You are running for president this year. Tell us the history of the green party, how has it changed since 1984, and what does the party look like today . Howie well we got started in 1984 after the german greens elected people to their 35 bundestag, their congress, and around the world people said maybe we should do that. So we met in 1984 in st. Paul, meeting wend said cannot build this out of the president ial run. We have to start in local politics, and we proceeded to do that for the next dozen years. In 1996, ralph nader let us use his name on ballots for president. He did not do an active campaign, but he got on 30 ballots, and then he ran an active ballot in 2000 and we were on over 40 ballots. That put us on the national spotlight. We have been here 35 years and we currently have 129 elected officials in local offices. It is one of the best kept secrets in american politics, that is more than any independent Progressive Party has had since you have to go back to the heyday of the socialist party before the 1930s. I think what has changed as we is we have a lot of ballot lines running local candidates, a lot of experience, and our orientation politically has changed, not just advocating peace and environmental and Economic Justice reforms, we are talking structural changes to ecological structuralism. That is the nutshell of the last 35 years. Jesse how many people would you say are in the green party as of today . Howie i think a ballpark would be half a million. We have about 250,000 who are enrolled or registered in the green party where you can do that, but you cannot do that in every state, and we do not have a ballot line in every state where you can do that. If you roughly double what we have, the states that we have the green party, it is half a million. Jesse now cspan is going to be airing speeches by you on your running mate Angela Walker at the convention at 8 00 and 11 00 p. M. What was the, what has your Green Party Convention been like . Especially in this time of coronavirus and covid19 . How did the Green Party Convention go, and how does it differ from what the republican and democratic parties do . Howie we are similar. We have primaries in our states, and delegates are committed to states, and there will be a roll call of the states today. I came in with the most committed delegates so the rollcall should end up nominating me. That is very similar. With the coronavirus pandemic, we have had to do this virtually, so there has been an adjustment, and we had to get the technology up. And so far, it has gone smooth. We were originally going to be in detroit between july 9 and 12, but now we are online so that is what is different. Jesse now, you have been raising money to run for president. How has your fundraising been going for this years campaign, and how does it compare to what President Trump and former Vice President biden are doing right now . Howie well, they are going to raise billions. You know we are trying to get to , our first million. Which is 1 1000 of one billion. They are on another order and magnitude in terms of financing. We raised over 200,000, and we just qualified for federal primary matching funds. We are the only campaign doing that. The republicans and democrats do not want to do that anymore because if you accept that money, you have to limit your spending on your own partys primaries to 50 million. They raised so much money they dont want that now. We are the only campaign in the country that has been trying, and this week we just reached the threshold. We needed to raise 5,000 in 20 states and contributions of 250 or less. So we will be submitting our paperwork to the government next week, and that will basically give us 250,000 back. Which we will file back into ballot access. Jesse so lets talk about your platform. You have our cspan viewers out there wondering what is your platform for president and why they should vote for you. Give our viewers your pitch of why they should vote for you for president. Howie vote for us if you support our platform. Do not waste your vote on a platform of a candidate who you dont support. Dont silence your voice. What we are looking at real what we are talking about is Real Solutions for life and death issues. The first is the covid pandemic. Right now we have had a Record Number of people come down with infections yesterday. The chart is shooting through the roof in terms of infections and deaths, and we are six months into this. The two governing parties in this country are presiding over a failed state. Why cant we do a test, trace, and isolate program like all of the other organized countries around the world . Test, trace, isolate solution like other countries . Wins,is a loser, covid and he is like typhoid mary making his people sick. Where is joe biden . Using hismazing voice, get the personal protective equipment and medical supplies that are in short supply in states like texas and florida. It is a total disaster. We have people out on the streets protesting the centuriesold pandemic of racism and police brutality, so not just reforming Police Practices but Community Control of the police so they work for us, not ourselves themselves. When they police themselves, they get away with ardor. Murder. If we could take the Police Department and put it into social services, it will not be enough for these racially oppressed communities that have suffered racism and exploitation and discrimination. We want to defund the police and put it into a Marshall Plan for the city for jobs, education, schools. Trumpimate meltdown, calls Climate Change a hoax but the democrats act as if it is a hoax. The proposal from the house said we will reduce Carbon Emissions by 37 by 2030 and that is not even what the International Group called for. Issue for theour last 10 years. The democrats diluted the content they are not calling for a ban on