WEBVTT - Maya Harris on Her Sister Kamala Harris' Campaign 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:04.760 Maya Harris is an American lawyer, public policy advocate, and writer. 0:00:05.400 --> 0:00:08.160 She was one of three senior policy advisers for Hillary 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:12.120 Clinton's twenty sixteen presidential campaigns policy agenda, and she also 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:15.040 served as chair of the twenty twenty presidential campaign of 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:19.000 her sister, Kamala Harris. Now supporting her sister's bid for 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:23.079 the presidency, Maya joins us to discuss the campaign, policy 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:27.200 and the future of our democracy. This is Civic Cipher 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:31.600 and I am your host, ramses Jah. All right, Maya Harris, 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:33.880 Welcome to the show. It's a pleasure and an honor 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:35.360 to have you on today. How are you doing. 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:38.479 I'm doing great, ramses and thank you for having me. 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:39.960 I'm delighted to be here. 0:00:40.240 --> 0:00:44.199 Absolutely. You know, it's funny because maybe three or four 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:46.040 days ago, we had a chance to sit down and 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:50.000 talk with your husband, and we had a fantastic conversation, 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:55.279 very inspiring conversation, and we had a tremendous reaction to 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:58.400 it online as well, and we had a chance to 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:01.800 kind of get into his background just a bit. I 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:04.800 know I gave a brief introduction, and I know that 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:08.120 we all are kind of familiar with your background. But 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:10.840 give us a little bit more, maybe the details we 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:13.280 might not know that are kind of specific to you 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:15.600 and not to you and your sister, tell us a 0:01:15.600 --> 0:01:18.840 little bit about just kind of your upbringing and kind 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:20.280 of what led you to today's conversation. 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:23.240 Sure, thank you for that opportunity. 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:26.399 I well, I'm a lawyer by training, and I say 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:30.480 by training because I've done a lot more policy advocacy 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:37.280 than litigation. I did litigation earlier in my career, but 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:40.800 I have had a focus over the course of my 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:46.480 life on civil rights and social justice and have worked 0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:51.120 as an advocate in a number of organizations like the 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:54.040 American Civil Liberties Union, which I head up the largest 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:56.840 affiliate in California for a period of time. 0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:00.480 But have worked on those issues over a life time. 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:04.920 And you know, I think that that my career path has, 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:10.400 you know, come from the same upbringing that Comlin I share, 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:16.520 which is, you know, growing up with parents who really 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:21.400 instilled in us an idea that we had a duty 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:24.520 and a responsibility to leave this world more fair and 0:02:24.520 --> 0:02:27.560 more adjust for more people than we entered it, and 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:32.400 really set for us high expectations for us and what 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:36.480 we could achieve, but even greater expectations of us and 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:39.560 and understanding of an expectation of. 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:42.800 Duty and responsibility to other people. 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:46.240 Okay, so obviously there's a lot of that stuff that 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:48.640 we know, especially those of us who's been very much 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:52.440 invested in this campaign. You know, there's there's a lot 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:54.160 of things that we know. We appreciate you kind of 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:57.160 telling us the parts of the story that makes you know, 0:02:57.280 --> 0:03:00.440 your upbringing a little different from what we know, what 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:03.600 makes your path a little bit more unique, I suppose. 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:07.560 But you know, not too many people can answer this question. 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:10.880 So while we have this opportunity, you know, for folks 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:13.120 who are really excited about the campaign and for folks 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:15.800 who you know they might be questioning what kind of 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:19.080 person Kamala Harris really is behind you know, the politics 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:21.440 and the speeches and so forth, talk to us a 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:24.600 little bit about maybe what kind of sister Kamala Harris 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:27.080 is to you and what kind of sister you have 0:03:27.240 --> 0:03:28.600 been to her? 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:31.480 Well, I would say, I mean, she is an older sister, 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:35.560 so she has been very protective as an older sister. 