Speaker 1: Native Landpod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with
Speaker 1: Reason Choice Media. Nobody knows the troubles I've seen on.
Speaker 2: Welcome Home to the Native.
Speaker 3: The most difficult chapter that I wrote in the book
Speaker 3: was about election Night. It was the most difficult, and
Speaker 3: basically I will tell you that in writing that chapter,
Speaker 3: it was the first time my husband, Doug and I
Speaker 3: had ever talked about election night. That's how traumatic that
Speaker 3: night had been for so many of us, and.
Speaker 2: In writing the.
Speaker 3: Book, I really reflected on so much of that moment.
Speaker 3: That night, of course led to the next day when
Speaker 3: I went to Howard University the night before thinking it
Speaker 3: was going to be a victory speech, but the following day,
Speaker 3: of course, knowing that it wouldn't be, and on my
Speaker 3: way to Howard the day after the election, I had
Speaker 3: to reconcile in my head that to your point, Angela,
Speaker 3: at the end of every rally during those one hundred
Speaker 3: and seven days, I would say, when we fight and
Speaker 3: the people right, and that was our call and response.
Speaker 3: And I had to reconcile that with the outcome of
Speaker 3: the election, because it wasn't as trivial as will you
Speaker 3: win some you lose? Some that's not what this was.
Speaker 3: That's not what this is. And it was actually on
Speaker 3: my way.
Speaker 2: To Howard that I decided to write.
Speaker 3: Into the speech what I do believe. And this directly
Speaker 3: answers your question. Sometimes the fight takes a while. Sometimes
Speaker 3: the fight takes a while. That doesn't mean that we
Speaker 3: give up. It means that we are committed to knowing
Speaker 3: what we stand for and therefore what we fight for.
Speaker 3: It means knowing on a night like tonight, where we
Speaker 3: celebrate these great victories, that we.
Speaker 2: Can never allow one moment, one individual.
Speaker 3: That guy in the White House or people around him,
Speaker 3: or any one election defeat our spirit.
Speaker 2: Our spirit is not defeated, It cannot be defeated.
Speaker 3: The moment that that happens is the moment they truly win.
Speaker 2: And part of the reason I wrote the.
Speaker 3: Book is to hopefully remind us of the feeling that
Speaker 3: so many had during those one hundred and seven days,
Speaker 3: which was the enthusiasm, the energy, the optimism, the sense
Speaker 3: of possibility. Dare I say, the joy that we experience
Speaker 3: those days, But to remind us all that that's in us.
Speaker 2: I didn't give that it was in you. It's in us.
Speaker 2: That light is in each of us.
Speaker 3: And we cannot allow a moment like this to extinguish
Speaker 3: that light or dampen that light. We must know it
Speaker 3: is in us, and it's in each of us and
Speaker 3: in each other, and especially in moments of darkness like
Speaker 3: this moment, that light is particularly important. So part of
Speaker 3: the reason I wrote the book is to remind us
Speaker 3: of that. And then a nightlight tonight where we can
Speaker 3: celebrate these elections. Well, I hope reinforce the fact that
Speaker 3: we got a big fight in front of us.
Speaker 2: We're fighting for.
Speaker 3: Something, and this is not a moment to be passive
Speaker 3: or to say, you know, wake me up when it's over.
Speaker 2: We have too much to do. We have too much
Speaker 2: to do.
Speaker 1: You know, we do have too much to do.
Speaker 2: And one of the things.
Speaker 1: That one of the things that I was thinking about
Speaker 1: is how you felt the next day to get.
Speaker 3: To that, you know, hold hold on, let me look
Speaker 3: let me, you know, I actually, let me just let me.
Speaker 3: I'm sure there are other people here that may want
Speaker 3: to get up, and so let me just let me
Speaker 3: and I look. I that I get that I would
Speaker 3: not exist if it weren't people who were active in
Speaker 3: protesting injustice. So I understand that I actually write about
Speaker 3: the issue of what has been happening in Gaza in
Speaker 3: my book, and I will tell you a lot of
Speaker 3: what this process has been from has been about reflection.
Speaker 2: Look, we should.
Speaker 3: Have done more as an administration. We should have done more.
Speaker 3: We should have spoken publicly about our criticism of the
Speaker 3: way that Netagnahu and his government were executing this war.
Speaker 2: We should have.
Speaker 3: We should have used We had more levers in terms
Speaker 3: of leverage that we did not use, and I write
Speaker 3: about this.
Speaker 2: In the book.
Speaker 3: I I look at this moment and I am happy
Speaker 3: that there is a ceasefire. We will see how long
Speaker 3: it lasts that the hostages have been returned. But let's
Speaker 3: be very clear that that inhuman nature of what has
Speaker 3: happened to the Palestinian people in Gaza, the innocent civilians,
Speaker 3: the extent of hunger, famine, suffering, death is something that
Speaker 3: we must acknowledge. And I recognize that I write about
Speaker 3: in the book. I gave a speech five months into
Speaker 3: the war at the foot of the Edmund Pettis Bridge
Speaker 3: on bloody Sunday, and I spoke publicly the highest official
Speaker 3: in the country about the starvation that was.
Speaker 2: Happening in Gaza.
