In washington, d. C. , earning her logic refrom the hastings law school, was the District Attorney in San Francisco and law on to earning her degree from hastings law school. She announced her candidacy for president back in january 2019 in oakland, california. She withdrew from the race in december of last year. Joining us from los angeles is an l. A. Times political reporter , and in philadelphia, covering politics for politico, holly otterbein. And i want to begin with you, holly otterbein. I wonder if you could walk us through the process of what led to her selection. Sure. A debaten during between biden and sanders. Biden broke the news that he was going to choose a woman as his Vice President ial nominee. That kind of kicked everything little while, a later, in april, he announced his Vice President ial search committee, which included four people, including former senator chris dodd, who has been a longtime friend and ally to biden. He took an important and powerful role in that committee. And, you know, over the next few months, they did lots of interviews. They did lots of intensive vetting. Recently, they ended the search with biden, of course, talking to all of the candidates himself, and they came to the conclusion that Kamala Harris was the best choice for a few different reasons, which i am sure we will talk about more today. But it is interesting, as you noted, this is in many ways the choice that a lot of people in the Political Press and in democratic circles thought that he would make, but at the same time, it is kind of, you know, really notable that the expected pick is a black woman. I mean, i think that just says a lot about where we are today, as well as the democratic party, and, you know, the black lives Matter Movement and the protests we have seen in the street. It says a lot, a lot about all of those things. And we will be discussing all of that, as well. Mehta, you are from his home state. There was a lot around california democrats. She had national ambitions, and they expected her to go far. Her allies, when she dropped out of her president ial race, i think they thought she was a smart woman. But she was not likely to be the nominee. California often feels left out of politics. We have not seen a californian the relationship Kamala Harris led to thee bidens decision to select her. You saw that when they came out together this week. Than 190ere are more appearances with Kamala Harris, available on cspan. Org. This was the first. The state of black america. One participant was Kamala Harris. Criminalis the Justice System is not working for the africanamerican community. We see that in the statistics. 2 Million People in the prison system, 40 african america, despite we only constitute 30 of the general population. It is not working was the leading cause of death for africanamerican and men as homicide. Suffer because our babies hear the gunfire every night and has posttraumatic stress disorder. The criminal Justice System is not working for us. What we have failed to do is own the issue of Law Enforcement. Statistics inthe the context of, it is unfair, morally incorrect. Nobody cares about that. You can look at katrina. Nobody cares that we have a lot of young black men in prison. Issue in we own this Law Enforcement in a way that works for us. We do want Law Enforcement. We want our grandmothers to walk the streets and be safe, ill babies walk to the park and be safe we won our babies to walk to the park and be safe. We dont want is racial profiling, excessive force, having our Civil Liberties stripped, but we want Law Enforcement, so lets define it by saying, i want a Community Police department that works in my community that reflects it. , when theyndmother talk to her, i want accountability that says all enforcement needs to own crime prevention, as much as long sentences. 18 oflly, only series crimes result in arrest. It is my responsibility to keep you safe. If i only send people to prison to keep you safe, i will fall short. The vast majority is not hitting my system, so if im going to keep my promise to you, i better talk with you about crime prevention, recognizing people coming out of the state prisons, 60 will recidivate if we dont get them in programs, job that get themrams in meaningful housing and employment so they dont recidivate. Is it the right thing . It is. If that person commits another 10,000 have to spend on that felony. Im running a program out of my office that brings folks back into the community at 8,000 a year,ng karen teed guaranteed employment, meaningful reunification with her family, and that fulfills my responsibility to keep my community safe, so lets redefine this issue in the context of public safety, doing crime prevention, investing in people coming out of prison. It is the smart thing to do for Law Enforcement. Forget it is just the right thing to do. It is the smart thing to do. Ago, seema mehta , let me begin with you. What did you hear . Seeing criminal justice evolve as an issue. We have seen her evolve as well. Tried to fix the system from the inside, as opposed to being on the outside. She tried to make things better. Her tenure is mixed. It offers an opportunity for critics on the left and right. Franciscoas da in san , there was a case that drew the ire of senator feinstein, who laid into her for not seeking the Death Penalty. By the time she ran for hadection in 2014, she mended defenses. The fences pay or she has had to deal with Racial Injustice the fences. She has had to deal with Racial Injustice, that kind of thing, so this is something she has dealt with throughout her life. For example, she supported icers where