- 6 weeks ago
In this intimate and wide-ranging conversation, the First Family of Maryland offers a rare glimpse into their lives, values, and vision for the future. From balancing family and public service to navigating the intersections of leadership and legacy, they’ll reflect on what it means to govern in a time of deep polarization—and deep possibility. The conversation will explore the urgent role of politics in this moment, the impact of federal policy on everyday lives, and how state leadership can be a catalyst for closing the racial wealth gap, expanding opportunity, and protecting our freedoms. Join us for a dialogue rooted in transparency, hope, and a shared commitment to building a future where every family can thrive.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hello, everyone. Welcome, welcome to the Global Black Economic Forum.
00:06This is our last conversation for the 2025 Essence Festival of Culture,
00:12and we are so happy to have the first family of the state of Maryland.
00:17We have Governor Westmore, First Lady Westmore, who will be joining us.
00:23Governor Westmore is Maryland's 63rd governor
00:26and is the only black governor in the entire country.
00:31The only black governor in the entire country, Governor Westmore.
00:36For black communities across this country,
00:38his leadership is a living symbol of possibility,
00:42a reminder that no barrier is impenetrable,
00:46no ceiling is too high, and no dream is too ambitious.
00:50Born to a single mother, shaped by the weight of responsibility
00:55and the power of purpose, Governor Moore has walked the long road
01:00from hardship to hope, from the streets of the Bronx and Baltimore
01:05to becoming a Rhodes Scholar, a decorated combat veteran,
01:09a best-selling author, and a not-for-profit CEO.
01:13His life is a testimony to the strength that it takes to rise,
01:17to persist, and to lead.
01:21Joining him on this journey has been First Lady Dawn Moore,
01:26a woman of brilliance, grace, and unshakable conviction.
01:31A seasoned public servant, community leader, and advocate,
01:35she champions the causes that are all too often overlooked.
01:40Economic empowerment for women, mental health for our children,
01:43and the celebration of art and culture as the heartbeat of our communities.
01:49She is also a beacon of courage,
01:51living openly and powerfully with multiple sclerosis,
01:55showing what it means to lead with vulnerability and with strength.
02:00Joining us for this conversation and guiding this conversation today
02:04is Abby Phillip, a respected journalist
02:07whose insight, poise, and clarity are well-known.
02:11As an anchor and political correspondent for News Night with Abby Phillip on CNN,
02:17Abby has navigated the most complex and substantive political and cultural issues on air
02:22with intelligence, integrity, and grace.
02:26One of the country's most notable black women in media,
02:30Abby's skills in asking probing questions,
02:32connecting personal narratives with policy,
02:36and respectfully exploring complex themes
02:39has made her a deeply trusted voice in all of media.
02:43Please help me and join,
02:46please help me welcome, I should say, to the stage,
02:49Abby Phillip,
02:51the First Lady of Baltimore, Dawn Moore,
02:54and the Governor of the State of Maryland, Wes Moore.
02:57Hi, everyone.
03:14It's my honor to welcome
03:16Gwen Moore and Governor Wes Moore.
03:18All right.
03:30Hello, everybody.
03:34For those of you in the back who would like to take a seat,
03:37feel free, come on in.
03:39First of all, I want to thank you guys for being here.
03:43Thank you very much for joining us.
03:44And secondly, if you could do me a favor,
03:47please join me in wishing Maryland's first family
03:51a very, very happy 18th anniversary.
03:5918 years of marriage for these two.
04:04Right?
04:07So, that's where we're going to start.
04:10We're going to start on some black love.
04:12And I actually recently was sitting next to you at dinner,
04:19and we talked a little bit about how you met,
04:21but I want you to tell us here,
04:23what is the secret to 18 years of marriage?
04:27I'll start with you, Governor,
04:28and then I'll go to Mrs. Moore for the real answer.
04:31So, go ahead.
04:34Well, first, can we please give it up for Abby
04:37and just how incredibly proud we are, Abby?
04:42And love the fact that, by the way, she's one of us.
04:44She's a Marylander, so we celebrate her.
04:48And also, I got to say,
04:50there's no better place to celebrate,
04:53to have a celebration of black love
04:54than have it here at Essence.
04:56Because this is a place and a space
04:58that has celebrated black love since its inception.
05:02And, you know, listen,
05:04I think that loving her is easy.
05:09It really is.
05:11Because, you know,
05:12I had the joy 18 years ago
05:14of marrying my best friend.
05:17Of marrying someone who,
05:19literally from the first time that,
05:21from the first time that I didn't just lay eyes on her,
05:24but the first time that I,
05:26from the moment that I knew
05:27that this was a person
05:28who just fulfills me in every single way,
05:31I knew that I was going to do anything
05:33and everything that I could
05:34to not just make her my bride,
05:36but also anything and everything I would
05:38to make her never regret that decision.
05:43And so I think the thing that we've always kind of,
05:45we've always made sure that we made time for us.
05:50That, you know, over the past 18 years,
05:52we've had births,
05:55we've had deaths,
05:57we've had new jobs,
05:59we've had new opportunities.
06:00Like, life continues to evolve all around us.
06:04But the thing that we've always promised ourselves
06:07is that we're never going to forget
06:10who we were before we got here.
06:13We're never going to forget
06:15the love we have for each other
06:16before the kids showed up,
06:17before the movies,
06:19before all that kind of stuff.
06:20We still go on vacation, just us two,
06:22every single year.
06:23We still go on dates.
06:25We still go on dates, just us two,
06:27because we'll never, ever forget
06:29the fact that this is a woman
06:31who I so deeply fell in love with before,
06:34and I'm never going to forget that.
06:36And I'm always going to make sure
06:37I'm doing everything I can do
06:38to make sure that we're continuing
06:40to keep that, as I said in my vows,
06:43fresh and sexy.
