Will you be Kamala Harris President of the United States of America Part 3
Will you be Kamala Harris President of the United States of America Part 3
Transcript
00:00Vice President of the United States of America, Kamala Harris
00:05Will you be Kamala Harris President of the United States of America?
00:09Part 3.
00:10We continue 2018 in January.
00:12Harris was appointed to the Senate Judiciary Committee after the resignation of Al Franken.
00:17Later that month, Harris questioned Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen for favoring
00:21Norwegian immigrants over others and for claiming to be unaware that Norway is a predominantly
00:26white country.
00:27In May, Harris heatedly questioned Secretary Nielsen about the Trump administration family
00:31separation policy, under which children were separated from their families when the parents
00:36were taken into custody for illegally entering the U.S.
00:39In June, after visiting one of the detention facilities near the border in San Diego, Harris
00:44became the first senator to demand Nielsen's resignation.
00:47In the September and October Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Harris
00:51questioned Brett Kavanaugh about a meeting he may have had regarding the Mueller investigation
00:56with a member of Kasowitz Benson-Torres, the law firm founded by the president's personal
01:01attorney Mark Kasowitz.
01:02Kavanaugh was unable to answer and repeatedly deflected.
01:06Harris also participated in questioning the FBI director's limited scope of the investigation
01:10on Kavanaugh regarding allegations of sexual assault.
01:13She voted against his confirmation.
01:16Harris was a target of the October 2018 United States mail bombing attempts.
01:20In December, the Senate passed the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act, sponsored by
01:24Harris.
01:26The bill, which died in the House, would have made lynching a federal hate crime.
01:292019 Harris supported busing for desegregation of public schools, saying that the schools
01:34of America are as segregated, if not more segregated, today than when I was in elementary
01:39school.
01:40She viewed busing as an option to be considered by school districts, rather than the responsibility
01:45of the federal government.
01:46In March 2019, after Special Counsel Robert Mueller submitted his report on Russian interference
01:52in the 2016 election, Harris called for U.S. Attorney General William Barr to testify
01:57before Congress in the interests of transparency.
02:00Two days later, Barr released a four-page summary of the redacted Mueller report, which
02:04was criticized as a deliberate mischaracterization of its conclusion.
02:08Later that month, Harris was one of 12 Democratic senators to sign a letter led by Mazie Hirono
02:13questioning Barr's decision to offer his own conclusion that the president's conduct did
02:17not amount to obstruction of justice, and called for an investigation into whether Barr's
02:22summary of the Mueller report and his statements at a news conference were misleading.
02:26On May 1, 2019, Barr testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
02:31During the hearing, Barr remained defiant about the misrepresentations in the four-page
02:35summary he had released ahead of the full report.
02:38When asked by Harris if he had reviewed the underlying evidence before deciding not to
02:42charge the president with obstruction of justice, Barr admitted that neither he, Rod Rosenstein,
02:47nor anyone in his office reviewed the evidence supporting the report before making the charging
02:51decision.
02:52Harris later called for Barr to resign, and accused him of refusing to answer her questions
02:56because he could open himself up to perjury, and stating his responses disqualified him
03:01from serving as U.S. Attorney General.
03:04Two days later, Harris demanded again that the Department of Justice Inspector General
03:08Michael Ihorowitz investigate whether Attorney General Barr acceded to pressure from the
03:12White House to investigate Trump's political enemy.
03:15On May 5, 2019, Harris said voter suppression prevented Democrat Stacey Abrams and Andrew
03:21Gillum from winning the 2018 gubernatorial elections in Georgia and Florida.
03:26Abrams lost by 55,000 votes and Gillum lost by 32,000 votes.
03:31According to election law expert Richard L. Haise, I have seen no good evidence that the
03:35suppressive effects of strict voting and registration laws affected the outcome of the governor's
03:40races in Georgia and Florida.
03:42In July, Harris teamed with Kirsten Gillibrand to urge the Trump administration to investigate
03:46the persecution of Uyghurs in China by the Chinese Communist Party.
03:50In this question she was joined by colleague Marco Rubio.
