[APPLAUSE]
SPEAKER: Hey, guys.
And as Tamron takes
the stage and joins us,
I'll first just say that she
really needs no introduction.
I know many of us have followed
your career as an award-winning
journalist, the
host of "Deadline--
Crime with Tamron Hall" on
Investigation Discovery,
currently in its
fifth season, which
takes an in-depth look at
crimes that shocked the nation.
But Tamron also was a part
of the NBC News team, co-host
of "NBC News Today," and is
the anchor of "MSNBC Live
with Tamron Hall."
Is that all right?
TAMRON HALL: I was.
SPEAKER: Everything right?
TAMRON HALL: Google it.
SPEAKER: Google it.
But more than all of that,
she is truly a philanthropist.
She's done so much
work in the community
and we'll talk about
that in a moment.
But she focuses her time on
homelessness, illiteracy,
and the fight against domestic
abuse, a topic and subject
that I know is very
near and dear to you.
So we'll uncover
all of those things,
but first I just
want to say welcome.
TAMRON HALL: Thank you.
SPEAKER: I am going
to first just begin
by saying that
for so many of us,
I think I can say
in the audience,
we have just been so inspired
by your work, by your journey.
You've done it with grace,
integrity, and style.
So first I just want to take
a moment to just salute you
and all of the
fabulousness that you
bring to television each day.
So let's give her another
round of applause.
TAMRON HALL: Thank you.
Thank you very much.
I wrote that really
well for you.
SPEAKER: No, no.
She didn't pay me to--
TAMRON HALL: Delivered
it like an Oscar winner.
Thank you.
SPEAKER: Thank you.
But I mean it, and I really do.
And I think it's
not often that we
see someone that
just does what you
do so well and so gracefully,
so thank you so much.
TAMRON HALL: Well, it's
not by design or plan.
I wish I could say that
I had some life script
to work off of.
People used to ask me all
the time, what's next?
And I recently started
answering that question
by saying, in my early
part of my career--
I've been on TV since I was 18.
I'm now 46.
In a few days I'll be 47.
And I never truly stopped
to smell the roses
because I was always
looking for the next garden.
And so when I got my first
TV job at 18, I was like,
whoa, $12,000, I've
got to get $24,000;
OK, $24,000, I've
got to get $48,000.
And so I was always looking
for the what's next.
And when I look back at the
early part of my career--
I can quickly tell you
this embarrassingly--
I was going through some
old pictures the other day,
and I'm really close
to Harry Belafonte
now in this version of my life.
I met him like 25 years ago
and I found a photo just a box.
And I thought, I don't
even remember that moment.
I remember I met him, but
all the context of it.
And that's because it was what's
next, what's new, what's now,
what's next?
And so for me now, I really
at the old age of 46,
it's like I'm stopping to
smell the flowers in the garden
and individually what
they need for my life.
So if there's any grace or
class, it's all my family
and how I was raised and a
recognition that no matter
where you are in
your life, whatever
economic scale, wherever
you live, gender, race,
we all owe it to ourselves
ultimately to stop
and smell the roses.
You don't have to savor it too
long because we're competitive,
and we're in a
competitive environment,
but just that beat I
think is necessary.
And that's what's
helped me at this point
in my rebirth of my career.
SPEAKER: I think for so
many of us as Googlers
and just the busy time in our
lives, we don't do that enough.
TAMRON HALL: I was rushing
before there was Google.
I mean, it's like you guys have
a whole new set of problems.
I was 18-- there was no Google,
and I still felt the rush of it
all and all these things.
So yeah, it's even
more pressure now.
It's exciting and
technology when people--
of course, they shrug off, oh,
I don't even use this or that.
I'm like, oh, and where's your
brick phone and your pager?
I mean, I'm a tech person--
not to the degree that
obviously many of you are--
but embracing the fast
pace but not letting it
control and rule you.
I mean, here you are having a
beautiful baby in a few weeks.
One of the things that
I've been very open about
is that I feel like I put my
career first in every aspect,
and then I woke up and
I'm like, oh, I'm 46
and I'd love to be a mom.
And you have that
conflict over, was I
supposed to pause or what
was I supposed to do?
And so if I'm being
honest with you,
and I will try to
always be that,
that's been a very
difficult road.
I see beautiful
moms like yourself
and I think, wow, when I was
40 I missed this opportunity.
I had other great opportunities,
but not that of being a mother.
But this career, this show,
my work with young women,
it's given me a
different opportunity
that I may not actually have
a child come from my body,
but the influence that I hope
to have over young women--
black girls, white
girls, whatever,
whatever your magic is--
if I can have a little piece
of my career influence it,
that may have been
the gift that I was
meant to receive in exchange.
SPEAKER: And I think that's
the thing, right, figuring out
what the path is for us.