Speaker 3: In fact, I also write in the book about how
Speaker 3: there were plenty of folks in the White House that
Speaker 3: were not happy about me speaking out that way, but
Speaker 3: I did so I understand the feeling and the emotion
Speaker 3: behind the folks who have spoken out tonight. We have
Speaker 3: work to do, we need to ensure and I also
Speaker 3: have noticed how this administration not only gave a blank
Speaker 3: check to night now Who for the first nine months,
Speaker 3: but also have shown no commitment to the day after
Speaker 3: in terms of the security of the people of that region,
Speaker 3: but in particular the need for governance of Gaza, rebuilding
Speaker 3: of Gaza, not no changing of the territorial lines. There
Speaker 3: is work to be done, and I appreciate the emotion
Speaker 3: and the sentiment behind the people who have spoken up tonight,
Speaker 3: And please read the book if you want to have
Speaker 3: some sense of how I feel about it.
Speaker 1: The thing that I very much I've always appreciated, appreciated
Speaker 1: about you is your deep conviction, deep conviction.
Speaker 3: Mmm.
Speaker 1: So what's unfortunate about this is this is a deep
Speaker 1: misunderstanding of who I know you to be.
Speaker 2: You've always been.
Speaker 1: Someone that has had difficult conversations, have welcomed conflicting views,
Speaker 1: different views than your own to the table, and I
Speaker 1: think what's astonishing about this particular moment is you just
Speaker 1: showed alignment right at some times. At some point, protests
Speaker 1: also has to be strategic. We have to be If
Speaker 1: we're aligned, there's nothing to protest, so we can have
Speaker 1: a conversation after Yep, yep, we.
Speaker 2: Love her absolutely.
Speaker 1: So I wanted to talk about the one hundred and
Speaker 1: eighth day. Yeah, because we were at Howard as you
Speaker 1: know that the night of Breakfast Club and Native Lampire
Speaker 1: was outside. We were ready. You couldn't have told me
Speaker 1: this was gonna any different. I was in shock, as
Speaker 1: I know you were. I want to know what's the
Speaker 1: first thing you said to yourself when you woke up
Speaker 1: on the one hundred day, the day after the election.
Speaker 3: Well, the thing I said from the moment I learned
Speaker 3: about the outcome of the election, and I could not
Speaker 3: stop saying it or thinking it is my god.
Speaker 2: How I felt.
Speaker 3: I have not had a feeling remotely similar since my
Speaker 3: mother died. I was grieving for the American people because
Speaker 3: I knew.
Speaker 2: What was going to happen, and you told us, Yeah,
Speaker 2: I knew what was going to happen. I knew what
Speaker 2: was going to happen, and.
Speaker 3: It was very It wasn't for me. It wasn't about again,
Speaker 3: it wasn't about a game. It wasn't about you got
Speaker 3: to win this thing. It was literally about what was
Speaker 3: at stake for our country.
Speaker 2: And you look at what has happened. Everything.
Speaker 3: I mean, we predicted everything except the one thing I
Speaker 3: did not predict was the capitulation.
Speaker 2: I did not predict that.
Speaker 3: I did not predict how from universities to media organization's
Speaker 3: newspapers to I mean, just go on and on and
Speaker 3: on titans of industry would.
Speaker 2: Bend the knee.
Speaker 3: But it was it was very difficult, and I was
Speaker 3: clear when you know, we talked about it, and I'm
Speaker 3: not I'm not into saying I told you so.
Speaker 2: I don't say that, but I said it for you.
Speaker 1: Well you did tell us so, you did tell us so,
Speaker 1: and I'm not saying it. There's nothing to gloat about.
Speaker 1: Like as we sit on this stage tonight, election night,
Speaker 1: we are on the thirty fifth day of a government shutdown.
Speaker 1: People are fighting to make sure they can eat. They're
Speaker 1: having to choose between hunger or healthcare.
Speaker 3: No, and let's Let's also be clear that first of all,
Speaker 3: the man is allowing for babies to starve in America,
Speaker 3: to starve in America, and.
Speaker 4: It costs eight billion dollars. It costs eight billion dollars
Speaker 4: to fun Snap, which feeds hungry children, and it's it's
Speaker 4: just it's okay.
Speaker 1: Well, And as you were just saying, we were talking
Speaker 1: about a criminal in the White House who's starving children
Speaker 1: in this country.
Speaker 2: So we're planning your time round.
Speaker 3: Who is sitting in the White House right now, starving
Speaker 3: children in our country while building a gilded ballroom at
Speaker 3: the White House for his rich friends, giving twenty billion
Speaker 3: dollars to a foreign country, while depriving children in this
Speaker 3: country and seniors and and.
Speaker 2: People who deserve.
Speaker 3: To be seen and protected, depriving them of the basic
Speaker 3: necessity of food.
Speaker 2: Right now, it's happening. And what's happening is that they're even.
Speaker 3: Refusing to reimburse states that are willing to take it
Speaker 3: on themselves. The court has said that they must give
Speaker 3: those Snap benefits, and they're refusing to do it right
Speaker 3: here in America.
Speaker 2: That the level of callousness.
Speaker 3: And cruelty, and let us talk about corruption coming from
Speaker 3: this administration is extraordinary, extraordinary. But you know, I think Angela,
Speaker 3: it's important. Part of what I think is important about
Speaker 3: this moment is to remember, you know, a lot of
Speaker 3: people have been very deeply concerned about obviously what is
Speaker 3: happening in our country and to our country.
Speaker 2: But I think it's.
Speaker 3: Important as we remember those one hundred and seven days
Speaker 3: and the election itself. One third of the electorate voted
Speaker 3: for him, one third voted for us, and one third
Speaker 3: did not vote. Two thirds did not vote for this.
