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[0:01] Robert Bannon: Are you ready? It's The Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon.

[0:09] Adrienne: Hey Roundtablers! It's Adrienne and John behind the camera. We are here at our annual New Jersey Hall of Fame inductees.

[0:18] John: We are so excited. There is going to be some amazing, amazing people here being inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

[0:24] Adrienne: We are here at the fabulous American Dream in, oh, there's some light, in the Meadowlands of New Jersey.

[0:32] John: And we're really, really excited to be here. We love being sponsored to come here and it's so important for our Jersey roots, even though Robert is in Detroit, hey now, but we are here and so excited and we may, we may just get to see SZA and LT.

[0:50] Adrienne: You tell me in the comments who LT is. We'll see you real soon.

[0:53] John: My husband over here. First of all, can I just say you look fantastic. You look fantastic.

[0:59] Adrienne: I'm married. Don't worry about it. I'm married. I just celebrated my fifth, my fifth with my hubby right here. That's, that's my husband back there.

[1:08] John: I got you. I got you. How, how, what does it feel to be here tonight to be inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame here in the Meadowlands?

[1:15] Lawrence Taylor: Well, you know what? You really, it comes up as a shock or something like that because that's not what I spent my life trying to do or do my career trying to do. So it's one of the, one of the hidden pluses that you get for doing certain things. I mean, there's a lot of ways I could have not been in here, but I am here and I'm very satisfied. And I, and I just, and I'm happy for the guys that, that are in there along with, I'm with Harry Carson. I'm with, um, what's the other running back I've got there? Tiki Barber. I mean, there's a lot of guys sitting, you know, some of the great coaches and stuff like that. So, um, I'm happy. I'm happy because I can look at my list and say, you know what? Check that off. Done it.

[2:23] John: That's right. And you can do amazing charity work as well, which is so important to the community as well.

[2:28] Lawrence Taylor: Yeah. Yeah. We always do that anyway. So, but like I said, I'm happy to check off another one. Done it.

[2:40] John: That's wonderful. Thank you so much. Big John Henry, how are you?

[2:44] Big Joe Henry: I'm outstanding. I'm outstanding.

[2:46] John: This is an exciting night for you.

[2:48] Big Joe Henry: It's a big night. It's a huge night. And, uh, uh, I'm so honored and thrilled to be, uh, be part of this. You know, it's just, uh, it's surreal to me.

[2:55] John: My cousin Robert said he loves your sounds and you should be on every single day.

[3:04] Big Joe Henry: Well, don't tell that too much. You know, we do a great job at the talk on one-on-one fight 0.5. So, uh, uh, but I'm very happy playing the hits on the weekends, you know.

[3:17] John: What, what for you, what is something you, you really want to be remembered for? And also what is it like, what was it like when you got the call that you were being inducted this year?

[3:27] Big Joe Henry: Well, when I got the call, I mean, it was, it was just a shock. I never thought that I would ever be inducted into the hall of fame after, after hosting the event and after doing everything and being on stage with such, such luminaries is, is just amazing. But, uh, I, I think one thing that I like to be remembered for is giving back to the community is, is, is being a conduit to that community, uh, to get them, to get them to take care of what we got to take care of. And that's, that's the best thing I could say.

[3:56] John: That's amazing. Wonderful. Enjoyed tonight. Thank you so much. Such a pleasure to meet you.

[4:00] Big Joe Henry: Thank you very much. I appreciate it very much. Good luck. Thank you.

[4:03] Tommy James: Well, I'm Tommy James from Tommy James and the Shondells, and I'm here tonight, uh, not only to support the hall of fame, but also to support my good buddy, uh, Eddie Bregatti, who's, uh, being inducted tonight.

[4:16] John: Fantastic. We've been friends, uh, for 60 years and, uh, along with the rest of the rascals, but, uh, Eddie's just a good friend.

[4:25] Adrienne: Oh, that's great. What a nice little date night tonight too.

[4:30] Tommy James: Well, this is my wife, uh, Carol Ross, who was, uh, who, uh, was my manager for 38 years before we, uh, became a family business.

[4:42] Adrienne: That's my hubby behind the camera over there. Nice to see you.

[4:45] Tommy James: It worked out pretty good, right?

[4:55] Adrienne: Yes, it did. It did. We, we met January 3rd of 2020 and he proposed May 4th of 2020 and we're still, we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary last week.

[5:03] Tommy James: That's a great little story.

