This death comes after two people were killed during a protest in kenosha, wisconsin, where a 17yearold trump supporter has been charged with those murders. And with less than ten weeks until november, we have breaking news about the security of the election. Jake tapper learned that the office of the director of National Intelligence will no longer brief congress in person on Election Security. It is a move that House Speaker nancy pelosi and intelligence chairman adam schiff called a, quote, betrayal of the publics right to know how foreign powers are trying to subvert our democracy. I want to get straight to the chair of the Senate Homeland security committee, republican senator ron johnson. Looks like we have adam schiff, no, there we go, adam schiff is coming up next. First, were going to talk to ron johnson, one of those mornings. Mr. Chairman, thank you so much. First, i want to talk about what happened in portland. We saw someone get killed overnight, amid clashes there. And the president has been tweeting and retweeting before dawn this morning. He called for the mayor of portland to resign and be arrested. He painted protesters as thugs. And cities in chaos. You were the chairman as i mentioned of the Senate Homeland security committee. Are you comfortable with the president appearing to enflame tensions instead of what we normally see from president s which is trying to to calm them down . Well, good morning, dana. Ive been urging calm across the board particularly in light of what happened here in kenosha. But as i said in the Opening Statement when we had acting secretary wolf before my committee, when you encourage the disdain for the police you encourage criminals. When you do little or nothing to stop rioting, you encourage anarchy. Peoples lives are lost. You have more and more destruction, more and more violence. So what we need to do is get control of the situation. And until we do, were going to have more violence, unfortunately potentially more loss of life, so we need to get control of the situation, we need to encourage calm, and heres somethingless else we no do, we need to figure out what we agree on and we share the same goal, a safe, prosperous and secure america and states and communities. Lets concentrate on those areas of grievance. Thats how we achieve the u. Nit that everybody wants. You say everybody should be calm, which sounds logical. Look at twhat were seeing one thing on the president s twit tr feed this morning, he seems to be encountering his supporters to go into portland which is resulting in some of this violence. Is that what you want to be seeing from the president , sir . There are people agitating all over the place. Hes the president of the United States. Kenosha, kenosha can be a model. What happened in kenosha is congressman style got into the city really quick, found out the Law Enforcement were looking for help, he called up the president , the president responded immediately and said what can i do to help . He offered to bring in some out of state given everything that you are saying unfortunately our governor turned it down one night, two people died, and given what youre saying, would you prefer but we have searched agitating comments and agitating ideas on his twitter feed . Thats how you typify it. What we need to do is there is no other way to see it. Stre it is very different from what you said. Dana, let me finish. The way you stop the violence, the way you stop the rioting is you surge manpower and resources, citizen soldiers, National Guard, and you overwhelm the numbers of rioters so they cant riot, you can protect peoples First Amendment constitutional right to peacefully protest and they dont turn to riots. At some point in time, peaceful protests dont even result in rioting. At some point in time become a siege. I was in kenosha yesterday. The downtown is boarded up. The businesses are shuttered. They cant operate. Other citizens now cant earn a living because the businesses are shut down. Part of the problem there is we also have to stop that siege on our cities. Okay. Thats fair. Pardon . Thats fair. It is very fair. And needs to be said more often. Let me ask you the question i was going to ask you, sir. We saw two People Killed by a trump supporter in your home state of wisconsin, in kenosha last week. And these deaths do appear to be the result of clashes between the right and the left. Doesnt the president have a responsibility to call out violence regardless of who is committing it . And the governor has responsibility to accept im asking about the president. So that citizens dont believe they got to protect their own im asking about the president we can talk about yes or no. No, what the president did was he offered to surge manpower resources so the violence could end. The governor did not accept that, that day, that night, tragically, two people lost their lives because citizens took matters into their own hands. Im not for vigilanteism. Im not sure thats what was happening. People felt because the governor and local officials were looking for help. The governor did not accept the help. And so there was not the resolve to end the rioting and so people took matters into their own hands and thats what ended up happening. People die. You have to get control of the situation and the way you do it is what happened in kenosha, where local officials said, please, we want help, we want manpower, the president offered, the governor accepted it and now the streets are not violent, we still have the protests, the businesses are still shuttered. Those individuals Constitutional Rights are being violated. They cant operate and enjoy a living, so, again, you have to look at the entire situation. The 17yearold accused of committing those two murders was a trump supporter. It is a tragedy. Do you condemn it is a tragedy. Do you condemn it . It is a tragedy. It is a tragedy. It is a tragedy, but do you condemn it . Listen, i dont want to