Again as our nominee says. You want to be part of that. Im grateful for you being here and spending your time here. I want to talk a little bit about Republican Leadership. Those of you who lived in michigan a long time you understand this. I mean we had a lost decade where we floundered. Were on the bottom of every list you wanted not to be on the bottom of that list or the top of the good list. Were at the wrong end of those lists. Under Republican Leadership, republican house, senate, and governor, just look at the benefits. Our unemployment under 5 . When is the last time you could talk to one of your kids about unemployment being under 5 in michigan. Ottawa county, where i represent, 2. 9 . They cant find people to do the work. Were turning the state around. It takes a lot of effort and a lot of time and Republican Leadership. The state gained more private sector jobs than any other great lakes state, over 400,000. That is not what, we dont create jobs. We just set the atmosphere in taxation and regulation so people are encouraged to risk their capital, get return on their investment. They see that in michigan. Thats a great place to do it. [applause] and i can tell you, i know you believe it too, america will be greater under Republican Leadership, right . Isnt that right . [applause] so it is our responsibility as a michigan delegation to spread that love and information our other delegate friends here. Ohio, similar, michigan, similar under a comeback. All of things were doing under Republican Leadership to make that so. We need to spread that were encouraging the rest of the delegation. So it is important to support the republicans. Let me stop for just a minute and come back and talk about the state of michigan. I want you to keep this phrase in your head, six teen, equals 18, equals 20. Okay. In 2016, you have 25 house members that are up, seats are up. We need your help making sure we have republicans to come back and we have majorities in 2018, 19 out of the 27 senators are term limited. We have to make sure we keep the michigan senate. If we keep the governorship in the 2020, we get to draw the lines again next decade. That is why it is important. We have to retain those majorities to have the opportunities to draw the lines, to keep progress going for michigan. You all will be invested, lock the doors, make the phone call, write the check, put up the yard sign, all the stuff you need to do to make sure we retain republican majorities. I know youre up for the task. So a decade of recession or more has put us in this spot. The gains have been great and dramatic and i mentioned some of them but how many of you actually feel it for your family . Almost everybody you know has a job. Right . Maybe not the one they want but they have a job. As opposed to number of years ago, our kids and grandkids and our friends were going to other states because opportunity was greater. Were creating opportunity and having a great time doing it. I started to talk about what else i wanted to talk to you about this morning, what is heavy in our minds is safety and security of our country. As we think about that were concerned for our families and concerned for ourselves and concerned for our country. Before i go on and make a couple comments before the governor comes here and i thought i would pause and pray for a minute. Lets ask gods blessing on the country and our state. Remember a number of years ago when we were struggling, we were in a Small Group Bible study, representative fulton sheen stopped the group said, you know what . We need to pray for gods mercy on michigan. I think we need to stop and pray for gods mercy on the United States. If you would pray for me for a few minutes. Our great heavily father, were concerned as a country, concerned as Leaders Within our party and our family that this country is under attack, spirit allly, physically, emotionally. We ask for your guidance, ask for your care. We ask for your comfort. And as were pausing today, we ask that for our families as well. We love this country. We know that if we turn our face to you, you will bless this country. So please do that. And as were walking through our day, as were going on, going out to take on the convention, i want you to walk alongside of us, to befriend us, walk behind us, to encourage us. Be above us, to watch over us, beneath to us carry us when were having a difficult time. The most importantly to be inside of us so that we reflect your love as we go out on to a sinful and broken world and try to encourage your love for other folks. All these things we ask in jesuss name, amen. All right. Dont see that the governors arrived yet. Didnt get the high sign. So i get a few more minutes, all right . Theyre turning cameras on now. Now its bad. Normally i would have in my pocket, and i forgot it this morning, i take the folder out the governor has and unfold it of the 1000 things weve done in michigan to make it better. That list is now up to almost 1800 different things. We have a number of folks that have served as representatives and are serving as representatives and senators in this room and they all took those very, very courageous votes to make michigan a better place. I want to thank them for their hard work. You dont get to be the leader of a caucus without folks that want to put you there and help them make decisions and encourage you. I want to thank them for doing that. A number are in the room today. We have a great opportunity for this state to show what a state on turnaround does. Gave kasich has done that here in ohio as well. How many of you remember when we were talking about the 1. 8 billion in deficit . Yeah . We now have many are 3 4 of a billion dollars in our piggybank. That is the stuff we do, right . Pay our bills, pay our bills, prioritize our spending and make sure that were investing in things that are going to make michigan that great state where people want to come, want to invest and put their time and effort in. Ron will take a picture. You want me to stop to take a picture. [inaudible] thanks. Too much shine on there from the thing . Okay . All right. Great. So the governor has not quite here yet. Im okay to take a couple questions. How about that . Anybody got a question or two . Yes, sir. We all have to go back to our districts go over the activity what is happening in lansing, tell us how we address the question of spending far more than the previous administration, growing the government, acting more like democrats, how can we get people encourage renewing the vote the representatives that are supposed to be reducing government. Sure. Lets start with when you actually pay down debt, it comes on the expense side. When our expenses go up, is because were paying down debt. We paid almost a billion dollars of debt. Taxes are going up too. They have changed. They have changed, no doubt, no doubt. We had to make some really difficult decisions because of the previous administration. Im not casting blame. The governor doesnt either but, spending and prioritizing, make sure education, public safety. We put more cops, state police back in these very, very dangerous areas. We had on the fbi list the most dangerous cities, michigan had five, five cities in the top 10, most dangerous. We put a lot of effort into public safety, all of those things. And do i like doing the things that we had to do . Absolutely not. Absolutely not. But theyre necessary. You do them in your family. You prioritize your spending f you need to do something, maybe cant afford the cadillac but you buy the chrysler 200. You do the things you need to do to make sure it works well. Now as we continue to do these things and put money away in savings, do those types of things, well have ability to look attacks structure, regulatory structure. One of my goals is to get us out of the pension system. We dont do well in the pension system. I point out to you when they changed that for representatives senators, most state employees, we saved nearly 3 billion. That debt would be on top of what were talking about today. So we prioritize the spending and we do it the correct way. Dont spend into oblivion or use the credit card to make house paints. That is a good question, by the way. It is difficult. It is difficult. Leading is difficult. It is challenging. You dont get everything you want. You dont get it perfectly. If it was, you would run, sir and you would want to do that. We voted for tax reduction on roads and we didnt get it. Here is the other thing. [applause] the