All right, folks, I need you all to stop what you're doing and listen up. You know I love this time of year, right. The NBA season is a full swing and with all its action going on, The Stephen A. Smith Show wants to make sure you take advantage of it all. That's why we've partnered with Prize Picks, the best place to win cash while watching sports. The app is easy to use. Just pick more or less on a few player stats and you can win up to
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five dollar lineup. Prize Picks Yo Yo, Ring your game today, I'll give you my picks for three of tonight's NBA matchups to Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder, the Sacramento Kings and the Dallas Mavericks, and of course the Detroit Pistons and the Utah Jazz. First up, We'll look at Homa Cities. Shay Gill Just Alexander score more or less thirty one and a half points with a brother's average at thirty two. Why the hell would I say he's going to score less. You see what the hell he's
been doing. You see the show that he's been putting on. Anytime he's going up against brothers. This brother shows up and he's gonna against Houston to night, So I can't underestimate that. Okay, I'm gonna go with more. It's Shaye gil Just Alexander SGA, my MVP last year, my MVP this year. That's who I'm going with. Next up with Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley scored more or less than sixteen and a half points. I'm gonna go with more
for a couple of reasons. Number One, this brother's been flowing. Number Two, Detroit Pistons have been flowing, Motown, Motor City. They've been doing their thing. JB. Bickerstaff is my coach of the year. JJ Reddick is doing a good job along with a couple of others. We can't ignore what Kenny Atkinson is doing in Cleveland. With the best record in basketball but the Detroit Pistons were fourteen and sixty eight last year. They had a twenty eight game losing streak.
They wore horrible and look at what bicker Staff has done for pretty much the same damn team. I got to go with that. Hell right, That's one of the reasons I said more. Let's go to the next one. It'll be Dallas Mavericks Klay Thompson. Well, he scored more or less than sixteen and a half points. I'm gonna go with more because all Clay gotta do is hit about three or four three's, which he will easily do. It's what he can do. Okay, I'm gonna go with that.
Right now, you don't have Luca Doncic holding on to the ball. Anthony Davis ain't healthy, so he ain't in the lineup. Gaff of eight there to throw the ball to either. It's really about Kyrie, PJ and Clay, so I might as well assume he's gonna score more than sixteen and a half points more as an answer to this question. Finally, with Sacramento Kings, Malik Monk scored more or less than eighteen and a half points. I like
Malik Monk I like him a lot. Now, I liked him with de Aaron Fox together he got zach Lavine there with the mar Deroza. I think he's getting in the way of Malik Monk a little bit, you know what I'm saying. But I'm still gonna go with more because the brother's got that kind of potential. We know what he brings to the table, especially when he's healthy. And Sacramento obviously they gotta get themselves going. They gotta be in the mix, all right. Therefore, I'm gonna go
with more for Malik Monk. So you see it right here, s g A Clay Tom said Malik Beasley, Malik Monk, more, more, more and more. Why do I say that? Because we talked about prospects. We never say lies. My name is Stephen A. Smith, and I approved this message. Now, normally I'm joking about that, you know what I'm saying. I'm just getting into my political mode having for with y'all, except today I don't have to. I could be quite serious. Why because I've got the former governor of New York
coming in the house to talk to your boy. That says it all a lot of stuff to get into and who better to get into it with the right now than the one and only Andrew Cuomo in the house right here on the stephen A. Smith Show. Need I say anymore? Actually I will, but you'll see in
a minute. Welcome to the latest edition of the Steven Nix Smister, coming at you over the digital areas of YouTube, and of course iHeart Radio as I love to do at the very least three times a week naturally, as I'm nearing or are now the eclips over one point one million subscribers. Can't thank y'all for the love and support enough you've been giving me on YouTube. Can't thank you for the love and support you've been giving me over iHeartRadio with the millions of downloads we've received over
the last few months. Keep the love coming, and I'm gonna keep on coming. We've got a lot to get into today, especially considering who I'm who's taking time out of this very busy schedule to talk to me, The one and only Andrew Cuomo, the fifty sixth governor for the State of New York. He's decided to pursue the mayor's seat in New York City after three and a half year exodus from the world of politics, looking forward to talking to him about his vision for now, in
the future, in New York City and beyond. You don't want to miss that conversation. Before we get in all of that, I got some sports stuff to get to, so bear with me, please, because I gotta get started with the NBA where don't look now, but the Los Angeles Lakers have climbed all the way up to the top two seed in the Western Conference. The Lakers swept two games against the Clippers Friday and Sunday. The Lakers have now won six straight games and twelve of the
last fourteen. There's six and two With Luka Doncic in the lineup and Lebron James is putting up numbers reminiscent of his MVP season. The Lakers on a roll and many are starting to wonder if they can win the West. I'm here to tell you they can win the West. But it's not just because of Lebron James. It's not because you're expecting and anticipating that Luka Doncic's gonna go berserk. It's because of the way the Lakers are playing defense.
That brings us to JJ Reddick. Did you know that over the last six and a half week, the Lakers are the number one defensive team in the NBA efficiency wise, number one. That is special. Nobody anticipated that. So we got to give love where it's due. Respect where's do it? We gotta start contemplating whether or not the Lakers gonna d come out of the West. Now, when I think about Okace, I'm thinking about Shay Gil just Alexander, I'm
thinking about Jayalen Williams. I'm thinking about Ched Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. I'm thinking about the brothers that they got playing on that squad. Youthful, exuberant athleticism, three point shooting ability, shot blocking ability, defensive prowess. They've got like nine different categories that they're number one in. All of those things play a role. The question is will their youth get the better of them, particularly going up against some more
experienced teams there, I say the Los Angeles Lakers. We look at Memphis, they struggle shooting the ball. We look at Houston, they're too young. We look at Denver they don't have a bench. We look at the Clippers, we see what the Lakers have already done to them. We look at the Phoenix Suns. They're non existent. They've lost like twelve of their last fourteen. Despite Kevin Duran and Devin Book are both averaging over twenty six points a game. They can't win a game to save their damn life.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are winning games, but do you really really wonder whether or not Anthony Edwards is gonna have the help he needs from a Rudy Gobert, from a Jewis Randall and others to really make some noise out in the Western Conference. And of course there is the Dallas Mavericks who everybody believes could make some noise. But then again, Anthony Davis and Daniel Gafford is out. When are they coming back? And when they do come back,
how ready are they going to be. There's a whole bunch of things to point too throughout the Western Conference. And we can't forget the Golden State Warriors either, Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler, those boys whole bunch of things to point too. But here's the bottom line. The Lakers got Luca, they got Lebron, and now they got a defense. Damn they can take the West. They really really can. Now forgive me for transitioning to another NBA topic, but
I want to follow up on the conversation from last week. Well, Lebron James wondered why anyone would want to be the face of the NBA. James essentially blame the media for being critical of the players in the game who are compared to the legends in the sport. I gave my thoughts on the issue last Friday, and then my buddy the Godfather, the one and Only Michael Wilbon from PTI, part of the Interruption, weighed in on the subject himself. Take a listen to what my man Wilbond had to say.
