Hillary Clinton Reveals if She Would Ever Run for President Again | Lorraine

What I love about this book is it's a conversation. But we're in the conversation and I can hear you talking to me. That makes us so happy. Do you know what I mean? And you feel it. And I found out so much. Things I thought I knew. I thought I knew that a lot of these women. But wow. I don't know how you chose them. It's been really difficult. Oh, it was so hard. Oh, I mean, we started off with lists of hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of women. And then we narrowed it down, we thought. And we wrote 200 essays. And then our editor said, that's way too many. You have to cut it in half. And that was the most painful part of the whole process. And then we ended up with those 103 women. What do you hope that people will find these women inspiring for their own lives? We also hope they understand why we find them inspiring. But even more, Lorraine, that even just one story resonates with a young woman or young man. Reading the book and thinking, yeah, we need that too. I think we do. I like that. I think it's good. Stories of courage and resilience. But I think all of these women as well were very, a lot of them were very kind to one another. There was that going on. And I think that's very important. I do too. For us, being a gutsy woman obviously means you've got a purpose in your own life that you're pursuing. You're determined. You're persistent. But it also means that you're opening doors for other people. You're bringing others along. It's not just all about you. It is about how do we all end up being kinder, more supportive, more helpful to each other. And a lot of these women, they just live their lives. But they did it often against obstacles and in the midst of tragedy and setbacks. So we do want people, as Chelsea said, to think, okay, look, everybody gets knocked down. Everybody has problems in their lives. Every single human being. There is no perfect person or smooth, seamless life. And so how do we find inspiration and motivation? And I think storytelling historically has been one of the best ways. No, absolutely. And you've had this shade of that. You've bounced back many a time. I think it's remarkable. And I know it comes from Chelsea. You admire it so much. Deeply. And you write about my two grandmothers who were such important, not only influences, but role models. And particularly my mom's mom, who I was lucky enough to know and love my whole life. And she passed away just over eight years ago now. And I still miss her every single day. She didn't have this month of her own that I think about still every single day. But life's not about what happens to you. It's about what you do with what happens to you. And I think that she embodied that in stories of my mom. And all of these incredible women. You said, and I remember, it resonated around the world, but you said the gutsiest thing you did was stay in your marriage. That was incredible because so many women related to that. On so many different levels. Because every relationship is so different. No one really knows what goes on inside everybody's relationship. But you saying that, I thought, yeah, actually, that was really good. Well, it was. I was asked and I honestly answered. But I was quick to say, sometimes the gutsiest thing to do is leave. For sure. Sometimes the gutsiest thing to do is to walk away. But I write about Eleanor Roosevelt. And in the book, in so many ways, I say she was a real inspiration for me. Certainly when I was First Lady. But in every way. And she did the same thing. And so I write. Sometimes it can be gutsy. And I think what we want to do is give people permission to make the best choices for their own lives. So, for example, when I was a little girl, my mother's closest friend got breast cancer. You know, Lorraine, back in those days, you didn't say those words. And so women suffered in silence. And along came Betty Ford, the wife of President Gerald Ford, diagnosed with breast cancer while she was in the White House. And by God, she said, you know, I'm not going to be ashamed of this. It's a disease. It's not a character flaw or some kind of other problem with me. And in her hospital bed, she called in the press. And her husband's standing there. That literally saved lives. So what I want people to do is to understand we still face hard choices in life. And make the gutsiest, best choice for you. And do it with kindness. Very much so. And Chelsea, I know, again, it goes back to admiring your mum and what an amazing role model you are in your mother. And very different lives at very different times. But I sense that she's strong women running right down the line. Yes. I don't think Lorraine realised, at least I didn't realise, how different our lived experiences have been until we started talking about this book. Because when my mum was growing up, the only women she knew who worked outside the home were her teachers and the librarians. Whereas when I was growing up, not only did I know my mum, who worked outside the home. Just a bit. Yeah, a bit. More than a bit. My paediatrician was a woman. When I was in first grade, we elected a woman mayor of Little Rock. And so I just had a different experience. And yet I always knew that whether women were working outside the home, in the home, doing both, which my mum wanted, that anyone could be gutsy. And that being gutsy was going to make their own life experience more meaningful. And also enable them to be the role models for the next generation. It's just allowing them to be whatever they want to be. Exactly. And there are as many writers as there are women. Indeed. We've got a situation now, as you know, we've got an election coming up in the UK. Merry Christmas to everybody. Thanks for that. But one thing that's really, really upset a lot of people. We've been making all these shows, and it's fantastic. So many women MPs are standing down. 30 million of them are. And they're intimidated. And they're bullied. And they're getting death threats. I mean, it's horrendous. It's absolutely horrendous. How on earth do we hang on to these incredible women who've got so much to give, and yet just feel that they