see any loss of life. It is a tragedy. And the way you prevent tragedies is you support a tragedy could be a car accident. You allow for peaceful protesters, but you dont allow you dont allow peaceful protests to turn siege into siege. Listen, i dont want to see anybody lose their life. I dont want to see the violence continue. I dont want to see businesses burn down. I dont want to see economic destruction. I condemn it all. Okay. Thank you. I want to move on to something that the president said when he was just a candidate in 20 16. He was speaking at the convention, then, and he promised to end crime and violence in the United States if he became president. Take a listen. Beginning on january 20th, of 2017, safety will be restored. The most basic duty of government is to defend the lives of its own citizens. Any government that fails to do so is a government unworthy to lead. So, what we are talking about right now is happening under President Trumps watch. Violence in american cities. Not to mention 180,000 dead from coronavirus. Is his government, the president s own words, living up to his own promises, is he worthy to lead . Well, first of all, where the violence is occurring is in big cities, governed by democratic mayors and democratic governors for decades. I know thats the republican talking point, but hes the way the way the well, you know, President Trump has a tendency to overpromise. I try to underpromise and overdeliver. Did he overpromise when he was running for president four years ago . To basically support Law Enforcement and place safety and security as a priority and thats what you need. If you want Economic Prosperity and opportunity, you neded a sae and secure community and states in america. Thats the goal we all share. Why dont we concentrate on the goal we all share and figure out how to accomplish it. Republicans in the senate, we tried to address the problems with policing. And we did it using tim scott, who looked at the house bill and found the areas of agreement, put it on the floor of the senate and the democrats said, no. It is either our way or the highway. We wont take just what we can all agree on. We need to have everything as well that we dont agree on. Were trying to do this. Were trying to provide the safety and security that america wants. The president is trying to do that as well. Riots is not the answer. I want to turn to the question of russia and election interference in the election were currently in. The office of the director of National Intelligence informed congressional oversight committees that it will not longer be briefing in person on Election Security issues. Do you think the dni should continue or his aides should continue to give those briefings . Well, they will in written form, and theyre not doing it in person because of the leaks, apparently. Ive been on top of russian interference in elections well before 2016. As chairman of the european subcommittee on foreign relations, three hearings on the way russia tries to destabilize the election systems of countries around the world. I know that. I want to get to that, but because they were aided and abetted by people like adam schiff, democrats and the mainstream media. But they cant real they have very difficult time influencing elections. Lets focus on the issue at hand, which is the dni briefing. You just said because of leaks. My question for you is, first of all, members of the committee, people who said on the intelligence committees dispute they leak. Secondly, why logically would having an all written big surprise. Why would having a all written briefing do anything to stop leaks . Wouldnt it make it easier if first of all, listen, i sit during through secured briefings. This is being blown so way out of proportion. I can probably count on one or two fingers the things that are actually classified in those briefings. There is no surprise here. We know that foreign actors are trying to influence trying to destabilize our political system. Were doing putins work for him. What adam schiff did with the false narrative with the news media did in terms of false russian collusion with the Trump Campaign narrative, criminal investigation, special counsel that is what is destabilized our politics, it is how the media and how democrats have taken that and basically done Vladimir Putins work for him. The oversight responsibility that people like you in congress have, shouldnt you have the opportunity to question people who are working on securing the elections which are happening now . We do and we will. And we all know what putin is doing, china wants biden to be the next president. We understand that. But, you know, it is very difficult to change votes. It is very difficult to actually affect the poll numbers, what you can do is destabilize our politics and thats exactly what russia succeeded in doing because of what adam schiff, democrats and the news media have done as a result. Do you believe and do you agree with the notion that russia as we speak is trying to destabilize this election . They always have, they always will. Yes. Yes. I held hearings on this a couple of years before 2016. Im not surprised at all by it. Yes, we have to we have to take it very seriously. But we cant play into putins hands. We cant blow it out of proportion. We have done it to ourselves. I want to ask you about something youre involved in right now, you are investigating whether or not ukraine was involved in 20 16. I want to read to you something from the Senate Intelligence committees report suggesting that speculation about yukraine interference is russian misinformation. The committee observed numerous russian government actors from late 2016 until at least january 2020 consistently spreading overlapping false narratives which sought to discredit investigations into russia interference. The Committee Identified no reliable evidence that the Ukrainian Government interfered in the 2016 u. S. Election. This