Blankley follows and especially to moderate this conversation which is so important right now. Conservatives often disagree with the left and other political factions about the role of government in Todays Society but i think the one thing we all do agree on is the government most read important responsibility protecting its citizens from all threats, both foreign and domestic. Weve seen a rise in antisemitism, in radical islamic terror, as well as domestic terror. Its only gotten harder over the years for the government to take care of this there are important responsibility, but likely we have two really great panelists with us here today to help break this down. First, asra nomani is a a cofounder of the Muslim Reform Movement and shes dedicated her life to promoting peace and human rights and womens rights within the Muslim Community. She has a very illustrious resume, including being a reporter for the wall street journal as well as teaching at my alma mater georgetown university. Our second panelists who is doing this via skype today is sara carter. She is a Fox News Contributor and awardwinning investigative journalist. Shes written for numerous outlets including the Washington Examiner and the Washington Times that now she posed for exclusive original reporting her own website. Shes covered everything from the wars in afghanistan and iraq to the security crisis on our southern border. So please give a big round of applause for our wonderful panelists. [applause] i think anyone knows how to keep america safe, which is of course of the topic of this panel, its definitely asra answer. Id like to start something thats been important to me because i was seven years old with september 11 terror attacks occurred so it really one of the first big news events in the United States that i remember and was really affected by. So the vast mitchard of my life we have been fighting these wars against radical islamic terror in afghanistan, and iraq. Of course theres been the attempts at nationbuilding by the bush administration, and id like you all to start, just speak about how this threat has grown over the years. The Muslim Community didnt used to be such radical, did not such radical sex. It was quite welcoming to women. Women were much freer than they are now. What with some of these pivotal moments that occurred in the Muslim Community to lead us to this . Thank you so much for having me here. Im so honored to be amongst all of you, and thank you for the invitation to come here. My own experience, i was a little bit older on september 11, 2001, but it was an aha moment like so many people in the world. I am a muslim morning india to a theologically conservative family, and so share a lot of values with many of you in the room. I wasnt allowed to go to the dance when i was in junior high school. When the senior class president asked me to go to the senior prom, i said i cant because i wasnt allowed to date. We loved the arranged marriage. Theres many ideas religiously that align with the religious conservatives in america. But the great departure for my family and for me was this interpretation of islam that preached violence. This was an interpretation that has been exported to our world over my lifetime since 1979, brought sunni and shia leaders to try to compete for the hearts and minds of muslims. Sara will speak you about what shes witnessed, but on that day, on september 11, 2001, i knew as a muslim and as a journalist i had to get on a plane and go to pakistan and start reporting on the war that was about to be unleashed. It was there that i had my critical moment. My colleague at the wall street journal was the journalist danny pearl, and yeah, you all can feel just in that reaction, you know, the tragedy that it happened to danny. For some of the younger ones here, he was a journalist who was reporting, like all journalists, and he came to visit me in my home and karachi, pakistan, and there he was been kidnapped. He was beheaded by men who laid out their prayer rug after they had slain him. Because they believed that they were doing something divine. And my journey then after that has been to stand up to that interpretation of islam that justify killing danny, because he was american, cassie becauss jewish, and because he supports the right of israel to exist. Thats how our Muslim Reform Movement was born in the United States, to try to put forward an interpretation of islam that believes in peace, womens rights. At another really important principle of secular governance, because so many of these muslim extremists want their theocracy and idea of muslim supremacy to be the idea of governance. Sara, you actually did in the middle east for sometime and so if youve a lot of this firsthand. How has this radical element infiltrated what were once peaceful muslims . Thank you so much for having me here, being able to speak to the steamboat is a too. I wish be there with the audience and asra who such a good friend and someone who i have so much adoration for because shes so brave, and she speaks a truth that we not hearing often enough for muslim women. I did drop in saudi arabia. I spent my formidable years in the kingdom from the time i was six years old until i started high school in the United States. My father worked there as an american, and