can't? They just can't do it anymore? Well, I saw with such horror the murder of Jo Cox. And it was a political assassination. And I have talked with current and former members, women members, of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. And they are scared. Because they are being threatened and intimidated. And this social media effect where people can mutter something that used to go unnoticed. Now they put it in a tweet or some other communication form. And people are being threatened with death and other attacks. This has to stop. And your government should be really clear about that. Your government needs to stand up and say, we don't want to lose women, regardless of party. We want women to stand for office, be elected, and serve. And we're going to make it really clear that we're going to protect these women. And we're going to do everything possible to enable them to fulfill their own dream of being an elected leader. It is so dangerous what's happening in your democracy and my democracy. We are under attack. We're under attack from forces inside and also outside. I also, Lorraine, think it's outrageous that your government will not release the Russian report about Russian influence. People in this country deserve to see that before they vote. Who knows what's in it? None of us do. But the very fact that it's being withheld raises questions. So there's a lot going on that raise a lot of issues for those of us who deeply admire the UK, have many, many friends, and know how important our relationship is, not only personally, but between our nations. And we cannot allow people to be intimidated from being full participants in democracy. That was fantastic. I love that. I'm going to applaud you. That was amazing. No, it's true. It's absolutely true. It really is, and it is something that really worries me. Because we should be, we want people, good, kind, caring, intelligent, bright people in public life. Absolutely. We really do. We need them now more than ever because the problems are so complex. What are we going to do about technology and the way it's running our lives? Artificial intelligence, climate change, immigration, all these really tough issues. And so, yeah, we need smart people, and we need people to get over themselves and get over their particular philosophy or partisan view because it's much bigger than any one person. It's much bigger than any one party. We've got to get back to a mentality of we're all in this together. We were laughing about keep calm and carry on. We need to get back to solving problems together and finding common ground. The thing is, there you are. You're at the height of your powers. You absolutely are. And I know that you still do, through this book, through the foundation, you do amazing work. But there's an awful lot of people that would love you to stand again. You know that. Is that something that would happen, you think? Well, I hear it all the time. I bet you do. I think about what I would have done as president all the time as well because it distresses me to see what's happening now. But I'm supporting the process. I'm helping any candidate who asks for help because my goal is to retire our incumbent and get our country back and get on the right track. So that's what I'm going to be focused on. No, absolutely. And, of course, you too. I mean, you too, Chelsea. Well, I also so strongly believe that every American has our duty as a citizen now to both be kind to one another, as we were talking about earlier, to try to help kind of push back against this tsunami of meanness that I think the president has both harnessed and amplified, but also to work to retire him. Because I don't want to live in a country that is separating children from their families and paging them at our southern border in our name as one particularly prolific example of cruelty. So I just so strongly agree with my mom that we have to do anything and everything we can to ensure that the next election comes out in a different way than the last one. Oh, indeed. And especially at the moment. I mean, I can't believe you've got a three-month-old. It's really a lot of caffeine and water. Well, it's working. It's absolutely working. And we're traveling with him. Are you? It is so great, Lorraine, to have my little tiny grandson with us. He's been a great traveler. We had no idea how he was going to react to being on an airplane and surrounded by strangers and jet lag and all the rest. But as long as he's there to be fed, he's a happy camper. It's such a lovely stage of your life as well, isn't it? It is so wonderful. I cannot even fully express what an incredible joy it is to see my daughter as a mom and to see these three little kids in my life and the time we get to spend with them. And you do, actually, considering how busy you are and considering all of the commitments both of you have, you do really make time for each other. Yes, we do. It's very important. It's so important. And you know, Lorraine, I didn't know what a gift my children would give me was seeing my mom as a grandmother. But it has been such a gift. I don't remember being a baby, but seeing how much she loves little Jasper and how much she loves John and Hayden. And I was really close to my grandmothers, and so it is hugely important to me to foster and support that relationship between my mom and my kids because I want them to have the blessing that I have. We really are so fortunate because we live about an hour away, but they live in the city, so we live north of there, more of a country place, and so we're in the city all the time. And so far, every time I've showed up at their apartment, they've let me in. You're doing something right. So I've got my fingers crossed. Now, she does complain that, oh, yes, I do indulge them, and I do sometimes subvert her rules. But, you know, that's what grandmothers are for, don't you think? That's part of my job description, actually. I do understand that, although it's my job description as a mother to keep trying to push back. Both of you are incredibly real and authentic. You are. You really are. You think of the childhood that you had and growing up. I think, in a way, though, growing up, we didn't have the