Amy klobuchar talked about her priorities would be as president. She spoke at the National Press club earlier today. [applause] good morning again everybody. Welcome again to the National Press club. I am a correspondent in the news. We had a Great Program this money and we invited you on twitter at prescott bc with the nbc life. Securing the rank of ninth place will get unit reporting. With more than 20 democrats nomination written into the top ten is critical and certainly worthy of us got here at the National Press club. Our guest today, minnesota amy klobuchar, she is considered one of the moderate voices in this crowded race. That means she has a plan to address Climate Change, a trillion dollars in construction plan a hundred Million Dollar plane to address substance abuse. But she is not promised for college and medicare fraud. For the terminals an startribun. We have them here today . We have a lot to talk about plate please join me in welcoming to the press enter. Amy klobuchar. [applause] i remembered three things well about that event. It was in the middle of very bad to see whether and somehow i made and for the speech in the middle of a snowstorm. Which is not new for me. But i did not have 4 inches of snow on top of my head. Second with god on term bob with the local country western band honkytonk confidential. Third, in my talk which is a humor speech, i noticed in ushering a new era. Press Club President s who are not only ousting the journalist by his name in this case, alan garnered more than 160point on the undeonthe scrabble board. Amy klobuchar scored more points than pete buttigieg. Im not competitive but you can check it out. Onto the first 100 days. That phrase, 100 days has become in the cutest and president ial politics. Generation of candidates have made promises about what they will do in that timeframe. In generation of journalists have conducted analysis about what actually got done during that time. Sometimes i think we forget about where the concept changed to begin with. It was franklin roosevelt. So we all know why the first 100 days were so important back then. In 1933 there was a crisis. It was not just a crisis of economics, it was a crisis of confidence. A crisis of trust. Because fdr was well aware when he was sworn in as president people had lost their trust in the government. They did not think the government would come through for them. They did not think that washington would make things better for them. Fdr was determined to turn back their trust. Right away he laid out a full plan to take on the crisis of his time. He got as a leader you have to set a new tone, a new sense of leadership, as well as advocate for longterm changes. Chief ford saw the people needed to move forward for the long haul but they also needed to see a change in the short term. Right away to even start considering the end of the year or at the end of two years after that. She had to convince the nation that the government had their backs and there was hope. Today we need a new 100 day plan for america. This time it is not only about longterm economics and how so many people arent sharing and are caugh economies prosperity. It is also about the very democracy. Common decency. How we govern and how we treat each other. Because when parents do not want to show their kids what the president is saying on television because it is to embarrassing or not appropriate we lose confidence. When the president talks about russias attack on our democracy and turned to a ruthless dictator Vladimir Putin and makes a joke about it, we lose confidence. And as we gather in this room where we dont just tolerate the first amendment, we embrace it. When we have a president who wakes up and tweaked whatever he wants and we morning including this morning but still does not respect the amendment that allows him to do it. Calling journalist the enemy of the people then we lose confidence. When the president sends reprehensible and recent tweets telling american citizens serving in the congress and people who are elected to serve the nation to go back to other countries, we lose confidence. All this tariffs at the fabric of our country. It weakens the institution that has made america, america. This is not just about the rhetoric. The president has used the power of the presidency to advanced the agenda to invigorate his base at the cost of policy. Sometimes to distract the country just for the sake of making news and controlling the press coverage. We solid when he tried to add a citizen set question to the senses. In an effort for immigrants and people of color. Even though the court repeatedly said it was wrong he as they say, persevere. Why he ultimately failed, he managed to get a whole lot of press coverage in the meantime. We solid when he cut funding for planned parenthood input Womens Health at risk. We solid when he cut funding for medicare, medicaid, Social Security and programs that help americans afford heat in the winter. We solid when he tried to kick dreamers out of this country when it was the only country that they have ever called home. We solid with the threat of the raids this past weekend. We see it every day with his outlandish untruth. Now 10000 and counting. Broken promises, littering the oval office carpet. While strapped americans wait for their Prescription Drug price reductions. In wait for their education. Today right now we can start earning back the peoples trust. We can start restoring peoples confidence in our democracy. To do this, we need legislative funds like passing Climate Change legislation. A major infrastructure bill. Cost reduction and Economic Relief for regular people. All of which i believe can be done in the first year. We also need script, just like fdr said, you need to regain both the trust and spirit of our democracy immediately. Those are the sprints. Both in words and action. To get people on board for the marathon in the long haul. Now, i do not run your thongs and im not a big sprinter either. You would have to look at other candidates for that. I am really good at longdistance and long hikes and as approved is weakened in ankeny, iowa really long parades. When you do these long tracks, you know you wake up early in the morning and you get a lot of miles behind you before it gets too hot and the sun gets too high in the sky. And before you get too tired. That is