[applause] good evening, it is great to be here. It is an honor to be able to introduce the guest speaker. I want to tell you why i had decided to support Kamala Harris for president. I was first attracted to senator harris because after four years of donald trump i felt there was nothing our country needed more than reconciliation and healing. Than any ofe more the other candidates as a unifier that could bring our country together rather than split it further apart. I saw her here at the south church. People were waiting in the snow to see her. Bold,attracted to her thoughtful policy proposals on a range of issues, from raising teacher salaries to access to health care, to combating climate change. Most importantly, i was attracted to her strength of character, her toughness, her resolve. I saw in her not only a former attorney general who could prosecute the case against this president , as her campaign likes to say, but more importantly as a tough, disciplined, successful prosecutor who will not only prosecute the case but will try to convict this president and his administration and the Republican Party abandoning our country, the constitution and our values. [applause] i am a liberal democrat and i care about the issues but to be honest i dont care about the nuanced policy differences between Democratic Candidates running for president this time. We know what our party stands for. We know who we are and we know our country is in peril. We need someone who can win, pure and simple. Electability is what this process is about and i believe in my heart that Kamala Harris is the most electable candidate. I believe she can inspire and turn out the base, inspire and turn out millenials, inspire and turn out people of color, inspire and turn out women, inspire and turn out voters in the heartland who felt disenfranchised and voted for donald trump only to be stabbed in the back by policies that favor the rich. Probably most importantly of all, and listen to these words because this is critical when you consider your candidates, in an election where there is a tremendous opportunity to win over moderate republicans and independents who are quite dailylly by the ignorance and cruelty and embarrassment that this president and his administration have inflicted on our country, Kamala Harris can turn out and inspire those voters, too. That is where the election will be won or lost. On at to see Kamala Harris debate stage squaring off against donald trump. [applause] i believe she will obliterate him. [applause] i have been involved in the New Hampshire primary for decades and i have had the honor of supporting and getting to know many fine candidates. But i can honestly tell you i have never, ever felt more strongly about a candidate than i do this time. Everse winning was never, more important that it is this time. Kamala harris can win. If we are smart enough to nominate her, she will. And i hope choice, yours, for our partys nomination for president of the United States, senator Kamala Harris. [applause] sen. Harris i want to thank you publicly, and i hope i do often enough privately, for your leadership, for your years of Public Service and those who really take that calling seriously, whether they are in elected office or not, they continue to serve. Support,s and your your advice, your encouragement mean the world to me and thank you very much. [applause] sen. Harris greetings to all of the electives that are here, i dont have the list, otherwise i would read all of your names. But i thank you for your leadership. These years, these last few years as a democrat in elected office have been challenging for many reasons, but included in that is we who hold elected office, our friends and fellow democrats who often look in our to bend search our eyes convinced that everything will be ok. [laughter] sen. Harris they want us to ensure them and even when we are and set up, we continue to fight and continue to inspire, and the work of this Democratic Party is the work of having been elected to the United States congress. [applause] sen. Harris it is the work of uplifting the senator. Becausetulate you, truly the work of the party, and in particular the local chapters of the Democratic Party, that is what is holding us up as a party , nationally, and frankly, as a country. It has not been easy. I want to start by saying thank you. Each of you volunteers your time. You do extraordinary work. You do extraordinary work in these difficult times. There is so much attacking our democracy, including our elections process. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the work you do. The work you do is known all over the country. The work you do is on behalf of people you may never meet and people who may never know your names. But because of your work, their lives are better and will continue to be improved. So thank you. [applause] sen. Harris and thank you for the honor of inviting me to join you this evening. My husband is in the back of the room. [applause] has spent time here in portsmouth without me and he really enjoys it. You never know where we will end up. [laughter] sen. Harris it is great to be back. There is a lot to talk about. I would like to start by saying this i think there is no question, and joe, you said it well, the core of who we are as democrats if children ever ask you, what is the well, the e as difference between a democrat and republican, it is always an interesting conversation. Core, i think one of the basic points about who we are is we really are for the people. We really are. We fight for the people. Whoight for the people never have power, but the power we know is in them. We are a party that is always about lifting people up. We are a party that is always about recognizing the importance of all systems to give each individual dignity and respect. Alwaysthe party that is fighting for equal rights and civil rights. Party who write down, i believe, is fighting not only on behalf of democrats, but fighting in the best interest of these United States. Us haveyou said, all of friends who are republicans, colleagues, people we adore and love. But when you look at the i doture of the party believe it is our burden and are calling to fight for the best of who we are as a country, and i know we are up to it. This is an inflection moment. Moment in time that is requiring us as individuals and collectively to look in the mirror and ask the question. That question being, who are we . I think we all know that part of the answer to that question is we are better than this. We are better than this. This is a moment in time that is requiring us to fight for the best of who we are and fight we will. As we know over these last 2. 