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  Speaker 5: you read his executive order closely, what it says is
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  Speaker 5: what the charter allows him to do is direct me,
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  Speaker 5: the mayor, to make MPD services available.
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  Speaker 3: And that's what it says.
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  Speaker 5: Our organization chart, our chief of police, our reporting structure
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  Speaker 5: for our police officers has not changed.
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  Speaker 4: Were you were you consulted in advance about the deployment
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  Speaker 4: or did you learn of it after the decision was
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  Speaker 4: already made.
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  Speaker 6: I was not.
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  Speaker 5: What I was told is that their national Guard decisions
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  Speaker 5: would be to bring the DC National Guard into DC. Again,
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  Speaker 5: the DC National Guard does not report to the mayor,
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  Speaker 5: but reports to the president. So unlike states, the guards
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  Speaker 5: report to the governor. And just what we like we
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  Speaker 5: saw in Los Angeles, there was a fight over whether
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  Speaker 5: the Guard or the Marine Corps I think they brought
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  Speaker 5: in could be deployed and the city and state could
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  Speaker 5: fight it because that is a California Guard that reports
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  Speaker 5: to the governor. That's not the case here. So the
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  Speaker 5: Congress has a bill. Our Congress would move. Senator Chris
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  Speaker 5: van Holland moved in the Senate a bill that would
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  Speaker 5: give the mayor of DC control of the National Guard.
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  Speaker 5: And it's really important, I argued at the time we
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  Speaker 5: saw it back in twenty twenty, the deployment of the
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  Speaker 5: Guard and what that could do where protests were involved.
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  Speaker 5: And now the Guard is not a law enforcement agency,
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  Speaker 5: and so when they are used, these men and women
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  Speaker 5: that leave their families to support the nation, they have
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  Speaker 5: to be used in a way that's lawful and strategic.
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  Speaker 2: I was going to ask, so, what is required for
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  Speaker 2: this takeover the end to make sure that you remain
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  Speaker 2: in controlling that he doesn't get that control.
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  Speaker 1: What is required to do that?
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  Speaker 5: Well, that's a good question, because we're in an unprecedented territory.
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  Speaker 5: The law says he has thirty days unless the Congress
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  Speaker 5: passes a joint.
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  Speaker 3: Resolution to extend it.
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  Speaker 5: Because there is no real predicate, in our view, for
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  Speaker 5: a crime surge that caused the emergency, having the reasons
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  Speaker 5: to end the emergency are also unclear. So that's the
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  Speaker 5: conversation that I will have with the person that he
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  Speaker 5: has designated as his proxy to request these services, and
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  Speaker 5: that's the Attorney General BONDI.
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  Speaker 1: Now, you mentioned this in twenty twenty, so you've seen
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  Speaker 1: this coming.
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  Speaker 3: He's been talking about it for a while.
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  Speaker 5: He tried in twenty twenty to when you will remember
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  Speaker 5: when there were protests around the killing of George Floyd,
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  Speaker 5: and that's when he first intimated that he wanted to
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  Speaker 5: take over the police. We pushed back real hard and
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  Speaker 5: just explain to him that that at that time, especially
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  Speaker 5: at that time where the city was a tinderbox, would
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  Speaker 5: be a bad move.
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  Speaker 4: Do you think this is a trial run for a
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  Speaker 4: police state from President Trump?
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  Speaker 3: Listen?
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  Speaker 5: I think that what we have to see nobody should
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  Speaker 5: be a lot of the coverage I've heard. Just like
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  Speaker 5: one of the callers I heard is making the argument
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  Speaker 5: that DC's crime issues are out of control.
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  Speaker 3: That's not true.
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  Speaker 5: Our police department, best in the business, partners with the
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  Speaker 5: federal government, supports the president, supports diplomatic visits to this
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  Speaker 5: city are driving down crime in partnership with the community
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  Speaker 5: and tougher policies quite frankly that I have supported over
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  Speaker 5: the last several years to help us hold people who
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  Speaker 5: use guns in our city accountable. And we have to
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  Speaker 5: have that on this conversation too. We can't have a
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  Speaker 5: system where a juvenile or an adult can use guns,
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  Speaker 5: hurt people and not face any accountability. So the city
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  Speaker 5: has really stepped aggressively in that direction, and it was warranted.
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  Speaker 5: But you cannot suggest that the MPD is not getting
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  Speaker 5: the job done.
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  Speaker 4: Do you believe this deployment was driven by genuine security
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  Speaker 4: needs or by political motives? And if so, what all
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  Speaker 4: those political motives?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think they appear to be pretty obvious.
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  Speaker 5: But I think that the quick answer would be he
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  Speaker 5: wants to send the message to cities that if he
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  Speaker 5: can get away with this in Los Angeles, if he
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  Speaker 5: can get away with this in DC, he can get
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  Speaker 5: away with it in New York or Baltimore or Chicago
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  Speaker 5: or any other place where millions of people live, work
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  Speaker 5: and are doing everything the right way. And it is
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  Speaker 5: a step in fascism when the federal government can bigfoot
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  Speaker 5: sovereign states.
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  Speaker 3: That's not us. We should be we should be the
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  Speaker 3: fifty first state.
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  Speaker 5: But right now that I think that is what he
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  Speaker 5: is trying to make it normal where citizens say the
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  Speaker 5: federal government should overtake local policing and try to make
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  Speaker 5: that a normal thing. So if he tries it in
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  Speaker 5: other places, people will be desensitized to it. We can't
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  Speaker 5: be desensitized to it because it's not normal.
