Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal 08172020 20240712

Groups role in campaign 2020. Nextgen americas benjamin insel talks about his role getting the youth to support joe biden. Washington journal is next. Host good morning. It is the washington journal. You are looking at the Wisconsin Center in milwaukee, one ofseveral sites for this years Democratic National committee convention, which starts this night. Program would take place from there, but it can be held from other areas. Cspan willf that, be covering at 5 00 this evening. We want to hear from you about political conventions and if you think they matter in this day in age, especially in the new environment we are in. You can let us know your thoughts by calling us. For republicans, 202 7488000 free democrats four democrats, and independents 202 7488002. Us, tweet ustext cspanwj, and a post on facebook at facebook. Com cspan. The New York Times has a highlight of who you will see tonight, including minnesota senator amy klobuchar, the nevada senator and the first latina to lead a Senatorial Campaign committee, new york governor andrew cuomo, michigan governor gretchen whitmer, jim clyburn, john kasich, former ohio governor, republican president ial candidate in 2016, Bernie Sanders, senator from vermont, who you will remember is the Vice President was the Vice President s main rival in the 2020 primary. Those of the speakers for tonight. When it comes to those who will speak from wisconsin, who will , if you go to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, they have video what that area will look like. Showing you the stage, which you can see. That is for those who will be based in wisconsin. That is the platform you will see. A couple of cameras. And some of the technical equipment that is involved. For those in wisconsin, that is where they will speak. The Vice President and the nominee for Vice President , Kamala Harris, will speak from delaware. Vice president joe bidens technical person for the campaign posted on his twitter feed what that will look like when they make their speeches later this week. They plan to stand in front of several video screens. On those screens, there will be people from across the United States zooming in and watching the long as both Vice President joe biden except the nomination and the Kamala Harris except the nomination for Vice President. Accepts the nomination for Vice President. It comesis hour, when to political conventions themselves, do they matter . What do you get from them . Heres how you can let us know. Republicans,1 for democrats 202 7488000 and independents 202 7488002. If you wish to text us, you can do so at 202 7488003. You can follow us on twitter and facebook. Political conventions and if they matter. Republican line, redwood, california, tom, go ahead, you are on. Cspan does not take criticism well at all, especially you, pedro. What i would like to know is why cspan is not dedicated any coverage at all to the kushner middle east peace deal with the uae because this is world changing. Also, the guilty plea at the fbi host we tackle that in a question last week. When it comes to political questions, supposedly what are you calling on what you are calling on, what do you think . Caller you did not devote plainfield, wisconsin, independent, go ahead. But canthey do matter, i tell you what does matter in the state of wisconsin . Coming toent is oshkosh, wisconsin. He is coming to get her jobs back. In what doobs you want to call it . A little town, he saved our shipyard. Now he is coming tossed cost to save another military company that makes our military jeeps. Host that is one of the stops in oshkosh, but when it comes to the convention, what do you think about it and do conventions matter . Caller no they dont because these things matter. Why would a convention matter when somebody is trying to get wisconsin jobs back . Host let me ask you. If you say they do not matter, tell me why. Caller at a time like this, we are worried about jobs, not about a bunch of monkeys sitting on a stage. To bob inill go baldwinsville, massachusetts on their independent line. Go ahead. Caller i really do not think this one matters much. I guess mr. Biden will not be participating will only be participating for one day. Donald trump will be at his convention every day. The point to meet would be what is the point if the main candidate cannot show up every day to introduce all the people him tore speaking for back him up . Host typically, the people accepting the nomination will accept will show up the day they give their speech. Besides from the actual showing up, why do you think they do not matter . Caller like i said, because joe biden is not really participating. He is not even answering questions. He will not stand up and talk to everybody. Host previous president ial candidates have only appeared may be a short amend of time in previous canon in previous conventions. You would say that about them as well . Caller yeah. Why not . Ok. tina in kaiser, West Virginia. Independent line. Hi. Caller i wanted to let you know that i think conventions do matter because you know more what the candidates will stand for. You pretty much know more about their personal lives. You really do not find out a lot of the interviews in a lot of the interviews. Host you are saying the actual Convention Appearance itself is different than the speeches and appearances leading up to it . Because i do not now, you tend to find out more about the candidates. Host if i may ask, can you think to a past convention that you have watched that you learned something about the candidates themselves that you did not learn previously . Caller i watched the george w. Bush convention. Host what did you learn from that that you did not learn from other events . I do not remember because that is so far back. Moret found it informative. Host ok. Tina in kaiser, West Virginia there about political conventions, saying she learned things about the candidates themselves when they are appearing at these events. Facebook, this is cory holder, the point that it provides any sort of persuasive change of mind. Anventions either serve as mechanism to celebrate a nominee or openly castigate an opponent. Most voters look for substance, and conventions are not the best live form for this. Relative to the has ants, the convention opportunity to assure the more left members who lean democrat that the democrat path is progressive. A couple from the papers when it comes to the topic of conventions. From the Editorial Board of the New York Times, pageantry has its place, but this year the entire nation is under enormous strain. America wants to know that the president ial contenders understand their problems and are focused and intent on how to solve them. An oped in the Washington Post earlier this year saying conventions do not do that much to bring about party unity. If there has been a spirited contest for nominations, they often become lastditch the losers tofor air their platforms and offer a sour reminder to their supporters of what could have been. Senator sanders expected to speak in tonights activities and give his thoughts. You can see that all play out at cspan, cspan. Org, and our radio app at 9 00 tonight as we begin coverage of the Democratic National convention. Your thoughts on if they matter. Patrick in oxnard, california. Independent line. Caller good morning. I am against them. I think it is a bygone era, it is archaic, and, as you mentioned with covid, we are just in a different euro with technology. Conventionhe 1980 footage from yesterday that you broadcast. It was like watching history. We are in a different time. Covid, we have high technology. We can skype these things. Plus, there is so much internet access, there are plenty of ways to get the information, especially for the various can feigns various campaigns. Host is it about the Party Atmosphere . Caller i agree with you. There is the atmosphere, but i think we are changing into a different era, especially with where we are with covid, social distancing, and bringing people together. It is not an appropriate time right now. Host fort myers, florida, dennis. Democrats line. Caller conventions are important because people gather, they Exchange Ideas. I heard the gentleman speaking of zoom and everything else, but you kind of lose the human contact. Also, you forget about the economics in regards to conventions. Lets face it, people go to a certain city. They take hotel rooms, go to restaurants. They have other services. That is an economic boost to that community. Lets face it, people have gathered together to Exchange Ideas in regards to whatever republican, democratic, independent, green, whoever, but it is important that people have that human contact because host sorry, go ahead. It,er because, lets face when people have ideas, it is facetofaceou are away,housands of miles even though maybe the ideas can be put forth. That is all i have to say. Host do you still plan to watch even in this new format . Caller of course. I have watched the conventions for as long as i can recall. The First Convention that i did not watch wait a minute, i was stationed in chicago in 1968, so i recall that one very well. Ist one more question, if may. What are you watching for . What do you get out of it . People to see what the who are involved with it, you know, the speakers have a point of view that they want to bring to the voters, and the voters of the most important thing at the end of the day. No matter if you vote by mail, early vote, or if you show up on election day. Host ok. Dennis in fort myers, florida talking about the experience of conventions. He talked about those economic matters. Just to show you the headlines from the papers. It is the wrong headline. I apologize. This one from the wall street journal not only talked about milwaukee and the economics of conventions and how that will take a hit because of the change in format, but charlotte as well. Charlotte was the original vote location for the republicans. Florida than was mentioned in jacksonville. Those planes went by the wayside. Plans went by the wayside. But again, on the day of the Democratic National convention. Some of the changes highlighted by the New York Times. Aside from the five major speeches from mr. Biden, his wife, Kamala Harris, and the obamas, the average length of remarks will be just two minutes. Mr. Sanders will have an eight minute time slot from tonight. He plans to speak live from burlington, but has recorded in case there are technical difficulties. The story goes on to say there will be a montage featuring the 2020 candidates, a 30 minute roll call, and, toughest of all for a Political Class that enjoys few things more than talking on camera, strict time limits. Speeches will be live. Live on tapeill be. Unlike a Typical National political gathering where action takes place at a Party Breakfast or arena concourse, the event will be run out of a control room inside the convention center. We showed you a little bit of what that control Room Atmosphere will look like from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel video they provided on their website. If you would like a look. From miami, florida, republican line. Political conventions and if they matter. Go ahead. Noter really, it does matter because all the people you have on the political stage right now should be in jail for treason. All of those people has ganged up on one man because he has brought the economy to its height. When they were president s and all these things, they did nothing for the people. Host aside from this convention, political conventions overall . Regardless of this one, do they matter . Caller they do not because they are nothing but fooling the people. You are just laughing at the people. And you are using the media to do it host would you say that about the conventions from both parties . Caller no. Just the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party should be put in jail for treason. Host you made that point. From antioch, tennessee. This is ken. Hi. Caller conventions are important. But with the situation with covid, i do not think it is wise. Overall, i think we spend too much money on the campaigns to elect people to office that are not doing a good job as it is. That money could be better used to feed the hungry or house the homeless or what have you. I do not think it is a good idea with covid. Host so you would be in favor of the format we will see this time around of people appearing from their individual states and very few people present when the speeches are being made . Caller yes. Host do you think you get the same type of information . Caller you should. I do not see why you would not. Host what do you mean by that . Caller i do not think they will be saying anything different with people there versus not. Host will you watch this convention or both conventions . What are your viewing habits like not only from this year, but from previous . Caller i will watch both. Host ok. Anyonezie on twitter saying that this years conventions matters are full of themselves. Everyone knows who they will be voting for. Matter, and this one especially. You will see joe biden be empathetic to pain and President Trump desperately trying to see if what he says about what biden says sticks. If you want to tweet us your thoughts, you can tweet us at cspanwj. Clearance in kentucky. Republican line. Caller hello. I wanted to say i think conventions do matter because that is where you get to hear what their views are on the subjects and so you can get in the idea of what they stand for and what they do not stand for. That is what i think. Host do you think that will change this time versus previous conventions . Caller what do you mean . Host as far as learning what they stand for and the views they take because, this year, a lot of it will be done now with a crowd of people in a room, but across the net is states . You think you get the same type of information . Caller it will be hard to say this year. I think the debates are important, too. But i dont know if i see that happening. Like i said, i think conventions do matter because you get to hear what they stand for and what they do not stand for. Host do you think you learn more from conventions than debates . Caller yes and no. When you are at the convention, you hear what they stand for. When you are in debates, they debate why they stand for this and why they do not stand for this. They are both kind of important. That is what i think. Host ok. Clarence and kentucky. In kentucky. Some keynote speeches you will hear. Usa today highlights some other voices that will be highlighted in the convention this week. Personalize the partys message, the convention will feature voters talking about their priorities, including a farmer in pennsylvania who voted for the supports in 2016 and joe biden. Advocates for who gun control after her son was shot. A team leader at General Motors in michigan. A person who immigrated from and a when he was 12, person who teaches a bilingual program at the school. At a school. Some of the voices you will hear from across the net is states. In wisconsin. Joe biden and Kamala Harris said to make their speeches from a site in delaware. Michigan,livonia, democrats line. Your next up. Good morning. Ofler i have watched a lot political conventions over my 72 years, and i really enjoy watching them, especially with my family. My children and grandchildren watch them, talk about them. Speakers,analyze the especially the new, up and coming politicians, not only on the democratic side but on the republican side. Kind of look at their body language. I really enjoy watching the conventions and having conversations not only with my family but is well with my friends. As well with my friends. I think they are important. I hope they will continue. This year, i do not know if we will be able to see them and try to analyze them, but it is good to see them perform in front of a crowd of people, where is this year that may be is not going to year thatwhereas this maybe is not going to happen. I would love to continue to watching to continue watching. Host do you still plan, even in this new format, to watch with your family . Caller i plan to watch with family. We will see if we can look at it and make decisions, talk about it, analyze the speakers, especially the new, upandcoming speakers. Host you miss the Party Atmosphere. That is what im gathering. Caller