Latest / Life Will Be the Death of Me with Chelsea Handler / Endgame with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

Transcript

Endgame with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer · Life Will Be the Death of Me with Chelsea Handler

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Okay, High and Mighty Tour, guys, is continuing. So please
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: come and see me in San Francisco, November 7th. And
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: November 13th is Salt Lake. November 20th is Austin, then Houston,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: and then Irving. November 20th, November 21st, and November 22nd,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: I will be touring Texas. December 5th is Denver. December
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: 6th in Vancouver, Canada. I have two shows that night.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: There are tickets available for the second show. Two dates
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: in Jersey City at the Lowe's Theater, December 12th. I'm
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: shooting my Netflix special, my next Netflix special. Then I'm
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: going to Palm Beach, Florida, December 16th by popular demand.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Then Hollywood, Florida, December 17th. And then two shows in Tampa,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Florida on December 18th. So I will see you guys
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: on the road. Come and see the High and Mighty tour.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: I'll give you some LSD.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: Hi, Katherine. Hi, Chelsea. This is Chelsea Handjob. Hello. How
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: are you?
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: Oh, excellent.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: Nice to see your face, your shining.
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: Face this morning.
• 1:04
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: Thank you for calling it shiny. I appreciate that. I'm
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: going to take that as moisturized. I'm going to take
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: that as a compliment. I'm very excited.
• 1:16
  Speaker 4: I'm going to see that documentary that everyone is talking about.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: I was going to ask you, have you seen You
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: Can See Everything?
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: I'm going at noon.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: I'm going to a noon showing.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: I love a daytime movie. I haven't been to the
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: theater in so many years. months that I'm going with
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: a big group of people too.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: Good. Good.
• 1:30
  Speaker 5: That's the way to see it. Like crowded theater, big
• 1:33
  Speaker 5: group of people. It is nobody who is going to
• 1:37
  Speaker 5: see it, look up anything about it.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: Just go.
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: I already have heard too much about it. So I'm
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: just like, okay. Yeah, just go.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: So it's like, I know it's going to be like,
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: I know.
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean, I don't know what to expect, but
• 1:48
  Speaker 4: I'm excited. Anyway.
• 1:49
  Speaker 5: It's just, you've never seen anything like it. And by that,
• 1:53
  Speaker 5: I even just mean Elizabeth Holmes.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: I mean, she's really, I watched the dropout just to
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: refresh my memory with Amanda. And I was like, oh,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: I'm like, this woman is so hard to watch. And
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: that's with one of my favorite actresses playing her. So
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: I can't even imagine what she must be like to watch.
• 2:11
  Speaker 5: And are you familiar with Nathan Fielder at all? Like,
• 2:14
  Speaker 5: are you?
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 2:16
  Speaker 5: So it's like, it's interesting to think about like a
• 2:19
  Speaker 5: bunch of boomers who might not know who he is
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: going to see this story and like having their first
• 2:23
  Speaker 5: Nathan Fielder experience with this movie.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: You know, it's really fascinating. Highly recommend. Yes.
• 2:30
  Speaker 5: Well, let me know what you think afterward. We also
• 2:33
  Speaker 5: went to a daytime showing and it was the right choice.
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: It was the right choice because you just want.
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: To think about it all day.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: I just want to remind everyone I'm filming my special
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: on December 12th in New Jersey, Jersey City at the
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: Lowe's Theater. The first show has sold out. There are
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: still tickets for the second show, but it is almost
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: sold out as well. So if you want to come
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: see me record my special, come. And I'm also coming
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: to Irving, Texas. Houston, Texas, and Austin, Texas, everybody, in November.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: So get your tickets for that. I started a new
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: good book. It's called This Is Not About Us by
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: Allegra Goodman. My editor sent it to me. So that's
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: a good book. I'll report back on that front.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: Awesome.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: We have an election coming up, people. So we have
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: a political guest today who everyone's going to really enjoy.
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: She is the.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: 49th governor of Michigan, author of True Gretch, What I've
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: Learned About Life.
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: Leadership, and Everything in Between. And she's a.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: Menace to the president of the United States, which, of course,
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: I love. Please welcome Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a.k.a.
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: Big Gretch. Your skin looks so luminous, lady.
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 3:37
  Speaker 4: Lady Governor, you look very luminous.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: That's very kind of you.
• 3:40
  Speaker 4: Thank you. Welcome to Dear Chelsea.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: I'm glad to be here.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: I'm very excited to talk to you. I don't even
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: know where to begin. Oh, I do know where we're
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: going to begin.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: We're going to talk about, you have a dog named... Doug.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: And I also have a king named Doug, who is
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: my dog.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: How is this possible?
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: And what is your other dog's name?
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: Kevin.
• 4:00
  Speaker 6: Kevin.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: Because those are normal names for dogs. How did your
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: dog get his name?
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: Doug, because I'm like you, I like real names for dogs.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: I want human names for dogs. I am a child person.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: That is my type of dog. Just like we have
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: types in other areas of our lives, we have dog types.
• 4:18
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: So I always go to this California chow rescue. And
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: then when I'm running low on dogs, if one seems
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: to be in the sunset of their life.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: The tank is getting empty.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Once I see that it's happening, I re-up immediately. I
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: get another one because I've got to fill the space.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: I like to transfer the love.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I hear you.
• 4:41
  Speaker 4: I don't want to be mourning a dog. You know
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: what I mean?
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  Speaker 2: I don't think I'll ever not be a dog person
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: now that I have my two boys.
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: So I've always– I had Bert, Bernice, Tammy. Chunk was
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: an exception because I named him after him.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: So you're going through the alphabet?
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: Not really.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: It's like a hurricane.
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: It's basically how they do the hurricanes. I go through. No.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: So I just added to my family though. I have
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: Doug and now I have Denise.
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: See, you are working through the alphabet.
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: Elizabeth and Elroy are next.
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: And I guess you feel the same way about.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: I do. Well, I let my kids name my dogs.
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: So Kevin, they wanted to name a dog after one
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: of the characters on The Office. And the only one
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: they could agree on was Kevin. I'm like, he's so weird,
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: but okay. And then we got Doug because during COVID,
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: Kevin was like my shadow. And I'm like, I got
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: to get this dog a dog because one day I'm
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: going to leave this house again. I got to get
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: this dog a dog.
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: That's exactly my thinking.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: We got a second dog and my kids were into
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: 21 Jump Street at the time. So Doug's name is
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: actually Doug McQuaid Whitmer.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: That is a serious name. Sounds like a politician.
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, he's got the temperament to be a politician.
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: And what about your other dog, Kevin?
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: He could never be a politician. He's too wound up.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: I like to think of you naming your dog Kevin
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: after Kevin Hart, because that's the kind of person who
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: deserves to have a dog named after him.
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: I know him personally, and I can vouch for that.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: I love that.
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: I think you're a fan of Kevin Hart because you
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: picked up one of his catchphrases.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: I am. What was it?
• 6:13
  Speaker 4: What was it on Shark Tank? It's Shark Week, motherfucker.
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: That's right.
• 6:18
  Speaker 4: It's Shark Week, motherfucker. Shark Week, motherfucker. Did you get
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: that from Kevin Hart?
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: I got it from his show. The Niamh Lynn was
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: opening for him. So I was running for governor. Emily's
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: List sent me a debate coach, a man, which I
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: thought was funny because Emily's List is all about getting
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: women elected. And they sent me a coach who's a man,
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: but whatever. And he said, you know, the happy warrior
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: always wins the debate. So as soon as you go
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: into your debate, go right up to the podium and
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: do a big smiley face at the top of your notes.
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: And I'm like, has a smiley face ever made you
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: want to smile? You know what I mean? Like it
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: pisses me off when people tell me to smile. So
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: I'm like, I'm not doing that. But I have to
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: think of something that keeps me loose and We went
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: to see the Kevin Hart show in Detroit, and one
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: of the openers was this comedian who was saying how
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: women are so bold now. Back in the day, if
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: your lady was having her period, she would say, Aunt
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: Flo's in town. You know, we were all demure, and
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: we wouldn't say, I'm having my period. Nowadays, women are
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: so much bolder and they say, you're not coming over
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: because it's Shark Week, motherfucker.
• 7:21
  Speaker 4: Oh, I thought that was from, for some reason, I
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: thought that was from Shark Tank, saying from Shark Tank.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: No.
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: I see.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: It's about women owning their space.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: I love it.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: So at the top of my debate notes, it said SW, MF.
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: Yeah. I love a man giving women advice ever.
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, honestly, especially I just did an Emily's List
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: event a few days ago for a congresswoman who's running
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: in Florida, Kathy Castor.
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: I love Emily's List. I love everything that they do.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: And I got involved with Emily's List after Trump won
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: the first time. And that was a historic election, as
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: you know, for so many women. So let's talk about
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: the state of the situation that we're in, the state
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: of politics, the state of the Democratic Party.
