00:00You should never be burdened by other people's limited understanding of your potential.
00:05You just go and strive for your potential.
00:10This is 24 Hours with Kamala Harris on the road to 2020.
00:15My name is Tanya Christian, news and politics editor at Essence magazine.
00:19Today we're in Iowa following around Kamala Harris,
00:222020 presidential candidate for her Iowa bus tour.
00:25Everyone is gathering as they are waiting for Kamala Harris to go on stage
00:29and discuss the plans that she has as president.
00:45Part of my intention is to require that the United States Department of Justice
00:52review any law that is passed by a state that has a history
00:58of interfering with a woman's right to choose,
01:03that that law has to be reviewed by the United States Department of Justice for constitutionality.
01:12Because we've got to deal with this on the offensive as well as the defensive.
01:17I believe in her. Kamala has been my favorite so far.
01:20It's time to turn the page.
01:31While on the bus tour, I had some one-on-one time to ask Kamala a few questions.
01:36The first thing I wanted to know is how she would expand the conversation about gun control.
01:40When elected, if Congress does not act, I will take executive action and put a ban on
01:45the importation of assault weapons. I'll put in place background check requirements.
01:48There is more than that that needs to be done.
01:50Can you talk about the especially heavy burden
01:53gun violence places on Black and Latino communities in major cities,
01:57and on solutions you believe are most effective?
01:59Gun violence is the leading cause of death of young Black men in America.
02:03Our young men, and in particular our young Black and brown men,
02:07should not be thought of as disposable. It should not be.
02:13The outrage with which we responded to Parkland or anything else,
02:17there should be that collective outrage for all of these other communities that are experiencing
02:24rampant gun violence. On the bus, I also asked Kamala to address the criticism she's faced for
02:29having been a prosecutor. I reject a notion that says that if you try and fix a system from the inside,
02:35then you are somehow suspect. And I'm proud of the work I did.
02:40There is an important role for us to play, those of us who have understood and experienced the bias
02:47and the unfairness, for us to be on the inside where the decisions are being made.
02:51I've created one of the first reentry initiatives in the United States in a major city focused on
02:59getting young men, adult men who have been arrested for selling drugs, getting them jobs and counseling
03:06and training and dismissing the cases against them so that instead of them being a felon for life,
03:12they could actually live their capacity and live a productive life. It is not only about criminal
03:18justice, it's about economic justice. If we have faith to see what can be unburdened by what has been,
03:32we move mountains. Thank you.
03:36I also asked the 2020 hopeful, if elected, how would she tackle drug addiction issues?
03:42Addiction is about illness and we need to treat it that way. It's not about a criminal mind,
03:50it's about the fact that people need help.
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