There's a lot of layers here, and there's some stuff I might agree with him. And I watched Channing Fry have this rant and it was insightful, and I disagree with Channing, who I know and like tremendously. And if I was sitting with Channing and or Lebron, I would say.
Hold on for a second.
First of all, we live in a world now in which those guys are particularly Lebron, they know how to use and manipulate social media.
But it goes both ways.
It cuts both ways, and that's where a great part of the negativity is all right, so you.
Engage in this.
We live in a world that is largely negative, having nothing to do with sports. That that's the world we live in, and you live in it. And in Lebron's case, though, when you've been praised justifiably, you've earned the praise and the hundreds of millions of dollars that started as you were eight years old, when you put a crown on your head, do you actually believe that the rest of us are just in your kingdom to serve you. Sorry,
there's criticism that comes with that. There's comparison that comes with that. I don't know that Lebron feels this way because I haven't asked him. I'd like to ask him, is he referring to the constant comparisons of Michael Jordan? Because if he doesn't like that, too, damn bad. The comparison, the constant attention, that's how you get all that money. It doesn't come from fannies in seats. It comes from
attention and eyeballs and viewership and listenership and all of that. Tony, and I just wonder, really, do you think that we're supposed to just be there in public relations terms went out on your payroll when out there just to praise you.
Do I need to say any more? Do I need the sanny damn Moore? He said it right there for you. We're not on Lebron James payroll, but guess what, we damn sure help elevate his payroll because by talking about him so much and praising him and recognizing him and popularizing him, it's facilitated him making money. There is no question that he is one of the greatest players ever
and he deserves all the credit for that. We didn't train for him, We didn't you know, we didn't provide his nutrition, We weren't the ones in the weight room like he was taking care of his body, spending more than a million and a half dollars a year on taking care of his health. All of that stuff is absolutely positively true. But in the end, by talking about him, by prioritizing him with our coverage, we've assisted in that.
But we're hating because God forbid that you had to audacity to unmitigated gall or say that one player out of the thousands upon thousands of players that have played in the NBA throughout its history be better than Lebron James. All we do is talk shit about him. That's what he says. I'll tell you what's talking shit about him, calling his ass too sensitive, that's what's talking shit about him, which I just did because it's true. Before I say
anything else, a word from my sponsors. Al Right, everybody, listen up with all the big time sports action that's happening each and every day, The Stephen A. Smith Show wants to make sure you are taking advantage of it all. That's why we've partnered with the Prize Picks, the best place to win cash while watching sports. The app is really easy to use. To make a lineup, all you have to do is pick more or less on a
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and download Prospects right now. Again. Download the app and use cod essay has to get fifty dollars instantly after your first five dollar lineup prospects, run your game. Now, let's get to boxing, because I'm sick and tired of talking about Lebron where many fans were stunned Saturday night after Javonte Tank Davis left Barclay Center with a majority
draw against mister Lamont Roach. For those that don't know, the undefeated Davis was a heavy favorite against Roach, and many fans were stunned when Davis took a knee in the middle of the ninth round and retreated to the corner to have his team wipe his face with a towel. Now, taking the knee and fight a fight is usually scored as a knockdown, and you should have been scored that way.
It should have been scored that way. How would a fight continued without Roach being credited with knocking down Davis. Here's how Davis explained the move during the post fight interview. Listen, Tank, you voluntarily took a knee midway through this fight. It was not rule a knock down. What happened to me? Took it? I just got my hand done.
Two days ago, and she picked grease in my shit.
So the shit was like, you.
Know, like when you sweating their things like that and the.
Grease come in my face.
They brought my eyes type shit. Now, why y'all.
Boring like I'm saying bullshit like this is real facts. Come on, man, look at my hair. I just got my she done.
But it's all cool, man, you know, you know, I get they love you and then they hate you, turn around that love you again.
You know what I mean? Well, as it pertains to Javonte Tank Davis, when the hell has anybody been hating on you? He's thirty and oh or twenty eight KOs Who the hell was hating on Javonte Davis? Am I missing something? It certainly wasn't anybody that I've seen in media or whatever. And I know that sounds like a bullshit excuse to a lot of people. You know, you got your head done and she put too much grease in the hair and all of this other stuff. But
it's Tank Davis. So guess what, ladies and gentlemen, I'm believing him. You're thirty and oh or twenty eight KOs. He took a knee, got up, walked to the corner had his face wipe and teeing right back. I'm believing him. I didn't see him hurt or anything like that. I get that part. I saw him hurt when he got popped with a counter from Lamont Roach, and he stumbled backwards because he got hit with a shot while throwing a punch in an early round. So I'm certainly not
gonna do that. Here's the important point to mention. All of us got to stand down and give Lamont Roach an apology. I thought that brother was gonna get beat down because I saw a dude that was a bantamweight champion. I said, why are you moving up to fight this guy? Why is Javonte Davis taking this fight? This guy's too small? What the hell is going on? He was a featherweight champion. You a lightweight? What the hell is going on? Why
would you take that fight? I didn't understand it. What I didn't know is that once Lamont Roach stepped into the ring, he would be the bigger fighter. What I didn't know is that once he was in the ring and looked like the bigger fighter, he fought like the bigger fighter. Because ladies and gentlemen from opening bell he walked right to Javonte Davis, walked right to him and stayed in his face all night long. If he backed up at all, ladies and gentlemen, it was five percent
of the time. The other ninety five percent of the time, he walked right to Javonte Davis. Javonte Davis caught him with some good shots. He took it and then gave it back. Body punches, counter punching, left hook, straight right. This brother Lamont Roach can fight, and he's beautiful defensively as well, and seemed completely unfazed and undeterred by Tank Davis, a knockout artist. And I'll give Javonte Davis credit for this.
