Transcripts For CSPAN2 Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20240622

So when we think about that from a poverty standpoint i think the visit is important and important to us for a dialogue. We have invested in at Aarp Foundation, for example, a program in l. A. Which is important us. Fundamentally its a food program called l. A. Kitchen but the premise is neither food nor people should go to waste. It is concept taking abundance of fresh food and growing amount of food waste in the country but of course in l. A. , packaging that in nutritious meals available to seniors. That it is a very multicultural population in l. A. What is interesting it is combined with a Job Training Program for either individuals who may be aged out of foster care system or those released from facilities. You have something . Yes. As some of you may know this is a significant issue in the more generally immigration arena. Federal judge about a week or two ago has ordered release of all mothers and minor children being held in detention waiting for their cases to be heard and be assigned, you know, a full hearing at a later date. The detention particularly of unaccompanied minors and children has become a very large issue. This continues to be an issue in the next 30 days or so, i wouldnt be surprised if the pope were to address it, obliquely perhaps but nonetheless address it. This pope does not hesitate to enter difficult areas and waters. He speaks very frankly and forcefully about these issues. He has done so in the european parliament. He does so regularly in rome. His first visit, the first time that this pope left rome he visit lapandosa which is the place where all the immigrants used to come. Now theyre coming in all sorts of different places in italy. He has spoken directly about the issue of unaccompanied minors, how they cross the border, how we ought to treat them et cetera, et cetera. I wouldnt be surprised if you basically were to develop a narrative to address these issues more directly than perhaps any other person, any other pope might have. Right here. I sense that i will say that congress is pretty set on these treaty positions and that the pope may not be able to change much but let me put a question to you jason. You sense any give in congress on any of these areas that might follow the popes visit . I, i mean i dont pretend to know the inner thoughts of or which way speaker or the majority leader or minority leader is but i will point out the speaker is a catholic. The minority leader in the house is a Catholic Nancy pelosi and the, they dont put religion into their policy positions but i certainly would i would say that like one of the most surprising Political Developments of the last 10, is a years that i have witnessed ive been in washington since 1998, first with National Journal and now with role call, the rapid evolution on gay marriage, to the point where it is politically almost not an issue in congress. No member of Congress Really wants to really talk about that much anymore because they see where the public is on it. And it is remarkable how quickly congress can change positions on things when they think that the public is getting ahead of them. And, in terms of like where we see the three issues again, three of the thorniest issues congress has dealt with last couple generations immigration Climate Change poverty and income inequality, were discussing them in congress but there isnt the impetus yet for members to go out on a limb be, to talk about these things. In particular with immigration you have seen this a couple of times now where Congress Gets very close. They may even vote in one chamber overwhelmingly and then the moment like, just gets away. So there are so many variables about these issues that i think its it will be interesting to see how congress approaches what they, if they issue policy statements as they are getting toward the end of the year as elections are starting before the popes visit and what they say afterward. Hello . Sorry, i know this is not related to any of the three issues youve come up with, but im really wondering since the pope is coming to the u. S. From cuba and he played a significant role in releasing alan gross in december and policy change towards cuba, im wondering with all the different bills that are going around in congress to soften or even lift the embargo do you see the pope bringing up the issue even if it is behind closed doors and not publicly . How will his role in the engagement between the u. S. And cuba play in his visit here . Thank you. Go ahead again. I wouldnt be first of all i think the white house would likely welcome his engagement on this issue and i absolutely wouldnt be surprised to see him address it in some form or another. And, finally, i also think that there is more to come from the white house on cuba. I dont think theyre done yet announcing joint initiatives there and on foreign policy, right now i think two pieces i think iran and cuba are shaping up to be two of the major pieces of the president s legacy and so, i think anything from their perspective that raises that, the cuba piece will be welcomed by them. I think thats a very good question and a very good point you made. I think that were focusing perhaps too much on exactly what the pope will say or not say and how directly or obliquely he may say it or not say it. During the days leading up to the popes visit, during his visit and the days after the visit everybody else will try to use the aura, if you will of the pope in order to make statements. So even if the pope does not say the words cuba directly he will probably Say Something about you know sort of facilitate in a dialogue and opening up within latin america after all, lets not forget. This is a pope that understands lived all his life, has preached, became a cardinal in latin america. He has lived with these issues and the president if nobody else does that, the president will speak about the popes role in the opening toward cuba. So i think all of those issues will be put on the table directly or indirectly. I just want to add to that great point which is to say i will use annalgy. I dont know how many of you sue the film, interstellar, long complex science movie was about . It was about love. That is actually what the film was about. I think in the end what the pope would say this visit is about probably about love. You can read the entire encyclical, when you look at it, it is about interconnectedness and love between people and nature. That is tough to cover as a reporter because you cant write a story about love and interconnectedness. We being in very nature being in washington want to cover all the political pieces but whether it is cuba or Something Else it will be from his perspective on interconnectedness and love and peace and joy. Think youre right, both of my colleagues. I cant speak to your specific question but it does go back to the earlier point about this being that unique moment in time and come together to think about issues broadly around common humanity and shared accountability when we look at issues particularly about lifting people out of poverty. So anything we can do to be sure that the facts are shared, about the status, and the disparities across racial and ethnic lines. And also providing some information on solutions that might work. We all do better when each and every member, we know this of society does a bit better too. If i may one thing we keep coming back to is this popes ideas about dignity the essential dignity of human beings and its, it is difficult sometimes to convey that i think within a political system that is based on conflict. And, i wonder is, do you have as policy people do you have advice for other policy people for reporters for you know like the layperson or the observer, how do you both address that this, this is a political event. He is a head of state. He is going to congress. He is going to the white house. How do you mix those . How do you you know, make that transition from talking about the politics of it and again our conflictdriven political system to this other, unfortunately, alien concept of dignity and love for other people . Let me, sort of take this on for a second. I think this pope is a globalist in the most fundamental sense of the word. We know that the Catholic Church thinks of itself and is a universal church. We all understand that but this particular pope speaks very directly about globalization and he speaks repeatedly about globalization. In lampadusa he global of the globalization of indifference and he contrasted that with the globalization of charity and cooperation. So here is one of many, many, instances you know, where the pope wants us to sort of, wants to push a tense of frames which we talk policy issues and make them larger. He speaks, he borrows language from the universal declaration of human rights. He speaks clearly about the application of the refugee convention. These are documents that have been around 60, 65 years. These are documents in the United States have rather restricted use as it were, particularly the universal declaration of human rights. But these are the kind of things that he speaks very clearly about. And he really expects his audiences you know, since he has a captive audience every time he speaks he expects people to actually engage. He wants to force people to engage those big issues from a