Welcome to the 2019 political women summit. Please direct your attention to the screen. Women around the globe are receiving our moment. When we are silent, we speak. When we fall down, we get up. When we hit a wall, we break through it. We run for office. We lead the way. We earn. We innovate. We conquer. We inspire. The question were asking, how are we creating a a Lasting Impact in a world filled with women, its vitally come together for each other, in power, inform and inspire one another. No one rises to the top alone. Women rule is a community of powerful women who pushed each other for word and lift each other up. We offer an exclusive platform to amplify womens authority, connect women together and learn from one another. So whether you are willing from the podium or an office, with a pen, a mic, or even a megaphone, rule better, brighter, stronger, with confidence, with passion and with conviction. It is your time to rule. Rule with us. Please welcome to the stage politico playbook coauthor anna palmer. [applause] good morning and welcome. Im anna palmer, author of the politico playbook and director of women rule or its amazing to see so many of you in the audience this morning from what is sure to be a full day of powerful conversations here i have unique opportunity to speak to female leaders across Different Industries and with varying perspectives to create a forum where different viewpoints can be heard. But the one i did that unites all of us is the notion that when women run, when women lead, when women earn and when women build, we rule. Today, more women leading corporations and more women championing causes. There are more women rising to the top. We have reached a Tipping Point and its critical we harness this momentum to continue propelling this generational shift forward. Today i will be joined by my colleagues and leaders in the womens role community to examine how women are running, leading, earning, and building across sectors and party lines alike. Heres my ask apology today. Focus on how you can create Lasting Impact. Which is why today we are honoring four women of impact of bringing their bold vision to life. These women are the believers and the doers. Leading with conviction while also working in the trenches. We are going to hear from trailblazers, thought leaders, executives, policymakers including speaker of the house nancy pelosi, actress isabella gomez, female leaders and chef amy brand one. You will get the chance to connect with fellow women role Community Members including both are fabulous ambassadors who are sitting at your tables at lunch today, and a powerful marketplace entrepreneurs whose companies were proud to featuree as you meet throughout the day and also go shopping which i plan to do. I now would like to take a moment to thank the people who make today possible. We have are Founding Partners google without whom women rule would not be what is today. I want to give a special thank you to chevron for their tremendous partnership over the past three years, and i thank you to our summit sponsors johnson johnson, and target. And finally to her stage and make a sponsor loreal. Off vital thank you also to our 2019 impact partners. Our consortium of organizations dedicated to empowering women to become public leaders in our community. They include running start, the women in Public Service project, she should run, the association for womens business centers, google arts and culture, the smithsonian, and im excited about our newest impact partner, the james beard foundation. A special thank you to the female quotient, we will be partnering with at their quality lounge in switch of next month. We hope you will be informed and empowered with actionable takeaways that you yourself can take and elevate women everywhere. I hope you will share with what we talk about today and social media. You can share your questions about the day with her moderates using the hashtag rule with us. Lastly, the summit Agenda Program can be found in the women rule summit at which is new this you. You can find that on the app store and google play by searching political life. Once youve downloaded the app we encourage you to log if i connect with people around you. For our first segment of the day, running, im delighted to bring to the stage three members of congress to discuss the impact our new wave of women on hill have had play. Pamela, please join me on the stage. [applause] get some energy in the room. Im thrilled to kick off todays summit with the conversation bring to get the democratic and republican women lawmakers which is been a hallmark of what women rule is. Im joined by Indiana Republican representative susan brooks was the recruiting chair of the inner cc, representative Lauren Underwood of illinois [applause] and stephanie murphy, a democrat from florida and the culture of the blue dog coalition. Veronica escobar was supposed to join his butt shes a little busy and she is a member of the Judiciary Committee sof forces shes unable to join us. I want to start here. More than 100 women were swung into the house in 2019. Shattering the record that was set a decade ago. Were talking about this summit, what do we want to think about . Whats changed . We talk about so often it so important for women to be in position of power, for women to be elected in office under want to ask the question i think both to representative brooks and representative murphy because you been congress for a little longer. What have you seen chain either may be counted socially or even just structurally with more women . Have you seen that all retarding or does it take longer than a year or two . Well, ill start up. Clearly i can office in 2013, and while we have seen a historic number which is an awesome thing, we quite franky have a very long way to go. It was more than 100 ago that Jeanette Rankin from montana was the first woman to serve in congress, and i think she really wouldve thought that we would have been farther along than we are right now. But i think when we have women who are serving, who are role models for young girls and women of all ages, people often think, well, i think i can do that, too. We have to share our story, share our experiences that are so diverse and different as to how it all came here. And i had never run for office before but i had been in public offices, appointed offices. I have been an attorney since the mid80s, and realize i was actually the one who was approached about running for office. I was asked. I was that one that that just raised my hand. What we are seeing now more women on the road are raising their hands than even a decade ago. Women on their own if you asked most women in conference, most of them were asked to run. Most of them didnt just raise their hand. First, let me just say im so grateful to be here. What a way to start out by day, with such a powerful, strong women, amazing. And the men who support them. Always. Always important. I think in a couple of ways things are palpably different think it was in women rule maybe a couple of days ago where there was a survey that said with this historic election of women, diversity congress, actually given women in america a cost the country more hope. When they were surveyed, many women surveyed after 2016 you could see after 18 that women looked at the world more optimistically than men did. And i think think that was a large part in being able to see that they were represented by the diversity that makes this country so strong. And then i think the other