what this is about. Setting a new tone that the currency of our democracy will once again be that decency. That our nation will be grounded in hope. Because if you know this nation, this grand experiment in democracy was founded on hope. It was not founded on false hope, it was founded on hope. When our founders spoke about a more Perfect Union centuries ago, they admit it was not perfect when they started. They knew that. They believed it would become more perfect overtime. And each generation of american has an obligation to make it more perfect to meet the challenges of their time. This is what i mean, when donald trump inherited an economy, grounded in the resilience of our workers and businesses who led us through a really bad downturn, his obligation was to meet the challenges of his time. Immigration reform, Climate Change, doing something to advanced workforce training, doing something to make prosperity in our country stronger. To reduce healthcare costs, you know what the challenges are. His obligation was not to gloat and the world of others. It is something that every Small Business owner knows. If you develop one successful product and it keeps you going, she does not stop there. You look for the next product for the next year for the next decade. It is something that every restaurant cook knows when he comes up the new recipe. It is something every parent whose child comes home with a good report card knows. You dont say, wow you did so great for a fourthgrader. And now i dont have to worry about you for 15 years. Now, we rise to the challenges of our time. That is what leaders do. This is especially true of our nation. It has been a nation that always strives for a more Perfect Union. We do it at the country that has been cradled in community. And people with different and shared stories. A place where ordinary people do extraordinary things everyday. And that is why i have announced a plan to take over 100 action and my first 100 days as president. Because i believe we can reverse the worst abuses of this president. I believe we can return to the path of progress and once again, be a nation governed, not by chaos but opportunity. I believe we can restore confidence in our government and our democracy. What do we do . First, we will get major bills introduced in the first 100 days. As president i will make sure we get them past. I know how to work with congress to get the job done. My priorities i mentioned many times. Climate change with inflation, a major infrastructure passage, Immigration Reform, and lets be clear of getting it done in the first year. Something both democrats and republicans have supported many times in the past. Prescription drug legislation, to reduce healthcare costs and making sure all families have a fair shot in todays economy. I have found success in working congress. In the United States senate i passed over 100 bills where i have been the lead democrat. Roosevelt knew well, congress is not the only way to get things done. That is why our founders gave the president considerable authority. The next amendment will be the chief law plasma officer. The commanderinchief, she will be the face of our nation. She will have the power to act at times without congress. Let me answer your question before you ask it. That is, when i do the things and power, when congress refuses to act, i pledge to you i will do in a way that is consistent with the rule of law. Because i believe just as our founders did in the separation of powers. Our system of checks and balances is essential. The Trump Administration has ignored the checks and balances instead donald trump pursued the agenda by undermining our democracy and exploiting exec the power. My first 100 days in that time we will restore the balance. At the same time, we will not wait for congress if we dont have to. We will move our country forward if we can. But when i asked, i will respect our laws and democracy in our country. The next president can and Must Immediately take action using the authority granted by law. Because in this time of crisis we cannot wait, we cannot wait when the foundation of our democracy is cracking, we cannot wait when the nations social fabric is fringed we cannot wait when americans live in fear because of who they are or what they look like or where they come from or who they love. Yes, my 100 day plan includes things we can do right now. Without waiting on the republican leaders. A lot of candidates had a lot of plans. I have big bold plans, yes. But i have also given myself and our congress and our nation deadlines. If you know as journalists, there is Nothing Better than a deadline. Once selected i will ask that the American People join me in taking on the first 100 days with a sense of urgency. This is in fact a to do list bigger than any postit notes on any refrigerator. Its a list that when completed will help the very people that have those postit notes on their refrigerators. It is doable as long as they bring the country with me. Here are a few examples, you can see all of these examples. Weve been adding things on long the way our website at amy klobuchar. Com. Here are some examples of what you see in the first 100 days. On day one, we will get back into the international Climate Change agreement and restore the clean power plant and worked to bring back the gas mileage standards. Those are things you can do with the passing of law. We can say start the Affordable Care act for millions of americans with preexisting conditions. Immediately we will put these protections back in place and stop sabotaging the Affordable Care act exchanges and get to work toward expanding to universal healthcare. In the first 100 days i will stop the practice were Big Pharmaceutical Companies payoff generics to keep their products off the market. Yes a president can do that for themselves. I will apply for a waiver from the ban on reimporting safe drugs from other countries. Yes again, a president can do that on her own. And put forth the bill to require medicare to negotiate prices for our seniors. Remember it was this president who said on fox news he would lower Prescription Drugs so much that it would make your head spin. I tell you what has made our head spin. That is when the price of over 2500 drugs havent increased by double digits in just 14 months in office. He has done nothing. He has done absolutely