Speaker 3: But in the discussion that is happening about the future,
Speaker 3: for example, of the Democratic Party and the future of
Speaker 3: our democracy, I would urge us to really put some
Speaker 3: weight and thought and time into the question why did
Speaker 3: that one third did not vote?
Speaker 2: Why did they not.
Speaker 3: Vote, and really have the difficult conversations that we need
Speaker 3: to have. You know, one of the things that I
Speaker 3: talk about in the book, and I do believe. Look,
Speaker 3: I think that when we think about that one third
Speaker 3: that voted for him, I do believe that there is
Speaker 3: a decent number of them who voted for him voted
Speaker 3: for him on one issue which they believed him on,
Speaker 3: which is that he would bring down prices on day
Speaker 3: one that was their issue. It is the issue for
Speaker 3: a lot of Americans, the majority of Americans, and he
Speaker 3: lied to them. Obviously, inflation is up, unemployment.
Speaker 2: Is up, the cost of food is up.
Speaker 3: But that was a big issue for a lot of
Speaker 3: people who voted then and are voting now, and it
Speaker 3: has to be one of our number one priorities. In fact,
Speaker 3: that's why I made it a priority of mine during
Speaker 3: the one hundred and seven days. From everything for what
Speaker 3: we're going to do to take on price gouging, taking
Speaker 3: on corporate landlords, or buying up all this property and
Speaker 3: jacking up rents. What we need to do around not
Speaker 3: only affordable housing, but affordable child care, paid leave.
Speaker 2: What we need to do around having medicare.
Speaker 3: Part of my policy was cover home health care, especially
Speaker 3: for people in the Sandwich generation who are raising children
Speaker 3: and taking care of their elderly relatives.
Speaker 5: That's so.
Speaker 3: But when we think about what happened in the election
Speaker 3: in a way that I hope is really not.
Speaker 2: About just re litigating the election, but what did we
Speaker 2: learn in terms of going forward?
Speaker 3: A big part of it is that folks felt disconnected
Speaker 3: and also distrustful of the system.
Speaker 2: Part of the deep work that we have to do
Speaker 2: right now.
Speaker 3: As a country is really deal with the fact that
Speaker 3: you know, it's not new that people have lacked have
Speaker 3: distrusted government and systems. That is not a new phenomena.
Speaker 3: It definitely grew during the pandemic when basic necessities and
Speaker 3: systems failed people.
Speaker 2: But what I.
Speaker 3: Also am seeing in our country right now is a
Speaker 3: heightened level of distrust between and among the American people.
Speaker 3: And when I speak of that, I don't mean simply
Speaker 3: can I trust my neighbor that I don't I can
Speaker 3: leave my door unlocked.
Speaker 2: It's much deeper than that.
Speaker 3: It is a can I trust that my fellow American,
Speaker 3: my neighbor is not a threat to my very existence?
Speaker 3: That's right, and that we have some work to do.
Speaker 3: You know a lot of people ask me what can
Speaker 3: I do? And first of all, how about No King's
Speaker 3: Day two point zero? Right? The millions of people that
Speaker 3: took to the streets, it was phenomenal.
Speaker 2: And so there is that.
Speaker 3: There is the work that is happening around these elections
Speaker 3: that we just talked about. There is the work that
Speaker 3: people are doing about getting more engaged and supporting nonprofits,
Speaker 3: and in particular now when we are looking at the
Speaker 3: shutdown and so many people that are even more in
Speaker 3: need than they were before. There are many ways that
Speaker 3: we can do this that really, I think highlights the
Speaker 3: power of the individual to work on all of these
Speaker 3: issues in a way that we can collectively make a difference.
Speaker 3: But we've got some work to do that is about
Speaker 3: fundamentally about trust and among us as people as well
Speaker 3: as in our systems.
Speaker 1: You talked about the future of the Democratic Party, and
Speaker 1: to me, recently the divide grew from a fracture to
Speaker 1: a major rift around the Charlie Kirk resolution in the
Speaker 1: House of Representatives. I remember seeing Jasmine Crockett go on
Speaker 1: air and talk about there were only four just a
Speaker 1: handful of white Democrats who voted no on that resolution,
Speaker 1: growing not just a generational divide or an economic divide,
Speaker 1: but also a racial divide. How do you think that
Speaker 1: can be healed in this moment right now we're on
Speaker 1: a high from these election results tonight.
Speaker 2: How can it be healed? We have to honest conversations
Speaker 2: the listen.
Speaker 3: I mean, the part of what I refer to is
Speaker 3: the first So we came in office the Biden Harris
Speaker 3: administration during the height of the pandemic, so there was
Speaker 3: not a lot of interaction personal interaction with folks. And
Speaker 3: the first person that I hosted at the Vice President's
Speaker 3: residence as world leader, and I, during my course of
Speaker 3: vice presidency met with over one hundred and fifty world leaders, presidents,
Speaker 3: prime minister's, chancellors, and kings. The first person that I
Speaker 3: hosted was then Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. And in fact,
Speaker 3: part of what I talk about is, you know, the
Speaker 3: press sometimes really does a number on women leaders in.
Speaker 2: A variety of ways.
Speaker 3: She was in spite of how she had been portrayed
Speaker 3: by some She was extremely warm, with a sense of humor.
Speaker 2: And we got on quite well.