i remember i kingdom where, of course it was where strict islamic law, wahhabism was rooted there. This is a strict sharia nation by member traveling throughout the middle east even as a child, and like asra, in egypt in the lebanon and in the persian gulf, things were different. It wasnt this strict wahhabi law or was it the strict interpretation of islam, that islamism that we are facing. Now today. And i remember september 11, like an sure else who lived through it, and it changed my life. Because at that point, just like asra, at that point i decided to dedicate my life to journalism, and to covering the war and to covering terrorism, to covering the National Security issues that affect our nation. And i believe he goes i had that experience, thats what led me to it. So we changed my life completely. A change in life forever because i spent so many of the last years of my life in the middle east and in south asia covering the war, like asra. Look, what we are seeing today, and we have to understand this, they are trying to divide us. Theyre trying to pit as against one another. We need to listen to reformers, people like asra, people like others, women were after speaking the truth about what, about what truly is [inaudible] of islam, of being muslim. [inaudible] in the middle east at our rapid up because i want to get back to asra. [inaudible] the most extraordinary expenses, beautiful friends, one and welcoming people. I dont know if people have seen the news today but the department invested, you know, released a a press release that two women in brooklyn, actually, queens, they pleaded guilty today in brooklyn the basically preparing and planning to build a bomb and distribute bomb making instructions to followers. They are extremists. They are radical. They follow tips like alqaeda and islamic state, and actually had the intention of using a weapon of mass distraction from a large bomb and the United States. These are two women. Two american women muslim women that had been radicalized. So i think this is really important discussion. Im really happy to be here, and hope asra and i can dispel some of the inaccurate information thats out there and really get to the root of whats causing this rise to radicalism among some in the Muslim Community, and what we can do as a nation to stop this and to find a way to communicate and make a difference. How has radicalism made its way to the u. S. . Were seeing a rise in domestic terrorism, both in terms of antisemitism, white supremacy, also in islamism. Im wondering how you all see that making its way to the u. S. , how is that ideology gaining root in a place where we value things like democracy and freedom and liberty . For me, i grew up, i came from india and lived first in new jersey and then i lend in morgantown, West Virginia, in the foothills of the appalachian mountains. My father was best at West Virginia university. When i was a teenager, i went for the annual eve party we have the marks the end of our madonna. Normally we would all mixed together just like we are in the room, men and women sitting together, that was together, husbands wives next to each other. But one year then we were told as we walked into the front, women over there. We were sent as women and girls into the little studio apartment, you know, that the graduate students lived in. And there the men would bring the food that all the women had cooked and leave it at the door, knocked on the door and run away, as it they were to look at us and then turned to stone. Because saudi students have come to campus and they had brought with them suitcases of their koran and their interpretation of islam, this wahhabism that sara talks about. And what is happening in america that is such importance to all of you are interested in our political system is that first the salaries and other government qatar and also now the current government of turkey have funded muslim organizations in the United States that believe in this islamism which is the etiology of political islam, the idea of muslim supremacy. And these are organizations that some of you might be familiar with like the council on American Islamic relations, and activists like an activist from brooklyn named linda. These individuals have now taken the ideology of islamism and put a port in america as one of their agenda items. And what comes with that . Whats really important, any of you who care about pluralism is antisemitism, very clear agenda to destroy the state of israel, and as our last panel discussed, now what were saying is the unmasking of ideas, right, that we now know where people are espousing socialist ideas. Theyre saying it straight up. Now with the rise of richey talent and l hunt over a spokeswoman for this lobby, we see really clearly we seem just and this past week, you know, their propaganda tour canceled by the Prime Minister of israel because he knew that in their agenda is a destruction of israel. And so thats the alarm bells that we want to raise with many of you that i know you are aware of. But what is happening is they have to insert themselves into the Democratic Party platform. They had decided that liberal america and the left is a way theyre going to enter into american politics. This weekend is going to be a big muslim vote drive by