Transcripts For CSPAN2 Donna Brazile Mercedes Schlapp On Restoring Civility 20240713

Political discourse with former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile and Mercedes Schlapp who previously served as White House Strategic Communications director for the Trump Administration. They are both asked about the impeachment inquiry, the press and the 2020 election. This is one hour. Good evening, everyone. I know theres some people still coming in, but its time to get on with it. Im david welch, the inaugural director of the Stubblefield Institute for civil Political Communications at Shepherd University, and welcome [applause] and welcome to our first installment of the american conversation series public forums, and eating with Donna Brazile and Mercedes Schlapp, the state of political discourse in todays america, moderated by mary hendrix. Throughout the Academic Year there will be several more forums so please go on our Facebook Page and our website for updates. The mission of the institute is to study and promote how intelligent, authentic and civil political discourse can play an essential role in our nations ability to better meet challenges and solve problems and offer a platform on a opposite viewpoints can be respected and legitimized in ways that avoid negative labeling and alienation. Moreover, we seek to demonstrate that civil Political Engagement in these challenging times is directly tied to positive civic engagement. Before we begin i i wish to thk the institutes board of advisors staff and Consulting Team most of whom are in attendance tonight, do a special knowledge doctor schaeffer, the institus faculty representative for partnership and support. Sarah burke our communications and Events Manager for organizing tonight forum and institute cofounders and Board Members david and Scott Whitmire for arranging our speakers. So many of the people that i could thank and acknowledge, and we have so many partners here on campus that im getting to know and want to thank all of you. You know who you are but thank you for your support in making sure that the people you know turn out. One of the people, one of the groups of people i wanted to pay some attention to just for a moment because i dont think they get enough love and if you will come with the members of the Shepherd University debate team please stand up if youre in the room . I cant see where you are for the lights. Lets give them a big round of the National Champion debate team, folks. [applause] also in the house this evening, and they will hate me for doing this so im going to do it anyway, take my chances but also in the house this evening upon and bill stubblefield whose generous gift and commitment to political civility made this institute possible. Please, stand up and be recognized. [applause] am i in trouble . I figured i was. Now for the introduction of three incredible leaders. Mercedes schlapp is a first generation cuban american raised in florida whose father was jailed for six years by the government of cuba. She is a columnist and frequent Television Commentator who was played key roles in several republican president ial campaigns. She is the former director of strategic and medications for president donald trump. She is married to match live from the chair of the American Conservative Union and they have five daughters. Its a basketball team, isnt it . Just saying. Donna brazile was born and raised in new orleans, louisiana. She first became active in politics as a volunteer for jimmy carter in 1976. In the years that ensued she rose that the Democratic Party ranks eventually becoming the first africanamerican woman to manage a president ial campaign, and the first africanamerican woman to serve as chairperson of the Major Political party. She is an author, columnist and Television Commentator. We are also extremely honored to have as as a moderator for two nights american conversation, doctor mary hendrix, the 16th president of Shepherd University, whose leadership, and i mean this, whose leadership and support of the establishment of the Stubblefield Institute has been essential and enthusiastic. It is now my privilege to welcome to the stage Mercedes Schlapp, Donna Brazile and president hendrix. [applause] are the rounds in the house . Are the rounds in the house . [applause] madam president , we had this little confusion because i just wanted to be on the left. I didnt want there to be no confusion. [laughing] wonderful. Being on fox news with silver hair, im the silver fox. I didnt want any confusion. Donna, i was turned be more about the bipartisanship. Maybe you sit on the right for a little bit and i sit on the left for a little bit. All be sitting on the right when i go home for thanksgiving when i start making my gumbo. I would like to add my warm welcome to our distinguished guests this evening and all of our attendees who feel so strongly about promoting civil discourse. Shepherd university is the Perfect Place to engage in this dialog because we have a rich history as a teachers college. Yay. [cheers and applause] and we have emerged into an Academic Center of excellence for professional development, a cultural hub and also a catalyst for Economic Growth in our region with a very Noble Mission of training the next generation of leaders and model citizens. So, we are very, very close to washington d. C. , as you found out today. Maybe not so much in the traffic, but going back, its a breeze. [laughter] although we have this proximity to washington, we have remained relatively unaffected by the political vitriol we see on the nightly news reports. This evening, we have the extraordinary opportunity to witness distinguished professionals in action as they discuss Common Ground and differences on various issues. The questions i will present have been contributed by community members, by students and faculty and myself. So before we get started, i have told our wonderful speakers and guests this evening what a wonderful audience you are, how civil you all are, all right . So this is great. So first question, in the environment of deep polarization on all fronts, is there a way for the average citizen to have an objective source for news . Who would like to take that . Its not a yes or no. [laughte [laughter]. Donna, you getter say fox. Dont get me. [laughter] a few months ago before my good friend Cokie Roberts passed away, i believe cokie