And I think so many of us figure
that out early and then many
of us figure that out later--
TAMRON HALL: Or stumble into it.
I'm convinced nothing is
figured out, by the way.
I don't believe in closure.
I think that's overrated.
SPEAKER: Oh, that's good.
TAMRON HALL: When
people are like,
oh, I want closure from this
breakup-- good luck with that.
Until you see him with
somebody and you're like,
I though it was closed.
I don't believe in closure,
and I don't believe in plans.
Because I just think that,
again, a lot of what's
happened in our lives--
this is what I buy into,
being ready for it.
I think that if the
door in my career
has been opened
this much, I've been
willing to kick it
wide open and not
knock the door into someone.
I'm ambitious but not
blind with ambition.
So I wasn't willing
to kick the door open
so it would hurt
someone, but I was
willing to kick the door open.
So I think that less
planning and being
prepared for when
that moment comes,
are you going to show up?
Are you ready?
And the little bit of
life that I've lived,
I think that's what I've
learned over planning.
SPEAKER: So I've
heard a lot of people
say that they don't believe in
luck, right, when preparation
meets opportunity.
Do you kind of believe that?
TAMRON HALL: I believe in
it because OK, look, you
can't control your parents.
You can't control who you're
born to or who adopts you
or whatever.
Geography, where you're born--
I mean, depending on where
you're born in this country,
you can be born where a high
rate of infant mortality
still exists.
Education is at the lowest
level in this country,
and we're struggling
coast to coast
with getting our numbers up.
Imagine being at the
bottom of the totem pole
in the United States, and you're
born in a county in Mississippi
that doesn't score as well.
You had no control of
that in the fifth grade.
And that sets the tone,
because then ultimately you
may be competing against
a kid from Manhattan whose
parents were able to
pay $40,000 a year--
and not to begrudge them,
I mean, that's geography.
That's where you were born
and who you were born to.
So I don't believe
that we can dismiss
these unknown variables,
whether you're religious or not.
You cannot control
those factors.
I was born to a single mom--
well, my mother and my father
married but divorced very soon.
My grandfather had a
second grade education--
I've told this story many
times, Luling, Texas--
we didn't have paved
streets until the '80s.
My grandfather's mother
forced him into farm labor
because he needed to
take care of the family,
and that's what
would happen then.
But ultimately, a man with
a second grade education,
a woman who was
divorced or separated
by the time she was 22, they are
the fabric of why I'm here now.
So is it luck?
I don't know.
I mean, I was born to what some
people might say hard luck.
Well, that hard luck turned into
what I sure see as good luck.
So I don't know
how to process it.
But to just chuck it
up all to hard work,
it's just not true
because you can't control
some of these variables.
SPEAKER: Tell us a little
bit about your entry point
into journalism.
I think about the time as a
young African-American woman
from Texas who believed.
What was that moment for
you and what propelled
you to take that next step?
TAMRON HALL: I was always
raised in an environment
where I was surrounded
by strong women--
really, really strong women.
And I had a grandfather
and ultimately
my stepfather, the dad that
God meant for me to have,
they were just really
salt of the Earth people
who never let me believe that
winning wasn't an option.
It was like oh,
you're going to win.
I ran track.
My dad was like, you're
going to win this race.
I decided I wanted
to play the clarinet,
my dad's like, you're
going to be first chair.
I'm like, I'm first chair, Dad.
So they were very--
but they didn't do
it in this Dragon
Mom-- you remember
that book, and it
was so controversial--
it wasn't like that.
It was more to build
my self-esteem.
When I got into TV, it was one
of these things where I always
knew that I was going
to be a journalist.
I didn't know what capacity.
I remember trying to get a job
at the "Wall Street Journal"
right out of college and they
were like, get out of here.
And then I was on TV
like in three weeks.
I was like, what?
How did that happen?
I had gotten my first
TV offer actually
before graduating
college, Raleigh-Durham.
But my dad said I had to
finish school, that I could not
take the job until I graduate.
And I'm like, Dad, the
whole point of college
is to get a job.
I got a job.
He's like, but you need
the degree as a backup.
So I ended up getting my
first job straight away out
of college.
But it was after
sending a ton of resumes
and blind calls and ultimately
luck, as we call it.
I went to a TV station
in Bryan-College Station
and this kid who was a
reporter, a young white male,
he had done something
racially insensitive
and he was being terminated
and I got the spot.
Some might say they
were under pressure
to hire a person of color and
a woman after this debacle.
I can't answer that.
I know I rose to
the occasion, and I
know I worked my butt off.
And I ultimately
ended up in Dallas.
But I'll tell you
this funny story.
I got my job in Dallas--
again, a crazy story
for another day,
but it was straight up,
like it will be in my book--
but I get this job.
