♪ announcer: from our studios in new york city, this is "charlie rose." charlie: the campaign to retake modal in iraq begin this morning. iraq's military says it has already inflicted heavy losses of life and equipment on isis, ashton carter called it a decisive moment in the fight against islamic state. up to one million civilians could be caught in the crossfire of what could become a major humanitarian crisis.

let me begin with a simple question, what is necessary to overtake and kick isis out of mosul? a strong military offensive, but one that is careful in dealing with the ways in which the battle space has been prepared, the way it has , suicidey-trapped bombs, the possibility of chemical weapons which we know isis has that might be deployed. the second point i would make is theneed to understand how pieces of mosul will be put back together after. this is the most complicated part of iraq, where all of the groups, sunni arabs, kurds, some shiites, come together in a large municipal space that has been brutally suppressed by isis.

i have not yet seen convincing evidence that the day after has been adequately plan for, so that worries me. charlie: why has it taken so long? had to build an army again, an army big enough to take the city with 2 million inple before isis rolled in june of 2014. they had to know that tune uber grades -- brigades. kurdish fighters. there is a complex mix of fighters into coordinate this offensive will be difficult. charlie: what is the role of shia militias? guest: they will be playing a role outside of the city. they have been an effective fighting force, but as you get

into this area, they can be problematic i going into sunni areas. charlie: how long should the battle last? will it reach a decisive and earlier than months? guest: we don't know and we get conflicting signals. in part, the war against isis has become a war of momentum, it is a field that they are on their back foot. southwest soto the much more quickly than people expected. euphratesu -- the valley flipped as the tribesmen came on board. that argues for keeping up the momentum and moving quickly. this is a very big city and i would not be surprised if you saw pushes and parts where they think isis is weak, but a more protracted campaign and other parts.

one thing we have to be worried about is a very large refugee flow out of the city as panicked people and isis fighters flee the city under attack, it will probably be under u.s. air bombardment. where did refugees go? this -- how do you avoid this destabilizing iraq even further? you have to make sure you can digest each piece as you move forward. charlie: and can you take and hold and govern. guest: we have learned painfully that the essential recipe is clear, hold and build. that is the phrase the military uses. you send in a strong force to clear, but that does not mean you can hold the territory and it does not mean you can build effective governments. ofe not seen the evidence the last two, that the hold and

build parts of been thought through. does fall, mosul what does that say about the effort to go into syria and go after the second isis stronghold in rocca? guest: syria will be a different fight. in iraq, the u.s. has the full cooperation of the government along with other players. in syria, they're dealing with a pick up team of fighters on the ground, syrian kurds and syrian arabs. so far they have been fairly effective in moving across areas that isis has controlled, that is until the turks halted that momentum. right now, the syrian kurds are marching their forces, and the u.s. forces assisting them, they are looking to focus a campaign

in rocca. washington, ifin the campaigns overlapped, they could put pressure on rocca at , but theyime as mosul have not some old enough of the syrian arabs to move forward on the fight. the air fight will continue in syria, and according to american officials i talked to today, they're hoping to get the campaign in rocca underway sometime in the weeks ahead, hopefully while mosul is also underway. they would like to put isis in a vise. charlie: what happens to aleppo in the meantime? guest: that is a whole other situation. the president has said that the u.s. will deal with isis first. the humanitarian efforts

continue, but the focus of the obama administration is defeating isis. charlie: go ahead. guest: i was just going to make the point following what eric said. the fact that the situation and aleppo so catastrophic is one reason that we are encouraging the iraqis to go forward with the offensive on mosul. that is one part of the campaign where the u.s. has stronger leverage and a better order of battle, understands the campaign. i think in terms of what eric was describing, there had been hopes for hitting rocca soon after. the u.s. wase expecting would lead the clearing operations in rocca, , andyrian-kurdish militia arab fighters in a coalition, i am told they have been much more