nothing nor has it pushed for major changes like the one i just outlined to be included in any bill. When it comes to economics for the middle class as i said at the debate, its been all foam and no beer. The solution, was be more aggressive personal, big picture, of how we enforce our antitrust laws. I have many bills that we can get done in the long term but in the first 100 days i can update the standard for reviewing the horizontal and vertical mergers. Lets increase the minimum wage for federal contractors to 15 an hour, something you can do in the first 100 days. While we work to pass an increase to the federal minimum wage in year one. Thats going to not be able to get done in first 100 years but closing the tax loopholes on the companies that are putting the money overseas, that can be done in the first 100 days. We can put back in place policies aimed at addressing Racial Disparities in education, healthcare, and our economy. We can protect a womans right to make her own decisions about her healthcare and end the domestic and global gag rules and ensure funding for planned parenthood. When it comes to infrastructure, i will get that bill introduced in the first 100 days and get it done by the end of the year. Both democrats and republicans have been waiting throughout this administration to see a major infrastructure package. Two years and seven months later, since the president won his election, were still waiting. We still have bridges that are crumbling, schools without heat, faucets we cant drink from and levees breaking apart, and yes, he said that, in front of the whole nation, on election night, that he was going to fix that. And lets get another win for our economy by passing comprehensive Immigration Reform in the first year and immediately in the first 100 days ending separation of kids and their parents, stopping the constant pushback at those here on legal temporary status and allowing the dreamers to stay. We can rebuild our relationship with our allies, and we can restore americas standing in the world. Start the negotiations to get back into the iranian agreement as well as return to the inf treaty while working with our allies to address russian violations. Lets reverse the trump reversals on cuba and work to restore freedom to travel to cuba and trade with cuba. I have long led this bipartisan bill, first with senator flake, now with senator and with president i look forward to completing the work that barack obama started when it came to cuba. Lets strengthen cybersecurity and protect our elections and other american infrastructure. We can end the practice of granting Big Oil Companies secret waivers from the renewable fuel standard. Yet the president said he was going to support our farmers, and we all know in 2016 he got a lot of support in those areas of the country. But what did he do . He went out and behind closed doors gave secret waivers to the Big Oil Companies just at a time when our sector of the economy, the Agriculture Sector has been hurting, hit by bad weather, while he does nothing on Climate Change. Hit by commodity prices, hit by the trade war. In my first 100 days, i will also implement gun reform that are long overdue. We can start by closing the boyfriend loophole. Thats a bill i have led for years, but guess what . A president can do it herself, and that will keep guns out of the hands of abusive dating partners, and we go from there of course to introduce a bill, one just passed the house of representatives, for the bigger items, including background checks. Lets reduce incarceration rates. We got to start with the first step bill. But theres more we can do. In my first 100 days, i will create a clemency Advisory Board actually on day one to begin reviewing requests for clemency. Lets make Mental Health and addiction a priority and address workforce shortages for nurses, psychiatrists, and other Mental Health professionals, especially in rural areas. Lets tackle disparities in maternal and infant mortality by developing a National Model for care. We can target funding on Alzheimers Research and put us on track to develop a cure, treatment, and better prevention by 2025, something i was just talking about at aarp, and by the way, this issue of longterm care and alzheimers, which is going to hurt 14 million americans by 2050, doubling of our senior population is like the elephant in the room that one is dealing with that no one is dealing with, no one is talking about, yet we have over 40 Million People right now who are seniors. When it comes to our democracy, we can stop the insidious discrimination at the ballot box by restoring the Voting Rights act. We can immediately nominate judges to fill judicial vacancies, judges who will follow the law and respect precedent. We can make it clear that the president and the Vice President have to follow conflict of interest laws and require the president to make their tax returns publicly available. We can publicly post executive Branch Ethics waivers and report senior officials conflicts of interest in rule making. All this can be done by the president. We can fully fund freedom of information act offices and post foia requests online. Lets shed a light on the corporate dark money spending by requiring publicly traded companies to disclose all political spending over 10,000 to their shareholders. Finally, lets stand up for Net Neutrality. I will use federal contracting requirements to encourage broad band providers to honor Net Neutrality principles. And we can immediately put in place a plan to connect every household to the internet by 2022. If iceland can do it, i think we can do it. The president can set this goal now. Theres so much more. So unless you are in a rural area that doesnt have access to the internet, something i will change, you can see all of these plans and goals in my 100 day plan on my website at amy klobuchar. Com. To conclude, at his first inaugural fdr said the people were demanding quote direct vigorous action, unquote. They were demanding results. That was true in 1933. And it is true again today. When millions marched at the womens march, they were demanding results. When thousands rushed to the airports over the president s meanspirited travel ban, they were demanding results. And when americans voted last year to turn the house of representatives back into the peoples house, because