The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Zohran Mamdani On Strengthening Public Safety, Uplifting Small Businesses, Free Busses + More

Episode Date: June 11, 2025

Today on the Breakfast Club, Zohran Mamdani On Strengthening Public Safety, Uplifting Small Businesses, Free Busses. Listen For More!YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the podcast Betrayal. Police Lieutenant Joel Kern used his badge to fool everyone. Most of all, his wife, Caroline. He texted, I've ruined our lives. You're going to want to divorce me. How far would he go to cover up what he'd done? The fact that you lied is absolutely horrific.

And quite frankly, I question how many other women are out there that may bring forward allegations in the future. Listen to Betrayal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, now I'm taking the inheritance. Wait a minute John, who's not the father? Well Sam, luckily it's your Not the Father Week on the OK Storytime Podcast so we'll find out soon. This author writes, my father-in-law is trying to steal the family fortune worth millions from my son even though it was promised to us. He's trying to give it to his irresponsible son, but I have DNA proof that could get the money back.

Hold up, they could lose their family and millions of dollars? Yup. Find out how it ends by listening to the OK Storytime podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have you ever thought about going voiceover? I'm Hope Woodard, a comedian, creator, and seeker of male validation. I'm also the girl behind voiceover, the movement that exploded in 2024. You might hear that term and think it's about celibacy, but to me, voiceover is about understanding yourself outside of sex and relationships.

It's flexible, it's customizable, and it's a personal process. Singleness is not a waiting room. You are actually at the party right now. Let me hear it. Listen to VoiceOver on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Made for This Mountain podcast exists to empower listeners to rise above their inner struggles and face the mountain in front of them. So during Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast, focus on your

emotional well-being, and then climb that mountain. You will never be able to change or grow through the thing that you refuse to identify, the thing that you refuse to say, hey, this is my mountain, this is the struggle. Listen to Made for This Mountain on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Wake that ass up. In the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning everybody, it's DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious,

Charlamagne Nega, we are The Breakfast Club. We got a special guest in the building, he's running for mayor of New York City. We have Zoran Kwame Mamdani. Nailed it, nailed it. There we go, there we go. That's that. You gave him a great tutorial right before we started.

Absolutely, okay. And I'll take it. If you don't know, ask. That's right. That's what I do. I was going to say it was off the top of the dome, but... Now, I did see a video. Before we get into politics, I did see a video. You are a rapper.

You got a bop. You got a bop on your hands. I was an aspiring rapper. Nobody would vote for you based off what I heard. And that's why I'm not a rapper. Based off the quality of that rap, nobody would vote for you based off what I heard in that rap. And that's why I'm not a rapper. Based off the quality of that rap, nobody could smoke weed. To be the mayor, you have to know what you know and know what you don't know.

And I learned quickly what I didn't know. You really wanted to pursue a rap career at one point? There was a point. There was a point. I mean, it was at the level. So I was born in Kampala, Uganda, in East Africa. And there was a point where there was a guy I grew up with. He's like my brother.

The two of us were rapping together. And I was trying to sell mixtapes on a public bus, which doesn't leave until it fills every single one of the 14 seats. That's how much we were trying. Wow. And here I am, because it didn't really work out all that well.

It was kind of like yin-yang twins, but they were whispering. I like the dirt. I have to tell you. I like the dirt. Was there an inspiration for you, the yin-yang twins, the whisper song? I have to say, that was an inspiration for the song I made called N I'm surprised. I liked them. Was there an inspiration for you? The Ying Ying Twins, the Whisper song? I have to say that was an inspiration for the song I made called Nani.

But I think for me it was also a way of just telling the different stories of what I grew up with. Gotcha. And especially in Kampala. I'm Ugandan of Indian origin. The guy that I grew up with, his name is Abdul, he is Ugandan by way of South Sudan. It's all these different cultures coming together. We were trying to mix it all in. The guy that I grew up with, his name is Abdul, he is Ugandan by way of South Sudan. It's all these different cultures coming together.

We were trying to mix it all in. And then when I was here in New York City, just trying to kind of, the song that I made was a testament to my grandmother. And how she's a real badass. And how so often when we talk about our elders, we put them in a box of a nice gentle person who is very much constrained in how we imagine them. And I wanted to just be a little more absurd in the celebration of a woman who gave me a sense

of the world and was a social worker and should be a little more celebrated. And disciplined you. Love that. And disciplined you. A few slaps and Jackson Heights hurt nobody. Oh, you got slapped? In a video. Oh, you got old school discipline.

Yeah, in that video, not by my grandmother. So question, in real life, when you do make the pivot to do what it is you're doing now, do you say to yourself, all right, scrub all that shit off the internet. We gotta get rid of that. No, because I think that it's about being a real person. I enjoyed that time in my life,

and ultimately I actually see a through line between that work and this work in that you're trying to tell a story. Gotcha. And when you're trying to sell a mixtape or you're trying to get somebody's signature to get on the ballot at 6.30 in the morning at the Broadway stop with the NW and Astoria, it's the same thing where you're asking someone, can I have a moment of your time to tell you

about my story or our story? And it also means learning how to deal with rejection very quickly. Because once you've tried to be an artist, once you've tried to be a rapper, you know what it means to be humbled. Yeah, when somebody tells you to get your way. On a regular basis, right? You know what it means to be the opener to the opener to the opener to the opener to the opener. And I think too often in politics,

there's a real sense of self as if people should be excited to see you, when in fact you should be excited to see them. We shouldn't be lecturing people as much as we should actually be listening to them. And I think that struggling through being an artist, it was very helpful in learning that. I thank God nobody told you to use any of that hip-hop stuff for your campaign. That's what they do to you.

