Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] how are you . [indiscernible voices] how are you . Good afternoon. As you may know, a recent development has occurred, which is a good development, but it will not change what we intend to do. I am joined by senator van , annetteenator warner taylor. Is she here yet . Right here. Ofand the representative washingtonsoon state. Brown fromive maryland is here. And other representatives are here with us. There has been a great deal of consternation, and that is a gentle word for the actions that have been proceeding by the Postal Service , whose headquarters is right there. Trump and louis dejoy are trying to do to our nations Postal Service is reprehensible nations Postal Service is reprehensible, not surprisingly, however, and quite possibly criminal. I use that advisedly, but , whoding to the u. S. Code ever being a Postal Service officer or employee unlawfully delays and there are a lot of other things they can do. I dont want to read it four times sake. Is guilty of a crime subject to a substantial finance fiveyears in jail. Int fine and five years jail. That is how important americans think the delivery of their male is, in many mail cases critical, with prescription drugs being delivered to their homes. It is, i think, even more important in rural areas. Lifethreatening to not have the Postal Service working correctly. Toldl service is are being to cut the routes short. Sorting machines are being dismantled and removed. We were told second sukkot that that will be changed. Will beds ago that that changed. Apparently this press conference has made a difference, and the fact we are coming back saturday to make sure the u. S. Postal service does its legal duty. Senior leaders are being let go reassign. We hope that is changing. That is what the postmaster general said. All of this is happening in the middle of a pandemic. Americans before started voting in 2020 elections. Millions of people across our country rely on the Postal Service every day to access paychex and other essential items for their lives pay essential items for their lives. The attempt to suppress the Postal Service is dangerous. It is what the president of the United States wants to do. The hand haspears been caught in the cookie jar and they are taking it out and leaving the cookies in place. We are going to make sure that happens by passing legislation that i assume every republican and every democrat would support. To politicize and sabotage the Postal Service in order to suppress the vote is dangerous to our democracy. It is designed to prevent the. Eople from access in a very visual way, they took blue boxes away from the American People. No more dramatic example of ofpression and prevention participation. I heard from constituents in my district, and everyone has heard from the constituents in their districts. President t let this destroy our postal system, which existed before our constitution, and was felt to be a critically important service, not a business, a service to the American People and to our democracy. Binds usservice that together and allows us to communicate with one another. And the fact this postmaster general would have taken actions , obviously with the agreement of the president of the United States, but that does not give anybody the right to comment, which is preserved to. Hem under the law the actions today, where the attorney general said we will not implement any of those changes until after the election. Lawre going to make sure in that is the case, because he should not have done what he has done today, and he must reverse any adverse consequences of the actions that have been taken to date. Now let me introduce my , who was from maryland at a press conference yesterday in baltimore. Senator van hollen from the state of maryland. Hollen thank you. I want to thank you and my colleagues from the state of maryland who are here. To our friends from virginia, and to all of you for joining us for this important occasion, where we blow the whistle on what has been happening around the country with the new postmaster general under orders from President Trump. And, i want to give special thanks to the postal workers in the letter carriers, and all the men and women who have faithfully delivered the mail on week. Ix days a the words neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of from stays the careers this careers from this with completion of their appointed rounds has always been part of the post office creed, and we can add to that, nor a global pandemic. These are essential workers who have been doing their job delivering mail on time six days a week, even during a pandemic, and they have been doing it for , and theneds of years comes along the new postmaster general, postmaster general the dejoy, and suddenly we hear from constituents calling because they cant get lifesustaining medicines. Im going to read just one. Dear senator van hollen, i am a resident here. While i was in quarantine in georgia with my daughter for the past four four months, i mailed a box home to me by party mail on friday, july 31. I was told it would arrive monday, august 3, which is the day i flew back to maryland. Today is august 7 in my box has yet to arrive. ,y medications are in that box and today was the last dosage i had with me. , and theybox to ups were informed it arrived on august 5, but that it is probably somewhere in the warehouse. We have been hearing from seniors who cant get their medicines, veterans, seniors, retirees desperately waiting for the retirement checks, for Small Businesses whose operations are being disrupted. When we calm our post offices to ed our post call offices to find out what happened, they said it came from above. Right here toed this headquarters in postmaster general dejoy. What we learned because he had put in place a number of measures that slowed down the mail. Ofy include the removal sorting machines from post offices. In fact, we were in baltimore yesterday and learned the Central Distribution center machines that have been removed from the post office, and that was part of the slowdown. Thegressman warr congressman said, if any of these postal workers had unlawfully delayed or detained the mail, they are committing a violation of the criminal usc 1703, and they can be prosecuted, but that statute also covers postal officers, and that includes the postmaster general. And i can