Transcripts For CNNW CNN Special Report 20210118 : vimarsana

System. Standing by her convictions. The decision has been made. The repercussions of that decision followed her for years. She was a pariah. And creating controversy along the way. Do you feel like you were misunderstood . This hour, her journey to the top. One of the worlds greatest comeback stories. Meet the real Kamala Harris. Hear from those closest to her. I love her. This is a cnn special report Kamala Harris making history. Saturday, november 7th, 2020. At a drivein celebration rally under the delaware night sky, a historic victory for one woman and a win for women, girls and people of color nationwide. Every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities. Lifes possibilities were something Kamala Harris was born to believe in. The soundtrack of my childhood was Aretha Franklin singing youre young, gifted and black. Youre young, gived and black you know, it really was the soundtrack of my childhood. And being told by everyone and everything that you can do anything. Harris mother, Shyamala Gopalan came to the university of berkeley with big dreams. Women from india didnt do that. Seeing her mom, sknowing her moms journey. Gopalan earned her masters degree and ph. D, eventually becoming a Cancer Research earp. My mother was quite a human being. She was an incredible mother. Our mother had Great Expectations for us. We could do and we could be anything. Harris sister maya. Our mother was very clear. It is not about you. It is about what you do. On strike. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s engulfed berkeley in activism. Its where gopalan fell in love with donald harris. Lenore pomerantz protested alongside them. It was just part of our lives. Just kind of an everyday thing being out in the streets . Yeah. What was going on and what you participated in, what you supported. I was very young. I was in a stroller. My mother would tell a story about, you know, at the time strollers didnt have necessarily armrests and seat belts. And so theyre protesting and theyre marching and theyre into it and theyre marching for the people, and at one point, my uncle looks down and says wheres kamala . Because i had kind of fallen out of the stroller. But my memories of that environment are shaped by my Early Childhood which was being in a place where that activism was so present. It was also a childhood shaped bay tight knit community that harris mother would rely on when she divorced her husband and became a single mother. Kamala was 7 years old. Our family consisted of a lot of aunts and uncles who were not born the brothers and sisters of my mother, but in every way were my aunts and uncles. My uncle sherman at a very young age taught us how to play chess. He said i want you to learn than board. I want you to learn to think steps ahead. And the sheltons. Miss shelton, she was my second mother. Thats where kamala grew up. Regina shelton ran a preschool down stairs from the harris apartment. When you walked in, there were pictures of prominent black people covering the wall. Maya angelou, rosa parks, Martin Luther king, malcolm x. So you were built up as a child of color or a black child to be proud of who you are, where you came from and understand your history. It was more than just a school, more than just day care. Absolutely. It was a family. Mrs. Sheltons family would take the girls to a christian church. Now was shyamala christian . She was a very spiritual person, but she wanted them to experience whatever there was there for them that would accept them and love them, without abandoning anything of who she was. She was indian. As a young child, harris was bussed to school an hour drive but a world away to an upper middle class neighborhood. Do you think it changed the course of your life . I dont know that it did. I certainly do think that there were so many resources being put into our education and at the earliest stages that allowed me to be on a path that allowed me to blossom. A path that led her to howard university. It was the opportunity to step out of minority and to step into the place of being part of the dominant culture. Jill lewis met harris the night they were initiated into Alpha Kappa Alpha incorporated, the oldest African American sorority in the u. S. It was a time when anything seemed possible for this generation of young black students. We were seeing things in the media like the cosby show. Our new miss america is Vanessa Williams. Or like Vanessa Williams becoming miss america. We could expect to be a part of corporations that we could have businesses, and you would find that people on campus dressed accordingly. In kamalas case, be carrying a little briefcase around campus. She literally carried a briefcase . She had a little briefcase. She had a little briefcase. My 1986, harris graduated from howard, traveling back to San Francisco for law school. But her pathway to becoming a lawyer wasnt easy. She failed the bar exam on her first try. Mommy always told us that life can be hard. And you will have setbacks, and whats most important is to get up, dust yourself off, and keep going. And she took it again and she passed. And set her sights on being a prosecutor. She had a passion to stand up for people who are often not seen and not heard, to be an advocate for people. That passion became a reality, at times a harsh one. I made a decision as i was elected to do. When we come back. customer hi . burke happy anniversary. customer for what . burke every year youre with us, you get fifty dollars toward your home deductible. 