Usually when a champion is undefeated who gets in a fight like that finds himself with a majority drawer, with people questioning whether or not he legitimately won, it's usually the promoters and the audience that's calling for a rematch. Javonte Davis, who had been alluding to retirement, immediately said let's do it again. Let's get it going, no problem at all. I give him credit for that, because guess what I wanted to see, Javonte Davis versus Chakor Stevenson.
I wanted to see him against Tali Lemonchenko. I wanted to see him against Ryan Garcia in a rematch. I wanted to see him against Tiafimo Lopez. Ladies, gentlemen, None of them deserved the shot ahead of a rematch for Lamont Roach. None of them. And check out Lamont Roach's tweets. I don't know, he said, if you meaning, if you mean pushing, my contract already signed and set for the immediate rematch, because you put that in there just in case you lost. Only reason we don't fight is because
you scared. Javonte Davis comes back to our hours later and say no more. I'm pushing for the rematch. This is what we love when it comes to boxing. This is what we love to see. It's me against you, baby, And next time, you know what, maybe I ain't gonna say. Gavontae Davis wasn't ready. He looked pretty ready to me. It's just that Lamont Roach was ready. We didn't see
this brother, y'all. We've seen him now. Lamont Roach. Remember that name, because if he beats Tavonte Tank Davis in a rematch, he will instantly become a household name coming up. He's a former New York governor who resigned in the middle of sexual harassment allegations. Now he's trying to get back into politics by making a run the New York City mayor. I've got the one and only Andrew Cuomo up next right here on a Steven ax Smim show. Don't go away. This message is being brought to you
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New York City is the greatest city in the world. There is no other place like it. And as in life, we have had times when we are at our shining best, and there are times when we struggle and endure great hardship. But we also know that we can handle a crisis because we have. Did I always do everything right in my years of government service, of course not. Would I
do some things differently knowing what I know now. Certainly did I make mistakes, some painfully, definitely, And I believe I learned from them and that I am a better person for it. And I hope to show you that every day. It won't be easy, but I know we can turn the city around, and I believe I can help, and that is why I announced my canda to seat today for Mayor of New York City.
My next guest served as the fifty sixth Governor of the Great State of New York from twenty eleven until his resignation in twenty and twenty one. After three and a half years out of the spotlight. He's aiming for a political comeback. Please welcome the former Governor of the Great State of New York, the one and only Andrew Cuomo. Welcome to the show, sir, how are you.
I'm doing very well. Good to see you, and the pleasure is mine.
Pleasure is mine as well. First things first, I have to congratulate you on a beautiful blue suit. You look a hell of a lot better than your brother Chris. I just want to get out of the way. I want to get out. Get that out of the way first, Okay, anything that's me.
I'm not saying the heck of a lot, But thank you.
I got you. You know that seventeen there was a seventeen minute of video on Saturday where you announced that you was running for the mayor of New York. Why is now the right time to return to politics in your eyes?
Sir? Well, you know I wasn't planning on returning to politics leaving I was. I did my tour of duty and then some I was housing a Urban Development secretary in the Clinton administration for eight years, New York Attorney General, I was governor, and then I found out there was something called life, you know, after working in public service so hard all my life, and I was I had a good few years, spending time with family, doing some traveling. I was enjoying myself. But I am really worried about
what's happening in New York City. Frankly, not just New York City, cities all across the nation. But I'm worried about what's happening New York City. And I was HUT secretary. As I mentioned, I know cities. I know the trajectory of cities, and the trajectory is not good for New York City. You know, post COVID people can be anywhere st even they don't have to be in a city. It's not like the old days where you're captured. They can move, they can do remote work, they can do zoom.
And if you can stay home and do that, well, then maybe you can move to North Carolina. You can move to Florida, you can move to Colorado. So the dynamics have changed, and then the quality of life in New York City has really deteriorated, and you're paying a lot of taxes to be here. You put those factors together and it is a bad situation for New York and it has to turn around, and has to turn around quickly.
How do you think it got to this point of your estimation over the last few years. What would you attribute it to the state of affas in New York.
Yeah, it's a good question, Stephen, and I think it's something the Democratic Party has to think about and reflect upon. Put COVID aside, okay, because COVID was a transformation nationwide, worldwide societal transformation. But there's been a shift in philosophy here in New York City and other cities. But you've had this move starting in about twenty twenty, an anti police movement. Right, cut the funding for the police. Police are bad. We have thousands fewer police today than we had. Well,
that has consequences. You cut the police. Don't be surprised when crime goes up. You cut the police. Don't be surprised when people are afraid to go into the subways because of the rate of crime. We have a mentally ill homeless problem. People who are mentally ill, dangerously mentally ill to themselves and to others. There's been a philosophy change where we don't enforce the law the same way, and frankly we do know in a favor right because if a person is mentally ill, the wrong thing to
do is actually leave them on the street. The right thing to do, quote unquote, right thing to do is to get them the help they need. So there's been a philosophical change. They call it quote unquote progressive. I think there's anything but progressive. I think it's regressive, and I think that's contributed to it.
You've been on the record and you've tackled the progressive side on quite a few occasions in your career. You know, that's a matter of record. What makes you believe that you're going to be equally, if not more so successful as the mayor than you were as governor tackling not just the issues, but those people who obviously support issues that you may not support, even on the left.