far broader perspective that goes well beyond catholic teaching as it were. I you know i would agree and im not speaking from a policy standpoint but i think youre right. Just the requirement of a conversation that is a global conversation that could be an opportunity for all of us is that one needs to know our own place in that dialogue more solidly. So the opportunity from my point of view to speak about, you know where we are at with the issue of hunger and how persistent it and poverty are across all age groups becomes really important. It allows us to be a smarter participant. And as youre saying demetrius is important dialogue. Solving hunger requires it here, not just for children but also for Older Americans and we solve this, when we think about interconnectedness of food chain around the world. I think it is an opportunity but an opportunity in the face of our conversation about what doesnt work to talk about programs. In fact that are supported by the government that do work. Like the wic program and the snap program, when accessed fully they are antipoverty programs that in fact have worked over time and in fact bolster our sense that hunger is a Public Health issue because they highlight for us when we dont have act caught, accessible nutrition, how difficult for young people and for young people to participate and educated as fully as they need to be. To be successful, for Older Americans without proper nutrition to become so ill with chronic diseases they too no longer can live their best lives. Were an aging society where there will be many, many more Older Americans. The good news well live longer. If youre in difficulty that can be challenging news as well. So i do see this as a time to broaden our position in order to engage in the global conversation. I just add to that saying the pope as a globalist comes to the u. S. At a time when ratifying a treaty is a very difficult thing. We have two big issues right now before us, the iran package. We also have the asian trade deal. And of course we have the Paris Climate Summit coming at the end of the year but as we all know very difficult to muster 67 votes in the senate to give advice and consent to a treaty. At same time Bretton Woods institutions aging, the u. N. , world bank and rise of some counter institutions like the Asia Infrastructure Bank and this sort of question about the u. S. s role in the world and whether americans should continue to run these institutions and how these elections happen and how the chinese and indians want to play and the fact that the indian population will be larger than china looks like 10 years earlier than thought. So the pope comes in as Global Leader as embodiment of the change that is happening. In the u. S. We have conflict between parochialism and globalism. We had reaction to the job losses from, you know, wto nafta, gaat, you can argue whether or not they caused them but there is certainly a perception in parts of the United States that it did and reaction against it. So he comes in as someone essentially engaging us as a global player. We are a Global Leader. But were having difficulty even renewing the exim bank. So i think that is a fundamental undercurrent and challenge as we look at this through a political frame to say, you know how are we looking at all of these things . We have Imf World Bank trade deals, international treaties, that we are having difficulty even getting through our congress because we have this parochial versus global struggle and so he is going to engage at this very broad level because the Catholic Church right, all the growth is in the global south and u. S. , we are struggling with that as a country, right . You see the backlash and strug bell that were having with our changes of multicultural society. When whites become a minority in this country. So he comes in, that is fascinating crosscurrent in the middle of an election as he is embodiment of globalism. He doesnt to say it. He is by virtue of being there. I think that in of itself will have undercurrent and ripple effects that are very difficult to see right now. But you can look at it through whatever lens of whatever beat youre covering to see how the struggle is playing itself out now on so many issues on capitol hill. Not just ours but, others as well. Let me add one point if i might while youre thinking of the your next question. The timing of his visit may be unfortunate precisely of the reasons that kalee mentioned. In other words well be in the midst of a big argument about iran. Well have to pass budgets. We know we wont but nonetheless, well try to do something, a cr or whatever. And, so, unless you folks begin to write about the popes visit next week and keep persuading your editors that you should have an article on this in each one of your outlets every day, whatever it is for the next 30 or 40 days it is entirely possible the other issues that will simply be fueling the fires of arguments, and disagreements in washington will quickly make, you know at least may not allow it, the popes message and all of his activities, on immigration, around climate or on poverty and all that and may make it, you know something thats may disappear from the, from the headlines within a day or two or three of his visit in washington. Now, in philadelphia, the local papers and new york, dont forget, he is going to be doing and talking about all of these issues in several places. In new york he will be meeting with migrant immigrant families. In philadelphia he will be dedicating a speech in Independence Square on immigration. He will be meeting with latino families. So before he gets down here you folks will have a opportunity to keep writing about these things in order to create a crescendo effect as it were. This way people can pay more attention. But will his message be able to cut through the din of arguments here in washington considering the other issues . I dont know. This is in resting, the timing this is an aside when you were asking, the question was asked about timing the popes visit is sort of the third and fourth week of the month and snap benefits for individuals and families tend to run out by the third, the end of the third week in the month. That is interesting it is, he will be here during the week of each month that is the most challenging for food and and or hungry people. I would like to ask each one of you to describe online resources where journalists can get data and statistics on your particular area of expertise. I may, i can start. I promise literature, sitting there in the front of the table, Migration Policy Institute people will tell you that is the, the legitimate and authoritative source of statistics and data, analysis on this issue. This is not what we say. This is what others say. So we have a amazing, very interactive, very uptodate website where you can get everything that you need to get on this particular issue. So in addition to downloading the encyclical which you can google laudatosi have it on your ipad i would recommend climate. Gov, which is the u. S. Government site. It is pretty good in general. They have photos and publicly sourced materials you can use without getting a bunch of information. Id also recommend, i brought this because i happen to get in the mail, National Geographic has a cover about the pope francis visit which i thought was pretty informative. And then Climate Nexus which is a nexus, has a ton of resources on Climate Change i think are really quite useful. You can certainly go to aarp. Org and aarpfoundation. Org and on both of those sites you can find quite a few studies we funded around that will be interesting about around facts of poverty of Older Americans and baby boomers and beyond experiencing hunger after 50. That was you can find important links to Research Sites and on poverty and hunger more specifically. I might add with roll call, we definitely focus on congress and more of the daytoday policy and political fights. We have written particularly about many so. Issues. We will definitely have our reporters on the Climate Change announcement today. And weve also focused on some of the issues that make up like some of the side these side things weve talked about a little bit particularly the opening of the Cuban Embassy here in washington. Several members of Congress Said they, particularly in the senate are going to do everything they can to block the nomination, confirmation of an ambassador to cuba. So i mean these issues are, you know, theyre things we deal with at roll call a lot at rollcall. Com and partners at cq. Com. Other questions . I wonder will the popes visit help to engage the u. S. Catholic population, which is enormous population in some these political issues . And, for each of you, are there activists for your issues who are actively working to engage that population to try to extend the impact of the visit . Any order . Please. Very much so. There are probably around 75, 76 million catholics in the United States today. About 48, 52 of all the people who are here but have been born elsewhere, that includes legallypresent, they include u. S. Citizens but born outside of the country like myself. They include people who are legally here and theyre lawful permanent residents. People with green cards. They also include 26, 27, 28 of the total foreignborn population here illegally. All together this is 43 44 Million People. More than 50 of