Earlier this year. Cspan, cspan. Org or the cspan radio app. House minority leader Kevin Mccarthy, republican pollster fred luntz and brad smith, president of microsoft talked broadband. Hosted the conversation. Welcome to this axios virtual event. I am a cofounder of axios. Welcome to my home in arlington, virginia. I am looking into georgetown. This is the second of two events we are doing on the future of employability during the Republican National convention and we thank microsoft for making these conversations possible and we thank you for taking a break during this busy twitter,oin us on facebook and youtube. Our first guest, dr. Frank been to conferences, seminars, extremely popular, wellknown for his international bestseller, words that work. Thank you for joining axios. It is an honor and pleasure and what we talk about really does matter. Thank you. You and i were talking and it turns out you have done Intense Research on the exact topic today, the importance of with Lifelong Learning. One of the ways you think about it is getting people to think about the difference between a job and a career. We did a project, a Major National project for working nation, and that organization is devoted, really focused on making a difference in teaching workers that they have to be skilled, they have to be trained for the careers of the future. I think what makes working nation different is it is completely nonpartisan, as is the issue. Whether youre talking about broadband for young people to get them started on the information superhighway or you are talking about Lifelong Learning, which adults beginning tod are not only understand but embrace, that this is not a political or partisan issue, and this is not based on income or education. Any worker at any time could lose their job because of automation or globalization, outsourcing, and you have to be prepared, and elected officials on the federal, state and local level have a responsibility to provide these programs so people are able to make a difference in their lives. You mentioned the difference between job and career, and i dont know if youve got that statistic in front of you, but its one of the great findings of the working nation survey. The idea that we think we have a 50 40 5 , what we really want is a career. A job is something you go to from 9to5 career is something you do 24 7. A job is something you do for the next month, a career is something you love and embrace and want to stay with it. One thing youve done is talk to people about the difference between the good life and the American Dream youd what is the distinction American Dream. What is the distinction you make there and how does broadband play into . Thats why this conversation is so timely. The consequence of covid19s there has been so much job and career dislocation the people are not working in the office anymore and people who thought they would be protected have not been. About the importance is planning. Isntabout knowing it knowing the unknown, as Donald Rumsfeld used to say. Is knowing the unknown, as Donald Rumsfeld used to say. It is about helping businesses working together to ensure that we are prepared for any contingency so that young people have access to broadband so they can do learning, they can follow lessons, read what they need to read and learn what they need to know to be competitive and prepared for college, career and life. And working adults are prepared for any eventuality, and they actually embrace the future. I think that is important. This is not a challenge for today at the republican convention, this is a challenge forever more. With republicans, democrats, independents, whether you live in a Rural Community or in urban community, these are things that affect all of us. Your second slide looks of the fact that for those who dont have the right training, there could be some real serious unemployment based on outsourcing and automation. What is interesting is, people really dont know who to blame. Walk us through your findings. It is interesting to me that while globalization is one of the most discussed and polarizing issues, and both sides republicans and try to turn it into an issue. What we learned from the working nation poll is automation is a concern. Some jobs and careers are simply easier to outsource, easier to fill in a global environment. But that is no excuse for not getting this skills training, for not getting the Lifelong Learning. One of the aspects that is so needtial is a politicians to know the language that the public will respond to. And businesses need to respond to the opportunities that the government cannot do. This is not just an issue nationwide. Governors have a role to play, mayors have a role to play, and in the end, individuals have a responsibility to get the skills they need for the careers they want. This is the most exciting part, the most interesting and juicy part. On this topic, what are the words that work and what are the words that bomb . How should companies, leaders be talking about this . Thats where the good life comes in. To a lot of people, the American Dream is just a dream. But the good life has a different definition to it. For some people it is a sam adams on the weekend, for other people it is the right car or the right holiday. But what always matters is the systems wehrough have right now, online training, persontoperson skills providing, to do conversations like you and i are having right now, that provides the basics for what we need to learn and what we want to know. And the idea that i that Lifelong Learning beats every other phrase for describing what this process is. I am eager that we treat we teach young people the high school is