one is, its nice to be serving with a lot of other women, younger women as well, because i get mistaken for an intern a little less. [laughing] you have to show your speedy i was in an elevator and an awkward conversation with one of my colleagues when he was like so who do you work for . And i thought, do the people of florida seven. [laughing] i appreciate you being here today. She was one of our first events of this year, you came. I want to ask you this question, you are the youngest africanamerican member of congress, took a seat that was longtime republican held in illinois. What do you think youre bringing may be different from your colleagues, male or female . Its become very clear to me that there is a certain response but the comes with being the first and being the only. So im the youngest black woman to ever serve in the congress which means, it means higher history of this country, entire history there have been a young black women at the temple. Whether would talk but economic issues, healthcare issues, housing, climate change, whatever. We have millions of people across the country who now have a voice. And i feel that responsible. So why im so grateful and honored to be able to represent my community that illinois 14th year, i also recognize the real need to offer representation that other way. So when congresswoman alma adams and i founded the black internal Health Caucus we knew this would be an opportunity to be able to lift up an issue that happened to be for 30 years in washington, the statistics have remained stagnant that black women are four times more likely to die among childbirth in this country and it agreement unchanged in my entire lifetime. In a few months with this partnership weve been able to grow the caucus, nearly 100 members bipartisan. We had real wins in terms of standalone legislation, appropriation or wit on the project in the first Medicaid Expansion through the house since the aca past, so that women on medicaid get a full year of coverage postpartum, things like that. That doesnt just happen. You have to have a represented the recognizes the problem and are willing to leverage the political capital. Were in this really powerful exciting point right now to do that with this issue. [applause] i want to get kudos to lauren and to the women particularly the young women in congress but talk about Maternal Mortality. Jamie butler has had her third child while serving in congress. Her first child has significant medical complications, and i think what they have done, what i came to congress, i was way past childbearing years, but these women who are having babies while in congress and the amount of women who are focused on Maternal Mortality i dont think our country realized what they horrible problem it was, and particularly for women of color. Im on energy and commerce get we got lots of hearings about this, and anna eshoo is led those hearings and do believe it is because women in Congress Like lauren and jamie have raised at this issue. We are really not any good place in the world, and who would have guessed that with a medical innovation and all the healthcare we have in this country, that still far too Many American women are dying. I want to go back to something you said when you Start Talking about this issue, which is your the first. Howd you do with the cards you have a lot of women here who are trying to be the first estimate of their work the way up the corporate ladder. I was the first woman to lead playbook. Talk a bit how you deal with that pressure. So many of us dont seek out to be the first. We want to do the job. We want to impact, get some things done and we just happen to be the first. I think thats fine. I think that there is a responsibility because we want to make sure there are more women and others coming after as quickly. Like i dont want to be the only being the first is fine. Thats cute, you are first come at you, and thats cute. I get the first woman to represent your district . I am. [cheers and applause] but the point is that we should not be the only. What can we do everyday to make it easier for those who want to come behind us . What i think is we have made leaps and bounds inroads in just a year. And so im excited about what lies ahead. I spoke with a roundtable of the members current and former for the Politico Magazine which is online. I encourage you to check it out. Including senator capito, ileana ross lightman, democrats joe on a haze from connecticut. We have had a frank conversation about whats changed, what hasnt changed, what needs to change. We were going back in history about there wasnt bathrooms for women on the house floor until very recently thanks to john boehner. There you go. It was Speaker Boehner humbled and womens restroom right off the floor, by the way. Give us a little bit of the behind the scenes can like what still needs to change. Are there nursing rooms, other practical issues that from your perspective, whether youre a woman or not, that still needs to move forward to make congressman forward. I happen to serve on the select committee on the modernization of congress. Yes, there is such a committee. It was last constituted in 199495. I have to say you are giving me something to take back and to consider. Its a completely bipartisan committee. I have loved being on this committee. I wouldnt say that weve had a huge focus specifically on women. So i will go back and come with suzan delbene, go back and talk about what we might interjected there with respect to modernization. But i know what of the things we certainly talk about is we need more space within the capital. This is for bipartisan discussions to take place. Believe it or not, except in our member offices that are very few places where we can come together and have private conversations and get to know each other very well. The we are taught to but how to change the space, but i think things like actually lactation rooms, again, i am past the points i havent asked or look to see if we have them in congress. Jamie would know. She comes to the floor all the time with her little baby, you know, with her. But i think its just something we have to continue to focus on. Anything else . I would say now that there are more women serving, and when you serve its sort of a family affair, like everybody has to be all in. There are a lot of women with small children who are serving now, so i think taking that into account with the scheduling as well as with the orientation is really important. I remember when my husband, when i got elected and he was going through orientation. They tried to give him a bradley bag with lipstick and nail polish in it. Yeah. And so i think there are all these little ways in which we, even though we have more women serving, women with children and families serving and those responses to balance, we havent yet oriented our process and procedures towards that. We are working and scheduling. That is a child because we know the schedule doesnt work very well for families. That is a chunk. The august recess, im not saying thats definitely going away but yet so many schools start early now and so now when we are off, kids are going back to school that first, second week of august and so a lot of members, we took suggestions from members. They are just saying the schedule doesnt work and if we dont make it more familyfriendly, we will not attract more women. Because it has to work in their life, and stephanie has done an amazing job with your kids. Mine were 18 and 21 when i went up to