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:38.760 You know, she's been an inspiration to me the way 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:40.880 she has been for so many other people. I mean, 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:42.840 she is someone who I have looked up to just 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:47.440 in terms of her leadership over a course of a lifetime, 0:03:47.520 --> 0:03:51.560 and I mean demonstrated leadership even from when we were children, 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:56.640 and you know, her being fearless and courageous and tough 0:03:56.680 --> 0:04:01.880 and just so resilient. I think all of those things 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:05.800 are things that I admire so much and respect about her, 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:09.040 and they're things that I have really seen in her 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:12.640 since we were children. And you know, her protectiveness to 0:04:12.840 --> 0:04:15.120 you know that I've said that she has been toward me. 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:19.000 It's not just toward me as her younger sister, but 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:19.680 really to. 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:24.240 Everyone in her life. And you know, from her earliest days, 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:27.600 her best friend Stacy in kindergarten who's still a very 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:31.440 good friend of hers today. She and Stacy in kindergarten 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:35.080 literally were on the playground and some boy was picking 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:39.440 on Stacy and Kamala stepped into the situation, and the 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:41.960 boy turned on Kamala and he either picked up a 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:44.640 stick or a rock and he hit Kamala in the 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:47.120 face with it. And she still has a scar on 0:04:47.200 --> 0:04:50.880 the side of her eye from that. But it's sort 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:52.840 of an example of what I mean when I say 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:57.200 that she has had that kind of stance or instinct 0:04:57.320 --> 0:05:00.680 toward not only her younger sister, but to or you know, 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:04.120 everyone in that situation, stepping into defense stacy. She did 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:06.320 that again. I mean, she's done it so many times. 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:09.400 But there was another particular example of that that stands 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:12.800 out with her friend Wanda in high school, who had 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:17.679 been being molested by her stepfather and when Kamala found 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:20.719 out about that, Kamala said to Wanda, you need to 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:23.719 come stay with us. And you know, Kama came home 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:26.800 and asked my mom whether Wanda could come stay with 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:29.520 us and try to help navigate the situation, and of 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:32.480 course my mom said yes. But it, you know, again, 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:34.640 is just sort of an example of what I mean 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:39.440 about she has that protective instinct, but she also has, 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:46.159 you know, this sense of responsibility toward other people where 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:50.280 she will go into a situation where someone is vulnerable 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:55.400 or needs help or is you know, struggling to figure 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:58.920 something out and try to figure out how she can 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:02.120 be helpful and whether it's in lifting up the person 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:05.200 or getting them into a better situation. And that's just 0:06:05.279 --> 0:06:07.920 something that you know, she has always been And so yes, 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:11.320 you protected toward her younger sister, but I've seen her 0:06:11.480 --> 0:06:16.440 have that kind of sense of you know, compassion, protection, 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:19.479 empathy toward other people as well. 0:06:20.040 --> 0:06:25.120 Right now, you're someone who is well known in the 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:28.520 political arena, So let's talk politics for a bit if 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:33.479 we may. In your estimation, let me figure out how 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:35.720 I want to ask this to you. How about this? 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:41.080 What are give me three major issues in the selection 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:44.560 that you feel like or that you've encountered, that you 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:46.479 think people are most concerned about. 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:51.760 Well, let's think these are great questions. I would say 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:55.760 that people are concerned about the economy, and that's a 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:58.440 very big issue. But I would say people are concerned 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:04.400 about the economy and in particular about their costs, and 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:07.160 you know, the desire to have lower costs, which is 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:09.480 something that Kama's very focused on, and in fact, it 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:11.840 is her number one priority, which is to bring down 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:15.440 costs for people, especially for like sort of the everyday 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:17.560 things that you care about, like your groceries and your 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:21.240 housing and prescription drugs, which you know they've already brought 0:07:21.280 --> 0:07:24.000 down the costs for example, vincelind to thirty five dollars. 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:26.440 Hen want to do a lot more. 0:07:26.520 --> 0:07:27.720 She wants to do a lot more of that. 