Mga Subtitle (417)
0:00First of all, I just want to say thank
0:02you so much for braving the congestion
0:04pricing to get here. It really means a
0:10>> it is so wonderful to have you here.
0:16>> Huge win, landslide win. You have such
0:19an impressive resume. former Navy
0:22helicopter pilot, federal prosecutor,
0:25served in Congress, first woman veteran
0:28ever to be elected governor.
0:36>> You've been on the job for eight days
0:38now, but you you served in Congress for
0:41eight years. How are you adjusting to
0:44the freedom of actually being able to
0:48>> Quite well. Quite well. I'm loving it.
0:51Um, yeah, it is lovely. I don't have to
0:54work with the Freedom Caucus.
0:57>> so that's a benefit. And you can
0:59actually chart out a plan
1:02>> and execute it, which right, which is
1:04really a joy. Really a joy.
1:06>> Is Was that part of the inspiration for
1:08wanting to run for governor? Just the
1:10fact that it is so Congress is so
1:12gridlocked sometimes. Congress is so
1:16gridlocked usually sometimes and now so
1:19gridlocked all the time, right? Um it is
1:22it is really a difficult place which I
1:24think you know the people that are there
1:26now working so hard to just hold the
1:28line until we can take back power in
1:31November which I'm very excited about.
1:36>> Uh I'm so impressed with them. But
1:38you're exactly right. I I probably
1:40should stop saying this, but when I told
1:42people I wanted to run for governor of
1:44New Jersey, their first inclination was,
1:47"Please don't." Um I I Congress Well,
1:51and because uh they said, "Look, why
1:54would you do that? The buck stops there.
1:57You're so accountable. You know, you can
1:59sort of in Congress there's, you know,
2:01434 other people." Um and I said,
2:04"That's what I love about it. I love the
2:06idea that it rests with me, that I can
2:09chart that course and that I can figure
2:11out a path forward for New Jersey. So,
2:13that's what drew me to it actually. And
2:15it Yeah. My first eight days
2:22you you ran very strongly on
2:24affordability for the people of New
2:26Jersey and you wasted no time. Day one,
2:29signed two executive orders uh
2:32addressing utility rate hikes. Is that
2:35>> Why focus on utility costs and and how
2:38does something like that work? Walk us
2:40>> Sure. So, I was speaking to thousands of
2:44New Jerseyians during my campaign and
2:45the number one issue, not surprisingly,
2:47um was affordability and it was key in
2:51several areas and one of those areas
2:53that just seemed like there was no
2:55relief was in utility costs, electricity
2:58cost. And speaking to a couple like Kerb
3:01and Mary who are on a fixed income and
3:03their utility bills had doubled.
3:05>> U I was hearing that across the state.
3:07It's not just an impact on homeowners or
3:12renters. It's an impact on small
3:13businesses who have small margins and
3:15are just trying to make it. So it was
3:17really an issue that was impacting
3:19people across the state. It was getting
3:21worse and worse and there was no relief
3:22in sight. So I said, "Look, I'm I'm
3:24going to stop dumping this on the back
3:26of the rateayer. We we know the utility
3:28companies have made billions over the
3:30last several years. We know that our
3:32grid operator has really not done a good
3:34job getting power to the grid. We know
3:36the state hasn't acted in the way to
3:38expand power generation drive costs
3:40down. And yet all of these problems just
3:42kept getting dumped on the rate pairs.
3:44So, um I said, you know, I'm freezing
3:47I'm freezing that. I'm gonna freeze rate
3:49hikes. And I told people, I'm not
3:51messing around. I'm I'm not doing like a
3:5310-year study. I'm not, you know,
3:55writing a strongly worded letter and I
4:02>> Would you please tell Chuck Schumer
4:05Chuck Schumer needs to hear that? I
4:08Yeah, I was sick after Congress of
4:09strongly worded letters. Um, exactly.
4:12So, uh, I I kept hearing people though
4:15that were like, "Yeah, Mikey, everybody
4:17says they're going to do X, Y, or Z."
4:18So, it finally got to the point where
4:20I'm like, "All right, you guys are
4:21driving me crazy." I mean, that's a
4:23common feeling in New Jersey, but uh I I
4:26said, "Okay, I you know, I'll show you."
4:28So, I didn't even wait till my inaugural
4:30address was over. I in the middle of it
4:32all, I said, "All right, guys. You know,
4:34sick of the status quo. Me, too. Here it
4:36is." And and then we we signed the
4:38>> right in the middle of your inauguration
4:40speech. Didn't even wait till it was It
4:43>> Got it done. Don't you
4:50I mean why work so hard right out of the
4:52gates? Don't you want to just lower
4:54expectations in the beginning? Just over
4:57you know you can overperform later. No,
4:59that's very very impressive and I think
5:01it definitely sends a strong message.
5:04Um, you know, I want to ask you about
5:06the fact that it feels like right now
5:08our federal government is failing us in
5:10so many ways and people are turning to
5:13the states to protect them.