06:43I love that.
06:46I love that.
06:47The vacations, even when you have kids,
06:50without the kids.
06:51Without the kids.
06:52Incredibly important.
06:53Don't forget that, people.
06:54Okay.
06:55Mrs. Moore.
06:55Well, you can call me Dawn, Abby.
06:59I love Abby.
07:00Our whole family loves Abby.
07:01She has been our family TV night,
07:05even with our kids.
07:06So thank you so much for what you do on CNN.
07:09You know, 18 years ago,
07:14when I married Wes,
07:17I knew I was marrying someone
07:21who was a promise keeper.
07:24And that was really important to me.
07:27And I also knew I was marrying a soldier.
07:31You know, Beyonce, say,
07:33do we have some soldiers up in here?
07:35Here's one right here, okay?
07:37And I'm so grateful for who he is.
07:41Now, what I did not have on my bingo card
07:43is to marry a governor.
07:45But God has plans for you
07:47that you don't have for yourself.
07:49She made a governor.
07:50Let's be clear.
07:51But, you know, I think when we think
07:54about us personally,
07:56we have so much fun together, right?
07:58We still really enjoy one another's company.
08:02I say to anybody and everybody,
08:05you know, I say, well, do you want to do this
08:07and you want to do that?
08:08I'll do anything with my husband
08:10because I enjoy being in his presence
08:12and I enjoy being with him.
08:14At home, we call him the minister of fun.
08:17And so it has just been just a blessing
08:21to be able to be married to the love of my life
08:25and someone who I can have fun with.
08:29We don't take ourselves too seriously
08:32that we can't laugh at ourselves.
08:35We understand that in marriage,
08:37you have to be able to compromise
08:39and discuss things and then move forward.
08:43And I think we've done that well for 18 years.
08:47Please, a round of applause for that.
08:50It is an incredible achievement to get to 18 years.
08:54You're also now, as you alluded to,
08:56you're in this other phase of your life.
08:58You're raising two kids as the governor
09:01in a governor's mansion.
09:03This is relatively new for them.
09:04It's only been about two years for the kids.
09:07So Dawn, tell us about what that's been like
09:10for them, for you.
09:12How have they been adjusting?
09:15Well, I think one of the things
09:17that Wes and I felt was extraordinarily important
09:21was that after we had made the decision
09:24that he would run for office,
09:27this is the first office my husband has ever held, right?
09:30And neither one of us come from political families,
09:33but we have always, always been very committed to service.
09:38Now, that's the careers we chose.
09:41I've been in service myself for over 20 years.
09:45My husband, as I said, is a military officer.
09:48He served in Afghanistan, led nonprofit organizations.
09:52But what we've always told our children was,
09:55you are welcomed at anything that we do,
09:57but you are not our dog and pony show.
10:01And so they get to opt in and opt out
10:04where they would choose.
10:05But the truth of the matter is,
10:07we let them be kids, right?
10:10Our son is into his sports.
10:12They're great students.
10:14Our daughter is a ballerina.
10:16She's a beautiful dancer.
10:18Wes is in the front of the governor's mansion
10:21playing football with our son.
10:24So we do all the things
10:25that you all are doing with your kids.
10:29We may have a little more scrutiny on us about it
10:33or a little more eyes on us because of it,
10:35but it's something that is important to us
10:38as it relates to the growth of our children.
10:40Does that scrutiny ever feel heavy for either of you?
10:44It does feel heavy.
10:48At times, it feels very unfair.
10:51And here's the thing, too.
10:53I think sometimes where it's important for the kids
10:58to be able to balance and understand
11:00that the praise or the pushback
11:07that you cannot put too much weight on either.
11:10that when the kids are seeing good things come your way
11:17or people praising and whatever like that,
11:20that you have to be able to understand it
11:23but be able to have a measure of separation.
11:27Or when you are getting the critiques or the complaints,
11:31understand it but still have a bit of separation to it.
11:35And I think that one of the best pieces of advice we got,
11:40I was at something called Baby Governor's School,
11:44which is all the new governors get together
11:46with the more seasoned governors.
11:47I did not know that was a thing.
11:48Oh, it's a thing.
11:50Baby Governor's School.
11:51In fact, my mother asked me,
11:51she's like, what grade did you get?
11:52I was like, it's not a real school, Ma.
11:54But we were talking with Phil Murphy,
11:58Phil and Tammy Murphy,
11:59the governor and the first lady of New Jersey.
12:01And Governor Murphy asked a question,
12:04he said, what are you doing for school for your kids?
12:07And because Annapolis is about an hour away from Baltimore.
12:11And we said, we're looking at some schools in Annapolis.
12:14And he said, can I give you a piece of advice?
12:16He said, absolutely.
12:17And he said, whatever your kids are doing,
12:20don't change it.
12:21He said, because the friends they have now,
12:26those are their friends.
12:28Everything that's going to happen to them from now on
12:30is going to happen in a context.
12:33And they were like, so as much as you can,
12:36don't change their lives.
12:38And so we spoke with the kids.
12:40They said they wanted to stay in the same school.
12:43They're in the same school in Baltimore.
12:44They got the same dance troupe that Dawn was talking about.
12:48That's the same dance troupe Mia has been in
12:50since she was five years old.
12:51Same little black girls, ballerinas, so beautiful.
12:55The same, like, our son plays baseball and football.
12:58Same crew of kids.
13:00And so I'm really thankful,
13:02and I give Dawn a lot of credit, too,
13:03because the kids aren't just doing well.
13:07They're, for the most part, been pretty unaffected.
13:10And that's all we ever ask.
13:11They just have state troopers taking them to school now.
13:14That's the only difference.
13:14It's just a little different when that's the case.