5 back to thetends course of the campaign, we have been despondent. We have been upset. We have been angry, we have been frustrated. We have experienced a range of emotions. The most important thing at this moment in time that we must hold onto is the confidence in knowing that when we fight, we win. Here is the thing when we look at the place we are in right now, we must remember as overwhelmed, as upset as we must feel, we are always up for a good fight. [laughter] sen. Harris in fact, nothing we have achieved by way of success in our democracy, and for the sake of democracy, has come to us without a good fight nothing. We were born out of a fight as a nation. Lets remember that. Sometimes i reflect on many of the wise ones before us and i will paraphrase, but caretta scott king famously said the fight for civil rights, which is the fight for justice and equality and freedom, she said the fight for civil rights must be fought and won with each iteration. She had two points when she said that. Is the very nature of this fight that whatever gains we make, they will not be permanent. It is the nature of it. Is,second point understanding it is the nature of it, do not be overwhelmed. Whatt throw up our hands it is time to roll up our sleeves. It is the very nature of it. If i were to oversimplify it, when your nails start growing, i dont say oh my god, my nails are growing, you just cut them. [laughter] sen. Harris right . We have a test before us. We are up for it. We are up for this. Ofare up to the task fighting for the best of who we are as a nation, and as a country, and as a people. We are up for this. So lets just get out there and do what you have been doing historically here in portsmouth. Here is how i think about it in terms of my own personal background. We are not only a nation of fighters, i was born to fighters. My parents met with a were graduate students at the university of california berkeley in the 1960s. [applause] [laughter] sen. Harris they were active in the civil rights movement. My sister and i joked that we grew up surrounded by adults who spent time marching and shouting about this thing called justice. Of the many heroes of that great civil rights movement, there were lawyers, people like Thurgood Marshall and these individuals who understood the skill of the profession of law, to translate the passion from the streets to the courtrooms of our country. Musto the work we know constantly be done of reminding people of the promise we that we arein 1776, all equal and should be treated that way. They were the heroes of my childhood. That is why i decided i wanted to be a lawyer. It was a community of fighters. My mother was also extraordinary. She raised me and my sister. My mother was a scientist. One of the very few at the time, and still, women of color in science. Her specialty was Breast Cancer research. My mother had two goals in her life to raise her daughters and and Breast Cancer. I river her coming home and fighting for Womens Health rights. Of aers, we are all born nation, and many of us parents, who are fighters. My mother, she was a tough cookie. My mother would say to us, you the be judged based on lives that you touch and the people you serve. It will not be about selfservice. It is the people you serve and lift up. My mother would say dont you ever let anyone tell you who you are. You tell them who you are. My mother would say to me many times, you may be the first to do many things, make sure you are not the last. [laughter] sen. Harris she was tough. If you ever came home in our house complaining about anything , her mother would look at you she was all of five feet tall, by the way. You would have thought she was 10 feet tall. She would look at you if you are complaining and with a straight face and maybe one hand on her hip and say, what are you going to do about it . I decided to run for president of the United States. [laughter] [applause] sen. Harris i think we are all here for a similar reason, by the way, we are not to sit we are not about to sit at home and complain. We are here tonight because we are prepared to do something about it. Lets talk about it for a moment, this election, what is before us in 2020. Joe talked about it. You were incredibly eloquent in the way you contextualized it. We have a guy in the white house who has debased the office of the president of the United States. I started my career as a prosecutor in the Alameda CountyDistrict Attorneys Office that earl warren once ran. My lifeetry in terms of is i actually started my career in the office of a Great American who, when he was the chief justice of the united thees Supreme Court decided desegregation of americas schools was such a fundamental principle about who we are as a nation if we are going to be true to the values of the constitution of the United States, that he said it is imperative that this not be 55 63, it is imperative that the unanimous United StatesSupreme Court decide this case. The commitment he put into it to ensure the United States supreme decidenanimously would to desegregate classrooms and United States. The symmetry of that i have always loved. Todid that, which allowed me stand in front of you as a serious candidate for president of the ad states. President of the United States. I was 22 when i started that work. With the swipe of my pen i could charge someone with the lowest level offense, and because of the swipe of my pen, that person could be in jail, they could sit for at least 48 hours, they could lose time from work and their family might lose their job, they would have to come out of their own pocket to