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Could we just make sure everyone's recording? All

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right, I'm recording on my side. I'm recording.

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1:46

Mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bastay,

1:48

everybody. Happy Karen Bastay. Happy Karen

1:50

Bastay. I love speaking to mayors

1:53

because after

1:55

years and years of speaking to politicians, I

1:58

have been told by... I

2:00

would say like the majority of politicians that

2:03

mayors have the most direct impact on

2:05

on your life Like

2:07

if you live in a city a mayor

2:09

has more of an impact on your life than the

2:12

president of your country does and most People don't think

2:14

this most people are out there

2:16

in the streets, especially in America. I've noticed like

2:18

in America It's all about national politics Christian I

2:20

feel like of all of us you have the

2:22

highest stake in this conversation because you are a

2:25

resident of Los Angeles I do and you know,

2:27

I've had some experience with mayors Boris

2:30

Johnson A

2:36

lot of feeling Boris

2:40

Johnson and Karen I have no view of

2:42

it right now because I'm She's

2:45

currently raining as the mayor. I I

2:47

want to speak to her about I

2:49

mean everything obviously but You

2:52

know LA right now. I think one of the

2:54

big topics obviously is homelessness Yeah,

2:57

yeah, I find that people are

2:59

more angry at homeless people

3:01

than they are at The

3:03

situations that make people homeless. Yeah, like they make it

3:05

They make it seem like people leave home kiss their

3:07

family and they're like alright, honey. I'm off to be

3:09

homeless See you soon. Do you know the mean and

3:11

it's like no one wants to be homeless Yeah,

3:15

you know how you know, you know, nobody wants

3:18

to be homeless is because all homeless people try

3:20

to build homes Have you ever noticed that? Yeah.

3:22

Yeah. Yeah, especially like in LA

3:24

It's such an expensive city. I think

3:26

I've only had the Misfortune

3:29

and fortune of living in really

3:31

expensive places London, New York LA and

3:33

this LA housing. There's an affordable

3:35

housing crisis here and

3:37

it's just like It's

3:40

no surprise that there are people who have full-time

3:42

jobs and they live in their cars like that

3:44

That's the thing that like blows my mind. I'm

3:46

like you have people who are doing all the

3:48

right things, right? They went to yeah, they got

3:51

a job or they went to have a trade

3:53

like they are contributing to society And

3:55

they still can't afford an apartment and

3:57

even if you're not contributing to society

4:00

I don't believe that you should have to live

4:02

on the street. You understand my view of the

4:04

social contract. And it's just

4:07

LA is terrifyingly expensive. LA

4:10

is a place where like rich people are

4:12

nervous. So that makes you think like what is

4:14

going on here and I don't know. How does

4:16

the mayor fix that? Because I think LA

4:20

in many ways starts to suffer from

4:22

all of the bigger problems that America

4:24

has federally sometimes. You know? I

4:27

don't know. I don't know what you're saying. If

4:29

it comes up while you're talking about the homelessness

4:31

and everything, I had two questions if I could

4:34

sneak in too. It depends

4:36

on what they are Josh. But go ahead. Okay.

4:39

Well one is about how you

4:41

balance or if you can balance

4:43

making illegal something that can inevitably

4:46

happen to a person. To

4:48

me the way that we've in America

4:50

made homelessness illegal is like

4:53

tantamount to making becoming old illegal.

4:56

But it's inevitability under certain circumstances.

4:58

Yeah. It is something that is

5:00

completely out of your control. Yeah.

5:03

And then the second thing is about if

5:06

she feels the need or thinks

5:08

there will be a need to

5:11

override or overpower

5:13

the people in

5:15

the way that a lot of LA

5:18

residents end up voting against their own

5:20

interests because they're worried about their property

5:22

value. They don't want this piece of

5:24

land becoming single family housing or whatever.

5:28

So then eventually someone may have to

5:30

step in and be like I

5:32

know that you think you're doing what's best for

5:34

you but it's ruining everything. And

5:36

if she thinks the state should

5:38

have that type of power, she thinks she'll have

5:41

to do anything like that because it's going to

5:43

keep getting worse. You know?

5:47

It's the classic case of nimbyism, right? Not

5:49

in my backyard. Yes, exactly. And it's so

5:52

easy to become that person, Trevor. Oh it

5:54

is. It is. But

5:56

I'm like, Lewis, who's that? Who's that? I'm walking

5:58

down the street. Can you go and check? I'm like,

6:00

there's so lot of lemons. Someone's been stealing my

6:02

lemons from my lemon tree.

6:05

We have a lemon thief. And

6:07

they take them in like bundles. And

6:09

I'm like, you just have to ask.

6:12

Just ask me, I'd give you my lemons.

6:14

There's a lemon thief. And I'm like speaking

6:16

to the neighbors about it. And I'm like,

6:18

I'm supposed to be a socialist and I'm

6:20

getting furious about lemons. So yeah, the nimbyism,

6:23

it happens. It comes to all of us. And we just-

6:25

It does come to all of us. Yes. It's

6:27

funny. I used to steal lemons all the time. Well,

6:30

not steal actually. I used to walk around

6:32

neighborhoods with my mom when I

6:34

was younger. And we

6:37

would find all the streets where

6:39

people had fruit trees. And

6:42

all we would do is just take,

6:44

it was like blackberries. So

6:46

you would steal people's fruit.

6:48

Blackberries, apples, lemons, limes, peaches,

6:52

anything that we could find hanging. We

6:55

didn't even think of it as stealing. It is a tree

6:57

that is growing. The

7:00

thing is they take a lot of the lemons,

7:02

Trevor. They take like 10 lemons

7:04

at a time. And if you ask me, I will give them to

7:06

you. Wait, wait, wait. How do you know it's

7:08

one person taking 10 lemons and not 10 people taking one

7:10

lemon? That's a good point. But

7:13

my spirit tells me it's one person taking

7:15

a bumper lemon. I just, on a spiritual

7:18

level, you know Nigerians, you know when they're-

7:20

You can't feel it. You can't feel something

7:22

inside you. I can feel it. You say,

7:24

see, balls. I just know it. No

7:28

way. Maybe, listen, people knock on the door and

7:30

ask. If you ask, take- I have never thought

7:32

an owner of a lemon tree cares about the

7:34

lemons on it. I know, I know.

7:36

I mean, the fact that they even say like, if life gives

7:38

you lemons, make lemons, like the, you know what I mean? That

7:41

tells you lemons themselves are already not like a

7:43

sought after produce. Okay.

7:47

Think about what that phrase even means.

