Barack and Michelle Obama in Their Most Personal Interview Yet: "We Are Each Other's Counterbalance" — Transcript

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1. 0:00You can almost see the Saugus
2. 0:02Cultural Center
3. 0:03>> Mhm.
4. 0:04>> uh where we had our wedding reception
5. 0:06and where we had the memorial for
6. 0:08Michelle's mom
7. 0:10just a while back.
8. 0:11>> That's how much this community means to
9. 0:14us. I mean, every inch of our our lives
10. 0:17together and my life period
11. 0:20happened in these
12. 0:21>> within a 5-mi [music]
13. 0:22radius of this place.
14. 0:24>> Yeah. Yeah.
15. 0:26>> We
16. 0:28have been together now
17. 0:30for
18. 0:32uh
19. 0:3334 going on 35 years. I knew almost
20. 0:36immediately and looks like I made a
21. 0:38pretty good bet. This was a
22. 0:40one-of-a-kind woman that with the
23. 0:43integrity and character and smarts and
24. 0:46values that was going to make me better
25. 0:49and just being with her made me better
26. 0:51and uh she still does
27. 0:53and would make our kids have a
28. 0:56foundation that would pay off for them
29. 0:59over the long term and that's in fact
30. 1:01what's happened. I don't know if it's
31. 1:02been an equal partnership. I I've gotten
32. 1:05I'm sure more out of it than she has
33. 1:07but it's worked out for me really well.
34. 1:10You know, I
35. 1:11for her, you know, it's probably more of
36. 1:13a mixed bag.
37. 1:14>> No.
38. 1:15>> Yeah, it's been all upside on my end.
39. 1:17>> We are each other's counterbalance. I
40. 1:20mean, the truth is is that I probably
41. 1:22would
42. 1:24have been someone who stayed more put,
43. 1:28right? Because I think I grew up with
44. 1:31such
45. 1:32a a grounding here and that sometimes
46. 1:36when you're so grounded
47. 1:38you're sometimes afraid to leave that
48. 1:41security and comfort
49. 1:43and I might have fallen into that,
50. 1:45right? I think I would have had a
51. 1:47beautiful life here but I think it would
52. 1:49have been smaller. I think I wouldn't
53. 1:52have had the kind of impact. I think our
54. 1:54girls they would have thrived but you
55. 1:57know, because of my husband, because of
56. 2:00who he is,
57. 2:01he offered
58. 2:03all of us, you know, my mom, my family,
59. 2:06just a broader sense of what's possible
60. 2:09in life.
61. 2:10>> So, what she's What she's saying is I'm
62. 2:11the crazy one.
63. 2:12>> No, no, I'm not saying that at all. I'm
64. 2:14just saying that
65. 2:16you provide
66. 2:18the the forward push
67. 2:21that sometimes some of us don't have.
68. 2:24And she thinks it's And I think it's
69. 2:26It's been good for me
70. 2:29to be a little shaken, a bit, you know,
71. 2:32to to be pushed to do more than what I
72. 2:37thought I could do. And some of my first
73. 2:39uncomfortable steps in my career, you
74. 2:42know, leaving a corporate law firm, was
75. 2:45because I met him. I was like, this guy,
76. 2:48you're a community organizer? I was
77. 2:50like, what's that? Never heard of that.
78. 2:52He's organizing in my city. You know, um
79. 2:56so, he made me think more broadly about
80. 2:58what I could do with this Harvard law
81. 2:59degree besides be a lawyer. And there
82. 3:02was just so much. He gave me the
83. 3:03courage. He was my ballast. You know, he
84. 3:07was like, I got you. Um
85. 3:09and however hard it's been, the ups and
86. 3:12the downs, he's got me, you know?
87. 3:16He's like,
88. 3:17try new things, go leap. Sometimes the
89. 3:20stuff I do, he's like, look at you.
90. 3:23But I can do a lot of these things
91. 3:24because I know if I slip or fall or
92. 3:27trip, he's got me.
93. 3:30So, yes, it has been
94. 3:32>> It's been It's just worked out all
95. 3:33right.
96. 3:34>> It's been okay.
97. 3:34>> It's been all right.