13:17Yeah, I mean, it is tough.
13:19And the reason I ask is because, you know,
13:22there is a long tradition in the culture of black people,
13:29you know, in the most beautiful and powerful way,
13:32venerating black couples who are in service, right?
13:35Dr. King and that family, the King family, the Obamas.
13:43Do you feel like that's you now?
13:46And is that okay with you?
13:50Are you comfortable with being in that place?
13:52I would say we are comfortable with being in service.
13:59It is a beautiful, even, opportunity to have you ask the question
14:05in the same names of those, you know, in the same sentence
14:07as those great leaders you just named.
14:11That's an honor for you to include us in that possibility.
14:15But I would just say that it is the service that drives us.
14:21It is what we've been, you know, focused on.
14:25And I think that, you know, if we are included in those names one day,
14:30that's a blessing.
14:31The reason for that, though, is because there aren't that many of you, right?
14:34You're only the third elected black governor in this,
14:38in post-Reconstruction in these United States of America.
14:43That's, first of all, very sad.
14:45But it's a reality.
14:46And so, in a way, I mean, even just the fact
14:49that you're in the governor's mansion is an unusual thing for this country.
14:54Does it feel that way?
14:55I mean, it is.
14:57And I think one thing that I think we both do find very important is
15:02I'm just a big proponent of black love.
15:04And I think it's something that should be celebrated.
15:06I think it's something that should be lifted up.
15:09I think it's something that, you know, I love our black love.
15:16And I want people to not just experience it and understand it.
15:20Like, I want people to know that that joy of black love is real
15:23and it's a beautiful thing.
15:24But I tell you, I mean, the fact that these are pretty unchartered waters
15:31is not something that's lost in us.
15:32I mean, like, you know, I think about the house that we live in.
15:35Every governor in the state of Maryland since 1870 has lived in that house.
15:40And we are the first ones that look like this.
15:46And I tell you, a moment that I will never forget was the first morning
15:55when the old governor welcomed us to the house and welcomed the whole family.
16:03And so we go into the house and watching how, you know,
16:06we said hello and all that kind of stuff.
16:08And then immediately watching our kids, like, go up and run up the stairs
16:14and trying to pick which room was theirs.
16:17There's 13 rooms in this house, by the way, okay.
16:20But it was so beautiful, the idea that these are two little black children
16:24that were running through the governor's mansion, picking which room was theirs.
16:31And it highlights something that I just think is so important in the way that
16:35I know for all of us and every single one of us,
16:37the way we should approach every space that we're in,
16:40is that what I loved most about that moment was the freedom they felt.
16:46They weren't asking which room was theirs.
16:49They literally just took off and started picking.
16:53And we told them, that one room, the master, that one's not yours.
16:56That's ours.
16:57But every other room y'all can have, right?
16:59But it was like, I want them to know, and I want all of our children to know,
17:05that you were never in a room that you don't belong in.
17:09And you were never in a room because of someone's kindness
17:12or someone gave you permission or someone was benevolent.
17:16Like, you were in that room because that room was incomplete until you showed up.
17:20And that's the power and the strength and the excitement that I want everybody walking
17:27into every single room that they walk into.
17:30And that is the power of representation in these offices.
17:34And it's been slow going for, you know, 50 years, 60 years.
17:42But with each successive office that people hold who didn't look like you,
17:48who do look like you, who didn't before,
17:50it changes things for people, including for your own children.
17:54Dawn, I wonder, have you talked to other women who've been in your position,
18:00gotten advice from them?
18:02Have they shared anything with you?
18:03You, by the way, I just want to be clear here.
18:06A whole political career, a whole life in your own right before coming into this role.
18:13And for a lot of women, it is like that.
18:17And suddenly you're taking on a new role.
18:19So have you gotten any advice over the last couple of years?
18:23Well, I had the honor to meet with both our forever First Lady, Michelle Obama.
18:33And Deval Patrick's wife in Massachusetts.
18:39And, you know, they were so helpful in just taking the time to speak with us and to speak with me about the role.
18:48And I think about First Lady Obama.
18:52You know, she was just an amazing First Lady, but also an amazing mother.
18:58And I feel very wise to bring her mother in to help her with the children as they serve this country.
19:08And so Wes and I are very blessed to have both of our mothers who are extraordinarily helpful to us in this process.
19:17And you cannot do this without your village.
19:20And so we are so grateful for them.
19:24And I think that for us, where we truly love to be out in the community, right, it is impossible to serve people who you don't know and who you don't love.
19:37And so we are definitely out.
19:40And I think in terms of the example, she was able to leave as a First Lady and as a mother.
19:49One of the things that I took from what she said to us is she said, keep showing up.
19:54It's very hard to hate up close.
19:57And I, you know, that's something that I try to do as the First Lady of the state of Maryland is to show up for people.
20:06We invite people into our home as well.
20:09I think we've probably opened our doors more during my husband's term than probably a lot of previous governors.
20:18We see it as a place as not just where you get invited to or you have, you know, a good cocktail.
20:24This is a place that is for the people.
20:27We call it the people's house.
20:29And people come in to really talk about real challenges and talk about real solutions.
20:35So we try to be in the community as much as we can.
20:38We try to show up as much as we can.
20:41And I think that that has really served us well.
20:44And I always keep that in my mind when she said that.
20:47It's hard to hate up close.
20:49That's very true.
20:50I mean, you know, you all know I anchor this show where people are, like, arguing with each other all the time.
20:59And that's what I find is that when they're face to face with someone whose views they think they hate, they realize, oh, you've got to actually talk to this person.
21:09And when people can't do that, that's when I know they can't come back because there's something wrong when you can't speak to another person up close.
21:17I want to talk about Maryland for a second because, as we discussed, I grew up in Prince George's County, Maryland.