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: What your thoughts are.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: It feels very not only divisive in our country and
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: in the world, but it feels very divisive inside the
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: Democratic Party. It feels like our tent is not open,
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: you know?
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: So I'd love to hear your thoughts on that. And
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: about Abdul Al-Sayed, who I know you're supporting.
• 8:24
  Speaker 4: Yep.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: And who is a great fucking candidate. Excuse my language, Governor, but,
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: you know, I have to be myself.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: I think I've already said fuck like four times on
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: the show.
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: Perfect, perfect. You're right in.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: So tell us, tell us what your thoughts are, where
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: you see our party and how we can improve and
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: how we can bring people in instead of splitting and factioning.
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah. We're going to learn a lot in this election.
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: You know, I have one in Michigan, which Michigan's a
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: swing state. We're always in the national conversation because we
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: are a bellwether state. We're a state that is a microcosm.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: We're the most diverse of all the swing states. We're
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: now number five in the lineup for deciding our presidential
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: candidate going forward. So Michigan's going to continue to be.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: And shout out to, first of all, Michigan is one
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: of my favorite places to go. And you've helped bring
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: Michigan to the place that it is today. So let's
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: give you the credit that you deserve because you guys
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: have really shown your grit. And so, yes, it is
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: a bellwether state and it's a fierce state.
• 9:23
  Speaker 6: It is.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: And it's a diverse state. I mean, I have always
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: benefited from a really rich coalition. You don't win Michigan
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: by 10 points without big support in the Jewish community
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: and in the Muslim community, with support on the west
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: side of the state and in Detroit, the Upper Peninsula
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: and the lower. I mean, it's not something that I
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: ever take for granted because you got to show up
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: and listen to people and ask them what's going on
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: in their life. And my favorite question on the campaign
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: trail was always, if I'm elected, what can I do
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: that'll make your life better? And when I ran, people
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: kept saying, fix the damn roads. And I ran on
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: fixing the damn roads. And we have fixed a lot
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: of the damn roads. But when I think about kind
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: of the Democratic Party and where we are, we've seen
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: some of those hot debates that are going across the
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: country happen in Michigan. I did not endorse Abdul El-Sayed
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: in the primary. I endorsed Haley Stevens. I've known her
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: for a long time. I think she'd be a great U.S. Senator.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: It's not to say Abdul won't be. But as soon
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: as the primary was over, we got together and said,
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: it's time to go. Because the biggest threat is making
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: sure we don't have a rubber stamp for a Trump
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: agenda that continues to hammer every person in this country,
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: undermine our elections, but tear the hell out of our
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: allies and make life harder for people in Michigan. So
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: I'm supporting him. I think that if we can get
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: other Democrats to see, you know, remember what the high
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: stakes are here in this moment, there's room for everybody
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: in this party. It's messy. It's painful. Sometimes it's, you know,
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: can be destructive. But in this moment, I think what
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: you're seeing in Wisconsin, what you're seeing in Michigan and
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: other states is people understand the high stakes of the moment. Yeah.
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: And it's like, you know, as a Democrat, as a
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: Jewish woman, I'm half Jewish.
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: I was raised Jewish. My dad's Jewish. So I guess
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: some people wouldn't consider me Jewish, but I was raised Jewish.
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: And I feel like there's a lot of dissension among
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: Jews specifically at this time with Muslim candidates and with
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: candidates who have criticized Israel, which I think is totally
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: acceptable to criticize the government of Israel.
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: This is not it.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: But it gets all blown up and out of proportion
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: that you're criticizing Jewish people. And then there is so
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: much anti-Semitism and there's so much Islamophobia as well.
• 11:30
  Speaker 4: So like all of these things are true at the
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: same time.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: Everybody can have different feelings about the same subject matters
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: and have sympathy for both sides while criticizing the Israeli government.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: And so, and for a candidate like him, when I
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: see so many Jewish people, and same with Mamdani here
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: in New York, who's done incredible things for this city,
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: it hurts, like, it's like, why can't we all figure
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: out a way to move? We have so much to
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: deal with in this country. We have to undo all
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: of the things that Trump has done. I kind of
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: want to get a feeling from you, even if we,
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: I mean, not even if, we are going to win
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: the midterms.
• 12:06
  Speaker 4: Hopefully we can win the Senate. If all those things happen,
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: what will the next two years look like?
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: Because he is so clearly going to tear down everything
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: that he can on his way out the door.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: Well, I think, you know, right now I'm the vice
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: chair of the Democratic Governors Association. I'm traveling the country
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: to help.
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: Congratulations on that role.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: Well, thank you. It pays nothing. And it's a lot
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: more work, but it's really important that we elect Democratic governors.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: I know we're all focused on accountability in Washington, D.C.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: and checks and balances. And with good reason, right? We've
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: got to win these Senate races. We've got to make
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: sure that Congress flips back to Democratic. We also got
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: to make sure we elect Democratic governors across the country.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: We want to have a fair, free election in 2028.
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: We better have Democrats at the helm to make sure
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: that everyone can participate in the election, whether it's in Michigan, Wisconsin.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: We've got an opportunity in states like Ohio and Georgia
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: right now. We've got great candidates. And so as we
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: think about what the next two years is, are we
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: going to have governors in these states who are fighting
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: back an administration that's going to continue to try to
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: scare people away from voting, send ice into our communities,
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: sue the administration when it's necessary? That's what Democratic governors
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: have been doing. When Trump cuts off SNAP, it's Democratic
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: governors who said, all right, how do we marshal the
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: resources at the state level so that people don't miss meals?
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's why Democratic governors matter so much. And
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: that's why I'm working so hard. In D.C., they're going
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: to have a tough job, but this job's got to
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: get started on January 1 of next year. We can't
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: wait until 2028. And that's why the midterms are so important.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: And what are some of the examples of things that
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: governors have proprietorship for, like, that are independent of, you know,
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: when Trump has an executive order? Like, can you give
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: us some examples so people have a better understanding of
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: the power that lies within a governorship?
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: Well, absolutely. So Think about just all of our National Guards.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: The governor is the commander-in-chief of the state National Guard.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: If you are trying to misuse the military to harm
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: people or to scare people, it is a governor who
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: can stand up and say, no, you're not going to
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: use my National Guard for your agenda in Washington, D.C.,
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: because my guard, I am the commander-in-chief. The snap example
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: is one that I think is so important. They cut
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: off food assistance to people who needed it. In Democratic-led states,
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: the governors are the ones that figured out, all right,
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: here is how we meet the need until we get
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: the right action out of Washington, D.C. We're the ones
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: who are making decisions. Do we fund our schools? Do
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: we give assistance to people who need it? How are
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: we going to address the crisis that is coming with
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: more cuts to health care? These are the things that
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: governors can do. We can't supplant every dollar that we're
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: missing from the federal government from these cuts, but we
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: can come up with solutions. We can pull in industry
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: to help us meet the need in the interim.
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: And what about ICE?
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: How are you handling that in Michigan for the midterms?
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: Because I know that his intention, and he has been
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: successful in deploying ICE in many parts of this country,
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: and also for the midterms and the elections, we know
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: that that's a threat.
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: So how does one handle that?
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: I think it is by working with our state attorney general,
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: our state secretary, to make sure that as people go
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: to vote that they know ICE is not going to
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: be there to discourage you from voting. It is investigating.
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: Can you keep them away?
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: Yep.
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: Oh, you can.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: And investigating what happened. Like in Michigan, we had recently
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: an ICE arrest that turned fatal, and we're doing the investigation.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: We are going to hold them accountable. But this is why...
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: The governors matter right now, but ultimately, we got to
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: win the 2028 presidential election. To your point, you said
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: there's so much work that we are going to need
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: to do. We often talk about who may or may
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: not be the standard bearer for the Democratic Party in 2028.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: Whomever it is, is going to need an Avengers-style cabinet
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: because the amount of work- And a cape. Yes, and
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: every tool at their disposal because just thinking about the
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: relationship with Canada is one salient but small example. You
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: earn trust by the teaspoonful. You lose it by the bucket.
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: And the Trump administration has devastated our relationship with our
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: Canadian neighbors who are integral to our economy in Michigan
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: and so many other states as well. Canadians are, you know,
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: the in-laws that you like.
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: I know.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: Right? Like, who doesn't like Canadians?
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: So shameful.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: But one guy who's devastated this relationship and has taxed
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: the hell out of people, We got to undo a
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: lot of damage.
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Mark Hardy has been such a hero in this.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: I mean, you know, it's very strange to be an
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: American and almost rooting for other countries because you what
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: we're desiring so much is for someone to stand up
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: to this man, you know, in the ways. in which
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: like the universities did in the beginnings, most of them,
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: not all of them, but like when that, there was
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: a coalition, it felt like, you know, where people were
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: talking to each other, which is which, I wish the
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: tech people would have done the same thing. And instead
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: of being bullied repeatedly over and over and over again
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: by a bully is like, you just don't ever give in.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: You can't do that with a bully. You just can't.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: It just never, and they're not even getting all of
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: the benefits that they thought they would. So let's talk
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: about how is it dealing with him? I know you've
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: had to deal with Trump directly.
