Transcripts For CSPAN2 Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20240622

And military spouses serving alongside their men and women. Philomena would you stand up and let everyone say hello . [applause] i want to thank the library for having me tonight that i brought along a bag of props which will explain themselves as we go along. I also want to thank my los angeles home, the answer for sale amid a group of which i am prey. We got great sponsors that are here tonight. The money guys, california collects windows. Radio would not exist in america but for terrific sponsors like these and across the United States if you listen to the radio listening to the people who put the radio on because without he would go away. And patronize them but i want to thank my partners at fox. They allow me a great deal of ability to go back and forth across the country and in the last three weeks i have appeared in succession on meet the press, face the nationstate of the union with chuck todd in John Dickerson and jake tapper. That means im not practicing law during that period of time and they overlooked that as i go back and forth. I very much appreciated. Im here to talk about this book, the queen and im holding it up for the benefit of our cspan prints from booktv. The epic and vision of hillary and the coming of the second clinton area theres a law called the loans law. If you watch frank luntz you know that he is the best media analyst in america when it comes to understanding Public Opinion in words that work in frank told me once if you dont say the name of the book seven times you wont sell the book. So im going to be talking about the queen all night long and if i mentioned the queen a lot because frank told me if i dont mention the queen a lot you wont remember the queen and i wont by the queen and with that i will put it aside and come back to the queen a little bit later. [applause] i was downstairs talking with mel and philomena about leadership. Mel serves an extraordinary role assisting people to become leaders and im currently we are going to organize at least nine and as many as 12 debates and we are going to have Media Partners and if a candidate goes to a debate not on our schedule they wont be on our schedule. Their rule that says in order to bring order and if you are going to be her media partner you were going to include conservative media voices, which is what a surprise, what a shock that in the gop president ial primary system you would actually allow someone from their side of the spectrum to ask questions that might be of primary interest to gop primary voters. That does not mean you exclude them and they will not be excluded, great journalist like chuck todd on meet the press or jake tapper of cnn or John Dickerson of cvs. I believe it, Chris Wallace megan kelly and all the rest of ocsla to be doing their turn with vesper at the same time journalists who are understood to be not merely observers of the participants in the process are going to be i am not the moderator, thank god. I love donald trump but i dont want to moderate his debate. Its going to be very hard. Donald trump has been my guest. All of the republicans are the nominees have been my guess on the radio and the one who is the most interesting and entertaining as always donald trump. He colors outside of the lines that he doesnt stay in his lane and it really doesnt matter what the question is that you asked. [laughter] and thats okay great thats fine, its great radio but i have been preparing shane gold mocker of the the National Journal wrote a cover story for the the National Journal about me and i was amused by this. I have never been a cover boy before and he said i was having a moment, a media moment and that makes me laugh because the media moment is like the rain we are having in california today in june that everybody notices it and it doesnt mean a thing. Its going to be over before you know it and nevertheless i take seriously these debates and i dont believe in ambush questions. I believe in preparation i want to talk a little bit about how you prepared to do this sort of thing and how you prepare to earn the praise of someone which is high praise indeed when someone says you run the best radio show in america and the twostar marion general you can start stand a little straighter and i talked about Stan Mcchrystal who said thats the best interview by long shot but i have ever been and when greg morell writes that in my book im happy. How do you get there and get ready for debate . First i want to think about banking booktv for being here. Im going to my bag here and there a lot of them so the they are going to pilot. First i hold up a book called sundays at eight by brian lamb. He came to my studio and we spent three hours. I hold up a second but from the first ladies of United States by susan swain who is also along with brian lamb one of the makers of booktv and i encourage all of you to let everybody know that booktv exists as an awaits us on the weekends for People Like Us who loathe hooks. The Nixon Library invites people to come here always authors and so does the reagan library. These are ways hes in the land of sound bytes were you actually have conversations. I think brian lamb and peter slen and the others and susan are so relentlessly fair and thorough that if everyone studies them the way i had been studying brain and charlie rose is the element does this very well you have a lot better media. The ones i have already mentioned jake tapper, chuck todd, John Dickerson they are all themselves authors. They have written very good books. A stranger by chuck todd. John dickerson were the great biography of his mother Nancy Dickerson and of course jake tapper wrote the outpost about a command post in a faroff province of afghanistan a history that is riveting and moving and actually very emotional to talk about and read about. If you take the time to watch the best in the business they are not only journalists, they are writers and their readers so i have been preparing for a long time for these debates by doing one thing which is what i want to encourage everyone in the audience to do which is to read widely and deeply into things in which you are not familiar. Im going to hold up a few books as examples of this. Coming soon to this library the fellow was in my studio yesterday, evan thomas wrote this book which im holding out for the benefit of the camera. Am i doing that right, guys . Is called being nixon. This is an unusual book. Evan thomas is part of the georgetown set. Hes a harvard man like i am but he was working for Katharine Graham and he has dug deep into the nixon story. I know there are some lovers of this book and not lovers of this book from the nixon family for which im a proud member but i found it compelling that i had them on for nearly two hours talking about nixon and coming to the library and i was web what i saw but evan even though he was not part of the Nixon Administration or part of the nixon family. He was able to treat fairly the strengths and weaknesses of the Great American grade when i asked him was a great man he said yes and i wrote a segment of saving israel and we talked about it and evan thomass relentlessly fair. Yes there are downsides in nixons career and their upsides to nixons career but they are relentlessly and chronologically covered in a fair fashion. Thats what we want our authors to do. The day after im talking to you i will be interviewing ted cruz about his new book a time for truth. The day after that i will welcome into my studio ambassador michael oran to talk about his new book, ally. This is not my reading copy. This is my signature copy. This is an incredibly moving book about the history of being an american you becomes an israeli and becomes a warrior and an ambassador. Im going to be able to ask about his real end this horrific deal we are about to sign with iran to the ambassadors because i will have read this book in a fairly chronicles and understands the perspective of the territories. He has been there and he has waged war there and he has been in gaza and he records at all. Its an amazing book that i will be prepared to ask questions of these candidates not because i know