States, and her time serving under president s george w. Bush and donald trump. This is 35 minutes. Where sadies, lets begin with your story. You came to the u. S. When and why . Mercedes i was born in miami, florida. My parents fled the castro regime. My father at the time was in prison under fidel castro. He was a political prisoner. Fought to help free cuba, when obviously the dictatorship came in in the late 1950s. Jail, and ite in was a trying moment for my family. States,e to the united and it was one of those things where they started with nothing. Father, being the entrepreneur and hard worker he he started working as a carpenter and electrician. He made ends meet for his family. It was those lessons with my father, who would constantly remind me of the importance of reagan and democracy in america, and how we have a responsibility to preserve these values. This is something i talked to my kids about as well. Steve your parents are still alive . E mercedes they are. They are proud americans. If you asked my father today, would you go back to cuba . He would say no, i am a proud american. He loves this country. He loves the opportunities that this country has given him, being able to come in and grow his business. To raise his family. In my family, he was one of the earliest supporters of President Trump. Tell us, you know, he just speak his mind, and i respect my command have to say in the direction he wants to take the country. A long time, this country is going in the wrong direction. Our freedoms are green constrained, and that it is important for us to make sure that we have the ability to freely speak our minds, to encourage debate and discussion. Those are topics we discussed always in our family. Steve how many brothers and sisters did you have . Mercedes i have an older brother here in virginia, and a younger sister in miami. We wear a very tightknit family. I did not learn to speak english until i learned it at seven, actually. Spanish was my first language. My mother was a stay at home mom, very traditional. Endless hoursed to ensure that he could provide for his family. Was, nole thing government handouts. I will work hard, and i will do what i can to try and provide. That is what he did. He stressed the importance of education. Finish theould not university of havana because the government in cuba took it over. Not able to was finish college. So for my parents, it was, we want you to go to a good school and go to college and do the best you can. It was because of their sacrifices and their love of country and their love of their children and family that they pushed us to do these things. To move ahead and speak and figure out our passions. Steve tell us his story. I was in prison . What was it like . Mercedes my father was a Small Business owner. He was very successful at building several businesses in cuba when fidel castro came into power. Basically, the government started taking over private companies. They took away my fathers company. They would basically a sign him to work in a particular position. This is the over expansion of what you would see in a dictatorship, a nationalization of industry. My father sensed that this was going in the wrong direction. He joined a group of men basically to overthrow the cuban government. Assassinatet to castro, they were caught. They executed several of his closest friends, and imprisoned several others my father among them. He tells the story of the one man who came up to him, and the man looked at my father and asked what would happen. My father knew exactly what would happen. He said that they are going to execute you. And they did. Those are the atrocities of what we see in dictatorships. The atrocity of where democracy does not flourish. And so, i think those lessons in my father was a quiet basically in solitary confinement for months. They would put him in a room naked, very little food or water. So that is what happened with so many of those who ended up in those horrific jails. One thing it taught my father is complete and utter strength, the power of faith, and believing that you will persevere and survive. Jail, heame out of the never looked back. One of the lines he always used on me is that every time he sayd get stuck, he would something that means go forward. Do not get stuck. A solution tond the obstacle or whatever the problem is. That is my father, and to this day he does not look back. Hen has he has grown older, helps us to see what tomorrow will bring. But he always reminds us very clearly that democracy is andile, america is great, you always need to fight for your country. That is why for me as a young girl, i knew i would go into Public Service. Because it calling, was something i wanted to do to could remind americans of how fragile our democracy is and how important it is that we value the freedoms we have in this country that do not exist in many places across the world. The opportunities that men and women and children have in america, that is something that is so unique to america and what is special about this nation. Steve did he talk about that growing up . Mercedes no. He did not sharing he did not start sharing his stories. My father was quiet and he would not share stories about the human rights abuses and what he suffered in the jails. Older, he opened up more. I think it was because he thought we were ready to understand the pain he went through. But he made a very strong commitment to the version of mercedes in the catholic faith, promising that he would name his daughter mercedes and always have a statue of her in his office if you made it out alive. I am the product of that. First daughter, mercedes. He still has the same statue. Has had it for over 40 years. In my office, i have the statute overseer ofis the Political Prisoners. Steve what does that mean to you . Being named after that figure . Mercy means compassion. Mercedes. There is a part of me that carries this sense of duty. Duty to my nation. To helping my generation to understand why we are here. Why we are in america and we have to preserve its greatness. It sounds similar to why it wasnt