here. at home in maryland christmas was so warm that it almost felt kinda freakish >>yeah. yeah. >>mr. o'malley: so it's good to be in the iowa cold. >>sabrina: perfect. >>mr. o'malley: and to see snow. >>sabrina: we'll give you snow. >>mr. o'malley: i embrace it. (chuckling) >>sabrina: now in case you aren't super familiar with his resume, governor o'malley was the governor of maryland. he's been in politics for a long time. he was the mayor of baltimore. before that he was on that city's city council. he is one of three remaining candidates on the democratic side in this 2016 race. governor o'malley, once again, thanks so much for being here. >>mr. o'malley: thank you. >>amanda: so first of all, that was a very shortened version of your resume. we know that. but what do you want the people of iowa to know about you? >>mr. o'malley: what i'd like the people iowa to know is that i have a track record. i'm the only candidate in this race with an executive background, namely as mayor and governor. pulling people togeth across some pretty deep divides in order to accomplish meaningful, important things, in order to make progress whether it was making our public schools number one, not by cutting education, but by increasing our investment in education, or

penny's increase to college tuition, driving violent crime down to 30 year lows, making my state number one in innovation and entrepreneurship and a faster rate of job creation coming out of the recession than our neighbors north or south. all of those things were actions. they weren't words. and i believe, and i've always practiced the politics of and the economics of inclusion. the more fully we include more of our people in the economic, social and political life of our untry, the better our economy does, the better all of us are able to do. so i'm able to get things done and i'm a new leader. i don't, i'm not bogged down by 40 years of this sort of gridlock that has become of our nation's capital. >>sabrina: but on the city side and also on the state side, i mean, that's totally different than running a country. (chuckling) >>sabrina: so how long did you mull over the idea of running for president and what was that deciding factor that said i do need to get into this race? >>mr. o'malley: yeah, well, i'll tell ya what. it was a, it was a long year, year-long process >>sabrina: mmhmm. >>mr. o'malley: of traveling

democratic party in, in various states at the annual dinners whether it was here in iowa or new hampshire or nebraska. and the two phrases i heard everywhere i went were the phrases new leadership and getting things done. we can't be this dissatisfied with an economy where 70% of us are working harder than we ever have and yet earning the same or less than we were 12 years ago. and we can't be this dissatisfied with the, our nation's politics where it seems like congress is ready to shut down our government every 3 months and believe that somehow a resort to old names is going to pull us forward. so i believe that our nation is actually, people are scanning the horizon, looking for a new leader who can pull us together and get things done. that's what i've demonstrated time and time again whether it was comprehensive gun safety legislation or passing the, the dream act or marriage equality. i mean, none of these things were easy, but i'm clear about my principles and

together to do things that give our children a better future, that give our kids the skills they need to compete and win in a changing economy. and that's what, that's what effective leadership is all about whether you're a mayor, whether you're a governor, whether you're a president. it's not about dividing people. it's about bringing people together around the beliefs that unite us, our belief in the dignity of every person, our belief that we share, as americans, a common good called our country. and that we all do better when we're all doing better. >>amanda: let's talk a little bit about the election process that you are now in the midst of. you've been a bit critical of it specifically we're talking about the debates. you've expressed some unhappiness in the number of debates that the dnc has organized. there are only 6 and you've claimed that that's because the dnc is circling the wagons around hillary clinton as a frontrunner. so tell us why, why you feel that way and if you still feel that way. >>mr. o'malley: yeah, i still feel that way. but look, i can't, i can't dwell on that. i mean, the rules are never written in a way to encourage challengers, but this

had a year whereowa's been told by the chair of the democratic party only one debate is allowed, or new hampshire only one debate is allowed. and then when they schedule 'em, they schedule 'em on saturdays when as few people will watch as possible or, and sometimes even stick 'em behind the big iowa football game (chuckling) >>mr. o'malley: so that people won't watch. >>amanda: that's right. >>mr. o'malley: hey, that is what it is. but what distinguishes me from the other candidates in the race, there's several things. one of which is that i'm the only one of the three of us that's, that's put forward a plan to move us to 100% clean electric energy grid by 2050. and i point to the people of iowall the time as an example of what can happen. i mean, 30% of your energy now comes from clean iowa wind. >>amanda: mmhmm. >>mr. o'malley: and employs 4,000 people. and it's facing these challenges and making them our job creation opportunities that defines our character as a people. so whether it's on that issue or being very clear about immigration reform and how immigration reform actually makes our country stronger and

of gun safety. look, i don't blow in the wind. i was one of the few states that managed to pull our people together to pass comprehensive gun safety legislation with a ban on the sale of combat assault weapons. these are, this is what leadership is about and this is what i have to offer. so however few debates we have (chuckling) >>mro'malley: the great thing about campaigning in iowa is that here the individual matters and people make up their own minds. >>amanda: mmhmm. >>mr. o'malley: and the, and i know that the people of iowa have a penchant, a tradition of always upsetting the apple cart. (chuckling) >>mr. o'malley: they're not, they kind of, theyind of screen out the influence of big money and all of the commercials, no offense to whoever's selling tv time. (chuckling) >>mr. o'malley: but they, they have a way of making up their own mind. >>sabrina: so we do want to keep talking about that, about what your strategy might be (music) >>sabrina: to go from underdog to the top dog. >>mr. o'malley: sure. >>sabrina: we're gonna continue that discussion with