anything about gossip. Ive never been there. Ive been to israel but i havent been to the west bank but i have read through the eyes of someone who has and impressive as a result. Last week and im going to keep going up and down. Its not good for the cameras i know. Last week daniel silva was on for an hour. If you havent read his novel this is number 15. It comes on one hour every summer. This is the English Version could at least get an early. This is a readers copy and you cant have it. I told my kids that they would read the novels beginning with the english killer, the killer angels is what is called actually his first gabriel alone novel they would have history of modern times told through fiction but also it deeply enmeshed. They would understand a world in which they live through fiction. Not all just how did that get me ready to talk about the . Novelist take you to places like Putins Kremlin and they talk to people and they imagine places and they get you ready to ask questions of the putin primary. Ive been asking each of mike candidates assist victims are great victims are greater and i will ask for the benefit of the American People what you think Vladimir Putin would think of u. S. President because thats the putin primary and who would the least like to be the president of the United States . Would you rather have the former secretary of state whom he knows and gave him a button that read poorly in russian. He didnt really say reset. I will come to that again, or a ask Chris Christie a couple of months ago and he kind of laughed, who do you think putin would least like, guy from jersey and theres some quality to that. Combativeness is a quality. After that two books i want to talk about, three in fact. Im getting ready by reading Mary Katharine ham and because the left wants to and discussion about so many things and these are the things that we want to have a discussion about. You have seen, this is going to be on the bestsellers list. In the discussion is vitally necessary that we spend a whole day with my cohost tried to bring up the things that the left does not want america to talk about. They want to end the discussion and in fact we are not going to do that. We have to open the discussion but with questions that are framed in such a way that they will listen from 16 republican candidates informed of looks into how they would govern. These next two books are about the great war in which we are engaged. One is by Stan Mcchrystal, team of teams which is change the way i do my radio show already. Im sure the reason the Mcchrystal Group and mouse bees are in demand in the private sector as consultants as is because they bring clarity to a lot of confusion. They bring absolute certainty about method and not rigor. In team of teams when he talks about the war and he talks about how in iraq in 2003 took over special operations and by the time he left three years later it had increased by 1700 the number of missions they ran on a daily basis. How did they do that . Can you think of anything else that is improve 1700 the last five years . We talked to mouse bees and you talk to Stanley Mcchrystal and you talk to people who have been the hardest crucible of all. I want to know from these president ial candidates what they think of the current military leadership and the pentagon and if they judge it to be as broken as the ventures of this were believed to be and underfunded. This is a chilling book. Mike morell is here at this library probably at this podium in war of our time. For me to a pager for the cia not without its own controversy 33 years and that agency, two of them as acting director. The great war of our time he talks about the fact that unless you understand the story that was up to the end of the looming tower and i talk about the looming tower and ive asked all the candidates all 16 have you read the moving tower . Why do we do i do that . I dont think and understand the enemy we are involved with unless you have read the looming tower and read where radical islamists fundamentalism comes from mike morell in this book walks you through from 9 11 to the president when he left the caa where we are. We are in a very dangerous place. In fact in tunis this past weekend what happens in the United States in the next 16 months will frame and i wish to ask these candidates and i wish to ask the the believer. Did David Axelrod visit the Nixon Library . He should. This is the open in kimono. The life spent on the left between obama and everybody in between he was behind with three weeks to go. A was a big mitt romney fame and if you want to know to ask the republican question read said democrat books. And another book on the 2012 election. How low do prepared to ask republicans questions . You read the of books everyone who is a journalist of for years and democrats then you sit down to begin to ask yourself what would you ask hillary if you could ask a question . From that process cave the queen. One year ago they called viet to say would lead to a book on 2016 . But 2016 matters a great deal. President of Hillsdale College theyre all available three years worth of dialogue you can bid to listen and i would strongly recommend that this point antiiraq said douglas and lincoln debate covering a lot of ground in five years. And the prince was published 500 years ago with some uncertainty as to when it was published. And it was the most aid moral book ever written it is the dividing line in political theory for a reason about using power not necessarily for a good purpose. It talks about how you keep a dynasty going written from the opponent of the regime. To be an official in the republic of florence so he writes from exile to, of letter on how to govern. How should i take the advice or to revise mrs. Clinton . He says sometimes you can only see them mountain if youre on the plane is sometimes if you are a republican you should read the democrats books. And it is good device. [laughter] folks who have read the book nine of this is tongue in cheek . No. If i were her up platform on which i went run and facing opposite i wouldnt tell you everything and the purpose to write the book is to have you buy it the once you to buy 100 million but every single weekend she gets aggravated. [laughter] because the Nixon Library doesnt sponsor political speeches. If you act like the cui you should be expected to be talked to me and advise like a queen and so far former secretary of state clinton is acting like a queen. With a 70 not the primary. And is missive of Vice President by dint to cast a wary glance at john kerry and switzerland was preparing to have an accomplishment do clash with her accomplishment free tenure as secretary of state. And to have a catastrophic tenure as a department of state so as is raise about offer health and if you have nothing on which to run what you do . I suggest a platform that to let the people decided campaign against the Electoral College even privilege from the 18th century. [laughter] written by white males in the 18thcentury it is easily run against and you will never see a president ial candidates did in kansas again. And there is a search of lowquality but hillary does not need that she needs to sell the people of the idea that is unfair that it doesnt work as much but right now how many if you are a californian . You dont matter. [laughter] in this election in florida and virginia ohio and colorado matter. To a lesser extent New Hampshire and nevada and maybe arizona but the really those for the first for is to matters that is everything will be spent that they will not be nominated because we have a less than ideal system but it gives said that reality running against Electoral College to make sense that you dont matter. That is a very bad idea elements the presence to two terms if she runs against the 22nd amendment sheave brands in favor of obama is returned george w. Bush with the idea that bill clinton would have done a better job but she appeals to the bush lovers the reagin finance and those that feel strongly there candidate was the best ever. Whoever Cleveland Alexander try to compete for but he did it because he was the necessary man. But the republicans did not like that with the reflexive kneejerk reaction is a very bad idea. She had a run on letting the of people decide to do away with term limits that might be very bad for us if the election comes along. How bad they that would have been for the country to campaign or change at that point but to rebuild the National Defence there used to be scooped jack said democrats who ran for president in 1976 as Strong Defense democrat who offer the jackson amendment and often called the senator from boeing and the reagan democrats with a Scoop Jackson in that were enchanted with jimmy carter and they cave in to the party and the queen says they ought to read seriously on a platform to remember the turn around that occurred it was led by secretary of defense bill brown and encouraged by jimmy carter and that is not happening right now. Has a terrific undersecretary but i went to the Retirement Ceremony there was the speaker and assembly of california. Wouldnt it be great if everyone supported the department of defense again . [applause] we would not be trending to the 2. 