7:49

It's like, if life gives you lemons, if

7:51

life brings the worst to you, try

7:53

and make something good out of it. And then Christiana, they're

7:55

fighting like this. It's my worst. I'm

7:58

just a grateful person. Okay. the

8:00

lemons in my life. When I was growing up

8:02

in the township in South Africa, nobody

8:06

had anything. And what I mean by

8:08

that is you had the very bare minimum. Everyone

8:10

had a basic

8:12

structure. You know,

8:14

sometimes you didn't have running water inside the

8:17

house. So there was a shared tap or

8:19

faucets, you know, that connected a

8:21

few houses. There were

8:23

outdoor toilets, etc. Everyone had nothing,

8:25

the bare minimum. And

8:28

because of that, everyone

8:30

shared everything with everyone. And what I mean

8:32

by that is like space, like

8:34

someone would walk through your yard to get

8:36

to another yard. And it was just like,

8:39

yeah, this is the shortest way possible. So

8:41

you would walk through your neighbor's backyards all

8:43

the time. And you just greet people. Hello,

8:45

hello, hello, hello. It was like, yeah, because

8:47

I mean, what do you

8:50

of course you need to move through my space

8:52

to get to another space and it's convenient. I

8:54

get that. And there

8:57

were all of these instances where people

8:59

were quote unquote infringing on another

9:02

person's space. But

9:04

it wasn't felt that way. It wasn't it wasn't treated

9:06

that way. And interestingly,

9:09

you'd see one family in the

9:11

neighborhood, they would start

9:14

to do well, you know, a parent of theirs would

9:16

get a job in the city or whatever it was.

9:18

And they would build a

9:20

wall would be the first thing they'd build around their house,

9:22

the house had no walls, and then there'd be a wall.

9:25

And they would put like spikes on the top of their

9:27

wall, so that you couldn't climb over the wall. And

9:30

then they would get a car at some point. And

9:32

then they would get and it's amazing how, as

9:35

the people got more money, they

9:37

became more and more isolated from the

9:39

community around them. They stopped

9:41

speaking to people as much they stopped getting

9:43

the occasional weak tie that would meander through

9:46

their yard and have a random conversation with

9:48

them. Their children played in their

9:50

yard and were never in the street and all of

9:52

a sudden became ostracized from the other kids. And

9:55

it's amazing to me how in

9:57

this machine that we live in, we've

9:59

all been conditioned and we've all been taught

10:01

to get as much as possible. But then

10:03

in that, you know, like like the ring

10:05

from Lord of the Rings, once you have

10:08

your precious, you are

10:10

terrified of sharing it with anyone or anyone taking

10:12

it from you. And so you have to become

10:14

like a like a golem that goes into a

10:17

cave and hides with your precious. And we don't

10:19

realize what we lose funny enough, you know, and

10:21

by the way, I'm guilty of it in many

10:23

ways, I think many of us are, but you

10:25

take for granted what you lose, you take for

10:27

granted the fact that you're

10:29

constantly not with the people

10:31

around you, because you're constantly afraid that they

10:33

will want to take the toasters in your

10:35

garage. When in fact, you

10:38

don't need that toaster, you didn't care for that toaster.

10:40

And the thing you actually need in your life is

10:42

community and somebody to look after your kids who you

10:44

actually like, who you didn't hire from an app, who

10:47

is forced to be on that app, because they

10:49

also don't have it's just like, it's just like

10:51

a wild thing. My language is funny, Lewis walks

10:53

with Obie every day to school, but he does

10:55

about 10,000 steps

10:57

a day, which in LA makes him a crazy person, because

10:59

no, it really does in LA. Every

11:01

time we walk in, we run into friends who are

11:04

driving, they're like, why are you walking and

11:06

Lewis is like, well, this is the way we

11:08

see people when we see the world and we

11:10

get to know our neighbors and in a car

11:12

centric city like this, that way,

11:15

your friends can live completely across town,

11:17

it's really isolating. And there aren't many ways

11:19

to actually find that community

11:21

you're talking about, you know, I mean, because

11:23

you're always in your car, or you're

11:25

always at work, and then you go and buy

11:27

something from the supermarket, and then you come home.

11:30

Yes. And I, it's something I've been like, oh, I'm

11:32

in LA, I know all these people, but I never get to

11:34

see them. And it's because like, everyone's in their

11:36

own mini fortress. And if you want to go on

11:38

a date, you have to hire a babysitter through an

11:40

app who may quit two weeks later, not that that

11:42

happened to me. Yeah,

11:46

but yeah, okay, we're gonna, I'm gonna,

11:48

I'm gonna jump get ready for the

11:50

mayor. We're gonna talk about homelessness

11:52

crime, and what it

11:55

is like being the first

11:58

woman, I think, and then the

12:00

second African American mayor

12:03

in LA, which is pretty wild. It's crazy

12:05

that in 2023, there are

12:07

still first anything. Yeah.

12:11

But let's get into it. Mayor Karen Bath.

12:18

Mr. Trevor,

12:20

well, well,

12:23

well, we're

12:25

rolling. Oh, okay. Then then we can we can

12:27

jump into it. I guess

12:31

jumping straight into it in the

12:33

most apt way possible. Congratulations. You

12:35

just celebrated one year. Yes.

12:38

Of being the mayor of Los Angeles. Yes,

12:40

it has been an exhilarating year. Yeah,

12:43

he has. How many moments have

12:45

you regretted taking the job? You

12:47

know what? I haven't. You haven't really

12:49

have not even once. No, I don't

12:51

know. But I will tell you though,

12:53

I wake up some mornings going, I'm

12:55

a mayor. But

12:59

but no regrets. No, it's

13:02

a massive job. It is

13:05

being a mayor of any city is

13:07

is a monumental task. Being

13:09

the mayor of Los

13:12

Angeles is, I mean,

13:14

is akin to being, you know, a governor

13:17

in some places, right? And a president

13:19

in other places. Because because of how much

13:21

your job entails. Let's get into

13:24

that aspect of it. To

13:26

help me understand, I think for many people who will be listening

13:28

to this. What is

13:30

the mayor of Los Angeles tasked with doing? What

13:32

is? What what is

13:34

under your scope? What are you capable

13:36

of doing? What are you not capable

13:39

of doing? What's the job of mayor? Well,

13:41

let me give you a couple of examples. The

13:44

job Los Angeles is one city

13:46

in a county of 88 cities, and

13:48

just just happens to be largest. A

13:51

mayor is not in charge of schools. The

13:53

mayor is in charge of the police department and

13:56

44 other city departments.

13:58

But social services like

14:00

healthcare and the jails

14:03

and other poverty-related programs,

14:06

I'm not in charge of. So I work

14:08

in conjunction with the county. Now the

14:10

good news for me is that because

14:12

I've been involved in politics, not just

14:15

in elected office, but I'm being on

14:17

the ground as an organizer and activist,

14:19

I have deep long-term relationships with everybody

14:21

on every level. So that has helped

14:23

me tremendously. It's funny you say

14:25

not schools particularly. I cannot

14:28

tell you how many people have said to me, you're speaking

14:30

to the mayor, talk to her about the schools.

14:33

Right. Talk to her about the schools. I'm

14:35

happy to talk about them, but I have no authority.

14:37

You have no authority over them? No, I do

14:39

not. Do you think people know what you have authority

14:41

over and what you don't? Oh, no, absolutely not.

14:43

But I'm going to tell you something, Trevor. This

14:46

is my third office. I was in the state

14:48

office and the federal office. People have

14:50

no idea what any of these offices do. So whenever

14:52

I have a community meeting, I have to spend the

14:54

first half hour doing civics. I

14:56

wonder, who do you think we

14:59

should blame? Is that schooling? Is that

15:01

education? No, I think

15:03

it's our American culture. In what

15:05

way? Because Americans are very apolitical

15:07

and ahistorical. Now ask somebody about

15:10

a sports team or a celebrity

15:12

and they can tell you everything.

