tv [untitled] January 21, 2011 9:00pm-9:30pm PST
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>> this is unbelievable, guys. first of all, i want to thank god for putting us in this situation and blessed us the way he has. i want to thank my family, my wife and my boys. my teammates. i tell you what. when i got traded over here, it was a tough long road, but our trading staff was unbelievable. kept us all on the field. a quick story -- when i was down earlier this year, sabs came in and said what are you doing, why are you upset? the season is not over yet. we traded for you for a reason. that picked me up. all the coaching staff, everybody, we made it happen.
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as you know, i grew up a dodger fan, but right now and forever it is all about the san francisco giants and our world series, baby. [applause] >> san francisco giants are world champions. i am a part of it. i cannot believe it. nine years of my life. dead last our fourth place, this organization has the hard to bring me here and give me a chance. here i am in front of you beautiful people. you deserve it just as much as i do, trust me. i have a present for you all in san francisco. i am sure all of you have heard about the rallying song. i know this is a family event, but if you have seen zoolander, i have a special talent just for you.
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[applause] >> world champions. we will do it again, baby. san francisco, i love you. thank you very much! [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, congratulations to the giants of 2010, and to you, i have the sound that you made at at&t park in the world series echoing in my head. we need it another few times as
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>> one more word from andres torres. >> i want to wish my wife happy birthday. i love you. many more. >> thank you all for coming to andres torres' wife's birthday party. i cannot wait to have another party next year. ladies and gentlemen, three and half months, pitchers and catchers report to scottsdale. and the giants will try to do it again. we will see you at the yard. the giants are the champions of the world. congratulations and thank you. [applause] ♪
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it calls to me to be where little cable >> thank you, all, very much for taking the time to be year on a sunday afternoon on what i imagine may seem to many of you and extraordinarily quick notice. the process for the new replacement of kamala harris has been predetermine the by the election, by no means did we have a predetermined choice. that process began after the final numbers came in for
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attorney general harris and it was determined that she would be taking the oath of office as the next attorney general. of course, we had other business to attend to at city hall. notably, who would replace me as the interim mayor. a lot of work finalizing the america's cup, the asian art museum, and one more surprise we will leave you with tomorrow. as you know, tomorrow, i will be taking over as our next lieutenant governor. we have at least one of you here. thank you. [applause] only willie brown could say it best. he said, "of course i want to be at your funeral tomorrow." i have taken this decision very seriously and very personally.
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unlike other decisions that would require concurrence and require a collaborative effort in terms of the ultimate determination, this was a different type of collaborative effort. the decision was ultimately mind. i have spent a great deal of time interviewing people formally and informally. and thinking through what policiequalities would make forn outstanding district attorney. no greater counsel than the current attorney general, kamala harris, herself. i've known her well before both of us were not elected office. we have had a unique relationship where we are quite honest with one another, perhaps above and beyond the normal course of what one would call protocol. we had a good back and forth over the last few months about
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the bush a thought would be outstanding and what kind of qualities she was looking for -- about what she thought would be outstanding. i had the privilege of including many of you, including many of the people better up here today to counsel me on this process as well. yesterday, the entire day was spent going through the finer points and asking questions back-and-forth of some of the candidates. there are probably six or seven people that we gave a very serious consideration to. the point i'm making is that there are a lot of good people out there. they have a lot to add. each one made a compelling case. every time i got off the phone, i said, that's the right person. i got on the phone with a new person and i said, that's the right person. it was not until yesterday that i had the privilege of sitting down with our police chiefs.
