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♪ >> Hey, everybody.

Welcome to Chat Box.

We are marking Jazz appreciation month.

We will jump into that in a few minutes, but we begin today with the race for president.

You heard me right, the race for president.

Joe making his reelection announcement this week.

Let's get some reaction and analysis on this from a Democratic strategist and new communications director for the party's campaign committees and the cofounder of Checkmate strategies.

It is good to see you both.

So Joe Biden is running whether 50% of Democrats like it or not.

We talked about this earlier in the week.

Our Republicans licking their chops, and why?

>> Half of his own party does not want Joe Biden to run again.

That is not a great way to start a campaign.

I think his mental acuity and the way he carries himself gives people concern, giving his own party concern whether he can enter the rigors of the campaign let alone as four years in office.

If they decide to move on or if he decides to move on, is it Kamala Harris as the candidate or will they jump Esther -- past her?

The Democrats have a lot on their plate as they step into this next year.

>> I feel like he is licking his chops.

The enthusiasm gap is real.

>> These are the same things people said four years ago about an candidate Biden is that people were not excited enough about him.

He put together a collision, he put together an agenda and he won not only in a primary and convincing fashion but also defeated an incumbent.

There is no reason to believe he will do anything differently now.

He has an incredible record.

The economy is defying both critics and predictions every single order.

He has gotten an incredible amount done three congresspeople said it was dysfunctional and people get the job done again.

>> This mental acuity stuff is just another talking point?

>> This is the same stuff Republicans throughout then candidate Biden four years ago.

This is a guide that operates in the job each and every single day during the difficult things, putting the right time on the field, and he will brush it off, she will do the job and get reelected.

>> Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was on an international tour this week.

A closer look at him seems to have fountain giving up some not ready for prime time vibes.

Am I wrong with that?

>> Dan is great at his job, but it does not lie when you see Joe Biden on TV.

Sometimes he seems lost and people can see.

Ron DeSantis is certainly running for president.

He is making moves that he is doing that.

He has had I would say a pretty rocky month.

If I am in, I want to get out soon and be more official about it.

I think he is trying to tiptoe around from, -- Trump, those issues.

I do not think he can do this rose garden strategy.

>> At the same time he has had a couple of moments where people have said this is the guy?

>> it is a whole different world from being governor of Florida to wanting to be the president of the United States.

Most candidates go through this awkward stumbling and bumbling of certain things.

That to me as not a disqualifier, but I do think of time is now.

The window is open, jump through it now.

The only way to get better at the stop is to get out there and doing.

He has rolling through people and order.

He will have to fight to win this nomination.

>> Is Trump the guy you want to face next year?

>> Chris is right, DeSantis will not go around Trump.

Donald Trump is a federally -- fatally flawed candidate.

We all need to move past him.

The problem Governor DeSantis and any Republican candidate has is that their agenda is deeply unpopular.

They would not even put an agenda in writing in RNC.

They have a deeply unpopular agenda, so they focus on cultural issues, but you cannot get elected on that.

Whoever the nominee is will have to square those two realities.

>> Are they barking up the wrong tree, the Republicans when it comes to issues?

>> Joe Biden's economy is a disaster.

Record inflation for his entire presidency.

We have a chaotic strategy overseas, crime in our major cities creeping into our suburbs and of areas, Fentanyl pouring across the border.

Joe Biden's record, it is incredibly bad.

He has got a lot for us to go after, and we just need a candidate to articulate not just why Joe Biden is bad.

We need someone to articulate a positive vision for someone to fix it.

If you look at every poll, the country is heading in the wrong direction.

Half of Democrats do not want Biden.

Clearly people do not think things are going well.

Come forward and articulate a positive vision that contrasts with Biden's failures.

>> The Biden page -- pitch will be a return to normalcy.

That is across the board.

We do not need to talk about what happened in January and the weeks before he took office.

He brought stability, pride back to the office.

It but then again this is a guy who has been able to get it done done through Congress and Senate whether it is the inflation reduction act, progress on gun safety, which people thought was totally off the board.

He has shown that people have been able to get things done again.

They will run on the record.

>> It is not working.

People do not believe that.

I know you want to believe that, but it is not working.

We have consistently high inflation, consistently bad news, so Joe Biden may want to talk about those things, but they do not square with reality.

Even if you want to believe, it is not paying the bills.

People at home are worried.

>> You have had a electorate for a particular plus entity is being judged at vacuum.

