'He Made America Less..': Kamala Harris Goes All-Out Against Trump Over War, Health Care & Democracy

[0:01] You know we're excited to have you with us this afternoon and we've got people here from [0:10] all over the country. [0:12] But I reminded everyone that you have been here more times than I can count. [0:18] On the back of the envelope I think I've counted 12 times. [0:22] But maybe I've missed a few between this and our Legislative Policy Conference and many [0:27] other engagements we've had so we are indeed so proud that you're back today. [0:32] I want to start today with just your assessment, your sense of the moment that we are living [0:41] in the condition of this nation and the challenges we have because we're trying to maintain hope. [0:48] Yeah that's right. [0:49] We're trying to maintain strength, we're trying to maintain the fight. [0:53] What's your assessment, what's your sense, what commentary would you have on the state [0:58] of affairs at this moment? [1:00] How's that for being articulate? [1:04] Easy question. [1:07] So let me preface it by first thanking you Mark and everyone in this room for the work [1:16] that you are so dedicated to that is about lifting up the voices of people who must be [1:23] seen and heard and receive the dignity to which they are due. [1:29] It is tireless work, it is often thankless work. [1:33] And the leaders in this room do it every day without any expectation of award or reward. [1:41] And I am so deeply thankful to you for lifting up and carrying the legacy of this incredibly [1:49] important American organization and institution especially in these most troubled times. [2:00] We are looking at a historic moment and not for good reason. [2:06] We are looking at a moment that is, has been about taking us back. [2:12] You look at the Cali decision, taking us back to Jim Crow. [2:17] You look at a United States Supreme Court. [2:20] I became a lawyer because of the, one of the people I idolized, which was Thurgood Marshall. [2:28] And everything he did and they did on that court, everything Charles Hamilton Houston and Constance [2:34] Baker Motley did to allow that court with Thurgood to do the good work that was about trying to make [2:43] real the promise of America when it comes to liberty and justice and equality. [2:49] Yet we are living in a time where we see the three branches of government that are supposed to be co-equal, [3:00] that are under their watch, allowing a disintegration and deterioration of those principles and values [3:12] that we have held ourselves out to value and hold dear. [3:18] We have seen a United States Supreme Court, which now a few years ago told the chief executive, [3:28] the president of the United States, he'd be immune from whatever he does in office. [3:33] And so what have we seen as a result of that and so many other factors? [3:39] We have seen what should be three co-equal branches of government now become one superior to the other [3:45] two in many ways. We see in a state like Tennessee state governments who are overtly without any apology [4:00] threatening the very thing that we say we stand for, which is a democracy and the right of its citizens to vote. [4:10] I'm sure that, Mark, you guys have been talking about what's happening in Memphis. [4:14] Oh, yes. [4:14] A predominantly black city that has now been carved into three different districts [4:21] that is intended, that action, to basically [4:29] wipe out the black vote in any meaningful way in this state. [4:35] You see what happened with the Calais decision. And, you know, if you read that decision, [4:42] the court justified it basically by saying, well, it's politics, so we're not going to interfere. [4:49] You know what they did? They backdoored racism through politics in that decision. [4:56] And so right now we are looking at a situation in the South in particular where we could lose [5:04] a significant amount of representation. And yes, we should talk about it in terms of who will lose [5:10] their office. But we also know that most importantly it's going to be about the people that will lose [5:17] their representation. These are troubled times. We have a president of the United States taking [5:27] America into a war the people didn't ask for. Spending billions of dollars without paying attention to [5:35] the people right here in America who are losing their health coverage every single day because of [5:41] policies that they're pushing to pay for a tax cut for the richest people in the country. [5:52] These are troubled times, Mark. And yet, I remain optimistic. And I'm going to tell you why. [6:00] I'm just being backstage here. I met one of the young leaders. She's about to go to law school. Where [6:10] are you? She's about to go to law school. And we were talking about it. She's been working here, [6:15] Urban League. And she wants to go to law school. And I said, well, what do you want to do with that [6:20] law degree? She said, fight for civil rights. You know, fight for civil rights. She is a member of Gen Z. [6:29] Gen Z. Gen Z is a bigger population demographically than boomers. Get comfortable with that boomers. [6:39] And when I meet young leaders like her or the young leaders that I recently met at North Carolina A&T, [6:46] because I heard about how they were organizing around voting rights. And I went to go meet with [6:53] those students at