(music) (whooshing) >>amanda: welcome back everyone. we're gonna check in now on

nationally the latest cnn/orc poll shows donald trump still the frontrunner on the republican side of things. he's up 21 points over the second place finisher at this point in this poll, and that's ted cruz. now according to this same poll on the democratic side hillary clinton with 50% support, bernie sanders 34 and martin o'malley at 3%. martin o'malley joins us for our show today. you said there's another poll that's got you at 10%? >>mr. o'malley: yeah, the national polls >>amanda: in iowa? >>mr. o'malley: the national polls typically never pick up on what the people of iowa are going to do. >>amanda: mmhmm. >>mr. o'malley: and the poll in iowa, gravis poll, has us up now to 10% which is much higher than, than a lot of other challengers in my same position. and what our strategy quite simply is to put forward the ideas that will serve our nation whether it's cutting gun deaths in half, moving to 100% clean electric energy grid, all of the things that will make wages go up again for hardworking people in our country. and then once the people of iowa make their

recast. and a person becomes very, very well-known nationally once the people of iowa have their judgment heard. and then new hampshire follows the next week. so we have a terrific staff here and more importantly we've been endorsed by 100 different democratic chairs, vice chairs including the chairman of the democratic party here in polk county in des moines, tom henderson. john murphy and denise dollan in, in dubuque and all across the, the state we're picking up support everydaynd organizing, organizing, organizing. the three keys i'm told by a former party chair to success in iowa is threefold for an underdog candidate. organize, organize, catch fire late. >>amanda: mmhmm. >>mr. o'malley: so we are on track with all 3. i've been in uphill campaigns before. when i, when i ran for mayor of baltimore in 1999, i was the whopping first choice of 7% of my neighbors. (chuckling) >>amanda: wow. >>mr. o'malley: but 88 days

district and every single council district in the city. so people are looking for a new leader and they believe that ideas are important and they actually have a much deeper interest and capacity to discuss issues i think than sometimes we give them credit for. >>sabrina: so do you think that some of these polls are showing that people have made up their minds when in reality there are still quite a few undecided voters out there who you might still have the opportunity to get their support? >>mr. o'malley: i think when it comes to the iowa caucuses there's a huge number of undecided voters. and i think even those that may answer on a telephone poll that they're for one candidate or for the other, i think that those candidates, those individuals are also open to changing their mind. look, we have to win, this is not an ordinary campaign year. when you have the leader of the republican party who's able to boost his, his appeal every time he makes more overtly sort of racist or fascist remarks, this is not an ordinary year. this is a campaign for the soul of our country. and i beeve that the democratic

understand the weightiness of this decision. and, and i believe that they are going to put forward a candidate that can actually win the general and that can move our country forward when defeat, whether it's donald trump or a new generation candidate on their side of the ledger. and that's what i have to offer. >>amanda: and obviously we know you're hoping for the best here in iowa. if it doesn't turn out to be so good, what will you do? a lot of people drop out at that point. >>mr. o'malley: i don't know. >>amanda: are you thinking that far ahead? >>mr. o'malley: i don't even think that way. >>amanda: good. yeah. >>mr. o'malley: i've been, i've seen so many times, i remember how inevitable howard dean was in december before those >>amanda: mmhmm. >>mr. o'malley: caucuses. and i, i was here as a 20-year old college volunteer working for a senator from colorado named gary hart in 1983 when everyone had written him off. so i have a, i have a deep faith really in the intelligence, the wisdom of the, the people of iowa. and i've seen it happen time and time again. so i'm gonna let the people decide. it's not about

big money. it's not about limited debates. it's really about the people. and i, and people here in iowa i believe are only now getting to the point where they're really kinda looking in earnest at what each of the 3 of us have to offer. and none of those other challenging, challenger candidates i mentioned ever had the, the opportunity i have to be just one of three candidates on the stage >>amda: mmhmm. >>mr. o'malley: in these debates where every time we're able to get out our message. what our country needs is new leadership. not the divisive politics of our past, not the politics that puts a finger to the wind and follows polls, but the politics that speaks very directly about our principles as a people. (music) >>amanda: martin o'malley has spent quite a bit of time here in iowa. we're gonna find out what he really thinks about the