wary of jumping into that battle. they see it as being the bloodiest fight of this war, equivalent to a battle in which thousands of kurdish lives were lost. i think there is a reluctance for the rocca battle, it is seen as the final battle, the place for all of the isis fighters, the people who have fled other parts of syria, they will concentrate for a fight to the death. charlie: what is the role of americans on the ground? special forces and other americans on the ground in iraq and syria? guest: i was lucky enough to travel with our commander in syria and see the special operations forces that were training syrian kurds and syrian arabs for the battle in rocca. see howpowerful site to the u.s. organizes. guest: at the pentagon just this

afternoon, peter cook acknowledged that there were u.s. brown spotters on the specialhat were operations attached to the u.s.-iraqi officials, calling in airstrikes. the question is how close u.s. operations are to the front lines. mr. cook has said there behind the front lines, but with some iraq, american troops, at least several hundred of them are participating in an advisory role, some are serving in logistics and intelligence support. you have apache helicopter pilots, you have combat attack planes, there is a very significant supporting role on while the kurdish and iraqi forces, as many as 3000 of them will do the lion's share of fighting. charlie: is there any hope that

somehow this can be without the russians, or are the russians at all interested in seeing the stopped? think secretary kerry has been again meeting with the russians and a broader group and hope that the russians will see a diplomatic solution being in their interest. when you ask u.s. military officials if they see any military solution in the west, in the aleppo area that would involve u.s. forces, they say flatly no. this is something for the diplomats to do, this is something they have said for months. at each point we've been hoping that the russians were serious about diplomatic agreements that they seem to be negotiating, but those have proved to be meaningless. the slaughter in aleppo has continued. in this latest round, the u.s. has brought in the regional powers, iran and saudi arabia to

the table to work with the u.s. and russia, and i think that is a last, desperate hope. charlie: will it make a difference? guest: the iranians are a key factor. if they decided time is right for a settlement in syria, and it will work. the question has always been, in should the syrian regime -- and the russians stop fighting when by all evidence they are waiting i'm are about to take the city? charlie: thanks so much. ♪

♪ angela is here, she is the minority leader of the house of representatives, she's previously been the speaker of the house. she was the first and only woman to occupy that post. she may reclaim that post next year. only 22 days until election day, voters are increasingly disenchanted with the tone of the campaign. donald trump's warnings of a rigged election is spurring distrust and public institutions. i am pleased to have nancy pelosi back at this table. race is?you think the guest: if you believe in polls,

they show hillary clinton with an expanding lead. 50%-30 8%.st had it but we don't know until the people speak, they are the boss. prepared fortay the opportunities to come forward. charlie: do you think the election will have a down ballot impact? guest: i think it will. thisthan not, but i think election will have a down ballot influence because people are tired of obstruction in washington and what the republicans have said is that they are prepared to obstruct. they call it checks and balances but it is obstruction. octoberthey said around 20, 1996, when they gave up on winning the election against bill clinton, they said --

charlie: against bob dole. -- bobbob dole appeared dole. they started talking about checks and balances which ended up with the impeachment of the president. charlie: if it looks like hillary clinton is going to win win big, are they going to want checks and balances? guest: they are using it as a euphemism for obstruction. are a lot ofe people who think it's a good idea to have one party in power and another party at least in the house. guest: we had that when president bush was president and we cooperated with him. we did not support him with the war in iraq or privatizing social security, but otherwise we work together and got some great accomplishments.

contrary to when they won the majority and president obama was president, they said the most important thing we can do is to make sure he does not succeed. their leader mitch mcconnell said that. republicans in the house supported that. so that is not checks and balances, that is obstruction, and that is what they said in 1996. charlie: what mitch mcconnell said is that our most impo rtant goal is to be barack obama when he becomes president. what their behavior was one of, nothing is our agenda, and never is our timetable. that is not fair to the american people. charlie: what has to happen for you to regain a majority in the house? guest: we need 30 seats to win.