congress. Controversy. Stay tuned. We will see what we recommend. Susan brooks, there was a historic weight of women dominated by democrats. There was only one woman from West Virginia was elected in the house in the midterms. We actually had 52 women on the general election ballot last cycle. Now, quite frankly, only 13 of us made it through with carol milk the only freshman and shes off by the way and love having carol in congress. This congress we have continued to focus. Im very proud to say that as of today, and i checked, 178 republican women have filed for office, more than in any other time. [applause] i think we had 130 last time in congress and filing hasnt ended and we also have about 140 people of color and that is, again, something that is, you know, people have seen the diversity of congress and how its changed. [applause] so thats caused republicans across the country to say, i want to run to are office. And so, i think were going to see, hopefully, weve got to get the women and people of color through primaries. Thats my next question. Thats always a challenge, but we have groups, ellyise stefanik led the way and pacs are supporting the women in unprecedented ways. And what ive seen which i didnt notice as much last time, it could be, ive been frank with our caucus and ive shared with the caucus when ive talked with them that political conferences, guys love you, but we had enough of you. I need you to help the women who are running and they are. A lot more men and a lot more republican men are engaging in helping the women in their states and we go to those delegations in the states and ask them to really support the women who are running and im seeing that. Thats the question, i think, truly is when will republicans start pushing some of these republican women in these state districts. Youre having a historic number of republicans retiring, but getting some of these republicans in the seats instead of the very rplus one, rplus six moderate districts. I think thats exactly right. We have a lot of retirements, particularly out of texas and a lot of strong women running. Not just in texas. Texas women are strong, everyone in texas is tough, but i think youll see a lot of incredible women of all ages, all backgrounds stepping up. Im excited about it. I want to talk to you a little bit. You come from the more moderate part of the party, the blue dogs women and men elected are much more liberal, arent necessarily tied to the Party Establishment in ways that particularly democrats have, whether its talking socialism or other things that flared up. Does that make it harder for the democratic concensus. I dont know. I feel like its a door bell, someone let in. I dont think so. I would challenge the notion that the women that have come in are progressives. I think we have a nice, you know, spread across the ideological spectrum within our Democratic Caucus and there are actually quite a few women who are in the moderate center left kind of states. So, but are some voices amplified more than others . Sure, but i think one of the things that women always bring to the table, whether its in the car pool line, at the boardroom or wherever else we show up, is that we show up and we listen. And then we find ways to civilly engage with one another and i think that that has been at the heart of what has been beneficial and so, you can disagree on policies, perhaps, but find through conversation and dialog the ability to find Common Ground and ive seen a lot of that. And one thing to remember is that we have not traditionally seen the loudest, boldest most powerful voices out of capitol hill be women and thats what we have right now from the speaker to stephanie as the chair of the blue dog coalition, and progressive caucus, you have the ladies in the squad, we have powerful women moving us forward and that makes folks uncomfortable sometimes. Weve not seen that before, but it doesnt mean that theres disagreement, it doesnt mean that theres all of this conflict. It doesnt mean theres an inability to move forward. It just means that the base and the voice might be different from what weve seen previously. Do you feel theres sexism out there, that there will be a cat fight on an idea, different opinions, and thats the public frame na often gets put out there . I dont think so. In my experience here, im in my fourth term and i cochaired the womens caucus last congress with lois frankel and right now weve got Brenda Lawrence and debby lesko cochairing the womens caucus. Weve tried the women in my experience have tried to find more Common Ground than fighting against each other. I dont think you see the cat fight. I think, you know, because of that work, lois and i led in the house the bill the last congress to keeping Young Athletes, protecting Young Athletes from sexual abuse. Our u. S. Gymnasts that had been, you know, sexually assaulted by dr. Nassar, we led the house to change that protocol ap change that training in our u. S. Olympic movement along with Dianne Feinstein and Susan Collins in the house so were talking those really serious issues, Maternal Mortality, those issues that particularly involved women and girls, were trying, lois and i, and our colead and keeping the young girls in education act. Making sure our strategies in the countries have strategies that keep women or girls, rather, in school beyond Elementary School all around the country and all around the world, rather, and these are the types of things that we actually feel good about. We want to find those things, i mean, there are always going to be the outliers on both sides of the aisle. They get the attention of the media, but the real work is being done by women, look at kay granger, keep our fingers crossed they can get this done. Funding. Daytoday basis. Knock on wood. Two women leading the effort and thats different from how its done in the past in this country. We started with the news of the day as impeachment. As we are politico and women as well and about right now on the democratic side holding a press conference to announce two counts against the president. And i want to talk to you, you come from a conservative area typically won by republicans. How do you explain whats happening in washington back at home. We have a unique position in that people in illinois are not foreign to corruption. [laughter] im being serious, im in the chicago region, and we watch chicago tv news and fbi were raiding local aldermans office. And when youre watching the news you see Speaker Pelosi, donald trump, fbi carting out boxes right from city hall in chicago and for my neighbors it all kind of looks the same. They have seen that before. Its not something that is so foreign and unfamiliar. So weve started out from this basis that said that its wrong to have an abuse of power. Now, whether or not folks think thats impeachable, thats different, but its not something that in my conversations with my neighbors and my constituents that were having this fundamental disagreement about what happened and the morality of it. And so, you know, from that perspective, im curious to see the articles. I dont have any inside knowledge. When we get off this stage im going to be looking at my phone, okay, what are we really talking about here and then we have to have a conversation as a community. Representative murphy, are you at all concerned with the speed with which the democrats have chosen to move on this, maybe take time and go through the courts. I plan on asking Speaker Pelosi about this later on this