we do. But we are going to watch it is a family. Host ok. Make sure you watch on cspan, by the way. Coverage will start at 9 00. No commentary during the convention itself. We will show you what plays out not only in wisconsin but in other areas of the United States. Cspan. Org, and our radio app. Thats free. Sandra in louisiana, republican line. Grayson, louisiana. Caller hi. Tot sandra, let me ask you turn your tv down before you go on. Caller ok. Host your television is on in the background. I think you got it. Ok. Er host go ahead. Caller hi. This is sandra. Host ok. What do you think about political conventions . Caller i do not think that political i enjoy listening to donald trump. He has never lied about anything he is known in the past four years. I have watched biden for the first eight years on the tv. He has done absolutely nothing for louisiana. Host what do you get from watching political conventions . Caller i do not watch the convention because i do not believe in the convention. Host ok. That is sandra in louisiana. You have probably heard this time and again. If you are waiting to get online, would you mind turning off your tv. We would appreciate it. Brad in international falls. Hello. Caller good morning, pedro. Quite a time again, right . These conventions we are talking about, it is pretty well set in stone already. There is no need for a convention. How it looks is that trump will win in a big landslide this time. The democrats have not came up with anything. The problem that the democrats truly have and they need to understand is that they have to kick out the media from running their party. You think about the billions of dollars the media has invested in this and they lost again. What do you what do you think they are going to do when you get selected for the next four years . Conventions think offer a chance for democrats and republicans to highlight their proposals and what they would like to achieve . Caller i hear what you saying, but guess what . If something were happening that was normal, but for four years, the convention has been against go get donald trump. The media runs the d c. Runs the dnc until the dnc kicks the media out, they will not have a chance to take the presidency for years to come. Host dont you think the purpose of a convention is to highlight the issues with the person in office, regardless of the Political Party you hold to . Caller the problem being is that, in the last four years, they lost. They could not accept losing. They are bad losers. If you cannot be a good loser, you certainly cannot be a good winter. Host that is brad. We will go to tony. Columbia, South Carolina. Democrats line. Caller hi. Great program, by the way. Host thank you. Caller conventions do matter. I think we will still get the message from the Democratic Convention this year because of technology and your coverage as well with cspan. I plan to watch the convention in its entirety on cspan or by computer as well. We are going to miss the live coverage of different speakers, and like the gentleman said speakersthe upcoming and the rising stars in the Democratic Party. To get to see them during the convention. But i do watch both conventions to get views from the other side as well, even though i am a strong democrat. Host as far as what you learn from the candidates, is there a particular convention you remember watching and a candidate that impressed you at a time you were watching it . Caller many years ago, when senator obama president obama was senator obama, i am thinking the first year that he spoke at a Democratic Convention and he was so explosive. I am not sure what year that was. Im not even sure he was a candidate them. Host he was part of the speaking program. He was a senator. Caller i remember that convention very well when he first spoke. We saw then that he was going to be a star in the Democratic Party. Host so you will be watching, particularly from this candidate, the Vice President , joe biden. What do you hope to learn when the week is out . Caller i am calling from a state where, after the endorsement of congressman theurn, we really saw democratic joe biden really took a strong push in really push and really took over the democratic ticket. More aboutto learn what he is going to do for the country. I have followed him, his campaign. From i hope to get more Kamala Harris and what her the strengthand she is going to bring to the ticket. Host expected to speak tonight. Joe biden expected to speak on thursday to accept the nomination for president. You can watch that during the course of the week on cspan. For the next half hour, we are going to talk about political conventions. We have asked you do they matter . You can comment on that what you get from them, the things you learn. Call 202 7488001 for republicans, 202 7488000 for democrats, and for independents 202 7488002. You can text us at 202 7488003. On twitter cspanwj, and on facebook at facebook. Com cspan. The viewer mentioned barack obama. We will go back to 2008 to the Democratic National convention in denver. [video clip] i realize im not the typical candidate for this office. I do not fit the pedigree. I have not spent my career in the halls of washington, but i stand before you tonight because, all across america, something is stirring. What the naysayers do not understand is that this election has never been about me. It is about you. [applause] it is about you. For 18 long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politicians of the past. You understand that, in the selection, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us, that in defining moments like this one, the change we need does not come from washington. Change comes to washington. If from our twitter feed, someone sits outside of the party dynamic, they do not matter that much to me. Just in case there is another fannie lou hamer. Like to seen, we that other voters share our belief value our beliefs, values. Terry in missouri. Republican line. Good morning. Caller hi. Host you are on. Caller ok. I feel a convention is important because like the previous caller said, it does strengthen you, say, if you are a democrat, or it may change your mind. Host when you watch conventions, what do you look for particularly . Is it just with the speakers will say . Are there other parts that gain your interest . Caller yes. How,k especially for especially, for example, what joe biden thinks. Me, it is i think, to kind of in limbo. I plan on voting republican this year. I voted republican previously, but in years past i voted for barack obama and i did vote for bill clinton. To know what stand joe biden will take. A lot of times, the news media will say that he is moderate, but actually, if Bernie Sanders and aoc are going to be more the leaning directions, then i feel we need to know that regardless of who wins the election. So you you then will watch this one and the republicans as well . Caller yes. I plan on watching the Democratic Convention, even though i will vote probably for donald trump. Host when you voted for the president , where you already convinced by the time the conventions came around four years ago, or did the conventions do anything to sway you for President Trump . Caller the conventions would help sway just because, at the time, even though i had some preconceived notions about hillary from when bill clinton was governor of arkansas and when he was president i voted for bill clinton but at the time, the way things were panning out with hillary, i knew i would not vote for her, even though some of the things she said were appealing. But, to me, the conventions could sway someone that would be on the fence possibly. Host ok. That is terry in west plains, missouri, talking about her past watching conventions and how it maybe informs her as far as the candidates are concerned. She mentioned voting for President Trump in 2016. In cleveland ohio, it was then candidate donald trump who accepted the nomination. [video clip] mission to go to work for our country, to go to work for you. It is time to deliver a victory for the American People. We do not win anymore, but we are going to start winning again. [applause] but to do that, we must break free from the petty politics of the past. America is a nation of believers, dreamers, and strivers that is being led by a group of sensors, critics, and cynics. , critics, and cynics. Remember, all of the people telling you you cannot have the country want are the same people that would not stand. I mean, they said, trump does not have a chance of being here tonight, not a chance. The same people. We love defeating those people, dont we . Dont we love to do that . [applause] love it, love it, love it. No longer can we rely on those same people in the media and politics, who will say anything to keep our rigged system in place. Choose toe must believe in america. History is watching us now. We do not have much time. History is watching. It is waiting to see if we will rise to the occasion and if we will show the whole world that america is still free and independent and strong. Frank,ets hear from jacksonville, florida, democrats line. Caller good morning. Host good morning. Caller i will let you continue. Host i said good morning. Go ahead. Caller political conventions matter because you hear some of the things that the candidates say. For example, i think mr. Bush, president bush, said read my lips no new taxes, and that phrase probably cost him a second term. Host what are you looking for this time around from the conventions . What are you hoping to learn . Caller i am hoping to learn where they feel on the economy, race relations, jobs, on, of course, the pandemic. Most people, their minds are made up by the time of the conventions, and mine is too. I think i will support the biden and harris ticket. The others, i would like to hear them speak about the future of america. What did they see in four years or eight years. Host do you just watch the conventions of the Party Support or the other side as well . Caller i watch both. I watch for the things that they completed in there for years as fourbents in their years as incumbents and those who predict what they will do when they finish their four years or eight years, both of them equally. Host frank in jacksonville, florida giving us a call about his viewing habits when it comes to conventions. Marie in pennsylvania, democrats line. Hi. Caller hello. I think that political conventions matter to the extent that they help educate people as to the status of the 13 keys to house listed in the book the keys to the white house. Has correctly listed predicted who the president will be in every election since 1984. He has been right in every election. To why do the authors views impact the conventions . What is the connection . Caller they are his keys. A couple of them are the charisma of the incumbent, the charisma of the challenger. So that can be seen in the convention. Host do you expect that to be played out this week, especially as the Vice President except the nomination this week . Caller yes. I do to the extent that technology can help convey that, yes. Host ok. Marie in pennsylvania. Speaking of technology, the Washington Post highlights some plans for the social media side of the democratic coverage this week. They report that to capture any potential unexpected moments, the producers plan to clip and post segments on social media in near real time so supporters can share segments before it is even over. The length of a typical speech year 10 minutes, this being brought down to a couple minutes. Planners for this year face another challenge, trying to figure out how to replicate the secondary purpose of the event, which is to motivate and organize diehard supporters for the 75 day sprint to election day. The plans call for both the expected state based virtual drivein moviend theaters. Dolores, you are next in alexandria, virginia. Caller i hope that everybody watches the convention, especially these people that just watch fox news. The gentleman that said that democrats are liars. Trump lies every time he opens his mouth. Upsetlack woman, i get so to blackhat he says people. Host as far as the conventions, why you think they matter, tells why. Thatr because the people just watch fox news host why do they matter to you . Caller i listen to these people that talk about how great trump is. If they watch the convention and see the difference between the bidens and the comella kamalas views, they will see normalcy. Every time i put my mask on, i think about trump because it is his fault. I do not understand. About republicans, democrats. I care about america and we are not american now. Host how do you think this weeks convention will differentiate between biden and harris and trump independence . And pence . Caller they will be able to hear both sides. Host Dennis Dolores in alexandria, virginia. Be inesident expected to minnesota today at about 3 00 this afternoon. You can watch that on our network at 3 00 on our network and website and radio app. The Vice President traveling to wisconsin to tomorrow wisconsin tomorrow. Missouri, independent line. Good morning. Caller i am more interested in the conventions, but i do not think the democrats are going to have a convention, but i am not sure. There are so many things not coming out. I am more interested in how many of our politicians have money invested in china. Host hold on. The democrats are going to have a convention. It is this week. Caller they are not going to get together. There is not going to be a big crowd. Host sure. That will largely be the same for the republican side as well. Why do you think conventions matter or do not matter . Caller i think conventions matter because a lot of people listen to them, but they are not going to have a convention because china has got into this mix host again, they will have a convention this week. It starts tonight and will continue for the following three. Caller as far as i know, nobody will be there. Host right. In wisconsin, there will be very few people. You are correct. Caller that is the point. What is a convention without the people . Host but caller it is all about the politicians. Host the previous conventions were people are gathered and balloons come down, that is the kind of format you think works best . Conventions,e the but we are not going to have a rule convention a real convention. Host we will hear from robert in michigan. Independent line. Caller thank you. I watch the conventions as much as i can. Betty in toto margaret in illinois. Democrats line. Hi. Caller conventions matter because you gets a seat not just what they say, and i am talking about democrats and republicans. It watch and you try to figure out because you do not always make the right decision, but you try to watch it and understand what is going on, because there are bad, bad republicans, but also bad, bad democrats. It is like my mom used to say. What is the worst of two evils . And you try. Dislikeon is you do not trump voter. Understand them. Saying. O what they are it does not make it ok, but you do not have the right to say what they believe or do not believe. I think that most people look at most peoplemp think, he is a trump supporter. Host what do you gain as far as what you learn about the person themselves . What do you listen for . Caller i listen for character. I listen for what the people should be doing to help their neighbor. Together andoming finding common ground. Gain that from watching just one convention, from both conventions . Do you watch both . Caller i watch them both. I try my best. I know sometimes i might try to force my opinion on other people, but i try my best not to. I try to listen and look at it and say, ok, this is a good point here. Then i make a decision. I did not want trump to be president , but once he got to be president , i tried everything in my body to respect and see what he was doing and why he was doing it before i just turned. Say ot just look in look at trump and say, i do not like him. Even though i did not vote for him, i looked at it as, ok, this guy one. Since he won, lets see what he will do. I am not upset with the trump voter because they like what he is selling. Host have you made a decision about a candidate or are you waiting for the conventions to finish . Caller i am kind of leaning toward a candidate. I could be persuaded to change my mind. On one way of thinking. That is another thing people do not understand. They think