>> I encourage any mention of Chris Christie running for president.

NWC could still happen.

Is it now or never for Christie?

>> Governor Chrissy sought the national stage many times over the past 10 years.

He stuck around for a few reasons.

He is an incredibly gifted communicator, one of the few Republicans out there who can articulate.

He is media friendly, and he is willing and able to take the fight to in this case Trump.

No one is going around Trump toward the nomination, they have to go through them.

Christie has the skill set to do that.

He has weaknesses back on, but he does have a skill set that the eventual person who will take down Donald Trump will need to have.

>> I know he is your second favorite New Jersey governor.

Do you want to see him in the race?

>> He has generational political talent.

I do not think you can take that away from him.

We have not seen anything to show us he has been able to move past Bridgegate yet.

I will never underestimate him given his talent and chance as a communicator.

>> 2% is still 2%.

Chris, is this the year that the chamber is flipped?

>> This is our best chance in 20 years to do that.

I do not think anyone who looks at this can say anything different, but it is there.

We have an opportunity to win District 4.

District 11, we have a chance to win those two seeds and win under the sea.

Go north 216 and 38, these are on the map for us to compete in.

This is our best year.

It will take us to threatened needles, but it is our best chance to win, and there is real momentum in 2021.

>> Can you read law suggest 60 retargeting?

Don't you have to knock off some Republicans?

>> Listen, the difference between New Jersey Republicans and national Republicans.

The national Republicans have a bad agenda.

New Jersey Republicans have no agenda.

Everything he does is wrong, everything Democrats did was wrong.

Meanwhile what do you have seen is record economic growth, five credit of words under the last Republican administration.

We saw a budget surplus, all pension payments, business is moving here from other states.

The state is coming back and Democrats Avenue and equitable record to run on.

Meanwhile Republicans are talking about conspiracy theories with windmills.

>> He just rattle off five or six or six where they think he is going to do something.

>> The good news for Democrats is they are defending more than they are attacking.

There is not a single district we will take for granted.

>> I think that was in no.

>> The governor's race is far away but it is never too early.

Steve Philip is declared.

Are you still a -- man?

>> I think Jack intends to run.

He has never stopped working.

And again I look at 2021, where he gave us our most competitive legislative cycle in a generation.

Gave Governor Murphy quite a scare, and without an incumbent in 2025 and Democrats heading toward what looks like a massive and nasty train wreck of a primary, we will see how things play out.

It is never dull in New Jersey politics.

>> Your party seems to be having a debate, Strobel, not sure what to call it, but it is a discussion over whether you are the party of Trump or the party of Tom Keene Senior.

The right wing is feeling good about itself.

>> The strength of 2021 is that it became the party of tom.

Donald Trump lost the state by 16 points.

A loss is a loss, I am not all for second place trophies, the people focused on New Jersey in 2021.

They wanted these races to stand on their own, and whether Jack is going to run.

But the party itself as to make sure they do have an agenda, that people want to bite into 2025.

We cannot just run on the Democrats are bad, although I will take issue with them.

We have the highest property taxes, people flee here all the time, crime out of control in all areas, but we need an agenda to fix it.

We also presented agenda to people that is positive and optimistic and how to turn the state around.

>> Are the wing nuts having a moment?

>> I hate looking to 2025 because we have an incredibly important job in 2023 and the coveted job in a consequential term, so we are fully invested in Governor Murphy being successful.

That said, Governor Murphy's when -- win was closer than expected.

I expect him to run again, but he will have a challenge.

He will be about as disastrous as Donald was for the United States.

I am not sure he would get through that.

The Democratic field we hear are rumored and seen and announced is incredibly exciting.

I think we will have a fantastic set of candidates.

I do not think because we have a competitive primary edit will be bad and Bloody for Democrats.

Competition is good, it only produces a better candidate.

It would be a lifetime.

>> Chris Russell, and bright, good to see you both -- dad Brian -- dan Brian.

Good to you both.

>> -- Angelica, it is great to see you again.

It has been a minute.

>> It is so wonderful to be here, thank you for having me.

>> How much fun is it to be covering jazz as your main gate?

-- gig?

>> It is amazing.

When the pandemic happened and when we were locked down, I said I always wanted to do a music podcast that I said I would do it now.

>> Is that not enter staying out of gas, we talk about it all the time how zoom and those apps have made it possible to talk to people halfway around the world who we would not have ordinarily ever been able to book.