And I walk in and I see
an African-American woman,
one, reporter.
We kind of look at each other,
and we knew it was going down.
She was going to be out, and
I was likely going to be in.
I was there for--
I didn't know I was there for
a job, but when I started out,
it was a woman for a
woman, a black for a black.
That's just how it was.
Fast forward four years later,
I walk into this newsroom.
I see her.
It's going down, and
I replaced her again.
I replaced the same woman two
times in a span of four years
at two different networks.
One, there was a white
male news director.
The other was two women.
And I don't think they
saw it as a poker chip,
but it was just like these
slots were available.
They were quota spots,
if I can say that.
She was an incredibly
talented reporter.
I think I'm pretty
solid at what I do.
But sometimes people see
it as a numbers game.
Diversity is a numbers
game, which is unfortunate
because I believe she was
better than the A1 reporter who
was a white male.
And if I can say, I think
I was better than him, too.
But we were interchangeable.
SPEAKER: So if we could pivot
for a moment, I think that--
well, we all just saw the new
episode coming out, right?
Can we agree it's insane?
It was really good.
I know I was on the
edge of my seat.
TAMRON HALL: It's crazy.
SPEAKER: And I think about
the way in your career
you've kind of leaned in, and
you can see it each episode.
I certainly saw in that one.
Would you guys agree that not
only is she always prepared,
well-researched,
and all those things
that journalists who are great
at their job do, but she cares.
That's what really
was conveyed to me.
TAMRON HALL: I think
most people do.
I mean, we were in the green
room for a second and your
[INAUDIBLE].
I think most of us,
no matter what we do,
you have to have
some caring about it,
and hopefully a lot of
it for it to work out.
But I think my home
state of Texas right now,
you're seeing what's
happening in Houston.
And we've seen natural
disasters around the world
and man-made disasters.
And think about how
that impacts you.
Complete strangers, and you
see a mom carrying their baby
in waist-deep water.
How do you not feel something?
I think most people--
I actually think society
and the generalization
of us being indifferent people,
it's just a bunch of crap
that's sold to us.
I don't think we are as
divisive as people make us.
I think our journeys give
us a certain perspective,
and in the wrong
hands, it can cause
us to turn on one another.
But just because we are
pro bringing more women
into the tech world does
not mean we are saying,
remove more men out
of it in exchange.
And I think that when people
prey on these concerns
and differences, that's
when the stereotype of us
being selfish or indifferent.
But with the crime show,
going back to that,
it's impossible to sit
across from a mom who
has lost her son, they don't
know where his body is,
and she just needs that
peace and not feel that.
It's like there was a movie,
I think Denzel Washington,
where the person would touch
you and what they were feeling.
With the "Deadline--
Crime" show,
it doesn't even require a touch.
I mean, there have
been people I walk in
and as soon as I see their
face, I just lose it.
Because that pain, it's just--
one of the things
that show did for me,
it gave me the freedom
to cry on camera.
Because when I first started,
journalist don't cry.
I remember being
in Waco, Texas--
it had to be the late '90s--
horrible, horrible tornado
flattened this town
right outside of Waco.
And this little baby was killed.
And I remember having
to interview someone
in the neighborhood
and keep it together.
And I'm like, there's a
baby that died in the storm
and everything is gone
that these people possessed
and a requirement of
my job is that I'm
supposed to stay stone-faced?
That's crazy to me.
But I carried that
rule in my head.
And I started doing "Deadline--
Crime," and so you're
doing it more frequently,
meaning talking to people
who've lost loved ones,
and it's at a more intimate
kind of environment.
It's just the two of you and
maybe some camera people.
And I just thought I was going
crazy by the second season.
I was going home.
I was drinking,
and I would binge
eat because I was
holding it all in.
And when I finally started
crying with them and not making
them cry-- crying with them--
I felt not that it was better,
more comforting for my soul
because I knew I'd had a
human connection with someone
who lost a loved one, rather
than a reporter connection.
SPEAKER: You said something
in the opening that struck me
at the core when you
said you not only want
to uncover how these
things happened,
but why they happened.
Is that like the--
TAMRON HALL: Some of it is
because OK, second season,
I do the story this guy who
was married to this woman.
He was a video
game junkie, and he
played where you could connect
with someone from somewhere
else.
He meets another guy and says,
hey, visit me in Virginia.
Let's be friends.
OK, that works.
Fine.
The guy comes.
Then he's like, kill
my wife with me.
And the guy says, OK.
And I'm like, what?
So I'm fascinated
by people who can
convince other people to kill
someone they don't even know.
I'm like, she
didn't do anything.
And the guy does it.
And one of the reasons
also I did the show
wasn't for us to look
at someone else's life
and go, ah, that's messed up.
