- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been provided by The Russell Berrie Foundation.

Making a difference.

Newark Board of Education.

PSEG Foundation.

Kean University.

Where Cougars climb higher.

Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

The Turrell Fund, a foundation serving children.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Moving the region through air, land, rail, and sea.

And by Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters.

Promotional support provided by Northjersey.com and Local IQ.

Part of the USA Today Network.

And by ROI-NJ.

Informing and connecting businesses in New Jersey.

- This is One-On-One.

- I'm an equal American just like you are.

- The way we change Presidents in this country is by voting.

- A quartet is already a jawn, it’s just The New Jawn.

- January 6th was not some sort of violent, crazy outlier.

- I don't care how good you are or how good you think you are, there is always something to learn.

- I mean what other country sends comedians over to embedded military to make them feel better.

- People call me 'cause they feel nobody's paying attention.

-_ It’s not all about memorizing and getting information, it’s what you do with that information.

- (slowly) Start talking right now.

- That's a good question, high five.

(upbeat music) - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato.

It's always great when you have a colleague in the media who you respect greatly, and that is who we have right now.

Dominic Carter is a WABC, that's 77 WABC radio host.

Good to see you, Dominic.

- Steve, it's great to be with you.

And before I say a single word, I have to stop, full stop and acknowledge you because I've been covering politics in our region for close to 40 years, and by far you are the most informative, the most knowledgeable person on television covering politics.

And I watch your show regularly to get my facts, to make sure that I'm accurate with my reporting.

- Well, Dominic, we're gonna stop right there, and I wanna thank you for joining us.

We're gonna end the interview at that point.

(Dominic laughing) Dom, let's do this.

Tell everyone where folks can listen to you on WABC - 77 WABC in the New York region.

I'm on from midnight to 1:00 AM, and it's always great to be with the listeners, Steve.

- Got it.

Dominic, let's talk about this.

We're obsessed with the role of media, different mediums, television, radio, digital, internet, all kinds of stuff.

Where do you see the role of quote "talk radio" in helping to preserve and protect our very fragile democracy?

And some people call it a republic.

Yes, it's a representative republic slash democracy.

Go ahead, Dominic.

- Steve, democracy is in danger.

So your point is very accurate.

And the role that radio plays, I think why I am successful at it is that I'm unique and to the degree of, I believe that we have one set of facts that's important.

These days, if you are on the left, you can get talk radio or television news that focus solely on the left.

If you are on the right, you can get radio stations or television news that focuses solely on the right.

And that is, in my opinion, divisive for our country.

Talk radio is important, Steve, because the immediacy of talk radio.

Whether folks realize it or not, you get in your car, you are going somewhere, what's the first thing you do?

You turn on the radio.

You probably turn on talk radio.

And it's very, very important because of the immediacy.

We reach people in ways, frankly, that television does not.

- Well, let's do this.

What I'm curious about Dominic, and I've known, and I've worked as, I've gone on the air with you and your colleague Curtis Sliwa, so many others so many times, and also Frank Morano who's on after midnight, if you will, Other Side of Midnight.

But I'm curious about something, Dominic.

Your audience leans pretty hard to the right.

It is, dare I say, a MAGA audience.

So here's my question.

How the heck can you do a straight down the middle, objective, don't have a horse in the race, we're not left, we're not right, this is who I am, Dominic Carter?

Doesn't your audience, and I had this conversation, trust me, there's a question here with Michael Wolff who just wrote a wonderful book on the Murdoch dynasty and Fox News.

And his argument is basically, many of us in the media cater to our audience.

How do you survive and thrive?

Because you try not to cater to your audience and tell 'em what they want to hear, Dominic.

- Because Steve, like yourself, I am who I am.

And I'm not going to change who I am in terms of a journalist just to do talking points.

That's just not me.

And so I call it the way I see it, just like a baseball umpire or a referee at a NBA game.