15:15

Ask them who governs the schools and

15:17

who takes care of the trash. I

15:19

don't know. It's the congressperson. They

15:22

can tell you exactly how many home runs somebody

15:24

has hit, but not who's running their neighborhood. That's

15:27

right. Your journey is in

15:30

many ways almost

15:32

perfectly designed for you to be at this

15:34

moment in your life. I was reading through

15:37

your history and through your life. I

15:39

mean, it's quite a story journey. When you

15:42

were a young girl, your

15:45

father really, I guess, inspired you. Through

15:48

the things that he showed you, inspired you to

15:50

become an activist. You wanted to

15:52

be part of changing your world. That's not

15:54

what most kids want. That's not what most

15:56

kids dream of. What was it about

15:58

activism that made you think, to get involved in

16:00

that. Well, you know what, I think it was

16:03

the time period, the historical time period when I

16:05

grew up, where change was happening all over the

16:07

country and really all over the world. So it

16:09

was the civil rights movement. And as a kid,

16:12

I was watching it on TV with

16:14

my father. And he would explain to me what

16:16

the South was like, because he was from the

16:18

South. Right. He was part of that generation that

16:20

came post-World War II. And

16:23

so you thought to yourself, this is it? Absolutely. All I

16:25

wanted to do was hurry up and grow up so that

16:27

I could be a part of a movement. That's what I

16:29

wanted to do. What was the first movement you were a

16:31

part of? Really at school, you know, working

16:33

as a middle school activist.

16:35

And then the first campaign I worked

16:37

on was Bobby Kennedy's presidential campaign. Wow.

16:40

And I was in the ninth grade.

16:43

Wow. What were you doing as part of

16:45

the campaign? Oh, you know what

16:47

I did? I signed up my mother to be

16:50

a precinct officer. Really? But I

16:52

did it. She never knew. Not

16:54

until many years later. So I

16:56

went up and down my block. I knocked on the doors and

16:58

I told them why I thought Bobby Kennedy would be the best

17:00

president. And what were you saying at this age? Why did you

17:02

think he'd be the best president? Well, you know, there were two

17:04

things that were happening then. It was 1967, 1968.

17:08

It was the war in Vietnam. And

17:11

it was the student movement and the civil

17:13

rights movement. It was kind of the end

17:15

of the civil rights movement, the black power

17:17

movement. And I was talking about how I

17:19

thought he would end the war and how

17:21

I thought he would improve civil rights. And

17:24

I was very passionate about it. I believed

17:27

it very deeply. And then when he was

17:29

assassinated, my whole world just collapsed because

17:31

then I really kind of lost faith and

17:33

said, I mean, Martin Luther King was

17:36

killed. Kennedy was killed. And people,

17:38

activists were being killed every day.

17:41

Student activists, black Panthers, you

17:43

know, there were always these

17:45

murders. And so that made

17:47

me really kind of for a few years kind

17:49

of lose a little hope. So I

17:52

left the country when I graduated high school. I was

17:54

17. I had never been anywhere, you know, my family

17:56

had never been on an airplane, but

17:58

I worked through school and. I graduated

18:00

on Thursday and I left the country

18:02

on Tuesday and didn't know what the heck I was doing.

18:05

Where did you go? I went to London and

18:08

woke up the next day in a

18:10

hostel going, what did I just do?

18:12

But fortunately I brought a round trip

18:14

ticket because I thought I was leaving. I'm done.

18:17

You thought you were gone forever? Yeah, I did. What

18:19

brought you back then? Well, fortunately I

18:21

had a round trip ticket. Right. But

18:24

when I was over there, people were

18:26

protesting to free Angela Davis. And

18:29

I knew Angela Davis. I met her because

18:31

she was a teacher at UCLA and I

18:33

used to ride my bicycle to UCLA and

18:35

sit in her classes. And so

18:37

I felt kind of embarrassed that people around the

18:39

world were... Fighting to free. To

18:41

free somebody I knew. And so I went home

18:44

and I said, no, I need to go home and I

18:46

have to make change at home. And

18:48

that's where I've been. You

18:50

know, making change is a task

18:54

that I think oftentimes sounds a lot easier

18:56

than it is. Because I

18:59

think many people want to make change. Most

19:04

people do not want to put

19:06

the work in for that change to actually take

19:08

place. Yeah, that's true. If I

19:10

say to an activist, what is the hardest part of being an

19:12

activist? They will say to me, it's

19:15

realizing how slow change actually

19:17

is on the ground, how

19:19

slow it actually is. People

19:21

talk about Karen Bass before she

19:24

was Karen Bass working in state office

19:26

or on a federal level or as

19:28

mayor. Everyone says

19:31

you were connected to the people. You have

19:33

this affinity for the people for

19:35

what was happening on the ground. I

19:38

guess my question is two parts. One,

19:40

do you think that has

19:42

led to or that has been part of the reason

19:44

you've been able to be successful politically? And

19:47

secondly, what do you think other politicians miss

19:49

by not being on the ground before they

19:51

get into politics? Well, I think what

19:53

a lot of people miss is their purpose.

19:55

Like why are they running for office? Why

19:57

are they there? I think a lot of people.

20:00

look at it as a career or they say,

20:02

well, I'm running for this because I'm gonna run

20:04

for that. To me, I've always been driven by

20:06

the issues and I think it's always critical

20:09

to leave your ego outside and stay focused

20:11

on what you're trying to do. But Trevor,

20:14

you hit it on for why I've been

20:16

happy now because I'm back on the ground

20:20

and I'm back doing things that I was

20:22

trying to do really 30 years ago. But

20:25

I was, you know, I was a

20:27

community activist running a community organization but

20:29

I didn't have the authority or the

20:31

power. We were trying to deal with

20:33

homelessness in 1993. We were trying to

20:35

take over motels and everybody thought we

20:37

were crazy. Was it worse back then? No,

20:39

no, no, no. Homelessness

20:41

then was in South Central and Skid

20:43

Row. Okay. And it was probably, we

20:46

didn't count, but I could guess it was

20:48

probably maybe three or four thousand and just

20:50

think now in the city, not the county,

20:52

in the city it's 46,000. 46,000

20:56

in the city alone. That's right.

20:58

If you add the county, you got to add another 20,000. That's

21:01

why you see tents everywhere. Before

21:03

we didn't have tents, there were

21:06

shopping carts. That's why homeless people always

21:08

push shopping carts. And then the

21:10

grocery industry figured out the technology so they couldn't

21:12

get the shopping carts. And that's changed and that's

21:14

why we see the tents now. Right. That's right.