the important thing is for the american people to win this election. we hope we can take this debate to a place where their interests are served. charlie: that is what paul ryan says. guest: i've never heard him say that, but the fact that he has an agenda in congress, the ryan budget, it says we are going to remove the guarantee for medicare, we're going to cut $185 billion from education, you going to give tax breaks to the wealthiest people and we are going to block any funding for contraception, to name a few. charlie: you argue -- guest: today a few. governor spence has voted for the ryan budget two or three times, and he also voted for it when president bush. more point. and he voted for president

bush's initiative to privatize social security. so while all of this distraction is going on, there are bread and butter issues that affect people directly if you depend on medicare or social security, if you want education to be affordable, if you want a woman to have a right to choose. charlie: paul ryan and some of the republican would say, they are so much a disagreement with donald trump. they do not support his ideas about a ban on muslims, the wall, his ideas on trade. glad you're asking these questions because i want to set the record straight. it is not what i say, it's what they say. donald trump is a here today, gone tomorrow presidential candidate. for a long time he has echoed what the republicans have been saying in congress a long time. charlie: john boehner says that if there is a republican majority after the toy 60

election, paul ryan would still have the same problems. ,e would have the same problems that is why he is happy not to be there. charlie: -- guest: we are talking about the people we are opposing on the ballot right now who strongly -- and what we see in the measure of public opinion is, if you are one of these republican districts, represented by republicans at the moment. it is sort of a suburban, moderate district. if you say you are for donald trump, i 11 points you lose the moderate, and if you say you're against trump, by 11 points you lose the trump people. they are dammed if they do, dammed if they don't. forgive my crudeness. the question arose

during negotiations in seeking of a compromise between john boehner and barack obama -- guest: this is interesting, because some of the people who are writing and don't know what really happened saying that date -- they could not come to terms. they came to terms. in 2013 at the time of the shutdown of government, just to revisit for a moment, we had an agreement, house, senate, democrats, republicans and the white house that our budget $1,058,000,000,000. we did not have a majority so we agreed. the senate, republicans, everyone agreed. but then the house republicans said we will not go a dime over 188. the republican chairman said this makes it impossible for us to meet the needs of the american people, their own chairman.

my member said, we could never vote for that, we cannot anoint that. i said, say whatever you will about it, and but don't say you won't vote for it. charlie: there is a reason you became speaker of the house. a power of your organizing ability and your powers of leadership. guest: let's not divert ourselves from what the republicans did on the budget. said -- john boehner tod, we are not going to go 188, we will shut down government. the white house said, we're going to 988. said,ed the speaker and my members do not like this at all, they think it is too low, and we need things in terms of innovation and education, but if that is what it takes to keep government open, we will give

you 100% of the houston kratz to vote for 988. and he said, i cannot bring it to the floor. they thought they could blame it on us. the only people who were not supporting the republican budget number, the house republican budget number for the house republican budget members. when they say that the president was always extending compromise, and of compromise, and we said just get it done because the american people need us to make progress even if it is not as fast as we would like. so that is what john boehner had to deal with. a year later and a year later, he had to deal with shutting down government has of planned parenthood, shutting down because of this and that, and he walked out the door. charlie: one quick historical point. there were some questions as to

whether he could be reelected a speaker, and i understand that nancy pelosi was provided to -- prepared to provide the vote for him to be elected. nancy pelosi was prepared to respect the institution of the house of representatives. charlie: and divide the votes? guest: not allow extreme tea have people -- i said, i the back of the institution. charlie: you just happen to be john boehner. it was in the interest of the institution. you can't let the most extreme elements of the republican party, which is antigovernment, anti-science, anti-barack obama, by a few votes of said the regular order of congress. charlie: let us assume there is a majority, house majority on the democratic side. what is the agenda?