is the republicanled committee in the senate saying this. And youre still investigating the claims. My question is why are you spending time doing this when it the theory that ukraine was involved has been debunked. First of all, first of all, you know, thats your typification that it has been debunked. It is not mine. They worked for two years on this investigation. And these are your Senate Republican colleagues. Are you going to less me answer . I just want to say this is not my opinion. This is something that came out of the senate. Okay, so my investigation, the corruption of the Obama Campaign or administration goes back to march of 2015. Our investigation is quite wide ranging. Our investigation is primarily using u. S. Government documents and sources from the state department, the department of justice, the national archives, and a democrat lobbying firm. The only russian disinformation that im aware of that has been involved in our politics is, first of all in the steel dossier and now democrats inserting into our records based on a false narrative that they created and leaked to the media and didnt even tell Chuck Grassley and i about it. The democrats, again, they are being putins puppet, not me, not Chuck Grassley. We have to leave it there. Thank you for your time this morning, Senate Homeland security chairman ron johnson. Appreciate it. Have a good morning. Thank you. I want to turn to the House Intelligence Committee chairman congressman adam schiff of california. We have a lot to get to. But, first, your reaction to what you just heard from your colleague in the senate. Well, dana, im not sure where to start. But as you point out, what the administration is saying makes no sense in terms of their refusal to brief congress on russian interference designed to help the Trump Campaign. Theyre going to put it in writing now instead of an oral briefing. That doesnt make any sense unless the goal is not to allow members of congress the representatives of the American People to ask questions, to point out the false equivalence that the administration is trying to promulgate that somehow russian interference in our election, russian active measures to try to decide our election to help donald trump is no different than other countries are doing, they dont want those questions answered. They dont want that information going to the public. This is what the president is after. After all, donald trump fired director maguire for Briefing Congress on the fact that russia was trying to help his campaign again. This president doesnt want to push back on that. He doesnt want the American People to know about it, he doesnt want to hear about russian bounties on the heads of our troops, doesnt want to hear about russian convoys colliding with American Forces in syria, and he sure as heck doesnt want the American People to know it either. So, mr. Chairman, as you know, the dni says his office is going to provide your committee with written reports. Why is that not enough . Because you can make a written report and you can state things in a written report that are not correct and you cant be subject to questioning about it. This is the problem we had. For example, we saw about a month ago the head of the Intelligence Community, his director of national counterintelligence, issue a public statement, that drew a false equivalence between what russia was doing and china and iran are doing. And he was called out on it. And we had hearings in congress where he could be held to account and others could as well, and the result was they were forced to issue a second statement that acknowledged no, russia is actually intervening to help donald trump and denigrate joe biden. China has a preference. And being able to call them out, hold them accountable, have them testify before congress, place them under oath if necessary, forces accountability. When you can hide behind documents or withhold documents and not have to answer questions about it, it lets you conceal the truth. And in this case, concealing the truth is concealing russians are again intervening to help the president and the reelection, the president believes that he cant beat joe biden without getting either foreign help or disenfranchising people from voting during a pandemic. And doesnt want the country to know about it. So, are you suggesting that the Trump Administration is trying to protect russia here . Well, no, the trump President Trumps motivation is solely about himself. It is to get himself reelected. And he realizes if the country learns again that the russians once again are intervening to try to help him in the election, he feels that takes away from their assistance. So he doesnt want the American People to know about it. Doesnt Want Congress to know about it. He wants to draw some false equivalence between what the russians are doing and others are doing. And he knows that if and when they do come and brief congress, we ask questions and we can get to the bottom of things. Thats what he doesnt want. After all, he fired a director for doing exactly this, and sadly the current director of National Intelligence doesnt have the will or the backbone to stand up to this and undertake his lawful responsibility. I want to play for you something that President Trump said about the reason that the dni no longer wants to continue briefing you, your committee and others. He says because of leaking classified information. Take a listen. Brought information into the committee, and the information leaked. Whether it was shifty schiff or somebody else, they leaked the information before it gets in, and whats even worse, they leaked the wrong information. And he got tired of it. So he wants to do it in a different forum. Have you or any of your staff or other democrats on the committee leaked classified information . I havent, my staff hasnt, i cant speak for what all the members of the committee have done or not done including a lot of the