SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT. GOOD EVENING AND WELCOME TO YOU
BOTH.
BOTH. LET’S BEGIN.
LET’S BEGIN. I WAS JUST PUT -- THIS WAS JUST
PUT IN FRONT OF ME.
THIS IS MIKE BLOOMBERG TONIGHT
IN HOUSTON, TEXAS.
>> I DEFENDED IT, LOOKING BACK,
FOR TOO LONG BECAUSE I DIDN’T
UNDERSTAND THEN THE UNINTENDED
PAIN IT WAS CAUSING TO YOUNG
BLACK AND BROWN FAMILIES AND
THEIR KIDS.
THEIR KIDS. I SHOULD HAVE ACTED SOONER AND
FASTER TO STOP IT.
I DIDN’T, AND FOR THAT I
APOLOGIZE.
APOLOGIZE. >> ALEXI, IS HE GETTING BETTER
AT THAT?
AT THAT? ARE THE QUESTIONS ABOUT STOP AND
FRISK, ABOUT REAL ESTATE
INEQUITIES, ABOUT MAKING TOO
MUCH MONEY -- IS HE GOING TO BE
ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY BAT THEM
AWAY?
AWAY? >> I MEAN I GUESS IT REMAINS TO
BE SOON.
BE SOON. POLLING SHOWS THAT HE’S
INCREASINGLY RISING IN THE POLLS
IN SPITE OF THESE PROBLEMS
COMING UP.
COMING UP. BUT THE ONE INTERESTING THING
OBVIOUSLY THE MAIN PUSHBACK TO
HIS APOLOGY ABOUT STOP AND FRISK
IS, WELL, HE DID IT RIGHT BEFORE
HE LAUNCHED HIS PRESIDENTIAL
CAMPAIGN.
CAMPAIGN. SO THAT SUGGESTS TO A LOT OF
FOLKS THAT I’VE TALKED WITH THAT
THAT WAS HIS MOTIVATING FACTOR.
HE WAS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT.
HE KNEW THAT WOULD BE A
LIABILITY, AND THAT’S WHY HE
APOLOGIZED.
APOLOGIZED. IN THE CLIP YOU JUST PLAYED, HE
SAYS HE DIDN’T REALIZE THE
EFFECTS IT WAS HAVING ON BLACK
AND BROWN COMMUNITIES, BUT
THAT’S AT ODDS WITH THE FACT
THAT HE IS A SELF-DESCRIBED DATA
NERD.
NERD. HE IS SOMEONE WHO HAS ACCESS TO
ALL THIS DATA AND INSIGHTS AND
NUMBERS ABOUT SO MANY DIFFERENT
THINGS THAT IT’S SIMPLY HARD TO
BELIEVE THAT HE WASN’T AWARE OF
THE EFFECTS OF THAT POLICY AND
THE LASTING LEGACY OF THAT
POLICY UNTIL JUST BEFORE HE
LAUNCHED HIS PRESIDENTIAL
CAMPAIGN.
CAMPAIGN. SO AS HE CONTINUES TO RISE IN
THE POLLS, I FULLY EXPECT OTHER
CAMPAIGNS, AS WE’VE ALREADY SEEN
THIS STARTING, WILL CONTINUE TO
SLOWLY DRIP OUT OPPO RESEARCH
AGAINST HIM TO TRY TO KNOCK AWAY
AT HIS BIGGEST VULNERABILITIES.
>> OR WHERE THE RUBBER WILL HIT
THE ROAD IS MIKE IS ALL ABOUT
DATA.
DATA. WHAT COULD BE MISSING HERE IS
HUMANITY, AND THAT’S WHAT HE’S
GOING TO HAVE TO DELIVER.
IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE NUMBERS.
THE NUMBERS COULD SAY, IF THIS
NUMBER SPITS OUT, DO "X."
WELL, PEOPLE ARE GOING TO VOTE
BASED ON HOW AND WHY THEY FEEL A
CERTAIN WAY, AND THAT’S GOING TO
BE SOMEWHAT OF A ROADBLOCK.
I WOULDN’T BE SURPRISED IF AN
UPCOMING SLOGAN IS "MIKE
BLOOMBERG, HE FAILS AT PURITY
TESTS.
TESTS. HE WINS AT EVERYTHING ELSE."
WE ARE GOING TO SEE A DRIP,
DRIP, DRIP OF THINGS MIKE HAS
SAID OR DONE THAT ARE SOMEWHAT
OFFENSIVE, AND HE IS MOST LIKELY
GOING TO SAY, BUT BY COMPARISON,
LOOK AT ALL OF THE GREAT THINGS
THAT I’VE DONE.
IT WONT A SURPRISE THAT HE
APOLOGIZED TONIGHT.
APOLOGIZED TONIGHT. THAT WAS AN EVENT HE HOSTED
SPECIFICALLY, MIKE BLOOMBERG FOR
BLACK AMERICA.
BLACK AMERICA. >> RIGHT.
>> RIGHT. >> IF HE WASN’T GOING TO
APOLOGIZE THERE, THEN WHERE WAS
HE GOING TO?
>> I WAS GOING TO ASK YOU ABOUT
THE ACCOUTREMENTS OF THIS RACE
AND EVERYTHING ELSE THAT MONEY
CAN BUY.
CAN BUY. A WEB OPERATION THAT EVERYONE
SAYS IS STATE OF THE ART.
JUST WATCHING THE MISTAKES THAT
HAVE BEEN MADE THUS FAR IN
UNSUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGNS AND
TRYING NOT TO DO THAT AGAIN.
>> I’VE ACTUALLY GOTTEN TO SPEND
SOME TIME AT BLOOMBERG
HEADQUARTERS.
HEADQUARTERS. I’VE SEEN HIS DIGITAL OPERATION,
HAWKFISH, IN MOTION.
IT’S A MASSIVE OPERATION.
HIS BUSINESS, THE REASON HE IS A
BILLIONAIRE, IS BECAUSE HE
CREATED A DATA AND ANALYTICS
TECHNOLOGY COMPANY.
TECHNOLOGY COMPANY. >> OKAY, FAIR POINT.
>> THE PERSON IN HIS MIND HE’LL
BE RUNNING AGAINST OR HE’D LIKE
TOW IS PRESIDENT TRUMP.
IF YOU’VE READ TODAY’S
"ATLANTIC" EXPOSÉ, PRESIDENT
TRUMP HAS A BILLION DOLLAR
DIGITAL CAMPAIGN THAT SOME
REPUBLICAN STRATEGISTS ARE
CALLING THE DEATH STAR.
SO WHILE SOME DON’T LIKE WHAT
BLOOMBERG IS DOING AS FAR AS AN
ONSLAUGHT IN DIGITAL, OTHERS SAY
IF SOMEONE IS GOING TO GO UP
AGAINST TRUMP, HE’S THE --
>> YOU HAVE TO MEET PRESIDENT
TRUMP WHERE HE IS, WHICH IS
INCREASINGLY ON FACEBOOK.
A LOT OF THE OTHER CAMPAIGNS
SIMPLY DO NOT KNOW HOW TO USE
FACEBOOK IN THE WAY THAT THE
REPUBLICAN PARTY AT LARGE DOES
AND CERTAINLY IN THE WAY THAT
PRESIDENT TRUMP AND HIS CAMPAIGN
IN 2016 LEARNED HOW TO DO AND IS
ONLY SCALING THAT IN BIGGER WAYS
IN THE 2020 ELECTION.
BLOOMBERG HAS THE MONEY, THE