opportunity probably eluded us 20 years ago when they did the taxation difference on gasoline, they didnt include inflation escalator. If they had done that, we would have that 900 to a billion dollars. So a policy decision further back didnt work out very well. Now we put that inflation factor in there. Were going to invest because we need to make sure goods and Services Travel on our roads safely and get to the right place so we have ability to do all of those things so. Yes, sir. All the unemployment is still low, because there are more people on welfare now and entitlements and things like that . No. Actually, we are one of the states now that put the limits on for your welfare benefits. Youre ablebodied gone through the system, after four years you no longer get benefits. Weve been saving that money using that too to put in education. Nationally can i say that . I dont know. But in michigan i know that has gone down dramatically, dramatically and i think joe, are you in here . Joe, this is your bill, right . This is fourth year it has taken effect. We have some of the lowest people, lowest welfare rates in the great lakes states right now. John . [inaudible] you and your group down in lansing. What issues do you look forward to tackling and do you view as biggest issues on your agenda. The questions what are issues we will be tackling when we get back . What i think michigan needs to be, beacon obviously in the in the midwest and states. We have new technologies coming forward, Autonomous Vehicles, all other things, new and different economy what weve been doing before. We have to be able to have infrastructure to do some of those things. Those are cool new jobs, if youre figuring out Autonomous Vehicles and other services around that, keep the brains of that here, more likely to keep Auto Industry and manufacturing here which is a big part of michigan. So forwardthinking things. So we look inviting to companies and Tech Companies switch, you know. Icloud in michigan. Grand rapids, michigan, things like that. Were looking very heavily at pension reform to get the rest of the pensions out and put them on defined contribution which i think is terrific, the way we should go. There are a couple of things. We have a fair amount of things to do around auto no fault. We have some of the highest Auto Insurance rates. We dont agree how to get that done yet but a lot of work to do around that. David . Question, how do you justify Medicaid Expansion and what is that going to cost the state in future. I dont have those numbers with me, david, but, i think the governor undercalculated how many people would take advantage of it. What i do know in the future, when people are healthier, theyre not going to access going to Emergency Care and things like that. So i dont know the numbers. Whether theyre healthier they will not go to the emergency room which is the highest cost care that we have. How do you justify passing obamacare and Medicaid Expansion. We passed Medicaid Expansion because it is part of medicare. We wouldnt say it is part of obamacare but i understand your point. One more. Yes, senator. The state committee passed a resolution couple of months back to put a halt to Refugee Resettlement coming into michigan and im wondering where is the legislation on this and what are you guys doing to put a halt to this, and stop inflow of all of these folks coming in. Well the governor sat down with the leadership, said look, they dont have a good way to vet those folks coming in. Well do as much as we can to make sure we dont get a flood of them. So there is a few coming in. I dont know we legislated anything but as the executive has said well not bring in people we cant vet. He has that working through colonel of the state police and other folks and i cant say exactly what it is he is doing to do that but i know he is very, very concerned about it and doesnt want to be overrun by folks in this state. So he is very, very concerned about [inaudible]. I dont know when they are going to lead. My time is up. Appreciate so much youre here. Thanks for what youre doing for michigan. Appreciate it so much. Thank you. [applause] okay. So i think weve learned one thing from our dellgation meetings. That governors really cant get to places on time. What do you think . Governor christie, governor kasich, where are they . So how many of you loved arlans party yesterday . [applause] well that is not good enough for the type of party. How many of you loved arlans party yesterday . [applause] when i, i love that beatles fan, are i in of you beatles fans . [applause] i thought i would share a little beatles story in my life. Im not old enough to really been around during the beatles mania, my grandpa George Romney, do i in of you remember George Romney . One thing he did, each grandchildren turned 12, he had about 26 grandchildren, maybe 23, as a group, any grandchildren were turning 12 he would take us on a monthlong trip around this country to show us his love his love for america. I went with my two cousins, tag and brent romney, and my brother george. I was pretty much tortured the whole time. However we traveled from washington, d. C. , to banf, to yellowstone, to yosemite, across the nation in a van eating egg salad sandwiches with pickles in them. He really wanted to instill in in us the profound love for this country. How the beatles tie in, my grandfather only brought one tape for the car, is was mormon tabernacle choir. We poor kids were dying. We were like, we can not listen to the mormon tabernacle choir one more time. So when we got to utah, we had this aunt, aunt ruth think. And i didnt know her very well. But as we were leaving, she passed us a tape and it was the beatles. Just beg him. I bet he will let you play it. And we just, barda, that is what we called George Romney. You have to let us listen to the beatles. We listened to the beatles the whole rest of that trip. Yesterday, whenever i go to events where i hear the beatles i think of that trip. I think also about the love that all of us have in our families for this country. We all grew up with those types of stories. Something that we remember when we decided, or we came to that profound love for this great, unique, special, nation. And, we, i know you all have it. Because you wouldnt be here if you didnt. You wouldnt go knock doors and make calls and talk to random strangers and give your time if you didnt care so much about this country. And our state. And i certainly have that too. It was such a great experience for me. And i wanted to just thank arlan for letting me relive that a little bit yesterday. The other thing he did he sped a lot. Do any of you speed . He was a very scary person to drive with. You never want to drive with him. But everywhere we got pulled over, if we ever got pulled over, which we did, he would say, yes, im governor George Romney from the state of michigan. Most of the times it got him out of the tick contest. But not every time. Another thing, im stretching. I did this yesterday. The other thing is, he was given at one point in his life a little flimsy piece of paper that gave him a lifelong pass to mcdonalds to get a drink, a hamburger and fries, okay . Only my grandpa would go laminate that pass, okay . [laughter] and he laminated it and tucked it in his wallet. Everywhere we went around the country, we went to mcdonalds. There was no other eating option. It was always mcdonalds. And he made sure he got his free drink and his free fries and his free hamburger. Almost every time the manager, the person at the window would look at it, and then we would have the manager come to the window, and they would look at it, finally they would give in because they had never seen anything out of it. My dad, that is the one thing we asked for when he passed, where is the lam minute nated mcdonalds card . That is the only thing we wanted. I dont know where it is. I think my brother george has that. I will just share George Romney stories because he was a profound influence in my life. Also when he turned 80 he was not a flashy guy. There was nothing flashy about him. He had a watch he kept together with bind every binder clip, okay. He never wore fancy clothes. You would never think this was the former governor of michigan. At one point we did a barda fashion show. All the grandchildren put on shirts he had been wearing for 40 years. He didnt think that was very funny but we thought it was funny. One of them is framed in our cottage in canada. It is faded but we call