all black people bodie certain way. We are not like that. We are open minded people. We do not all agree. That does nott mean i vote because somebody is black. To the vicet comes president later this week, he is expected to give that speech to accept the nomination. A little bit about the process in the Washington Post. The Vice President gets heavily invested in the text. He is not want to type out the lines himself, but will sometimes write out longhand. His often, he dictates thoughts and heavily edits the thoughts heavily edits the drafts of the speechwriters. He has a practice of clipping sentences into shorter segments. Some speechwriters say they write in a way to avoid thick, dense paragraphs. You can read more about that in the Washington Post. Betty in illinois. Democrats line. Hi. Caller conventions do matter. I am 81 years old. Yesterday, i watched the conventions on cspan. They were more subtle. Becaused watching them now things are such a hassle, people are hating people, and this country is in terrible shape now. The gentleman called in and said that he wanted to watch it with his family. Yes, there was a time you could watch them with your family, but donald trump, he calls people names, he never calls a person by his name. That is not how you want to raise your children. I dont know. Donald trump has the country so messed up, he gives you a headache. Host you said you were watching previous conventions we were airing. What did you watch on the network . The two that they showed yesterday. The republican and the democrat they showed yesterday, i watched on cspan. Host ok. Betty is from illinois. She highlights one of the features of the cspan video library. Website and you want to look at previous conventions and acceptance speeches of the candidates, you can do so at cspan. Org. Type in the name and you can find what youre looking for. Also on cspan. Org, you can watch along as the Democratic National Convention Kicks off at 9 00 tonight. The website is cspan. Org. You can go to the network at cspan. You can also follow along on the radio app. All the ways to follow along tonight and the next three nights as the Convention Kicks off. For nard, republican line in guam. Hello. Conventions do matter. With the conventions, you can actually see the feelings of the people for their candidates. I guess you could say that the conventions if you do not have conventions, it is like going to Church Without acquire without a choir. Especially joe biden. I feel people need to see this guy. For 50 years, he has done nothing. What makes americans think for the next four years he will do anything . Host you say part of watching is the reaction from the crowds. You would prefer a convention where people are altogether. Caller yeah. Conventions are 100 better. With this virtual thing, it is not as great. Host has there ever been an instance when you are watching a convention into change your mind about somebody . And it changed her mind about somebody . Caller sure. Donald trump. Everybody else was so that he kindorrect of caught my eye. Interviews,om the he has not changed his opinion. Saye other candidates, they something yesterday, a different thing today. Hypocrisy is the way i look at it. So he may call people names, but they call him names too, so who is the hypocrite here . Host that is the viewer from guam who talked about the current president and the impact the convention process made on that viewer, bernard. Brady is up next in california. Go ahead. Caller good morning. Host go ahead. Caller good morning, pedro. Host you are on. Caller ok, pedro. I am watching the conventions. The democrat especially. I do not know if i am watching because donald, trump is a republican and i do not like donald trump. As simple as that. I like joe biden and the democrats. But the democrats get in, they are going to change this country. Theyre going to put it back in order when donald trump has destroyed it. We cannot get rid of it, because donald trump allete it to come to the country. Donald trump has done messing up the post office so people cannot vote. Host if you already like joe biden, what is the purpose of the convention for you . What the want to see speakers will say. Host on what topic . Caller any topic, all the topics. There are a lot of topics that need to be done. I want to see what theyre going to do, how theyre going to move , sew this country back together. Host thats brady in california. A bit of nonconvention related news just happening over the last one before hours. Nancyeaker of the house pelosi calling lawmakers back to washington this week. Vote on legislation to bar the Postal Service from implement and changes from implementing changes to service. The house was not originally scheduled to return until september 14. It was in a Dear Colleague letter sunday evening that policy called the return in response to the devastating attempt totrumps manipulate the Postal Service, she wrote. Diane, republican line. Caller good morning. I love conventions because of the excitement that they bring and the speakers. I do not care too much i do not care about the entertainment. I am strictly policies. I want to hear the policies. I am just so excited this year for donald trump. I just know, after everything that we have got to see revealed, that we need to keep this country going in the direction it is going. I will tell you, i have never in my life seen so much corruption at such a high level. And now that god has pulled back the veil, we evangelicals are ready to come out in full force. Host what you watch the Democratic Convention this week to learn about policy issues . Caller that would be nice because i do not know what they stand for. Joe biden has not been able to come out and speak. They keep him downstairs. And kamala, we know the basics. I do not go by all those hearsay, but what really bothers me is their policies, ok . I do not like the far, far left where the Democratic Party has gone. It hurts my heart. It hurts america. Everybody is in an uproar. You cannot take a free country socialistic,nto a communist country. You just cannot do it host so you will watch the Democratic Convention this week . Caller i will, sir. Host that is diane, last call on this topic, but we continue, on the kick off for tonights Democratic National convention. Politicos Holly Otterbein will give us a viewers guide of what to look for. She will join us for that conversation. Later on, we will talk with jeff cohen, cofounder of rootsaction. Org, a Grassroots Group that supported Bernie Sanders in the primary, and the goals for this falls campaign. Those conversations, coming up on washington journal. Live coverage of the Democratic National convention all this week on cspan. Join us every night before the convention for memorable speeches from past conventions. Watch democratic senator speaking at past conventions, first ladies addressing delegates, today through 6 30 p. M. On cspan, your unfiltered view of politics. Communicators, surely bloomfield, ceo of ntca on expanding broadband into rural areas and the challenges providers face. My broadband providers literally kicked into action immediately and not only thought about how they can continue to operate safely and keep staff safe, but they also had to spend time thinking about how to i get the school kids who do not have connectivity online . They were getting calls and demands from providers, customers or not yet customers, who realized they need connectivity or that they needed higherspeed. And then importantly they serve a lot of communities economically impacted by covid and really had to work through how do you connect people and know that you are not necessarily going to get paid for it right away . Surely bloomfield tonight at 8 00 eastern on the communicators early shi rley bloomfield tonight at 8 00 eastern on the communicators on cspan 2. Washington journal continues. Host joining us is holly aterbein, with politico, Campaign Reporter, joining us from philadelphia. Good morning. Guest good morning. Host what would be the overall goal for the dnc . At the end of it, what do they hope to accomplish . Guest of course, joe biden right now is ahead in the poll s. His main goal is to do no harm and present a message to the American People which the democrats have not really been able to do that well so far. Has often been overshadowed, sometimes part of his campaign strategy. The democrats have been glad to allow donald trump to sort of stay in the spotlight in his handling of the coronavirus to be just what is talked about most of the time on the news. But now, it is the democrats a visionty to present and present that they are unified. This is something the party has worked hard at over the last few months. They did not want a repeat of the 2016 convention, where they was a lot ofhere commotion and protests. Bernie sanders voters were very vocally upset with their nominee at the port that point. They wanted something very different. But you will see Something Different with Bernie Sanders, the runnerup in 2020 and 2016 the runnerup will be making his case for joe biden. Host as well as Michelle Obama, we are supposed to hear from former republican governor of ohio john kasich. Guest that shows you the unity they are trying to present. A formal republican governor who ran for president himself for years ago has been a vocal critic of donald trump and just recently came out and said he is backing joe biden. He will be on one end of the spectrum, and then you will have Bernie Sanders, that democratic socialist on the other end of that spectrum, trying to showcase that brought antitrust coalition that joe biden is trying to signal he has behind him. Host is that the strength of the speakers themselves that will a compass that, especially the technological hurdles that have to be cross this time around versus having everybody in the same room . Guest one of the things i will be looking out for is if they can pull this off technologically speaking. It will be a serious hurdle. I think the fact that it has been shrunken down so much this is going to be an event with multiple hours every single day, where you can kind of cram in every sort of elected official and other labor leader, whatever, ordinary citizen into that lineup now they only have two hours of primetime programming every night, and so youre only getting, basically, the top democrat, then kasich, the top antitrump republican, speaking. So you sort of have the best speakers, at least that the Joe Biden Campaign is offering here. Host if that is the case, aside from the speakers, how does the other business of the conventions get conducted, especially in this atmosphere . Guest the typical business of the conventions, for instance, voting on the Party Platform, writing the Party Platform, all of this stuff that typically gets done either at the convention, shortly before the convention, that is basically all done at this point. The delegates, for instance, have been voting virtually for several days now. So those kinds of items are already taken care of. Right now, we are basically getting the infomercial tonight and throughout the week. Host our guest will be with us about 8 40 or so about tonights convention and what you expected see. You can ask her questions. If you want to call, 202 7488001 for. 202 7488000 for democrats. And 202 7488002 for independents. If you want to text us, you can do so at 202 7488003. Holly otterbein, we have been showing people a nice shot of the outside of the Wisconsin Center. Who will actually appear from there and where is everybody else coming from . Guest right now, it is basically only going to be wisconsin officials appearing is where center, which that convention was originally going to be held, if it would be held in milwaukee which famously Hillary Clinton got a lot of blowback for not campaigning more in wisconsin and democrats were seeking to rectify that in a very obvious fashion by holding their convention in milwaukee, but milwaukee, unfortunately for milwaukee, which was looking forward to millions of dollars in economic benefits as a result of this, is basically not seeing their convention at all. Few a few can just a wisconsin officials will be speaking from there. Everyone else is kind of speaking from their respective home bases. , myhave the clintons understanding, they are speaking from new york. Bernie sanders is speaking from vermont. Williden and Kamala Harris be speaking from delaware. Speeches willse be taped. Michelle obamas, for instance, will be taped. Bill clintons will be taped. Bernie sanders has a switch taped, but he will actually deliver it live and well just have the tape in case there are technical difficulties. That will present a challenge because it is just not as exciting. People will obviously be able to tell the difference between a recorded speech and a live speech. That is one of the number challenges the democrats have. Host usually when we come to these type of events, themes, out that each candidate wants to present over the course of four nights or so. Do we know about the themes this time around . Guest the theme for tonight is we, the people. Tuesday leadership matters. Wednesday, a a more perfect union. Of the main themes is just unity. Unifying the Democratic Party. Then, as we talked about, antitrusthat Broad Coalition that includes Bernie Sanders to john kasich. Then unifying the country. Joe biden is trying to present himself as a unifier, in contrast to he calls donald trump a divider. That is one of the big themes i think we will see through the convention, at least democrats will attempt to showcase that. Host we will take calls for Holly Otterbein of politico. Our first call is from john, from philadelphia, democrat line. You are on with our guest. Caller good morning. Thank you for having me. I just wanted to talk about the convention tonight. Are the next day, we get all the information am i live . Host you are on. Keep going. Caller most of the conventions i havent watched none of them. A little bit. They are kind of late. You get all the information on the news the next day. I have been in a union, voted democrat for all my life. Donthanged i said why i change to republican to get some of these republicans out of young and get some fresh ones in there. That did not work, doing that. As for we, the people, i do not see the president concerned about we, the people. He has brought some things to our attention. It will be the most difficult election in history. It is like we do not have a candidate who is really for we, the people. Host Holly Otterbein, do you take anything from that . Guest john, hi from philadelphia, too. My homebase is in south philly, where this socalled home studio is. Good to hear from another philadelphian. I am curious, will you be watching the convention he is already gone . Bet is one thing i would curious about. He seemed upset with both parties. That they are long and go into the night. It seems like this two hours makes it more palatable. Guest it is possible. And the networks will only be carrying an hour, so it may be even more palatable for our society with a short attention span. Host dominic in new york, independent line. Caller good morning. What bothers me most is that the democrats want to play a race card. I am a union man, and the uaw, on strike last year, did got everything they asked for. Trump did everything for the people, no matter what color or nationality you are. Now, they want to play the race card. Not only that, they are making everybody angry. Everybody is getting angry because everybody is brainwashing them. The uaw, on strike, got everything they asked for, only because trump brought these companies back. If joe biden and obama were still in power, the uaw would still be on strike, the united auto workers. All of these companies came back. I do not like them playing the race card. Host let me take a thought from him how much do you think has been expressed issues like black lives matter or the death of george floyd will appear this week . Guest they will definitely appear. That is the major part of joe bidens agenda. Tosays he is going to try tackle Racial Injustice in this country, partly through his economic recovery plan. He also just elected Kamala Harris as a first black woman man first asianamerican wo south asian on the ticket. That will be a major issue on the Democratic Convention. While it sows at the speaker is firmly on Donald Trumps camp, i think it is also worth noting that joe