morning. Is that something that you and your colleagues are wrestling with at all . No, i think that, look, weve had a transparent and open process. We are looking at the information that is available and the reality is that this affects our 2020 election and i have been, you know, its crazy to me that at a time when ive been the blue dogs and my office have been working so hard to secure election secure funding for Election Security ap advanced legislation to make sure that we prohibit foreign interference in our election. At the same time that were pushing forward this effort. Trying to secure our democracy, we are also looking at the leader of our country soliciting foreign intervention in our election. So, i think and in the 2020 election specifically. Moreover, you have the commander of fiber com saying guess what . In 2020, expect not just russia, but china, all of these other actors to try to interfere in our elections because russia did so in 16 to great effect on their part, they achieved their goals of sewing discord within our democracy and they suffered zero consequences, so why would anybody else be deterred. So the speed is driven by the fact that we have an election coming up that we have got to secure. We have to make sure that the American People feel like they get a free and fair election. And thats at the heart of our democracy. One of the things that id like to share is that i think there was no question that there was interference in our election in 2016. Whats been so disappointing and what we have not learned and what i truly wish the speaker had done, but did not do is work in a bipartisan way to secure the elections in 2020. The cyber attacks, the manner in which our foreign adversaries are enjoying this discord that is happening, not just enjoying, will actually capitalize and will really try and interfere with our elections in 2020, is significant. And yet, only partisan election bills and voting security bills have been put on the house floor. We did not work in a bipartisan way. So we have not learned yet how to secure our elections. And i am very, very concerned and its very disappointing, so at the end of the day, while i dont believe that this was a transparent process and i dont want to debate all of impeachment here this morning and what the process has been, but adam schiff has been the investigative body, the grand jury, the judge, the trier of fact, has done it all. I dont believe it has been a fair process at all, and so, i dont believe its been fair to the American People and to stephanies point were now right up on the 2020 election and that is what this was about. It was about overturning the election of 2016, and now, interfering with the election in 2020. So, i really am not obviously in representing my party have felt that this has been a fair shake for the American People and we are not i believe that our election system, we are not in a better place than we were in 2016. And we have not worked in a bipartisan way to fix to ensure the sanctity and security of our election. Ill ask one last question, and a lot of democrats the hoped that members retiring like yourself would be voopen t voting impeachment . Certainly i want to see what the articles of impeachment say, i find it interesting, the democrats have pivoted from obstruction of justice. This morning ive heard on television obstruction of congress. This is not justice, what has happened is not justice. Ive been in the Justice System for over 30 years, both as former u. S. Attorney as well as a lawyer for a long time and what we have seen has not been justice. It has not been a fair process. It doesnt sound like youre open to it . Well, but i must say thats why we have a third branch of government, the courts and that is where if congress felt that this president and the administration, like past president s have impeded investigations, thats what that third body was created for is to go to court and ask that question and thats not the path that the democrats have chosen. So i, you know, i dont believe this has been a fair process, i believe that my district, while i am in a more urban, suburban, rural, very diverse district, there are a lot of diverse opinions within my own district, i think that i always want to see what they have written, but right now, just based on what im hearing and reading, i dont believe that i will or that hardly any, if any republicans would vote for impeachment out of the house. We are quickly running out of time, but before we do, i think one of we started on the note that more women in congress and more women in leadership is a good thing and we always like to have tangible take aways that women rule. I want to do a lightning round and what is one thing you think the women and male allies in this audience do to help more women get elected. Well start with you, representative murphy. I think that women should have the courage to try. So often there are things that we want to seek to do, whether its running for office or making a change in our community or raising our voices at the boardroom or whatever it is and we have this internal narrative that tells us that we cant or that we wont succeed. I think its critically important that women have the courage to try to do whatever it is that they are setting out to do regardless of what they think the outcome will be and that the men in their lives should be there to support them. Congressman under wood. Well, commit to helping women. Vote for women. You can volunteer for women, you can financially support, you can many a amplify their stories for those in the media. You cant do it passively, you have to set the intention and actively go do it. Women have incredible stories to share, but in order to get the stories out and to share those stories that the women in congress have, quite frankly, you have to have the resources. The resources are the volunteers, but sadly what ive learned and what so many candidates learn is that you have to have the financial resources. Men have to support women. Women have to support women, and in order to get that message out, whether its through social media, whether its on the television, whether its doing mailings, it takes resources like weve never seen before and so thats what i think at the end of the day, you know, weve got to make sure that women have the resources to succeed. I appreciate it. Thank you for helping us kickoff this summit. This has been a great conversation where weve learned a lot about whats changing in congress, what still needs to change, a little bit of politics and also, a little bit about getting active in our own politics and helping had women run for office. Of course, no woman ruins or leads alone. Another important piece of at that puzzle that well get into in our next conversation is the women behind the 2020 campaigns and the process of rising to the top as a campaign operative. Thank you for coming this morning and thanks for your time. [applaus [applause]. [applause]. Please women to the stage politicos National Political reporter laura baron lopez. [applaus [applause] good morning, everyone. Im laura baron lopez, im a National Reporter for politico. Were deep into the 2020 president ial campaign which started with more than 20 democrats running for the presidency and were now down to 15. Not that many. Im here today to talk to some of the women behind those campaigns. Well talk about what its like to shape the policies and the message of a president ial hopeful. Well also talk about the difficulties ap discrimination