Transcript for:
Kamala Harris Interview Insights and Policies

He's got whatever the piss he's on it, whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling, best believe he's knowing, putting it down from spot to spot.

To news, to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling, yeah It's Uncle Roro, yo Yeah, yeah It's Rolling Martin, yeah Yeah Yeah. Rolling with rolling now. He's bunk, he's fresh, he's real, the best you know.

He's rolling Montana. Montana. President, glad to have you here.

Ready to bring the funk? I'm trying. I'm trying.

Let's get right to it. Right before I walked out there, someone posted a clip, and usually this, the clip, I'm not going to sit here and say I'm going to do anything specifically for African Americans. But folk don't talk about what you said right before when you said that public policy that benefits black folks, it benefits everybody else. Right.

Even when we look at historically the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, it actually didn't just impact African Americans, it impacted everyone else. But. But talk about that, because so many people have only clipped that one part without understanding the public policy implications. That's too bad. That's too bad.

I'm sorry to hear that. Right. So, you know that that I mean, going back even before.

But Dr. King was very clear, right? If you have certain policies that recognize one, then not everybody starts out on the same base. If you have public policy and I'm talking about economic policy specifically at this point.

But if you have. Public policy that recognizes historical barriers and what we need to do then to overcome, first to speak truth about them and then overcome them, that in the process of doing that, not only are you directly dealing with the injustices and the legal and procedural barriers that have been focused on black folks, but by eliminating those barriers, everyone actually benefits, right? And I know that to be true. So my policies include what I know are going to have a profound impact on black folks around economic policy, but everyone will benefit from them. I intend to create as president what I have named an opportunity economy that taps into the ambitions and the aspirations and the dreams of the American people and then addresses those in a way that recognizes.

unlike my opponent who was handed $400 million on a silver platter and then filed bankruptcy six times, not everyone has access to those kinds of resources. But when you give people access to those resources, they thrive and we all benefit. Opportunity economy. That's why I say I'm going to make sure that we give first-time homebuyers a $25,000 down payment assistance. Because again, we know That when you look at the history of how black folks have been denied the opportunity for home ownership, be it redlining or what we know has still been happening around bias in home appraisals, that it is a barrier to achieving intergenerational success.

But when we address it by doing things like helping folks get their foot in the door with a down payment assistance, they will have the ability to be on that track of intergenerational wealth building. My plan for extending and expanding the child tax credit, $6,000 for the first year of a child's life. Our parents, just like any parent, have a natural desire to parent their children well, but not always the resources to do that. So $6,000 in the first year of your child's life helps you buy that car seat or crib or the clothes that are necessary to build the foundation for that important phase of their development that gets them on the right track.

I do want to do the housing piece because what I think is not being talked about, the building of new housing stock. Yes. And so because of the... because of the home foreclosure crisis, we literally built under 9 or 10 million homes in 2010, 2020. We're underbuilt now as well. The fewest homes being built since the 1940s.

Yes. So a huge part of this problem with housing is that we don't have the stock. So talk about that piece there because you've got demand, but you don't actually have right now the available homes. So I'm glad you actually presented the point the way you did, because let's also go back to what you know in my history on this in terms of being attorney general. When I took on the big banks and because they were doing predatory lending and a lot of the folks who were targeted with that predatory lending were black folks who are being told, oh, you don't need to worry about it.

You're going to get we're going to give you this money. And so you can buy a home without actually doing the analysis to figure out if they'd be able to afford to pay it back. Right. And folks trusted the banks that if you're going to loan me the money, then you must have determined I have the ability to actually write, be able to see it through. And the foreclosure rates for black homeowners during that crisis.

Fifty three percent of black wealth wiped out. That's exactly right, Roland. And I took on and sued the big banks and ended up delivering 20 billion dollars for the homeowners of California.

The former president, Obama, recently mentioned the fact that I actually took on the. Department of Justice and the administration saying I'm not going to do a deal that brings crumbs to the table. But not just when you're entering general, because even right now, the DOJ, Civil Rights Division, the redlining lawsuits, mortgage discrimination.

We have been taking all of it. Mortgage discrimination, also discrimination in home appraisals. We've taken on the fact that, you know, those stories about a black family is trying to get their appraised, their home appraised.

They want to get a second mortgage. They want to sell the house, whatever. And they bring in the appraiser. The appraiser looks around, looks at the family pictures, and appraises it for less than it's worth.

The family knows that. They're not stupid. The black folks got to remove photos, books, DVDs.