Yeah, well let's separate the two issues, all right. First of all, took on the progressives. I believe I am a progressive, right, that word progressive has been distorted and misused that's not a new term. That's not the term they came up with a few years ago. Franklin Delano Roosevelt. I have a great poster Franklin Delano Roosevelt for Progressive Government. FDR actually took it from Eddy Roosevelt, who talked about
progressive government. So progressive government has been established. My father was a progressive. Barack Obama was a progressive. Bill Clinton was a progressive and man. To look at the word it stated for making progress, not this theoretical, abstract argument for the sake of argument. Make progress. As governor, I made progress past marriage equality first, big state, changed the whole conversation in my fifteen dollars highest minimum ways in
the United States of America. So no one did the progressive things that we did, and we got them done. New La Guardia Airport, new moynihand train station, et cetera. So making government work, making progress, that's what the progressive is all about. It's not about being anti police. It's not about leaving mentally ill homeless people on the street. It's not about being anti Semitic. We have this DSA which spews anti semitism, which just releases a toxic chemical
into the environment. That's not progressive in my mind.
You know, I asked just a couple of a few weeks ago, the Mayor of New York, Steric Adams was here in studio with me, and I asked him a question pertaining to you and the possibility of going up against you in light of some of the things that you'vecomplished. You brought it up marriage Equality Act twenty eleven, fiscal reforms, infrastructure modernization, gun control Legislation twenty thirteen, the minimum wage,
increase in paid family leave. All of these things under your umbrella as governor of New York, just to name a few. So going up against you you would be a formidable foe, to say the least, because he intends to run for reelection. Of course, I want you to watch my question to him and how he responds. Take a look. Let's think positive. Yes, Let's say these allegations are gonna go away. Your issues campaign, you know, fraud and campaign finance, all of this stuff we're gonna throw away.
With all of that, it's you against Andrew Cuomo for the mayor of New York. I'm a sports guy like competition. I mean, what kind of prediction would you put forth, if you got if you had yourself, if you found yourself in a position where you were going up against Andrew Cromo for the mayor's position, for the his honors position in the City of New York.
Well, listen, I think that me and this is how I run my life. I'm not running against Andrew Cuomo or any of the other candidates. I'm running against myself play my best game. If I play my best game, it doesn't matter who's in the race, because there's other candidates in the race. And what I've learned in electoral politics right now, we're in the preseason. You know, we're not in the playoffs. When you're in the playoffs, your
game has to be different. You could be great, you know, in the season, but when you get in the playoffs, let's see what you're made of.
Now, Andrew ccomo, we know about the allegations that have been levied against Mayor Adams. We know that the DJ stepped in took the case from the southern state of New York, and the criticism that he has received in light of just a lot of people are accusing him of sort of being in bed with the Trump administration. How much of a role if any did that play and you deciding to join this race to capture the mayor seat in New York.
City, Yeah, Stephen, it didn't really. I've been watching what's been happening to New York City and what's going on and this new philosophy that has taken over in New York City, besides from the mayor, frankly, what the other candidates have been saying. And I agree with the mayor. You know, it's not about anyone else. I'm here to tell voters what I think I would do and what I think the problems are, and my record and my
experience of actually getting things done, which is everything. You know. First, it's interesting when it comes to the government, people don't factor and experience. Right. If you hire a plumber, you want to make sure the plumber has experience. You hire a landscaper. The landscaper has experience. But you can hire a chief executive who never ran anything before. Right, So let's talk about experience. Let's talk about a record of getting things done. And you just started to go through it.
I don't think there's been a governor in modern political history that has accomplished more things than I have accomplished, and that's what's getting it done is about right, It's about getting it done, making change. Let people feel this progress, improve my life, is what they're saying. And then juxtapose that with this with the other candidate's just saying they're anti cop. They've allowed this homeless, what I think is just a human tragedy to continue and go on. The
affordability crisis. They can't figure out how to build affordable housing. It's bricks and mortar. You put them together, and you put another stack, and then you have affordable housing. You know, there's this incompetence and apathy that is pervasive, and that's what's turning people off. Let's go progressive government, Okay, make progress, do something right. It goes. It comes back to queens. Steve, that's right, do something for me. Let me see some results.
You either produce or you don't. And I'm a producer.
You are a producer. You're a three term governor. You were in line to be to get a fourth term, all right, which I think would have Todd Rockefeller for the record in New York State or potentially to be president of the United States. But obviously there's a couple of things that derailed you. One of the things that came to mind was the whole nursing home crisis in the after you know, during COVID, and how there was the deaths were understated, and it was under your administration,
and you took hits for that. Explain that to our audience right now. How much culpability and blame do you believe you deserved and what role do you believe that ultimately played in you ultimately departing from the governor's position for the New York to State of New York.
Yeah, let's go back COVID nineteen. First, it was a situation like we had never seen before. Obviously, none of us and no one really knew what to do. I had the best health officials on the globe, Stephen working with us, because New York had COVID first and worst right because the flank the planes were bringing it from Europe to New York for months and nobody knew. So I had the best health officials that you could get, but nobody really knew what to do. And the worst
manifestation of COVID was in the nursing homes. And this was a horrific situation and God forbid anyone should ever have to go through this again. In the nursing homes, we had to close visitation because we were afraid more people would bring in the IRUs, so you couldn't visit loved ones. And you had many people dying in nursing homes because obviously COVID prayed on the week and the immune compromised, and that was nursing homes. So you had
people dying in nursing homes. They couldn't see their family, even though they were at the end of their life. The families couldn't say goodbye. I mean, it was just as painful a human situation that you could imagine. And I lived it. I was there. It traumatized me, It traumatized many. The health officials were making the best decisions that they could. I believe that federal officials, the state
officials were making the best decisions they could. They were trying to figure out what the right quarant team period was. At first they said it was seven days and then they could release people the nursing homes or back home.
