Annually Fund National parks and public land maintenance. The Government Affairs committee holds a hearing on government buying and distribution strategies in response to covid19. President trump met with Law Enforcement officials amid protests over George Floyds death. The president said he does not or dismantlingng the police, adding his view that 99 of Police Officers are great people. Law enforcement officials spoke about progress made in kernel justice reform, and the need for law and order. Pres. Trump thank you very much, it is an honor to have Law Enforcement, they have enforced the laws. They have done a fantastic job. We had among the best numbers we have ever had in terms of recorded history. This has been a strong year for less crime. Reason for less crime. We had great Law Enforcement. I am proud of them. Crime. We had great Law Enforcement. I am proud of them. There wont be defunding or dismantling of our police. There will not be any disbanding of our police. The police have been letting us live in peace, we want to ensure sure we dont have any bad actors in there. Sometimes we see horrible things, but i say 99 are great people. They have done jobs that are recordsetting. So our Crime Statistics are at a level that they have not been at. I want to go around the room and just ask each one of the folks to say hello in say a little bit about themselves and the success they have had, then we will go and have a meeting as to where we go from here. Ok . Thank you. Mr. President , thank you. Thank you for hosting this meeting, for the ability to talk about important things in Law Enforcement. This last year has been really trying to lawenforcement. In the last year, the lasting months, we have dealt with covid, we have lost 117 officers across this country who were exposed to covid. I thank you for your leadership and recognizing there is not a single thing in the profession that we did not receive assistance for from your administration. Thank you for your support. We are dealing with another crisis pushing us to our limits. I dont know in Law Enforcement officer in this country that is not appalled with the incident that occurred in minneapolis. But that one incident does not reflect the minimum and across this country that go to work every single day to make their communities better. Thank you. We recognize it is time for us to have some good, deep discussion and look within to improve the criminal Justice System. We want a seat at the table to have that discussion. President trump thank you, patrick, very much. Ashley, please. Ashley first and foremost, we have to ensure before we can collaborate and make progress in the criminal justice arena, we have to make sure we have space to do that. We appreciate you focusing on what is important, that people have the ability to express their opinion and protest in a peaceful way, but we cannot have a tax on Law Enforcement, looting. This will dismantle what we have built for so long. In florida, we are at a 48year crime rate low, we have not been this low in crime and sometime. I believe it is people like you that have supported Law Enforcement, and i believe in any administration or criminal Justice System, we can always make improvements. I admire that you are willing to dig in and have these conversations and do that. I think that moving forward, the idea that we would ever dismantle our police administration, coming from not only the attorney general of the great state of florida, as federal prosecutor, or as a judge for over a decade, but as a wife of a lawenforcement officer, i see what these men and women do for our communities. They rush in to save us when other people rush out. They deliver babies. They rescue. We expect great things. We have to ensure they are safe, and at the same time, we must remain committed to improving our system. We stand ready to assist you. President trump thank you very much, ashley. You are doing a great job in florida. I get the word, you are doing a great job. Thank you mr. President and staff at the white house for posting this. I am the National Chairman of trustees for the police. Im also here is a sergeant, working the streets during this time of crisis in our nation. The reason im so happy to be here today representing the rankandfile is because, number one, it is important for everybody to know that there is not one Law Enforcement officer in the country that ive spoken to, with friends and colleagues from all over the country, that looked at this horrific incident and remotely thought that there was anything right about the it. The great, vast majority of men and women in Law Enforcement who are appalled by what happen. That vast majority is also, as the president has always said, already said, those are the good men and women of Law Enforcement who work hard every day to make their communities safe. On behalf of that rankandfile, we applaud this meeting and we are meant to be here, because here,re glad to be because there is no doubt in anybodys mind, as general moody already said, that there is room for improvement, and we know that. We are happy to be at the table and happy to welcome that input and do what we can to be better, Better Police in this country, Better Police for our citizens and our communities, and we are happy to be part of this conversation, and that is why we are here. Very