21:25Hey.
21:26PG.
21:27Okay.
21:28All right.
21:28As my colleague Jake Tapper said when I was on with Angela Alsobrooks, who's now the United States Center, he called us two queens from PGC.
21:42I'll take it.
21:43But, okay.
21:44Prince George's County, Maryland.
21:45I went to Bowie High School.
21:46So, I know Maryland pretty well.
21:50I actually, my parents lived in Germantown, Maryland.
21:52So, if you know the other side in Montgomery County, we lived there for a while.
21:58So, I've seen, first of all, the diversity of the state.
22:03And the thing about Prince George is that a lot of people do know, which is that there's a robust, healthy black middle class there.
22:11And it's a place where you see black folks doing well.
22:16But I also, as someone who grew up there, you see the disparities at play.
22:22You're in Montgomery County.
22:25It looks one way.
22:26There's a lot of commerce.
22:27There's a lot going on.
22:29Prince George's County is very different, even though incomes are pretty high.
22:34So, you're the governor of the state, but this is a microcosm of what's, of the United States and the challenge that we have as black folks when we talk about economic development.
22:45How do you take on the disparities?
22:50Where do you start?
22:51Where have you started in Maryland?
22:52I love that.
22:53And you said something that I think was really important, where you talked about the type of incomes we have in Prince George's County.
23:04And the incomes have been high in Prince George's County, particularly on a relative basis.
23:10And it's one of the reasons, and we can get into it later on if you like, one of the reasons why what we're seeing in terms of these federal governments
23:18and these arbitrary firings of federal government workers and why it is so disturbing is that, you know, Maryland has the greatest level of exposure to our federal workers
23:28than anyone else in the entire country to these federal cuts.
23:30There's over 260,000 federal employees in the state of Maryland.
23:34Over 160,000 federal jobs are housed in the state of Maryland.
23:38So, when you're talking about the places that are going to be hit most, it is a lot of places like Prince George's County, and it really hits a lot of the income.
23:46But there's a reason that when we came on board, I said a fundamental priority of our administration is to address the racial wealth gap.
23:57Because there's a difference between income and wealth.
24:01I want wealth, right?
24:04Income is important.
24:06But wealth means having the ability to own more than you owe.
24:11Wealth is the ability to pass something off to your children besides debt.
24:15Income can be taken away.
24:19Wealth is something you hold on to and you can pass off.
24:24And so, one of the big reasons that we've really prioritized in our state of saying we are going to focus on creating pathways to work, wages, and wealth,
24:33and not just one, not just two, but all three, is because we want to create an ownership society within our jurisdictions.
24:42I want for Prince George's County, I want to make sure that in Prince George's County, we have schools that are teaching our kids how not just to be employees, but how to be employers.
24:51I want to make sure that we're actually creating capital and creating supports for our entrepreneurs and our investors and making sure that people have a chance to be able to own businesses that can grow and that can thrive.
25:04And then you're creating new pathways for people to provide these type of opportunities for your families.
25:07It's the reason that we put such a focus on home ownership, because being a renter is good.
25:14Being an owner is better.
25:17And I want to create pathways for renters to become homeowners.
25:21We're creating, you know, in Maryland, we've now allocated millions of dollars to first-time homeowners to make sure that there's real pathways for them to have the capital to be able to own their own homes.
25:30It's the reason why that we've been able to make adjustments on housing and create more housing in Maryland.
25:35We have now created thousands of new black homeowners inside the state of Maryland, because that's the thing that gives you the longest and the largest opportunity to gain wealth in our society.
25:45And so we love Prince George's County.
25:48I love that Prince George's County is such a shining example for the country about what this measurement of black excellence can continue to look like.
25:56I also want to make sure that it's not just about having a lot of people with high incomes.
26:03I want people with wealth.
26:06And that has become a core focus of the way we're doing our work.
26:13There's also, I mean, I want to come back to one of the things that you mentioned, because I think there are, in my mind, sort of three main pillars of this, which is there's wealth, there's education, and then there's public safety.
26:26So I want to get to all of those things.
26:28But Don, you recently kind of took on a project, which is one of my favorite things that I've done in Maryland, which is the Preakness Stakes.
26:38And first of all, it's fun.
26:42Maryland is a horse racing state, which a lot of people do not know.
26:47I remember race in Bowie, there's Racetrack Road, but Preakness is one of the crowns of the horse racing world.
26:58So tell us about why you decided to take that project on, and what was the objective there?
27:03What were you trying to do?
27:05Thank you, Abby.
27:06I, you know, this past May, we celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Preakness Stakes.
27:16That is the second leg of the Triple Crown.
27:19The first leg is the Derby.
27:21So when Wes was governor-elect, we were invited by the first family there to go to the Derby.
27:30In Kentucky.
27:31And so it was, I had gone to the Preakness for years and years because I worked in government.
27:40And so I attended for various reasons.
27:43Anyway, when I looked around and saw the cultural engagement and experiences that people were having,
27:50the fact that people were flying in from all over the country and all over the world,
27:55and, you know, the pageantry, I said, Wes, we can do this, and we can do it in Maryland even better with the Preakness.
28:06And, you know, the kind of man I have, he said, well, go do it then.
28:10So I looked a little further into it.
28:15We looked a little further into it and learned that the Derby had a $400 million economic impact.
28:20Preakness has a $40 million economic impact, and that is because it's a two-day event.
28:25And people come in, and, you know, the whole state of Kentucky is focused on the Derby.
28:32And what we established was the Preakness Festival, and where we established five days of events.
28:38We brought close to 20,000 people in to the state of Maryland as a result of it.
28:44And so we had a concert with D-Nice.
28:47We had a governor's golf tournament.
