Front here and our fabulous wonderful staff, we welcome all of you to tonights event here in the Nations Capital and on the campus of George Washington university. I mention our location because, well, think about it. We are at an institution aimed for the nations first president and we are assembled on the walks from the center of american government, the white house and congress. So, what better venue for a conversation with tonights guest speaker. Senator spends her days on capitol hill, and you are not alone if you think that in a couple of years she just might be taking up residence at the other end of pennsylvania avenue. [cheering] since her election, the United States senate in 2016 senator harris has emerged as one of the most exciting and refreshing voices in the Democratic Party and national politics. Shes a california native who started her career i know im from the bay area, too. Its not often. We went to Elementary School not far from each other. She started her career as a prosecutor in the bay area and ran against and defeated a longtime incumbent to become the District Attorney in San Francisco and then she won a hardfought race for the attorney general of california and was elected a second term in 2014. Two years later he elected to the United States senate to represent the biggest most raucous most diverse constituency in the country. With her she brought to washington her legal prosecutorial and political chops. And lets just say that the Senate Judiciary committee on which he serves and the senate as a whole has never quite been the same. [cheering] thank goodness. Now, the 202 2020 president ial n already gearing up, her name appears on every list, short and long of potential democratic candidates. [applause] and why is that . She is proven throughout her career to be a joyful warrior, as she puts it, willing to take on big corporations, fight to protect the Affordable Care act, worked to raise the minimum wage, make education more accessible and reform the criminal Justice System. And who stands more sharply in contrast to the presidency of donald j. Trump. [cheering] senator harris is a woman, a woman of color, daughter of immigrants, political leader who understands better than most how the dynamics of gender, race, class and ethnicity are playing out in our society and the 21st century. You might even say that senator harris is the face, the best cat face of america in the 21st century. America, an america that values inclusion, tolerance, decency, human rights and respect for the rule of law. Someone uniquely situated to help solve the challenges and seize the opportunities of our diverse country and our diverse world today. Okay. Before i get too carried away, let me remind everyone here including myself but senator harris has not entered the president ial race. At least not yet. And besides that, the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire the e primary are still 13 months away and in fact, shes here tonight wearing an altogether different path than the one she wears out her day job. Shes here as an author and because shes an over achiever she could just publish one book this week, she published two, one of them being the book for children called superheroes are everywhere and if you havent gotten a copy we have them available, and in a moment she wont leave the other book she published this week which is for adults and its called the truths we hold, hot off the press also this week. Its the story of a life in social activism, civic engagement, progressive politics, Public Service and multiculturalism and family rituals like sunday dinner she still cooks every week became chile, beef stew, swordfish with toasted cumin to name a few of her favorite dishes in case you ever want to crash her dinners. I will say no more about the book and you can start reading at the first minute you get home tonight which i hope that he will do. We are alsthey are also so delid tonight that jonathan, pulitzer prizewinning opinion writer for the Washington Post and frequent Television Commentator on politics and social issues will be in conversation with senator harris. Jonathan has generously and graciously moderated quite a few other discussions for politics and prose, and the risk was really no better interlocutor than he. We are so lucky and never he sets foot on stage to share his questions and insight, and i hope that you all please join me now and welcoming senator harris anin welcoming senator harrisan. [cheering] [cheering] [cheering] could i not do that. It was a moment. [laughter] senator harris, thank you very much for being here, for choosing washington to be the kickoff of your book tour. [cheering] actually to be correct, books to her. The truths we hold, an American Journey and then also superheroes are everywhere. Im going to focus on the truths we hold, and im going to focus on something that happens before even page one, and i want to clear this up for anyone who might have done this or still is doing this despite hearing it said correctly the first time. Pronounce your name. [laughter] think of the punctuation mark and there you go. What does it mean . It is a traditional classic indian name. The idea, the symbolism is that the will lotus flower sits on water but it never gets whacked. One can be in the midst of chaos would be in the midst of something happening and be there and should be there and it doesnt necessarily need to penetrate you that one shoul vid be there and equally important, it is used in the mud meaning it is grounded and one must always know where they come from and can still be listening. [applause] now i need you to pronounce another name for me. For the life of