By Julia Smith, age 10
KidScoop Media Correspondent
On January 24, 2024, I drove down to LAX for a KidScoop Media event involving Vice President Kamala Harris. Once I got there, we drove into a parking lot most people don’t know about at the airport. We waited in a long line to have the Secret Service check us and get on a private shuttle.
Once we got past the Secret Service, we went onto a bus that took us to a very remote part of the airport. It was a part most private jets land, including Air Force 1 & 2.
Once we got off the shuttle we headed to an area not far from the shuttle stop, which was closed off by metal gates. Michelle Mayans, the director of KidScoop Media said that I could meet the Mayor of Culver City Yasmine-Imani McMorrin, Congresswoman Judy Chu, and White House Correspondent Brian Karem.
I met Alaina, another KidScooper, and we headed over to the Mayor of Culver City, and interviewed her.
“What’s it like being mayor,”we asked. “Well you have a lot of agendas, so you have to make room for everything. But the cool thing is you do get to go to once-in-a-lifetime events,” she answered. When we met the White House Correspondent, Brian Karen, we asked him about Air Force 1. “The food is great, the service is great, and it’s luxurious,” he said. And when we met Congresswoman, Judy Chu, we asked her what she does in Congress. “Well, you have to make big changes, and you have a busy schedule. We mostly decide on the future of this country.”
At around 4:30 pm, Air Force 2 arrived. Its wheels were smaller than I expected. After about 8 minutes Secret Service, the Press, and other important people got off the plane, the woman of the night came out. Vice President Kamala Harris! She was wearing a beige suit and dark brown heels. She came out of the plane and talked to LA Mayor Karen Bass and Congresswoman Judy Chu.
Then she came over to us. The first person she shook hands with and said hi to was Alaina and me. We shook her hand, but after she moved on we remembered that we needed to ask her a question! So we fought our way across the hundreds of people in the audience. When she came to that section, we asked her the question. At first she was surprised that we came back around to meet her, but then she answered our question.
“What is your favorite ice cream flavor?” we asked. “Caramel, Chocolate, anything with a Caramel Swirl.” Then she moved on. We went back to our original spot and just talked about how cool this was. After about another 5 or 10 minutes, Vice President Harris got into a big, black car and drove away. After 10 minutes, we got back on the shuttle and drove back to the parking lot. We said goodbye and drove home.
That was the end of the Once-In-A-Lifetime experience, meeting VP Kamala Harris!