california is lifting its regional
stay-at-home order amid positive signs
of a slower spread now this comes as
efforts to recall california governor
gavin newsom nears
its uh required threshold to qualify for
a statewide ballot
so how does the pushing the governor's
recall
uh maybe influence what his latest
decision is on covet 19 and lockdowns i
want to go to former san diego mayor
kevin faulconer who is part of the
recall effort and has launched an
exploratory committee for potential
governor run and he joins us now
we by the way we did reach out to the
governor's office governor newsom's
office
to see if he could join us today but
they did decline
so uh i got to tell you kevin it's a lot
of people saying it's
it's a pretty odd timing when you
consider the depths and it throws
of covet 19 right now as opposed to or
mid-december
uh when these lockdowns are put in place
it would seem if you're following the
science
now would not be the time to lift him
your thoughts
well that's just that's the problem uh
science has not been the major indicator
here in california
state that's locked down the most and
i'll tell you charles is somebody who's
been
very outspoken on the need to save lives
and livelihoods what we haven't seen
from this governor
is a calibrated approach that can
accomplish that
look we've had some businesses in
california that have been open and shut
five different times the fact that we
had outdoor dining
shut these past several months again
when there was no science behind the
transmission of the virus
in outdoor dining settings i think
speaks volumes
so what we saw again today was a
shifting of the goal post
not based on common sense and science
that's why so many californians
up and down the state are frustrated and
at their wits end
what of course is not just governor
newsome all of a sudden everyone's
having the general epiphany whether it's
the governor of new york
the mayor of chicago and i'm just going
to put it to you bluntly
some people are now saying that this
feels like
maybe they deliberately slow down the
economy
to influence the election i mean it's
you hate to think of things like that
but
the timing is just so frustrating for a
lot of people particularly those
who have already lost their business and
can't get it back and those who worked
at those businesses and can't find jobs
well it's incredibly frustrating and
again back to back to livelihoods
and lives so many californians are
hurting that's been real that's why
again as
mayor i've been so outspoken about that
uh all throughout this process
and again to be open enclosed with no
science
behind that you know the the the
companies the small businesses that are
the backbone of our economy in
california
you know once they shut they're not
coming back and that's why there's been
this real sense of urgency to make a
change in california to make a change at
the top
because what we're seeing not happening
in terms of the rollout of our vaccines
unfortunately
one of the worst in the nation the fact
that our kids
aren't back in school i mean you start
adding all of this
up it's not working in california that's
why we need new leadership
kevin we had a minute to go let's focus
on the on the recall now
for those who aren't familiar with the
system how many signatures do you need
how close
are you and if you do get them what's
the likelihood that maybe there could
actually be a change in the governorship
well i think i think the signatures are
going to get there there's a million
point one been collected out of a
million five that are necessary
and that number is growing every single
day and by the way
this is bipartisan this is democrats
republicans
you know independents everybody that
wants that change at the top
in california so i believe the recall is
going to qualify and i believe that
californians
are ready to elect a new governor and
you are
are you have you officially thrown your
hat in the ring or you just kicking the
tires right now
well we're spending a lot of time
organizing we have as you mentioned open
up that exploratory committee
i feel strongly about this i feel
passionately about bringing some of the
changes and the reforms that
that we made and the approach in san
diego i think californians are ready for
for new leadership
uh and i think that that voice grows
every single day
and i'm looking to be a part of making
that transformation happen
kevin faulconer thanks for joining us
thank you very much we appreciate him