it barda wear. He did when he was 80 years old he took us all to washington, d. C. But it was an amazing formative experience for us. So just as we are here today and we are here this week, and its fun to party and have fun. I know some of us are in a healing face. I know we are not all there yet and thats okay. Thats okay. But i know something that we all have in common. We care about this country. What we are doing is a profound privilege. Think about what we are doing. We are nominating the next president of the United States. In a time when our country is in profound turmoil. Hope we have a leader has taken us down a treacherous path. We are the people who are going to right the ship. [applause] this is a privilege. It is an honor. I feel so grateful to be here with all of you. I feel this special mantle that we all have on us. So as we are coming together and as we are working together, i know we are not all there. But how do we get the people there who are not there yet . Isnt my point in the face and screaming at them . Not. Weve got to give them hugs, right . I dont mean that but talking about and being respectful. Because i know that once we see that first debate between Hillary Clinton and donald trump, and he talked to about where shes going to lead this nation and the failures in her record, that we saw highlighted so eloquently last night with that mother from benghazi, the mother of sean smith. To jubilee what she said, she said im a grandma. Im a mother, and this was my son. And you wont give me the truth. That is wrong. Idq cant give me the truth, you did not deserve to be the leader of our country. [applause] so were going to get everybody around the unaware not all there yet but i appreciate all of you being here and getting so much about our state and our country. And i stalled long enough. And here he is. Lets give him a warm michigan welcome. [applause] tell you what thank you. I left, it took us well over an hour to give you. But maybe what we should have done is just let you come from and barbara. It wouldve been closer than it is. I hope youre enjoying yourself, all of you. I have to tell you that yesterday i had a great opportunity to meet the michigan troopers. You know, they were dressed in their blue and i told him, i said, i talk to urban meyer since the game is in columbus this year, we will spot you three points beginning of the game. But they are just such incredible i got you. Im not going to forget Michigan State either because ive such a great time. [applause] we have michigan and Michigan State back to back. But listen, i wanted to tell you, the troopers, a number of them, in fact i saw the colonel in charge and it was really great to see him. And then i went out on the street and all of the troopers, part of the motorcycle, motorcycle court was out there and they all got off their motorcycles and we took some pictures and it was just great. And, of course, there isnt anything that grinds more or saddens us more to see, think about this, have the police show up to try to save us, protect us from something and somebody is there with a gun, a sniper to shoot and kill our police officers. Its amazing to me. Of course of being part of this state and the security and everything ive had an opportunity to speak to a number of the troopers, not just ours, but we have an unprecedented number of troopers that if come from all over, all over the country. In fact, even california has come and that was to a degree a little bit difficult because they are some of the best, and they were concern in california about what if something happens in california and we have our best in ohio. But apparently ahead of the troopers in california said i gave my word and theyre coming and they are here. What i believe is that if you spend your life or you commit a big chunk of your life to protecting and serving another individual, then i believe that the scripture holds true, that for those who work in service of another, the reward will be enormous. And ive had an opportunity to tell a lot of Law Enforcement that in the last couple weeks. I get to meet once again with families who lose somebody in more. And i meet one on one with the families. And its really tough but it is an assignment that i think is really important. I lost my mother and father in 1987 to a drunk driver. And i went through a long, long process of grieving, finding my faith, and recovering. So i feel to some degree that when i see people who go through this terrible black tunnel, and i know there are people here who have experienced this, one little pin prick of light when tragedy hit your family. I feel that when im in a room with his family, and maybe even when i talk to the troopers or whatever, im absolutely convinced that the lord will give them a big crown for what they do. I just happen to believe it. [applause] so anyway, its been a real honor to be able to meet these folks come and particular your folks in michigan. I want to tell you that, i want to be here today because i had such a great time being in michigan. It started, i do remember if it was a Shopping Center in detroit. I remember walking in the place was absolutely jampacked. Everybody was so nice. Theres that thing, what is it, michigan nice maybe is what they say. I can or do a little bit about michigan, but i never really spent a lot of time in michigan. And i just have absolutely fallen in love with your communities and with your folks. I ask them, you know, i was in, was at grand valley, pete . This, with all those students come and unbelievable experience at grand valley. And then i went to lansing, and we had the most Incredible Group of young people. And look, i just want you all to understand something, particularly when im with the young people. Folks, i dont want anything. Ive had an unbelievable career. When i finish my next couple years, i will have Held Public Office for 30 years. I was [applause] it so remarkable i was elected to the state senate. I was 26. My mother and father, they came from pittsburgh over when i won on election night. My dad carried mail, and im a 26 year old ohio state senate, the youngest in the history of the state. Served four years, went to congress and got to spend a lot of time with my dear friend pete. And it was a great experience. I spent 18 years there, and most of you know we built a team. We balanced the budget. We reform the pentagon. Unbelievable. Totally unbelievable. And a lot of time, folks, theres no surprise here, i fight with a lot of people. But you dont know what it was like to try to balance the budget. You dont know how much truth to power needed to be said when you reform the military. It aint easy, so you either, thank god i had a mother that raised, when several model for me was always going to say the things that she thought, and deliver. Then i went on for 10 years and had a great time and never thought i would get back into politics. And then to be and get elected governor. I was telling some people the other day that i used to look through the store at the Governors Office what i was just a little aid in the legislature and i look through, and now i am the governor. And then i finish his term and the state is doing really well. So going to places like grand valley are going to places like lansing, and i never made it to ann arbor because i couldnt get out the morning i was supposed to go. I just love talking to young people about finding a purpose. Its, it was so great to be able to do it. And some of the other places, traverse city. I remember that. I woke up, they have those chocolate cherries. Is that what they have there . And i carried these boxes around forever. They all melted in my little suitcase, but i remember that morning because it was, the place was just jammed again and people were so hopeful and i thought we had so much fun. And i thought i was in the uk, okay . I didnt know what it was. [laughter] and then we flew up to marquette, okay . Heres the thing. When we got up there and everybody is on their devices all the time to everybody has got their own devices and i told everybody, turn them off. Look at where we are. And it was like a winter wonderland. I could not believe how beautiful it was. And then we went to the little restaurant there in marquette, had some sandwiches, and they were so many people there who were there with their kids for the hockey that was being played that we can. And then we will walk to the place where we were to our townhall and it was absolutely jammed and the people were