(laughs) (voice on phone) it's not millennial enough. there are a lot of ways to say no. thank you so much. thank you! so we're doing it. yes! start saying yes to your company's best ideas. let us help with money and know-how, so you can get business done. american express open. morning glory, america. i'm hugh hugh it, you can find me weekday morning on the salem radio network. saturday mornings i'm here on msnbc this weekend i'm in california. today turning my attention to the race for the governorship, the second most important job in these united states. governor jerry brown is rounding the corner in the last year of a total as 16. he served from 1975 to '83 and returned to sacramento as a big boss in 2011. in between brown's runs, pete

wilson, gray davis, arnold schwarzeneggers were governors. the state has an unbroken record of white males in what is called the horseshoe, the governor's office. antonio villaraigosa is trying to change that record of non-diversity. he's considering a run to replace jerry brown. among them, the democratic mayor of san francisco, gavin knew son, california's treasurer john chang, del layne easton and travis allen. there may be others including tom campbell and tom sire, but it is villaraigosa with the longest resume and arguably the best claim on california's often divided latino electorate. he was the 43rd mayor from 2005 to 2013. he was a member of the california mayor finishing as speaker of the assembly.

villaraigosa was a national co-chair of hillary clinton's campaign, chairman of the 2012 democratic national convention. in september he announced his candidacy for the governorship. he joins me early this saturday morning. antonio villaraigosa, good to see you. >> good to see you, hugh. >> first one is a soft ball, why you, why now? >> let me say john cox is also a declared candidate from san diego. i want to give him his pop. what was your question? >> why you, why now for california? >> well, i think right now at this time in this state, we need someone that understands this is a great state, but we need to make it greater still. we need to make sure that we're growing together, that we're not leaving so many people behind. this is a great state, we've grown our economy faster than the national average for a few years. grew more jobs than florida and

texas combined, but there are a lot of people living in poverty in this state. a lot of people who aren't making it who feel this economy is rigged. i feel like the next governor has got to focus on the economy, got to make sure we're growing the economy, growing more middle class jobs, that we're educating our kids, training them for the jobs of the 21st century and building the infrastructure we need. >> a lot of people are looking at this saying it's a classic north-south race. you and mayor gavin newsom from san francisco are the front-runners, and it's going to be silicon valley versus the old democratic coalition. is that a fair way to assess it? >> that's one way. i've also heard the north always beats the south. jerry brown lived here when he ran back when, pete wilson, george majian, gray davis, arnold schwarzenegger were all from the south. i want to be the ghof nor of the entire state.

i'm going to -- i just got back very late this morning from watsonville and salinas and santa cruz. i'm going up and down the state. i want to get as many people as possible and southern california obviously is where i'm from. i'm going to focus here as well. >> what about the idea that california has only had white men in the horseshoe? is it time to change that? is that going to be part of your very outspoken campaign on progressive issues, but also an appeal to the diversity of the state to be represented finally in the horseshoe? >> i think i'm uniquely poised as governor, coming from a city as diverse as los angeles. 67% of los angeles comes from asia, africa and latin america. we have 27 different nationalities that have the largest population here in l.a., outside of their country of origin. we're rich and poor in this

city. i think 14th in the nation in terms of poverty, economically challen challenged. i think i'm uniquely poised to represent this state which is also very diverse. >> a new superstar of the state, new senator, carmela harris. talking to a group of young progressives, i asked for a comment. kamala harris is a unique talent. before i had t in talent said, standing ovation. i think she's going to be the democratic nominee in 2020. has she got a stake in this governor's race? >> not yet. i hope she will support my candidacy. as you say, she is a great candidate. she's going to be knocking on doors in iowa i expect. but in any case, i'm focused on this race, not the presidential race in 2020.

i'm focused on this one in 2018. >> let's talk about the fact that your successor, eric garcetti just made the announcement that the city is going to be home of the olympics. i gather you wrote the first letter to get the golden rings here? >> i did, in the spring of 2013. >> how excited? >> excited. look, you've got to acknowledge the leadership of casey wasserman and eric garcetti in getting these olympics. l.a. is the best place to have the olympics. you asked me before the show, are we ready. we could be ready in a few months to hold these olympics. we're the only city that has the infrastructure for that. i'm excited about it. i think l.a. is excited as well. >> i don't like to change mayors in midstream. going to be an 11-year runway to the olympics. a change to let one mayor, let garcetti run all the way through to the end of the olympics,