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:29.800 So I would say costs, you know, and the economy 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:33.680 are an important thing. I think people are really concerned 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:39.800 about healthcare, and rightly so, because we've had progress over 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:44.560 these last several years through the Affordable Care Act of 0:07:44.600 --> 0:07:49.840 getting millions more people onto healthcare. And there is a 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:54.520 very distinct difference between her and Donald Trump on this issue, 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:56.880 which is a comas trying to figure out how we 0:07:57.000 --> 0:08:00.640 expand and build on the Affordable Care Act. And one 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:03.040 of the things that I think relates again to an 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:06.840 issue that people care a lot about, is an example specifically, 0:08:07.040 --> 0:08:09.200 is of how she wants to expand it is she 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:14.080 has just unfolded a policy which would for the first 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:19.000 time ever expand Medicare to cover home care for seniors, 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:21.160 which speaks to an issue a lot of people have 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:24.960 on their mind today, which is the Sandwich generation. And 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:27.800 you know, for your listeners who may not be familiar 0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:31.360 with that, it's the idea of people who are doing 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:33.960 everything they can do every day to go to work 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:37.480 and build a life, but who are also taking care 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:40.720 of children at the same time that they're taking care 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:45.440 of either an ailing or elderly parent, and so people 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:50.320 are feeling squeezed and feeling the you know inability to 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:53.600 manage it all, and certainly the inability to afford it all. 0:08:53.640 --> 0:08:57.359 And so Comma's looking at how do we expand Medicare 0:08:57.559 --> 0:09:01.320 to lower costs for families are dealing with these issues 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:04.640 around caretaking, let seniors still be able to live at 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:08.560 home and indignity, but also importantly get better wages for 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:11.600 care workers and improve the quality of care. And we 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:13.760 can do that by expanding Medicare, and she has a 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:16.160 whole plan to do that. But on the flip side, 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:18.560 Donald Trump wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act. So 0:09:18.600 --> 0:09:21.520 not only is he not looking at how to ease 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:24.720 the burden that people are feeling on something so important 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:29.360 like your own health care or providing for family members, 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:32.240 He's not only not only looking at that, he's looking 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:35.640 at how do we rip away what we already have 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:39.080 with the Affordable Care Act? And I just think that's 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:42.439 something else that people are really concerned about. And when 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:45.040 Donald Trump was president, because you might remember the Affordable 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:49.400 Care Act came in through President Obama, well when Donald 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:53.520 Trump became president, three hundred thousand black Americans lost their 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:56.440 health insurance in his first two years. And he now 0:09:56.480 --> 0:09:58.640 wants to go further and rip away more of it. 0:09:58.679 --> 0:10:00.439 So I just say that to say I think that's 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:03.840 another issue that is on people's minds. But it also 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:08.960 is one of those issues that has a very distinct, sharp, 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:14.720 clear difference between where Kamala has had it, which is forward. Yeah, 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:18.120 where she's had it which is forward, and Donald Trump, 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:21.880 who's trying to take people backward. Okay, well, but you 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:23.679 did ask me for three, So I'm going to give 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:27.760 you one other one, which is And one of the 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:29.480 reason I want to give you this one is because 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:32.439 Kamala is so excited about it, which is about small businesses. 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:34.960 But the other reason I wanted to mention it is 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:38.040 because it's related to the bigger point about the economy 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:43.199 and also opportunity, which is that Kamala really sees how 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:47.520 as it relates to the economy, our small businesses are 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:50.760 the engine right in the economy in terms of growth 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:54.560 in the economy but also providing jobs in our economy. 