That's how you reach certain demographics. They're like, please, oh, I thank God they didn't tell you to do that. Don't worry, it's not coming. Now, how did you get into politics? What got you into politics? Because some of your policies that you want and we'll discuss, I don't see happening, but I love it. So let's start how you got into politics at first.

So the first time I knocked on doors was in 2008 for Obama. The first time I knocked on doors in New York City was when I picked up a copy of The Village Voice and I saw that one of my favorite rappers, Heems, had endorsed his childhood friend for city council. And I was like, oh, this guy would be the first South Asian elected official in New York City. His name was Ali Najmi. And so I got on the F train, I went to 169th and I knocked on doors for Ali.

And that was the moment where I started to get involved in local politics. I joined a club called the Muslim Democratic Club in New York. And then in 2017, I worked on my first race. That was for a Palestinian Lutheran minister in Bay Ridge called Kother Elie Team. And that just changed my life because I moved to this city when I was seven. This is the city I fell in love with, the city where I got my citizenship, where I got married. And yet there was also a point where I knew I was a New Yorker. I didn't know if I had a place in New York City politics. I thought those two things were separate. And then there was this campaign which showed me that there was room for all of us and you didn't actually

have to give up any of yourself to be a part of it. And that inspired me to understand that politics isn't just something that you believe in, it's also something that you do as an active thing. And from there I kept working on campaigns and then in 2020 I ran for the state assembly and now I represent a story in Long Island City. Wow. You know, the USA today asked a question

and the question is simple. Can a AOC-backed socialist upset Andrew Cuomo in the New York City's mayor race? I want you to answer that question. There's a short answer, which is yes. And there's a longer answer, which is the fact that New Yorkers are hungry for a different kind of politics. We have seen the same politicians with the same ideas

lead us to the same results for decades. And this is, in many ways, a question of whether the same ideas lead us to the same results for decades. And this is in many ways a question of whether we want to go back to the past or whether we want to go to the future. And our campaign is one that sees this city under attack in two ways. An affordability crisis on the inside, we're the most expensive city in the United States of America. One in four New Yorkers are living in poverty.

The rest are living in a permanent state of anxiety about whether they can keep affording the city. And then we're under attack from the outside from a Trump administration that is hell bent on going after not only New Yorkers, but frankly, democratic cities across the country like we're seeing in Los Angeles right now. And I am going head to head with Andrew Cuomo, a former governor who's the son of a former governor whose super PAC is funded in large part by the same billionaires who put Donald Trump back in the White House. That's not the kind of person who can stand up to authoritarianism without seeing a reflection

of themselves. We need someone who will actually fight both of these crises at the same time, and that's why I believe that I can win, and I'm so excited to have Congressman Ocasio-Cortez's endorsement in doing that. I wanted to ask, some of the policies that you stand on is free bus service in New York City. Yes, sir. Could that actually work? Absolutely.

Break it down. So I grew up in Morningside Heights. I would take the one train. We used to have the nine train back then. But I would take the one train to 231st, get on the BX10 to go to Bronx Science. And I remember when I'd get off the one train, if I could still see the bus, even if it was two stops away, even if I had missed it, I knew I could catch up to it because that's how slow that bus was.

I'd be slapping the back of the bus and I could get there in time. It was good for me, it's bad for New York City. You should not be able to catch that bus if you miss that bus, but the buses are so slow. So as a state assembly member, I won the first of its kind fare-free bus pilot. We made one bus route free in every borough of New York City, and we secured $15 million to do so, and it showed that ridership went up by up to 38%. Assaults on bus drivers went down by 38.9%, and of the largest increase of riders came from New Yorkers making $28,000 a year or less. And this is critical because it's not just

about economic access, it's also about public safety. It's also even about environmentalism, because we're seeing that 11% of the new riders, they were previously driving a car, taking a taxi. Now they're off the road, they're on public transit. And the cost of doing all of this is about $700 million a year. Now that sounds significant, which it is, but just wanna put it into context. We're talking about that in the context of doing all of this is about $700 million a year. Now, that sounds significant, which it is, but just want to put it into context.

We're talking about that in the context of a city budget that's about $113 billion a year. State budget about $252 billion a year. There is money. The question is what we spend it on. And what I've proposed is that we raise $10 billion to pay for our entire economic agenda and start to Trump-proof our city because we know he'll use federal funding as leverage over this city.

And we will do so in two key ways. The first is to match the state's top corporate tax rate to that of New Jersey. We are at 7.25%. They're at 11.5%. Corporations can pay it over there. They can pay it over here. And the beauty of it is that it doesn't just apply to corporations headquartered in New York City.

Because when you say this, people will say, well, they're going to go to Florida. Wherever you are headquartered, as long as you do business in the state of New York, you are taxable for that corporate tax. We're talking about corporations that are making millions of dollars, not in revenue, but in profit. And the second is taxing the top 1% of New Yorkers. We're talking about people who make a million dollars a year or more, taxing them just by a flat 2% tax increase.

And I know if 50 Cent is listening, he's not going to be happy about this, he tends to not like this tax policy, but I want to be very clear, this is about $20,000 a year, it's a rounding error. And all of these things together, they make every New Yorker's life better, including those who are actually getting taxed. Now you also want to cut the police budget, and people are upset about that, right? They feel like crime is all over the place. I think a couple days ago, two people got shot in Times Square.

