HNN: Spotlight Now: Gov. Josh Green on the future of his lieutenant governor
TRANSCRIPT (FIRST 14 MINUTES OF INTRERVIEW--Kawakami remarks in blue below)
HNN: 1:11 Governor Josh Green, good to see you, sir.
GREEN: You too. Thank you.
HNN: 1:12 Uh let's start with what the people want 1:14 to know about, which is the latest on 1:16 the investigation in general. Um and 1:19 let's start off first with your with 1:20 your lieutenant governor. She's been 1:21 making the rounds talking about um 1:23 what's been going on with her in terms 1:25 of campaign finance. Curious to know 1:27 what your working relationship is like 1:28 at this moment.
GREEN: 1:29 Uh I care about the lieutenant governor. 1:31 This is a very unique situation. This 1:34 investigation has to be totally 1:36 independent. So I'm walled off from it. 1:38 As people have learned, the attorney 1:40 general has this division in her office 1:42 which keeps it completely solidly 1:46 independent. That means that no one can 1:48 influence it. Obviously, lieutenant 1:50 governor, the attorney general, my 1:53 cabinet, everyone works together, but 1:55 they have to be serious about this 1:57 because the public trust is on the line. 1:59 I can't even tell you when or if the 2:01 lieutenant governor met with the 2:02 attorney general to have a chat about 2:04 the concerns. That's all, like I said, 2:07 kept from me. Believe it or not, I would 2:09 love to know. Uh, but I have decided I'm 2:12 not going to say anything negative about 2:13 negative about anybody. I'm going to 2:14 stay positive about things. I think we 2:16 have to let this play out. I will tell 2:18 you this though, I have uh humbly asked 2:21 our department of um the attorney general to make sure that they move through this process fairly quickly because restoring the public trust trust is critical. This is also an election year which means the people deserve to really have clarity for good or bad on whatever has happened. They also have to make their decisions uh as we head towards the primary in August and then the general elections in November about who should lead the state. And so the fair thing to do would be to have the attorney general expedite an investigation. It's also why uh I have 2:52 to say I bristle a little bit when 2:54 people come and say, "Well, why don't 2:56 you put in a new independent 2:58 investigator?" Because number one, the 3:00 legislature themselves asked me to have 3:03 this division underneath the underneath 3:05 the attorney general to be independent. 3:06 That's number one. And two, if I were to 3:08 suddenly try to come up with some new 3:10 idea to put an independent investigator 3:12 in, it would set everything back. it 3:14 would be starting all over. It would be 3:16 months and months of delay which would 3:18 definitely not be fair to the people of 3:20 Hawaii.
HNN: 3:20 How much of this that has all come out 3:22 in the past month or so now has impacted 3:26 um you know the operation of your office 3:28 and relationship with the lieutenant 3:30 governor's office. Uh I mean you did not 3:32 attend uh you know the national 3:34 governor's association because you felt 3:35 it was important to stay here. Uh so it 3:37 has caused a little bit of an 3:39 inconvenience or more than that I would 3:41 assume from your end. How how would you 3:42 say that has changed the dynamics with 3:44 you know the LG's office and uh just a 3:47 distraction from what you're trying to 3:48 do?