21:16

So let's talk about the issues

21:19

and I guess how they're, I mean

21:21

they're inextricably intertwined with what you do

21:23

now. Right. When your campaign launched, it

21:27

very quickly became a

21:29

national campaign that

21:31

was about a local, you know,

21:34

race. I

21:36

don't think I've ever seen a mayoral race

21:38

get the the amount of attention that this

21:40

race did. You know, you were running against

21:42

Caruso. Right. And it was

21:44

this race where I think he was spending,

21:46

I think in total he spent a hundred

21:48

million dollars, a hundred and four million dollars

21:50

if my numbers are correct. That's right. On

21:52

the ground. That's right. Your campaign spent five

21:55

million dollars. A little more. How much

21:57

was it exactly? I raised nine. million

22:00

other people contributed five so it was

22:02

okay so they okay so the external

22:04

contributions of five okay but I mean

22:07

still that's that's exactly right that's a

22:09

huge return versus the spending let's

22:11

start with that do you think there is too

22:14

much money in political races oh gosh yes

22:16

and the problem is is that if you

22:18

have personal wealth there are no limits at

22:20

all I was subject to limits I

22:22

mean I could only ask somebody for fifteen

22:24

hundred dollars so my fifteen

22:26

hundred dollars and he could write a forty million

22:29

dollar check and it was you know he's worth five

22:31

billion so wow you know a hundred million

22:33

is I don't know tip money Wow that's

22:35

a huge difference exactly was it was there

22:37

a part of you that's thought to yourself

22:39

what am I doing I'm running against this

22:42

guy no I mean this guy who he

22:44

made the Grove people were like we love

22:46

the grove I do too he can make

22:48

all of LA the Grove it seems like

22:50

such a wonderful proposition that's right and here

22:52

you were running up against what seemed like

22:55

an immovable object right grinding and you know

22:57

going from one speech to the next from

22:59

one issue to the other you

23:01

were both talking about the same issues

23:03

but in very different ways right and

23:05

it seems like I mean the votes

23:07

turned out accordingly it seems

23:09

like your message resonated with voters in a

23:12

different way because LA you

23:16

know like many cities in America and in the

23:18

world in my opinion post Covid has

23:20

really been dealing with a an explosion

23:22

of homelessness that's right everybody has

23:24

an opinion on this issue very

23:27

few people have offered solutions in and around

23:29

this issue and we need to people have

23:31

an understanding of these well let's talk with

23:33

that what is causing

23:35

this rise in homelessness why is it that

23:37

you have just as you said in the

23:40

city alone 40,000 homeless people that's

23:42

right well you know what it's important

23:44

to look at the categories of people that

23:46

wind up on house yeah they might not

23:48

be able to be in a house because

23:50

their wages aren't high enough but it also

23:53

might be that they've been evicted before their

23:55

credit is bad they were incarcerated they might

23:57

be a teenager you know there's 9,000 children

24:00

who are unhoused with their parents. And

24:02

then there's also a lot of foster

24:05

children that when they term out of

24:07

foster care at 18 or 21, they

24:09

have nowhere to go or you don't have first and last

24:11

month's rent. So there's the economically

24:14

unhoused, but you know the fastest

24:16

growing sector of homeless people are

24:18

senior citizens who are in their

24:21

late 60s and 70s. Maybe

24:23

they worked in a shopping mall all their

24:25

life, no 401k, no pension. You can't live

24:28

here on Social Security if you even have

24:30

it. And then they get priced out of

24:32

the rental market and they are homeless. That

24:34

has to be one of the scariest stats I've

24:37

read. And in many

24:39

ways, one of the most pertinent I feel because

24:42

when people have conversations about homelessness, I've

24:46

noticed that there is oftentimes

24:48

a, it's

24:51

almost like a resentment that people have towards the

24:53

homeless themselves. Well, because they believe that they're

24:56

homeless because of their own fault or bad

24:58

decision. And they don't look at

25:00

the circumstance. I mean, that says something about

25:02

a situation that's larger than just like people

25:04

who wanna take drugs and not live anywhere.

25:06

Exactly, and that is a common viewpoint

25:09

that everybody who is unhoused is

25:11

either a drug addict or mentally ill.

25:13

And of course that does comprise some people. But

25:15

you know, if I was out on the street

25:17

for a couple of weeks, I can't tell you

25:19

I wouldn't use drugs and I can't tell you

25:21

that my mental health wouldn't be compromised. A lot

25:23

of times it's the chicken and egg. You know

25:26

how some people get addicted? They

25:28

take meth to stay awake at night

25:30

so they don't get assaulted. You

25:32

have women suffering from domestic violence.

25:35

You know, it's a lot, you have veterans

25:37

and listen to this one, this one's crazy.

25:40

A veteran winds up homeless because

25:42

he or she might take veteran

25:44

benefits. Then that means they

25:46

make too much money to qualify for veteran

25:48

housing. So they have to

25:51

choose between their benefits or housing. So

25:53

all of these reasons are why people

25:55

wind up homeless. You have a lot

25:57

of people who were formerly incarcerated.

26:00

and they can't go home because their brother

26:02

might be a felon and they

26:04

don't have any place to go and nobody's gonna rent

26:06

to them and no one's gonna hire them. So,

26:09

you know, it's a lot of circumstances

26:11

that have led to the explosion. And

26:13

what I described is that number

26:15

one is the evisceration of the social

26:17

safety net that we used to have.

26:19

Which was? Really bad. Well, we had

26:22

better healthcare in terms of substance abuse

26:24

and mental health. There

26:26

were programs that people could be in

26:28

and LA used to be a heck

26:30

of a lot cheaper. This city used

26:32

to be affordable. I remember that. Where

26:34

I worked as a young person, worked

26:36

part time, went to school and still

26:39

afforded to live on my own. You

26:41

couldn't possibly do that now. So

26:43

all of these reasons lead to

26:45

the problem. But I also believe

26:47

that really bad policy decisions were

26:49

made when I started Community Coalition

26:51

32 years ago. That's

26:54

when it was the war on drugs and

26:57

all the laws. Instead of helping people

26:59

with addiction by drug treatment, we just

27:01

locked everybody up. And then now, 30

27:03

years later, we're letting them all out

27:05

to the street. So the reason

27:07

why I ran, because I was perfectly happy

27:09

in Congress, you know that. You interviewed me,

27:11

I told you how much I loved Africa.

27:14

That was my big thing. It was a

27:16

hard decision to leave. But I was so

27:18

afraid that if he won, that

27:20

we were gonna have flashbacks to 1990s and

27:23

we were gonna start criminalizing the very

27:25

people because people get so angry. That's

27:27

why it was so important for me

27:30

to win and to prove that the

27:32

problem was solvable by getting people out

27:34

of the tents and in to motive.

27:37

We're gonna continue this conversation right after

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York, New York. On

29:23

day one, after winning the race,

29:25

you stepped into your role. And the first

29:27

thing you did was declare states of emergency. Correct. Now,

29:31

as I understand that, that gives you a breadth

29:34

of power that you don't necessarily normally have.

29:36

Right. And it enabled you to do things

29:38

that you felt needed to be done immediately.

29:40

Right. One of those, which was

29:42

controversial and I understand why, is you

29:45

wanted to get as many people off

29:47

the streets and into hotels. Help me

29:50

understand this and help the listeners understand

29:52

this concept of taking people who don't

29:54

have homes, you know, unhoused people, homeless

29:57

people and then putting them into hotels.

29:59

Whose hotels? Are these who's paying for the hotels

30:01

and why is that even considered a part of a

30:03

solution? Sure Well, you know the interesting

30:05

thing was because we all went through

30:07

kovat. That's exactly what happened in kovat

30:09

So we didn't invent anything new we

30:12

learned from that experience and guess what?