The other day, I think another girl got shot in the face in the Bronx. So people are very scared. It seems like New York is getting worse than getting better. So what do you say that at a time like this, cutting the police budgets, that seems like that is taking more police officers off the street? I want to be very clear. We are not defunding the police. What we are talking about is sustaining the number of police that we have within the police

department. When I talk to those police officers themselves, they tell me they signed up to join the police force to tackle serious crimes. Yet, what they're being asked to do today is serve as mental health professionals and social workers. The same officers who thought they'd be responding to shootings are picking up the 200,000 phone calls a year of mental health calls. And what we've seen elsewhere in the country is you can actually move mental health calls out of the police department. That can reduce the calls that police have to deal with by 20%. And in doing so, you can increase

police response time to those major categories of crime. And I think that's important because police have a critical role to play in public safety. We also need to ask them to just focus on their job and not ask them to do every job. Because what we're seeing right now is these same politicians who have given us this lack of public safety over so many years telling us that their only answer, no matter the question, is to ask police to do more. I want them to do the thing that they signed up for and to have a Department of Community Safety with teams of dedicated mental health outreach workers

at the top hundred stations with the highest levels of mental health crisis and homelessness. We have to deliver public safety. And when those calls come in, you know, and people are saying, hey, somebody's over here having an episode, the police, I think, should be going out there

with the mental health professional. Let the mental health professional be the person who tries to defuse that situation. They're backing them up. And even if you want... I can't tell you how to say things, but- No, please. If the NYPD got a budget of $10.8 billion, does all of that really need to go to the police? They're already super underpaid, so where's that money going anyway?

So why not take some of that money and invest it into other alternatives to respond to things like mental health crisis? And that's what I've said, which is that we have to work backwards from, does every dollar we spend go towards public safety? The critiques that I've said of the NYPD have been that they don't need an 80 person communications department. That doesn't actually deliver public safety. That delivers us drone footage.

We can actually rapidly downsize that. And I've been heartened to see the current commissioner took that 80 and made it 40. I've also said that we don't need to have a more than billion dollar police overtime budget. Usually when you say that, people frame it as if you are going after the police. When you ask the police, there are 200 officers leaving the department every month. One of the leading causes is forced overtime because of quality of life. They don't know when they're going home.

They're working doubles and triples. This is actually something that can make it easier to do that job and ensure that we're actually responding to this because what we have right now is not working. I sat with the family of a New Yorker named Wyn Rosario, who was a young New Yorker who was going through a mental health crisis. He called 911 himself asking for help. Two police officers who were trained in mental health assistance were dispatched to his home and they killed him within three minutes on camera in front of his mother and his brother.

So they were trained in mental health assistance? They were trained. And my point here is that that serves no one. That family grieves him every single day and we all know that that was not the way to respond to this. So why don't we actually look at what works elsewhere in the country and bring it here? And that's what we're talking about, evidence-based policy solutions that will deliver real public safety.

Hold on, maybe we step in on our own point. If they were trained, when you say trained in mental health, would they have trained in how to respond to people dealing with crisis? These police officers were given the training that right now we're being told is sufficient. My point here is that we should not be training police officers for mental health response. We should have mental health responders be the ones who are actually the ones there. Gotcha. And this addiction to asking them to do everything, it's one that leaves them unable to do many

things. Because right now, as you were saying, New Yorkers, when they're worried about safety, they wanna know what's your plan. 65% of crimes from the first quarter of this year are currently unresolved. That's partially because we're asking the police to do everything. I get what you're saying.

So it's- You know, they should do, they should, police officers should be having their own mental health evaluations. Like that should be part of the public safety issue. That's important. And I think that's also part of why, when you ask an officer to work triples,

the longer you are on your shift, the harder it is to make the same level of decisions throughout the entirety of it. We need to ensure that we are creating the conditions where we can actually deliver that public safety. I wanna ask about congestion pricing as well. You talk about free buses, which sounds great, but now you got free buses, but then when you drive to the city, you charge me $30 to get to the city.

So what's your thoughts on congestion pricing and how it's affecting businesses in New York? So I believe that the one thing New Yorkers hate more than a politician they disagree with is one they can't trust. So I'm going to tell you the answer I say in every room. I am somebody who has supported congestion pricing. I know, I wanted to tell you the truth. I want to say it to your face though. I've supported it for a few reasons.

Because I believed it would reduce congestion, it would increase bus speeds, it would raise revenue for the MTA, and it would improve air quality. And that's what we've seen it be able to do. At the same time, I have always believed it needs to be paired with immediate public transit improvements. I launched a campaign called Get Congestion Pricing Right with the deputy majority leader

of the state Senate, Mike Gianaris. The two of us won about $12 million in new bus service. I'm proud of it, but it's not enough. The reason I fought for that is when you look at the implementation of congestion pricing in places like Stockholm, London, the first day they had it, they had increased public transit. Because I think it's important to tell New Yorkers that it's not just about raising revenue for public transit, it's also about giving them a better option right there.

There are some people who need to drive, there are also others for whom that's the most convenient option. We need to make public transit the most convenient one, but it's hard when you look at your app and you're told a bus is coming in 10 minutes, and then you wait 10 minutes, and then that bus doesn't actually show up. And so we need to earn that trust. That's where my position is.

How is it affecting businesses in New York City, though? I mean, I know a lot of restaurants are charging a congestion fee tax, and you know, prices are, everything is expensive. I mean, the other day I went to McDonald's, I got my kids one meal, and that one meal is usually $2.99 when I was a kid, it's now $12. You bought all your kids one meal times that hard?