Speaker 3: And this was toward the end of her leadership. She'd
Speaker 3: probably been one of the putative leaders of Europe for
Speaker 3: fifteen years. And she asked me, she leaned over the
Speaker 3: table and she said, what's going on in the United
Speaker 3: States around the Well, so this was in twenty one,
Speaker 3: but to your point, her point was about voting and
Speaker 3: voting rights and the attack on voting rights. And we
Speaker 3: had this whole conversation and I said to her, you know,
Speaker 3: you know, my mother was a scientist, so my analogies
Speaker 3: are either like biology or cooking.
Speaker 2: I love to cook.
Speaker 3: But so what I said to her is this, and
Speaker 3: this is the way I would answer your point. You know,
Speaker 3: in the human body, we have things that can attack us.
Speaker 3: But if we are healthy enough, God willing, we have
Speaker 3: an immune system that will suppress it. But from time
Speaker 3: to time, something will cause those things to flare up.
Speaker 3: And what I said to is, in America, racism, xenophobia, homophobia,
Speaker 3: anti Semitism, islamophobia, you name it.
Speaker 2: These things have always existed in our country, and there
Speaker 2: have been.
Speaker 3: Moments where we suppressed it, and there are moments that
Speaker 3: it has flared up because it has always been here.
Speaker 3: And that's part of what I think is required in
Speaker 3: these conversations, which.
Speaker 2: Is some honesty about it. This did not just start
Speaker 2: in this election cycle.
Speaker 3: And you know it does not help, of course, when
Speaker 3: there are powerful forces that are trying to erase America's
Speaker 3: history and teach our children contrary to what our history
Speaker 3: actually is.
Speaker 2: I applaud all the teachers who are here. I applaud
Speaker 2: God bless you.
Speaker 3: Anybody who lives on a school board working for the
Speaker 3: school district. Money you get paid enough His teachers and educators.
Speaker 2: You do God's work, but you know this.
Speaker 3: Is but look at what's happening in terms of the dynamic.
Speaker 3: There is an overt agenda to make a stop talking
Speaker 3: about these issues, much less those who are pushing hate
Speaker 3: and racism and xenophobia.
Speaker 2: And so we have to.
Speaker 3: Have those difficult conversations and we have to speak out
Speaker 3: where we see it. And I also believe no one
Speaker 3: should be made to fight alone. So whenever and wherever
Speaker 3: we're saying it, let's speak out.
Speaker 1: Speaking of women in power, there's one in particular who
Speaker 1: is known for two famous words right now, I dissent
Speaker 1: and you had a lot to do with her historic
Speaker 1: placement on the Supreme Court of the United States.
Speaker 2: That is Katanji Brown Jackson. Justice Katanji Brown Jackson. Yes, ma'am, Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 2: Let me not get too familiar.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, justin, Madam, Justine, madam, just And what I.
Speaker 1: Wanted to bring to this audience for just a moment
Speaker 1: is your massive portfolio that you were responsible for as
Speaker 1: the Vice President of the United States. But Justice Katanji
Speaker 1: Brown Jackson is certainly one of them. Talk about how
Speaker 1: she is fueling hope. Right now, I.
Speaker 2: Have nothing but profound praise.
Speaker 3: You know, when I talked with her during the process
Speaker 3: and interviewed her, one of the things among many that
Speaker 3: I was just incredibly excited and about her talent and
Speaker 3: her skill and her gift is she has that extraordinary
Speaker 3: ability to deconstruct something that feels and often is complicated
Speaker 3: and complex and nuanced and just break it down.
Speaker 2: And she is so smart.
Speaker 3: And well informed and obviously extraordinary education and a student,
Speaker 3: and that she when she speaks, it is with a
Speaker 3: level of authority, strength and gravitas that history will read
Speaker 3: her words and understand how we all hoped to articulate
Speaker 3: this moment. And I encourage everyone when you get a
Speaker 3: chance to just pull anyone of her descents. She just
Speaker 3: breaks it down, and she does it in a way
Speaker 3: that you know, I pray for her because I will
Speaker 3: tell you, like so many here, whether in our personal
Speaker 3: or professional lives, this is a difficult time to speak
Speaker 3: up when, in particular, you are in an environment that
Speaker 3: you know is not welcoming of a difficult conversation, much
Speaker 3: less an environment that is at the very least in
Speaker 3: disagreement with you. And she does it in an environment
Speaker 3: that is at least that and an environment where there
Speaker 3: is also an overt attack on the rule of law
Speaker 3: and an attempt to basically dismantle our constitution and the
Speaker 3: principles behind it. And she's standing firm and she's standing
Speaker 3: up for it. But I will also say this on
Speaker 3: the point about the disagreement piece.
Speaker 2: Right now.
Speaker 3: I was listening to something and this person was just
Speaker 3: talking about, Yes, the country has divided. The country is divided. Oh,
Speaker 3: I know, I was, I was, it was. It was, okay,
Speaker 3: it was. I was watching local news after the Dodgers game.
Speaker 2: Congratulations by the way, for my husband. I'm a Giants fan.
Speaker 2: We have a divided household.
Speaker 3: But in any event, one of the sportscasters was talking
Speaker 3: about the teams coming gether.
Speaker 2: I'm making this far too long, but I kept talking
Speaker 2: about we're in a divided country.
Speaker 3: And here's the thing I would say about that. I
Speaker 3: think that we should all challenge ourselves. Are we are
Speaker 3: we forming an opinion based on certain assumptions, and always
Speaker 3: ask ourselves what are the assumptions that are the basis
Speaker 3: of our opinion. For example, I think it is a
Speaker 3: mistake to assume that people who voted differently than us.