facing women in politics and why the country still hasnt elected a woman to the highest office in the land. Joining me on stage, starting at the end of the row, is simone sanders, Senior Advisor for joe biden. Nina smith travelling secretary for Pete Buttigieg and Olympia Johnson for Elizabeth Warren. Thanks for joining us today. [applause]. So news of the day, a topic that isnt getting much air time. [laughter] moments ago House Democrats introduced two articles of impeachment. This is a historic president ial Campaign Cycle. The house is expected to vote by christmas to impeach the president. Valencia, how does trumps constant tweeting, the break neck pace of the news cycle change the way you function as a campaign advisor. I think its the historic the impeachment is in the news cycle and we have to think about the severity of that and that he is literally breaking the law. Yes, he is tweeting at a rapid pace and trying to distract from the severity of whats happening, but weve got to take this moment seriously and thats fortunately what my candidate, Elizabeth Warren is doing and she has called for impeachment to do so and i think we have to focus on the facts and also on the Campaign Cycle and focus on what the voters need. The voters want to make sure theyre going to see a candidate who is going to uproot the corruption out of our government and thats who donald trump is. The point that you made is more important about the historic moment of this and the severity of whats happening right now. Simone, on the same topic. The president s conduct concerning ukraine centers around your candidate. Biden had to respond to the conspiracy theories on the trail. Trump isnt letting up on twitter. Does it make it harder for you to baiidens message. Wh weve seen is trumps own making. Donald trump has been enbroiled and articles of impeachment all because he solicited the foreign government, two foreign governments, he said china, ukraine, whom ever. And this was about the fact dup was scared about facing joe biden in the ballot box. Well continue to talk about his plan for health care, and economy and middle class, but were also not going to take these conspiracy theories and attacks lying down. So i think everybody saw him forceful on the campaign trail in iowa and some calling it forceful and thats the kind of fire well need. If anybody is wondering whether joe biden can take on trump is ready for a fight, i point you to the video in iowa. Lets talk to the panel, womens influence and power in president ial campaigns. There are a number of women, including women of color working on president ial campaigns today. Nina, what did it take for you to get to this point in your career and where can campaigns improve . Ill say that my experience has been, i think ive gone through the governmental kind of pathway into campaigns and into politics. I started out as a Campus Organizer starting college stem chapters all offer the state of maryland and that work has taken me from the Obama Administration to capitol hill to the campaign trail and you know, these students come through a lot of hard work. You know, you were just laughing back stage how coffin we see each other and how a lot of us have known each other prior to the cycle because you know, the space is small and you know, we all know each other because of that. The opportunities are starting to open up and thats fantastic. I think the focus on diversity is important and inclusion even more so. Its just not enough to have the numbers, but where are your people. For our campaign, were 40 people of color and spread across departments, no one is moused in one place. We have folks in finance, folks in communications, political, but theyre spread across the campaign and our input is a driving force for a lot of the work that we do. So, its really changing and thats a good thing, but we still arent gotten there. I know one of the panel surrounds the fact that we only have one female Campaign Manager, you know. And on castros campaign. So us having these positions and having the ear of our candidate is critical and i think its driving the scope and shape of this cycle. Simone, youve worked op multiple president ial campaigns. Really . [laughter] for two different candidates. Do you feel as though your career decisions who youve decided to work for is scrutinized more than your male peers . Yes, absolutely. [laughter] absolutely feel that way and i think its partly because folks are not used to seeing people that look like me make the kind of decisions ive decide today make about my career and i always before when i was living the pundit life style and now i talk about the pundits because im not one anymore. Id speak on College Campuses and remind young people that you have to make the best decisions for you in your consider and i think a lot of people dibble and dabble and jump in and out of it, but we live this every single day. Going to work and campaign is not a pastime or something i enjoy every now and then. Its what ive done since i was in college. Im a habitual campaign staffer, this is my career and life and i often feel like if i was 35 years old and my mom was tom, no one would ask me where im going and what im doing. And that you had worked for sanders and now work for biden. Absolutely. Valencia, despite the number of women working in campaign, only one of the Campaign Managers this cycle currently left, because there were two at first, is a woman. Maya rupert for julian castro. What do you feel campaigns are missing by not having a female Campaign Manager and what will it take for women to break that barrier . I think honestly its diversity of thought. Before i started on this campaign, i worked for six years and before that the obama reelection and working at plant parenthood, constantly campaigning, theres a lot youre doing there. Are trying to disrupt and have a conversation about issues that matter to women and people in marginalized spaces anding having the diversity to push forward those conversations in a different and nuanced way, its a place where theres a better message, more inclusive. More people see themselves reflected in the campaign. I think to constantly have those tables that are diverse with people of color, women, then youre not conforming people, and we also have include the different identities as well pt ab you come to a more Robust Campaign that is more reflective of the american population. And people dont feel as tokenized when folks are talking to you. Over the course of three president ial cycles to just see the diversity that has changed among leadership and campaigns is so inspiring. So is it just encouraging more women to get involved in politics is what will make it so Campaign Managers or people who receive those jobs, its femalemale parity . I think so. And part of what were doing is building the pipeline. And we shout out for the black women fighting their way. If it hadnt been for the work they were doing we winter be here pushing to higher levels. Maybe one day were not all three sitting here as Campaign Managers, but we have to fight as well. Folks who are campaigning managers have done finance, organizationi organization, been political. Vicepresident biden wants a campaign that represents america and that means that all of our black people are not in the outreach department. All of your saturday folks are not working on your lt on latino x initiative. So i think the way that we break the barrier for more people to be in the position of Campaign Managers is we have to