primarily what? guest: the major difference in the parties in an election is about the economy. trickle-down economics versus middle-class economics. to increase the purchasing power of middle income families to inject demand into the economy and create jobs, bigger paychecks. trickle-down, if you create jobs, that's good, if it doesn't, so be it. that is the free market. that is the main thing, how do we move forward? president was the sworn in, we traded the recovery act to create good paying jobs to lift up the middle class and those who aspire to it. to act on that, creating jobs and infrastructure. the other two things, i tell you this is your my friend, i think

you trust what i say to you, i would rather lose the election and they said today, we will pass a gun violence protection bill and an immigration bill. those two things are very important to the safety of the american people, we are taken an oath to protect and defend, and the character of america, and nation constantly invigorated by newcomers to a country. those two things are very important. what would be on the agenda to begin with would depend on the president. you have done that in the first two years of the obama administration? guest: you need 60 votes in the senate. but the issues are more high profile now. president lincoln said public sentiment is everything. we did a lot, we did the affordable care act, we did wall street reform, we did the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. ,e did a large number of things but we only had 60 votes for sure. of time because senator specter

was a republican was only until june and senator kennedy died in august. now,think we could do that i think we would have the republican votes to do now. i think they would pass right now if the speaker put them on the floor. i think there would be enough bipartisan support for background checks for guns, no fly, no by. charlie: you have said that if the election was today, you think it is a possibility you could see a democratic majority is it was held today, to gain 30 seats. but you can't say what will be like in two weeks. because? guest: because of big, dark, it is less money -- endless money. charlie: but you have money to. guest: yes, but it is not in

place. -- yes but it is not endless . i believe hillary clinton will be president for reasons that should seem obvious, but also we are not stopping the work we are doing on the ground. we own the ground and have chosen places as our priority -- impressionsit your of the republican party is supporting donald trump on the ground? support2% of the people donald trump. i think that many of them are supporting him for the reason that republican support republicans. they don't want to pay their fair share of taxes. charlie: do you think this will have a lasting impact on respect for our political dialogue? do you think there will be a lingering distrust for institutions? this ising said that

what some of the russian hacking is about. guest: i think the goal is to undermine democracy wherever it exists, not just here in the u.s.. i think our democracy can withstand russian hacking and donald trump's candidacy. charlie: we certainly hope so. we hope that the institution of government and strong enough for -- where he can destroy it. can justno candidacy write. guest: i say to my republican friends -- charlie: you are prepared to deal with them, who are they? guest: take back your party. charlie: donald trump has kidnapped the republican party. guest: i think before donald trump, i think the tea party hijacked the republican party. reasons the of the republicans are annoyed with

donald trump is he has revealed congress for who they are. represents,l ryan he is the highest elected republican the country, and you've been trying to make the argument, there is no difference between them and donald trump in terms of policies. guest: no, i made two distinctions. one was, but that's just the donald trump spews forth may have been spewing forth for a long time. anti-immigrant -- charlie: are you talking about a slow minority? guest: i am talking about peter king of long island talking about muslims. i'm talking about steve king of iowa. it would bring tears to your eyes to see what peter king has said about muslims. let me just say, that is one subject, and that is what i am saying they are very much like donald trump. in addition to that, what is on the ballot are democrats and republicans down ballot -- wait

a minute. i'm talking about the paul ryan budget. no guarantee of medicare, no fighting -- funding for contraception, tax cuts for the rich, cutting education, i'm talking about a very distinct budget from the democrats and where is the compromise when they want to give tax cuts to the rich and cut education and not invest in the future? nothing brings more money to the treasury to reduce the deficit than the education of americans. charlie: there are some americans here who feel like they have economic insecurity. guest: that is right. charlie: they feel the future is not as bright for their future -- their children as it was for them. they are attracted to donald trump. beuld hillary clinton speaking to them and listening to them and trying to understand this? guest: yes, absolutely. charlie: is she doing that? guest: yes. charlie: then why are they