It's a situation where
in a lot of these cases,
it could be any of us and
they're not that far-fetched
where the parking lot situation
as women, as men, whatever
or a robbery goes bad.
And you happen to be-- as in
one of the cases this season,
this guy was an aspiring
rapper, good kid, hanging out,
and he and his buddy are in the
wrong place at the wrong time
and they get gunned down.
And it caused his mother
to fight for justice
and ultimately, she becomes an
amazing politician in Florida.
But he was just in
the wrong place.
It's just crazy.
SPEAKER: Talk to us a bit
about pop culture today
and the influence of it.
I think about
Tyler Perry lending
his voice to the
episode and to the cause
more importantly and Reverend
Sharpton, who we work with here
at Google quite often.
Do you think that their
ability to amplify that story
and to help give it a
platform of "Deadline--
Crime," how have you
seen that move the needle
to certain causes?
TAMRON HALL: I'm looking forward
to this episode, the premiere,
because of Tyler's
involvement, not just
from a monetary
standpoint, but his voice.
One of the
entertainment magazines
called him the most
powerful man in Hollywood.
He basically turned Atlanta
into a Southern movie mecca
with his studio
and his influence.
So that's his influence
he's had in the film world
and that he's willing to
translate that in some way.
And Tyler, he was watching
TV and saw this story
and was just outraged and called
the local television station.
Can you imagine
being the reporter?
It's like, hi, it's
Tyler Perry on the phone.
No.
Yeah, it's Me.
What is going on
with this story?
And he was moved in a way that
if any of us had called, maybe
I called--
of course, I'm a journalist,
but some of you called,
they'd be like, oh yeah.
This is the local news, and
we did the story about it.
But his voice is important.
I often shrug off when
people, whether it's politics,
or in this case "Deadline--
Crime," or the issue
of domestic violence,
I think celebrity
voices are needed.
And I'm always
sometimes mystified
when people say, oh,
you're a celebrity.
Shut up, you have no life.
No, they're still a human being.
And if your megaphone
is big and you
can spread the word about
something, why wouldn't we
celebrate that?
I get there are always going
to be people who go too far.
I mean, there's
somebody in the office
right now I'm sure you're like,
she just needs to shut up.
She's taking it too
far giving this idea.
But for the most part, whatever
size your megaphone is,
it's needed.
And that's why with
domestic violence,
when we started the fund
in honor of my sister,
most of those donations
were people who followed me
on social media, who
followed my career,
and they were like $5 donations.
They were just people who
wanted to use their megaphone
to spread the word, to
shine a light, which
is a part of the campaign
that I participated in.
And we won an Edward
R. Murrow Award for it.
But I think that this
notion that any voice--
whether it's George Clooney
or George Smith in South Oak
Cliff, Texas--
I mean, your voice
matters, and I
don't like this idea of shushing
someone because of whatever
reason.
SPEAKER: So I think for us, you
shared actually in the episode
and in the opening a lot
about your personal journey
and story, especially
with domestic violence.
Can you share with us
as you do this work,
whether it's your philanthropy
or through the work
of "Deadline--
Crime," is it emotionally
taxing for you at times?
And how do you
practice self-care?
I think all of us have that
thing that we deal with,
so just curious to
know as you do the work
and you immerse yourself,
how do you protect
your spirit in the process?
TAMRON HALL: Well,
I try to be healthy.
I mean, like I said before, I
was putting a bottle of wine.
And I was like, I've got
to go to the steak place.
I'm like, I'll have a steak.
The whole thing, the 18-ounce,
give me that, big baked potato,
yeah, the chocolate souffle.
I'll take that too.
And I was like--
because you're just trying
to fill that something
that's painful inside you.
I love cooking,
even though I live
in New York in the
heart of the city.
I love cooking.
And so I often will have dinner
parties now with my friends
over.
I'm the queen of Blue Apron now.
I make a mean Blue Apron.
And so I have Blue
Apron weekdays
and then we have "Food and
Wine" Saturday and Sundays where
I peruse the "Food and Wine"
magazine, and I get a recipe.
I practice, I fail, I
poison, I feed-- it depends.
But I enjoy that.
I'm very close to my
family, my mother.
As I revealed, my father passed
away after my sister's murder.
And so we're a very close
family, we've always been.
But I have three
nieces and a nephew.
So I just surround myself
with great friends.
I had a fight party
this Saturday,
and I had 15 of my close
friends over from all walks
of life, truly a motley crew.
I'm like, I feel like Noah
bringing two of everything
together.
It's like my friends
are so different.
But yeah, I decompress
with friendship.
It's critical for me to laugh.
I like surrounding
myself with people
who don't take
themselves seriously
and we just yuk it up.
But my friendships feed my soul.
SPEAKER: What
about social media?
TAMRON HALL: I try not
to use the word hate.