hire a lawyer, they would lose standing in their community, all because of the swipe of my pen. Weeks later, i could dismiss the charges but their life would forever be changed. Agearned at a very young power to impact havehuman beings that we when we hold these offices. I was just a lowly deputy da. Person in the white office ofholds the president of the United States, who does not fully, or even partially, understand what it means to have power. Lets be clear about that. He goes around swinging what he thinks is his power, but he does not understand what it means to be powerful. When you truly understand what it means to be powerful, you understand that the greatest measure of your strength is not who you beat down, it is who you lift up. It is who you lift up. This is the nature and the character of the guy we have in the white house. Then, of course, he came campaign that a was about make America Great again. For some of us, that required a question, for whom . Clear, he us, it may was talking about going back to something. Asked, back toll what . Back before the voting acts right . Back before the Civil Rights Act . Back before roe v. Wade . Back before title ix . Back before federal numeral wage . We are not going back. We are not going back. [applause] we are not going back. The point that we all know, which is why we are organized here tonight, renewing our commitment to what we are prepared to do over the course of the next many months. We all know, not only are we not going back, but it is time to turn the page on this guy. It is time to turn the page. That,oe, in order to do he must be able to successfully prosecute the case against four more years of donald trump and it will take a prosecutor to do it. [applause] we are working with a pretty good rap sheet. Lets talk about what is on that sheet. Office making all kinds of promises to working people. He said i see you. I hear you. I have you. What if he do . Bill benefiting the top 1 and the biggest corporations of america, saddling us with a 1. 5 trillion deficit. For that by paying cutting Social Security and medicare. What did he do . He came in saying i am going to help you, i am going to build up infrastructure. Remember infrastructure week . I guess we all just slept that week because it never happened. [laughter] sen. Harris he came in saying he would take care of health then he tried to undo , and ifrdable care act not for the Great American john mccain, it would have happen. [applause] sen. Harris he came in talking about he was going to help working people, from farmers to autoworkers, and then passes some kind of trade policy, as he caused it, trade policy by tweet, unilateral action born out of a fragile ego, that has resulted in farmers around the country i am spending a lot in iowain iowa, farmers who are looking at bankruptcy because they have soybeans rotting in bins. Over the last decade or more they built up a market to sell to china that has been cut off from them. We are looking at the potential for autoworkers to be out of a job by the end of the year. The American Family is expected to pay 1000 more per year for everything from childrens toys to washing machines. I call it the trump trade tax. He betrayed a lot of people. What is on that rap sheet . We can look at the fact there is a policy about putting babies in cages, separating children from their parents at the border in the name of border security, in fact what it was was a human rights abuse being committed by the United States government. To prosecutety that case, including, most recently, just this week, when guess what republicans, if you thought you had a friend in the white house taking money from a variety of people that have been supporting him and being apologists, including members of the u. S. Senate that are now looking at the fact he has taken their federal dollars, including money from military families for their childrens schools to pay for his vanity project called a wall, which by the way, guys, well never get built. [applause] so we will be able to successfully prosecute the case against four more years of donald trump, and in so doing turn the page. What i would suggest to all of the friends here is that this campaign has to be bigger than that. It has to be more than that. Ife is the thing, even november of 2016 turned out be arently, we would still nation influx and a world influx. Looking at al be moment in time where we are seeing ascending and descending economies around the world, shifting populations around the globe like we have never seen, in large part because of the Climate Crisis. Where there is drought there will be famine and people will move to places they have not historically been, that speak a different language and pray to a different god, which will result in conflict, which will result in war. We are still looking at a moment in time or we are in the midst of a nation and a world of an industrial revolution, also known as the digital revolution. And a a nation in flux world in flux, and the question what will be our standing . What is our strength . What will be our definition and role in this world . These questions are the questions i believe that are before us. To make the point very simple about how we have to turn the page, as you know i spend a lot of time in New Hampshire and iowa and nevada. I was in nevada about a month ago and i ended up having an event that was toward my end of time there in las vegas on a saturday night, and i was making a point the point is obvious that we have to turn the page. I got a little casual. Obvious, dude has got to go. [laughter] which point,at because after all it was a saturday net in las vegas, the whole crowd starts chanting dude gotta go. Obviousta go is an point. The question before us is as we turn the page on that point, the isue before us as leaders what we must do to write the next chapter based on the america we believe in. When we think about that i will share with you a couple of thoughts about the america i believe in and we as democrats believe in. It has to do with a lot of the issues that are not debatable but do require us to address. Joe talked about it in the