 On Tuesday,
November 3rd of 2020,
our first guest could make
history as the first woman,
and the first Kamala
ever to be elected
president in the United States.
She's from right
here in Los Angeles.
Please say hello to
Senator Kamala Harris.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
 How are you?
- I am well.
- Welcome home.
I know you've been
out on the road.
 It's good to be home.
I just got in last night.
 How's the running for
president thing going?
 I'm enjoying it.
I don't know what that
says about my personality,
but I'm really enjoying it.
 I have a feeling that-- it's
gotta be kind of fun to go out
there, and mix it up,
and field questions,
and listen to people
cheering, and seeing
people in states you might
not have ever visited before.
 It is.
But you know, Jimmy,
the thing that I'm
loving most is going to--
you know, that the
last trip I took
South Carolina, for example.
In rural towns, where it
is much more intimate,
where it's direct conversations.
Where whatever you're
thinking is being challenged.
I feel so strongly that this
has to be a campaign that--
not only-- well, let me just
say, I fully intend to win.
 Oh, good.
[APPLAUSE]
 There is that.
 Not much point in going and
doing this otherwise, yeah.
 But a metric of
success for me will
also be that at the end of
the process, we are relevant.
And so what I'm enjoying
most is being in places
where I listen, especially
at this phase of it,
more than I talk.
And where I am
validating, or verifying,
or being set straight
about, really, what
are the priorities of people?
And it's been a great process.
 How does your family
feel about this?
 So we-- my husband is
one of the most supportive
people you've ever met.
He has a great sense of
humor, he loves people,
and he joins me on
the road when he can.
But he's based here in LA.
- What is his name?
 Doug.
Doug.
 I don't know if we're ready
for a first lady named Doug.
I don't know.
Doug, huh?
 Oh, he is the most
fully actualized person
you have ever met.
 Oh, really?
 And in fact, he's very much
enjoying being the spouse of--
 Oh, he is?
He's having fun with it?
 He's very secure.
 Good.
 And then our
kids, we have two--
23 and 19.
And they've been so
incredibly supportive.
 Are they nervous about the--
people prying into their lives?
- I'm nervous about that.
- You are?
Yeah, right.
I'm sure.
 I'm nervous about
that, because--
 Did you go through
all their stuff
and go, like, we
gotta check Instagram?
And make sure
everything's clear?
 Well, we had a couple
of talks about that.
- Yeah, right.
- I mean, because--
 You have to.
 Well, it's-- you know,
look, it is what it is.
 Right.
 I mean, listen, we all
know that nobody is perfect.
I said that in my opening
speech, when I announce
my candidacy in my hometown
of Oakland, California,
in front of 22,000
people, which is--
I am not perfect, our
kids are not perfect,
my husband is not perfect.
And I don't think that the
American people want perfect.
What they want is a leader who
is going to put their interests
above self-interests.
 Well, based on
what's going on now--
 And speaks truth.
 We definitely
didn't want perfect.
I mean, we quite clearly--
 You think?
 Settled for less than perfect.
 Yeah.
 So the whole thing is really
interesting, because, well, you
got a big bump today.
CNN did a poll, and you're--
I think they have you in third.
You jumped a lot of
points, behind Bernie
Sanders and Joe Biden, who's
not technically running yet.
But obviously, he's going
to run do you want Joe--
would you rather he doesn't run?
 I think that everyone who
wants to run should run.
 Everyone who wants to run--
 And truly, the more the
merrier, because we've got--
we do not lack for
talent among Democrats,
and I think that it is good
to have a robust competition,
to get to the point of
determining who will
be the nominee for the party.
 Are Joe and
Bernie too old to be
president of the United States?
 I think age is more
than a chronological fact.
 Mhm.
 I think it's a state of mind,
and if each candidate can show
that they have an ability to
understand where people are
right now, and also have
a vision for the future,
then I think they
will be successful.
 Are people--
I'm sorry to interrupt,
but are people learning how
to pronounce your first name?
 It helps when I tell
them that it's like comma,
like a punctuation mark,
and then add a "la."
 I have a way
that I-- because--
I don't know if you
remember, because we're
about the same age.
 Yes.
 There was a wrestler named
Kamala the Ugandan Giant.
 Yes.
There was.
 Who spelled his name
the same way you do.
And that's what I thought of
the last time I saw your name.
 You are correct.
I haven't checked
up on him recently.
Do you know what's
going on with him?
 He's-- I don't think
he's in great health,
but he's still around.
Thank goodness.
 Yeah.
 You might want to bring
him on the trail, by the way,
because he was very popular.
 He would pack a big punch.
Ba-dum-bum.
 And I know this is going
to sound very strange,
but-- and this is something
we talk about in my family.
 Yeah?
 You-- I mean, she's much
older than you, obviously,
but you look like my mom.
- No kidding?
 Yes.
And I brought some
photographs-- in fact,
today's my mother's birthday.
 Oh, happy birthday!
 And this is--
 Oh, my god.
 You and my mom together.
And it kind of-- it doesn't
quite, entirely, capture it,
but like, there's definitely--
 Oh, she is fantastic.
 Yeah, well, she's
a little crazy, but--
but she's lovely, yeah.
So--
 And you grew up
in Vegas, right?
 That's how I remember
her, is I think of Kamala
and my "mamala," you know?
 But that's what our
kids call me, because--
 Oh, they call your "mamala?"
 Yeah, because they are--
we don't use the term in
our family, stepmother.
 OK.
 I think Disney messed
that up for everybody.
But they are technically
my step-children,
but they are my children.
And they call me "mamala."
And we have a very
modern family.
My husband's ex-wife, the
kids' mother, and her mother,
came to our house
for Thanksgiving.