fracking and new fossil fuel infrastructure. If we build that infrastructure we will be locked into decades more of burning fossil fuel and the planet will be cooked. It is a plan to get 20 to negative Carbon Emissions by 2020. The other issue is inequality. Is decreasing so we are calling for an economic ill of rights like roosevelt called for bill of rights like roosevelt called for. That would include a job guarantee, carried income above poverty and medicare for all. Income above poverty, and medicare for all. We are calling for peace initiatives, 75 cut in military spending, getting out of these endless wars, pledging no first use of military nuclear weapons, and then going to the other Nuclear Powers and saying we want complete nuclear disarmament, and agree to the trudy treaty on a prohibition of nuclear weapons. The candidate got the Nobel Peace Prize for that three years ago and hardly anybody in the country knows that because not of the candidates are talking about this issue. It should be a top Campaign Issue and we intend to make it one. They are life or death issues. Host lets let our viewers join this conversation. We are going to open up our regular lines, democrats, 202 7488000. Republicans, 202 7488001. Ndependents, 202 7488002 and we are going to open up a special line for green party members. We want to hear from you at 202 7488003. You can text us your opinion at that same number, 202 7488003. We are always reading on social media, twitter and facebook. Mr. Hawkins, i can tell you we are seeing a different different versions of this question popping up on our social media feed so i am going to summarize all of them for you. We are going to start by reading ifrom the new yorker the green party insists on running a president ial candidate in the few states where it matters, i hope people will not waste their votes. That is not because i think joe biden is a hero. Hes notecause i think only better than the alternative but also push a ball. Politics begins once the votes are counted with flex with less exciting business of prodding politicians to keep promises or opening up the political space for them to do what they want. Jillworld, which votes in 1. 4 million the last president ial election, and a lot of democrats say that if jill stein hadnt gotten those votes Hillary Clinton would be president. We are getting this form of question over and over isnt voting for a Green Party Candidate voting for donald trump because that will make him more likely to win . What is your response to those concerns. Guest a vote for the green party is a vote against donald trump. It is in another column. It is the thing you learn in first grade. That is just simple logic. First question are question said politics continues after the election, and if that medicareif you want for all and Student Debt Relief and progressive reforms that Bernie Sanders was championing, and you vote for joe biden, you are voting against those things and silencing your voice and giving away your leverage. You vote for the green party, Everybody Knows you stand for that and you will be heard. When i ran for governor of new york i got 5 of the vote. Andrew cuomo wanted to run up the vote and get ready to run for president. He could not take us for granted. After that election, he adopted three demands we are raised a ban on fracking in new york state, 15 minimum wage, and paid family leave, so if you want leverage after the election you have to vote for what you want and not be taken advantage of. Jill stein brought new voters to the polls. 60 of her voters would not have come out and voted, would have stayed home. If you do the math, if that was true in michigan, she was at the margin. The democrats have got to stop blaming the greens for their own problems. It was not the greens that elected donald trump, it was the Electoral College, and we have been giving democrats the solution to the problem since ralph nader ran into thousand, abolish the Electoral College and have president elected by rank choice about. Joe biden is welcome to embrace first twohe republicans got elected by losing the popular vote and installed by the Electoral College. You would think the democrats would address that problem instead of blaming it on the greens. We aint going away. Host lets go to the phones and let our viewers take part in the conversation. Arizona onm gilbert, the green party line. Caller good morning. And right nextrt pollution. Y with air what are your thoughts on Nuclear Energy as a Clean Solution . Guest it is dirty, dangerous, and uneconomical. It has been the most unsuccessful industrial enterprise since world war ii. , sorance will not ensure it we have the price anderson act. We have nukes in upstate new york. Epsilon wanted to shut them down because they were not making money and instead this state has suffered to the tune of two bill of 8 billion to the tune 8 billion. Carolina with long the obama from administration, all of those projects have been shut down because of cost overruns and over time on the construction. They are in trouble. This is not a viable option. For the same money we might spend on Nuclear Power, weekend on solarwe can spend and wind energy. Host you talked about your run for governor of new york, and you received i believe almost 5 of the vote if not more. How do you plan to win enough votes to make this a significant race for president . How do you get people to vote for you . Guest like i said earlier, vote for what you want. If you are for medicare for all and you vote for joe biden, you will get lost in the sauce. Joe biden is against it so make your voice heard. Make your vote count, dont waste it. That is why people should vote for us it is real simple. If you dont vote for what you want, you are never going to get it. Host joe calling from whitman, massachusetts on the independent line. Caller hello. What