not only encourage women to get involved because were involved. The folks in charge of making the decision, who gets what job. Who is the finance director. The political director, the organizing director that theyre intentional about creating opportunities and influence. And folks often as were in communications, people often ask, why arent there more women of color and communication because youve got it give women of color these jobs, okay . Its not that were there. Its not that we havent here, its that people are not i go in for the interview and theyre like, i dont know, maybe the on do you know anyone who could. Yeah, do you know anyone who could do this . And i think that every woman in in room has had the experience of someone coming to them saying, well, do you know somebody that can . I can, so we have to speak up and say we want these jobs and that make our presence known, but in positions of power have to be about the business of truly walking the walk. Sorry, i mean, im coming to you, the campaigns being intentional and the buttigieg staff is paying the women at any point have you had to fight for equal pay . Absolutely. I dont think there is a woman who havent had that conversation. How do i ask for a raise and whats the time to have the conversation about expanding my responsibility or ive been doing the work behind the scene and not getting the credit for it. Its time for me to receive some of that credit. I think the campaign was very, very intentional, unless you motored the maup of the campaign. 53 women. Again, a lot of women running a lot of departments, you know, having that leadership, i think, also whens when it comes to that the campaign has to be or yebted in the right way. Its intentional and we woch those pieces and keeping track that were ending the equal pay graph in our campaign and showing how the administration would be run. A lot of our plans or oriented that way and how the campaign is run is an example how that would show up in the buttigieg administration. Last week howard stern interviewed Hillary Clinton and your colleague liz smith praised her for being candid. Stern has a Huge National audience and he said in the fall of 2016 that he repeatedly tried to get clinton to come on his show and he asked and asked, claiming he was a supporter that he could humanize her with the white men in the audience which is where she was lagging and her campaign turned him down. And simone, i know you worked for the other democrat in the primary. Seeing clinton last week, do you think you would have advised her to do that interview. Hindsight is 20 20. Obviously you would say you need to do that the howard stern interview. I dont think i would be the one to say, i think we should do howard stern. Were going to call howard up and get his question and im sure an above the board interview, come on now. But the interview was great. The interview was great, but to hear the Hillary Clinton that you saw in the interview is the one that was in the campaign. I think she was up against enormous things in the campaign, knowing her for her 25year career and ideas cemented about hadder and it was tough. I would say that we make decisions every single day in our campaign about and much to the chagrin of the nam media. Who vicepresident speaks to on the campaign trail. We prioritize speaking to local media because were out in iowa and storm lake, we want him to be on the storm lake news and so, i think, campaigns are making streak decisions about access and its easy to be critical when you have someone like donald trump who in 2016 was calling up the morning show and chitchatting. I dont want my candidate to chitchat for 20 minutes and we didnt know about it. Theres a balance. Would you put him on howard sten now . I dont know. He likes to go out and have a chitchat and we like to say hes the greatest politician in america and shines on a oneonone interview. Howard stern, we could do it all. And what about you, would you put buttigieg on . Our campaign has abouten very much the tied it access and giving media access. Its something im sure we would consider. Obviously given the comments that liz put out on twitter. So, i mean, the idea that howard stern is watching, im sure hell be right, right. But in reality, i think, you know, we dp go wherever it is. And beating donald trump, thats the focus. Weve gone on the breakfast club, but also, you know, opened our campaign bus for hours and hand and just completed one. This is about reaching voters, bottom line so i think, yes, thats something that we would consider. Valencia, what about you . Warren is the only female front runner. Its interesting wed consider a lot of factors in that. I think one of the things thats so worn to us is communicating to every voter what they listen to or watch. Its not only cnn or naibz. Ies woo shes done to kir mitt, West Virginia and rural mi mississippi on a campaign trail. She has a message that resonates with so many people even people that are unsuspecting of. Its easier to meet people where they are versus getting them to come to you. You put the factors into play, but you also have to, you know, stick to your values and ill leave it there. Elizabeth warren will not be going going on howard stern. Thats not what i said. [laughter] that was a very smart answer. So, another Big Development last week was senator harris resignation from the race. She was the only black woman candidate. What was going through your mind when you saw that news. Any black woman in a leadership position is someone not only do i look up to, someone who is going to break barriers for the year that i ha have, but in general to the plight of the black woman and shes only the third to run. So whether or not i worked for i would say i didnt work for her. As a black woman of politics removed from campaigning, its hard to see that, its hard to she that that could be the greatest accomplishment for a black woman. And we have a group text and we literally were like today is develop, really hard, but sending love to our friends who are also on the campaign. So its an interesting time to reconcile with folks before us have been fighting for diversity. Look at two women vote,and you cant vote without the strategies and now women candidates, so much diversion of thoughts and candidates and throughout all of the campaigns. So its a beautiful story, but it is disheartening and personally it hurt and it just sucks that billionaires can kick good women out of a campaign. It makes no sense that bloomberg can spend millions on ads and now harris is no longer in the race. We have to get the money out of politics especially when were talking to people who particularly black women to raise money, and especially when you have millionaires in the race. You were together when harris announced in january, correct . Sundance. We were at sundance. Living it up in park city. And we watched it. We went back to our room to watch it and you know, i love senator harris. I love her i love her sister maya. I consider them both mentors of mine and i was absolutely sad to see her go, but senator harris is a star. You know, i think i tweeted that day that her entry into this race and seeing her every day on the campaign trail out there meant so much to a lot of people across the country and myself included and i believe that now. Vicepresident biden tweeted and said shes a rising star and were excited to see what she does next. A lot of people are excited to see her in this potential senate trial, okay. But i think that i think that at