28:49We had a gala at the mansion.
28:52We had a beautiful event in Park Heights that was already established there, but the state came in and helped support them even more.
29:01Park Heights is the community that was typically left out of the Preakness.
29:06So this was really about an inclusive opportunity for all Marylanders.
29:10We wanted to create an inclusive economy and an inclusive economic opportunity and cultural experience.
29:19So when you think about horse racing in Maryland, it's close to, I think, a $3 billion industry.
29:25It employs about 28,000 people.
29:28But there are so many more people who were not participating because they didn't feel connected to it.
29:34So our goal was to create connection, and we started, I think, a strong foundation with that.
29:39It's really, I mean, it seems like a no-brainer.
29:43I'm kind of shocked nobody did that before.
29:46But it is one of the things that, I mean, growing up in Maryland, I really didn't even know it happened.
29:53And so there's so much opportunity for people to tap into that event and make it a kind of signature of the state.
30:01As I mentioned, I wanted to go back to something that you talked about.
30:05You talked about education, which is a big thing for me.
30:07I'm a public school graduate in the state of Maryland.
30:11And so to me, the critical nature of public education is a huge topic.
30:19But there's also public safety.
30:21And you're also from Baltimore.
30:23And this week, I think it was this week, we learned that Baltimore is on track for the lowest crime rate in 50 years.
30:3250 years.
30:36That city was, for a very long time, one of the most dangerous in this country.
30:43What is this attributable to?
30:45And walk us through where you think what you all have done correctly, this is getting a little political now, but what are the lessons here?
30:56I mean, there are other Democrats, Democratic governors, Democratic mayors who are wondering, how do we address public safety?
31:05What would you tell them to do?
31:07I am, you know, it's interesting because when people talk about everything taking place and the challenges that we're seeing around, I am so proud of the state of Maryland.
31:21Because Maryland is just moving different right now than everybody else.
31:24That Maryland, you know, that at a time when we are watching unemployment rates that are spiking across the country,
31:32that Maryland now, for these past two and a half years, we've gone from 43rd in the country in unemployment to now having amongst the lowest unemployment rates in the entire country.
31:40Maryland's unemployment rate right now is 3.2%, which is more than a full point than the national average.
31:45And that's in spite of the government job cuts.
31:47In spite.
31:47That's exactly.
31:48We're at 3.2%.
31:49It's really interesting.
31:49Even despite the fact that we've now had over 10,000 people laid off by the, in many cases, illegal actions of the Trump administration.
31:57And to be clear, many of these actions are completely illegal actions.
32:00But the public safety numbers, Abby, I remember when we were first coming on board that we saw how the homicide rate in the state of Maryland for the eight years before I became the governor had nearly doubled.
32:17The nonfatal shooting rate in the state of Maryland did double.
32:21Baltimore City went eight straight years of 300 plus homicides unabated.
32:26And I always said, I refuse to be a governor who's just sitting there and giving eulogies.
32:31And calling families and offering thoughts and prayers and not doing anything about it.
32:37And so one of the first things that we did was we said the only way that we were going to make this thing work is if actually started working together.
32:45Because I'm a big believer that partnership produces progress and nothing else ever will.
32:49And so by being able to start working with Mayor Brandon Scott inside of Baltimore.
32:55And by the way, if you have to ask Mayor Brandon Scott, who literally was like, I can count the amount of conversations that I had with the former governor on one hand.
33:03Being able to work with local law enforcement, being able to say, so when you look at what happened in the state of Maryland, we've now invested, we've made historic investments in local law enforcement and making sure that you can have law enforcement that moves with appropriate intensity and absolute integrity and full accountability.
33:23And making sure you're not compromising on those things when you're actually building a local law enforcement team.
33:28That we made historic investments in predictive analytics and actually using technology to make sure that you can stop violent crime before it happens.
33:36And if a person commits a violent crime, particularly a violent crime with a handgun, I want them in handcuffs in 24 hours.
33:42And there's technology to be able to help you do that.
33:45And also making historic investments in our community groups, our community violence interrupters.
33:51Because much of the violence that we see, it's retaliatory.
33:56This person gets me, now my people are going to get three of their people.
34:00And so this back and forth of violence that you just continue to see within communities.
34:04And I'm so proud of the work that's happened with Mayor Scott, with local law enforcement, with our U.S. attorneys, with everybody else on board.
34:14So now, literally, Maryland is literally helping to lead the nation in the fastest drops in violent crime anywhere in the United States of America.
34:23And it is true.
34:24The last time the homicide rate was this low in Baltimore City, I was not born yet.
34:30That's what we're talking about.
34:31And so I think there's a lot that I think Baltimore and the state of Maryland is really doing.
34:38And really, because we're showing the power of partnership.
34:41What happens when we can work together on issues?
34:44What happens when we can invest wisely?
34:47What happens when we understand what best practices are working?
34:50And saying, let's invest in the things that are working.
34:52Let's stop doing the things that are not working.
34:54Let's stop thinking that you're going to arrest or militarize your way out of something that's a larger social problem that you need to go and fix.
35:02And let's make sure that we actually have a clear set of goals.
35:06And so while we're very encouraged by the results that we've seen so far in Baltimore and the rest of the state, because frankly, Maryland's just moving right now.
35:14We know we're not done.
35:15We know we're just getting started.
35:17And frankly, for all of us, not a single one of us are going to be satisfied until every single person in the state of Maryland know that they can walk around in their state, in their community, and in their neighborhoods with full safety in their own skin and full safety in the way they're moving around our communities.
35:34You said something about, I want to underscore this, because I think this is a nuance that gets missed.
35:41You said, when someone commits a crime with a weapon, you want them in handcuffs within 24 hours.