body cameras but not toameras, require all officers where body cameras. Body cameras. She really has evolved on these issues. Steve this headline from politico. Com, and holly otterbein, if you could explain how the leftwing is rankled by the choice, based on what seema mehta was saying, based on criminal justice and her standing within the party. Explain that headline. Completely agree. She has evolved on the criminal justice issue with time. As noted, she declined to pursue the Death Penalty against a police murderer, a liberal choice. At the same time, i covered Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris came under fire from fans and others because of her prosecutorial record and what they saw as flipflopping on medicare for all, so that created some complicated feelings among progressive activists and elected officials. In the lead up to bidens announcement this week, many joe bidens announcement this week, many in the progressive world said they hoped he would allow fore that would a wideopen primary. Is notly, Kamala Harris that pig. Pick. Heard not that ave heard they might be that some people might be locked out of the white house. She might be seen as the front liner, if he wins the front runner, if he wins and does not run for reelection. This after believing Bernie Sanders could win and Elizabeth Warren could win the nomination. At the same time, it is complicated, not blackandwhite. Some progressives feel like they dodged a bullet, didnt get someone like Amy Klobuchar, who was more moderate than Kamala Harris. Kamala harris tried to split the difference between moderates and progressives in the primary. That did not serve her because she lacked a base. She could not win over the Bernie Sanders base or joe biden base, but now that might come in handy. She did reach out. At the same time progressives are disappointed, they are proud she will be a historymaking also gladnd they are she endorsed things like the Green New Deal and eliminating fracking. At one point, she also cosponsored Bernie Sanderss medicare for all big and walked away from that policy in the primary. Progressives are disappointed, but glad it is not Amy Klobuchar or someone seen as more moderate. Steve since the announcement, we have learned about her background, father from south asia, father from jamaica, a blended family with her husband. She served in her first term as the california state attorney general. She talked about being the first. Sen. Harris for most of us, we andthe first at what we do, for most, we do what we do because we believe truly in the magnificence of our country, and we are committed to fighting for its highest ideals at every step of the way. And so when i think about the purpose, the reason, and the commonality that we share, i think about it in the context of something we will commemorate or celebrate next week, the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In thinking about the civil of 1964,n 1964 50 years later, we know it to be a product of a coalition of people who came together to fight for the ideals of our country, for that promise we made in 1776 that we should all be treated as equal. We know in the coalition that came around that movement, there were people who fought hard, some who died, who sought to make it real and make it true, and we know for many reasons that document is not just a piece of paper signed into law 50 years ago, it is very much still a living, breathing document, a document that outlines for our country and reminds, unfortunate some folks need to be reminded, folks of the great promise, which indicates there are certain fundamental rights that always must be protected. There are fundamental rights that relate to education, economic opportunity, that relate to giving human beings and the people who live in this country the ability to live a productive life and live with dignity. 2014, kamalarom harris. Seema mehta as you look at her biography and resume, what intrigues you the most about her life story . Seema in reading about her youth, her parents had split, saying made a point of society will view my daughter says black women, so i should raise them to be proud black women. Her mother taking her to africanamerican cultural centers, the indian side as well. Stories aboutthe her childhood was interesting. Her mother was a powerful force in her life. Hearing her talk about her much ityou can hear how matters. Protesting. Also out Kamala Harris was being bussed to school and a desegregation effort. I think in a disaggregation effort. I think that shaped who she is. I think that time in her life is very fascinating. , one ofolly otterbein the most significant decisions das college, she chose howar university. That was significant to her. Decision toe the , it was prosecutor somewhat of a disappointment within her family, which was noted as liberal, going to protests, so that shows where she came from. Producediversity has heavyweights all around, and i think during the primary we saw the powerful net work she built rally around her during the campaign, and i think you will continue to see that in the general election, just proud fellow graduates of howard behind her. I think it is a powerful Political Network that will grow in clout throughout the campaign. Steve this is one of those only on cspan moments, senator is sworn in, we always show the Vice President. 