choosing donald trump? because it seems like they're are saying we want something different because washington is not working. guest: they like his anti-trade message. charlie: they think it cost jobs. peopleyes, i think some lose jobs and some people gain jobs. charlie: you are against tpp? guest: yes. because i am not for trickle-down trade. but i would say to president obama and president bush, if you want a trade bill, and you want an immigration bill, you have to start with a big jobs bill because people think that they have lost a jobs from immigration. hardly anybody. some people have because of trade, that's for sure. disclosurese of the

that came out of the goldman sachs speeches has been revealed during the primaries. bernie sanders would've had a field day. guest: like what? charlie: he would've said, this is what i've been telling you. what was disclosed in speeches, open borders and other issues, trade. there was a sense that there is a difference in a private position a public position. that was what bernie sanders was saying. they saidhink when public position and private position, they were talking about what you emphasize in public that is not menacing to people. i trust hillary clinton not to support tpp, this version of globalization. charlie: even know your president is strongly for it. guest: yes. bushe posed president

and bill clinton on trade. i don't love what they have done in terms of restricting access to the chinese markets, their human rights, pirating of our intellectual property, selling missile technology to pakistan, nonconventional technology. this,e: let me ask you has the democratic party -- has it turned left? guest: no, here's the thing. i am from the left. never left enough for the left. they would never call me left. [laughter] here is the thing, and this is important to know. the republicans have left the whole middle open.

they've been so far. charlie: depends on what you consider the middle. guest: where we can find common ground, where we can find common ground on strong jobs bills that build infrastructure, reduce the deficit, grow paychecks, we can find common ground. what i say to my members is, whatever it is that you believe, and i say this about the republicans, i respect your position if that is what you believe, if that is what you represent in your district. now we all have a responsibility to find a common ground if we can on subjects that we can. for some we can't. and for that we have to stand our ground, but this. -- that does not have to be every subject. every timee can -- we think we are close, they kind of move. criminal reform would be a place.

when president bush was president, i said that the war in iraq and privatizing social security, no, but we passed the biggest energy bill in the history of our country by taking tens of millions of cars off the road. he wanted nuclear, i wanted renewables, we got to embrace the admission standards. -- emissions standards. the person on the other side of the negotiation has to want something. charlie: or have the capacity to deliver the votes of the once it. guest: if you are negotiating with someone who doesn't want anything, you can't have any leverage. their agenda is antigovernment. you have to understand. their successes that nothing happens. ryan or johnaul boehner says they cannot deliver their caucus, do you believe them or do you simply think they don't want to make a deal? guest: i think they can deliver their caucus.

that is why when john boehner says we are going to have checks and balances, that means they're going to obstruct, because they cannot deliver their caucus. what does that mean to the american people? we have a new president, whoever she may be, and she comes in to office and if they are going to obstruct from day one, that is not fair to our country, our future, to the world because of who we are as a country. but i just keep hoping, as i said before, lincoln said that public sentiment is everything. you have to take it to the public so they can make a judgment on what people will do. are they going to shut down government? that is just so irresponsible. as they did when they did not accept our awful -- offer to give them what they asked for. they should of four for 17 days. $25 billion. right now i think we are at least 20 seats.

we are fighting it out for single digits. charlie: we just -- you need just 10 more. guest: less than 10. the bigger hillary's majority, the better it is for us. charlie: it is said that donald trump people hope to suppress her vote. that is part of the reason for the scorched earth. guest: that is part of the issue, turnout. i think donald trump will accept the result. but to say it is rigged and all of that, first of all, it is not. harry reid and i put out a statement inviting our republican colleagues to join us in saying that historically, as hard-fought as our elections have been, we have always accepted the results of the elections.

a think who we are as americans can withstand even the donald trump candidacy. i think he will do the right thing by the american people. . charlie: thank you for coming. pleasure to see you. ♪