30:14

Nobody was going to hotels or motels

30:16

during that time. So it was fine

30:18

So we're not putting people up in the

30:20

four seasons. We're putting people up in the

30:23

snooty Fox I'm right in in motels that

30:25

are in the community and I think that

30:27

the motel owners That didn't want anything to

30:29

do with us years ago realize this was

30:31

a pretty good deal They didn't have

30:33

to rent their rooms by the day or in

30:35

some places by the hour right have to

30:37

do that. They had guaranteed customers

30:40

Guaranteed tenants all

30:42

month because we try to rent out the entire

30:44

motel Uh-huh, and then we contract

30:46

as the city with a community-based organization

30:49

They provide the meals and the social

30:51

services so people aren't just left there

30:53

on their own They have counseling

30:55

they have services and they have three

30:57

meals. This is a viable long-term solution.

30:59

No, okay I

31:02

don't think people in a hotel forever

31:04

seems like it's gonna it's gonna work long-term now even

31:06

just as a on a cost level All right.

31:08

I think it's gonna work for a few years,

31:10

but we are also fast tracking

31:13

the building of housing So that's the

31:15

big problem here in LA is that

31:17

for so many years the no growth

31:19

or slow growth movement Restricted

31:22

building housing and so we

31:24

didn't build the housing that we need for

31:26

example the state Requires us

31:28

has required us to build half a million

31:30

units of housing in the next 10 years

31:33

now And now we're gonna make that happen

31:35

But literally we're required to do that and

31:37

we will be fined if we do not

31:39

accomplish that And so is this is

31:42

the same number that is based on how

31:44

the population is projected to grow exactly

31:46

and also What the

31:48

population's needs are now so for

31:50

example, there's a lot of people

31:52

who were not considered homeless But

31:54

there's three families living in a

31:56

one-bedroom apartment and I consider

31:59

that homeless unless they choose to live

32:01

like that, and not too many people do, they're

32:03

living like that because they need three paychecks in

32:06

order to pay the rent. Why is the rent

32:08

so high? Because there is a severe

32:10

shortage of housing. So because the

32:13

no growth and slow growth movements

32:15

were so successful all up and

32:17

down California, the state legislature

32:19

got tired of the nimbyism on a

32:22

local level, started passing a lot of

32:24

state laws to preempt the blocking of

32:26

building. And then what I was able

32:28

to do, especially after declaring a state

32:31

of emergency, it did give me the

32:33

extra power so I could cut through

32:35

the red tape to say let's fast

32:37

forward building. So that's what I'm doing.

32:39

Now we're putting people in motels, but

32:41

we're also fast tracking the building. And

32:43

that half a million units, I'm

32:46

referring to all types of housing, not

32:48

just housing for the poorest in

32:50

the city. Do you think

32:52

that the homeless

32:55

issue that we're

32:57

seeing, particularly in urban areas and

32:59

particularly in democratic

33:02

strongholds is a problem

33:05

that is, in many

33:08

ways I feel like it

33:11

could be a problem that is seen as

33:13

a failing of the whole party if it isn't worked

33:15

on. Because the Democratic Party for so long has said

33:18

we are the party of the people on the ground.

33:21

And where the Republicans have said, hey, we're

33:23

about business and we're about tax breaks, et

33:26

cetera, et cetera. But if you

33:28

have democratic cities that

33:30

have high homeless populations, it seems

33:33

like the promise is failing. It

33:35

seems like the allure of

33:37

the idea isn't what it's supposed

33:39

to be. Do

33:41

you feel like there's an extra weight on you as

33:43

a mayor of Los Angeles to prop up one

33:46

of the legs of the Democratic Party's table? No,

33:49

I don't feel that, but

33:51

I feel incredible pressure in

33:53

order to get this problem solved. Absolutely.

33:56

From the people? Well, internal

33:59

pressure. I mean, this is why I'm

34:01

doing this. This is why I ran. This

34:04

is why I've loved my first year because nothing

34:06

gives me more pleasure than to go out to

34:08

the tents where the people are to

34:10

talk to them and then to see them three

34:12

days later in a motel or a week later,

34:14

you know, I remember this one woman who said

34:16

she was taking showers all day long because she

34:18

was so happy that she could take a shower.

34:21

You know, there's things like that that make

34:23

it extremely rewarding. How many people have you

34:26

moved by the way? In

34:28

our program of Inside Safe, it's been

34:30

and that's where we're getting you in a

34:32

tent and moving you into a motel. Okay.

34:34

It's been close to 2,000, but this year

34:36

as a whole we've moved 21,000 off

34:39

the street and there's a variety of ways

34:42

we have done that. 21,000

34:44

people moved off the streets. Right. So

34:47

they've moved off the streets because

34:49

we were given vouchers and

34:52

we were able to get people in

34:54

housing with those vouchers. That's been one

34:56

of the problems. Years

34:58

past, including like last year, LA

35:01

turned back thousands of vouchers to the federal

35:03

government because they couldn't figure out how to

35:06

use them. Some of the

35:08

red tape has been insane. I'll give

35:10

you two examples. Yeah, crazy. One

35:13

is I can't let you use

35:15

a voucher unless you prove income.

35:18

Well, you've been in a tent

35:20

for five years. How do you prove nothing? Right.

35:23

And then I can't let you use a

35:25

voucher because you don't have a government issued

35:27

ID. Well, if you gave me

35:29

a motel, I'd have an address where I could have

35:31

a government issued ID. So I went

35:34

to the federal government to HUD and fortunately

35:36

our great HUD Secretary, Marsha Fudge, who I

35:38

served in Congress with, spent

35:41

months talking to them and now they've waived

35:43

that. They said, well, you know what? I'm

35:45

going to assume you're poor enough because you've

35:47

been living on the street. Right. So

35:49

that barrier went away. So that allowed

35:51

people to get housed. It's

35:53

so crazy how often you hear that as

35:55

a story in America. It's like it becomes

35:57

the cycle. just

36:00

chicken and the egg, chicken and the egg, egg and chicken, chicken and

36:02

the egg. You know, I remember hearing

36:05

a story of a

36:08

man who was living out of his car

36:11

and he was sleeping in the car in Santa

36:13

Monica. And then because he

36:15

was sleeping in the car, he got fined. Because

36:18

he got fined, he now had to pay the fine.

36:21

He couldn't pay the fine. And so then he got

36:23

a summons. He got a summons to appear

36:25

in court. He couldn't go to court

36:27

because he was going to either lose his job or

36:29

go to court. And so then there was a warrant

36:31

out for his arrest. And then now he had a

36:33

warrant. And now here you have this

36:35

person who is now basically going to go

36:38

to jail possibly when all they were trying to

36:40

do was sleep and

36:42

live. Well he also might have gotten his car

36:44

towed. Yeah. And

36:46

he can't get his car out, which means he's

36:48

now lost his car, which means he's lost

36:50

his job, which now he's in a tent.

