- Madam Speaker, Donald Trump, a man... (audience laughs) a man with whom you have
locked horns on many occasions, is braced for potential charges in a hush-money case
that dates back to 2016. Now, my question for you is, do you really think that this, the looming indictment
from the Manhattan D.A., is this the right vehicle for challenging the former President, or do you think it will just serve to rally his base and improve his competitive chances for the presidential election next year? - Well, first, let me thank you for the opportunity to be here. I love seeing all these
young women in business and in professions.
(audience applauds) I, frankly, would rather be talking about Samara and Samantha. I always wanted to sing, and
my children said, "No, Mom." (audience laughs) I still wanna be a standup comedian, so I was listening
attentively to Samantha. Weren't they both wonderful? And the whole presentation today. (audience applauds) I think that's a matter for the courts, for the grand jury will vote and decide on the basis of evidence they have as to whether there should be any follow-up to that information, so it's not for any of us to say whether he should be indicted or not. It's the basis of the law and the facts, and that's up to the court. So that's all I'll say
about him, because I, as with Samantha, don't
really like talking about him. - I'm sure you don't. (audience laughs) I'm sure you don't like talking about him, but I'm sure it's also a subject that you find hard to escape, so I'm afraid I'm going to stay on it for a little bit longer. (Emma and audience chuckle) I mean, one thing I think the audience would be interested to hear, you were at the forefront
of two impeachment charges- - [Nancy] And one defeat. - (chuckles) Against the former President, and your public rebuffs became, you know, were sort of, they even became memes. They were sort of applauded. And it seems that you
were one of the few people who were able to stage sort of effective opposition to Donald Trump. Can you tell us, why
do you think that was? - Why? - Why was it that you were able to stage effective opposition? - So this is the kind of
evening it's going to be? I thought we were gonna talk about how to manage family, and
workforce, and work time- - We'll get on to that.
- And things like that. (audience laughs) Okay, let's just put it this way. Our country is a great country, the United States of America, and we take great pride in being a great country.
(audience applauds, cheers) Our institutions are strong, and we have a responsibility
to our founders to honor the vision that
they had about a country based on the dignity and
worth of every person. Our founding documents did
not necessarily reflect that, but they had the wisdom
to make them amendable. So in the course of our history, our country has always become more free, whether it was in abolition of slavery, Black men having the right to vote, and then all women
having the right to vote, and then respect for marriage equality, and the court of the United States, until the Roe v. Wade decision, which took us backward,
because it was a diminution of freedom for women in our country to make their own decisions. (audience applauds) So my point is about honoring our country, honoring the oath of office that we take. And when I had no choice but to go forward with the actions that you referenced, it's because I thought
that it was justified because that person was not
honoring the oath of office to protect and defend the
Constitution of the United States. But there's so much to be positive about, and to look forward to, and not to be dragged back into that. I thought it was most
unfortunate that what's-his-name put out that thought that he might be. We don't know. We don't know what goes in
the court, the grand jury. And so, all the attention went to that, when what we have are so many wonderful opportunities in our country, so many challenges, a war
for democracy in Ukraine, their democracy, the world's democracy, a fight between democracy and autocracy that we have to stay focused on, and not, for political
reasons, take sides with Putin, because that's what somebody
that you're talking about has been doing. And so, again, it's, let
me take us to where we are. We're in this jazz center, a
great institution for the arts. I truly believe, Emma, that the arts are going to bring us
together as a country. You heard Samantha, you heard Samara. Whatever your political
thinking and the rest, you put that aside. You are enjoying things,
you're inspired together, you laugh together, we laugh
together, we cry together. We, for the moment,
forget our differences. We have common ground. So I truly believe that the arts, so to be here in this great
temple of the arts, of jazz, and to hear two performers talk about their perspective to make us laugh or enjoy the music and the rest, that's a very positive force. I'm happy that my dear husband,
Paul, is with us tonight, Paul Pelosi. (audience applauds) My daughter Alexandra, who's in the arts, who's creative herself. (audience applauds)