Yeah, absolutely. They gotta split it up. We gotta split it up. Dang. That's expensive out there. That's crazy. Jesus Christ. You wanna lend me some?

That's crazy. So how is it affecting business? Especially small businesses. The main businesses, yeah, they can get over, but you got that mom and pop store that just can't do it. What we've actually seen is that since it's been implemented, foot traffic has increased in the central business district. I think that's a big part of it is that actually when you make it easier to get around that

same neighborhood, you actually can facilitate more business. An interesting thing that I've also seen is that noise complaints are down by a significant amount because you have reduced congestion, and that's a difference also in quality of life. But I think to your point, small businesses. Small businesses are struggling in New York City. They employ a majority of all New Yorkers who are working in the private sector. We put forward a small business proposal where we would cut fines and fees for those businesses by 50% across the board.

And we would do that because the city has $113 billion budget. It is not funded through these fines and fees. It doesn't mean that much to the city if it gets $100 from a restaurant because they have a refrigerator every year. But for that restaurant, those are the kinds of things that can add up. And so we're going to cut that in half and we're also going to make it easier to open them. Because right now, I'll tell you, you want to open a barbershop in New York City.

You've got to go to seven different agencies, fill out 24 forms, and then attend 12 activities. That does not make it easy to open a barbershop. We need to actually follow the example of Pennsylvania where they took an eight-week permitting process and made it just a couple days. And that's why we said we're going to have a mom and pop czar. We're going to increase funding for one-to-one small business services because we have to make it easier to survive in the city. City government has to understand its role and responsibility in that because I'm tired

of politicians pretending like we're just bystanders to all these crises. I'm texting out thoughts and prayers so the small business just closed, but actually my policies are helping it to close. We need to make sure that that's not the case any longer. I want to ask you, I'm asking you to define something, but when you answer it, I want you to think about how you would define it to somebody if you was writing a rap.

Like, now I don't want you to rap. What? Listen to what I'm saying. Look, I know you don't like the raps. I don't want you to rap. I'm just saying that the way you would approach a rap, you know the audience you're trying to talk to, and you would probably keep things on the ground.

This is where I lose the election right here. How would you define being a democratic socialist? To just somebody that- So you know some of my favorite songs, they start with an old quote. That's how a song might begin. And so for me, one of them is from Dr. King. Call it democracy or call it democratic socialism.

There must be a better distribution of wealth for all people in this country, for all of God's children. And ultimately, to me, it's about dignity for each person. The person who gave me this language of calling myself a democratic socialist is Bernie Sanders. When he ran in 2016 and his relentless focus on income inequality, it taught me that things could be better than they were. So often when you're voting, it feels like you're voting between somebody who wants to wipe you off the face of the earth and someone else who wants to tell you to celebrate the crumbs

that can't feed your neighbors and to know that it could be more, that you could be voting for something. That has inspired me. And I think that as Muslim, democratic socialist, I am used to bad PR and having to explain what all of these things mean. And what I've found though is when you actually get into a conversation, a lot of this is common sense. If I believe that every New Yorker should be able to live a dignified life and that it's city government's job to ensure that, New Yorkers will agree with me

when I bring up the example of public education. So free education, free healthcare, what else? I mean anything that's necessary. Stabilize rent. It's like when people, whatever you need to live in this city, that should not be something you can be priced out of. And we agree with that when it comes to school, we agree with that with libraries, with sanitation,

with the fire department, but there's certain things we've picked and chosen and said, you know what, you don't need that for housing. Or you know what, you don't need that for food. And I think that we can't let the market determine who gets to live that dignified life. This is not to say that it's city government's job to deal with everything, but for that which is necessary, we have to ensure that we are doing our part. And that's why I have said I'm going to freeze the rent for more than 2 million rent stabilized tenants because that's the mayor's power.

I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the podcast Betrayal. Police Lieutenant Joel Kern used his badge to fool everyone, most of all his wife Caroline. He texted, I've ruined our lives. You're going to want to divorce me. Caroline's husband was living another life behind the scenes. He betrayed his oath to his family and to his community. She said you left bruises, pulled her hair, that type of thing. No. How far would Joel go to cover up what he'd done?

You're unable to keep track of all your lies, and quite frankly, I question how many other women may bring forward allegations in the future. This season of Betrayal investigates one officer's decades of deception, lies that left those closest to him questioning everything they thought they knew. Listen to Betrayal on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Made for This Mountain is a podcast that exists to empower listeners to rise above their struggles, break free from the chains of trauma, and silence the negative voices that have kept them small. Through raw conversations, real stories, and actionable guidance, you can learn to face the mountain that is in front of you. You will never be able to change or grow through the thing that you refuse to identify. The thing that you refuse to say, hey, this is my mountain. This is the struggle. This is the thing that's in front of me. You can't make that mountain move without actually diving into it. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to conquer the things that once felt impossible

and step boldly into the best version of yourself to awaken the unstoppable strength that's inside of us all. So tune into the podcast, focus on your emotional wellbeing and climb your personal mountain. Because it's impossible for you to be the most authentic you. It's impossible for you to love you fully. If all you're doing is living to please people, your mountain is that. Listen to Made for This Mountain on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Camp Shane, one of America's longest-running weight-loss camps for kids, promised extraordinary results.

Campers who began the summer in heavy bodies were often unrecognizable when they left. In a society obsessed with being thin, it seemed like a miracle solution. But behind Camp Shane's facade of happy, transformed children was a dark underworld of sinister secrets. Kids were being pushed to their physical and emotional limits as the family that owned Shane turned a blind eye. Nothing about that camp was right. It was really actually like a horror movie.