all of these organizations, and their interest is to have Rashida Tlaib and ilhan omar to the nth degree in u. S. Political systems. Sara, how do you think the left has allowed this to happen . How have they allow this infiltration . The womens march which was founded by linda was supposed be about the empowerment of women when we know the things she believes in like sharia law do the exact opposite of that. How has this been able to become a Democratic Party platform when it seems antithetical to the things they claimed they believe . I i couldnt have said it better myself. You made such an important point right there. How did it happen . It happened very slowly and it happens with the ability when it summoned like ilhan omar in Rashida Tlaib coming out and making statements. People are terrified of that. A lot of times people hold back. [inaudible] we saw what happened with nancy pelosi. She challenged them. You see what happened when anybody challenges Rashida Tlaib and ilhan omar, but if youll said no way. Youre not going to bring that here. We know why youre here. You support bds and that movement is so divisive and it actually is working very closely with palestinian terror organizations early on, and youre not coming into israel. It was a very difficult decision because they felt the wrath of that from other people across the globe but israel understands what these women were coming from. I introduced ms. Iraq and form abyss of iraq. She is muslim and shall again the United States now at the age of 18 she actually volunteered and took on a job as an interpreter for u. S. Forces in iraq, became very enamored by the United States and what it stood for and eventually came to the u. S. She was a refugee as well in syria. She went straight out after ilhan omar saint you do not represent me as a muslim woman. I do know if any of saw the stories out there, but that really backandforth battle going on publicly because she is trying to dispel what ilhan omar and Rashida Tlaib are putting out there. They are saying they are the representation of muslim women all across the globe, and they are not. There are muslim women all across the globe that are fighting this fight of, i would say, antiwomens movement that has been pushing forward so starting with his islam, you know, the new islamism. But just think of malala in pakistan who stood up to the taliban and almost lost her life. Think of the women in afghanistan who took storks historic steps and said im not going to marry that man. [inaudible] i know drama talks a lot about this [inaudible] stand up for people that are willing to fight [inaudible] and, unfortunately, [inaudible] [inaudible] im not going to speak for asra here but [inaudible] asked them what the bleep, hold the mechanical for what they believe and stand up hold them accountable [inaudible] so that we can change the tide when it comes to surviving islamism and terror. Wondered things you speak about, a lot about, asra, is what is the alternative to what is happening with islamism, thats what your group looks to do, provide that alternative. What i was just reminded of when sara was talking so eloquently about how israel reacted is that i come from, in a muslim society, we are an honor shame culture. Thats oftentimes the lever that is used to intimidate people into silence. Thats the go to for this radical muslim lobby as i described them. They will try to shame you into silence. If you dare to question them, then they will call you and islamophobe. Ein exhibit a for what and islamophobe supposedly looks like according to their playbook. Because i dared to criticize that interpretation of islam that is a problem in this world. But on some level we have to be shameless. We had to stand with courage, intellectual courage and conviction. I want to gently say that its really important to allow an islam and among muslims the same progress on and reformation that has happened in christianity and judaism, and even in the conservative movement, right . In earlier panels we talked about how you go back to the addition, but you see with clear i what works for the present day and what doesnt. Islam was born in the seventh century. So just think we are 700 years behind, and give us a little bit of slack for the fact that we have all these theocratic government basically with the club over the heads of so many muslims. But what were offering is a vision in a Muslim Reform Movement for an interpretation of islam that is in his of islam. It was called they were living in iraq during the tenth, 12th century, and they believe in vertical thinking. They believe in this critical principle of Education System in america. They believed in rational thought. And just like philosophical movements through history have been crushed and then reborn, they were crushed. That was when the gates of Critical Thinking were closed. What were trying to do is burst open your i so appreciate that many of you are offering us the opportunity in this country, because its only in this country that offers so many freedoms that we are able to do this with relative safety and security. And so, please, please look at islam not monolithic, as a monolithic interpretation, but one that has a continuum. And were not trying to do anything except bring principles with which islam