and steve came here to the campus. Cokie roberts said at that time to be credible today im not quoting here, you know louisianaens we dont quote anything from scripture. Not even recipes, we have to go to mississippi to make sure were not following anything that alabamans or texans do. Cokie said that today, she believed because of all of the conversations about fakes news and mischaracterizations that its important that reporters get it right and theyre looking for one source, but today theyre looking for two, three or four sources. I think thats good. In order for us to have a healthy democracy, we need a free press. We need a functioning free press. Its as vital to the you can is its as vital to the success of our political branches of government. Ive got it tell you this, there was a poll recent by a school, 39 can identify all three branches of government and only 25 of us can identify one branch of government. Now, when they wrote the press release, you can go and look it up. They said, you know, this is a 7 increase since the last time we took the poll in 2014. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a crisis and that crisis is we dont know our history. We dont know our American History because its our shared history. We dont teach civics. Were we dont interact with one another or engage with one another and look at our labels and say, oh, i dont want to hear from you. The truth of the matter the Republican Party is not the Largest Party in american politics. The Democratic Party, much to my chagrin, were not the Largest Party. Its independents, and yet we have to appeal to you. And the best way to appeal to you, to understand your needs, your concerns, your values, but to try to make sure that we represent your needs as well as the needs of the partisans that we both represent. Beautiful. If i on the issue of sources, i worked with Sarah Sanders and bill shine at the time. One of the things you struggled with, you had so many journalists who will come up with stories they were going to write. Theyd say oh, weve talked to a source close to the white house or familiar with the white house, obviously, that source might have a particular agenda of what story they want to push and so while we were actually, lets say, in the meeting with the president and we would give our version of the story, the headlines would never come out or most most of the time would never come out in favor of the president , for example. When you look at so many of these journalists, im not saying all of them. There are reputable journalists, cokie being one of them and i can tell you folks i have worked with in the white house who really want to get the story right, but what we found is that there was a significant number of these journalists in the White House Press corps that had an agenda. I mean, it was very clear, all you needed to go was to their twitter feed and you knew exactly their vitriol towards this president and so that to us was a big challenge that we faced within the white house and so, when it comes to sourcing, yeah, you can have three or four sources, but youve got to make sure these sources are accurate and make sure you get those people who were actually in the meeting to provide what was happening in the actual meeting. A lot of times, these the perfect example, just last week and this is kind of a lighter story. Theres this one reporter, my husband and i went to the trump fest halloween witch hunt party, rally, out in lancaster, pennsylvania, with diamond and silk. And we had a great time and it was wonderful. We got up there and talked about what the president has been able to accomplish. There was one reporter who wrote the sorry because i it was ivanka trumps birthday and i had the crew say happy birthday to ivanka trump and said happy birthday they want to wish you a happy birthday and the reporter wrote a piece, frivolous, and so mercedes put it up on instagram and ivanka didnt even view it. Oh, my do i call the reporter to tell her, you, you, come on. Seriously. I mean, you know, she doesnt get the story right because she never asked me did you ever send it to ivanka trump. This is totally frivolous, bigger issues, bigger policy issues that you want right and thats critical, but i think when it comes to sourcing, there needs to be some accuracy and a lot of reporters go to the sources because they know theyre going to tell the story they want them to tell. And so to answer your question on the objectivity standpoint, do you go and find an objective news source, look, theres been an evolution of the news room and youre going to find that fox is on one side, fox news on one side, cnn and msnbc on the other side and what has happened is, you the citizen, you the individual, you the students you need to ask the questions. Is this right . Is this not right . Read from the far left to the far right to learn where people, what narratives they are pushing and then you as the intelligent american, the wellinformed citizen can come back and say, all right, ive read from a variety of resources, and this is what i believe is right and this is what i believe is true. I mean, you have to question, you know, and really ensure that youre informed to be able to make the best arguments based on, you know, on who you support or what you believe in. But i do believe that journalists need to be remember, journalists have ethics. They have a code of ethics. Journalists you know, go to school. Most journalists go to school to learn their craft. Im a pundit, a partisan with a point of view. When im on tv, i play myself. [laughte [laughter]. Im not a journalist. Donna, when you look at jim acosta, is he a journalist . Does he give a fair objective point of view when hes addressing the news . I think what has happened is, yes, we are the pundits. Right. And, but i think that there are those number of journalists who have decided that they want to be pundits, too, and they want to hit, especially in the case of the new trump era of media, that they want to hit the president as hard as they can and theres little to no objectivity to how they hit the president. I think its a lovehate relationship. The president gets more because he controls the narrative. One thing im jealous you know, i have my jealousies, its not just his hair, ive come to i had my one and only closeup with the president during 2016 campaign which i whispered in his ear he should