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As we seize upon the voice of San Francisco, not just Nancy Pelosi, but the Mayor of San Francisco. London Breed is in Chicago, part of this convention and with us right now at the table. Mayor, it's great to see you. Thanks for joining.
Thank you.
You have known Kamala Harris for a long time. You've been friends for twenty years outside of politics. You know this candidate, this nominee better than most people who we're going to talk with this week. And I understand that she's had wonderful advice for you over the years. I wonder what your advice is for her at this convention on Thursday night.
Wow, me give Kamala Harris advice. I'm not used to that.
One only a friend could.
Yeah.
But the one thing I would say, when she is herself and giving it her all and speaking from the heart, there is nothing like it. She is strong, she is firm, she has committed to doing this work. But also she's a very compassionate person who deeply cares about justice and taking care of people. And she's proven that time and time again with the work that she's done.
Over the years.
Well, certainly she's leaned into her past experience as a prosecutor. Of course, she was the DA of San Francisco before she became Attorney General of the state of California. And we've heard different iterations on the stage last night of this election, being something of a prosecutor up against a felon. How hard do you expect her to lean into that image, knowing that for some segments of the Democratic Coalition especially, it may actually be a bit problematic.
Well, I think it's important for her to talk about the work that she did. So not only did she prosecute people in San Francisco when we were dealing with the height of gun violence. I mean, she prosecuted people who committed murder. And it's important to make it clear that she was basically not holding any bars and doing that work. But at the same time, people who were
in jail for small offenses. Her back on Track program provided a second chance at life as long as people were willing to put in the work to get through the program. So I think that you could support both. She wrote a book about it. She said, it's not about being tough on crime, it's not about being soft on crime, but it's about being smart on crime and making sure that there's fairness, there's justice, and there's balance.
Well, to stick with that theme for a moment, you have something in common with this city of Chicago, and that you are held up San Francisco Chicago by Republicans on a regular basis as an example of what is wrong with progressive politics when it comes to crime. I know that you've tried to make strides in San Francisco, and how do you message that, Yes, what you're hearing so much from the other.
Side, Well, we have made strides, and in fact, San Francisco has one of the lowest crime rates of any major city in the country. This is the lowest crime rate we've had in over a decade, and not to mention, we are on track to have even one of the most the lowest homicide rates we've had in the history of our city. So when you FactCheck and you look at the data and look at actually what's happening in
San Francisco, people will be surprised. When I talk to other mayors, they're like, I wish I had those kind of small, big city problems, and the data doesn't lie. And I think If people look deep into what is going on in San Francisco, they'll see that it is one of the safest cities in the country.
Of course, it's not just about crime, though, it's about the wier issue of homelessness. To you yourself have called for tough love when it comes to the notion of clearing out tent encampments, for example, is that tough love working without progress.
On that front. Yeah, it's been challenging.
But since I've been in office, we've helped over fifteen thousand people exit homelessness. We've never even had a point in time account with more than like eight thousand or so people, So it's been.
Really a tough struggle.
But we also have to make sure when people are rejecting what we're offering in terms of services, we are now no longer just leaving them out on the streets, and we're being a lot more aggressive.
To a certain extent.
It's working because more people are accepting help, but there are still a really tough group of people, mostly tragically because of drug use. That's having an impact. We're still struggling with that, but we're still making progress. The streets look better, it looks cleaner, we have one neighborhood that continues to experience more challenges than others. But when you come to San Francisco and you drive around our city and you look around.
Our city, people are always like, what is everyone talking about?
So you've got to come see it for yourself and then check the facts in terms of the data as to what really is happening in San Francisco.
Well, if we can hold on to the issue of housing more broadly here, this is a big deal for this campaign and for this economy right now. And I know for a fact that that's not new for you. You've actually made this a major issue for you as a city official, as a commissioner, as mayor taking different ideas, experimental ideas to see what can be done to create more housing. I know that there's an effort to get people to a point where they can afford a first
time home, but you need something to move into. You've suggested a lot of different ideas and tried them out, like converting empty public housing, for instance, city housing, city buildings. Rather, what advice do you have for the campaign that could be a national model create more housing in this country.
Well, Kambala Harris said it on the stage to say, getting rid of the red tape that makes it difficult to produce housing.
And fortunately in California.
That just happened with a bill that was passed by the state legislature led by Senator Scott Wiener from San Francisco, and that bill will allow housing to be as of right if the zoning already allows.
For you to do for six eight stories.
Why is there so many obstacles that are able to get in the way, And now that won't happen as long as you're following what the existing.
Laws requirements for us. Yes, yes, San.
Francisco, definitely we could have those or not have those. We were making our city more of a transit first city as well as protected bike lanes allowing different modes of transportations to thrive in our city. So it's all of the above, and bureaucratic red tape is at the heart of the challenges that exist. And I love the fact that our vice president soon to be president, put that at the forefront of the conversation in California is already leading the way.
Well, certainly she has to at the forefront of the conversation. Have these notions of the economy, knowing it ranks so highly consistently in polls is the top issue for voters. Another issue that ranks highly, though, is the border in migration. You hear frequently in the Republican camp that every state, every city is now effectively a border city. How do you view that issue when it comes not just to the city of San Francisco, but the state of California
as a whole. And what the appropriate if we're going with a tough love kind of message here way is to deal with migration in the border.
Well, it's important for them to implement the plan that they're talking about to make sure that there's a significant level of accountability. But I also want to be very clear because it's not just one thing. It's not just
about people. It's also about substances. And in fact, the National Guard, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the US Attorney's Office who's working with us locally and including our state representatives, the California Highway Patrol, the National Guard, they are all collaborating on using technology in a way that is making.