was born that of the most progressive and able to live in the 21st century. I want to sneak in one more question before return over to the audience for your questions. This ties so much into immigration and our immigration policy because when you look at what has happened in europe with the refugee crisis, sweden, for example, attempted to rape of girls 46 , rate of girls under 15 up 26 in the same timeframe and the vast majority of women convicted of rape or foreign nationals. They were not native to sweden. What lessons can we learn from europe in dealing with the refugee crisis as we craft our own immigration policy in trying to protect our nation and our borders . Sara . This is a subject that means so much to me. I spent so much alike of my cas well on the u. S. Mexico border and just inside mexico. I was in Central America in guatemala twice over the last year, and plan on returning back shortly. There are so many lessons we can learn, lessons we can learn over decades of having this same problem and crisis repeated over and over again. I can tell the audience, i listened to some of my work in 2006 was, on the radio or like the stories i wrote back in 2014 when the was a flight of undocumented children into the u. S. It sounded like i was talking today about the same crisis. This this is a National Security crisis at our borders. It isnt just about immigration. Our border is wide open, not just to people we see coming from Central America, which we havent properly vetted, either because they dont have identifiers identifies or any type of identification on them, but people from all of the world. Weve seen increases in people coming from as far away as anglo dutch, africa, congo. While i was in guatemala there were a number of people that had come through basically from bangladesh as well as from africa through brazil, up through columbia and then eventually through guatemala. We dont know who these people are. We dont know what their intentions are hurt and unless they in a database, we will have no idea what their intentions are. I think this is why the Trump Administration, in fact, i know this is why, the Trump Administration has made this such a top priority. Shut down the loophole to make sure that the people are properly vetted. Its a really difficult challenge, though however when one is focused on the left or from others is to say well, this is antiimmigrant. This is a racist action, or you are not appropriately taking care of children. You know, we should let them go, we should end the settlement disagreement. We should have [inaudible] we have a serious crisis because the order has been [inaudible] the time i spent with the Intelligence Officers [inaudible] they even say if the American People [inaudible] what was happening down there. I think all of them would want something to happen. But, unfortunately, we dont always get all that information and, unfortunately, theres a lot of rhetoric out there. As far as immigration, its still a major priority, a major part of my work. Also looking at how that border is actually a National Security risk for us. We know people have attempted to cross the border before i wanted people, people have been identified as belonging to terrorist organization. We know that the dea and the department of defense, that our border patrol, our immigration and customs enforcement, our department of Homeland SecurityWork Together cohesively to try, along with our partners to the south, to try together to stop the flow anybody that would be attempting to come into this country to do us harm. But remember its almost impossible. There are so many people, and we miss a lot of them. Every time you hear about apprehension, i say to myself, those are who with actually stopped. What about all the people we didnt catch . What about all the contraband that came through that we didnt catch, that we didnt inspect . Thats what people have to realize. As for europe, and ill make this very quick, as for your you see whats happening in the european we see whats happening to european nations with the flow and its become very difficult. Its become difficult for countries like italy as well and other nations which economically sustain it would have to take in so many people flooding into the nation. We have to look at this as a comprehensive solution. Its not just one thing. Its not just building a wall. Its not just negotiating a safe third country agreement. It all of it. Its looking at this as a comprehensive issue and ensuring as well that the democrats are involved. People can politicize this all they want, but whats going to happen if someone comes across that border that [inaudible] who is going to be sitting at that september 11 commission, right, hearing . How are things going to when for decades we have been reporting and crying out that there is a National Security threat of the u. S. Mexico border. Thats the question. Thanks, sara. I would just add that when we talk about the radical muslim lobby and the immigration issue, they have made themselves a key part of the coalition, to have open borders, to pit president trumps policies as in muslim ban. And they are intent on promoting the democratic agenda when it comes to immigration. What they are not interested in doing is forcing and demanding the kind of expectations