lovely. And then one of the other things that happened, one of the emotional things that happen. We went, dont know if it was the slovenian hall. Where was that we went to . The ethical. We had a beautiful, a beautiful event. And in that event a lady stood up and had a picture of her son who taken his own life. And we have talked about the issue of Mental Illness and that we need to reach out. Another one of those poignant moments that changed me throughout the campaign. I mentioned pete hoekstra. David nicholson. I mean, i talked him into raising money for me. I think his father, i dont know if he wanted to kill david or if you wanted to kill me or maybe both of us. David nicholson, hes just fantastic. And, of course, arlan meekhof, hes just great. Tom leonard, brian. These are people that i got to spend time with and get to be close to. I dont know where our path will ever cross with ohio and michigan by wha public utility. Im down there in columbus. If you need anything, you just need to let us know, let me know. I will never forget the wonderful experience that i had in your great state. I so enjoyed the rivalries. Its so deep and its so cherished and i think its just fantastic. The last thing i would say to all of you is, i wish i had some statistics. I didnt put them together this morning but when i was getting ready i was thinking about the changing demographics of our country. I am not somebody who believes you tell people what they want to hear in order to get their vote. Ive never thought that was leadership. Ive always felt, im not like big on polls. I just dont like polls. Its too boring to me. I dont believe that leadership, as i find it was the table once, and i shop and tell you what you want to hear. I happen to believe the leadership is telling you what i think having gathered information and talk to people, lots of people. I liked a lot of people around when they make decisions, but to try to convince you of what i think will lead to a better tomorrow. So when i look at the demographics and i see a significant increase in asian americans, when they see the significant increase in hispanics. When i take a look at a republican parties always drive the effort to try to convert young people and i have to tell you that i was at ohio state when Ronald Reagan, i was with Ronald Reagan. We went to st. Johns arena in columbus. And when i walked into the arena there was something seems that will never forget the they put barricades up to keep the kids are coming up on stage. Ronald reagan got up on that stage and it was like he was the greatest superstar these young people had ever seen. They could not get close or press close enough to her Ronald Reagan was. And why . Why do i Million People show up in vatican city to see a hundred year old pope, pope john the . Do you know why . Young people gravitate to where they feel there is somebody who has the strength and is a leader. And has ideals and can get them to believe that having big dreams can work out, where that big dreams can come true. Our party has to be in the longterm and in the medium and the short term a unifying, a lifting, and a hopeful party. Its going to be the great challenge between republicans and democrats. This third party stuff will never work because of the cell infrastructure to a. But that party that can enunciate, enunciate the hopes and dreams and the unity is the party thats going to do well. And with changing demographics. We cant keep talking to the same old people because thats not enough of us to talk to. It just will not work. For me throughout this election season im going to spend an enormous amount of time with senate and house members either challenges, im headed to philadelphia on friday to up one of the biggest congressional races. Im going to be traveling the country helping the senate, senators get reelected. I know mark kirk in illinois. Im looking forward to helping kelly ayotte in new hampshire. Kelly by the what is a huge star and the Republican Party. We need more women to have these leadership roles. Look at our chairperson here in michigan. How about her, shes great. [applause] and so maybe what of the things that i could do it could be helpful to you, ill come to michigan and we can, if i can show up and we can race among all i can come up and up some candidates, i will be more than glad to do it, okay . But listen, i hope you will have a great rest of the convention. And i just again from the bottom of my heart want to say that i love michigan. I love being there. I love so many of you. And lets just deepened this bond and these relationships and im here to serve you. Thank you all very much. [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] my wife and i come our anniversary is tomorrow. 31 years. Well, happy anniversary. Thank you. Take care of our children and build our country. I would like to see cleveland has been awesome. I just wish you were not so far away. Everybody has been great. And so far its been calm. [inaudible conversations] and ill tell you, its not expensive. Well, its all expensive but they have really worked to keep costs down. Who is this . Who are these kids . They are friends of ours. Ill get a picture of you guys. Smile. Give me your phone. [inaudible conversations] speed and ill be back. I loved it. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] okay, sandy. One, two, three. Got it. I campaigned for sandy. One, two, three. Thank you. [inaudible conversations] im in a 53 democrat state and i one. Thank you for all you do. How is the governor doing . Great. [inaudible conversations] thank you so much for coming today. Thank you. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]the rue operate anyway. They are a little more stringent. They asked us to do some things that we would not normally have to do under the Health Department or the usda, but i get it. My thinking is, to my friends i hit would hate to make somebody from the media sick. That is not where you would want to go. It is an experience. This morning, i was swept for a bomb. Dogs have been in my truck. They went up under the hood. I have never seen that in america. Ihave been to israel, i have ive been to israel and ive seen it. To have that feeling and to know that i am scared i havent done anything wrong. Scad im scared. Forgn experience that i will never ever, ever forget. Even come into my own grill, somebody wanted, checkpoint. Like i said ive been to countries. The lessonon ffthink the lesson for us, the a people must have, the thing i said when this is over and i will say it, thank god you arebt in america because you go too other countries you cannot drive from kansas to cleveland without a cle checkpoint. We cannot drive from bethlehem and nazareth without awi checkpoint. Keep that in mind. Thats the kind of thing ive been remind myself, the processe im going through its one im growing. Think i its a growth to me. I think i would be moree appreciative of flying in the airport going from state to state because i will not have to have a dog sniff my vehicle. If you think about it, thats pretty intimidating. I dont know if thats what its intended to do but it intimidated me. Thank you very much for talking to cspan. Thank you very much. And great to hear from bob baker. Live picture from the Media Briefing room at the sight of the Republican National convention. Members of the media gathered give him come Campaign Operatives and officials from the convention as a two kicks off today. A quick remind our coverage begins at 5 30 p. M. Will have a Preview Program that starts at 4 00. You can watch on cspan, listened on the cspan radio app and get a video on demand at cspan. Org. Among the speakers this evening, House Speaker paul ryan, Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell, new Jersey Governor Chris Christie will be on the state along with Donald Trumps son, donald junior. The theme for today is make america work again. Focus on Economic Growth and job opportunities. Today is also the state roll call with the convention formally nominates a presumptive candidate. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] fewer and fewer people every day. By thursday, you know, latenight. It was a great night last night. Hopefully you are enjoying the beautiful cleveland, ohio, and they get a little time today to take in the city. I think the city looks great. The convention the first day got off to a terrific start. So we continue to be excited. I thought the program was to attack your last i. A lot of the speeches we talked about with people who were effected by the obamaclinton policies spoke t to a lot of people with their own stories were able to talk about things. We had some of the policy people that were able to lay out some policies and talk about what, how donald trump will make america safer again. Today we get start at 5 30 to go kick things off at 5 30. We will get into nominations and roll call vote and then back into a number of speeches. So again were excited to be. Ive asked our Program Director to come today and can brief you on the program and the highlights for todays program. So turn it over to bill. Once sort of official business is done, it starts with cochairman day and goes to dana white o pictures of the 4 billn sale for ufc. Hes talked about we have to do better. They pivoted into three speakers to talk with some of the shortcomings and problems with thats governor a touch of an attorney general from arkansas Leslie Rutledge and former u. S. Attorney general mike mukasey. That then goes to andy who is passionate whats the unit again . Sheetmetal union. Its a small speech but real people are hurting. Vinokourov to senator ron johnson talking about what it is you should be afraid of what mrs. Clinton will do next more than what you already has done. [inaudible] sure. Take yes for an answer. Now ive got to put these on. Ron johnson does the remarks on foreign policy, security, et cetera. And chris cox from the National Rifle association talks about health care, supreme court, second amendment. Getting permission to talk. Then it goes to natalie, the lpga golfer and that kicks into a remote with mr. Trump who then when the remote is over he introduces senator mcconnell. Acrobat they are joined on the stage by a group of senators, 10 senators. Then from the freshman class i should have said. Then paul ryan, Kevin Mccarth mccarthy. These messages are now centering on Economic Growth and cant even talk anymore. Specific come easy to say, like energy, those kinds of issues. That goes to tiffany trump, then theres some entertainment. Donald trump is in the 10 00, donald trump junior is in the 10 00 hour your then Shelley Moore capito does remarks taking on mrs. Clinton. Dr. Carson speaks in the 10 00 hour and then i call your attention to kimberli kimberly. Shes an avocado farmer from california, and when people say just who is it that is voting for mr. Trump, shes a good person to get a story on a. Thats kind of the night. Talk a little more about the things that tonight and we will open up for questions or actually some of the business as well. This afternoon at around 7 30 p. M. Will be the culmination of a Wonder Campaign i mr. Trump, campaign that as far as we are concerned to find a lot of the expectations of the political pundits and the Political Class that has caused the problem of gridlock in washington and caused the problems that countries facing both international and domestic we. It was an Outsider Campaign and today around 7 30 mr. Trump will be official phenomena of the Republican Party so we are excited about that. Hes excited about the fact that his quest will finally come to an end. All of you who doubted he could be nominated will no longer be able to say yes, but maybe it will not happen. It will happen today and we are excited about that. There will be something that will be a important moment as far as this campaign is concerned. The theme is make america work again. Will be talking about work not just in the context of jobs but in the context of function of government, the fact it is in functioning. Again the theme of failed leadership will be emphasized. And as bill noted in the presentation, we will be using ordinary americans as well as who have been affected by the crisis caused by washington, talk about the personal experiences and then will have some of the leaders of the party talk about some of the messages, the theme of the subset that deals with mr. Trump and senator mcconnell and speaker ryan, well focus on the Party Working together, money together and being unified and how we expect a republican president and a Republican Congress working together in genuine of 2017. So those are the main messages of the night. Now we will open up for any questions for a few minutes. [inaudible] im hoping you could clarify. Also were you acknowledge mistakes were made on the speech . Will anyone be fired . A few questions in the. First of all we think that melanias speech was a great speech. It talked about her coming to america. It talked about the story that focuses on immigration to the right way to do it. It talks about her love of the country and how it developed into a love of her husband and how it developed come a family, the family values. These are things that are personal to her but they are personal to a lot of people depend on the stories of their lives. Obviously, Michelle Obama feels very much similar sentiments towards her family. The fact that the speech itself was being focused on a summit of things and he has told the 50 words and that includes and is in the does and things like that is totally going to facts of the speech itself. The speech was pointed, well received by the American People. Theres no, we dont believe theres anything in that speech that doesnt reflect her thinking and we dont think, and she says we are comfortable that, that the words that she used are words that were personal to her. The fact that are things like care and respect and compassion, those are not extraordinary words and certainly when you talk about family they are normal words. I would note that she did not choose taking before 40 Million People yesterday and better speech would be noticed by a lot of people. And to think that she would be doing anything that would be unnoticed is absurd. She knew people would be to paying attention to words come at the American People to focus on what her message was. Again, there is a political tent to this whole issue and certainly weve noted the clinton camp was the first to get it out there in trying to say there was something untoward about the speech that Melania Trump day. Is just another example as far as we are concerned is that when hillary is threatened by fina, the first thing she does is try to destroy the person but its politics. We recognize it and were just going to move on. We are focusing on the message that Melania Trump gave last night, the American People are focused on a. We are very pleased about it. Any other questions on different topics im not going to keep saying the same thing. [inaudible] i didnt hear what you said. [inaudible] was that because of the proliferation i dont know anything about this issue. Im sorry. Any other questions . Maybe the english is not good enough but it was word by word. I listen to both of the speeches. Spin there were 1400 words in a speech. Any other topics . I dont want to keep going over the same issue. [inaudible] sure. Center sessions will put his name into nomination tonight. Senator sessions has been a key adviser to mr. Trump and become a very close personal friend and advisor. To speak to be given by congressman Chris Collins was the first member of congress to endorse mr. Trump and his from new york state. The second second speech will be given by Lieutenant Governor henry to the Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina and an early supporter and somebody who was instrumental of mr. Trumps victory in South Carolina which was an important part of his victory. Spitting do you know anything about the utah delegate being threatened in a bathroom . I think ive a pretty good sense of whats going on in this convention but i havent gotten into the bathrooms yet. [inaudible] im sorry . Sound like. The platform is open. Yes. [inaudible] stating of people were influence in the Trump Delegates to get the support to ukraine. [inaudible] will be big changes [inaudible] and my bigger question from this convention is being watched close in ukraine, eastern europe. Should people to be concerned that if trump becomes president , russia will be allowed to run amok . Will come as far as the first which is concerned i really dont understand the question. The platform results are ones reflected. The second part of your question, people of the world should be concerned about whats going on in washington today because we believe that the crisis in the world today is the result of the United States not participate in a vibrant way and letting the world that the mr. Trump believes that a strong u. S. Presence is