context of this administration and this era where we have a leader who used his power, and we have all seen it, in a way that is about sewing hate and division. Having us point fingers at each other. I still reject that. We talk aboutnt the america we believe in. Instead of some democrat suggesting that when you are in the midwest you have one conversation and when you are in new england you have another. That is ao down south different conversation. We are no better than anyone else if we start doing that. About what we must in writing the next chapter based on the america we believe in, i believe we must do that with a spirit that in our hearts agree that the vast majority have so much more in common than what separates us. Feelst know that, and that, and let that motivate our priorities. [applause] sen. Harris here is how i know it to be true, i know it based on every personal and professional experience i have had. I know it to be true. I know it to be true based on the 3 00 in the morning thought. Some people call that the middle of the night. , some people refer to that as the witching hour. When you wake up in the middle of the night with that thought that has been weighing on you. Sometimes in a cold sweat. Us,the vast majority of when we wake up thinking that thought, it is never through the lens of the party for which we are registered to vote. For the vast majority of us, when we wake up thinking that thought, it is never through the lens of some simplistic demographic. For the vast majority of us, when we wake up thinking that thought, it usually has to do with one of just a very few things our personal health, health of our children or , for summary americans, can i get a job, can i pay the bills by the end of the month, can i retire with dignity, can i pay off my student loans, can i help my family never get off their opioid addiction . For so many seniors, cannot either fill my refrigerator my prescription because i cannot do both . The vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us. When we think about our role as leaders, notd as only those of us in this room, leaders of our party, but as leaders in our country. I would remind us that one of our greatest strengths is when we approach the fight before us in a way that is about understanding that point and then fighting for the commonality. A large part of my priorities are born out of that. When fighting for the america we believe in, that might really be the best starting point. What are the issues that wake up the vast majority of us in the middle of the night and lets address those in a way that we understand in a way that will be transformational for those families and america. Kamala, what are you talking about . Ok. In america today, most half of 400ies cannot afford a unexpected expense. In america today, and 99 of the counties if you are a minimum wage worker working fulltime, you cannot afford a one bedroom apartment. Loans from out payday lenders at an excess of 300 . While this guy is Walking Around crowing about the economy being great, and you ask how are you measuring the socalled greatness of this economy of yours and he talks about the stock market, that is fine if you own stocks. 72 of the stocks in the United States are owned by the top 10 . We said do you have another measure . The talk about the unemployment numbers. Yes, i have been traveling our country and i will tell you, indeed, people are working. They are working two and three jobs. In the america we believe in as democrats, people should only have to work one job to have a roof over their head and food on their table. [applause] lets talk about the america we believe in. We have always fought as a party for Public Education. I am a product of Public Education, as are so many of us. There are three essential functions of our government. Health andty, Public Public education. [applause] sen. Harris in the america we believe in, understanding the challenge we face as a nation, which includes the challenge to compete with our friends and foes around the globe, lets focus on investing in the future of our country and remembering that one of the smartest ways to do that is invest in our Public Education system and lets start with paying our teachers. [applause] sen. Harris in the america we believe in, we will put in place what will be the First Federal investment in closing the teacher pay gap in New Hampshire, 13,500 per year. Do you know what 13,500 dollars per year means for people in our country . It is a years worth of mortgage payments. A years worth of groceries. Putting a significant dent into student loans. Fine pointake a about this issue of Public Education. Believe, and as democrats we believe, should judge a society based on how it treats its children. [applause] sen. Harris one of the greatest expressions of love that a extend toward its children is to invest in their education, and by extension, their teachers. Lets talk about the america we believe in on the issue of health care. Alwaysgree that it has been a value of ours as democrats that health care and access to health care should be a right, at not just a privilege for those few who can afford it. Going back to the three essential functions of government, if we are to have a thriving democracy and a thriving republic, Public Education and Public Health must be one of the highest priorities. America, 30 Million People are without access to health care. People say to me, i dont know how i feel about your medicare for all plan. Right now, we have a care for all, nowhere takes place . In the emergency room. The america we believe in, i propose we have a medicare for down,an that brings costs the covers everyone, including preexisting conditions, and, this is a point of distinction between mind and others, that gives people choice, so you have the choice of a medicare public plan or Medicare Private plan. But lets also recognize and agree, that in the america we believe in, that this is an issue that for so long has been impeded because there are people like this administration and this president who have been in the back pocket of the pharmaceutical and insurance companies, and in the america we believe in, the government will fight in the best interest of the people and not private interest and profit. [applause] in the america we believe in, and we did a town hall recently about this issue and rolled out our climate plan, i will tell you, and the america agreeieve in, we will that we, as human beings, have created this Climate Crisis and we, as human beings, can solve it. Without much change in our lifestyles. But in a way that can have profound impact. I have two baby nieces. One is 1. 