GREEN: 3:49 Sure. Uh day-to-day no real distraction. 3:52 I mean all the projects we're working on 3:53 are the same. I'm focused continuously 3:56 on the key things like affordability, 3:58 housing, homelessness. Those are the 4:00 things that I focus on non-stop. Uh in 4:03 fact, if anything, I've had even more 4:04 time than usual here in state because I 4:07 did cancel that trip. Uh, I would be uh, 4:11 you know, not being totally honest with 4:13 you if I didn't say it frustrated me 4:14 because I do like to go to Washington 4:18 once in a while to do important work. I 4:20 did have several meetings scheduled with 4:22 cabinet secretaries. Uh, I, you know, I 4:25 had intended to see the president. I 4:27 also was planning on having some high-level 4:30 health conversations. There was a health 4:31 award I was attending uh, and receiving 4:33 that I couldn't get, you know. But this 4:36 is really not about me. In general, I 4:38 felt the most important thing was to 4:40 make sure we had a very stable uh 4:43 leadership structure here during this 4:44 because that was the week when there 4:46 were just a lot of stories in the press. 4:48 Again, I'm not judging. It's it's really 4:51 uh for us all to wait and see what the 4:53 attorney general finds. But uh that was 4:56 difficult. I'm treating it like this. 4:58 This is a moment in time when the people 5:00 of Hawaii deserve to have absolute 5:02 continuity. So, I'm doing my job. Uh, 5:05 also, the lieutenant governor's office 5:08 and the governor's office really uh 5:10 don't interface on a day-to-day basis 5:11 that much if people really want to know 5:13 the truth. Uh, the lieutenant governor 5:15 has worked very hard on things like 5:17 early education. She's done a great job 5:19 on that. And on broadband technology, 5:21 she's done a great job on that. Uh, but 5:23 I wasn't um interfacing or meddling with 5:26 her work there. Anyway, I I believe in 5:29 setting your your team on their own path 5:32 and doing that work. She's still doing 5:34 that work. Once we get to the end of 5:36 this um review or investigation, then 5:39 we'll all be able as you know, 5:41 colleagues just to sort things out.
HNN: 5:42 You know, she has basically said this is 5:44 a clerical error and that she's not 5:46 guilty of taking um money in any way 5:49 that was untoward. Do you take her at 5:50 her word?
GREEN: You know, I definitely never 5:54 judge until I see what the uh 5:56 investigators come up with. I've always 5:58 taken uh the at- the lieutenant governor 6:01 and my other colleagues at their word. 6:02 So, I would say the answer is yes. I I 6:06 don't think it's right for me to judge 6:07 until they sort that out. Uh there are 6:09 details I'm sure that she has shared 6:11 with the attorney general's team and I'm 6:14 sure they're going to put out a report 6:16 uh on the sooner rather than later side 6:18 again because in the springtime the 6:21 campaigns are not activated. People 6:23 aren't yet being really assessed or 6:24 judged. That usually comes in May and 6:26 June. That's when it begins. That's why 6:28 I really wait to talk about politics for 6:30 the most part until those months. We get 6:32 through the legislature. We make sure 6:34 that we do our jobs. It's difficult 6:36 because there's so much speculation out 6:38 there and I'm I'm actually very much 6:41 like every other citizen in this case. I 6:43 really have not pried. I haven't spoken 6:46 one time to the lieutenant governor or 6:48 the attorney general about the specifics 6:50 of what they're discussing. I just don't 6:52 think it would be right for me to 6:54 influence them in any way. So, I'm 6:56 waiting like you to see how this plays 6:58 out. Um, I wouldn't even speculate what 7:01 the impact is of it simply being 7:03 clerical errors. We all go through 7:05 difficult times. That may be the case uh 7:07 here that this has been a difficult time 7:09 and we get through it.
HNN: 7:10 I want to bring in one of the questions 7:11 that were submitted to us. So again, 7:12 thank you for those of you who are uh 7:14 tuning in and uh emailing or or putting 7:16 your comments there. We have a a 7:17 question from Courtney who asked, "Do 7:19 you worry about the investigation into 7:21 the lieutenant governor and that it 7:23 might tarnish your credibility?"
GREEN: 7:25 I don't at all. You know, I I am aware 7:29 uh that people sometimes uh conflate the 7:32 roles of lieutenant governor and 7:33 governor. Uh I've always tried to be 7:36 just myself um very open about things. 7:39 You know, I'm not involved in any of 7:41 these, you know, concerns, that's for 7:43 sure. Uh, also, I'm not sure if people 7:46 are aware of this, and I'm not trying to 7:48 make a big deal out of it, but the
(gap in transcript)
9:10 don't believe that we're doing the right 9:11 thing. That hurts me kind of internally 9:15 because I really want us to move to a 9:17 more positive place. It's why I often 9:19 have problems with the federal 9:20 government because there's a lot of 9:22 trust issues there. So, I would love us 9:24 to resolve this cleanly and then move on 9:26 however uh we can.