much appreciate it. Pres. Trump weve known each other a long time now. Really good. Jared, please. We had the opportunity to grow close with Law Enforcement. Weve worked closely to bring criminal justice reform. The Law Enforcement community heard the cries from the community and saw the injustices in the system that need to be fixed and responded by coming together to fix it. Its been a Great Partnership to do that. These reforms make our communities safer and our system fairer and thats what weve been able to accomplish by working together. What we seen in the past is that it doesnt just result in reports, or talking points that result in progress and policies that make peoples lives better. Hopefully at this time when theres a lot of people in the country who are feeling different pain and feeling different concerns, Law Enforcement can be here and come leader, come together and work toward bringing solutions that can bring this country forward, so thank you very much for that partnership. Thank you, mr. President. Thanks to all the Law Enforcement individuals in the room and for the work you do on a daily basis. When i saw it happened george floyd, it really made my heart sunk. It hit me to my core, as well as a lot of other lives that have been lost. As an africanamerican, ive lived in south d. C. And lived in a paradox. My wife is sometimes scared to walk the streets by herself. In the same vein, as an individual, ive also had the fear of being in certain neighborhoods, or driving certain types of cars as an africanamerican, just because of my relationship with the police. Theres a lot of africanamerican males across the country that have stories like that that they can share. But i think Law Enforcement is there to kind of thread the needle and help us and protect us and not to be demonized. Its been very, very tough to see what happened and whats been impacting a lot of families across the country. I think if we want real reform that can change communities, it starts with Law Enforcement and and partnering with them, not demonizing them. I have a lot of lawenforcement individuals in my life and they are some of the greatest people ive ever met. We cannot let some bad apples represent something at the core of any community. We look forward to continuing to partner with you all and to find solutions because that is one thing ive learned working under President Trumps leadership, that we are not just about talk, we are about action. In communities leading are free to take action and it has been an honor to serve, and i look forward to the discussion. Pres. Trump great to have you with us, great job youre doing, too. Please. Good afternoon, mr. President and Vice President. Thank you for putting this important meeting together, probably one of the most important meetings in my profession in my 43 years as a Law Enforcement officer. I wont echo some the things that have been set about the horrific incident that brought us here today, but what i will say is this. What its going to take to make the appropriate changes in Law Enforcement is courageous leadership. There are countless courageous leaders in Law Enforcement across this nation that are willing to step up to the plate and look at new ideas, to make our profession better and how we connect with our community. I think one of the most important things, mr. President , that you have done is coming you you have listened to iacp and something we wanted and asked for for two decades, and thats a National Commission on Law Enforcement and administration of justice. I want to thank you for establishing that, because now, more than ever, that commission is incredibly important, so thank you. Pres. Trump thats great. Thank you very much. Mr. Vp, please. Vice president pence thank you, mr. President , and we are here to listen. I want to thank the attorney generals who are here, but most especially, sergeant, chief, and others, thanks for what you represent. Which is really the best of america. I told the chief that my uncle was a Police Officer in chicago for 25 years. And i grew up with my three brothers and two sisters, great memories of visiting my grandparents in chicago and seeing my uncle in his uniform and seeing him walk out the door, put his life on the line to protect and serve. I want to promise you that you have a president and an administration that is always going to stand with men and women who serve and at a great risk and great sacrifice to protect our communities. Im also very grateful, mr. President , to hear this afternoon a desire to have a conversation about how we can improve. As jared just shared a moment ago, this president has already demonstrated his willingness to improve our Justice System in this country, passing historical criminal justice reform. I want to express my appreciation to Law Enforcement officials who are here at this table today who were with us when we brought that Bipartisan Legislation forward, mr. President , at your direction. We have always been in the business of making a more perfect union, and we are going to be about that now. In the wake of the tragic event now almost two weeks ago, we want to hear from you about how we can improve, but improve in a way that builds on that foundation. Really the finest men and women in our country, the bravest men and women in our country, the men