And our two grandsons, Paul, who plays jazz piano. He's studied at Third Street Music School. That's what he studies. And his brother, my grandson Thomas. And as much exposure to the arts that we can give them is, again, about finding common ground. Our founders even respected
the arts to this extent. One of my favorite quotes is, John Adams wrote a letter to Abigail, and in the letter, he says, "I must study war and
politics so that our sons can study science and medicine,
and other things like that, architecture and the rest,
so that their children are free to study music, and
painting, and sculpture." Even said embroidery,
even said embroidery. But you see an ever-expanding
set of opportunities for the next generation
demonstrated by the arts, an expression of freedom,
free expression of the arts. - Well-
- So that's what gives me so much hope,
because that's so much a part of who we are as America. - Well, that's lovely, and
you're talking about the arts as something that brings people together. And leaving aside the former President, I think one of the things
that you'll be hearing- (Nancy and audience laugh) - That you will be remembered- - "Leaving aside" is really a good idea. (audience laughs) Tonight and beyond. (Nancy and audience laugh) - But not leaving aside politics yet. You've been very adept at bringing people from across the political
spectrum together, working with the
Republicans over the years. But do you think that that
has become more difficult? I mean, do you sometimes
think, is the next generation of lawmakers, that they
aren't as incentivized as perhaps your generation
were to compromise. - Well, let me just say that,
I'll quote Abraham Lincoln. He said, "Public sentiment is everything. With it, you can
accomplish almost anything. Without it, practically nothing." So when we're talking about trying to bring people together politically, it hopefully is a reflection of what the people would like to see. So, as we go forward, our focus has to be on transparency, so
people know what it is, bipartisanship, as much as is possible, and it has been a more
of a challenge lately, and accountability to the people, to the people. So I think that the more
people pay attention to what is going on and
how it affects their lives, the more they will be engaged. And I hope that many more
women will be engaged, because nothing is more wholesome for the political process
than the participation and the leadership of women. I truly believe that. (audience applauds) And that holds true in business,
and in the academic world, and all the rest, because we do believe that when women succeed, America succeeds. (audience applauds)
- But here's my question, and I hate to sound downbeat, but we've seen extreme
political polarization. Women in politics, not just
here, but around the world, face really virulent attacks. Here, some of it has
morphed, not just women, but it's morphed into violence. January the 6th, your
own husband got attacked. Why would anyone become
a politician these days? - Well, you're absolutely right. One of my goals, when we
went, as was mentioned, there were very few women in Congress, about two dozen out of
435 members of Congress. Imagine that! I thought, "What is this?" And we made a decision that we were gonna increase the number, and we have maybe a hundred more than we had then, 90-some on the Democratic side. Republicans are growing
their number and that's good. But we have really... They have, I think,
20-something or 30-something, and we have 90-something. I wear this ring made
by women in Afghanistan close to my heart for all the suffering that they are going
through with the Taliban. I wear this bracelet about
Ukraine, about the Ukraine. What is happening to women there is so outside the circle of
civilized human behavior. Rape in front of your children, rape in front of your
parents, dismemberment, kidnapping of your children. Some of those children, thousands of them, are probably closer to Alaska
than they are to Ukraine now because the Russians have taken them in. That's why I was so pleased that the International Court of Justice has indicted Putin,
because he is responsible. I asked someone with great familiarity with the Russian approach
to things, I said, "Isn't it sad how these
soldiers become such brutes? How could they be doing
this to these women, to these children, to these families? How could they be doing this?" And the person said, "Make no mistake. A Russian soldier doesn't do anything he isn't ordered to do." This is their policy, to
demoralize the country so they might give up on war because of these rapes and kidnappings and murders and the rest. So you're right to point that out. And I mentioned Iran as well, how women are suffering in Iran. But it's not just those three places, there are three that we know about very conspicuously at this time, but throughout the world. And in our own country, the
lack of respect for women to say, "We'll decide
the size, and timing, and if you're even
going to have a family." Really? I mean, Paul and I had
five children in six years, and one week, I hasten
to remind my archbishop. (Nancy and audience chuckle) And that's lovely for us. But who, what politician is supposed to make policy to tell a family that at their kitchen table, they should be considering