the end this section is hilarious right here. I think at the end of the day that little girls all over america, whether they are black, whether they are of indian descent, whether theyre white little girls, if they look up and they can say that so many people, i, too, can run for president , that i could be a press secretary, an advisor, a pundit, supporter on the Campaign Trial and if this cycle taught me anything thus far, the enormusment an of diversity is so important. And so many people are seeing things that we didnt see ten years ago. On that point of young women seeing, like you in the roles that you are, what advice would you give to young women trying to break into politics and also these last few weeks, youve dealt with hatred and theres things with the job that you necessarily dont expect when you first go into it. Can you talk about that a bit . I mean, lets be clear, i think a lot of women know, any industry walking in the room what youre going to deal with. A lot of times folks take the agency and you cant make decisions, that sort of thing, and you know, its something that unfortunately you kind much come to expect. I think what you do is come in knowing what you do, being as confident as possible, you know, because you are there for a reason, right . You would not be where you are if you didnt work hard and you didnt deserve to be there. You are worthy enough for being in that space and you know, that for me has been a guiding principle. Ive always tried to follow my gut and thats why my career has led me to where its led me and i feel like busting up in the room and being as confident as possible and exactly who you are, you know, whether its me coming to a meeting in my Leather Jacket and combat boots with a nose ring and red hair, i feel its so incredibly important to be exactly who you are in order for you to be as confident as you need to be to continue to break barriers and smash ceilings and that fun stuff. Thank you. Thats a related [applause] related to that is whats the one thing that maybe you needed to understand about your job, and didnt understand until you actually were hands on. This is actually a reader question. From meredith in manhattan. One thing id like to say, clarify that again . Whats the one thing you didnt understand about your job you couldnt until you actually had the position. I cant say its particularly just on this the Warren Campaign, but every job there are things you dont know and you have to be open to learning ap the way to get through those accurate ly and open to the feedback, open to learning more and open to understanding. I knew walking into the Warren Campaign and this is actually why i wanted to go to the Warren Campaign. She has such intricate policies that are actually changing peoples lives from the wealth gaps and speaking to gender issues. Thats a challenge from talking about acts of abortion and policy all the time and the Foreign Policy and every day be ahead of it. If youre not confident, its not leslie a downfall. No one knows everything and no one is perfect. Getting more confidence and the willingness to grow has helped me. What you do for warren, you said centering people of color when youre in a campaign led by a white woman, but making sure that their voices are heard across our policies . Can you talk about yeah, i think thats something that our overall, you know, just part of my role is to help. How are we communicating about our chance for everyday people. And every single one of our glass is closing the gap. Having that conversation and that center at the core of who we are continued to help us shape the conversation and including people reflected in our policies in the position. Knee nina, you wanted to talk about that. We center and touch on different aspects of life. Some of our signature at douglas plan and agenda for black america is focused on different oohs inspect of everyday life. Whether its funding the National Endowment of the arts ap the stories that is around us, the reality of our founding, to funding minority Business Owners and ensuring that the federal government is paying back what was stolen from folks early on. Its a look at the different aspect of how our system has created these that the candidates are speaking to and fighting for every sing dl day. And thats the beautiful of the. And now do your job. I guess vicepresident biden would say a black agenda is an american agenda, a womans agenda. Were putting together policy and proposal, you cant have a good one if it doesnt center and affect women. You cant have a good Economic Policy if it does not speak to the realities of families of color. Black and brown families in america. And i think that frankly all the candidates in this race on the democratic side of the aisle are set out to do this cycle and i think its a beautiful thing. Id like to wrap things up with a lightning round. Well start at the end with you, simone and come towards me. Your jobs are demanding a question. What is the awn thing you cant live without on the campaign trail . My air pop. Nina . Oh, goodness, a mixture of black hair products. More than one. Yes, because iowa whether there drive my chair out. And my flonas because getting on the planes is not easy. One more for you guys. If your candidate is elected president , i know youve thought about this, and what association in the white house. No saying youre just focused on the campaign. Youve got to be honest. I am focused on the campaign and im focused on the campaign because the reality is, the reality is that female press secretary . Donald trump is a real threat to americans across this country and hes a real threat and joe biden got into this race because he recognized that. Charlottesville was an eflexion point for him and people said we were making a point for the primary and we were wrong. As the campaign has gone on our campaign has been underscored and wrofrp. Were not thinking about what the jobs they do. Speaking directly to the American People. Some folks on this stage dont need to clarify what their Health Care Plan is and we look forward to the debate. Would you like to answer the question, what position . Again, im with simone on the daytoday. Seriously, with the person in the white house right now changes everything and you constantly have to keep your eye on him and also focus on what youre hearing on the trail from the American People and daytoday. A quick final word. I mean, honestly its the daytoday, but the reality is what senator warren is working on. The fact that we cant be promising billionaires and people who have negotiated something behind closed doors about the jobs theyll have in the administration. We have to get donald trump out of the white house and right now weve got to get to a nominee and then win this general election and one day ale all be working together. There with an as fundraiser. Were definitely out of time. Thank you for sharing your time and your experiences its been an illuminating conversation and it got spicy there at the end. I love it. Were reminded of the discrimination of women face in politics, especially women of color so thank you, everyone, and really quick, ive definitely out of time, but happy birthday to simone sanders. [applause] all right, thank you. Thank you. Please welcome to the stage political california playbook author carla marinucci. [applaus [applause] good morning, its so great to be here at the politico women summit from the west coast. Do we have west coast in the mouse, anyone . Im the author of californias