important in the world and that doesnt exist today. And to all those enemies of democracy, strong leadership by the United States is something that they should fear and mr. Trump will be a strong leader. Last question. Sai[inaudible] she did a tremendous job last that this is a woman who doesnt speak in public very often, and that she wanted to be. She wasnt asked to speak. She approached us and she said i want the United States did not demand the i love because they only see a part of his personality which is its who he is. She said it was important to her personally that they understand the compassionate side of donald trump, the human side of donald trump and the man who has spent all the time that shes done in trying to make peoples lives better and making a difference in their lives. She communicated that beautifully last night, and nothing that some of the folks trying to destroy, destroy those words through political allegations can distract from the fact that her speech was one of the highlights if not the highlight of the continued yesterday. Thank you very much. We will see you tomorrow. See you tonight at 5 30. [inaudible conversations] wrapping up todays daily rnc briefing if you missed any part of it you can find in the cspan Video Library at our website cspan. Org. A reminder todays Convention Coverage gets underway at 530 p. Can. Heres a look at some of todays speakers. Paul ryan, Mitch Mcconnell on the list also new Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Donald Trumps son, donald trump junior. The thing to do is make america work again focusing on Economic Growth and job opportunities. Today is also the state roll call with the convention formally nominates candidates for president and vice president. It all gets underway at 5 30 p. M. Each. We hav have a preview start at t hood reminder to watch on cspan, listen on the cspan radio app and you can get video on demand at cspan. Org. Here on cspan2 later, iraq foreigners will talk that his countrys future and its role in the middle east. U. S. Institute of peace hosting that discussion. Live coverage at 1 30 p. M. Eastern here on cspan2. Youll have a frontrow seat of every minute of the republican and Democratic National conventions. Watch cspan3 without commentary or commercials. Also, read twitter feeds from delegates and reporters in cleveland and philadelphia. Go to cspan. Org slash Republican National convention and cspan cspan. Org Democratic National convention. Every speech available on laptop, tablet and smartphone. So if youre a cspan watcher, check it out on cspan. Org. Now, British Defense secretary michael fallin testifying before a house of common sense on the conclusions of the nato summit. This took place earlier today in london. Good morning, everybody, 2016 nato similar mitt and welcome secretary of state, congratulations on your reconfirmation in your post and would other two guests care to introduce themselves for the record, vice chief . General, vice chief of defense. Peter, director tbem of security. Thank you very much. Indeed. First question in first section which is on the nato summit comes from ruth smith. Good morning. Its been a busy few weeks but i wonder if you can outline the new developments that came out of summit in terms of our security and that of nato. Thank you very much, chairman. This was a successful summit, an opportunity to show british leadership and we made progress on further nato reform and cooperation between nato and the European Union. In terms of unity and cohesion we agreed a clear posture on defense and deterrence that embraces natos position not simply east but the south. We demonstrated british leadership, of course, by recording our achievement of 2 of gdp to defense. We noted that i think 18 members of the alliance are now increasing their defense expenditure, we were one of the four countries to commit to leader battalion and arms force presence and agreed to deploy in three Baltic States including poland, should we play a leadership role in that and we have we saw some success in what we have been encouraging for some time. Further nato work on kinder and hybrid warfare and loser cooperation and its a key point to the community, between nato and the European Union. So this was a successful summit for britain and more important successful submit for the alliance as a whole. Thank you. In summit and challenge to nato posed by russia, you would be west secretary of state but we have just completed our report on russia, you indicated sense of security which stropgly advises an increase understanding with russia and the uk. Now, we used to have the soviet Study Research center that later became the conflict Research Center. Are you considering increasing our understanding russias defense and Security Posture . Well, generally, yes, it was seen in your report. We were looking hard now, but we have improved our understanding of russia, both through our work in russia itself and at home. In russia itself as you will know there being difficulties in bringing the defense section of the industry up to full strength, but working hard to restore that full strength which improves our understanding of Russian Military but also, of course, helps to underpin a better relationship between the two militaries. At home, we are looking again at at your report particularly focused on this, the number of russian speakers, the number of people we have specializing in intelligence on russia, i cant commit to restoring the center that there was, but you certainly are seeing increased emphasis on russia and analysis generally. May i remove my jacket . By all means, yes. Perhaps if i could just answer that. I think we have said before in the previous session we have considerably considered staff working on russia. Weve increased the number of staff and Defense Intelligence and through organizations like the Development Concepts and Doctrines Center and the Defense Academy and so on, we seek to increase the access that we have to academic experts and there are a number of particular organizations and individuals in london and elsewhere with whom we are actively engaged. Can i ask about the Assessment Center and whats put into that center, is that going to be increased or are you looking at that how to expand russia expand capability . The Assessment Group which used to exist and a long story, you mentioned the soviet Research Center which became the conflict i did. Which become the advance research and Assessment Group which was expanded some time ago and as i said in previous, the work that used to be done in that group was done by various organizations so its more diversity, if youd like, in giving us more access to a greater input and so on, but, no, we are not plan to go reestablish it. Before you move onto that subject, can i just check on this point. Now, russia has famously been described as a mystery wrapped in a riddling and that does suggest that you really do need a unit or a team of dedicated experts, and thats apparently what you used to have and its perfectly understandable, but as russia went down in priorities and concerns after 1991 that you broke it up, but russia is now risen back up distinctly and why dont you talk about having its functions distributed around other parts of the defense establishment. Is it not time to do a serious study as to whether a dedicated unit of russia experts shouldnt be reconstituted. Focuses on russia and the immediately surrounding countries. As i said, we would strengthen the staff in the Defense Intelligence area, the unit that you refer so didnt used to solely focused on russia. Russia was one of its members active in publications and so on. It wasnt purely russia. So my view would be that the arrangements that we have now give us the depth across policy, intelligence and outreach to academia. How many staff does this have . Well, its growing over time and i think its about 15 at the home moment. 15 . 