00:00So this is the office of the city attorney and back in 2002 I started
00:04working here. I was the director of communications for the city attorney
00:09whose name was Dennis Ferreira. He has gone on. We have a new city attorney, David
00:14Hsu. But back when I started Kamala Harris was running the children and
00:20families team of the city attorney's office and we got to be friends and we
00:25were both serving on the senior staff of the city attorney's office. She's a
00:29really incredibly special person. Somebody I have a lot of affection for
00:34and I'm just really excited that she is a candidate for president. I would say
00:43who could have imagined it but in some ways I could have imagined it because
00:47she was just a remarkable leader. So she's a she's a wonderful person and
00:51someone you're talking about it you're saying she's a wonderful leader
00:53therefore you have no doubt that she's up to the huge role of President of the
00:58United States. I think she will be a phenomenal president. You know I'm a member of the LGBTQ community and Kamala and I both have mentors from that community. There's a guy named Jim Rivaldo who was Harvey Milk's campaign consultant and mentor. He was Kamala's campaign manager when she ran for district attorney.
01:23She was a consultant. He was a consultant. Kamala just understands a lot about the community. Back in 2003 when I found out that I was HIV positive, Kamala Harris was one of the first people I told just because she was somebody who I was close to and understood that and was just really supportive.
01:45In other words she wasn't somebody who just laterally supported LGBTQ issues when
01:50they became fashionable. Kamala really understands the LGBTQ community and I think because of her work with Jim Rivaldo who was a mentor to me and also a mentor to her. Jim has passed away. He passed away I think in 2009 but in her autobiography, I think in the autobiography that she wrote she talks a lot about the influence of Jim Rivaldo and that's an influence that I share.
02:20So she's a dear person and I haven't stayed close with her as she has risen through the ranks.
02:29When would you last have known her well?
02:30Oh I mean we were close during when she was district attorney.
02:34Which ended when?
02:39She did a term and a half and then ran for state attorney general and I'm blanking on the year.
02:47And she was a good district attorney?
02:50Oh yeah yeah she was a she was you know it was also interesting that she was a moderate.
02:58She unseated a very progressive district attorney in 2003. That was a race that meant a lot to me.
03:06Why did it mean a lot to you?
03:08Because one because Kamala was my friend also because I think the city needed somebody who
03:14understood that it really...
03:16Who wasn't as radical is that what you're saying?
03:18I think this is a city where we really need somebody who understands public safety but
03:23balances that with compassion. Sometimes it can get a little out of whack. Kamala Harris brought
03:28what I always appreciated was the way that she led the district attorney's office was
03:33it's not about hard on crime or soft on crime it's about being smart on crime.
03:37That was the way that she led that office.
03:39In other words you're saying that she's not going to be an overly radical president?
03:42No I mean this was the in fact her tenure as district attorney attorney general and I think
03:51U.S. senator has been more to be more of a centrist but certainly going back to her
03:57understanding of criminal justice I think she is somebody who is a mainstream democrat who
04:02will lead this country well and I'm really rooting for her.
04:05Some people critics say that she's a diversity hire and out of her depth and all that kind of
04:12thing.
04:12This is if you're getting elected in California there you're getting more votes than most people
04:19that she's earned everything she's got and in many ways she had a harder time because I think
04:25women women have a harder time in American politics so I'm proud of Kamala I think she's
04:31I hope she gets elected and if she gets elected I think she'll be a great president.
04:35Last question um setting aside your personal admiration for her your like for her
04:40what who do you think is going to win?
04:43I think Kamala's going to win.
04:45I think I think that Donald Trump I mean my sense is um I think Donald Trump has been an exhausting
04:53leader and I do think that as as we're going into the closing two weeks of this election
04:58I think it's he is reminding people of what just what an unseemly trauma his presidency
05:04was for four years so I have a feeling that when all is said and done people are going to choose
05:08Kamala.