just a step toward college or career training. Once you graduate from college, that is just a step toward the first job you have, and once you have that job, that is just a stepping stone to the career you want. That this is a seamless progression and we realize no matter what decade we are in, im in my 50s, that i still have things to learn and skills to enjoy, and whatever job or career i have right now maybe radically different from what i have in the future and that is ok in fact, we should embrace it. Working nation is working with republicans and democrats, working with congress, mayors and governors to ensure we have a different mindset and thats why i am so grateful to be on this call that microsoft sponsors because they are a great example of a company that is deeply involved in making a difference for their workforce so that they will be more successful for the long term. As we say goodbye, you have been going to white houses more than you could count, but at the end of the Republican National convention, you will be at the white house for president trumps exact acceptance speech. What will you be looking for and what should we be watching for . I am a journalist in addition to being a practitioner and pollster. It was important to me that my twitter followers embrace this. 7500ed them yesterday, interviews, more than 7500, 68 said go, so i got on a plane last night and im here in washington right now. I want to see if donald trump learns anything from melania trumps speech, which was very highly regarded by the left and right. Cnn embraced what she had to say and how she said it because she said heart. She expressed her condolences and sympathies to those who have suffered with or lost lives because of covid. Donald trump is tough, the question is how big is his heart . I will be listening for whether he demonstrates empathy tonight rather than just strength tonight. Thank you for those words that work. Your twitter feed is an awesome place to follow the convention. Franklins, thank you for joining axios. It was an honor. We would like to thank microsoft for making these conversations possible. Our next guest is brad smith, the president of microsoft, the chief legal officer. Peoplean empire of 1400 in 56 countries. He has big ideas. Welcome to axios. Thank you for having me, it is great to be here. Mike it says you are in washington and youre supposed to be in charlotte with me. Quite a change in plans for the convention. I know you have been at many recent conventions. Microsoft and technology has played quite a role for both parties conventions. Brad the conventions play such an Important Role in american politics, part of our culture, theyve been a fundamental part of our history. If you think about what happened in chicago in 1860 when the Republican Party surprised everyone by nominating abraham lincoln. Over the last 20 years, technology has played a vital role. Theyve made the conventions more accessible to the American Public and made so many of these things more interactive. Its why i was in tampa in 2012 and cleveland in 2016. We played an Important Role in supporting the conventions. I had hoped to be in charlotte this week. Mike because i didnt have to travel, i had some extra time. Tools andreat book, weapons, brads book. You talk about Rural Broadband as the electricity of the 21st century. Do tell. Brad first of all, i think its right to think of broadband as the electricity of her age. Telehealth to use a service, you need broadband. If you want to take a Community College course online, you need broadband. If you are a Small Business and you want to grow and create jobs , frankly, youve got to be in a place that has access to broadband. But in so many of our Rural Communities in the United States today, that is missing. Broadband close the gap. Thats why we are passionate about it. Perhaps especially in the rural parts of our country, because i think without this, we will miss out on the opportunity to create the opportunities for people that they deserve. Mike brad, i think we have a a truck, showing some of the work being done in the field, some of the ways that technology is being pioneered. Tell us about this truck. Brad this captures a visit one of our favorite places, my coauthor and i both work at microsoft, and this is in northeastern washington state. It is like a number of really beautiful parts of the United States, it is more rural. There is no broadband or i should say, there was no broadband until microsoft works with partners. Specifically that truck, i think it reflects the best of american ingenuity. But theded the grant, person who put the truck together is one of the three county commissioners in ferry county. He used it to drive around and literally test whether he could tv whitection with the Spaces Technology weve been helping to advance. This is basically Wireless Technology that uses terrestrial television, that part of the spectrum. Remember for anyone who grew up with a tv antenna or rabbit ears , you could get a good signal. Now we can use unused part of that spectrum for broadband. We partner with another company that has created now a device that is sort of the receiver. You put it on the side of your house and it can connect with an antenna that is 10 or 15 miles away, you bring cable into your house and you have wifi at broadband speeds. This is what Rural America needs, this kind of technology or some other. I think it is of fundamental importance to put the entire country on a level Playing Field in terms of real economic growth. Mike you can see how that would be lifechanging, especially for a family with young kids. I think we might also have a shot inside the truck just to give a sense