North Carolina A&T, the largest HBCU in the country, who then told me about how they [7:01] are in a fight because the elected officials in that state took the polling place from their campus. [7:11] The polling place from the largest HBCU in the country. From our young leaders who are at that [7:19] phase of life, we all know those of us who have parented children, that phase of life where we want [7:23] to make sure they are learning the good habits of being an adult, including to get used to voting [7:31] every cycle. And they took the polling place. But these young leaders are organizing. They're organizing [7:37] to the point of raising money to get buses to be able to take the students to go to the polling place. [7:47] They're organizing and going up to their state capital and demanding to be heard. They're not [7:54] deterred when they went up to their state capital. And the leader at the podium in the chambers, [8:02] they're not deterred when they were told this. They were told, you have five minutes to leave. [8:10] And those students are not deterred. And they are fighting. And they are fighting in the traditions [8:19] of this organization and all the people in this room. So I remain optimistic. But we have a fight in front [8:25] of us. As you think about this Calais decision and the effective gutting of the Voting Rights Act [8:34] through Shelby and Calais, how do we best respond? You're a brilliant lawyer, been a legislator and an [8:42] executive. How do we best respond to what is really a setback in terms of a tool that we've used to [8:50] protect our voting rights? How do we best respond? Okay. Real talk? Real talk. Straight talk. [8:56] I honestly don't believe that it will be anytime soon that we are going to revive the Voting Rights Act. [9:08] So I don't believe that it is going to be a good, the best use of our energy right now to try to get [9:18] that done. Because I don't know that it's going to get done right now, the way this Congress is composed [9:24] and the way they have been treating civil rights issues. I'm hopeful, but I don't know that it's going [9:31] to happen anytime soon. So I think part of it is we've got to think about now, and I was talking to [9:38] this young woman about this, now when they have destroyed the infrastructure we built over decades [9:47] and had in place with the Voting Rights Act for 50 years, how are we going to achieve the goal when that [9:55] infrastructure has been destroyed? And we're going to have to be creative. Part of it is these midterms are [10:01] coming up and it will make a decision about who at least rules the Senate, I mean the House, if not [10:07] the Senate. And so we have to do the work of telling people right now, check your voter registration [10:14] status. Make sure you aren't one of those people whose names got purged inappropriately. Make sure [10:20] you've checked on your polling place because they've been playing games around moving the polling place [10:24] where your grandparents always voted. And so on election day, when they go to that elementary [10:28] school down the block, they might find that that polling place is closed. Registering folks to vote [10:34] and having an agenda that is about turning out the vote in the greatest numbers we have ever seen, [10:40] so that in light of and in this environment where they are cheating, we will be too big to rig, [10:47] too big to rig. It means being ruthless. They are ruthless. We need to be ruthless too. And by that I [11:03] do not mean cruel. That is not our nature. By that I do not mean breaking the law. That is not what we do. [11:11] But I do mean we must be uncompromising. And we must allow for a real conversation about revisiting certain [11:26] things. For example, and I know this is going to be controversial coming from me in particular, [11:32] we need to revisit the electoral college. We need to revisit the point of expanding the court to 13 [11:45] justices like we have 13 district courts. We need to revisit, if they so want, statehood for Puerto Rico [11:56] in D.C. Yes. If we regain control of the Senate. I served on this committee, the Senate Judiciary [12:09] Committee, when I was in the Senate. Only the second black woman elected to the United States Senate [12:14] after Carol Mosley-Burn. And the Senate Judiciary Committee has the power to create rules for its [12:24] committee that don't have to go to the whole Senate for a vote and worry about filibuster and all of that. [12:32] We should demand, if we win back the Senate, that the Senate Judiciary Committee have the strength [12:41] to put in place rules that would include if a nominee for a federal court or the Supreme Court comes [12:50] before them and starts lying, that they hold them in contempt. If they refuse to give information for [12:57] which the committee righteously requires, they think about accountability and consequence, [13:05] and that those members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have the courage, because we require it, [13:14] to hold people accountable who are misleading intentionally. [13:22] You really embrace an aggressive agenda. We, Wednesday night, came out in favor of a strong [13:30] code of ethics for the Supreme Court. Yeah. [13:32] Uh, a, uh, term limits for the court and, uh, I support an expansion of the court and I think people [13:38] should understand the Supreme Court