biden is trying to win over those former Union Democrats who may be switched to trump in 2016. That is one of his goals. So we will also see messaging pro jobs, proeconomic recovery out of the convention. Host what do you think the inclusion of alexandria ocasiocortez, andrew yang, what do you think their inclusions mean, message wise to send to the Democratic Party . Guest a few things one is generational. Alexandria ocasiocortez, andrew yang, these are young, fresh faces in the Democratic Party, in a party that just nominated a candidate in his 70s for their nominee. So i think that is part of it, trying to signal that this is a party for young people. Has also, at times, although i think it has gotten better in recent polls at times, he has been pulling behind hillary among latino voters. Wanted tony democrats see more latino speakers than they currently have. Representtez does them, but democrats want to see more. She is also there to try to persuade Bernie Sanders voters, most of whom, the vast majority of whom, are already behind joe biden, but there is still a sliver that is not, and so i think she is there and obviously Bernie Sanders is there to try to persuade those may be disgruntled voters, people who are upset that their guy did not get it, to cast a vote about four joe biden. Host from fallbrook, we will hear from the democrats line. Caller thank you. I will watch the convention, but i have a question you mentioned about aoc. Is only that the dnc allowing her to speak for 60 seconds . How is that expressing unity . How is that putting out the olive branch to the Progressive Side . I was wondering if you had any thoughts about that. Guest that is a question ive heard from a lot of progressives. One Important Note is we have learned, actually, that the average speech will be two minutes long. Again, this is because the democrats have had to cram what ofhours and hours and hours programming into two hours each day. Those speeches will be much shorter overall than what you are used to, aside from joe biden, joe biden, the obamas, and Kamala Harriss speeches. And Bernie Sanders, for instance. He will only get eight minutes. The average speech will be two minutes. I am also told that aoc is going to help nominate Bernie Sanders and that is also going to have a separate time to speak the on that, so totally understand the point that progressives are making our about feeling about feeling like that is not enough time for a rising star of theirs. But it is important to note that very few people are getting the kind of time they normally would because of these circumstances. Host i want to highlight the viewers to a piece you and john harris day talking to various members of democratic officials. Can the Democratic Party hold together . What was the goal of the peace and what did you learn about the various wings within the Democratic Party, particularly as the Convention Starts . Guest me and john harris, Founding Editor of politico, we interviewed four people to represent the kind of centerleft moderate wing of the Democratic Party and another to represent the more progressive or insurgent wing. It was a really interesting conversation. It went on for an our. Actually, the news that Kamala Harris was joe biden speak for v. P. Broke during our talk. I think the party is very united behind ousting trump. Trump has been an incredible glue, and incredible unifier for the Democratic Party. The campaign, trump is the greatest asset to the democrats campaign, but the big question is whether that will hold if joe biden is elected, after that happens, if it happens. I do not know i think it is an open question. These divides are very real. Trump is sort of papering over them for now. I think that the democrats are going to have a challenge in governance. Really t, there are as a result of very real divisions in the party. Host next call from colorado, democrats line, greg. You are on. Go ahead. Caller i just wanted to say i really enjoy watching your show. And i wanted to totally agree with you that donald trump is his own worst enemy right now. And i think the Democratic Party is going to take that and run with it. What you were speaking about earlier in the show, i do not think the conventions really do anything. I think they are really just a waste of time and money, and the biggest thing that comes out with these candidates is in the debates. Otterbein, go ahead. Guest it is interesting we have heard that sentiment from a lot of highranking democrats recently, that maybe it is time to get rid of the conventions altogether, that maybe it is a good excuse to take that off. I think it is a very interesting idea in terms of the question of whether conventions make a difference, candidates to come oftentimes, see above after a convention, but that pump has been getting smaller and smaller. Speaks tospeeds a lot of things, including the rising partisanship and the vast amounts of entertainment as you do not have to tune into this because it is the only thing on television. You are absolutely right they do not make the difference they once did. Host when it comes to your job as a Campaign Reporter, larger job of the press, what is the access going to be like this time and what changes, as far as the reporting . Guest everything. [laughter] everything changes. Like i said, i am right here in my home in south philadelphia. I would be in milwaukee if this were a normal campaign. I would be covering the convention with a huge group of other reporters at politico and many, many reporters across the country. Now, there is only a handful of reporters nationally in milwaukee right now. I think it is just hugely different. We are sort of covering it through phone calls and zoom. We will be watching it online like everyone else, instead of sort of being right there on the ground with everyone. It is massively different, completely changed the campaign trail. You are not on the bus anymore. Not too far from delaware, then. Will there be any access as far as joe bidens acceptance speech . Guest i believe there will be reporters in wilmington, so you will have that. It is a very reduced operation compared to what would normally be happening, by far. Host arizona is next. Jake, independent line. Good morning. Caller good morning. Thank you, cspan. Thank you very much. I watch your show every morning during the day. Look for all sorts of things, congressional hearings, and everything. Ive set my recorder so all four nights, for three hours already here, 6 00 to 9 00, recorded. I can wind back, relisten to what people say, think for myself, have it on record. A democrat. I am not a republican. I am an independent. I will be paying attention, and there will be certain things i will be looking for host such as what . What will you be looking for . We hear a lot about unifying this country, dont we . Well, right now, we have a lot of violence going on in the streets come a lot of other civil unrest throughout and within our government. Into me, the election will be order. Out law and restoring law and order. And i want to hear i want to see to democrats really address this . Do they or do the republicans even denounce violence in the streets . I have nothing against protests. Occurs violence that along with it and after, later in the night we all know what is going on. Host thank you. We will let our guests respond. Guest so i think it is unlikely you will see a harsh law and order message from joe biden. Joe biden has actually been trying to walk away from his past law and order record, which, of course, included the 1990 crime bill and other crime legislation, tough on crime legislation. He spent much of the primary really trying to distance himself from that, and i do not think we will see that really change. However, one thing biden has been very careful to do is, as soon as the calls to defund the police started up on the left wing of the Democratic Party, joe biden immediately came out and said that he was opposed to the idea of defunding the police. So while you will not see a hardcore law and order message, you are also not going to see calls to defund the police from joe biden. That is kind of the middleoftheroad he is trying towalk down, trying basically appeal to more moderate voters who are opposed to defunding the police but also not really appeal to hardcore conservative law and order voters. He is not seeking them. As much of thes, Democratic Party, that the country has moved past that. Host have we seen either joe biden or Kamala Harris being interviewed since their announcement last week . Guest no, we have not. That has not happened yet. Actually, over the weekend, we really and many Trump Supporters and some Trump Campaign officials commented on to drawo, to try attention to this. You did not really see joe biden and Kamala Harris out for the weekend shows p this will be another time we will be able to see them together, since they made the announcement that that is the ticket. I believe i just saw i forget who it was, but the first nabbedew was napped of them, but i believe that is not happening until this week. Host from anne, the democrats lying. You thenk democrats line. Caller thank you. I have a suggestion i think it would be nice if you have a ticker on the screen for their calls and tweets and texts from people. Anyway, on the convention itself, i think it reflects the Democratic Party, the Broad Spectrum of speakers participating in the convention. We have just about everything. I think democrats are that way. I think people tend to paint democrats as being very liberal, extremely liberal, progressive, but then there are other democrats who firmly believe in the real precepts of the Democratic Party. The idea of the Democratic Party, of course, is equity and education and health care. And those things that every family needs to live a good life , to have good neighborhoods. I think the personalities speaking at the convention reflect this diversity, and i think it is a really good thing. I look forward to hearing them. That right there could basically be an advertisement for the Democratic Party. That is exactly what they are trying to signal, that it is a party and, tent under the banner of trying to oust trump, you have everyone from a former republican governor to democraticsocialists. Host charles from colorado, independent line. Caller good morning. They look at trump as the bed of 1,000 nails. There are so much atrocity going with what he is doing. By wonder if, at the convention, they will talk about this payroll tax. Trump is saying, at the beginning of the year, if he wins the election, he will abolish the payroll tax. That is abolishing medicare, and that is abolishing social security. I wonder if they will mention that point. And the other point is probably way out there that nobody ever talks about is house bill one. I encourage every american, if bill, if you had to read a bill, to sit down and read that one. Everyone says we have unfair and all of this, but hb1 is the game changer. Never hear about that. Guest i think we lost the call. Host yes, i think we lost the call. Go ahead. Guest i would not be surprised at all if the democrats brought up the payroll tax and its impact on social security. But what i think makes this convention unique relative to what we have seen from joe biden already is that his advertising as well as his recent speeches come a lot of it has been centered on criticizing trump and criticizing, particularly, his mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic. That has been the overwhelming message, particularly from paid media from joe biden and bidens super pacs. During the convention this week, biden and his allies will have the opportunity to present a positive message from him. That is what i am looking for, how do they balance that antitrump messaging which has brought the Party Together versus biden presenting a positive vision for the country, which, while he has spent several weeks outlining his economic recovery plans, i do not think that has broken through in the same way then his really antitrust messaging has broken through. We will see if this we will see if this would changes that. Host do you think medicare fall gets elaborated on, considering, also, senator harris posi tioning on it . Guest i doubt it. There is a very good chance Bernie Sanders will bring it up come of course. He has been giving basically the same speech for dozens of years. And medicare for all has long been a big part of it. So you may hear that from him, potentially. But i do not think you will hear perhaps speakers aoc and folks like that but that is about it. Primary, during the opposed medicare for all. That was one of the biggest fights within the Democratic Party during the primary, and job id, who was again asked joe biden, who was against it, joe biden, who was against it, is the nominee. Even in recent weeks, there was an attempt by the progressives to put it into the Party Platform, and that failed. Wantile i think democrats medicare for all supporters, of course, tobacco biden to back biden, and that is why you have folks like Bernie Sanders there signaling that that is ok to do, i do not think you will see any support for medicare for all coming from joe biden. That would be a massive turnaround. Host and no matter what the policy, i suspect we will not hear a lot of details about what will be proposed. Guest that is probably right. We will probably hear some details about economic recovery plans, that sort of thing, but this is we will not it into the nittygritty. Host from new york, republican line, lee. Caller hi. Am i on . Host you are. Caller you mentioned prerecorded speakers. Isnt it artificial . Because in that event, you can prerecord yourself a dozen times before you choose the right one rather than then being on stage and being exposed. An analogy would be if it will bell rings, you answer it, and you answer it, what youre wearing, you do not get a chance to change her clothes 10 times and then decide what you will present. Thank you. Great point. S a that is one of the challenges the democrats have. When you are tuning into a convention, you are partly watching how the person performs live and what the reaction of the crowd is, and you will not get any of that from these speeches, essentially. Especially for the ones that are recorded, it is a little artificial. There is no doubt about that. That is one of the big challenges the democrats will have. We will see how they do tonight and through the week. Host talk about another challenge. Conventions, in part, are designed to motivate, particularly as election day comes up. What is the challenge democrats face after this week . Guest that is right. One of the things the convention does besides putting the party and nominee on display to the country, it is also meant to motivate the base, which of course includes those thousands of delegates that typically show up at the convention. The delegates are not showing up to this convention in milwaukee. They are tuning in via zoom, most,state parties that if not all, are virtual. Is how doive heard you engage those delegates, who tend to be some of the most dedicated volunteers within their respected towns and cities. There has been some effort to do that. The party and joe bidens campaign and others are organizing training throughout the week, several hours of it, that delegates and other democrats can tune into, and they say one positive part of the Virtual Convention is many more people can attend that then normally would be able to, but i think at the end of the day they will not compared to an in person convention, which is usually a lifechanging experience for many people, something they remember for the rest of their lives. That is one of the challenges and downsides of the Virtual Convention. Basically impossible to engage delegates and other Party Activists in the same way you would at a convention in person. Host linda in connecticut, democrats line. Caller good morning. While it is different and all the points you made about it being prerecorded and everything is true, i really think it is important because of the division in camps of our media, especially our tv and social media, that this is an opportunity to speak directly to the nation. And even though it will not have all the fanfare, which i personally have never been a fan of, i think that this is their opportunity to say this is who i am, america. Even though it is only going to be in prime time. That could work to the advantage