2028. you think that's a good idea? >> you'll have to ask him that. i know he's looking at a few things in the future. i'm not sure he'd want to do that. i think he'll be fine. he's already extended the term about a year and a half, and i think that was a good thing. >> we'll come back to that perhaps. but let's turn to california specifically and generally the diseased nature of our politics. on your website is an amazing statement in light of what happened in charlottesville this week that i'd like the audience to read. it came in the middle of the debate over single pair. you wrote the rhetoric over single payer health care has taken an ugly and dangerous turn and every responsible leader has a role in returning this discussion to a civil and honest debate. as a result, the spew ecker is receiving threats through social med media. one post praise someone checks schedule for baseball practice.

an obvious reference to attempted assassination of members of congress at a baseball practice. this must stop now. we must all condemn this hateful speech at once. we should remember we're better than this. a progressive speaker like anthony rendon does work that should be praised. raising this discussion to a boiling point should pause and reflect on their own responsibility. first of all, thanks for saying that. after charlottesville, it's more important that leaders say this. what has happened out there, antonio villaraigosa, to politics? >> t . >> people screaming at each other -- well, violence in the case of charlottesville and other places. i don't think there's any room for that. it used to be that where

civility and statesmanship and compromise weren't bat words. we've got to work together. we don't have to agree on everything. i've known you, been on your show numerous times. >> 20 years. >> respect you. we don't agree on everything. but we can agree on things. it seems to me we have to focus more on what we agree on and not what we disagree on. >> would it be a good idea for the country and the model, you and mayor newsom and maybe chang would get together and have debates that are conversational as opposed to theatrical? would you be in favor for that? >> actually called for debates. john chang and delaney eastmans have accepted. gavin newsom hasn't. i know he's a good communicator and debater. i agree with you, they should be civil. they should be conversations. i'm looking forward to them

going forward. >> when we come back from break, we'll talk about the challenges facing the golden state. they're enormous. it might not be a governable place anymore. >> it is governable. >> don't go anyway, america. it this time it's his turn. you have 4.3 minutes to yourself. this calls for a taste of cheesecake. new philadelphia cheesecake cups.

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its gas tax 12 cents so it's 58.3 cents per gallon of gas. rate on personal income tax, 13.1%. minimum combined state local and county sales tax is 7.5%. the taxes are crushing this state. what are you going to do about that as governor? >> it's a big issue. i think the tax system is broken all the way around. we also have a prop 13 that's not working. in 1978, homeowners were paying 40% of the rate and corporate was paying 60% of the rate. now it's turned around. what i've said, if we're going to fix the tax system, we can't pick and choose. one group would like to fix the upper income tax, and the other group the property tax. i think we need to fix the whole thing. california forward think long have looked at that and said we're going to have to address that whole big issue.

i can't tell you that anybody running for governor is going to successfully do it. i can tell you this. i have a record of taking on the tough issues and a record of balancing the interests. i'm not afraid to take that issue on. >> the second big one is debt. it's called the california wall of debt. according to california common sense, it's $443 billion, $218 billion in retirement is owed, $126 billion in bond payments, $64 billion in infrastructure commitments, $22 billion in deferred payments, almost $7 billion owed to the federal government, $4.1 billion in inter fund. this state is bankrupt, just not officially so. >> folks said l.a. was going bankrupt, if you remember, and i had to make the tough calls. working with our employees, i got them to go from 6% contribution to their retirement to 12% -- 11% rather.

i got new employees, i capped retirement for new employees. instead of getting 100% at 55, they got 5% at 65. that's since been changed. i'm tough enough and resourceful enough to work with our employees to address a growing pension problem. i wasn't afraid to take on the tough issues if you recall. almost everybody said we weren't going to make it, and we did. >> could you look at service employees international union, the big player, or the california teachers association in the eye and say, young people are getting screwed, we're writing checks that will not pay, they'll bounce. can you look them in the eye and get them to move? >> i won't say exactly that. i have a history of looking people in the eye and say let's work together, this isn't working for any of us. this has to be sustainable looking forward for the next generation. when i was mayor, almost

everybody said we weren't going to make it. we had to make the tough calls. 37,000 employees got 40 days of furloughs -- ten days of furloughs -- i'm sorry -- 40 days for three years. i didn't want to do that. i did that because i knew we had to get back on a sound financial footing. and what happened? we're back. we're tolding -- we're going to hold the olympics. downtown is booming. i can look people in the eye and say let's work together to fix this. and it won't be popular. i don't think the next governor needs to be popular. he or she needs to get the job done, as you said, there are big challenges facing the face. >> he or she also has to tackle education. you did that tackling education, but we're still screwed in california, the 30th lowest graduation rate. when it comes to fourth grade