they didnt like what the president was doing, when it came to healthcare, when they didnt feel like they were part of this economy, they were demanding results. And when they vote on november 3rd, 2020, the American People will once again be demanding results. And when i take the oath of office on january 20th, 2021, thats what i will deliver, 100 days of direct vigorous action followed by the passage of major legislation. The American People are hungry for this change. And believe it or not, some of our elected representatives, many of them, are hungry for it too. My first 100 day plan is what i credibly pledge to do to move our country forward as president. Its a plan to return to the optimistic policies of one of my mentors, paul wellstone, who always said politics is about one simple thing. Its about improving peoples lives. And when you believe that, all of this other stuff, it just melts away. So lets get it done. Thank you. [applause] thank you, senator. Thank you. Thanks, senator. Very nice to have you here. I have never heard a president ial candidate mention fully funding foia offices. Youre really playing to the room here. Well, no, first of all, im on the judiciary committee, so i have heard we have had hearings about this and some of these problems, and i also believe one of the things when you have a president that has said i think it was Washington Post calculation over 10,000 lies, i think transparency is going to be pretty important, for a new president , that you get the truth out there, that people are able to figure out whats going in the government, and thats just got to be a cornerstone when you have someone following someone like this, that people feel like youre looking them in the eye and telling them the truth. Thats something i have always stood for. Im known as being blunt. I think people saw the American Public saw it during the kavanaugh hearing, that im someone that is straightforward and believes on calling things as they are. And i think thats what you need. Thats why while it sounds like an esoteric subject, it is something that we need to do, if were going to bring trust and transparency back in our government. I will go to the questions from the press in a moment. Im going to take one first, but again, wait for the microphone and state your affiliation. You mentioned comprehensive Immigration Reform and ending family separation in your first 100 days, if you do enter the oval office on january 20th, 2021, you will also be faced with Detention Centers across the south full of migrants who have come here. What do you intend to do about that physical reality and also the flow, what sending people to this country . So a few things. This weekend i talked about this. I want to step back a little. I think that what donald trump has been doing here, and i think its most obvious with the raids, if you are going to actually go after bad guys, who are security risks, who are actual security risks, who are in this country, why would you tell them about it a week ahead of time . Thats usually not what you do. I dont think that was his focus. I think his focus was on scaring people, scaring immigrants that are here, scaring the public and trying to switch the News Coverage so that would be covered. I think he thought probably director muellers testimony was coming up, so he was going to do this. This is the kind of thing that he does all the time. He picks something out, and he wants you guys to cover it, and usually you comply; all right . I dont blame you. Hes the president of the United States, and he says outrageous things, but in a campaign, it is going to be very clear when he keeps doing that, and you have to have a candidate who will call him out on it. Hes using these people as political pawns. I truly believe thats what hes doing. When it comes to the border, i see it as part of the same. He has created chaos at the border, and he wants that chaos. He wants it because it makes his base invigorated, and it also distracts people every day from talking about the things that we should be talking about, which is reducing the cost of pharmaceutical drugs, something he promised, which is a huge deal for so many americans, that he hasnt delivered on. Longterm care, alzheimers, all of these things that ive mentioned today, infrastructure, affording college, bringing down healthcare premiums, no, instead, its more chaos. So what i would do is this, first of all, passing comprehensive Immigration Reform, thats not just a fairytale anymore. It passed the senate with significant republican support. The house stays democratic, you could get this done no matter who is in charge in the United States senate. Why . We know that that agreement was something that the chamber of commerce supported as well as the im talk about the 2013 bill. That was an agreement with the path to citizenship that was supported by the migrant groups and the farm bureau and farmers union, this was a widespread agreement that was very detailed. Thats why i know that there are people out there who want to get this done even more urgently. Look at the dreamer deal, led by mike rounds and johnny isaacson, not exactly flaming liberals, okay . They understood the needs in their state for workers, and what we had back when we passed it last time have been even more exacerbated in terms of needing workers in our fields, farms, factory floors, in terms of getting new ideas and Small Businesses, workers in our hospital industry, workers in our nursing homes. So immediately you can do but what about im just telling you. You want the chaos of dp donald trump you want the chaos of donald trump, you have to step back and solve with longterm solutions that the American People have to listen to. I think immediately you can start allowing asylum in the countries themselves. That was a partial policy that the Obama Administration had that the Trump Administration reversed. I think that would be helpful. I think you can work to stabilize the situation in those countries, by working with our allies, the reason comprehensive Immigration Reform is helpful in a big way for that is that it brought the deficit down. This is the 2013 bill with the cbo score by 158 billion dollars. Thats why Grover Norquist made it one of his Top Priorities that year, 158 billion, even a small amount of that money could be useful for upgrading some of the security