what some politician said rather than what their hopes,
dreams, and aspirations are, for and if they want to have a family. So it's all about respect. And I think that last week, last month. This month, obviously,
is Year of the Woman, but last week, we had the
International Women's Day, so we had whole floods of women coming in from all over the world. The former President of Liberia, the first elected woman
in African history, in fact, the first head of
state in Africa since Cleopatra. Imagine the courage. And we really have to make sure and shine a bright light
on all of the bad treatment of women throughout the world. And people used to ask
me, when I was Speaker, "If you ruled the world,
what one thing would you do?" The one thing I would do, then or now, is, if I ruled the world, is the education of girls and women to be able
to make their own choices, their own decision. That's good for them, that's
good for their families, their culture, their countries. And we just, I mean, as I
say, when women succeed, whether it's America, or another country, or another culture, the culture succeeds. But we have to stop the
thought that the Taliban could do what they're doing
to the women in Afghanistan, or the Russians could do what
they're doing in Ukraine, And the leadership in Iran, really? Poisoning schoolgirls? And, well, you know what some of it is. And it goes beyond those countries. It is related to respect. It's also related to family
planning for those women so that they can be in
charge of their own fate. - Well, look, we're
very lucky to be sitting in a room full of very impressive
female business leaders, and I'm sure they'd all
be very interested to hear what lessons they could learn from you. And again, one of the things
that you were known for was your ability to rally
votes and build a consensus, and you were a very effective negotiator. So I think people would like to hear, what was the most
effective strategy for you in getting something, for example, like the Affordable
Care Act over the line? What was your most effective tactic? - Well, and I'll come back
to a word that I've used, respect. Respect for other people's opinion, respect for what we'll call
our title as representative, and that's our job description, too, to represent the people
who have sent us to office. Again, as I see all of these women here, and such leadership of women
in The Wall Street Journal. That's lovely. Congratulations. - They're all sitting over there.
- Yeah, there we go. Let's give 'em a hand, okay? (audience applauds) See, I happen to believe,
and that one of my gripes with your person you
were asking about before, freedom of the press is the
guardian of our democracy. (audience applauds)
Any attempt to diminish that, which was a priority, and that's wrong. That's absolutely wrong. 'Cause the more people know,
the more they weigh in, the more our democracy,
in my view, is protected. And if you don't like the
word democracy, freedom, freedom, freedom for people
to be who they want to be. So I'm gonna say, since
I have this opportunity, not necessarily an answer,
a response to the question, is, to each of you, just have so much, you heard Samantha, so much confidence, so much courage to do what she does, stand up in front of an audience, put yourself on the line there. But you do that in
different ways in your jobs. And remember this. You're the only one, the
only one in the history of the whole world, that is you. The unique, authentic
contribution that you make to whatever you do, whether
it's work, or family, or both, or whatever it is,
and how special you are. And so, whatever it is, that's
a combination of family, of environment, beyond family,
of education, experience, whatever it is, it is
great because it is you, and because it is different, and difference of opinion
is a very big strength. That's why we need more
women at the table. Not to say that women are better than men, (audience laughs) but to say you have to have
everyone present at the table, whether it's women, or people of color, or just the diversity of our country. So I would say that I'm always asked, "What would you say to women who might want to be in politics?" And it hearkens back to
your previous question, which I did not forget, and that was, why would a woman wanna run for office when you're subjecting yourself to this? How many times I heard that from women when I was encouraging them to be their only authentic,
original, individual self and make their contribution to society, to our country, to our culture. And they would say, "You know, I could never put my family through that." I had no children, see, because I came when my children were largely in college. Alexandra was going into
senior year in high school, but the other four were
already in college. But I'm trying to get younger women to be running in their 20s and 30s, rather than the 40s for me, and they say, "I could never subject
my children to that. I ran one time and my child
came home crying from school because somebody saw an ad on TV which misrepresented who I am." And I really honestly believe
that we must make an effort. Because if we reduce the
role of money in politics and increase the level