republican members. Look, dana, leaks are always improper and sometimes theyre illegal. But, of course, this is a falsehood yet again, another lie by the president , and, you know, of course as you point out, it is an illogical inconsistency to say were going to put it on paper so it cant leak rather than speak to the congress, that doesnt make any sense. But what is more, dana, you can tell this is another falsehood, a false rationalization by the president. After the last set of briefings before congress, the director of national National Intelligence offered to brief congress again. They werent concerned about leaks after the last briefing or they wouldnt have come back to offer another briefing. Something changed, dana. What changed is the president , probably in another fit, saying i dont Want Congress informed. Because the last time that congress was informed, the director of National Intelligence had to put out another statement to acknowledge the fact that the russians are helping donald trump again. So mr. Chairman, will you thats his goal to suppress that information. Will you subpoena intelligence officials to appear in public in a hearing before the election . That is certainly one of the tools we may use. I cant speak for what decision ultimately well make. Thats a decision that has to go to the speaker. We will compel the Intelligence Community to give congress the information na that we need, also to speak plainly to the American People because this information, this intelligence paid for by taxpayers doesnt belong to donald trump, it doesnt belong to the intelligence agencies, it belongs to the American People. The agencies are merely the custodians of that information. And the American People ought to know what russia is doing, they ought to know their president is unwilling to stand up to vladimir putin, they ought to know that senators like ron johnson are pushing a kremlin false narrative about joe biden and doing it knowingly. And that information belongs to the American People, it doesnt belong to donald trump. Before we go, i want to ask you about what is going on in portland, oregon. Police say that theyre investigating a homicide after a person was killed last night during violent clashes there. It comes just days after two people were killed in kenosha, wisconsin. Do you have any reason to believe that russia is trying to fuel some of the civil unrest in these cities via social media or other methods . Well, first of all, dana, i condemn any of the violence going on. And i find it astounding that my colleague in the senate cant simply condemn this. The peaceful protests i think are calling out in a very important way the murder of so many black men and women at the hands of police and those protests are in the best tradition of the United States. But we need to make sure theyre peaceful, as they largely have been, and there arent these incidents of violence. In terms of what we can expect from the russians or what the russians are doing, the russians four years ago exploited black lives matter. They set up their own false flags online to try to divide people along racial lines. Are they doing it now . They are once again doing their best in social media, and other means, to grow these divisions again. And i think that most pernicious we have to worry about their aggravating the tensions in our cities. We also have to worry about the russians pushing out the president s false narratives about voting by mail. But finally on the protests, dana, i want to underscore something that you are asking senator johnson about. And that is the president is willfully fanning the flames of this violence. As his own adviser Kellyanne Conway said last week, they believe the violence is helpful to them. And the president is only motivated by one thing. What is in it for him . And he sees this violence and the his ability to agitate more of it as useful to his campaign. What it does to the country, the loss of life, he doesnt care. 180,000 people have died from the pandemic because of his incompetence and this malignant narcissi narcissism. He wont only act to stop the violence on streets, but he will try to send federal National Guard forces or others to aggravate it if he can, he will stoke it through his social media, where he can, because he believes the violence helps him. That is the sad and tragic truth about this, but also about the Trump Presidency more generally. House intelligence chairman adam schiff, thank you so much for joining me this morning. Appreciate it. Thanks, dana. The president says hes standing up for law and order, is that message working with voters . Ill talk to congresswoman karen bass about that and whether congress missed its chance to pass Police Reforms next. Plus, when will you be able to get the Coronavirus Vaccine and get back to normal . Ill speak with a member of the White House Coronavirus task force ahead. Come on in, were open. All we do is hand you the bag. Simple. Done. This smells so good. Big thanks to you guys at home. Were here right now. We adapt and we change. I mean you just figure it out and well do like we do as safely as we can. I got a new job. Weve just been finding a way to keep on pushing. Were lookin for a day at a time baby. As business moves forward, were all changing the way things get done. Like how we redefine collaboration. How we come up with new ways to serve our customers. And deliver our products. But no matter how things change, one thing never will. You can rely on the people and the network of at t. To help keep your business connected. Welcome back to state of the union. Im dana bash. The president ial election is fast approaching and new polling suggests the dynamics of the race may be shifting. As ongoing protests turn violent in several cities across the u. S. , is it hurting the push for Civil Justice . Joining me now is the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus and democratic congresswoman from