15, yeah. How many would be russia specialists . What we are seeking to do is to make sure that we make the best use of our specialism, specialisms so, for example, recent attack in moscow has come back to lead the team dealing with russia inside that unit. We are making best use of the knowledge and experience. Thank you very much. I think its certainly said to say, weve been caught napping on russia and our understanding, whole credibility of russia has been left for far too long. I think what the community is saying is that all we are doing with the unit we have about 15, the nato russian specialist is becoming increasingly urgent and i just a little worried that replies that im getting suggest that the committee is not reflected, can we have some assurance that there is a recognition that theres an urgent need to have that wider and greater understanding of what russia is thinking and why it is acting the way that it is doing. We were certainly caught over ukraine in crimea. Let me give you that assurance. We need to do more in russia but we are doing more. We are building our capability and our own standing and i certainly theres more to be done to continue to focus on what russias aspirations are and to better understand how its likely russia russia is likely to react and what its next moves are at home and near abroad and, indeed, in the middle east. Then what do you expect russias response both politically and militarily . How severe would implications for security for baltics . , do we know, do we have any idea how theyre responding . Russias reaction has been relatively restraiped but it may not be complete yet. Maybe more to come. Theres been a meeting of the natorussia councils since the summit which i hope help to explain to russia the posture of nato and russias reaction began in response to previous announcements and in response to the completion of the Ballistic Missile site in romania back in may. So so far, the reaction has been relatively restraint but there may be more to come. Thank you very much. Just a question, secretary, presumably the expert, what experts weve got link across Security Forces and are are away across old methods of gaining information intelligence or whatever on russia with the security services, gchq and cbi, my real question is this policy or intelligence these people doing . This is much more joined up than we used to do. There are much better links. Much closer worker between us and the agencies. Well, to answer your question some is actually within my policy staff that have always been some russia experts in area, both strengthen and those the defense secretary says they are extremely and between my staff and experts in office and staff across the globe. Thats the reassurance i want. The russian language courses. I think theres dedicated staff. [inaudible] does that take into consideration that the massive cost that you have, not just the issues of language courses and media, twitter, well it be stopped for tv interviews, where it needs to be in russia, the big question, mr. Chairman, you know, when it comes to our role, what are the number one issues, is it russia, is it iraq, is it syria . Where is the number one priority . If i could answer your first question, clearly the staff in the units are military and personnel and Civil Servants so they are subject to the normal rules about dealing with the media and so on. So they would not normally speak to the media. But many of the academic experts that we talk to, we share much of the analysis with them and grow analysis from their work. Its clearly developments for russia itself which we discussed in press sessions such as the formation of the National Guard and things like that. Russias activities in its immediate neighbor, belarus, ukraine or whatever, russia is very active at the moment in syria. So we are and the other thing just so dont you think we are taking our eye, they are looking at russia in asia pacific. We are looking at all aspects of russian behavior. I think its very welcome mod is using officials in this way but i think Committee Still feels that there is a role, more independent group of actual experts rather than clever officials who are gaining expertise as they go allot, experts who could actually challenge the orthodoxy that might be prevailing but i think weve got to move on now and so i want to ask douglas to talk about the vocational format thats being put forward for the Baltic States. Thanks very much. Mr. Chairman, madeline touched on some of the reaction from russia and b obviously russia does not accept that. How are you and how well are you prepared for the rush response for the four new battalions . You want me to repeat the question . Please. Following from madelines question about the format of the four battalions and how nato claimed that that does not violate the natorussia act but russia is not accepting that position and how are you going to prepare for the russian response for the four new battalions . First of all, very clear, the deployment of this new forward presence does not contribute the act. Theres no definition in the act of substantial forces but i dont think theres any way that you can claim that the rotation of the battalion in each of the Baltic States amounts to substantial force, forces. The forces there will be rotational in each of the four nations, they are not going to exceed more than a thousand personnel and you have to set that against russias decision back in january to form three new divisions in the west and five new Strategic Nuclear missile regimes that involve tens of thousands of troops which each deployments will be less than a thousand each. I think its also important to refer back to the one of the key principals of the founding act which parties must respect sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity of all states. We are deploying at the invitation and with the blessing of the government and like wise with the deployment of a company in poland. That obviously cant be said of russian activity either in the crimea or in or in eastern ukraine. So as far as deployment itself is concerned, we are deploying two British Companies that would be enablers, we will supply as well plus headquarter element and looking to adding to that, some am ored vehicles, some antitank guided missiles, various other enabling capabilities, and logistics and then we would expect the other countries that are going to add to our battalion to add on top of that companies of their own and the whole battalion to retain its presence from the spring of next year. [inaudible] the reactions would be perceived on the other side of the border from russian source, but i think our committed report explains very thoroughly some of the discussions need to be had with russia going forward. Can you tell us a little bit about the discussions with, for example, the russian embassador, london and direct communications youve had with your numbers explain what the intentions are from the summit and how we can avoid any misunderstanding, forces that we need to place there but protective force in terms of the baltic space in poland. Sure, i dont have regular discussions with the embassador in london, nor do i have regular meetings with my opposite number in russia. Theres dialogue at the very senior level between the Prime Minister and the russian president and between our foreign secretary and the Russian Foreign administrator. The direct dialogue is conducted principally through the nato machinery and afterwards the meeting and natorussia council on the 14th of july which covered the situation in ukraine review of the current of the situation in afghanistan, but was principally devoted and this is the essence of policy to make sure that the steps that we take to reassure our members or to deter are fully expressed. Theres total transparency in order to reduce the risk of misunderstanding or miscalculations, so at that meeting in the 13th of july the alliance explained the various measure that is were adopted. Obviously there was a response from russia and a concern about this particularly positioning but, of course, we did not have a proper explanation from russia as to the three new military divisions that it was stationing on natos flank, what we did have from russia was an openness to further dialogue on Risk Reduction. Russia has proposed deepening the military exchanges there are between the alliance and russia including the proposal by finland that should have that switched onto prevent any likelihood of accidents or miscalculations. And we welcome that, any russia interest in Risk Reduction is extremely welcome and important. But i would conclude by emphasizing that although its important to explain to russia and its important to keep the pressure on. Russia is concerned, we are not as nato returning to business as usual in russia. What has happened in crimea and ukraine cannot be simply put aside and forgotten and shouldnt be forgotten. If i could just interject, i want to bring the vice chief into this and can you explain to us please, how this rotational system