Latest / The Breakfast Club / A Charlamagne Tha God Conversation with Former VP Kamala Harris Pt1

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A Charlamagne Tha God Conversation with Former VP Kamala Harris Pt1 · The Breakfast Club

0:00
Speaker 1: Please welcome to the stage all forever.
0:02
Speaker 2: Vice President Kamala Harad.
0:10
Speaker 3: Good evening, good afternoon, good evening, Thank you all, Thank
0:22
Speaker 3: you all for taking the time to be with us
0:24
Speaker 3: this afternoon. And Charlamagne, thanks.
0:26
Speaker 2: Yes, it's happy hour. We should be drinking or something
0:29
Speaker 2: we should have. We should have more than water in
0:32
Speaker 2: these cups. How are you feeling?
0:35
Speaker 3: I am well. Thank you for asking. It's good to
0:37
Speaker 3: be back in Birmingham. It really is who It was
0:43
Speaker 3: important to me to come back here and well, I
0:46
Speaker 3: love you back, thank you, thank you.
0:51
Speaker 1: It being on the book top, I don't know what.
0:55
Speaker 2: We can't understand what you just said. Being on the
1:00
Speaker 2: book tour, I feel like being back out on the
1:02
Speaker 2: campaign trail.
1:03
Speaker 3: It's different, but it's good to be out and talking
1:08
Speaker 3: with folks and most of all, listening to folks. It's
1:11
Speaker 3: similar in terms of it's a pretty intense schedule, but
1:15
Speaker 3: not nearly as intense as one hundred and seven days,
1:18
Speaker 3: and it's a different time. We got a lot to
1:21
Speaker 3: talk about.
1:22
Speaker 1: Lots to talk about. Well, you know, I loved one
1:26
Speaker 1: hundred and seven days.
1:27
Speaker 2: And the reason I loved one hundred and seven days
1:29
Speaker 2: is because I just love honesty, you know, and it
1:32
Speaker 2: felt like, you know, you got a lot off of
1:35
Speaker 2: your chest, a lot of things that you've been wanting
1:37
Speaker 2: to say, but I guess I couldn't say you decided
1:41
Speaker 2: to say in the book.
1:41
Speaker 1: Was that a hard process?
1:44
Speaker 3: So writing the book was a process of reflection for me,
1:52
Speaker 3: and I tend to be very task oriented, and especially
1:55
Speaker 3: in those hundred and seven days. You know, my prayer
1:59
Speaker 3: every night was God, please let me have done everything
2:03
Speaker 3: I could have done in that day, and thank you.
2:08
Speaker 3: And then of course the election happened, and then after
2:14
Speaker 3: that I certified the election January sixth. That was a
2:19
Speaker 3: very difficult day. I write about that, and then the inauguration.
2:25
Speaker 3: And before the inauguration, actually Doug and I, my husband
2:29
Speaker 3: and I were packing up DC to go back home
2:33
Speaker 3: to California, and the wildfires erupted in California and we
2:40
Speaker 3: were literally Charlemagne packing boxes watching the TV when the
2:45
Speaker 3: chirn said fire approaching Kamala Harris's house. We were actually
2:51
Speaker 3: under a mandatory evacuation from our house in LA. We
2:54
Speaker 3: were in DC, but we could not go back to
2:56
Speaker 3: our house, and the evacuation wasn't lifted until January nineteenth,
3:00
Speaker 3: and the election was on the I mean, the inauguration
3:02
Speaker 3: was on the twentieth. So not until the day before
3:05
Speaker 3: the inauguration that we needed to leave did we know
3:07
Speaker 3: if we'd even have a home to go back to.
3:08
Speaker 3: All of that to say, there really was not much
3:11
Speaker 3: time for reflection for me. And then when I got back,
3:16
Speaker 3: it was about literally and figuratively unpacking, and there was
3:21
Speaker 3: a lot to unpack. And I decided to write about
3:25
Speaker 3: the one hundred and seven days and to reflect in
3:29
Speaker 3: a way I had not allowed myself before. And the
3:31
Speaker 3: reflection is about the joys. It's about the ups, the downs,
3:39
Speaker 3: the reflection around how I would have done some things differently.
3:43
Speaker 3: But also I write the book with the hopes that
3:49
Speaker 3: we all will remember the optimism and the feeling of
3:59
Speaker 3: the possibilities for our country. Dare I say the joy
4:04
Speaker 3: that we will remember that in a way that reminds
4:08
Speaker 3: us it's in us. It's in each of us, and
4:14
Speaker 3: we cannot let the outcome of one election or one
4:17
Speaker 3: individual or circumstance dim or extinguish that light that is
4:23
Speaker 3: in each of us y and especially in moments of darkness,
4:34
Speaker 3: that is, in particular when we need to see that
4:37
Speaker 3: light in ourselves, in each other, to shine a light
4:41
Speaker 3: on this path and to take us to the next
4:44
Speaker 3: step where we do not lose our fight and we
4:47
Speaker 3: understand that it is worth it because we love our
4:50
Speaker 3: country and it is our country. It is our country.
4:56
Speaker 2: Have been have you been shocked by the reaction to
4:59
Speaker 2: the book, because you know, I've heard people say, oh,
5:01
Speaker 2: it's just a book full of excuses, But I'm like, well,
5:03
Speaker 2: did you read it? Because the person that you hold
5:05
Speaker 2: the most accountable is herself, and I think you took
5:09
Speaker 2: take a little too much blame.
5:10
Speaker 3: If you ask me, well, I listen. I believe in
5:16
Speaker 3: speaking truth, and I do talk about, for example, certain
5:20
Speaker 3: interviews I would have done differently, certain decisions or things
5:24
Speaker 3: that I would have said are done differently. But you know, look,
5:29
Speaker 3: I didn't write the book for the pundits, and frankly
5:34
Speaker 3: just to be very candid, because why not just continue
5:36
Speaker 3: to be candid. I do believe that God will judge us,
5:39
Speaker 3: not based on what other people say about us, but
5:43
Speaker 3: based on what we do. And so that's how I
5:49
Speaker 3: feel about that.
5:50
Speaker 2: You write about finding your own voice during those hundred
5:54
Speaker 2: and seven days. What parts of you felt silenced while
5:57
Speaker 2: you were serving as vice president.
6:00
Speaker 3: Can not find my voice. I always had my voice,
6:04
Speaker 3: it wasn't lost. But I was vice president, I was
6:08
Speaker 3: not president, and it's the first time in my elected
6:12
Speaker 3: career that I was not the number one. I was
6:14
Speaker 3: the number two, and that took some adjustment, there's no question,
6:19
Speaker 3: But the reality of it is during the campaign those
6:23
Speaker 3: one hundred and seven days, I was able to do
6:28
Speaker 3: a lot of what I do believe is important about
6:31
Speaker 3: talking about the needs of the American people in a
6:34
Speaker 3: way that was reflective of my priorities. One of the
6:37
Speaker 3: things I've reflected on, for example, is that we did
6:42
Speaker 3: a lot of good work in our administration, but I
6:45
Speaker 3: would have done some things differently. For example, we did
6:51
Speaker 3: the Infrastructure built, which was very important and very good
6:55
Speaker 3: good work. We did the Chips Act, which was about
7:00
Speaker 3: technology and what we need to do in terms of
7:03
Speaker 3: creating and manufacturing it here in the United States. But
7:06
Speaker 3: if I had to do it again and do it differently,
7:09
Speaker 3: I would have first done the family piece that was
7:14
Speaker 3: about extension of the child tax credit, paid family leave,
7:18
Speaker 3: affordable childcare. I would have done that first. Putting money
7:23
Speaker 3: in people talking well and to deal with the immediate needs.
7:27
Speaker 3: And that's why in the one hundred and seven days,
7:29
Speaker 3: I prioritize just exactly that. So my priority in one
7:33
Speaker 3: hundred and seven days included what we needed to do
7:36
Speaker 3: based on my own experience taking care of my mother
7:38
Speaker 3: when she was sick, which is getting Medicare to cover
7:44
Speaker 3: home health care. For those of us who are taking
7:48
Speaker 3: care of our family members and in particular the Sandwich
7:55
Speaker 3: generation as we call those folks who are raising young
7:58
Speaker 3: children and taking care of your elder parents and relatives.