Then they extended it later on. I believe everybody was doing everything they could, and they just didn't have enough knowledge but then, surprise, surprise, there was an election year and it became very politicized, and the Republicans blamed the Democrats and the Democratic governors, and the Democrats blamed the Republicans,
and the President wasn't doing enough. And then there were lawsuits and they were investigations, and the Department of Justice investigated, The Manhattan District Attorney didn't investigation, the Attorney General did an investigation. Everybody did an investigation, and at the end of the day, everybody comes to the same basic conclusion, which is everyone did what they could, and the health officials did what they thought was right at the right time.
But many people died in nursing homes the bottom bottom line for the state of New York. And to cut through all the politics, they then count how many people died in nursing homes per one hundred. Okay, so it's apples and apples, big states, most states. For every one hundred people in nursing homes, how many died State of New York is number thirty eight, which means only twelve states had a lower rate of death than New York.
And that is saying something, Stephen, because you know, we had it first and other states had months to prepare. It just fell out of the sky for New Yorkers. But though the federal numbers the rate of death in nursing homes, we ranked number thirty eight. I would liked to be number fifty, but thirty eight. Only twelve states had a lower rate of death. I think that says New York officials. Health officials not only did their job, but did it well.
But respectfully, sir. They seemed to be coming at you because they used the word undercounted, and what they said was that it was undercounted because at that particular moment in time, your star had ascended to another level. You were given the daily press conferences with COVID nineteen and what was transpiring. You were the most articulate voice in
a lot of people's eyes. On the rest. It got to a point where people the only person people wanted to hear from more than you was DoD Anthony Vauci, and that's because they were hoping he would come up with a vaccine for ground out loud. I mean, it got to that point and that's where the word politicized or politicization came into play because they felt that for political purposes, you had undercounted, and to that as you
reflect on that, was that a mistake in anyway? Was there anything that you could look back on and say, maybe I should have done something different to make sure they couldn't come at me with those accusations.
Yeah. Two quick points. First, on the undercounting. Did New York undercount? Now, when all the counting is done, right, it's over. It's been over for years. All the counting is done. People died in nursing homes, people died outside of nursing homes. People who are in nursing homes and went to hospitals and died, people who died. All the counting is done, That's where the thirty eight number comes from. So undercount, overcount, that's where the thirty eight comes from.
With number thirty eight, only twelve states did better? What could I have done differently? In retrospect when it became political Stephen, then I partially resented the politicalization of it,
if you will. We were doing everything we can we could at that time to save lives, and now you want to play politics and you want to start with a Department of Justice investigation in the middle of this crisis, I did resent the injection of politics, and I was probably not as communicative as I should have been because I thought it was political and I resented the as I said that politics was entering what was the most significant crisis of a generation. So I would say that that.
Was January of twenty twenty one. In February of twenty twenty one, that's when the cascade of sexual harassment allegations came in your direction and people were accusing you of sexual harassment. I think they were like eleven different allegations levied against you. And then March of twenty twenty one, state legislators begin in impeachment investigation. You've spoken about that
on several occasions. As you've reflected upon that, you also hit it, if not flat out said you thought that was being politicized as well as you reflect on that, now, what are your feelings reflecting back on that point in time.
Well, that was about three years ago, right, Stephen, And sometimes time brings out the truth. I said at that time that, as you said, correctly, so number of women made claims about inappropriate behavior. A report was issued. I said that was a political report. It was politically motivated and politically done. It was also a hyper political time, if you remember. But I said it was a political report.
That was three years ago. Since then, everyone and their brother has investigated those claims, literally to the tune of millions and millions of dollars, and nothing has come from any of them. So time brings out the truth. I said at that time it was political, and three years later, millions of dollars later, in terms of people investigating complaints,
nothing has come from any of those complaints. You know, my opponents want to talk about the past because they don't want to talk about the present, and they don't want to talk about the city and the condition that the city is in and what they have done to the city with this anti cop reduction of the police force. We've gotten to a place in New York City, Stephen, people don't even apply for the job to be police officer anymore. That's how much we have devalued the police
and diminished the police. New Yorkers today just walk past homeless people who are clearly mentally ill. They walk past them like they don't see them. You know, it's really a horrific state of affairs.
I want to get a bit more personal, if that's entirely possible from this perspective. I'm from Queens, New York. You know, obviously you are as well. And my parents grew up Cuomo fans. Mario Cuomo, your lad dad, God rest his wonderful soul. What a phenomenal governor he was for the state of New York and what have you. Everybody loved the Cuomos. And I'm thinking about his years of service, and I'm thinking about your years of service. How did it make you feel to have to depart
from office in that fashion? And how long did it take you to get to a point where you dare I say, was your old self again to some degree in terms of wanting having a fervor for politan, a passion for politics again? Talk about what that did to you.
Yeah, well, look, my father was my hero, right. I started in politics with my father. I was in my twenties. I was his campaign manager for his campaign to govern to become governor. I was twenty four to twenty five years old, and I was his advisor all through his term. He then helped me in my campaign and he was
an advisor to me until we lost him. I would say that he would have advised me to do what I did at the time, because public service comes first, and you had this political fervor that you referred to, and the legislature, you know that, especially at that time, any claim of any sexual impropriety took off like fire through dry grass, right, And as you mentioned, the legislature was talking about impeachment, and there is no real impeachment process in New York, So you would have entered into
a period of chaos that we like, that was like nothing we had ever seen before. Okay, And that is the last thing my father would have ever suggested that I do. It's about public service, it's about the state. If this is going to cause chaos and stop the government from funk, then step aside so the government can function, because the government and public service comes first. That's the oath, that's the value, that's the priority. That's what he would
have said. He would have said, step aside and then go figure it out and find out the facts. Because when they announced the report, I hadn't even heard of the women that they were mentioning. So I wasn't even in a posision to defend myself because I hadn't even heard of a lot of these women, right, so he would have said, step aside, let the government function. Then do your work and get out the facts, which we did.
