In this episode of Family Secrets, California Governor Gavin Newsom talks about the devastating floods that devastated his hometown of San Antonio, Texas on July 4th, and how he and his family are coping with the loss of their loved ones.
00:02:57.520And I'm grateful for everything you're doing, and I'm grateful for this opportunity to have a chance to dialogue about it and talk about, you know, what exactly is going on at this moment.
00:03:27.360And I say that mindful of our history in the state of California and mindful in many ways how far we've gone and how far we have traveled away from some of the core principles that defined the best of the Republican Party.
00:03:46.280And so without getting nostalgia for that, I just want to acknowledge the journey that you guys are on and express gratitude that you're not just here in California, but you've been all across your colleagues all across this country.
00:04:00.800But first, if I could, I just want to briefly contextualize because yesterday I experienced in a modest way a little bit about all that you've experienced in Texas coming from July 4th.
00:04:15.280A very close friend of my wife's family passed away, Mark, and his wife, Sarah, and his son, Johnny, Mark Walker, the Walker family, passed in the floods.
00:04:30.800In Texas, my wife, my wife had the privilege of speaking a little bit at the memorial yesterday, and it was beyond intense.
00:04:41.620Johnny's 14 years old, the age of my son.
00:04:44.860They live in the neighborhood, and it really brought me back to what this is all about, this special session, what this special session should be about.
00:04:55.600I think, what, it was 137 people lost their lives, 35 children, kids.
00:05:04.380And that's what a special session as a governor should be all about.
00:08:24.680It is the last tool that the Founding Fathers gave to us, the minority, to have available when you know that the majority has gone off the rails.
00:08:33.600And so, we have been threatened with financial ruin, with arrest, but we are undeterred.
00:08:40.740And I think it highlights how important it is that if they will come at us this hard, and we actually are in positions of power,
00:08:49.480look at how easily they run over those that are most vulnerable and don't have a voice.
00:08:53.600And so, I think that's why we are really resolute and are resolved that this is the right thing to do.
00:08:58.500And you said this is not the first time.
00:09:10.800Well, it was a bill that made it much harder to vote.
00:09:14.260Two provisions in that bill that were the most egregious was one that banned Sunday morning voting,
00:09:21.300which was a target on African-American churches that have a long-standing tradition of going after service as a faith community to vote together.
00:09:36.020The other provision would have given elected judges the ability to overturn election results, to overturn the will of the voters.
00:09:44.240And when those provisions were added in the middle, literally in the middle of the night, with no record of how they got into the bill, we left.
00:10:10.900Well, it seems to me, and my name is Ray Lopez.
00:10:13.060I'm from San Antonio, and I've been in the House for a few years, a few sessions.
00:10:17.980And it seems the difference between where we were a few years ago when we broke the war and where we are today is that while we have a lot of evildoers,
00:10:26.220and we've talked about who those people are, whether it's the governor, the attorney general, all the political gamesmanship that's being played,
00:10:33.120we also recognize that they are dancing to another evildoer.
00:10:37.640And we did not have that kind of engagement before.
00:10:40.860And that's the president of the United States is encouraging them, giving them the path forward, giving them the tools like the FBI and others.
00:11:11.220What, I mean, so that's important to remind everybody, just, you know, people that are not tracking this hour by hour day to day.
00:11:17.420They're not watching cable news, which is one has to confess the vast majority of people.
00:11:22.860The president of the United States, the origin story on this is the president called your governor, Greg Abbott, and the president asked him to do what?
00:11:34.940So, I'm Retta Bowers, Retta Andrews Bowers from Dallas.
00:12:51.320And the only way you can get five additional seats in Texas is if you aggressively discriminate against the Hispanic and black populations.
00:12:59.080You know, something's happening in Texas that's unique.
00:13:01.460For the first time, the Latino population is actually going to exceed that of California on a percentage basis.
00:13:06.900So, we have over 40% now Latinos in Texas.
00:13:10.180It is one of the most diverse states in the nation.
00:13:12.540But under this proposal, we have 11 million white residents, 11 million Latino residents.
