WEBVTT 00:01.966 --> 00:04.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Many of our viewers known Karine Jean-Pierre as a Democratic strategist and 00:04.333 --> 00:06.433 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% one of our analysts. 00:06.433 --> 00:10.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% In her book "Moving Forward," she shares her personal story about growing up the eldest 00:11.733 --> 00:13.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% child of Haitian immigrants. 00:13.733 --> 00:18.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I sat down with her recently and began by asking her how her upbringing shaped her life. 00:18.333 --> 00:22.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, Author, "Moving Forward": That immigrant upbringing, growing up in New 00:22.900 --> 00:27.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% York, it shaped everything and anything that I'm about, right, who -- the person that I 00:27.566 --> 00:32.566 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% sit here -- that sits before you, my hard work, my perseverance, the way I meet, see 00:35.133 --> 00:37.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% people and talk to people. 00:37.633 --> 00:42.600 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% It has made me who I am, the type of mother that I have become, partner that I have become. 00:44.533 --> 00:47.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% My parents, Haitian immigrants, it's like the immigrant experience. 00:47.066 --> 00:52.033 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% They came here for the American dream that in many ways eluded them. 00:54.000 --> 00:57.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% They still live check to check, but in their eyes, because I made it to the White House, 00:57.000 --> 01:01.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% because their daughter went to Columbia, they have received it. 01:01.233 --> 01:03.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So it's been interesting watching their experience. 01:03.966 --> 01:06.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% They have been knocked down , and they get back up. 01:06.900 --> 01:09.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And so, when I'm knocked down, I get back up. 01:09.266 --> 01:13.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Some that experience with them growing up has really made me so much stronger. 01:13.733 --> 01:18.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Your family is threaded through so much of this book, your father a taxi driver, 01:20.000 --> 01:21.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% but trained as an engineer. 01:21.166 --> 01:22.166 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. 01:22.166 --> 01:23.166 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Exactly. 01:23.166 --> 01:24.866 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Yes. 01:24.866 --> 01:26.100 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: And your mother had been a nanny and then a caregiver. 01:26.100 --> 01:27.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes, a caregiver. 01:27.600 --> 01:28.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Both of them very involved in you life. 01:28.533 --> 01:30.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% High expectations for you. 01:30.633 --> 01:32.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: High expectations. 01:32.733 --> 01:34.700 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% And it was overwhelming. 01:34.700 --> 01:39.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Being the oldest of three siblings, I had to take care of my siblings while my parents 01:40.766 --> 01:41.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% were working six, seven days a week. 01:41.666 --> 01:43.833 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% I had to feed them. 01:43.833 --> 01:47.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And I'm 8 years older than my sister, 10 years older than my brother, so I was pretty young 01:49.966 --> 01:53.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% when they were toddlers, and make sure their food was cooked, make sure diapers were changed, 01:54.433 --> 01:56.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% because they had to provide for the family. 01:56.500 --> 02:01.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And all of that heaviness, all of that responsibility led to some dark times as well. 02:02.766 --> 02:04.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: You write about secrets in the family. 02:04.233 --> 02:05.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% There were things your family didn't talk about. 02:05.600 --> 02:06.600 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. 02:06.600 --> 02:08.566 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Yes. 02:08.566 --> 02:10.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: You write, Karine, about your own struggles at points in your life with 02:10.933 --> 02:15.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% emotional difficulties, your own sexuality, coming out as a gay woman, and how your parents 02:19.166 --> 02:20.166 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% responded to that. 02:20.166 --> 02:21.166 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. 02:21.166 --> 02:23.200 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Yes. 02:23.200 --> 02:24.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So one of the things -- there are so many things that I bring up that you just laid 02:24.666 --> 02:26.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% out perfectly, but one of them is mental health. 02:26.733 --> 02:30.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And one of the reasons I talk about it in the book is because there is a stigma connected 02:30.633 --> 02:32.633 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% to mental health. 02:32.633 --> 02:37.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And people don't want to talk about what they go through when they are in dark times and 02:37.233 --> 02:39.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% they don't know how to get out of it. 02:39.333 --> 02:44.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And because of the pressures of me growing up, and just feeling like an outsider all 02:46.166 --> 02:49.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% through my growing up, my young -- young days, there was a time where I attempted to take 02:49.466 --> 02:50.533 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% my life. 02:50.533 --> 02:52.066 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% I attempted suicide. 02:52.066 --> 02:56.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And it was a dark, dark time in my life, clearly. 02:56.466 --> 02:57.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And so I put that in the book. 02:57.933 --> 03:01.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I put it in the book because I want to help people. 03:01.600 --> 03:06.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I want anybody who has ever felt that way to feel like there is a way out and to know 03:06.566 --> 03:08.066 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% there is a way out. 03:08.066 --> 03:10.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: What do you think got you through that? 03:10.133 --> 03:13.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: I think back again -- even though there was pressures from the community, 03:13.566 --> 03:18.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% pressures from my family that I put on to myself really in many ways, I think because, 03:20.533 --> 03:25.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% growing up, my parents always instilled in me that I was going to survive, that I was 03:27.433 --> 03:31.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% going to be a star, that I was going to do anything that I wanted, somehow, somewhere, 03:31.166 --> 03:33.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that was still there, even though I was so down and out. 03:33.700 --> 03:35.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: And you kept pushing through. 03:35.533 --> 03:37.033 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% You finished college. 03:37.033 --> 03:41.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% You went on to graduate school, ended up going into politics. 03:41.400 --> 03:42.400 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. 