We ran into each other at a restaurant.
We literally ran into--
I was sitting in my chair.
Our chairs were up against each other.
Yeah.
And that's when we met.
And we talked for a while that day.
And I said, please come on the show.
I would love for you to have this platform
to talk to people about what you're doing.
And I asked you about the negativity then.
I said, how are you dealing with what's going on in the world,
because they were so--
I was sitting with some other women who
were just really angry and saying,
what do we do about all this?
And you said--
We have to be joyful warriors.
I decided at the end of last year--
I was just-- there was so much that was just creating anxiety
and depression and anger.
And I just-- I was like, I'm done with that.
I'm done with that.
I don't like that feeling.
I don't think any of us do.
And let's just go into 2018 and be joyful warriors.
I like that term, joyful warriors.
Yeah.
[APPLAUSE]
Because as you said, we can't just be against something.
We have to be for something.
That's exactly right.
And then all what we're seeing--
these kids that are just marching--
the Stoneman Douglas kids, at the Women's March--
there's so many things that are happening
right now where people are taking to the streets.
And we have to remember it's not about fighting
against something.
It's about fighting for something.
And it is fighting with a spirit of love of country.
And that's really important to remember.
Yeah.
We love our country.
And part of being a patriot, love of country,
is about fighting for the ideals of our country,
fighting for the best of who we are.
We are a great people.
We are a great country.
And it is part of loving our country to say, you know what?
I believe those words we spoke in 1776 that we are all equal
and should be treated that way.
Yep.
I believe those--
Yep.
[APPLAUSE]
I believe those things.
And I will march and I will fight to make those words true.
And I will do that joyfully.
Yes.
You will do it joyfully.
And because both of your parents are immigrants--
your father is from Jamaica and your mother was from--
India.
--India.
And so with everything that's going on--
you were elected at the same time as Trump was elected.
Yeah.
OK.
So you get elected as senator.
Trump is elected as president.
And in all that time of everything
that's going, especially with parents
who were immigrants, what is the most surprising thing that
has happened to you?
Well, there's a lot.
And there are those moments, like when this administration
arbitrarily made a decision to rescind protection
to those DREAMers that are protected by DACA--
that was one of the lowest lights
in terms of what had happened.
Yeah.
These kids who are serving in our military,
they're in colleges and universities,
they are working in Fortune 100 companies,
and they are playing by the rules--
they were vetted to see if they've committed any crimes,
if they're living a productive life.
And if they were living life the way that we want them to,
we said, we'll give them protection.
And then arbitrarily, we took that protection away.
Yeah.
That is appalling to me.
It is.
It really-- it makes me so sad.
And we need to fight for them to be protected.
And so on the topic of those DREAMers--
I'll tell you then a highlight of the experience
that I've had as a United States senator.
Walking the halls of the United States Congress and seeing
thousands of DREAMers who have been traveling
to our nation's capitol by bus, by train, by car--
god only knows how they're affording to get there--
I am certain that they are sleeping
10 deep on someone's living room floor while they're there.
And they are there every day walking the halls,
truly believing that if the members of the United States
Congress see them and hear their stories, that we'll
do the right thing.
These kids believe in our democracy.
That's a beautiful thing.
Yeah.
That's a beautiful thing.
Yeah.
So we have to do right by them.
Yeah.
That's right.
Yeah.
That's right.
But I see them, like I see so many of these other kids,
as being our future.
And so I say our future is bright because they
do believe in our democracy.
They do believe if they are heard and seen,
that it will matter and that people will listen.
Yeah.
And I think that these kids that are--
the march that just happened in Washington--
Yeah.
--they will make a difference.
First of all, they're going to be eligible to vote soon.
And they can make changes if they're not
happy with what's going on.
It's been happening for a while, where people have put it
out there that you might be running for president
or that they want you to run for president.
Yeah.
You're probably not going to answer me.
But I'm going to ask you, anyway.
You're right on both counts.
You won't answer?
I'm not going to answer.
No.
What-- then--
But here's why--
Let me see what your answer is, though.
Let me tell you why.
Will you run for president?
OK.
Let me tell you that--
[LAUGHTER]
What's your answer?
So here's my answer.
Right now, we are in the early months of 2018.
And at this very moment in time, there
are people across America who have priorities
around their health care, have priorities around
can they get through the end of the month and pay the bills,
pay off their student loans, can they afford to pay for gas,
housing--
critical issues.
These DACA kids, when we talk about where they
are in terms of immigration--
there are so many pressing issues right-- guns.
We've got to pass an assault weapons ban.
We need to have universal background checks.
These are immediate needs.
And these are the things I'm focused on right now.
I've seen so many people, Ellen, focus on that thing out there
and then trip over this thing here.
Right.
I don't want to trip.
OK.
There's so much that's important right now.
Who would be your vice president?
[LAUGHTER]
Got any plans?
[LAUGHTER]
I'm busy.
[CHEERING]
All right.
We're going to vet you right now just in case.
We need to know lots about you because people
are going to want to know more about Kamala Harris
because we know what you stand for.
And I love all the things you stand for.
Thank you.
But who was your first celebrity crush?
[LAUGHTER]
OK.
I'm going to tell you.
I'm going to date myself, honestly.
Tito Jackson.
Tito?
OK.
The Jackson 5-- OK.
So I have a sister.
And I have lots of cousins.
And everyone picked a Jackson 5.
And all that was left was Tito.
Wow.
[LAUGHTER]
All right.
And it's still like--
they got Michael.
They got Marlon.
Wow.
I got Tito.
Well, all right.
Poor Tito.
No.
But I love Tito.
Yeah.
He truly ended up being my first celebrity crush.
All right.
I've been a senator--
complete this.
I've been a senator for over a year now.
And I still don't understand blank.
I still don't understand how in Washington, DC,
there's one inch of snow and the whole town shuts down.
I don't understand that.
Yes.
That's a good thing to not understand.
What's the most rebellious thing you did as a teenager?
Oh.
[LAUGHTER]
You are going to vet me.
Yeah.
It's going to come out.
So you might as well tell it here.
[LAUGHTER]
I broke curfew.
I was a loiterer.
I actually had a loitering problem
when I was in high school.
I really did.
Where did you loiter?
I would loiter the halls.
And the principal would say, Kamala, you're out here again.
And I'd say, Yes, Mr. [INAUDIBLE]..
I'm out again.
And he'd say, come on, let's sit down and talk.
How's it going?
And I'd say, I'm bored.
He'd say, why don't you go back to class?
And then I'd go back to class.
You were bad.
I was awful.
[LAUGHTER]
You were really bad.
If you had to be stuck in an elevator with either President
Trump, Mike Pence, or Jeff Sessions, who would it be?
[LAUGHTER]
Does one of us have to come out alive?
[LAUGHTER]
[APPLAUSE]
You can't sleep in the middle of night.
What do you do?
Oh, I get up.
I will read cookbooks.
I actually-- this happened recently.
Yeah.
I love cooking.
You just read cookbooks?
I read recipes.
I'd like recipes if I'm not cooking.
Especially if you're not cooking.
Yeah.
[LAUGHTER]
What's a nickname that your husband calls you?
Honey, babe.
The regular?
Yeah.
What's a nickname your Republican colleagues call you?
I have no idea.
[LAUGHTER]
All right.
Let's see.
Do you have any tattoos?
No.
If you were going to get a tattoo, what would it be?
And where would it go?
If I were to get a tattoo, maybe--
I don't know-- if I were going to be self-indulgent,
it would be a lotus flower because that's
what my name means, and maybe on my wrist.
OK.
And are you running for president, yes or no?
[LAUGHTER]
Next question.
All right.
Tito, come on out.
[LAUGHTER]
All right.
Kamala Harris, Senator Kamala Harris, everybody--
[APPLAUSE]
--possibly your next President of the United States.