me. Shamala. Tell us about your mom. We always called her mommy and i am not embarrassed. In many ways, she is the reason i wrote this book. My sister is here. My mother is one of her best friends from college. My mother was a force of nature. A real force of nature. She is someone who if you met her after you walked away he would have thought she was 7 feet tall. She was a truth teller, she spoke the truth, she was probably the smartest, toughest and most loving person ive ever known. She raised her daughters with a belief that we could do and be anything. She taught us dont let people tell you who you are, you tell them who you are. She was a scientist, Breast Cancer researcher with two goals in her life, to end Breast Cancer and raise her two daughters and she would take us to the lab with her tearyeyed after school and on the weekend, and being around scientists, one of the things i realize now early in my life that i have learned is that one should see what can be unburdened by what has been because that is what science is about, it is about the pursuit of those things that will improve the condition of life that will solve problems that will make things better and that is why im attracted to anything that is about innovation, understanding that innovation we do not because we are bored with things the way theyve been, but because we should always be in pursuit of being more efficient and effective and relevant. And that is who she is and was. Your father born in jamaica, an economics professor at stanford and lets keep in mind you come from brainiac appearance. Your mom got her phd the year you were born just to put that out there so now your dad comes to the United States from jamaica. My father was equally brilliant and is he was a National Scholar in jamaica. He earned his way up and out and came to the United States and to berkeley to study economics. And my parents that when they were active in the Civil Rights Movement, and it is an interesting story, jonathan, because as you know, my mother graduated college when she was 19. And so, she said to my grandfather who was one of the Freedom Fighters in india for independence and my mother was the oldest of five children and she said to my grandparents she wanted to study science and go to what was considered to be one of the best schools and that was uc berkeley. And my grandparents looked at her and said okay we will put you on a plane and you can go to a place that you have never been at 19yearsold. This was 1959. So, this girl, this young woman got on the plane, encouraged by her parents to go and pursue her dream. This story was also fully expected she would ge get that degree and go back and have an arranged marriage. It was always about fighting for independence to make sure that all people had a say in their future and in their government, an equal say and that was in her blood that is with the Civil Rights Movement was about to go there are some funny stories i was sharing some backstage. And the eyewitnesses that there is a family sandys lawn funny family story she would tell the story when they were marching and this is when we didnt have armrest and seatbelts. [laughter] they are marching away and then my uncle freddie and look down in the stroller and it was empty. [laughter] and said where is she quex and i had fallen out. [laughter] and then my mother tells a story i was fussing its much cuter when she tells a story she will look down at me and say what do you want i looked up at her and said freedom. [laughter] i wanted to ask you because i wanted to hear you say that. I want to talk about your father as an economics professor at berkeley had you and maia and you loved going to the park and correct me if im wrong your mom and the limits but your dad would say go. Brad, brian teethree ran. Thats right do not be afraid. Let her go. Let her run you run as fast as you can you run as far as you want. And i believe his whole purpose was to say do not be afraid and be fearless and run do not be afraid of falling do not let anybody stop you. There is a question here from the audience since were talking about your parents and in particular your mother said you didnt write your name down but the person asks how has being half Indian American shaped your identity quick. I was born who i am and i would say the indian influence on my life a lot of it is based on what i describe the experiences that i had in india and the family that i come from is very active i know indy is one of the oldest democracies in the world so the idea of debating and discussing what it means to be a democracy i was the oldest grandchild he convince me i was the favorite but now i know he convinced each one of us. [laughter] but being the eldest by the time i was eight years old he had retired so we would visit and my grandfather had a routine every morning to take a walk with his friends who also were retired and would take their walk and discuss the glory days and talk about politics it was a great honor and peoples talk about he would never let anybody go but would let me. And the need to wipe out corruption. And i realize later that was the influence of a very welcoming culture without judgment and it is about understanding one of the highest callings you could have its about knowledge and thats a noble aspiration. Some i will fastforward home of your elmont matter all matter. [applause] you are also a. K. A. Sim. My fans are in the room. You are a west coast girl bay area why howard quick. A lot of my family members went to howard. And growing up i also grew up at a young age wanting to be a lawyer and the heroes among the Civil Rights Movement was the lawyers like Thurgood Marshall and