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: What is that like?
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: Well, I've worked my tail off to get Kamala Harris elected.
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: And we came up short.
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: I know you did.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: And honest to God, after that election, I had to
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: check out from social media. I had to turn off
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: the television. I just couldn't believe that here we are again, right?
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: After everything we know, this is what the people of
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: this country chose. And it was really hard for me
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: to accept. So I watched eight seasons of Dexter to
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: cheer myself up.
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: Eight seasons? That's good.
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I turned to a serial killer to cheer myself up.
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: That's how bad it was.
• 18:19
  Speaker 4: That's very funny.
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: My kids are like, are you going to be okay?
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: Are we going to be okay?
• 18:23
  Speaker 4: Are we going to be okay?
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: And then I thought, I got two years left. What
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: am I going to do with this two years? He's
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: the president. He just got elected. So how am I
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: going to show up for Michigan? And It's been hard, right?
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: Like I have gone to the White House. I have
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: met with him. I've been able to get some things
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: done that have been good for Michigan. But there's always,
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: you know, there's always a downside to doing it, right?
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: I get criticized no matter what. But at the end
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: of the day, I got to do what I can
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: for the state of Michigan. And that means suing the administration.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: That means standing up to him. It also means showing
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: up when I need to to try to make the
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: case and get something done for the state. Every governor's
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: got that calculation. Every state's different, too.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: But what is it actually like when you have to
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: face him face to face?
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: Like, what are you thinking?
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: I'm thinking about the wisdom of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. People
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: often ask me, like, how can you do that? Like,
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: you made your life so miserable. How can you do that?
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: And I say, think about what Ruth Bader Ginsburg said
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: in an interview once. They asked her, what was the
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: secret to a long marriage? And she said, going deaf
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: once in a while.
• 19:28
  Speaker 4: And every woman.
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: In probably every walk of professional life has dealt with
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: people that she doesn't want to work with, who don't
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: treat her with respect, who belittle her, and yet you
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: still got to show up and do the job. And
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: that's how I've looked at it. I sometimes go deaf
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: and sit there and listen to things. that I absolutely
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: vehemently disagree with, but I got to try to get
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: as much done for Michigan as I can. And that's
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: the oath that I took.
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: And what are you planning on doing? Are you going
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: to run for president?
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: I don't know what I'm going to do yet. I don't.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: No one believes that, but it's true. I want to
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: make sure that We transition to a Governor Benson. Jocelyn
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: Benson is who I hope will follow me as the
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: Governor of Michigan.
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: She was an Emily's List candidate, I believe.
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: She was, yeah.
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: Yes. And she was our Secretary of State. Yes, yes.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: We worked very closely together. She'll be a great governor.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: If we win this election, which I feel very good
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: that we're going to, it'll be the first time in
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: my lifetime that there will be a transition amongst one
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: party in Michigan. So just to reiterate that. We go
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: from Republican to Democrat to Republican to Democrat and have
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: my whole life. So for almost 60 years, we've done that.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: This will be the first time we'll have a transition
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: within one party, which means the agenda that we've gotten
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: done will not just continue, but she can build on it.
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: That's so exciting. And that's what literally the thing that
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: occupies most of my energy right now that I'm not governing.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: how do we make sure that this work continues?
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely.
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: I would, I'd love to hear a little bit about,
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: you know, being in the position that you're in as
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: a woman and dealing with men in general that, you know,
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: are trying to maybe educate you on topics that you
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: already know about. And just kind of like throughout your career,
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: how you've, maybe how you dealt with it in the
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: beginning versus how you deal with that now and kind
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: of your process in, in, I think so many women
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: are curious about how, when you're in a position of power,
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: how to delegate, how to treat other women also to
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: empower other women. Because that's something I think about all
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: the time is like how to bring other women up
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: to my level of what people perceive to be self-confident
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: and in self-assuredness. And then also how I interact with
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: men has changed so much over my life because I
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: guess I've started to understand, not started, I didn't feel
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: the sexism so much when I was coming into my
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: career because I was so driven and so kind of
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: I had blinders on. I was so ambitious about what
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: I wanted to do that I didn't get to really–
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: I didn't pay attention to any of the noise. And
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: not until I became more and more successful and heard
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: so many other women coming to me with their stories
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: or talking publicly about their stories did I understand how
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: serious sexism is. And how much women's success has impacted men.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: And seemingly, not all men, but seemingly to have a
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: deleterious impact on men. And I feel what we're in
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: right now, because I'm always curious, like, does this happen
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: every generation? Do women, will all women become pissed? Do
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: they all start to be like, wait a second, we
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: should be running the world. You know, this isn't working.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: Or is it specifically just this kind of like volcanic
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: moment that we're in that we're just all of a
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: sudden realizing this doesn't work. We can't have men at
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: the helms of everything because it's going to lead to disaster, war, AI, unregulation, deregulation, dysregulation.
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: All of the things.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. There's a lot of questions there.
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: I know, sorry.
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: But I'm with you. I'm 55 years old. When I
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: jumped into politics, there weren't a lot of women. I
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: pointed out when I was in the Senate, there were
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: more men named John than women in the state Senate, right?
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: And so we were a very small minority, and with
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: it came a lot of crap that my male colleagues
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: just never have to even think about, much less figure
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: out how to respond to, right? And yet now in
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: this position, I'm always mindful of how are we making
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: space so that women are heard, are a part of it,
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: without intending to get to 70%. My executive office is 70% women.
• 23:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I love that.
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: I just hired the best damn people I could find.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: And guess what? A lot of them are women. And
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: there's no drama. Despite what we were raised to think,
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: that women were emotional and dramatic, there is no drama
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: because we don't have time for drama. We just get
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: right down to the crux of something and move on,
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: check things off our list. That's who we are. It's
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: what we do. And I think that's something that I've
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: really come to appreciate about when we empower other women
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: and make space where traditionally there weren't even seats at
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: the table for us. Last night I had dinner with
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: six of my colleagues. We women Democratic governors are a
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: tight group.
• 24:31
  Speaker 4: Oh, I love that.
• 24:32
  Speaker 6: Really?
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. I came in with Laura Kelly from Kansas and
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: Michelle Lujan Grisham from New Mexico and Janet Mills from Maine.
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: And we've added to our ranks. We're at a historic
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: high of 10 now, which is still small, but It's
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: a big deal. Hochul here in New York. We're adding
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: to our ranks. We've got out of 32 seats that
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: are up this cycle, 19 of our candidates are women
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: for the highest elective office in their states. So it
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: is a matter of time before we have a woman
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: in the White House. I'm convinced of it. We've had
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: setbacks that it's been hard to take these losses, especially
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: considering who the loss was to. But we're making progress.
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: And I'm optimistic about that. But I look at my kids,
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: my daughters, man, they are so much bolder than I
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: ever was at that age. And that makes me feel like, okay,
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: we're making progress.
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: Is there a time where you can remember being awakened to.
• 25:33
  Speaker 4: The sexism in a professional way?
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: Is there an example, without mentioning names or whatever, or
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: just An example you can think of that kind of
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: shifted the way that you thought about being a woman
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: in politics or being a professional, successful leader.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: I think one of the times that, you know, it
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: was kind of seared in my brain was I was
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: running for the state Senate. And it seems like men
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: feel emboldened to really kind of give you crap when
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: you are stuck in an elevator with them. I've had
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: this happen a couple of times. But I was in
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: an elevator. I was running for the state Senate. And
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: this Republican senator said, who's like six foot four, was
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: looking down on me literally, you know. And so it
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: was an uncomfortable space, and there were other people in
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: the elevator too. And he said, so you're running for
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: the Senate. Well, your attendance record is going to kill you.
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: You're never going to get elected because you missed so
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: much time in the House. And I said, well, with
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: all due respect, Alan— Every day I miss was because
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: I had a child cut out of my stomach and
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: I was recovering or I was taking care of my
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: dying mother. And if I didn't take that time off,
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: you'd say I didn't have family values. And everyone in
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: the elevator was like wide-eyed. And I'm like, screw you.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: I'm not going to sit here and be put on
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: the defensive when I did what I needed to do
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: for my family. And you'd be out there telling people
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: I was a bad family member if I hadn't. I'm
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: going to stand up to you. And I felt in
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: that moment like, you know what? I got to own
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: this space. And it felt so good to walk out
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: of the elevator like, yeah, screw you.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: It is a good lesson to show by example what
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: it means to stand up to someone because it is
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: like bullying a bully, right? And the idea that men
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: are allowed to talk to us in this way or
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: talk down to us in a way where They know
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: better than we do.
• 27:19
  Speaker 4: And for a long time growing up, I believed that
• 27:21
  Speaker 4: they did.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: Like I was, you know, it's part of our society
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: where you just think men know better.