8:01
Speaker 3: My priority was around getting homeowners or potential homeowners down
8:06
Speaker 3: payment assistance so they could have formen home. Things of
8:09
Speaker 3: that nature. Were the priorities that I had in one
8:12
Speaker 3: hundred and seven days that I was able to effectuate
8:15
Speaker 3: because I was the top of the ticket.
8:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, I never understood, and we talked about this before, like,
8:19
Speaker 2: you know, the economy does better when they are Democrats
8:22
Speaker 2: in the White House. That's right, Statistical, that's right, that's right.
8:27
Speaker 2: But Democrats are never able to message that to the
8:31
Speaker 2: American people.
8:32
Speaker 3: Why, well, that's a broad statement, Charlmayne. I mean I
8:37
Speaker 3: think that, but to your point, I will say this,
8:41
Speaker 3: I do believe that when we reflect on where we are,
8:46
Speaker 3: and reflect on where we are in the context of
8:48
Speaker 3: the election in twenty four you know, one third of
8:51
Speaker 3: the voters voted for the current president, one third voted
8:57
Speaker 3: for us, and one third did not vote. So part
9:01
Speaker 3: of it is the first takeaway for me, we have
9:05
Speaker 3: a lot of work to do on that one third
9:07
Speaker 3: that did not vote. About figuring out what we need
9:10
Speaker 3: to do to connect and allow people to know their
9:13
Speaker 3: voice is important and a priority. The other piece of
9:17
Speaker 3: it is to remember two thirds did not vote for
9:20
Speaker 3: this man. And also when we are then thinking about
9:33
Speaker 3: you know, and everyone has a relative, a neighbor or
9:35
Speaker 3: coworker who voted differently than them, and when we're trying
9:40
Speaker 3: to reconcile it all, I would suggest that part of
9:45
Speaker 3: what we should agree is on is that I do
9:49
Speaker 3: believe there are a fair number of people who voted
9:52
Speaker 3: for the current president on one issue, which is they
9:57
Speaker 3: believed him when he said he would bring down the
10:00
Speaker 3: costs and prices. They believed him because that was their
10:03
Speaker 3: number one issue. Now, he did not tell the truth.
10:07
Speaker 3: There are young children here, so I'll say it that way.
10:10
Speaker 3: He did not tell the truth.
10:14
Speaker 1: There's a lot of kids in him.
10:16
Speaker 3: Yes, it's kind of the mad nae.
10:21
Speaker 2: By eight o'clock show. Will you should have came to
10:24
Speaker 2: the eight o'clock show. We will the data clutch.
10:28
Speaker 3: And and and and as and as evident with the
10:31
Speaker 3: fact that price of groceries is up, inflation is up,
10:34
Speaker 3: unemployment is up as of today, he did not tell
10:36
Speaker 3: the truth. But when we try to reconcile the differences
10:42
Speaker 3: around how people voted in the election, I think there's
10:45
Speaker 3: some work that we have to do to one recognize
10:48
Speaker 3: who did not vote, also to ask for a certain
10:52
Speaker 3: subsection of who did vote other than differently than we did. Why.
10:58
Speaker 3: And the other piece that I would ask us to
11:00
Speaker 3: reflect on is let's also not make assumptions that the
11:06
Speaker 3: people who voted differently than us are working with the
11:09
Speaker 3: same set of information. And this goes to your point.
11:17
Speaker 3: And I didn't say that a different set of facts
11:20
Speaker 3: because there's two plus two us for every day, all
11:23
Speaker 3: the time. That's a fact, but a different set of information.
11:29
Speaker 3: And I do believe again, part of why I wrote
11:32
Speaker 3: the book is what did we learn that helps us
11:34
Speaker 3: figure out today in the future. Part of one of
11:37
Speaker 3: the biggest challenges to our democracy is mis and disinformation.
11:42
Speaker 3: Which is rampant and is everywhere, And how do we
11:48
Speaker 3: focus on that as part of what is ailing us
11:52
Speaker 3: as a society and a democracy. And how do we then,
11:57
Speaker 3: each of us think of our own power and our
12:00
Speaker 3: elective power to do what we can to make sure
12:03
Speaker 3: we are working with the same information in terms of facts.
12:09
Speaker 3: That's part of the work we need to do.
12:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, I wonder if people just don't know what to
12:14
Speaker 2: believe because it's so much information.
12:16
Speaker 3: I think that's part of it.
12:17
Speaker 2: And how do you how do you direct people to say, hey, no,
12:21
Speaker 2: this is actually the truth. Because everybody, even when they're
12:24
Speaker 2: telling their lives things that they're telling the truth.
12:28
Speaker 3: I think some people are telling lies and they know
12:30
Speaker 3: they're telling lies, they do, and they're doing it to
12:38
Speaker 3: distract from what they're really up to. H you know
12:44
Speaker 3: part of this, you know what I'm saying, right, Well.
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Speaker 1: Damn, what are they doing in the dark?
12:50
Speaker 2: Because I swear everything they're doing in the lights seems crazy?
12:53
Speaker 3: Well you know that, but you know, but but you're
12:56
Speaker 3: so Okay, here's why we need to understand. We're not
13:00
Speaker 3: the crazy ones. Okay, it's the matinee. So here's the thing,
13:14
Speaker 3: is that part of it is that they are basically
13:19
Speaker 3: trying to give and throw out information that is inaccurate
13:24
Speaker 3: to distract from what they are up to, which is
13:28
Speaker 3: that this is one of the most corrupt, callous, and
13:33
Speaker 3: incompetent presidents of the United States we've ever had. And
13:44
Speaker 3: part of what they're attempting to do is to suggest,
13:49
Speaker 3: which is about gas lighting and scapegoating, that it is
13:56
Speaker 3: those who are relatively powerless that are the cause for
14:01
Speaker 3: our predicament. To distract from us looking at the powerful.
14:07
Speaker 3: They're basically saying to people, you have less because of
14:13
Speaker 3: people who have even less than you, to distract from
14:19
Speaker 3: what they are doing to line their pockets with corrupt
14:27
Speaker 3: and dare I say, it's certainly unconstitutional behaviors that are
14:38
Speaker 3: about a few people amassing and centralizing power to the
14:45
Speaker 3: exclusion of the whole. They are working against the best
14:50
Speaker 3: interest of working people in America. This shut down, by
14:53
Speaker 3: the way, they're trying to again scapegoat on this. Let's
14:59
Speaker 3: be clear who owns, who runs the House, who runs
15:04
Speaker 3: the Senate, who's in the White House, who's to blame
15:09
Speaker 3: for the shut down? Thank you, yeah, come on, you're right.
15:20
Speaker 2: But then there's polls that say, there's poles that came
15:22
Speaker 2: out yesterday that say most of America is starting to
15:24
Speaker 2: blame Democrats for the shutdown, Like how do you combat that?
15:28
Speaker 3: What we have to keep reminding folks of who's in power.
15:33
Speaker 3: And again, this is my point, that they are trying
15:36
Speaker 3: to deflect from the people who are in power, to
15:40
Speaker 3: absolve them from any responsibility for what's happening in our
15:44
Speaker 3: country right now, and we can't let them. And that's
15:48
Speaker 3: where I always will say that ultimately, part of my
15:52
Speaker 3: optimism about you know, and it's waned a bit since
15:57
Speaker 3: the election, I give you that, but it's still here.
16:01
Speaker 3: And part of my optimism is always going to be
16:04
Speaker 3: because there are those who are powerful in those places,
16:07
Speaker 3: but the greatest power is with the people. The greatest
16:10
Speaker 3: power is with the people and our ability to then
16:16
Speaker 3: talk with each other and remind each other of what
16:20
Speaker 3: is actually happening and deconstructed in a way that we
16:24
Speaker 3: can see where the dots line up in terms of
16:29
Speaker 3: where this leads to who is actually responsible. And you know, look,
16:33
Speaker 3: I think that part of what we have to also
16:36
Speaker 3: understand is so much of what we are experiencing now.