This is what I
dislike, and I think
the curve correction will come.
One of those pivotal
moments for me,
there was a Miss
Universe contestant
and she was a Muslim,
this was some years ago.
And a couple of people
go on social media
and they say awful things.
And I remember I
ended up on the show
that I was on at the time
doing a whole story on the five
losers who had said
something about her,
not the other people
who celebrate.
And so I think that
small groups of people
are able to dominate--
SPEAKER: The trolls?
TAMRON HALL: The trolls.
And so we end up
going, well, here's
what the troll said
about Katy Perry today.
And I'm like, Katy
Perry doesn't care.
She's got 90 million
people following her.
So I mean, I'm like, so if
there are 330 million people
in the United States--
I don't know the numbers
that are on Twitter
or whatever-- but
the percentage,
we don't look at the
ratio of mean comments.
And so now shows like the one
I did and some others will then
put the tweet in an article
or put it up on air so now
[? Bud ?] [? Bud, ?] dot, dot is
now famous because his tweet is
shown on a morning show.
And I don't even
know if he's real.
I have no idea who you are.
So I think the
anonymity is a problem,
but it also protects our voice.
But there seems to
be no verification
of some of these mean things.
I mean, when think
about the impact
that we allow these
words to have.
We call them trolls, but
we still let them in.
And proportionately when
you look at the comments
and then when people say,
oh, it's trending on Twitter
or here's what people
are saying on Instagram,
we pull out the
three meanest things
and make these people
the star of the show.
It's strange.
SPEAKER: It is.
TAMRON HALL: But I do it.
Listen, I get give
17,000 great comments,
and it's the one that goes,
your lipstick is terrible,
and I'm like, really, what?
My lipstick is awful?
And it's sticks in your mind.
Then I throw the lipstick
out three days later,
and it sinks in, oh my god.
We all do it.
The negative sometimes attracts
us far easier than the light,
and we have to
reverse that if we're
going to continue to have
these social media platforms be
productive.
We cannot, myself included, give
in so easily to these minority
of voices.
SPEAKER: What was the aha
moment for you when you knew
you were on the right track?
TAMRON HALL: Ha, I'm
still waiting on it.
I don't know.
SPEAKER: I think
professionally, all of us
have those moments
where we wonder,
are we really
following our passion?
Are we really doing
the right thing?
Are we living in
purpose and on purpose?
Was there a moment
for you when you knew
that this was right for you?
TAMRON HALL: This was
the only option for me.
I was either going to do
this or deal cards in Vegas,
and I don't know
how to play cards
and I'm horrible at counting.
This was it.
Going back to-- and
I'm thinking a lot
about what you said about luck.
I did not know I would
be on television.
I knew that I would
be in this field that
allowed me to interact, to
capture stories about people.
I've always enjoyed-- as
much as I like to talk--
I do love hearing
about other people
and feeling their
texture of life.
And maybe it is because
of how I was raised.
And there was a show many
years ago I was watching--
it just talked about, of
course, who we are as people,
I don't know, I was like
maybe 10 years old I saw it--
and it's just we
have these shells
and they become our armor and
they become our defense unit.
But then when you peel
them back on anyone,
you find these
interesting people.
That's why I don't believe
that most people bad, I do not.
Do I believe there are
some really evil people?
Yes.
Are they a small group?
Yes.
But just the idea of learning
that there's so much more.
I mean, like
everyone knows, it's
no secret I love
fashion a little bit.
But then I've had people go,
oh, well, Christian Louboutins?
I'm like, you don't
know anything about me.
First of all, I've worked my
entire life since I was 14
and at one point in time,
I had five shows on.
And if your total sum
of me is a pair of shoes
that I can't even
spell the name of,
either, then I
feel sorry for you
that you choose to ignore
my entire life's scope.
And I don't say that I grew
up poor as a badge of honor.
That's just my life.
And we are all the same.
We've all been in
situations where
people make that one thing
the total sum of who we are.
And so for me, knowing that
that one experience, that one
thing that I see is
not the total sum
of that person or the story
is why I'm a journalist.
And I've always been like that.
I've always been curious.
I mean, I had a midwife
named Mama Susie,
and she was like
100 when I was four.
And she was still alive
when I was in my 20s.
I was like, what
are you drinking?
But I preferred Mama Susie's
company over kids my age,
because I would just sit
there and just talk to her
and listen to her.
It was incredible.
I can tell you exactly
if I close my eyes where
I would sit in her house
that's since been leveled
when I was seven years old.
I can hear the
screech of her back--
she had one of those old school
screen doors, that wooden--
I can hear the door
because those are
the things that matter to me.
SPEAKER: So we're
going to turn it over
to you guys for
questions in a moment.
So if you'll just line up
at the microphones, please.
TAMRON HALL: Don't
push anybody down, OK?