03:42.400 --> 03:43.600 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Yes. 03:43.600 --> 03:44.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: Why do you think you did? 03:44.833 --> 03:46.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: I think I just persevered. 03:46.366 --> 03:48.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I think it's the being knocked down and going back up again. 03:48.600 --> 03:51.666 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% I now teach at Columbia University, an Ivy League school. 03:51.666 --> 03:56.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I have to mentor and teach young people and help them get through their lives. 03:57.433 --> 03:58.933 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% And I have a 5-year-old. 03:58.933 --> 04:02.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% My partner and I have this beautiful 5-year-old daughter. 04:02.000 --> 04:06.366 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% And I think that helps me persevere, and that helps me understand, what kind of world do 04:06.366 --> 04:08.466 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% I want to leave for her? 04:08.466 --> 04:11.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: You talk about advice to young people, that they don't have to work at the 04:11.500 --> 04:13.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% White House, which you said, or the state capitol. 04:13.100 --> 04:14.100 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. 04:14.100 --> 04:15.100 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Yes. 04:15.100 --> 04:17.233 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Yes. 04:17.233 --> 04:18.500 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: That they can make a difference in politics and policy at the grassroots level. 04:18.500 --> 04:19.500 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. 04:19.500 --> 04:21.533 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% I believe that they can. 04:21.533 --> 04:24.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The way they're going to make that change is if their voice is in the fight, if they 04:24.633 --> 04:29.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% step into the political arena, whether it's working on that issue, or deciding to run 04:31.633 --> 04:35.066 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% themselves, or working for a candidate that they really believe in and want them to decide 04:35.766 --> 04:36.933 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% their future. 04:36.933 --> 04:38.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And I tell that in my book. 04:38.400 --> 04:41.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And I lay out the blueprint and the playbook for doing that. 04:41.566 --> 04:44.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: In fact, there is a point of the book where you have not only worked for 04:44.766 --> 04:45.766 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% President Obama. 04:45.766 --> 04:47.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% You worked for Anthony Weiner. 04:47.033 --> 04:48.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% You worked for John Edwards. 04:48.033 --> 04:50.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: I did. 04:50.033 --> 04:53.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Politicians who didn't exactly end up in the right place. 04:53.266 --> 04:54.933 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. 04:54.933 --> 04:56.366 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: And it's an interesting lesson you learned, isn't it? 04:56.366 --> 04:57.900 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. 04:57.900 --> 05:00.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And I say in my book, don't put people up on a pedestal. 05:00.566 --> 05:02.633 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Right? 05:02.633 --> 05:05.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Care about the issues, for sure, but don't put people on a pedestal, because people are 05:05.066 --> 05:06.066 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% flawed. 05:06.066 --> 05:08.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We are flawed individuals. 05:08.166 --> 05:12.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And I also tell young people, if you do end up working for a flawed candidate, make sure 05:13.966 --> 05:15.500 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% you -- you got to make sure you take care of your career as well. 05:15.500 --> 05:17.633 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Right? 05:17.633 --> 05:19.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% You have to make sure that you navigate through those waters, so that you can continue your 05:19.900 --> 05:22.033 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% career. 05:22.033 --> 05:25.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And so it's just a fine line the walk on, but you have to continue sticking with what 05:25.066 --> 05:26.333 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% you believe in. 05:26.333 --> 05:28.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: You are political strategist. 05:28.133 --> 05:29.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% You're a Democratic political strategist. 05:29.800 --> 05:30.800 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. 05:30.800 --> 05:32.833 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Yes. 05:32.833 --> 05:34.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: So I'm not going to let you get away without asking you, how do you believe 05:34.300 --> 05:37.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Democrats can defeat Donald Trump next year? 05:37.900 --> 05:39.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Do you think they have a good chance of winning? 05:39.700 --> 05:41.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: I do. 05:41.800 --> 05:46.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And the reason why is because we have been energized the past three years, we, the Democratic 05:48.600 --> 05:53.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% base, the resistance, if you want to call it that, and we have shown up in races in 05:55.100 --> 05:57.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% big ways, in historical numbers. 05:57.566 --> 05:59.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And there is an energy there. 05:59.566 --> 06:03.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% When you look at the polling and it says, what do Democrats want the most, they want 06:03.900 --> 06:06.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% somebody who can beat Donald Trump. 06:06.533 --> 06:08.600 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% That's the thing. 06:08.600 --> 06:11.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Whoever is the nominee has to understand it's going to take a movement to beat Donald Trump. 06:11.933 --> 06:14.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% It's not going to be easy, but we can do it. 06:14.633 --> 06:16.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% You got to get young people out. 06:16.633 --> 06:20.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% You got to get people of color, black voters, black women who have been the backbone of 06:20.333 --> 06:21.800 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% the Democratic Party. 06:21.800 --> 06:24.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% You have to get women, educated white women out. 06:24.333 --> 06:26.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% You have to get everybody. 06:26.400 --> 06:30.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% You have to get that coalition and people who don't normally vote or don't think their 06:30.933 --> 06:32.166 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% vote matters. 06:32.166 --> 06:33.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% You have got to convince them to get them out. 06:33.100 --> 06:35.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It's going to take a movement. 06:35.066 --> 06:38.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: The book is "Moving Forward: A Story of Hope, Hard Work, and the Promise 06:38.266 --> 06:39.266 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% of America." 06:39.266 --> 06:40.266 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Thank you. 06:40.266 --> 06:40.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you.