• 27:26
  Speaker 4: It's so stupid. It's absolutely ridiculous. And now to.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: Know like how efficacious women can be, you know, when
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: you're talking about getting things done, nobody's better at multitasking
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: than women.
• 27:37
  Speaker 4: We know men can't do it.
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: Even gay men aren't really that good at it, at
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: multitasking in the way that women are. But the relationship
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: that you have with people when you're in a position
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: of power, you have to adjust the way that you
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: are talking to people because there's different for men and
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: for women, right?
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. We always have to do the mental gymnastics. Like,
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: is this a teachable moment? Is this a moment where
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: I turn a deaf ear, right? Is this a moment
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: where I just need to punch him back in the
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: nose so that... He knows he's not going to push
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: me around, that I have every right to be here
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: in the same space that he's in. He doesn't have
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: a superior claim to hold this position. But it's exhausting, right?
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: We receive things that are not appropriate, would never be
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: acceptable to send the other direction. And yet we got
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: to do the mental gymnastics about, okay, what moment is
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: this and how do I respond?
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: And also when you think about what women experience in
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: the workplace and in the workforce versus what men do,
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: like men aren't being thwarted and told, don't do this,
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: don't run for this office, don't become a female comedian,
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: or well, they're not going to become a female comedian,
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: but they're not being told not to do things in
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: the way that women are told not to do things.
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: And even with that resistance, and even with the barriers
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: of entry that have been created in almost every field
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: for women, when we do get into the field, we succeed.
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: And so I find it– there's no barrier of entry
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: for men. They're like, you can come.
• 29:11
  Speaker 4: Everyone's welcome. You're always welcome. You're always welcome.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: And so they've never really faced– and again, I always
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: have to say this, which is– I feel like a
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: broken record, Catherine. I always have to say not all
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: men because– The men are under attack right now.
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of good men out there.
• 29:27
  Speaker 4: I know. I know. There are.
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: I'm married, too.
• 29:30
  Speaker 4: Are you married to.
• 29:31
  Speaker 3: A good man?
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I married two good men.
• 29:33
  Speaker 4: Oh, you married two good men.
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: Oh, good.
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: I don't hate men. I married two of them. But
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: when you talk about the barriers too, there's also like
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: the cultural barrier that has embedded in our brains too, right?
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: So many women think, oh, I've got to have this degree.
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: I've got to have this lower level office before I
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: run for that bigger one. And we don't come out
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: of the womb thinking, oh, we should be president of
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: the United States. We're the ones who are always saying,
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: Am I ready? Do I have enough experience? Have I
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: checked all of these boxes? And so that's a part
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: of the barriers, too, that I think collectively we're seeing improvement.
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: I look at the younger generation. They're way bolder than
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: I ever was at that age. But that's another important
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: barrier that kind of the environment's put on us.
• 30:24
  Speaker 4: On the subject of governors, is there something state by state?
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: I know like AIs, I feel in my, from what
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: we're learning that AIs, like the cat's out of the bag.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: I don't know how you contain something that's already been released.
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: If they're having trouble controlling their systems and there's little
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: civilizations that are creating themselves. How are we supposed to, A,
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: regulate that.
• 30:47
  Speaker 4: As a country?
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: And then is there something each like states can do
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: to regulate that? I know that certain states are banning
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: phones in schools. New Jersey just did it. I think
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: California is working on something like a similar.
• 30:59
  Speaker 4: How does that all work?
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: It's complicated. You know, I mean, when you think about
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: something like AI, we have to have a national strategy.
• 31:08
  Speaker 4: And I But also an international strategy because.
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: A global strategy, for sure.
• 31:13
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: And it's going to take leadership. And we're not seeing
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: it out of this administration. That's sad, but true. There
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: are congressional people who are proposing things. And obviously now
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: all the leaders in AI are calling for more. At
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: the state level, yes, we can do some things, but
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: it knows no geographic boundaries, right? So we can do
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: things for our kids. We can create standards and get
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: phones out of schools, which we've done in Michigan as well.
• 31:43
  Speaker 4: Oh, good. I didn't realize that.
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 31:44
  Speaker 4: Okay, great.
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: And that's good, right? It's good. But there's so much more.
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: It's such a much bigger problem. And I think everyone's
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: fearful of where it's headed. And that's why I I
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: do think that's going to be front and center for
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: a lot of people in this election.
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: It's like when you think about where we are politically
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: in this country, and I believe this is such a
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: referendum on like the Me Too movement, like Me Too
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: movement happened and then all of a sudden Roe v.
• 32:10
  Speaker 4: Wade is being overturned. And I know that was.
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: Many years in the plans and works, but it all
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: feels like women speak up and then they're like, no, no, no,
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: you don't.
• 32:19
  Speaker 4: Shut up, shut up, shut up.
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: You know, like everything feels kind of like a repercussion
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: of something else.
• 32:24
  Speaker 4: Or a pendulum swing. So like when.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: We're talking about where we are and how to, it
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: just feels like we're in such a vulnerable state as
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: a country. With AI, with climate change, we have someone
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: at the helm that doesn't give a shit about either
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: one of those things. And we're really in a moment
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: at the crosshairs of both of these things.
• 32:46
  Speaker 4: And so I guess, I don't know.
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: I mean, I wonder what you think about, you know,
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: how people can remain optimistic. And obviously we want to
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: motivate everybody to get out for these midterms because they
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: are going to be massively consequential, but also not to
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: have the attitude that it's hopeless. Because many times it
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: does feel hopeless. I'm just like, oh, I better take
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: another edible because nothing good is happening and I might
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: as well have a good time, you know, and just
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: bug out. You know, I sometimes just want to numb
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: out and I mean, I imagine in your position, I
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: know you're probably not taking as many edibles as I am,
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: but I imagine you must feel like, I'd like to
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: tune out for a couple days too.
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: Well, that was the whole Dexter story, right? I tuned out.
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: I had to. For my own mental health, I felt
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: like I need a break. But in that moment, I
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: also learned that not expending my energy on something that
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: actually is contributing to a better world, I sleep worse
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: at night. So checking out is not a good option
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: for someone like me, and it's probably not a good
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: option for most people. The antidote to apathy, it's been said,
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: is action, right? So if you're feeling ambivalent or anxious
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: about the next election, get to work. Let's go. Let's
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: get people organized. Let's get people registered to vote. Let's
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: get them out to vote. Let's tell them what's at
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: stake here. Remind people. I mean, find your community. It
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: feels lonely in this world, and it feels existential and
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: with good reason. But the only way to feel connected
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: and hopeful is by doing the work and banding together
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: with people who care about these issues. And there are
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: a lot of people who are willing to put their
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: names on the ballot who do care about these issues,
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: who are committed to finding solutions.
• 34:28
  Speaker 4: Yeah, there are.
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: And it's also really important, you know, about what issues
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: are important to everybody.
• 34:33
  Speaker 4: Like it's important to do research.
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: I know a lot of people are just kind of
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: like they're not into doing the research of candidates, but
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: like there are a lot of important issues up for
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: grabs in this election cycle. And there's all and there
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: and over more like on a bigger scale, like. we
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: really have to go in there, like, you know, I'm
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: hoping that there's such a pendulum swing that we actually
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: are able to undo some of these things and like
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: Citizens United and, you know, and present a legal case to,
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: you know, overturn Citizens United, because I don't understand how
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: you can have any money in politics and not expect corruption,
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: you know, how all these systems and it's too much money.
• 35:11
  Speaker 4: This is money that can be spent on healthcare.
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: It's so frustrating to see how much money people spend
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: This congressional candidate, Kathy Castor, who's represented the District 14
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: in Florida, Tampa.
• 35:22
  Speaker 4: For 20 years, you know, just got gerrymandered.
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: So she has to raise something like $ 17 million to
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: run her race, a congressional race. She wasn't going to retire.
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: And she was my sister's sorority sister. So that's why
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: I've known her for so long. And she was going
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: to retire. And she's like, I'm not, once they gerrymandered her,
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: she's like, I'm not going out like this. Like, I'm
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: going to fight, at least fight to try and have
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: this remain a Democratic seat. But is it realistic to
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: think about things like getting money out of politics?
• 35:50
  Speaker 4: Because when I grew up, we talked about millionaires.
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: We're now– there's billionaires and every couple of weeks we
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: have a trillionaire depending on how much his stock value is.
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: So is it realistic and can it be done if
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: we take back control and we win in 2028?
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: It can be done. It's going to– I mean– think
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: about how long it's going to take to change the
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: complexion of the Supreme Court, right? And I don't mean
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: that literally. I mean that, you know, politically. To overturn
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: States United is going to take a great effort.
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: But that was voted in, I believe, in a Democratic
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: majority Supreme Court, Citizens United.
• 36:31
  Speaker 4: But I'm not positive.
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: Because it was Democratic majority for many years up until
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: Trump got it and then changed it, right?
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: He's hardened it. Yeah. Yeah. It was. Yeah. So anyway,
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: I think it's absolutely doable. And it is disgusting how
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: much money we have to spend in elections. It's horrifying.