for people who do not necessarily pay so close attention to elections this early in the season. So while the traditional fanfare is not going to be there, i think, ultimately, america will soon in for an hour and hear directly from the candidates themselves and what their overall message is. Thanks. Have a good one. Host thank you. Guest thank you. That is a great point. It enables the candidates to give their pure, on adulterated lterated message to the media. It is more direct, especially with those recorded. Host and social media plays even more of a role this time around. Guest absolutely, which is another way for candidates to get their message to the voters without any kind of filter. Host lets go to beverly, last call. Nebraska is where she is from. Democrats line. You are on with Holly Otterbein. Just wondering if, at the convention, will the democrats truly reach out to christians . Up untiltian 2018, i always registered as an independent, then switched over to the Democratic Party just because of trump not all christians support him. Are they really going to be a Big Tent Party and reach out to everyone . ,ecause i get a lot of backlash sometimes, from democrats on social media when i talk about my christian values but still wanting to vote for biden, support biden. Are they truly a Big Tent Party . Thet this is something Democratic Party has struggled with for a while now. Are prolife democrats allowed, for instance, in the party or not . Is, himself,iden very proud catholic a very proud catholic. He talks about that. I do not think it will be a huge feature of the convention, but i would be surprised if that heritage did not come up at least a few times. Host you can read the work of Holly Otterbein on politico. Com. She is a Campaign Reporter for politico, here to talk about the kickoff for the Democratic National convention. Thanks so much for your time. Coveragehen cspans start of the activities tonight and the following nights. Follow along on cspan, cspan. Org, and you can also follow along on our cspan radio app. Later on in the program, we will hear from jeff cohen of roots g ction, a Grassroots Group that supported Bernie Sanders and is now supporting joe biden. And we also hear from Nextgen America as benjamin wessel. Us, you the guests join can talk to us about political conventions and why they matter. Republicans, 202 7488001. Democrats, [indiscernible] democrats, 202 7488000. Independents, 202 7488002. If you want to text us, it is 202 7488003. Twitter is available as well as facebook. We will take those calls when washington journal continues. Live coverage of the Democratic National convention all this week on cspan. Join us every night before the convention for memorable speeches from past conventions. Watch Democratic Senators speaking at republican conventions, first ladies addressing the delegates, today through thursday at 6 00 p. M. Eastern, only on cspan, your unfiltered view of politics. Tonight on the munich caterers shirleyommunicators, bloomfield, ntca ceo. My broadband providers literally kicked into action immediately and not only thought about how they can continue to operate safely and keep staff safe, but they also had to spend time thinking about how do i get the school kids who do not have connectivity online . They were getting calls and demands from providers, customers or not yet customers, who realized they need connectivity or that they needed higherspeed. And then, most importantly, they serve a lot of communities that were economically significantly impacted by covid and really had to work through how do you connect people and know that you are not necessarily going to get paid for it right away . Shirley bloomfield tonight at 8 00 eastern on the communicators on cspan 2. Washington journal continues. Host the Wisconsin Center there in milwaukee, the site of one of the locations, various locations, where the Democratic National convention will play out. Various people coming in via zoom and other means to talk about and support the democratic candidate, joe biden, and his Vice President ial candidate Kamala Harris. Again, our coverage at 9 00. You can see that on cspan, cspan. Org, and our radio app. As far as the speakers, we have talked a little bit about them, but just to remind you, amy cuomo,ar, Andrew Gretchen whitmer among the speakers. Including James Clyburn of South Carolina he gave the endorsement of joe biden. John kasich you heard our guest talk about the former ohio republican, said to support joe biden with a speech tonight. Bernie sanders and then Michelle Obama also expected to speak tonight. Some of those speeches taped, some live. You can all watch it play out on cspan. Org. If they matter to you or if political conventions matter, we invite you to tell us in the next 15 minutes or so. 202 7488001 for republicans. 202 7488000 for democrats. And independents, 202 7488002. If you want to text us, you can do that, too, at 202 7488003. Dilbert to start us in illinois on our republican line. Good morning. Say that would like to conventions are important to but i will watch that democrats. I know they are all lies. Look how many times ive tried to find where trump has done wrong and they were proven wrong. They have wasted so much of our money and time on trying to find something wrong with trump and were proven every time to be wrong. How could you vote for them . Host what are you going to learn then from watching the convention . What are you looking out for particularly . Caller i like to watch the democrats lie so much. Theyre the racists. They use racism in their campaigns. Just likewhen mr. Biden said what was it, if you do not vote for me, you are not black. What kind of racist statement is that . Host democrat line up next. Caller i just want to say i am very interested in the convention coming up. I am excited about hearing our progressive platform. And i get tired of hearing trump speak every day on tv. It is disgusting. By the way, i call him dopey donald. Host when you say progressive platform, what are you particularly interested in hearing . Caller just all of it. Not a particular element in that platform you want to highlight or learn more about . Caller no. I am interested in everything you know, i have no particular thing that i am really interested in. I just really am encouraged to hear what they have to say, which i am sure will be good. Host irene in new jersey, also on our line for democrats. Caller how are you today . Host fine, thank you. Caller good. Very happy and looking forward to tonights presentation. We are all living in a very strange time of pandemic, economic collapse, environmental problems, social problems, income injustice. And i am really looking forward to a group of sensible, caring americans who know their civics, who know how Government Works and believe in the positive powers of government to come together host i take it you think that political conventions matter than . Caller i do. Very much. And the socalled rally way unfortunately, a pandemic, it is a doubleedged. It is horrible, because so many people are sick, dying, losing their loved ones. However, there is a new opportunity to make things happen. It will be interesting to see how the Democratic Party handles this brandnew opportunity. Host would you like to see a return to the old styling of conventions like you have previously probably already seen . Or are you waiting to see what happens this time around and make your mind up on that . Caller i guess so, but after the pandemic is over, we will probably tend to gravitate to social gatherings more. But i think this gives us an opportunity those people who want to Pay Attention, who have open minds i am very impressed, by the way, with republican governor kasich. I have always seen him as a i am aperson although democrat, he is a republican, i would consider voting for him if he were the stronger candidate. I have a lot of faith in biden, in harris, and the whole team of democrats. Buttigieg, warren. Im a little nervous about Bernie Sanders. He is a little far out there for me. Host do you think he will bring his supporters along . Caller i hope he does. In life, they become a bit more sensible, and they realize that you cannot wave a magic wand. I hope he will be enthusiastic in his support for our center party. Host that is irene in new jersey, who plans to watch tonight. Southl go to anne, dakota, republican line. Caller good morning. I would like to express that i believe the conventions are important for both parties. It is a political process of government. It gets people excited, and young people involved, in the process of going to the voter, i think, is important, and it is part of our United States freedom, process. Host do you think that, because the format this time around is so drastic this time around, that that same type of enthusiasm will happen . What do you think . Caller i think probably some of the enthusiasm will drop off, but i think each party will have to somehow boost their own ,eople to have some enthusiasm and maybe a separate, small group party locally to watch and participate in the convention would be good, where they can control the social media, distancing. Host do you watch both conventions . I watchyeah, probably more of the republicans, but i do watch the democrats to see what they say and what is going on and to keep involved on what they are saying. Host any expectations with the start of the Democratic National Convention Today . Caller i think that biden and harris will want to pump up their beliefs and what they want to do and try to win the country. Host ok. Fromll go to greg southpoint, ohio, independent line. Caller hello. Host you are on. Go ahead. Caller can you hear me . Host yeah. Caller i just think the conventions, the money for the convention would be better spent getting the vote out myself. Nothing new in the convention. They have already stated their platform in the primaries or so. I think that money would be better spent getting the vote out. Knocking on doors and the like and getting the machines out there . Caller absolutely. Host do you think because of the nature of the convention you will find that enthusiasm amongst republicans and democrats who go out there and try to gain support and the probably digital platforms will be used to gain support as well . Do you think persontoperson is best . Caller yes, i do. I just think to me, personally, it is. I think i am a regular person. So instead of a couple thousand people up there, i think you would be better off getting the message out to thousands to every state in america. Host what do you think of governor kasich speaking at the Democratic Convention this week, tonight . Caller it is great. I voted for governor kasich when he ran against trump, and i wish he would have won appeared i think he would have made a great president. Host do you watch both conventions . Whatr i already know their platforms are, why should i watch the convention . Host vernon is up next from maryland, independent line. Caller good morning. Host you are on. Go ahead. Caller i cannot hear you host you are on the line, just go ahead with your question or comment. Caller my question or comment is i think all of these just a bunch of rhetoric. I am surprised they do not have cheerleaders. It is just a big party. Promises,ay the same that they will make and create thousands or millions of jobs, but i do not understand how they do that, because they are politicians. They do not own corporations. Are they forcing corporations to hire people, to raise wages . If they raise the minimum wage or whatever they are doing with taxes, they will force companies out of the country again. I do not think all of this political talk is helpful, because the majority of people not that i am a genius or anything, but if you listen to some of the comments that people call in and say, you can tell t host ok. Maryland. O rosalee, caller i have been a democrat for 61 years. I have changed to the republican of because host as far as conventions go, what do you think of them . Do they matter in this day and age . Caller i do not think they matter at all. I think it is a moneymaking thing. They do as they please when they get in there. They promised the people host you will have to stop listening to the tv and just continue with your statement or comment. Caller i just do not care for the conventions. I do not watch them. I will say this i was a democrat for 61 years. Not for the i am Democrat Party anymore. I think it is a communist party. It is not for the people. They are in it for the money. From carolyn is next fairfax, virginia. Do political conventions matter . Caller good morning. President kennedy is my third cousin. I do think they matter. I hope this convention we can have a moment of prayer for the people who have passed from covid. I would adore if taylor swift can sing. And i very much hope we can get a message about what is going on with the usps host as far as all of that, why do conventions matter . Caller having people come ,ogether to discuss the topics forum, to bem able to network with groups of i would personally like to see 15 laptops representing joe biden and Kamala Harris for each host but as far as lets go to tom. Winter haven, florida, independent line. Caller good morning. Ust wanted to say convention is to the outcome of the election what a pep rally is to if a ballgame. Party, whereple to likeminded hats, but at the end of the day, there is no direct correlation between victory and loss. With the convention or other are the the candidates people playing the game. There is no correlation. It is just a reason to get together and have fun with likeminded people. Host so you do not learn anything particularly new about the Party Platform or where a candidate . Stands or anything like that . Caller oh, no. By now, if there was anything new to learn, they do not need to be elected, because they did a very poor job of getting their message out. If they will bring new information to the convention, you are not qualified to be whatever office you are running for. We already know by now host go ahead. Caller that is just it. By now, everything is out. We know where donald trump is on thing. We know where biden is on things, harris, pence. Theres nothing new. Ist is worse if there something new that comes out of the convention, that is just poor marketing of your political message. If youre going to wait until the convention to announce, by the way, here is another reason there should not be another reason by now. Host do you think conventions serve as motivators when it comes to efforts like get out the vote or trying to attract people to your particular candidate, that kind of thing . Caller it motivates people to have a reason to have fun and party and where stupid hats. Host lets go to raglan, new york, democrats line brooklyn, new york, democrats line. Caller i am calling to rebut that 45 is all about the working man i cannot name one policy in the last 40 years from the republican that has specifically been targeted at. Helping working people. The tax cut will give 83 of the benefits to the top 1 . There is nothing republicans dont want any union they will not last host political conventions is our topic. Where do you think of them . Caller this years Democratic Convention is to showcase the broad party you have speakers come everyone from john kasich, a pretty rightwing republican, to Bernie Sanders to aoc, to the clintons to barack obama. The party will be united behind trumpg the country of behind the bidenharris ticket. Billy in brooklyn, new york, who will finish us off for these 20 minutes or so. The Convention Coverage starts tonight at 9 00 on cspan. Cspan. Org is also available to you. You can also follow along on our cspan radio app. To talk more about the convention, we will talk to jeff cohen, cofounder of roots action, a Grassroots Group that supported Bernie Sanders in their primaries. We will discuss where the group is now in light of the nomination of joe biden. Later on, nexgen americas benjamin wessel on his groups role in boosting the youth vote this fall. Both conversations coming up on washington journal. The communicators tempo this ceo of ntca on expanding broadband into rural areas and the challenges small providers face with the coronaries pandemic coronavirus pandemic. Broadband providers kicked into action immediately and not on the thought about how to continue to operate safely and keep their staff safe, but they also had to think about, how do i get to school kids who do not have connectivity online . They were getting calls and demands from providers, from customers or not yet customers, who realize they needed connectivity or higherspeed. Most importantly, they serve a lot of communities that were economically significantly impacted by covid and really had to work through how you connect people and know you will not necessarily get paid for it right away. Tonight at 8 00 eastern on the communicators on cspan2. Cspan as unfiltered coverage house,ress, the white 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 nationalconversation through cspans daily Washington Journal Program through our social media feeds. Cable, created by Television Companies as a Public Service and brought to you today by your television provider. Washington journal continues. Host from new york, this is jeff cohen from roots action, cofounder of the organization, rootsaction. Org. Areyou tell our viewers who not familiar with your organization what it is and who supports you . Guest yes, rootsaction. Org is an independent, Progressive Organization primarily online. We have more than 1. 