In this eight episode series, we're unpacking and investigating stories of mistreatment and re-examining the culture of fatphobia that enabled a flawed system to continue for so long. You can listen to all episodes of Camp Shame one week early and totally ad free on iHeart True Crime Plus. So don't wait, head to Apple Podcasts and subscribe today. The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States. Recipients have done the improbable, showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of something much bigger than themselves. This medal is for the men who went down that day.

It's for the families of those who didn't make it. I'm JR Martinez. I'm a US Army veteran myself. And I'm honored to tell you the stories of these heroes on the new season of Medal of Honor Stories of Courage from Pushkin Industries and I Heart Podcast. From Robert Blake, the first black sailor to be awarded the medal,

to Daniel Daly, one of only 19 people to have received the Medal of Honor twice. These are stories about people who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor going above and beyond the call of duty. You'll hear about what they did, what it meant, and what their stories tell us about the nature of courage and sacrifice. Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The last mayor did that three times. This mayor raised the rent 9%.

He wants to raise it again up to 8%. We have these tools. It's just a question of do we want to do this? And I know why politicians don't because there's a lot of pressure. You know, I'm the candidate running to freeze the rent, Cuomo's the candidate running to raise the rent. That's why the landlords of those same units just gave Cuomo two and a half million dollars. The same landlords that say they don't have enough money to be able to freeze the rent just found two and a half million to give it to him. The single largest

check in this entire race. But it helps let people know that's what's on the ballot. It's straightforward. It's do you want your rent to be the same or do you want it to raise? I saw your rent was 2300 a month? Yes sir, 2300 for a one bedroom in Astoria. Jesus Christ, was 500 square feet? It's not too much more than that. Let me tell you.

You know, it's interesting, right? Cause Democrats have created all this new politically correct language for everything. Gender, sexuality, pregnant women. How come y'all haven't found a better way to discuss socialism? Why is socialism a dirty word when essentially all you wanna do is take care of people?

I don't think it should be. I think it's actually a word that when you break down its meaning, like you just have done, is one that many Americans agree with. And we've seen that, that despite all the attempts, Bernie Sanders continues to be one of the most popular politicians in America. Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez similarly.

And they have both defined themselves in that same language. And I think it's that- But I think it's because they tell, more so nowadays, instead of just leaning on the word socialism, they just tell people, you should have free healthcare, you should have a free education, you should be able to make a livable wage, you know, they should increase the minimum wage. Like, those are just simple concepts that are all social, socialism. But for some reason, y'all still find yourselves tripping up over that word or letting, letting

the other side use it. I mean, I think it's, it's because there are a lot of people making a lot of money in this moment who would want Americans to think that that's the only way life can be. And I don't hide this. It's how I see the world, it's the world that I want, it's one of dignity. And it's funny, there's this one guy who comments under almost every one of my tweets and he's like, he's a socialist. I'm like, yeah, it's in my bio.

This is who I am. And I think it's about being honest with New Yorkers. Because I've found, Mayor Koch said this, that if you agree with me on nine out of 12 issues, vote for me. 12 out of 12, see a psychiatrist. And I found that in New Yorkers, an ability to say, look, maybe I wouldn't call myself the same word,

but I want the same things. And ultimately, you have to have a coalition that asks people of just one thing. We need to make the city affordable. We can have disagreement, we can have tension, but we have to have agreement on that one thing so that we can build a coalition that looks like the city of New York. Now, sorry, but you were climbing the polls, like you just came out of nowhere, right? Why do you think the young people are riding with you? You know, I think it's

because people are hungry for- Because in the beginning, they didn't throw your name in the hat at first. It was just- Look, let me tell you. I was sitting in a coffee shop in Astoria. This is right before we launched the campaign. Somebody in politics showed me a poll. I was looking at the beginning of the poll and they were like, no, no, no, keep looking. Keep looking.

And then I was there at 1%. Damn. And they were like- That's what you said. Damn. Right. How'd you make the pole rise? Pole us.

You know, I think just by being consistent. From the beginning of the race, from October 23rd, the first day, I said this was a campaign about affordability. I said this was a campaign about New Yorkers who have built this city, who are being pushed out of this city. And I said that I was going to do three things. I was going to freeze the rent. I was going to make the slowest buses in America fast and free.

I was going to deliver universal childcare. And it got to the point where I can go to a rally and I can say, I'm going to freeze the and the crowd will say rent. Buses fast and free, universal childcare. People know. And I think for too long politics has become about a person as opposed to a platform. And New Yorkers see themselves in that. And growing up in this city, so many of the people that have helped to raise me that I've

grown up with, they haven't always seen themselves in our politics. They haven't voted in a lot of these elections. The last mayoral primary, 26% of Democrats voted. And most New Yorkers, when you ask them, when's the election? They'll tell you it's in November, not in June. Most people don't know about the importance of the primary. But I've been getting text messages from people that I've known for years and people that I've just met, just screenshots of voter registration, that I'm going to vote for the first time.

