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  • Yeah, you were just talking to Mr. Mathis, huh?

  • I was talking to Mr. Mathis.

  • My gosh.

  • That was amazing.

  • Yeah.

  • What a great guy.

  • What a brave man.

  • Yeah.

  • Um, hi.

  • Hi.

  • Yeah, it seems like the last time I saw you,

  • you said we were going to do the show in the White House,

  • and we were all excited about that.

  • We would have, too.

  • Yeah, we were going to do that.

  • Yeah.

  • Well, it didn't work out that way.

  • No, it didn't.

  • So I thought I'd come back and see how you're doing.

  • Yeah, thanks.

  • Thanks.

  • Not so good.

  • Not so good.

  • Well, but, you know, I'm trying to stay

  • in a really positive frame of mind.

  • You know, I always say when people ask me, how are you?

  • I say, well, as a person, I'm OK.

  • But as an American, I am really concerned.

  • I'm a little tiny less concerned after Alabama

  • because I think it was a great example of people understanding

  • what was at stake, and working hard, and actually turning

  • out and voting.

  • Nothing is more important than that.

  • So it was positive.

  • Yeah, that showed that.

  • So let's-- I mean you talk about it in your book--

  • but let's talk about--

  • so you were here three weeks before the election.

  • Yes.

  • You were confident.

  • I was.

  • I was confident.

  • A lot of people were confident.

  • I mean, it seemed like it was a for-sure thing.

  • I mean, what a shock.

  • What happened?

  • What was going through your mind when

  • you saw what was happening?

  • Well, it's one of the reasons why

  • I decided to write the book-- because I

  • didn't know what happened.

  • I knew there were certain factors at work,

  • and after the election I learned a lot more about the impact

  • that they had.

  • I mean, it was a perfect storm.

  • I mean, there were a lot of currents

  • of resentment and anger about all kinds of things.

  • In the country, there was a lot of sexism and misogyny--

  • which now, thankfully, we're kind of pulling out of the dark

  • and talking about.

  • There was voter suppression-- people

  • trying to prevent other Americans

  • from being able to vote.

  • There was the FBI's intervention on October 28,

  • after I saw you, which had a devastating effect.

  • Because people thought, oh my gosh,

  • I can't vote for somebody who is once again under FBI

  • investigation, even though there was-- again-- nothing to it.

  • And then there were the Russians.

  • The Russians.

  • And the Russians were much more involved

  • than even I understood.

  • And so, after the election, and after the real devastating

  • shock of it, I kept saying, well, what happened?

  • You know, because I wanted to understand it.

  • Because obviously, I made mistakes.

  • My campaign made mistakes.

  • Every candidate, every campaign, does.

  • And I wanted to be as candid about those as possible.

  • But I knew that there was more at work.

  • And so, it wasn't just about me and my election.

  • It really was about these forces at play.

  • So I decided I'd dive in and write this book.

  • It was really painful.

  • I mean, I'd write and I'd literally

  • have to go and lie down.

  • It was so painful.

  • But it ended up being cathartic.

  • And so, writing the book, going for walks in the woods,

  • playing with my dogs, doing yoga, seeing my grandkids,

  • cleaning my closets, drinking chardonnay--

  • I mean, all of that--

  • That all helps.

  • That all helped a lot.

  • And during that time--

  • is there any part of you now, or during that time,

  • that you're just like, aah.

  • I'm glad.

  • I mean, your whole life has been that.

  • So are you happy now to just be a person and have freedom?

  • Because that must have been exhausting.

  • It's great.

  • I get to see my friends, my family.

  • I get to do things that I really enjoy.

  • On the other hand, I see things happening that I know

  • are bad for the country.

  • And one of the reasons I was so thrilled

  • about Doug Jones getting elected is

  • that, all through his campaign, he

  • talked about reauthorizing the Children's Health Insurance

  • Program, something that I helped to start

  • in the late '90s, which was totally bipartisan.

  • And nine million kids get their health care because of it.

  • And it's going to run out.

  • And kids are going to lose their health care.

  • So I was so proud and grateful to see somebody say, hey, we've

  • got to get this reauthorized.

  • So I do see things that go on every day that

  • really disturb me a lot.

  • And obviously, I think, I wouldn't have done that,

  • or boy, I can't believe they're doing this.

  • So, yeah, it does bother me still.

  • That must happen every five minutes.

  • It does.

  • It does.

  • That's why I'm on a kind of news diet.

  • Because I can't watch it all the time because I really do

  • get agitated.

  • Yeah.

  • I mean, I can imagine.

  • I feel the same way because it upsets me so much.

  • And when you see what's going on--

  • and you can't write some of this stuff.

  • You're just thinking, if this was a movie,

  • people would go, oh that--

  • there's no way.

  • That would--

  • And it just continues to go on.

  • I mean, do you think that he's really

  • going to last four years?

  • Well, you know, I can't answer that.

  • I can't predict it.

  • But I believe that it really does come down

  • to both the investigation that's going on

  • and to whether Republicans will decide that they have to put

  • our country before their party.

  • And I hope that enough of them will decide to do that,

  • because it is disturbing.

  • And it's obviously upsetting to me

  • because I see things happening around

  • the world that are bad for our country, that are dangerous,

  • that really pose a threat.

  • And then I see all this happening inside our country.

  • And when they push through this tax plan,

  • it's going to hurt so many people.

  • Look, it's going to help a lot of really rich people.

  • That's who they care about.

  • That's who their donors are.

  • But it's going to hurt--

  • I mean, can you imagine taking away

  • the deduction for teachers who buy

  • supplies for their classrooms?

  • Who thinks like that?

  • And so, there's a lot that's going to end up hurting people.

  • And then, obviously, flaming the flames of white supremacy

  • and misogyny and homophobia and everything else that

  • is, unfortunately, at work.

  • So I think the investigation will go on,

  • and that will lead where it leads.

  • But at some point, Republicans who

  • control the Congress have to say,

  • we don't really want to let this go on.

  • We have to investigate.

  • Or we have to win back the House and the Senate next November,

  • which is something I hope we do.

  • And then, we can get back to doing the people's business.

  • All right.

  • We have to take a break.

  • I have to say, I don't want to-- because I don't believe

  • that you can group a whole bunch of people together-- there are

  • some Republicans that are really good, good people

  • and have good intentions.

  • So it is the party, the Republican party--

  • this is not what it was.

  • This is not what it should be.

  • And so, I do not want to bash Republicans.

  • I don't want to bash anybody.

  • I think that's important for me to say.

  • Because I obviously wanted you to be

  • president and believed in you and have strong opinions.

  • But I also want to say that I don't judge everybody

  • by this president.

Yeah, you were just talking to Mr. Mathis, huh?

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