are your thoughts on combat globalo poverty . Guest i did not quite here. Caller the International Affairs budget to combat global poverty . Guest i am for a global Green New Deal. We talk about the new deal to convert to clean energy and promote human rights and we should expand that internationally. Global of being the empire everywhere, intervening and getting behind coos and regime change, we should be helping countries, making friends instead of enemies, including helping all countries in the world meet their basic needs budgets for education and clean water. That will do more to create world peace and adjust address poverty. Yes, we should use it to help people in the world instead of trying to dominate them, and make the world safer for u. S. Based global corporations. Host cecil is calling from carrie, North Carolina, cary, North Carolina on the democrats line. Caller i have a problem with science. In this apply science guys whats his name . Host mr. Hawkins, our guest . Caller he is a knight in shining armor because of the when yoular depend on it, there is not one day in our life that we do not have the son applied to the earth. Earth. Sun applied to the we can have free energy in all kinds of ways, wave power, title power, and we do not have to spend money. We can make use of free power. Host go ahead and respond. Guest he is right. We only Nuclear Power plant need is the fusion reactor called the son sun. Solar, derivatives of solar like hydropower, that is Natural Energy all around us. Once you build the technology to harvest this Natural Energy around us, you do not have the fuel cost, so it is cheaper than burning fossil fuels. This is the way we have got to go, and it is imperative given the Climate Emergency we are facing that is an existential threat. People think it will be more heat waves and stronger storms. It is worse than that. It is mass extinction of species, agricultural and ecological collapse, putting our civilization in danger. This is the imperative. We have to go solar. Host we have a question from a social media follower who wants to know does the green Party Support mailin ballots . Guest absolutely. I have said early, why the hell doesnt biden go down and demand a Quarantine Program to suppress this virus . He should be demanding universal mailin ballot option so we can all vote in this pandemic. This election is problematic. We have already seen that in some of the primaries. There are no polling places because it tends to be older people who work the polls and they do not want to endanger their lives. We need this option and we need it now. I am absolutely for that, and im angry trump is against it because he does not want people to vote and thinks it is the only way he can win, but where the hell is joe biden . I have policy differences with and he talks about leadership and he is awol. Host mary is calling from syracuse, new york, on the green party line. Good morning. Caller good morning. How are you . Host i am doing fine. Go ahead. Caller i wanted to make a comment on the third parties stealing votes from the democrats and republicans, and we do see that we take more votes than the republicans. With the last president ial election, if you look at the numbers, especially with the amount of people who didnt vote, you are seeing a lot more people who were being disenfranchised by the twoparty system and do not feel their voice is counted so they are not voting at all. The amount of votes that were not placed one have won the election last year, so we need to have a conversation about why the twoparty system is not working, and how we can stop people from feeling disenfranchised, and be able to partake in the Voting System and feeling like their voices are heard. Host go ahead and respond, mr. Hawkins. Guest mary is right. There were 100 Million People who could have voted in 2016 but stayed home. They are disproportionally working class, people of color, and young people. I believe they are not apathetic, they are alienated. I have done a lot of doorknocking and they believe the two parties do not know what is going on with those folks. They do not know what the issues are and do not see those people except around elections, and are just alienated. That is where the future of the green party is. We think our platform speaks to their needs and concerns. We are going to bring more people into the process. The democrats are worried about us stealing the votes. Whore going to get people and there are a lot of races where we do not have bought candidates. The greens are more likely to vote for democrats. They should get us on the ballot because we will help them out in some races. Host like any other party, you do have some intraparty battles going on. One of our social media followers want to ask about that. He says your rivals in the green party have repeatedly accused you of using railroad tactics similar to that the dnc used on bernie in order to rig the green Party Primary and your campaigns favor. How do you respond to the accusations that you made the 2020 green party antidemocratic . Guest it is not true. Each state party set up its own process. I have nothing to do with the process. In the processes they set up, i got the most votes. In politics, some people are sour grapes when they lose. You do have differences in all political parties. Do not believe everything you read on the internet or see on a podcast. Host richard is calling from howard beach, new york, on the republican line. Good morning. Caller thanks for taking my call. One thing i noticed that was absent from mr. Hawkins policy points was the opioid crisis. He mentioned death by police brutality, which is important, but only a few hundred per year. There is a few hundred people dying per day in ohio and indiana and the appellation states like west virginia, and a lot of suicide based on despair and lack of