at the border and putting the money where we actually need it and also for helping with those countries in the northern triangle. As for the centers, ive already advocated for closing down these private prisons, places like home stead, i went there the last time when we were in miami, and i saw the sunbaked concrete and all thousands of kids that are being just stored there, basically, i think its wrong. I also think that you have to we have a bill right now in the senate that puts standards in place, and you just simply allow these asylum cases to be processed. And thats not happening right now because we dont have the personnel to do it. So hes done things that bring more people up the border. I think my policies would stop some of that. Clearly it would. You would set a date a cutoff date when it comes to a path to citizenship and then you improve the conditions and you allow people to seek asylum. You talked about the chaos your name im with the minneapolis star tribune. You talked about the chaos that president likes to create. He created a lot of chaos yesterday in on the south lawn, and we did write about it. But you call yourself a moderate candidate, and the president s statements seem to be pushing democrats toward having to embrace people who are on the very far reaches of the party. And im specifically going to ask about ilhan omar who is part of our state. Are you worried that your i guess need or feeling that you have to support ilhan omar is going to sour you with some of the moderate people that youre going to need both to get the nomination and especially to be elected in the general election . First of all, what the president did and what he said was racist, and youve got to call it out when people do that. By the way, it wasnt just democrats calling it out. There are a bunch of conservatives, conservative commentators who have actually called it out as racist. You cant just let it go when he does these things. But i think your point is this, he does these things because then he wants to dominate the News Coverage with that discussion. So as president , first of all, im not going to be doing that, duh, but when when he does do these things now, i think you have to make your views known, and then you have to continue stressing as i have done today what the American People really want to hear from us about, what they really want us to get done. Thats what i think this is about. I was very interested in the tweet he sent out today, only because it got to a different topic, where he said if youre not happy in this country, you should leave. That gets us to a different level of who has to leave. And i actually said this morning, well, that means that this president would have to be deported on day one of his administration. A happy warrior he is not. And that in fact, our Founding Fathers envisioned that this was a place where we would work for a more Perfect Union, happily or unhappily, that we were to advocate for change, and we would always be continuously expanding on this Great American spirit of democracy. Again, i think he is going for this so that the discussion lands there. I think it is the right thing to do, to say that you cant tell people to go back to a country when they are american citizens. No, you cant do that. That hes doing it for racist and divisive reasons. And then i think the third thing is that we have to continue calling him on what he hasnt done. All these broken promises, time and time again. Hi, im a reporter from the media group. My question is how would you evaluate trumps administrations china policy . And what is the pro trade china policy, if you can suggest, in your first 100 days . Thank you. Thank you very much. So i think we all know the issues with china, the way they have manipulated their currency, the way they have stolen intellectual property, and the way they have subsidized industries. That isnt right for the rest of the country and for our global economy. Those things are very very wrong, and they have put us at a disadvantage. So of course it was time to push at china. I know this in my own state, with the effect of steel dumping. Now, i can use that as an example because when that steel dumping was running rampant, i actually brought in president obamas chief of staff up to northern minnesota, met with the workers, met with the people up there. This is on iron ore mining. And we had a major discussion, and the administration i thought it took too long, but they changed course and started enforcing those laws on steel dumping. It turned things around. It turned things around that is illegal to dump steel. And china was a major part of that. It is illegal to do that. So my answer here is that and then it continued to turn around because those laws were continued to be enforced. So my answer is that you use strong negotiations, that you stand with our allies, because we are stronger when we do that, and that you make sure whatever you use, if youre using tariffs or whatever tool you use, that it is targeted; right . And to me, it hasnt felt like hes done that. It feels like hes used a meat cleaver or maybe we call it a tweet cleaver so you have people that are hurt by his policies that wouldnt have to be hurt. I think so much of this, if were going to achieve a better place for our country with china, that we have to keep pushing, that we have to do it with our allies, and we need to be targeted in our approach. I guess the results are in the numbers. What is it . 891 is that what it is . 