And that's meant the world to me because if we really want to protect our democracy, one of the best ways of doing so is that people see themselves in it. People see themselves as participants. You can't protect it at an intellectual level. You have to protect it in an everyday level. And ultimately, going back to your question about democratic socialism, it's about extending that democracy from the ballot box to the rest of our lives. If you get to choose your own leaders, why shouldn't you be able to choose the economic

conditions that you're living in? Why shouldn't you be able to ensure you have that dignity? And I think that what's so exciting is, as you said, a lot of this is powered by young people. Young people who so often, political analysts will say, don't worry about them. They don't vote at the same rates. They don't come out. And it's been so exciting to see those same young people be part of the 34,000 volunteers

we have. You know, it took us months to knock 150,000 doors in this city. Last week we knocked that in seven days alone. That's the level of momentum we're at, where people are just going all across the city. And my mother is one of these canvassers. She has her weekly canvassing shift on Sunday. She's paired up with a 25-year year old who she complains walks too fast They go up six floor walk up and she goes through ten consecutive not doors

Not homes and then when she finally meets a voter and they say they're gonna vote for me. She says that's my son And and it's it's that sense of everyone is a part of it She don't even tell him You know, I have my concerns as well Let me ask you, you know, if you were the mayor and you see what's going on in LA, how would you handle that problem? If there was protesters, they were, you know,

breaking stuff, looting, smashing police cars, vandalizing things, of course, Trump sending the troops. How would you handle that if you were mayor of New York City and that actually happened here? I think first and foremost, you call it what it is. It's authoritarianism. This is the Trump administration looking to arrest enough migrants that they can say they fulfilled their campaign promise of building the single largest deportation force in American

history. And too often we think about it as just an attack on immigrants. It's an attack on the fabric of this country. And it's not just in LA. I mean, we have New Yorkers who have been arrested and detained today. A few days ago, mark three months since a Palestinian New Yorker named Mahmoud Khalil was arrested in his apartment building lobby, taken away from his pregnant wife, Noor, and has since been in an ICE detention facility in Louisiana.

He wasn't able to even witness the birth of his first child, Dean. And we have another New York City public high school student named Dylan who was snatched at a regular check-in at Federal Plaza, is now hundreds of miles away from his mother and his two siblings. And this is personal for me because I got my citizenship just blocks from where those arrests are happening. Those blocks used to be my favorite part of New York City. It's where I got my citizenship, where I got married.

Those are now the same blocks where when I took my father for his immigration interview this year, I hugged him so tight because I didn't know if I was going to see him in the afternoon. There are too many New Yorkers who are feeling that. I think you call this what it is. You also make clear that Trump is reversing historical precedent in that calling the National Guard is typically something a governor requests of the president.

It's not something a president puts on a governor. And Kathy Hochul is someone who, as the governor of our state, has been able to fight Donald Trump and defend a lot of his potential attacks on this state. One of the first things I would do is work with her to make it clear that this has no room in our city and our police force should not be assisting ICE in what they are conducting. We recently saw arrests where the NYPD was then arresting a pastor and other New Yorkers who were observing ICE arresting migrants coming in for their check-ins. We don't need to be accomplices to authoritarianism.

We need to show that there's another way of running this city in this country, and that's who I'm excited to be. Could you explain to people why federal overreach is dangerous? You know, it's so funny to see Republicans for whom so long their rallying cry has been states' rights, and now here they are, they don't have a concern for that at all. It's the same way that they used to care about free speech. That's gone as well. Ultimately these are principles they only hold when are convenient to them.

And what's so dangerous about this is that we have a clear delineation of what is a federal responsibility, what is a state responsibility, but Donald Trump wants to make every responsibility his. He wants to run a country in a manner that is more befitting of an authoritarian state. And I think what's so concerning is he's looking at the example of someone like Naib Bokele and saying that this style of leadership, of having mass prisons where we send so many people who we allege are criminals no matter whether we can find it or not.

That's El Salvador, right? Yeah. That's what he wants to bring to this country. And I think what we need are Democrats who are willing to stand up and fight that. We have a mayor right now who has wanted to fear monger around sanctuary city policy. This is a policy we've had in this city for decades. It's a policy that's been defended by Republicans and Democrats alike. It allows for the city to work with the federal government if someone is convicted on 170

serious crimes. What it says, however, is outside of those, there should not be that collaboration. And I'm sure you've heard of Kilmar, the man in Maryland who was taken to El Salvador. If the city he was arrested in by ICE had sanctuary city laws, he would not have been able to be picked up. That's what we're preventing from happening. And still with what we have in place, because we have a mayor who doesn't want to enforce it, because we have a mayor who wants to collaborate,

still we see New Yorkers being picked up. Let me ask you a question, right? Why is Donald Trump the Democrats' boogie man? Because none of y'all are running against Trump. And to me, the biggest hurdle to the Democratic Party is the Democratic Party. Inaction of the Democratic Party over all of these years is the biggest hurdle for the Democratic Party now. I don't disagree with you.

That's part of my critique of Andrew Cuomo is that he's the very kind of leadership that helped give rise to Donald Trump. Before Donald Trump was the president of this country, before he was a reality TV show host, he was a real estate developer in New York City. And he was someone who both parties had room for and time for. And I think that our ability to accommodate the very kind of real estate developers that have broken law after law after law is also part of what has given rise to an era of politics with no accountability.

I mean, Andrew Cuomo had a video of Donald Trump playing at his own bachelor party. That's the level in which all of this is a mesh together. And I'm trying to chart a new course with this campaign alongside thousands of New Yorkers for a politics that is clearly distinct from that of Donald Trump. And I think when New Yorkers are shocked at Donald Trump's record of cutting Medicaid, of trying to steal hundreds of millions of dollars from the MTA, of giving tax breaks to billionaires, of hounding the many women who have credibly come forward to accuse him, those are the same things you could say about Andrew Cuomo.