[5:05] Adrienne: Yeah, it's really fun. It's really nice. It's a nice little love story. And it's nice to work together.

[5:08] Tommy James: It is nice to work together. I think that's important. I know some, not everybody can do it, but when you can, I think it's really great.

[5:12] Adrienne: Yeah, you're right.

[5:13] Tommy James: Yeah, it's true. Isn't it nice to be here in such a nice setting?

[5:17] Adrienne: It's beautiful. The whole place is beautiful. Yeah, and the new theater tonight, that should be really great.

[5:26] Tommy James: We were invited to see it as it was being built. So then we came back today and to see the difference, it's amazing.

[5:33] Adrienne: Oh, that's wonderful. Well, listen, have fun tonight. Thank you so much. Nice to meet you. Nice to see you. Bye-bye.

[5:37] Tom Eastwick: I'm Tom Eastwick.

[5:39] Adrienne: Oh, congratulations.

[5:41] Tom Eastwick: Well, thank you. Thank you. Who are you now?

[5:42] Adrienne: I'm Adrian with The Roundtable. We're a weekly podcast. My cousin's in Detroit and my husband and I do the East Coast stuff. And this is our third time coming here. It's a lovely organization.

[5:48] Tom Eastwick: What is it about being inducted tonight that's important to you?

[5:53] Tom Eastwick: Well, I'm humbled for sure, but I've worked for very many years to do the right thing by my students and by society, no doubt about it. And I think this kind of recognition really does allow me to say, hey, you did it. You were able to accomplish it. Of those 50,000 graduates, it's an amazing thing that I could walk into any doctor's office, any hospital, and I'll see a graduate. And they'll thank me for what we've offered them.

[6:26] Tom Eastwick: So it's really been able to escalate many, many people from the lower areas of our society to middle class and upper middle class. So it's worked out very well.

[6:36] Adrienne: It's so important. I have a lot of teachers. My sister's a teacher. Well, she was a teacher. Now she's dean of students. She has made her way up there, but I have so many that are guidance counselors. And teaching is so important. Education.

[6:50] Tom Eastwick: Education is important. It's lifelong. It's lifelong.

[6:53] Adrienne: And it's continuous. And now they have the webinars online and all that stuff. But it's important.

[6:59] Tom Eastwick: And I think it's real important to make sure that we also go face-to-face with people. I think the online learning is an opportunity for many people that did not have it, but I still think it's important for people to learn from other people.

[7:13] Adrienne: So that's just an opinion.

[7:14] Tom Eastwick: Oh, no. I agree 100%. I think that's, because you could do this, and I'm still friends with many of my teachers as well.

[7:21] Adrienne: It's so important to have that bond, because over a screen you can't get that. When you're person-to-person, having that conversation, learning those things, that's really what matters.

[7:29] Tom Eastwick: Well, thank you. Thank you very much.

[7:31] Adrienne: Congratulations. Thank you. Have a good evening.

[7:33] Adrienne: I am here with the Honorable Christine Todd Whitman. How are you? It's so nice to meet you.

[7:38] Christine Todd Whitman: Thank you. It's my pleasure.

[7:39] Adrienne: Yes, I love the spark, a little bit of sparkle. Looks very, very nice.

[7:42] Christine Todd Whitman: I have a little, little sparkle.

[7:43] Adrienne: Got a little sparkle. When you got the call that you were going to be here this evening, how did that make you feel?

[7:49] Christine Todd Whitman: Well, obviously it's a great honor, and I was, it's been 25 years since I left office, so it's always nice to be remembered after that period of time. And I think, amazing group of people this year. This is our third time representing this event, and I was so excited when I saw your name, because I said, it's so important, because as women, we don't always get our recognition when we need it.

[8:14] Adrienne: We don't always get our due.

[8:15] Christine Todd Whitman: We don't always get our due, and it's just nice that you are being recognized for this. And what is something that you would like to be remembered for?

[8:23] Chris Christie: Remembered for. Not that you're going anywhere anytime soon, but what is something that you feel that you did for New Jersey that was so important?

[8:29] Chris Christie: Well, I'm going to speak a little bit about it tonight. I don't want to give it away ahead of time. Not too much, no. Ellis Island is 90% New Jersey, and we won that in the Supreme Court. And to me, that is where America was at one of its best moments, where we welcomed people who were fleeing hunger, and war, and poverty, and the desire to make this place a better, make better lives for their children. But what they did is actually made New Jersey better.