and women of Law Enforcement. How we make sure that the men and women who dedicate their lives to Law Enforcement, who take risks every single day to our communities safe, are properly supported and that the resources from the federal government, the support from state and local authorities will continue to hold up those honorable men and women who serve to protect every day. So thank you, mr. President , and thank you to all those who are here. Pres. Trump thank you, mike, very much. Mr. President , its an honor to be here. Ive been a member of your team for two years, taking over the domestic policy about a month ago. What i want to say briefly as this. Three months ago, on this of the white house we gathered almost 1000 black leaders from around this country who were celebrating lack history month. In that celebration, we talked about having the lowest unemployment, the lowest poverty rate this country had ever seen. It was a remarkable feat that deserves such great celebration. But here we are, three months later, and its a different time for our country. But on friday, we had another major announcement. 2. 5 million jobs plus created in a time of such darkness and destruction. It reminded me that while we are in the midst of the Great American comeback, while we are going to be renewing and rebuilding and restoring this country, that none of it is possible without our Law Enforcement. None of it is possible without real safety and Real Security in this country. So really, for the Great American comeback, with your leadership, mr. President , as we cut poverty rates again and we slash unemployment again and we built a country where every man, woman, and child have a shot at the American Dream and it begins today. I believe it begins with people in this room. It begins with a Law Enforcement that is supported, and i know you and the Vice President and all in this room one us to move forward. Mr. President , thank you very much. Im pleased to work very closely with folks like sheriff childress and those who took their time to come up and be a part of this very important conversation. As someone with Law Enforcement in my family as well, its a very important conversation. Everybody ive talked to at the elected leader level and also at the rankandfile level was just appalled by what happened in minneapolis. But out of that comes a commitment, a redoubling to make improvement across the country at the state and local and federal level and am really pleased to have such strong partners in the Intergovernmental Affairs office to make that progress under your leadership, sir. Thank you. Thank you, mr. President , for thanked ship and each of you for being here today. When the cameras are not rolling and when there is no reporters around, theres unbelievable work that has been going on and will continue to go on to make sure that its not just words, that its action. Mr. President , youve been a president of action, and for such a time as this, action, again, will speak louder than words. All of you that are gathered around this table today, we thank you for your action to be here and for the action that will come from this. Its a pleasure to serve you. Pres. Trump thank you, mark, very much. Thank you, mr. President , mr. Vice president , and the administration, for allowing us to sit down with you once again today. We just want you to know that you are a friend, you have been very supportive of Law Enforcement. As a matter fact, ive been 29 years with Livingston County sheriffs department. Tony childress is my name, and im the sheriff of Livingston County, which is the fourth largest county in the state of illinois. We are 90 miles south of chicago. I call it rural central illinois, and we have an ideology that i feel, and many others feel, works very well. That ideology is being a friend of the community, supporting the community with programs like shopping with the sheriff, like halloween with the children, always being there as a listening ear for the community, and working with the community. Mr. President , we are happy to sit down with you and to try and do everything we can to make this nation better by keeping the Community Safe and by working with you and the nation and making a better place. Some of the things that we feel in Livingston County will be very important is a mandatory deescalation training for all officers, prohibition of all physical restraint maneuvers on or above the neck, and any physical acts that restrict the flow of blood or oxygen to the brain. Requiring all officers to render medical aid to all people and requiring officers to intervene when physical forces are being applied to either stop or attempt forces that are being inappropriately applied, and is no longer required. So we look forward to working with you to hopefully get legislation involved in making these things true and making them law. We just thank you again for allowing us to be here and know that you have a friend in illinois, and anything you need, just let us know. Thank you again. Pres. Trump thank you very much. Great job. We appreciate it. Thank you, mr. President , for convening this session. Its good to join with all my friends and colleagues from Law Enforcement community, many of whom ive worked with over the years. I think Law Enforcement fully understands, and has understood for some time, the