And then if you he would have said, I think in this moment, I think he would have said, New York cities and trouble. You know how to do this. You've proven you can do this. The right thing to do right away from Queens, there's the right thing. You can't define it, but you feel it in your gut, you feel it in your heart, your soul. The right thing to do is to step in and be helpful, because I spent my life doing this, and making change in government isn't easy, and it's not for the fainth
of heart, Stephen, it is not. It is hard to make change, and you get this opposition from every angle. You go to change a light bulb in New York City and there's going to be a committee that opposes the changing of light bulbs.
Happen to you.
So it's not for the fainth of heart. But I know how to do it. And I think he would say, the city's in trouble, and you have an obligation to step up.
If that had not happened, would you have run for president?
If if no, I would get a big show like you have.
I don't think is small. So it's climbing. It's climbing, but.
Big show, sir.
I got to ask you right now. Some have said we do not need a return of a Cuomo. They've questioned whether or not you're someone who can be trusted as a voter in New York City. To them, you say what.
Well, I say, it depends on what you want. If you want someone to play nice with the other politicians, go along, get along, don't ruffle any feathers, don't really make any change. Just talk about making change, propose things, but leave things alone, continue the status quo. I am not your guy. That's not what I do. If what you're saying is, or what the voter says is, I'm worried about New York. I think the city's in trouble. I'm anxious. I'm anxious about the subways. I'm anxious about
the crime. I'm anxious about the homeless, mentally ill on the streets. I'm anxious that there's no affordable housing. I can't afford to live here. I'm getting priced out of New York. I need someone who can actually get something done. I'm tired of these politicians promise, promise, promise, and then nothing changes. And I want someone who has proven their ability to actually make things happen. Then I'm your person.
The governor is the leader of a state. The mayor's the leader of a city. You've been the leader of the state of New York for three terms. The mayor's position as opposed to pursuing a return to the governor.
See, well again, I wasn't considering pursuing returning period. I was enjoying my life. I was going to go fishing and make fun of my little brother. You know, that was my plan. So I am It's not that I'm getting back in politics. To me, Steven, New York City at this moment is in trouble, and I think I can help because I've done this all my life and I know these issues and these problems, and I know how to make a change. So it's about helping New
York City in this moment. It's not about me wanting to re enter politics. Generally, it was how do I help in this moment? And look, I am Queen's and secretary. I was in every state in the United States. Literally, I've worked with cities all across the nation. I've worked, I've been in twenty two countries. There is nothing like New York and I love it. I mean I just love it. I love everything about it. It is who I am. It made my father, it made my grandfather,
It's in my blood. And to see it suffering and to see it declining. Look, my father, your father handed you New York City and said, this is a gift that I am leaving you, beautiful New York City. Everybody around the world wants to come here. I'm leaving it to you. I'm putting it in your hands. And they placed New York City in our hands. In turn, we are going to turn around and hand New York York
City to the next generation. And I want to make sure that I hand over to my children, my three girls, a New York City that is at least as good as the New York City that I inherited. And really I would like to hand them in New York City that is better. That for me, is what this is all about. I've been up, I've been down, I've been all around. I was going to the rumors for president, rumors for this, rumors for that. It's all garbage. At the end of the day, Stephen, what did you accomplish?
What difference did you make in people's lives? What exists? But for you being here, that's what it's about. And I believe if I can make a difference in New.
York, how are you going to pull us off with the Trump administration in a White House? How would you pull that off for New York City?
Well, Donald Trump is from New York City, and he knows our problems here. He knows we need federal help. I dealt with him as governor. Remember, so there was a lot of back and forth. He's another one from Queens. Yes, he is three of us Queen's boys. So I dealt with him as governor. He knows our situation, he knows the situation in New York City. It is his hometown. I think that he wants New York City to appreciate him. I think he thinks there's an opportunity for him to
do good things in New York City. And really we have to see what he does, what posture President Trump takes. And if you want to be an optimist, you say he's going to say New York is his hometown, then he wants to help, and to be honest, I've been on the right side of President Trump. I've been on the wrong side of President Trump. So I think it's up to the President and it's up to the posture that he declares visa the New York You know, what does he do with the budget, what does he do
with medicaid? What does he do with the housing money? Because the federal government is entirely impactful on New York. So, so I think it's up to him and what he does and will respond to that.
What would a Cuomo administration in New York City and the mayor's seat, How would that differ from the present state of affairs with the Adams administration, or at least the perception that the Adams administration has now with the White House. How would the Cuomo relationship with the White House be different in your estimation?
Well, I think what happened with the Adams administration is a very particular set of circumstances and facts. Right, you went to a clip of Mayor Adams. This is I've never seen this unique situation where the mayor was facing a criminal situation that was federal and the President then worked with him on those federal charges. So I don't know that we ever see that again. But that is a truly unique situation that Mayor Adams and President Trump had.
Do you believe he's severely compromised being the mayor right now because of his situation, which makes it obviously easier for you to compete against them for the upcoming election.
Well, you would have to ask Mayor Adams that question. I know it's a complicated transaction that they entered into, But how the mayor feels about that, whether or not he's constrained by that, that's a question for Mayor Adams to answer.
You've been known as a government when you were in the governor's seat, You've been known as somebody you would ruffle feathers to get things done. You were sterned, you didn't play any games. You were about your business, you wanted to get things done, and you didn't give a damn whether you made friends or enemies along the way. Do you believe you'd have to be more of that person to get things done in New York or less?
Well? I think it's a good question, and it's one I've thought about. We got a lot done, and as I said, Stephen. There is no easy way to get big things done. LaGuardia Airport, they opposed me more. In the hand train station there was opposition. Second, having subway, there was opposition. Right bridge happens a bridge, it was opposition. By definition, you go to build anything and there's going
to be opposition. If you faint from that opposition, or if you're a politician and you say, look, I don't want any opposition. I want everyone to like me because I want everyone to vote for me, which by the way, is a posture of most politicians. Then you get nothing done, and you've had generation if, the generation if, the generation of people getting nothing done. And that's why the people say, I don't believe any of these guys. They run for office,
they promise everything and then they do nothing. Look outside, what do you see that is new and different? So I purposely was very productive and I purposefully pushed through projects. And was it hard to get it done? Yes? Did I ruffle feathers, no doubt. Can you do these things without ruffling feathers? I do not believe you can. I do not believe you can. And I've been in federal government,
city government, state government. I don't believe you can. Having said that, I think in retrospect, could I have been more patient? Yes? And did I become impatient with the bureaucracy and with the local politics and the obstacles. Yes, I did become impatient because I could see so clearly what we could get done but for these bumps in
the road. And I did become impatient. And as my grandmother used to say to me when I was young, bargenzia, bargenzia in Italian patients, patients, And I think I would bring more patients to the job. I would hope to be as productive, but with.