So then they remove photos and everything else, right? Strip all the blackness. All of that.

And then they ask a white family that's a friend of theirs, come in, they put up their pictures, and the house gets appraised for more. Racial bias, we're taking that on for the first time. And I want to give due credit to former Secretary of HUD, Marsha Fudge, for being a leader on that. These are the things we've taken on.

And as president, to your point about supply, I'm going to create tax incentives for home builders and developers to build 3 million new housing units by the end of my first term because a big part of jacking up the prices has been the supply is not meeting demand, so the prices are higher. And when you couple that with $25,000 down payment assistance, we have the ability to give people The opportunity to achieve what generations before called the American dream, but which has been out of reach for too many people. My work around thinking about how it's going to directly impact black folks is knowing that when you look at racial bias in home appraisals, when you look at the disproportionate rates of black home ownership to other people having home ownership, it's too low. And it's not because we don't aspire to have a home or buy a home.

My work... is about looking at small businesses, knowing they're the backbone of our economy in the neighborhood, in communities, and giving folks an extension of a tax deduction so it's not just $5,000 for a startup small business, but $50,000 because nobody can start up a small business on $5,000. I'm glad you mentioned small business.

I was talking to a black restaurant owner in Houston, and we were talking about the corporate tax rate. And one of the things that he said was, he said, Listen, I'm looking at... Her proposal, I'm looking at what was the place beforehand.

He said because when it got cut, it puts $500,000 in my pocket. When I was in Georgia, Senator Warnock's campaign in 2022, a black woman said, hey, she said, I get reproductive rights. She said, I'm not having any kids, but I do care about taxes. And so that's one of the things that I'm hearing from African-American business owners who are saying, OK, what will. Vice President, if she's president, deal with corporate tax rate.

And so you talked about increasing it. Does it, will that mean a certain cap? So let's say if you 50 million, a hundred million revenue or less, will that go up?

Or will that corporate tax rate apply to all, all businesses? So first of all, the corporate tax rate. years ago was in the 30s.

So I'm not doing that. But in terms of tax cuts for middle class families, my agenda is all about tax cuts for middle class families and no tax rate hike for anybody making less than $400,000 a year. But my approach is also about giving 100 million Americans a tax cut in terms of middle class tax cuts.

Donald Trump, on the other hand, first of all, like he did before, he will do again and has pretty much pledged. that he will give a tax cut for billionaires in the biggest corporations. Donald Trump has indicated that basically what I call a Trump sales tax will be in place, which is a 20% tax on everyday goods and services, which economists have estimated will cost the average American family $4,000 more a year.

Goldman Sachs. Including the small businesses. Of course, including small businesses. Not to mention what he is doing.

If you look at Project 2025, what they're proposing in terms of Cutting off, for example, we see Hurricane Helene, what we have seen happen in terms of Milton. Cutting off the SBA ability to give small businesses that have experienced an extreme weather event, a disaster, giving them additional resources. This man doesn't want to help small businesses. He cares about the kinds of people who run the businesses he runs.

Big developers, billionaires. He's not looking out for middle class folks. You look at what he is proposing in terms of cutting, if you look at the cost that middle class families bear, health care costs. We have capped the cost of insulin $35 a month for seniors.

Black folks are 60% more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes. Under Project 2025, they would undo that $35 cap. You look at what he is planning to do that is about undoing, getting rid of the Department of Education and Head Start programs. Who do you think that's going to affect?

So there is, first of all, a danger in terms of understanding there are two choices in this election and understanding what Donald Trump intends for middle-class families. Two, look at it in the context of how he actually thinks and talks about black folks in America. And you and I have talked about this before.

He is not looking out for folks when he was a landlord. and would not rent to black families, sued for it when he took out a full-page ad in the New York Times against those five teenagers, black and Latino, who were innocent, saying they should be executed in Central Park Five. When you look at the first black president of the United States and he had birthed their lives, and now you look at black immigrants, legal immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. And he gets on a debate stage and says they're eating their pets?

Come on. This man is dangerous. Not to mention Rowland.

Let's fast forward to right now. He, his staff won't let him do a 60 Minutes interview. Every president for the last half century has done one.

Anyone who's running for president. Everyone has done it, except Donald Trump. He will not debate me again.

I put out my medical records, he won't put out his medical records. And you have to ask, why is his staff doing that? And it may be because they think he's just not ready and unfit and unstable and should not have that level of transparency for the American people.