Speaker 3: It's a mistake to assume that we are working with
Speaker 3: the same information, right, and and and and and if
Speaker 3: we do assume that it is, it's it is perhaps
Speaker 3: easy then for us to decide, well, we have a
Speaker 3: different set of morals and values, then to perhaps first
Speaker 3: ask are we working with the same information? And I
Speaker 3: say information, because fact is fact two plus two us four.
Speaker 3: So but in the conversations, the difficult conversations that need
Speaker 3: to happen, I think we've got to find room in
Speaker 3: these conversations to start with figuring out what are the
Speaker 3: underlying bits of information or fact that the other person
Speaker 3: is working with, and to figure out how there is
Speaker 3: room to share that information about the facts as we
Speaker 3: believe them to be, to enter the conversation.
Speaker 2: But we have some work to do.
Speaker 3: But the fact of in particular miss and disinformation in
Speaker 3: our country right now is profound, and I know it
Speaker 3: because I experienced it firsthand as a candidate for President
Speaker 3: of the United States as the Democratic nominee. I will
Speaker 3: tell you that the issue of miss and disinformation is
Speaker 3: not new in the history of our species.
Speaker 2: It's not.
Speaker 3: You know, there was a time though, that miss and
Speaker 3: disinformation to be widespread was because it would be, for example,
Speaker 3: a nation state an actor who had that kind of
Speaker 3: ability to spread miss and disinformation to large populations of
Speaker 3: people as a way to sway them in one direction
Speaker 3: or another, to so mistrust or distrust. For example, I
Speaker 3: was the United States Senator and I served on the
Speaker 3: Senate Intelligence Committee when we investigated Russia's interference in the
Speaker 3: twenty sixteen election, and we then declassified a big part
Speaker 3: of our findings to make it accessible in public.
Speaker 2: And we found, of course that Russia had in fact.
Speaker 3: Interfered in that election with miss and disinformation, including targeting
Speaker 3: specific populations, including black voters, with the understanding and belief
Speaker 3: that based on a lived experience that there would.
Speaker 2: Be a higher level of distrust and systems.
Speaker 3: And so when you look at the fact of targeted
Speaker 3: miss and disinformation, it's not new. And when you then
Speaker 3: consider the role of social media, it's profound because whereas
Speaker 3: before to disseminate large amounts would require a nation state
Speaker 3: who have the resources, now with technology the entry point
Speaker 3: is much lower. So the benefit of social media and
Speaker 3: technology is that it has, as we like to talk about,
Speaker 3: democratized people's voices. Now, anyone with something important to say
Speaker 3: arguably or well informed can.
Speaker 2: Reach a lot of people.
Speaker 3: But it also has meant that the entry point to
Speaker 3: getting into the system to disseminate large amounts of information,
Speaker 3: even when it is inaccurate and intentionally so, is much easier.
Speaker 3: And so when we talk about the work that we
Speaker 3: need to do, part of it is recognizing that and
Speaker 3: figuring out how each of us in our lives much
Speaker 3: less people in a position of authority with platforms can
Speaker 3: debunk missing disinformation so that we're all working again from
Speaker 3: the same facts, and then we can form our opinions
Speaker 3: and disagree based on that.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you bringing up your time in the United
Speaker 1: States Senate in part because you were our fiercest advocate
Speaker 1: in many a hearing room. But also there's some work
Speaker 1: that you did behind the scenes that I don't know
Speaker 1: if people know as much, including your work around the
Speaker 1: George Floyd Justice and Policing Act. To me, that is
Speaker 1: where I really got to see your work ethic. I
Speaker 1: remember we had a call and you talked about calling
Speaker 1: all of the all of your colleagues to get them
Speaker 1: to sign onto the bill. And now we're in an
Speaker 1: environment where those calls can't be made.
Speaker 2: As easily.
Speaker 1: You know, there are people who aren't willing to pick
Speaker 1: up the phone, aren't willing to cross party lines even
Speaker 1: to have a conversation. So we talked about the fracture
Speaker 1: within the Democratic Party. We talked about the mistrust even
Speaker 1: neighbored a neighbor. What are some things that folks can
Speaker 1: do when they leave tonight to start to rebuild that trust,
Speaker 1: to start to pick up the phone and see if
Speaker 1: there's a way to negotiate, not with terrorists, but with
Speaker 1: folks who might be of goodwill.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna leave that alone.
Speaker 3: An I might work for the moment, but then Fox
Speaker 3: News will just have it all over the place.
Speaker 2: They do that anyway.
Speaker 3: Kamala Harris is saying, let's, you know, do something with terrorists. Lord,
Speaker 3: I believe in the power of the people, and I
Speaker 3: believe in the power of individuals, and look it takes. Look,
Speaker 3: I know we're all tired of having conversations about the obvious.
Speaker 2: The governor is here. By the way, did we come
Speaker 2: a stand up?
Speaker 3: Bob Santa set up Bob Bob ferguson stand up? Can
Speaker 3: I work together.
Speaker 2: Over the years?
Speaker 3: Thank you for being here, Bob, Both you and the general,
Speaker 3: thank you. So so I know that there is a
Speaker 3: certain level of fatigue about just why do I have
Speaker 3: to talk about what is obvious to me? But it's
Speaker 3: also about people. This this environment is making a lot
Speaker 3: of people, whether we agree with them completely or not, feel.