I don't tilt my talking points to lean one way or the other.

Down the middle, this is the way I see it and it is what it is.

- But Dominic, hold on one second.

I'm sorry for interrupting.

- It's okay.

- Disproportionately, is it fair to say that most in your audience do not want you or anyone else on the air to be critical of Donald Trump?

Even when he is saying, and I said this to you before, Dominic, you remember your civil discourse, respect, congeniality, but strong views, but listening to others.

No disrespect, that's not Donald Trump, name calling, vicious things he says.

If you call that out for what it is, your audience doesn't like that, Dominic.

- But, you're right Steve.

And when a person is right, you're right.

But again, the uniqueness of me is that it is what it is.

And if Mr. Trump does something outrageous, I'm going to call it for what it is.

- Or Joe Biden.

- Or, and I'm glad you said that, I was just about to get to Biden.

It doesn't matter who.

You know, we are headed into the major horse race here, and I just call it the way I see it, period.

And sometimes that goes over well, people will accept that, but I think that I have built a trust with the audience, like you have, Steve Adubato, where people believe me when I say something.

I am not going to say it, unlike many hosts in talk show radio, simply as a talking point to please the audience.

That's not me.

- Dominic, let me ask you this.

We'll talk about Biden in a second, but again, going into this 2024 election, Biden and Trump, unless something dramatic changes we're taping this at the end of January.

What the heck do you believe is Donald Trump's primary appeal to a high percentage, well, the vast majority of Republican voters, many independents as well?

Why does he have such enduring appeal for so many that seems unbreakable, Dominic?

- And it is unbreakable, Steve.

No matter what's thrown at him including the kitchen sink, it seems that Mr. Trump.

- Including the indictments in criminal cases all across the country, 90 plus, go ahead.

- It seems that he's always standing.

I believe the appeal to Trump comes down to this.

He is not a typical politician, which means that even though he served in the White House for four years and may be headed back there, which means that he is given a liberty, if you will, or space to be himself, to sometimes do outrageous things.

Here's the answer to your question, Steve.

If you wanna understand the appeal to Donald Trump, it's real simple.

Go to the supermarket these days.

Go to a gas station in your local community these days.

And you know, Steve, because you've been doing this a long time, in politics, perception becomes reality.

And the perception is that even though the economy may be doing well under Biden, that is not the perception with common Americans.

And they believe that Trump can restore the country to greatness.

And they also believe, Steve, that if he were president, that worldwide, we would not be seeing the wars that are occurring.

- To Dominic's point, perception is reality.

And how much, let me ask you this.

President Biden, as a public communicator has clearly been challenged in a lot of ways.

And the policies are what they are.

The stock market as we do this program, I don't know where it's gonna be, but it's strong right now.

The economy's getting stronger.

Unemployment is where it is.

Interest rates, you know, hopefully stabilize.

What the heck do you think Joe Biden's problem is, challenge is in connecting with people as a public communicator, Dominic?

- Mr. Biden, if you are objective and you look at it on paper, he's done reasonably well if you look at it on paper.

But he has a perception problem.

He has a communication problem.

And it doesn't get any better, frankly, Steve Adubato, with his vice president, Kamala Harris.

They are seen as a one-two punch to the American people that in some regards, emphasis, in some regards, that are not as effective as they should be for the American people.

And then when you factor in age, so Biden and Trump are almost the identical age.

- 77 and 81.

Trump is 77.

Biden is 81.

They're in the same neighborhood.

- They're in the same neighborhood.

- So how does the age play out, Dominic?

- But if you ask the average American who has more energy, who is more energetic, I really believe, Steve Adubato, that 9 1/2 outta 10 people will answer Trump.

And so when you have, when you have the gaffes that Mr. Biden has made, and these things are to happen, you know, the President of America, it's a very busy, demanding job, but these gaffes multiply the perception problems, and therein lies the problem for Mr. Biden.