There's a real choice in this election. You mentioned the Department of Education. I was on a call a couple weeks ago, Jeffrey Canada, Steve Perry, Jalen Rose and others.

who are supporters of school choice, parental choice. And what they've complained about is that you haven't heard a lot about education in the last several months. They were talking about these educational outcomes of African-Americans post-COVID.

And they said the numbers are depressing. It's bad. In terms of your focus with education, one, do you support public charters?

Do you support, again, how we deal with those numbers? Because at the end of the day, if our kids. are staying behind, that's just going to make it even more difficult for them when it comes to getting jobs. And so that education plan for America, if you're president.

So I have supported public charters, but here's the thing that we have to just focus on in this election. First of all, Donald Trump would get rid of the Department of Education, which means that as a vehicle for funding a lot of what we need to do around public education for our children. It would be getting rid of Head Start, and we know how many of our children have benefited from that in the earliest stages of their development, which are the most critical to them being able to be successful as they go through the educational process.

So there is a huge contrast between me and him. And frankly, I don't think he wants to talk about education, which is why it has not become an issue on the debate stage, because he doesn't have a plan, which takes me back to a fundamental point. He doesn't have a plan for much of anything that is about the people who are going to be watching this interview. I invite everyone always and again, watch his rallies.

He will talk full time about himself. He will talk about his personal grievances and he will not talk about you and any plan that he has for you or your children. or your future?

How's it make you feel when he trashes black cities? So in 2020, he talked about voting in Fulton County, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Detroit. There was a partial recount of Wisconsin, only in Milwaukee. The comments that he just made about Detroit basically being a living hell. And Oakland, D.C., Chicago.

Pretty damn, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good damn ad y'all dropped that. I actually like it. Jamil Hill and I talked about it, but.

Again, he's singling out cities where there are significant African-Americans and that's who he's talking about. Black people. Yes.

Yes. You know, there's this whole I talked with somebody once who said, you know, if you just look at where the the the stars are in the sky, don't look at them as just random things. If you just look at them as points, look at the constellation. What does it show you? So you just outlined it, Roland.

What does it show you that the cities that he picks on in terms of black population or black mayor are both? Come on. We're North Carolina.

And this has been a battle battleground over voting rights. Federal judges eight years ago said there was laser like precision precision targeting African-Americans. Yes. That is still. a major issue.

You've got the Supreme Court with their decision regarding Section 2, Section 4, the Voting Rights Act. And so if Congress doesn't move, what can you do to shore that up? Because that continues to be a major issue.

And with so many African-Americans now moving from northern locations of Midwest back to the south, we're seeing these problems in Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, and others. Well, to your point, you mentioned North Carolina, which has been well documented. You look at, even though I must say that North Carolina has a governor, a Roy Cooper, who has tried to do everything he can to ensure that voting rights are intact, but he does not have a veto-proof majority in the statehouse.

Plus, Dems lost the Supreme Court as well, so. Well, and so, you know, I think that we should all, whoever's in North Carolina watching this, Josh Stein running for governor, it's going to be very important. Pay attention to those states. House races, because if they can change the balance in the statehouse, then they will be able to push through more protections for voting rights. But to your point, in Georgia they passed a law preventing people from giving food and water to folks who are standing in line to vote, which is the height of hypocrisy.

Because what happened to love thy neighbor, right? There is a full-on intent by some to attack hard-fought, hard-won freedoms and rights, including the right to vote. And part of it, if you track it, is if you look at the successes that we had, in particular in 2020, and in the height of a pandemic when people just said they were going to vote, they knew and they understood how important it was.

Thereafter, you saw in state after state attempts by state legislatures to make it more difficult for people to vote. And here's what I would say to your listeners. Don't let anybody take you out the game.

There is... an intent to make it more difficult. There is an intent to suggest to a lot of folks that their vote won't matter with the intention that people will not vote, which is an attempt to silence folks.

And what we know is the greatest progress we have achieved is when we jump over those obstacles that have been purposely laid to do what we know is about progress. And this election is going to be no different. They've already started with the misinformation and the lies.

We know that there is foreign interference. And I have to say to everybody listening to this, don't let them take your voice. Because I was part of the Senate Intelligence Committee when we investigated Russia's interference in the 2016 election. Black folks were targeted with misinformation.

Because there was an assumption that you're already targeting a group of people who already have learned based on a lived experience. that things aren't necessarily designed to work for them, and manipulate that in a way that suggests to people that their vote won't matter. Because if you do that, they won't vote.