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-- our police chief. he was here for the swearing in of the new members of the board. i'm very honored that they are here. the supervisors are here. they were here to celebrate their extraordinary journey and their success. there was a pause that allowed the chief to come down and we were able to have that final conversation about district attorney. as i was listening to him, it became clear to me that he was the choice. he did not know that. he was giving me some good advice. he did not know how good the advice was. he started talking to me about what he thinks we need to be doing in terms of the direction of the city and the work he has been doing and the special relationship he has had with the district attorney's office. a lot of that has been well
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publicized. a lot of that has been behind the scenes. of course, we talk about the crime labs and the dna labs. we talked about the insurance division and other things. we talked about civil rights and all the great work we've done in san francisco. difficult issues. we've had a chance to get to know each other in his capacity as police chief. i appreciate his understanding. i have been mesmerized by his remarkable ability to move into the realm of police chief with such ease. the honeymoon that i joked about when i swore him in as police chief -- it has not necessarily ended. it's an extraordinary thing. he has been able to get involved in complex issues. he has mediated, negotiated, and navigated difficult issues. he has done it with remarkable
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capacity and appreciation of the values that make this city a special place. he has moved this city forward at a rapid rate. the lowest crime rates in our city's history. that reform is by no means done. it is starting to take hold and take shape. when we sat down and talk about the next district attorney, we talked in more detail about how we could build a stronger collaborative between our various law-enforcement agencies, and how we can start building real partnerships between the police department and the district attorney's office. i know that the presiding judges here. others are year. we've had long conversations about how we can build a strong collaborative. it was in the course of that conversation, with his unique
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appreciation of the importance and understanding of how to get it done that the decision was made. i have no idea if he was interested. he did not seek this job. he did not even know he was being auditions. we were there talking. this will be the end of my private conversation -- publicly, at least. i said, "what about you?" he said, "are you serious?" i said, "unless you can come up with some other names." as good as those names are in your recommendations, keep thinking. i said, "you can keep thinking until about 5:00 p.m. tonight."
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i said, "think quickly. he thought about it. i asked steve to call the chief. i said, "steve, i want to know he is interested because i need to make a decision this evening." this was last night. he said, "i think he is." we processed this. you did not know this. our police chief happens to be a lawyer. his experience is quite unique. he could talk about that a little bit more. a member of the california bar. as he has served in unique and interesting capacities in that role, as well. i was enthusiastic, but i needed to process this decision. i had a chance to talk to our current district attorney and
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talked to many of you in this room as i look around and to members of the board of supervisors, current and past, and i'm grateful that we have so membemany members of the board . also, members the served out their term that decided to come back for this swearing in. i'm grateful for their counsel and advice, as well. members of the police commission, thank you for being here. we're here because of their counsel and advice and because of the outstanding job the chief has done in this city as the police chief. i'm very proud that i'm about to swear in chief gascon as the next district attorney for the city and county of san francisco. [applause] [applause] he will speak to his virtues better than i in a moment.
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this is my last act as mayor of san francisco. as they say -- this is not to be taken lightly but thoughtfully with a deep realization of its obligations, commitment, and the like. this is not with heavy heart. it is with sound mind that this decision was made. the heavy heart is my own that this is the last decision i make, but it's one of the biggest decisions i will have made as mayor. i can assure you that i have great confidence that it will be one of the best decisions i have made as mayor of san francisco. i just want to thank you all for the privilege of a lifetime. this has been an honor unimaginable. i'm grateful for this moment in time. thank you to the sheriff for being here.
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thank you to our public defender for being here. i'm grateful that dennis, our city administrator is here. thank you for being here. i will remind all of us that we come and go. we are given that moment in time. the purpose is always to do the right thing and stand up. principles transcend. do not look back and regret. the worst thing in life is to be given this privilege and say i would have, could have, should have. i feel that we gave it our all. i hope this appointment demonstrates that to the people of this great city. with that, i'm now going to ask our chief to come here to take the oath and then make comments and thank you to you all for
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taking the time today. chief? [applause] >> thank you for your counsel, advice, and leadership. all right. say i -- >> you still have a few moments. >> i think you simply repeat after me. and do not forget me when it is done. i, george gascon, do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states and the constitution of the state of california against all enemies, foreign and domestic. i will bear true faith and allegiance to this name that i take this obligation freely, without any mental
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reservations, or purpose of evasion, and that i will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which i am about to enter. and during such time, as i hold the position of district attorney for the city and county of san francisco. congratulations. [applause] [applause] ladies and gentlemen, san francisco's new district attorney. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you. first, i want to thank my wife. when the mayor completely took me by surprise yesterday at around 2:00 and i said, you know, i have to talk to my wife.