5:15>> We have what's happening in Minnesota
5:17right now, the horrific events that have
5:19happened there. We have DHS sending
5:22memos saying that ICE can come into
5:24people's homes without a warrant. I
5:26imagine you're studying yourself to have
5:30to face the administration. How do you
5:32prepare for something like that to
5:34protect the people of New Jersey?
5:36>> So, I served all over the world in the
5:39Navy and I've seen what secret police
5:41forces look like or the fear certain
5:44populations live under.
5:46>> And I'll say I I knew where this was
5:48headed when we started to see
5:51DHS uh people taking loyalty oaths to
5:54the president, not the Constitution. We
5:58saw people in the street with masks and
6:00no insignia. So not accountable at all,
6:03hiding from the population and and we
6:06saw again and again an undermining of
6:09what law enforcement should do to keep
6:13And so I saw where this was going. But
6:16to come to the point where someone like
6:18Renee Good, a mother of three who drops
6:20her six-year-old off in her Honda Pilot
6:23and that gets shot and killed to see
6:26someone like Alex Prey who was an ICU
6:30nurse at the VA. I I saw his official
6:32photo and I've seen a million of those,
6:34right? You know, with the flag in the
6:35background. I know those guys. And I saw
6:38it again when you watch the video and
6:40you see him standing up to protect those
6:43women from tear gas and he gets taken to
6:46the ground, sat on basically by three
6:49agents and then shot point blank
6:51execution style by not one evidently but
6:54two different ICE officers thought that
6:57they could shoot him in the street like
6:59that. That is unacceptable. And so
7:01you're exactly right. I've already met
7:03with AG. We are putting out information
7:05on uh what helping New Jerseyians know
7:07their rights. We are not going to allow
7:10any ICED uh raids to be staged from
7:12state properties. And we are also going
7:15to be standing up a portal so people can
7:18upload all their cell phone videos and
7:20alert people like if you see an ICE
7:22agent in the street, get your phone out.
7:30they have not been forthcoming. They
7:32will pick people up. They will not tell
7:33us who they are, right?
7:35>> They will not tell us if they're here
7:36legally. They won't check. They'll pick
7:38up American citizens. They picked up a
7:405-year-old child. We want documentation
7:42and we are going to make sure we get it.
7:52>> You're in another showdown with the
7:54federal government right now. You you
7:56are passionate about this infrastructure
7:58project, the Gateway Tunnel project,
8:01right? And that sounds so funny, but
8:03>> she's so guys, she's so hot for tunnels.
8:06Super hot for tunnels. This governor,
8:10>> federal funds were allocated for this
8:12project and then President Trump came in
8:14and froze those funds. Is that correct?
8:16>> That is correct. I would say illegally.
8:18Yes. Seeing as how Congress has denoted
8:21those funds for the Gateway Tunnel
8:23>> So, as governor, what can you do about
8:25that now? Can you unfreeze those funds?
8:28>> Well, that's exactly what I'm working to
8:30do. So, I have a call into Trump. I
8:31haven't heard back from him yet to flag
8:35>> Uh that this is about 100,000 jobs in
8:37the region. And by the way, his numbers
8:39aren't looking so good in that area. Uh
8:42that this could be about 40 uh billion
8:46dollars of economic impact to one of the
8:49most important regions economically in
8:52the world, certainly in the nation. And
8:55this could have uh such a a just good
8:59impact on infrastructure, on actually
9:01effectively running government, which
9:03doesn't seem to be something he's that
9:05concerned about. But I do think he
9:07should listen to me. I think he should
9:09listen to me because I just want back
9:14>> I think the conversation would be a good
9:19>> Is it true that New Jersey
9:22gives seven? Did you say 70 billion in
9:26federal funds to the in state to the
9:31>> we get we send 70 billion dollars more
9:34to the federal government than we
9:37>> than you receive back
9:37>> than we receive back. So, the fact that
9:39now uh the federal government's
9:41attempting to cut the Gateway Tunnel
9:43project, that they are cutting healthc
9:45care funding, that they are cutting
9:47education funding, that they are uh
9:50doing these madeup investigations to try
9:52to hold off more funding um in different
9:55areas of the state. It's just at this
9:57point we're looking at ways to claw back
10:00as much funding as possible because if
10:02if we are going to send that much money
10:04to the federal government and they're
10:05not going to actually do their job, then
10:08what are we paying for? Right.
10:16>> I think it's a fair question.
10:17>> That's what I was going to ask you. Can
10:19you withhold uh the New Jersey taxpayer
10:22dollars and not pay the federal
10:24government? I mean, it's a two-way
10:26>> I we, you know, it's very hard to do. We
10:29have been looking at every way and and
10:30most of that's clawback. It's in the
10:32courts. You know, that's how we're going
10:34to fight uh should the president not
10:36kind of see reason uh you know, how
10:38we'll be fighting this likely. But, um
10:41at the end of the day, I'm also I think
10:43we are in a time where we have to
10:45rethink some of how this has operated.