That was the intention. You said, don't let them take you out of the game. What do you say to a young black woman, a young black man out there, who is seriously considering the couch, who says, my vote doesn't matter, who says that I have not seen policies that... have changed my life because that's there.

That thought process is there. Folks 65 and older vote the highest, but as you keep going down as you get number, that number just goes even lower and lower and lower. So what do you say that that young brother or sister who's watching, why they should vote, but why they should trust you to be the 47th president?

So first of all, your vote does matter. It is because folks voted that we have capped. the cost of insulin at $35 a month, that we are on the path to doing what I intend to do, which is saying that your medical debt cannot be on your credit score, putting $16 billion in HBCUs, having the lowest black unemployment in recent history, the work that we have done that has been about investing in black businesses, the work that we have done that has been about understanding the importance of having representation at every level, including a black woman on the United States Supreme Court for the first time. It's because people voted and demanded that.

And the reality of how this system works is that we each have many ways that we are powerful. And one of those ways, very significantly, is through our vote. People sit down and they'll watch and say, OK, well, those folks aren't going to vote anyway.

I don't need to listen to them. That's how this works. don't feel that way, I'm going to go everywhere. That's why I'm in rural parts of North Carolina and Georgia and other places where people say, oh, your votes aren't there. But my people are there.

People are there. Obama won the state in 08. The point is, is that I'm saying that not everyone and the system doesn't necessarily work that way. The hard reality of the system is that often the people whose policies get pushed through are the people who actually. demand what they want through their vote. Squeaky wheel gets the most grease.

Often, often. That is the way it works. And when people who are, and I'm not talking about myself, just anybody who's running for office, when they see young black people are voting, they're going to say, well, I better know, they're going to vote anyway. I better know what they want. I better listen to them.

What do they want? Because I see that they turn out in big numbers. Criminal justice, one of the things I keep hearing, Biden has administration didn't get George Floyd Justice Act passed through.

But what you have, though, is a very aggressive civil rights division that, and I've covered all the stories, the number of former police officers they've actually sent to prison, corrections officers, jailers. And I haven't heard-Some of the highest numbers in recent history, and certainly compare those numbers to Trump administration, and you see a stark difference. Yeah, he had one Paris and Pratt investigation that 12 under this deal.

Exactly right. Will you continue having that aggressive of a DOJ civil rights division? Because the work that's being done, I mean, it doesn't get a lot of attention.

It talks about a lot, but it's actually happening, the work that Kristen Clark and others are doing. They're doing extraordinary work, and that is the work that would continue in a Harris administration. Let me tell you something. And again, because, Roland, I have to keep stressing not only the importance of every point, but the.

contrast between me and Donald Trump. Under Donald Trump as president, those cases were not happening with any vigor or commitment. And not only that, he took resources out of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.

We put resources into the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice so they could do the job they're supposed to do. And that absolutely would continue under me and my leadership. And it's about looking at what people have done what they say. Again, you know the record of Donald Trump on these issues.

You know the record of where he is on things like stop and frisk, right? And what the Project 2025 talks about. So there is a real contrast here on criminal justice, as there is on almost every issue that we have discussed. FBI director said white domestic terrorism was America's greatest threat.

How do you get folks who are not black to understand that Hate crimes are still real. These things are actually happening in the country and they have to be dealt with and addressed because when you talk about that, folks go, oh no, no, these things are not happening. But the reality is they are, and African Americans still are, number one when it comes to hate crimes being reported against us. Well, and I know that because I published the hate crimes report every year when I was Attorney General of California. And it is, to your point, about talking about it and making people clear that we have actually seen a spike in hate crimes across the board.

And it does not help when you have somebody... who is a former president and running to be president again, who is constantly fanning the flames of hate and division in our country. Constantly. You often ask about Israel, Gaza, Ukraine.

I never hear come up conversations about Africa. You travel there. Fastest growing, six of the top ten fastest growing economies. Very young continent.

A lot of folks complain about Chinese investment. But in terms of your presidency, dealing with the continent in those countries. What would that look like?

Because that's the future of this world. When you look at, again, those economies and I've been to several countries and those presidents are saying, hey, we want to be with me. I did go on that trip. But well, but if you if you win, I'll go on the next one. Well, let me tell you.

So this has been you preaching to the choir. I've been. Listen, I believe so strongly. And that is part of the work I've done as vice president, that we've got to change the narrative around the relationship between the United States and the continent of Africa.