2017, it was senatorelect Kamala Harris being sworn in by Vice President joe biden. It is about three minutes. Runs eightment minutes in our Video Library. [indiscernible] you know what i mean . How are you . Good to see you. You know that, right . You stand here. Ok . Are you ready . All right. That is a good way to do it. Put your hand on the bible. Raise your right. Do you solemnly swear that you will take this obligation without any reservation and you will discharge the duties, so help you god . Sen. Harris i do. You have family, i here . Sen. Harris i have family. I have quite a crew. What is your name . How are you . How are you . Good to see you. How are you . Great. Good to see you. [laughter] hi. Good to see you. How are you . How are you doing . You came to my house last year. Thats right. There is not many guys who can say that. [laughter] good to see you. Guys. Hello. Nice to meet you. Professor at the university of maryland. Is that right . What do you teach . High temperature. Literature. Happy to meet you. Thank you. Good to see you. Welcome. She is thewhat, around boun best. She is the very best. [laughter] uncle. How are you . Journalist and a mathematician. All of these guys are journalists, but i dont think they can add or subtract. [laughter] good to see you. All right. Ok. Ok. We got it . Everybody i am not doing it. [laughter] january, 2017. M you can see the diversity in her extended family. Holly otterbein, the Vice President said going into this process, he wanted someone like him when he served as Vice President for barack obama. The chemistry between these two individuals . It is a huge part of what joe biden was thinking about. He kept referring to the fact he wanted the same kind of chemistry and relationship he had with barack obama. That definitely played a role in his decisionmaking process. Becameer candidate that a finalist was, for instance, california also from , house member, leader of the congressional black caucus, but one reason she did not make it is that she did not know joe biden that well. It was hard to build that relationship during the coronavirus pandemic, you know, tougher to make that happen, so had a harris, she relationship with joe bidens late son beau biden. That played a huge part in him choosing her, and it also helped to smooth things over after and i am sure we will get to this after the famous moment in which Kamala Harris attacked a joe biden on stage during the debates. There was some hard feelings in the biting camp over that the joe biden camp, but because she had that relationship with beau biden, that was able to be gotten over. Moment, whichbate has been getting so much attention, how significant was that in the primary . Seema it was an enormous moment. I think people had a lot of optimism about her candidacy. After that moment, they knew who she was. Seen as the front runner for such a long time. She questioned his statements about working with segregationist senators and bussing, and put issues from decades ago in a modern light. Being thehe ends up nominee, but not an easy task. Because of this preexisting elation ship between them, joe woundedoked personally when she attacked him. It was beyond political, it was personal. It was something he wasnt able to get over that, but it probably took some work to get over that. Ready the campaign was the next day with advertisements. Here it is in its entirety, courtesy of nbc news. Sen. Harris Vice President biden, i do not believe you are a racist. I agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground, but i also believe, and it is personal it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two u. S. Senators who built the reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country. It was not only that, but you worked with them to oppose bussing. There was a little girl in california who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bussed to school every day, and that little girl was me, so i will tell you on the subject, it cannot be an intellectual debate among democrats. We have to take it seriously, back swiftly, and i was proud to put in place as attorney general that all my agents would wear body cameras and keep those cameras on. [cheers and applause] Vice President biden, you have been invoked. Vice President Biden . [cheers and applause] mr. Biden that is an mischaracterization of my position. I do not praise racist. If you want to have this campaign litigated on what i did or not, i am happy to do that. I am a prosecutor, a public defender. Ofcity was in flames because the assassination of dr. King, number one. Number two, as Vice President of the United States, i worked with a man with whom we work hard to deal with these issues in a major way. Wouldms of bussing, you have been able to go to school, because it was a local decision made by your city council. That is fine. That is one thing i argued for, that we should be breaking down these lines. The bottom line is, look, everything i have done, i ran because of civil rights and think we have to make fundamental changes in civil notts, and those include only africanamericans but the lgbt community. Sen. Harris do you agree today that you were wrong to oppose bussing in america . Mr. Biden i did not oppose bussing. I opposed bussing by the department of education. That is what i opposed. Sen. Harris the failure of states in america, i was part of the second class to integrate berkeley california is to decades after brown versus the board of education. That is where the federal government must step in. Need to pass the equality act, the e. R. A. , because there are moments in history where states failed to preserve the civil rights of all people. 30 seconds i extended the Voting Rights act for 25 years. We got to the place where we got 98 out of 98 votes doing it. I also argued strongly that we deal with the notion of denying people access to the ballot box. I agreed my time is up. I