those that took the passion from the streets to translate into the courtroom of our country and did the noble work of reminding folks that we need to constantly be reminded of of that point we should all be treat treated that way so Thurgood Marshall is another hero of mine and other howard graduate. And for all of those reasons i wanted to go to howard and i did and thankfully i did. [applause] George Washington is also a great school. [laughter] [applause] more to the point of howard because you do right was such reverence for the university and that you would, as you were and leave as the person you aspired to be there were no false choices you werent just told me had the capacity to be great but challenge to live up to the potential. During that election cycle and early supporter of president obama do you remember that conversation if he was black enough. And this is what i would say. When you ask that question to explain your lack of exposure to who is a black person and what a black person can be and is. [applause] so i would explain what it means to stand in the yard it is covered in grass in the middle of campus and where we would go on friday afternoons everybody dressed in their best and promenade and display their feathers like a peacock but if you stood in the yard any day of the week you could look over there and see young black students in the fine arts department. And young africanamericans coming from the school and you get my point you would see the football star was also on the debate team. The homecoming queen was also an extraordinary science student. You would see that there are no limitations and there are no choices in terms of falls twice as one needs to make so you should not be limited in your view. And then to really figure out that identity and what we can be in the world the beauty of being at howard that you can be and do anything you want to be on to be of who you are supposed to be. [applause] i pledge sorority at how word alpha kappa alpha. I was on the debate team. I was on the chair of economic society. I went to my share of parties. But you didnt have to make choices. You wanted to be a lawyer when you were interning at university go to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court building and how its the most beautiful around the world and said im not just going to be a lawyer but a prosecutor folks probably thought you lost your mind. Given freedom. [laughter] but after a career in Law Enforcement i prosecuted everything i was elected da for two terms and the attorney general for two terms. And i try to live in my career as a prosecutor with the understanding that in that role how word to be the voice of the most powerful among us to give them dignity in the process and as equally important and have the power to make decisions for example to create one of the first as da and attorney general one of the first meaningful initiatives of reentry around former offenders a jobs and counseling. [applause] so you have the power prosecutors have so much power. So those there is so much work to be done to reform americas criminal Justice System dont lose sight of the power of the prosecutor and a progressive prosecutor. You want to be a progressive prosecutor. To make the decisions and it is a false choice. I will never make it excuse or an apology to say a woman is raped a child is molested there a serious consequence and accountability and i will always say that and i will say america has a problem with mass incarceration locking up black and brown men in particular. And that even as attorney general we could create the first Implicit Bias Initiative which is about Training Police officers and i had the power to do that as attorney general so i would encourage folks dont accept anyone limitations. You could be in the room at the table where the decisions are made or be equally affected but dont exclude yourself where the decisions are being made. You can want the police to stop crime in your neighborhood and also want them to stop using excessive force. You can want them to hunt down the killer and also stop using racial profiling brickle you can believe in the need for consequence and accountability especially for serious criminals and also oppose unjust incarceration. And that gets to know false choices. You can be all of those things and not anti police. So what do you say of the anti believe quick. Its just not true. [laughter] its not true. As the elected District Attorney in San Francisco. And on page 37 and you right was this really for the time for me to run i had no way to know a bit more more coming to feel agency was not an option. There is never a time in the future in which we will work out our salvation the challenges in the moment the time is always now. There were people in San Francisco who said who are you so why was it for you to jump in there for attorney general . In 2003 decided to run for district to county who comes who has been in office two terms his nickname is ko because he was a boxer knocking people out. And thought i could do the job better people said nobody like you has ever done this before. Or you are too young and i did not listen. I was all excited and in sitting in the room waiting for the first poll numbers and they were handed to me i started off at six points in the poll if you dont know that is six out of 100. [laughter] if we can get to 12 if we could double the number we would win and the optimism and a grew up learning to the families and the communities i believe the strongest politician and that the vast majority that we dont share values for what we need or what our family needs a vast majority and for the San Francisco and bay area