When we were stuck inside we wondered if we would face a plague of gun violence again. What we see gatherings and our schools and churches again . Would we be shot for the color of our skin again . The fight for justice forest is out onto antistreets. Black americans are still being kilter being black in america. The pandemic hitting black, indigenous, and people of color has only worsened the epidemic of gun violence in those same communities because it is clear the fight for Racial Justice is still on. We will not live without it. In colorado, he stood against hatred. In wisconsin, he carried a confederate flag. In arizona, she stood for her patients. In michigan, she carried a swastika. They brought guns in record numbers. But we took it to the streets. Will people be caring weapons of war and banners of hatred deciding their future again . Will he stand up and demonstrate our power . Demand alleans we gun sales will be licensed. Our power means we demand weapons of war be banned for good. Our power means lawmakers must listen. Our power means we refuse to watch black people be murdered in the streets. Our power means we refused to fear for our lives. We refuse to live without justice. It is our power and we will use it. Good morning. Thank you for joining us. Up,the author of power the Washington Post earlymorning newsletter. I am thrilled to introduce our guest, david hogg, survivor of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman douglas high school, and cofounder of mars for our lives. Joining us as the executive director of march for our lives. Thank you to both of you for joining us, especially during this crazy time with just under 90 days until the election. I dont want to waste any time so lets talk about this really powerful add. It is the first foray in the into president ial politics. Can you tell us about it . Thank you for having us. Excited to be here with david. This is our first ad. We needed to make it clear for firsttime voters who were heavily generation z what is at stake. They know what is at stake far too well and are making real choices based on issues and policies. Our goal is to be running in nine states. Know we need to connect to the intersectional issues young people care about, from racial inequity to gun violence to Climate Change. We have tons of young voters out there who are fired up on so many issues and want to hold elected officials accountable. Its more important than ever with generation z. Ad played on fox and friends on thursday morning. Was that sending any specific message to someone in particular . I think people need to recognize if you are voted into power you work for the people. Every official as they are will of the people. We live and work in a democracy. I hope it was a there was self reflection for the people in d. C. There is no call to action in the ad. What exactly are you acting young asking young voters to do . The main thing is realize there are many tools for creating change. Protesting is one of them. Voting is one of them. Writing letters or emailing a representative is another. Basically connecting all these issues young people are rallying around right now, Climate Change, gun violence, making them realize gun violence, yes, there is a major part that has to do with the laws in the united states. We need to discuss the large amount of systemic racism and historic amount of injustice, of which gun violence is a symptom in this country. Even if we address every way a we needossibly could, to address militarism, racism, and property as well. The point of it is to make as escape thate is no even with the more recent passing of congress when john at thend the work he did march for life in atlanta, he talked about how he worked against the nra. On top of that we see now the , thenity he fought for communities impacted by gun violence are the ones impacted by covid. They face the most obstacles as marginalized communities. Its a conversation around the injustice of gun violence as well. On the topic of congressman john lewis, who fought his entire life for the Voting Rights act, some might say you might miss out on an opportunity by not explicitly calling for young voters to vote. Why didnt you . Was the entire way of bringing young people to the polls, we want to make sure they are met the way they need to be met. We have heard they want to hear their issues voiced in a clear way, and not downplay the power of First Amendment and protest, and direct actions in making your voices heard publicly. We are going to be pivoting to the voting message and reminding people you can choose the people who are ideally just into positions and we hold them accountable. We are looking for a Public Servant who can actually work with communities and be held accountable by the voters who put them into office. We will be pivoting to a voting message. It is just just the beginning of our strategy. We want to make sure we are clear on what at stake. This is the fight for our lives, and we are voting. I want to pivot to some of our viewer questions. We had a handful of people submit questions. First we will take a question from a viewer from pennsylvania. Shes asking what the best way to reach young voters to turn out in november is. Ads, facebook, emails, text . What is the best way to reach you . Othere than anything, young people that are already going out to vote, like myself, and every young person talking to other young people about voting. One thing that certainly, in my opinion, doesnt work, is older voters telling young people they need to vote. I think its a lot better if young people talk amongst themselves about it. Dont treat it like something that your parents are telling you you have to do, but rather something that is rebellious, a form of the teen, angry young person angst, so many of us feel. Its one way to work to create change, to go out there and vote. It is not just sending a message to them. I think part of it is those young people marching right now thoseve been, for interested in talking about it, talking about Voting Rights. Young people talking to other young people about it and realizing it is a lot more