will actually work in terms of the numbers, why its a rotational system, is this to try and send a signal that there are no sort of great permanence about any particular body of troops but its just would it be troops described what youre trying to do as to make it clear to russia that there is no way in which there will be able to carry out operations in any of the Baltic States like what they did in ukraine . On your last point the answer is explicitly yes, its a show of solidarity, commitment to nation and those nations that feel vulnerable to exactly that sort of threat. We are describing it as a persistent presence and as you say, we are rotating forces around. We think that is the best way to demonstrate solidarity. We are not doing this simply as a show of military force, we are doing this in a way to extract benefits by working with allies and improving and developing the host nations capabilities as well as our own. So there are all sorts of reasons. Thank you very much. Carry on. Sometimes nato and obviously openly expansion of organization, but what would be the [inaudible] membership and what do they actually bring to the table and from your point of view, what would be the potential concerns . Well, i wouldnt describe as nato as openly expansionist, we have always made it clear that membership of nato remains open to those countries that can fulfill the membership criteria and the command the unanimous support of all existing members. For example, that requires unanimity. Its not nato opening the doors that fancies membership. Equally its true that russia or anybody else should have any kind of veto on nato membership, future membership for the members of nato to decide. So far as montenegro is concerned, montenegro has met criteria that are required and attended and its membership, i hope, will be completed by early october. It has to pass through this house as well as the other place and has to be ratified by the other Member States including congress in in the United States. And it will only be complete when all 28 allies have completed that national ratification processes. You asked me what this meant, i think it does demonstrate that membership is open to those applicants that can satisfy the criteria and also, fairly obviously sends a strong signal to the western of the alliances, the benefits the membership with the alliance can bring in terms of stability to that much troubled region. Any concerns . Any concerns about the montenegro . No, we have coldheartedly welcomed montenegro as the rest of the alliance and ratification procedures will be completed as quickly as possible. Thank you. James. First of all, we just touched briefly on brexit and brexit for nato and nato eu operation. [inaudible] but do what degree will britains departure from the eu discussed and in what way do you think itll affect the way nato works or the way the eu works . A little discussion as a result of referendum and the margins, one of the major topics and i dont think theres any secret that there was a Single Member of sing of my colleagues who would have who wouldnt have wished for a different result. Theyre all concerned about the security of our continent and they all see membership for those who are members of the European Union, they always see membership in the european as complementing. The strengths of the alliance itself, so far as our own opposition, in cooperation with the European Union is going to remain important to our shared security interest. Those interests havent changed and we also have a continuing interest on a closer relationship, a closer relationship between nato and the European Union. Its been longstanding. British preoccupation that these two organizations should work better today, should avoid duplicating each other where possible and should, you know, should complement each others strengths. Finally, of course, there are interlocking missions. Migration in the mediterranean is concern. Theres a nato mission, the European Union mission in the central mediterranean, trying to break the people smuggling models and rescue those whose lives are at risk in the sea and we are contributing navy ships to both operations. Presumably we will not take part of the eu operations or trade with anybody else . Lets be clear, we remain members of the European Union until the moment we leaf leave. We will continue to participate in missions and the missions that we contributed to my question is not now. My question is once we leave the eu, i presumably well, im afraid what is happening now will influence opposition in the future because we participated in these missions because theres a British National interest in these missions. We dont just do it because we want to be good europeans, we have a Trading Interest in suppressing piracy in africa. We have a strong interest in trying to curve illegal migration from the african literal into europe. We have an interest in these particular missions. We have invested blood as at least one member of this committee knows in bringing peace. We have an interest in making sure that eu mission is successful. Absolutely. We wont be members of the European Union, but we will have to look carefully at where the british interest in. There are already some examples of none. U. Members participating in cstp missions. We can get you some examples i think. The bay says before he answers, i want to be clear about one thing. We have not set out or negotiating strategy. That is to be finalized across the government. I am not going to speculate now on whether we are going or not going to join particular cstp missions. I make the point that we are in there is already a British National interest. Whatever your there are not. Is to give you one example, which is a country good i have participated in cstp. It does not inhibit our future cooperation militarily with e. U. Military missions, whether in the context of nato or not. Was not taken a decision heres the new government certainly a few days old. But theres no reason why you should have it is a luckily she bilaterally with our key allies in europe, with the northern groups, with e. U. Members were members of the jet. The key alliances with france and germany. There is no reason why it should inhibit future cooperation with missions that iran are direct interested we have not taken a position on any individual miss positions at the moment. We point out that we join me thinks not just to be good europeans. There is a british interests. I was going to laughter and bilateral agreements. Thats not increasing for membership of nato. You will be lessened because we are no longer members of the e. U. Presumably that means that our presence in nato will become more important. Is a partnership on him and to strengthen american admin to other alliances, whether it is nato or the key relationships we have with the United States bilaterally with france and others and other multinational relationships we have around the world participation and coalition for participation good to care and the fact that we want also to contribute to the Nato Alliance is made 0 kind of decent intelligence assessment. You are right, general stuart. There is tension between intelligence capability particularly, but those members of the feminist community bring. You know, some of the restrictions on sharing that intelligence because of the way this source, sharing it more widely. Im happy to report to you that the warsaw summit the summit did adopt what is called the joint Intelligence Survey and the initiative which would maximize the resources that the individual members of nato have and enhance the interconnectivity if i could describe it between the different Intelligence Systems will help improve the training and expertise that the intelligence function in each of the different Member States. There are better procedures for information handling information sharing. There is quite a way to go in that as seem drawn attention to pay we did make some progress. Is a member of the nato parliamentary assembly, i had to resist quite strongly and other british members at the demand by senator parliamentarian in the nato states to actually insist that all intelligence should be shared equally among nato members. This particularly came from countries like belgium. I. End quote others were quite robust to say you must be joking. There is a dilemma here. When i served in nato, we recognize that anything classified on it took half an hour for
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