Thank you very much, everybody. The sandman. My wife asked me why the sandman . First lady. Because he put the battery to sleep. A lot of people dont know that. The yankees fans know that. Watched it for a long time. Thank you for coming. The first lady and i are delighted to welcome you to the white house. We present the nations highest civilian honor, the president ial medal of freedom, to american baseball legend, maybe the greatest pitcher of all time, big argument, you see the greatest peach are . Reliever we want . There is a real question he may be the greatest pitcher in the history of baseball, Mariano Rivera. When you hear the stats you know why i say that. I want to congratulate you on this extraordinary achievement. On behalf of this whole country, thank you very much. [applause] we are delighted to be joined by Vice President mike pence and his wonderful wife karen. Along with many members of our distinguished and hardworking and very successful cabinet. Thank you for being here, thank you, cabinet. We are also grateful to be joined by marianos wife clara. Thank you, clara. And his daughterinlaw, and his longtime manager, joe tori. A great player too. Chief operating officer, good luck. That would guarantee it. Tremendous season. Mariano rivera was born the son of a fishing boat captain on the coast of panama, learned to play baseball on the mudflaps of the pacific with a cardboard glove, a tree branch, made out of rock, sling and tape. A lot of money for playing baseball. He started playing in the countrys top adult league. In a critical game with his team losing badly the coach pulled him over and asked him to do something he had never done before. Could you pitch . He insisted he could not but when he took the mound an amazing thing happened, the crowd witnessed an incredible performance. His performance not get a single run for the rest of the game and allegedly started. His team won and epic comeback victory. He told him there was a tryout with the worlds most famous baseball dynasty, the new york yankees and the bus ride home, he set out on a journey, and countless millions around the globe. At his first tryouts coming in worn out shoes and a borrowed glove, Mariano Rivera through nine fastballs, the only pitch he knew how to throw, the yankees offered him a contract to play and the gulf coast and yankees, do you remember that . Were they a good team . Not bad. He got in an airplane and came back to america. A few months later in august 1990 Mariano Rivera through his next nohitter. And average era, doesnt mean one. It means 117th of one. How do you lose that . You score now runs. Soon thereafter, Mariano Rivera married clara which is a more important thing for him to do. And you are the love of his life, you feel that, hope he tells you that. They will soon celebrate their 28th wedding anniversary, congratulations to her. After 5 years playing in the minors in 1955, Mariano Rivera made it to the big leagues. And Second Season with the yankees, Mariano Rivera delivered 130 strike outs in 180 innings while facing 425 batters, he allowed only one home run. With an era of 2. 09 the yankees made him a closer for the 1997 season, that year he accidentally threw a pitch, he had never thrown before. He tried it several more times again and again, kept working and at the last second his fastball, an incredible thing, came to cut her. He had suddenly developed that lethal stitch. I people throwing that pitch today . They dont have your success i can tell you. It doesnt work quite the same way. Many players would come to consider the greatest pitcher ever in baseball, it would break many records and many bats. In 1999 game against the Atlanta Braves his cutter snapped a big strong guy who i know well as a he is a powerful guy. And 3 times in one plate appearance, has to be a record. His heavy fearsome pitch destroyed 44 bats in 81 innings. I have never seen a guy break so many bats. It is a heavy heavy pitch. That is the way it happened. When he retired the Minnesota Twins presented him with the most prized possession, a chair made of their chattered backs. [applause] in 199819992000 world series championships, Mariano Rivera closeout three consecutive world series victories and delivered 14 strikeouts and twee 7 saves. Only gave up two runs to 59 batters and playing against the best team, it is the best team and he had a very unusual trait. He did better against the best teams and did incredibly in the plays. When his entrance music entered sandman philby arena fans went wild, knowing the game was all but over, and mesmerized teammates and it mesmerized the competitors. In game 7 of the 2003 American League championship, he entered the top of the night with the score tied 55, with 3 straight innings without giving up a single run, helping secure the series in the yankees. He was named the series mvp. [applause] one of the most memorable moment was the final game of the old Yankee Stadium, the last game in Yankee Stadium when he took his place as the final man to pitch in that shrine to american baseball. I spent many a day in that stadium and night and it was special. With mo on the mound for the ninthinning, not a single hitter from the Baltimore Orioles made it to first base, he secured one more yankee victory and that stadium became the house that ruth built and rivera closed out. [applause] most games finished and saves made. He has the best earnedrun average in the past 100 years, 2. 21 in the regular season and an even more astounding 0. 70, less than one run in the postseason when again you play the best teams, these are the hot teams, the teams that are beating up everybody and you had less than one run. 70, it is amazing. He made more than two times as many saves as the next best picture in postseason and a true clutch pitcher, he was always the best against the most talented haters. Amazingly the 527 batters he faced in postseason games, hit only two home runs and scored only 13 runs against him. We have to get him in uniform, get ready, sign him up. Mariano rivera helped lead the yankees to five world series victories, names world series mvp in 1999 and this year he became the first person unanimously elected to the Baseball Hall of fame. [applause] just out of curiosity, babe ruth was not unanimous . The baby didnt make it . With his problem . He did pretty good too . He was not unanimous . He had some other difficulties. That is pretty good. I have heard first unanimously the baby, we love the babe, what a swing the babe had, old corkscrew swing. Nobody could figure him out either. Throughout Mariano Riveras incredible career he remained a humble man guided by deep Christian Faith that inspires everyone around him. He has always remembered the lord doesnt care about wealth or