98. 3:38There used to be a road, really a
99. 3:40highway, that ran right through this
100. 3:42park. I hadn't been to Chicago except
101. 3:45for once when I was like 10 or 11, so I
102. 3:48didn't have a lot of memories of it. So,
103. 3:49I I over the Skyway, and that's how I
104. 3:52first came to Chicago.
105. 3:54Uh in a janky old car
106. 3:57um with all my stuff in the backseat.
107. 4:00And
108. 4:02so within this community, these
109. 4:05neighborhoods, you have the house where
110. 4:08Michelle grew up. Our wedding reception
111. 4:10was less than a mile from here. You can
112. 4:12see the hospital where our daughters
113. 4:13were born. Our first home
114. 4:1610-minute walk from here. I taught law
115. 4:18school
116. 4:21uh right down the road. I announced my
117. 4:23first campaign
118. 4:25in politics uh up at the Ramada Inn
119. 4:28>> Mhm.
120. 4:28>> on Lakeshore Drive. Uh
121. 4:31and announced my run for the US Senate
122. 4:33here. So so as I've said before, and I'm
123. 4:36I'm sure I will say again, so much of
124. 4:38what is precious
125. 4:40to me
126. 4:42is because
127. 4:44of this
128. 4:46community, uh these neighborhoods, the
129. 4:48people who live here, who embraced when
130. 4:50they didn't really have to. I'm some
131. 4:52funny kid from Hawaii driving in not
132. 4:55really knowing anything. And and they
133. 4:57took me under their wing and they
134. 4:58treated me as their own.
135. 5:00And uh and they gave me
136. 5:03a home. So part of what this center is
137. 5:05about, that's why I wanted to make sure
138. 5:06this is a living breathing community
139. 5:08center as well as an exhibit of our
140. 5:11administration, it's because I want to
141. 5:14acknowledge that debt.
142. 5:15>> There was nothing like this center
143. 5:18anywhere in this neighborhood when I was
144. 5:20growing up. This is my neighborhood. I
145. 5:22mean, every piece of me was built in
146. 5:25this area. And as I got older and
147. 5:28started having experiences and
148. 5:31opportunities that a lot of kids like me
149. 5:33didn't get. You know, I went to a magnet
150. 5:35school on the West Side, so I started to
151. 5:38be downtown more and to see this wealth
152. 5:41of museums and these beautiful stores.
153. 5:44And I grew up with kids who
154. 5:47didn't even feel like those places were
155. 5:49accessible to them, you know? Um and
156. 5:52when you start to leave your
157. 5:53neighborhood and you realize what's not
158. 5:56here,
159. 5:57as I got older, you know, you start to
160. 5:59think, "Wow, why don't Why isn't our
161. 6:02park
162. 6:03as beautiful
163. 6:05as Grant Park, you know? Why do I have
164. 6:07to leave my neighborhood to see a
165. 6:09wonderful piece of art?
166. 6:11Why doesn't it feel safe to walk through
167. 6:14these paths? Um
168. 6:16None of this was here. Um
169. 6:18So, for me, you know, being one of those
170. 6:21kids who didn't feel welcome in other
171. 6:23places, the notion that the kids in the
172. 6:25high school across the street, they were
173. 6:28witness to this new fantastic building
174. 6:32being built right across the street from
175. 6:34the place where they get educated. I get
176. 6:36mesmerized just looking out of the
177. 6:38window and seeing the newly built parks
178. 6:41where all these neighborhood kids are
179. 6:42playing and running in green grass and
180. 6:45standing in vistas and having access to
181. 6:49world-class art by many people of color,
182. 6:53that it's right in their backyard. This
183. 6:55just didn't exist for me. So, I get
184. 6:58emotional just realizing what this will
185. 7:01mean for kids, that this is their view
186. 7:04when they walk to school. This is what
187. 7:06they'll see when they get on the bus and
188. 7:08go other places. They'll They'll feel
189. 7:11people from around the world wanting to
190. 7:13come to their neighborhood. And not them
191. 7:15having to leave to experience something
192. 7:18phenomenal.
193. 7:19So, for me, it is incredibly personal.
194. 7:26>> I do think that Michelle is surprised
195. 7:30and proud that
196. 7:32we pulled this off and got it done. She
197. 7:35had a chance to
198. 7:36go through the whole thing yesterday.
199. 7:38>> Yeah, for the first time.
200. 7:40>> And I I, you know, I I could tell that
201. 7:42it meant a lot to her.