of civility in politics, many more women would be holding office, and that would be a good
thing for our country. But when they then ask me, "What advice do you have to
women who might want to," and it just isn't about politics,
but it's about everything. Know your why. I just say, know your why. Why do you think you
want to undertake this, to be in Congress, or to
be in the news business, or to be in entertainment, or
to be in the corporate world, or academic world? Why? Why should you be the one that has that particular position at that time? And if you know your why,
everything else is justified. My why, as a mother of five at home, was one in five children in
America would go to sleep hungry at night, living in poverty. I thought "What? This is the greatest
country that ever existed in the history of the world,
and one in five children in America goes to sleep
hungry and lives in poverty?" From my own kitchen to the Congress, housewife, House Speaker,
because that was my motivation. And so, any of the pain that goes with it is weighing of equities
about why you're there. So, if you wanna do this, know your why. That means, what is
your vision? What is it? Are you interested in the climate issue, which is a generational issue of our time? If it isn't climate, is it education? Is it health care? Is it business? What is it that is your passion, that you want to make your contribution? Know, know the why, the what. Just be knowledgeable. You don't have to know
everything. Nobody does. But don't think that
you know anything less because you don't wear a tie and a suit. Even if you do wear a tie
and a suit, that's okay, but it isn't the secret sauce. Just know your stuff. Know why you're doing
this, know what it is, know how to get it done. So I always say a test of leadership is, what is the vision of that person? What is the vision of that person? What is the knowledge and judgment they bring to this debate,
this situation, this challenge? Are they a strategic thinker? Do they know how they're
gonna get things done? That's all up here. Vision, knowledge, judgment,
strategic thinking. And show them what is in your heart, the authentic you we talked about earlier, the sincerity, the authenticity of it all. Because that is something
that is appreciated, needed, desired, and,
really, the most convincing as to why you should be the one. It's very exciting. I highly recommend it. It is a lot to be done. And the more women at the
table, in my view, the better. - Well, that's good to hear. I want to ask a much
more practical question. And for the record, I would
also ask a man this question. I want to know whether you
think, or how did the fact of raising five children help you when it came to your later career? - Well, the thing is, is that
any moms who are here know you have to be diplomatic. You're resolving conflict
from time to time. You have to be a cook, you
have to be a chauffeur, you have to be quartermaster,
you have to be referee, you have to be multitasking,
you have to be a manager. It is really quite a
challenging job to be a mom. And if you happen to be
working at the same time, I'm totally in awe of you, because balancing work and
home is such a big thing. So, what does that mean when
I'm talking to these people? Well, I guess mostly, Emma,
it was because of my why. I knew why I was there.
I was there for the kids. But they thought that
women shouldn't be there, or (mumbles), "Who said she
could be here?" and all that. That was their problem.
That was not my problem. And now I'm so happy that so many women, and Katherine Clark now in
the leadership on our side, and Patty Murray on the other side, in terms of leadership in the party. But it's not just about
the politics internally, it's the outside. Nothing that we do would be possible... You talked about how we passed
the Affordable Care Act. It was important for us to get the votes, but we couldn't get the votes just by talking to the members. It was Lincoln again,
the public sentiment. So when it looked like
we weren't going to pass, well, it never looked like it to me, but when the press was saying, when the press was saying,
(audience laughs) when they were saying, "This is hopeless. Why don't you give up?" and
others, even in our own party, were saying, "You gotta shrink it down," I was like, "No, that's not gonna happen." So one confrontation I had, actually, engagement I had with the press was they said, "How are you
ever going to get this done? Why don't you just give up?" I said, "No, this is the challenge," at that time, "of our generation. We are not going to let this pass. For a hundred years, Presidents,
even Teddy Roosevelt, Democrats, Republicans, had
wanted to get this done, health care for as many
Americans as possible, quality, affordable health care. We're not letting it down. If there's a wall, a
gate, a fence in our way, we will break through the gate. If that doesn't work, we're
gonna climb over the fence. If that doesn't work,
we're gonna pole vault in. If that doesn't work,
we're gonna parachute in. But we're not gonna let
anything stand in the way of getting this done,
because it means so much to the American people to have access to quality, affordable health care. So after it was over, they said, "Well, which one did you do?" (audience laughs) I said, "Actually, we