watch the super bowl since hes in New Hampshire and the patriots. And tv now, especially Cable Television is about this. We want polar opposites and sort of like this tension, this friction, this dissension. Its almost we could talk about fren infrastructure, the new nafta, china, prescription prices, i could go on and on and on, we could find Common Grounds. We may have different ways to get to it, but we believe we should do something to lower the price of prescription medication, notice i didnt say drugs. My grandmother prohibited us, she was not getting drugs when we went to get her and here we are the country divided by two nonmajor parties. Interesting. And what the leaders of those two minority parties are thinking, not the majority of the American People. Ultimate i will, you will decide the outcome of the 2020 election. But does the media cover the policy issues that significantly no. No, they want the drama. They love they want the west wing drama. They want to know whats happening on the hill, who is hating who. Thats what they want, what theyre interested its like reality tv when it comes to politics so theres a lot of discussion when it comes to the policy discussions. Reality tv. There we go. All right. Okay. So the point is, we are entertaining you. We are. Because we have replaced the substance with the superficial. You cannot explain the Affordable Care act in less than 30 seconds, i dont care. Its 2000 plus pages. Its sales and no, thats not true. And you can ask. Okay. Millions of americans about that. You have skyrocketed premiums that have come from obamacare, lets be real. Even the democrats want to change obamacare. No, the democrats, remember, there are five different medicare for all bills. Unfortunately, i ruined my weekend reading about it. Oh. Yeah, and its costing 52 trillion dollars according to senator warren. Thats 20 trillion more than what it will cost us if we do nothing. So, the question is, do we continue to have the most costly Health Care System in the world that everybody claim is broken or do we try to find ways to improve it so theres nor accountability, more competition and more ments thats right, but going to a single payer system wont work. It wont work. [applause] its more bureaucratic and government and health care im not bernie, i didnt write the damn bill. [laughter] all right. And my heart is working and god bless bernie for working harder than james brown. But again, when you come to talk about issues as complicated as health care, and our Health Care Delivery system, you cannot simply argue in using slang and any other kind of demeanor. This is a serious issue for americans because more and more americans find themselves unable to afford the high cost of premiums. The high costs of prescription medication. I just finished reading thats not me, its you, oh. Were not letting i was like i knew al gore invented the internet, but but i finished reading the story today in states that did not accept Medicaid Expansion and now a family of four with 22,000 a year on average premium costs from their employer, as well as what they pay in and so forth and so on. And she cant afford her insulin. Ladies and gentlemen, we can solve these problems. We dont need a quote, unquote, liberal or conservative test. We need a test that works for every american, you get a test and perhaps you take a test not so that the doctor doesnt rule out everything. An mri, ekg. And i got stuck so many times, i knew it was halloween because you all want my blood. Excellent. My turn. [laughter] whatever if i want to be president , what can i say . Madam president , i yield back the balance of my time. Thank you so much. Now, this is a real question, have either of you been affected by negative press. [laughter] if so, how have you handled it . Im guessing yes, but how have you handled it. Well, can i start . Yes. The president tweeted one day a couple of weeks ago that i was wonderful. Oh, my god. He said, i dont know why fox news hired the wonderful Donna Brazile, and after have had hit me twice and the next day corrected it and it wasnt so nice. Yet, thats part of i mean, its like any politician, any public servant, youre going to get the good and the bad. But hopefully its not about your ego or your identity or who you think you are. My mother taught me as a young girl, she said its not what they call you, and remember why she had to teach me this and my other siblings because of the names we were being called simply because of the way we looked. My mother said its not what they call you, its what you answer to. And so despite the fact that i may get trashed, hit, attacked, tweeted, deleted, my job is, i pray for my president. I dont pray just because he tweets at me, i pray because hes the president of the United States and we only have one president. Now, i am not going to vote for donald trump next year. He knows he wont get my vote, but that doesnt mean come on, donna. But that does not mean i wont respect the office of the presidency and occupant of the white house. Thats number one. [applause] thank you. Thats good. Now, there are some gratuitous people out there who dont know us, but they act as if this he know us and some of the worst tweets or hits that we get, we get them simply because were women and were outspoken. Thats right. And some of our male colleagues dont get that, but we get it and the misogyny must stop. Women deserve to have a seat at the table, too. Very good, thank you. Mercedes. So, you know, again, as a mother of five kids and my husband, obviously, is one of the public figures as well, we get hit constantly and twitter is probably the worst and the darkest place i would say that you see this, so it is about, you know, threatening your kids lives, you know, calling you all sorts of horrific names, and i think one thing you learn in this business, and i share this with whoever goes into this field, is that one, you have to have thick skin no matter what, two, its for me, my faith is very important to me and i feel that as that being the center of my life, of my relationship with my husband is that it gives us strength every day to stand up and keep fighting because we do believe in saving america. We do believe in this wonderful democracy that we live in and we want to protect our freedoms for all americans. And so, for us, i dont you know, theres so many times that several individuals on the other