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And now that sprint is a part of tmobile were turning up the speed. Upgrading over a thousand towers a month with ultra capacity 5g. To bring speeds as fast as wifi to cities and towns across america. And were adding more every week. Coverage and speed. Who says you cant have it all . Sofi made it so easy to pay off my student loan debt. They were able to give me a personal loan so i could pay off all of my credit cards. I got my mortgage through sofi and the whole process was so easy. Express yourself express yourself in 2000, San Francisco was on fire. Police say the violence begins assaults, drugs, violent gangs. Victims were sitting in this green car. And prostitution. Kamala harris was a prosecutor at the City Attorneys Office leading the family and Childrens Services division. I knew nothing about Kamala Harris until the day that she called me. Latifah simon was a young single mom and a High School Dropout on probation who managed to turn her life around and become the director of a local center for young women as a teenager. She said im a deputy city attorney, and i hear that youre working with girls, girls who are on the streets and girls who are being trafficked. She said lets work together. Lets change the system. It started with harris launching a Sex Trafficking Task force. She wanted to bring in police, prosecutors, Domestic Violence survivors, trafficking survivors. You want to have a social Justice Warrior for those who often are not seen and not heard. Critics say the current District Attorney was a warrior, but said his office wasnt without problems. His conviction rate was extremely low. A lot of cases remained unsolved and morale was very low. Hal hallinans office was frankly a mess. Harris had worked under hallinan years earlier. She knew she could clean up the mess. It was a gritty campaign. She needed someone to take charge. Our mother was feisty and a force of nature. Our mother put her whole heart into anything that we put our minds to. After a historic runoff with her mother standing by her side, harris became the first black and south asian woman d. A. In San Francisco. Former adviser debbie meslow remembers harris was not going to cherish the victory sitting down, because she couldnt. No desk, no chair, no filing cabinet, nothing. It was just very kamala. Just grab a chair from the reception and start working. The work would get serious, fast. I got the call that a Police Officer had been killed in the line of duty. 29yearold Isaac Espinosa was gunned down in the gangridden neighborhood of bayview. Isaac was an amazing cop. He is the type of person that you would whoep be out there protecting your community. An arrest was made the next day, but the sting of espinosas death got worse when harris made an unexpected announcement, only three days after the shooting. In San Francisco, it is the will i believe of the majority of people that the most severe crimes be met with the most severe consequence, and that life without possibility of parole is a severe consequence. And im standing there and im going oh my god. Former Police Union President gary delainas was standing next to harris when she made the announcement. He says the timing of that decision riled a police force already shaken with grief. Youre thinking to yourself, okay, is she sorry that this kid died or is this just a political opportunity . What would her motives be to do this so soon after the death . Now from the first moments after the killing, i was actively involved in the case. And the bottom line is that as a prosecutor, you have to make decisions based on the facts in the law, period, no matter how everyone rightly feels about what happened. [ bagpipes playing ] the controversy exploded at espinosas funeral. It was a huge event in San Francisco. And senator Dianne Feinstein got up and made a speech calling for the Death Penalty. And she got a standing ovation. All the Police Officers stood up. So kamala was alone, sitting down. In an oped published a week after the funeral, harris said in part, the District Attorney is charged with seeking justice, not vengeance. I am bound by oath and law to make decisions about what charges to bring not based on emotion, anger, or politics within 48 hours of a suspects arrest. He should not have been killed. He should be alive today. And there was a lot of anger associated with that, and i understand that. But i made a decision as i was elected to do based on the facts and the law. Harris tenure as d. A. Had its ups and downs, including a huge drug scandal inside the department. It came out that a technician for the San Francisco Police Department crime lab had been regularly skimming drugs from the lab. And this mattered because she was frequently testifying in cases for people who had been caught with drugs. Harris office was aware of problems with the technician months earlier. Ultimately, hundreds of cases were dismissed. I was very upset about