1 00:00:01,966 --> 00:00:04,333 JUDY WOODRUFF: Many of our viewers known Karine Jean-Pierre as a Democratic strategist and 2 00:00:04,333 --> 00:00:06,433 one of our analysts. 3 00:00:06,433 --> 00:00:10,866 In her book "Moving Forward," she shares her personal story about growing up the eldest 4 00:00:11,733 --> 00:00:13,733 child of Haitian immigrants. 5 00:00:13,733 --> 00:00:18,333 I sat down with her recently and began by asking her how her upbringing shaped her life. 6 00:00:18,333 --> 00:00:22,900 KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, Author, "Moving Forward": That immigrant upbringing, growing up in New 7 00:00:22,900 --> 00:00:27,566 York, it shaped everything and anything that I'm about, right, who -- the person that I 8 00:00:27,566 --> 00:00:32,566 sit here -- that sits before you, my hard work, my perseverance, the way I meet, see 9 00:00:35,133 --> 00:00:37,633 people and talk to people. 10 00:00:37,633 --> 00:00:42,600 It has made me who I am, the type of mother that I have become, partner that I have become. 11 00:00:44,533 --> 00:00:47,066 My parents, Haitian immigrants, it's like the immigrant experience. 12 00:00:47,066 --> 00:00:52,033 They came here for the American dream that in many ways eluded them. 13 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:57,000 They still live check to check, but in their eyes, because I made it to the White House, 14 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:01,233 because their daughter went to Columbia, they have received it. 15 00:01:01,233 --> 00:01:03,966 So it's been interesting watching their experience. 16 00:01:03,966 --> 00:01:06,900 They have been knocked down , and they get back up. 17 00:01:06,900 --> 00:01:09,266 And so, when I'm knocked down, I get back up. 18 00:01:09,266 --> 00:01:13,733 Some that experience with them growing up has really made me so much stronger. 19 00:01:13,733 --> 00:01:18,733 JUDY WOODRUFF: Your family is threaded through so much of this book, your father a taxi driver, 20 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:21,166 but trained as an engineer. 21 00:01:21,166 --> 00:01:22,166 KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. 22 00:01:22,166 --> 00:01:23,166 Exactly. 23 00:01:23,166 --> 00:01:24,866 Yes. 24 00:01:24,866 --> 00:01:26,100 JUDY WOODRUFF: And your mother had been a nanny and then a caregiver. 25 00:01:26,100 --> 00:01:27,600 KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes, a caregiver. 26 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:28,533 JUDY WOODRUFF: Both of them very involved in you life. 27 00:01:28,533 --> 00:01:30,633 High expectations for you. 28 00:01:30,633 --> 00:01:32,733 KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: High expectations. 29 00:01:32,733 --> 00:01:34,700 And it was overwhelming. 30 00:01:34,700 --> 00:01:39,533 Being the oldest of three siblings, I had to take care of my siblings while my parents 31 00:01:40,766 --> 00:01:41,666 were working six, seven days a week. 32 00:01:41,666 --> 00:01:43,833 I had to feed them. 33 00:01:43,833 --> 00:01:47,933 And I'm 8 years older than my sister, 10 years older than my brother, so I was pretty young 34 00:01:49,966 --> 00:01:53,266 when they were toddlers, and make sure their food was cooked, make sure diapers were changed, 35 00:01:54,433 --> 00:01:56,500 because they had to provide for the family. 36 00:01:56,500 --> 00:02:01,366 And all of that heaviness, all of that responsibility led to some dark times as well. 37 00:02:02,766 --> 00:02:04,233 JUDY WOODRUFF: You write about secrets in the family. 38 00:02:04,233 --> 00:02:05,600 There were things your family didn't talk about. 39 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:06,600 KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. 40 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:08,566 Yes. 41 00:02:08,566 --> 00:02:10,933 JUDY WOODRUFF: You write, Karine, about your own struggles at points in your life with 42 00:02:10,933 --> 00:02:15,933 emotional difficulties, your own sexuality, coming out as a gay woman, and how your parents 43 00:02:19,166 --> 00:02:20,166 responded to that. 44 00:02:20,166 --> 00:02:21,166 KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. 45 00:02:21,166 --> 00:02:23,200 Yes. 46 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:24,666 So one of the things -- there are so many things that I bring up that you just laid 47 00:02:24,666 --> 00:02:26,733 out perfectly, but one of them is mental health. 