side have really wanted to shut us down and call us all sorts of names and im a big believer that the day we are silenced is the day we lose america. Its important, you have an opinion, you have the facts on your side, you stand up and your fight and you stand up and speak because i will not be silenced. My father suffered under communism where his liberties were taken away from him and he was thrown into jail because of what he believed in and so i learned as a young child that i was going to stand for america and i was going to stand for this democracy and so thats why its been my lifes calling to continue the wonderful debates that we have with friends of ours on the left and also ensure that my voice is never silenced. And i think that thats such an Important Message for our young people that you know if youre called names, if they want to shut you down, dont let them. Stand up and speak. Were seeing this happening right now in hong kong. These kids, theyre University Kids who are being beaten up, are being threatened, because they know that their liberties are going to be taken away in 28 years or less by these chinese communists. You know what they do, they carry the american flag, they repeat, they quote our Founding Fathers and they love america, and they dont want to lose their freedom. So if theyre standing up those kids in hong kong and we have all of these rights and freedoms in the United States, lets cherish them and lets not take them for granted. [applause] thank you. Very good. Okay. Now, this is a tough one. Okay. Oh. And i havent seen the news this evening, but i have a feeling that this is still going on. What are your thoughts around the impeachment inquiry currently underway in washington and how it impacts the level of civil discourse among all americans . Who wants to go first . I dont know, donna, youre so entertaining. Well, i think. Shes going. Look, i feel, you know, im curious to see where donna what donna thinks about this. I think for the democrats, the impeachment inquiry is a huge political risk. I think that they are spending so much time and the media itself is spending so much time on every single testimony on every single impeachment detail where you have adam schiff who has decided to make these soviet style closed hearings where he leaks out, where he leaks out, where he leaks out [applause] specific information and literally dabbles down information to the press and now allowing the republicans to basically even remotely be part of this process or limiting what the republicans can do, and so watching this process play out, and even i think even Speaker Pelosi was nervous about this where she herself was like, we need the impeachment to be if were going to move forward on this to be bipartisan. Obviously what we saw last week was a partisan vote on this resolution, where they waited four weeks to come up with the, oh, lets have this resolution now because they were getting so much pressure they werent being transparent in the process. So i do think that its a losing political strategy for the democrats. If they want to go ahead and focus on impeachment, the American People are saying, okay, when is usmca going to be done, nancy pelosi . Weve been negotiating this over a year. Why dont we work on getting Prescription Drugs prices lowered, theyve been, you know, this is something that weve been trying to work with nancy pelosi on. And lets keep working on the infrastructure bill, nancy pelosi, they walk away. If this is a political environment they want to create, i think that it will not serve it will not be beneficial for the democrats. Do you agree . [laughte [laughter] oh. How much time do i have . Well, when i got up on january 3rd, 2019 and made my way over to the capitol, i made my way over there because it was a historic day. For the first time in our 240plus years we had well over 100 women elected to congress. For me [applause] and so many, i believe, other americans watching this new group of citizens take the oath of office was truly a historic day. I believe nancy pelosi when she said this was not on our agenda. And for all of the reasons that you saw her scramble to get to 218 votes when everyone said she would not get there, i knew that the Democratic Party had chose and seasoned leader to lead one half of the most Important Branch of government, in my opinion. Now i say that because im a hill rat, i worked on capitol hill. [laughter] and i love it. So pelosi is doing her job, but you know what . Shes doing her job, making sure the government is functioning. Making sure the appropriation committees are turning out their bills and making sure that we have an hr3, which is the Prescription Drug bill. Yes, shes very close to working on the nafta bill. She supported the old nafta and she wants to make sure we dont make the same mistakes in the socalled new nafta, especially when weve had so many jobs shipped overseas. I can go on and on from gun legislation, to food safety, water safety and the environment and Mitch Mcconnell already said hes the grim reaper, he doesnt want to take up any bills from the house. So theyre languishing in the senate. Thats all right, it doesnt matter what you call us. Lets get back to the question. And the question on the table is, did President Trump put his own personal or political interests above the National Security interests of the United States . If the evidence demonstrate that he did, then the house will proceed with articles of impeachment. If not, nancy pelosi, in my honest opinion, a Godfearing Christian woman, a wonderful superb human being, and ive known a lot of human beings in my almost 60 years of life, she will not take this country through it if she doesnt believe theres enough factual evidence and enough information to bring forward articles of impeachment. Thats the nancy pelosi i know. Thats the nancy pelosi i she should have been transparent from day one. [applause] the transcripts are going to be released. Why didnt they release them three weeks ago . Donna, lets be real, this has been to shape the narrative early on, its what adam schiff did and thats why they keep holding these closed door hearings where theyve leaked specific information to the media. This is what theyve been doing every day. You know what . Every day, no transparency and then they have to on the rules four weeks later. Theres so much transparency because the reason why were