0:10:55.040 --> 0:11:00.000 And small business owners though still struggle right whether it's 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:02.200 to try to get a business off the ground as 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:05.480 an entrepreneur and a small business owner, but also in 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:07.880 terms of if you have a business, how to grow 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:11.160 it and so she's really excited about this because it 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:15.320 also speaks to people's you know, ambitions and aspirations and 0:11:15.360 --> 0:11:18.960 their innovation. Right, let's support all of that. And so 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:21.280 one of the examples of what she wants to do 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:25.360 is to take the tax deduction for startups from five 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:27.960 thousand dollars, which is what it is today, to fifty 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:30.600 thousand dollars because she knows that nobody can really start 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:34.520 a small business with is five thousand dollars, right, So, right, right, 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:37.920 So let's give people more help in order to be 0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:43.720 able to not only get their ambitious ideas off the ground, 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:47.320 but to be able to invest in our economy through 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:53.400 investing in entrepreneurs and small business owners. Again, very distinct 0:11:53.760 --> 0:11:58.680 from Donald Trump, who really is constantly focused on wealthy 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:03.760 corporations and wealthy individuals. Sure not, you know, sort of 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:09.040 every day you know, people working, working, working class folks, 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:13.200 middle class communities that are trying to get ahead. He's 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:17.120 focused on, you know, wealthy individuals and wealthy corporations. And 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:19.319 so I think that that is something that people are 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:21.960 trying to figure out, right, which is maybe you don't 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:24.360 want to work for somebody else, right, and maybe you 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:26.600 want to start start your own business. You already have 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:29.240 your own business. She's focused on how can she help 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:35.280 you get ahead with that path as opposed to, you know, 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:38.920 more tax cuts for people who don't really really frankly 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:39.400 don't need it. 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:43.680 Yeah, exactly. So Okay, well, I appreciate that I want 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:46.160 to get through as many of these questions as I can, 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:48.800 because again, this is kind of some rare ara that 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:52.120 we're in right now. So I feel like you're also 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:54.360 in a position to kind of give us a very 0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:58.120 unique answer for this next question. So what are some 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:03.600 of the more memorable whatever comes to mind, the more 0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:08.640 memorable like lies or myths floating around on social media 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:15.360 about your sister that you have heard and would like 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:16.080 to dispel. 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:18.360 There's so many. 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:22.880 I mean, I think one thing is that for people. 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:26.160 Who would say that she's not you know, ready or 0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:30.080 qualified for the presidency, you know, it's such a distortion 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:35.120 of her record, which is a career of spending her 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:38.080 entire career in public service serving other people in the 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:41.760 largest state and most diverse state in the country, and 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:46.600 you know, having been elected district attorney, having then become 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:51.000 the Attorney general for the entire state of California, having become, 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:57.040 you know, the Senator for the state of California and 0:13:57.160 --> 0:14:00.199 being vice president for the past four years. I don't know. 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:05.400 I haven't seen a quote unquote resume that's more qualified 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:09.160 for the presidency of the United States than that, Sure, 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:13.240 And so you know, I suppose that that might be 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:19.000 an example of something that has been distorted about her. 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:23.320 You know, I guess what I would say partly about 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:25.640 that is that and part of the reason I have 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:29.320 to think so hard about it is that we're focused 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:33.480 on the truth telling in terms of what her vision 0:14:33.680 --> 0:14:37.120 is for the country. Sure, we're focused on having people 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:42.040 get to know who she really is through the positive 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:45.480 affirmative narrative of who she is and who she's always 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:47.320 been and what she has fought for. And there's so 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:52.440 much to talk about there. And we also don't get 0:14:52.480 --> 0:14:56.160 distracted and lose focused on what's at stake in this 0:14:56.360 --> 0:15:03.160 election by focusing on the the distractions that Donald Trump 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:07.280 and his allies are trying to create in order to 0:15:07.440 --> 0:15:11.480 divert you from what is the promise of a Kamala 0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:15.200 Harris administration and a Kamala Harris track record. And so, 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:18.320 you know, the stakes are so high in the election, 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:21.440 and we're really fighting for the country's future. We are 