work. I want to know what the green party has to offer for people trying to solve this crisis, because i feel like this is one of the most important crises that we face as a country today. Guest yes, absolutely. Decriminalize all drugs except for marijuana, which we want to legalize like alcohol and tobacco. Other illicit drugs, we want to do like they did in portugal about 20 years ago. Instead of possessing an amount for personal use of an illicit drug, instead of getting a criminal charge, you are given a ticket. It is a violation and you meet with a lawyer, doctor, and social worker, and they look at your situation and see how it can help. We should treat drug addiction as a health problem, not a criminal problem. People are dying and opioid overdoses, particularly heroin, because they are going to the street instead of getting help and being charged with a criminal offense. That is the way to reduce opioid overdoses. In portugal, they hardly ever have any of those anymore. Down andcrime has gone less people are using illicit, hard drugs then before. Deaths ofit depths despair because of the inequality. People have to choose between going to the doctor and paying the rent and they dont go to the doctor and it ends up killing them. There are people whose hopes and life are disappointed and they feel hopeless. They try to cope with drugs and alcohol or suicide. Life expectancy in this country is going despair, which is why Life Expectancy in this country is going down, which is a moral shame. It is inexcusable. Goes, as the drug policy we want to decriminalize all the drugs and provide medical other services, because people may be coping with unemployment or low wages, by getting, you know, taking alcohol or other drugs, so we think that is the best approach to the Opioid Epidemic as well as other problems with drug and downhole abuse. Host now, mr. Hawkins, there is a story in late magazine right now pointing out that in europe, green is the new wave. I am going to read a little bit of that to you. Screen party has not crested yet. Host so the green party is across europe,m and you see that in other areas, where you see the green party ticking up traction in the u. S. . Think conditions here are similar to those in europe. In europe, they have been part of the legislatures for decades now, and many parts, part of governing coalitions. In ireland, the Prime Minister is a green. And it is a commentary on the idemocratic nature of the local, state, and National Level could i think the issues the greens are running on in europe are issues that resonate here. We have got a climate crisis, and we have an issue of Economic Justice. That is what the Green New Deal is all about. Over 80 of the American People want a Green New Deal. Issue where the greens have stood out in europe is they have not fallen for the antiimmigrant backlash that all the other parties, at least actions of them, have adopted, and i think that attracts a lot of the voters that were socialist Party Supporters or labour Party Supporters to the greens in europe. You have the same situation here, the greens saying we should release the immigrants who are detained from those cages, reunite the, help those people get settled, and process their immigration or asylum applications. Let the people who are camped out on the other side of the breaks can border come into do what they legally have a right to do. This is a crime, what is going on on the mexican border. We would like to have open borders, like the european go aboutnd you can your business, shopping, vacation, work, or residents, and people across the borders, we have that already in the european union. We should have that. A fairrder should be trade zone, rather than a burial , where they keep wages suppressed on the other side of the break and use that threat of Company Moving over to the mexican side as a bludgeon against workers here when they demand higher wages. We should tear that border down and let workers organize across the borders and raise the Living Standards on both sides of the border. Host lets talk to sandy, who is calling from buffalo, new york, on the green party line. Sandy, good morning. Caller good morning. What heo ask howie planned to do for womens rights and whether we can get that womens rights or the equal rights amendment finally passed. Guest i think we are getting close. I am not sure how many more states, but it is a few. That should have passed a long time ago, but, yes, equal rights amendment. I think we need to codify roe v. Wade by congressional legislation, without the hands of the Supreme Court, and womens rights to choose is in the law. Those are the two most immediate things. We have got to enforce the antidiscrimination laws more effectively. We still have an income gap between men and women doing the same work, and that is another area where leadership in the federal government and the justice department, prosecuting cases of discrimination against women in employment and wages is where we have a lot of room for improvement. Host lets talk to jane, who is calling from davenport, florida, on the democrat line. Jane, good morning. Caller good morning. Um, i have a suggestion for mr. Hawkins. I would suggest that instead of emphasizing so much a president ial run for green party and other independent parties, particularly progressive parties and so forth, here in polk county, we have very important offices that are very littleknown, such as the Water Conservation district, the Community Development districts, and downtown develop a districts that the people do not even fill bother to fill out a candidate in the ranc information form, so not know who we are electing. They make it a nonpartisan position, but they hold a lot of power. What would be your thoughts . Guest i completely agree. If the green party is to become a major party and force in american politics, we have got to build it from the bottom up, and i have been saying the should be electing thousands at the local office as we go into 2020. The relevance for that project is it is much easier to run if you have a ballot line, and in 40 of the states, the vote the president ial candidate gets determines whether the green party will have a ballot line for the next election cycle. 