5 percent gdp spending without pugnacious military to buy ships that we dont need and bombs will never dropped just so we dont have to. But we will spend the money because says Ronald Reagan said prepare for war and it will not come. [applause] the fourth part of the platform is to talk like a republican tax like a democrat when it comes to energy. With the Climate Change extremists and the easiest. We dont know how much mankind contributes if it is causation the day are driving the Democratic Party and that was fine until she has the nomination and then she becomes the queen of fracking. The of it proponent for every energy exhortation combined with a severance tax that would be bad for republicans to believe in this it is not that hard in natural gas you put a well in northeastern ohio and you can get gas put it anywhere. Fracking takes the mystery out. And 58 percent goes to deficit reduction 50 percent goes back to the state but not to be spent by local assembly is the local boards appointed. Their own a 3,000 appointees brought in by the president s of the unaccountable government the framers did not see it that way that is a progressive idea out of the Progressive Movement that brought so much pain and suffering. Patronage works because people in the Administration Work for you not against you. Now all that centcom there are other things i will not cover i have very specific advice about what to do of bill and what role he ought to serve i ghostwrite speeches for her i have been go striding since 1978 and most recently i edited the romneys 2012 campaign and i am very proud i am now participating in this election cycle at all by way of help anyone with a nomination speech i believe in the Republican Party but i am staying out of 60 but i do all that but then in section two i give her my assessment what she ought to think about the 16 people who are running against her with their strengths and weaknesses. I got in trouble this weekend because i did not pay close enough attention to my nose and a skip Carly Fiorina. Dont ever skip Carly Fiorina. [laughter] you will never hear the end of it. [laughter] i have since seen her twice or talk to her and she has reminded me on both occasions i skipped heard names i will carefully go through the list to tell you what ought to worry the former secretary of state im doing in alphabetical order so that you cannot accuse me i have no dog in the fight and i will be relentlessly fair. Jeb bush. To his great strength is mrs. Clintons greatest strength has been around the track a president ial level six times with his father in 1980, 1984, 1988, and common 1992, his brother 2000 and 2004. Wide is that matter because mrs. Clinton has been around the track even more even in 1992 and 1996 in the white house in 2000 a non competing 2004 supporting of senator kerry candidacy not in the election but she knows a primary surplus in 2018 and 2012 secretary of state looking as a candidate for reelection. What does judge bush have . The experience that only comes with running. There is a reason to trade marines of the United States military in the simulation of the combat they will be in because you cannot possibly experience combat cannot possibly know what it is to run for president the tiredness the ambush situations you are always on unless you have done it before the more time she attended the better you get to know how many interviews i have conducted since i began my career . More than 25,000 that does not include callers that adds up so you learn how to do interview and you learn how to run for president firsttimers dont have that experience. Mrs. Clinton and jeb bush know what is coming that is it the big pitch for both of them also jeb bush like the clintons and the clintons like the bushes and that makes it tough to get into a knife fight politically but it will not stop mrs. Clinton. Ben carson. What did she have to be afraid of ben carson . I saw him speak again at close distance of was is in the greenroom with his wife as he spoke of the western conservative summit. Truly a gifted orator and truly inspiring story no one has his story or close to that in this race everybody is privileged with the exception of ricks santorum with the exception in chu lai dash with exception to ben carson and nobody knows the Health Care System as well as he does from the end of the knife. That is a learning curve no one else has. A deep man of faith and extraordinarily charismatic she should be worried about him not so much because he will be the nominee but he will be a participant if the republicans are smart every step of the process through the next eight years of a republican presidency and maybe lightning will strike for i dont know maybe Carly Fiorina and donald trump and the tacky are long shots but things happen i remind you of jimmy carter. Things happen you can never tell. Chris chris stayed to announced on the day and make this speech expert kerry charisma i call him the big guy and as blunt as they come and is jersey tough and she is very resilience herself but chris krispy has used the explicitly about what troubles us i would be worried about that kind of persona access to the degree he is blunt she is not ready is straight forward she is headed he will tell you exactly she never reveals that does not do her well. Ted cruz. The only candidate with my knowledge to is ever argued nine the Supreme Court cases probably the greatest constitutional scholar since taft and is probably the superior to go on to be the chief justice of the United States. He knows the constitution and maya advice to the queen is very simple if ted cruz is the nominee do not debate him. [laughter] [applause] reviews. You may ask yourself why can that be done . Who did that last . We are in the Nixon Library and he refused to debate George Mcgovern in 1972 it can be in Hillary Clinton would be out of her mind to debate ted cruz. He would take her apart muscle and joint and that is where i recommend he simply sheet just declare they nominate Barry Goldwater i will not engage senator cruz in a debate and recognize he is better that is what i want to let. Forewarned is forearmed that is why i wrote the book he could lose like goldwater or in a landslide. I dont know the mood of the country and lightning in a bottle. Carly fiorina this is starting to book early and i had to tear a few pages out in june of that because i said dont to engage dont respond dont talk to her she is dangerous carly is mad at me because i write you have no upside to ring gauge Carly Fiorina became she goes right at mrs. Clinton every time she is given the opportunity most recently on my show tonight. Instagram. Never agreed with anything until the republicans in the house and senate and the president decided to cut the Retirement Benefits for active duty of 20 years we got together to help change that law because it was wrong it was very, very wrong and live seagrams gms in my mind for a very Strong Military he served only to candidates have the instagram and rick perry. That is the experience that made major label and may elevate dan sullivan of alaska or the three warriors never recently elected to the Vice President ial role the nixon played