202. 7:43>> He's completely uncomfortable with this
203. 7:47thing being about him.
204. 7:49He was like,
205. 7:51"You know, if you just tell me, I think
206. 7:53there should be a little less of me
207. 7:54here." And I was like, "Well, who should
208. 7:56who should we be talking about?" And he
209. 7:58was like, "Gandhi." And I was like, "No,
210. 8:00no. Gandhi will have his own museum, I
211. 8:03think.
212. 8:04People coming here will want to hear
213. 8:06about you.
214. 8:08But
215. 8:09>> She's a good guy.
216. 8:10>> But that But the the the point being is
217. 8:13that I think my husband is always
218. 8:16thinking about reflecting the light on
219. 8:19other people. And there's something that
220. 8:22I'm sure feels a bit odd for him that,
221. 8:25you know, that the assignment of having
222. 8:27a presidential center, which focuses on
223. 8:30his presidency,
224. 8:32is it's too much light on him. Um and I
225. 8:36I I know that that's how he's feeling. I
226. 8:39know that he's proud of this
227. 8:41accomplishment because it took a team of
228. 8:43people. He made sure to make this about
229. 8:47the community, to make this a place that
230. 8:49our neighborhood could use and feel
231. 8:52welcome. And so, I hope you're feeling
232. 8:56like you have accomplished that even
233. 8:57though our names are on the
234. 9:00the front door.
235. 9:01>> I do agree with what Michelle said.
236. 9:05Only in this sense.
237. 9:07I I'm very proud of what we
238. 9:08accomplished. I'm proud about what our
239. 9:10administration accomplished. Obviously,
240. 9:12we are at the center of a lot of this
241. 9:15story, but there's a reason why we
242. 9:17started, for example, the museum
243. 9:19exhibits with the Declaration of
244. 9:21Independence and with the history of the
245. 9:23civil rights movement and abolition
246. 9:24movement and suffragist movement and the
247. 9:27union movement because part of what I'm
248. 9:29hoping people get when they come here is
249. 9:32a sense that I, we were just a very
250. 9:35small chapter
251. 9:37in this
252. 9:38longer
253. 9:40uh running journey
254. 9:42to try to make America as
255. 9:45perfect
256. 9:47a union as we can make it. Understanding
257. 9:50that, you know, the world's never
258. 9:51perfect. But we have made progress and
259. 9:53that's because of all these other people
260. 9:56who over generations did extraordinarily
261. 9:59hard,
262. 10:00challenging, sometimes dangerous,
263. 10:02and sometimes frustrating work. And so
264. 10:04what I meant when I said to Michelle
265. 10:07that I do want to make sure that people
266. 10:09see all the people whose shoulders we
267. 10:12stand on, all the traditions that we
268. 10:14draw from, because when you see
269. 10:16everybody who's been involved in this
270. 10:18project, then you realize, "Oh, this is
271. 10:20a group project. It's not an individual
272. 10:21project." Which then means, "Oh, I
273. 10:25as a citizen have a role to play in this
274. 10:27project." It means when young kids come
275. 10:29through here,
276. 10:30they're not just looking at one person
277. 10:32and saying, "Gosh, you know,
278. 10:34uh look what that person did." They're
279. 10:36all like, "Oh, look look what we did."
280. 10:38And now that means I can be a part of
281. 10:40it.
282. 10:43There are a lot of cool nooks and
283. 10:45crannies here. Outside of the Oval
284. 10:47Office, the replica, there is an exhibit
285. 10:50about the 10 letters a day that I used
286. 10:52to get from people. That's as meaningful
287. 10:55an exhibit for me as anything here, cuz
288. 10:57it does remind me, partly because I
289. 11:00think they didn't even
290. 11:02imagine that a president would actually
291. 11:03read their letter, how honest and open
292. 11:06and heartfelt people would be about the
293. 11:08struggles they had, the frustrations,
294. 11:11the hopes, you know, what was happening
295. 11:13in their families, men and women in
296. 11:15uniform writing about what it was like
297. 11:18to come back here and trying to figure
298. 11:20out how to process having lost some
299. 11:23folks in their units. And so when I look
300. 11:25at that, it it takes me back to what was
301. 11:29always the most powerful part of
302. 11:32my presidency, which is uh um
303. 11:35just getting to know the American
304. 11:36people, how much they inspired me and
305. 11:38kind of kept me going a lot of times.
