Harris teams up with Oprah to broaden her outreach to persuadable voters

Vice President Kamala Harris joined Oprah Winfrey for an at-times emotional conversation in front of a live studio audience made up of more than 400 mainly supporters on Thursday night, that featured the families of victims of an abortion ban and a recent school mass shooting.

The campaign event held just outside Detroit and reminiscent of Winfrey's long-running, award-winning talk-show, gave Harris an opportunity to underscore position on abortion, gun, immigration, and economic policies through the experiences of impacted everyday Americans and by answering their questions.

Audience members, both virtual and in-person, were allowed to directly ask Harris questions ranging from immigration to the economy. But in what was an incredibly heart-breaking moment, the family of Amber Thurman -- the Georgia woman who ProPublica reported died of sepsis resulting from an incomplete medication abortion after waiting 20 hours in a suburban Atlanta hospital for medical care in the aftermath of the state's abortion ban -- told her story.

"Initially, I did not want the public to know my pain," Thurman's mother, Shanette Williams, recounted through tears. "I wanted to go through in silence. But I realized that it was selfish. I want y'all to know that Amber was not a statistic. She was loved by a family, a strong family, and we would have done whatever to get my baby, our baby, the help that she needed."

"When ProPublica came to my home, I pushed them away," she said, adding that a reporter insisted that "it was something that you needed to know. You have to hear me. Women around the world, people around the world, need to know that this was preventable."

Shanette Williams added that she had "lost strength, I lost hope. You're looking at a mother that is broken. The worst pain ever that a mother, that a parent, could ever feel."

As Thurman's family told their story, members in the audience wiped away tears.

"I'm just so sorry," Harris told them. "And the courage that you all have shown is extraordinary because also, you just learned about how it is that she died."

"And Amber's mom shared with me that the word over and over again in her mind is 'preventable.' Preventable. That word keeps coming to her. And this story is a story that is, sadly, not the only story of what has been happening since these bans have taken place," Harris continued before pivoting to her attack on former President Donald Trump for his Supreme Court appointments and the Dobbs decision.

Hadley Duvall, the woman who said she was abused by her stepfather as a kid and has been one of the faces of Democrats' messaging against abortion bans, including for Harris' campaign, was also present.

"You can't wait until it's too late to care about reproductive health care, because then it's too late and when it affects you- it- it- it hits and you can't deny it," Duvall said when asked by Winfrey what her message was. "You can't look at someone with a story like mine and say it didn't happen."

The conversation later turned to mass shootings.

"This is not normal, y'all. This is not normal. And this is not right," Winfrey said. "Other people in other countries do not have this issue. We Americans, we have to do better."

Natalie Griffith, a 15-year-old who was shot twice in the arm during the recent mass shooting at Apalachee High School outside of Atlanta, and her parents attend the event.

Her mother, Marilda, who grew emotional, explained hearing of the news of a shooting at her daughter's school, "My heart just dropped. My heart just got so heavy," she said, adding she "drop on my knee on the floor and just started praying."

After the family's remarks, Harris said "we just need to apply common sense," adding that "for far too long on the issue of gun violence, some people have been pushing a really false choice to suggest you're either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone's guns away."

When Winfrey noted that Harris herself is a gun owner, Harris cracked a joke. "I'm a gun owner. Tim Walz is a gun owner. If somebody breaks in my house, they're getting shot. Probably should not have said that. My staff will deal with that later."

The "Unite for America" event brought together the many groups organizing to elect Harris, as the vice president shared the "great responsibility" she felt to take up the mantle after President Joe Biden stepped down, and underscored her policy proposals on abortion rights, immigration, and the economy.

"I really have been saying to people, it felt like a veil dropped and you sort of stepped through that veil. Did that actually ... feel like that?" Winfrey asked the vice president.

"I felt a sense of responsibility, to be honest with you, and that comes with a sense of purpose," Harris responded.

Harris continued to speak about how she knew that this moment was much bigger than herself.

"I felt a great responsibility and– and the incredible power of the people, right? Who, you know, I'm not the only leader in this. We're all leaders in this. This is so much bigger than me," Harris said. "It's about who we are as Americans, and it's about making clear what we stand for. And what we stand for is it is about the ideals upon which we were founded, including the importance of freedom and– and -- and the importance of independence and -- and the importance of dignity and, and purpose."

The event, which was also live-streamed to thousands of people, included Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and celebrities Ben Stiller, Bryan Cranston, Chris Rock, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Tracie Ellis Ross and Jennifer Lopez. They also invited leaders from the fundraising Zoom calls that popped up after Harris ascended to the top of the ticket in July like Win with Black Women, Childless Cat Ladies for Harris, and White Dudes for Harris.

The evening began with Winfrey picking up where she left off at the Democratic National Convention, espousing her belief that joy is no longer on the horizon but "it is here."

"I'm here because I care deeply about the future of our country, and I know that all of you do too," said Winfrey. "Kamala Harris has unleashed a unifying force unlike anything we've seen in politics in a very long time. And I know lots of people are feeling it because it actually is hope and joy rising. Can you feel it? You can feel it."

She continued, "There's been so much talk about that word joy. And I think it's such a good thing because it means that there is a real feeling of optimism and hope, making that come back. As Michelle Obama said, for this new day that's no longer on the horizon, the new day is actually here. We're in it. We're living it."