easy yes when i asked to join the trump administration, because it was the sense of understanding the exceptional nature of our country and preserving that. That my sense of duty is to ensure that we do preserve these freedoms, and that we go back to the constitution and the bill of rights. Ourand think about what Founding Fathers fought for, and that we are able to continue these traditions. Discuss, to debate and even if you do not agree with the other side. Forave to have room and findls to disagree a better solution in terms of policies and better ways to do things to help americans have opportunities. Steve have your parents or you been to cuba . Mercedes i went as a little girl of seven. By do member being at the boardwalk in cuba. All of my family is in the United States. What i remember clearly was a sense of family, although there was a sense of fears a child because i remember my father saying to be careful, that there will be soldiers at the airport. There was definitely a sense of just being able to be with your family, of going to these special places where your chair married and grew up. I have positive memories of getting frba in ijoles negros. For the cubans, they understand what they lost. They lost everything. My father told me that you pretty much leave everything behind. Think about it. All of your belongings. If you are lucky, you may be able to take your wedding ring. It is something we do not understand that much because we are so blessed in this nation. Having families be split apart is difficult as well. My father tells the story that when he left to come to the United States, the one thing he carried with him was an atlas. It is one of those moments in your life when you realize that so many people have had to leave their homeland, whether because , that or the government they have to start again and they do not know what tomorrow may bring. But it talks about the greatness of america that it opens its arms to individuals who are coming here legally, to get through a process to ensure that they can contribute and be part of this wonderful culture we live in. Steve when and why was your father released . Mercedes in cuba, they would want to get Political Prisoners out of the country. They do not necessarily want to reorganize in cuba to cause a Resistance Movement or to try and take down the government again. My father was a prisoner who worked hard. He ended up becoming a mini project manager in the jail, because he is a very counted man. He is smart. To be helpful instead of just not be helpful, so he brought in organized groups and basically led them in many ways. There was definitely the sense that they did not want these Political Prisoners back in their society. Eisenhowerre in the executive office building, one of the more magnificent buildings in washington, d. C. No stranger to this building during the george w. Bush administration. Honor of i had the serving as director specialty media or the office of Media Affairs. I was his spokesperson for spanishlanguage media, religious media, trade publications, and i love my time here under president bush. I made lifelong friends and that my husband in this building, so it is a special place to come back to. , andemories you share here it was obviously a united team. To push the president s message out to these outlets that, you know, back in the day we did not have twitter or facebook, so it is amazing how it is revolutionary. The same time, serving as one of the president s spokespeople. Steve different president , different role. The roles are all unique and special in their own way. My blessing has been to meet a whole new group of individuals and to really form a team. And again, the same directive in terms of pushing the president s agenda and working together to ensure that the message is amplified where it needs to go across the country. It has been special. It has been 15 years, and so you come with a different set of eyes. A different set of experiences that you bring to the table. I did tell one of my colleagues, she asked how the transition was, and i said it was like i never left the place. I came right back in and said here is where the offices, here is where the so it was familiar to me. Times,find is that both it is about the honor of being able to work with talented people and do great things for this country. Steve your husband matt is no stranger to the cspan audience. How did you meet . We met in Richard Nixons old office, which is eob180. Steve Hideaway Office . Mercedes i think so. We used to have these meetings, and matt was sitting in the back. He had these great cowboy boots and a suit. I said, who is that after dresser . He has to be from texas. Form, fullmap of sarcastic remarks to make the place a little less fell with tension, we had an opportunity to talk at that moment. It took a while for him to realize there was this sweet girl over it Media Affairs who like 10 and cared for him. To see if he would ask her on a date. Eventually, he did. We hit it off instantly. It was really 9 11 that changed both of our lives. We were both in the white house, and when the planes hit the twin towers and we got word that another plane had hit the pentagon, it was obviously a terrifying moment. Secret Service Started running down the hallway saying we need you to leave immediately. Really, they were screaming. And we were exiting the building. We went to two separate locations. Cell phone reception meant we could not reach each other. ,att told one of the guards have you found mercy . You look everywhere until you find her. It was a sad moment when late at night we connected again. And ite me to the city, looked like we had been invaded. We had to pick up my car. The pentagon is on fire. That weoth just knew love each other, and that we needed to spend the rest of our lives together. So eight months later, we got married. E have five children five girls. They range from 14 to five. So i have to say that my work is my escape sometimes, but it has been a blessing to raise them. Remind them that they do not live the normal life because their parents talk politics all the time. One of our girls has restricted us to sometimes saying it is a nopolitics zone. We engage them in having these discussions and having the debates and talking about issues that matter to our country, and really informing and educating our children to let them know they have a responsibility to our nation and the economy and be part of this amazing american fabric. 