03:54In November, Harris called for an investigation into the death of Roxana Hernandez, a transgender
03:59woman and immigrant who died in ICE custody.
04:01In December, Harris led a group of Democratic senators and civil rights organizations in
04:06demanding the removal of White House senior adviser Stephen Miller after emails published
04:10by the Southern Poverty Law Center revealed frequent promotion of White Nationalist literature
04:15to Breitbart website editors.
04:172020 Before the Opening of the Impeachment Trial of Donald Trump on January 16, 2020,
04:23Harris delivered remarks on the floor of the Senate, stating her views on the integrity
04:26of the American justice system and the principle that nobody, including an incumbent president,
04:32is above the law.
04:33Harris later asked Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham to halt all judicial nominations
04:37during the impeachment trial, to which Graham acquiesced.
04:41Harris voted to convict the president on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
04:46Harris has worked on bipartisan bills with Republican co-sponsors, including a bail reform
04:51bill with Senator Rand Paul, an election security bill with Senator James Lankford, and a workplace
04:56harassment bill with Senator Lisa Murkowski.
04:592021 Following her election as Vice President of the United States, Harris resigned from
05:04her seat on January 18, 2021.
05:07Prior to taking office on January 20, 2021, and was replaced by California Secretary of
05:12State Alex Padilla, Harris had been considered a top contender and potential frontrunner
05:17for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president.
05:20In June 2018, she was quoted as not ruling it out.
05:24In July 2018, it was announced that she would publish a memoir, a sign of a possible run.
05:29On January 21, 2019, Harris officially announced her candidacy for President of the United
05:35States in the 2020 United States presidential election.
05:38In the first 24 hours after her candidacy announcement, she tied a record set by Bernie
05:43Sanders in 2016 for the most donations raised in the day following an announcement.
05:48More than 20,000 people attended her formal campaign launch event in her hometown of Oakland,
05:53California, on January 27, according to a police estimate.
05:58During the first Democratic presidential debate in June 2019, Harris scolded former Vice President
06:04Joe Biden for hurtful remarks he made, speaking fondly of senators who opposed integration
06:09efforts in the 1970s and working with them to oppose mandatory school busing.
06:14Harris's support rose by between six and nine points in polls following that debate.
06:19In the second debate in August, Harris was confronted by Biden and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard
06:24over her record as attorney general.
06:26The San Jose Mercury News assessed that some of Gabbard's and Biden's accusations were
06:30on point, such as blocking the DNA testing of a death row inmate, while others did not
06:35stand up to scrutiny.
06:36In the immediate aftermath of the debate, Harris fell in the polls.
06:40Over the next few months her poll numbers fell to the low single digits.
06:44Harris faced criticism from reformers for tough-on-crime policies she pursued while
06:48she was California's attorney general.
06:50In 2014, she defended California's death penalty in court.
06:54Prior to and during her presidential campaign an online informal organization using the
06:59hashtag Hashtag K-Hive formed to support her candidacy and defend her from racist
07:04and sexist attacks.
07:05According to the Daily Dot, Joy Reid first used the term in an August 2017 tweet saying
07:10at Dr. Jason Johnson at Zerlina Maxwell, and I had a meeting and decided it's called
07:15the K-Hive.
07:16On December 3, 2019, Harris withdrew from seeking the 2020 Democratic nomination, citing
07:22a shortage of funds.
07:24In March 2020, Harris endorsed Joe Biden for president.
07:27In May 2019, senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus endorsed the idea of a Biden-Harris
07:33ticket.
07:34In late February, Biden won a landslide victory in the 2020 South Carolina Democratic primary
07:39with the endorsement of House Whip Jim Clyburn, with more victories on Super Tuesday.
07:44In early March, Clyburn suggested Biden choose a black woman as a running mate, commenting
07:49that African-American women needed to be rewarded for their loyalty.
07:52In March, Biden committed to choosing a woman for his running mate.
07:56On April 17, 2020, Harris responded to media speculation and said she would be honored
08:01to be Biden's running mate.