- Before I let you go though, do you think most Americans believe that Donald Trump is more dangerous to our democracy than Biden?

What do you think the answer would be?

Who's more dangerous do you think most people think?

- Yeah, obviously if you're talking to the left, they will say absolutely that he's more dangerous than Biden.

But if you're talking to the right, they will say no, that Biden is more dangerous.

But Steve, if you're talking about America as a whole, I would venture to say that a majority would say that Trump is dangerous.

But we'll see what happens.

- And most polls say that 70% plus of Americans would rather not have a choice between Biden and Trump.

But that looks like the choice.

Hey Dominic, I cannot thank you enough.

Looking forward to talking on the radio and more conversations on the air.

All the best, my friend.

- Hey Steve, let me just say this.

Let me finish where I started.

You are the man.

You are the man.

And I tip my cap to you.

Thank you for what you do on television.

I'm serious, Steve.

I think you know, I don't say something unless I mean it.

Thank you for what you do on behalf of the Tri-state region.

You are the man.

- Thank you, but I know in editing they're gonna take that out.

No, I'm joking.

(Dominic laughing) Dominic Carter, 77 WABC.

Thanks, my friend.

Stay with us.

We'll be right back.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

- We're now joined by Cynthia Bryant, who's the Chair of the Board of Trustees of a terrific organization called The Seeing Eye.

Cynthia, great to have you with us.

- It's great to be here.

Thank you.

- You guys.

Cynthia, we're gonna put up the website for The Seeing Eye organization.

Tell everyone what it is.

I know it's 95 years young.

It's a not-for-profit, but talk about it, please.

- Yes, The Seeing Eye is a non-for-profit organization.

We're located in Morristown, New Jersey, and as you mentioned, this year is our 95th anniversary.

We were founded on January 29th, 1929.

And there was a man by the name of Morris Frank, who was blind and he wanted to learn about seeing eye dogs, and he saw an article about a woman by the name of Dorothy Harrison Eustis in Switzerland, and went over there, trained, brought the dog back, and really the rest is history.

We're in Morristown and we're 95 years strong.

- Cynthia, talk about your journey to becoming the Chair of the Board, and it's historic and important for a lot of reasons.

Please.

- I am a person with retinitis pigmentosa and it's deterioration of the retina, and as my vision deteriorated, I was working here in Washington, D.C. and needed to continue as an attorney navigating the city.

And I used a cane, but I wanted a little bit of a different type of traveling ability.

And a friend of mine told me about The Seeing Eye and dogs, and I was afraid of dogs.

As a child, a German shepherd came out and he almost got me, but did not.

So I was not very happy about dogs, but I really wanted to give it a try.

Went to The Seeing Eye, and really the rest is history.

I trained and here I am.

- You know, you told our producers that we are not doing a good enough job in terms of public policy and in terms of public awareness.

What are we not doing that we should be doing, Cynthia, as it relates to helping those who are visually impaired and utilizing seeing eye dogs in a more impactful and effective way, please.

- Yeah.

Like I said, we go and we trained and there's a relationship that's formed, a bond between the dog and myself.

When I first go, we're foreign to each other.

So she eventually becomes devoted to me and I trust her and we go out into the world to navigate.

So if you go to the office, you walk out the door and you go to the office, a child goes to school.

When I go out to go to the office, I always have my dog with me.

- Excuse me, your dog's name is Summer?

- Summer, yes.

Yeah.

- Go ahead.

- I always have Summer with me.

And something as simple as when I go to go on the subway and I go to the top of the stairs and I grab the rail to go down, people don't realize that Summer has guided me there.

She stopped at the top of the stairs for me to tap my foot and she's also pointed over towards the rail for me to take it.

This is all seamless and it goes on, you know, daily in all sorts of things that I do.

So it's critical for people to understand that there's a connection.

I need her to travel.

And that extends to going into a grocery store, going into a restaurant.