For a long time, it has been one that has been about aid as opposed to partnership. Or investment, right. Partnership, which includes U.S. investment.

So the work I've done as vice president has been to begin to change that. relationship and including the delegation that I took to the continent, which was focused on, I brought billions of dollars and worked on billions of dollars of U.S. investment in the continent and in countries on the continent of Africa, looking at what we need to do around. Also, I've been partnering with technology companies around digital inclusion, so ensuring that folks have access to.

FinTech to financial banking and sectors. But to your point, the median age on the continent is 19. By 2050, one in four people on Earth will be on the continent of Africa. That is so, so, so exciting.

If we see it in terms of global policy, for the opportunity it presents to invest in partnership and to do the work that is about. Understanding the mutual benefit. So that is very much on my agenda as a priority.

It has been as vice president and it will continue to be if I am and when I am elected president. I mentioned those countries. We talk about immigration. It has been African-Americans. It's been in some quarters extremely contentious.

And I've said, wait a minute, there are people who are coming from African nations, who are coming from Haiti, who are coming from Bermuda, who are coming from. different countries, and you have these battles happening in Chicago and New York. What do you say to African Americans specifically about immigration and how are you going to deal with that?

Because there was a reason folks were being sent to various cities to create the tension. But it's talked about. It's there. It is a real concern. So what do you say to African Americans specifically who say, shut it all down?

folks can come in, close the border, who sound in many ways like MAGA folks? So first of all, I have prosecuted transnational criminal organizations for the trafficking of guns, drugs, and human beings. I have had a career, including now, of prioritizing that we must have a secure border.

And in fact, on the issue of immigration, let's be clear, Some of the most conservative members of the United States Congress, together with others, had a bill to secure the border even more, and Donald Trump got wind of it, and because he thought it would hurt his political chances in this election, told them not to put it up for a vote. He killed the bill that would have put 1,500 more border agents at the border, which is why the Border Agent Union supported it. That bill would have stemmed the flow of fentanyl, which is affecting people of every race and background and geographic location in our country.

That bill would have given more resources to prosecute transnational criminal organizations. Donald Trump. Told him, cancel that bill because he wants to run on a problem instead of fix a problem.

I'm about fixing problems. And that includes, when I am elected president, bringing back up that border security bill, and I will sign it into law. We also must have an immigration system that is humane and orderly. We have to increase the number of asylum judges. We need to make sure that people who are fleeing harm, that we give them a chance to explain their situation in a meaningful way, because America also is a place that we have said we will we will receive people who are fleeing persecution.

They got to make their case and then they got to be on a path where they earn the right to be here and become citizens, which means we need to have. A comprehensive immigration policy that includes requiring people to earn and work hard to earn their citizenship. Your last question is that your folks are dancing back here. So I see them all in my periphery.

So y'all can relax, Cedric. Congressman. Well, you know, he's a Saints fan, too.

We'll talk about that. Why do you want this? Why do you want to be president? There's somebody who's saying, why should I trust her with the power of being commander in chief? I love our country, Roland.

I believe, I believe in the American people. And I know we are a people who have the character that have ambition, that have aspirations, dreams. And I intend to be a president who meets people with.

opportunities for them to not just get by, but get ahead. I believe in our country and the importance of its strength in terms of what that means to the world. As Vice President of the United States, I have met over 150 world leaders, presidents, prime ministers, chancellors, and kings.

I know the importance of America retaining respect as a power around the globe. And that's why I am putting in the hard work of working to earn every person's vote so we can actually turn the page on what has been otherwise years of an attempt to divide us as a nation, to have Americans point their fingers at each other, years of belittling people and promoting fear. People are exhausted with that. Ready to turn the page. They're ready for a new generation of leadership.

That's about charting a new way forward. And that's what I intend to do with a sense of optimism and being clear-eyed about the challenges that folks face and the opportunities that we have to address those challenges in a way that strengthens our nation. I would certainly appreciate it. And let me wish you a happy early birthday. Thank you.

I'm not going to say the age because I'm not trying to have all these sisters get an attitude. I can't believe you did that. But, you know. Yeah, for your well-being, I would advise you not to do that.

But it'll be published anyway. So we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. I appreciate you.

Thank you. Folks, Blackstar Network is the piece. Hold no punches! I'm real revolutionary right now.

Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Rollin'.

I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN.

You can't be Black-owned media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? You dig?

The name Mahmoud is derived from the name Mahmoud means the most beautiful,