16:39
Speaker 3: I know it feels overwhelming I know that it is
16:44
Speaker 3: a source of everything from great sadness, depression to anger.
16:51
Speaker 3: It results in people rightly feeling like, you know, put
16:55
Speaker 3: the covers over my head, wake me up when it's over.
16:58
Speaker 3: It's exhausting, It is all of that, and it feels chaotic.
17:04
Speaker 3: But here's what you are. But no, no, no, no no,
17:09
Speaker 3: because here's the thing. Let's not conflate what feels chaotic
17:13
Speaker 3: with what is actually a high velocity event that is
17:17
Speaker 3: about the swift implementation of a plan that has been
17:21
Speaker 3: decades in the making. That's what we are witnessing. Project
17:26
Speaker 3: twenty twenty five did not just fall out of the sky.
17:30
Speaker 3: The Federalist Society, the Heritage Foundation, this stuff has been
17:34
Speaker 3: decades in the making. Part of what I write about
17:39
Speaker 3: is you look at it's the person who's in the
17:44
Speaker 3: White House right now. Is an interesting combination of a
17:49
Speaker 3: pattern that was taking place where it's almost you can
17:52
Speaker 3: attribute it to Ronald Reagan's celebrity, Newt Gingrich's base level
18:00
Speaker 3: of discourse, and Pat Buchanan's nativism, all piled into one.
18:09
Speaker 3: What we are.
18:10
Speaker 1: Yes, and that's not a drink you want.
18:13
Speaker 3: Well, but think about it. Think about think about how
18:17
Speaker 3: this path has been building over a period of time.
18:21
Speaker 3: This thing about what they're doing to try and destroy
18:24
Speaker 3: the Department of Education school lunch programs, head start, this
18:28
Speaker 3: is not new. This has been part of a longstanding
18:31
Speaker 3: agenda to attack public education, what they're doing with the FCC.
18:38
Speaker 3: And I will tell you, yes, I predicted just about
18:41
Speaker 3: all of it.
18:48
Speaker 2: I've been wanting her to stay that for so long.
18:52
Speaker 2: But what I wanted you to tweet it in all caps.
18:55
Speaker 2: I was right about every everything, but.
18:59
Speaker 3: The one thing I did not predict. I did not
19:03
Speaker 3: predict the capitulation. I did not, you know, I, among
19:07
Speaker 3: many things, am a lifelong and therefore devout public servant.
19:13
Speaker 3: I've worked with the private sector over the years, doing
19:16
Speaker 3: good work, and I have always believed that if push
19:21
Speaker 3: came to shove, the titans of industry would at some
19:26
Speaker 3: point be the guardrails around our democracy. And instead, what
19:33
Speaker 3: we have seen is titans of industry bend the knee
19:38
Speaker 3: at a foot of a tyrant. One has to ask why,
19:44
Speaker 3: and I think the answer is obvious. Either it's because
19:47
Speaker 3: they heard what I said on the debate stage that
19:49
Speaker 3: the man yields to favor and flattery, so say he
19:53
Speaker 3: should get a Nobel Peace Prize, or because they want
19:58
Speaker 3: a merger approved, or they want to avoid an investigation,
20:05
Speaker 3: or they just think that I don't know, they're going
20:07
Speaker 3: to lose their house in the Hamptons and they're yacht,
20:11
Speaker 3: they'll be okay, But the level of fear and the
20:20
Speaker 3: thing that I have to say is whether it be
20:23
Speaker 3: members of Congress, including members of the president's on party,
20:27
Speaker 3: or those CEOs or titans of industry, this is the
20:30
Speaker 3: thing that's so is so troubling and disappointing. Doesn't begin
20:36
Speaker 3: to explain it. They know it's not right. They know
20:41
Speaker 3: it's not right. It's not like we have to evangelize
20:46
Speaker 3: about a good number of these people who are doing
20:49
Speaker 3: nothing or are yielding. They know it's not right, but
20:54
Speaker 3: they're feckless. They are not willing to stand up and right, baby,
21:02
Speaker 3: that's right.
21:10
Speaker 2: I know you said why, but but why like like
21:14
Speaker 2: like seriously, has America always been a house of cars?
21:16
Speaker 2: Have these people just been, you know, waiting for their
21:18
Speaker 2: opportunity to show who they really are?
21:20
Speaker 1: Like?
21:20
Speaker 3: What is it? But I do believe that it is
21:23
Speaker 3: about power. It is about power. And this this is
21:29
Speaker 3: not new to America. It is probably the most blatant
21:33
Speaker 3: example in recent history. But it is and this is
21:36
Speaker 3: why I again say, but the greatest power is with
21:40
Speaker 3: the people, and we will continue to know that and
21:44
Speaker 3: exert that. But we we got some work to do
21:48
Speaker 3: that is about us, kind of like getting some rest
21:52
Speaker 3: after that last election and then getting back out there
21:55
Speaker 3: tomorrow is a is a big day, no.
21:58
Speaker 4: Kings rally, right, right, Let's look at it in terms
22:07
Speaker 4: of I mean most recently that that win.
22:11
Speaker 3: This again, the person in the White House who has
22:15
Speaker 3: just got this fragile little ego, so sensitive and could
22:25
Speaker 3: not take the jokes of a political satirest so uses
22:31
Speaker 3: a r e the FCC, a federal agency which is
22:36
Speaker 3: the people's agency, to threaten retribution and they take the
22:44
Speaker 3: man off the air of political satires. But what happened
22:49
Speaker 3: The people spoke with your pocketbooks. That's right. And Kimmel
22:55
Speaker 3: is back on the stage.
22:59
Speaker 1: Right by the way, I loved Kamala Harris. I mean
23:05
Speaker 1: this is the one.
23:11
Speaker 2: When when you were writing the book, did you think
23:14
Speaker 2: about the critics who say you're too overly cautious and
23:17
Speaker 2: you play it too safe.
23:18
Speaker 3: I didn't write it for them. What we're in.
23:30
Speaker 2: Why why is it so hard for a lot of
23:33
Speaker 2: politicians to just like defire the political fight a political
23:36
Speaker 2: script and just say what they really feel, especially in
23:40
Speaker 2: the position you were in.
23:44
Speaker 3: You know, first of all, I think that it's really
23:46
Speaker 3: important that people know where they stand, and especially at
23:51
Speaker 3: this moment in time, and if you if you understand
23:54
Speaker 3: where you are grounded in terms of your morals and
23:59
Speaker 3: your values and your principles, this is not a time
24:02
Speaker 3: to splice and dice words. It's a time to speak truth.
24:09
Speaker 3: And that's what people need to do. And by the way,
24:11
Speaker 3: and let's not put all the let's not put all
24:13
Speaker 3: the responsibility only on Democrats though, because everybody needs to
24:18
Speaker 3: speak truth. And that gets back to my point about
24:22
Speaker 3: what's happening in the Republican Party. I served in the
24:27
Speaker 3: Senate for four years. I served in Congress as a
24:30
Speaker 3: United States Senator, and I know, I know how some
24:35
Speaker 3: of these folks think, and I know they know what's
24:37
Speaker 3: happening is wrong. But there I guess into self preservation
24:43
Speaker 3: as their first priority over the oath they took to
24:45
Speaker 3: the Constitution of the United States, and that's a shame.
24:49
Speaker 3: And then and there are the ones, and then there
24:52
Speaker 3: are also to make the point. They are also the
24:54
Speaker 3: ones who have decided not to run for reelection because
24:58
Speaker 3: they can't stand and to be in that environment where
25:02
Speaker 3: they are suppressed. Talk about being silenced from going against
25:07
Speaker 3: the herd. Because one of the things that the Republican
25:11
Speaker 3: Party does very well is discipline and you know, fall
25:16
Speaker 3: in line. They do that very well, and you know,
25:21
Speaker 3: one could argue that that's part of the genius of
25:23
Speaker 3: their success. But I don't know if that's part of
25:25
Speaker 3: what we think of as being who we are the
25:27
Speaker 3: spirit of Americans and who we are as Americans, which
25:31
Speaker 3: is to stand up for what we believe is right
25:34
Speaker 3: and for the principles of our constitution, like our count
25:39
Speaker 3: equality and freedom and fairness and justice.