9 11, didh regard to your then boyfriend understand how fundamentally this would change america . Mercedes we both understood. 9 11,mber the night of being very scared. Saying what are we going to do . He said we will go back into the white house tomorrow and show the terrorists we are not backing down . In that moment, we knew the severity of what it just happen in our country. Of the grave threat we were facing. We had two options. Back away, or say we are going back into the battle and be there. That was a powerful moment for us, and under president bushs leadership, there were critical moments during that time when we knew we had to provide support that he needed to lead us. Steve where did you go to college . Mercedes i got my masters at George Washington university. Steve why did you come to washington . Mercedes i felt i had outgrown miami. I wanted to work in politics, and it was clear that that was where i wanted to be. I was managing a state senators campaign. I always loved working on campaigns. It was one of my favorite activities to do both during and after college. Quayleed on the bush campaign. I grew up wanting to continue doing that. Coming here to washington with the ability to get into Public Service and be able to work on what i love, my passion was Public Service and politics and having discussions on issues that mattered to me and my family. It was natural that washington would be the next step. It has been a wonderful decision, because of course meeting my husband came out of it. Steve what was your first job here . Withdes i work congressman lincoln diazbalart. Back into worked in government relations. I got pulled into the president ial campaign in 2000. That was a launching pad to working on the inaugural committee, working Media Affairs, and it was a wonderful i loved working on the president ial campaign, and i knew this was what i wanted to do. Aalways thought i would be policy person, but i ended up falling into the communication world. That is when you take complicated policy and simplify it so that we can all understand it. Been aink that has wonderful trek so far. It has been 17 years since the 36 day recount in your home state of florida. What do you remember about that . What were you thinking . Mercedes those are the moments that that is a great question. I was down in miami during the remember there being a lot of organization happening around that time in terms of counting the chads. Do you remember that . Can you believe it . Have a greater appreciation of the fact that in the United States, there is what we call the peaceful transition of government. Vice president , al gore conceded. It is something you do not necessarily see and all governments, so i think it is an appreciation of how strong our how strong the, government can be in terms of ensuring that we could have a peaceful transition of power. And i think that that sends a powerful message to the world, and it was a trying time for our country to find a healing moment and say, ok, president bush is president and this is how it ended up. Mercedesll we ever see schlapps name on the ballot . Not anytime soon. I take it day by day. I feel fortunate that i can serve for President Trump and be part of his team. It is an honor to serve as president. I think President Trump has a clear vision of where he wants to take america, and he spends every day ensuring that he is listening to americans and can talk about issues that matter. That we create opportunities for all americans. For the forgotten man woman and , woman and child to be uplifted. In terms ofoing unleashing our economy is so powerful and so strong. It is something i am so proud to be a part of. With five girls, there are five different personalities. Any politicians in the family . Is very my oldest cpacved with matt in the world. She is starting a Constitution Club at her high school. She is very engaged in political discussion. She will write up my talking points while im in the car. There is definitely an interest there. I am convinced that my third child will join the opposite party, but i will love her anyways. Steve what does that mean . Get to work on the longterm Strategic Planning for the president. We are looking deep into 2018 already. Defininglling out and the roles for his initiatives for next year. This takes into account policy discussions that are happening here in the white house. Legislative discussions are also happening here, as well as the Communications Component of it. We build messages around key president ial initiatives. We work our way towards state of the union, and what inspiring message the president will give. I have enjoyed it greatly because i am able to pull together different talents from toices, to work with them look into the president s vision for 2018 and beyond. Steve we know that infrastructure is going to be a big part of the state of the union. It will be a very narrow senate, with 51 republicans and 49 democrats. How does that fall in with what the president wants to achieve . Isve with trump, there trump speed and washington speed. He wants fast results. He wants us to push the ball forward. Look at tax cut legislation. But thet only historic, mere fact that they got it done in what would be one cycle is impressive. It took president reagan beyond a year to get that done. Infrastructure is more complex in the sense that you had that legislation that would go through nine committees in the house and senate. Obviously, it would require bipartisan support. President trump wants to continue to work with both parties and ensure that infrastructure is something that crosses party lines. It provides an opportunity to talk about these Critical Issues for state and local communities. We are tal