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