tell you anybody knows that it is unlawful to interfere with the post office in order to disrupt a United States election, which is what this postmaster general is doing on the orders of donald trump, who told the country on national tv and feo twitter that he is interfering with the post office because he does not like mailin ballots. So, we need to pursue that line, we need to call upon the board of governors to remove this postmaster general. As congressman hoyer said, they got caught redhanded. That is what happened here. They got caught redhanded. And so, we just saw this statement and so, we just saw the statement from the postmaster general sandy does not plan any additional changes. Ok. Thats good. We need to watch that diligently, but they need to reverse the measures that they have already put in place. And that is why youre going to see hearings in the senate and in the house, and that is why i want to salute steny hoyer and congressman hoyer and the other members of the house, speaker pelosi, for bringing back the house to pass a bill that says very clearly that you cannot make any changes, not a single change, until january 1 of next year at the very earliest. They got caught redhanded. The post office is enshrined in the constitution. They all swore an oath to uphold the constitution. They are violating that oath, and we need to hold them to it to make sure that we have this election. Warners committee issued a report about russian interference in 2016, and we know that the russians are engaging in interference in 2020. We have to worry about foreign interference. We dont need an inside job to try to fix our elections. This is what was happening here. We caught them redhanded. But now we have to pass legislation to make it absolutely clear that this is unacceptable. And so now i am going to turn it over to the next of my colleagues, i believe it is senator warner, and thank him for all his efforts. Sen. Warner thank you, chris, thank you, steny. Thank you to all my colleagues. We were here in minutes from a retired postal worker. I will reinforce what has will ar in minutes from a retired postal worker. I will reinforce what has already been said. Steny talked about his constituents. Im sure each member will talk about constituents calling in, they couldnt get the mail delivered, they can get their drugs, their medicines. Two quick stories from in virginia. One, from a constituent whose 91yearold mom had been waiting 10 days for her medicine. She was flipping out about when she was going to get it. Another individual said he had been notified by his creditcard company that he was going to get a big late fee, even though he sent his bill in 10 days early. What do all these have in common . They all have in common that they all took place after june 16, when the new postmaster general, mr. Dejoy, was appointed. This starts at the top. Have called upon the board of governors to remove mr. Dejoy and put someone in who has basic competency. We have elections this year. In virginia, we changed our rules so that voters can start voting as early as september 19. If they are not able to vote because you have a president of the United States that is trying to do everything legal and otherwise to impede mailin or absentee voting, then you are seeing an effort to try to steal the election. Chris mentioned, coming on top of the bipartisan report of the Senate Intelligence committee that laid out today what happened four years ago with outside intervention, we confirmed by the Intelligence Committee last week that russia and others are back. The last thing we need is more sabotage, being manipulated by the building behind us. Final comment. Last night, before the Dnc Convention came on, and we came upon an old movie. Some of you wont remember it from the 1990s called the postman. Kevin costner was in it. It was eerily reminiscent, there had been a pandemic, society was breaking down, and the bad guys were out and around. And you know what was the group that people suddenly saw as a hope that there might be a brighter day . Kevin costner became a postman, thethought we could have resurrection of the u. S. Postal service. It was strange how that film of fiction that i happened to catch last night almost seems to be being repeated in real life in 2020. America deserves better. We need to hold this postmaster accountable. Mitch mcconnell, bring the senate back to town so we can pass legislation to the house. Is oncer the u. S. House a district work period, but nancy pelosi has decided to call members back to washington. The chamber gavels in saturday, with first votes expected one hour later. Watch that debate and votes live on cspan. Dejoy up monday, louis testified some postal operations in the upcoming president ial election. He will appear before the reform committee, 10 00 a. M. Eastern on 2. Span announcer you are watching cspan, your unfiltered view of the government, created by americas Cable Television companies as a service, and brought you today by your television provider. ,nnouncer washington journal this week, your reaction to the dnc and news of the day. Talkwednesday morning, we about the second night of the nichols, and what to expect on the third night, and a discussion of the role will play in the campaign with the president of emilys list. Onn, the naacp president black voters and issues most Important Campaign 2020. Cspans washington journal, by the technical again eastern wednesday morning. Join the discussion. Be sure to watch the Democratic Convention live at 9 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan, listen live at the three cspan radio app, livestream or watch on demand cspan. Org dnc, also on the web, the latest dnc Schedule Information and sign up for our newsletter, offering a synopsis d the days key events ays key events. Announcer how are campaign 2020 coverage continues, cspan, your unfiltered view of politics. Of thisht is day two virtual Dnc Convention. Joe biden will officially become the democratic nominee, as delegates put him over the top but no crowds. Based on last night, some sharp attacks against the president. We will hear from two former president s, the daughter of a third president , and members of congress. The lineup will begin in 10 minutes was the gavel comes down. Former president clinton and jimmy carter will be speaking. The rollcall across america, the traditional rollcall, much is being