them are catholic. So the growth of immigration both legal and illegal immigration has contributed significantly to the growth of the catholic population in the United States. The question is excellent at some different points, if you dont mind, i will stay on this for another minute or so. I, i dont put on my cv because it was such a long time ago was Senior Advisor to the catholic bishops on immigration, about 30 years ago. 84, 85, 86 87 perhaps. This was also one of the many, many periods of time we were trying to kill each other with it came to immigration. We passed legislation at the end of 1986 that legalized people and created sanctions and also different things. One thing, two things that i remember distinctly, i want to contrast where the Catholic Church in america is today. The most difficult thing that i had to dos with persuade senior bishops, cardinals, to actually go to congress and testify or to make any public statements or to pick up the telephone to talk to powerful people. They didnt want to touch that issue. The issue was too radioactive. So everything that we, during that time. The second problem was the bureaucracy within the catholic conference. You know there was at least as careful, and reluctant to touch difficult issues as the senior people in the church were. Contrast that with 30 years later where now you can get any cardinal to speak on the issue, to sign statements to go up on the hill and testify. To go up on the hill and meet with leaders up on the hill. So, this pope coming to the United States at a point where the Senior Leadership of the Church Bishops and above are extremely active extremely engaged to address the issue as a matter of course. With statements, with testimony and with with homilies in the churches at the local level. I expect this will intensify in the days leading up to the popes visit and here we may have a significant, in a sense, come mets tale in a comets tale. Two or three months after the popes visit. The catholic leadership is engaged. Leadership is engaged. The big we question opened up with this, will this make a difference . I dont have a crystal ball. It is too difficult. To big to carry. Two interesting pieces to your question, i think first we talk about these issues as political. We tend to lump americans together as if theyre a blob and i think thats a mistake on many of these issues, the silent generation and the baby boomers actually see these issues differently than millenials and so i would just urge us we say these are political or contentious, i would really urge us not to see 350 Million People as the same because theyre not. Weve, we see that on gay marriage and other issues and we do on climate as well. So, for example, on climate science, it is you look at 80yearold voter and 25yearold voter they are absolutely not the same. In the climate profile. So i would just start by saying that i think it is just, it is a real mistake that to think somehow an 80yearold and 25yearold are the same on Climate Change because theyre not. Young people have grown up with ap Environmental Science. They didnt even have that when i was young and im 44. I took ap biology. But Environmental Science is talk in schools as an advanced placement class. So i would just start by saying, i think it is easy to say these are political but really they are perceived differently amongst generation. I would urge you to, if youre covering them, to really dive into it because one of the reasons youre seeing the sea change politically is that there is a buildup of young people in political power, again x were teeny little generation, were trying to make a difference but the millenials are really a wave coming behind the boomers. The second thing i will say is that yes i think you can easily look and sigh the Environmental Community is doing a lot to organize. By and large their member profiles are coastal. Because their breach as a whole different set of people and an entirely different way. I want lay not in virtue by saying that. I was touched when i read the encyclical because it talked about life. Many environmentalists when they read it, as you know, the church has a position on life that goes from conception throughout life and oppose the death penalty. It touched me in a way that i was really surprised by someone who has been prochoice all their life. I really think this pope has a way of reaching people that is very, very different than what any single Interest Group can do i do think organizing is extremely important but its fundamentally different than what the Catholic Church does. The encyclical goes out to every school. It is just fundamentally different than what you and we understand that because the groups are capable of doing in terms of reaching communities and children and people of all age groups. I guess i would say that is what i would focus on the this is different than what we in washington understand to be a Postcard Campaign and generating comments in robocalls to congress. It is fundamentally different. I would add a couple things. I will get to what we might specifically do, but i do believe people across the nation care that 45 million americans live in poverty, to 20 of those are children and 27 are africanamerican on the poverty rate among hispanics is 23 . I also think you raise an interesting point that the generations are different but what we have seen an Aarp Foundation is the intergenerational connections are really, really strong. Anything we can do to bridge dialogs in the way of a program for young people across the nation ages 16 through college are taken on the challenge that are 50 and older. We are growing the chapters in schools and college and a keen interest although there are differences, that to me is helpful not only about the dialogue but also the actions of the intergenerational connections. It will be interesting to see whether or not and how colleges and universities and schools take on the public dialogue beyond religion or catholics cerda said a platform that schools are opening in advance of his visit. At the foundation that we didnt connect directly it is important to us the national day of service is two weeks before the popes visit. On 9 11, Aarp Foundation is hosting a national day of service on the mall where we hope to have the largest event on the mall for a service will be coming together with an Intergenerational Group of volunteers to pack in love for 1. 2 million meals to those who are hungry in this matcher region. Maryland, virginia and d. C. With a High Percentage 15 and older. Its an opportunity to call to the forefront the issues faced for us for older people who live in poverty. This generation kind of act committees are extremely important. I recall this is an offense motivated from jasons point that was talking about what may or may not have been and how surprised i think we all were the speed with which the issue about gay marriage and all that became a nonissue. I suspect 10 years ago the conversation was about generational conflict. I dont believe ive seen this anywhere in newspapers or anything like that for a number of years now. Nowadays the intergenerational conversation throughout campuses people get credit. The immigrants are not and negotiate life in their 70s and 80s. There are fantastic initiatives taking place from Temple University and all the way to california. In the case of Climate Change, unlike immigration and pretend that the effects are clear, it better and are anything when it comes. You only have to overcome sort of the politics and economics. I wouldnt be surprised if three years from now i dont know how much the pope may have contributed to it. We reach some sort of accommodation where we start taking that that includes legislators that some both of the issues. On the issue of immigration, i would be surprised or anything else if somehow people started to put together piecemeal pieces of legislation. In order for that to happen if indeed the popes visit becomes a catalyst, perhaps even the catalyst on this, i wouldnt be surprised to see it have been as long as there is trust between the democrats and republicans in the congress that is what were missing more than anything else on the issue of immigration, lack of trust. For people who talk about small pieces of legislation in to resolving these issues, for small pieces of legislation can only be allowed to pass by either party if they can trust the other party that theyll keep their word as to what the next step will be. Thats a difficult issue at this time. Speed but yes, in the back. Followup for demetrios. The question is will the speech matter in the closest parallel although not a perfect one is the european parliament. At that speech moved the needle in any discernible way . Is certainly dead. We are talking about the European Commission Truly Engaged leadership. Thereve been all sorts of outside forces at teaching the people dying in large numbers that have also contributed to this. The European Commission has made more progress in the past four months, since march, five or six month than it did in the last 10 years in this issue. Member states are extremely uneven. Take the case of germany. Not particulaparticula rly in washington parochial islam and the sword of not carrying about knowing what other countries are doing the sense of germany when i give lectures as these are the bad germans dont like immigrants. Well over 