25:42
Speaker 2: I guess that's what's scary when you talk about you know,
25:44
Speaker 2: you know, these people are thinking about self preservation because
25:46
Speaker 2: they're moving like there's not an election next year, there's
25:50
Speaker 2: not an election in twenty twenty eight. Like they're moving
25:52
Speaker 2: like you know what this is gonna be, He's gonna be.
25:54
Speaker 1: Here for a while.
25:57
Speaker 3: I don't know if that's right. I think that there
26:01
Speaker 3: are First of all, i'd say that part of the punditry,
26:05
Speaker 3: the political pundits that I think I would like them
26:10
Speaker 3: to think differently. I'm getting kind of bored with the
26:14
Speaker 3: whole chatter, especially on cable news, that is this whole
26:18
Speaker 3: like savior complex. Who is the Savior? Who is the one?
26:25
Speaker 3: Where's the Messiah? We have a lot of stars in
26:31
Speaker 3: the party. We have a lot of stars. And instead
26:35
Speaker 3: of everyone spending full time just getting themselves all twisted
26:41
Speaker 3: up about who is the one? What is the one?
26:45
Speaker 3: See that we have so many and let's see what
26:49
Speaker 3: where our riches are and go out with a sense
26:53
Speaker 3: of the fight that is grounded in what we know
26:55
Speaker 3: to be right, and instead of all these circular conversations.
27:00
Speaker 3: I find it actually at this point quite boring.
27:02
Speaker 2: These pundits might be really calling for Jesus at a
27:05
Speaker 2: time like this, though they might.
27:08
Speaker 3: Well, I'm just talking about the people who are on
27:10
Speaker 3: earth right now.
27:18
Speaker 2: How much how much of Kamala Harris in this book
27:22
Speaker 2: is the politician and how much is the woman who's
27:24
Speaker 2: just who just don't give.
27:25
Speaker 1: A f no more.
27:31
Speaker 3: I'm the same person that I've always been, and so
27:39
Speaker 3: that's just it.
27:41
Speaker 1: Do you do you? We cannot hear you. You don't
27:44
Speaker 1: know what you say?
27:47
Speaker 2: Do you feel like the Democratic Party truly supported your
27:50
Speaker 2: leadership or they just relieved you could study the ship
27:53
Speaker 2: after Biden stepped aside.
27:55
Speaker 3: But that's a big thing to say the Democratic Party there.
28:00
Speaker 1: Was what a Biden administration?
28:03
Speaker 3: Well, I write about it instry. I write about how
28:06
Speaker 3: I felt about people in their answers feel like. But
28:15
Speaker 3: here's the thing. If we think about where we are
28:17
Speaker 3: now and moving forward, we've got to have the fight
28:22
Speaker 3: in us and we have to understand that this is
28:26
Speaker 3: not a time for sitting around complaining about all they
28:28
Speaker 3: are cheating. They're just not fair, they're not playing by
28:33
Speaker 3: the rules. We need to fight fire with fire.
28:36
Speaker 1: There we go.
28:38
Speaker 3: We need to fight fire with fire. So when I
28:43
Speaker 3: look at where the Democratic Party is today, that's what
28:46
Speaker 3: I applaud those who are understanding that this is not
28:52
Speaker 3: a time to try and be the ones who are
28:56
Speaker 3: holding up the standard when they are stealing our lunch.
29:02
Speaker 3: We will not compromise our values or principles. These things
29:06
Speaker 3: can coexist where we have our principles and our values,
29:10
Speaker 3: but we know how to roll up our sleeves and
29:12
Speaker 3: throw a punch instead of just taking a punch.
29:15
Speaker 2: Her I wish we asked Johnny Walker or something, because this.
29:25
Speaker 3: Is good anybody that's.
29:31
Speaker 2: The that's literally the only thing that like like for me,
29:34
Speaker 2: it's like this is this is the Kamala Harris we
29:37
Speaker 2: all know and we love, and this is why we
29:40
Speaker 2: like seeing you just be honest at a time like this. Now,
29:46
Speaker 2: another thing I want to talk about, Like we've all
29:48
Speaker 2: seen the clips of people interrupting you at these book events, right,
29:53
Speaker 2: please nobody do that tonight?
29:54
Speaker 1: All right?
29:56
Speaker 2: And it always makes me wonder if they've read the book,
30:00
Speaker 2: like the people who are in supportive palt us not,
30:01
Speaker 2: have they actually read the book? Because in the book
30:03
Speaker 2: you called Biden's comments on Gaza inadequate and forced. What
30:08
Speaker 2: word would you use to describe the administration's role in
30:14
Speaker 2: that moment?
30:17
Speaker 3: I firmly believe we could have done more. We had
30:28
Speaker 3: a certain level of leverage that we did not exercise.
30:32
Speaker 3: Whether it was about what we did in terms of
30:36
Speaker 3: supplying support at what level? It about what about speaking
30:44
Speaker 3: publicly about what we knew to be wrong? I think
30:48
Speaker 3: we could have done more and should have.
30:52
Speaker 2: Did you ever feel complicit in decisions as right? Did
30:56
Speaker 2: you ever feel complicit in decisions that went against your conscience?
31:02
Speaker 3: I the people in the administration were very clear about
31:07
Speaker 3: how it felt.
31:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, you wrote that Net and Yahoo wanted Trump in
31:19
Speaker 2: the seat across from him, not you, not Joe. So
31:23
Speaker 2: what do you think that's said about how foreign leaders
31:25
Speaker 2: really view, you know, the current administration and the Biden administration.
31:31
Speaker 3: I think, and I again, for the sake of repetition,
31:36
Speaker 3: I predicted it, and it's exactly what we're saying. I
31:41
Speaker 3: said on the debate stage, they one are laughing at us.
31:48
Speaker 3: If you look at it in the context of, again
31:51
Speaker 3: a disgraceful speech that the president gave before the United Nations.
31:58
Speaker 3: He did it when he was president the first time,
32:00
Speaker 3: and again was disgraceful. You look at it in terms
32:06
Speaker 3: of the whole flattery or favor. He accepted a plane,
32:18
Speaker 3: the president of the United States, from a foreign government.
32:25
Speaker 3: Remember we all learned back in the day, what is
32:28
Speaker 3: a trojan horse? Some people might call it a jet plane.
32:34
Speaker 3: I'd call it a trojan horse. And let me tell
32:37
Speaker 3: you something. I spent four years flying around the world
32:41
Speaker 3: on Air Force two and taking very important, highly classified
32:48
Speaker 3: meetings with the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, generals
32:55
Speaker 3: and others in an environment on that plane that was
33:01
Speaker 3: highly protected for those classified conversations, because you can only
33:06
Speaker 3: imagine how much foreign governments want to have access to
33:12
Speaker 3: our classified information which we possess in the best interest
33:17
Speaker 3: of our national security. And this man wants a big
33:21
Speaker 3: plane so bad because you know, his plane is not
33:25
Speaker 3: that big, that Trump plane, and he wants it so
33:30
Speaker 3: he can have it when he's out of office. They
33:33
Speaker 3: talk about giving it to the library. You know who's
33:36
Speaker 3: going to be flying around on that plane. And this
33:41
Speaker 3: is on top of remember early on they were using
33:44
Speaker 3: Signal Charlemagne to plan out war plans. We would get
33:52
Speaker 3: ourselves out of bed in the middle of the night,
33:56
Speaker 3: all of us wherever we were to go to what
33:59
Speaker 3: it was called what it's called a skiff, which is
34:01
Speaker 3: a secure facility, or go to the situation room to
34:05
Speaker 3: have those conversations. These people are so lazy that they're
34:11
Speaker 3: sitting back texting each other about war plans, and then
34:16
Speaker 3: so dumb to not know a reporter as in the
34:18
Speaker 3: tax chain.