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  Speaker 4: When I hear the cities that you named about that,
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  Speaker 4: I have to think to myself, it sounds like I
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  Speaker 4: want to ask you when you look at the cities,
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  Speaker 4: do you think that the cities he's targeting do you
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  Speaker 4: feel like it's an attack on black mayors? And if so,
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  Speaker 4: why because every city you just named has a black man.
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  Speaker 1: That's correct.
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  Speaker 5: Well, I think that he attacks cities with large urban
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  Speaker 5: populations and most of the most of them have black mayors.
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  Speaker 5: And so yeah, there I had. I won't comment on
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  Speaker 5: whatever the racial component is. I'm sure there's something to that,
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  Speaker 5: but I know that were they're large urban populations, major
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  Speaker 5: American cities have black leadership.
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  Speaker 2: Now, guys, I know Maya has to go. We appreciate
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  Speaker 2: you for checking in, and what do you just want
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  Speaker 2: to tell the people hold on real quick.
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  Speaker 4: We have a young lady, Morgan Woods. She's from DC,
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  Speaker 4: She's from the Black Information Network. She wants to ask
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  Speaker 4: you a question to uh, Mayor Bose.
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  Speaker 6: Yes, thank you, Mayor Bouser, appreciate you taking are as
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  Speaker 6: a DMB resident, someone who frequents DC a lot.
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  Speaker 3: How do you do?
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  Speaker 6: What do you think the presence of federal law enforcements?
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  Speaker 6: How do you think it stands to impact residents, those
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  Speaker 6: of us that are coming from Maryland and Virginia to
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  Speaker 6: hang out, support local businesses, even businesses that may be
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  Speaker 6: struggling from the pandemic. How do you do you what
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  Speaker 6: is your take on how this presence of federal law
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  Speaker 6: enforcement stands to impact not only the residents, but also
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  Speaker 6: you know you economically in the district.
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  Speaker 5: Well, Morgan, what I'm really concerned about is the rhetoric
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  Speaker 5: coming from the President. Already, the federal government's decisions are
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  Speaker 5: having a completely negative impact on our economy. By firing
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  Speaker 5: federal workers, closing federal buildings, continuing this telework policy that
• 12:44
  Speaker 5: they said they wouldn't continue, is having a negative impact
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  Speaker 5: on our economy. The Congress limited our own local spending
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  Speaker 5: by almost a billion dollars this year that cost us
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  Speaker 5: to cut services in the district, already having an impact
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  Speaker 5: on our economy, and spreading lies about how safe the
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  Speaker 5: city is will impact our ability to replace that economic
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  Speaker 5: activity with private activity, like you're mentioning just wanting to
• 13:16
  Speaker 5: come to restaurants or clubs. So I feel very confident
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  Speaker 5: that our city is safe and you should go about
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  Speaker 5: your daily activities, and that we are going to work very,
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  Speaker 5: very hard to make sure that the federal presence doesn't
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  Speaker 5: impact anybody's ability to come to the city, whether they're
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  Speaker 5: are residents, people from the region, or people who are
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  Speaker 5: coming to visit us. Now, having said that yesterday, last
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  Speaker 5: week and the week before that everybody who comes here
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  Speaker 5: should follow the law, and that remains true. Everybody who
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  Speaker 5: comes here should follow the law, and that includes the police.
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  Speaker 4: Oh, I have one more question about it, because I
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  Speaker 4: know you got to go like the caller call of
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  Speaker 4: here this morning, they say he does think it's a
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  Speaker 4: good thing that President Trump wants to reduce the crime
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  Speaker 4: rate in DC.
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  Speaker 1: But in your opinion, as mayor, why is this the
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  Speaker 1: wrong way.
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  Speaker 6: To do it?
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  Speaker 5: The wrong It is the wrong way to do it
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  Speaker 5: because federal law enforcement does a different job. We work
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  Speaker 5: with the FBI at f and DEEA all the time,
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  Speaker 5: but we work with them on high level criminal organizations
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  Speaker 5: bringing drugs and guns to the city. FBI agents don't
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  Speaker 5: go out on patrol. That's not what they're trained to do,
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  Speaker 5: and that's not what they're they are good at. It's
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  Speaker 5: also not a good idea for our own metropolitan police department,
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  Speaker 5: who's worked so hard to gain the trust of communities,
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  Speaker 5: for communities to now be scared of the police because
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  Speaker 5: when they are, they don't call when they need help.
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  Speaker 5: When they are, they don't cooperate rate when there's been
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  Speaker 5: a crime committed, and we need the public support. Uh,
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  Speaker 5: And so that that in itself makes cities less safe.
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  Speaker 5: So that's not the way to do it. And more
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  Speaker 5: than that, it's not right to trample on democratic processes.
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  Speaker 5: And while our kind of autonomy is limited and our
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  Speaker 5: grip on democracy is tenuous in a city that doesn't
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  Speaker 5: that is not a state, and does not have two senators,
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  Speaker 5: we do have local elected government, and we our own
• 15:33
  Speaker 5: residents know how to make their voices heard.
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  Speaker 1: We may we appreciate you for checking in and any
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  Speaker 1: time you need to pay you.
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  Speaker 5: Thank you.
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  Speaker 2: It's the Mayor of DC, Muriel Bowser, and thank you again.
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  Speaker 2: And please let us know what's going on and keep
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: us updated.
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  Speaker 3: We'll do all right. Now.
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  Speaker 1: When we come back, we have the latest with Lauren.
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning, every day clicks up,
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: The Breakfast Club.
• 15:57
  Speaker 6: You don't finish for y'all done,