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we are truly a partnership. this was a major decision. just like when we came here to san francisco, it was a decision that we made together. i wanted to be sure that it was going to work for this partnership. she immediately said, "where is your heart?" she said, "follow your heart." thank you, baby. mayor, you have offered me two incredible opportunities and i will never forget them. being the chief of san francisco at the police department has been an incredible experience in one that i will never forget. i'm so honored to have worked and continue to work with so many bright, hard-working, and dedicated men and women in uniform could i see one back there. thank you. it has been an incredible honor. you've offered me an opportunity
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to -- quite frankly, 48 hours ago, i would never have thought about this. i went to the office to talk about the qualities that i thought a district attorney should have. i wound up getting the offer and the job. i'm very grateful. i have to tell you that i took this job because i really believe that we can take and build on the hard work that now attorney general paris has done and all the other -- attorney general harris has done. i want to thank you all, city attorney, public defender, presiding judge, the fire chief -- many of you that have become friends and incredible supporters. i take this because i believe that we're going to have a
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unique opportunity. i'm not aware of any other counties in this country where you have a former chief of police become the district attorney. here is where i see this incredible opportunity. at the end of the day, it's about delivering public safety to the community. we are entering a very difficult time for city government and certainly for public safety. resources will be less than what they were. the demands for public safety are going to continue to increase. the complexity of delivering safety for our communities is continuing to increase fop's. -- to increase. the models we have used in the past are no longer going to work. we're going to have to figure out ways to bring the criminal justice together in a different manner than what we've had in
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the past. i believe that i can offer something that will be somewhat unique and having the understanding of policing and a career that has been incredible that is really part of my identity, and then falling in the footsteps of some one that i consider to be one of the best district attorney's around, and now our attorney general to get into be able to take the work that attorney general kamala harris did, and then bringing together my experience and the men and women of the san francisco district attorney's office, and others, and began to deliver a different kind of public safety. a different kind of criminal justice delivering. i'm also looking forward to working with jeff. i believe the role of public defender is a very important role.
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i'm understand that in our system of justice, we are often called to be in this role. i believe this is the best system there is. i think there's also a lot of things we can do together. at the end of the day, we want to make sure that our community is safe. we want to make sure that even criminal defenders, not only are they given due process in court, but more importantly, they are given due process in life. that they're given the opportunity to get out of the life of crime and to be able to become conservativecontributorsr community. the reality is that the majority of the people, given the opportunity, would surprise you sometimes. i'm realistic enough to know that there are some people that will never be able to redeem themselves. there are some people that
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belong in prison. for those people that have to go to prison, i want to make sure that we do the best that we can working with the police department and our prosecutors to make sure we take those people to where they need to go. i believe the majority of the criminal offenders, given the opportunity -- but i also believe there are people who cannot be rehabilitated. i do not believe that the district attorney's office can do so without the help of the public defender's office. i consider this a wonderful opportunity. i really look forward to it going forward. in closing, i want to say, again, that i am taken aback by this awesome honor that has been given to me. i pledge to you that we will do everything that we can to make sure that i earned the right to be in this office. thank you so much.
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[applause] [applause] mayor newsom: to out treasurer, thank you. our new acting police chief in san francisco will be serving in that capacity until the police commission will be quickly forwarding to the new mayor recommendations for a permanent selection. that process is, i assure you, already under way. thank you very much for being with us.
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there are so many ways that the internet provides real access to real people and resources and that's what we're try to go accomplish. >> i was interested in technology like video production. it's interesting, you get to create your own work and it reflects what you feel about saying things so it gives perspective on issues. >> we work really hard to develop very in depth content, but if they don't have a venue, they do not have a way to show us, then this work is only staying here inside and nobody
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knows the brilliance and the amazing work that the students are doing. >> the term has changed over time from a very basic who has a computer and who doesn't have a computer to now who has access to the internet, especially high speed internet, as well as the skills and the knowledge to use those tools effectively. . >> the city is charged with coming up with digital inclusion. the department of telecommunications put together a 15 member san francisco tech connect task force. we want the digital inclusion program to make sure we address the needs of underserved vulnerable communities, not communities that are already very tech savvy. we are here to provide a, b and c to the seniors. a stands for access. b stands for basic skills and c stands for content. and unless we have all three,
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the monolingual chinese seniors are never going to be able to use the computer or the internet. >> a lot of the barrier is knowledge. people don't know that these computers are available to them, plus they don't know what is useful. >> there are so many businesses in the bay area that are constantly retiring their computer equipment that's perfectly good for home use. computers and internet access are helping everybody in the community and people who don't have it can come to us to help with that. one of the biggest problems we see isn't whether people can get computers through programs like ours, but whether they can understand why they need a computer. really the biggest issue we are facing today is helping people understand the value of having a computer. >> immediately they would say can i afford a computer? i don't speak any english. how do i use it. then they will start to learn how to do email or how to go back to chinese newspaper to read all the chinese newspaper. >> a lot of the barrier still
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