walked through the gate." We went through the gate, not just with the number of members of Congress it took to pass the bill,
and that was a task, but because of all of the
people who wanted it done. Thank God for the nuns, who
could put off the bishops and what they wanted to do to turn away. The bishops, in the bill, wanted to eliminate Roe v. Wade altogether, not just in the bill, altogether, but the nuns were there for us, not changing their value system, but understanding that
it that that wasn't true what they were trying to do. And so, anyway, thank God for the nuns. I always thank God for the nuns. (Emma and audience chuckle) But anyway, just all the people. The groups that come together
around any diagnosis, any disease, all the rest. The little lobbyists, the
children who came to campaign. They helped push us out the gate. So I always say to people,
know your power out there. The outside mobilization
makes a difference. And when the time came to
protect it from assault, we had 10,000 events in the country where people came and
told their personal story of what the legislation meant to them. "My child was born with heart disease, heart conditions, $1
million in bills at first." You know these stories,
you've heard them from people. 10,000 stories. And that outside mobilization
is what helped pass the bill, and save the legislation,
and saved millions of lives. It was a great thing. And I guess I'll take us back to where you were in the beginning. So when I go around, I'm so
proud of our legislation. Because you have to know how to count, and you have to make
sure you have your count. And it's a lot of persuasion, or public sentiment to the rest. So I think it's just such
a major accomplishment. One of my first bills in
Congress over 35 years ago, or 34 years ago, was about
climate, and I'm so proud of it. And I'm so proud of so much legislation. 'Cause I'm a legislator.
That's what I love to do. But everybody just goes... (claps hands) They'd make, repeat all these gestures about standing up to what's-his-name. And it's interesting to
me, because I'm thinking, I've been there 30 years
before he even got there, passing bills, and all
you're talking about is, "Well, we think you saved democracy." Well, hopefully so. We'll see. More to come. - Okay, well, look,
we've got some questions. (audience applauds) We've got some questions
from the audience, and two of them are on the
issue of gender pay equity. So, one of the questions is, "What do you think is the appropriate role for the government to play in
solving pay equity issues?" - Well, we have this bill
introduced every year, every Congress, by Rosa DeLauro. The other day, last Friday,
we celebrated Equal Pay Day. That was a day established
by John F. Kennedy when we first passed equal pay. It didn't give people equal pay, it just said that's what they should do. That would be the day
that, until then in March, women were working free, compared to a man doing the same job. We have to pass that.
Here's what we have to do. We talked about women,
here's what we have to do. Equal pay for equal work,
family and medical leave, child care, affordable,
quality child care, child tax credit, and support
for home health care workers, because the care that women and men, this helps men too, do
may not be for a child. It may be for a sibling with a disability or something, or it might be for a parent. But when you go to work,
when you women go to work, I want you to be there. Obviously, we're always
thinking of our families. But you can't be
thinking, "My child is not in an adequate child care situation. I have to worry about every phone call." It has to be, as much as
possible, quality and affordable. And that is part of what
we tried to do this year. but we did not complete it,
and that's what we have to do. Because, you know what? The workplace benefits from
women being fully there. There's a Latin expression Jerry Brown taught me decades ago,
(speaking in Latin), "Do what you are doing." When you're there, focus, because those who will be promoting you and the rest wanna know that you are fully there. And sometimes you can't be there. That's why we want paid
family and medical leave. Some of you have that
in the private sector. Most women and men do not
have that in our country. But if we're going to
really have the benefit of the full diversity of
America in our thinking, in our decision making, in a reflection of the needs of the people
that we are meeting, we really have to make
sure that we're taking care of the children and the family as women are in the workforce. So, yes, I think there is
a public role to pass it. We've passed it every
Congress in the House, but we haven't been able to pass it with the 60-vote
requirement in the Senate. But public sentiment weighing in may make that different
in the next Congress. - So, Madam Speaker, we
are more than out of time, but I have two more questions
that I want to put to you. - [Nancy] You okay with that? (audience laughs and applauds) - Well, and send any more you have. I mean, one of them is,
"You have said openly that you are backing Biden