48 00:02:26,733 --> 00:02:30,633 And one of the reasons I talk about it in the book is because there is a stigma connected 49 00:02:30,633 --> 00:02:32,633 to mental health. 50 00:02:32,633 --> 00:02:37,233 And people don't want to talk about what they go through when they are in dark times and 51 00:02:37,233 --> 00:02:39,333 they don't know how to get out of it. 52 00:02:39,333 --> 00:02:44,233 And because of the pressures of me growing up, and just feeling like an outsider all 53 00:02:46,166 --> 00:02:49,466 through my growing up, my young -- young days, there was a time where I attempted to take 54 00:02:49,466 --> 00:02:50,533 my life. 55 00:02:50,533 --> 00:02:52,066 I attempted suicide. 56 00:02:52,066 --> 00:02:56,466 And it was a dark, dark time in my life, clearly. 57 00:02:56,466 --> 00:02:57,933 And so I put that in the book. 58 00:02:57,933 --> 00:03:01,600 I put it in the book because I want to help people. 59 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:06,566 I want anybody who has ever felt that way to feel like there is a way out and to know 60 00:03:06,566 --> 00:03:08,066 there is a way out. 61 00:03:08,066 --> 00:03:10,133 JUDY WOODRUFF: What do you think got you through that? 62 00:03:10,133 --> 00:03:13,566 KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: I think back again -- even though there was pressures from the community, 63 00:03:13,566 --> 00:03:18,566 pressures from my family that I put on to myself really in many ways, I think because, 64 00:03:20,533 --> 00:03:25,433 growing up, my parents always instilled in me that I was going to survive, that I was 65 00:03:27,433 --> 00:03:31,166 going to be a star, that I was going to do anything that I wanted, somehow, somewhere, 66 00:03:31,166 --> 00:03:33,700 that was still there, even though I was so down and out. 67 00:03:33,700 --> 00:03:35,533 JUDY WOODRUFF: And you kept pushing through. 68 00:03:35,533 --> 00:03:37,033 You finished college. 69 00:03:37,033 --> 00:03:41,400 You went on to graduate school, ended up going into politics. 70 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:42,400 KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. 71 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:43,600 Yes. 72 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:44,833 JUDY WOODRUFF: Why do you think you did? 73 00:03:44,833 --> 00:03:46,366 KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: I think I just persevered. 74 00:03:46,366 --> 00:03:48,600 I think it's the being knocked down and going back up again. 75 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:51,666 I now teach at Columbia University, an Ivy League school. 76 00:03:51,666 --> 00:03:56,666 I have to mentor and teach young people and help them get through their lives. 77 00:03:57,433 --> 00:03:58,933 And I have a 5-year-old. 78 00:03:58,933 --> 00:04:02,000 My partner and I have this beautiful 5-year-old daughter. 79 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:06,366 And I think that helps me persevere, and that helps me understand, what kind of world do 80 00:04:06,366 --> 00:04:08,466 I want to leave for her? 81 00:04:08,466 --> 00:04:11,500 JUDY WOODRUFF: You talk about advice to young people, that they don't have to work at the 82 00:04:11,500 --> 00:04:13,100 White House, which you said, or the state capitol. 83 00:04:13,100 --> 00:04:14,100 KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. 84 00:04:14,100 --> 00:04:15,100 Yes. 85 00:04:15,100 --> 00:04:17,233 Yes. 86 00:04:17,233 --> 00:04:18,500 JUDY WOODRUFF: That they can make a difference in politics and policy at the grassroots level. 87 00:04:18,500 --> 00:04:19,500 KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. 88 00:04:19,500 --> 00:04:21,533 I believe that they can. 89 00:04:21,533 --> 00:04:24,633 The way they're going to make that change is if their voice is in the fight, if they 90 00:04:24,633 --> 00:04:29,633 step into the political arena, whether it's working on that issue, or deciding to run 91 00:04:31,633 --> 00:04:35,066 themselves, or working for a candidate that they really believe in and want them to decide 92 00:04:35,766 --> 00:04:36,933 their future. 