♪ ray is here. she is earned critical attention

from television executives. she has a highly anticipated hbo series the chronicles the black female experience. she wants to create situations that are both precise and effecting. shorty, it is my birthday, but no one cares because i'm not having a party because i feel sorry for myself. confident.o be more i want to be that person. it's like you don't even care. >> are the concerns they can talk to me about? >> they're having a secret white meeting with secret white e-mails. i spent my entire 20's with a

guy i'm not even going to end up with. >> i don't want to sit on the couch with you for the rest of my life. >> i am not ready to talk with you about this. >> we are not going to be the black couple fighting in rite aid. >> what you doing here? >> i don't know, i have always been your what is guy -- what if guy. >> i need to make the most of it. >> i don't have time for this anymore. ♪ i had it all wrong.

charlie: i'm pleased to have her on this program for the first time. welcome. you went to stanford and delivered -- developed "dorm diaries." there is a progression of you creating things for yourself. guest: definitely. iwanted to be a writer and wanted to break into the television industry, and i feel like i found a shortcut via the internet, and found it on accident from procrastination by being on youtube and facebook constantly. i just thought, what if i made a show online to share with my friends? ,"d that became "dorm diaries which was about being black at stanford, and i saw expand other schools on a very minor scale

from 500-1000 views. but people were like, this is my experience. i had access to an audience, that was in 2007. and i traded another web series in 2009, and "awkward black girl" happened in 2011. i am writing what i know, i was not in any of my series until forward black girl" and "dorm diaries" i was at stanford and i was black. myther series followed little brother, they had a music group that was trying to make it. entary seriesum chronicling their adventures. it was easy for me because i was living in a house with my brother.

i built an audience from the ground up there, and "awkward black girl" was more about me and my sensibilities and humor. charlie: when did you meet larry? guest: after i sold the pitch to they said you are going to need a supervising producer, in we had the same management company, and they said that i should meet with him, if you like him, great. we immediately clicked. he is great and gracious and funny. charlie: did hbo come after you or did you simply say, based on the success that you had on the web, say this is what i do and i can do this on a bigger -- in a bigger, broadway? guest: they actually called me. they call me a short time after i had another series on another network that was passed on, and

i was devastated and thought i had blown my shot, and they called me a month later and said, you have the ideas? i pitch than the concept. charlie: witches? -- which is? guest: the chronicles of a modern-day black woman and her friend. charlie: two of them. guest: two of them, navigating relationships and jobs in each other. what it means to be a black woman today. charlie: insight into blackness today? guest: insight into two specific girls and their blackness. -- a lot don't want to of women are like, this is not my experience. this is based off of relationships and friendships i've had. i wanted to chronicle an alternative depiction. people likeing two

that, he gives you the capacity to have two separate life experiences, but also the dialogue, where you share feelings in an interesting life. guest: and hopefully in a raw and authentic way, because a lot of the conversations on the show are conversations i've had with friends or other writers have had with friends. charlie: tell me who molly is? one of thoseis people who can get along with anybody. she can exist in both worlds, and why people love her and black people love her. she is killing it at work, she ,s a lawyer, she is beautiful and she cannot get it together in her love life. i wanted to it knowledge, a lot of my real life single friends and dating experiences being black women and feeling like they are at the bottom of the barrel in terms of being desired

by others. that is where she feels. she wants to find someone on her level, who she can find love with. issa different? guest: she has been in a relationship that has been stagnant. when you're in a relationship you wonder if single life is better, and she is there. she sees molly going out and having fun and wants to do the same, and she feels she is not active. she is aggressively passive, as she says. she wants to do something about it and in her relationship. charlie: we saw little bit of that in the trailer. approaching the idea that maybe there is something wrong. guest: there might be, yes. it sounds appealing now, but

nobody wants that in a long-term relationship. you want to feel like you're going somewhere, and she doesn't feel like she is going anywhere. charlie: this is a clip. working at a nonprofit job with middle school students. since you guys are so interested in my personal life, here it is. i am 29 years old, because it is my birthday. ihave a college degree and work in the nonprofit world because i like to give back. i have been with my boyfriend for five years and my hair is like this on purpose. i hope this covers everything? >> why aren't you married? >> i'm just not. . is lookingays nobody for black women anymore. >> that's enough. >> tell you that the black women

