Harris to ABC's Robin Roberts: Give 'full credit' to Black Lives Matter movement for shifting attitudes on policing

In her first interview since accepting the Democratic vice presidential nomination, Sen. Kamala Harris credited the Black Lives Matter movement for bringing awareness to police violence.

“Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts asked Harris about her 2009 book “Smart on Crime,” which called for more police on the streets.

“Do you still feel that way?” Roberts said.

Harris didn’t directly answer the question; instead, she spoke about the significance of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“When I wrote that book, we-- Black Lives Matter did not exist,” Harris said. “And I give full credit to the brilliance of that movement in terms of what it has done to advance a conversation that needed to happen, a long time ago, but did not capture the ears or the hearts of the American people. What Black Lives Matter has done as a movement has been to be a counterforce against a very entrenched status quo around the criminal justice system in America.”

The exchange was a part of wide-ranging joint interviews alongside Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden conducted by Roberts and "World News Tonight" anchor David Muir on Friday in Wilmington, Delaware. The interview was featured in a special edition of "20/20" called "The Ticket: The First Interview," which aired tonight on ABC.

Harris called for a ban on chokeholds and carotid holds.

“George Floyd would be alive today if there had been such a ban. We need that ban,” Harris said, referencing the Minneapolis man who died while in police custody after an officer kneeled on his neck in about eight minutes. Floyd’s death sparked protests nationwide. Harris participated in protests in Washington, D.C.

She also said a Biden-Harris administration would conduct “pattern and practice investigations” of police departments that have a history of discriminatory practices. Harris also pledged that a Biden-Harris administration, if elected, would decriminalize marijuana and create a national database of police misconduct.

“It is time for that kind of change and enough is enough,” Harris said. “Enough is enough.”