306. 11:40>> The floor that I
307. 11:42but
308. 11:42love is the life in the White House.
309. 11:44There's music and there's joy and
310. 11:47there's laughter and once you come out
311. 11:49of some of the somberness of the
312. 11:54many accomplishments and challenges. I
313. 11:56mean, on the fifth floor because that's
314. 11:58where, you know, the the the tissues
315. 12:01come out. It's that floor that reminds
316. 12:03us that the work that we're trying to do
317. 12:06should be hard and challenging, but the
318. 12:09only way we get through it is if we find
319. 12:11the joy in it and our White House was a
320. 12:13joyful White House. I mean, it really
321. 12:15was. I mean, every day we had groups of
322. 12:19kids there.
323. 12:20>> A lot of kids there.
324. 12:20>> Dancing and playing and showing off
325. 12:23their science projects and the smiles.
326. 12:26At the time, the country was still
327. 12:28coming out of a deep recession. You
328. 12:31know, the war was still going on. I
329. 12:33mean, sadly, we were going to Walter
330. 12:35Reed and visiting too many wounded
331. 12:39warriors and I spent too
332. 12:42too wonderful time, but too much time
333. 12:44with Gold Star families grieving their
334. 12:47losses. So, you know, it wasn't some,
335. 12:51you know, eat Eden time. You know, these
336. 12:54were tough times, but in the work,
337. 12:57you know, at least the East Wing
338. 13:00we wanted to provide that joy.
339. 13:03And we thought that the balance of the
340. 13:05house, that East and West Wing needed to
341. 13:08be there. You know, we needed puppies
342. 13:10and laughter and fruit and vegetables
343. 13:13and jumping jacks and smiles just to get
344. 13:17through those tough times. Um so, that
345. 13:20floor is
346. 13:22is an important one to me because it's a
347. 13:24reminder of uh you know, the the power
348. 13:27of of positivity and joy and hope and
349. 13:31music and laughter.
350. 13:32>> Yeah.
351. 13:32>> And we And being together, you know, and
352. 13:35I hope that four reminds our visitors
353. 13:37that
354. 13:39we should not settle for trying to do
355. 13:42this work, live this life on our own.
356. 13:44That we have to have community. That
357. 13:46that lifts us out of our depression as
358. 13:49much as some app on your phone. You
359. 13:53know, that that's really the the truth
360. 13:55of us coming together is that we have to
361. 13:58actually be together um in spaces where
362. 14:02we're breathing and
363. 14:05together and living together and
364. 14:08doing activities together. Because I I
365. 14:11hope and pray that we're going to move
366. 14:14more towards that. And I hope that the
367. 14:16presidential center, at least for the
368. 14:19South Side of Chicago and those that
369. 14:20come
370. 14:22will inspire people to come out again,
371. 14:24you know, to not be afraid to be in
372. 14:27community with one another and be in
373. 14:30spaces.
374. 14:31>> Yeah, so
375. 14:31>> Talk to Talk to people you might not
376. 14:33otherwise meet.
377. 14:34>> Will some of those young people be able
378. 14:35to play you in a game of pick-up over
379. 14:38there?
380. 14:38>> No. No.
381. 14:39>> [laughter]
382. 14:40>> And and and now we I will take folks on
383. 14:43for a game of horse. We can have some
384. 14:45shooting contests. I am not running up
385. 14:48and down that court because I want to
386. 14:50protect my knees and my Achilles. I
387. 14:53don't want to be in a boot.
388. 14:55So, I'm in good shape if I'm just
389. 14:58running north-south. You start getting
390. 15:00me sideways and I start worrying about
391. 15:03something kind of going "Mhm."
392. 15:05But Michelle
393. 15:07>> Mhm.
394. 15:07>> This has been a a Obviously, she looks
395. 15:10spectacular.
396. 15:11Uh but she
397. 15:13is way ahead of me on the whole
398. 15:16stretching and flexibility tip. And and
399. 15:18that is the next stage
400. 15:21of
401. 15:22>> Is that where you're going?
402. 15:23>> That's where I'm going. is I'm I'm going
403. 15:25to try to
404. 15:25>> towards stretching.
405. 15:27>> I'm I've got to do a little more
406. 15:28stretching and flexibility.