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: I mean, the amount of money that I've raised. I'd
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: so much rather say, oh, we're going to make a
• 36:57
  Speaker 2: contribution that gives everyone a certain level of health care
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: or education or education. or just even cash assistance. My God, right?
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: We could do so much good for littlest Michiganders.
• 37:14
  Speaker 4: Well, you'll get $ 5, 000 if you vote for Donald Trump
• 37:15
  Speaker 4: in the midterms, you guys.
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: I call BS.
• 37:18
  Speaker 4: Don't worry, no one listening to this is a Republican anyway.
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: Although maybe, maybe we have some independent- The opposition research.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: How do you look at the foreign situation we're in
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: or international kind of with our allies and rebuilding that
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: and rebuilding our relationship with Europe. I mean, I'm sure
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: China is just laughing all the way. They're all laughing.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 37:39
  Speaker 4: Because everyone's getting stronger while America gets weaker.
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: All the dictators think it's, you know, it's great for them, right?
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: Whether you're Vladimir Putin or Xi or anyone else. And
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: I worry, you know, it I often cite the Canadian
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: relationship as the most obvious thing because that's what is
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: so important to my state. And we're seeing it. We're
• 38:02
  Speaker 2: feeling it. People are not coming over from Canada. They
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: are elbows up, you know, the hockey phrase. Like we're
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: at war with the United States right now. And it's just,
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: it's heartbreaking.
• 38:14
  Speaker 4: I know.
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: That they're talking about trying to be an associate member
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: of the EU because they can't count on the U.S. anymore.
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: They've opened up their markets to some Chinese EVs, electric
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: cars coming in, which has been the strength of the
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: North American market, which dramatically undermines and hurts the auto industry,
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: which is headquartered in the state of Michigan. I mean,
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: we're all going to feel it. That's the backbone of
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: our manufacturing industry. And so the petty fights that they
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: are waging right now are already having immediate economic impacts
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: for us, but will have long-term problems for us if
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: we don't do a quick change as soon as we
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: have an opportunity to. And that's why, you know, the
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: midterms are crucial, but the 2020 election is going to
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: be as well. There's so much work that needs to
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: be done rebuilding our credibility and leadership in the world.
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: One step at a time, or, well, multiple steps by
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: multiple people at the same time, hopefully. So what is
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: your take on why these Republicans— I know some are
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: breaking with him, but it's not enough. And it's at
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: this point when you watch someone tear down our systems,
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: ruin our relationships with our allies, and you watch all
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: the disrepair, the economy, this war in Iran. everything that's happening,
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: and you see someone like Mike Johnson break Congress so
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: that he doesn't have to take a vote on whatever
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: he doesn't feel like voting on that day, he's up
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: for reelection, right.
• 39:41
  Speaker 4: In the midterms, Mike Johnson?
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: Yep, yep.
• 39:43
  Speaker 4: What do you think their calculations are?
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: Like how can they, they're just as hoping when they
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: see these numbers, he's I think at a 29% approval rating,
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: Donald Trump right now.
• 39:55
  Speaker 4: What, what is the calculus behind?
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: I understand.
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: Like, is it just like maybe he'll cheat and steal
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: and win the election? Like why would, what do they
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: think their long game is? And first of all, What
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: does Trump think his long game is with fascism? Because
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: that's never ended well historically. It didn't end well with
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: it ends in a bunker with a shotgun. It doesn't
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: end well. So I don't know what the long game is.
• 40:22
  Speaker 4: I don't get that.
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: I think you're giving them too much credit that they
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: have a long game. They don't have a long game.
• 40:27
  Speaker 2: They care about something other than helping themselves right now.
• 40:31
  Speaker 4: It's just the grift and the get in.
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's my observation. I'm not a creature of Washington, D.C.
• 40:37
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you're lucky you don't have to do that.
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: I don't. But by the same token, we're all dealing
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: with the outcomes of the decisions they're making. Yeah. My
• 40:46
  Speaker 2: theory of the case is that these guys just want
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: to get themselves elected. They just want to continue to
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: stay in office and they'll do or say anything or
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: do or say nothing if they think it helps them
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: do that.
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: Because some of them, it would behoove them to break
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: with him in order to win the election, their election.
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: We're seeing it in Michigan. So the Senate candidate, Mike Rogers,
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: the gubernatorial candidate, John James, are now saying we should
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: end the Iran war. They're now saying that. They're looking
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: at polling numbers. It's not based on something other than
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: they know the price of gas is going to motivate voters,
• 41:18
  Speaker 2: and so they're trying to figure out how do they
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: create some distance between them and the administration. It's not
• 41:22
  Speaker 2: because all of a sudden they've come to realize that
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: it was an unjust war in the first place, that
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: he never got congressional approval, that it's illegal, and that
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: it is costly on so many fronts. No, it's because
• 41:34
  Speaker 2: they want to get elected.
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: That other thing that always kind of like I don't
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: get is like he could easily change his positioning on
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: things to in order to gain more popularity. Trump, if
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: you're at a 29 percent approval rating, like there's no
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: way to dispute that.
• 41:54
  Speaker 4: Like it's pretty, you know, it's obvious news.
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: And I'm sure his little whatever that woman is that
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: can't some all has good reviews. You can't avoid giving
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: him that information. He's going to get it somehow. And
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: like it's as simple as changing your tactic is as
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: simple as like Stopping like, OK, people don't like ice.
• 42:09
  Speaker 4: Stop that. But there is no change of the tactic.
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: It's just he continues on the same path regardless of
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: how unpopular it becomes.
• 42:18
  Speaker 4: And we'll have to steal an election in order to win.
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: So I don't understand that that is just a grift
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: to like that's just I'm going to get everything I
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: can out of this regard regardless of what my popularity is.
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: Their family has made a lot of money.
• 42:33
  Speaker 6: I know.
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: And they continue to do so. I think the stunning
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: thing to me, the most perplexing thing, is why does
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: Congress just go along with it? They're hurting themselves by
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: going along with it, not doing their jobs of appropriating
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: dollars and making sure that when they appropriate dollars, the
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: dollars actually go where they're supposed to. They're not doing
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: their job as the check and balance that they were
• 42:57
  Speaker 2: designed in the you know, in our constitution. And they're
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: finally starting to pay a political price for it. And
• 43:04
  Speaker 2: they're starting to wake up to that. It's going to
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: be too late. And we're going to have Democrats who
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: are going to come in and actually start doing the
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: job that Congress should have been doing all along. But
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: in the meantime, I don't know that the Trump administration
• 43:16
  Speaker 2: is going to change tactics. They're making money. And I
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: think that's might be what it's all about.
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: Even their families, families are making money. Like I just
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: saw something about Josh Kushner.
• 43:24
  Speaker 4: Is that isn't a brother's name, Jared's brother's name, Josh?
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: He was worth $ 2 billion at the start of the
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: first Trump administration. He's now worth $ 17 billion. So yeah,
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: it goes on and on and on. So what's something
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: today that may, in all of this, what's something that
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: brightens your day?
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: I mean, my dogs, of course, brighten my day, my kids.
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: But Getting on the campaign trail has been really good.
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: I'm not on the ballot, so I don't really need
• 43:50
  Speaker 2: to be doing as much travel and fundraising, but I'm
• 43:52
  Speaker 2: doing it because I'm helping Democratic governors. And I was
• 43:57
  Speaker 2: in Ohio, and it's a little politically unsmart for me
• 44:01
  Speaker 2: to say something nice about Ohio, especially during football season.
• 44:05
  Speaker 2: But what I saw on the ground there with Amy Acton,
• 44:09
  Speaker 2: she's our candidate running for governor. Vivek Ramaswamy is the Republican.
• 44:13
  Speaker 4: Yes, yes.
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: Is so impressive. And the crowds that are coming out
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: to support her in Ohio, a state that we've kind
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: of written off for decades. I think there's a great
• 44:26
  Speaker 2: opportunity here between Amy Acton and Sherrod Brown. Ohio might
• 44:31
  Speaker 2: be a really great story this cycle. And I think
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: that gives me optimism and hope and She's a badass.
• 44:42
  Speaker 2: I love seeing women lean into their moment. Me too.
• 44:45
  Speaker 4: Nothing makes me happier.
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: And I love all these armed service members who are running,
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: female armed service members that are running for positions of power,
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: because it would be such a nice icing on the
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: cake to have them deal with this administration.
• 44:59
  Speaker 2: I mean, Mikey Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger, women winning last year,
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: was like that. That's the kind of leadership we need
• 45:07
  Speaker 2: in this country.
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: And how are you, what are you doing for Michigan
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: to ensure election security for the midterms?
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: We're doing a lot, but I'm not going to put
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: it all out for the public consumption because then they're
• 45:18
  Speaker 2: going to try to undermine us. But we're running tabletop exercises.
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: We've been through this before.