Let's keep this civilized, OK?
SPEAKER: But we really
want to hear from you,
so please join us
at the microphones.
But I will ask you,
as my last question,
for you to share with
us a little bit more
about Safe Horizon, the fund
that you have with them called
Tamron Heart Renate Fund.
TAMRON HALL: Yes, yes.
Safe Horizon, I met counselors
and workers of Safe Horizon
about five years ago.
They asked me to come and
speak for their convention.
It was in Harlem.
And their program just
really resonated with me.
And I think we talk so
much about the services,
and we forget about the people
who are preparing for battle.
I mean, these are people
who have to go into homes
and help women, in
most cases mothers,
in most cases flee at the most
dangerous time in their life.
One in four women is a
victim of domestic violence,
one in seven men.
And people forget
that someone has
to go to that home in many
cases and help that woman leave.
So I really became
connected with the stories
of the workers.
These are the warriors on the
front lines, the people who
imagine you picking up a
call five, six times a day
at the hotline, and
someone is begging
for help for their life, not
for some superficial thing,
your life.
And you're having as the
worker to pick up that phone.
So I teamed up with them, with
my family over at The Door PR.
We came up with a plan
to launch this fund.
And they also have
the Put the Nail in it
Campaign where you
paint your ring
finger on your left hand,
which I have these long cat
lady Beyonce Knowles
nails this week,
I don't know what's going
on, but paint it purple
and it's in support.
So whether it's being
able to paint your nail--
and we've had men do it,
kids do it in support
or give a donation.
But the fund is to help
families like mine, who
did not know how to handle it.
We knew my sister was in a
domestic violence relationship,
and she had been in others.
But we had this thing
of stick our head
in the sand, kind of
mind our business.
Protect her if she asked
us, but if she did didn't we
didn't do anything.
And ultimately, it resulted
in a lot of regret and pain
within my own family.
And I started to talk to other
friends of people and family
members who also said they
didn't know what to do.
And survivors will
also say, I don't
want to bring my friends
and my family in my mess.
And so we wanted to build
an avenue for people
to be able to get some advice.
If you think your friend is
in a situation or a loved one
so you can say, what can I do?
How do I bring this up?
How can I help her or him
get out of the situation
without looking as if I'm
judging or I'm condemning?
Because sometimes if the victim
feels like everyone's judging,
they just retreat
back to the abuser.
So how do we approach it?
And that was through
my own pain, a feeling
that I had not done
enough for my sister.
But to be honest, I
didn't know what to do.
So we're just trying
to give as much support
across the platform for
families and survivors
of domestic violence.
SPEAKER: I know we as Googlers
like to give, so where can we
go to support the fund?
TAMRON HALL: Safehorizon.org.
You'll see on the front page
the Tamron Heart Renate Fund.
And if you want to paint
your finger purple,
that's awesome, for
the month of October.
And it'll be great support
and I appreciate it.
Even if you just-- it
sparks a conversation.
I spoke at the NFL headquarters
not terribly long ago
and several women shared with me
either they were in a situation
or they had had friends and they
didn't quite know what to say.
And you see this
controlling behavior,
but you don't want to
be that friend who's
hating, as they might say,
on someone's boyfriend.
But you want to be supportive.
So we had some very
candid conversations.
And I would encourage amongst
yourselves with your friends,
have those candid conversations.
And if you need help,
you can reach out to me--
DM me, seems like every
other crazy person does.
I'd rather a DM.
SPEAKER: Slide in my DMs.
TAMRON HALL: Slide in my--
it goes down in the DM.
But being able to reach out--
it does, trust me.
It's insane.
But of course, I would always
be available to offer advice
at any given time.
SPEAKER: Awesome.
Thank you.
All right.
AUDIENCE: Hi, Tamron.
My name is Jenna Levy.
I'm a recruiter here at
Google and I actually
met you very, very briefly
probably about three years ago.
I used to work in
Discovery Communications,
and I met you at the
Discovery Upfronts.
I was very impressed
with you and have
followed your career
since and watched you
on the "Today Show."
I watch a lot of Investigation
Discovery, Discovery
Communications.
I just wanted to know,
you mentioned some stories
from your career that really
stood out to you as either
painful or really
impactful and kind of
how you've dealt with the
stress in some of the stories
that you've kind of seen.
I wanted to know if there was a
particularly exciting or happy
memory that you've had from your
years of journalism that you--
TAMRON HALL: Oh my
god, they're countless.
AUDIENCE: Any one
that sticks out?
TAMRON HALL: Let me see,
the one that sticks out--
listen, I've done morning TV for
30 years so a lot of silliness.
I mean once, Don King [LAUGHS]
was promoting a match,
two boxers--
I don't know.