2 million members on our email list. We believe that the corporate interests and corporate greed controls about 99 of the republican and half of the democrat. That is why i stress that we are an independent progressive group. Very willing to criticize the leadership of both Political Parties. We fight for economic justice, Racial Justice, environmental justice. A more proworkingclass politics. Because in our country for decades, wealth and power have sort of gushed upwards, whether a democrat or republican were in the white house. So we havent anticorporate type ofan anticorporate politics, similar to Bernie Sanders, who we supported in the primaries. Host what are you fighting for now . Guest still fighting for the progressive agenda. I am a bernie delegate to the convention. I voted no on the platform, including hundreds of other delegates, including some biden delegates. Because even 5, 6 months into a pandemic, the democratic platform does not include universal health care, and the only way you can get universal health care is medicare for all. This was the platform of the Democratic Party from harry truman through the 1950s through 1980. So bernie is not in the race. The most Important Campaign that we will be waging between today campaignber 3 is a that we call votetrumpout. If your viewers are on social media, they have probably seen that hashtag. Org,ebsite is votetrumpout and it is a campaign aimed at swing states remember, there is only 10 battleground states that will determine whether trump gets a second term. We consider him the most divisive, deceitful, ineffective, incompetent, dangerous president in modern history, who will be even more dangerous in the second term. So even though we were strong bernie supporters in the primary and remain independent and remain progressive, we have this campaign aimed at bernie supporters the young voters, people that are not that convinced about biden, and it is a twopart campaign. Votetrumpout. Org. Number one, we need to eject inmp and t eject trump november. Two, we need to challenge the Biden Administration to pay more attention to workingclass people, poor people, the struggling middleclass than support for donors. So it is to beat trump and then challenge a Biden Administration. Host if the Vice President wins, what convinces you he will come around to your way of thinking . Guest well, we have got the majority of the people on our side. This is something that does not come to the mainstream media. The proworkingclass agenda, it is not just popular with most democrats, it is popular with most of the country. And we study polls that rootsaction. Org. Thean, most people want wealthy 1 and big corporations to pay their fair share of taxes. Most people want to raise the minimum wage. Most people in this country one Free Public College paid for by a tax on wall street. Most people in this country want medicare for all. They want the bloated military budget to be redirected to human needs, environmental needs, workingclass communities. These are majority positions if you study any poll. Believe that through good organizing, and progressives have never been better organized and networked through the internet, that we trump, able, once we get the standards, deceitful president out of the white house who has served only the rich i heard your last caller talk about how the tax cuts of trump in 2017, and every economist has agreed to this, 83 of it went to the top 1 . So we need to remove trump from the picture and end the trump nightmare. Then organize people to demand that the Democratic Party be more responsive to the middle class and working class than to the corporate donors. Host ok. Our guest is with us until 9 30. To ask questions, 202 7488000 for republicans. Democrats 202 7488001 for republicans. Democrats, 202 7488000. For independents, 202 7488002. Affectedanders this is to speak tonight expected to speak tonight. What do you hope he will talk about tonight . What do you think he will talk about tonight . Guest he will talk about exactly what i hope he will talk about. I have known Bernie Sanders since his first term in congress. Even if people do not agree with his politics, they know he is one of the few honest politicians. So he is going to explain that the Bernie Sanders agenda is a majority agenda. Independent supported overwhelmingly, not just Many Democrats and some republicans. So i think he is going to lay out why we need universal health care, which is medicare for all, and why we need to increase taxes on the 1 . Economy,n neoliberalism, for 40 years were wealth and income and power has gushed to the top. And the reason Bernie Sanders is so popular with young people is young people have never seen a u. S. Economy that worked for the majority of people. And young people have this horror of approaching catastrophic Climate Change. And so what they are going to hear the reason so many young people refer bernie is because he was addressing this idea of exploding income inequality and that we are looking at catastrophic Climate Change, and bernie and other progressives whichut forth an answer, is green new deal, which transforms our economy toward Renewable Fuels and away from fossil fuels while producing millions of union jobs. So i think bernie is going to lay out the agenda that we have heard from him. Unfortunately, he only has a few minutes to do it. Host when it comes then to the Vice President s choice for his Vice President nominee, Kamala Harris, your organization, along with progressive democrats of america, said she is a political weathervane. She was first for medicare for all and then she was not she felt to hold Police Accountable for gross misconduct in california. Then touted her commitment to Police Accountability in the wake of George Floyds murder. There is concern about her dedication to progressive principles. Some stance gives us i guess if you were going to try to bring her over to your way of thinking in light of that statement, what is your success going to be if they win the ticket . T. Org, again, votetrumpou that is our website for this campaign. Number one, eject trump and avoid an even or dangerous second trump term. Two, hold biden and harris accountable. Harris, as we said in our statement, has been movable. And harris being in her 50s knows that young people in our country are the most progressive generation, people in their late teens, 20s, 30s. Theyre the most antiracist to generation, anticorporatist, most pro bernie generation. And if Kamala Harris is looking for political future, hopefully she will be the Vice President in january, she better Pay Attention to the ascending Progressive Movement in this byntry which is backed millions and millions of young people. There is no group that is more antitrump than people under 35, under 40, and there is no group more pro bernie. I think Kamala Harris is wise enough that is what we said in our statement she has said some good things, but then she does not always vote the right way, but i think she knows which way the winds are blowing, and that is away from the oldline corporatism of the 99 of the Republican Party half of the Democratic Party. And she knows the proworkingclass, proyouth, profuture agenda is actually good for her political career and her political future. Host what is your message about a moderate democrat concerned about joe biden . Guest again, moderate democrats support these positions. Most biden voters want medicare for all. I can explain that in one word per mississippi. I mean, mississippi had a primary, and biden won in a landslide. Nbc news exit polls anyone theyoogle this interviewed people who had just voted in the mississippi primary this was before the pandemic, voterstwotoone, these who just voted overwhelmingly for biden embrace medicare for all. They said yes, i am for medical for all, a single plan, nonprofit insurance that covers everywhere. So when you say moderate democrats or independents, i am citing polls that show taxing the wealthy is popular across the board, including with nondemocrats. When pollsters were checking the millionaires ultra that senator Elizabeth Warren was supporting, they found that a majority of republicans supported a wealth tax. So, pedro, i am not drawing big distinctions between moderate democrats and progressive democrats or independents and progressive democrats. The only distinction i am drawing his politics that helps the 1 and the corporate elite and a politics that helps the majority of the people. I do not see the spectrum so much as rightleft as i see it as topdown. And government and Political Parties have too much served the elites, the corporate elites, and we are looking for a politics that moore serves the struggling middle class, the working class, and the poor. Is fromr first call pennsylvania, independent line. This is tom for jeff cohen of rootsaction. Org. Caller like jeff, i was for Bernie Sanders when he was a congressman or senator from vermont, long before he ran for president. Definitely will not be voting for the bidenharris ticket. You cannot get two more corporate, cozy members of the corporate class, buddy buddy, than Kamala Harris and joe biden, and that is not going to change. Kamala harris, she is an absolute joke. Bragged about smoking marijuana, meanwhile puts tens of thousands of africanamericans in jail for marijuana. So i think the platform that needs to be adopted by both, either trump or biden, is the andrew yang 2400 a month. That is not unemployment money. That is survival of the nation money. Because the next guest what estate do you live in . Caller i live in pennsylvania, and right now trump is winning big. He is winning big here. Host ok, thank you for the call. Guest the reason i asked as he makes some good points. I also like the minimum income that andrew yang has put forward. I think i agree with a lot of what tom was saying. But if i lived in pennsylvania websitevotetrumpout. Org is aimed at the 10 swing states, i mean, trump is more pro corporate. He has lavished subsidies on corporations while he is trying to defund the post office, you know, this Important Institution poor,rican life for rich, rural, and americans. While bailing out corporations, he is trying to cut the post office and sabotage it. So there is no one who is more in a pro corporate direction then donald trump. All he ever does is lavished praise on these predatory corporations like the pharmaceuticals. So i would prevail on tom and anyone who lives in the swing states that if they have Major Concerns about biden and harris bignd i do, and they are supporters of Bernie Sanders, as i am that the right thing to do is two steps. Vote trump out in november. Bidenharrise administration for workingclass needs beginning in january. The 10did i mention battleground states were focusing on . Lets leto viewers go to the website if interested because we have a lot of calls for you. Independent line, hello. Are yeah, mr. Cohen you there . Host go ahead. Caller i am wondering if you considered that the people in our country have forgotten what is required to maintain a successful civilization. That is the suppression of selfish human emotion. If you are in the business of the greed domestic product, you are promoting greed and jealousy. It is as simple as that. Host ok, caller. Thank you. Guest i agree with that. Caller ben from reston, virginia, republican line. Caller my only comment is, a, for the voting, i think it should be done online. B, as far as the republicans and the democrats go, i think the democrats need to have, like, chromosome testing or something to account for their pissed off behavior. They are so confused by the metrics of everything. In a nutshell, that is it. Thank you. You o the states that aside from the states themselves, what is the strategy of your group to appeal directly to the states, especially in the light of coronavirus . Guest well, were online and on social media. On social media, people will see votetrumpout. Were getting into dialogue with voters like tom from pennsylvania, our very first caller, who loves bernie and does not plan on voting for either of the two major parties. We are in a dialogue on social media saying, look, we campaigned against biden, for bernie, but if you care about our workingclass politics, we have got to get trump out as number one, number two, from day one, challenge the Biden Administration. So we are in this dialogue, pedro, and it is intense because we are aimed at what are called swing voters of the left, progressive voters, or independent voters, even going after smart libertarians. If you live in these swing arizona,hat is florida, georgia, iowa, michigan, north carolina, ohio, pennsylvania, texas, wisconsin if you are in those swing states, we are encouraging you, dont abstain from the president ial campaign because you have concerns about biden. I do, too. Do not vote thirdparty protest. We cannot afford that. The only tool to get trump out of the white house is to vote for biden. Biden is our tool in those swing states. That is what we are communicating in our intense social media persuasion. Host you reference that first caller. It was not just concerns. He was adamant about not voting for biden. I suppose that causes you concern about the job you have ahead of you. Guest yes, we have nine weeks to convince tom and others, but i think we are doing a good job. Yes, i dont like biden. I think he has been too aligned with corporations, but no one is worse than trump. He is the most deceitful, dishonest, incompetent, ineffective, dangerous president. He does not respect democracy. We have to get trump out just to save the democracy, to be able to reform in the direction that tom in pennsylvania i think wants us to go in. Host john, another democrat, from chantilly, virginia. You are on with jeff cohen of rootsaction. Org. Caller i want to ask the guest, actually, the democrats, the reason that always lose is because we have someone like this gentleman, classic green party listen, democrats need one thing on the agenda, how to defeat donald trump. You keep talking about tom in pennsylvania. Tom in pennsylvania, if you listened to his last statement talking about Kamala Harris, he is not a democrat. He is a republican calling to pretend that they are a democrat. We need to be mindful. We need to be behind aydin regardless of what happens. We have seen what is going on in this country. Trump, no innald between here. That is my statement. Guest i mean, john, if there is any group that is working with a key group of swing voters that are on the fence, maybe tom is not on the fence you are implying he hates it the democrats and is really a republican we are talking to people that are on the fence between i am not going to bother voting or i am going to vote for the green vardy or some protest for the libertarians, those are the people were talking to, and we are doing a good job of convincing them that they have to, for the sake of democracy and the future and Climate Change i mean, trump has made it worse. We are convincing those people that they have to vote biden harris if they live in a swing state to get trump out. Walt,pennsylvania, democrat online. Caller hello. I wonder if the democrats could keep the house and we get biden and harris in office, and it would be really great because i would see how happy people would be