HNN: 9:28 I find it hard to believe just knowing 9:30 you, you know, as a person that you 9:32 haven't talked to her directly on this 9:34 just because it seems I know you have to 9:36 be very careful legally, but she, you 9:39 know, she went out and made her case to 9:41 all of the various media outlets 9:43 individually. Certainly, she would make 9:45 the case to you.
GREEN: Normally that would be 9:47 the case because I really do like to 9:50 hear from everybody and I, you know, I'm 9:52 chatty and I'm texting people. But in 9:55 this case, I really decided to be 9:57 utterly careful because I didn't want to 10:00 ever be perceived as influencing what 10:02 she would say. I didn't even want to 10:04 know the details because I just really 10:08 per what Ryan's question was before and 10:10 from that that caller, I just don't want 10:12 to be tied up in this thing. I want her 10:14 to go through the process uh to sort it 10:17 out whichever way with the attorney 10:19 general and then people get full trust 10:21 that the governor did not influence 10:23 anything. So honest to goodness no 10:25 conversations. Now I will uh meet with 10:27 her again soon just to talk about work 10:30 and there will come a time again when 10:34 you know I have to resume a more normal 10:36 schedule of travel. I want to make sure 10:37 we sort through that. What my personal 10:39 hope is and I'm going to be just very 10:40 blunt with you. hoping that this whole 10:43 thing gets wrapped up in the next few 10:44 weeks because uh I can have a quiet 10:47 spring. That's totally okay. I will tell 10:50 you that there are a few projects I 10:52 really need to to be focused on that 10:54 aren't just in Hawaii. I want to take a 10:56 look at what goes on in California and 10:57 what they've done with their recovery at 10:59 Palisades. Uh I absorbed uh not going to 11:03 DC when that trip was necessary. You 11:05 know, the national governors were very 11:06 nice. They they did tell me that they 11:08 miss me. I kind of am the glue for those 11:10 guys cuz I I tease them and I I break 11:12 down some of the animosity between 11:14 Democrats and Republicans. They put me 11:16 on their executive board for that 11:18 reason, I think. So, that one I I feel 11:21 badly I missed. So, I will definitely 11:23 get to the next meetings that I can with 11:25 them. But, um this thing's going to get 11:27 sorted and then the people are going to 11:29 get to make their decision about who uh 11:32 should win the nomination for lieutenant 11:33 governor, whether or not they want me on 11:36 the ballot again. and then we go 11:38 forward. 11:39 I want to bring that up because there 12:50 Uh, but they will have to sort it out 12:52 themselves. You know, I am always 12:55 focused on what I can control. I can't 12:58 control who else decides to run. I think 13:00 in general I think it's a good thing 13:03 when uh people have a choice especially 13:06 if there has been a moment where they 13:07 had some concern or doubt then that will 13:10 give uh lieutenant governor an 13:12 opportunity to explain what went on. 13:14 It'll give the mayor who's finishing his 13:16 second term in very good standing a 13:19 chance to describe his vision because 13:22 let's be honest, I'll be going into a 13:24 second term if people will have me and 13:26 we'll begin to think about the future. 13:28 If I do serve another term through 2030, there will be a new era. And my 13:33 personal opinion is that person that 13:35 becomes governor should be probably a 13:37 local guy or or woman. They should have 13:39 a different perspective than I've had. I 13:42 probably was a decent match as a kind of 13:44 wartime governor because we had the Maui 13:46 wildfire and we've gone through COVID 13:48 and so on. But hopefully we'll keep 13:51 getting new people with new ideas to 13:53 keep us vibrant. And so if if Derek 13:55 runs, that's terrific. If Sylvia runs, 13:58 that's terrific. Uh and then people will 14:00 judge everyone.
HNN: 14:01 Okay. I know we want to move on. ...
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