it. I was very upset about it. It resulted in an injustice for many people. Despite the dismissals, harris was determined to combat crime her way. Back on track is arguably one of her biggest successes as District Attorney in San Francisco. Its about success and its about accountability, not kentucky criminality. When i created the Reentry Initiative and named it back on track, people across the system criticized me. They said what are you doing . Youre supposed to be locking people up, not letting them out. My whole point was we need to give them resources. Do these young people have bus passes . Do these young people have access to dental care . Do we have everything that we need to ensure theyll never come book is the system . The hardest job ive ever had. Up next, the Vice President elect continues to climb the political ladder. Congratulations. While walking a tightrope. She had to be really careful. She had to walk a tightrope that white men, who are more seen traditionally in these roles dont have to walk. Get ready our most popular battery is now even more powerful. The stronger, lastslonger energizer max. Two medical societies have strongly recommended to doctors the stronger, lastslonger to treat acute, nonlow back muscle and joint pain with topical nsaids first. A formulation they recommend can be found in salonpas. A formulation they recommend can be found in salonpas. Salonpas. Its good medicine. Hisamitsu. Superstar prosecutor Kamala Harris made history when she was elected californias first African American female District Attorney. Kamala harris star was rising. President obama took notice too. I think from the first days they met, they really saw a lot of themselves in each other. Kamala has a presence about her. Senator katherine masto. Its this confidence of not only who she is, but why she is there in the first place. She is californias most innovative District Attorney. Harris had just wrapped up seven years as San Franciscos d. A. Now she wanted to be californias top cop. The system needs drastic repair. Her opponent, los angeles District Attorney steve cooley came out swinging. She refused to pursue the Death Penalty against the killer, the gang member, the ak47wielding gang member who shot down officer Isaac Espinosa. She declared her opposition before he was buried. Steve, i think that you really should not go below the dignity of this debate or the office we seek. A Heated Campaign that took weeks to declare a winner. I stand before you today humbled to be chosen to be the next attorney general of the state of california. Another historic victory for harris, becoming the first black and south Asian American woman elected as californias attorney general. But the victory was bittersweet. Your mother became ill . It was intense. Its hospital visits. Its going to chemotherapy and, you know, sitting there and hoping that you can make someone laugh while theyre going through a horrible event. It is a very difficult time, yeah. How did you get through it . One day at a time. One day at a time. I was hired to do a couple of things, but mortgage fraud wasnt one of them. Brian nelson was harris special assistant attorney general. And i was deep in sort of the mortgage settlement negotiations with the largest five banks in the country. After the financial crash in 2008, states sued these banks for foreclosure abuses. California was among the hardest hit with banks filing foreclosures on over one million homes. Thats when harris pulled up her chair to the table. Were in that negotiations. Shes talking to the banks. Were flying around the country, partnering with other ags. There is leverage right in that force of all the states coming together to take on some of the banks and wall street. I determined that what the banks were offering california was drounls table. So i pulled california out of the negotiations. Standing in the trenches with harris, delawares attorney general beau biden. His state hadnt been hard hit as many around the foreclosures, but beau on principal premprince said its not right and im going stand with you. It was incredible how much heat we took and we both stood there. And paid off. As a result of 13 months of intense discussions, sometimes battle, we have delivered to california 18 billion in relief for californias homeowners. Relief turned to reform when she revisited her smart on crime approach that she launched in San Francisco to crack down on truancy. Who are the homicide victims who are under the age of 25 . Who are they . The question that had not been asked. And it turned out 94 of them were High School Dropouts. Harris says she was trying to target social inequality, not families. If you have those kinds of absentee rates among affluent neighborhoods of Elementary School students, theyd be wrik writing about it every day of the week. But what we are talking about are poor children, predominantly black children and latino children. And i said weve got to do something about this. Was that the right role for the Prosecutors Office to begin with . The thought was okay, we can use this big stick and scare the parents. And maybe if we do that and threaten prosecution, we can get the attendance numbers to go up. The program was successful in San Francisco, reducing truancy by almost a qu