arguing over process. Whether or not nancy pelosi turned the paper over after it was typed. Before it was xeroxed and put on the copier machine. Theres a reason why were having that conversation, whether or not and not having the conversation of somebody calling on a Foreign Government to interfere in the integrity of our elections. Okay. [applause] its not donna its not a crime. The integrity of our election. President obama did nothing to stop the foreign interference, oh, my goodness, donna, please, please. And after the comments i was there please. Im calling you sis because as a christian woman, youre my sister. I know, youre my sister, too. I love you and youre not going to ever make me hate you or hate what you think or hate what you believe because i love you. Well, and your hair color is the same hair color as my husband. And i love your motherinlaw. So i put that all in context to tell you that i know my truth and i can tell you when i heard from the Obama Administration to go and get on what was being done at the dnc, i had no idea. Ladies and gentlemen, i became chair of the party for the second time in my life, trust me, ive never run for office. Ive run my mouth too much. [laughter] but i became chair for the second time as a result of the hacking and every day we were notified of the hacking and what was happening, i didnt just i called my counterpart at rnc and i said reince, if something happens to us, if we go down, i have got to make sure your ship continues to sale sail. The reason i did that, because were americans. I thought at that time they were being hacked, too, i want today form a team. Called the bada team and the truth was we were hacked. A fair fight, if we lose, we lose, well come back next time and do a better job. No Foreign Government should try to control the outcome by sewing discord. By using our partisanship and our divisions to make us distrust and hate one another. So we need to make sure that we the integrity of our elections. By the way, there were more than one reasons why donald trump won. Okay. And i was chair of the party so i can tell you, you dont take three states and 78,000 people for granted. So, everybody in this state. Whether youre red or blue, someone should be contacting you to say, how do you feel . What do you want . Too often in american politics we take a states and locals for granted because you think youre on my team, on her team. The truth is we need to be on one team after election day and thats what matters in this next election. Very good advice, thank you. And excellent. What a great example of go rams. Go rams, thank you. Of True Professionals having a little disagreement. It was perfect. Thank you. I wish we could do it over wine. [laughte [laughter]. Im a christian woman, what was jesuss greatest miracle, he turned water into wine and got the party started. Im just drinking this water because i know its going to turn for me. Okay. [laughter] now, this is an important question from our debate and Forensics Team and they are award winning, and were so proud of them. Very proud of them. [applause] okay. If you had one piece of advice visavis civil discourse for President Trump and for the democratic candidates, what would it be . It may be a little different, but what it would it be . Can i talk to the democrats . I was going to say you can do one, donna and you do the other. Wrap it up. Wrap it up. [laughte [laughter] oh, my gosh. Well, the medicare for all, medicare for all plus, the single player, the ys the zs, the green deal, the old deal. Wrap it up. I love my party. I sometime believe that were in a contest of who is the smartest boy or girl. We also, in addition, we need to smart boy or girl because we are a party that believes in equality for all people. [applause] however, wrap it up. If youve been out here on the dance floor since january and youre still at 2 , spend some time with your family during the holidays. [laughte [laughter] oh, my gosh. [laughter] tell me what you value in america, tell me what you want from us in the 21st century, tell me how were going to get there, how were going to bring the American People together to have the smartest work force, to have the most competitive military, to have the best students, tell me how youre going to do that, stay within the budget, keep america safe and security and sit your behind down, the election is over. If we get getting these nickels and times and pennies and quarters and trillions and billions the American People like, uhuh. Ill go with the one who is entertaining me on twitter. [laughte [laughter] oh, i make mistakes every 260 characters, i get it. Donald trumps message is always going to be simple. Our message will always be tough. Its going to be tough because we feel this huge responsibility to save ourselves and to save the planet and to save everybody because thats why were democrats. Were so full of hope and optimism and thats why we continue to talk and come up with these great policies, but wrap it up. Very good, very good advice. I like that. Thank you. Thank you. And i would just say, this is being memorialized on cspan so the candidates will have the opportunity to oh, oh. Dont worry, it wont come out can i come over and visit . You know, i think the advice for democrats is a little hard for me because i advise the president still, if i would put donnas hat on, dont embrace socialism to the democrats, its a losing message. I think its very concerning for americans to know that the United States would move so far to the left and i think that it really puts, you know, i think for those independent voters were you talking about, donna, it becomes an issue for them and even moderate democrats who ive talked to said i cant go that far. I cant embrace socialism. So, that i think is an area of concern i would advise the democrats. Can i respond to that . Please. Im a capitalist with a conscience and the vast majority of democrats are capitalists, we have one democratic socialist who is running. Two, two, at least. One democratic one announced democratic socialist who is running. Ladies and gentlemen, there isnt something deeper than name calling and labeling and worrying about party affiliation, its something that should grab us at the fabric of who we are as a society. We have millions of our fellow citizens who live on the outskirts of hope and they dont know how theyre going to come back into