891 billion dollars trade deficit. Its at the worst that its ever been. In the back in the blue shirt. Cbs news. Senator, you talk about the president invigorating his base. Thats what some of his critics say he was doing with his tweets about the congresswoman. Your state has a lot of supporters of the president. Do you believe they are fuelled by racial animus . I think that a lot of the people who voted for donald trump were hard core republicans. I dont know what their views on race. Im sure there are those that are racist, but i do know the people that voted for him that also voted for me and the people that have tended to be voters that sometimes vote democratic, sometimes voted for president obama; right . And then they voted for donald trump. There are those voters. I think that those voters were motivated motivated by feeling like they were left out of the economy. I really do. I think it has little to do for those voters with race. I think they felt like they didnt see the shared prosperity, that it was still hard for them to send their kids to college or they see the price of insulin go up from 18 a vial in their lifetime to 1200 a month to the point where i brought to the state of the union a woman named Nicole Smith Holt whose son was a restaurant manager in a suburban restaurant in the twin cities, and he had aged off his parents healthcare, and he couldnt afford the insulin. He was a severe diabetic. He started rationing it, and he died. Right . When you are someone that have experienced this, and you think i need hope, right, this happened after donald trump was in, by the way, but there are plenty of people that felt like that before that 2016 election. You vote for change. And so thats why in the debates i was surprised this more of my colleagues didnt do this, but i think it is important to those voters and some of them are watching these democratic debates; right, for those independents, for those moderate republicans who arent in the trump core base, i think its important to make the case not only for an optimistic economic agen agenda, which i have been doing and have done today, but also for these unmet promises and things he has said and untruths he has told the American People. So i think you have to do both things. So thats my answer to you. No, i dont think that they are all racist by any means. Here in the second row. Im with cnn. Weve seen the president engage to the for progress congresswomen and the language he is now using has evolved into accusing them antiusa, antiisrael, and pro terrorists, i think a lot of voters, particularly democratic voters are looking for some reassurance in terms of someone who will be able to push back and take on the president. If you are the nominee, what is going to be your approach in dealing with perhaps some of the language that will be coming at you in light of such a nasty political environment . Uhhuh, very good. I have made it clear that i dont agree with some of the statements, very clear, that some of these members have made. But i think that a president has an obligation to be the face of the American People, to be the face of our country abroad and to be the face of our country for little kids. And my mom was a teacher. She taught 2nd grade until she was 70 years old. She loved that job. And she always thought of her job in her classroom with her 30 kids. She was their role model; right . She was their role model when it came to how you learn and the importance of school, but she was also their role model for values. I have used the example a few times of how she taught this Monarch Butterfly unit. It was her favorite thing every single year, and she would dress as a Monarch Butterfly when she released the butterfly with all these adoring 2nd graders looking at her, and she would have tights on and antennas and a sign that said to mexico or bust. But what i didnt find out about that story until after she died at the visitation i knew that she would go Grocery Shopping in that outfit because she thought it was funny, afterward. But i never knew why. She did it because and i found this out at the visitation because a mother comes up to me sobbing with her severely disabled adult son standing next to her, and she says to me, this is my son, and he had your mom in 2nd grade, and he loved your mom. She was so grate to him, and he loved she was so great to him and he loved learning about the butterflies. So every year after he graduated, he got a job bagging groceries at the local Grocery Store, so every year your mom in that outfit would come to that Grocery Store and stand in his line and give him a big hug. That is more than being a teacher. That is showing values. Right . Thats what she did with her kids. And thats what we need in a country. We need a president thats willing to show American Values and goodwill and decency, and you do that, yes, by the policies, which we spend a lot of time on in these debates, but you also do it by how you speak, by what you say to the American People, how you treat your colleagues, which i have a strong history of working in a decent way with democrats and republicans to try to get things done. I know thats not cool to say in this election season. But i think its just part of what we need in a president , and we need someone who is going to speak to people in a way that doesnt divide them, but that brings them together. Im with med tech insight. Where are you . Med tech insight . Okay. [laughter] senator, you have had a relationship with a medical Device Industry. You have been a big proponent of repealing the medical device tax, but you didnt mention anything about that in your first 100 days. Has your relationship with the medical Device Industry changed since you started running for president . And what would you do, if anything, in the first 100 days about the medical device tax . Well, i see the medical Device Industry as a strong industry in our country. Its done good for people, but theres always issues; right . Theres safety issues and regulations that have to be put in place, and i have made that very clear in supporting measures that will allow for approvals of medical device but also keeps safety provisions in place. As for that specific tax, i was not the only one that had issues with this tax when it was proposed. Unlike the pharmaceutical companies, which made an agreement for that bill, which unfortunately, did not include any kind of checks on them when it came to negotiations under medicare or doing something about bringing in more generics and sampling, the problems were now seeing, stopping their practice of paying off generics, medical device was kind of put in there with a tax. And it didnt seem like it was very well thought out, the amount, and so if you remember, just as an example, i think it got reduced in half, just like that, after it had been proposed. Then we started going into that tax, and i think people started realizing by the way, im not the only there were a number of people that had voiced problems with this because it is essentially a tax on manufacturing. Senator warren was opposed to this tax and was one of the issues she raised when she was running for u. S. Senate in her first race. And was opposed to that tax. Simply