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:27.520 focused on talking about people's lives, what the solutions are 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:30.880 that Kamala has and plans are that she has for 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:36.000 improving the people's lives, and how you can count on 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:40.280 that those are not campaigned promises in the way that 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:43.960 people talk about, oh, election promises that aren't delivered. The 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:47.680 Kama has been delivering for the American people for her 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:51.000 entire career. And so I think that we're really focused 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:56.960 on not being sidetracked and distracted by the lies and distortions, 0:15:56.960 --> 0:15:59.880 because that's why they're lying and distorting. They want you 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:04.200 to be off onto another path as opposed that's untrue, 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:06.800 because they know if you focus on the truth, there 0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:09.520 is really only one choice in this election, if you 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:12.840 care about your lives being lifted up and you care 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:16.960 about moving forward to a positive vision where everybody, every 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:21.640 American can see themselves versus you know, being taken backward 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:24.800 to a time when rights and freedoms were for some 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:28.120 of us but not all of us. And so you know, 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:30.840 there's only really one choice if you want to move forward, 0:16:30.880 --> 0:16:31.720 and that's kinme a lot. 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:36.720 Yeah, No, I feel like there's a lot of people 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:39.160 having to come to terms with the fact that they've 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:44.280 been fed you know, those lies in that misinformation. One 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:46.960 person comes to mind dial Hughgley, who recently had to 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:51.680 go on his show and apologize for not only like 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:54.960 believing a lot of what he heard about Kamala Harris 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:57.520 initially and her during her initial run for the presidency 0:16:57.560 --> 0:17:01.360 in twenty twenty, but also parroting and echoing some of 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:06.400 those talking points on his platform, and recently he had 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:12.119 to make his apology as loud as his transgression, and 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:14.960 for a lot of us that look to him as 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:17.360 the comedian and as kind of the activist that he's 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:20.960 become in recent years, you know, those of us that 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:24.240 never did our deep dives, myself included, and we've admitted 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:26.480 that on this show. We had to come to terms 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:30.639 with the fact that, Okay, Kamala Harris's overall public strategy, 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:34.760 her approach to you know, police, her approach to marijuana, 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:36.919 her approach to you know, and then of course there 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:39.959 were other things that we were bumping up against too, 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:43.080 of course, as you know, the false narratives that have 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:46.320 been spun by the right and the far right. As 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:48.679 you mentioned, we had to come to terms with the 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:50.840 fact that some of this stuff, like we had been 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:53.840 tricked by some of this stuff, And the truth is 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:57.080 is that there's not an insignificant amount of people who 0:17:57.880 --> 0:18:02.119 have read into and and bought into some of that 0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:06.399 misinformation and disinformation. So when we talked to your husband 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:08.280 about this too a bit, so talk to us a 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:13.760 bit about sort of the narrative that the narrative of 0:18:14.119 --> 0:18:18.000 black voters specifically and the role they could play in 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:21.080 this selection. And maybe if you had a message that 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:23.439 you could give specifically to black voters, what would that be. 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:29.119 Well, one thing that we know is black voters have 0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:32.680 been decisive in every presidential election. 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:34.399 Very good Black. 0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:38.840 Men and black women have been decisive in every presidential election. 