the circle of opportunity. Whether its globalization or technology thats displaced so many of our workers, where theres a new economy people have to have certain skills just to get the best jobs, whether its the cost of, as i Call Health Care or even living in a decent place, we cannot ignore the fact that many of our fellow citizens are still struggling. And so, they want something different, something new and thats why so many millennials are saying the old ways arent helping me. They want to like sure that this new economy is going to help everyone. When you have a graduate degree or an undergraduate degree from this great institution, you want to translate that into a job and a good job. Thats right. And thats what this battle and this socalled concern is about. Its not going into this direction or that direction, but weve got to learn how to meet in the middle and compromise should not be a dirty word. Thats true and why youve seen under the trump economy africanamericans at the lowest unemployment numbers and hispanic lowest unemployment numbers, women, veterans. Were in a strong position on our economy and were spending so much time as part of being part of the Trump Administration where we have been working on work force development. Where were helping to retrain. Weve talked about vocational education, where you dont necessarily have to go to a Fouryear College if thats not your route, but use the program for example, and this is something bipartisanship, the bipartisan issue we can agree on because we right now are in a much stronger position as well as helping to uplift all americans. Why weve pushed forward an opportunity zone, something that both parties can agree on to help invest in distressed communities. Again, i think theres so many opportunities that were seeing under the trump economy thats been very effective and thats why the democrats dont really talk about the economy that much. We have and just like during the obama years when we came from that big hole called the Great Recession and we found ourselves back on our feet after several years of figuring out how to bail this one out, how to bandaid this one we got somewhat on our feet, but black wealth went from more than 40,000 in comparison to white wealth, which was already at 127,000, it has dropped down to 3,700 so while there are more black people working, which we all applaud. The wages are increasing, income is increasing. Were working two, three, jobs is not called working when theres nothing, no way to improve. Weve got to make sure that we can build the wealth of all american citizens which means that weve got to find ways to financial more entrepreneurs, create more small businesses. Thats right. Which is the what is the engine of the economy. Look, when it comes to job creation and making sure we have jobs for the 21st century, i wouldnt care if it came from a republican president or a democratic president , but i do believe that we better make sure that we prepare our citizens for a 21st century work economy where artificial intelligence, i dont know if you all have been to the Grocery Store lately. At first i thought going into the, you know, your checkout lane was about saving time because i have four things in the basket, aint got five children at home, all right . I know what thats like, my mama had nine and im going to send you some coupons. I can feed a family of nine, my mama used to teach me. And walk out and give a nickel to bag it yourself. And im like, artificial intelligence, this is not good. Im doing all of the work and then pay a nickel for a bag . Okay. So, we are really, were going to displace even more workers and who is focusing on those issues . Who is focusing on the economy of the future . Thats why i dont spend any time smearing people calling them fascists, racists, socialists, its a waste of my breath. Amen. When we should be focusing how were going to build an economy that works for all people otherwise youll have resentment. The urban center facing the suburban and the rural and urban this is all by design unless we tackle these problems and come to the table with solutions. And thats what we should do. Look at all the smart people in the world. My mama used to tell me. My daddy talked, but we rarely heard his voice, she would tell him shut up. He was 65 and she was semi mom died at 52 and my wonderful dad and went to cash a check, and his signature was not on file. And my mom was a great lady and i get my skills from her. I get it. Good. I want you all to think that we have to recreate. Im changing it up a little bit because i know the president has we have a pivot, weve got to change it up a little bit. Civility is a latin word, it means citizen and were citizens of the greatest country on earth. And if we dont take our responsibilities seriously, apathy is because of disillusionment, they dont want to run for office. My tell my students why you . Because theres no one better. Why now . Because tomorrow is not soon enough. Less than 4 of the American People decide to run for office and in a big country like ours. We could have millions of conservatives, millions of liberals, but there will still be millions of citizens who wont align with us and often will stay home and theyre the ones that we should be focused on. Theyre the ones that have lost hope. And theyre the ones that need us to let them know that we love them, we still care for them, and that were going to bring them into this 21st century economy with new skills and a new ability to transform their lives and their community, because without that measure of hope, were not going to reach the American People and save our Public Institutions in this great century, so, we have a challenge to do and my battle is not with conservatives or republicans, that used to be my battles in my 20s. [laughter] and it beat me every time. I worked for everybody. Jimmy carter, walter mondale, jesse jackson, michael dukakis, dick gephardt. It wasnt until that money from Hope Arkansas came from somewhere that and played that saxophone that we got ourselves back in the white house, during that period, i did not grow weary. Ive worked on bills and worked on campaigns that even got me to the white house under Ronald Reagan where i witnessed Ronald Reagan once opposed the king holiday, signing it into law. [applaus [applause] civility dies when you decide to give up on your citizenship and your right