36:53

So have you found ways to

36:55

decriminalize being homeless? Because Josh, who's

36:57

one of the people on the

37:00

podcast, we talk about each episode

37:02

before we go on. He

37:04

said something that I really loved, which was he said, it's

37:07

interesting how America

37:10

will criminalize something that

37:12

may be inevitable and out

37:14

of your control. Because

37:17

other crimes are an action. An

37:20

action that you should have been able to avoid.

37:23

Being homeless isn't one of those. How

37:25

do you criminalize something like that? And what have you done

37:27

to, if you've done anything, to

37:30

decriminalize being homeless? Well

37:32

you hit on what

37:34

my concern was about my opponent. And

37:37

that was my flashbacks to the 1990s, is

37:40

that the level of anger and

37:42

disgust in the city toward the

37:44

unhoused population was so high that

37:46

I was afraid if the wrong

37:49

person won that they would just

37:51

criminalize folks. Because there was a

37:53

lot of talks about three strikes, meaning I'm going

37:55

to give you two tickets and

37:57

on the third ticket if you don't move or if you

37:59

haven't. and disappeared, I don't know where you're supposed to go

38:01

to, then I'll arrest you. Now,

38:04

you get arrested, you're gonna be out in

38:06

five hours, and you're either gonna be right

38:08

back there or you'll be someplace else. It

38:10

doesn't solve the problem. That was

38:12

my fear, that was my drive,

38:14

so I didn't care how bad

38:16

the campaign got. That was my

38:18

passion about winning this election. It's

38:21

a tight rope to walk, as mayor,

38:23

I always think. Because you're

38:27

in this interesting position where, on

38:30

the one hand, you have to deal with

38:32

everything that is happening, on

38:34

the other hand, you have to

38:36

deal with everything that people think eggs

38:38

is happening. And the think

38:40

is oftentimes more powerful than the what

38:42

is. If people feel like there's more

38:44

crime, then they

38:46

think there's more crime, so they act accordingly,

38:49

even if the crime hasn't gone up. And

38:51

I wonder how you deal with that. The

38:54

way I view it is, crime is an emotional

38:56

issue, and if your car was

38:58

stolen, there's a crime crisis. Oh, yeah. And

39:00

you do not care about the data. Or,

39:02

if you go back to what you were saying a

39:04

few minutes ago in terms of democratic cities, well, the

39:07

reason why crime is up is because we've been too

39:09

liberal and we don't enforce the law. But

39:11

you could look at Republican-led cities and

39:13

the crime is even higher, or

39:16

definitely no difference, regardless of the laws that

39:18

have been passed. So people right now. Why

39:21

do you think, then, the narrative is

39:23

around urban cities and

39:25

democratic cities? What do you think that is?

39:28

Well, I mean, I think part of it is

39:30

race, absolutely. So you asked me the pressure, I

39:32

feel. Is the nation's second largest city? Absolutely,

39:35

I feel the pressure, because the perception

39:37

is, and it is

39:39

a deliberate narrative that Republicans are

39:41

good at pushing. So look at New

39:44

York. 100,000

39:46

migrants sent to New York? Well,

39:48

we have buses coming into LA, but not

39:50

to the extent of Chicago or New York.

39:53

You can't tell me that's not done to destabilize

39:55

those cities. In Chicago, you have a brand new

39:57

mayor. He's been in less time than I am.

39:59

He has to host the Democratic Convention

40:02

in the next few months. Imagine

40:04

that pressure. So, some of it

40:06

has been orchestrated and pushed. It's

40:08

a Republican narrative. And what

40:11

do we have in common with the large

40:13

cities? They're predominantly people of color. And

40:15

so, regardless of what the crime rate

40:17

is, they will say the crime is

40:19

out of control in Democratic-led cities. Their

40:22

murder rate is higher. Their crime

40:24

rate is higher. Well, generally, where there's more guns,

40:27

there are more people being shot. I mean,

40:30

think? I find it's a very simple stat to

40:32

follow, by the way. It's not as complicated as

40:34

people would think. But

40:36

that doesn't mean that LA doesn't have its issues. How

40:39

do you find

40:41

the balance between

40:45

being a mayor who is actively

40:50

trying to make people feel safe, whilst

40:53

at the same time acknowledging that

40:55

for a long time people

40:58

have felt beyond

41:00

feeling, people have experienced over-policing that

41:02

makes them feel unsafe at the

41:04

very same hands

41:07

of the people who are trying to quote-unquote

41:09

protect them? How do you find that

41:11

balance? Because I'm sure on the one

41:13

hand, every time you say police,

41:16

police force, protect, etc., there's

41:18

going to be a contingency of your base who says, what

41:20

are you doing? Why are you even working with the police? The

41:23

police are the bad guys, quote-unquote, in

41:26

many ways. And then on the

41:28

other hand, you have a large part of your constituency who

41:30

will say, no, why aren't you working more with the police?

41:32

Why aren't you fully handing over to the police? How

41:35

do you strike that balance? How do you walk

41:37

the line? So one thing about a

41:39

city, and I certainly have to

41:41

say this to some people who come

41:43

from either or perspective, is both-and. So

41:47

I set up an office of public

41:49

safety. That's a traditional office, works with

41:51

the police and fire, etc. But

41:55

I also set up an office of community

41:57

safety, which is not looking at law enforcement,

41:59

driven. than solutions. So I have

42:01

always been about how do you

42:03

prevent crime? So when I started

42:06

Community Coalition in the 90s, the

42:09

first thing we did was organize the

42:11

youth component to recruit high school students

42:13

so they wouldn't get involved in gangs

42:15

because we had the Crips and the

42:17

Bloods and a thousand homicides that particular

42:19

year. So I wanted to divert young

42:21

people away from gang involvement. And by

42:24

the way, that was building on my

42:26

own life experiences growing up and

42:28

the Panther Party did that a lot. In

42:30

fact, there was a lot of gangs involved,

42:33

but they got young people involved in politics.

42:35

So that's what I did. I

42:37

got involved when I

42:39

was older in high school, then I

42:41

was involved in a lot of direct

42:43

political activity, whether it was protesting the

42:45

war or whatever was happening at that

42:47

particular time. And so we involved a

42:49

lot of high school students. And I

42:51

have to tell you that two of

42:53

those high school students are

42:55

working for me heading up the

42:58

homeless effort, the street outreach. And

43:01

they are now in their mid 40s. That

43:04

is amazing. That's actually amazing.

43:06

Do you think that

43:08

the government, both large and small, has

43:11

done a terrible job of reaching

43:13

out to people? You know, because

43:15

it's interesting you talk about the gangs. I've

43:17

always said, and I've always been fascinated by

43:19

how gangs do the very

43:21

thing that governments say they're unable to

43:24

do. And that is reach out

43:26

to every youth and make sure that they feel

43:28

involved. There is no gang that ever says, you

43:31

can't get to the kids. There's no gang

43:33

that ever says, we can't get them involved,

43:35

they're not interested. They go out there, they

43:37

have outreach. They really just try and connect

43:39

with people. And I mean, it's towards a

43:42

violent cause, unfortunately. But

43:45

the essence of it is fundamentally sound.