what 10 gallon gas and house utilities double. People coming into the country and we are going to pay for everything for them. This country would be great if they do all that. You are wonderful and have a lot of great ideas. No wonder trump is surging in the polls, especially after watching black lives matter and these riots and looting. The democrats say that aint happening. So many wonderful ideas you have. Host ok, walt. Do you have any response . Guest i am not clear that i understood exactly what he was driving at. Host lets hear from david in oakdale, new york, republican line. Caller good morning. Thank you. Likee a few questions, medicaid for all or medicare for all, why is that better . There is no real specific discussions regarding why it is better than having private insurance or paying cash for your medical bills or just being responsible enough to have a job and paying your way. Or the green movement, this country has pretty good air and pretty good water. It could be better. Theyre working on it. Congress has to make the regulations on that, and we have had a Democratic Congress that did not do anything about that. So i am not really sure where Kamala Harris and biden really stand, except that they keep pushing for it but yet nobody is passing anything in the congress for it, and i do not understand why it would be better. Host ok. Guest ok, i could answer those questions. The house of representatives, which is controlled by the democrats, has been passing one bill after another to address the environment. They have passed a bill that would give big coronavirus relief, save the post office, put money in the hands of working people, and then mitch mcconnell, the leader of the senate, republican leader, blocks everything. Idicare for all, i mean, could explain why enhanced medicare for all is better than our system of forprofit health care. Right now, our country is 37th in the world in health outcomes. There are 36 countries that have Better Health outcomes than our country. But our country spends more money on health care than all the countries on earth per capita. Wondering why the system does not work now and why tens of millions are uninsured and even more tens of millions are underinsured, it is because the insurance companies, which do not heal anyone, they take the profit out of the system. Billions and billions of dollars every year goes to corporate profits. The average ceo salary of a Health Care Corporate executive, ceo, is 14 million a year. So you have got all this money going to corporate profits, going to ceos, going to other wasteful bureaucracy of having 28 Different Insurance Companies with 58 different plans and every Doctors Office has to hire special staff to deal with the 58 different insurance plans. Every economist that has looked at this has said it would go to enhanced medicare for all to have more complete coverage then you get from a private insurer, and workingclass people, middleclass people, will be paying less for their health coverage. And it is all spelled out in bills in the house of representatives and in the senate. Bernie sanders has the bill in the senate. The congresswoman from seattle has the bill in the house. It lays out exactly how this will be paid for. And in the long run, medicare for all is cheaper for society bureaucratic forprofit private system we have now. Int as you mentioned, not the d c platform. Guest right, and that is why several hundred of us delegates are voting no on the platform, ouruse even with pandemic, party is not moving to enhanced medicare for all. If you look at Kaiser Family foundation, and Kaiser Family is not for medicare for all, you will see that the majority of the public, including many independents and some republicans, want this simplified, everyone is in medicare and you do not have to be 65 or older. Host to let you know, congressman ro khanna of california, cochair of the california delegation, it is reported that he voted no on the platform is because of that medicare for all. Virginia, independent line. Joe, hello. Caller hey, good morning. I have a couple comments about what your guest is saying about their essentially voting platform, like, sounds like your le basis is vote outfront out trump. That is not a platform, not pushing for positivity. You cannot fight against what hateful,as a bigot and the worst thing for america in history, by just saying, oh, vote him out, vote him out. That is all you need to do, nothing else matters. Well, that is not true. There are a lot of things that matter a lot more than just getting trump out. I just heard you speak about all this stuff the house is pushing that gets blocked by the senate and this and that. Yeah, we americans come as normal people, we understand that, but we also know that for every bill, at least from what i have seen, i am an independent, but i do not like all the extra crap that the house tries to put into these bills just to build some sort of Sticking Point between congress. Host got you, joe. Thank you. Sorry to cut you off. Guest thanks, joe. I agree with you, joe. It is not enough to say vote trump out. That is not what we do we support the full agenda of a politics or the resources of theety go to benefit struggling middle class and working class. Trump, policywise, has enriched the rich, subsidized big corporations. Tax rates, 83 to the top 1 . On Climate Change, he is gone backward. Our planet is hotter than ever. So on for mental issues, we are opposed to trump, and that is why we want to vote him out and move toward a politics or government serves the struggling middleclass and workingclass working class and not just the top 1 . We believe in those issues. You might have missed the first 10 minutes of this conversation where all i was talking about was our issues agenda. Yes, you voted trump out because he is dangerous, deceitful, dishonest, divisive, but you have to have a positive agenda. And at rootsaction. Org, trust me, we have a positive progressive agenda. Host that is rootsaction. Org, the website, to learn more about the organization. The cofounder is jeff cohen. Mr. Cohen, thanks for joining us. Guest thanks, pedro. Love cspan. Host we will continue our conversation in light of the start of the Democratic National convention. 9 00 in the evening is when you can start watching cspans coverage of it, and interrupted, unfiltered, at cspan. Org cspan, at cspan, cspan. Org isnd our radio app up benjamin wessel to talk about the youth vote and the 2020 campaign. During the summer months, reach out to your elected officials with cspans congressional directory. It contains all the Contact Information you need to stay in touch with members of congress, federal agencies, and state governors. Order your copy online today at cspanstore. Org. Cspan, yourtching unfiltered view of government, created by americas table Television Companies as a Public Service and brought to you today by your television provider. Live coverage of the Democratic National convention all this week on cspan. Join us every night before the convention for memorable speeches from past conventions. Watch Democratic Senators speaking at republican conventions, first ladies addressing the delegates, today through thursday at 6 00 p. M. Eastern, only on cspan, your unfiltered view of politics. Tonight on the communicators, the ceo of ntca, rural brought bread broadband association, on expecting broadband into rural areas and challenges with coronavirus pandemic. Bed providers broadband providers kicked into action immediately and not only thought about how they can continue to operate safely and keep their staff safe, but they also really had to spend some time thinking about, how do i get to school kids who do not have connectivity online . They were getting calls and demands from providers, from customers or not yet customers, who realize they needed connectivity or that they needed higher speed. They serveportantly, a lot of communities that were economically significantly impacted by covid and really had to work through how to connect people and know you are not necessarily going to get paid for it right away. 8 00 eastern on the communicators on cspan2. 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 the free radio app. And be part of the National Conversation through cspans daily Washington Journal Program or through our social media feeds. Cspan, created by americas Cable Television company as a Public Service and brought to you today by your television provider. Washington journal continues. Of nextgenessel america, executive director come here to talk about the youth vote and the Biden Campaign. Good morning to you, sir. A little bit about your organization. It is Nextgen America but it used to be nextgen climate, if i am correct. What is behind the change. Guest correct appeared we are Nextgen America, the youth vote super pac, but we were started as a Climate Change organization. During the 2016 election, it was really clear that young people are not just single issue voters, right, there are so many different issues affecting peoples lives, and they really view them all. So once donald trump was elected, it was clear that all of the things we care about are not just about the climate, and we really felt it was irresponsible to vote just on one issue. So america encompasses sort of every issue you can imagine. Host is your organization tied to the former candidate tom steyer . Guest that is right. Tom steyer is our founder and the key funder for our organization. Ok. as far as joe biden, the Vice President , is concerned, how do you think he is doing currently reaching out to young people . Guest it is interesting. Joe biden is actually doing really well with young people in the polls, up summer between 25 and 30 points with young people, which is much better than Hillary Clinton was doing at this stage in the recently 2016. But there are questions about reaching out. You know, he is not necessarily the best messenger of the biden path. We know he did not win the primary with the support of very many young people, but he has this whole slew of activists and allies and experts can join him and have a much more authentic relationship with the youth, everyone from former candidates like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who did get a lot of support from young people and who are out there talking to young people everyday on behalf of the biting campaign, but also through sort of celebrities and instagram influencers and, most important, other young people around their own communities that are starting to reach out. And we are seeing that the Trump Campaign is not abandoning young voters. They are spending a lot of money on digital ads and trying to reach young people hopefully the Biden Campaign will continue to deploy those surrogates and ratchet up their spending, targeting young people, and persuading them to cast their ballots. Host so what is the message to a young voter . What does joe biden have to talk about or at least emphasize . Guest one of the things that has been incredible to see is that he is listening to young people. Joe biden is in the pathetic leader. He built his whole career on meeting with regular americans and actually hearing what they have to say and changing the policies that will actually affect their lives its what we have seen is joe biden meeting with those Bernie Sanders and other folks like that and saying i am going to strengthen my policies platform to be more progressive to reach young people. So we have seen him speed up the timeline to transition to clean energy, put pressure on states, and we have seen him make his Health Care Policy a little bit more expansive to keller to cover more people. And young people can really believe joe biden was listening to me based on our preferences. He made his platform stronger. And now once we get him in the white house, we continue to put the pressure on and ensure he will look out for young peoples interests. So lets do this thing. Host our guest is with us until 10 00. If you want to ask a question, it is 202 7488001 for republicans. Democrats, 202 7488000. Independents, 202 7488002. You can also text us at 202 7488003. I suppose it is fundamental, but what is consistent with youth voters these days . Are a as you know, there million descriptions for everything with 18 to 35yearolds, but that is not our model. That encompasses a 27yearold latina mom from the suburbs in phoenix as well as a 19yearold somewhere else. The thing that all those young people have combined, the commonality, is that they have lived through some terrible crises, everything from 9 11 to the financial crash to now this pandemic. We know that young people have a real belief that there is a huge role for government in fixing our problems, but they have never actually seen politics solve the challenges that we face. So there is a bit of skepticism really no matter where you fall in that demographic. Host we sell the previous guest talk about this idea of where joe biden is on policy and Bernie Sanders will be speaking tonight him and maybe it is a clash of ideas on some of those things. When it comes to the youth vote are, are they moderate or progressive what is the breakdown as you see it . Guest it is fascinating. Most importantly, young people, they do not align with either Political Party. They do not think of themselves as a capital d democrat or capital r republican. But on the issues, every single issue, whether it is economic policy, Climate Change, immigration, marijuana, they are very much more progressive than the population at large. I think it is one of those things that democrats have notice, whether it is a joe biden type or Bernie Sanders type, they recognize that there is this huge generation, 70 million eligible voters, that hold these very progressive policy stances. So if we can mobilize them and motivate them to get out to the polls, it has the potential to change american politics were all of the sudden the majority makers are the holders voters that hold these progressive values. Host among the states youre focusing on, you talk about motivation. It is an age where you cannot go door, howace, doorto much of an impact as motivation, and what avenues do you turn to . Guest certainly. I think motivation is the ballgame we see more people than ever saying they are more motivated to vote in this election than any other election in their lives. We are seeing 78 of young people who skipped the 2016 election saying they are more motivated than ever before. So what we do as nextgen is we provide those nudges and that information to get people to cast their ballot. Typically we might be on a College Campus to register voters or knocking on doors, like you mentioned, we are taking all of that and on your phones. A couple weeks ago we did National Vote by mail day, because we saw that young people needed more information on how to cast a ballot by mail. We texted 3. 