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:44.720 And so we need to make sure that all everyone 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:49.040 in the black community is informed to the degree that 0:18:49.080 --> 0:18:51.440 they may have Like you said that you were, and 0:18:51.480 --> 0:18:55.120 we know the DL was being misled by some of 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:58.520 the information disinformation that has been out there. Make sure 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:03.960 that black folks aren't informed and that everybody is registered 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:06.960 in voting in numbers that are so overwhelming that we 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:11.760 leave no doubt where the black community stands when it 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:15.280 terms in terms of the direction of the country. And 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:20.399 I say that because, you know, we really are talking 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:24.920 about too fundamentally different views of the country. One where 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:29.200 Kamala has a whole agenda for every American, but that 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:35.600 does also very specifically address issues and disparities and concerns 0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:38.320 that have been raised in the black community. And on 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:42.080 the other hand, you have someone in Donald Trump who 0:19:42.160 --> 0:19:48.479 has antagonized the black community, who has not had an 0:19:48.520 --> 0:19:51.840 agenda about lifting up the black community, who wants to 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:54.000 You got to look at his Project twenty twenty five 0:19:54.040 --> 0:19:57.360 agenda so that you can know what he has in 0:19:57.400 --> 0:20:02.520 store on issues that the black community, like wanting to 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:07.399 have blanket police immunity for any actions like as I 0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:12.359 said earlier, ripping away healthcare, which is ensuring millions of 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:15.879 black people, you know. And I could go on and 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:18.480 on and look at his track record, right, I mean, 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:23.800 the person who was the Birther Live, you know, promoting 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:27.919 Birther lives about our first black president, Barack Obama. The 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:33.320 person who watched the COVID nineteen response which disproportionately left 0:20:33.520 --> 0:20:36.479 Black Americans dead and black owned businesses shuttered. So I 0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:40.399 say that to say, you got to look at make 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:43.480 sure people are informed, you know, not only about who 0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:46.680 commonly is and the positive things that she's done her 0:20:46.840 --> 0:20:51.439 entire life to lift up the black community, but also 0:20:51.640 --> 0:20:56.880 having concrete plans to keep building on progress. Okay, as 0:20:56.960 --> 0:20:59.520 president United States. And then look at a track record 0:20:59.800 --> 0:21:03.359 of someone who has antagonized the black community, you know, 0:21:03.440 --> 0:21:06.760 falsely click accused the exonerated five of murder and call 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:10.160 for their execution, and who has during the four years 0:21:10.160 --> 0:21:13.480 he had as president, done things that have devastated the 0:21:13.520 --> 0:21:18.200 black community and has a plan in Project twenty twenty 0:21:18.200 --> 0:21:21.760 five that surely will take us even further back as 0:21:21.760 --> 0:21:23.880 a community. So I think that those are all important. 0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:28.080 Being informed and then being registered and voting. And so 0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:31.760 in Arizona, of course, for example, we only have eight 0:21:31.840 --> 0:21:37.280 days obviously nationally to election day, but this Friday, November first, 0:21:37.720 --> 0:21:39.960 is going to be the last day for early vote, 0:21:40.040 --> 0:21:43.159 and we're telling everybody get out and do your voting 0:21:43.280 --> 0:21:47.280 early because of course election day, Tuesday, November fifth, is 0:21:47.320 --> 0:21:49.240 the last day to vote, but don't wait till the 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:51.880 last minute. Get out there and do it early because 0:21:51.880 --> 0:21:54.400 you never know what might happen on election day where 0:21:54.400 --> 0:21:57.159 your heartbreaks down or your childcare falls through and you 0:21:57.200 --> 0:22:00.000 don't get a chance to go vote. So every vote 0:22:00.119 --> 0:22:03.120 is going to count in this election. And again thinking 0:22:03.160 --> 0:22:08.840 about Arizona in twenty twenty the Biden Harris ticket in 0:22:08.920 --> 0:22:12.560 twenty twenty one in Arizona, but less than eleven thousand votes, 0:22:12.840 --> 0:22:16.200 do you know framss that that is less than one 0:22:16.280 --> 0:22:19.560 half of one percent okay, of the vote. And so 0:22:19.720 --> 0:22:22.880 if there are people out there who are saying, well, 0:22:22.920 --> 0:22:26.480 my vote doesn't matter, oh yes, your vote does matter. 0:22:26.840 --> 0:22:29.800 Every single vote is going to matter in this election. 0:22:30.560 --> 0:22:33.879 It may come down to a handful of votes per precinct. 0:22:34.280 --> 0:22:37.280 So if you sit this one out, you could have 0:22:37.520 --> 0:22:41.800 very well been the vote to take this over the 0:22:41.840 --> 0:22:44.840 finish line. So I think those would be the messages 0:22:44.960 --> 0:22:47.960 that I would have to Black voters to please be 0:22:48.080 --> 0:22:52.600 informed as we usually are as voters, but in this election, 0:22:52.680 --> 0:22:55.720 we know there's so much misinformation and disinformation out there, 0:22:55.880 --> 0:22:58.480 so we have to make sure that we are truly 0:22:58.520 --> 0:23:01.000 informed and educated. One way to do that is to 0:23:01.040 --> 0:23:04.320 look at Kamala's plans versus Donald Trump's Project twenty twenty 0:23:04.359 --> 0:23:08.000 five agenda, and then to just make sure we're registered 0:23:08.040 --> 0:23:10.359 and we're getting out there voting and we're doing it early. 0:23:11.320 --> 0:23:16.399 Okay, So in the past, you've organized conferences around police 0:23:16.400 --> 0:23:21.960 community relations and advocated for police reform. Kamala is famously 0:23:22.040 --> 0:23:25.359 a former attorney general. As we've discussed, talk to us 0:23:25.400 --> 0:23:28.760 about why this is important and what the Harris campaign 0:23:28.800 --> 0:23:32.960 is planning to do to address some of these critical 0:23:33.040 --> 0:23:40.080 issues that have caused some voters to pause in terms 0:23:40.119 --> 0:23:43.720 of expressing their enthusiasm or indeed heading out to the polls. 0:23:44.400 --> 0:23:47.680 Well, I think that you can look at the work 0:23:47.680 --> 0:23:53.040 that she has done in terms of being the first 0:23:53.240 --> 0:23:56.879 state to in California when she was Attorney general, pushing 0:23:56.960 --> 0:24:01.000 for body cameras for police officers in the state of California, 0:24:01.000 --> 0:24:05.480 again the largest, most you know, diverse state in the country, 0:24:06.080 --> 0:24:10.840 and the bills that she's fought for for criminal justice 0:24:10.880 --> 0:24:15.280 reform and police reform in the Senate when she was 0:24:15.320 --> 0:24:20.000