35:49So the conversation I think a lot of times that we hear around crime is either we address the social community determinants, the things that drive crime, or we enforce the laws.
36:05I'm hearing something different here.
36:08And I wonder if you are hearing enough of what you're talking about elsewhere in the country.
36:14In many ways, not really, because it's funny, because I actually came in with two kind of very distinct goals when I came in.
36:20And a lot of people said that those were opposing goals, where I said, we are going to address the violent crime rate in Baltimore City.
36:28We are going to make sure that people do feel safe.
36:30And if someone wants to walk into any of our neighborhoods and walk around with a handgun and violate the safety of our neighbors, we are going to make sure that that person understands that there is accountability and consequences for their actions.
36:41Because our neighbors and my family members have a right to feel safe in their own communities, right?
36:46I also know this, though.
36:48We were going to address the fact that Maryland, before I was inaugurated, incarcerated more black boys from the ages of 18 and 25 than anywhere else in the United States of America.
36:59By the way, number two was Mississippi.
37:03Mississippi.
37:05So I said, we can address both of those two things at the same time.
37:09And people thought that those were contradictory goals.
37:12And I said, they're not.
37:15We can have a criminal justice system that does not make it a goal of having as many contacts with black bodies as possible.
37:22And also, make sure communities can feel safe.
37:26Because there is no correlation between more black children being locked up and communities feeling safer.
37:32Because the thing that I know is this.
37:34If there was a correlation, you wouldn't have the data that we had when I first walked into office.
37:39Because we were locking up more young African-American, more young African-American boys than ever before in our state's history.
37:49And you know, we also had the highest murder rates.
37:54So someone explain that to me.
37:56The people who say, well, the only way you can address crime is simply by saying we're going to lock more people up.
38:02Explain that fact to me.
38:04That we were doing that.
38:06And still had historically high homicide rates.
38:10And so one of the things I'm really, I am proud and encouraged by, is that in the state of Maryland, we're just showing that it's a false choice.
38:18That we can actually have law enforcement that moves with real accountability and real goals of saying,
38:23I want to reduce as many touch points as possible between our community and local law enforcement.
38:30And I want to have safer communities.
38:32And I think in the state of Maryland, one thing we're really proud of is, we've shown you can actually do both of those two things.
38:38And you're completely killing this lie that we've been repeatedly told that somehow the safety of our communities means the separation of our communities.
38:48And I think in the state of Maryland, we're showing that's just fundamentally not true.
38:51Keep your eye on Maryland, everybody.
38:53Keep your eye on Maryland.
38:55I want to ask you about that also in a second.
38:57But, Don, you know, schools, these are all things that I think, when we went in politics, because I've covered politics my whole career.
39:08And a lot of times, one of the most frustrating things is that when we're talking about black and brown voters, it's always, oh, they want to hear about race.
39:17They want to hear about this.
39:19But I'm like, okay, yeah, but they also have kids in school.
39:22They also live in communities.
39:24They also want to own homes.
39:27And when it comes to kids in school, we're in a moment in our country where the federal government is trying to completely step back from its role in educating students.
39:38The Department of Education may or may not continue to exist.
39:42And yet the challenge of educating our kids remains.
39:46And you have two school-aged children.
39:49What do you see as being the need right now in the public education system in the state of Maryland?
39:58And when you think about the challenges that we face, so many of our children are in public schools, because that's the first line of defense to educate children no matter where they live.
40:12What is the future of public education, you think?
40:15What does it look like?
40:16And what is the role of the states in filling the gap that the federal government might create?
40:22You know, I definitely want to answer this question, but I want Wes to take this question as well.
40:28It's so important.
40:29But, you know, as I said before, I didn't anticipate marrying a governor, but I did know I was marrying a soldier.
40:38And see, they wire differently, and they move with a sense of urgency, and they move in a way that is protective and that is strategic, and understanding that the goal that my husband ran on to leave no one behind is not just a talking point.
40:58It is his governing philosophy.
41:00So he makes all of those decisions based on that.
41:04And so, you know, whether I'm thinking about the investments that he and his administration have made in children's mental health, for example, $1.4 billion into mental health, which I believe for our children is a crisis of a generation.
41:21That's very true.
41:22And his historic investments in education, historic investments in HBCUs.
41:29That is the difference when you get a governor and a leader.
41:35As I always say, if you don't love the people, you cannot lead the people.
41:40So when you think about the least of these and those who are trying to move to that next level of the economic rung, I'm so proud of the way my husband operates because he is not waiting for people.
41:53He is not waiting for permission.
41:55He is about the action that is necessary for the people in the state of Maryland.
42:04Governor.
42:05Dang.
42:07That's what you call it.
42:08That's a testimony.
42:12That's what you call a testimony.
42:13That's not what I'm talking about.
42:15Good girl.
42:19I love her so much.
42:22You know, no.
42:25It's true, though.
42:26It's true.
42:27Well, thank you, baby.
42:29And it is true because this is one of the things I just absolutely love working in concert with her and the great work that she's going to continue to do.
42:37I mean, you talk about one of the greatest.
42:38The person who is, you know, the $1.4 billion that we put towards children's mental health in the state of Maryland.
42:44Let me tell you something.
42:46There is no greater lobbyist than Don who continues to push for that and making sure that our children, our children are protected.
42:56And, you know, but it is really important because I think we also have to think about education in a different type of way and think about it holistically.
43:02Where, one, there have been a few things that we really moved on differently in Maryland.
43:07One, we made sure we started earlier.
43:10And so that's why we are not just funding but big proponents of things like making sure we can have pre-K for every child in need because, and it's just brain science.
43:20I mean, 80% of brain development happens in a child by the time that child is five years old.
43:24So why we have children starting school at five literally makes absolutely no sense because it means you have so many kids who are starting off school who are already behind, and it's more expensive then to try to catch them up.