• 45:23
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: I was governor with Tony Evers in Wisconsin and Tom
• 45:28
  Speaker 2: Wolfe in Pennsylvania and Roy Cooper at the time in
• 45:31
  Speaker 2: North Carolina. We worked very closely together because we knew—
• 45:35
  Speaker 2: As Democratic governors with Republican legislators in our states, Trump
• 45:39
  Speaker 2: administration was going to come in and try to undermine
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: our elections. We were ready then. We got through that election.
• 45:45
  Speaker 2: We're going to be ready this cycle, too.
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: When you are such a prominent public figure, do you
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: find yourself having to— when you're getting attacked publicly, your family,
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: your children, your relatives— How do you handle their feelings
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: about your public attacks? And, I mean, you had a
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: very public kidnapping attempt, too.
• 46:06
  Speaker 4: This was in your first term.
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: But, like, how do you handle what you take? And, like,
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: what do you think about that? I have very strong
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: feelings about that just as a public figure with my.
• 46:18
  Speaker 4: Family and everything.
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: I know a lot— more people in my life get
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: hurt by things said about me than I do.
• 46:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 46:25
  Speaker 4: So I'm wondering, yeah.
• 46:26
  Speaker 2: It's the same. You know, one of the good things
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: about Whitmers is we have thick skin and a short memory.
• 46:33
  Speaker 2: You know, when people lob ugliness my way, you know,
• 46:37
  Speaker 2: I just keep moving forward. My family, though, it's harder
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: for them, right? My husband gets so upset. He just
• 46:44
  Speaker 2: hates it when people come at me and they come
• 46:45
  Speaker 2: at me all the time. I've told him just Tune
• 46:48
  Speaker 2: it out. Don't listen to it. Don't turn on the television. Like,
• 46:52
  Speaker 2: it's fine. I can handle it. But the family should
• 46:55
  Speaker 2: be off limits, number one. So people do say unkind
• 46:59
  Speaker 2: things on occasion about family or people around me, and
• 47:02
  Speaker 2: that's never acceptable. But if you're attacking me, welcome to
• 47:06
  Speaker 2: the party.
• 47:07
  Speaker 4: And also, I think it was something that you talked
• 47:09
  Speaker 4: about in your book.
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: It was, you know, like Big Gretch, like that nickname,
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: like owning it and taking it and turning it into
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: your own kind of thing.
• 47:17
  Speaker 4: Because he was the first person to call you that, right?
• 47:19
  Speaker 4: Was Trump the first?
• 47:19
  Speaker 2: No, he called me that woman from Michigan.
• 47:21
  Speaker 4: Oh, that woman from Michigan. How did Big Gretch come about?
• 47:25
  Speaker 2: I was standing up to him, and I was taking
• 47:26
  Speaker 2: a lot of crap for standing up to him. He
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: was singling me out. I started getting all the threats then.
• 47:32
  Speaker 2: And for whatever reason, the people in Detroit decided to
• 47:36
  Speaker 2: rally around me and started calling, you're coming for Big Gretch.
• 47:40
  Speaker 2: You got to come through us. It was the Detroiters
• 47:42
  Speaker 2: having my back. And I wasn't sure You know, when
• 47:45
  Speaker 2: I first heard the name, I'm like, is this like
• 47:47
  Speaker 2: with love or is this what? I don't like being
• 47:50
  Speaker 2: called Gretchen. I don't know many women who want big
• 47:52
  Speaker 2: on the front of their nickname. But when it was
• 47:55
  Speaker 2: shared with me and it was explained, no, this is
• 47:57
  Speaker 2: Detroiters railing to your defense and having your back. And
• 48:00
  Speaker 2: then a rap was created by G-Mac Cash, Big Gretch.
• 48:04
  Speaker 2: And it's become, you know, my thing now. It's my armor.
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: Well, I want you to know that my very first
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: Cabbage Patch kid was named Gretchen. That was my favorite
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: name growing up. I wanted to be named Gretchen. I
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: loved that name, and I knew exactly what I wanted
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: her to look like, and they got me her.
• 48:20
  Speaker 4: She had a different name, and I changed it to Gretchen.
• 48:22
  Speaker 4: So it's a solid name. What's your middle name? Esther. Oh,
• 48:25
  Speaker 4: Gretchen Esther.
• 48:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Okay. Named after my grandmother. Oh, okay.
• 48:29
  Speaker 4: That's nice. What is one of your favorite things about
• 48:32
  Speaker 4: this time of year in Michigan?
• 48:34
  Speaker 2: Oh, football.
• 48:35
  Speaker 3: I love it.
• 48:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you love football.
• 48:37
  Speaker 2: I do. I do. I went to Michigan State, so
• 48:39
  Speaker 2: I get off I thought I was going to be
• 48:41
  Speaker 2: a sports broadcaster, actually, when I went to state.
• 48:44
  Speaker 4: And then what happened? How did it pivot?
• 48:46
  Speaker 2: My dad, my wise father said, you know, so few
• 48:51
  Speaker 2: people understand state government, and it's right down the street.
• 48:54
  Speaker 2: MSU is about six miles from the state capitol. It's like,
• 48:58
  Speaker 2: why don't you apply for an internship and go see
• 49:00
  Speaker 2: what it's all about? And if you hate it, you've
• 49:03
  Speaker 2: learned something, and if you like it, great. And I
• 49:07
  Speaker 2: did that and I fell in love with public policy.
• 49:09
  Speaker 4: Wow. I love falling in love with public policy.
• 49:12
  Speaker 2: I know. What a dork.
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: Because I think for me, I learned all about down
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: ballot stuff when shitheads.
• 49:20
  Speaker 4: The fan. Well, actually, you know, in 2008 when Obama.
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: Was running, I was very involved for the first time
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: because it was so exciting.
• 49:26
  Speaker 4: So exciting. And, you know, and it was an electric atmosphere.
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: The idea that we could elect a black president was
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: just like– and who was this incredible candidate, right?
• 49:36
  Speaker 2: Incredible candidate.
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: And there's so many candidates now or politicians, I should say,
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: now that are running for different, you know, James Tallarico
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: is another guy that really kind of reminds me of Obama.
• 49:47
  Speaker 4: John Ossoff has has that.
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: I mean, personally, it's really important for me to see
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: women be elected because I just know how, but I like,
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: those are, those are examples of great men that are running,
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: you know, that have that same kind of style and
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: that are just direct, you know, and cause, cause I
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: would imagine getting into politics and public service in the
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: way in which you have that there, you know, you
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: have to forgive my language, but you know, you have
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: to kind of there's, there's a bullshit meter for a
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: lot of these politicians where a lot of them sound
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: like they're full of shit and it's all just, you know, blah, blah, blah.
• 50:27
  Speaker 2: Blah, blah.
• 50:27
  Speaker 4: And they're not saying anything.
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: And I want to know like how you think about
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: that when you're talking publicly, because you have to do it,
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: but you also want to be real.
• 50:39
  Speaker 4: And so how do you remain real?
• 50:42
  Speaker 2: Well, a couple of things. I often think about Hillary
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: Clinton walking through the fire before the rest of us
• 50:48
  Speaker 2: did and how she made it easier to show up
• 50:52
  Speaker 2: as myself. And I was talking to a woman during
• 50:55
  Speaker 2: my call time, all the hours of call time raising
• 50:57
  Speaker 2: money to run for office. And she said, show up
• 51:01
  Speaker 2: as yourself. And I wrote that on my whiteboard because
• 51:04
  Speaker 2: I thought it's just a good reminder. People don't Anyone
• 51:09
  Speaker 2: can smell a talking point a mile away. And I
• 51:13
  Speaker 2: know that people were critical that Hillary Clinton wasn't authentic, right?
• 51:17
  Speaker 2: She had her guard up for good reason. She'd been attacked.
• 51:21
  Speaker 2: She was the first. Like, she walked through that fire first.
• 51:24
  Speaker 2: I can show up with my leather jacket and swear
• 51:28
  Speaker 2: if I want to about the damn roads and be
• 51:31
  Speaker 2: who I am and have a beer with people and
• 51:34
  Speaker 2: show up as I am. And that's a gift because
• 51:36
  Speaker 2: others walk through the fire first. And I'm always thinking
• 51:39
  Speaker 2: about how do we help others show up as they are?
• 51:43
  Speaker 2: Just be who you are. I don't have energy to
• 51:45
  Speaker 2: be someone I'm not, right? I don't have the bandwidth
• 51:49
  Speaker 2: or the temperament to deal with BS anymore. I want
• 51:53
  Speaker 2: to get things done. And that means get cutting right
• 51:56
  Speaker 2: to the quick of things and showing up as I am.
• 51:59
  Speaker 2: And it's a gift that I've been able to do
• 52:01
  Speaker 2: that because other women went through the BS first.