[9:01] Robert Bannon: That is so true. That's wonderful. I love that. Thank you. Christy, thank you so much. If I may ask, maybe take a picture together. Is that all right? Okay. Wonderful. Thank you so much. Such a pleasure to meet you. Enjoy tonight.

[9:15] Chris Christie: Thank you.

[9:16] James Burke: I'm James Burke. I'm the son of James Burke, who was the CEO of Johnson & Johnson from 1972 to 1989.

[9:22] Robert Bannon: Wow. And so it's my dad being inducted.

[9:27] James Burke: It's your dad being inducted. How nice is that? It's got to be a good feeling.

[9:31] James Burke: Oh, it's fantastic. It's great. It's really nice. And I mean, this amazing structure, I guess I could say, you know what I mean? And I think for New Jersey, because New Jersey is always the butt of the jokes, you know what I mean?

[9:40] Robert Bannon: I know. What exit, et cetera, yeah.

[9:43] James Burke: You know, is it Taylor-Ham or pork roll, all those important questions, you know. But I think it's so nice that we have such a great place here and to honor so many amazing people that brought New Jersey amazing things. I mean, Johnson & Johnson. And New Jersey Hall of Fame, I mean, this really, it's inspirational for people, I think, to know that these remarkable people in New Jersey have gone on to do all the things that they've done in New Jersey and elsewhere, right? It's amazing.

[10:11] Robert Bannon: Fantastic. It's really, really amazing.

[10:11] James Burke: Yeah, yeah. What's one special thing that you remember about your dad?

[10:16] James Burke: You know, the thing I remember most is his ethical behavior, that he really believed that you got to do the right thing. And he was willing to sacrifice things in order to do that. And it was sometimes tough decisions, but I was always very proud of that. It meant a lot to me.

[10:31] Robert Bannon: I love that. It's so wonderful. Well, enjoy tonight. Have fun. And nice to meet you.

[10:35] James Burke: Nice to meet you. Thank you so much.

[10:36] Eddie Brigatti: I'm Eddie Brigatti from the Rascals, and we have a whole honorary system tonight. My brother David is being honored, and my brother Dino is being honored. And we have a whole wonderful, wonderful tribute for all of our groups, all of our, it's eight decades of singing. And we have another two decades left, and we have all the songs ready for that.

[11:00] Robert Bannon: Oh, that's so exciting. I have to say, my dad's a big fan. I grew up, we would drive down the shore, and he'd put it on. His name's Bobby Semino.

[11:11] Eddie Brigatti: Bobby. I told you I'd get on the red carpet. Hey, look, we're on the red carpet together. Such wonderful music. I mean, I just remember listening to it all the time, and it's just, it's fun. It's the highest communication. Words are our most wonderful gift, and singing is a thousand times speaking. And you do it out of your heart, and you do it to communicate. And it's an incredible opportunity to be here. And the next song, your best song's your next song.

[11:46] Robert Bannon: Oh, I love that. And if you really love music, study, learn, and counting. Thank you so much. Have fun tonight. Such a pleasure.

[11:56] Unknown speaker: Hi. Come on over. We'll just scoot you over here. I love that your nails match the microphone.

[12:01] Unknown speaker: Thank you. I try. I try. Iconic. It's so good. Yes. It's so good. My dear, I have to ask, who are you wearing? Because you look stunning this evening.

[12:06] Unknown speaker: Thank you. So it's actually a pretty little thing. I had a really, really quick last minute finding out about this, so I just grabbed something from my closet, and luckily it all came together. But I am wearing pink because Breast Cancer Awareness Month is coming up in October, and it's very important to me to represent that.

[12:25] Unknown speaker: I'm so happy that you said that, and I will share. My brother-in-law, my brother-in-law, was just diagnosed in April with breast cancer.

[12:29] Unknown speaker: I'm so sorry.

[12:34] Unknown speaker: And it literally, when you really hear it, and we've had many, unfortunately, in our family, when it really affects you, it takes on a whole other thing. So I appreciate that.

[12:41] Unknown speaker: It really does. It really does. And I'm so sorry, but...

[12:44] Unknown speaker: He's doing well. He's doing okay.

[12:45] Unknown speaker: I was going to say, there's strength behind him. I'm sure he's got the Jersey strength in him, and we're all rooting for him and your family. And for you to be outspoken for it, too, I think that's a wonderful, wonderful thing.

