My guest tonight is an Emmy, Grammy
and Tony award-winning actor,
and Democratic activist running for governor
of the state of New York.
Please welcome Cynthia Nixon.
(cheering and applause)
(cheering grows louder)
-Welcome to the show. -Thanks so much.
This is so surreal for me, 'cause the first time
I thought I would ever meet you in life,
I thought it would be a Sex in the City related event,
where I would have won, like, I don't know, to--
like a competition to be part of the cast.
-But instead, um, -(laughter)
I'm meeting you as somebody who is running
to be New York's governor.
And not just governor, New York's first woman governor.
-Yes. -Which is, which is a pretty tall task.
There had to be a moment where you decided not to vote,
but to become the person to be voted for.
When was that decision made?
Well, I think that the, uh,
the election of Donald Trump in 2016 was a wake-up call
-for women all across this country. -Right.
(cheering and applause)
And gave us a feeling that we had to become involved
like we never had before, and that if we wanted
to see real change,
that we had to, we had to go out there,
and we had to bring it on ourselves by running for office.
That's really exciting, because that's,
that's exactly what you're proposing is real change.
And you're starting off in New York.
The primaries are coming up,
but you are going up against somebody
who is a behemoth in the Democratic party.
Governor Cuomo, who, you know,
has become this-this piece of New York.
You have been seen as somebody
-who is pushing him to the left. -Hmm.
What are you proposing to change?
Like, what are your big ideas
to change New York and to improve it?
Well, I'm running, really,
to address inequality here,
to address racial inequality,
to address economic inequality.
And I think that w-we're at a really terrible moment,
I think, for our nation,
in terms of the Trump agenda,
and the-the stage that he's setting for our country.
And it's up to us who are progressives,
and who are Democrats to actually seize this opportunity.
And there's no better place to do that than New York State,
because we are a proudly progressive state.
-We're two-to-one Democratic. -Right.
And our governor now, Andrew Cuomo,
likes to say, "Oh, we're the most,
we're the most progressive state in the union."
How can he say that? How can he say that
when for the last eight years we haven't done things
like pass the New York Dream Act?
We haven't passed the women's equal--
the Women's Reproductive Health Act.
We have tens of thousands of people,
largely black and brown people,
sitting in jail, languishing, waiting for trial
because they can't afford bail.
We have, again, so many black
and Latino people incarcerated for marijuana,
something that-that white people do with impunity.
We have some of the worst voter suppression laws
in the entire country in New York State.
How can you have been governor
for eight years and presided over this,
and not had movement on any of these issues?
You can't call yourself a progressive,
and I think, frankly, you can barely call yourself a Democrat.
Wow, those are powerful words.
(cheering and applause)
Governor Cuomo has had what many would consider
a very progressive record, though.
People would say, um, he's the reason
that there is a $15 minimum wage in New York City.
Some people would say
he has been pushing progressive agendas.
-Hmm. -For instance, in 2011,
voting for same-sex marriage in New York City.
You obviously feel like he could be doing more
and should be doing more,
and some people say that he's now moving
more towards your platform because you are running.
So he has said that New York should legalize marijuana.
He has said that now New York needs to look
at reforming its-its, uh, prison institutions.
Do you feel that you're pushing him,
and would that be enough for you?
Or do you want to go for the throne?
No, I'm running to win.
I am definitely running to win.
(cheering and applause)
Um, but I think you're right.
There is this thing called the Cynthia effect
where all of a sudden, he is rediscovering--
or discovering, I guess, for the first time--
-the progressive part of him. -Right.
Or he's trying to do it real fast.
Um, but he hasn't actually come out for legalizing marijuana.
He's... You know, a year ago, he was saying...
He sounded like a 1970s suburban dad,
-saying marijuana was a gateway drug. -Right.
Uh, and then we came out with our platform,
and the next day, he said, "Well, the...
the-the facts on marijuana have changed."
So, we'll see. We'll see.
Uh, but, you know, he gets credit
for a lot of things that actually he was pushed into,
and the $15 minimum wage is a perfect example.
This was something he fought for for years,
and he kept saying, "Oh, how about $10.50?
Or how about $12?"
And basically, activists organized on it for years,
and finally he was given...
he was... he really wasn't given a choice,
and so he enacted it, and now he claims credit for it.
But we need... we need real leadership,
and we need somebody who's gonna be progressive
not just right before a Democratic primary.
We need somebody who's gonna be progressive
and act with Democratic values after the election, too.