43:36It means making sure that you can create real career pathways for our educators and incentivize our educators.
43:43I think one of the biggest challenges that our state is wrestling with right now is the fact that when we came on board, we were down tens of thousands of certified educators inside of our classrooms.
43:52So we had children who were in classrooms without educators.
43:57So what are they learning and who is teaching them?
44:00And so it's why we prioritize things like, you know, one of the first acts that I first actually introduced and was proud to sign was the Teacher Shortage Act in the state of Maryland of getting more qualified educators into the classroom.
44:11It's why one of the things we're really proud that we're working on right now is something called Feds to Eds, where if I know I have these federal workers who are now being illegally told by the Trump Vance administration that they no longer have jobs, we've now been streamlining them and saying if there is someone who is qualified, if there is someone who is interested, get them certified, get them trained, and get them in classrooms as quickly as possible.
44:33And we have seen now, just in these past months, we have now closed over 10% of the gap that we've had in our teacher shortage simply from federal workers who said, I want to now teach in the classroom.
44:45So we've been able to make sure we're really supporting the education, supporting our career educators, and also doing things in Maryland I think is really important,
44:54where we have some of the best four-year colleges in America, in the state of Maryland, to include four of the most outstanding HBCUs in the entire country, in the state of Maryland.
45:04But I also want to be very clear, we are going to end this myth that every single one of our students needs to attend a four-year college just to be economically successful in our society.
45:16That kids are going to take different paths.
45:18And so we've made historic investments in apprenticeship programs and trade programs.
45:22We've now added over 4,000 new apprentices and trade platforms for our young people, because that is also a great way to provide a pathway to work, wages, and wealth for them.
45:32And so it's a whole rethink about what are we asking for our education system?
45:37What are we hoping for?
45:39And I think, again, in Maryland, it's just another example of how Maryland's just moving different,
45:42because I think Maryland is showing real concrete data to prove that we're actually creating an education system that's meeting people where they are,
45:51instead of just constantly asking people to fall into an educational rubric that wasn't made with them in mind in the first place.
45:58And the future economy is changing, too.
46:01So, you know, the model of just send everybody to college, and then they're going to get this degree $150,000 later and find a job,
46:11we're going to have to address that.
46:13Because that's not really what the economy is going to look like in a very short period of time.
46:19So we've been talking so much about Maryland for obvious reasons, but I'm going to be honest.
46:24Even though I'm from Maryland, I'm a proud Marylander, I always found it hard to get people to pay attention to Maryland,
46:34to care about what was going on in that state.
46:36I know you've been all over the country trying to change that.
46:42What's your honest opinion?
46:44I mean, why is it that you think that people kind of discount the state a little bit?
46:51Is it because they think it's an extension of D.C., nothing really happens there?
46:55Like, what's the deal?
46:56Yeah, I mean, I think there's definitely some of that, right, where there's like, you know,
47:00D.C. has always been like our little brother.
47:02So D.C. always fights for attention.
47:08So I definitely think there's something along those lines.
47:11It's the proximity.
47:12It's that there are a lot of Marylanders who work in Washington, D.C.,
47:15and so people almost look at it like it's like D.C. extended.
47:20I actually think one of the reasons that people are really paying attention to Maryland right now
47:23is they're just seeing that Maryland, in many ways more aggressively than most other places,
47:29are actually showing what an alternative can actually look like.
47:32To the chaos that we're seeing in Washington, D.C.
47:35And the policies that were coming out of Washington, D.C.
47:38So, I mean, perfect example, when we have a federal administration
47:42who is now focused on doing things like banning books and banning our history,
47:48in Maryland, I was very proud to sign legislation banning the banning of books.
47:53So in the state of Maryland, you cannot ban our books.
47:56You cannot ban our history.
47:57That when we have a president who's using his constitutional powers
48:01to do things like pardoning the members of the January 6th
48:07who stormed the Capitol and tried a coup,
48:09that I use my constitutional powers to sign the largest mass pardon
48:13in the history of the United States of America,
48:16where I pardoned 175,000 misdemeanor cannabis convictions in the stroke of a pen,
48:20saying you cannot celebrate the benefits of legalization
48:27if you do not deal with the consequences of criminalization.
48:31That when we have a president of the United States who's doing things like
48:35taking away grants from our MBEs and our black-owned businesses
48:39and making it more difficult for black-owned businesses to get their supports
48:42in the state of Maryland,
48:44we've actually introduced and signed legislation
48:46that focuses on procurement reform
48:48and actually making sure that we can use procurement dollars fair,
48:52and we have now, just since I've been governor,
48:53allocated more than $800 million to black-owned businesses
48:57in the state of Maryland through state contracts.
49:02So, I mean,
49:03so D.C. has always fought to get attention, you know, from Maryland,
49:07from being in our shadow.
49:09But I do believe that people are really paying attention to Maryland right now
49:14because Maryland is just moving so differently,
49:17and we're showing what an alternative can actually look like
49:21from some of the chaos that we continue to see from our neighbors.
49:25So spell that out for me a little bit more.
49:28Democrats are in the wilderness a little bit right now, it seems,
49:33looking for a path forward, looking for leaders.
49:36What does that path, what should that path forward look like, in your opinion?
49:41What should be the top priorities if you are a Democrat
49:46and you are trying to make the case against the current administration
49:51and what they're doing?
49:54You know, it's always amazing to me
49:56that we've dealt with this second Trump administration now for only six months.
50:02And look at everything they've done in six months.
50:09And I'll be honest with you.
50:12I think about how much bad they have done in six months.
50:17And I think to myself, why can't we do good just as fast?
50:23That the frustration that a lot of people have with the Democratic Party,
50:25frankly, it's a lot of it is shared and felt.