has not always had nine members. Right. [13:41] Nothing sacrosanct about nine members and, uh, we have to, uh, do what, uh, indeed we need to do. [13:49] I want to switch gears to foreign affairs. Uh, and, uh, let's focus, I want to create this context. So [13:58] it appears as though American foreign policy is hyper-focused on the Middle East, not to suggest [14:08] that the Middle East is not important, but that there is not significant focus on our relationship [14:15] with Africa. Right. Our relationship with Latin America and the Caribbean while China is on the move [14:21] in Africa in a very significant way has increased its investments there. What should American foreign [14:28] policy and how do you convince, uh, uh, uh, those, I'll call it beltway types that American foreign policy [14:37] should be much more expansive than a hyper-focus on the Middle East? How do you convince and should it be [14:44] that or is the Middle East so pivotal to everything that that is where our focus needs to remain? [14:51] So for, well, let me start with this. I, as vice president United States, I met with over 150 world [14:56] leaders, presidents, prime ministers, chancellors, and Kings, many of them multiple times and developed [15:03] relationships with them. And I will say that one of the concerns that I've had for quite some time, [15:11] even before the 24 election is I, I, I worry and it kind of pains me to be honest with you. Um, do the [15:20] American people writ large understand how important we are to the rest of the world? I don't mean the [15:29] government. I mean the people because part of my experience has shown me that the relationship between [15:37] nations, yes, it has something to do with the relationship between those leaders, but it also has [15:43] something to do with the relationship perceived by the people of those nations with the others. The, the, [15:50] the whole history of African Americans in the United States is well known in many parts of the world [16:02] and the plight and the struggle has been one of those examples of other nations knowing who we are [16:10] and finding some level of identification with the need for the people to have to fight for their rights [16:18] and then see success when they organize and speak up. Um, I, this president, this person in the White [16:29] House right now has, um, first of all, he is the first president in the United States Democrat or Republican [16:38] who has openly thumbed his nose at the importance of alliances. Imperfect though many of them have been, [16:49] but this one openly thumbs his nose at the importance of alliances. The other thing he openly does [16:55] is thumb his nose at the notion that America should be a, a, a protector of international rules and norms. [17:06] He is an isolationist with a, a, a supposed America first agenda who because of his failure to understand [17:17] America's role, imperfect though we may be, has accomplished two things. He has accomplished [17:26] making America seem less reliable as a partner. And he has accomplished that America now has less [17:35] authority than it ever did to weigh in on global matters. You've mentioned the continent of Africa [17:43] and I was so honored when you and Michelle came on the, as part of the delegation that I took to the [17:51] continent and Ghana being, um, the place where we were hosted with a state dinner. So as vice president, [17:58] one of the areas of focus for me in international policy was the continent of Africa for a number of [18:04] reasons, including the median age on the continent of Africa is 18. It is estimated by 2050 one in four [18:18] people occupying space on mother earth will be on the continent of Africa. Yes. So my point as vice [18:28] president was trying to then change the narrative around our relationship with the continent in a way [18:35] that yes, we would preserve whatever we had historically done that was about support for [18:42] natural disasters, for, for disease, AIDS, HIV, AIDS being another example, but also that we would shift [18:50] to understanding the importance of partnerships with African nations. And we raised billions of dollars [18:58] from American corporations to invest in those partnerships. Of course, what we have seen now, [19:06] because it is a matter of perspective. We can, as we have learned with this administration, take [19:11] nothing for granted in terms of how we have always played in the world. When they, it's, it's, it's so [19:22] unbelievable that they got rid of USAID. It, and, and you saw the recent numbers as many as what is 600, [19:31] 700,000 people have died because of withdrawing American aid for humanitarian purposes on that [19:43] continent. And USAID funded the purchase of American agricultural products for countries all over the [19:49] world. So when USAID, AID shuts down, they hurt farmers, their growers and producers. Uh, and it's so [19:58] significant. How we now have a war in Iran that the United States Congress has not authorized. How do we [20:11] prevent presidents from engaging in unauthorized wars in the future so that this experience does not [20:19] become precedent setting for future presidents? Let me just engage in foreign conflicts at whim and at [20:28] will that the Congress is not authorized nor funded. How do you stop this? Well, let me just be on the [20:36] record. I would have opposed