Speaker 2: Really on edge.
Speaker 3: You know, I've been doing this book tour for a
Speaker 3: little bit time now, and the number of people that
Speaker 3: are just feeling we're on edge, like what's gonna happen next?
Speaker 3: I often have been saying, because I believe it true
Speaker 3: that things make it worse before they get better, folks.
Speaker 2: And I believe that sadly because I've seen it.
Speaker 3: I've said it one night and then the next night
Speaker 3: they indict Tis James that being said, we cannot afford
Speaker 3: to normalize what is happening. We cannot, We cannot, And
Speaker 3: that means take the minute that you need to take
Speaker 3: to breathe, but then get back out there and have
Speaker 3: the conversations.
Speaker 2: With your neighbor, with your coworker, and just.
Speaker 3: Find those moments to just it doesn't have to be
Speaker 3: a whole deep debate, but just you know, part.
Speaker 2: Of it is just checking in.
Speaker 3: Because this environment is making people feel on edge, and
Speaker 3: therefore feel alone, and it's very it's empowering to feel alone,
Speaker 3: to feel that as though you don't have community. And
Speaker 3: that's the power of each of us to create community.
Speaker 3: I mean, here, I'm gonna do something that's gonna feel corny,
Speaker 3: but just if you don't know the person sitting next
Speaker 3: to you, say how you doing.
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 3: Right? Like that?
Speaker 2: That was very black church of you, by the way,
Speaker 2: turn your neighbor, but right.
Speaker 3: But church is an example, one example of how we
Speaker 3: create community. How we just find a way to engage
Speaker 3: with someone just because we're sitting next to them. And
Speaker 3: I think that's part of what we've got to do
Speaker 3: right now. It seems so simple, but that will be
Speaker 3: part of how we get through this in a way
Speaker 3: that is not only about our sanity but is also healing.
Speaker 1: Who cares about truth when allows more than saying it.
Speaker 1: We started at the shutdown, which is another place where
Speaker 1: we have a golf. Now we're starting to see disagreement,
Speaker 1: I think even more even within parties. The Republicans that
Speaker 1: are like, we're not for this shutting down of snap
Speaker 1: and they're Democrats saying, we don't know if this is
Speaker 1: the right thing to do, if this is the right approach.
Speaker 1: What are you advising elected officials to do in this moment?
Speaker 1: What do you think is the path forward?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I've talked to a number of them and they've
Speaker 3: called me a well, I think we have to fight. Look,
Speaker 3: let me, this is not a time like I'm done
Speaker 3: with the conversation lamenting over the fact that they're cheating.
Speaker 2: Oh, they're cheating. What are we gonna do?
Speaker 3: We're gonna fight fire with fire as well, we're gonna do.
Speaker 3: We're gonna fight fire with fire.
Speaker 2: That's what we're gonna do. We just did it. I'm
Speaker 2: waiting the poles.
Speaker 3: Oh look, the posts will have just closed here and
Speaker 3: in California Prop fifty right, which is gonna pass. We
Speaker 3: have to fight fire with fire. There they are cheating
Speaker 3: and we cannot, we cannot let them just keep taking
Speaker 3: our lunch.
Speaker 2: We gotta punch back. We gotta punch back.
Speaker 3: We do we do.
Speaker 1: So there is Prop fifty in California. There are other
Speaker 1: states with democratic governors that can move forward and take
Speaker 1: a similar approach. We saw this in response to Texas
Speaker 1: racist jerrymandering scheme. And of course this is the sixtieth
Speaker 1: anniversary of the voting rise act. That's also something else
Speaker 1: that was in your portfolio as VP.
Speaker 3: And look we have we well we all love each
Speaker 3: other and thank you, thank you, I mean look again.
Speaker 3: So part of this moment requires us to understand what
Speaker 3: is happening now did not just happen overnight.
Speaker 2: It did not just happen overnight.
Speaker 3: We have What we are witnessing right now is something
Speaker 3: that has been feeling chaotic. It has been feeling chaotic,
Speaker 3: but what we are in fact experiencing is a high
Speaker 3: velocity event that is about the swift implementation of a
Speaker 3: plan that has been decades in the making. And I
Speaker 3: would suggest that part of what we cannot do, as
Speaker 3: Democrats and those who are aligned is allow ourselves to
Speaker 3: think this is only about the guy who's in the
Speaker 3: Oval office, because that's a mistake. That's a mistake, yes,
Speaker 3: that and there is a whole apparatus around him that
Speaker 3: has facilitated this very moment when he would arrive. There
Speaker 3: is the Federalist Society, The Heritage Foundation Project twenty twenty
Speaker 3: five didn't just fall.
Speaker 2: Out of the sky.
Speaker 3: The attacks on the Department of Education have been decades
Speaker 3: in the making, and now they want to take head
Speaker 3: start and school lunches from children. This is an agenda
Speaker 3: that has been in play for decades and now they
Speaker 3: are implementing. They're not just coming up with the ideas.
Speaker 3: It's full implementation. And you know, part of the way
Speaker 3: I look at it is if you just think about
Speaker 3: how we got to this moment in terms of the individual,
Speaker 3: the way I kind of think about it is, imagine
Speaker 3: the amalgamation of the celebrity of Ronald Rake with the
Speaker 3: base with the base level of I don't even want
Speaker 3: to call it dialogue, but discourse of.
Speaker 2: Newt Caningridge with the.