than just a president ial election. It is an election that more than likely will determine the future of the Supreme Court for gen z, and many generations. There are races that really matter. I think young people talking about it as something that we can do, not something we have to do. To make those in power scared of the young people, they should be, because they are actively destroying our future as they are right now. Im sure amid this global pandemic, your get out the vote plans have taken a bit of a twist. How has this affected your efforts . So many past events around campaigning and getting out the vote have revolved around in person events, rallies, concerts, etc. Have really big events coming up, although we realize we cant be in person, we want to be safe. It hasnt stopped us from doing smaller actions, like recently after we filed a complaint thanst the nra in 2018, the new York Attorney general calling to dissolve the National Rifle association. March for our lives in virginia through an nra is over party, and we had a bunch of boxes, and we brought a uhaul to help them move out. With differents things. Smaller amount of people, or even art, to create highly shareable content on social media for young people in a safe manner. Weve had to innovate during this time. I think everyone is trying to grapple with the effects covid has had on their families. We are lucky we have the ability to pivot online. The Home Movement was built off of online mobilization. Like many, we are integrating with how we reach our chapter networks, we have 300 nationwide, and how to bring them into training and help conversations about things that matter to them, or things about theories, up training we have tons of opportunities to come online and talk about what matters to them during the next phase of america. We also do have events that have kicked off, so we have the event organizations to put together culture and changemakers to talk about what is at stake in the world, our country, so tomorrow, we are going to have several conversations people can tune into. At the end of the month, we are kicking off a nine state series, vote for our lives. It will be highlighting systemic inequities and why groups are doing incredible work, and how to mobilize young voters around the work going on around the as conversation topics. Amazing art installations across the nine states. It is an opportunity for us to highlight the local work on the ground, also with national partners, like sunrise movement, united we dream, Indigenous Youth council. There has been a spirit bringing youth together across the board in our interactions. We hope to build around the Digital Assets while we try and toure out if we want a state go back more visibly offline. I do hope you have remained healthy during this ordeal. I hope everyone watching this live show right now is wearing a mask in public and staying safe. I do want to get back to the nra news. First we need to go back to another viewer question. This one is from new york. Her 20tes in that somethingyearold son feels like his vote doesnt count because of the Electoral College. How can she persuade him to vote . Even if you feel like your vote doesnt necessarily count as much as you would like it too, because currently we have the i think weollege, can work to elect in congress and senate that also hold the president accountable. That, there is a lot of work being done on the ground in some states. Called the gluck tort Electoral College compact, a more constitutional way about creating popular vote system. To do that, we need people to keep voting. There are a lot of other things. Voting for the president ial election, as well. The narrativeeen through the entire primary that support for joe biden among young voters, most of the support has gone to Bernie Sanders and elizabeth warren. Does joe biden have young voters . Are they a shooin . For all youngak people. I cant really generalize from my entire generation. You can say young people want to we want to have a chance to have any semblance of a future on our planet addressing major issues like Climate Change, gun violence, and other things. There are a lot of young people that realize donald trump is not doing that at all right now. The alternative is an end to our generation, possibly the human race. With getting to that point Climate Change and all of these other major issues happening. But i do think there is more work that can be done to bring people into the young people specifically in to vote more. I want to go deeper into that. You guys have prioritized policy over people and made the choice in the ad to not explicitly notrse any candidates, endorse joe biden over President Trump. A harvard poll came out showing voters aged 18 to 25 are motivated to oust. Leading 51 to 28 . Are you worried you are missing a really motivating factor in potentially not maximizing your impact . I will be worried every day until the election. If anybody has worked on the campaign before, you take nothing for granted. We need to be inclusive in bringing people into the fold between now and the election on so many issues. To your question of will young people go out and vote, i think there is a willingness and hunger to do it. Especially generation z, fueled by activism and reading every single theory out there, taking it to the streets and making their voices heard, unlike any generation i have seen. These are people who want to go out and change their communities in the formal sense, traditional sense, nontraditional sense. They are making sure they know everything going on in the world around them. Bringing young people to the table in a meaningful way that doesnt feel like a token, an afterthought, they are not future leaders, they are current leaders. Bringing these current leaders into states in the meaning will ful way between now and they election is important. People are fearing for their lives. With covid, the fear has been exasperated. Things happening in our country that no one can say happened by chance. These are institutionalized inequities built to hold down black and brown communities and make a situation