More patients productive. As a governor, had folks fantasize it about you being a president of the United States of America, which obviously is a loftier position the mayor, even being the mayor of New York City. There are those out there, Yes they are critics, but there are also those who fervently support you that may wonder is that seat too small for Andrew Cmo because of who he is and who he has been and who we aspired for him
to be. What do you say to people that have that question about you.
I'm gonna bring a big seat to the office, Steve, I'm gonna have a big seat. I'm not see I say. Look, I have one goal, which is trying and succeeding in making a difference for New York City today. And by the way, as I said in my announcement video that you played, this is not going to be easy, right. Hiring more police, getting the mentally ill off the streets, dealing with a migrant situation, cleaning up the subways, building affordable housing. None of this is easy. This is all hard.
So that's the job at hand. That's the focus, right, run with blind blinders on. That's all I'm focused on. That's all I want to do. If I do that, I'm happy.
What would be your number one priority as mayor of New York With all the issues that you highlight as one, is there one issue that stands out above the crowd.
Public safety? Public safety? Public safety. If people don't feel safe, nothing works. Nothing works. If you don't feel safe. You don't go to the restaurant. If you don't feel safe, the tourist doesn't come to go to the place. If you don't feel safe, if you don't come into the office, you stay home and you do remote work. So you have to feel safe. That's why the old expression public
safety is job won for government. It's true, you have to feel safe, and that is the foundation for everything else.
What does that mean more police officers? What does that mean exactly?
Part of it is more police officers, and part of it is a change in the philosophy that we understand. If you don't enforce rules, you have chaos. Right, nobody wants to see anybody go to jail. Nobody. And by the way, I closed more prisons than any governor in history. All right, so nobody wants to see anybody go to jail. But you go too far to the other extreme. You know that pendulum swings too far to the other extreme. Well, we don't want anyone to go to jail. Well, then
you have chaos. And that's what we have on the streets now, in my opinion.
What about the issue of immigration, I mean that in some people's eyes, that can tie into it, certainly in Trump's oys, because that's one of the things he wanted Adams to address, which is why the DOJ presumably intervened with the case against Adams of crying out loud. How high on your priority list is the immigration issue? In New York City.
Well, fortunately it's going to be lower because the numbers are going to drop. You know, in my opinion, I'm a Democrat. The President Biden and the administration mishandled the migrant problem. If you were me, what caused the election, I would say between inflation and the migrant problem. Probably the migrant problem too. Yes, there was no plan. They knew what was going to happen. When you open the border, you turn on the fawcet what's going to catch the water?
What happens?
Well, I'm just going to turn on the force and see what happens. Now. So that problem spilled over, pardon upon to cities. The governors put people on buses. It was a tremendous burden on New York City. Twelve billion dollars if you believe anyone's numbers in this town, was spent on the migrants. But Trump has closed the border. That number is dropped. The number of migrants in the city is dropping. So I think that issue is of
new migrants is going to be dropping. The deportation issue will be rising, but that's a different issue.
Andrew Cuomo, if you win and you are elected the mayor of New York City? Is that the beginning for you? We could say it's a new beginning, But I guess
what I'm asking is you stepped away. You talked about how comfortable you were while you were away, But now that you're getting back into the mix, can people expect you to stick around for a very, very long time or is it just a priority to fix New York City and then go into the sunset and hang out with your brother and try to compare suits with one another something? What's the deal?
First of all, my brother doesn't wear a suit, you know, he I don't know what he wears. He wears like those Hawaiian flower shirts. Uh. And I don't know why you don't mention it when you're on the show with him, because he's clearly and what is that with the rolling up the sleeves, you know, either buy a short sleeve shirt or leave this shirt alone.
He's trying to throw his muscles and that he's ready to He's ready to throw down. That's what he's trying to do.
That's what he trying to say. Yeah, but you're there. You have to say, give me a break when you roll down your sleeves because you're starting to annoy me.
So you're getting on him about rolling up the sleeves. You're getting on me for not getting on him. You're getting on both of us.
Even you have to push back on him. You have to push back on him. He keeps coming. He's a queen's boy. He's half a queen's boy. He's half queen's half openy. You're so uh, Look, I take I've been through a lot, and I now take everything with two grains of salt. Right, I was a cabinet secretary, hut secretary in line for the presidential I was attorney general, I was governor, rumored to be running for president. My father was going to run for president. You know what,
it's all with two or three grains of salt. That doesn't mean anything. At the end of the day. The only thing that matters is what did you accomplish? Did you maximize your opportunity in public service? Did you actually give it your all? Did you make sure you made life better for people? And where you're successful after that, well you're good to your family, where you're good to your friends, and the day is over. So that's what I'm looking to do.
Forgive me for sneaking in this one last question. But you talked about the body and administration making a mistake with immigration and open borders. Was there anything else you think they did wrong that drastically affected the state of affairs that you're lamenting about the city of New York.
Well, the migrant problem affected New York York in a dramatic way. And I think heard the Democratic Party all of course the nation number two. I think the way they handled President Biden running for president. I think the way the Democratic Party said President Biden's fine, he's great. Everybody came out of that White House and said, thumbs up. I just met the president. He's great, he's doing well,
he's stronger than his staff. And then the president shows up at the first debate, and I think the American people say, you know, you deceived us. And then Vice President Harris has to come in late and is now running a truncated race and she has to tiptoe around
President Biden and his policy. So I think inflation migrants, the way people saw President Biden and felt they were deceived by the Democratic Party, that for the Democratic Party to be saying we think President Biden should be president for another four years. I think that hurts the Democrats, and then practically I think Vice President Harris having so little time hurt the Democrats.