We don't need a reflection of that in New York City. We need someone who is the opposite of that. And as a progressive Muslim immigrant who's willing to fight for the things I believe in, that's what makes me Donald Trump's worst nightmare. I saw you say that in the debate. You would be Trump's worst nightmare. But once again, why should that matter to anybody

voting for you now? Because you're not running against Donald Trump. No, but you are running against the authoritarianism that he's bringing to this city. So you think Cuomo's an authoritarian? No, I think that there's too many commonalities between him and Donald Trump's record. And my point is that you don't want to have a mayor

who has to pick up a phone call from someone who cut a $250,000 check to both him and Donald Trump. You want to have a mayor who's willing to fight for the city and have that be the thing that he's ultimately responsible for. And I think to your point, we also have to be honest about how we lost this presidential election. New York is the state that had the largest swing in the country towards Donald Trump, 11 and a half points. And it happened far from the caricature of Trump voters. It happened in the hearts of immigrant New York City.

I went to Fordham Road in the Bronx, I went to Hillside Avenue in Queens, and when I asked New Yorkers there, almost all of whom were Democrats, who did you vote for and why? Many told me they didn't vote. Many told me they voted for Trump. And they told me they voted for him

because they remembered having more money in their pocket four years ago, for their rent, for their childcare four years ago for their rent for their Child care for their groceries even for their metro car I remember how they feel and and as insincere and ridiculous and horrific as we know Trump's policies to be That is how people felt those are the decisions that they made and when I asked these same New Yorkers What would it take to bring you back to the Democratic Party? They said a relentless focus on an economic agenda

I said what would you say to a candidate running to freeze the rent, make buses fast and free, deliver universal childcare? Said I'd vote for him. And that's when I introduced myself. And that's my point here is that there are some Democrats like Andrew Cuomo who think that we went too far left in how we ran a campaign.

And my point is that we actually betrayed working class voters a long time ago. And it's time to own up to that and finally fulfill the promises that were made decades ago. Well, I mean, that's interesting, right? Cause you know, you say Cuomo and Trump have so many similarities, but Cuomo has been a career Democrat.

And that's why I feel like anybody who is going to be the future of the Democratic party, you do have to throw that old regime under the bus. Cause it's not just Cuomo. But that bus is gonna be free. Sure. But it's not just Cuomo and But that bus is going to be free. Sure. But it's not just Cuomo in the Democratic party. It's a lot of old leadership.

Absolutely. It's the Chuck Schumers, it's the Bidens. You got to throw all of that under the bus and run it over and people have to hear you say that. Cause I keep hearing y'all, you know, you keep talking about Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump. No, but you- But your party has been just as ineffective

and just as corrupt in a lot of ways. Trust me, I have, I hear you. Because I've been critical about the style of leadership that gave rise to Donald Trump is also a style of leadership within the Democratic Party. And I think for too long it's been a party that has valued insider politics, pay your dues, the words and advice of consultants over the people that are Democrats themselves. And I do think it's time for a new generation of leadership. You know, Cuomo would be the oldest mayor elected in New York City.

I would represent a completely new generation. And I think it's important for that because it's not just about age. It's not just about vision. It's also about what has your record been and who have you been fighting for. And is that distinct enough from what got us here? Yeah, I don't, don't got a couple more questions You said the Blasio was the best mayor in your lifetime for New York and you gave three reasons you said Because he ended stopping for his boat. Yeah

He ran on anything stopping for his taxing the rich and funding universal pre-k You said he got a lot of that done. How much how much of it did you know universal pre-k? I think is one of the most shining examples of what city government can do. This is something that took tens of thousands of dollars off New York family's backs and made it easier to raise a family here. I'm tired of hearing New Yorkers tell me that they're going to settle down, and I know that the next sentence is going to include the words Long Island or the suburbs, because they just can't make it work in the five boroughs. Part of making it work is making it easier to have childcare.

Today, the average cost of childcare is $25,000 a year. That's more money than it costs to send that same kid to CUNY 18 years later. Those I think are accomplishments. Now it's not to say that there is no critique of that time in office. I'm somebody who was on a 15-day hunger strike alongside thousands of working class taxi drivers fighting that same administration for debt relief. And we were able to come to an agreement where we won $450 million in debt relief for those taxi drivers.

And ultimately, I say this though, because we have seen what's possible if we have someone focused on delivering it. And to me, the greatest mayor in New York City history is Fiorillo LaGuardia, because he was someone who transformed our sense of the possible, and he put working people at the heart of his politics, and he did so while also confronting this rise in anti-immigrant hate all at the same time.

And I think we need a mayor who has that ability to fight multiple crises at the same time and show what it means to be a New Yorker. You said if you're elected mayor, Israel wouldn't let you in. And you mentioned some legislation, but would that legislation apply to you if you're actually meant? We've seen elected officials, even Congress people of this country, not be allowed in to the state of Israel.

And my point was, I've been asked this question many times, and I've said directly that I believe one need not visit Israel to stand up for Jewish New Yorkers. What I need to do is to meet Jewish New Yorkers at their synagogues, at their temples, at their homes, subway platforms, parks, wherever they may be, to hear their concerns and actually deliver on those concerns. And then when I have been asked about this, what I've also said is that even if I was going to make that trip, there is legislation that does not allow anyone who supports a nonviolent movement calling for the compliance of the Israeli

government with international law to be allowed into that state. And I say that to say that there has to be a greater recognition of what is going on. And the fact is, for me, my politics come back from a politics of the universal. I believe that freedom and justice and safety, liberty, these things have to apply to everyone for them to be meaningful. And that also includes Palestinians. Why does it often seem like elected officials care about what's going on in other countries more than they care about what's happening here in America?