 Oh, good.
You've got to get her in line.
You know, you gotta make sure.
Just bringing everyone
into the circle.
 And we have a huge,
very modern family.
It's really great, actually.
 Senator Warren,
Elizabeth Warren,
had a town hall
last night, and she
said that she thinks
we should do away
with the electoral college.
Is that-- do you
agree with that?
 I think that it's--
I'm open to the discussion.
I mean, there's no question
that the popular vote has been
diminished, in terms of making
the final decision about who's
the President of
the United States.
And we need to deal with that.
So I'm open to the discussion.
 President Trump wants to
get rid of regular college.
College altogether.
 Indeed.
Indeed, because--
you know, exactly.
I guess he's decided it's
not important to read--
 Because there are a
lot of people running
for the Democratic
nomination, and there--
and you mostly agree on things.
Is that-- would you
say that's fair?
- I think on a lot of--
- Especially big things.
Yeah.
 I think that's right.
 So how are you
different from--
I mean, obviously, besides being
yourself, and your background.
But as far as policy
goes, as far as the plan
goes, how are you different?
Because that's, for me, what I
need to figure out is like, OK,
there's a lot of people here.
- How do you distinguish?
 Yeah.
And how do you distinguish?
 No, that's fair.
I mean, obviously it's
going to be a long campaign,
and all of us will, you know,
have opportunities to speak,
and voters will learn
more, and obviously,
the voters ultimately
will make the decision.
I think one of the distinctions
is I have a background
of having been a leader.
And I think that
the voters are going
to decide who will be the
next commander in chief,
President of the United States,
based on experience of leading.
I was-- and I led at a
local government level,
at state government, and
now at federal government.
I was the district
attorney of San Francisco,
I was the Attorney
General of California,
where I led an office
of almost 5,000 people.
And now, obviously, in
the United States Senate.
I think people are going
to want, and look to who
has a demonstrated
ability to be a fighter,
and to be a fighter
for the people.
I've done that work.
I took on the five big
banks of the United States
when we were fighting for
the homeowners of California,
and by extension, the nation,
around the foreclosure crisis,
and when they were,
you know, basically
stealing from homeowners around
these these predatory mortgage
practices.
I also believe that what
voters are going to want
is they are going to want
that there is someone who has
the proven ability
to prosecute the case
against this administration.
 Yeah.
 And this president.
 Yeah.
People do want that.
 And that is going to be
about having an ability,
and a proven ability to be able
to articulate the evidence that
makes the case for why we need
new leadership in this country.
 You're saying if
you are president,
and Donald Trump is
out of the White House,
you will then continue
to prosecute him
and his various
hench characters?
 I am very supportive of Bob
Mueller being able to finish
his process, and do his job.
 Yeah.
Tell him to finish
his process, already.
 Yeah.
 Are you a Star Wars fan?
 Oh, my god.
So let me just tell you, I just
turned into my 12-year-old self
in the green room.
I met Mark Hamill,
and literally, I
met Luke Skywalker.
I literally-- he said to me
that the force is with me.
I almost started crying.
I literally almost
started crying.
 That's big.
 I totally reverted.
 Who needs the space force
when you have the actual force?
 I'm telling you.
And he's so interesting,
and he's so talented.
 I have an idea for you guys.
 Through those years--
 I think this would be
a very potent ticket.
You know, I mean, you could do
a lot worse than Luke Skywalker.
Are things as divided behind
the scenes in the Senate
as they appear to be
when we see a hearing,
where people don't seem to have
any common ground whatsoever?
- No.
- They're not?
 No.
I'll give you--
 Do people-- do
Republican senators
complain about President Trump?
- Yeah.
- They do?
 And they roll their eyes,
but I'm going to give you
an example, though, of also--
well, first of all,
I am leading two
pieces of very
significant legislation
that are bipartisan.
One is to reform the money bail
system in the United States,
to get rid of money
bail, because--
 That's happening here
in California, right?
 Yeah, and it's happening
here in California.
Because, you know, people
are literally sitting
in jail for days,
weeks, and months,
waiting to go to trial,
just because they
can't afford to get out.
Meanwhile, people who
have money get out,
and that's then an
economic justice issue.
 It is a great injustice.
It really is, yeah.
 So there's that, and
that's with Rand Paul.
I have a bill that
is about what we need
to do to secure the
election systems,
and upgrade it so that
the Russians can't
hack our elections.
And that's with
Senator James Lankford
from Oklahoma, a Republican.
But I'll tell you this
is, in particular,
another example of of the work
that happens behind the scenes.
I am on the Senate
Intelligence Committee,
and we receive, twice a
week, for hours at end,
information in a place
called skiff, which
is a secure location in
our United States capital,
from our intelligence community,
about threats to our nation,
and issues that we should be
informed and concerned about.
When we walk in
that room, people--
there are no cameras.
There's no press,
there's no audience.
People take off their jackets,
they roll up their sleeves,
and some of the most civilized
and important conversations
take place in a way that
is not only bipartisan,
but is nonpartisan.
So while we see so much of
partisanship that is attempting
to divide our country,
I will tell you,
at least in my experience,
on these issues
around national security in
a skiff, there is a lot of,
unity and that is
very heartening.
 Can I come to one
of those meetings?
Is that something--
no, I wouldn't be
able to come in the skiff, huh?
- No.
 I'd love to be
part of the skiff.
I really would.
 Yeah.
 Well, stay strong.
I know it's going
to be a grueling--
I don't know how
many months are left,
but I'm sure they're
going to seem--
 A lot.
Yes.
 And thank you for coming.
It's great to have you here.
Senator Kamala Harris, everyone.