407. 15:29>> But luckily, in the at home court in the
408. 15:32gym, there are all these multi-purpose
409. 15:34rooms
410. 15:34>> Yeah, there are all these rooms
411. 15:36put our yoga mats down and all that.
412. 15:39Namaste.
413. 15:41>> Congratulations, Mr. President.
414. 15:43We had a fun White House.
415. 15:44>> It It was just There was a good spirit
416. 15:46there. a joyful spirit of
417. 15:50kind of going in there and doing battle,
418. 15:52but every day people were hanging in
419. 15:55there and looking out for each other,
420. 15:56and there was a
421. 15:57a level of integrity. People were there
422. 16:00for the right reasons.
423. 16:01So,
424. 16:03when I when I see some of the exhibits,
425. 16:04I'm just reminded that these are folks
426. 16:07who typically gave up a lot of financial
427. 16:11security and family time and and other
428. 16:13stuff
429. 16:15just cuz they wanted to make the country
430. 16:17better. There is a bond that comes from
431. 16:20being in the foxhole with folks like
432. 16:22that every day.
433. 16:24Um
434. 16:25that's really powerful and and and and
435. 16:27that I I I I miss.
436. 16:29>> And it was our home. I mean, the truth
437. 16:31is is that um for our girls,
438. 16:34they've lived in the White House longer
439. 16:36than they lived in any of the houses
440. 16:38because they were so young. And they
441. 16:40were 7 and 10, you know, so we had just
442. 16:43moved to our home that we call home
443. 16:46in uh on the South Side here in Hyde
444. 16:49Park. Uh I think we had only lived there
445. 16:51>> a year and a half
446. 16:52>> a year and a half, and then it's like,
447. 16:54"Woo, our lives have changed. We live in
448. 16:56the White House." So, a lot of the
449. 16:58memories of us raising our kids happened
450. 17:01in the White House. Fourth of Julys,
451. 17:04Malia's birthday, and so that whole
452. 17:06celebration in the backyard, which we
453. 17:08usually devoted to military families,
454. 17:10that was also her birthday party with
455. 17:13fireworks and a yard full of people and
456. 17:16a lot of friends and families coming
457. 17:18through. So, we have a lot of memories
458. 17:20of the kids sneaking hors d'oeuvres
459. 17:23before a state dinner or, you know, the
460. 17:26girls rolling their eyes for the turkey
461. 17:28pardon because they were kind of forced
462. 17:31to be Yeah, it's like
463. 17:32first when they were young, they loved
464. 17:35it. And then like all kids, it was just
465. 17:37like,
466. 17:38"Dad, do we have to do this again?" And
467. 17:41then we subbed out my nephews who were
468. 17:42younger and appreciated it. Yeah, so
469. 17:46You know, we we watched our kids grow
470. 17:48up. Prom happened there, you know,
471. 17:51graduation parties and those are our
472. 17:53memories in in the White House. One of
473. 17:56the reasons why we
474. 17:58we still live in DC
475. 18:00our primary primary residence is there
476. 18:02is because that's where the kids'
477. 18:04friends are. You know, when kids come
478. 18:06home from being away, they want to be
479. 18:08with their friends and while we have
480. 18:09great community here,
481. 18:11you know, so there's a lot about
482. 18:14Washington, D.C. about the White House
483. 18:16that, you know, is is our our life.
484. 18:20>> Obviously, there's a symbolism to the
485. 18:23day I got elected. I hoped that if I did
486. 18:26get elected, that that would change how
487. 18:28kids thought about themselves.