Arrest at the border for the illegal.
Fentanyl that continues to come into cities like San Francisco, and so that aggressive effort using technology can help us address those issues in addition to the challenges with people
who are coming over the border. I believe that Kamala Harris is the right person to implement a really tough strategy, but also a compassionate and understanding one, especially because it is so complicated in that we are a city, we are a country built on immigrants, and so we have to make sure that we're balancing that as well.
You say that she's the right person, and yet, and I'm sure you've heard this frequently in the last several weeks, Republicans argue she was put in charge of the border issue. Maybe not given the actual borders our title, but this was an issue she was supposed to own as vice president. She has been vice president for over three and a
half years. If she couldn't get control of it, then how are we supposed to believe she could get control of it when she's actually sitting in the Oval office herself.
Well, here's the thing.
Control means different things, And I go back to my
experience of the control around illegal stuff. Senses that are making it across the border, the number of arrests, the number of drugs that have been confiscated as a result of the efforts of the White House of the Federal partners that I mentioned earlier has yielded significant results, and I believe that that component of what they're doing even now has been impactful and will continue to be more impactful in terms of some of the other challenges they
have to continue to make sure that there's you know, a push.
I mean, everyone's talking.
About a wall of this and a wall that a wall is not going to you know, continuously keep people out. The goal is to try and get a better control over the border and making sure that we're implementing the right policies and being fair and equitable in our strategies, and developing better relationships with the countries, you know, in order to help support them so that we don't experience this challenge of everyone trying to you know, flee from a particular location to get into the United States.
That's a big part of it as well.
Well. What happened to California's workforce and economy if Donald Trump did become the next president and shut down the border, as he says, if you had no immigration in the workforce, could your economy sustain itself well?
That's I don't believe so.
I think it's immigration is an important part of, you know, how our society works, and we need to make sure that we're balancing that with the.
Needs of the people that we're here to serve.
And ultimately, we're seeing some incredible opportunities within the job markets all over the state of California, and our goal is to do everything we can to balance that. But going back to some of the illegal activities around the drugs, that is the thing that is harming our economy the most, and that is the thing that is important to focus on as we continue to move in this direction.
Well, if you listen to Donald Trump, he has said repeatedly that he actually thinks the economic problem with migration, in part is that migrants are coming to this country and they're taking black jobs.
He said this on.
Multiple occasions, and it was certainly noted by the former First Lady Michelle Obama last night.
Who's gonna tell him that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those black jobs?
One of those moments I think we've all seen on social media a lot in the last twelve hours, certainly, but she of course was on that stage speaking as a black woman, and a powerful one at that, someone who was the first Lady of the United States speaking on behalf of another woman of color who is now the Democratic nominee and will be formally accepting it on Thursday.
You yourself are a woman of color as well, And I wonder, as we consider the historic nature of this cannady, how the appropriate way to talk about that is, especially in the face of language like we're hearing from Donald Trump. Do you address it head on or do you ignore it?
Well, I think you address it head on, and I think it has been addressed. For example, implying somehow that Kamala Harris is.
A DEI candidate and he.
I mean, it's unbelievable when you look at her qualifications of her, just look at her resume in comparison to his, There is no comparison.
He wasn't born into privilege. She worked really hard to.
Get a law degree on her own, to really fight for a number of positions that she ran for, and to push for the kinds of policies that have helped to support Americans and the rights of women, LGBTQ community, and.
So on and so forth.
I can go on and on but you know, that's one of the challenges that sometimes, you know, women and women of color have, is well, how did you get there? It must have been someone else, And you know, to be very clear, you know, when the main goes through the same process, that doesn't get questioned. And I think that's kind of the frustrating part of this, which is why I love being a part of the Democratic Party
because you see people who are elevating women. You see many men who spoke last night at the DNC, you know, highlighting Kamala Harris in such an extraordinary way, and I'm really proud, and it's no comparison. I think it's important for us to remind the American people not just of her qualifications, but why is this a race in the first place?
In light of what Donald Trump has done.
To really, you know, create a huge barrier in this country overall, with his policies, with his pushes, with his lives, with his disrespect and his divisiveness, there should not be a question. But we are going to continue to elevate Kamala Harris and do everything we can to ensure that she gets elected the next president of the United States.
Just lastly, we hear from Donald Trump and Republicans that Kamala Harris, you're the mayor of San Francisco, is just another San Francisco Liberal. How do you respond to.
That, Well, I would respond, I mean the Republicans continue to point to San Francisco, but at the end of the day, oftentimes they are picking up their iPhone, you know, which was introduced in San Francisco, calling their ubers or Lyft companies started and based in San Francisco, to go to their Airbnb company still and started in San Francisco, and then to go and tweet something nasty about our city, which again was a company until recently in San Francisco
thirty four billion dollars a venture capitalist investment last year alone.
The AI capital of the world. That's what I will say.
You can continue to try and put out a narrative, but the facts tell a different story, and we point to the facts and the economy and everything that San Francisco stands for on the world stage. Everything that everyone is using as far as technology, it starts right in San Francisco.
And again we're looking.
Forward to making sure Kamala Harris gets elected, because then San Francisco will be on a whole nother national stage.
All right, San Francisco, Mayor London Breed. Great to have you here with us in Chicago. We'll set you in San Francisco sometime. We appreciate your time. Mayor, thank you so much for joining us,