Speaker 3: Kind of nationalism and and and and of of of
Speaker 3: Pat Buchanan. This is what we have, right So just
Speaker 3: understand that this is not going to just go away
Speaker 3: when the guy is turned out, if he ever leaves.
Speaker 2: And that's something we do need to pay attention to, Okay.
Speaker 3: But this is something that we have we have to
Speaker 3: understand with to your point, the jerry mandering has been
Speaker 3: going on for years and years and years. I mean
Speaker 3: remember that famous case in North Carolina where there was
Speaker 3: a purposeful the court said it attempt not even just
Speaker 3: attempt to excise black voters.
Speaker 2: So we have to also.
Speaker 3: Think about not only the short term goal, but the
Speaker 3: long term goal of leapfrogging over this. I think part
Speaker 3: of it includes and this is why I again applaud
Speaker 3: now mayor elect Mom Donnie, we have to also, but
Speaker 3: let me let me say why we also have to.
Speaker 3: And I don't mean this to exclude anybody, but really
Speaker 3: focus on gen Z and hear them when they talk
Speaker 3: about their needs and what they're not getting, and engage
Speaker 3: in a very intentional way their participation. Do you know
Speaker 3: gen Z is a larger population demographically than boomers. Gen
Speaker 3: Z is from about age thirteen to about age twenty.
Speaker 2: And you think about.
Speaker 3: This population as a specific population of people. They've only
Speaker 3: known the climate crisis, They went through very significant periods
Speaker 3: of their education without the structure around that and socialization.
Speaker 3: It is predicted that gen Z will have between ten
Speaker 3: and twelve jobs in their lifetime. Yeah, older generations could
Speaker 3: basically come out of high school or college and the
Speaker 3: job they had is where they retired. If you're looking
Speaker 3: at people who are right now college age and in
Speaker 3: college or in some form of education at that age,
Speaker 3: they are well aware that what they are studying now
Speaker 3: may not actually lead to an employable job and I
Speaker 3: think of gen Z in the I think that we
Speaker 3: should think of gen Z the way we once thought
Speaker 3: of another general of people that we then decided we
Speaker 3: would invest in, and that is that group of folks
Speaker 3: that we call the Greatest Generation. Now obviously for different reasons,
Speaker 3: they fought in World War Two, and we as a
Speaker 3: community of people as a country, said we're going to
Speaker 3: invest in them because investing in the GI bill, investing
Speaker 3: in their ability to buy homes. Although we can talk
Speaker 3: about the racial discrimination then, but we decided it was
Speaker 3: worth our investment for the sake of the future of
Speaker 3: our country. I think similarly, as we are thinking about
Speaker 3: how we are building toward the future, we should be
Speaker 3: thinking about a variety of things, including that specific generation
Speaker 3: and how an investment in them will actually benefit us all,
Speaker 3: including their political participation. And that requires first of all,
Speaker 3: that we listen to them and what they are telling
Speaker 3: us about how they are thinking about our government, our country,
Speaker 3: and our future.
Speaker 1: There's one area that was really important to gen Z,
Speaker 1: and I know their parents too, that you all had
Speaker 1: a tremendous record around in the Biden Harris administration, and
Speaker 1: that's around student loan debt.
Speaker 2: Forgiveness, So I want to make sure.
Speaker 1: We acknowledge the history in case they try to rewrite
Speaker 1: that as well.
Speaker 3: Well that and also, you know, I think we part
Speaker 3: of the focus that I had was also in what
Speaker 3: we need to do to invest in education after high school,
Speaker 3: and that we really ought to think about.
Speaker 2: Our language in that regard because we.
Speaker 3: Have really attributed we've we've really attributed value in a
Speaker 3: way that we have diminished the value we have diminished.
Speaker 2: We have diminished the.
Speaker 3: Value of education after high school if it is not
Speaker 3: college education.
Speaker 2: And that's a mistake and.
Speaker 3: Part of my plan, and I don't want to talk
Speaker 3: about it for you know, oh too bad it didn't happen,
Speaker 3: But more like this is what I think how we
Speaker 3: should be thinking going forward. Was as president, and I says,
Speaker 3: I would have been in charge of well, we now
Speaker 3: have seen what this guy has done. But the largest,
Speaker 3: one of the largest workforces in America is the federal government.
Speaker 3: And part of my plan was to re categorize the
Speaker 3: jobs not just around the degree that is required, but
Speaker 3: the skill that is required. And it was my intention
Speaker 3: to then challenge the private sector to do the same
Speaker 3: because increasingly the jobs that are going to lead to
Speaker 3: our productivity. Really, we ought to think about them in
Speaker 3: terms of the skill so that we can also communicate
Speaker 3: to an incoming workforce, is what do you need to learn?
Speaker 3: And oftentimes it may be a two year education that
Speaker 3: earns you the certificate to have the skill to do
Speaker 3: the job that pays really well, as opposed to requiring
Speaker 3: someone to go through a four year process, which and
Speaker 3: maybe graduating four years if not five, while not working
Speaker 3: and owing student loans at the end of it all.
Speaker 2: And so part of.
Speaker 3: You know, there are solutions in him, I mean one
Speaker 3: of the other things that I think we need to do.
Speaker 3: So okay, everyone just get ready for this. I really
Speaker 3: believe we ought to lower the voting age to sixteen.
Speaker 2: What about are life?
Speaker 3: I know some people need to really sit with that,
Speaker 3: and I get it.