As the fifty six governor of the great state of New York, I think the one thing all of us can undoubtedly acknowledge we can't deny is that if there's a problem, you know how to fix it. And now you're trying to be the mayor of New York City. Wishing you nothing but the best, sir. You know there's always a home here anytime you want to talk. I'm
happy to have you on the show. Thank you so much for taking such time out of your busy schedule, and congratulations on campaigning for the mayor's position for the state or for the City of New York. Thank you so much, Sir, Andrew Cuomo.
Thank you for having me. Steven pleasure coming up.
House Minority Leader Hakim Jeffries tweeted at wall On X this weekend, and it had nothing to do with politics. I'll get into that and react to the common you just heard from former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo with yours truly. That's next right here on a Stephen A.
Smith Show.
Don't go away. What's up, everybody? Stephen A Smith here. Recently we made news because the great Bill O'Reilly announced a tour that's coming nearest to you in the very very near future. Get your tickets now for this. It's called Three Americans Live, March thirtieth at Live Nation's Flag
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thinking about these days. There'll also be questions from the audio we're not running. Tickets are officially on sale now with pre sale code USA at three Americans Live dot com. VIP packages are available with the opportunity to meet and take photos with myself and both those fellas. That's Three Americans Live, March thirtieth at the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island. Additional dates in cities to be announced. Don't miss it. Trust me, you'll get a kick out of it.
Welcome back. Before we get to Minority Leader Hakim Jeffrey's tweet, I want to react to the conversation you just heard with me and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who just announced this week in a bid to run for New York City mayor. First of all, any allegations that's levied against any politicians involvement sexual harassment or anything like that is something serious and we should never summarily dismiss it. We have an obligation to throw that fa out there,
and that's just the truth. But we also have to take into account the fact that he intimated at the time that it was politicized. These things happened and took place through August of twenty twenty one. Practically every case was dropped by January of twenty twenty two. Now, this has nothing to do with the actual women who alleged inappropriate behavior on the part of Andrew Cuomo. I'm speaking strictly about how things can get politicized. Why did everything
go away once he was out of office so quickly? See, we got to start asking ourselves that question. And here's the reason why nothing should be minimized. And I get that, and I want everybody to understand the importance of that. But these are some dire freaking times in our nation. We got problems all over the place, and what we have to do moving forward, in my opinion, is to make sure that we as a society don't cave in to anything being politicized at the expense of our well being.
When we consider crime in the streets, when we consider the immigration issue, when we consider inflation and a host of other things going on that plague us as a society, and how these things need to be fixed, we got to make sure that the best people for the job or in office to do the job. I'm going to tell you what I heard from Andrew Como while he was giving one answer after another, didn't duck one issue.
This is what I heard. I heard a man saying, look at my record, look at my record, And when you look at his record, I gotta tell you it's hard to ignore it. I'm just calling it up here because it's necessary because I wrote some of the stuff down,
or I charted it down here. Marriage Equality Act twenty eleven fiscal reforms, infrastructure modernization, LaGuardia Airport reconstruction, Manahan Train Hall, Governor Mario Cuomo Bridge replace the Agent Tapense bridge to improve Hudson River crossings, Gun control legislation twenty thirteen, minimum wage increase and paid family leave to fifteen dollars an hour towards that environmental initiatives, et cetera, et cetera. The man ain't playing. You know what Andrew Cuomo is really saying,
or what he really said without saying it. There's an adult coming to the room. People can talk about what they want to do. I'm talking about what I've done. And I found myself saying, well down, how many governors have won three terms? He did. He was en route to a fourth unless he walked away to run for the presidency. That's how popular he was, That's how successful he was deemed to be. So what I peeled from all of this he is an adult in the room.
And if Eric Adams is going to win back the mayor seat for New York City, he's going to have a fight on his hands. This man was the governor of New York for three terms. He's just three and a half years removed from it, not three decades. Andrew Como's not playing. He's coming, and New Yorkers are watching and listening, and don't be surprised if they go to the pole in favor of him. Mayor Eric Adamson's in the world of trouble, and I'm not talking about legally
with Trump hovering over him. I'm talking about competition for the mayor seed of New York. Andrew Cuomo is coming, and I don't believe it's gonna stop there. It's all I got to say for now. I'll have more to say in the days, the weeks, and the months to come. Before I get on out of here. Let me get to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his tweet, because y'all
gotta see this. It's official. Stephen A. Smith. The Johnny's as in the Saint John Redstorm are taking us back to the mullin Berry Jackson era with Luis Zubi Richmond and I'm all for it. Hashtag final four and I pumped the breaks, Minority Leader, could you please pump the breaks? I think that's going a little bit too damn fall I enjoyed your time on the show. I like talking to you. But let's not get out of hand here. The Saint John's Redstorm that ain't walter Bury, Chris Muller
and Mark Jackson. I don't see a Final four now. Rick Patino's got them playing some damn good basketball. But I've seen Alabama, I've seen Auburn, I've seen Florida. That's just the SEC. SEC basketball is taking over the SEC. They've shoved football aside in that scc t cochin the national championship. But nothing's better than March Madness. And I do suspect that Saint John's could potentially make some noise
either way you slice it. I'm a flow with the minority leader here because Rick Patino has done a hell of a job. He really has, and it's no surprise they brought him there to restore what the late great lu Connoseca once built at Saint John's and Queens, and I'll be damned Rick Patino has done it already. That is a reason to be excited. Ikeeme Jeffrees, I get it. Queen's in the building. I get it. That tip of
this edition to the Stephen Aatesmiths Show. I hope y'all enjoyed it and thanks again to the former Governor himself of the Great State of New York, Andrew Cuomo in pursuit of the mayor's seat of New York City, really really appreciated his time. Hope y'all did as well. Until next time, Stephen, they signed an off He's in love.