08:03In late May, in relation to the murder of George Floyd and ensuing protests and demonstrations,
08:08Biden faced renewed calls to select a black woman to be his running mate, highlighting
08:13the law enforcement credentials of Harris and Valdemis.
08:16On June 12, the New York Times reported that Harris was emerging as the frontrunner to
08:21be Biden's running mate, as she was the only African-American woman with the political
08:25experience typical of vice presidents.
08:28On June 26, CNN reported that more than a dozen people close to the Biden search process
08:33considered Harris one of Biden's top four contenders, along with Elizabeth Warren, Valdemis,
08:39and Keisha Lance Bottoms.
08:41On August 11, 2020, Biden announced he had chosen Harris, who appealed to a younger generation.
08:47She was the first African-American, the first Indian-American, and the third woman after
08:51Geraldine Ferreira and Sarah Palin to be picked as the vice presidential nominee for
08:56a major party ticket.
08:57Harris is also the first resident of the western United States to appear on the Democratic
09:02Party's national ticket.
09:04Harris became the vice president-elect following the Biden-Harris tickets victory in the 2020
09:09presidential election.
09:10After the major networks called the election for Biden and Harris, Harris was recorded
09:14calling Biden, saying,
09:16We did it.
09:17We did it, Joe.
09:18You're going to be the next president of the United States.
09:21The video became one of the 10 most-liked tweets of 2020.
09:24Following the election of Joe Biden as U.S. president in the 2020 election, Harris assumed
09:29office as vice president of the United States on January 20, 2021.
09:34She is the United States' first female vice president, the highest-ranking female elected
09:39official in U.S. history, and the first African-American and first Asian-American vice president.
09:45She is also the second person of color to hold the post, preceded by Charles Curtis,
09:49a Native American and member of the Kahn Nation, who served under Herbert Hoover from
09:541929 to 1933.
09:56Harris is the third person with acknowledged non-European ancestry to reach one of the
10:00highest offices in the executive branch, after Curtis and former President Barack Obama.
10:06Harris was sworn in as vice president on January 20, 2021, on two Bibles held by her husband,
10:12one belonging to Regina Shelton, a person important to her and her sister Maya Harris,
10:17and another belonging to former U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall.
10:22Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor administered the oath of office to Harris at 11.40 a.m.,
10:27with 20 minutes remaining in the term of preceding Vice President Mike Pence.
10:31Sotomayor became the first woman to administer an inaugural oath twice after she administered
10:35Biden's at his 2013 swearing-in.
10:38Harris recited the following,
10:39I, Kamala Devi Harris, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution
10:44of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true
10:49faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental
10:53reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties
10:58of the office on which I am about to enter.
11:00Her first act as vice president was swearing in her replacement Alex Padilla and Georgia
11:04Senators Rafael Warnock and John Ossoff, who were elected in the 2021 Georgia runoff elections.
11:11Upon taking office on January 20, 2021, the 117th Congress' Senate was divided 50-50
11:18between Republicans and Democrats.
11:20This meant that Harris had to be frequently called upon to exercise her power to cast
11:24tie-breaking votes as president of the Senate.
11:27Harris cast her first two tie-breaking votes on February 5, 2021.
11:31In February and March, Harris's tie-breaking votes were crucial in passing the American
11:36Rescue Plan Act of 2021 stimulus package proposed by Biden, since no Republicans in
11:41the Senate voted for the package.
11:43On July 20, 2021, Harris broke Mike Pence's record for tie-breaking votes in the first
11:49year of a vice presidency when she cast the seventh tie-breaking vote in her first six
11:53months and cast 13 tie-breaking votes during her first year in office, the most tie-breaking
11:58votes in a single year in U.S. history, surpassing John Adams who cast 12 votes in 17-9.
12:04On December 5, 2023, Harris broke the record for the most tie-breaking votes cast by a
12:10vice president casting her 32nd vote, exceeding John C. Calhoun, who cast 31 votes during
12:16his nearly eight years as vice president, in less than half the time.
12:20On November 19, 2021, Harris served as acting president from 10-10 to 11-35 at MESD while
12:27President Biden underwent a colonoscopy.