there is equal a number for these very different demographics who came to gather in that office but they said nobody would go into community the annual income of 15000 nobody will go there they said thats why my on im putting my office there and they came from all over and would sit at this long tables stuffing envelopes at the direction of my mother. When she got sick and had cancer herself and these were the final days which i did not realize at the time and she was on the hospital bed and was turned that way. For the ags raise i just decided to file and she said how was the race going . I said mommy they said they are going to kick my ass and my mother took all of her energy to turn over and look at me and smiled. [laughter] i was saving that because she just unveiled the biggest smile she knew who she had raised she knew the fighting spirit was alive and well inside of me so you write one longtime political strategist announced at ucr on irvine there is no way i could win because i was a woman running for attorney general, a woman who is a minority a woman who is a minority with anti Death Penalty and da in San Francisco. I was convinced it made me the strongest candidate in the race but i didnt know if the voters would agree. Here is what happened. [laughter] as i write about all my Election Nights in the book and then to go where they are for Election Night and a residential Treatment Facility and i urge you to look it up with a prevention program. And my consultant said its going to be a long night they are on the rise you should probably Say Something so everybody was in the big room so i walk out all the supporters are there and people are all teared up. Incredible. Everybodys fighting everybodys feeling emotional and i walked up to the stage its going to be a long night but this is what we stood for. I was done speaking somebody who had been done with me for a long time came up to the stage and she said get back in the room. When you have been through battle and they tell you to do something you dont ask why. So i took the steps down and then there was one reporter i would see her from San Francisco she had a cameraman there and microphone and she said what happened i said we ran a great race this is what we stand for and we are not connecting. I get into the back room and then i realized the San Francisco chronicle had declared my defeat. [laughter] i was the only one in the room who didnt know. [laughter] they were crying because they thought we lost. [laughter] that you did not. So 21 days later and we were victorious 21 days later. [applause] it was very intense. So at what point so at what point were you da or ag when douglas m half entered the picture quick. Yes. My husband. [laughter] i was ag i was recently elected so hold on to your friends. None of us achieve the success we have with the friendships we have along the way. I have to stress that because of policy and my personal story but so for my best friend is blowing up my phone im in meeting after meeting after meeting and her children are my godchildren so i started to get worried why she kept calling so then i called her back and said whats going on are the kids okay . She said you are going on a date. [laughter] that is some nerve. She is bossy. Dont google him dont overthink it. [laughter] just trust me. So i met my husband on a date and there is more to the story have to read the book. It is supersweet and all guys especially straight guys, Pay Attention to the emhoff model. It is smart. I cannot sit here not have you talk about issues from when you were attorney general right in the middle and you write about you were in a big fight and you demanded they do more and it got to the point that you got into a shouting match with jamie dimon, head of j. P. Morgan chase. So what was it like to have a shouting match with jamie dimon . [laughter] that you tell your staff get him on the phone. This is what precipitated the discussion. [laughter] you took your earrings off. [laughter] [applause] they are already applauding but she says i took my earrings off because im a girl from oakland. [laughter] why were you so adamant people said you cannot call him why we so adamant to get him on the phone quick. When i come a shortly after i took office as attorney general it was the ending of the investigation how the banks of the United States had engaged in robo signing foreclosure is essentially what they had been doing to rubbers mom rubberstamp foreclosure on homes without doing the Due Diligence before they lost their home. The country was devastated so what they have been doing for a while what is mortgagebacked securities and they were selling mortgages for cheaper not doing Due Diligence they were misrepresenting facts and making promises not fulfilled. Thousands upon thousands of people lost their homes to foreclosure. I took me team on the road to go meet with california families they had seven of the top ten cities hit by the foreclosure crisis. The investigation had been completed right after i took the oath to be attorney general california was so hardheaded i took a role of leadership because we had so much at stake. They offered california between two and 4 billion i said but as compared to what . Thats what i learned we didnt have the numbers. So we have to hire an economist i want to know how underwater are the families in california county by county i need a number to compare against 4 billion. They were crumbs on the table as i learned. So when we are sitting across the table i want you to be clear in your mind about who you represent so we will travel up and down the state and meet with homeowners and hear their stories. The stories were off all. I