5 years old and the other is 3. When i look in their eyes, when i watch them play and then i think about the u. N. Report and so many others that are very clear in telling us, as science by nows, if by 12 years we do nothing, it will be irreversible. Blamet like to republicans, it is too easy, right . But on this issue, guys, having been in the United States senate 2. 5 years, the lack of leadership is profound. I kid you not, i joined the United States senate 2. 5 years ago, i was part of a hearing in the United States congress where the underlying premise of the hearing was to debate whether science should be the basis of public policy. [laughter] in the america we believe in and that we are fighting for, we are going to say that children must be able to drink clean water and breathe clean air and not be impeded by toxic chemicals. We must stand up to the fossil fuel industry. [applause] in, weamerica we believe thatagree, as democrats, one of our first orders of business has always been and will always be national security. Agree that one of the most important roles of the commanderinchief is to concern herself [applause] with our nation and homeland security, as opposed to the current occupant of the white house, who on the subject of the fact of russias interference of the election of the president of the United States, prefers to take the word of the russian president over the word of the american intelligence community. Who on the subject of an american student who was tortured and later died, prefers to take the word of a north korean dictator over the word of the american intelligence community. That on the subject of a journalist who was assassinated, and journalist who had american credentials, preferred to take the word of a saudi prince over the word of the american intelligence community. We need a new commanderinchief. [applause] sen. Harris i can go on and on about the america we believe in and there are so many other issues the democrats are fighting for, the range goes from all that we must do around reform of our criminal Justice System to passing comprehensive immigration reform, to paying women equal for equal work, i could go down the list. Continuing to fight for civil rights, not being satisfied until everyone has equal rights under the law. I could go on and on. But i will end my point with this. Years, we have. 5 been, yes, despondent. Many of us have been throwing objects at that inanimate object called a tv. [laughter] been going we have through individual and group therapy. [laughter] sen. Harris here is what i would like to leave you with. , in this march toward 2020, let us remember that one of the greatest strengths about who we are as a nation and a people is that we, by our very nature, we are aspirational. Founded nation that was on noble ideals. The ideals that were present when we wrote the constitution of the United States at all of its amendments, and the declaration, and the bill of rights, and those words we spoke in 1776. We are aspirational. We are also clear eyed, and always have been as democrats. We have not yet reached those ideals, but the strength of who we are is we always fight to get there. Fight, we will. And fight, we must. That isthis is a fight bored out of optimism. Born out fight that is of knowing and believing and having faith in what can be, unburdened by what has been. This is a fight that is not only for the soul of our country, this is a fight born out of love of country and this is a fight we will win. Thank you. [applause] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] former South Carolina governor u. S. Congressman mark sanford has announced he will challenge President Trump for the 2020 republican nomination for president. Sanford and after a lot of thinking, praying and talking to friends, i have decided to throw my hat in the ring and run for president in republican primary. I believe what is happening in washington needs challenging. We are heading toward the most predictable financial crisis in the history of our country we have never been as financially vulnerable. I cant sit on the sidelines and not speak up and all of us should find a way to make our voices heard. It is the only way to change things in washington. My focus on spending is not to suggest other issues are not important. It does not suggest i dont have other differences with the president. Best tost to say it is focus on that. Change ourtant we focus on spending. Democrats are talking about it. Competition ofy more versus more at the president ial level. The president has ruled himself as the king of debt. As republicans, i believe it is vital we debate what is historical of our cornerstone belief, it is not right to hand to our kids the bill for government expenses. Being conservative on Money Matters make common sense. Every four years we focus on the president ial race as a country, what we value and where we want to go next as a nation. This is our chance. Waiting another four years for debate on the subject would hurt all of us. For these reasons, i am stepping forward. I asked for your prayers, wisdom and health, but most of all, i asked for your involvement. It will take all of us pushing together toward financial sanity for us to get there. I believe we can, if we all keep pushing. Join us. President trump holds a Campaign Rally in fayetteville, North Carolina on the eve of a special election for the ninth Congressional District in the state. Watch live coverage tonight at 7 00 on cspan2, online at cspan. Org or listen free on the radio app. Every year, cspan awards fellowships to middle School Teachers and high School Teachers who hde