Speaker 2: Sit with it for a moment, But.
Speaker 3: I'm telling you, if we want to take on some
Speaker 3: of the most intractable problems, you know, some of us
Speaker 3: of a certain age we are going to benefit from
Speaker 3: the way things have always been. But anybody who is
Speaker 3: sixteen right now, they are so aware of how this
Speaker 3: is not working out for them, and think about the
Speaker 3: influence they would have if they had an ability if
Speaker 3: people who are running for office knew they had to
Speaker 3: respond to the needs of someone who is sixteen. And
Speaker 3: I know it's a complicated issue for some of you.
Speaker 3: I get it, but I think we should give it
Speaker 3: some consideration.
Speaker 1: I like the idea of you run in a campaign
Speaker 1: like if you can drive, you can vote.
Speaker 2: I like it.
Speaker 3: But that's I like it.
Speaker 2: It's smart.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So okay, So, speaking of going to looking towards
Speaker 1: the future, you spoke in the book about systems failing,
Speaker 1: talked earlier today even about the capitulation and not expecting
Speaker 1: to see it in such a widespread manner. I want
Speaker 1: to know from you if this is fixable, and if
Speaker 1: you were giving us a closing argument, because you know,
Speaker 1: you're Kamala hairs for the people. Is this democracy worth
Speaker 1: saving and fighting for?
Speaker 2: Andy? But of course of course it is.
Speaker 3: But here's the thing, I again, going back to the language.
Speaker 3: I think we need to do a better job of
Speaker 3: defining what we mean by democracy. You know, and I,
Speaker 3: for example, would we agree that a functional and working democracy,
Speaker 3: In a functional and working democracy, the government needs the.
Speaker 2: Needs of the people.
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 2: And are we doing that? No? Right?
Speaker 3: You know, Listen, at the end of this all, there
Speaker 3: is going to be a whole lot of.
Speaker 2: And you know, for all.
Speaker 3: Of the tech associated people here, you know, we talk
Speaker 3: about disruption, but disruption is not destruction, and they are
Speaker 3: destroying a lot. And so at the end of it all,
Speaker 3: there's going to be work that must be done. And
Speaker 3: I would suggest that the work that needs to be
Speaker 3: done is not necessarily about rebuilding, because there were things
Speaker 3: that really were not working even before.
Speaker 2: And I believe that we cannot approach.
Speaker 3: What we're going to need to do going forward with
Speaker 3: a sense of nostalgia about things the way they were.
Speaker 3: We're going to really have to again invite those conversations,
Speaker 3: and at the crux of the conversation has to be
Speaker 3: is the government.
Speaker 2: Responding to the needs of the people.
Speaker 3: And that's about efficiency, That's about effectiveness. It's about insurance
Speaker 3: that the voices of the people are actually present in
Speaker 3: the room where the decisions are being made. It is
Speaker 3: about whether the government is focused not just on process
Speaker 3: but actually progress.
Speaker 2: It is about whether we.
Speaker 3: Are thinking not only in the immediate term, but thinking five,
Speaker 3: ten and twenty years out about what we are creating,
Speaker 3: what we are investing in, what we are nurturing. In
Speaker 3: between everything else that we have to do. Right now,
Speaker 3: this should be an active conversation among us, because the
Speaker 3: day will quickly come.
Speaker 2: And arguably is here to start.
Speaker 3: Also, also in the midst of our fight, really articulating
Speaker 3: what we need. We need a government that promises the
Speaker 3: people affordable childcare.
Speaker 2: We need paid family leave.
Speaker 3: We need to have a system where people do not
Speaker 3: have to leave their source of income or the job
Speaker 3: they love because they can't afford to take care of
Speaker 3: a sick family member. We need to have a government
Speaker 3: that understands basic needs like housing should be within the
Speaker 3: affordable reach of people and working people. But we're not
Speaker 3: going to give up on our Look, this is our country,
Speaker 3: this is our country.
Speaker 2: It's not theirs. It's ours, it's not.
Speaker 3: And this is the first step toward fighting for our
Speaker 3: democracy is believing, truly believing, believing and knowing that the
Speaker 3: power is with the people.
Speaker 2: And that's where it starts.
Speaker 3: And as long as we don't give up our power,
Speaker 3: I say, don't let anyone take your power from you.
Speaker 3: Don't let anyone take your power.
Speaker 1: From you, and you never have, you never have. Thank
Speaker 1: you for embodying power. Thank you for coming to my
Speaker 1: hometown to see out of Washington.
Speaker 2: Thank you all.
Speaker 5: All, Thank you all, thank you for reminding us that
Speaker 5: when we fight, we win.
Speaker 1: Even if the battle is a little bit longer than
Speaker 1: we expected.
Speaker 2: Well, it's always gonna be. It's gonna take everything.
Speaker 3: It takes a while, but we don't give up, and
Speaker 3: we see change, we see progress again. Let's go home
Speaker 3: tonight and see what has happened in these elections around
Speaker 3: the country.
Speaker 2: Let that fortify us. The battle is worth fighting. It's
Speaker 2: worth fighting.
Speaker 3: And we cannot give up, and we cannot be dispirited.
Speaker 3: And we have to maintain our joy, We maintain our light,
Speaker 3: we maintain a sense of community.
Speaker 2: None of us is in this alone.
Speaker 3: We are all in this together, and that is our strength,
Speaker 3: and that is our purpose.
Speaker 2: And when we fight, we will there we go.
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