as american citizens to be engaged. And to have dialogs with people you disagree with. George will has taken me to more mets game than any other man in the United States. I think hed take you, but not me. Hes a nevertrum per, so hes taken me before donald trump. George and i have been going together for a long time. Its okay. Okay. And this knee, george would introduce me to an orthopedic surgery. Hes quoting james washington, james madison, Alexander Hamilton i thought something was wrong with him. I was like, do you know tupac . [laughter] madison, jefferson, franklin, when i think about where we are today and what theyd sacrifice and everybody else is because george will said, well, read them and i started to read them, and its made me a better person, and i still read tupac. Its the perfect segue, perfect segue to our next part. You have great, great ideas. And this one is going to go to mercedes. What do you believe is the starting point for repairing the fractured relationship that we have been talking about . Does it begin with average citizens, as donna was alluding to, making the effort to engage in civil conversation about politics or does it begin with political leaders and elected officials who model civility in the midst of political battle. What are your thoughts. I think that the American People need to demand it to a certain extent, that they want the solutions to happen in the swamp, that they want the republicans and the democrats to come together. Weve seen this beautifully done with the ipo crisis, with are weve been able to pass significant legislation with both parties coming together because they recognize that this is a national crisis. I take senator joe manchin to someone who talked to the president all the time and they worked together to he served a bit of that in between with the democrats and the republicans and trying to solve problems. And so the more we can have of those types of relationships, the i think the healthier our political process can be. You know, its become a challenge with social media, a challenge with 24hour news cycles because the politician wants to get out in front of the media and give the response and attack their opponent and move on. And i think that that becomes challengeling, but i think at the end of the day, look, were all getting close to thanksgiving, youre going to maybe have your liberal cousin or your conservative uncle and you want to make sure that you talk about the issues that matter and to donnas point find solutions you can come together and agree on. There are things we do agree on when it comes to, for example, usmca, the ipo crisis, criminal justice reform, which was a big win for both republicans and democrats. And so, i think the more we can find those Common Grounds, i think the more successful we can be. You know, its been hard to watch washington change, you know. You look at the time of whether it be bill clinton or Ronald Reagan or george bush where you could find, you know, there was more interaction between republicans and democrats. It feels now days that theyre both in two separate corners and you know, i think that the idea of continuing these debates, having these discussions is important. You know, you mentioned adam and jefferson, well, if you look back at adams and john adams and thomas jefferson, they hated each other. They said really mean things to each other back and forth, so its not like this, you know, this political discourse is happening now. Its happened way, way before with our Founding Fathers, but it is finding that common cause which is that of assuring that america stays great, prosperous and that america is security and that all americans have a chance for the american dream. You know, were going to disagree on issues, but we do and those issues that we can find Common Ground we need to advance the country and unite the country in the best way we can. [applause] thank you. All right. What do you say . Well, you all know i always have a story. So you know, people talk about the swamp. Well, im actually from the bayou. We have four season shrimp crab, crawfish and oysters. We find some of the best crawfish come out of the thick mud of the mississippi or the basin. So im not afraid to live in the swamp. So being in d. C. Is not a bad thing for me. But during the midst of one of the most horrific periods of my life when Hurricane Katrina made landfall, my entire family went missing. I went on social media, national media, the to beg for help not just for my people, but everybody on the gulf coast, i knew people were missing. On september 25th, i wrote a column in the Washington Post and i said, mr. President , how can i help you. People were calling him a racist, saying that he was leaving black people to die, they were saying that he was doing x and y and i kept thinking, lord have mercy we get another one of these racial conversations that go nowhere. Pointing fingers, blaming this one, cursing at that one. I decided to say, let me help. And for three years i went over to the white house, remember, i was al gores campaign manager, but i called my friend karl rove and karl and i, were friends and enemies, i fight him, like my brothers, i will fight him. Then im like, okay, i like to sit with him on the plane and he eats peanuts and i drank his wine. [laughter] but i said, karl, ive got to help you. He said no, no, i said no, you dont understand what has happened. And the first thing i did was say, youve got to let people know that the mailman is going to hold their mail. I mean, simple things. But for three years i spent time inside the bush Administration Working with karl and andy and everyone else, barry jackson, to just say here is what the people of the gulf coast needed. Of course, i would go back and tell it to my governor, i was louisiana recovery board or talk to my mayor, but i would talk to the president of the United States. Sometime when i went into the oval office he would greet me, hes a little hugging type. Im a hugging type, but they were taking pictures, oh, my god, youll ruin me. [laughter] and i kept looking around, like, please, dick cheney dont come in here in another picture. I will never be able to go back into the hood. [laughter] and dont ruin my rap, okay . But, ladies and gentlemen, on the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina barack obama was president. Im on air force one going home with the