34:23
Speaker 5: With our national security interests at stake, And if it
34:28
Speaker 5: weren't so incredibly harmful, it would be the thing of
34:35
Speaker 5: a great comedy sketch.
34:38
Speaker 1: It will be any but it's extre.
34:41
Speaker 3: And this is the thing about having people who don't
34:49
Speaker 3: fully appreciate the strength and power and therefore solemn responsibility
34:58
Speaker 3: that comes with these issus that it is not about them,
35:03
Speaker 3: It is about you, It is about us. It is
35:06
Speaker 3: about we the people. And that is what is so tragic.
35:12
Speaker 3: Put aside personalities, put aside egos or lack thereof, the
35:19
Speaker 3: matters that we are discussing are such a grave and
35:23
Speaker 3: important nature that to have people who do not understand
35:31
Speaker 3: the that they possess the power in the public trust
35:37
Speaker 3: and to instead be convinced of their personal entitlement is
35:43
Speaker 3: so incredibly dangerous to who we are as a country. Well,
35:49
Speaker 3: let's save each other. That we're here to save each other.
35:53
Speaker 3: We are doing this together. We have midterms coming up,
35:59
Speaker 3: and we have local, state, and federal elections, and this
36:04
Speaker 3: is a time for us we cannot afford to. Let's
36:09
Speaker 3: never let anybody take our power from us. Let's never
36:13
Speaker 3: let anybody or situation take our power from us. It
36:17
Speaker 3: is ours. And whether it is just read or amping
36:23
Speaker 3: up the engagement with our friends, our neighbors, our cousins
36:27
Speaker 3: and play cousins, whether it be what we do to
36:32
Speaker 3: you know, be more active in our church or where
36:34
Speaker 3: we pray, whether it be to get more involved in
36:38
Speaker 3: nonprofit organizations which are so thinly spread right now, and
36:42
Speaker 3: being attacked by this administration, and then and then being
36:47
Speaker 3: a part of whether it be peaceful protests or or
36:50
Speaker 3: getting involved in the next election cycle. Let's not seed
36:55
Speaker 3: our power. Let's not seed our power, because then they win.
37:00
Speaker 3: We cannot let our spirit be defeated. Then they win.
37:05
Speaker 3: So that's the charge for us. All We will get
37:10
Speaker 3: through this, but I cannot guarantee it won't get worse
37:12
Speaker 3: before it gets better. Right, So let's be clear eyed.
37:17
Speaker 1: How much worse do you think it could get?
37:20
Speaker 3: I mean, God only knows every day, something is happening
37:24
Speaker 3: every single day, and so I don't know how much
37:31
Speaker 3: worse it can get. But we should assume it's going
37:33
Speaker 3: to get worse, and maybe much worse. And so let's
37:38
Speaker 3: be braced to some extent. And then But the other
37:42
Speaker 3: thing that is so critically important for us and for
37:45
Speaker 3: the young people in our lives is to not allow
37:49
Speaker 3: them to have us normalize this. There is nothing normal
37:54
Speaker 3: about what is happening right now. Nothing normal.
37:59
Speaker 2: That is a great point, But I mean a lot
38:01
Speaker 2: of these young people don't have anything else to compare
38:03
Speaker 2: it to. So that's the scariest part, right, like this
38:06
Speaker 2: is their normal. They may just accept it as such.
38:10
Speaker 3: That's right, and that's where we have a collective responsibility
38:15
Speaker 3: to help them know otherwise. I've just met with a
38:19
Speaker 3: young group of brilliant young people here in Birmingham this
38:23
Speaker 3: afternoon and you know, they were talking with me, for example,
38:27
Speaker 3: about the fact that their main source of information is online.
38:32
Speaker 3: They're not really read they're not reading legacy media at all.
38:36
Speaker 3: They're not reading the paper, whether it be online or otherwise.
38:40
Speaker 3: Most of what they are also receiving is video. But
38:46
Speaker 3: good for them, and they were between about age eighteen
38:49
Speaker 3: and twenty two, and they are This was something that
38:54
Speaker 3: again my optimism. They know that they are being fed
39:00
Speaker 3: information that is for a large part inaccurate. They know it,
39:06
Speaker 3: and so what they're asking is where can they go
39:09
Speaker 3: for accurate information? And that's the charge that each of
39:14
Speaker 3: us has, right And then it is you know, whether
39:16
Speaker 3: it be what we're reading, whether it be Associated Press,
39:20
Speaker 3: New York Times, other what we have. You know, those
39:23
Speaker 3: of us of an older generation were not let's say
39:26
Speaker 3: gen Z. That's where we have an added responsibility, as
39:31
Speaker 3: we always will have to those who are coming up,
39:34
Speaker 3: to share with them our knowledge not only about fact
39:38
Speaker 3: but also history, especially when there are full on attacks
39:43
Speaker 3: to rewrite history and revise history according to their perspective
39:51
Speaker 3: on what we should be teaching.
39:54
Speaker 2: Oh, I want to go back to Palatine for one second,
39:56
Speaker 2: because you said something in the book, and I've been
39:58
Speaker 2: wanting to ask you just how did you emotionally reconcile
40:02
Speaker 2: working in an administration that, in your words, didn't fully
40:06
Speaker 2: express empathy for Palestinians.
40:09
Speaker 3: It was very difficult. I mean I so I was
40:16
Speaker 3: in conversations where, for example, you know that five months
40:25
Speaker 3: into the war, I gave a speech at the foot
40:30
Speaker 3: of the Edmund Pettis Bridge on the commemoration of Bloody Sunday,
40:36
Speaker 3: and I write about this. I gave a speech and
40:40
Speaker 3: I was the first at the highest level of our
40:43
Speaker 3: administration to talk about the fact that Palestinians were starving,
40:50
Speaker 3: and it was not received well within the White House
40:54
Speaker 3: that I did that I spoke of ceasefire months. This
40:59
Speaker 3: was a year and a half ago at least, and
41:06
Speaker 3: I I couldn't not speak about it as much as
41:11
Speaker 3: I could but I was not president. I would be
41:17
Speaker 3: in conversations where, for example, about the starvation issued. You know,
41:22
Speaker 3: early on it became very clear that there was no
41:26
Speaker 3: running water or clean water, and then people would start
41:30
Speaker 3: and this was when Israel it was allowing the government
41:34
Speaker 3: of Israel. Let me say, the government of Israel was
41:37
Speaker 3: allowing humanitarian aid and I would say, look, so they
41:43
Speaker 3: would talk about this many tons of flour and I
41:48
Speaker 3: literally said in one of the meetings, look, I cook.
41:52
Speaker 3: So let me tell you, you can't do a thing
41:53
Speaker 3: with flower if you don't have water. So what are
41:57
Speaker 3: we talking about in terms of what are they actually eating?
42:02
Speaker 3: To be very specific about it, I asked, like, what
42:06
Speaker 3: are women doing around their monthly needs?
42:11
Speaker 1: What?
42:12
Speaker 3: And you know, and usually it was a room full
42:14
Speaker 3: of men who don't have never experienced monthly needs in
42:18
Speaker 3: that way.
42:19
Speaker 1: I would hope not that would be different.
42:22
Speaker 3: Well, but you understand my point. So it was. It was.
42:27
Speaker 3: It was very challenging.
42:29
Speaker 2: Is that one of the most challenging things when you
42:32
Speaker 2: know you have all of these people out here who
42:34
Speaker 2: believe in you and want to support you, and they
42:36
Speaker 2: don't know what it is you're doing behind the scenes,
42:40
Speaker 2: like behind the scenes, you're having these fights, behind the scenes,
42:42
Speaker 2: you're having these you know, discussions, but the people don't.