Even when you see her sitting down and she's lying still, when she's in harness she and I are still in communication, and that's what the public needs to know, is I need her and, you know, she is devoted to me to help me out.

- But along those lines, Cynthia, are there any public policy changes?

And by the way, I wanna be clear on this, Governor Murphy designated the seeing eye dog as the state dog of New Jersey in January, 2020.

I wanna point that out.

- Yes.

- So the Murphy administration has been engaged to some degree, but is there anything government officials could and should be doing to help improve this situation for people who are visually impaired?

Please.

- Well, you know, we have regulations in place.

We have the ADA, we have the Fair Housing Act.

- The ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Ada.

- Correct.

- What does it say about seeing eye dogs?

- Well, that we're protected.

With a seeing eye dog, if we're out in public, legally we're able to have access to all public places.

So that said, I think the key point is not just the legislation that's in place, but also helping to educate the public.

We can put it on the books, but we need to spend that time educating the public so that they know these things.

Likewise, on air travel, there are regulations that I can travel with my service dog, but it doesn't mean that people know all of these things.

That's the piece that seems to be missing here.

So on the books is one thing, but educating the public is where we need to be now.

- We have two dogs, Champ and Pete, and they are pets.

Summer is way more than a, quote, pet for you.

Fair?

- It is fair, yeah.

What people need to understand is that she and I have a bond that's so much greater than a pet.

When I go out the door, I need her.

I need her to guide me.

I need her to work with me.

At all times her eyes are on me.

Her eyes are on me right now as I'm talking to you.

I can feel that she's watching for that next move, even though she's just lying over there and resting now.

There is a constant relationship that is very deep and it's a relationship that the school wants to achieve between the dog and the graduate.

A bond that takes place over a year's time after you take the dog home.

And that bond is such that when I go out, she is bonded with me, she's devoted to me.

I trust her to keep me safe.

I trust her to stop at a curb.

I trust her to wait before crossing the street.

I trust her to go around an obstacle.

I even trust her to intelligently disobey me if I tell her to do something that would compromise our team.

So there's a complete relationship that goes on, and I can't function without her out in the world.

- Cynthia, if public awareness and public education, helping people understand more and better than they do right now is our goal, and it is, you just helped a lot of people.

And I just wanna say thank you for joining us.

Cynthia Bryant is the chair person of the Board of Trustees for The Seeing Eye, an organization that's celebrating its 95th year doing important work.

Cynthia, thank you so much for joining us.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you.

- Got it.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

- We're now joined by Amanda Ebokosia who is the founder and CEO of The Gem, G-E-M, Project, Inc. Amanda, good to see you again.

- Good to see you as well, Steve.

- Amanda, I met you because you're a 2021 Russ Berrie Making a Difference awardee, along with so many other terrific leaders.

Tell everyone what The Gem Project is while the website goes up.

- Yeah, so The Gem Project's a nonprofit organization that is based in Newark, New Jersey and what we do is we create year-long paid fellowships for both high school students and college students to work on social justice issues of their choice and learn how to participate in community organizing as well as get a pathway to employment.

- You know, when I met you I was struck by how strong a leader you are and how important it is that you are a role model for other young people, but in watching our news report with our colleagues at NJ Spotlight News, I was watching you and some others, I believe it was in City Hall in Newark.

- Yes.

- And testifying, making it clear to city elected leaders that younger people need the right to vote.

Now, let me be specific.

Are you calling for young people, as young as 16, to be able to vote in school board elections?

- Yes, 16 and 17 year olds.

- And city council, or just school board?

- School board, for now.

- For now.

(laughs) - Yes.

It's gonna send a ripple effect, and so we're just so excited.

- Okay.

Okay, Amanda, do this, 'cause there are a whole bunch of folks right now saying, "Come on, seriously?

16, 17?

They're not, they?

They're not mature enough to do that."

Go ahead, talk to them.