43:47

Like, what do you think the

43:50

government could be doing to

43:53

reach out and to connect with young people to make

43:55

them feel like there's a hope that they can work

43:57

towards? And you know what I've found over the years

43:59

is... that it is not difficult, it's just that

44:01

we are not committed to doing it. Because

44:05

what we did is we provided

44:07

a safe alternative for gangs. What

44:09

a lot of people who are drawn to gangs, a lot

44:11

of young people are, it's a surrogate family. It's

44:14

doing what you described. It's providing you

44:16

protection. It might be providing you

44:18

an income. It's providing you all

44:20

of these things in a negative way. Well,

44:23

if you provided those things in

44:25

a positive way, people would not

44:28

get involved. But as a society,

44:30

we refuse to invest in

44:33

long-term solutions. We

44:35

always invest in law enforcement

44:37

and suppression activities, but we

44:39

will not address root causes.

44:41

That's why I started the organization in the 90s. That's

44:44

why we started the Youth Compoted. And I'm

44:46

happy to say that 30-some years later, now

44:48

it's been about three or four cohorts,

44:51

almost generations of young people who

44:53

graduate out of that program, and

44:55

they become involved in some way

44:57

in their communities. Now they're all

45:00

over the country. And we've tracked them and

45:02

stayed connected to them. And

45:04

now that program, that model has

45:07

been replicated around the country. But

45:09

I do not find it to be

45:11

difficult. I find that we just refuse

45:13

to invest the resources. When

45:16

you talk about enjoying an exhilarating year

45:18

of being mayor, I wonder

45:20

what your most frustrating moments have been. I know

45:22

you're very positive person. But I'd

45:24

love to know what you wish you could have done

45:27

more of or what you wish you could have done.

45:29

Are there other aspects of your job where you go, I wish

45:32

I could do this, but I can't? Every

45:34

day. But I will tell

45:36

you, I wished I knew what

45:39

I know now about the bureaucracy. And

45:41

I'm afraid that there's so much more I

45:43

don't know. So in other words, I

45:45

gave you two crazy examples. Three, if

45:47

you include the veterans who don't qualify.

45:50

Yes, right, the vouchers. A lot

45:52

of internal bureaucracy that is just

45:54

done because it's always been done.

45:56

And that's one thing, that's one statement

45:58

that makes me crazy. We do it. this way

46:00

because we've always done it this way. Well, how's

46:02

that working out for you? 46,000

46:05

people on the street. So doesn't

46:07

it make you think that maybe

46:09

there's a better way of doing things? So

46:11

just the inertia of, well, this is the

46:13

way it's always been done, or for people

46:15

who think, well, I can't do something differently.

46:18

That's where it's been helpful that I never

46:20

worked for the city before. So I feel

46:22

like I just parachuted in and this stuff

46:24

looks crazy. And

46:29

I don't believe, I mean, to me, I'm not

46:32

going to violate the law, but if it's not

46:34

a law, then don't tell me I can't do

46:36

it. If there's people dying on the

46:38

street, don't tell me I can't get

46:40

them off the street. But what

46:42

our policy basically had been up until

46:44

now is you have to stay on the

46:46

street until we build you a house. That's

46:49

insanity. You asked me whether or not

46:51

we would do the motels forever. No,

46:53

it's way too expensive. But what our

46:55

city did that New York didn't do, or

46:57

rather I should say what we didn't do

46:59

in New York did, New

47:01

York years ago invested in long-term

47:04

interim housing. And New York also

47:06

passed a policy that says you

47:08

have a right to housing. So

47:11

we never developed long-term interim housing.

47:13

We said we don't want anybody

47:15

in interim housing. We want them

47:17

permanently housed. Well, that's just wonderful.

47:19

But then you have this bureaucracy

47:21

that it takes five years to

47:24

build something. So I've been trying

47:26

to dismantle all of these bureaucratic

47:28

hurdles, but I had to learn

47:30

them. And I wished I would have

47:32

come in knowing about them. What's

47:35

the one thing you want to do now? Like, I know

47:38

there's something on your list that you're working towards, something

47:40

that you're trying to overturn something, you're trying to change

47:42

something you're trying to fix. What is it? So

47:44

we have the people in the motels. And

47:47

as I mentioned, the community-based organization

47:49

takes over. But Trevor, we

47:51

have stretched these organizations way beyond their

47:53

capacity. So now I'm trying to think

47:55

of a new way to provide the

47:57

kind of supportive services that people need.

48:00

because I don't think you stay in

48:02

housing your whole life for free.

48:04

That's a good deal if that was the case. But

48:07

I think two years with strong

48:09

supportive services should be able to

48:11

mainstream most people out, but

48:14

then there are people that are profoundly mentally

48:16

ill who will need to be taken care of the

48:18

rest of their life. So you asked me what

48:20

I hope to do next is pay

48:22

attention to the service delivery for the

48:25

people that are in the motels and

48:27

then fast track as fast as possible

48:29

the building of housing. It feels like there

48:31

was a time in America when mental

48:35

health was maybe not

48:37

spoken about more, but definitely dealt with more. It

48:39

feels like there were more mental hospitals, there

48:43

were places where people could go for psychiatric care. It

48:46

almost feels like that's fallen away as an idea.

48:50

It's like one minute the hospitals existed

48:52

and now those hospitals have sort of been replaced

48:54

by jails and prisons. Well, that's 100%. What

48:57

happened was 50 years ago when

49:00

Ronald Reagan was a

49:02

governor and then he goes on

49:04

to be president, basically dismantled all

49:07

of the hospitals because bad things

49:09

were happening in them. But we

49:11

closed the hospitals, but then we

49:13

made a commitment that we would

49:15

build community-based services. Never happened. It

49:18

never happened. So now in California next

49:20

year voters will have an opportunity to

49:22

vote for what we should have done

49:24

50 years ago. So you are 100%

49:26

right. That's why

49:29

us not having enough money is a lie

49:32

because it costs way more money to incarcerate

49:34

somebody than it does to take care of

49:36

them. Just like you asked

49:38

me about gangs, our country,

49:41

our city, our state

49:43

has refused to invest in

49:45

our people and especially people

49:47

who are the poorest. We have no

49:49

problem saving the world or

49:52

destroying the world. However you wanna look

49:54

at it. I mean, if it's the defense

49:56

budget, it's unlimited. We think nothing of 50 or $60 billion.

50:00

We're gonna give to another country for you

50:02

know, a war that they're fighting, A rebuilding

50:04

that they need to. Do. But we

50:06

refuse to invest in the American people. This

50:08

is the richest country. In the history of

50:10

the world, it is inexcusable for people to be.

50:15

Don't go anywhere because we got more

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What now After this this episode is

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year. If

51:32

there was one part of your job. That

51:35

you could include. One

51:37

thing that you currently don't have. Under

51:41

your umbrella but you wish you did. What would

51:43

it be? Will know love to work on health.

51:45

When. I see what else? Department. Is.

51:48

It would be my ability to

51:50

control the health department and some

51:52

of the county agencies. Are do

51:55

What would you change? Well,

51:57

I would definitely

51:59

ensues. Health. In

52:01

much bigger way. So for example,

52:04

Health is at the root of a

52:06

lot of homelessness, but right now homelessness

52:08

is just viewed as a housing around

52:10

one. And as in the disconnect

52:12

because you know my background by we of lot

52:14

of lives. One of my other. Lives was working

52:16

in the emergency room? Yes, yes, as a nurse.