it even if they had approved this war. And here's why there has been no [20:43] articulation of the end game. Right. There has been, you know, he's now talking about this deal. You know, [20:52] the deal would basically be what Barack Obama got that he pulled us out of. And, you know, I think that [21:03] it is important to not be a conspiracist, but at the same time, you can listen to what people are saying [21:09] and wonder, is it just a full on distraction from the things he can't handle or has not handled. [21:20] But this war is a war of choice that this president got into with Israel, with no clear [21:33] national security issue for us. If you're, if you look at it in terms of what was happening with [21:39] the nuclear program and, and there is, there are now U.S. service, courageous U.S. service members [21:49] who have died. They're asking for hundreds of billions of dollars to pay for this war. [21:56] Meanwhile, you have people in America who are losing their health care every day, [22:01] cannot afford their housing, cannot afford health care, cannot afford child care. [22:09] And so, yes, it is about congressional authorization, but it is also about how do you use the resources and [22:16] power of the United States of America, our taxpayers and our government in a way that best [22:23] meets the needs of the people. Yes. In terms of their security, first and foremost, always, [22:30] but their well-being as a whole. This war is an example of, of action that is contrary to all of [22:37] the above. Let me ask you another question in a little bit of different vein. In your view, [22:45] rank the top three most effective presidents in American history. Oh, Mark, don't make me do that. [22:54] Oh, you can turn the question. Well, no, you know, it was actually interesting. I, I, I couldn't sleep last [23:01] night and I was watching NPR. It was doing a whole, did anybody watch a whole thing on FDR? Did you watch [23:07] it? And it was, um, and it, you know, of course his three terms in office and it was, it was interesting [23:14] to, and, and of course the role of his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt. And, um, you know, he did some good [23:22] things. In fact, it was he who talked about the expansion of the Supreme Court and then he got [23:28] ferocious back, um, you know, kind of blow, blow back for that. But he did good. It was social security. [23:37] It was, you know, when I think about what he did in terms of investing in the people in during dire [23:43] times and talking about the role and responsibility of government, that it should not just be about the [23:49] benevolence of, of, of, of community organizations or, or, or just interpersonal relationships, [23:56] that the government has a role. I think that he was a very important president. Um, he, he appreciated [24:03] that government has, in my mind, three essential functions, which is public health, public safety, [24:10] and public education. Um, you know, I will credit, like, give me more time to really think about this. [24:17] I credit, you know, Kennedy, of course, in terms of what he laid the groundwork for and then Johnson [24:24] followed up on course, of course, right around having the ability, but that was, again, an example [24:30] of the inside outside game because the reason that happened is because the pressure was on from the [24:37] outside to appeal to the conscience of the people on the inside. Yes. And so I don't think that there's [24:45] been any great president who has been without that kind of pressure as well. And then of course, [24:52] Barack Obama. Yeah, of course. Yes. Yeah. So, uh, and what he did with the Affordable Care Act, [25:00] among many things, but in particular, the Ford, if, if we had one issue that has been ailing America [25:07] for generations, which is a healthcare system that has failed anyone other than the rich and, and, and [25:15] addressing that the way that he did and took a lot of heat for it. I think he's one of the greatest [25:20] presidents. Well, you named three and I agree with those three, right? Particularly 20th century, uh, [25:26] FDR and you, you can never ever, uh, uh, compare with Kennedy and Johnson. The Kennedy Johnson [25:32] administration was able to accomplish, uh, in so many ways. And of course, Barack Obama, I think [25:39] not only his accomplishments, but the fact that he never embarrassed us, uh, he never ever embarrassed [25:49] us. He operated with dignity and class and put up, uh, he never sweat. No, you could never see the man [25:57] never was sweated. He never flinched when even the haters got loud and wrong, uh, with him. So I guess [26:05] the next question related to that, because you've had a chance to serve in the white house. What's the [26:10] profile of a great president? What are the characteristics that are really required to do [26:18] the job and do it effectively? What, what really does it take? Uh, because people may look at it [26:24] from the outside. You have a chance to look at it both from the outside and the inside and serve on the [26:29] inside. What, what are the characteristics? I think people are really thinking as they think ahead, [26:35] you know, what is the profile? What are the characteristics? Uh, sometimes what we see is not [26:40] what we see. Yeah. What do you think? One of the, I think most important qualities of a leader