488. 18:30Not just black kids,
489. 18:33but all kids. I I I hoped suddenly girls
490. 18:38started feeling like, "Okay,
491. 18:41whatever limits people seem to have set,
492. 18:43whatever the precedents are, I think I
493. 18:45can do something." I wanted
494. 18:46Asian-American kids, Hispanic-American
495. 18:48kids, disabled kids to feel that same
496. 18:51way, that we didn't have barriers. And I
497. 18:53think that we did accomplish that. It
498. 18:55was never realistic to think that
499. 18:59because of one election, one president,
500. 19:02that somehow
501. 19:04400 years of
502. 19:06history
503. 19:07suddenly goes away. It was never
504. 19:09realistic to think that
505. 19:11issues of
506. 19:13that are facing these neighborhoods in
507. 19:15the South Side in terms of
508. 19:17disinvestment and lack of economic
509. 19:20opportunity and crumbling
510. 19:21infrastructure, that that all that was
511. 19:23going to suddenly be solved. But I do
512. 19:26think, as is true every time you see
513. 19:28something you hadn't seen before, it
514. 19:31moves the line of what kids imagine
515. 19:33themselves being able to do. I think
516. 19:35there are kids who
517. 19:37growing up under my presidency said,
518. 19:39"Yeah, of course there's
519. 19:41you can have a black president." Why
520. 19:43not? I'm confident that when we get a
521. 19:46female president, which we will get
522. 19:48sometime soon,
523. 19:49in my lifetime, I expect, it won't be
524. 19:52remarkable and and then they'll
525. 19:54talk about female president just like
526. 19:56they talked about the black president.
527. 19:57They'll be more interested in like
528. 19:58what's happening with the price of gas
529. 20:01and
530. 20:02you know, why haven't we fixed that and
531. 20:04why haven't we done that and and that's
532. 20:05good that's a good thing, right?
533. 20:08It becomes normalized and and that's
534. 20:09like I think what we want.
535. 20:11>> I will say that when I go through the
536. 20:14museum and see the reactions to his
537. 20:18presidency, I'm also reminded that the
538. 20:21reactions weren't just coming from the
539. 20:23black community. And I think that what
540. 20:26we all need to be reminded of is the
541. 20:29symbolism of his presidency. It wasn't
542. 20:32just about race.
543. 20:34It was also about the way you show up as
544. 20:37a leader. You know, it's not just the
545. 20:39color of our leaders, but the character
546. 20:42of our leaders um and how they show up
547. 20:44in the world and the responsibility that
548. 20:47they take to use their platforms in a
549. 20:50mature, wise way. Um I think that what
550. 20:55Barack offered this country
551. 20:57was a mature president. You know, was a
552. 21:00highly intelligent president, was a
553. 21:03selfless president. And I think that the
554. 21:05hope and the joy that people felt during
555. 21:10that election and during our
556. 21:11administration had as much to do with
557. 21:14the character of this leader. I think we
558. 21:17need to be reminded of that. I think all
559. 21:19of us as we vote and we think about you
560. 21:23know, how we want to engage in this
561. 21:24democracy that it isn't just an us or
562. 21:28them. It's not about color or
563. 21:31or religion, you know, it's it's about
564. 21:33the core of the people who
565. 21:35live in that house because it's a
566. 21:38powerful position.
567. 21:40And I
568. 21:41I am so proud of how my husband showed
569. 21:45showed up in that role, how he shows up
570. 21:48every day. Um and I think he made this
571. 21:50country proud in a very unique way. So,
572. 21:54hopefully we're reminded of that not
573. 21:56because of him
574. 21:57but who we want to see occupy that seat
575. 22:00in the years to come.
576. 22:02What kind of person we want to see in
577. 22:04that role.
578. 22:06>> Thanks.
579. 22:10Over the last 10 years, we have been
580. 22:13working with
581. 22:14young leaders
582. 22:16uh through our the foundation's
583. 22:18programs, not just here in Chicago, not
584. 22:21just here in the US, but around the
585. 22:22world. And and so we've got thousands of
586. 22:27folks who are going through our
587. 22:29leadership programs. Some of them are
588. 22:31very young through Michelle's primary
589. 22:33focus, the Girls Opportunity Alliance.
590. 22:35Girls as young as 10 or 12,
591. 22:38you know, who are participating and
592. 22:39gaining confidence and learning what it
593. 22:41means to speak out and dream big. And
594. 22:43through our My Brother's Keeper program,
595. 22:45we've got young men of color who are
596. 22:47working with us to make sure they
597. 22:49understand their possibilities. But
598. 22:51we're also working with
599. 22:53young members of parliament and in
600. 22:56Europe and
601. 22:57um
602. 22:58chiefs of staff of of uh major
603. 23:01nonprofits and climate change activists
604. 23:04and folks who are working on re-entry
605. 23:05programs and
606. 23:07uh college students who plan
607. 23:10public service careers. And so that has
608. 23:12been, I think, the thing that's given me
609. 23:14the most satisfaction over the last
610. 23:16several years is just seeing how our
611. 23:18programs are developing this next
612. 23:20generation of leaders to carry on
613. 23:23uh
614. 23:24the same
615. 23:26fights, the same struggles, the same
616. 23:28insistence that if we work together and
617. 23:30we bridge our divisions,
618. 23:32uh we can solve a lot of the issues that
619. 23:35make life tougher on people than it
620. 23:37should. And we can open up more
621. 23:39possibilities and more opportunity for
622. 23:41people. So, so I've enjoyed that.