that create, you know, that have been surrendered, in fact, in europe that have created the kinds of situations you talked about related to crime in sexual assault. And that is the simple principle of integration. I came to this country when i was four years old and it was nancy drew was my best friend. And i, too, love Country Music because what mountaineer wouldnt . That is the challenge for all of us. I met some immigrants that were asylumseekers in greece this summer, and i introduced them to an exhibit that i had done related to my friend danny perls story. One of them literally wore a baseball cap with an ak47 on it, which was like a trigger for me because its basically the gun of the militants in south asia and pakistan. And i told them the story of dannys mapping and murder, and this young man who ive had suspicions about initially had tears in his eyes. Because this tragedy spoke to him also. And this is the group that we need to integrate people are coming into this country. Its on all of our shoulders into find a way that the pathway to american identity is one that is in sync with our values. My father was most moved when he was a student in kansas date. Because he went to a church and he watched the car wash. At the car wash the pastor was there along with a teenager washing cars to raise money for the church. Its in those simple values that i think we can preserve the incredible fabric that is america. Great. Were going to go ahead and turn it over to the audience for questions. I see this young man back your races and very quickly so i think we will let him go first. Hello. Thanks for the young man. Youre welcome. [laughing] i i thought youre talking to someone else. One of the founders of the modern feminist movement with Gloria Steinem and that group. For the last decade the two shes been thoroughly ostracized from the feminist community because of two issues. One is for support for the only Democratic State in the middle east, israel. And secondly, because she speaks out against the treatment of women in so many islamic countries. Could you both speak to the deafening silence of the american feminist community about whats happening to their sisters in islamic countries . Yes. Im very well familiar with Phyllis Chesler and her contribution to important issues from the honor killings that again our reflection of the honor shame culture in which i was born. What is happened with the feminist movement is exactly the point of the womens march that you brought up. Its been hijacked. Its been hijacked by Muslim Leaders, women Muslim Leaders who want absently no conversation about the womens rights issue in islam because they know its our achilles heel. And they know that if you dare to touch the issue, youre going to end up with an indefensible argument related to segregation and lack of equal rights and just so many fundamental issues. And so they have completely abandoned it, to me, women in so many muslim countries like the women in iran who want to simply have the right to feel the wind in their hair. Just such a simple idea. When you go outside as women, and when you go outside as men and see a woman being able to just walk freely, this is the feeling that i have is wow, do you know how amazing and experience this is . Because its denied millions of women. And, unfortunately, the feminist Movement Today wants to say that you are an islamophobe if you want to talk about these issues. But thats what i i say stand p with moral courage and challenge of them and feel no shame about raising these important issues. Exactly. Thank you so much for such an important question. I think look, this isnt about culture. This is about human rights and dignity. If any of these women actually cared enough about their fellow women, they would be outraged and they would stand up against it. She saw me and he saw this doctor and she sat there looking at us and then she said, she walked in about 11 or 12. And i asked the doctor and she said ill never have a chance to be a doctor or somebodylike you. And i said well what do you mean . She said because my father is forcing me to marry an elder in her village and ill never ever go to school. And my heart just broke. She wasnt happy about that. This wasnt a cultural great moment for her. Her village had been nominated by the taliban. This overall felt like she had no one to defend her and when you think about this, and you think about even what missy ross did and took a picture and said to the Iraqi Government i stand by my israeli neighbor and i will be an israeli friend and i will repeat, hopefully those of our nation, that was really brave thing to do. It happened to be that each one of us could do. We shouldnt turn our heads when people are suffering and we come from an extraordinary nation. We should make sure that light shines and that women get that courage in places like south saudi arabia to stand up and fight for their own dignity another question, we have one here. Asra nomani, youre a cofounder of the Muslim Reform Movement. To do chronic abrogation all the peaceful messages from iran as the setup are replaced with those later messages of hatred and distrust for nonmuslims. Many things that people see as hateful about islam were removed, nothing would be left. How can we reform islam getting rid of all the bad, female mutilation, etc. , getting rid of all that leads nothing left of islam . Thank you for that great question. It reminds me of the tour we want to start because when ilhan omar was asked by a activist about her position on female genital mutilation which is the cutting of a girls s so that she doesnt feel orgasm , its appropriate to talk about here. She yelled at the woman and said that an appalling question and i refuse to answer it and we want to start tour and the Muslim Reform Movement of honoring islam by askingthe following questions. This is a really critical question that you raise about the violence versus environment chapters. So when the question was asked, it started with this assumption of abrogation so abrogation which most of you might understand mean that a later verse usurps an earlier verse. So when islam was founded was in the city of mecca and there were more peaceful versus his argument and later when the prophet mohammed moved to modena and was at war there were these more violent versus and so theres a couple of fundamental ideas , that fancy word hermeneutic, the study of sacred texts and the fundamental message and the Reform Movement is we do not agree that abrogation is the analysis with which we approach thechapters and verses in the koran so thats a critical idea. And so we denied the fundamental premise of that shuffle that youve got to do and the second one is that we deny the idea that you have to take each chapter and verse literally so this is something that the christians have had todeal with also related to the chapter and verse in the bible. So sometimes we might look at others more metaphorically. Ill give one example is that in the seventh century, one of the sexiest interpretations was that a girl got less inheritance and herbrothers. So it was considered progressive because the girl, a daughter was finally getting inheritance that she is otherwise denied but in that spirit of progressiveness, then we say okay, now its the 21st century and a daughter receives equal to a son. Women were never witnesses to men so then it became too women equal one man as a witness. Which is not fair, right . But in the seventh century it was progressive or what we say then is moving along with that progressive spirit, a one woman equals one man asa witness in a crime. On the violent verses, what we also do is we say that they were revealed at that time when mohammed was fighting with these tribes and they declared it was basically the battle plans for the war at the time but its not for all time. So essentially it means yes, renting pages out of the koran which you know, could put a target on our backs if we put that forward as an idea, but having that kind of Critical Thinking is essential to having progress and thats how we handle what we will be left with in terms of the text and the teaching. So unfortunately were about out of time now but i know wedlove to dig into this. Theres so much more to cover in terms of making sure we are protecting American Values and our citizens but i want to say thank you to our wonderful panelists and thank you to the Steamboat Institute forputting on this important panel. [applause] is a look at our live events coming up today on cspan2. This afternoon Baseball Hall of fame pitcher Mariano Rivera will receivethe president ial medal of freedom at the white house at 2 pm eastern. The us is back in session at 3 pm, it will continue work on executive nominations including the Us Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and later this evening to bring Court Justice neil gore such talk about the Judiciary Branch in his new book and republic if you can keep it. Thatwill be live at 7 pm eastern. The Student Experience has been invaluable to me. Its helped us grow as people, going into our college years. Past winners of the studentcam video documentary competition , the experience their interest in documentary production. And the fun part about that is i get to the right in the middle of the cost this season and i to meet only different candidates and because of cspan, i had the experience in the equipment and knowledge to be able to actually fill some of them. Is your asking middle school and High School Students to create a short video documentary mastering the question what issue you most wantpresident ial candidates to address during the campaign. Include cspan video and reflect differing points of view. Were awarding 100,000 in total cash prizes including a 5000 ranch price. The passionate about your discussing, discuss your due no matter how large or small the audience and a lower student to be. And know that in the greatest country in the history of the earth, your opinion does matter for more information, go to ourwebsite. Student cam. Org. Of next a debate on gun rights and the constitutional right to bear arms. Duke University Law professor and author is a floater debated appellate attorney erin murphy at an event hosted bydartmouth college in hanovernew hampshire. This is under two hours. So let me know issues our speakers and our moderator. Joseph blucher is a professor at Duke Universitys rule of law. This visible interest including federal and state constitutional law , first and second amendments, and legal history. Joseph earned his ba degree