You've had interesting views on-on marijuana
where you haven't just gone and said, "Legalize marijuana."
You've also said that people of color
who have been prosecuted for marijuana
should be not only...
should not only have their sentences expunged,
but, also, they should be the first people to have rights
to open marijuana stores and dispensaries.
Why is that so important to you?
So, uh, it's-it's an idea that's taking hold
in a few places around the country.
Uh, they're-they're doing this in Oakland.
They're doing this in Massachusetts.
And I... It's really important.
This is a multibillion-dollar industry.
There are eight states plus the District of Columbia
that already have it.
Um, and there was such harm done
with the prosecution of marijuana
to communities of color, and it's really important
now that it's this multibillion-dollar industry
that it's not just wealthy, white capitalists
like John Boehner who are gonna profit.
-It's really important going forward -Right.
that there be some kind of equity
and that communities that have been the most devastated
by the racist war on drugs
are actually first in line to...
for licensing, and also for small business loans
and support to really... to really make a success of it.
Let's talk about the subway,
because that's all New Yorkers want to talk about.
-It's true. -That is one of the biggest blights
right now in New York City as one of the biggest
and most powerful cities in the world.
People say it has one of the worst
mass transportation systems.
It has the single worst record
-of any major transit system on the globe. -Right.
So how do you fix that? Because Cuomo says,
"I mean, this thing is monumental,
and it cannot be fixed." You've come out with a plan.
How do you think New York can begin to fix the subway?
Well, it's...
The-the thing is, we actually...
How to fix it is not a mystery.
It's just, again, that we haven't had leadership on it.
He's kicked the can down the road for eight years
as it's gotten worse and worse.
Delays have tripled in the last five years.
We have... Our-our train speeds are now slower
-than they were in 1950, so we need... -Wow.
Yes. I mean, it's unforgiveable.
And, you know, if we let the subway dies,
the city of New York dies along with it.
-Right. -That's just plain and simple.
But we need to replace the 1930s era signals.
They are responsible for all the slow-downs
and the stalls in tunnels, and the massive overcrowding,
which makes you feel not only like a sardine,
-but an angry sardine. -Right, right.
-The worst kind of sardine, yes. -The worst kind of sardine.
Yes, indeed.
Um, and we need to replace some of our oldest cars, which are...
They're not only older than you are.
They're older than I am.
We've got cars in our fleet that are...
that were put into service
-before the Beatles came to America. -Wow.
But what's important is,
the platform that we came out with today
wasn't just about how we were gonna do it.
It was also about how we were gonna pay for it.
And that includes holding millionaires accountable
to pay their fair share
to rescue the New York City subway system.
It's... It really is a powerful platform,
and-and many people have lauded your progressive ideas.
One, um, conversation that I've seen started
that really intrigues me is that of the Democratic Party itself.
So in order for you to have your name on the ballot,
and to be in the primary and have that name on the ballot,
you have to get at least a certain amount of votes.
You need 25%, I believe.
And right now, the Democratic Party has said,
"We have... We are going 95% against you."
You've got five percent.
So you have the establishment that is up against you.
What was particularly interesting
for many people was the fact
that Hillary Clinton endorsed Cuomo over you,
and some people said, as a woman, it felt like
that would have been her cause
because you are both progressive.
Is that something you expected of her?
Were you disappointed in any way,
or do you think it doesn't matter
because of what you... what you're proposing?
You know, so the... the convention happened last week,
and, you know, Andrew Cuomo--
he runs the New York Democratic Party.
He's going to get all the establishment endorsements.
We walked into the lion's den. We knew what it was.
We knew it was his backyard, but we wanted to show people
that, uh, you know, that they had an alternative,
and that we weren't afraid, and that actually,
the Democratic Party is our party, too.
Uh, so what happens now is we collect signatures.
We collect tens of thousands of signatures,
and it's something we always knew we were gonna do.
And it's a great opportunity.
Actually, we have thousands of volunteers
signed up on our Web site.
We have a insurgent campaign.
It's a people-powered campaign.
And we're gonna get out all across the state
starting next week and talk to people about the issues.
And he has $31 million, right, in his campaign coffers,
but point one percent of that are small donor donations.
-Wow. -We got more small donor donations
in the first day of our campaign
-than he's gotten in seven years, so... -Wow.
(cheers and applause)
I know that everyone in New York is excited
to see how this is gonna turn out.
-Thank you so much for being on the show. -It's such a pleasure.
I can't wait to see you back on here.
Cynthia Nixon, everybody.