42:45
Speaker 3: Know that, right And and that is sadly the nature
42:50
Speaker 3: of the work that I do and have done. That
42:54
Speaker 3: not everything I know can I speak, especially if it's
42:58
Speaker 3: obviously the classified nature. Plus as I write, it is
43:02
Speaker 3: very important. I believe that in the relationship between the
43:07
Speaker 3: president and vice president that there be a safe zone
43:12
Speaker 3: of having conversations. They're not going to be shared. And
43:17
Speaker 3: and I maintain that that is very important.
43:19
Speaker 1: What about when you know the president is dead wrong?
43:22
Speaker 3: What about?
43:23
Speaker 1: What what about when you know the president is just
43:25
Speaker 1: dead wrong?
43:26
Speaker 3: Well, if there is a disagreement, then there has to
43:30
Speaker 3: be candor in that, and and that's what I engage in.
43:43
Speaker 2: You know, Uh, Governor jos Shapirou, you talk about you
43:46
Speaker 2: talk about him in the book, and you said that
43:49
Speaker 2: you feel like he might be overly ambitious?
43:52
Speaker 1: Am I using the right words?
43:54
Speaker 3: That's not what I said, That's not your character. But
44:00
Speaker 3: you might have what was what was well read open
44:02
Speaker 3: the book?
44:03
Speaker 1: I think it was. I thought it would overly ambitious?
44:10
Speaker 1: Oh yes, yes, uh too ambitious?
44:14
Speaker 3: Maybe refer to the words I actually use and then
44:18
Speaker 3: get to your point.
44:21
Speaker 1: The point.
44:21
Speaker 2: The point is really more and more so about you though,
44:24
Speaker 2: like you know, that's some of the things that the
44:25
Speaker 2: criticism they had about you, is that you might be
44:28
Speaker 2: too ambitious, and you know, the president always had to
44:30
Speaker 2: watch his back.
44:33
Speaker 3: So there is a saying in the White House lore
44:39
Speaker 3: has it. Whether it's true or not, it's it's It
44:43
Speaker 3: is repeated over many administrations in the years, which is
44:48
Speaker 3: that the outgoing chief of staff of the President of
44:52
Speaker 3: the United States will say to the incoming chief of staff,
44:56
Speaker 3: to the incoming president, I says, regardless of party rule,
44:59
Speaker 3: number one watched the vice president. And as I write
45:05
Speaker 3: in the book, part of the dynamic that I was
45:11
Speaker 3: aware of coming into the White House as vice President
45:15
Speaker 3: was I had obviously run against the president and that
45:20
Speaker 3: there may still be not on his behalf, but others
45:23
Speaker 3: some hard feelings about that. But here's how I feel
45:26
Speaker 3: about the subject that you are raising, which is ambition.
45:30
Speaker 3: I applaud ambition in people, and I think that part
45:34
Speaker 3: of the challenge that we face is to look at someone,
45:39
Speaker 3: especially our young people, and say their ambition is a
45:44
Speaker 3: bad thing, as though it is a fault of character,
45:47
Speaker 3: instead of a strength of character to suggest that somehow,
45:51
Speaker 3: if someone has ambition, we've conflated ambition with blind ambition.
45:58
Speaker 3: Somehow it's bad. I encourage people to have ambition. I
46:03
Speaker 3: think it is a good thing. I think it's part
46:05
Speaker 3: of the American spirit to believe in what is possible,
46:09
Speaker 3: to go for it, to roll up your sleeves. You know,
46:13
Speaker 3: I have. I have lived my career and tried to
46:16
Speaker 3: live my career where I don't hear no. I hear
46:19
Speaker 3: no maybe the tenth time. I like to joke I
46:22
Speaker 3: eat no for breakfast. I've mentored a lot of people
46:27
Speaker 3: over the years, including now, and I tell them you don't.
46:31
Speaker 3: And you know, somebody actually has the sweatshirt with one
46:34
Speaker 3: of the sayings for my mother on it, which is
46:36
Speaker 3: you don't ever let anybody tell you who you are.
46:39
Speaker 3: You tell them who you are. Right. I think that
46:44
Speaker 3: is a good thing. So there you go.
46:49
Speaker 1: And I mean, you should scare people when you walk
46:51
Speaker 1: in rough.
46:53
Speaker 3: Do I scare you?
46:54
Speaker 1: Yes?
46:55
Speaker 3: You know about trying to scare people. I'm not trying
47:02
Speaker 3: to scare people at all.
47:03
Speaker 1: Have you spoken to President Biden? Have you read the book?
47:06
Speaker 3: I have talked to him, And yeah, I mean he's
47:09
Speaker 3: most recently, and we should all say a prayer for
47:13
Speaker 3: his strong and full recovery. He's battling cancer right now
47:20
Speaker 3: and he is a fighter. He is a fighter.
47:25
Speaker 1: So how do you feel about you telling you truth?
47:29
Speaker 3: I think he has. I think he's been actually very
47:32
Speaker 3: supportive of me telling my truth. Joe Biden is a
47:36
Speaker 3: good man. He is a very good man.
47:40
Speaker 1: He really is.
47:41
Speaker 3: He really is, and he was a good president and
47:45
Speaker 3: he was a good president.
47:50
Speaker 2: Did how did you reconcile protecting President Biden as your
47:54
Speaker 2: friend but also protecting you know, the country as a leader, meaning.
48:00
Speaker 1: That you know when you saw things starting to slip?
48:03
Speaker 1: You know, I didn't.
48:06
Speaker 3: I don't know what you're talking about, Charlie Well President,
48:10
Speaker 3: I did not see him start to slip in one way.
48:14
Speaker 3: That's not what I what I talk about is about that.
48:17
Speaker 3: Let's again, at that moment where everyone was just piling
48:22
Speaker 3: on him, I was not about to participate in piling
48:25
Speaker 3: on number one. Number two. That don't let's not mistake
48:33
Speaker 3: whether someone has the ability to govern versus the vigor
48:38
Speaker 3: that one might want in a candidate for election, because
48:43
Speaker 3: those are two different things. And I never questioned, nor
48:48
Speaker 3: do I on reflection his capacity to have been president.
48:53
Speaker 2: But you did say in the book that you didn't
48:55
Speaker 2: think his decision to run again should have just been
48:57
Speaker 2: his and his alone.
48:58
Speaker 3: That's a different point.
49:01
Speaker 2: I did so with that said, how do you reconcile
49:04
Speaker 2: being his friend but also knowing what's best for the country.
49:09
Speaker 3: What's best for the country in the context of an election,
49:12
Speaker 3: is what you mean. I think that he I said
49:17
Speaker 3: what I meant, which is on reflection. I think that
49:23
Speaker 3: there that it was we should have and I and
49:29
Speaker 3: I take I'm going to speak for myself that I
49:34
Speaker 3: perhaps should have said something to him about that, suggesting
49:39
Speaker 3: he reconsider running. And there are a number of reasons
49:45
Speaker 3: I did not, including that I did believe that to
49:50
Speaker 3: do that would come off as being very self serving
49:53
Speaker 3: and therefore not effective. But it was a conversation that
49:59
Speaker 3: should have and had.
50:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought you said you thought it would be
50:03
Speaker 1: self serving.
50:06
Speaker 3: Yes, I'm vice president of the United States at the time.
50:08
Speaker 2: But you actually would be looking out for the needs
50:11
Speaker 2: of the country.
50:12
Speaker 3: I'm talking about how it would be interpreted.
50:14
Speaker 2: Oh got you got you got you got you got
50:16
Speaker 2: you got you got you.
50:18
Speaker 3: And therefore would it have been an effective conversation. I
50:21
Speaker 3: don't believe that you have a conversation just because you
50:23
Speaker 3: want to get something off of your chest. You also
50:26
Speaker 3: have to, I think, be engaged and is it going
50:28
Speaker 3: to be productive? And that was my point.
50:35
Speaker 2: Another thing I got from the book, especially early on,
50:39
Speaker 2: do you feel like you are loyal to a default
50:42
Speaker 2: at least in this situation.