it to nominate someone of great experience they may take a swing on the warriors in the senate because they will bring real world experience. To have to quickly talk about Mike Huckabee he is the best report storyteller he is charming and wonderful i saw him in the hallways in the morning out of my hotel room he was walking down the hallway in did not miss a beat. How are you . Mrs. Huckabee was with him i dont expect to be recognized everybody calls me dennis anyway. [laughter] by the way he is a very bad man. Dell by his book the 10 commandments is because it is a bat and ball dash a best seller i warned her about that i suggest because of their experience to identify as a native she did work the back roads like Mike Huckabee did. Body general body is the only one that speaks faster than i do. He has trouble getting traction early on but what that space he sued the federal government over common core that is his issue the most explosive domestic policy issue i have seen arrive on the political scene in 25 years and the beats have no idea how badly screwed up whole market is at the Kitchen Table and there is nothing worse than a mom and dad who can to second grade math and they are mad and this is an issue growing and Bobby Jindal Gore readily embraced as did governor bush and governor huckabee, they all did the then Governor Walker but it aint working and bobby jindal has stepped up to sue the federal government because they checked over with a consortium that now has their financial interest and he took get on that is the secret strength and i warned her about that. The greatest governor is john kasich 17 state of the union we dont count those born from virginia on english soil. [laughter] they invented flight the first man to step off this planet on to another from ohio he is brilliant and full of energy he makes decisions that doesnt go down well with the teapartier my advice is every single sentence bring at Medicaid Expansion to that again and again in a general election he kerry 86 every the countys in ohio. Bluecollar deep blue and gm loving uaw united steelworker employees why . Because he is an incredible and gifted politician she does not want to run against them so she has to talk up the medicaid broken arm all the time to remind the voters if he is on the ticket no president has won the presidency without ohio remember florida virginia ohio that is a big advantage. George pataki and he does not deserve to be skipped. He stood up when america was flat on its back lady in a time of crisis his appeal to bipartisanship is the same as people who walk across the aisle but he did it. Rand paul is in the era of surveillance the worst National Security area with more than 20 million files including my own. As is the background as a Witness Protection Program all with the opm files that were hacked and as was confirmed mrs. Clinton was from the chinese asking them to find out of those 20,000 emails. [laughter] [applause] but that creeping concern is what powers rand paul with his deep ethnic of creches service he goes on medical mission is to give free eye surgery he walks the walk and is the real deal. Verizon the Islamic State has eclipsed sun with his antiinterventionist talk. Governor kerry was my guest today the most underestimated with Rick Santorum for scott walker said to be the past come up with a name for the future. Watch out he has been around the track and has done this before he made mistakes and can improve the is not running after back surgery he does shoot coyotes and he is a texan and if not for them we would have negative job growth over the last six and a half years he will remind you of that into the key is really good. He has glasses just like mine. [laughter] marco rubio was described the hottest commodity the flavor of the month. Hot white . F never seen a more gifted orator ill look at the back of the room the wait staff comes out. Y . This happens with ted cruz also because they see their son or daughter at the front of the room because his father worked the back if you have never interviewed someone you know, how impressive this is i have done many long interviews was and rubio instant and total command and recall of which i asked the never has notes and is never at all laws he shares this with ted cruz and amazing eloquence and depth of preparation and when he speaks in spanish as does governor bush by harnessing is. You realize in the last campaign of lot of american citizens consume most of their media in spanish most of those live in virginia florida ohio and especially colorado. Virginia ohio and florida led by margins roughly 100,000 votes of president obama colorado went to obama by 120,000 of a much smaller number it was a blowout almost 5 the others were 1 . Why . Because of the latino vote spanish consuming american citizens who are very intelligent want to know the Republican Party and understands like the Irish American is and i tied americans before them of what never variety wish to be respected for their ethnicity and culture to be involved in the political process. Seven one mitt romney was outspent he has told me the biggest mistake of the 2012 campaign was not to address the spanishlanguage media we cannot make that mistake again for komer rubio greater strength is there so i advised mrs. Clinton to taken out. [laughter] Opposition Research what a surprise where is that coming from . Speeding tickets for gore really . The fishing boat they called a speedboat . That he had the big mortgage and student debt . They have identified him as one of the greatest threats and are trying to reduce him. Rick santorum truth be told is most likely of anyone in the race as an Italian Catholic from western pennsylvania sadly is the steelers fan. [laughter] but i would brainstorm with him when he wrote his book he is a couple years younger and he speaks to the reagin democrats he won iowa for reason people like him in a small room. But he won pennsylvania twice. Omaha donald trump i already spoke about. When they bring a skill set that is hard to replicate when he talks people listen and he talks bluntly and people listen like ross perot could grow. To more. And not endorsing flip the coin want them both. That is what i hear the most. To make crucial improvements is likely to be a secretary of defense it comes on once a week on though walker Foreign Policy team. ted i every candidate. But i ask obrien why did you go with walker . He won three times a reading the left throws a. M. And obrien was part of team romney has been around the block and skis a season walker a call it a quality what is the best drink she is indestructible. [laughter] the most resilient political figure in america she is like queen elizabeth. But growth or to england for popes and one queen. She has been here since 1982 like that cornea implant nobody told you that you had in the Field Division since 1982 think of all of the scandals the grandmother of obamacare she was hillary care and it did not stick she got up off the floor after the defeat the scandals and she branded new york she is good. She really did care about Childrens Health and is a great mom and wonderful grandmother and a dreadful candidate but she doesnt have to engage with the American Media wants her to win they have money and most of the media have the machine and the map. But mostly they have her resilience she really cannot absorb anything. I want to ask the question to help the Republican Voters to understand who is best equipped to beat Hillary Clinton . That is what matters the most what defies the party right now . What about the drug law . Some say yes or no would you break the of rules of the senate to filibuster to appeal obamacare . There are issues that divide in the final analysis why are you the one . Because the other stuff is secondary. Thanks for coming campaign. This is two hours. Good evening. Good evening everyone. Spanish translation is available if you would like to listen to it in spanish, you can pick up equipment at the back table. [spanish translation] good evening, and welcome. Leftevening and welcome to forum 2015. Im rob robinson. And i am maria. [applause] rob we want to thank you all for attending. This conference was i success. A success. The board of directors would like to thank the administration from John Jay College for their hospitality. [applause] year here,r second based on the early returns, attendees seem to enjoy it. Said the conference was a success, here are the numbers. We had over 400 panels. 