california, karen bass. Thank you for joining me this morning. I want to ask about what we are seeing, what we saw last night in portland, somebody died there, two people died during protests in kenosha, wisconsin. What is your reaction to this violence . I think it is absolutely horrible. I was just appalled at what i saw in kenosha. The idea that you would see that young man with a rifle walking toward the police and they do nothing, they dont move to stop him, they actually give him water, dont even arrest him on the spot, and he killed two people. And unfortunately to listen to the head of Law Enforcement the next day, he seemed to blame it on the fact that people were violating curfew. The protests, the peaceful protests of which over 90 of the protests have been peaceful are very helpful and obviously anytime they turn toward violence thats very damaging. President trump made his first comments about jacob blake friday night, five days after the shooting. I want you to listen to what he said. Im looking into it very strongly. Ill be getting reports and ill certainly let you know pretty soon. But ill be it was not a good sight. I didnt like the sight of it certainly. I think most people would agree with that. Hes also traveling to ken negotiate why on tuesday to quote meet with local Law Enforcement and survey damage from the recent riots. So what effect do you think his visit will have . Good idea or bad . I think his visit has one purpose and one purpose only. And that is to agitate things and to make things worse. What also happened in portland too, you saw a parade of Trump Supporters actually actively shooting paintballs at peaceful protesters. And the president in my opinion encourages that. He actually retweeted the people firing paint guns, so i think he only means to agitate things, he is campaigning, it is clear his campaign is all about law and order, it is a throwback to the past and hes going to do everything to disrupt law and order in this time period. Just to be clear, we dont know where the violence is coming from because the protesters on both sides of this issue, we dont know yet what happened in portland. Back to ken negotiate osha, sho former Vice President joe biden also visit kenosha . I think the Vice President as i understand it is going to be speaking out very soon, whether he goes to kenosha or not, dont know. I know hes going to follow medical advice first. One thing i dont think should happen is that i dont think using kenosha in a way to campaign which is what i believe the president is doing and the tweet that he put out in portland, you do see people firing on the protesters. Theyre firing paintballs. So i think that his motivation is directed only in one area. It is not to bring resolve to the situation, it is not to look at police abuse, it is not to do any of that. It is to campaign and to agitate. Are you concerned, forgive me for putting it this way, are you concerned that politically speaking joe biden isnt fighting fire with fire, that donald trump is doing what you just described, because he clearly believes that it benefits him politically and do you believe joe biden, do you believe hes pushing back hard enough . Well, i think that he has been clear. I think his statements around what happened to mr. Blake were clear. What the president said was basically nothing. And so i do think that he has been responding, absolutely. So President Trump has tried to tie the democrats and black lives matter protesters to some of the violence and the looting we have seen in places like kenosha and portland. Ma Marquette University poll earlier this month of wisconsin voters who may hold the key to novembers election, it shows that approval of protests has dipped 13 points since june. So are you concerned these scenes of unrest are hurting the movement . Well, im absolutely concerned. And im concerned, like you said, a few minutes ago, it is not real clear where this violence is coming from. So i think the peaceful protests are helpful when they turn to violence. Were 66 days from an election. And i think it is a tragedy that we have a president that is doing everything he can to fan the flames, but he did this in 2018 as well. In 20 18, the message it was were getting invaded on the southern border by hoards of immigrants and this time hes using legitimate issues around police abuse and using it as a way to resurrect a very old Campaign Slogan of law and order. The house of representatives as you well know passed a Police Reform bill more than two months ago. In a letter this week to Mitch Mcconnell you wrote the following, how many more mothers and fathers must mourn the loss of a child to Police Violence . How many more children must be raised without a parent lost to Police Violence . How many more videos must we watch before you act . Enough is enough. Senate republicans led by tim scott of South Carolina propose their own bill, democrats in the senate blocked it. Was it a mistake rather than trying to reach a compromise, then to block it, and should they at least have tried to get something passed . Well, first of all, no, i dont think that it was a mistake when we acted, we acted with absolute urgency and we acted with a transformative bill that addresses immunity, that lowers the standard for prosecution so we can actually hold officers accountable. So if Mitch Mcconnell wants to act, he can put up the George Floyd Justice and policing act that is over in his house. But i will tell you, dana, over the last couple of months, there have been a number of discussions with republican members in the house, who have presented tim scott with what i believe would be a stronger bill. So he has an opportunity to put up another bill that we could perhaps go to conference with. I think as you pointed out, the house voted on the bill and a bipartisan basis, we have garnered a few republican votes which is a big deal because trump tweeted a couple of days before, threatening