where we have huge gaps in education, people going to vote. Im more terrified about complete Voter Suppression holding back the young voices from this election and suppressing their voices through vote by mail, you name it, the things we have seen being levied against voters. And democracy should be our most basic right in democracy. Is that your diplomatic way of saying you dont think the Biting Campaign is doing enough to engage young voters . President en as vice went further on guns than many elected officials do. We think if he becomes president , it can go even further. I think if we continue to see the Biting Campaign listening more to these voices, a lot coming in young people it in recent months. I hope we can see more of that. I think our coalition with many other organizations across the board and speak directly to young people recognize we will have direct messaging to our bases to say we have your back, your vote matters, and voting for an elected official is important, but theres lots of other work to do in addition to voting. Im always a diplomat, but i think we have seen major strides in the Biting Campaign in recent months. Biden campaign in recent months. Seenlice officers, we have the protests throughout the country with black lives matter being front and center. Im wondering how you see the introspection of march for our lives and blm. Im glad you asked that. I think it is not pressed on nearly enough, the connections between Racial Injustice and gun violence. I think march for our lives, and a lot of these prevention states as a whole, but one thing march is our lives has a focus on that police violence, specifically police gun violence, is also gun violence, and it still needs to be addressed. That, we see ourselves in a supported world, not one where we are part of what many young people called the industrial complex, the system that reinforces these power structures but doesnt end up actually changing anything. Where i think march for our support on to do is the ground and go around these things to simply do that, whatever it is. Even if it is as simple as needing people to help you get a , like a town hall or something, asking how we can help. Not afor our lives is minneapolis focused only to askation, but we need those people most affected by the issues how we can help. Talking to other young people in blm, asking them if theyd be interested in marching and working with us to continue to build a Better Organization and counter the narrative that gun violence is something that only matters when it happens in a community. That looks like parkland. It matters and all of these communities, no matter what. I think that has been the matters,on that voting but making the people uncomfortable in power is also an important way to creating change. When politicians are comfortable, they simply dont do anything. And we have another viewer question. I want to thank all of our viewers from the thoughtful questions you provided for us. We have jane baker from massachusetts. Shes asking what do you see as the biggest barrier to translating youth activism into actual votes . Youth turnout has historically been low. Thats a good question. There are a couple of major obstacles. I thinkhe first ones, we may have even seen this in the 1950s, when there was record voter turnout with young people again, where people although i wasnt alive in the time, so i can speak so much on it watergate happened and a bunch of other stuff happened, they had a lot in the system. You turned out ones, and there was not much change. I think a big object for us is making change is it will not be joe biden or any single politician that will help us address the issues. It will have to be years of voting consistently and turning out at high levels to make sure the priority is every policy the u. S. Government, state and local governments have for the future of our country. Especially the young people that will be most affected by the policies. Secondly, a major obstacle that isnt talked about is youth Voter Suppression is a huge problem. Even in florida. 2018, iin parkland in think it was about 15 of young people that voted by mail in parkland had their votes thrown out. One of the reasons, for example in florida, they know there are a lot of older people that vote by mail. Tend to vote a more certain way. They want to make sure they are continuing to vote. One of the things they did was they made the law that said if your signature you register to vote with, for example, i registered to vote when i was , andng my drivers license when i signed my signature, it is a terrible signature. If my signature doesnt match that signature i register to vote for, that vote does not get counted and gets thrown out. They know that is disproportionately affecting younger people. In younger people may tend to vote more progressive. Talking about Voter Suppression and the barriers that there already are, especially when Younger Voters live on College Campuses or voting by mail. There are so many friction points i think people dont think about. I want to get to the news from last week. The new York Attorney general announced she is suing the nra, called for its dissolution, and also the removal of the ceo, saying hes engaged in fraudulent activity. From my reporting and talking with you, there was a lot of behindthescenes work to bring this out. Can you talk more about that . Want david to talk about the incredible work they did a year and a half ago, before i was with the organization. We have known for a long time that the nra is corrupt. They dont even represent their membership in a meaningful way. Most members actually believe in some sort of responsible gun protocols. The nra lined its pockets for decades and decades, and im incredibly proud as a new yorker to see an elected official stand up in a meaningful way. Withure the ag will be hit much backlash from the nra we have seen working on gun violence prevention. This is just the beginning of tackling the gun lobby. Many organizations, march for our lives with many other organizations, have been trying to call this nonprofit attack. There are certain inherent