1300 speakers. 70 exhibitors, and close to 5000 attendees. [applause] a conference of this size does not happen without a committed staff, committed volunteers, and committed interns. I will name some names. I want to start with volunteer coordination. I want to start out with video coordination. With registration, Public Relations and media with a host of folks. Program guide steve matthews. Program coordinator marcus. Marcus comes from berlin to Service Serve us. Primary and Link Logistics coordinator. The media liaison. Outreach and administration, exhibition, event operations. Editorial and Graphic Design matt kennedy. Lori bogart. Av and technology, nancy castro. Art and social media, darrell king. Administrations and operations coordinator, ashley abbott. A big hand for her. We have looked worked together for several years. [laughter] [applause] coordinator,erence steph adler. [applause] finally, we would like to acknowledge some of the 150 volunteers that made the conference operations and left ar him a Reality Forum reality. [applause] maria we have committed to an increased chance for cost. We are proud to announce Free Childcare this year. [applause] rob we made the commitment last year, we lived up to it. Maria and free entry to Interested High School students so they could join in. Exciting and in challenging times, where new possibilities of resistance and new forms of repression are hard at work, willing to do what they always attempt to do, and now they are more sophisticated. More than ever before, capitalism and the crisis of income inequality are being pressed. With the capital system failing, the cry for social justice is growing louder. This is a critical time for the left to organize. Was created, and exist to create a dialogue on important matters affecting our world. With so much happening all over the world we decided to make the issues, the hot topics, the stars. Had a discussion on antiausterity policy. On saturday we heard from speakers who explored social transformation in relation to the black my lack lives lives matter. And finally, we have this evenings plenary. We are moving away from the traditional format and instead we will feature discussion, each with two speakers and a moderator. Them share a wealth of culture, and intellectual knowledge. This evening we will discuss a National Left presence, a National Left politics, national and interNational Left organizing. Enduring National Organization structure and power. Rob i would like to offer an apology, stanley lives close to where a crane fell in new york city, it is stuck in his apartment in midtown manhattan. He cannot be here. Tom hayden suffered a stroke. Our apologies and all of the best wishes. Maria i will begin with an introduction of the host. Is the leadlin organizer for the fight for souls for the city which includes Community Rights campaigns, and she coleads a staff organizing team for a space building program. Training students and organizing, Campaign Development and political theories, she also leads a taking action front in south delay los angeles. Afterganized it in 2009 graduating from the National School of strategic organizers. She first got involved as a High School Student in the script college academy, a program for first generation and low income students. She was active in the Community Rights program in college. Our second host Immortal Technique. He is known as a writer, and activist. , he is one oferu the highest selling independent artist, putting together a globally themed music with street hiphop. Not only an artist, but also human rights activist having traveled to haiti and afghanistan to provide relief for nonprofits. He has also participated in teaching workshops for adult prisons and juvenile facilities. Albums,r gold studio and 250,000 records sold, he has the Hiphop Community highly anticipating his next album. He recently completed his national tour. Turn it over to ashley and Immortal Technique. [applause] Immortal Technique good evening. I said before that i wanted to see everyone bring a child, or a grandchild with them. I just want to say to the people that came with someone young and they want to educate reveal the depth of the corruption that we live in. I want to say that i appreciate that. If you have not done at this time, dont worry, there will be next year him forum because the problems will not be resolved then. When they tell people who criticize the america the states of america that we hate america because we want a better place, inc. About how illogical that is. If you have ever had children or a small child in your care, imagine that it steals from a store. To break youring childs arm or kick them down a flight of stairs because they stole something. You are going to take them aside and say i love you, i care about you, and i think you are a better human being in the actions you are taking now. That is the way we are looking at america, we do not hate america, if we hate it, we would let it be corrupt, and the feeling republic that it is becoming. , that is why we choose to put ourselves on the front line and say, this is what may change must change. Even if people do not look like me, do not worship the same god, and they have different customs, if those people are facing in justice, i will face it with them as if i was one of them. That is what i am here to do. I hope that is what you are going to do as well. [applause] technique i want to introduce ashley from the Labor Community strategy center. [applause] ashley good afternoon. I name is Ashley Franklin and am an organizer with the Labor Community strategies enter based in los angeles, california. I spent the last seven years of my life organizing young people and high school in high schools against the mass incarcerations of the black and latino community, specifically fighting against the militarized police state. Tonight we talked about how many workshops we were able to see. , we are going to get deep and talk about building. We are going to delve into questions of what is the National Left presence politics, organizing . We are going to analyze what is our power, and our organizing present. We are going to talk about strategies and actions so we have a slew of amazing people that will talk to about their expenses on the ground experiences on the ground. I want to mention some of their names, of course you will see and hear more from them today. Let me go down the list, we have adams. Ms m we have reverend from the fellowship. Is ave miss brown who cohost of the morning show on wba i. Taylor ve missed missed taylor who is about to release a book. Windsor who charles is part of organizing 2. 0. E also have glenn ford know, stanley is not here, oh he is . He is here in spirit. Who willwe have seen be the people that we get to hear from and listen to. I want to break down how that will happen. We have dynamic political theorist, activists, and people who have been building movement. Three going to break into pairs or ability there will be a moderator. As you have read in their bios, we do not have to do so much work. Thank you for being amazing and putting out amazing political theory and ideas that will make this go fast and easy. The idea and the focus of this panel is to talk about what have been some of our hopes and dreams, challenges that we faced while trying to build the left. And particularly, how to build a left. Could you all welcome me in joining our first panelist, it tech, reverend, and adams. [applause] Immortal Technique order to the stage, its just hiphop. Reverend and m adams, i appreciate you being with us here. I appreciate the audience through this incredible, difficult, nasty weather. I wanted to asked question asking a question, feel free to jump in. What do you see on the grounds that indicates the emerging and radical transformative politics that we were talking about come what havels been your personal experiences . I think the couple of things indicate