200000 applicant theater prepared to take as much as 450000 seekers. Can you imagine what would have been . All of them uninvited coming through all sorts of different ways into germany. Germany is about a quarter the size of the United States. That would be equivalent to 2 million Illegal Immigrants in a single year, all of whom we try to adjudicate the case is, it better, and better. On the other hand you have spain they refuse to take any if they can help it. Austria same with lamont adjudicate a single asylum claim this year. Hungry put in a border. They are trying to put fivemeter high. In other words, a european Member States responses all over the place. The European Commission was whatever authority has been making progress fairly consistent in trying to make, to figure out what to do about all of this. Unfortunately they are focusing on the shortterm kinds of things. What you do when you encounter people in the mediterranean. The pope has spoken about the mediterranean not becoming a graveyard for what he immigrants. There is a sense that something is going on but how you address not the root cause is how do you keep people protected, create an opportunity for them learning, in other words study it better, et cetera for 4 Million People have left. What do you do about jordan and lebanon and turkey that has taken all of us. These are hard issues. The United States has to engage with europe on this. We wanted to europe but some again they have to do some reading. They have to really show they want to do some men to have the plan. Then they can ask us to participate. I cant help but think you will see some of these issues play out on the campaign trail and read the first to public and president ial campaign on thursday. The front runner has made a centerpiece of his Campaign Building the wall. Which is a Real Estate Developer to move forward. These issues will come up again and again on immigration because the principal rivals will be like jeb bush who has stated over the course of his career that this is an issue the country has to deal with in a mature manner. Marco rubio was also one of the key players in 2007 in particular and recently a couple years ago. This issue whether all the candidates view she will then its a fascinating time about a month and a half out before the popes visit. Other questions . Do you have anything at the last thing we didnt cover, something about the topic, like one last thing you would like to leave her audience with . Human trafficking. This is the bete noire of every conversation of the things we dont like can happen. These are profiteers syndicated wellorganized but at the same time not large enough to be able to penetrate. Sort of like a communist so towards the end of the era of the soviet union and what have you. Small operations you dont know who the next operator is. Make a ridiculous amount of money and incurred none of the consequences of Illegal Movement other people die get traffic get beat up. All of the costs have pushed that by a country when they get europe they get pushed back. All of the costs accrue to the individual. The first of the process occur to the traffickers. So its repeated clearly about Human Trafficking ensign together im sorry you have to look up who the faith leaders are, an agreement that will Work Together to eliminate Human Trafficking by the year 2020. We know these are not realistic but moral authority, shining the light on one of the ugliest parts of the unwanted mass unregulated make ration migration and is a crime against humanity. So dont be surprised if he speaks in the context of son of the unaccompanied minors trying to make it to the United States and what happens to them afterwards. If he also says some thing about the facilitator said the move and human traffickers. The other thing here if you allow me an observation for 30 seconds, this pope has spoken clearly about the complicity of all of us in the illegal immigration game by focusing on the fact we benefit from the presence of Illegal Immigrants. This is something the church and most polite conversation dont really include when talking about illegal immigration and hes really focus if you just google it. Im not going to be there for you. It basically says well benefit from their labor we just love exploiting them, taken in vantage. We discriminate down, but we bear significant responsibility for what is going on when Illegal Immigrants make it in their countries. Its very significant. I wouldnt underestimate pope francis took his name from st. Francis of assisi. It really is such an interesting point about him as a person. The second nospace is a pope who doesnt see the bifurcation many of us see between poverty environment. This is something he comes to seeing both of these things as interwoven and interlinked. But there you have a say if this idea of a pope is a globalist in the encyclical talks about the one technocrat paradigm which may describe eat in a nutshell. Finally i will say this. He talks quite a bit about the desert of the mind and he had a commented manner that we feel for you honestly have a supposed freedom to consume. I believe that with my remarks that when it talks about the ritual fulfillment, i think he feels there is a confusion in society and each of us have a role to play in our community all the way up to the global and that permeates the issues weve spoken about today. So when he attacked about less is more ingenuity and serene attentiveness ingratitude, these are not a necessarily we dont necessarily look at these substrates in washington that are often common as we work in a combative environment. I think hes hoping to bring here to take us out of the culture of relativism try to bring this holistic approach across these issues to washington and appeal to a higher plane whether catholic or christian or a secularist to find a way to communicate in a way we can understand on a higher level. I do believe the holistic approach is one that will emphasize he believes in looking at antipoverty work that we did the whole person solution. I would wrap up by saying something thats important to know, we talked about many nations around the globe that hunger in america is far worse than any other western industrialized country. That is important to know. I would wrap up by saying seniors hungry in america are often too embarrassed to ask for the help they need come at the nutrition they need to have productive healthy lives. In a land of our abundance one in six americans across all ages is hungry each and every day. I would say the endorsement of shared. It belongs to all of us. Excellent point about democracy reminds me the pope has also talked about technology as a destroyer of jobs and the roots of unemployment and then you see the link between matt and people having no choice lesser of two evils, but try to immigrate in order to survive. This is the pontiff works all of these issues and unifies them. This is an intelligent person that my colleagues have discussed with action to go beyond the firstorder and secondorder and think about secondorder and third order relationships. Thisll be fascinating. I dont know how you put everything in a series of speeches and how you analyze it, but i will be looking forward to reading some of the things it says. Thank you very much. We had truly been able to drill down and away we dont get to in the course of our daily lives. One thing is a nice segue which is a panel of reporters and editors who cover some of the same topics as washington intends to go to sleep in august. This is like our hibernation time. Congress leaves and different people go on vacation and so forth. If that is to read them at time that is right for a deeply reported well thought out stories about things like this. I cant remember seeing anything that has the potential in terms of policy or cultural event in several years in my time in washington. It is a great opportunity. I know some of the reporters here and people from pbs washington reporters from allentown in pittsburgh. The catholic population is dispersed across the country. Not just a bicoastal thing like kalee was saying. Your readers will be hungry for stories about this. And in august they will have time to read them. I think thats a good transition. Thank you again, demetrios kalee, lisa. Appreciate it. [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] you may remember William Douglas from a couple hours ago. And we i believe is down here . We should give everybody an opportunity to get some coffee. Weve got like five minutes. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] so we are waiting for another panel to start here at the Woodrow Wilson center. This look ahead at the popes visit to the u. S. In september. Pope francis stopping in washington d. C. And off to new york city and philadelphia. The National Press foundation is brought together reporters who cover religion talking about their coverage and in bad about pope francis first trip to the United States. The event scheduled for 7 00 and our coverage starting at 6 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. [inaudible conversations] as i was reminded, we are the best ever tallied reality television, cspan. I am going to transition right into our next panel, which is reporting on the pope as i said right before we went to get cups of coffee and so forth. William douglas spoke earlier about the logistics on credentialing and covering the pope. Hes the Congressional Correspondent for Mcclatchy Newspapers and has been around town for a while, covered the Clinton White house. He now has the pleasure i guess its not quite the word, but we will use it anyway im covering the president ial race as well as congress. He would be intimately familiar with the conflict driven discussions we were discussing earlier. John fialka is editor of climate wire. For years he was the Climate Change reporter at the wall street journal. That is how i saw his byline when i was a cub reporter at greenbriar. We have to know what john fialka was writing about to know what we were talking about, too. It is a pleasure to meet him for the first time. Donna leche is breaking his editor at usa today, press president of the press club and has covered just about everything you can imagine under braking this level for one of the worlds widest circulated newspapers at usa today. We will dive right into some of the same topics we were discussing back from the active how do we as journalists to tout their approach these issues than this sort of singular offensive pope francis coming and also with some of our readers might want to look at, too. Why do we start with you, donna. Okay with pope francis visit we are looking at an awful lot affairs. We have an address before congress. We have a political encyclical looking for reaction. So many things to do. Stories you could do on everything from souvenirs i recall my grandfather bringing the pope soap on a rope from a previous visit. Everything from the kitschy to the incredibly serious studies on climate in economics. We have a president ial election, too. There will be interesting stories to be done on how the popes latest message, opposition to trickledown economics and some other things with some of the more conservative political candidates out there in the republican base. The other thing we shouldnt forget is also this is not just about cap lakes. Catholics. The last thing i would like to raise is the origin. He spent most of his career in south america so there is a story to be done on the differences or perhaps the conflicts attained the south american and the north american Catholic Church as well. So just a bunch of ideas for you. John . This is a pope who is a globalist anymore list and i think that he is here to get us to think outside the box on those issues. Americans are very secure in our box, and we worry about politics and what donald trump is going to say tomorrow. Here is a man who is trying to focus us on Something Else. Just as i left the office today i read a report from the middle east but said the temperature had almost set a world record. In the middle east it was 154 degrees. Think about that. Its lifethreatening. And this pope is going to talk about the rights of the unborn. A lot of you that are catholics and christians think hes talking about abortion. No, talking about your children grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, people that havent been born yet having the right to live in circumstances that support ice in a world thats still safe. 154 degrees is not safe. Especially among the developed countries, and the pope touched on this there are consumers as a sedative some people why should i worry about the future here id like to drive my suv today everywhere. The pope is here to tell you the rights of people that havent been born yet make them among the poorest and least defensible to people who dont think outside the box who are very comfortable in their box. Now, thinking about that for a minute, we are from is known as the developed world. The Greenhouse Gases to concentrate up there in the atmosphere in the first place its the people that started the Industrial Revolution and who are still pushing it brought a great deal of success and separated us from these people that are suffering from 154 degrees. Is there a moral issue and a justice issue here . As the richest nation in the world, do we have to lead the way and share some of our riches and time to try to get the world back under control to hit with the United Nations would like to hit which is a target of two no more than that and its great to be difficult. So thats another part of the box the pope would like to have you think about. The third part is people who are going to lose everything. By everything i mean current generation commit future generation their culture, their language, their legal system and their nations. Now who is that . Theres a whole group of violence nations that have seen it goes over 10 feet. They are going to lose everything. There are lawyers, and i am one myself sitting down thinking what happens when the nation disappears . Does it still have a sovereignty, do they just sort of sit there in the ocean . What happens, and who is listening to them . Well, i have an acronym for a name. There are quite a few of them the floppy every year into the coffin so shrill that people dont listen to them at the United Nations anymore. But they are going to post, and very basic justice problem, but also a huge immigration problem. Who is going to take them and where are they going to go . Do we care should we . I dont think that they are going to raise this issue. Its not local, its not national, and its not something people really want to hear. But this man is probably going to raise while hes here. It is a long list between the two of you, but they are correct. In covering those visits there is so much to do for reporters and publications. This pope seems to be covering the entire waterfront of issues that dovetails whats going on on capitol hill and whats going on on the president ial campaign trail. You know, like all good politicians, popes are polled and this pope will come to the United States with his numbers actually dropped. The gallup poll had him dropping in a survey last month from 76 to about 59 which is where he was at the time he was elected pope. Still popular, but just taking a little bit of a hit. Ironically, most of it comes from conservatives. He dropped from 72 i believe to 45 . One could argue that this decline is probably based on his message about poverty. So, it will be interesting to see how his message please note among the president ial candidates and how it pulls out among some of the members of congress. There are some members of congress that were not pleased about the popes role as a facilitator in the discussions with cuba. A good number of our members in the miami herald a good number of our florida delegation members including the this senator and president ial candidate marco rubio were not thrilled about the popes role and made known. That said, he will be warmly greeted by members of congress. They are looking forward to having him on capitol hill. As i mentioned earlier there will be fights to see who sits closest to the aisle to shake his hand when he comes down the aisle. But this intersection of his message and whats going on in washington and on the president ial campaign trail cant be underestimated. I mean i am i think for my standpoint that is what i will be writing about. Not i think also its important for us not to lose sight of what we call in washington the real people and what they think about the pope. A lot of us also have local responsibility is coming into the readers are going to want to hear their voices in the stories had been broadcast around what they think. This is a moment if you think back to when john kennedy ran against nixon and all the talk about we are not comfortable having a president with a sort of allegiance to the vatican and now weve invited the pope to impart knowledge on the members of Congress Comes of it is a change in terms of how we have come to review religion and politics. That is remarkable. But at the same time, whats going on now. This book had a message that is appealing to a lot of members of congress, and you know somewhat worrisome to some numbers of congress. It will be interesting to see if this plays out like the state of the Union Address where the president might say one thing, joe biden pops up out of his chair and claps thunderously then sits down and then the pope could Say Something joe biden might not like and john boehner might pop up thunderously. Im not sure that it will have that kind of flavor but it could. The Climate Change message is no secret a good number of republicans have questions about the Climate Change. The pope comes at a time during a planned parenthood debate. Whether or not he specifically discusses abortion, but either way you will see an aftereffect wear whatever the pope says will be used as messages in congress and on the trail for whatever issues. So it is an incredible moment that we are going to be covering and i think it will be interesting to see how it plays out. One of the things we try to keep track of is some of the local coverage particularly the institutions like Capital Police and the people that are helping planning it the secret Service Capitol police, the architect of the capitol is that they have never seen anything like this. They are expecting upwards of anywhere from 1 million to 2 Million People making up the National Mall. It will be a ticketed events but they will not be able to keep parents from amassing at the Lincoln Memorial is that it is the closest they can get. This gets to one of the things you mentioned donna, which is that there