because it is a tax on manufacturing. So i dont think i would take any kind of action in the first 100 days, but i continue to believe that it should be suspended, that it should be repealed, and i think that it could actually be done even before i become president. And its currently suspended. Right here . Im with politico. Where are you . There you are, good. Your infrastructure plan would be paid for by an increase in the Corporate Tax rate among fixing loopholes, other things, do you think thats politically realistic, and why did you choose to take that approach instead of using a user fee like the gas tax . Well, i think everyone knew when that tax bill passed, the one that had all the errors and everything in it, that they are still trying to fix, i think everyone knew that that tax rate went way lower than anyone thought, and the plan for years, with republicans, at least ones i know in the senate, was when this tax reform came, that that would be an opportunity to get infrastructure done. And the numbers tossed around at the beginning, even with the Business Community to bring the tax rate down, and i did support bringing the tax rate down, but nowhere near to where it went, were numbers around 25 or 26, they probably didnt like that as much, but that one, or 24 , and instead it went all the way down the Corporate Tax rate to 21 . Okay. So if you even bring it up to 25 , that is 100 billion dollars for every point over ten years. So that would get you 400 billion right there. The reason i tied it into that is there will be a tax bill by the end of that year. I dont think you can get this infrastructure package done, you know, in those first 100 days. You can get it proposed but not done. And there are many members because of the Rural Infrastructure needs with water and sewer. I know those arent always glamorous, but they are big needs, with water and sewer, with roads, with issues that weve been having with the electric grid and other things, levees bursting in places like iowa, issues in nebraska that we have seen with the flooding, that theres just a lot of buyin to want to move forward with infrastructure. You tie that infrastructure package in with a tax bill and you move to get it done. And i think it is a smart way to do it. I would add the other i have in there is the 150 billion you get back by going back to the International Tax rate, the way it was instead of this average rate, which is something i could do on my own. And then the other two are bipartisan bills. One is 300 billion dollars for an infrastructure financing authority, which is a warner blount, roy blount bill and the other is by america bonds which is a proposal put forward by senator hoeven and senator widen so i tried to put a realistic package together with a number that the president used himself, a trillion, but then all of a sudden he said 2 trillion, but then all of a sudden he just broke up the meeting and walked away, and they never got anything done. I think those numbers have been out there for quite a while and are actually achievable. If we want to move on infrastructure, in a big way. We probably have time one or maybe two or two more questions, if they are quick. The first one right here. Im from med page today. What was it . Med page today. Okay, uhhuh. You mentioned about the elephant in the room being the 40 million Older Americans in this country. I wonder if you could talk about any plans for longterm care and your concerns about getting healthcare for this population . Thank you. I think one of the issues here has been because the president has literally been relitigating the Affordable Care act, not just in rhetoric, but with the texas case and the focus on this all the time and sabotaging the exchanges, we have really gotten away from what is called the elephant in the room, not the republican party, but longterm care. And it is long past time to update our funding situation when it comes to longterm care. When you have by the way, this isnt you know what my position is on expanding on the Affordable Care act with a public option and bringing premiums down and using cost sharing and reinsurance as well as taking on the Pharma Companies with the ideas that ive been leading for years, but the longterm care has to be addressed. Why . Now we have Something Like 43 million seniors, and were going to see a doubling of that population in decades. Okay. I used to call that the silver tsunami and then the senior groups told me that was too negative. So i call it i call it the silver surge; all right . Were going to have more and more people that are living longer. Were especially going to have more and more women that are living longer. So that comes with it some benefits and also some costs. So first lets go to the benefits. Retraining seniors. Theres a lot of seniors out there that want to work and we dont have enough people working. This is actually something that aarp has been up front on. I think it is a really interesting concept. I personally am a big believer in multigenerational workforces. I learned this in my state office when i first got in the senate and i got a call from the former head of the National Farmers union who had retired Dave Frederickson and he told me he wanted to be an ag outreach in minnesota. I said okay. He was a delight in our workplace for three years and not only because he was so good on the issues but because all the young people, the millennials could consult with him on their career paths but also of course their romances. It was really good. He ended up then becoming the commissioner of agriculture for the state of minnesota. He ended up having actually three retirement parties. Another story. And so making sure that workers can go that we are retraining workers. Thats a benefit of having a lot of seniors. Theres obvious benefits for our country. All right. But what do we have to do in terms of the longterm care . First, we want to be flexible. More people want to stay in their homes right now. It is not like the old thing where everyone wept to a nursing home went to a nursing home. They want to stay up in their homes. We need no set up our funding structure in a way that better accommodates that as well as our workforce structure. We have to find a way we have medicaid which i will keep strong, which we know is what a lot of families use for their longterm care, but then