2 , or states, it is 1 , 3 , so that is a very achievable goal for our election campaign. But i agree, the emphasis has to be on building this from the bottom up, then local state legislatures and congress. When we have to caucus in the congress and a ticket for Vice President and president , there will be no way they can ignore it. So i am with you on that. Lets build this thing from the bottom up. Host i am going to ask a couple of quick questions from our social media followers, because i want to make sure i get these questions in before we run out of time. Here is one question what is the green partys view on judicial nominees . Many People Choose their candidates based on this issue. And here is the second question that says, sadly, most americans do not watch cspan and will not see this interview or any interview by hawkins or walker, your running mate. How does a thirdparty candidate, who is shut out by mainstream media, make up for that fact and reach more people . Guest first of all, dont underestimate the reach of cspan. I have seen that was just people i know going on cspan and then other people i know seeing it, who you would not expect to be tuning in. But we do have a problem with mainstream media. They act like it is a corporate, twoparty state, and they need to open up and not only cover the horse race, which they always do, but the issues. Debated, andto be that is the responsibility of good journalism. As far as the courts go, one way to deal with the problem of all of these conservatives that have been appointed to the federal court is by legislation, and that is one thing. And also, the courts react to the political environment they are in. Anticonservatives have lost a number of courses in the and thecourt trump conservatives have lost a number of cases in the Supreme Court in recent weeks. The court has to take that into account, our rights. So, yeah, the courts are important, and i think lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court is something we need to review. You know, for ideological reasons, president s appoint young man, usually men, and they will be there for decades. That is probably not the best thing. We should have some turnover. There are ways of dealing with the court issue, and it is an important issue. Host lets see if we can get some more callers in before we run out of time. Lets talk to les from dodge city, kansas, on the republican line. Les, good morning. Caller good morning. How muchns, i wonder you know about farming and how much horsepower it takes for a big john deere tractor to plow a field or a kenworth semi truck or a submarine for the navy that stays underwater for 24 hours, and aircraft carrier. Do you know how many horsepower it takes for those big semis and tractors to plow a field . Do you realize it is hundreds, and you are not going to put a windmill on top of a kenmore tractor or john dear tractor and plow a field. You will not put a windmill on top of a submarine and protect a navy or protect our country, and i bet you you drive a car, and i bet you fly in an airplane, too, dont ya . Host go ahead and respond. Guest well, it does take a lot of horsepower to run the machinery you are talking about, and a lot of that machinery uses electric motors. The question is where are you going to get that electricity from . Instead of fossil fuels, we can get it from solar wind and other renewable sources. They run electric motors. The diesel provides the thetricity to generate electricity, but it is an electric motor, more torque than other motors, so that is why there is a diesel electric train, and we can provide that energy by other sources other than diesel, so there is a solution to that problem, and it is a better solution than to continue burning fossil fuels. Host lets talk to norman, who calls from amherst, massachusetts, on the green party line. Norman, good morning. Caller hi. Thanks for taking my call p it i have been in the green party for a long time. I have three short points, and whatevernswer them in order you choose. Streamanels, the revenue provides backdoor funding into fracking. The second is mccarthyism. I mean, it makes our party sound both crazy and stupid. Worst of all, antisemitic dog familys, before a meeting with the leads, praising the America First committee, that is putting our party in the wrong place. Guest i do not know who you are referring to with the antisemitic, mccarthys amments, and the panels being backdoor for fracking, you said, i do not follow that, you know solar panels use the suns energy. After oils going unde under the ground. Host unfortunately, we are just about out of time, mr. Hawkins peered once again, we want to thank Howie Hawkins cspans washington journal, taking your calls on the news of the day and discussing issues that impact you. Sunday morning, Ohio Democratic chair debris pepper discusses ohios role in the 2020 election. John mate talks about his social media sites which bills itself as a nonbiased free speech platform. Washington journal live at 7 00 eastern sunday morning and be sure to join the discussion with your calls, facebook messages, tweaks. Tweets. Cspan has unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the Supreme Court and Public Policy events. You can watch all of cspans Public Affairs programming on television, online or listen on our free radio app and be part of the National Conversation through the washington journal programs or through our social media feeds. Cspan, created by americas