[12:52] Unknown speaker: Thank you. It's so important to me. My aunt actually is coming up on her 20-year anniversary of being breast cancer-free, so it's a very special October for us.

[13:00] Unknown speaker: Yes. And how excited are you to be here this evening?

[13:04] Unknown speaker: I am so excited. I found out about this two nights ago, so I was invited two nights ago. It was a quick turnaround, but I'm so happy to be here.

[13:12] Unknown speaker: Now, what is next for you? What else will you be doing in the near future that you can share?

[13:16] Unknown speaker: Absolutely. So I will definitely be doing a lot of charity work. I think it is so important to give back, especially to the state that gave me so much. I have some visits planned at the Children's Hospital, just seeing how I can brighten anyone's day. I also own my own 501C3 non-profit organization called Inspire Dance Team, which is an initiative for neurodiverse individuals. So I'll definitely be having a lot of events coming up with that as well.

[13:37] Unknown speaker: I love that so much, the Neuro Spicy. I totally can relate and understand. And we need to speak more of that, especially for the women, because it kind of gets pushed to the side.

[13:45] Unknown speaker: I agree. I 100% agree. I don't think it's talked about enough, but it's so, so, so important to make sure that we're speaking about it and we're including everybody and learning how to include everybody.

[13:53] Unknown speaker: Yes. Can you share the website for our listeners out there?

[13:57] Unknown speaker: I would love to. So it's inspiredanceteam.org. Take a look. We're based out of Shrewsbury, New Jersey, and we create dance and social opportunities for neurodiverse individuals.

[14:06] Unknown speaker: It's wonderful. Such a pleasure to meet you.

[14:09] Unknown speaker: Thank you. So nice to meet you as well. Enjoy. Have fun.

[14:13] Unknown speaker: Thank you so much.

[14:13] Nicole Payne: Hello, Roundtablers. My name is Nicole Payne. I'm the daughter of Congressman Payne Sr., who's being honored tonight.

[14:18] Robert Bannon: How wonderful. That's got to feel good.

[14:23] Nicole Payne: Yeah, it does. It does. It feels great. When you got the phone call, were you like, oh, wow.

[14:27] Nicole Payne: Yeah, I was very excited to hear. I think that what my father represented in leadership and how he cared about his community, that legacy needs to continue to be shared so people can reflect, especially when times are changing and really being concerned about people.

[14:46] Robert Bannon: Yes, that's so true. Community, I think, is so much more important now than it ever has been.

[14:52] Nicole Payne: And what is something that you could share about your dad that he would want the new generation to know and kind of be inspired by?

[15:00] Nicole Payne: I think the first thing is determination and never giving up. He did not win when he first ran for Congress. He didn't win the second time he ran for Congress. So I think that's the first thing. I think also making sure that people work together for the greater good, not using the power for your own selfish reasons or using it for ill will toward people. And I think finally, just really enjoying life and really celebrating with those and really communing with family and friends and making sure that you have a full life.

[15:30] Robert Bannon: I love that so much. Well, congratulations and joy tonight. So nice to meet you.

[15:34] Nicole Payne: Thank you. What was your name?

[15:35] Robert Bannon: I'm Adrienne.

[15:36] Nicole Payne: Nice to meet you, Adrienne.

[15:36] Robert Bannon: Nice to meet you. Thank you so much.

[15:37] Nicole Payne: Thank you.

[15:38] Unknown speaker: One quick question, Governor.

[15:39] Unknown speaker: I'm sorry, we got to take him to dinner.

[15:40] Unknown speaker: Oh, one quick one. All right.

[15:42] Unknown speaker: Go ahead.

[15:42] Unknown speaker: What can you tell the youth of New Jersey? What's something that they can do in the coming months to do things for their community?

[15:49] Chris Christie: Well, look, I just think that anyone who lives in New Jersey, especially young people, need to remember just how fortunate they are to be here. It's a wonderful place to be born, raised and to grow up. And so I think for your community, what you have to understand is that there are things that are much more important than your own self-interest. And so to understand that there are people in their community who could really benefit from you, your energy, your enthusiasm, and your hope for the future. Lots of people have lots of difficulties they have to deal with. But when they see young people who are engaged in their community, it gives them hope for the future. So the biggest thing young people can provide to their community is hope. And I hope they do that.

[16:28] Unknown speaker: That's wonderful. Thank you so much.

[16:29] Chris Christie: You got it.

[16:30] Unknown speaker: Enjoy. Thank you. Thank you.