50:44
Speaker 3: I am a loyal person and I don't apologize for that,
50:48
Speaker 3: but it can be I suppose a weakness, but it's
50:53
Speaker 3: my nature.
50:55
Speaker 2: I got a couple of audience questions. Okay, Cherrelle Garyl.
51:00
Speaker 2: She says, the Voting Rights Act has long symbolized.
51:03
Speaker 3: Pronounce your name right, Chiel, There you are Hi.
51:06
Speaker 1: It's Cherrelle Cherrell, Charrell Gal.
51:09
Speaker 2: The Voting Rights Act has long symbolized the promise of
51:12
Speaker 2: equal access to democracy. As those protections are being rolled back,
51:16
Speaker 2: how do we ensure that our generation doesn't just defend
51:19
Speaker 2: that promise, which scrimtens it.
51:24
Speaker 3: So I think everyone saw, and if not, I'd invite
51:28
Speaker 3: everyone over the weekend if you have some time to
51:30
Speaker 3: take a look at those arguments before the Supreme Court
51:32
Speaker 3: this week. They're trying to wholesale get rid of the
51:36
Speaker 3: voting Rights Act. And I have to say to you,
51:43
Speaker 3: as a young leader, that part of your legacy being
51:48
Speaker 3: here in Birmingham is that it is young leaders who
51:53
Speaker 3: imagined and dreamed that you would be here right now
51:56
Speaker 3: that are the from this region and from this place
52:00
Speaker 3: that are the reason that we got the Voting Rights
52:02
Speaker 3: Act in the first place. And it is part of
52:10
Speaker 3: your legacy to fight to maintain as best as we
52:15
Speaker 3: can those protections. But right now we are witnessing a
52:19
Speaker 3: reversal of those hard fought rights that the American people
52:26
Speaker 3: should have to have access to the polls as a
52:29
Speaker 3: way to express their voice through their vote about the
52:33
Speaker 3: future of their country and their government. The arguments that
52:38
Speaker 3: happened in the United States Supreme Court this week, I've
52:41
Speaker 3: just started to review them. I must try and spend
52:43
Speaker 3: some time this weekend reading it in whole. But it's
52:46
Speaker 3: outrageous and it's basically around a case out of Louisiana,
52:53
Speaker 3: where I believe there are six congressional seats in Louisiana,
52:58
Speaker 3: and I believe that tho they decided in Louisiana that
53:02
Speaker 3: they only had one that had a black representative to Congress,
53:07
Speaker 3: and they would expand it to two. And now there
53:10
Speaker 3: are a bunch of plainists saying no, that the Voting
53:13
Speaker 3: Rights Acts Section two should not apply and get rid
53:16
Speaker 3: of that which will affect it is estimated of I'm
53:20
Speaker 3: going to get the number approximately right, but just under
53:23
Speaker 3: about ten democratic seats will be wiped out. Where we
53:29
Speaker 3: think the ruling is headed actually goes to that place.
53:33
Speaker 3: And that's where it's going to be about you and
53:38
Speaker 3: all of us as leaders, regardless of our age, to
53:41
Speaker 3: stand up in particular around what we do around local
53:44
Speaker 3: elections congressional elections, to fight for these protections because they
53:48
Speaker 3: are very much under attack right now. And it's a
53:51
Speaker 3: cry and shame. It's a crime and shame when again
53:55
Speaker 3: to your point, Charlemagne, they're so blatantly apologetically trying to
54:02
Speaker 3: roll back the advances we've made in civil rights. And
54:06
Speaker 3: again this suggestion that civil rights are just for some,
54:11
Speaker 3: they're for all of us. Everybody benefits when each other's
54:16
Speaker 3: civil rights are protected. Everyone benefits. And that's part of
54:21
Speaker 3: the scapegoating and gas lighting that's happening right now. So
54:26
Speaker 3: we're counting on you, and I know you. I've just
54:29
Speaker 3: put a heavy burden on you. Welcome to the club.
54:36
Speaker 3: And I'm glad you're here. Thank you.
54:38
Speaker 1: You mentioned a Supreme couote. Why do we still act
54:40
Speaker 1: like they're legitimate institution.
54:44
Speaker 3: Because we want them to be, because we want them
54:48
Speaker 3: to be. But you're right, I mean, this is about
54:51
Speaker 3: back to the point about this has been decades in
54:53
Speaker 3: the making. We are where we are because of an
54:58
Speaker 3: agenda that has been in about longstanding jerry mandering, taking
55:04
Speaker 3: over state houses, manipulating who receives judicial appointments. This is
55:15
Speaker 3: all we are seeing, like I said, the implementation of
55:20
Speaker 3: a plan that has been a long time in the making,
55:24
Speaker 3: and we have to see where it is heading to
55:27
Speaker 3: know where we have to head. And that includes, for example,
55:32
Speaker 3: I think part of the mistake, at least in hindsight,
55:40
Speaker 3: is we drop the ball on what was happening at
55:44
Speaker 3: a local and state level. And that's part of the
55:48
Speaker 3: price we're paying. And that relates to everything from who
55:53
Speaker 3: you elect as your local sheriff to mayor, to governor,
55:57
Speaker 3: to your state house representative and what we all need
56:02
Speaker 3: to do and I think we have allowed and it's
56:07
Speaker 3: all of us is I'm not pointing a finger at
56:09
Speaker 3: anyone in particular, but the future of our democracy is
56:14
Speaker 3: not only going to be determined by who sits in
56:16
Speaker 3: the White House, it is all of these positions, and
56:21
Speaker 3: therefore we do have power at a local level. We
56:24
Speaker 3: do have school board elections for goodness sakes so important
56:29
Speaker 3: when we think about the future of where we're putting
56:32
Speaker 3: resources in the education of our children, and are we
56:35
Speaker 3: actually teaching them about the history of the Voting Rights Act,
56:38
Speaker 3: and are we teaching them about the history of who
56:42
Speaker 3: we are not to mention civics around three co equal
56:45
Speaker 3: branches of government to your point, and the need for
56:49
Speaker 3: the safeguards and the backstops.
56:52
Speaker 1: We'll go back to all these questions because we running
56:54
Speaker 1: out of time.
56:55
Speaker 2: But if Democrats knew what Republicans were planning all of
56:59
Speaker 2: these is where was the defense? If you knew what
57:02
Speaker 2: their offense was going to be, where was the defense.
57:04
Speaker 3: I think that we have to see what happened and
57:08
Speaker 3: know what we need to do in the future. I
57:10
Speaker 3: think you're right. I mean, one could argue, how could
57:13
Speaker 3: this just how could this happen? Yes, I think that's
57:16
Speaker 3: a fair question. I think that's a fair question.
57:18
Speaker 1: Because y'all talking about Project twenty twenty five.
57:20
Speaker 2: What of January first, coming, we get A twenty twenty six,
57:22
Speaker 2: and then the Project twenty twenty seven and the Project
57:24
Speaker 2: twenty twenty eight, they might have this whole thing.
57:26
Speaker 3: You are absolutely correct, and that's why the moment, the
57:30
Speaker 3: present moment, requires us to be active and see what's
57:35
Speaker 3: right in front of us and deal with that with
57:38
Speaker 3: an I to work where we need to go. For example,
57:40
Speaker 3: part of what I have been thinking a lot about
57:43
Speaker 3: in terms of where we are now in the future,
57:46
Speaker 3: I think a lot about gen Z and I'll tell
57:50
Speaker 3: you why. First of all, they are gen Z as
57:55
Speaker 3: a population of people demographically are larger in number than Boomers,
58:02
Speaker 3: So boomers handle that there are more of them. They
58:10
Speaker 3: are between about age thirteen and twenty seven twenty eight.
58:15
Speaker 3: And then think about them as a generation they've only
58:19
Speaker 3: known the climate crisis, incredibly important phases of their education
58:25
Speaker 3: because of the pandemic, we're taken from them around education, socialization.