They were like two
big guys that looked
like the guy from
"Rocky" when he
fought the Russian,
these two big guys.
And I walked out-- they
were in the studio live,
and I walked out with a Don King
wig on with the real Don King
across from me.
And I'm like, you're
going down, King.
Only in America.
He was not entertained by it.
And I kept going, only in
America-- and these flags.
And I had on a green and white
and Diane Von Furstenberg wrap
dress and the real Don King,
I kept going all in his face.
I thought he would
appreciate it.
He's kind of out there.
He was in like an American
glitter flag jacket.
I'm like, you're not
taking it that seriously.
And then, the piece
de resistance,
I made him play Rock 'Em
Sock 'Em Robot with me
while I had a Don King wig on.
Highlight of my career.
[LAUGHS] God, I can't
believe I confessed to that.
It's on tape somewhere.
Oh, and I made
Christmas cards out
of my picture with Don King.
That was my holiday card.
Oh, gosh.
Hi.
AUDIENCE: Hi, Tamron.
I don't know if I can top that.
First of all, thank
you for not only
be here, but for
everything that you've
done throughout your career.
You really have
been an inspiration.
And throughout your career
and through the shows
that you've been on,
you've done a wonderful job
of giving voice to the
voiceless and keeping stories
that need to be told out there.
My question for you
is as a journalist,
we see so many important things
and stories coming out day
after day and with the
nature of the news cycle,
it gets faster and
faster and faster.
As a journalist,
what do you think
we need to do to keep some
of these important stories
out there and the stories that
need to be told, making sure
that they are told?
Because so much they say
is controlled by the trolls
or controlled by what is just
the new story of the day,
but there's important
stories that
really need to be expounded
upon and really need to be told.
TAMRON HALL: I have
to be honest with you,
I'm in conflict with
myself, as I have asked
myself that very question.
Listen, ratings
equal money, so that
means that the media
has been monetized.
Anything that can be
monetized can be corrupted.
It can be influenced.
It can be a lot of things.
Am I saying the
media is corrupt?
I'm not saying that.
I am, though, saying it
can definitely be clouded.
And so when I look at the media
with that same skepticism,
I have to also look
at us as viewers.
I'll give an example.
When the Boko Haram,
the girls were missing,
everyone was on my
social media, you guys
aren't doing this
story, you suck.
We do it every day.
I had the only reporter
who was on the ground,
she was an AP global reporter,
phoning in every day.
Every time we did it,
the number would dip--
every time.
Now, one might say they
didn't like Tamron Hall.
I don't know.
But I know every time
we did that story.
And the social media
traffic was heavier
than it seemed the TV interest.
And so suddenly, if
you notice, everyone
stopped kind of doing
this story because I think
they saw the same result. So I'm
able to look at my profession
with a critical eye,
myself included in that.
But we as viewers have
to look at ourselves.
We get on our soap
boxes, and we'll
be like, oh, yes, I
care about na-na-na.
And then you look at
the ratings of that
compared to "Love and Hip Hop
LA"-- which I'm not hating,
I love it--
and sometimes it will
do a higher rating
than these things we care about.
But here's what I
think is empowering.
TV is a la carte now.
My nephew-- when I'm like,
you don't have cable?
He's like, cable, who
has cable anymore?
I say that as my life
is made on cable.
But with our social media,
we can pick and choose
what we read and we know that
these clicks are monitored--
you know this better than I do.
And I think that we don't
have to wait on Tamron Hall
to report it.
We can seek out the information.
So I don't have the answer,
to be honest with you.
I'm as clouded--
I get so mad sometimes.
The headline will say something,
and you click the story.
And you're like,
I've been played.
I do think people are
getting sick of being
played by clickbait.
I think they are sick of these
inflammatory and incendiary
headlines on all sides.
And I don't normally
like to say on all sides
because it's not always all.
Some things are not equal,
let me be clear about that.
But I think that we get
clickbaited into these things,
and then you don't know
truth from reality anymore.
So I think we're just in a
very interesting point in media
consumption.
But also as viewers,
because I see it firsthand.
People will just yell at us
for not covering stories,
and then we would do the
story, and the response
from the viewer would be low.
So I don't know.
I don't know.
It's something that I think
we all should think about.
But we have more power.
Even though there
are more choices,
we have more power in
what we choose to consume.
Google, you can pick and
find out what you want.
So I don't know.
I wish I had the answer.
But it is a great question,
and I struggle with it a lot.
Thank you.
AUDIENCE: Thank you so much.
AUDIENCE: Hi, Tamron.
Thank you so much
for being here.
TAMRON HALL: Thank you.
AUDIENCE: As a
journalist, you have
to ask some really
tough questions that
make everyone involved
uncomfortable sometimes,
even myself watching.
What's your advice
on the best way
to do that without coming
across in a poor manner?