are not bitter, we are just tired of not being good enough. >> her outfit is -- [laughter] charlie: was this fun? guest: it is fun. . shoot, thewas fun to kids hurt my feelings because they were good at being mean. experiences,y real all the questions they asked on the show, those are questions i have received in real life. i worked in the nonprofit world and i wanted to show how hard it can be. between these children in particular she works at a nonprofit where she is the sole black voice, and they are helping underprivileged children, so they assume there is a connection. charlie: you said you were a big fan of "curb your enthusiasm."

guest: huge fan. charlie: it introduces you to a culture you may not know. guest: he doesn't great job of tapping into the universal things we all feel, but the way i relate, our show to his, some people may see this as a show featuring two black women and think i cannot relate, i will not understand and this is not for me. and i find that unfair because i am a huge fan of "curb" and i don'tenjoy the show and i have to look up, what is this holiday, i enjoy the show nonetheless. i feel like we do the same. charlie: how many user you going to do this? one season, your first season. how many episodes? guest: eight episodes. charlie: what you doing between

this season and next season? guest: a lot of work, i'm writing a film, hbo gave us an opportunity to have a first look. charlie: this is a film about the experiences of young black women? guest: now, this is completely different. trying to tap into a different lane, i cannot say what it is yet but i'm excited, is completely different. and then just working, i am still in the digital space working with other content creators to get more nuanced stories out there. charlie: everything is going well. guest: it is going pretty good. i feel like i am getting more opportunities now. charlie: hbo. guest: they have opened a lot of doors, and my own show. charlie: you create, star and right. guest: with other people. i'm very happy, now people just

have to watch it and like it. charlie: you are learning every day. guest: i am learning every day in a way that i am super appreciative of, and we are talking earlier about the entrepreneurship, and i am learning what i don't want to do and what i absolutely do want to do. charlie: what don't you want to do? guest: i don't want to limit myself at all. charlie: you want to do everything. guest: i kind of do want to do everything. [laughter] guest: i want to try everything once. behind the scenes, and i think the biggest changes in the end she will have a behind-the-scenes, and i think in terms of working with people in tackling more of the business of producing side, even directing, there is an opportunity to make real change. charlie: who are your heroes? lee, i lovee spike larry david and seinfeld, i love tina fey.

they are everywhere. i have heroes everywhere. charlie: with stanford and important part of your life? guest: extremely important -- charlie: you kind of rebelled, you look for your own way to express yourself. guest: i did because i felt like i had to. i went there to pursue political science at my dad's wishes, and when it came time to declare my isor, all i have to do answer why wanted to major in political science, and all i can think of was because my dad wanted me to. that was not a good reason. ands directing and writing producing plays at the time, and this was something i wanted to do. i wanted to pursue that actively , and stanford allowed me to do that. there are so many reef --

resources and colleges that are left untouched and untapped. a lot of people were either pursuing medicine or law or business, a lot of those resources were available to pursue the arts. there was no film major until i was a senior, and i decided, i'm going to do this for most of my time, i'm going to keep up with my studies, i'm going to choose a major that will help me balance the two. charlie: two do know early on you're going to be a performer? -- i: ivy wanted to be wanted to be a performer up through high school, and then in college there were not as many plays i wanted to be in. i kind of fell in love with creating behind-the-scenes, creating opportunities for other black people and people of color to start in place. like, they were way better actors and i was. working with other directors

made me take a step back. i did not perform again until i did my web series, "awkward black girl." ♪

mark: i'm mark halperin. john: and i'm john heilemann. "with all due respect" to donald trump, when it comes to message discipline, it seems like someone on your team has you beat. melania: i accept his apology. he cares about women. he is kind. he is a gentleman. he is kind. he is a gentleman. and they wrote lies. i will not allow that. i will not allow people saying lies. it is unfair. it is damaging and it is unfair. ♪