a movement being built. People are answering the calls, i have a couple things, we have the same group of people organizing before. We have people both Building Political platforms and people pushing out amazing things. We also have an entire group of who are energized and prepared and who want to be part of the organization. I think we see an expansion. Ofnot fully an expansion base building, the possibility. We have always said we need more people, i think that call is being answered. Not only do we have more people, we have more people willing to do more work. It suddenly makes the Movement Building mechanism possible. I also think we see a whole generation of thinkers putting out their own theory on the world. Proposing radical solutions to ress a radical politics politics. Happening allgs over the country where we are at a good time for social movements. I see that a lot of times, peoples initial reaction, they automatically assume it will be only elderly people. We need that, we need guidance and direction from the elders, but i have seen, within the course of this reemergence of the movement. The Movement Never went away. Technique there are so many young people, what would you attribute that to . Is it just because it is in a Young Persons face . Is it a growing pain . From your experience in working closely with his children in ferguson, or wherever you may find them being the victims of systemic brutality and the taking away of civil rights, what has been the catalyst of moving the youth . I think a couple of things. Aack people have always had tenuous agreement with america. We always know you will impress oppress us. Ss baby,lack person told you white folks are dangerous. We are told we have to be twice as good and smart just to get the opportunity to be told no. Wb to boys had a degree from had a degreeois from harvard and could not teach their there. It is not better, it is different. This is part of the struggle. Part of that tenuous agreement is that you will not disrespect us. As we look at the slave rebellions, they have been after children who have died at the hands of masters. That is what we thought ferguson saw at ferguson. Leadershipeen black with access to material things subjecting themselves in which individual attention replaces community progress. [applause] for a Younger Generation of folk in which have emerged under a electedesident, black officials, black ceos, black police chief, essentially their life has gotten worse. They broke that agreement, theolks was like young folks had not read any of the papers we had passed out. They said that. We are not going home. At one level, you cannot get the level of youth resistance without the objective material conditions as they black person in charge of the american empire. They look at it and say, oh, the emperor has no clothes. Unique isso what is that this moment i said it earlier the day that a system r, blackcisgende messiah leading us to the Promised Land is over. Embodiedhave witches in young folk organizing, the new leadership will be clear queer, woman led, lots of single transnational, you have black lives matter chapters in london, paris. It will be antiimperialist. Without the critique of capitalism. What we are seeing is the embodiment among young people a generation of leadership that are incarnate. It is embodied. Of a radically queer anticapitalist discourse, and is doing so with limited resources. You remember, one of the things we talked about when we romanticize the civil rights movement, everyone over 40 said they marched with dr. King. [applause] [laughter] you meet everyone in this room and they said they were in selma on the bridge am a it would have collapsed. [laughter] part of the mythology people are coming up against is nostalgia is a form of morning because the present is unbearable and the future is unforeseeable. A lot of young people are struggling against with limited fiscal resources is a mythology in which everyone participated in the movement of the 60s, which hampers their possibilities because it is untrue. There was plenty of fighting. Plenty of folks who dont like it, some of yall still not talking to each other because of something in 1963. Part of the challenge that we , is ferguson, madison, baltimore baltimore, are actually indictments of the left. Because the left as a place of premium on poor black people not placed a premium on poor black people. [applause] power, idont have wish i could issue a statement that you could not pass up papers, you cannot asked ask anyone to come to your meeting until you have broke bread at a black funeral because people lack people trust you enough that they want you standing there when they put their parents in the ground. Lives, papersover over people has disempowered and hindered the possibility of building an effective left in america because we have embodied a level of racism and respect ability in our movement that cannot handle kids with tattoos, sagging pants, saying the police. Until we resolve that contradiction, i do not think we can build a significant left, i do not think young people will respect it. [applause] technique the reverend brought up race, gender, class struggles you see the interception alley interception of these things being a driving force to get the movement together. That is one of those questions, how do you see that answer that . How does it matter. One, thisf things is not just my belief, there is evidence and bodies of belief, we are dealing with all of this. If we are thinking about my life specifically, i am dealing with sexuality, race what we have no is the leadership of people who are talked about as being intersectional lives. We are not settling. We will not be bought off. If theynot be convinced give us houses we want everything. We want freedom, our freedom includes all of that. [applause] going to trial. We want everything. That is what we are excited about now. Leaving until we get everything. Not only freedom, but that includes something queer centered, woman led, one that accounts for folks who have been incarcerated or are stuck in the system. Homeless, the whole host of other things. That is the movement. , is about all black people all identities, issues related to that. Using theee people human rights framework to explain the rights of black people, what they deserve. You hear them say, we are giving this or we are taking this. The abilitying for to walk safely down the street, not be marked, not be assaulted not be mugged, not be assaulted. It is the living politics. [applause] say that wanted to next question,he one of the most interesting moments in my political education is when i came out of prison in 1999. That aber very clearly friend of mine talk to me about the privileges i had that i did not know i had. He was talking about rebuilding my life. I looked at him and got angry. I said, first of all i just got a prison. Im still on parole. Shut up about my perl urges my privileges. Explained to me, you know what, brother, let me talk to you about the things that you never knew or understood you have. It was a telling moment. He said, you have amle privilege. Male privilege. I said, what he is saying, man . Im fresh out of the joint. He said, what have you ever done to protect your self from someone raping you when you walk all midnight. You came here and became a citizen. What happens to you when you get arrested and go to prison, versus a person undocumented thrown in prison and not charge anything and cap there for an elongated. Period of time. I thought about these things. I thought about all the privileges i have it i thought about the way someone is landed to me. Tell me about that explaining process on the ground, because if there is a bullet and my arm and i put my hand in there and rip it out, you are going to think i am torturing you. That i am going to make a cut, take it out, so you, give you pals that is the difference of explaining the truth to someone and throwing the truth at them. Why . Youdnt you be angry if were sleeping comfortably and somebody shook you at 4 00 in the morning just to tell you the truth . Real quick, and then you jump in. Believe and live by the need to lead. Most impacted when, everybody