>>> I WANTED TO SAVE LIVES AND RESPOND WITH URGENCY TO THE
CRISIS THAT WAS PLAGUING OUR
COMMUNITIES.
COMMUNITIES. AND WHILE MANY OF THE WAYS WE
TRIED TO REDUCE GUN VIOLENCE AND
INVEST IN COMMUNITIES WERE RIGHT
AND WE REDUCED MURDER BY 50%,
THERE IS ONE ASPECT AND APPROACH
I DEEPLY REGRET.
THE ABUSE OF A POLICE PRACTICE
CALLED STOP AND FRISK.
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.
I DIDN’T. AND FOR THAT I APOLOGIZED.
>> WE’LL GET TO THAT IN A
SECOND.
SECOND. FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR MICHAEL
BLOOMBERG APOLOGIZING FOR THE
CITY’S STOP AND FRISK POLICY AT
A CAMPAIGN IN HOUSTON YESTERDAY.
ANNOUNCING THE MIKE FOR BLACK
AMERICA, BLOOMBERG’S CAMPAIGN
NATIONAL EFFORT TO REACH BLACK
VOTERS.
VOTERS. JOINING US, "NEW YORK TIMES"
POLITICS REPORTER JEREMY PETERS
TRAVELING WITH THE BLOOMBERG
CAMPAIGN AND "NEW YORK TIMES"
INTERNET CULTURE REPORTER TAYLOR
LOREANCEE
LOREANCEE LOREENZ
LOREENZ LOREENZ, AND GREAT TO HAVE YOU
ALL ONBOARD FOR THIS
CONVERSATION.
CONVERSATION. WALTER ISAACSON, START WITH A
LITTLE ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE
BACKING UP TAYLOR’S REPORTING.
YOU’RE HEARING FROM STUDENTS
THAT MIKE BLOOMBERG IS BIG WITH
THE KIDS ON SOCIAL MEDIA?
>> WELL, AS YOU KNOW, AND YOU’VE
HAD SOME OF THE STUDENTS, THE
GREAT ONES OVER THE YEARS, I
TEACH, OF COURSE, HERE AT TULANE
ON DIGITAL REVOLUTION AND
YESTERDAY’S CLASS GOT TURNED
OVER TO A DISCUSSION OF HOW
MEMES, MEME FACTORIES AND MEME
INFLUENCER, PEOPLE WHO CREATE
MEMES ON THE INTERNET, HAVE
BECOME THE NEW WAY OF PUSHING
IDEAS AND DISCOURSE.
WE ALL KNOW ABOUT SOCIAL
INFLUENCERS ON INSTAGRAM OR
TWITTER, BUT THESE ARE PEOPLE
WHO CREATE THIS THINGS AND
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG AS WAS
REPORTED AND WE’LL HEAR MORE
ABOUT IT, IS USING THAT IN A
VERY SMART WAY AND IN SOME WAYS
A HUMOROUS AND SORT A
SELF-DEFLECTING WAY OF, I’M AN
OLD GUY, HELP ME FIGURE THIS
OUT.
OUT. WE CAN DO THIS TOGETHER, AND
THEY THOUGHT IT WAS VERY, VERY
COOL, HOW IT WAS DONE.
SO I WAS WATCHING YOUNGER PEOPLE
WHO HAD NORMALLY TALKING ABOUT,
YOU KNOW, YANG AND OTHERS, NOW
GOING TO BLOOMBERG.
>> HMM.
>> HMM. >> I WILL SAY ON THE OTHER --
YEAH.
YEAH. I MEAN, WE DID TALK ABOUT THE
OTHER CONTROVERSY AS WELL, AND,
YOU KNOW, IT’S A CLASS OF
STUDENTS, VERY RACIALLY MIXED
AND OTHER, AND SOCIOECONOMICALLY
MIXED AND THE QUESTION OF THINGS
SUCH AS STOP AND FRISK, THERE
WAS A SENSE THAT MICHAEL
BLOOMBERG HAD DONE SOMETHING
THEY FOUND UNUSUAL, WHICH IS A
STEP FORWARD APOLOGIZE AND
EXPLAIN EXACTLY WHY HE FELT IT
WAS WRONG AND THEN COME OUT WITH
A GREENWOOD INITIATIVE, WHICH IS
HIS WAY OF SAYING, IT’S NOT JUST
SOCIAL JUSTICE.
SOCIAL JUSTICE. IT’S ECONOMIC JUSTICE THAT HAS
TO BE DONE.
I THINK THEY WERE SAYING GOOD HE
WAS LOOKING FORWARD ON HOW HE’S
GOING TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES.
>> JONATHAN LEMIRE?
>> MIKE BLOOMBERG IS 78 YEARS
OLD TODAY.
OLD TODAY. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. MAYOR.
NOT KNOWN AS PERHAPS THE WARMEST
POLITICIAN IN TERMS OF REACHING
OUT INTO RETAIL AND WE CERTAINLY
KNOW AT LEAST TO THIS POINT,
BERNIE SANDERS SEEMS TO HAVE THE
STRONG EDGE AMONG YOUNG VOTERS.
TAYLOR, THIS EFFORT, THE MEME
EFFORT, IT’S PART OF A LARGER
STRATEGY.
STRATEGY. IS IT NOT?
ALSO THE, MIKE BLOOMBERG IS
GOING AFTER THE PRESIDENT WHERE
HE LIVES, ON SOCIAL MEDIA, BUT
THE PLOEFT AMOST AGGRESSIVE TWIT
PRESENCE WE’VE SEEN OF ANYBODY.
CAN THIS WORK WITH YOUNG VOTERS
AND SECONDLY OVERALL STRATEGY.
IS THIS SOMETHING THAT WILL GET
HIM AHEAD OF GAME?