are a lot of stories from popes soap on a rope which i remember from the visit in the 80s to the Climate Change in cyclical. The ridiculously sublime. I think we can see it. Do you think the people that are maybe cut out that wont be in the House Chamber in the gallery and so forth what kind of stories do you see even just in washington for people because there are more reporters than will be able to fit nowhere do you see the reporters going for the stories in the midst of this event . There is such an array of stories i can think of i wish i had 400 reporters to assign to it. Of course we talked about the souvenir story but almost every city in almost every Catholic Church in the country is going to send delegations here that can be followed. Also, there are religious stories to be done. The church has a lot of internal issues, and we are looking at a pope that has the popularity of a rock star. What can he do to generate more support, more support among catholics to join the church . Catholic education has fallen on particularly hard times, and there are two aspects to that that can be covered. First of all come at a higher education. We have these fine universities, such as georgetown coming and we also have secondary schools. And as the diocese have closed people have lost the secondary schools and so those are very important issues to folks that are outside of capitol hill that we can look at. In terms of being in dc and capturing the color we want to know who is going to come out for this, what would only be catholics or is this guy such a superstar that people will want to be there. This is indeed what it is. So, i think that you will be able to capture the that sort of crowds and security stories and also voices of people and what they are hoping to hear from this pope. Adding to that, theres something to be done about recruitment. Part of the problem with the secondary schools, a lot of the schools im a product of Catholic Education and went there from first to fifth grade when i went to Catholic School that was almost exclusively nuns and we all know that there is a nun shortage. We see schools closing. Can the philly, new york washington does visit help facilitate an interest in becoming priests and nuns . Thats been hard to do in north america over the last decade or so. Whether or not that please help and because the pope has been vocal in a short period of time, whether this is appealing to the Younger Generation who might not have otherwise taken an interest in serving in the catholic faith. One of the staples over the years that ive watched it and participated in it is very catholic vote . You may see a revival as a result of this based on what the pope does and says on this particular issue, and you may see people thinking harder in the church about the things william and donna said. I say this as a lifelong catholic and someone that has written a book about the demise of the nuns is there a second actor, and if so how do you reform and institution that sometimes feels like its sitting on its grave . Its huge. Its big. Catholics are everywhere. I think that i would argue when this issue the answer is yes to read whether we see it or not is a good question. Let me add to what john is saying. In addition to the catholic vote theres also the catholic social movement. In the periods passed in the country, catholics have been the key to different social movements. So, youve got this pope now seeing things on things like minimum wage, and if you are a catholic business owner, do you change the way you think about your employees because of the teachings of this pope . So there are also stories to do about how this pope interacts as a social movement with Business Owners at the people who control other things aside from politics, economics and education are the two things that come to mind. Yes, we have a question. A question for john. What do you remember [inaudible] 1979 during the carter years and it was drowned out a couple of years later when the hostages were seized in tehran. Is there anything that we can draw is covering this from that visit . I wasnt involved in that, but we are dealing with somebody that is a rock star and he can open some boxes i think with the level of public or popularity but hes gained. It goes back a ways. But the timing on this one is exquisite. He has a big issue where he can come in and say things politicians you wont hear politicians get the lines about the throwaway culture. There are too many things, too much waste because we have all the goodies and they dont. You wont hear too many petitions talking about how we are dominated by special interest in how many has freedom of speech. But the pope is likely to walk into stores and raise hell. And to the point, some of the candidates speaking generically on some of these issues where the pope might call it poverty, they might call it in time and equality. So, he could go in there and not necessarily asked for the specifics, but maybe prompt discussions between the force be clarification of what we mean by addressing incoming inequality and by addressing housing. So he could steer the conversation. This is where it gets interesting because he doesnt have a vote in congress. Hes not running for anything here in washington, d. C. But by moral authority he comes in here and he can steer somethings and influence some things. On a number of points the influence in going back to 1979 visit from the first panel, to the lady next to the schedule this pope seems very savvy about media. Very, very savvy about social media. And he is reaching beyond us beyond you know, the mainstream media. He seems intent on reaching the masses. Hes not necessarily going over our heads, but heres supplementing the coverage by reaching out, by the fact that bloggers are welcome. For some events like political conventions, sporting events some institutions do not necessarily like bloggers because they cannot necessarily control them and they dont they are dont know who they are. He wants to reach as many people as possible. He realizes people can have an influence on institutions. And this is a pope that tweets. We couldnt see that before. You mentioned billions of people coming for the speech to congress. Now, when helen was here talking about statistics, she said that it would be the mass in philadelphia. When we have the migration date we have the inaugural committee thats handling, you know me giving us the purple tunnel of doom and that kind of thing. I mean and i understand the house gallery is handling the seats in the chamber and the speaker is controlling the west lawn, but is there anything on the mall is the park service dealing with this . Is it going to be like fireworks days where there will be screenings set up; do you have any idea about that . From my understanding of how with the congress can control or pretend to control at least in this case, you know we have very controlled access to the house gallery as william was talking about earlier this morning. To the point where they told former members last week, unless the speaker asks you specifically, you cant come, which is sort of an expert in area. I dont remember too many times of that happening. We wont have any plans in the house gallery so its going to be members and specially invited guests. Some of the cardinals from the different parts of the country. The west front of the capitol is also controlled by congress and so that will be coordinated with the Capitol Police and the secret service. The park service jurisdiction comes right up against i think its third street that they are expecting so many people that all of the governmental agencies are working together to make sure that they have some sort of safety. They probably learned their lesson in the tunnel of doom it was a way of channeling people into the inaugural space on the National Mall and the president started speaking and people were still in line in the purple tunnel of doom and it just kind of trapped there so they started talking about this as soon as the announcement that the pope was good to be speaking. But even that is a limited area. What they were expecting is that this would be a spillover as we saw during the migration where people are gathering around the fdr or mario when they wont even be able to see the jumbotron images because there is word that the pope may come after hes done speaking go out on the west front and say a few words. Scum who wouldnt want to try to see that the pope . Its good to see a sea of humanity command of the secret service, the metro service, the metro pd are coordinating the best they can but theres only so much you can do when people are potentially coming. Is there a danger for us as journalists to get swept up in this socalled rockstar status of the pope, and how can we be respectfully and critically; if necessary during the visit . We just do our jobs. First of all theres only a degree of height and you know of medical web as you would to cover something thats unique and unprecedented. Obviously a pope visiting the u. S. Is not unique. The congressional speech, thats a little different. In terms of the critical part you just write stories. You just write what he says will not go unchallenged. You will have a situation if he talks about Climate Change, we are going to call the campaign. We are going to call Rick Santorum and ask all of them what they think and they might not