distrust that exists in the Africanamerican Community toward the criminal Justice System. As ive been reflecting on this over the past few days and weeks, it struck me that, for most of our history, maybe just up to 60 years ago, the law was explicitly discriminatory and did not provide equal protection. Its only been since the early 1960s that our law has actually provided equal protection to africanamericans. What we have had over the past 50 years or so is reform of our institutions, so that they reflect those values, the values upon which our country was founded. Some institutions, such as the military, have done an excellent job of reforming. And Law Enforcement has, too. Thats one thing i understand from being attorney general 30 years ago. What makes me very optimistic today is that the Law Enforcement leaders that we deal with, and you all know this, no one is more committed to reforming the criminal Justice System and the profession of policing today. There hasnt been a president recently who has been more committed. He didnt require the crisis we have today to get started with the first step act, and with establishing a commission that has been looking at the very issues we are dealing with today. I know theres a lot of interest among Police Leaders for clarity and guidance on the use of force and some of the issues you were just talking about, sheriff. Making sure the standards are out there, making sure they are trained, and making sure they are adhered to. We are looking forward to working with you to get that done. The time for waiting is over. Its now incumbent on us to bring good back. It is now incumbent on us to bring good out of bad. The commitment is there for Law Enforcement, so lets get it done. Finally, just let me say that the other aspect of this is the rule of law and the need for law and order. Above the department of justice main entrance is the latin phrase that from law and order, Everything Else comes. Its the foundation of civilization, and we have to make sure, its our responsibility to make sure that our country is ruled by law and not by violence. Pres. Trump thank you, bill. Well said. Thank you very much. I got to know daniel in kentucky. He is a superstar in the making. He had an incredible race and we watched it together, and congratulations on that. It was some evening, right . Thank you mr. President , it was. Obviously i was grateful for your support and grateful for your leadership on this current issue. Weve obviously had the challenges with covid19, and now were starting to see civil unrest in our society as it relates to some of the challenges that, frankly, black and brown communities have had, as general barr so eloquently stated. We have a responsibility in our in this room with all of our Law Enforcement partners to look for ways as we move forward to do it better, to become better citizens, to become better neighbors. Im so thankful for the men and women of our Law Enforcement community that recognize the importance and sincerity of that need, and have the interest, not only to protect and serve, but also to demonstrate understanding of the challenges and look for ways to heal the fabric of this nation. As general william barr said, we cannot allow for chaos in our streets. We can allow for peaceful protest. We cannot allow for chaos. We cannot allow for violence. Those in this room know that and those that have been peacefully protesting know that, but our challenge today is how can we move together to better our communities, to better our society in a meaningful way . Im honored to be a part of that discussion, someone from the commonwealth of kentucky who represents kentucky and understands some of the civil unrest we are seeing there. I appreciate you assembling this roundtable. I appreciate all of you who are here today to be part of this conversation, and i look forward to working with you all in collaborating to better our communities and our society. Pres. Trump thank you very much. Im proud of you. Its very interesting, because i just see in some of the papers, they want to end the Police Department in minneapolis. End it. What does that mean, end it . They had a couple of rough nights, and they had a third night which was not good. They abandoned their precinct, something ive never noticed before. You had a mayor that asked them to abandon and now they have abandoned the mayor, it looks like. The opposite of far thinking. You say its far thinking, is that far thinking . So they had three really bad nights and i insisted on bringing in the national guard, and all of a sudden it was like magic. It was in good shape. They helped with the police, but the police were told to leave their posts. Nobody is ever seen anything like that. We insisted on having protection for that great city in that great state. Great state, minnesota. What a horrible thing thats where it started. We ended very strong once we got involved right from the white house. We were going to let that happen to that city or that state. I think a lot of people took notice. The police are doing an incredible job, as i said, the records are being broken in terms of lack of crime. Had a tremendous 12 months, a tremendous 36 months, i think you could say during the term. And then then you add six months to that. 3. 