93 00:04:36,933 --> 00:04:38,400 And I tell that in my book. 94 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:41,566 And I lay out the blueprint and the playbook for doing that. 95 00:04:41,566 --> 00:04:44,766 JUDY WOODRUFF: In fact, there is a point of the book where you have not only worked for 96 00:04:44,766 --> 00:04:45,766 President Obama. 97 00:04:45,766 --> 00:04:47,033 You worked for Anthony Weiner. 98 00:04:47,033 --> 00:04:48,033 You worked for John Edwards. 99 00:04:48,033 --> 00:04:50,033 KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: I did. 100 00:04:50,033 --> 00:04:53,266 JUDY WOODRUFF: Politicians who didn't exactly end up in the right place. 101 00:04:53,266 --> 00:04:54,933 KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. 102 00:04:54,933 --> 00:04:56,366 JUDY WOODRUFF: And it's an interesting lesson you learned, isn't it? 103 00:04:56,366 --> 00:04:57,900 KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. 104 00:04:57,900 --> 00:05:00,566 And I say in my book, don't put people up on a pedestal. 105 00:05:00,566 --> 00:05:02,633 Right? 106 00:05:02,633 --> 00:05:05,066 Care about the issues, for sure, but don't put people on a pedestal, because people are 107 00:05:05,066 --> 00:05:06,066 flawed. 108 00:05:06,066 --> 00:05:08,166 We are flawed individuals. 109 00:05:08,166 --> 00:05:12,333 And I also tell young people, if you do end up working for a flawed candidate, make sure 110 00:05:13,966 --> 00:05:15,500 you -- you got to make sure you take care of your career as well. 111 00:05:15,500 --> 00:05:17,633 Right? 112 00:05:17,633 --> 00:05:19,900 You have to make sure that you navigate through those waters, so that you can continue your 113 00:05:19,900 --> 00:05:22,033 career. 114 00:05:22,033 --> 00:05:25,066 And so it's just a fine line the walk on, but you have to continue sticking with what 115 00:05:25,066 --> 00:05:26,333 you believe in. 116 00:05:26,333 --> 00:05:28,133 JUDY WOODRUFF: You are political strategist. 117 00:05:28,133 --> 00:05:29,800 You're a Democratic political strategist. 118 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:30,800 KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. 119 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:32,833 Yes. 120 00:05:32,833 --> 00:05:34,300 JUDY WOODRUFF: So I'm not going to let you get away without asking you, how do you believe 121 00:05:34,300 --> 00:05:37,900 Democrats can defeat Donald Trump next year? 122 00:05:37,900 --> 00:05:39,700 Do you think they have a good chance of winning? 123 00:05:39,700 --> 00:05:41,800 KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: I do. 124 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:46,566 And the reason why is because we have been energized the past three years, we, the Democratic 125 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:53,233 base, the resistance, if you want to call it that, and we have shown up in races in 126 00:05:55,100 --> 00:05:57,566 big ways, in historical numbers. 127 00:05:57,566 --> 00:05:59,566 And there is an energy there. 128 00:05:59,566 --> 00:06:03,900 When you look at the polling and it says, what do Democrats want the most, they want 129 00:06:03,900 --> 00:06:06,533 somebody who can beat Donald Trump. 130 00:06:06,533 --> 00:06:08,600 That's the thing. 131 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,933 Whoever is the nominee has to understand it's going to take a movement to beat Donald Trump. 132 00:06:11,933 --> 00:06:14,633 It's not going to be easy, but we can do it. 133 00:06:14,633 --> 00:06:16,633 You got to get young people out. 134 00:06:16,633 --> 00:06:20,333 You got to get people of color, black voters, black women who have been the backbone of 135 00:06:20,333 --> 00:06:21,800 the Democratic Party. 136 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:24,333 You have to get women, educated white women out. 137 00:06:24,333 --> 00:06:26,400 You have to get everybody. 138 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:30,333 You have to get that coalition and people who don't normally vote or don't think their 139 00:06:30,933 --> 00:06:32,166 vote matters. 140 00:06:32,166 --> 00:06:33,100 You have got to convince them to get them out. 141 00:06:33,100 --> 00:06:35,066 It's going to take a movement. 142 00:06:35,066 --> 00:06:38,266 JUDY WOODRUFF: The book is "Moving Forward: A Story of Hope, Hard Work, and the Promise 143 00:06:38,266 --> 00:06:39,266 of America." 144 00:06:39,266 --> 00:06:40,266 Thank you. 145 00:06:40,266 --> 00:06:40,400 KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you.