wins. [applause] should be a vested interest just to use gender as a vestede there is interest for all people to be wanting to and gender oppression. The truth is, please murders are not just gender related, they are patriarchal. That, peopleabout saying here we go with that again. Those most impacted our women, queer folks, trans folks. If we begin to look at the movement around please murders and look at the question of as present asst the racial discourse, number one, we would have included more movement in the people in the movement. In terms of victims and police der, but we would always also begin to include other forms of violence committed by police on black communities. Violence you of hear about is violence that is considered masculine, the shot, the choke, the punch, the billy club. About sexual violence, forcing people to strip. So not only are we talking about ander impacting queer folks we have abut deep and vested interest in all that. I think people should get behind me because they like me. There is a selfish solidarity, there is an interest participate. Do what they said. [laughter] [applause] i believe we have time for one more. Just to get a personal understanding. I told a story about a time i experienced police were taught me when i was 12 years old and talked about people who are activists in a movement, on ongoing theme, people as activists and a movement not bread in a lab. Most of them were people who were just living their regular lives and they could not turn away from the injustices they saw. In majority of the people this room are here because when you turn on your television or read your paper or when you find your news however it may be on the internet, you see a world you want to change, that you want to help to become better. What would that be for the two of you . It does not have to be an active in the moment, maybe a collective moment when you decided this is my calling, this is who i am . I think for me i was raised in a beautiful, loving black community. Raised by my grandmother and her friends. Many of them could not write their names. Mrs. Was a woman named roberta. She worried as me to calm and read to me, boy. Everyone puts her hands together for the guy who is keeping our time together. As i was raised in a beautiful, loving black community that love to jesus and loved justice, a grandmother who taught me to read at four years old, a community of semiliterate people who placed an emphasis on the life of the mind. The other part in terms of how i arrived i grew up in st. Louis. I am from there. There was something about seeing nonprofessional organizers in the streets. So those images of kids with tattoos and sagging pants, these , they got a whole thing, but comprehension is not requisite for compassion. You may not understand it. I did not understand what was happening. I still dont. I knew that some young folks from a poor, workingclass community, highly police to, experiencing these major article masculine forms of violence, high levels of surveillance by the police forces, alienated and demonized by the black church, nonprofitsources, no industrial complex, al sharpton and their, just some poor kids who said im not going home. As a religious creature, we tend to be reactionary and conservative. Of a missionary trying to say christianity from itself. The braddock allergy of these clear braddock radicality of these youth in the streets. Streets in ap the different way. Street, i gotthe to be in the street. I was born in the streets of ferguson. I have seen the face of god. And god is queer. God is angry. God is a single mother. God said the police. And so what has happened for me a space topened up find my own radical voice in a different way that it forced me out of the pulpit. I resigned from my congregation. [applause] i moved back to st. Louis. Day chasing of my behind young papal people. Baby, dont do that. Baby, this is how you do civil disobedience. Baby, dont do that. Even when theyre wrong, i never say a word about them in public that they are wrong. I will always defend them. Now on going to cost them out when we get in the room. They are only children. For the white folks, particularly for the white left, right ideas dont lead to write behavior. Did not dominate european philosophy for a hundred years until hitler popped out. We are only going to win when every time they shoot a black baby down in the street, you bring your paper, you bring your body. [applause] everything they need. They dont need your revolutionary consciousness. They already got it. Way, ashow up in a Church Basement somewhere, with some everyday people and figure out how you can support them and stand with them, im telling you you might be born again. You y possibility for for us to win is for you to fundamentally believe that you have as much to risk and instate at stake in our trouble as black people themselves. That means show up and shut up. Right on. [applause] what they said. [laughter] [applause] up with a moral stronghold. My grandmother was in church more than she was home. Really and dr. David indoctrinated me. I grew up knowing it was wrong. Older and begin to , systemsferent things analysis, what ever, on top of that. Natural. T the really did it is in beginning, we played rock, paper, and scissors. If you are black, clear, poor queer, poor everything is against me. Status against me in terms of incarceration and freedom. Sexual violence, Domestic Violence being acted out. Everything around me says if you queer, this is what the state has for me. Paper, us didnt rock, scissors, and said if we do, we going to go fighting. I dont have a choice what choice do i got . This is the only way i know how to live. Can feelng you that i her. If i dont get out in the streets, i cant sleep at night. Isnt it more safe to run from the police that it is to stay here and do something, right . I have been in it ever since. [applause] i just want to say that this is a topic we have touched on before, the idea of faith playing a role in somebodys revolutionary mentality. You claim jesus as your personal savior or if you are muslin or jewish or hindu or ist ever faith you have, it not just enough to say that is what you are, right . If i say i am a martial artist and a child comes in here or i say i am a doctor and i cant do the heimlich maneuver, then im not really a doctor. Im not really aged just sue master. At the same time, if youre going to talk about jesus or revolution or revolutionary movements, then you have to walk in those steps of jesus to be a christian. You have to feed the poor. That theytell them cant get married to someone because of a line in a book. Withl be out in the street the prostitutes, the people so poor that they cant afford any other living so they are selling their hotties in the slum. Bodies in the slum. That we realize this conversation isnt just limited to the faith we have in a god that is supposed to separate us from our revolutionary politics. That is our heaven. Getting there is our journey. Is our guide. I thank you very much. Please give it up for the panelists and for yourselves. [applause] that was a great panel, right . [applause] all righty. We will transition into the second portion of our panel. Pretty coolave some folks who have been out on the ground. Hello. If you can grab your microphone. To think about everything that was being said, and i was having a hard time wrap up what was said. The best way to do that is to share the work i am doing in los angeles. Working with young people in front of the high schools i dont know if you all know los angeles is the epicenter of counterinsurgency and police suppression. Young people are faced with the nations largest to School Police department and some of which they receive some weapons through the 1033 program, which tanks, grenade launchers, everything we saw in ferguson. For a lot of the black young people we were working with, a lot of their questions and that our demands and seem to be centered around reforming the system that is trying to harm us. How do we have a broader conversation about a broader black plan. How do we fight against counterinsurgency . Every weapon we see inside our schools or in our community is a signal to us that the