like that. The same thing with poverty, the same thing with cuba. So you know to this degree the criticism is almost built in because this is not you are respectful because it is a world leader in a religious leader but at the same time, you just dont attend state his case and go unchallenged. You just write. The insurance policy for everyone on that is to have many, many places in the story. Just to be sure that people are getting their say and analyzing what he has said. You know, dont take it as law. But the other thing i want to go to is the earlier question someone brought up about the logistics and what the mall is going to look like with all of these crowds. A story that you could do in advance of the popes visit is not only about the logistics and security the about the economic impact. Its every hotel already booked . I suspect it is. To her point, you could do a comparison contrast of this visit during the 2000 inauguration where you couldnt get a hotel. The transportation situation you know so there is a sort of tourism story but definitely can be done. The 2008 and observations have sort of become the gauge of how deep is the depth of humanity in terms of washington, d. C. So that is a good starting point to see. And shes right, the department of tourism, you know, the Hotel Industry to see where they are commanded the Airline Coming and the Airline Industry quite frankly. I recall in 2008 they had to add flights. I know the bus services that run from up and down the northeast the habitat of services as did amtrak and 2008. Spec if anybody thinks they will be able to get a ticket between washington and philadelphia, better book now. I would also suggest that there may be people who are getting out of town during that time, and their listings will already be up. One of the elements of criticism is to know the subject and see whether the person being criticized is actually followed his own record in his contradicted previous statements. If you dont know what his record is you are really handicapped. You can put as many voices in your article as you want, but you need to know what he said. [inaudible] asked what he talked about and what the questions were and so come after the visit they asked anybody else to kind of who saw him up close was there any smalltalk and what were his gestures like, to really personalize and his interactions with others. You can do that because you have to be there to witness it but if you talk to them afterwards maybe they might share of a bit. Theres a high expectation on capitol hill for this. You are going to have members who are going to be it is rare that a member of congresss lack of a better word giddy about meeting somebody. You have a lot of folks on capitol hill right now and im not sure about access to pelosi or john boehner that there will be members that have interactions with the pope who you can have interaction with and get their thoughts and readout of what was said and done. So, that should be possible. Im hoping its possible. I have a question for john. There seems to be moments on Climate Change the last 20, 25 years where the issue has popped up in pop culture so to speak. An Inconvenient Truth was one of them. The movie by that for al gore. And if you like the topic continues to come up a little bit. I think the hbo series vice they went to antarctica with a wellfinanced trip that made every journalist in the world kind of jealous about being able to do and that might have been able to translate it to a different generation. But is there anything that compares to this visit by the pope are there other events we can look to for guidance in terms of the particular sign minute and Climate Change where it came up to a head in the way we are expecting . Worrying about the unborn. These are not fun thoughts. Gore really layed a lot of that out in any way that he can think of. Here we have somebody following him, which probably saw gore, and and he takes some risk at that as well. This will bump along. Theyre greating getting freeway. The people who try to hold them, Pay Attention are rare people. Gore is one of them. Now we have this man and he is sort of starting in the big league. It will be interesting to see how he plays and how long he endures. He understands. He wants to be on the right side. He wants to make the right side. So itll be an interesting moment from that point of view. In the back, sorry. I think i would like to approach the question, the pope came and after that for all the times ive been reading about the popes visits, i didnt read how much it costs to come to the country. I wonder where you can find the financial burden for pope visiting. How would that correlate with message, you spent millions of dollars to bring the pope, who takes charge of that . You know, the cost in the United States is going to be different than the cost in in cameroon because washington, d. C. In particular, new york, specially are two cities that are very used to handling enormous events. So in terms of costs theres security cost. You can go to secret service and can see how much has been spent on security. Of course, you know, hotel rooms fill ups and that brings occupancy taxes. You can go to the department of revenue and compare similar events to get a sense of what what money is coming in and what money is going out. But i think theres an economy of scale difference. So when you look at it from that perspective youll be able to compare. One thing to be an interesting topic, he is going to be in cuba before he comes here. Cuba does not have quite the infrastructure. Were talking about super bowl cities in the United States, cities that are able of absorbing incredible demand, guaranteed safety and move people along and so forth. Cuba is a little different in that direct contrast between you know, what hell be doing in cuba and the next couple of days in new york, philadelphia and washington. It would be sort of a fascinating story. We focus on the popes visit to congress. Hes going to be visiting other places that make for really good entry points to the stories. In philadelphia hes going to go to prison. Hes been outspoken in forgiveness, criminal justice. And when you mention cameroon, it reminded that we have one of the most in nations. Its a good entry point. Even if you cant get access, get into congress to cover the popes speech, theres some other to get and write a popes story. If we see a picture of him carrying his own bags, thats a comment of leadership i would like to see. Any questions . One sort of question i have, just for my own purposes, i guess, im helping coordinate coverage for our paper is is it hard beyond to see as big event, you have cultural issue of this huge gathering of people and so forth and then kind of like the day after the super bowl you have an empty stadium. What kind of stories do we tell in the wake of the visit from where you stand . One thing is were going to write all of the storieses of stories that the pope is going to talk about and to see whether or not he has any impact. You know, so thats a great you know a great thing to follow up to start keeping track of those issues that the pope address to see if theres movement in congress. Lots of religious surveys and even something so simple as going to Catholic Church maybe two before the event and then returning to a Catholic Church one week after to see whether the pews are filled, po to see if it had you can give your readers a feel for whether its been an impact with those policy follow ups. You can go to a Catholic Church and see if you hear about Climate Change in the sermoni cant remember one. How do you maintain skepticism with an event like this . How do you get beyond the man crush . A lot of people are going to feel for a singular event. These are ways to do that, looking at contrast, okay who is going to introduce legislation based on any of their talk, cover a particular delegation member of congress, find out what their issues are and find out if theres anything hes addressing towards their policy expertise and who they are going to follow up on that. The the i think the earlier panel was walking that this was going to be a readymadesort of list to confer before and after the visit. I wonder if that is going to dominate some peoples thinking about what they want to hear or the people in the church what they want to talk about. We also pay allot a lot of attention to the cat lick Catholic Church until the pope shows up. It would interesting to watch some of that. I mean, a really great source of that the catholic newspaper the catholic reporter, boy, do they have great story ideas in there. Its a really good thing to read and use it to get story ideas for you to follow up as well. No questions . Quiet group. Oh look, lots of questions. [laughs] hi im wondering what your organizations are going to do about the language issue because he is expected to give a lot of speeches in spanish. I use today work in newspapers. How are your organizations preparing for that . Well, we have a lot of spanish speakers and french speakers and german speakers. We are in pretty good shape in that way. Its not something that were terribly concerned about. Its all going to be covered on tv. Everyone will have translators available. It does bring up an interesting issue, the idea of covering different ethic groups. The place where the church is the strongest now and is growing in