Subtitles section Play video
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I want to bring in somebody who is incredible.
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She is the mayor of Atlanta.
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And she went viral for a speech that she gave when
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the protests first started.
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Take a look at this.
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[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
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You're not honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr,
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and the civil rights movement.
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You're not protesting anything running out
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with brown liquor in your hands, breaking windows in this city.
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TI and Killer Mike own half the Westside.
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So when you burn down this city, you're
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burning down our community."
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If you want change in America, go and register to vote.
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Show up at the polls on June 9.
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Do it in November.
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That is the change we need in this country.
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[END PLAYBACK]
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[APPLAUDING]
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Please welcome Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
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Thank you.
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Hi.
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Thank you.
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I know how busy you must be.
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So thank you so much for taking the time to speak to me.
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It has been a crazy few months and an insane week.
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You must be exhausted.
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And you're handling this so beautifully.
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But how are you?
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Well, thank you for having this platform, Ellen.
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It just means so much to hear you speak and acknowledge
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the pain that so many people across this country
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are feeling right now.
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And I'm still standing, like the rest of us are.
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And I think we're all processing our emotions right now.
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And on the other side of this, I think there'll be a lot of--
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even more released than what we're seeing in our streets
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right now.
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But we're just taking it one day at a time
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in Atlanta, the same way so many people across this country
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are doing.
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Well, I think that your speech was--
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I don't know if you feel like it had an impact, if you've seen
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any results of what you said.
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But it got a lot of attention.
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First of all, were you surprised?
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Did you expect to get that kind of attention?
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Well, I knew it must have been impactful
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because my 18-year-old son was with me.
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And he told me he felt something,
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which is pretty extraordinary for my son
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to have a response to anything that I say.
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But honestly, I didn't remember what I'd said.
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I had to come home and watch it again at night
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because it was just so much emotion.
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I hadn't planned on saying any of that.
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So to answer your question, did I
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think it would get that much attention,
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I didn't give it any thought at all.
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But I'm grateful that I was able to put into words
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and express what so many people were feeling
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and maybe even needed to hear.
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Yeah.
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It was-- and you could feel the passion.
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One of the things you said that really resonated with people
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was talking about not only being a mayor of Atlanta,
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but you have four children who are--
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it is-- it's one thing to be witnessing all of this.
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But then to have children, and I'm
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sure this is not the first time that you're thinking,
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I've had to fear for my children that are out in the world--
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but that must also be part of the passion in what you're
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saying.
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It is.
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Everything that I do I look at through the lens as a mother.
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My work as mayor is wrapped--
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it just fits in somewhere in between my
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being a mother to four kids.
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And our kids have been dealing with so much
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over the past few months, all of the anxiety
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and the disruption related to COVID-19
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and then layering this on top of it.
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Everything is so uncertain with them.
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And I see the range of emotion, from my 18-year-old to my two
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youngest, who are nine.
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It ranges from fear to anxiety to anger.
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And you can have all of those emotions
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from them all at one time.
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Yeah.
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That's a lot for you to handle, being
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a mother and a mayor and a great leader
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right now, which is something I want to talk to you about.
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We have to take a break.
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But I want to talk to you about where
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is that leader that we all need right now to organize
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this and have a plan.
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We'll be right back.