social media thing that we've got now. I think that would have been really harsh. I was really lucky that I didn't start my career with that in your face. And you were exactly the same. Does that mean that was harsh? I think it would be. And I'm really thankful that my parents tried to give me as normal a life as possible. So whether we were in the Governor's Mansion in Arkansas or at the White House, my friends were always welcome. Their parents were always welcome. I had sleepovers. I also had chores. I cleaned my own bed. That's good. Yeah, I was really good at cleaning my own room. And I think just things that in themselves may not seem small were just really important to help me realize, yes, I lived in this extraordinary place. I had enormous amounts of privilege and pressure. But I also could be and should be a normal kid. Exactly. You have to be. You have to. Of course. And to your point, Lorraine, I agree with you completely. I think it's harder being a kid today. Look, there were terrible things in the past. We all know that. But this social media and the role that technology plays and the addiction that it creates is something we've never had to cope with. And the bullying that it enables. At least in our country, we've had unprecedented levels of bullying happening in schools and online. So now, you know, the majority of kids think they've been bullied. And just that we're conducting this massive public health experience on kids and what's going on with their brains, and how they're developing as their own selves, but in relationship with their devices. But also learning how to just navigate socials. And that feels like the kind of in-person and online. You really have to help kids navigate. And I don't think we're doing that. I have parents and parents in schools, and we're always doing that. Oh, I couldn't agree with you more. No, but I've got some fashion pictures I want to show you. First of all, can I just say, who is this gorgeous lady? I love that so much. I just wish she still had the trousers. They are really fashionable, thank you. I think it's a good one. I'm liking it a lot. This is when you were little. Isn't that cute? It's so cute. Absolutely adorable. I love that. I do love that. This photo really shows what a close family. It's my first day at Stanford. Can I tell you, Lorraine, there's a really fun story behind this. So we took her to college. Of course, she had to fix a place all the way across the country. That's not why I did it. Well, you know, anyway. So we show up, and I'm so nervous. Now, Bill has been very calm throughout this whole process. I'm the one taking her to buy the school supplies and what she's going to do in her dorm room and all of that. So I was a nervous wreck before we arrived. We get there, and I'm in the dorm room, and I've got what's called shelf paper, and I'm saying, oh, we need to put it in your drawers and on your shelves. You can roll in your eyes. Bill, meanwhile, all of a sudden, it hits him. We're not just visiting. We're going to leave her there, right? So we're at the welcoming ceremony, and we have a young student, probably a junior, speaking. It was like he had been watching us. He said, yes, and I suppose that your mother has been in your dorm room lining the shelves and drawers with paper and otherwise annoying you. She'll be gone soon. You can keep it as messy as you want. And I'm sure your father has just realized that having a child at Stanford means that you leave them there. And we're like, oh, my God. And I think that's the moment that they capture us. It's beautiful. It's absolutely gorgeous. And this is you out shopping. It shows that you can go. You could have some sort of semblance of normal life, I guess. I think it's baby shop. No, no, no. Yes, of course. Of course. I know you have relations. This is gorgeous. This is the photo. It's beautiful. It's our wonderful son-in-law, Mark. And they got married in the Hudson Valley, which is just one of our favorite, most beautiful places in America. And it's very historic. Beautiful, right? Gorgeous. And here, now, I think you may be a little bit daughter-ish, both of you. Oh, just a little bit. Oh, my gosh. I think that's Charlotte. I think that's the newborn. I can tell not only because I remember, but because they changed the little hats in the hospital. So each one had some different versions of the hat. The blanket stayed the same, but the hat shifted. Okay, can I ask you, did you swaddle your daughter when she was little? Did I swaddle? I think I might have. I don't think you swaddled her. No, no, no, no. I used to put her in little baby bowls, but I didn't bundle it up. I know. Well, you know, it was in the Bible, and I guess she used to be done for a long time. My mother was just bewildered by this whole new thing of swaddling. Oh, no, I didn't. She just had baby feet, and that was that. I didn't swaddle her. Two icons. Oh, I adore her, adore her, adore her. The power in there. Yeah. And the joy. The power, but also the joy. So this was probably in 2012, I want to say, maybe. And so I think this was one of the very first selfies that Meryl Streep took. Well, that's not bad at all. We were laughing about that at all. Not bad at all. I am loving it. You still have pictures there of your husband, of course. Do you get any time to just do stuff together? Oh, we do. Absolutely. You're so busy. You're here, he's there, but you get time to go for walks and do things. Oh, we go for lots of walks. We have two dogs, Maisie and Callie. We walk them. We go to the movies. We go out to dinner. We go see our grandchildren. And I will tell you, the first time the two of us were taking care of the two grandchildren, we felt outnumbered by like three to one. It was so much work. I don't even know how we're going to handle that. But you will. You absolutely will. We certainly will. It has been a joy talking to both of you. Good luck with the book of gutsy women. And you know what? This is maybe volume one. I think there's more gutsy women. Well, there's so many. And everybody who watches you has gutsy women in their lives. They do. They absolutely do. Thank you both. It's an absolute joy. Thank you so much. Good luck with it. Thank you.