00:13:18.52026 out of the 38 seats will be under white control districts, while Latinos are only being relegated to eight.
00:13:24.960That means that the value of a Latino resident in Texas is one-third the value of a white resident.
00:13:31.620So, that, I mean, there's, and am I right to have learned or read accurately that four out of the five seats they're talking about taking are majority Hispanic districts?
00:13:40.520Well, three, three, Sylvia's for sure.
00:13:45.540Three out of the four were African-American.
00:13:48.380Three out of the four were African-American, but minority districts nonetheless.
00:13:57.540They were previously held by heroes in Texas.
00:14:00.400Heroes that have gone out and fought that fight for generations, and they're changing the demographics to be able to put someone else in there.
00:14:30.960Because Governor Abbott, after the death of Congressman Turner, refused to allow a special election in that seat.
00:14:36.720And so when you look at the big, ugly bill that has passed by one vote, you know how important the voices of that community are.
00:14:43.640And so, yes, it is shameful that being at 60 years of the Civil Rights Act signed by President Johnson from Texas,
00:14:50.600that we now face discrimination by Governor Abbott bending the knee to Trump and wanting to steal five seats before the next election cycle.
00:14:59.620And so that's what we know is on the line, not just for Texas.
00:34:27.440But, you know, it's a challenge because we have two split courts, the Texas Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals.
00:34:35.960When the Court of Criminal Appeals, all Republicans, when three of them took a stand and gave a ruling opposed to Paxton on constitutional grounds, he went after them politically.
00:34:52.780The guardrails within the Republican Party are missing.
00:34:55.520When you have them taking these steps, these extraordinary steps, this didn't happen four years ago.
00:35:00.540This is at a rapid fire that they think they can go to the courts, they can manipulate the courts, that the courts will not be there to be a backstop.
00:35:08.420It is part of the reason that we are trying to get catch fire with the people, with the people.
00:35:20.620And that's why they are so desperately trying to cheat and change the lines, because it is up to the voters.
00:35:27.360And that's why we are desperately trying to have everybody stand up, as California is doing, and saying, you cannot let these dominoes start to fall, because we will completely lose our way.
00:35:39.940The elected Republicans, I had a Republican member of Congress from Texas say, I don't want this.
00:35:48.120None of my colleagues want this, but none of us will say no to Trump, so it will happen.
00:35:53.840And time and time again, we hear this refrain from our Republican colleagues.
00:35:59.720They don't agree with what's happening, but they won't stand up against it.
00:36:04.280We had Donald Trump weigh in the day of the vote, this regular session, on vouchers.
00:36:10.820We had a big fight that lasted years on taking money out of our neighborhood public schools and putting it into private schools for kids who already attend.
00:36:26.560Public schools are through and through part of our identity as Texans, right?
00:36:30.200And many Republicans were against vouchers, but Donald Trump called on the day of the vote and talked to all of the Republicans, and they supported it, even though their constituents were against it.
00:36:52.760Yeah, and the other, I think, if you start to kind of think about the far-reaching implications of what these shenanigans are going to create, you know, the world is looking at us.
00:37:05.140They're looking at the American democracy that we've been trying to nurture for the last 250 years and saying, gee, we wish we could get to where you are.
00:37:13.300What they're going to see is that it's being eroded.
00:37:16.780They're going to see that the value of the American system is not what it used to be, and it puts us in a completely different position.
00:37:25.760Knowing that world politics are very, you know, right now, very fragile, and they need someone with the strength that we've had in the past to be able to firmly say what we need to do and how we're going to lead democracy forward, that hand is gone, is going.
00:37:46.100It's fading, and now what are we going to do?
00:37:49.320There are a lot of countries that look to the United States, to the democracy, to the way of life that we've established over 250 years and saying, what are we going to do now?
00:38:00.860That's important, and that is what's going to go in the history books, if they allow those history books to be printed, of course.
00:38:07.260But that's what's going to go down in those history books.
00:38:09.520That's what people are going to remember.
00:38:11.060That's what my 14 grandchildren are going to remember.
00:38:13.740When they say, Grandpa, what did you do during that time?