for President next year." - [Nancy] If he runs. - "What advice would you give him, or what would you tell him to change, what one thing should he change, or what should he do differently
ahead of that campaign?" - He's the President of the United States. I don't think he needs any advice from me. But I would give him the
same advice I gave to you. Be yourself. The authentic you. This is a man with a great
vision for our country. Knowledge from years of
service in the Senate, Vice President, and President
of the United States, therefore, good judgment about direction to take for our country. Respectful to the core, in
terms of bipartisanship. That's how he came up in
politics, that's what he knows. And of course, Mr. Empathy
himself, Joe Kennedy, heart to heart with the American people. So I think he's a great leader,
and I would just say to him what I say to you. When you go out there, just be yourself. (audience applauds)
- Right, and my final question, which is a pretty obvious one, but I have to to ask it. When is the U.S. going to get
its first female President? - Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh! (Nancy and audience laugh) I always thought that we
would have a female President, a woman President, long
before we would have a woman Speaker of the House. The Congress of the
United States, as you say, a couple dozen out of 435,
one or two in the Senate at that time, it's a bastion
of male pecking order for over 200 years. "You're gonna do it, and
then I'm doing it next, and I'll do it after you,
and then you're going." So I always thought,
"Oh, the American people are so much more ready than this place." This is not breaking the glass ceiling. This is breaking a marble ceiling. When we had more women, and
they were encouraging me to run, the, shall we say,
humma-hummas who thought they were in the 200-year line said, "Who said she could run?" Oh, make my day, okay? (laughs) That only encouraged me more. And then they said, "If women want that, well, why don't they just
write a list of things that they want on a piece
of paper and tell us, and then we'll do those things?" We've been telling you for a long time! But I didn't want anybody to vote for me because I was a woman, and I didn't want anybody to vote against
me because I was a woman. And I think that we will
have a woman President when people see that. I mean, I, myself, took such
great pride in Hillary Clinton, one of the best-prepared
people to run for President. (audience applauds)
All those things, a vision, knowledge, judgment,
connection to the people. More experienced than her husband, than George W. Bush,
whom I respect and love, but more talent than that, more than Barack Obama,
and he would admit it. She had more service, more
experience than the rest. Don't even let me go into the next one. And in that arena, she would
have just been so fabulous. It didn't happen. And I think there's
still more we have to do in terms of convincing people that a woman could be a Commander in Chief. That was something I was getting. "Well, Commander in Chief?" Yeah, a woman can be a Commander in Chief. Let's face it, I mean, I don't
go into this a whole lot, but there is a lot of
misogyny in our society still. We shouldn't be held back by that. As I said earlier, that's their problem. But we have to recognize
that there is some of that. So, I mean, in my case,
I got to be Speaker because I went out there
and won the election, got the majority, and there you are. It's about the election. And that's what a woman
President will be about, the election, too. I hope it will be soon. I think it would send
a message to the world. People say, "Well, we had a
Prime Minister in England, we had a Prime Minister in in India, and we had this, and we had that, and how come the United
States is so far behind?" But I think it's important
to consider this. In those countries, they're
parliamentary governments. What you have to do is be
the leader of your party, and then have your party win
in more seats in Parliament, and that's just a fight within your party, the winning party, as to who will be the leader of the
party and the Prime Minister. Here, it's an election by
everybody in the country for President of the United States. That is a really different challenge. So we shouldn't be diminishing ourselves by saying we never did that,
but we should just do it. I just have to leave you with one thought, because this is my sort of tattoo. When you go into that arena, all of you I'm talking into running into office, and ignoring the bad stuff
the other side might do, in terms of an ad, remember your why, and my why are the children, as I said. Teddy Roosevelt... Notice I have now quoted Teddy Roosevelt, Lincoln, two Republican Presidents. Teddy Roosevelt talked about the arena. If you don't know his speech,
you should read his speech, it's so fabulous, about the arena. You're in the arena. You're no longer a spectator. You're an actor. You
have to get the job done. So I say to the women, in my case, the children side of things, so when you're in the arena, you have to prepared to take a punch. It's rough. It's rough in the arena. And you have to be
prepared to throw a punch, for the children. (audience laughs)