talk about in the book. And somebodys knocking on the door you have to get out. People were trying to refinance and at the same time the foreclosure was happening they were doing the modification to keep the home they would just be foreclosed upon. Awful stories that were completely unfair. And that the lawyers were playing around with the details that didnt matter to the homeowner. And it also became clear to me there was a lack of understanding of who these families were. One. They said things they are trying to commit fraud and i said if you ever known anybody that was proud of their law and . That is who they are. This is there one piece, the one thing that represents all of their hard work. This is what represents their future. This is what what represents how they pay for their childrens college education. This is their source of pride is not just about a real estate deal or a financial transaction. This is about everything we talk about the American Dream. So it got to or ridiculous point and i was fed up. I was in my office. That the banks are not doing what we think they should and it was at the end of a very long process and i was done. And we were all shouting from one room to another so i basically shouted to my assistant courtney get jamie dimon on the phone for me. I have had it. So the lawyers were looking at me you cant call him he is represented by a lawyer you cant do this. The next thing you know he got on the phone. She said jamie diamonds on the phone. I said okay. [laughter] there is so much going on coming back to your book mother wisdom dealing with the foreclosure crisis i know she would have told me to hold fast to conviction and listened to my gut because the outcome is not clear but the gut will tell you if youre on the right track and youll know what decision to make. What i listened to my gut these days is a whole different meaning because the last time i heard this someone said im doing deals and im not being accommodated by the fed. Because i have a guy and it tells me more sometimes than anybody elses brain can tell me. President trump, trump, november 2018. Whats the difference between your gut. [laughter] and his gut. [laughter] i would say there is a thing about leadership that you have to have the courage to do things even if its not in your personal best interest. [applause] and you cannot be gutless when it comes to making those decisions you have to put the peoples needs before your personal needs. And i hope this comes across important to me with the importance of appreciating the nobility of Public Service. [applause] you hold these convictions in the public trust and you are responsible for other peoples stuff. And with that comes a great amount of power but the power is supposed to be you in a responsible way. On behalf of others and did their best interest requires a number of things including how people are doing. [applause] and i could go on. [laughter] so immigration is interesting because in the book you are writing about the law but this is from 2017 there is a bigger issue to the border of all the southern border is more than a symbol not just everything i value but the fundamental values on which this country was built. [applause] and then you go on to say that the poem speaks to our true character those who made the difficult journey to our shores to be optimistic and cando spirit to make the American Dream their own offering a false choice for the government or oppose the wall i believe we could do both that was 2017. Two years later this is what we talk about you were in that crazy meeting in the situation room what word you have said . Lets be clear you cannot hold the American People hostage over your vanity project. [cheers and applause] thats what it is. Lets be clear about the fact we have had enough of these powerful voices that are trying to so hate it isnt only wrong from a moral perspective but is unproductive to be on a trajectory thats achieving success and progress did you watch his speech last night . [laughter] it was blatant talking about africanamericans and latinos what was that about . Tell me that if not about inserting race in a way thats intended to create fear and division thats not what a leader does and certainly not the leader of the United States is supposed to do. [cheers and applause] see you go on to write there are few things more cruel or inhumane or fundamental lee evil than ripping a child from her parents arms we should all know this to be true on a basic level. Also writing in the book with john kelly who said to you when you called after the muslim than why are you calling me at home . Where your earrings off then to . [laughter] it is a whole situation around here. [laughter] and actually the process of writing a book was challenging because to your point there is so much happening right by the deadline i had to get the book to the publishing hearing and then the Kavanaugh Hearing happened i hope everybody has the time to read and think that everything was happening so rapidly we cannot forget what has happened and how critical each of these have been and how significant in most of these cases the harm they have caused him to say now i will throw this over here and Pay Attention to that and now instead of paying attention to this. We cannot forget what is happening over the course of these last couple years and hold on to the fact of knowledge in our hearts and guts we are better than this. Another political question the president is blaming democrats for the shutdown the schumer shut down its democrat shutdown and that only the democrats would reopen the government and keep my wallet would be flying do you think democrats should waver