00:38:16.720I can tell them exactly what I did, but we've got to be able to tell that story to generations coming up so that we don't repeat the mistakes that we're creating right now.
00:38:34.720I love the spirit, which brought you to say it.
00:38:38.380And just for what it's worth, you're in a library with a lot of books that have been banned as they're rewriting history, censoring historical facts.
00:38:53.960It's quite literal and real at this moment.
00:38:56.480So it begs the question, you know, held out 37 days, 2021, outcome didn't necessarily go your way ultimately there.
00:39:06.320Governor, I'm intimately familiar with this, forgive me, has the ability to call another special session and then another special session.
00:39:12.700I heard your governor yesterday say he'll call another, you know, until the end of time or at least end of his time as his tenure as governor.
00:39:23.120So where does that leave you in the private conversations?
00:39:26.900I don't need to get into tactics or any of that.
00:39:29.760But, you know, how we're all asking, how long are you willing to hold out?
00:39:35.080What's when's when's the end date of this special election?
00:39:39.840When when are you going to be back seeing your grandkids?
00:40:03.460And the next day we took it as it came.
00:40:06.760Because of our bold act of defiance last time, we shamed Republicans into taking out those two egregious provisions that I described at the beginning of this program.
00:40:40.060I have to go back to the financial stress, though.
00:40:47.200I mean, you've got now have threats that anyone who aids in a bets, quote unquote, you seeking some support related to these fines will somehow be charged for bribery.
00:41:02.480They've quite literally threatened that on multiple occasions, your elected leaders in your state.
00:41:10.460So people that are I mean, I imagine I'll be on that list shortly if we're not already being surveilled by the FBI with this visit.
00:41:20.840But I mean, how do you talk to your kids about that?
00:41:59.380And I honestly think, you know, my husband has given up on, you know, that she's not about public service.
00:42:06.700And so it really is about us serving the people and the constituents that we have listening to them, representing them in a way that they know that we're their voice.
00:42:19.480You know, when they go to that ballot box, we want them to know that their voice really does count and their vote counts and that we're going to speak in their best interest and on their behalf.
00:43:02.300I mean, they literally are throwing anything and everything at the wall, these allegations of bribery.
00:43:06.000They're throwing all this stuff that they can at the wall.
00:43:08.080And I think it shows how desperate they are that they have to perform for Donald Trump.
00:43:12.160And they're going to look embarrassed if they don't get it done this time.
00:43:14.880I will say it's a little rich for these guys to make an allegation of bribery, given the fact that Dan Patrick took $3 million on the eve of the trial before he presided in Paxton from one of Paxton's biggest donor.
00:43:26.860It's a little rich for the governor when he took $12 million from an individual out of Pennsylvania who had an interest in getting the vouchers passed.
00:43:34.960And so we know that what they are is just throwing up desperate allegations because they're doing anything and everything that they can to try to force us back.
00:43:42.540But, again, it just strengthens our resolve because it shows us how desperate they are to not serve the interests of the people but to serve the interests of Donald Trump.
00:44:09.340So, yes, we are elected officials who campaign and people can send us contributions.
00:44:15.640And that is, you know, what keeps us having the ability to lift our voice and be able to campaign and be able to put out an opposing position to these guys that are out there.
00:44:24.980And, look, the damage that's going to be done to generations of Texas kids who are going to grow up in a society where, if you're Hispanic or black, the government's not going to feel they're accountable to you.
00:44:36.880The way these lines are drawn, the government's only going to be accountable to one particular group.
00:44:41.300I mean, what kind of society are they going to grow up in?
00:44:43.260It is going to take us generations if we go back to the 1960s and have our own version of the civil rights struggle all over again here in 2025.
00:44:51.620So, the damage that's going to be done to future generations of Texans honestly pales in comparison to whatever it is they're going to do to any of us.
00:44:58.720And I think a lot of members feel that way.
00:45:00.800And that's why I think they're just so determined in the result.
00:46:43.360You know, I think folks, when they talk about redistricting and they say, oh, those guys are just redistricting, I don't think they understand this is not normal.
