I am here with Richie Torres. Richie, thanks for joining me.

It's an honor to be here.

It's really great to meet you. Finally, I've seen footage. That footage convinced me that

there was still some sanity in the Democratic Party, which there were moments there where

it really seemed like there was none. So thank you for insisting first.

I fear the mythology is more impressive than the reality. No, I don't think so. We're going to

we're going to get to the reality. So maybe you can summarize your background in politics.

How did you get here and what is your situation now in politics? I mean, the starting point for me

is the Bronx. I was born and raised in the Bronx, spent all of my childhood in poverty.

I was raised by a single mother who had to raise three of us on minimum wage, which in the

1990s was $4.25 an hour.

And probably the most formative experience of my life was growing up in public housing, which

is owned and operated by the government. And in New York City, public housing is so savagely

starved the funding that it has a capital need of $80 billion in counting. So like hundreds

of thousands of tenants, I grew up in conditions of mold and mildew leaks and lead without

consistent heat and hot water in the winter.

And I got my start in politics as a tenant organizer because of my lived experience in public housing.

And then at age 24, I took the leap of faith and ran for public office.

I had no deep pockets, no ties to the party machine, but I just spent a whole year doing nothing but knocking on doors.

I went into people's homes.

I heard their stories.

And I won my first campaign on the strength of door-to-door, face-to-face campaigning.

...