State and federal charges against 13 members of two militia groups who were preparing to kidnap and possibly kill me. When i put my hand on the bible and took the oath of office 22 months ago, i knew this job would be hard. But i will be honest, i never would have imagined anything like this. I want to start by saying thank you to our Law Enforcement. Thank you to the fearless fbi agents. And thank you to the brave Michigan StatePolice Troopers who participated in this operation, acting under the leadership of colonel joe casper. I also want to thank the attorney general and the u. S. Attorneys birch and schneider and their teams for pursuing criminal charges that hopefully will lead to convictions, bringing these sick and depraved men to justice. As a mom, my husband and i are eternally grateful to everyone who put themselves in harms way to keep our family safe. 2020 has been a hard year for all of us, hard for our doctors and nurses and truck drivers, Grocery Store workers, hard for the teachers and students and parents, hard for those who have had to state isolated to stay safe. And it is not over yet. But here is what i know. We are michiganders. We have grit. We have heart. And we are tough as hell. We made it through the great recession, through auto bankruptcies, through floods and polar vortexes, but none of us has faced a challenge like covid19, not in our lifetime. I have said it many times, we are not one anothers enemy. This virus is our enemy, and this enemy is relentless. It does not care if you are a republican or democrat, young or old, rich or poor. It does not care if we are tired of it. It threatens us all, our lives, our families, our jobs, our businesses, our economy. It preys on our elderly and medically vulnerable residents. And it has exposed deep inequities in our society. This should be a moment for National Unity where we all pulled together as americans to meet this challenge head on with the same might and muscle that put a man on the moon. Seeing that humanity in one another and doing our part to help our country get through this. Instead, our head of state has spent the past seven months denying science, ignoring his own health experts, stoking distressed, fomenting anger, and giving comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and division. Just last week, the president of the United States stood before the American People and refused to condemn White Supremacists and hate groups, like these two michigan militia groups. Stand back and stand by, he told them. Stand back and stand by. Hate groups heard the president s words not as a rebuke but as a rallying cry, a call to action. When our leader speaks, their words matter. They carry weight. When our leaders meet with, encourage, or fraternize with domestic terrorists, they legitimize their actions, and they are complicit. When they stoke and contribute to hate speech, they are complicit. In 1981, president Ronald Reagan spoke to the naacps annual convention. His comments stand in stark contrast to what we have seen on the national and state level from his own beloved party in 2020. He said, a few isolated groups from the backwater of American Life still hold perverted notions of what america is all about. Recently in some places in the nation come there has been a disturbing recurrence of bigotry and violence. Then reagan sent a direct message to those who still adhere to senseless racism and religious prejudice you are the ones who are out of step with our society, he said. You are the ones who willfully violate the meaning of the dream that is america. And this country, because of what it stands for, will not stand for your conduct. So let me say this loud and clear. Hatred, bigotry, and violence have no place in the great state of michigan. If you break the law or conspire to commit heinous acts of violence against anyone, we will find you. We will hold you accountable. And we will bring you to justice. For the past seven months, i have made tough choices to keep our stay safe. These have been gut wrenching decisions. No governor has ever had to make. And i get it. Life has been hard for us all. When i get out of bed every morning, i think about the high school seniors, like my daughter, who missed graduation ceremonies, think of michiganders who missed weddings and funerals, and think about the moms who are working from home, making breakfast everyday, logging their kids into class, and doing the laundry. Think about the Small Business owners who spent a lifetime building something great, who are now hanging on by their fingernails just to keep the lights on. The disruption this virus has caused to our daily lives is immeasurable, and it has already taken the lives of more than 210,000 americans, including over 6800 right here in michigan. As painful as these losses are, our hard work and sacrifices have saved thousands of lives. We have one of the strongest economic recoveries in the nation. Make no mistake, there will be more hard days ahead. But i want the people of michigan to know this, as your governor, i will never stop doing everything in my power to keep you and your families safe. You do not have to agree with me. But i do ask one thing. Never forget that we are all in this together. Lets show a little kindness and a lot more empathy. Give one another a little grace. Lets take care of each other. Wear your masks, stay six feet apart, wash your hands frequently, and look out for your neighbors. We are michiganders. I know we can get through this. We will get through this. So lets get through it together. Thank you. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] spans washington journal. We will discuss policy issues that impact you. Authorup friday morning, and political analyst Bradford Kane will be with us to talk about his book, examining president trumps brand of populism. We will talk about law and order issues with Law EnforcementEducation Foundation resident and im a republican congressman bob mar. And Tennessee Republican senator Marsha Blackburn will discuss the Upcoming Supreme Court confirmation hearings for judge amy coney barrett. Watch cspans washington journal at 7 00 eastern friday morning. Be sure to join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, texts, and tweets. The competition is on. Be part of this years studentcam video competition. Of acan be the Start National conversation by making a five minute to six minute documentary exploring the issues you want the president and congress to address in 2021. Be bold with your documentary. Include cspan video. In total00,000 dollars cash prizes including a grand prize of 5,000. The deadline to submit videos is january 20, 2021. The informed. You will find tips and more information on how to get started at our website, studentcam. Org. Next, cindy mccain, the widow of the late arizona senator john mccain, she spoke about the need for stability across the nation. She took part in the restoring respect conference where she talked about the late senators thoughts on politics and civility before he passed away from cancer. This is 45 minutes. You to our audience for discussion on civility. Misses mccain is joining us less than a month before our general election. The first question i would like to post to her, americans good to see you there. Americans are more divided than they have ever been in my lifetime