00:46:52.280And even if we think about the last time we redistricted, states like yours, where you have an independent commission, you allowed the people to draw the lines.
00:47:00.440Many of us have offered legislation in Texas to have an independent commission, to have the people draw the lines.
00:47:06.420I think people forget Republicans in those states started the game last decade already carving up districts to give them a heavy advantage.
00:47:13.860And even with that cheat, when other folks are letting their people do it, here we are four years in, they know they're about to lose, and so they want to redraw it again.
00:47:22.800We appreciate greatly the courage that California is stepping, is showing.
00:47:26.760The fact that you have stepped up and immediately said, Texas, what's good for the goose is good for the gander.
00:47:31.540But what we hope to do is lift a conversation in which, wouldn't it be great?
00:47:36.800Wouldn't it be great if the nation said, you know what, we should all let the people draw the lines.
00:47:40.900We should all do an independent commission and get politicians out of drawing our lines.
00:47:45.280And so we are grateful that you are willing to, as you say, fight fire with fire, because when one group is playing by one set of rules and not allowing the others to play by an equal set of rules, it violates the fundamental fairness of who we are as people in a nation.
00:48:01.340And one of the things that we intend to do with the consent of the legislature and ultimately present to the voters in a special election the first week in November.
00:48:09.440So in a very short period of time is also a commitment to support a national independent redistricting commission.
00:48:19.060So we want to reinforce that principle and that paradigm.
00:48:22.280And that's why we're looking at this as an emergency response to this outrageous act in this mid-decade redistricting.
00:48:32.660And I think, look, one of the big frustrations I have often with my party, with our party, the Democratic Party, is fire and fury oftentimes signifying little or nothing.
00:48:43.260Sometimes we just sit there and we're on the side.
00:48:45.400We feel there's a weakness sometimes because we sort of we push back, but we're not delivering on the counter.
00:48:52.200And that's why it's, I think, really critical that we're successful here in California.
00:48:57.220We have to deliver an equal reaction that actually produces a real result.
00:49:04.300What more can we do in our state but other states as well to actually deliver not just in moral support, not talk about sort of the better angels,
00:49:13.760and not just, you know, have your back rhetorically, but to get back on the offensive, not just constantly being shapeshifted by these folks, on the receiving end, 24-7.
00:49:27.520It's not a joke, but everything with three letters, ESG, DEI, CRT, IRS, FBI, except when they need to weaponize them, you know, EPA.
00:49:37.740We're constantly on the receiving end, on this redistricting, you know, at least we feel like we have a tool, and that's the people themselves.
00:49:47.220We are the people that can exercise their moral and formal authority to neutralize what's happening in Texas and to get back.
00:49:56.580But what else do you want to see across this country in a more meaningful and substantive way?
00:50:02.480I think Americans, Texans for sure, want to see how these things impact their daily lives.
00:50:10.000For me, part of why, yes, there is the big picture representation, democracy goals,
00:50:17.600but ultimately, this is about higher prices at the grocery stores and how these pay-to-play tariffs that Donald Trump is implementing are hurting everyday Americans, everyday Texans.
00:50:31.040It's about a hit to financial aid and ability for Latino communities in Texas to attend college, but all communities, right?
00:50:40.720They rely on that kind of aid and what Donald Trump is doing to that.
00:50:44.040Hit to health care, hit to neighborhood schools.
00:50:46.700The list goes on, and those are real threats to Americans that will continue to get worse if this goes unchecked.
00:50:55.540And so I think ideas and examples of how this big picture conversation is impacting their everyday lives and will protect.
00:51:05.900That's why we have representation, to protect the people against harm and abuse from the politicians, to hold them accountable.
00:51:14.160That's what Donald Trump is taking away, and the more we can speak to people's daily lives and the way what we do impacts them, I think, the better.
00:51:27.900It's sort of holding the line, having a line of accountability, oversight, back to this notion of co-equal branches of government and this fundamental notion of what, underneath all of it, it's about,
00:51:39.700which is about having the aspirations in mind of the American people, having the masters of not just your district, your state, but our nation,
00:51:47.520and addressing all of these profound issues and, as you say, on the tariffs and everything else.