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but the thing with Hillary Clinton is, you know,
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: I don't think she, as you just said yourself, she
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: had her guard up. So she wasn't truly who she
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: is because we've seen who she truly is post-election. And
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: that is actually, oh, we wish that person had been
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: running in a sense, you know? I mean, I'm a
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: huge fan of Hillary Clinton. I think she's, I wish
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: she could be our president right now. But she did
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: have her guard up and you could feel that her
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: guard was up. So for her to say, give the advice,
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: show them who you are, is kind of ironic because
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: she wasn't able to do that in the most important election.
• 52:36
  Speaker 2: I think when you're the first, there's so much pressure
• 52:40
  Speaker 2: and you're trying to make people comfortable with, you know,
• 52:43
  Speaker 2: your ability to lead. I think President Obama had to
• 52:46
  Speaker 2: be perfect. Yes.
• 52:48
  Speaker 5: Right?
• 52:48
  Speaker 4: Yes, yes.
• 52:49
  Speaker 2: Had he done a scintilla of what we know is
• 52:52
  Speaker 2: happening every day in this White House— He never would
• 52:55
  Speaker 2: have been successful, and yet he had to have that
• 52:59
  Speaker 2: armor on. When you're the first, you have to, and
• 53:01
  Speaker 2: you make it easier for others to show up after you.
• 53:03
  Speaker 4: And there's a little room for forgiveness about that.
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: People are very harsh to judge and say, oh, okay, well,
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: Obama was too soft on this, too soft on that.
• 53:12
  Speaker 4: And it's like he was the first black president.
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: He was under an immeasurable amount of pressure to do
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: things properly for criticism.
• 53:23
  Speaker 4: So let's do our caller.
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: We have one caller that's calling in with a question.
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: Let's do our caller before.
• 53:28
  Speaker 4: Yes, let's go.
• 53:29
  Speaker 5: OK, so we've got Julia calling in and she says,
• 53:33
  Speaker 5: Dear Chelsea, I took my nephew on an overnight trip
• 53:36
  Speaker 5: to see your Detroit show in February.
• 53:38
  Speaker 2: He's in South Carolina. I live in Florida.
• 53:41
  Speaker 5: We were in the front row of your show and
• 53:43
  Speaker 5: you said only gay guys ever sit in the front row.
• 53:45
  Speaker 5: And you got to my nephew and said something like, well,
• 53:48
  Speaker 5: I don't know about you.
• 53:48
  Speaker 2: You're not dressed gay.
• 53:50
  Speaker 5: He called me the next day to tell me he
• 53:52
  Speaker 5: loved the show. He was glad you didn't talk about
• 53:54
  Speaker 5: Trump because he likes Trump.
• 53:56
  Speaker 2: That was news to me.
• 53:58
  Speaker 5: I mailed him the diary of Anne Frank a few
• 54:00
  Speaker 5: days later and told him to read it.
• 54:01
  Speaker 4: He hasn't. Nice layup.
• 54:04
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 54:04
  Speaker 5: He rejected my tag of him on social media at
• 54:06
  Speaker 5: your show. I've taken my nephew on a summer vacation
• 54:10
  Speaker 5: for the past 10 plus years. He's now 17 years old.
• 54:13
  Speaker 5: He's been dating a girl for about two years whose
• 54:15
  Speaker 5: family is MAGA and Pentecostal. One purpose of this year's
• 54:19
  Speaker 5: summer trip became an assessment of my nephew's character. Toward
• 54:22
  Speaker 5: that end, I made drag queen bingo brunch reservations for
• 54:25
  Speaker 5: our second day in Denver. I told him the plan
• 54:28
  Speaker 5: in advance and he told me he'd never seen a
• 54:30
  Speaker 5: drag queen and voiced no objection. One of the queens
• 54:33
  Speaker 5: came to our table a couple of times and could
• 54:35
  Speaker 5: not have been kinder to my nephew. At the end
• 54:37
  Speaker 5: of bingo brunch, I asked if he'd like a picture
• 54:39
  Speaker 5: with the queens and he said no. Then as we
• 54:42
  Speaker 5: were about to go, the friendly queen came back to
• 54:44
  Speaker 5: our table and I took a picture of her with
• 54:46
  Speaker 5: my nephew. As soon as we got outside the restaurant,
• 54:48
  Speaker 5: my nephew lost it and said I disrespected him because
• 54:52
  Speaker 5: he told me he didn't want to be photographed with
• 54:53
  Speaker 5: them because, quote, that person is against my Christianity and
• 54:57
  Speaker 5: I will never be photographed with a person like that.
• 55:00
  Speaker 5: I shouted, you know I'm gay. And he responded, yes,
• 55:03
  Speaker 5: and you're against my Christianity too, but I respect your views,
• 55:06
  Speaker 5: so you need to respect mine. I guaranteed him I
• 55:09
  Speaker 5: will never respect bigotry and that our relationship is over
• 55:12
  Speaker 5: as long as he holds those views. I told him
• 55:15
  Speaker 5: if he ever escapes whatever cult he's fallen into, even
• 55:17
  Speaker 5: if it's 10 years from now, look me up and
• 55:19
  Speaker 5: I'll be there for him. I barely spoke to him
• 55:21
  Speaker 5: for the rest of the trip, and I did send
• 55:23
  Speaker 5: some angry texts to him when we got back to
• 55:25
  Speaker 5: our Airbnb, calling him a Nazi and some other choice words.
• 55:29
  Speaker 5: When I got out of the shower the next morning,
• 55:31
  Speaker 5: he and his suitcase were gone. I assume he Ubered
• 55:33
  Speaker 5: his own way to the airport. I still have not
• 55:35
  Speaker 5: spoken to him. My nephew is my younger brother's only child.
• 55:39
  Speaker 5: I started taking him on a trip every summer when
• 55:41
  Speaker 5: he was seven or eight. My brother is a homeless
• 55:43
  Speaker 5: addict and has never quite stepped up to the plate.
• 55:46
  Speaker 5: I've provided a lot of support for many years, and
• 55:49
  Speaker 5: someone once referred to me as my nephew's cultural attache,
• 55:52
  Speaker 5: and I like that. I've tried to instill good values
• 55:54
  Speaker 5: in him, and I wanted him to appreciate the arts,
• 55:57
  Speaker 5: to know that poverty is not his destiny, and to
• 55:59
  Speaker 5: have experiences that will one day make him the most
• 56:02
  Speaker 5: interesting person at the party. Needless to say, I just
• 56:05
  Speaker 5: assumed he'd grow up to at least be an ally.
• 56:08
  Speaker 2: Have I overreacted?
• 56:09
  Speaker 5: I feel guilty, but I also think it's important for
• 56:11
  Speaker 5: him to learn that there are consequences for bigoted views.
• 56:14
  Speaker 5: Is there something short of an exception that might help
• 56:17
  Speaker 5: my nephew become a better person? After all, that's been
• 56:20
  Speaker 5: the end goal all along.
• 56:21
  Speaker 2: Julia.
• 56:22
  Speaker 4: Hi, Julia. We have our special guest. Governor Whitmer is
• 56:26
  Speaker 4: here today.
• 56:27
  Speaker 2: Hi, Julia.
• 56:27
  Speaker 3: I love Governor Whitmer.
• 56:29
  Speaker 6: Yes. I think she plays Trump very well and knows
• 56:34
  Speaker 6: how to kind of get things done.
• 56:37
  Speaker 3: I think you're an excellent governor.
• 56:39
  Speaker 2: Thank you. I love drag queen bingo, too, by the way.
• 56:45
  Speaker 4: So you've had no communication with your nephew since this letter?
• 56:48
  Speaker 3: No, I have not. Okay.
• 56:51
  Speaker 4: I think it's always important to display.
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: I mean, you've had a major impact on his life, obviously,
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: because he was open enough to even go to a
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: drag show with you. So I kind of, while I
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: disagree with almost everything he says, I mean, if he's respecting,
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: you know, you, you do have to respect him if
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: he says he doesn't want a picture. I mean, that's
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: just one instance. But I get why he was upset.
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: He said no, and then you took the picture anyway.
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: And I know what you're doing, and I try to
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: do the same thing with my nieces and nephews. And
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: it is very upsetting when their views differ from yours
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: or there's any sort of bigotry. But also calling him
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: a Nazi, I don't think it really helps kick the
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: ball forward. But I do think acts of kindness and
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: acts of love within family, without trying to impart your views...
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: is just a good way to keep.
• 57:48
  Speaker 4: You.
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: Don't have to necessarily deal with him, but you can
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: show up in his life in ways that are supportive
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: of him, even though you disagree with his views, in
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: the hopes that at some point he will wake up
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: and realize that he is in a cult. And I
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: like to extend and kind of demonstrate kindness... to those
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: kinds of people, just little, like, drops of water almost,
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: I think of, just to say, like, remind them there
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: is another way and there is someone over here in
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: case he does come your way.
• 58:20
  Speaker 4: And so whatever that looks like for you, right? Wouldn't you?