10:48We haven't been at a time in my lifetime
10:51where the federal government actually is
10:53acting to attack states. That that is
10:58>> To say the least. And so I think we need
11:01to start looking at expanding. This is a
11:03time when I think we're going to see a
11:04large expansion of state power because
11:07the states are the rational actors in
11:09the space taking care of people, funding
11:11good programs, and the more effective
11:13that we can run our states and we've
11:15seen some really effective leadership in
11:17many of our governors that I think is
11:20where we will see good results for the
11:22>> Oh god, I hope so. I I have to just
11:24acknowledge and congratulate you on your
11:27win. You won by 14 points.
11:28>> 14.4. But you know, I don't think
11:30everyone counter. We're counting. Who's
11:33counting? Right. Who's counting?
11:37>> One by 14 points. You moved every
11:39district to the left. You clawed back
11:42all the demographics that Democrats lost
11:44last time. Your election is looked at as
11:47kind of a bellweather for the midterms
11:49potentially, giving Democrats a lot of
11:51hope. If you had any advice to the
11:54Democratic party for the upcoming
11:56midterms, what would you tell what would
11:57you tell them? Listen,
12:01it's, you know, that's that's where you
12:03start every good campaign is listening
12:06to as many voters as possible. And I
12:09think I think over time, you know,
12:12people in politics have gotten real cute
12:14about, you know, doing all this modeling
12:16over who are voters or who aren't. You
12:18got to talk to everybody. I I was at an
12:20event and there was, you know, we had
12:24heard all these stories and I have uh
12:25four kids, two teenage boys and we'd
12:27been hearing all these stories about how
12:29Trump is making so many inroads into
12:32>> And I told my sons, I said, "You got to
12:34watch it. It's all over, you know,
12:36social media. People are after you guys
12:38and you have to be smart." And my
12:40youngest said, "Don't worry, mom. I'm a
12:49So, um, so I was at this event, you
12:52know, hundreds and hundreds of people
12:54there, and I'm talking to the event, and
12:56out of the corner of my eye, there's
12:58this group of teenage boys. Um, and
13:01they're like taking all these selfies,
13:02and they're going like this, and I'm
13:05thinking, are these guys trolling me?
13:07Like, is this like what what's going on
13:09here? You know, and sure enough, I said
13:11to the event organizer, I said, um,
13:16you know, who are these young men? And
13:18she said, "Oh my gosh, they love you.
13:19They have knocked thousands of doors."
13:22>> And I that's my reaction, right? Like
13:25>> oh my gosh, to and that's what we
13:27wanted. I mean, we were trying to get to
13:29everybody because that's bringing
13:31everyone together around this vision for
13:33the future and the the people that, you
13:35know, we most need to engage our kids.
13:38>> And and that's where I think that's when
13:41I felt like, wow, we are really creating
13:42something special here. If
13:45>> I still haven't gotten my own teenage
13:46sons to come to these events, but um one
13:49>> but we'll know. It's amazing how it
13:51doesn't matter how accomplished and
13:53impressive you are as a mom, you're
13:55never cool to your kids.
13:57>> You can There's nothing you can do to be
13:59>> That is correct. That is correct. I have
14:01a a 13-year-old daughter and um that
14:07>> Oh, God. Love our children.
14:10Good Lord. Before I let you go, before I
14:14let you go, I just wanted I want to play
14:16a quick game with you if you're willing.
14:18It's a It's a New Jersey game. Rapid
14:21>> I'm going to ask you some questions, and
14:23you have to choose one. I'm going to
14:24name two New Jersey things, and you have
14:29>> These are hard-hitting questions. All
14:30right. No softballs for you, Governor.
14:32All right. What's more New Jersey, Tony
14:35Soprano or Snookie? O. So, uh, Sopranos
14:39was filmed in my congressional, my old
14:41congressional district. So, I'll say
14:44>> Oh, yeah. Tony Soprano. Okay, great
14:48What's more New Jersey? Hating New
14:50Yorkers or hating Pennians?
14:52>> Hating New Yorkers.
14:53>> Hating New Yorkers. Oh. Oh, okay. What's
14:57more New Jersey? Wawa or diners?
15:03>> Oh my god. All right. I I'm gonna say
15:06diners because the disco fries. So, I'm
15:08gonna have to go with diners.
15:10>> Okay, I can get on board with that.
15:11What's more, New Jersey going Oh, or or
15:18>> And you have to do both.
15:24>> Yeah. Okay. Okay. But which one is your
15:26favorite? I'm going to get her to say it
15:27again. Which one's your favorite?
15:30>> Yeah. Come on. Come on. Come on.
15:34Come on, Governor. It was so wonderful
15:36to have you here. Congratulations on
15:38everything. Oh, Governor Mikey Cheryl.