6 million young people on one day, with over 6000 volunteers. That conversation that will start in july and go through november, we think it will help motivate people to cast a ballot. To request atly, ballot and send it back in. Your fingers,ing you know in history people say they will vote, but sometimes they do not wind up at the polls to do so. Do you sixpack do you suspect that might be the case this time around . Guest that is the track we have fallen in a few times before. But the data point i looked to that makes me feel like we are seeing Something Different, in the last few months, we have seen this out crying of support for the Racial Justice movement in this country, and if you look at all the protests that were in the streets, whether it is portland, new york, d. C. , vermont, some of these unexpected places, right, the Tiny Community in northern wisconsin, all the people in the streets are young. And you do not go out into the streets and yell to the people in power if you do not think that your voice matters. So what we are up against is a Voter Suppression machine in the white house and the attorney generals office, and were hoping we can do everything we can to stoke young Peoples Energy to make sure they can overcome all these burdens and hurdles and barriers that the Republican Party is seemingly erecting to make it harder for young people to vote. I think we will see it happen. Host our guest is executive director of Nextgen America and served as a regional field director for cory booker for senate and was part of obama for america in 2012 and New Hampshire youth vote director, as well as other things, he has his bachelors from middlebury college. To california first, democrats line. Jeff, youre on with ben wessel. Caller it is interesting to hear about cory booker. I was in favor of him and theght he really had aggression to really go up against trump, and i am sad to see him not in it. I was calling because i am a labor union guy, and i just really wonder, speaking of generational issues, bill clinton and obama, in particular, really betrayed the democratic ideals, and with glasssteagall and bringing in corporate donors, and i call them the walmart clintons. To what extent do the Younger Generation really understand was, as the last caller saying, democrats are 50 owned class,corporate donor which has really been brought in by the walmart clintons, and to what extent can you get that out bere were sanders seems to about the only person who has stated that . Host thanks, caller. I think that is a really interesting question. We see young people are a bit disillusioned with politics as usual, and that is why we keep supporting some outsider candor this essay we are going to shake up the system. When it comes to sort of money in politics and the corporate control, that is one more issue where we see young people on the more Progressive Side of the spectrum where they naturally feel, yes, those wealthy few and those with Corporate Power have tended to help sort of pull the strings in the washington. One of the things that we can do is show examples of when people show up and young people come out and vote in elections, we can elect elected officials who will actually stand up to those folks. Is of my favorite examples we were working in a bunch of elections in my virginia, state legislative elections in 2017 and 2019, and when young people turned up in elect in record numbers, they elected a young legislature that pass the sort of laws that we needed like expanding medicare to more and more young people, overcoming the corporate hurdle. So the more young people turned out, the less powerful those corporate peoples voices and moneys really are. Host washington state, don, republican line. Caller hey, pedro. I just want to say thanks for cspan and thanks for bringing on this gentleman and the one before to really remind people exactly where they stand. Throwingappreciate you out the legalizing marijuana, because we all know about harris record with patients or just recreational in california, and we also know bidens stance on criminal reform justice and all that. So i guess what my question to you is, you are trying to act like calling out legalization of marijuana is going to get your younger americans to vote for you, and i just think that is an insult because they are smarter than that. Just because one may use marijuana does not mean they are stupid. If i i would like to say was not voting for trump and pens, pedro, you would have my vote this year. I love you, brother. Guest pedro, i think you have got to run now, personally. Host i refuse all calls to run that said, go ahead. Guest the marijuana issue is really fascinating. You had donald trump come into office saying he would do things differently, and instead he stayed on the republican line on things like prohibition against marijuana and keeping marijuana as a schedule one drug. Look, i do not think that joe biden is going to go out and be somewhere on a champion and is going to really shake up the rules here, but he is, throughout the course of the primary, he has put it in line with where young people are, saying he wants to look at some of the rolls old from places and see if wea, can find a good way to do this. I think what is most interesting is that young people will elect these sorts of candidates that say, hey, i trust young people and want to put policies in place that are aligning with their values. One of my favorite politicians across the country right now is the Lieutenant Governor of pennsylvania tattooed, early , and like a 66 burly guy he is barnstorming across the commonwealth of pennsylvania sing legalization of marijuana, it is a tax issue and how we can bring money into a state like pennsylvania. And if joe biden wants to listen to folks like that who are in touch with those young people who are disinfected, maybe that is a good way. Host what is the message biden is sending with Student Loans . Guest joe biden has actually been for free college longer than many of the other people who ran in the primary. He first came out in 2015 and said i think college should be tuitionfree and thatsfree for young people and families making less than 125 thousand dollars a year. So when we have talked to voters and were texting with students asking if theyre worried about college loans, a lot of those folks say, honestly, i am in school right now and have not really thought about it. 26, 27yearold, once you start paying back those loans, you say, oh, my gosh, this is untenable. So when we have a candidate calling for student Debt Forgiveness for those in the middle and working class, that is a real motivator. One of the things that has been fascinating to me is that joe biden has intentionally called out historically black colleges and universities as a place where we need sure we have tuition free and debtfree college. We talk about young black they see thealum, campaign specifically calling them out, and i think that will help in plnorth carolina and florida. If theo you know politics of med it platform . Guest they have. It will be interesting to see at elevated init is front of young people. I have a feeling it is more what people are putting on their Instagram Stories than it is what will be broadcast later on tonight and the rest of this week. Host virginia, independent line. You are on with ben wessel of Nextgen America. Caller good morning, mr. Wessel. I want to make a statement and then ask a question. Super hyping of the Democratic Convention, and being independent true heart, i think it is less ingenuous to say that people are excited about this democratic ticket. Really, the truth of the matter is, they are more disappointed going to quo and are vote the status quo versus the ticket that the democrats have painfully put together. The second thing i want to say is i like tom steyer, but im just wondering, with the resources that nextgen has, have you guys ever really made a concerted effort to maybe make history by being able to create an independent Party Atmosphere to where we can break the twopartyn this dominated political system . Guest super interesting. Two points there, the first i would like to make around that enthusiasm question, i think i saw on twitter over this weekend, someone said a vote against donald trump counts as much as a vote for joe biden, one vote. So we are trying to mobilize young people wherever they are at. Thehey are super hyped for bidenharrison ticket, amazing. We want to help them turn their friends into joe voters. If they are disappointed are not motivated by that or they think it is not a good thing for the country to have sort of this buffoon in the oval office, then fine. Great, talk to their friends about that. We are pretty agnostic as to how motivated you are to vote. I will say that we are talking to young people everyday, and the more they learn about biden and harris, the more they learn their policies are in line with what they are trying to accomplish in this world and with what young people think that they need, and that has been really exciting to see. I think that will increase turnout. When it comes to building a new party question, i think that we are going to see a ton of young people who have aged into the electorate, people in their 20s and 30s, who are going to be the largest slice of the electorate, who do sort of not really subscribe to the twoparty system as much as they tend to vote for democrats. It tends to be a bit reluctantly, and they do not really have i am a democrat tattooed on their chest or anything. So i do think as younger people or as millennials and gen z age into being the largest part of the electorate, maybe we will see more voting reforms or more independent candidates who will be recognizing that, that young people do not really respond to party labels in the same way. Host a few minutes more with our guest. Garth in pennsylvania, independent line. Caller yes, how are you doing today, sir . I am calling about the green party. Man, but thisold race has got me feeling like a young kid. Ready to vote for joe biden and comella kamala. I just wanted to say that the green party just does not get notification or i do not know if there are any representatives in the green party in the house of representatives, but in 10 years, i expect there to be 30 representatives from the green party in there. Wen there are 30 in there, will be known as the negotiators that will go between the democrats and republicans to hammer out the best bill instead of just onesided bills. Bipartisanship does not always work between democrats and republicans, but with 30 green party negotiators, we can hammer out the best bill for the country and the nation. Host thanks, caller. Guest yeah, i think that is an interesting point for us, when you think of the green party, you often think of Climate Change and clean energy policy, and for us as young people, we see that being a real motivator, even a uboat even a motivator for young republicans. We know that there is probably only 30 to 35 of the young voters that are self identified republicans, but we do see them really split with the party on the issues like Climate Change and clean energy. So i would not be surprised, as the Republican Party continues to be the party that goes against science or perhaps is looking at fossil fuels rather than the clean economy we know we need to build, you can see young people defecting from the Republican Party. The question is, where do they go . I think a lot of them will register as unaffiliated or independent, and they will elect candidates from across the partisan spectrum and definitely across the Political Party spectrum. Hopefully that helps us get more elected officials sort of like the members of the squad, if you will, who are young and very diverse and support the issues young people care about, regardless of whether they have a d or r next to their name. Host what do you think about aoc getting a minute . That is it, but a minute nonetheless. Guest [indiscernible] if there is one thing i have seen from alexandria ocasiocortez, she only needs about 20 seconds to make a real impact on american politics, so i whole minute might start a revolution in this country. One of the things that is pretty fascinating to me is that you have this representative who is who believesa passionately about these progressive issues, and she is being taken seriously by house leadership, being taken fiercely by joe biden, and that is a really good sign for what i biden presidency would look like for young people. When you can say i am putting alexandria ocasiocortez on my Climate Change policy task force, she is going to push me to be stronger on the issues, and i want to listen to her so when i am in power, i will continue to listen to her that is the sort of thing we have never actually seen from a democratic president before. They have never said, wow, some of these people that i might not disagree on everything with, i want their voices to be heard in the white house, and it is somewhat surprising, to be honest, but it is a really good sign for all the young people across this country who maybe do not really know if they align with joe biden on every last thing, but they do know that they do know that there with aoc. Having aoc be elevated to a president position of power and under the spotlight is one of the things that can get rid of any doubt maybe for folks who are not sure whether they will vote or not. Host from our republican line in miami, florida, this is ted. Caller yes, hello . I am calling and would like to find out if the black Republican Party can stand up against this man and come out and really say what they would like to say against him. The black Republican Party really needs to do that, and that is something i would like to see. And if it does happen, you know, they need to speak, the black Republican Party needs to speak against him. Host ok. On race issues, how much do you suspect will be part of this campaign . And the reaction from young people . Guest i think we are already saying that donald trump is running a race baiting campaign, just like he ran a race baiting white house for the last three and half years. Building on inherent tensions that have been around this country forever, but ones that young people feel motivated to fix right now. We always look to young voters to lead the social movements in this country into be a bit of the moral compass and to hold a mirror up to the country, like, is this really who we are . We think we can do better. I think the fact that donald trump is appealing to a somewhat racist vision of the 1950s and 1960s america, it is only more isolating for young people, especially young people of color, and sort of based on the probably for older people of color, as well. I think the sort of Obama Coalition that helped elect voters,bama, black collegeeducated white voters, and young voters, and the young voters are by far the biggest support,that stool of those three legs. Is that younger people have not traditionally turned out at higher rates, just like those older folks. But once we show people that when we show up, joe biden and politicians will have no choice but to listen to us and make progress on these Racial Justice issues, that is when i think we will see a seachange in this country. Host republican line from kentucky, this is ally. Caller hi, my question is, back 2014 and biden to go across seas, why did he plan to bring them back . Right now where we live in kentucky, that one Company Provided jobs for all of the surrounding counties. Trump is just now starting to bring jobs in if he can get them, but what is biden going to do . Host ok, we will leave it there. Guest unfortunately i missed the company name, but i will say look, we see that joe bidens policies that he is putting together are ones that are investing in the future of this country and the economy that we know will help young people and future generations build a more prosperous america. The tagline i think we will hear at the dnc every night is billed out better bu8iild out bette. We have an economy that has really screwed young people, whether rural if not working for young people. One of the things the Biden Campaign has been saying to fix the broken economy is to invest in broadband, investing in clean energy across the country and those jobs that can never be outsourced. Youre not necessarily thinking, ok, the Electoral College means does they are saying, what is this going to do for me question mark how can i afford health care for my family . How can ie felt afford health care for my family . How can i afford health care . If there is one thing we have seen from donald trump is that young people have consistently t behind. And that includes industries of the past. This is been russell of the group next 10 america. You want to check out their information, nextgen. Org. Thanks for being here today. Guest thanks. It was a last. Host this is day one it was a blast. This is day one of the Democratic National convention. Nightsfollow the activities and tomorrow night as well. That is it for our program. We have another edition coming your way tomorrow. We will see you then. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] a live picture from milwaukee, wisconsin this morning were the Democratic National convention will begin later this evening at 9 a. M. 9 p. M. Eastern. We have live coverage of the dnc bidensm perez and joe campaign chair. 45 eastern. At 10 coming up it in today, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton on u. S. Foreignpolicy posted by the atlantic council. And then later, President Trump apples to minnesota to give remarks on the economy. Thats at 3 p. M. Eastern here on cspan. Former first lady Michelle Obama and Bernie Sanders addressed Democratic National convention tonights thread live eastern, livep. M. Streaming and on demand at nc, or listen with the free cspan radio app. Cspan, your unfiltered view of politics. You are watching cspan, your unfiltered view of government, created by americas public Television Companies