Because you realize it's hard to think about starving kids somewhere else when your kid is starving right here. My focus is right here in New York City. You realize it's hard to think about starving kids somewhere else when your kids are starving right now. My focus is right here in New York City. This is a question that's been asked of me time and time again. And ultimately, I think it's actually a question that, as you're saying, is not actually in line with the top concerns of New Yorkers, not even in line with the top concerns of Jewish New Yorkers.

When you see in a poll, what are those top concerns? The number one is affordability. Affordability. After that, it's childcare, it's elder care, it's discrimination. These are all New York City issues. And I think that we need to have a mayor who is focused on New York City. And that's why when I was asked in the debate, where is your first trip abroad going to be? I said, I'm going to be here in New York City.

And then I was asked, followed up, are you going to go to Israel? And I said, one need not go to Israel to stand up for Jewish New Yorkers. And then I was asked, it just continues, continues, continues. But for me, the focus has to be the five boroughs. You are running to be the mayor of this city. This is a city that is losing hundreds of thousands of people in the last few years alone because they can't afford it. They're going to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, anywhere their dollar can go

a little further. We know that as the saying goes, when white America catches a cold, black America catches pneumonia. That inequality is compounded for black New Yorkers. We lost 200,000 black New Yorkers in two decades. About 9% of the city's population are black New Yorkers. From 2010 to 2019, nearly 20% of black children and teenagers had to leave the city.

And that is a crisis that has to be focused on. That would be at the heart of what my administration would do. Yeah, I don't understand why conversations about affordability, free healthcare, crisis that has to be focused on, that would be at the heart of what my administration would do. Yeah. I don't understand why conversations about affordability, free healthcare, making buses free, freezing the rent on rent stabilized apartments, why is that considered far left? Come on. Come on.

I'm just saying why is that? It's common sense. But why can't y'all message that better? I think you got to get rid of that word socialism. My man Killer Mike used to tell Bernie Sanders to use the term compassionate capitalism. Or maybe just talk about what it is you wanna do constantly instead of getting caught up in those labels. I mean, I think it's both important to tell people

where this belief comes from, but what I always foreground is what this belief will mean for someone. You know, it's people want to know how are you going to help them in their life, in their struggle. The reason we focus this entire campaign on affordability is that's what New Yorkers told us.

When you ask them, what are you struggling with? They'll tell you rent. They'll tell you childcare. They'll even tell you public transit because I know to many people, 290 doesn't feel like a lot. One in five New Yorkers cannot afford a Metro card. That's the state of inequality in this city. While income inequality has declined in the country, it's increased in New Yorkers cannot afford a metro card. That's the state of inequality in this city. While income inequality has declined in the country,

it's increased in New York City. It is the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. And so to what you're saying, these are common sense policies, and also when they're polled, they even sometimes have supportive majority of Republicans because they speak to what people are actually going through.

That's it, all people wanting some more money in their pocket, and they want to feel safe. That's it. Well, if they want to support you, how can they go out and support you? Well, what I would tell them is come to Zahranfornyc.com. Don't donate to us. We've already raised the maximum we can spend in this campaign, but do give us something more valuable, which is your time. We're building a team of 34,000 people,

New Yorkers from all walks of life, knocking on doors, talking to their neighbors. Come on out, Canvas. It would be a joy to have you. And I would also say that if the three of you want to come to Canvas, we'd love to have you as well. Thank you. Well, we residents of New Jersey, but- So look, just bring that corporate tax rate over from New Jersey.

When's the election? June 24th, but early voting starts June 14th, and we're confident we can win this, but only with the help of New Yorkers. Well, good luck. Thank you so much. Zoran Kwame Mamadani. I appreciate it. Mom Donnie.

What? Mom Donnie. Hit it one more time. Hit it one more time. All right. Zoran Kwame Mamadani. There we go. My goodness.

My goodness. Let's get the polls up. Let's get the polls up. There you go. Wow. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning. Wake that ass up. Early in the morning. The Breakfast Club.

I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the podcast, Betrayal. Police Lieutenant Joel Kern used his badge to fool everyone. Most of all, his wife, Caroline. He texted, I've ruined our lives. You're going to want to divorce me. How far would he go to cover up what he'd done? The fact that you lied is absolutely horrific. And quite frankly, I question how many other women are out there that may bring forward allegations in the future.

Listen to Betrayal on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. DNA test proves he is not the father, now I'm taking the inheritance. Wait a minute John, who's not the father? Well Sam, luckily it's your Not the Father Week on the OK Storytime podcast so we'll find out soon. This author writes, my father-in-law is trying to steal the family fortune worth millions from my son even though it was promised to us. He's trying to give it to his irresponsible son, but I have DNA proof that could get the money back. Hold up, they could lose their family and millions of dollars?

Yep, find out how it ends by listening to the OK Storytime podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have you ever thought about going voiceover? I'm Hope Woodard, a comedian, creator, and seeker of male validation. I'm also theard, a comedian, creator, and seeker of male validation. I'm also the girl behind VoiceOver, the movement that exploded in 2024. You might hear that term and think it's about celibacy, but to me, VoiceOver is about understanding

yourself outside of sex and relationships. It's flexible, it's customizable, and it's a personal process. Singleness is not a waiting room. You are actually at the party right now. Let me hear it. Listen to VoiceOver on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Made for This Mountain podcast exists to empower listeners to rise above their inner struggles

and face the mountain in front of them. So during Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast, focus on your emotional well-being, and then climb that mountain. You will never be able to change or grow through the thing that you refuse to identify, the thing that you refuse to say, hey, this is my mountain, this is the struggle. Listen to Made for This Mountain on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast.