-W
did you dream of being president?
-No. -You couldn't dream of that?
-No. No, I mean, it wasn't even within the realm of the possible
for little girls back then.
And that's what's so exciting about this campaign,
because we have slowly but steadily knocked down
all the barriers.
And it's important --
[ Cheers and applause ]
And, look,
some people are not happy about the barriers being knocked down.
Your former guest, Donald Trump,
you know, has refused to actually admit
that President Obama is an American,
born in America.
And for five years, he's been hammering
in this so-called "birther movement,"
which I think is so sickening.
And then, he went after a distinguished federal judge
because he was born in Indiana of Mexican heritage,
called him a Mexican.
He went after the Gold Star family
whose son was heroically lost in Iraq
because they're Muslims.
And, I mean, you just have to take a deep breath
and say to yourself, "What kind of country do we really want?"
And I want a country where barriers are knocked down,
and little girls and little boys can feel like
they can go as far as their hard work will take them
without regard to race and ethnicity and religion
and gender and sexual orientation and all of that.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-I have two little girls.
-I know you do.
-And I know they're gonna be so psyched that I interviewed you.
One day, they're gonna be asking me about you,
so this is a historic night for me to have you here.
It's pretty cool.
-Well, you know, I know you've got two little girls,
and, you know I love kids.
I started my professional life
working for the Children's Defense Fund,
and so for me, figuring out how,
not just your kids or my grandkids,
but all kids get everything they need
to go as far as their hard work and talent will take them
is really what we should be focused on in our country.
And that's what I intend to work on.
-We have little boys and girls watching our show.
They watch us, and then, they want to see you.
Why should they grow up to be president?
Why should they want to be president?
-Well, they should want to be what they want to be.
They should follow their dreams.
But they should not feel
that they bump up against a hard glass ceiling,
or that because of who they are, where they were born,
who their parents are, any other circumstance,
that somehow the American Dream isn't big enough for them.
You know, we have to decide in this election
what kind of country we want.
You know, are we going to be a country that comes together,
that respects each other, that celebrates our diversity,
which I think is one of our great strengths,
or are we gonna be pitted against each other
and be divided
and have all this bigotry and bullying that's going on?
Are we going to get the economy working for everybody,
not just people at the top?
And are we gonna keep the world safe
and work with people whose values we share?
I think these are consequential questions,
but they're also really at the root of who we are as a country
and what values we have.
-Speaking of pitting against each other,
the debate is coming up.
-Yes, yes. It is.
-September 26th. We have Lester Holt moderating.
How -- Which trump are you gonna get?
Do you have any idea of what --
'Cause he seems to be changing a bit.
-Well, look.
He's trying to somehow convince people
to forget everything he's said and done, you know.
And I don't think that he's gonna get away with that,
at least, you know, judge us on who we are, what we've done,
what we've stood for.
And Maya Angelou has this great line.
You know, I admired her so much.
I was fortunate enough to get to know her.
She said, "When someone shows you who he is,
believe him the first time."
Right?
-That is good. She is amazing.