republicans not to support the bill, so we did have bipartisan support, so Mitch Mcconnell could put up the George Floyd Justice and policing act, lets see what happens. Put it up for a vote. He didnt bother to do that. Before i let you go, i want to ask about the rnc this past week. A number of africanamerican speakers made a point of highlighting questionable comments by the democratic nominee, by joe biden, and my question for you is are you concerned that that kind of representation that they showed at the rnc will hurt what the democrats what the africanamerican vote . You know, i honestly dont, because what the republicans did was essentially put up a number of individuals. Who do those individuals represent . They represent themselves. I dont believe that the africanamerican population is going to be fooled by the last three and a half years of a president who clearly stokes racial violence, who stokes racism, i dont believe anybody is going to be confused by that and his policies. He talks about protecting africanamericans, it is so offensive for him to say that he has done more for africanamericans than any president since abraham lincoln. So barack obama didnt exist, and i suppose neither did lyndon johnson. And many other president s. And so i think that the majority of black folks are very clear that the last three years of this presidency have been devastating. Let me make note of the fact there is over 180,000 americans dead from coronavirus, and we know a significant percentage of those are folks of color, which i believe is one of the reasons why they dont want the data released, the Demographic Data release on the people that have died. So he hasnt done anything for africanamericans as far as im concerned. Congresswoman karen bass, appreciate your time this morning, thank you. Thank you. Historic wins, fires, floods, locusts. You wouldnt know there say Climate Crisis now by watching the Republican Convention last week. Is the Trump Administration ready to face Hurricane Season and covid19 . The head of fema joins me next. When you start with a better thats no way to treat a dog. You can do no wrong. Where did you learn that . The internet. Yeah . Mmm with no artificial preservatives or added nitrates or nitrites, its all for the love of hot dogs. Now that the rents due but theyve cut your pay. Now that the virus has cost lives but your healthcare costs too much. Now that our president has had months but he still doesnt have a plan. What happens now . Joe biden knows how to lead through a crisis because hes done it before. When our economy was on the verge of collapse, joe biden led the largest economic stimulus in a generation and saved millions of jobs. Now joe biden is ready to lead us through this crisis. He knows rebuilding our economy starts with fighting the virus, increasing testing, getting more protective gear for healthcare workers and calling for mask mandates nationwide. As president , hell get working families back on their feet by lowering healthcare costs and helping Small Businesses recover. So what happens now . We elect a president who will build back better. Im joe biden and i approve this message. Wow. Jim could you ipop the hood for us . . There she is. Turbocharged, right . Yes it is. Jim, could you uh kick the tires . Oh yes. Can you change the color inside the car . Oh sure. How about blue . Thats more cyan but. Jump in the back seat, jim. Act like my kids. How much longer . Exactly how they sound. Its got massaging seats too, right . Oh yeahhhhh. Oh yeahhhhh. Visit the mercedesbenz summer event or shop online at participating dealers. Get 0 apr financing up to 36 months on select new and certified preowned models. Your business has an easy choice. Tmobile for business, the largest 5g network. Awardwinning customer satisfaction. Insanely great value. Choose. Any. Three. Ready when you are. Welcome back to state of the union. Im dana bash. President trump touring the lake charles, louisiana, area, after it was slammed by hurricane laura this week. The storm claimed at least 15 lives according to officials there and are still still half a million customers without power in the area despite packing the strongest winds to hit louisiana in well over a century. This could actually be the start of a terrible Hurricane Season. Coming as thousands of americans are still contracting covid19 every day. Joining me now with the administrator of the federal Emergency Management agency, peter gainer, thank you so much for joining me. President trump was with you in louisiana yesterday to survey the hurricane damage. I think those are the two prime things that in louisiana that flooding with is getting the power restored and getting the water turned on. They can return people to their homes. You pointed out in a congressional hearing last month that hurricanes are becoming more and more frequent, more costly, more damaging because the climate is changing. Do you believe that human activity is responsible for the Climate Crisis . Well, you know, femas role is to deliver these valuable disaster resources for any hazards. All hazards agency, and, you know, why it happened, im going to leave that up to the scientists, my job, my role is to make sure those disasters have everything they need to get their lives back to normal. Thats our focus. Thats why we came down to louisiana, texas, why the president came down to see it firsthand and give them some hope that federal resources and that Great Partnership is in tact. So just you mentioned the scientists, scientists do overwhelmingly agree that there is human involvement in the Climate Crisis. The Trump Administration produced its own report, 13 federal agencies was Crystal Clear that the observational evidence does not support any credible natural explanations for this amount of warming. Instead, the evidence consistently points to human activities especially emissions of greenhouse trapping gases as the dominant cause. You believe