fame or the number of saves, we are children of god and the lord cares about the goodness and love in our hearts. That is all. That is different than the babe i would say. I dont know if the babe ever said that, pretty sure he didnt. Maybe in his last year. Nearly two decades ago, Mariano Rivera founded the Mariano Rivera foundation which has provided hundreds of scholarships for underprivileged children along with School Supplies for countless students and currently building a learning and Community Center in new york where i can tell you from being in new york what you have done has been incredible. After retiring from baseball Mariano Rivera and his wife built in Evangelical Church and clara is its pastor. We have to come listen to you, i could use it, that is good. Mariano rivera was naturalized as a us citizen in 2015 and serves as a chair of the president s council on Sports Fitness and nutrition. Mariano rivera has made extraordinary contributions to american sports, culture and society. He is the most dominant relief pitcher in the history of baseball and more than that he has lived the American Dream and find as an example of american greatness for all to see. I would now like to ask the military aid to come forward and prevent Mariano Rivera with the president ial medal of freedom and before we do the actual presentation i would like to have Mariano Rivera say a few words and i know most of those will be addressed to his family because i know how he feels about his family. Nobody loves their family more than Mariano Rivera. Please. Mariano rivera. [applause] amazing, thank you, i would like to say thank god for wonderful day and thank you for all those words and remarks. The first lady, thank you. Thank you for being here. My wife, my kids and my family, the rest of the family, friends. Without you guys supporting the prayers. Mister t, mister joe tori, benefits from a lot of those prayers. [applause] for me it is an honor and privilege to receive the medal of freedom. Try to do the best for america. One thing i have 3 market is one remark. When i came here in 1990 i came to tampa, spoke no english. Forget about 1990. I do that because there were a lot of players that spoke spanish at all. I got a little comfortable and try a little bit to learn the language. My second year in baseball, most of the people didnt speak any spanish. My team i was a little younger. The guys who spoke spanish would hang out with older guys, hanging out with guys, a friend of mine, team cooper, another guy. Because i was frustrated. Times i would go to bed crying not because of the game but because i couldnt speak any english, couldnt speak english. I said i dont care how much you laugh, dont care how much you make fun of me but please, i give you permission to laugh and do that. Teach me the right way. By my surprise they never laughed at me and they teach me. By the end of the year i was able to communicate with my manager, my teammates and i was the happiest man in baseball. My career took off and i was able to rely, i could do something for others because i knew the language. Now i could relate to someone going through the same thing. At the same time teach them that yes, learning english is the first thing we should do. And i did and for that, being american i am so proud and honored, coming from a small beautiful town, beautiful country, let called panama and let with my family, they understand the language and everything, i am proud to be an american. So for that, thank you very much. During his 19th season in major league baseball, Mariano Rivera established himself as the greatest relief pitcher of all time signed by the new york yankees in 1990 Mariano Rivera became a 13 time allstar and 5time world champion, the first player in the history of the sport to be elected unanimously into the Baseball Hall of fame. Through the Mariano Rivera foundation, in need with an education and powering them to achieve a better future. The United States honors Mariano Rivera for being a legend of the game of baseball and for his commitment to strengthening americas communities. [applause] [applause] [applause] cspan is in des moines, iowa for Life Campaign 2020 coverage of the pork county democrat stake fry at 2 00 pm eastern, 18 president ial candidates take the stage, live on cspan. Org or listen using the free cspan radio apps. Our cspan campaign 2020 team is traveling across the country visiting key battleground states in the 2020 president ial race asking voters what issues they want president ial candidates to address during the campaign. A pressing issue i would like to see candidates talk about his healthcare. There is a lot of healthcare in the country right now. Affordable healthcare is the least. Some people are not going as far as i would like to go into the details how to handle that. A lot of general ideas like policy. I would like to see where that goes. I would like the candidates to discuss how to normalize ourselves. A leader is not the leader in what we used to call the free world, and cooperating. With the rest of the world. I would like to give candidates ideas on energy. And investments on technology in every state in the country and i would like to know if they believe it is sustainable, reliable for the investment to our nation. Im really concerned about the Climate Crisis and gun safety legislation and those are two essential things that have to be addressed by the election. I wish they would be addressed by congress before that but it doesnt appear the senate will move on that. Also we need to try to get back to enforcing the constitution, whoever becomes president should obey the am all humans cause, should conduct business with integrity, should not ridicule minorities or handicap people or anyone else. We need to restore integrity and restore a sense of service to all the people. Voices from the campaign trail, part of cspans battleground tour. Campaign 2020, watch live coverage of the president ial candidates on the campaign trail and make up your own mind, cspans campaign 2020, youre in filtered view of politics. Arizona governor doug ducey was joined by tom donohue and neil bradley for a News Conference on trade and the need to ratify the us mexico canada trade agreement often referred to as the usmca. This is just over 30 minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming. Twice a year the chamber brings together top state and local Chamber Executives from around the country to talk about our shared priorities and how we can best leverage the power of our whole federation. It is our partnership with these organizations the give the chamber nationwide reach and businesses all over the country a voice in washington. This meeting is an important time for businesses from arizona