52:19

And right, that's. P A nurse and

52:21

so I do not understand. It

52:23

does not compute to me that

52:25

you don't see the relationship between

52:27

health. And. Homelessness and I met

52:30

a woman ah in a temporary housing

52:32

who became homeless because she had cancer

52:34

so she was sick. she didn't understand

52:36

why she was sick, she kept missing

52:38

work, she got fired, she went to

52:40

the doctor discover she had cancer soon

52:42

as health carry on know so she

52:45

wound up living in a car and

52:47

then she lost her car and and

52:49

she wound up living on the streets

52:51

and I met her as she was

52:53

on the men you know she was

52:55

in a temporary housing so a lot

52:58

of health conditions. Out there, everybody thinks

53:00

about substance. Abuse and then health here.

53:02

But I've seen diabetes. I've seen heart disease,

53:04

I've seen high blood pressure. I've seen a

53:06

lot of different health issue, especially living in

53:08

a country where people cannot afford to get

53:10

sick and race as one of the biggest

53:13

things I've noticed. People terrified of in America.

53:15

You know when I'm well, speak to random

53:17

people when I listen to stories people say.

53:19

My. Greatest fear is that I will get sick

53:22

in this country because the first thing I need

53:24

to do is go see a doctor. I don't

53:26

know if I can afford to do that nice

53:28

and then if I'd eventually do get to see

53:30

a doctor. The thing they tell me may be

53:32

the fact that I cannot afford to live anymore.

53:35

And so they wait until it's too late. It's

53:37

an emergency room issue. Rose from as you'd like

53:40

you say before, you know someone's living on the

53:42

street because they spent their life savings trying to

53:44

save their life. Will prior. To Obama

53:46

and the Affordable Care Act, Health

53:48

was the number one, the leading

53:51

cause of bankruptcy. The. Leading

53:53

cause but I have the toes of the trevor

53:55

When I worked in health care of this was

53:57

not the case. Health care was not always a

53:59

for. profit industry. That changed in

54:01

the 80s. One thing that was completely

54:06

considered inappropriate was

54:08

advertising medicine, advertising healthcare.

54:10

That wasn't legal. It's really strange

54:12

when you see it, by the way, when

54:14

you come from another country. Every second ad

54:16

in the US is like

54:19

a pharmaceutical ad, a drug ad, and it's

54:21

really strange. Ask your doctor about it, and

54:23

it's like, what? But it'll tell you 20 reasons

54:26

why you'll die if you take this

54:28

medicine, too. Which, by the way, is

54:30

completely legal, meaning that it is to

54:32

protect them from lawsuits. It really isn't

54:34

medically based. You are

54:37

somebody who, all your colleagues have labeled yours

54:39

two things. They say you are tenacious,

54:44

and they say you are motivated. Even

54:46

speaking to you, I can see you have a cautious

54:50

optimism, but also a joy in trying

54:53

to solve the problems. I do. You

54:57

take pleasure in solving the puzzle.

55:00

Before I let you go, I'd love to know what now.

55:03

We've talked a little bit about

55:07

working with the homeless crisis. We've talked

55:09

about law

55:11

enforcement and its broader

55:14

state right now. But

55:16

if we look at year two, going

55:19

into year three, and then your final

55:21

year as mayor, what would

55:23

you hope the people of Los Angeles, and maybe the

55:25

people in other parts of America, would see? Because I

55:27

think many of the issues in LA are

55:30

mirrors or different versions of issues

55:32

that you see all across the country. What

55:35

would you hope to now do going from year to year?

55:38

Well, I want, at the end of my term,

55:41

I want people to believe

55:43

that the problem is solvable.

55:46

Meaning it won't be solved, but that

55:48

they can see the way out of

55:50

it. By the way, we have

55:53

the World Cup coming in 2026, a Super Bowl in

55:55

2027, two Olympic games in So

56:01

I am hoping that that will serve as a

56:03

catalyst. I mean, the reason we're getting the Olympics

56:06

is because we don't need to build any major

56:08

stadium. So I'm trying to run around

56:10

and get everybody to say, when the

56:12

Olympics comes, we can't hide 70,000 people. Because

56:15

then you're talking about the county. We can't

56:17

hide them. The games aren't going to be

56:19

for one day. So we

56:21

either solve this now or what the

56:23

news coverage is going to be, wonderful

56:26

games, wonderful venues, then they're going to

56:28

cut away and show the contrast. In

56:31

this city, people are living like this.

56:33

They're left to live in destitute. So

56:35

I'm trying to get all of the

56:37

movers and shakers to see, this is

56:39

our alternative. And I actually

56:42

believe that we can get there. I really

56:44

do. I really hope so. Wow.

56:47

Okay. Well, Mayor Karen

56:49

Bass, it's funny, every time I speak to you, you

56:51

have a different title in front of your name, which

56:53

is really fun for me. This is the last one.

56:56

Oh, it is? Yes. What does

56:58

that mean? This is the last one. That means I'll run

57:01

for reelection. I'm done with elected office

57:03

after that. Oh, now I

57:05

have to ask why before I let you go. Because it's

57:07

enough. I mean, I think it's, you know, I

57:10

think it'll be time. It'll

57:12

be time, but I will always be involved in

57:14

change. I'm not somebody that ever

57:16

planned to do this all my life. I

57:19

was doing a lot before this, so

57:21

I'll always be involved in change, but I don't

57:23

need to be an elected official until I die.

57:26

Huh. I like that for you.

57:29

I like that. And you know what? You

57:31

deserve it. You deserve it. Thank you. Thank

57:34

you so much. Congratulations. It's great to

57:36

talk to you. Yeah. Congratulations on the

57:38

year. It's really wonderful seeing you again. and

57:40

the next one and the next one. And I wish you the

57:43

best of luck because I think everybody wins if you win. Thank

57:46

you. Thank you. Thank you.

57:48

Thank you. Thank you. Thank

57:50

you. Thank you. Thank

57:53

you. For Now, with Trevinoa is produced

57:55

by Spotify Studios in partnership with Day

57:57

Zero Productions, Fullwell 73, and. What

58:00

It is a Pineapple Street Studios. The

58:02

show is executive produced by Trevor Noah

58:05

been Winston and Weiss from and am

58:07

very thankful. Produced by Emanuel Have Says

58:09

and Marina Hang Music Mixing and mastering

58:11

by Honey Brown Or thank you once

58:14

again who may occur and best for

58:16

joining us on the part costs and

58:18

most importantly thank you for tuning as

58:21

Thank you for listening. Thanks for being

58:23

here with us! It's been an interesting

58:25

launch. This was the beginning bucks. We

58:27

will be continuing our journey next year.

58:30

January. Fourth, surprised if the New York

58:32

some then we will be making new

58:34

episodes. We don't know what the future

58:36

brings so I don't like to predict

58:38

anything but if it does come and

58:40

if used to have his and you'd

58:42

like to listen well remember to download

58:44

your latest episode where you get your

58:46

podcasts. What now with Trevor Noah have

58:48

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