5 years have gone by very quickly but weve had a tremendous record on crime, and we are going to talk about ideas, how we can do it better and how we can do it in a much more gentle fashion. The thing like what happened should never have happen. Plenty of things shouldnt have happened. But we cant give up the finest Law Enforcement anywhere in the world. Theres nothing like it. Few people, few countries have our record, and im talking about the positive records. We are going to be discussing some ideas and concepts of things, but we wont be defunding or dismantling are our police. We wont be disbanding our police or ending our police force. In a city. You might have some cities that want to try, but its going to be a very sad situation if they did, because people arent going to be protected. These people do a tremendous job of protecting citizens of our country, and thats what they are paid for. Whether they were paid or not, thats what they do. Someone put it very beautifully before when they said they protect people, risk their own lives for people theyve never seen before. People in many cases they dont know. You are protecting the lives of people you dont know. Its an incredible thing. Its a great honor to be with you all. We will have a little discussion now. Thank you all very much. Mr. President , could we ask a few questions . Cspans washington journal, every day we are taking your calls live on the air on the news of the day and will discuss policy issues that impact you. Coming up Tuesday Morning, we look at policing during the covid19 and nationwide civil stephen cat stevens, president of the International Association of chiefs of police. Racee will talk about relations in america with naacp president and ceo derek thompson. Watch cspans washington journal, live at 7 00 eastern Tuesday Morning and be sure to join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, Text Messages and tweets. Live tuesday on our networks, on cspan, politico playhouse hosts a conversation with new jersey governor phil murphy. At noon, we go to houston, texas for the funeral of george floyd who died in Police Custody in minnesota. At 2 30 p. M. , the Senate FinanceCommittee Examines onion Unemployment Insurance and the cares act during the covid19. Returns tothe senate resume consideration on legislation to annual fund public parks. And on cspan3, the Senate Homeland security and governmental Affairs Committee holds a hearing on federal government buying and distribution strategies and response to covid19. As we continue our battleground series today as part of cspans campaign 2020, our focus, florida. Joining us now from miami is our guest from political. Com. Can you give us a sense of the overall landscape right now . One is a broader picture coronavirus and protests gripping this day. This is president prompts this is President Trumps newly adopted state which does not seem to be making much of a difference in the polls. He currently is doing pretty badly. It is an astonishing margin, bigger than Hillary Clintons was at this point. What having covered a number of , iy close races in florida ofays get suspicious or wary polls showing a big blowout at the top of the ticket. If biden wins florida, i dont see him winning by eight points. That is just me. Wasooking back at 2016, it a very close race between Hillary Clinton and donald trump. What are the lessons for both parties as we move into the 2020 follow election . It is all about turnout. If you look back at the data from 2016 which is pretty fascinating. When the absentee ballots or mailin ballots were counted on election day morning and the in person votes, early were counted, clinton was the head by a about 250,000 votes but she ended up losing by about 115,000. That means there was a surge in margin in Republican Voters that enabled from to win. That enabled trump to win. Uge turnout of his voters. A huge turnout of about 90 . Many of those that turned up voted republican. And in florida in 2016, President Trumps one point 19 percentage point victory over clinton was bigger than obamas one point victory in 2012. In 2018 in the midterms, we had a senate race, a governors race, and the race for the statewide chief financial officer. There was a margin of 0. 5 or less. Florida looks like the rest of the nation, a transient stage. We are still a state influx. And ever since 2000 some of both look at thees vagaries of the electoral college. The democrats are going to win florida. York whichll win new is now the fourth largest state behind florida and that is 29 electoral votes. The republicans will win texas. If the republican does not win florida, he is essentially so far behind it is impossible to catch up. Because of the rust belt straight flush that trump was able to play. He did not need to win florida. This year, they are more doubtful about being able to do it being a must win state for the republicans. Not is an important thing. He has taken a bit of a shot in his favorability rating. The National Media has portrayed florida and the virus. I do have an issue for some of the coverage but that is for another day. Of the governor is in charge the secretary of state who oversees the machinery. We have huge lines of people waiting to cast early votes. The governor at the time made sure to give people more time to do that. 2008, that was the case but in 2012 when Governor Scott saw huge lines, he