from the position of more money for your wall even if it means the president has already said he will not finance unless there was border wall funding democrats hold firm . If anybody listen to describe what you said is going on and talking about my godson and his train. [laughter] any good parent would say you dont listen to those kinds of tantrums and you dont reward bad behavior. [cheers and applause] seriously. Because put this in context the United States unanimous bipartisan agreement of a spending package voted out of the United States. People were singing Christmas Carols while we voted. I was to. [laughter] the house of representatives, bipartisan. Theres a whole package bring it to the floor of the United States senate. So the context is very importan important. And this is where i also say people have become very dispirited to talk about how they are feeling and i will remind us that the beautiful design created many years ago anticipated these very moments. And we created checks and balances in our system and it is being tested right now so think of our republic democracy that stands on four legs the coequal branches of government in a free and independent press. [applause] and what is happening is like a house but the house is standing so think about it this way the executive branch is doing things like the muslim man or daca but the court say congress maybe we were not acting on many things but on the Affordable Care act with the late great john mccain said no. So millions of americans have access to healthcare. So many things including this if you talk about the children unaccompanied minors who have been ripped out of their mothers arms to have those journalists gone down to share with the American Public what what has been happening down there if that had not happened we would not see the outrage among the public so on paper to end that policy so we are being tested in these moments in the introduction and to come up with that term because im tired of being mad all the time. We have to find time to seeing and dance and laugh and any good fight is born out of optimism so the fact my parents were engage was born out of optimism the fact that we are having this conversation so in these moments remember we are fighting for something and we remain optimistic and lets be joyful in the process. You write when you break glass ceilings it will hurt its not without pain so Political Capital does not gain interest you have to spend it and you right at the beginning of the downfall for all differences we are still one American Family we should act like it we have more in common than what separates us everyone has seen a vibrant United States for equal dignity in each of us have the opportunity to make the most of our own lives that is worth fighting for born out of love of country not to condone the country whatever it does if someone fights every day for the ideals of the country and now senator harris i would like for you to read this. Lets not throw up our hands lets roll up our sleeves not now or tomorrow or ever. Years from now our children and grandchildren will look at each of us and lock their eyes with ours and ask us a question will be where were you at that moment and i know we will all respond and say we were all together and we did at this moment we will tell them the action we took you will not tell them how we felt but what we did. So my final question to senator harris when your time comes, when you have children and grandchildren. [laughter] and they ask you what did you do . Will your response be i ran for president . [cheers and applause] [laughter] do you have a timetable for making a decision . Soon. Can we talk about the Childrens Book . Sure. Mama raise no fool left but i just want to talk about the Childrens Book seriously. The title is superheroes everywhere. I love comic books and i want to make the point that you dont have to look at the cgi screen and for children in particular i want to make the point you are surrounded by superheroes if you look closely enough you can see they are not wearing a cape it could be your parents i talk about my mother and father i talk about teachers my first grade teacher who attended my Law School Graduation i talk about friends are heroes and its really important as we raise our children as a community we remind them how special they are and they are surrounded in the last page of the book i will point to all of you that the heroes are you and then they can see a picture of themselves. Speaking of heroes in your da race a man came up with his two daughters and said to you i brought them here today so they can see what someone who look like them could grow up to do. I have been with you in Public Places where people really lose their minds when they see you they are so thrilled to see you. People want you to do something bigger. [applause] so just on a personal level. How does it make you feel . What does it do to you to know there are millions of people across the country who are waiting for you to say two word words. Listen, i think there is no question in my mind that each of us takes on a role of leadershi leadership. We have great responsibilities and by the way i have also seen a father come up with his son because it says two young boys you dont have to be burdened you can be whatever you want to be. [applause] but i think about it in terms of responsibility and its a very important responsibility that i try as best as i can to be a voice for those who should be heard and seen that so i think about it senator Kamala Harris from california thank you very much. [cheers and applause] [applause] information. Here is Mitch Mcconnell of kentucky. [applause] [a