thats accurate . Yeah, so, again, ill leave all that to the scientists. Im not a scientist. My role as the nations emergency manager is to deliver those valuable resources to those impacted by disasters, no matter the cause, no matter the place. And thats my mission. Right. And i get that. I get youre responsible for cleaning it up, quite literally. But as somebody who is in charge of that, do you not want to look at the cause as part of your job . And at least maybe subscribe to as i said what the your own administration has said at least the scientists that youre referring to. We have across every state in the United States we have mitigation plans and in those mitigation plans states have to this these are our rules to states, all those things to make sure the plans reflect that. It is part of what we do. But today, in louisiana, my job is to make sure i deliver those valuable federal resources to those impacted. Let me ask you this way, do you believe that the Climate Crisis is a threat to the u. S. . I again, you can go back and look at the record, the climate has changed, and if you look at hurricanes, theyre more frequent, theyre more deadly, theyre more devastating, and, again, my role as the leader of fema, as the emergency manager for the nation is to make sure the nation is prepared to mitigate those risks, Congress Passed last year a Great Program where we want to invest in predisaster mitigation and invest in disasters before they happen. That really is the best way to battle all kinds of weather challenges. Okay, so just for our viewers, the overwhelming Scientific Consensus is that human activity is responsible for the Climate Crisis. I know you dont want to go there. Lets move on. I want to ask you about the coronavirus pandemic. The president held a large gathering on the white house lawn on thursday night, with roughly 1500 people, few were Wearing Masks, or social distancing. We saw similar scene at the president s event on friday in new hampshire. You were on the Coronavirus Task force. Were you comfortable with what you saw at both of those events . I cant say that first of all, i wasnt there, i didnt see it firsthand, and being part of the Coronavirus Task force, our message to everyone across america is if you did four simple things, wear a mask, where you can. And if and socially distance. Wash your hands and try to stay out of large crowds, especially inside. If you do those four things, well beat down the coronavirus even faster. So if you can socially distance, then maybe you dont have to wear a mask. If you cant, then wear it. It is really simple tools that we all can use to keep ourselves safe. These were two events held by the president of the United States who didnt not just encourage, but require the people in attendance to see him to do what you just said. Does that bother you . Yeah, again, i dont know what the rules were for the for the convention. We saw the pictures, they werent Wearing Masks they were very close together. I think you said that okay. But you said there were rules, some instruction not to wear masks. No, no, no. Thats not what i said. I said he didnt require them to wear masks. There was no instruction not to wear masks. Okay. Again, i cant comment, i dont know if its true or false. Okay. I want to ask you about something that you have on your website. The fema website, it is called coronavirus rumor control. And the first recommendation to the American People is find trusted sources of information. And the last six months the president has touted hydroxychloroquine, hes suggested injecting disinfectants, repeatedly refused to wear a mask, hes had these events that i just referred to, he said initially the virus will disappear. Do you think that the president falls under the category in your website of trusted source of information on the coronavirus . Again, im here today to make sure that we discuss the impacts to louisiana, to texas, on those disaster survivors, and in some cases they have lost everything. And theyre depending on our partnership, locals, states, and the federal government to get them back in their homes and get them, you know, back to a normal life. That really is my focus today. And thats why im here today. Okay. And you feel equipped to do that . I feel absolutely equipped. The president acted quickly, in giving those both states, emergency and major disasters, they have all the resources they need, we toured all around the past two days, tens of thousands of responders, utility crews, red cross, salvation arm, team rubicon, all down there trying to again deliver those Critical Resources and those impack eimp laura. Thank you for your work down in louisiana and the agencys work there in texas and everywhere else. There is a natural disaster. We appreciate you coming on this morning. Thank you. Thank you. And bigger than the game, pro athletes across all major sports walking off for racial justice. Ill speak to one of the leaders of the movement, wnba star coming up next. Welcome back to state of the union. Im dana bash. You have to imagine the likes of muhammad ali and Jackie Robinson were looking on with pride at the amazing past few days in sports when players decided to delay their games to protest police brutality. And the Inspiring Women of the wnba have been at the front of the social justice fight, long before the tragic events in kenosha. Joining me now, a los angeles sparks forward and the president of the Womens National Basketball Players Association who is coming off of eight wins in a row. Thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate it, from florida. This really was an unprecedented week in sports. We have seen athletes protest Police Violence before, particularly you and the wnba, but nothing on this scale. What makes this feel different to you . As you mentioned before, first of all, thank you for having me, as you mentioned before, you know, this is not new to us. And it is quite unique, the