things nonprofits must adhere to. Abuse of power, from private jets to private vacations, lining your pockets with due paying members money is completely inappropriate. It is appropriate legal action is being called. Generalse attorney back on this. Ag of the first female color in new york state. A huge win overall. Amazing kudos to the ag. But this is just the beginning of what will potentially be a long battle with the nra. Especially its not like we im never the biggest fan of a lot of elected officials, but it makes me happy and gives me more faith in the system to see the attorney general take a lead on that and stand up to an organization that believes it is above the law. Also ithat, im think it is funny, because if you read through the proceedings from the case and Different Things the attorney general talked about, one thing we found out is when their spokesperson came down to florida to debate the children that had just survived a School Shooting about why and ar15 needs more protection than the lives of our children, which he ultimately completely failed to do, and obliterated on the debate stage by a bunch of teens. They actually paid over 100,000 to fly her and two other people on a private jet to go to that town hall. That is one example of their mass corruption. After the march, we also found out one of the main lobbyists in florida got a massive pay increase, because they realize we were here to stay. Ae other day, the nra parked car in front of our sign, because they were so afraid. And know that we are here, we are going to stay, and march for our lives, young people especially, will outlive the nra. I want to get to this important question quickly, and maybe leave things on more of a hopeful note. For young people stuck at home because of the pandemic, all of the fall plans canceled, they might not like any of the candidates they see right now. What do you recommend to them to get involved and stay hopeful going into november . Im always a fan of hope, i would be lying if i said i was always hopeful. I think its finding your best motivation, even if it is anger at the people in power for not protecting our generation. Things thato many are in the selfinterest of the people in power, rather than the actual interest of the people they should be protecting, the young people of our country. Whatever that motivation is, you should go out and use it to vote. Know if you think this election will fix everything, you are if you dont think the election will fix every thing, youre right, but it will make things better than they are right now. It will not just be this election or the next one, it will be consistently voting year after year, not for democrats or republicans, but for morally just leaders that care about the future of our country, care about my classmates killed at my high school. President trump dont just say things you are going to do like President Trump said, but go to action. Unlike the nra that gave him 30 million to buy his silence. Thousands of dollars of americans who died in his turn. But actually taking the action and doing something to stand up to gun violence and protect our generation. But we have to not only go out and protest, but eventually our generation if we dont learn leaders we are seeing in power right now, we have to start rebuilding. Building back this country better now, or else it might be too late for the next generation. If we dont go out and vote, gen z could end up being the last generation. Do you plan on running for office . Honestly, i dont know. It is something im always conflicted about. Especially on the outside and making people uncomfortable, but is so look at where it amazing. Shooting,ks after the he offered us advice. Its important to have the right people on the outside and the inside. Great men ine have office right now, but it might be more time for diversity. Unfortunately, we are out of time. Thank you for such a great discussion. I really appreciate it. Thanks again for joining. We also have some fantastic programming coming up with the post live events this week. The 23 and me ceo joins us. The former cdc director, tom frieden. And mary schmidt campbell. You can get more information on those events at washingtonpostlive. Com. Thank you for joining us, i appreciate it. President trump hold a News Conference today on his administrations response to the coronavirus. Watch live beginning at 5 30 p. M. Eastern on cspan, online at cspan. Org, or listen live on the free cspan radio app. The contenders, about the man who ran for the presidency and lost that changed political history. All week at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Tonight, the 1884 president ial candidate, james blaine. Cspan has covered every minute of every political since 1984, and we are not stopping now. This months Political Convention will be like none other in history. With the coronavirus pandemic still looming, plans for vote gatherings are being altered. Democrats will meet the nominate joe biden as their president ial candidate on monday. President trump will accept his partys nomination the next week. Watch cspan at 9 00 p. M. Eastern for live coverage of the Democratic Convention starting on monday. And the republican Convention Starting next monday, august 24. Live streaming and ondemand at cspan. Org, or listen with the free cspan radio app. Cspan, your unfiltered view of politics. The chair of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on asia, the pacific, and nonproliferation provided an update on Global Cooperation during the coronavirus pandemic. California congressman ami bera talked about the council how countries can Work Together to address the pandemic. Minutes,e next 25 congressman bra and i will discuss the post covid world order, and then we are going to open up the conversations to questions from our members. Thank you for joining us today, congressman. Thank you for that introduction. Certainly i want to thank the council for this opportunity. When you look at the list of participants, there are a lot of people that we use for contact expertise. Im sure we will have a lively discussion. Lett