58:32
Speaker 3: If you think about the pandemic in terms of the
58:35
Speaker 3: statistics which I remain, I believe it's still true. One
58:39
Speaker 3: in four Black Americans lost a family member to COVID
58:43
Speaker 3: and what that meant in terms of trauma experienced in
58:47
Speaker 3: a family. You look at it in terms of the
58:50
Speaker 3: fact that it is estimated gen Z when they graduate,
58:54
Speaker 3: be it high school or college, will probably have up
58:56
Speaker 3: to ten to twelve jobs in their lifetime. Previous generations
59:01
Speaker 3: we could expect when we came out of high school,
59:04
Speaker 3: came out of college, we'd have one job and that's
59:06
Speaker 3: where we would retire. Okay, So many of our students,
59:11
Speaker 3: if they're in college, for example, they're not sure if
59:15
Speaker 3: what they're studying now by the day they graduate, be
59:19
Speaker 3: that next year or in three or four years, will
59:22
Speaker 3: actually lead to an employable job and work. And so
59:28
Speaker 3: I say all that to say that they are They're
59:32
Speaker 3: having a very specific experience. They are also, as I
59:38
Speaker 3: have come to know them and have members of that
59:40
Speaker 3: generation in my family, incredibly impatient. They are not sitting
59:47
Speaker 3: around waiting for us to figure it out, and they
59:50
Speaker 3: have a stake in what's happening right now. Part of
59:56
Speaker 3: what I think about the future of the Democratic Party
59:58
Speaker 3: as it relates to gen Z, I actually am here
1:00:02
Speaker 3: to say I believe that part of what we need
1:00:04
Speaker 3: to do to fix things is lower the voting age
1:00:07
Speaker 3: to sixteen. I think we should sit with that for
1:00:14
Speaker 3: a minute. I see some people need to I think
1:00:18
Speaker 3: we should lower the national voting age to sixteen, because
1:00:24
Speaker 3: if we are talking with our young people about what
1:00:27
Speaker 3: is important, they will tell us everything that is about
1:00:31
Speaker 3: tomorrow in the next five and ten and twenty years,
1:00:34
Speaker 3: They'll lay it all out for us. They are not
1:00:38
Speaker 3: invested in the way things have been. They are not
1:00:41
Speaker 3: benefiting from tradition or status quo as it has existed
1:00:44
Speaker 3: for decades. They're right now, present and very clear eyed
1:00:50
Speaker 3: about how we need to address the future. And if
1:00:54
Speaker 3: we give them the power to make decisions about who
1:00:59
Speaker 3: isn't elected office and allow them to help inform the priorities,
1:01:04
Speaker 3: I think our future is brighter. Wow, I think our
1:01:07
Speaker 3: future is brighter.
1:01:09
Speaker 1: I had another audience question. Her name is Lindsey Hall.
1:01:12
Speaker 2: She's seventeen, but I feel like you already answered it
1:01:15
Speaker 2: because her question was, I have always been afraid of
1:01:17
Speaker 2: speaking up first. So what advice would you give young
1:01:19
Speaker 2: women like myself who want to lead but feel afraid
1:01:22
Speaker 2: of being.
1:01:23
Speaker 1: Labeled too ambitious?
1:01:24
Speaker 3: Where are you?
1:01:25
Speaker 1: Where you at? Lindsay where?
1:01:28
Speaker 4: Wait?
1:01:28
Speaker 3: Let's see where it's where? Wait? Turnle you up there?
1:01:35
Speaker 3: Oh there you are?
1:01:37
Speaker 1: Oh she all the way up there?
1:01:38
Speaker 3: Wow? Right there?
1:01:40
Speaker 1: What's up, Lindsey.
1:01:42
Speaker 3: Okay, first of all, can we all applaud Lindsay please
1:01:44
Speaker 3: for being here. So I think first thing first, I
1:01:55
Speaker 3: want you to hear and remember what you just heard
1:01:57
Speaker 3: and hold on to it, which is is you may
1:02:01
Speaker 3: be the first to do many things. You may be
1:02:05
Speaker 3: alone in many rooms where you're the only one like you,
1:02:08
Speaker 3: and everybody else around the table is different than you
1:02:11
Speaker 3: in terms of their life experience or how they look.
1:02:14
Speaker 3: And I want you to never feel alone and always
1:02:18
Speaker 3: know and hear in your heart and soul the applause
1:02:21
Speaker 3: you just heard. To know that there are a whole
1:02:23
Speaker 3: lot of people that are encouraging your ambition and encouraging
1:02:27
Speaker 3: you to have the energy and the excitement about doing
1:02:31
Speaker 3: things that are about making this world better. See. So,
1:02:43
Speaker 3: don't ever allow yourself to be limited in terms of
1:02:49
Speaker 3: what you think you are capable of based on other
1:02:52
Speaker 3: people's limited ability to see what's possible. Don't let their
1:02:56
Speaker 3: limitations be yours. Don't ever let their life limitations be yours. Okay,
1:03:03
Speaker 3: like you're over. I'm glad you're here.
1:03:07
Speaker 2: Listen, this has been a great conversation. We're over time,
1:03:10
Speaker 2: but I want to make sure we close by continuing
1:03:13
Speaker 2: to talk about the fight ahead, right, Like like during
1:03:15
Speaker 2: the campaign in your speech you're saying, when we fight,
1:03:17
Speaker 2: we win, and in your Howard speech you acknowledge that
1:03:20
Speaker 2: sometimes the.
1:03:21
Speaker 1: Fight takes a while.
1:03:22
Speaker 3: That's right.
1:03:23
Speaker 1: What did that fight look like? Now? What weapons should
1:03:25
Speaker 1: we be using?
1:03:27
Speaker 3: We should be using the weapon the power of our voice,
1:03:34
Speaker 3: of our vote, of our pocketbook. Are we should be
1:03:40
Speaker 3: using the strength I think of it as strength, right,
1:03:44
Speaker 3: are the strength of our ability to create community? You know,
1:03:50
Speaker 3: so many people right now, there's so much fear, so
1:03:54
Speaker 3: much fear, and so many people are feeling attacked and
1:04:00
Speaker 3: are being attacked. Literally, Yes, people are on edge, Charlemagne,
1:04:08
Speaker 3: and I think one of the counteractions to that is
1:04:11
Speaker 3: us doing everything we can to create and reinforce community.
1:04:17
Speaker 3: Like I'd ask you, if you don't know the person
1:04:19
Speaker 3: sitting next to you, just look at them and say
1:04:20
Speaker 3: how you doing? You know, and just we're in church,
1:04:33
Speaker 3: but right, just let's yeah, you know, what we can
1:04:40
Speaker 3: be doing is to remind each other we're not alone.
1:04:45
Speaker 3: We are all in this together, and that's our power
1:04:50
Speaker 3: and that's our weapon among these people that are trying
1:04:53
Speaker 3: to divide our country and turn American against each other
1:04:57
Speaker 3: because part of what I'd add, Charlemagne, I think part
1:05:00
Speaker 3: of what we have to fight against right now is
1:05:03
Speaker 3: there is an incredible amount of miss and distrust in
1:05:07
Speaker 3: our world right now, and there's an incredible amount of
1:05:11
Speaker 3: distrust between the American people of each other. And that
1:05:16
Speaker 3: distrust is not only about what people are worried about
1:05:23
Speaker 3: and you know, cannot lock my front door, but a
1:05:27
Speaker 3: concern about whether can I trust that you are not
1:05:30
Speaker 3: a threat to my very existence. That's part of what's
1:05:34
Speaker 3: happening in our country right now. And the great anecdote
1:05:38
Speaker 3: encounter action to that, I believe, is to keep working
1:05:43
Speaker 3: in community with a sense of the collective. And so
1:05:48
Speaker 3: that's that's our power, and that's the power that we
1:05:51
Speaker 3: have that we should use every day.
1:05:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, make some noise for offer, every vice president. I
1:06:00
Speaker 2: like what that young lady calls you. She called you
1:06:02
Speaker 2: big sister, General.
1:06:04
Speaker 1: I like that. Listen, so listen Mason North again for
1:06:09
Speaker 1: coming the iris.
1:06:10
Speaker 3: Shaw