political play book and im here to talk about our great panelists a big event from the west coast, the next democratic primary debate. And carrie from politico and tim, our chief correspondent. Let me tell you, the debate is going to be livestreamed on politico and pbs news hour and social media and platforms and also broadcast on pbs station wide. Were only ten out. The pressure is on. Lets talk about this. Theres been six of 12 democratic primary debates. How are you all, give us some insight. How are you all going to make this more news worthy, more relevant, different from whats come before . Carrie, you want to start . Yeah, first of all, its great to be here. You know, i think what were going to draw from is frankly the strength of this panel that weve put together. We have three great moderators from pbs, Judy Woodruff and as well as tim alberta. These are four individuals who bring different experiences to the table and what were doing right now is intensely focusing on questions. What strikes me, ive been sort of working on this for almost 10 months now, this is a long process to get a debate and prepare for the debate. What weve been doing since the last dee is sitting in a room with pbs and with my theme looking at a very, very wide range of questions. Weve been receiving thousands of questions, frankly, some readers from my experts in my news room. We have 300 people in the news room including many who are deeply steeped in the minutia of policy making, climate change, health care, tech policy and everything you can imagine and trying to hone, what is frankly the story we want to tell over two hours, not that were telling a story, but its almost like putting together a story and were both thinking about what hasnt been covered, what has been covered in past debates, whats in the moment now. Very importantly, we want to reveal something about these candidates. Who they are, their governing philosophy and character and have a nice mix of both pinning people down on policy, but also getting them to open up and share something about themselves. So thats sort of the broad take. Youre going to be up there asking the questions, millions are going to be watching. The spotlight is on you. And when you talk about so many of the issues that you want to get to. I hope i dont screw it up. [laughter] first and foremost, well, thank you also for having me specifically. Thank you me letting me in here. I tonight i didnt know what i would be allowed. My mom had a pink room, the a boys outnumbered. There were no soccer balls with, football, no nothing. This struck me so look, i think there are a couple of things we can do to try to be distinctive. I think at this sage in the campaign, i for one am sorting streaming at the defgs when theyre doing the press gaggle and sole of the debates. What theyre talking about is abstract and were at a stage in the campaign i dont want to hear from your white paper, id like to hear you talk in concrete concerns how you would relate given the realities of washington and the realities of this country and the polarization thats sort of gripped the u. S. For the better part of two decades now. So there are an awful lot of things that we can explore in a much more tangible way, i think, than we have been exflooring up exploring. There are seasons to a campaign and i think as were approaching the beginning of the voting season, you know, obviously weve got the back stop of the holidays behind us here and when people come out of that holiday break. Theyre going to be getting ready to make up their mind. Who they want to be the standard bearer of the Democratic Party and i think to make is that decision,they need more concrete than up to this paint. The questions are media scrutiny. How are you going to decide. Is there something you want to get to or theres an intense amount of secrecy. And not reveal two folks that are just hear and would like to know. My counterparts would cut off my head. I think its fair to say, orb, we want to be senator, short st stop, we want to ask pointed questions and follow up. Its a challenging environment. You have two hours and i know from watching, what i would want to do if i was crafting the debate, so its all coming to bear in this process and we dont want to retread on ground thats covering and something new. Weve had shakeups in the race. The Kamala Harris withdraw and candidates have until this week to determine whether they qualify. Are you bracing sore any last minute changes . No, not really. So andrew yang could still qualify at the last minute here, but otherwise, i think the stage is pretty much set. Congresswoman gabbard announced on twitter that she would not be participating, even if she does qualify. So you know, take that for what its worth. And i think what you have there, you will have a stage now that have only two women on stage. Obviously, not not on stage, its the first time well have frankly, a field of candidates looking similar. Why were in a 24 7 news cycle on cable, on the web and every place else, why do the debates matter . Whats the really they have in the process . Thats a good question. So the currency of a president ial campaign. Of any campaign, but as well a president ial campaign is a moment. Right . Its the moments that we remember from a campaign that really break through the noise and especially given the nature of the 24 7 news cycle and how inundated we all are. We have more information coming at us than ever before, but we sort of. Less, which is problematic. When you have a president ial campaign spanning the better part of two years as most have done, its imperative for the candidates to break through that noise and have a moment. I mean, you know, if you look at the 2016 campaign, we all remember marco rubios moment in New Hampshire where for him it was a negative, obviously and he so badly stumbled, it knee copped the moment. And thats the you actually let them have a debate and lets not answer questions in sound bites and give talking points. Let them have a robust discussion with one another and often times when you can sort of facilitate that and maybe instigate in the right way from the where im sitting then you have one of those moments. Are you looking back at historic moments . This could be make or break and goes for the history books. Are you looking at hoping for a moment where theres conflict and the great sound bite that goes into history . What are your thoughts . A little bit. Its a delicate balance. I want to be substantive. I want to make sure that this is a Job Interview and im privileged to sit in a position where i can ask questions of someone who has a really, really important job, affects me and my family and my kids. So i think we need to drill down on the substance and i think there are important substantive disagreements between these folks instead of trying to tear at that scab and get them to flesh out the disagreements. Some of these folks are more guarded than others, but again, were approaching the point in the campaign theres a new level of urgency that begins to set in for a candidate that understands unless they make a move and make it quickly theyre not going to be viable as of february. Were going to have to leave the Womens Leadership Forum hosted by politico, the u. S. Senate is about to come in. Its part of cspans mission to give you gavel to gavel coverage. A vote expected at 2 15 eastern. And cspan2. The presiding officer the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Barry black, will lead the senate in prayer