state of the world has allowed our movement to meet its moment, we always have been on the forefront of speaking out against racism, Police Reform, voting and education, and as a union we are always unified and we stand in solidarity with our peers. But quite frankly this is a very historic and unique situation for us to truly mobilize and organize in ways that is just in our dna as wnba players. Four years ago, the wnba punished players for protesting Police Violence on the court. Now it seems like team owners and League Officials are really following you, the players, lead here and showing support. What changed . You know, i think that it is just kind of an evolution of the league. It is players and obviously operations, you know. I think that us negotiating our recent collective Bargaining Agreement certainly spearheaded a lot of innovation and what we havent seen in the league and the relationship and rapport the players have with the league moving forward. Were still quite young. Next year well be 25. We have such a long way to go, though were seeing so much success and notoriety in what were doing, we want to continue to progress and i think that we see that very much so on how were able to amplify our voices in accordance with our league. I want to get your reaction to something President Trump said friday night about the action taken by your league and by the nba. He said, quote, i think what theyre doing to the nba in particular is going to destroy basketball. When you watch sports, you want to sort of relax. This say whole different world. You dont want to stay in politics, you want to relax, it is very bad for the nba. What is your response to President Trump . Well, you know, as basketball players, playing basketball is an outlet and we too would like to relax. But were also citizens. And the platforms that we have this is the politicians do, need to be ready to affect changes in our communities, as athletes, we would be discrediting our essence if we didnt use that platform for good. And for change. Quite frankly too, a lot of what we speak about, shouldnt be political, but unfortunately the way that our country has kind of evolved, certain issues, certain human issues have become political. We are black women in the wnba, majority of us are black women and we are political as we deal with racism and sexism. But i think because of where we stand, in politics, we try our best to speak out for everyone. And i think that we saw a lot of headway in our cba in being able to negotiate change. That can affect women. Not just women in sports. That can really bring a lot of attention to how much further we need to go for change. I want to ask you about that in a second. I want to ask about how much you and other wnba players have tried to amplify in particular the case of Breonna Taylor in kentucky. You had a meeting with her mother, setting aside your jersey and leadership role here, what does it mean to you personally as a block woman in america to be so involved in her cause . To be honest, im very grateful and honored to be in the position i am to even have the time and have for the conversation for it. To have those talks with people that are being directly affected by it, and for us to be able to serve our purpose and amplify the voices of parents like Breonna Taylor, it is interesting because were out here and were speaking out against any injustices for everyone, but Breonna Taylor is a prime example of how black women are kind of considered in society and were hoping that we can do our work not just to bring some sort of comfort to her mom, and to amplify and celebrate breonna, but also to affect the change that we want to see. Her the killers have not been arrested yet and thats for the comparison between women and men in this country and also black people in this country. So on that note, i want to ask about fighting for equality. Youve been doing that not just on social justice, but on other issues, for example, pay. You really fought hard to get a deal to change the fact that wnba players are paid a fraction of what other professional athletes make. You recently got so that players in the wnba could receive full maternity benefits, and things of that nature. So how has that experience fighting to be heard and treated the same as your male counterparts influenced your broader fight now on social justice. You know, it was kind of a precursor to what were experiencing now. For the longest, you know, i think that it took some time for us to mature as a league, as players in this league to understand what we need to do to create that change. And through this cba, with an amazing union staff and our executive director and terry jackson, and, of course, having kathy as the commissioner, we were able to come together and create a historical cba that can serve as a catalyst for the change we want to see. By no means the end of what we want to see, the future, you know, in motion. And im really happy were able to create some type of change that women who arent just athletes want to see in their own lives. Well, i appreciate you and im a wnba fan, becoming much more of one now frankly learning about you and everything that youve done for women in particular. Nneka ogwumike, thank you for joining us this morning. Thank you for spending your sunday morning with us. The news continues right now. It has been a bad summer for the United States. The superpower and leader of the free world has fumbled its response to covid19. Now america leads the world in covid cases, and deaths. Then there was the brutal killing caught on camera of another black man at the hands of police. Hands up. Dont shoot. The death inspired thousands and thousands of angry americans to take to the streets. Meanwhile, the ugly political partisanship and deadlock in the u. S. Gets worse by the day. These people are clowns. On the world stage, President Trump has been r
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