of what happens inside. Brad yeah, this was great. I had the opportunity to learn firsthand look, this also reflects i think the best of american doityourself electronic engineering. What you see there is a windows laptop. What people with a little bit of Financial Support can accomplish when you give them the ability to be creative. Thats what is happening in ferry county, thats what is happening increasingly in Rural Counties across the country. Mike brad, some people talked about covid as a sort of an xray on our society. You were way ahead on this issue but i think we realize now with so much Remote Learning what a massive, lifechanging imperative broadband becomes. Brad i think that is very true. Actuallyht now you cannot go to School Virtually in an effective way if you dont have access to broadband and you dont have a good computing device. There will obviously come a day when the pandemic will be behind us, when kids will be back in class in school buildings, but even when that happens, there is a huge homework gap we need to close. And we need to live in a country where every student can access all of the resources needed to do research, to do homework, to collaborate with other people. Even post covid i think the importance of the broadband gap is not going to update abate one bit. It will remain just as important to our future as it is now. Mike you said two of the most beautiful words in the english language, two words i have not heard in quite a while, and that is postcovid. Weve got to hope, right . Brad this is the time to think about not only what we want to do now but what we need to do next. What we should be doing is not only rebuilding but reimagining the kind of country in which we want to live. The day will come when this is behind us. None of us knows for certain when the day will arrive but the sooner we start envisioning what we want to build, the more we ,an harness the free market call on Small Businesses, give them what they need to succeed, i think the better off we will be as a nation. So you are not in charlotte, but you have a Smart City Initiative going on in charlotte. One of the intentions of the investment was to close the digital divide. Brad charlotte is an important city for microsoft, North Carolina is an important state for us as a company. We have thousands of employees work in charlotte and support people across the United States. We invested last year more than 20 million to expand our presence in charlotte. We are adding over 200 new employees. Part of what we want to do is not just grow our employee presence but really strengthen our commitment to the city and state. What we are doing in North Carolina is part of what we are doing across the country. Specifically we are bringing free Digital Learning opportunities to people. People, perhaps especially, who are looking either to find a new job who may have lost their job, or just want to progress in their own career. Towe have combined act as free resources online, lowcost tests and certifications so people can show employers what they have mastered. One of my favorite things through linkedin, which microsoft owns, is we have created new courses, so if someone wants to get better at interviewing for a job, they can take a course on tips. Then we have Artificial Intelligence that gives feedback on how they did. People can practice and learn. I think that is just one example of how we can put Digital Technology to work to frankly help people succeed in the current environment and add to the Digital Skills they are likely to need to be successful in the day in the decade ahead. As i read about the charlotte project, what i was most excited about was smart transit. Can you give us one sentence about smart transit . Brad we live in a world where data can help us with almost everything we do. Manage theirities transportation infrastructure, it can help individuals to a better job of avoiding traffic jams, at least in the days when people are driving more again and going back to the office. If you think about what it means to have a smart city, what we are all going to want and what we will see in the coming decade is a transportation infrastructure that is guided by data and i think especially for the public sector, to build and maintain a transportation network. This could be a game changer. Mike as we say goodbye at the end of our newsletters, we like to have one fun thing, a lighter you had a guest who got off of an actual plane. Fortunate that my father came to visit in the seattle area this past weekend and it was great to have a guest in the house. He lives in wisconsin. We are all having to be very careful and very safe, but at the same time, i think my father , my family, like so Many American families, were yearning for a little bit of normalcy that defines our lives before 2020 began. Mike brad, for those who care about the internet and technology, your twitter feed is great. Youruld mention that linkedin is brad smith. Thank you very much for a great conversation. Tod i look forward connecting with people. Thank you as always. Mike thank you for joining axios. Now, batting cleanup, Kevin Mccarthy is a callow a californian very wired into the Silicon Valley community, and early tech a doctor himself. He is the real deal early tech adopter himself. He is the real deal. Rancher andtle grandson of a fireman. He is also chairman of the Republican National convention. Mr. Leader, mr. Chairman, welcome back. Glad to be back. Mike does being chairman give you perks . I got a little gift. Mike that is reagan behind you . That is reagan. I love reagan. Conservatives to be a happy conservative. Bring believe policies freedom and liberty, be happy. And i t