president of the United States. What a great honor. This Little Country girl get to get on air force one. The first thing i did, i took the ashtray and put it in my bag and because i knew that michelle didnt want him to smoke no more. Im going to turn it back soon. And the president said to me go out with the press secretary and brief the press. The first thing i said was, during george w. Bushs presidency, here is what we did on the rebuilding side. I gave george w. Bush credit. I talked about his leadership and i talked about what obama inherited and what he has done since this. I gave them both credit. I didnt knock one. I didnt lift up another. I gave them both credit. And when i go home i was born at charity hospital. I tell people i say you see that hospital there . You see that one . I remember when i went to sit in the oval office and talk to the president about charity wasnt coming back and now we have a level one trauma center. And my dad, my dad, a veteran with four bronze stars, my dad told me to go, like he used to tell, girl, go talk to the president we need a new va hospital. The president is tired of seeing me. No he aint, he likes you now. I saw that picture, he kissed you. I thought my sister burned it. [laughter] weve got a va hospital, a new va hospital. Thats what thats what life should be about. I wasnt just putting i wasnt waiting on barack obama to come in 2008, i didnt know i was who for anyway, i was just i just wanted to help my city, my community and help my family. And i knew the president of the United States had the power to do that. So if you tell someone that i said that george w. Bush and i got along, he hasnt invited me to a baseball game. Invite me. [laughter] i like sports. A football game, ill go with you, sir. But playing the saints, we are going to beat you. Very good. Thats who we should be. Why did god give me this power to come out of the south, the bayou, the third of nine children. My mama a maid, my dad a janitor to wake up one day and say that i have to wait for a democrat to come to the white house they are drowning, stuck on their roof and dont know how to get back home. No, were all for a purpose and part of that is leaving this world a better place. And we can do that regardless of who we are. [applause] thats good. Thank you, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So ladies and gentlemen, this has just been a tremendous honor for all of us. Were im afraid i was just getting warmed up. Well, i sensed that. [laughter] go rams. So i just want to thank our speakers and i hope that you will consider coming back. I will. This was a great opportunity. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very, very much. [applaus [applause] okay. And there will be a book signing for Donna Braziles book thats going to take place around the corner in shipley hall, just in the next few minutes. And out doing the and mercedes will be available as well. Thank you so much, everyone. Thank you. Thank you for coming. Thank you, madam president. Thank you, all three of you. Bonnie and bill, thank you. Youre all invited there will be a reception outside the doors, get a little coffee, water, and donna, a little wine out there. [laughter] donna, as president hendrick said, the book signing youll be directed to it when you go outside. And this is our first, as you know, inaugural event of the american conversation. I love all of you, thank you for coming. This was a huge success. Please come again. Please come again. [applause] that was great, oh, my gosh. I have to tell you that was so wonderful. Thank you. [inaudible conversations] at cspan. Org, were making it easier for you to watch the impeachment inquiry and the administrations response. If you miss any of our live coverage fw to our impeachment inquiry page at cspan. Com impeachment for video on demand and weve added a tally showing where each House Democrat stands on the impeachment inquiry against President Trump. Follow on cspan. Org impeachment. Its your easy way to watch cspans unfiltered coverage anytime. Our cspan campaign 2020 bus team visiting Battle Ground states in the 2020 race. Asking voters what issues they want president ial candidates to address during the campaign. All right, something i want the 2020 president ial candidates to address is gun violence. I dont think theres one clearcut answer, i believe we need to initiate that discussion and what options are available to prevent these disasters from happening. My question that i have for the candidates is how are you going to combat the rising prices and drugs and also in health care. An issue important to me is focusing on fixing our criminal justice system. How can we rehabilitate our offenders. How can we support a positive relationship between the community and law enforcement. How can we fix our mass incarceration rates. How can we help those who are impacted by the heroin epidemic. How can we focus on helping those in poverty, the Prison School to prison pipeline is important to p focus on. How can we help our juveniles involving themselves in delinquency. A womans right to autonomy, i dont feel that this right is being protected by the u. S. Government, though it should be. Voices from the campaign trail, part of cspans Battle Ground states tour. And live now to the u. S. Senate where lawmakers are expected to continue work on judicial nominations. Today senators debate filling vacancies on the u. S. Court of federal claims and u. S. Appeals court 9th circuit which covers the western United States and later this week a judicial nomination for the u. S. Appeals Court Second Circuit covering new york, connecticut and vermont and District Court judges in eastern arkansas and middle pennsylvania. Now to live coverage of the u. S. Senate here on cspan2. The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Black, will open the senate with prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Eternal god, you look down from heaven upon humanitys children, seeking for those to use for your glory. May our lawmakers live with such faithfulness that they will be your redemptive instruments at a time when truth seems a rare commodity. May you find delight in those who by faith trust you to make the crooked places straight and the rough places smooth. Lead our senators to a fresh dedication in their service you to and humanity. Grant that justice will roll down like waters and