this country among hispanic and immigrant groups and worldwide you want to look at where the church is growing and thats a point for a story about who the pope is going to try to send the message to. Hell speak spanish because its native and comfortable language, surely. Maybe shes also choosing to speak spanish to connect. That makes a great story something to explore. I dont have anything to add to that. I would address this to the experienced reporters on the panel and also to anyone else in the room. I wonder if you have tips for covering a large event for actually being there in the crowd . How do you protect your equipment . What equipment do you bring . How do you make sure you can file your story, et cetera, any ideas . A couple of things. A crowd like this safe is probably not a problem. This is a crowd thats there with sort of a common purpose. Its almost festive. The only thing you have to worry about is the volume as opposed to somebody doing something unscrupulous. You just bring the bare minimums. Laptop notebook, recorder, if youre doing video video you have to shoot with. And then you just go about its always good to find the friendlier faces. To me its always been easy. People are there together. Its a shared moment and they want to share. So you know, filing could be a problem because if youre out in the mall wifi can be an interesting endeavor if you dont have a hot spot or form of connectivity. You might want to plan going to a coffee house where you expect to be and find that place to file. You know, if you Cover Congress and and you have space in the gallery, i wouldnt bank on going outside grabs voices. That would be too time consuming. A game plan ahead of time. Get there even if its the mall to avoid the purple tunnel of death. Get to the mall early with as little possible as you possibly can. Just start interviewing. One thing i noticed with both the most recent inaugurations was that the cell towers, the cell cell phones got overloaded. You couldnt even tweet anything. I had both of my i pad and phone with me and one was working and the other wasnt. So, you know, i covered disasters for most of my career and i never thought that i would say you have to have two forms of communication on the mall, like the same way after covering the earthquake in haiti. Have two different cell phone providers even if you get disposable phone. The second thing i always think about is the rain. Oh, my gosh, what if it rains . Thats just horrible. They will not allow you to bring an umbrella when they have a crowd like this. I have never seen a collection of umbrellas standing outside where the police were. It was made for a fabulous picture. Youll get wet and prepare for that. Your pin wont work. Have a pencil and sharpener that you had in your school. Keep your eyes peeled. Are there any mannerism that are unique to him . I mean, some of the things we have to mention. The only problem with tweeting and so forth is your eyes are off and then what . One of the main things we would all want to accomplish is to portray him as a multidimension al human being. Whats he like . One tip two tips that i would have of what to bring and so forth is that i mean, as much as you can and still look professional, you should wear comfortable shoes and clothing. If anybody has spent time in washington and philadelphia in september it could be gorgeous or horrible. You dont want to be miserable. We really do get lucky because hes coming in september as opposed to january. Got frostbite on her feet in the 2009 inauguration. Be prepared in terms of your own personal comfort. This is one thing its sort of a sport in washington to talk about metro and complain about it. I would not plan on taking metro to to this. I mean, unless you get there supper early. This is its the kind of thing that can cause Blood Pressure to spike. Get on a bicycle find a way to get to where you need to be in places you need to be that doesnt require the good graces of the transportation gods. Again paranoid. The last two inaugurations i began my day about 4 30. I got to my office at 5 30 in the morning. I got to the hill by 6 00 and just waited and then i went outside and started interviewing people around 7 00 a. M. And i was out from 7 00 a. M. A. M. Till the time that the president obama stopped speaking. Its just an allday endeavor. If you want to be in some place go to that place. Talk to editors to let them know what can and cannot be done lo logisticically. We heard theres a family from over here, can you go find them. Not easy. Just make that clear. I hate to say this. You know where im coming from. You have to think about a plan if something bad happens stamp weather event that we had last night in chicago. So i would you know, sort of tell you tell you to think it through in some way and its going to be different depending on your organization and how many people you have out there. We have allot of affiliates around the country and try to go get some guidance. Has anyone seen traffic maps, does dc put them out around the mall . Probably not till it gets closer to the date. That will be worked out between Law Enforcement folks. As you know, because the federal government deals with dc government. They dont sometimes share the same idea. Do you think we can expect inaugurationtype closers . Yeah. Maybe not know until the week before. More than one event in the same city on the same date you cant get between multiple events. Again, if you have people coming in from out of town, you need to have them stationed. Dont expect them to move. Thats their one task for that day. That one piece of assignment. I would say patience for them and build in a lot of extra time to get around. On a good day dc is not pleasant for traffic. I spent a little time in the tunnel myself. [laughs] any other questions . All right. I think we have transition time for the next panel then. Thank you so much william john, dona. Its been a pleasure to be able to talk in this to the of indepth manner and thank you for your time. [applause] and jason, i want to thank you for moderating. I appreciate it. I want to thank all of you for being here and those joining us on cspan, thank you for watching, this is the National Press foundation at the Wilson Center and this briefing has been presented and the center on congress at indiana university. Thank you so much. Thank you. [inaudible conversations] is on a break this month. While the Senate Continues work on a bill that would defund planned parenthood, we have live coverage at 2 00 eastern. Tonight cspan is partnering with the New Hampshire union leader to bring you the voters first form, republican candidates. It takes place at 7 00 p. M. We are live with it on cspan, cspan radio and cspan. Org. Most of the leaders in the republican are expected to participate. One of the sponsors of the event. Each will be asked questions based on random draw. Live coverage at 6 30 eastern. Tonight democratic representatives from colorado on internet privacy Cyber Security issues. Weve seen attack after attack most recent attack on office of personal management. Home depot, so many other private corporations. And so what we realized is we can try very hard to keep but what we need to do is think about how we minimize the need for customers to put their private into websites. Right now there are legal prohibitions from the government sharing classified information with the private sector and prohibitions to share back to the government. And thats not enough. What we want to do is allow the barriers to be removed so you can share information. Youre talking about technical type of information. For example, of the very hacks that have taken place if we could share that information and when one hack occurs in one place, hopefully at network speed, we can widely share that vulnerable. Tonight on cspan2. Next the panel shares threat and foreign travelers to syria. [inaudible conversations] good morning and welcome everyone to George Washington university. Thank you for joining us today. Let me welcome our viewers watching at home in cspan. Obviously this is a a time we set of topics and couldnt think of three better people anywhere to shed some light on the foreign fighter challenge. Clearly its not a few phenomena but in terms of scale and scope it is unprecedented. The numbers continue to grow and the various and forms in which it takes is relatively new. We did a major study about five years ago. At that time it was a challenge but by no means in terms of the scope we are dealing today. Joining up with somalia and also a dozens at the highest point of americans joining up with the taliban and al qaeda and then we saw forms in terms of al qaeda and pen anyone peninsula. In part enabled by technology, in part enabled by ease of travel and in part other motives which we will learn more about. I have the privilege to introduce lo lorenzo medina. Hes an amazing scholar who has looked terrorism issues. He not only studied in the United States but also overseas. I think it is absolutely critical to be able to learn lessons from others and be able to share best practices to make share that all of our countries better address these issues. So thrilled to have lorenzo with us. We are also able to lure away deputy who has done phenomenal work in this case. Lorenzo is going to give a quick snapshot in terms of u. S. Challenges, whatever is we need to think about