done via soon we will hear from alexandria ocasiocortez, an early supporter of senator sanders. The0 00, dr. Joe biden, wife of the former Vice President will be speaking from wilmington, delaware, at a high school where she once taught. Joining us from delaware is the person covering all of this. Her byline is available at axios. Com. What is the storyline tonight . Thank you for having me. Ago, the former secretary of state general colin endorsing joe biden for president and is making as to this that adds to the story tonight. There is a growing chorus of voices to line up behind joe biden and giving Republican Voters permission to cross party lines. Yesterday we saw governor kasich , former governor of ohio, making the case for joe biden. Tonight, colin powell is a bigger name, a bigname for the Biting Campaign to come out and encourage voters to support him this time around. Steve this is the headline washington post, an africanamerican Security Guard based in new york, and in december last year when joe heading to the newark times editorial board, she was in the elevator blurting out, i love you. Tonight she will place his name in nomination. Cindy mccain, the wife of the late senator john mccain will talk about the relationship between joe biden and her late husband. Here is an excerpt. It was a friendship that should not have worked. Pilot, juster Navy Released from a north vietnamese prison, joe, a young senator , but in thee 1970s, joe was assigned as a military aid for a trip overseas. Liaison and carried your bags. He never carried my backs. Bags. He was supposed to, but didnt. They traveled thousands of miles together. The families got to know each other, gathering for picnics in the backyard. Joke, it was like a comedy show sometimes. , it was like a comedy show sometimes. Steve that is an example of the relationship, but it is obvious eyey never saw light, i t to eye. Alexi thats right. That is a theme of tonights convention. They are trying to paint a contrasting leadership between joe biden and President Trump, by saying joe biden is a man of good character who can work across the aisle, and formed Genuine Connections with folks, even when he does not agree with them totally on politics. That is something we heard in Michelle Obamas speech last night, and something we will hear throughout the convention. It is a point we heard joe biden make on the campaign trail. He made different arguments on foreign policy, personal character, and leadership to show he is a totally different and if man and leader think the bipartisan push the bipartisan portion narrative is something the Biting Campaign is working on the Joe Biden Campaign is working on. Steve from the great state of connecticut, the great state of wisconsin, so what can you tell us about the rollcall and how that will work tonight . Alexi Convention Planners and organizers have said we will go live virtually to all states and territories across the United States and beyond, because they want to show off these folks in real time where they are, to paint this picture of broad unity across the party. Is soing that i think curious about a Virtual Convention is it is easy to promote this idea of party unity because it is allvirtual. You cant have people protesting, billing speeches, putting up demonstrations, signs, or otherwise, so because it is all virtual, it will seem like everything is dandy with the Democratic Party and everything is happy, and for the most part, that is true right now. There are differences, but that is one of the interesting things i have been thinking about. Steve we will hear from former president jimmy carter, who accepted the nomination in 1976. People talk about restoring decency to the white house, in this excerpt from bill clintons speech, saying the oval office should be a command center. Instead, it is a storm center and there is only chaos. Alexi thats right, hans excerptreported on this cerpts we will hear. Excerpts. Fromll hear about this bill clinton. How bill clinton attacks President Trump remains to be seen until he gives those remarks tonight, but one thing we do know from the remarks we have seen and heard is that he will really make the case that donald trump is simply not up to the job of being president , and for that reason, he will say voters should look elsewhere, because the chaos, he is going to argue, is a constant to President Trump and will only continue if he is reelected. For those who missed our conversation, you are in wilmington, delaware covering this convention. That is where the bidens are in senator kamala harris. Walk us through what this means to you personally. Alexi it is different. We and the other reporters here covering this convention are spending a lot of time in our hotels. We have to be here quarantining and getting tests ahead of live remarks tomorrow from senator harris in downtown, then thursday, Vice President joe biden will be making his remarks live in downtown wilmington, so we will be at those peaches speeches in person. I will imagine no more than 20 reporters will be attending, a couple of staff members, but that is it, other than cameras, so it is a totally different experience. I went through the delegates, craziness, distractions, protest of the conventions, but it is less stressful during these times. Steve dr. Joe biden, the wife of the former Vice President , what does she need to do tonight . Alexi you know, one thing dr. Jill biden, she will talk about issues she cares about, especially education, she will try to humanize joe biden and speak more broadly to his character, the man she knows him to be, and she can add a layer to who he is that people might not know because they are not hearing about that, so that will paint a fuller picture of the democratic nominee, not policywise, but who he is as a family man. Steve cspans live coverage of the Democratic NationalConvention Gets Underway right now. We will be back after the convention with your calls, reaction to the speeches, and a wrap up at 11 30 p. M. Eastern time. Life now here on cspan. Mayor tom barrett. I. Yor barrett h i am the proud mayor of milwaukee. I would love to welcome you to my home city right now. The good people of milwaukee and i were so excited when we return learned a resilient city was chosen to host the 2020 dnc. It was the first time a Major Political party chose wisconsin to hold its convention. But these are not conventional