system is going to war with us. It is a system to young people that you are not going to be the. Ext malcolm we are trying to suppress that before you can even think that. I think that was the best way for me to think about some of the work about getting on the ground and fighting. Portion of the panel, we will be addressing the state and also talking about National Organizational politics situated radical lateral process. The first question i wanted to ask is would you share with us Movement Building and youre left political experience. Where is the nature of revolutionary organizations today . And dig deep and talk about ,ragmentation, alienation between revolutionary organizations in your own experience. Ill start. The clearest way to start with that question is to actually look to the past. When we are talking about the fragmentation of the left today or even the smallness of the left today, i think we have to look at that in the context of what happens to the left during the last black insurgency and during the last when there was a larger significant left at the end of the 1960s and 1970s. I think that there were a couple a things at play in terms of concerted effort to destabilize the left. In this case, i talk specifically about the black left. On the one hand, there was the unquestionable assault by the state to crush and obliterate black revolutionaries, and even the black radicalism, from the destruction of detroit and allowing detroit to end up in the situation that it is today, to the massacre of black panthers, to the incarceration of black panthers and other black radicals. I think that that was a clear, unquestionable, aspect of that strategy of the state in not just undermining the left, but really to obliterate any notion that you should fight back, that you should resist, that you should have a different conception of what society and life should be like. Other part of that, we have oppression the other part is cooptation and the absorption of a layer of africanamericans into the system to demonstrate that american capitalism could work, could be successful, and to also shifted the burden of governing black urban spaces at that time from white political machines to black political machines, with the hope that that would be able to help remove at least one of the antagonisms that was driving the black rebellion of the 1960s. In many ways, the left is still recovering from this very effortative concerted at destabilization in the 1960s and 1970s, but i think where the hope lies its very difficult to talk about the rebuilding of the left outside of the context of the rebuilding of social movements in general. So, i think we are in a situation now where for the first time in more than a generation, there is actually a living, breathing social movement unfolding right in our midst, right now, and that represents to me the best hope and possibility of the revitalization of the bride left, but also the revolutionary left as well. [applause] thank you. [applause] yeah, i think that is a great starting place. Organizinging out of around occupy, although that was not the first organizing that i did. I actually first worked with a group of africanamerican women as part of the antiiraq war movement. I later got involved in the occupied actually. I think one of the key aspects building a left or considering what a left might be or should be right now is something about how we look towards a shared political horizon and what that means, a shared vision for our future. I think of that probably a lot of the fragmentation that we see is because there is not really coherent, and even as we speak about it, we are talking specifically right now about black lives of matter and the audience is mostly a white audience. We have to sort of grapple with what that means and how is it of unfoldinge work and creating spaces in which a process can unfold where we are able to come to gather and develop a shared vision. I think that when we think about organizing, one of the key moments definitely was occup because we didnt do this well in spite of the other problems. We were very open and invited everyone in. That was problematic and allowed for opportunities for repression to destroy a burgeoning movement , but we learned a lot about what it means to organize. The work is not about organizing per se. It is about how we come together and understand and relate to one another fundamentally. I think in terms of a revolutionary movement , i think that is one of the starting places we would want to look at, creating spaces where we can come together and develop a shared politic, shared social horizon in which we transform and relate to one another fundamentally. One more thing about that, thatse i agree with all and would also add that we are talking about rebuilding a left that we need what is left of it to be a part of that process. It is worth saying that to me that that is an attempt to synthesize history and politics in such a way as to figure out how to move our struggles forward. Sometimes that history and politics doesnt just naturally arise out of the struggle itself. Would be, we probably a lot further along than we actually are today. The, you think about the black Panther Party at the end of the 1960s. I think it was 1968 or 1969, black panthers were selling their newspaper, 100,000 copies a week, right . Do ishat newspaper would reconnect the movement at the time with its history and tradition in a way in this country is so savagely ripped from us. People have no idea of what the history and traditions of our movement is, whether it is the black movement, people dont know the struggles of the 1930s, the struggles of the 1960s, and that knowledge and information doesnt just calm out of thin air. It comes from people in this room, like people who identify as part of a left and who have made it part of their job to reconnect with that history and learn and understand the history, who have the responsibility to not just transmit it in an artificial way, but to invest themselves in the existing movement and become organically connected to them, not in a cheerleading way even, but as an organic expression of the movement that exists. Part of the effort is to reconnect our rich history and tradition of struggle in this country aside from struggles that have gone on across the world and to reconnect the new to reconnect to the new generation of revolutionaries and radicals who arent is getting into the struggle. A role to play in that area that can look like many Different Things in different ways, but it is important to recognize the the left that exists right now and how do we build on it. [applause] that has been at andcore of revolution counterrevolution. Jim crow, apartheid. In ourh do you think society or the movement, people are cognizant or thinking about that . Are thinking about history . Im not sure of the answer. I think they are thinking about history. Thatss what i would say to come ofoncern i have the way we analyze the history and do not fantasize it. Particularly within the africanamerican committees, we fetish in of the civil rights movement. To say the least. Challenging because that does not allow us to have struggles. Tional we have a generation of people who pride themselves on the amazing work they did at a particular time. Generationr my and younger, we have seen less results from that. On the one hand, we have we need to look to that history. But part of that analysis needs to be what has changed. How have the dynamics of power fundamentally changed. What are we up against and fighting for . Imagining and envisioning for ourselves . History andand, anybody who knows the work i do, it is based on history. It is very important. On the other hand, we need a new analysis and Work Together think about how our manifest itself power manifests itself. Whether looking nationally is the most effective strategy. Since we have power constructs that are multinational. That morph and grow and are very flexible across borders. Thinking we of the need, to create spaces in which we can do that together. Not from the perspective of coming with a belief about how things were in the past or how they should be. More of a kind of collective grappling