(music) >>sabrina: welcome back everyone. well, presidential candidates live for the iowa state fair, a chance to meets lots of potential voters all in one place. plus, it is primetime for photo ops like this (chuckling)

candidates who visited the fair this year. and that is video that lives on. (chuckling) >>mr. o'malley: that was fun. >>sabrina: so you were at the fair with your family in that video. such an exciting time. the iowa state fair's actually my favorite time of the entire year. i grew up and was born and raised here in iowa so, um, were you, you were able to spend the holidays with them as well? >>mr. o'malley: i was. yeah, i was home for a couple of days and then we came right back here to iowa. i guess we came here sunday right after christmas. and my 18-year old son, who was on that super slide (chuckling) >>mr. o'malley: 18 now, william o'malley, is here. we call him the closer. (chuckling) >>amanda: wow. >>mr. o'malley: he's, he's on the phone. he's in the trenches. he's givin' talks in town so all across iowa. very proud of him. that was my oldest daughter, grace, there too. >>amanda: i was just gonna ask how they were helping out with your, with your campaign. so you're puttin' 'em to work? >>mr. o'malley: yeah. william's in both feet. his, his brother, his 13-year old brother doesn't get to travel as much >>amanda: oh, sure. >>mr. o'malley: and was ribbing him at home and said to him, you know, william, if i were in iowa as often as you are for dad, he'd already be at

(laughing) >>mr. o'malley: so, now my oldest daughter, who was on that slide, grace is a school teacher at home and teaches first grade at walter p. carter elementary. and her sister tara also comes out, to iowa as frequently as she can, but she works also. has a job at the un foundation at home. so 4 great kids. my wife's a district court judge. so you've seen her maybe sometime at the debates. >>amanda: mmhmm. >>mr. o'malley: she's not allowed to campaign >>amanda: ah. >>mr. o'malley: being a judge, but she has been able to come to the debates and i would not be able to do this without her being such a rock and, and just so solid with the kids and our family throughout our, our 25 years together. >>sabrina: now william spends like every weekend here, doesn't he? >>mr. o'malley: yeah, you'd think, wouldn't ? (chuckling) >>mr. o'malley: he's, he's developing quite the twitter following, too. (chuckling) >>sabrina: yeah, he is. >>mr. o'malley: he's, yeah, william's, we enjoy iowa. and sometimes when, when you're not in iowa it's hard to believe a real campaign's even taking place. but here in iowa

we're about, you know, 30 days away from decision time at the caucuses so people are weighing each of the candidates and, and it's refreshing really because in other parts of the country where they don't have such an early roll, people almost feel like the outcome of the race is determined before they even get to vote, determined by forces beyond their control whether it's big money or the polls or big wigs in washington. but here in iowa and new hampshire people have made history in the past and they, they feel the very weighty responsibility of evaluating each of the candidates and, and so it's an exciting place. and it's an exciting te. and william's having the, he's working very hard. i shouldn't say on tv he'saving a blast. (chuckling) >>mr. o'malley: i know how hard he's working. (chuckling) >>mr. o'malley: but, and it is an exciting time. our country's at a real crossroads here. we can either take a very bad detour or we can build on the good things that president obama has done. i vote to move

things the president's done. >>amanda: you have been in iowa a lot. you said you've been to 58 of the 99 >>mr. o'malley: not enough! right. i've been in 58 of the 99 counties. >>amanda: yeah. you got a month left. so i'm curious what your favorite thing is about our state and the people here? >>mr. o'malley: wow. the >>sabrina: heavy questions. >>mr. o'malley: yeah, i would say it's the, i would say that in aition to the countryside, and i particularly love those rolling hills along the, the eastern side of your state in the mississippi. but beyond the, the beauty of your countryside, i just find your people to be, to be kind, to be generous, to be very, very well-informed, and not at all stuck-up. i mean, there's no pretense to the people of iowa. they're very just genuine and warm-hearted people who, the ones i talk to care very, very deeply about their country and their children's future. >>sabrina: mmhmm.

what i love about iowa. >>sabrina: we love iowa, too. that's why we're here. (chuckling) >>amanda: well, coming up next, you know him as a presidential candidate of course, but did you know he's also the front man of his very own band? martin o'malley, the music man when

(music)brina: welcome back everyone. now this is definitely something you cannot say about every presidential candidate. they can sing and play guitar like a pro. martin o'malley >>mr. o'malley: ah, you haven't heard it yet. (chuckling) >>sabrina: the lead singer for o'malley's march which is the photo you see here. they're an american eclectic, celtic music and folk rock band based in baltimore, maryland. (guitar music) >>sabrina: martin o'malley still in the studio with us. i'm really impressed by that. you just during our sound check i'm, i'm impressed. >>mr. o'malley: yeah. the, the guitar was, was supplied by eric my, of my staff. and he's a great organizer, but god knows he's, he's, i don't know how good he is at tuning guitars. (chuckling) >>mr. o'malley: and so this one might've been sittin' in a trunk all night for all i know. >>amanda: well, we'll find out how well he tuned it. what are ya gonna sing for us?