50:27Don was talking about earlier where we don't come from political families
50:30and real talk, like, and I see Roland in the front.
50:32Roland knows this.
50:33Like, my family, when I first said I'm going to run for governor,
50:37I had members of my family who I had to convince to vote for me.
50:43It's not that we're not cool, like, we're cool.
50:46It's I had to convince them to vote.
50:51Because the truth is, the frustration that people have with the political system,
50:54and frankly, the frustration with the Democratic Party,
50:56for many people, it is justified that the Democratic Party,
51:01we spend all our time analyzing, putting together ideas,
51:08position papers, reports.
51:12Like, it's exhausting.
51:15Our people are hurting right now.
51:18I don't need a study group to tell me that.
51:22And the point is this.
51:26We've got to stop being the party of no and slow
51:30and start being the party of yes and now.
51:36That we've just got to stop.
51:37It's like, if we're serious about creating pathways to work wages and wealth,
51:42then start doing things to make sure we're driving down the unemployment rate.
51:47Do things like we've done in the state of Maryland,
51:49where one of the first things we did was raise the minimum wage and give people more capital
51:53because gone should be the days when we have people who are working multiple jobs
51:56and still living at or below a poverty line.
51:58There are states right now, and frankly, Democratic-run states,
52:02where the minimum wage is $7, $8, $9.
52:08It's crazy.
52:09That if we really want to create pathways to wealth,
52:13then actually start building more homes.
52:16Start creating more opportunities for home ownership.
52:19Start making sure you're supporting our black entrepreneurs.
52:22I think that the Democrats don't have a messaging problem.
52:26There's a delivery problem.
52:28And if you get the delivery right, if you do not get the delivery right,
52:35I don't care what your slogan is.
52:38I don't care how hard you fight, how sternly worded your letters are.
52:48If you don't deliver for people, you will lose the people.
52:54And so that's why I think we have to be urgent, we have to be sincere,
52:57and we have to push to make sure we're delivering real results for people.
53:00If we do that, the Democratic Party will not have a problem.
53:04It will be the Republican Party who now has the problem.
53:10So we are just about out of time, but I want to do a quick little rapid fire.
53:16We're going to go back to the personal stuff, the black love,
53:20just to close us out on a positive note.
53:22A quick little rapid fire.
53:25You can't help each other with your answers.
53:28Okay?
53:29I'm going to start with the easy stuff.
53:32What is the first thing that Don does in the morning?
53:40Long pause on that one.
53:44Lord.
53:44Well, our morning routine is actually, I generally will get up earlier because I actually head to the Naval Academy
53:57because I work out at the Naval Academy every single morning with the midshipmen,
53:59which is a complete hazing every morning.
54:02That's crazy.
54:03Which is wild.
54:04But also, part of the reason that I have the luxury of doing that, and I give deep thanks,
54:11is that by the time I get back, the house is moving like a Swiss watch.
54:17Because Dawn is already up.
54:20She's already moving and making sure that everything's all set in place.
54:23So the first thing I do is I give her a kiss before I roll out.
54:27But then the first thing I always see her doing is she's got these kids like whipped and ready to go
54:31for the first part of the day.
54:33All right, Dawn, what is the thing that he does that annoys you the most?
54:43Does it have anything to do with the bathroom?
54:50Most couples, there's some issue there.
54:55It is a good question.
54:57He's not really an annoying person in general.
55:00I'm trying to get honest answers.
55:03No, it is true.
55:06What do you do that annoys you?
55:07You know what he does that annoys me?
55:09Because he has the dark screen on his phone, so you can't see on his phone.
55:16I don't have it.
55:17So he looks over my shoulder at my, like, who is that?
55:21Not anything that, like, it's always work-related stuff, but he definitely can read.
55:27And then he got his Lasix done so he can see really far.
55:30I need readers now.
55:34All right, who's the better driver?
55:36Oh, her.
55:38Okay.
55:38That's easy.
55:40Who is the most punctual?
55:42I am now.
55:44Yeah, that's probably true.
55:45That's probably true.
55:46He used to be, but I am now.
55:47Do you take her political advice?
55:50All the time.
55:50No, honestly, like, and this is real talk, and I'm not just saying this.
55:54She's one of the smartest political minds that I have ever had a chance to meet.
55:59Because she just, she's like, no, and that's real.
56:02Because she understands human instincts.
56:06Like, it's nobody's business.
56:09And so I'm a very, I'm a very analytical person.
56:12I, like, love data.
56:14I love numbers.
56:15I love, like, I don't make decisions without data and data points.
56:19And all the time that I will spend looking at, like, numbers and data and all that kind of stuff,
56:24she will look at something, and without looking at a single thing, she's like, that's wrong.
56:29That ain't going to work.
56:31That's what you need to do.
56:33That person needs to go.
56:34I'm like, not looking at nothing.
56:36That's just called being a black woman.
56:38That's right.
56:39That's exactly right.
56:41Hey.
56:42All right.
56:43Last, um, last one.
56:46Um, and this will be, Governor, a one-word answer.
56:50Um, your first impression when, when you, when you first met, because I know there was
56:59a, there was a conversation first, but when you first met your wife, your first impression.
57:05Damn.
57:13Maybe one word.
57:15Damn.
57:17Should, should we just leave it there?
57:20Do you want to give an answer?
57:24First, first impression.
57:28Listen, you can look at him.
57:30He is very handsome.
57:31Okay.
57:32So, skin is shiny.
57:35Body is ripe.
57:36We're good.
57:38All right.
57:39Okay.
57:39We're going to just leave it there.
57:41Everybody, thank you very much.
57:43Governor Westmore, Don Moore.
57:44Thank you both very much.
57:45Thank you, Abby.
57:52You