>> IT GOT TRUMP AHEAD OF GAMTE.
A NEW TACTIC IN 2020.
NO.
NO. IT GOT TRUMP ELECTED.
WASN’T NECESSARILY PAYING
INFLUENCERS BUT BRINGING THEM
INTO HIS CIRCLE POSTING ON HIS
BEHALF AND HE CLAPS BACK AT
TWITTER, BECOME A MEME HIMSELF.
I DON’T KNOW.
BLOOMBERG IS TAKING A VERY PAID
APPROACH.
APPROACH. ACTUALLY YOU MENTIONED --
>> WALK US THROUGH THAT A
LITTLE.
LITTLE. >> PAYING GROUPS OF MEMERS TO
POST THESE --
>> MEMERS?
>> MEMERS? >> PEOPLE WHO POTEST, TENS OF
MILLIONS.
MILLIONS. >> WOW.
>> WOW. >> SPENDING $1 BILLION ON
FACEBOOK ADS, REPORTED BY NBC,
AND OUT THERE EVERY FEW MINUTES
POSTING AND AGGRESSIVE, HAS AN
AGGRESSIVE ONLINE ARMY.
[ BLEEP ]
[ BLEEP ] BLOOMBERG IS DOING THE SAME
THING.
THING. RESPONDING TO TRUMP ON TWITTER
AND PAYING PEOPLE TO POST FOR
HIM.
HIM. >> I TAKE THAT TO, WE’RE GOING
TO PING-PONG BETWEEN YOUNG
PEOPLE AND THE VERY MUCH-NEEDED
AFRICAN-AMERICAN VOTE.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN VOTE. BRING THE REVEREND INTO THE
CONVERSATION.
CONVERSATION. WHAT, SIR, ARE YOUR PERSONAL
FEELINGS TOWARDS THE
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACY OF
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, HIS LEGACY
AND ALSO HIS NOW RUN FOR
PRESIDENT, AS PERTAINS TO
AFRICAN-AMERICAN VOTERS?
AFRICAN-AMERICAN VOTERS? >> FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU,
MIKA.
MIKA. OUR PAST POLICIES HAVE TO HAVE
AN IMPACT ON OUR CURRENT
SUPPORT, AND FOR INSTANCE, STOP
AND FRISK.
AND FRISK. THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF
PEOPLE WERE HURT AND
DISENFRANCHISED BY A POLICY THAT
WAS RACIST, AND ALSO BASED ON
UNSUBSTANTIALATED NUMBERS.
UNSUBSTANTIALATED NUMBERS. I THINK NUMBERS, SOMETHING LIKE
90%, 95% OF THE MURDERS.
THOSE NUMBERS ARE NOT EVEN
RIGHT.
RIGHT. HERE’S A DEEPER QUESTION.
THE APOLOGY IS GREAT, BUT WHAT
WAS, CAUSED THE FORMATION OF THE
POLICY IN THE FIRST PLACE?
AND IS THAT STILL HIS THINKING
ON POLICY WHEN IT COMES TO
AFRICAN-AMERICANS?
AFRICAN-AMERICANS? THESE QUESTIONS MUST BE
ANSWERED, AND BIGGER THAN STOP
AND FRISK.
AND FRISK. WHAT ABOUT VOTER SUPPRESSION?
WHAT ABOUT 26 MILLION PEOPLE,
61% OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS LIVING
IN POVERTY AND LOW WEALTH?
WHAT ABOUT RESEGREGATION OF
PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
PUBLIC SCHOOLS? WHAT ABOUT VOTER SUPPRESSION AND
WHERE I AM IN NORTH CAROLINA WE
FOUGHT FOR SAME-DAY REGISTRATION
EARLY VOTER.
EARLY VOTER. WHERE ARE HIS POSITIONS ON THOSE
THINGS?
THINGS? WE HAVE TO DO A DEEP DIVE, NOT
JUST A ONE DIVE INTO THE BLACK
COMMUNITY AND ISSUES THAT IMPACT
BLACK PEOPLE.
BLACK PEOPLE. I THINK THAT HAS TO HAPPEN AND
HAS TO HAPPEN SOON.
>> THE REVEREND BRINGS UP A
GREAT POINT BUT JUST LIKE JOE
BIDEN WITH THE CRIME BILL IN
’94.
’94. YOU KNOW WHERE JOE BIDEN WAS IN
HIS HEART.
HIS HEART. THE MORE YOU DIG AND DIVE YOU’LL
SEE A GUY WHO’S AN INCLUSIVE
PROGRESSIVE GUY.
PROGRESSIVE GUY. BACK TO THE MEMES THING ALSO.
TRUMP HAS A DIGITAL MACHINE.
A MONSTROUS MACHINE, AND THAT’S
WHAT BLOOMBERG HAS.
MIKA, I WANT TO GO BACK TO THE,
INSTEAD OF VILLAINIZING HIM, FOR
HAVING SO MUCH MONEY, AND AS
OPPOSED TO TRUMP WHO WAS HANDED
MONEY AND BLEW IT, BUILT, BY
HIMSELF FROM SCRATCH, TO BECOME
I THINK THE 20th RICHEST PERSON
IN THE COUNTRY.
IF HE HAS THE RESOURCES AND THE
WHEREWITHAL AND SMARTS TO BEAM
DONALD TRUMP, GOD BLESS HIM.
I’M NOT HOLDING THAT AGAINST
HIM.
HIM. WE NEED THAT.
I LOVE MAYOR PETE AND KLOBUCHAR
AND BIDEN, I DON’T KNOW IF THEY
HAVE THE MACHINE, THE POWER TO
BEAT THIS DICTATORIAL MON
SISTERS IN THE WHITE HOUSE.