12:29She became the first woman, and the third person overall, to assume the powers and duties
12:34of the U.S. presidency under Section 3 of the 25th Amendment.
12:38As early as December 2021, Harris was identified as playing a pivotal role in the Biden administration,
12:44owing to her tie-breaking vote in the evenly divided Senate as well as her being the presumed
12:48frontrunner in 2024 if Biden was not to seek re-election.
12:52On March 24, 2021, Biden named Harris to work with Mexico and Northern Triangle nations
12:58to curb the current flow of migrants to the U.S.-Mexico border and develop a long-term
13:03solution.
13:04Harris conducted her first international trip as vice president in June 2021, visiting Guatemala
13:10and Mexico in an attempt to address the root causes of an increase in migration from Central
13:14America to the United States.
13:16During her visit, in a joint press conference with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei,
13:21Harris issued an appeal to potential migrants, stating I want to be clear to folks in the
13:25region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico
13:29border.
13:30Do not come.
13:31Do not come.
13:33Biden's visit to Central America led to creation of task forces on corruption and
13:36human trafficking, a women's empowerment program, and an investment fund for housing
13:41and businesses.
13:42Republicans have incorrectly claimed Biden appointed Harris as a border czar to be responsible
13:47for security along the U.S.-Mexico border.
13:50In April 2023, Harris visited Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland with South Korean
13:55President Yun Suk-yol and agreed to work to strengthen the space alliance between the
14:00United States and South Korea.
14:02We renew our commitment to strengthen our cooperation in the next frontier of our expanding
14:06alliance and of course that is space," Harris said at a joint news conference with Yun.
14:11In November 2023, Harris pledged that the Biden administration would place no conditions
14:16on U.S. aid to Israel in its war with Hamas in Gaza.
14:20In March 2024, Harris criticized Israel's actions during the Israel-Hamas war, saying,
14:25given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire for at
14:30least the next six weeks.
14:32This will get the hostages out and get a significant amount of aid in.
14:35In May 2021, Harris became the first female commencement speaker at the United States
14:39Naval Academy.
14:41In May 2023, she became the first woman to give a commencement address for West Point.
14:46Harris' term in office has seen high staff turnovers that included the departures of
14:49her chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, press secretary, deputy press secretary, communications
14:55director, and chief speechwriter.
14:57An anonymous source said that they resigned because they and other staffers often feel
15:01mistreated by senior staffers.
15:03Simone Sanders, senior advisor and chief spokesperson for Harris, pushed back against the complaints
15:08and defended their management style, especially for giving opportunities to black women.
15:13Sanders herself resigned from her position in December 2021.
15:17Critics alleged that the high rate of resignations reflects dysfunction and demoralization caused
15:22by Harris' abrasive management style, and was characteristic of her tenure as California
15:27attorney general.
15:28Including unnamed individuals close to the vice president's operation, Axios reported
15:33that at least some of the turnover was due to exhaustion from a demanding transition
15:37into the new administration, as well as financial and personal considerations.
15:42During her tenure, Harris has had one of the lowest approval ratings of any vice president.
15:46According to a RealClearPolitics polling average, as of April 2024, 39% of registered voters
15:52had a favorable opinion of Harris and 55% had an unfavorable opinion.
15:58In 2024, a video clip from 2023 went viral of Harris saying you think you just fell out
16:03of a coconut tree.
16:04You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you while swearing
16:08in the president's advisory commission on advancing educational equity, excellence,
16:13and economic opportunity for Hispanics.
16:16The full context of the quote refers to a personal anecdote that was told near the end
16:20of the speech which concerned the importance of addressing the needs of parents, grandparents,
16:25and communities as part of educational equity.
16:27Harris' shift in tone from light to serious and the unusualness of the quote out of context
16:32garnered a variety of reactions and has since been used both derisively and as a show of
16:37support.
16:38I stop at this point today.
16:39Until next time, stay curious, stay informed, and keep exploring the world's incredible
16:44stories.
16:46Soon we will publish.
16:47Part 4.
16:49Thank you, for watching.
16:50I hope I added something to you.
16:55Thank you.
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