who can [26:51] make decisions that impact other people is the kind of leader who is more concerned with looking [27:02] at and to the people than looking in the mirror, um, which is about understanding. It is not about you. [27:12] It is about service. And are you listening to the people to hear them as opposed to tell them what [27:21] they need? I think that's critically important. Um, and you know, there are plenty of elected leaders [27:29] who will talk about going on a listening tour and what they really mean is listen to me. [27:35] So it's about listening to the people, which is an extension also of a very important character [27:43] trait that, that any president should have and any leader should have, which is empathy, [27:51] which is the ability to have at least some level of curiosity, if not concern [27:59] about the wellbeing of other people and then take it upon oneself to do something about it. Um, there is [28:07] the quality that is, that is everything that flows from the concept of integrity, which includes speaking [28:15] the truth and being honest with the people and, you know, and sometimes that will result in being [28:26] unpopular. But in my experience in elected office, it is better to weather those moments when you are [28:35] unpopular than it is to lose the respect and trust of the people. Thank you. I'm not asking you to make [28:45] any news here. That was so clearly like a lead up to something. Come on, Michelle. But you have many, [28:57] many, many friends and supporters in this room, you know, and in the urban league movement. So I'll probably [29:03] just ask this, um, you know, we're all clock watching, date watching, time watching. When do you want to [29:14] come back and talk to us? Any time, you know, this is, this is home to me, but I, I, I just do want to [29:22] stress 28 will not matter if we don't win 26. And you know, I'm, I was sharing with some of the friends [29:31] here, you know, I've been traveling the country again, since I've been, I guess one might think of me as being [29:37] currently unemployed. So I've had a little time and, um, and I've been spending a lot of time in the [29:50] South in particular, and especially now with this Calais decision, you know, just to revisit that point, [29:57] what they are doing to cheat, you know, some 19 states have done redistricting and there are many [30:05] more who didn't have to do redistricting because they already had cut the lines in a way that excluded [30:12] blocks of voters. And this administration and the people who are leading in a lot of these places, [30:21] they know that the people are not stupid. The people see that they're paying too much for gas [30:28] and groceries and housing and childcare. They know on merit that they don't have a whole lot to be [30:36] proud of. And so they know that if the people vote, it is very likely that they may vote them out of [30:44] office. And so they are cheating and they are not without power. So we have to counteract that. [30:56] And part of it is to remind, and this is what the urban league does so well in every community around [31:02] our country. We have to remind the people that the power is with them. We have to remind them that this [31:09] is not a time to feel hopelessness, that, that if you feel powerless, you will be powerless. If you feel [31:16] powerful, you will be powerful. And we are powerful. And right now there is so much at stake in these [31:27] midterms. We don't have the court to look out for the needs about equality and justice and fairness and [31:37] freedom. We don't have an executive branch who is doing much beyond attacking all those rights. [31:48] But while we can hold on to a democracy, we do have that third branch, which is Congress, [31:53] which if we can win even one half of it, we can have some of the guardrails to stop the pain. [32:04] And if we're only focused on 28, we're losing a lot of folks who need to be seen and, [32:14] and dare I say, protected from the attacks that we are witnessing. And so I appreciate the question [32:23] and the intrigue. I have not made a decision, but I will tell you, I am fully, sincerely focused on these [32:31] midterms. And I know we're going to be working together on it. And I thank everybody here for that. [32:35] So all I will say is we appreciate that. And we just want you to know that when you've got some [32:44] things to tell us, we want to be the first to know. And we want to convene a special meeting, [32:51] the Urban League Movement, so you can let us know what your thinking is. We really appreciate your [32:58] presence here today, your hard work. We are focused on the midterms. We are encouraging our people to [33:07] vote with vengeance, with passion, with conviction, to send a very, very strong message. We have work to [33:16] do. There has to be the investment in the ground game necessary to get out the vote, and we are [33:24] encouraging that. But we appreciate your voice, and you're welcome into any of our Urban League [33:31] communities, any of our Urban League affiliates at any time you want and you wish. So when you travel, [33:40] our doors are open, our folks want to hear, because you're one of us. And we thank you so very much. [33:47] Ladies and gentlemen, Urban Leaguers, brothers and sisters, give the Vice President a big round of [33:54] show some love, show it loud, show it proud.