- Well, they have every right to be able to participate in electoral process, especially if it means that those who are elected has such a profound impact over their entire lives, how they even get educated in schools and also how they see themselves as members of society.

So they definitely have every right to engage in the electoral process, like everyone else.

- But it passed in the city of Newark, in the city council, correct?

- Yes.

- So I wanna be clear, so what does that mean for 16 and 17 year olds?

When will they be able to actually vote in a school board election in Newark?

- Well, they're actually able to vote this coming April.

So we, as community- - Hold on a second, we're taping this in late January.

In a few months, they're gonna vote.

- Yes, yes.

- Wow!

- Very soon.

- So I'm curious about this, because I saw some members of the state legislature in that same news report, and you saw it as well, who were saying, "Come on, seriously?"

They're saying, "Okay, maybe in a school board election, but not for state legislature, not for...

They don't know who their legislators are, they don't know who their congress members are."

And I thought, "Well, if that were the criteria for voting, there are a whole lot of folks who wouldn't be voting."

Go ahead, you're turn.

(chuckles) - Yes, that's exactly correct.

Why not?

My question is, why not?

Young people have been around and have kicked off every single movement from the civil rights movement and so much more and they- - Absolutely.

- Because of them, we've had an opportunity to benefit from their actions, so this could only be a win-win situation for young people as well as all residents of Newark, by making their voices heard.

- Amanda, you've been very committed, not just to education, social justice, voting rights, but also mental health.

Talk about the mental health, the youth mental health first aid initiative at The Gem Project please.

- Thank you so much for mentioning that.

We have been a recipient from a grant from United Way Greater Newark that made it possible for The Gem Project to be certified instructors to lead the mental health first aid certification.

So what that means is that we get to work and train with individuals and provide training for individuals as well as organizations or anybody, or any adult 18 and up, who work with youth.

And so that would make it possible for them to be certified for three years and be able to know how to identify non-crisis and crisis situations surrounding mental health.

So this is really critical, especially as we transition out of the pandemic.

- And more and more young people dealing with a whole range of mental health issues.

I'm curious about this, Amanda.

When I met you when you were winning the Russ Berrie Award on behalf of your organization, how did that award, the Berrie Award, change you and the organization, impact you and the organization, please?

- Yes, definitely.

It has impacted us in such a profound way, Steve.

We've been connected with so many different community leaders, and also opportunities for us to really engage in society in a much more meaningful way.

We've been able to do a lot of partnerships since then and we have just grown as an organization.

- Question for you.

I'm a student of leadership, try to understand it, make mistakes as a leader all the time, for you, Amanda, as young as you are, the impact that you've already made in such a, just a few years, how have you grown as a leader?

What's one really significant way you've grown and improved as a leader?

I'm curious.

- I've been much more empathetic.

I've never thought I could even be more empathetic than I am but just being around our young people every day has been just a meaningful experience, working alongside such great people.

I've just had a conversation with one of our program managers, Stacy Tyndall-Brown, and we just talked about just our journey together in the past three years, and really elevating this fellowship and I can not be where I am today if it's not for my team, nor will I be where I am today if it's not for the young people we serve every day in this community.

- Wow.

So well said.

You've also, because I remember meeting you then and I see you now, you continue to grow in terms of what I like to call one's executive presence, your public communication, your confidence.

I'm a student of that, I'm obsessed by it and I see it in you, and I'm so proud of you- - Thank you.

- We're all very proud of you.

Continue doing important work with The Gem Project.

That's Amanda Ebokosia.

- You're so nice.

- Amanda, thank you so much.

- Thank you, Steve.

- All the best.

I'm Steve Adubato.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Celebrating 30 years in public broadcasting.

Funding has been provided by The Russell Berrie Foundation.

Newark Board of Education.

PSEG Foundation.

Kean University.

Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

The Turrell Fund, a foundation serving children.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

And by Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters.

Promotional support provided by Northjersey.com and Local IQ.

And by ROI-NJ.