623. 23:43>> We've got all kinds of talent out there
624. 23:46that are ready to remake the world. And
625. 23:48they're also, to Michelle's point
626. 23:50earlier,
627. 23:52good people.
628. 23:53You know, who who who treat people with
629. 23:55kindness and care and consideration. We
630. 23:58are fed
631. 24:00through the algorithms and and and just
632. 24:02the
633. 24:03nature of our
634. 24:05um
635. 24:06our information ecosystem. We're told a
636. 24:10lot about
637. 24:12uh what's wrong with people.
638. 24:16And
639. 24:17I spend a lot of time with a lot of
640. 24:19different kinds of people and especially
641. 24:21young people.
642. 24:23And
643. 24:24they're solid. They have good instincts
644. 24:26about what they want to see the country
645. 24:29uh be and what the the kind of world
646. 24:30they want to live in. And I think we if
647. 24:33if we give them
648. 24:35the room, if if old folks get out of the
649. 24:37way, if if we are willing to step back
650. 24:41and serve as their coach and have their
651. 24:45backs and advise them rather than
652. 24:48feeling like we are the ones who have to
653. 24:51stay on center stage all the time, um
654. 24:54I think we're going to be okay.
655. 24:56>> Is that how it is with your people, with
656. 24:57your daughters?
657. 24:59>> Oh, yeah. I mean, let let me tell you.
658. 25:02>> Don't get him started.
659. 25:03>> Malia and Sasha are all that. I can
660. 25:05barely keep up with them at the dinner
661. 25:07table now.
662. 25:08>> As my mom would say about us,
663. 25:10uh I have to say this about Malia and
664. 25:12Sasha, as wonderful as they are, they
665. 25:14are just
666. 25:16they just reflect back what their
667. 25:18generation has to offer.
668. 25:20>> Yeah.
669. 25:20>> You know, there are millions of amazing
670. 25:22young people like our girls, and we see
671. 25:25them every day. And I think this this
672. 25:28home that we call hope is a reminder
673. 25:31that however we feel in any given
674. 25:33moment, we have a responsibility to
675. 25:36retain that hope for the next generation
676. 25:39that hasn't had a time hasn't had an
677. 25:42opportunity to have a say.
678. 25:44You know, so you imagine you're about to
679. 25:46inherit something that people are giving
680. 25:48up on,
681. 25:50and I I don't want to do that to my kids
682. 25:52or their kids. So, we've got to get our
683. 25:55acts together so that we hand to the
684. 25:59next generation, and I'm not talking
685. 26:01about our girls, I'm talking about the
686. 26:04three- and four-year-olds coming up. Um
687. 26:07how they see the world, what that feels
688. 26:09like, it can't be a hopeless place.
689. 26:12>> No.
690. 26:13Can't be a cynical place.
691. 26:14>> It can't be a cynical place.
692. 26:16>> Can't be a
693. 26:16>> They haven't even had a chance to
694. 26:18formulate an opinion on who they are and
695. 26:21who they want to be. We don't have the
696. 26:23right to hand them something less
697. 26:26than magnificent, right? Um and so, we
698. 26:30have to operate like that, even when
699. 26:32we're feeling at our worst, right? We
700. 26:35just have to show up for them.
701. 26:37>> Yeah.
702. 26:38>> And so, that's what gives me hope, you
703. 26:41know, whenever I get a little
704. 26:43cynical,
705. 26:44it
706. 26:45especially around here, you can look
707. 26:47out the window and see kids sliding on a
708. 26:50slide and running with such abandon, you
709. 26:53know, that you think, "Get up.
710. 26:57You know, get over yourself. Just
711. 27:00roll your sleeves up, do the work
712. 27:02for them."
713. 27:03>> Yeah.
714. 27:04>> So.
715. 27:06>> That sums it up.