did not open the polls for longer or for early voting. The election supervisors in florida have petitioned for more of authority and more ability to conduct more absentee ballot or mail in voting processes in order to get ready for the fact that a lot of people will probably stay at home and vote that way. And so far, the state has not moved on that. That is a practical way that he is affecting the conducting of the election or the orchestration of the election machinery prior to the election. [indiscernible] whati4 corridor other parts of the state right now are you looking at . Lookingot necessarily at flipping counties. Corridory in the i4 voted for the democrat in 2018. It is always very close. It is a male in voting county. N votings a mail i system. Collier county in southwest florida it and other counties will have a big turnout. Coupled with other Rural Counties can deliver to trump a marginal victory. We like the rest of the nation have more polarized voters based on race. 2 of the registered voters are white, not hispanic. 17 are hispanic and 13 are black and then there is a mishmash of others. If there is a low latino turnout which there might be, that will be bad news for joe biden. He needs to get a good 60 of vote out of them and a high turnout. We expect this to be a relatively high white turnout. If you look at the polling nationally, with older white voters, donald trump is starting to hemorrhage. In june. Ng this anything can happen as we have seen. The election is many moons and many miles away. And florida is the president s new home state. Does that make a difference in any way do you think . To this degree that President Trump knows he needs to win florida and he is acting that way. Just like large corporations and the federal government they in campaigns break down the region. And there is a south southeastern region. Thing butthe same unlike other campaigns, he has made florida its own region. That gives you an idea of how important this date is to him and how much attention he pays to the stage. When he announced his reelection bid, he visited frequently. The democratic ticket. There is a lot of speculation that a representative from florida is on the short list to join biden on the ticket. What impact would that have on the state potentially . Assuming it is messaged anderly, and african African American woman at the top of the ticket as a running helpfor biden would turnout. We have pretty good data that in 10us roughly nine africanamericans that show up at the polls will vote democrat. The question is, how many will show up . And that is where elections are. On or lost it is all about turnout. If biden is able to hold the white, moderate support and if he is able to boost black voter turnout which Hillary Clinton was unable to do relative to barack obama, then it is looking like a biden win. s. Se are big if anyone that is upset, i would never forecast an election. Speculation on the convention from is there a chance that florida will host the Republican Convention this august . I think there is a very good chance. A new representative from northeast Florida Region called the President Trump when he saw donald trump talking about how North Carolina was jerking him around. He said come on down to florida and check out jacksonville. Jacksonville is an ideal situation for the president in this regard. It is also on the border of georgia. The downside for jacksonville is this i dont there is a covered arena that would be adequate for having the big kind of rally he wants. Remember that President Trump is a rally politician, a movement politician. He needs those big crowds. If you look at the polling, that is one of the reasons he is not doing well currently. If the county or if the city of jacksonville had a covered stadium, i would be much more sanguine on their chances but right now i think there is a good shot. Said itinally, as you is all about turnout. Turnout. In light of the pandemic, how the that impact productivity for both parties moving into the fall . Things that will hurt democrats is they have not been able to register voters the way that they want. You saw obamas election and reelection was he was able to grow the voter rolls ahead of the day that people cast ballots. He was able to count on a new and replenished search of voters surge of voters. They have been unable to get out there though and register the new people. That is a potential problem. How much of a problem . As iot sure because mentioned earlier, biden is doing rather well in the state. There is a possibility that he may not need them. Seeing a of campaigning between now and november. I do. And i am basing this on gut and past experiences. If someone wins by two points, it will be and other blowout. I would tell people that if they see polls showing democrats winning by eight points in june, dont expect that in november. I could eat my words but i am fully ready for a close race that could take war vote i mail ballots being cast. We will be in touch with you now. His work is available at politico. Com. Thanks for being with us on cspan. Washington, d. C. Mayor Muriel Bowser spoke about the tests in her city following the death of george floyd. Mayor bowser, joined by the metropolitan police chief and City Council Chair said protests were peaceful. Good morning. Im going to begin this press