has been fun. across iowa one of the cool things that happens every now and again after givin' the talk on the chair and doin' a half hour or more of q & a somebody will emerge with a guitar (chuckling) >>mr. o'lley: and put it forward. and (guitar strumming) >>mr. o'malley: it usually happens in the ones later in the day rather than the, the ones earlier in the day. >>amanda: uh-huh. >>mr. o'malley: but so here's a song. you wanna do a song? >>amanda: sure. >>sabrina: yeah, please. >>mr. o'malley: okay. has a chorus. this is an iowa song. >>sabrina: we are not, i'm not singing along. are you? (chuckling) >>amanda: oh, geez. (guitar music) (coughing) >>amanda: i have a ltle cold. (chuckling) >>mr. o'malley: i'll teach it to ya. it's easy. >>amanda: okay. alright. >>sabrina: okay. >>mr. o'malley: i think it was written by greg brown here in iowa. (guitar music) >>mr. o'malley singing: home in the midst of the corn, middle of the u s of a. here's where i was born. here's where i'm going to stay. >>mr. o'malley: and here's the chorus. >>mr. o'malley singing: iowa,

fall. come see, come dance with me to the beautiful iowa waltz. >>mr. o'malley: see? that wasn't hard. >>sabrina: no, not at all. >>amanda: not too bad. >>mr. o'malley: you'll get that next time through. (chuckling) >>sabrina: okay. >>mr. o'malley: that was for all of you at home. second verse. >>mr. o'malley singing: we take care of our young. we take care of our own. growing our crops, singing our songs, working until harvest time. here comes the chorus now. iowa >>all singing: iowa, >>mr. o'malley: very good. >>all singing: winter, spring, summer or fall. >>amanda: i need to see the words. >>mr. o'malley singing: come see >>all singing: come dance with me to the beautiful iowa waltz. >>mr. o'malley: one more time all together. >>all singing: iowa, iowa, winter, spring, summer or fall.

the beautiful iowa waltz. >>mr. o'malley singing: come and see, come dance with me to the beautiful iowa waltz. (guitar music) (clapping) >>amanda: that was good. sorry if we >>sabrina: that was wonderful. i think we ruined it. >>amanda: sorry, viewers. (chuckling) >>sabrina: i will say that when we asked if you would bring your guitar and sing a song i did not expect that we would have to sing with you. >>mr. o'malley: there you go! be careful what you ask for. (chuckling) >>mr. o'malley: new leadership. getting things done. >>sabrina: okay. >>amanda: before we go to break. what's your biggest passion? politics or music? >>mr. o'malley: oo, they both go together. >>amanda: yeah. >>mr. o'malley: i, i reject the premise of your question. (chuckling) >>mr. o'malley: it's hard to be passionate about public service >>amanda: just one or the other. >>mr. o'malley: without also embracing art and music. and music's all that keeps us here. >>sabrina: we love it. >>amanda: well, thank you so much for sharing your music. >>mr. o'malley: hey, thank you. (music) >>amanda: when we come back some final thoughts from martin

(music)anda: just four weeks left until the iowa caucuses. february 1st is when iowans will vote and that's why we really

being here with us in our studio today scheduling a stop and a little sing-along session. so a very important final question before we wrap up 'cause there are only four weeks left. how much sleep do you plan to get between now and then? i mean, this has gotta be a gorous campaign schedule for you. >>mr. o'malley: well, i make the most of every day. >>amanda: yeah. >>mr. o'malley: but you have to sleep, right? you have to drink water. >>amanda: yeah. >>mr. o'malley: try to work out every other day. >>amanda: mmhmm. >>mr. o'malley: and, and >>amanda: and sing? (chuckling) >>mr. o'malley: but i'm gonna visit as many people as i can in iowa and i hope people, if they wanna learn more about our, our campaign, my candidacy they'll go online to martinomalley.com and join this campaign for the better future we want for our kids. >>amanda: alright. >>sabrina: thank you so much for joining us for this whole half hour. we really appreciate it. (guitar music) >>amanda: yeah. >>mr. o'malley: hey. i enjoyed it. it was fun. >>amanda: it was fun. thanks for being here. >>sabrina: thanks for watching this week in iowa. we hope to see you again next sunday.

(dramatic music) b: hello, and welcome to ag phd. i'm brian hefty. d: and i'm darren hefty. thanks for joining us today. we are so excited about all the options available for farmers today, but we're also excited about some of the things that are coming in the very near term. we're going to be talking about one of those

will be available in some