>> Absolutely, exactly, and jazz is unique in that touring is a big part of the work, so no one was touring, everyone was home figuring out to keep their spirits up, so in the way it was perfect timing.

>> We are just reemerging now.

It has been a year of loss in the world of jazz.

God always gets me thinking about legacies and to art the next Wayne's and Jamaal's.

>> I think the music is in great hands partially because of the works of folks like Wayne shorter and Jamal who were not only some of the greatest musicians we have known, but they stood in the gap when it came to all of the musicians we also early and they told those oral histories, a cap their musical life through their sacrifice and mentoring and education and never hoarding the information, and because of that we have got a great problem musicians now, and I see the mainstream moment jazz is having now too, so I think we are in a great place.

>> So much of this music is about reach one, teach one.

It is a foundational music, no?

>> Absolutely, those oral histories.

I was listening to Christian McBride and someone else and mentorship and what it looks like.

A great thing I remember is living in my neighborhood and going to this local Italian neighbor hood restaurant and Cecil Taylor was in there.

You get a couple of drinks in him, and we would sit and chill and shoot the breeze, but by the time you get up three hours later you have gotten a history lesson that you cannot be.

>> Before we came on the air you and I would doing a broadcast 100 years ago, and we went to Randy Weston's house.

How cool is that?

>> Right here in Brooklyn.

Just like you were talking about it being foundational.

He opened his door to us so warmly, Emmett is white.

That was the best.

>> That was one of my favorite days in music.

I am at Randy Weston's house.

Come on.

So much of contemporary pop and commercial music is in the hands of deck allergy and producers.

That seems to me antithetical to jazz where producers have less of a heavy hand.

Have you seen a trend toward or away from producer and technology centric jazz.

>> Away from it.

I think that now that jazz is kind of having this mainstream moment, I think we are seeing a sprinkle of both.

You have someone like samara, and before that Jon Batiste, and the music is largely acoustic.

We have musicians like Kendrick Lamar and Steve Lacy, folks who were in hip hop but deeply influenced by jazz and incorporating that and for music , so I think we are seeing a little bit of both.

>> Tell me about milestones and your journey to it.

>> Yeah, so I wanted to do a music podcast for a long time, and I think sometimes we get distracted by other work or other projects, or we will get to it.

And when I had nothing else to do because we were sitting around hoping the world would not go up in smoke, I started it and said there are all lot of ways I can approach this, because there are a lot of ways to talk about jazz as you know, but I thought milestones was great because the premise about the show is giving people daffy hours -- people there flowers.

Through landmark works to be at album or books and using the milestone gear as outweighed to have these really thoughtful hopefully analytical, slightly nerdy but really fond and relaxed conversations with really helpful and amazing musicians about albums, because how fun is it to geek out about an album with your friend?

>> While milestones is focused on jazz, you personally Abay broad, air collected taste in music.

You always talk about Aretha and you did a nice piece on Roberta Flack, what did I see you a few weeks ago nerding out about Todd Rundgren.

>> I love everything about Todd Rundgren and Joni Mitchell and blind faith.

I just love good music.

It was Duke Ellington who said there are two kinds of music, good and bad.

>> I love your relationship with your son.

He has come to the music very easily, and watching the two of you jam out on Instagram is so much fun.

>> We were doing that before the lockdown, but once the lockdown happened it really was happening where it was light we are just dome at the house.

We have drums and piano and we love records, so let's kind of had fun with it and generate on Instagram.

It is amazing.

He is 14 now, but he has been playing drums since he was like two with his takes on the couch.

>> I love it.

So where can we find milestones?

>> it is in its second season now, and it is now in partnership with WB Geo, so it is a part of their podcasting unit.

You can find it on Apple podcast and Spotify and all of the places you get your podcasts.

>> As they say, wherever you find your podcasts.

Angelica, so good to see you again.

Thank you for coming on with us.

>> Happy jazz appreciation to munch -- month.

>> Follow me on Twitter and get fresh content every day when you subscribe to the YouTube channel.

I am David Cruz.

For all the crew here at getaway center, thank you for watching.

>> Major funding is provided by the members of the New Jersey education Association, taking public schools right for every child.

And JM insurance group, serving the insurance needs of businesses and residents were more than 100 years.

A promotional support is provided by an internal -- a political intelligence network dedicated to New Jersey political news.

Insider NJ is committed to giving critical players -- ♪