math scores, we're 47th. eighth grade math scores, california is 47. 6.2 million children in the california education system are not being served except in certain oh acease of excellence. how does the governor change that with the union's hands around the money? most of that new money is going to pension payments. >> you mentioned taxes and pensions. i have a record on both. let me talk about education. when i was elected mayor, we had a 44% graduation rate. by the time i left, it was 72%. those schools, l.a. schools are now at 77 pfrs. i took on a subset of schools in l.a. that had a 36% graduation rate. schools of watts and boyle heights in downtown now have an 84% graduation rate. i just visited alisaw high school in salinas yesterday. i can tell you, watsonville has

a 95% graduation rate. more than 90% of those kids are on the school lunch program. our kids can make it. they can learn. i want to work with the teachers union, i want to work with parents, students, communities to fix our schools. as you said it, we have an 80% graduation rate in this state for latinos and african-americans, it's closer to 70%. 60% of the kids in our public schools. when they graduate, only 13% of them are going to a four-year college. the next governor is going to have to work with our partners, but is going to have to push all of us to excel to a much greater degree. i have a track record of doing that. i'm not afraid to do that. as i said, i'm willing to do that. >> it's time to wrap up, mayor. it's a divided country, a divided state. why is antonio ville rosa in a position to bring people together? that's really the uber problem in america. it is a divided country.

why you? >> well, again, i've got a track record of bringing people together. l.a. is a very diverse place politically, ethnically, racially, economically. i wasn't a perfect mayor. i made my mistakes. you look at downtown today, look at hollywood, the three light rail lines, one busway. you look at crime down 49%, homicides down 45%. i was a guy willing to roll up my sleeves and work with everybody. i wasn't a screamer. i was a doer, and i think we need doers again. and i'm willing to do this. i know it's tough and i'm not a pollyanna. i know we won't get everything done, but i'm willing to take on this job and serve the people of this great state. >> how much are you going to have to raise to do this? >> a lot of money. >> how much is a lot? >> in the primary at least something close to $20 million. in the runoff maybe 25 to 30. >> is that doable? do you have people stepping up

saying i'll help. newsom has the northern money, the mayor of san francisco, all those silicon valley dollars. >> actually he started two years before me, chiang a year before i did. i'm raising money at a faster race, yes i'm way behind. i'm going to keep knocking on doors. this isn't my first rodeo. people give when they think you're going to win. people give as you progress, as you saw. i started out, gavin was at 30, i was at 6, chiang was at 5. it's now 22 to 17 to 5. i notice peopling getting a little more southwested. i'll keep working as hard as i always have. >> bring them with you and it i'll moderate the debate. antonio villaraigosa, thanks for joining us this morning. when i come back, america, hugh's views.

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welcome back to this west coast edition of my show. i'm hugh hewitt. this is the segment we call "hugh's views." that was one rough week, a tough one for the three people killed in charlottesville within hours of my show ending last week. then on thursday a terrible terror attack in spain claimed at least a dozen lives and scores of injured. the world is coursing with extremist hate. the number of neo-nazi white supremacists in the united states, since the oklahoma city bombing in 197, the lunatic left has its killers and would-be killers as well. the shooter of stephen scalise and other republican congressmen, james hodgkinson was a left wing radical as for the man that killed dallas

police officers last year. the 20th century was a grade yard with china probably the biggest mass cull her of innocence, russia and germany not far behind. when the berlin wall came down, there was a fleeting hope that we reached the end of history and the on going expansion of lit see would bring about a peaceful 21st century, full of technological marvels and a rising economic prosperity across the globe. instead we had 9/11, an eruption of ancient hait reds, the new technology has amplified extremists, often monetized them and made the world a more perilous and unpredictable place. now the most radical regime, north korea, has nuclear weapons and missiles and iran seems poised to be in the same place in a short period of time. there's really only one solution, lincoln's solution, one articulated in his second inaugural address, an attitude of malice towards none and charity towards all. perhaps we can all add that to

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good morning everyone. i'm alex witt at msnbc world headquarters in new york. at precisely the half hour, here is what we're watching for you. >> thousands of counterprotesters are expected to show up today at a right wing free speech rally in boston where several white nationalists have been invited to speak. more on that in just a moment. a total of six police officers have been shot overnight in florida and pennsylvania. one officer in kissimmee was killed, another wounded when they were shot while investigating possible drug activity. three suspects are now in custody while police are still searching for a fourth suspect. president trump already tweeted that his thoughts and