why not have tax credits, and i pay for this by the way with a tax on trust funds that are over 500,000, not for charity, but for family members. I think thats kind of as people are aging, they set up these trust funds with their kids and all the money they make on it doesnt get taxed. That brings in billions of dollars that you could use to help pay for longterm care in two ways. One is to actually directly pay for some of it with the tax credit, to help people. The second is as an incentive for people to buy longterm Care Insurance. In my own life, my dad unbeknownst to me purchased longterm Care Insurance when it was easier to pay for. He is now 91. Hes in assisted living in a memory care unit and that really has motivated me because i have seen these challenges. The fact he has that longterm care has been really helpful. Although i know the exact date when his assets run out, and he may have to change to a different facility. I dont think the one he is now takes medicaid. The one he was in before did not and i know where hes going to go. I have a plan. See i have 100 day plans all the time. I think that a lot of families struggle with that. Workforce, thats another struggle we have, and ive gone through the reason, one of the main reasons we want Immigration Reform is we have all these occupations where we dont have enough people in them, and its been a big problem. Talk to those people in iowa i was just with. I did at an event in a community center, theres workforce issues. You can fill those workforce issues, senior training is an enteresting idea, also helping people pay back their Student Loans with loan forgiveness but extending it to in demand occupations like those in the healthcare sector would be a good one, one that i have put forth. The third thing of course is Immigration Reform, so people can legally work there. Those things would be helpful. I think when you look at everything we need to do here, it is actually it feels hard when youre the family member, but there are solutions that we can all agree on in our country. It is actually a problem that brings people together more than some of the things donald trump likes to tweet about every single day. And the last thing id mention on this is alzheimers. 14 Million People are forecast to have alzheimers by 2050. It is the most expensive disease in our country. All right . And yet, we arent in my mind focusing enough on prevention. Theres starting to be a lot of information out there with studies that you can actually prevent it from happening or lessen its effects, also treatment, and then of course the third thing, which is finding a cure. So those are things that would be huge priorities for me, and having lived this, i have seen the people who are heroes, the people who are those people working in those memory care units. That is not an easy job. The people the heroes are the husbands and the wives and the brothers and the sisters and the daughters and the sons who are doing the work, taking care of people who while their hearts are still there, their minds get farther and farther away every single month. So i would stress again the president came in with the gift of a stable economy, which came on the back of workers and businesses that got us through that downturn, the resilience they showed. When you are leading at a moment in time like that, your challenge is to lead, to look to the next challenges. Not just to divide people to get reelected, not to look at the lowest common denominator what you can talk about, go to the highest one; right . We have the challenges with longterm care, taking on diseases, there are opportunities as well as challenges with taking on Climate Change with training our workers so we can compete in the global economy, with doing something about Immigration Reform, with making sure that everyone is sharing in this economy so it makes the economy stronger going forward. So that is what im very glad you asked that last question because it is so easy to ask the questions about his tweets, because that is what he wants every single day. Thank you very much. [applause] thank you very much, senator. [applause] before we let you leave, we have to present you with one of the most soughtafter and exclusive items in all of washington, d. C. The National Press club mug. It fits all ethical standards. Very good. You can drink anything out of it. [laughter] i did one of my funnier experiences on this campaign trail. I was on the pod cast love it or leave it. It is funny, if you want to listen to it, and with love it, and there was bottles of water next to each of us. We were on a stage in front of thousands of people at northrup auditorium at the university of minnesota. That was about a month ago. I couldnt get the water bottle open on stage. He was very preoccupied with what he was saying, and then all of a sudden i looked and there was two red glasses, and one was on his right. One was on my right side. Im like well, okay, i dont know i guess this is mine. It had a bunch of ice in it. I took this huge swig of it on stage in the middle of the interview and it was pure vodka. [laughter] so anyway, then i sipped a few more just to make the point. Im sure that would not happen at the National Press club. All right. Thank you. Thanks, everyone. [applause] [inaudible conversation] in 1979, Small Network with an unusual name rolled out a big idea. Let viewers make up their own minds. Cspan opened the doors to washington policy, for all to see, bringing you unfiltered content from congress and beyond. A lot has changed in 40 years, but today that big idea is more relevant than ever. On television and online, cspans your unfiltered view of government. So you can make up your own mind. Brought to you as a Public Service by your cable or satellite provider. President trump held a Cabinet Meeting today and spoke with reporters. He said the four congresswomen hes criticized recently can quote go wherever they want or they can stay. He also talked about the economy, immigration, trade with china, and other topics. Hope you are comfortable with all those cameras behind you. You need to have a good head of hair. You ready . Thank you very much. Our Cabinet Meeting and well start with a prayer, please. Rick perry . Mr. President , thank you. On the 4th of july i had a prayer that came true. Pray for the good lord to agree that your prayer