• 58:23
  Speaker 2: I agree. I think, you know, you are the adult
• 58:31
  Speaker 2: in his life that he needs, right? whether he recognizes
• 58:35
  Speaker 2: it now or not, and whether or not it's, um,
• 58:39
  Speaker 2: you've had this, you know, I think struggling relationship, you're
• 58:44
  Speaker 2: an amazing person to be in his life and, um,
• 58:48
  Speaker 2: to somehow reach out and, and just say you're there
• 58:52
  Speaker 2: and you, you know, want to keep that door open. I,
• 58:57
  Speaker 2: I feel like he's young, and young men are not
• 59:01
  Speaker 2: the smartest, thoughtful people. He's going to develop and learn,
• 59:05
  Speaker 2: and hopefully, if he thinks there's still a possible door
• 59:09
  Speaker 2: open with you, he'll walk through it one day.
• 59:12
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: And I think maybe you can also like extend an
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: olive branch in the sense that maybe you want to
• 59:16
  Speaker 1: write him an email. I don't know what your favorite
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: form of communication is, but maybe just say like, you know,
• 59:22
  Speaker 1: I shouldn't have called you a Nazi. Like, That isn't helpful,
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: I don't think, to attack the other side necessarily, especially
• 59:31
  Speaker 1: when his brain is forming, because he's going to look
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: at you like, oh, like you're crazy. You know, you
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: want to remain calm and steady. So I think it
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: would be worthwhile to write him a letter or an
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: email and just apologize for your own behavior without.
• 59:45
  Speaker 4: And also reassure him that, you know, in a sense, like,
• 59:49
  Speaker 4: you know, I.
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: Hope you do realize that there is a lot of
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: hatefulness coming from, you know, without calling it a cult,
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: but like this kind of religion, even though religion is
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: based on love, compassion, kindness, and all of these things,
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 1: there's a lot of hatefulness coming. And so you don't
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: want to be hateful towards him. You just want to
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: call that out and that you don't want to act
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: like that. And I think you should take I think
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: you should take responsibility for the way you behaved in
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 1: the idea of inviting him back in if his views
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 1: evolve and there is some sort of edification.
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 6: You know, I don't believe I disrespected him by taking
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 6: that picture. Because when I asked, the drag queens were
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 6: on the other side of the restaurant. So he said no,
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 6: and I didn't think anything of it.
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 3: But when the.
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 6: Drag queen came back to the table, you know, I
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 6: asked again.
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 3: She said, oh, sure, I'll take a picture with him.
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 6: And so when we got outside the restaurant and he
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 6: accused me of disrespecting him by taking that picture, I
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 6: had to stop him and say.
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 3: Wait, why didn't he want the picture?
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 6: And then he's like, because that person's against my Christianity
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 6: and so are you. And I did ask him if
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 6: he called himself a white Christian nationalist. And he said, no,
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 6: but he's a white Christian who supports his country. But
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 6: I mean- On the basis of all that hate I
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 6: heard him spew, he doesn't know what Christian even means.
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 4: No, he doesn't.
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 3: And he doesn't support his country.
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 6: He supports a man who is actively destroying our country
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 6: and would probably set fire to our Constitution.
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 3: So he's just.
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 6: He has no critical thinking skills at this point. And
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 6: I've had people tell me that, you know, guys don't,
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 6: their brains don't fully develop until they're 26. And, you know,
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 6: he's dating a woman, a young woman whose family is
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 6: Pentecostal and MAGA. And last year, my nephew was not
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 6: like this at all. And the only new variable is
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 6: that he's hanging out with her family a lot more.
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 6: And I believe the girlfriend's dad, he's looking up to
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 6: that man as a Christian role model. And because he
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 6: doesn't have anybody else really in his life who can
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 6: fill that role. But I did tell him that, you know,
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 6: I thought he had picked a bad role model for that.
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 6: And if if he couldn't find somebody else to fill
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 6: the role, I suggested he looked to Pope Leo or
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 6: Dolly Parton.
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 3: And I'm.
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 6: You know, he just, I don't know, he lacks critical
• 1:02:38
  Speaker 6: thinking skills.
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: I know, but these are all things you can't control
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 1: in this moment. So what you can control is how
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 1: you're interacting with him. What you can control is how
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: you engage with him to show him another side of,
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 1: you know, you can remind him what Christianity is about
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: without berating him for his actions, because that's not going
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: to get you what you're looking to get from him.
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: Hopefully this relationship is temporary. Hopefully he's not with this
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 1: girl forever, but you can't break them up. So all
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 1: you can do is add little sprinkles of like reasonableness
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 1: into his life and just extend an olive branch and
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 1: just hold your fucking nose.
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 4: Do you know what I mean?
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 1: And just do- be the bigger person and see the
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 1: forest for the trees. Just understand that this is a bigger,
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: longer story and that there is a possibility at some
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: point that he could come to his senses and you
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 1: guys can engage.
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 4: And just, I would just say double down on love.
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: And kindness and to show him an example of that
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: and acceptance of others. And you don't have to lecture
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 1: or berate or insult him. But just be there in
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: a sense for that. Just be there.
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 5: Yeah, this is kind of like a you catch more
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 5: flies with honey situation.
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 2: Like, if you're out of his life, then the.
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 5: Only input he's getting is from this, like, girlfriend's family. And, like,
• 1:04:02
  Speaker 5: so you want to be there to at least, like,
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 5: provide some balances and have these discussions with him. Like,
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 5: you know, if he has one belief, like, you can
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 5: talk about, like, well, have you considered this other thing?
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 5: And be that sort of balance person.
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 6: Honestly, in that moment, you know, I honestly think I
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 6: would do it the same again, because I didn't know
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 6: if this was a recent development that possibly could be
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 6: nipped in the bud. And so I didn't think it
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 6: was based on these views he's telling me. I mean,
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 6: I don't think that even merits the conversation, you know,
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 6: in that moment. It's because it's just unacceptable and inexcusable
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 6: end of discussion. And And then I sent him those
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 6: texts because I didn't think he quite got how badly
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 6: that fractured our relationship and how badly it disrespected me.
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 6: And because, you know, after that, a few minutes later,
• 1:04:57
  Speaker 6: after I yelled at him, he said, OK, what's next
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 6: on the agenda?
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 3: And, you know, like he had just. thought we'd moved
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 3: on already.
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 4: I know, but you're kind of fixating.
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: You're fixating on that moment instead of looking at the
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 1: bigger picture, and you have to look at the bigger picture.
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 4: Would you agree, Governor? Yeah.
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 2: I think he's really lucky to have someone like you
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 2: he's related to. He needs you in his life and
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 2: to be in his life to, as Chelsea suggested, write
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 2: him something. It doesn't have to be long. It doesn't
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 2: have to rehash all the things. It can be you know,
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 2: I'm still your aunt, I still love you, and I'm
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 2: open to having a relationship with you when you're ready,
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 2: and I'm here rooting you on. And that in and
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 2: of itself may be enough today, or maybe he'll have
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 2: that so that the last communication from you is not
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 2: the text messages where you were feeling so hurt by
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 2: his reaction, but opening up a line of communication if
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 2: he's willing to have one. And you'll feel better doing that.
• 1:06:01
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 4: Just do that for the greater good of everyone, you know,
• 1:06:05
  Speaker 4: to keep.
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 3: I think that's a great idea.
• 1:06:08
  Speaker 1: Just start with some little small acts of just keeping
• 1:06:11
  Speaker 1: the communication open so you don't lose them all together.
• 1:06:14
  Speaker 4: And just start with that.
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: And keep us posted. I would like to see, you know,
• 1:06:19
  Speaker 1: what develops and how it develops. But just understand you
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 1: are not in control of his life. You can't just
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 1: shut it down with a conversation.
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 4: You know what I mean?
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 1: It is baked into their systems. People get involved in this,
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 1: and sometimes it takes a long time to come out
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 1: of it, and sometimes they never do.
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 4: So I would just do what you can.
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 1: As an aunt who really cares in the hopes that
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 1: you can get him back one day.
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 3: I will do that. Thank you.
• 1:06:44
  Speaker 1: Thank you for calling in, and I'm sorry about all
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 1: of this.
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 3: I appreciate it.
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 6: And I appreciate your help and your willingness to help.
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 3: Thank you so much.
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 4: Take care.
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 2: You're really good at this.
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 4: Oh, thank you, Governor.
• 1:06:59
  Speaker 2: That was great advice.
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 4: You're really good at being a governor.
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 2: Thank you. I have my moments. I know.
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: And your turn is up now. So we're just going
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 1: to have to wait and see where we see you again.
• 1:07:07
  Speaker 2: I know.
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 4: I have a feeling we'll be seeing you, though.
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 2: Well, I hope so.
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 4: We'll be seeing you.
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 1: And thank you so much for your time today. I
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 1: really was looking forward to sitting down with you, and
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 1: I'm so glad we finally got the chance.
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 2: Me too. Thank you.
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 1:07:22
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• 1:07:26
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• 1:07:27
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• 1:07:36
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• 1:07:40
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