00:51:52.520I mean, that's, at the end of the day, it is about all of those issues.
00:52:10.920We have an in-depth understanding, and sometimes we overcomplicate the process.
00:52:15.220What we need to do is to get those moms and dads that get up early in the morning, dress their kids, take them to school, drop them off, pick them up in the afternoon, take them to daycare, go to the grocery store, pay for the eggs and milk,
00:52:27.620to have that conversation of how, what this economy is doing to them at the town square, have that discussion among themselves and understand what the impact is to America.
00:52:37.720Because as elected officials, we say it all the time, and sometimes they don't have time to listen to what we're telling them.
00:52:50.420They're trying to get their kids off to school.
00:52:53.360So what I tell everyone, get with your neighbors, whatever that town square is for you, whether it's your homeowner's association or some event that you happen to go to.
00:53:02.700So take the discussion there and raise the issues, how it's affecting you directly.
00:53:08.200I think if we do that, I think the entire country will understand and understand we've got to do something different.
00:53:14.560And that's, I think, the only way we're going to really be successful.
00:53:25.000You may know me as an NCAA national champion and recent most outstanding player.
00:53:29.320You may even know me as a people's princess.
00:53:31.540But now you're also going to know me as your favorite host.
00:53:35.360Every week on my new podcast, Fudd Around and Find Out, I'll give you an inside look at everything happening in my crazy life as I try to balance it all.
00:53:43.060From my travels across the globe to preparing for another run at the Natty with my Yukon Huskies to just trying to make it to my midterms on time.
00:53:49.940You'll get the inside scoop on everything.
00:53:51.960I'll be talking to some special guests about pop culture, basketball, and what it's like to be a professional athlete on and off the court.
00:53:58.800You'll even get to have some fun with the Fudd family.
00:54:01.060So if you follow me on social media or watch me on TV, you may think you know me.
00:54:06.160But this show is the only place where you can really Fudd Around and Find Out.
00:54:10.240Listen to Fudd Around and Find Out, a production of iHeart Women's Sports in partnership with Unanimous Media,
00:54:15.260on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:54:18.980Have you ever looked at a piece of abstract art or music or poetry and thought, that's just a bunch of pretentious nonsense?
00:54:28.220Well, that's exactly what two bored Australian soldiers set out to prove during World War II,
00:54:32.980when they pulled off what was either a bold literary hoax or a grand poetic experiment,
00:54:38.220publishing over a dozen intentionally bad but highly acclaimed works of expressionist poetry
00:54:43.300under the name Earn Malley in an incident that caused a media firestorm and even a criminal trial.
00:54:49.880The Earn Malley episode made fools of believers and critics alike and still fascinates poetry lovers to this day.
00:54:56.000We break down the truth, the lies, and the poetry in between on Hoax,
00:55:00.300a new podcast hosted by me, Lizzie Logan, and me, Dana Schwartz.
00:55:04.580Every episode, Hoax explores an audacious fraud or ruse from history,
00:55:09.140from forged artworks to the original fake news, to try and answer why we believe.
00:55:14.740Listen to Hoax on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:55:20.940The Stuff You Should Know guys have made their own summer playlists of their must-listen podcasts
01:01:25.220And that means the world to all of us that are trying to raise awareness, raise the alarm bells of this moment where we get so easily distracted by, you know, sugar and Coca-Cola or whatever the new distraction in Alcatraz may be.
01:01:40.220And that means what's really happening in this country.
01:02:07.160And the fact that you are willing to sacrifice so much of your personal as well as professional reputation to be here and to be everywhere you've been.
01:02:16.960Everybody listening should owe you and do, I think, owe you a debt of gratitude, regardless of party.
01:02:23.540This is about fundamental enduring principles that have served the world, not just our country, for 249 years.
01:02:30.880So I'm deeply grateful and I'm proud as well to have this opportunity in a transparent way to have this conversation, this private conversation, more publicly so people understand why you're out here and the opportunity now to share that more publicly with this press conference with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and talk more about the stakes.