I think that
interestingly translates
to a lot of our careers
in a different way,
so that would be great to just
hear your thoughts on that.
TAMRON HALL: I had a friend
many years ago give me--
I'm sure because he wasn't
the wisest of creatures,
but I think he still
[INAUDIBLE] someone.
He said, you have two pizzas
at the same pizza place.
Pick your favorite
pizza, whatever you love.
Someone brings it fresh and hot
in a pizza box, nice, lovely,
whatever.
Same pizza fresh and hot, same
company on a garbage pail.
Which one are you going to eat?
They're the same
pizza, both are clean,
but one's on top of a garbage
pail, one's inside a nice box.
You're going to go
for the nice box.
You can ask someone
anything, and I believe that.
It's how you approach them.
And I do fight
sometimes, especially
in the political world--
I mean there are
a couple of videos
out there that I would love
to delete that were cheered
on by people but internally--
the Scott Baio
thing still bugs me.
That moment I let me become a
distraction from that topic,
rather than just
handling it slightly.
I wouldn't do it again.
I wouldn't change how
I handled Scott Baio,
but did I leave
there going, yeah?
No.
Were other people like, yeah?
My feelings weren't
matching the moment.
I think you can ask
and present something
in the most
uncomfortable settings,
it's just how you do it.
I'll give you a funny
and lighter note on this.
Ben Affleck, that movie
"Gigli," I was in local news
and he was in these junkets
where they can't see you
but you can see them
and you're interviewing.
And they had people say,
you can't ask Ben Affleck
about Jennifer Lopez.
He will not answer the
question, blah, blah, blah.
I'm a huge Ben Affleck fan,
and so I said, hey, Ben, I
paid to see "Gigli,"
so you kind of
owe me to be able to
answer what I want to ask.
And he started laughing.
And it's just how
you approach it.
But I did an interview
with Winnie Mandela, which
remains one of the most
difficult interviews I've ever
done in my life, and it
was after her controversies
and a lot of tough things
were coming out about her.
And it was hard because I've
always admired Winnie Mandela,
and I knew that there
were allegations
that were very serious,
that it resulted
in the deaths of some
people-- not by her hands,
but it's all very complicated.
Nevertheless, here I am
across from one of my heroes
and I'm having to ask her
these very tough questions.
But that's my job.
And that's why it's also wise
not to view people as heroes.
I mean, we can learn
something from everyone.
I caution against putting
people on this pedestal
of being a hero.
So I asked her.
Sometimes you've
just got hit it.
You've got to ask that
question, whether it's in work.
They say women, we
have a hard time
asking for raises or our due.
I've been there.
I've been there where you kind
of like laugh and try to have
the humor and diffuse it.
And oh, well, I--
I've been there.
And I've been in other
situations where I've said,
this is what I'm doing, and
today's the day I'm doing it.
And so it's life.
But I think you can
approach anything.
I try-- because I think
I like to be funny,
and I like laughter.
My thing is I try not to
deflect to humor because it's
uncomfortable.
I try to stay polite,
straight up, direct.
And I think that you
can ask any question.
There's not one that I'm
unwilling to ask someone
if it's, A, based in fact
and you know your intentions.
SPEAKER: Any other questions?
All right.
If not, let's give it
up for Tamron Hall.
[APPLAUSE]
Be sure to check out "Deadline--
Crime with Tamron
Hall" this Sunday--
TAMRON HALL: Yes,
tweet about it.
SPEAKER: --on
Investigation Discovery.
I know I'll be tuning in so
make sure that you do, too.
And also a special thanks
to our Talks at Google team
and Black Googler Network for
making today's program happen.
So let's give them a
big round of applause.
[APPLAUSE]
Where can we follow you
on Instagram, Twitter,
slide in your DMs?
TAMRON HALL: Yes.
Oh, slide in my-- oh gosh.
I want to do a book just of DMs.
That's what I want to do.
Ugh!
SPEAKER: Please don't do that.
TAMRON HALL: It would be triple
X. No, Tamron Hall on Twitter,
Tamron Hall on Instagram,
Tamron Hall on Facebook.
That's the joy of
having an unusual name.
We can own our domains.
Other than the
camera lens company,
I'm the only Tamron I know.
But yes, absolutely.
And always reach out and
I'd love hearing from you
guys on social media, and
it's been a joy to be here.
I really appreciate it.
These kinds of
interactions do more for me
than you can ever imagine,
just to be able to be in a room
and talk civilized about
all kinds of things.
It's a joy.
So I really am grateful
that you invited me.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
SPEAKER: Thank you.
TAMRON HALL: You
did a great job.
Shout out.
SPEAKER: Thank you.
You have our support
and we will be watching.
TAMRON HALL: Thank you.
Thank you, guys.
