Transcripts For CSPAN3 Politics And Public Policy Today 20160609

Remarkable success that he enjoyed in the context of his democratic his campaign for the democratic nomination for president. Senator sanders competed in every state across the country. And earned more than 10 million votes for his campaign. Thats a remarkable accomplishment and the president complimented him and congratulated him on his success. I think you could describe the conversation as friendly conversation. That was focused on the future. Part of that future conversation was about the importance of the upcoming general election. Youve heard the president say on a number of occasions how important it is to him personally that he be succeeded in office by a president who is committed to building on the remarkable progress that our country has made over the last 7 1 2 years. So that certainly was an important part of the conversation. But it went beyond that. There also was a conversation about the longterm future of the Democratic Party. And senator Sanders Campaign enjoyed so much success because he was able to inspire a lot of young people both democrats and independents to support his campaign and to be engaged in the political process. Thats a good thing. And president obama and senator sanders had an opportunity to talk about what work they could potentially do together in the future to ensure that the Democratic Party of the 21st century is diverse and vibrant and inclusive. Thats been a longstated goal of president obama and obviously president obama had his own success in building a coalition that involved a lot of Young Americans and not all democrats. Senator sanders built on that progress and theyre hopeful that theyll be able to Work Together in the future, not just at the National Level but also at the state and local levels as well. Did they make any requests of each other . Well, im going to do my best to try to protect their ability to have a private conversation. But i think what is clear is that theres a lot of agreement about the way forward. Obviously theres a lot of agreement when it comes to the future of the Democratic Party that i just described. Theres also a lot of agreement about the highest priorities that the next president will have to grapple with and so these priorities range from issues like addressing economic inequality and countering the influence of special interests in our politics. These are obviously issues that senator sanders discussed quite extensively on the campaign trail but these are also issues that president obama has had an opportunity to address and as you heard from senator sanders in the driveway a couple hours ago, there also was a discussion about other issues like expanding Economic Opportunity for the middleclass, making sure that we keep our commitment to our veterans, making sure that we give College Graduates in this country the opportunity to succeed and not just be weighted down with extraordinary debt, again, these are all issues that president obama has spent the last seven years fighting for and senator sanders has spent a significant amount of time talking about these issues, too, not just in the context of his president ial campaign but in the context of his decades in public service. And im sure the president gave the senator the courtesy of letting him know that he would be endorsing secretary clinton in the coming moments or hours. Could you just provide a little bit of how the president broke that to him . Im sure it was probably expected, and what was the response . And is the president disappointed that senator sanders did not go outside of the white house and in talking to reporters did not endorse clinton . Well, let me start by saying that, no. Senator sanders i think has been quite clear that he intended to compete for votes in the upcoming district of columbia primary thats scheduled for tuesday. So, i dont think anybody had the expectation that senator sanders was going to deviate from that plan. At the same time to go back to your first question, the president has had the opportunity to speak to senator sanders now three times in the last week. And as a result of those conversations i think its fair to say that senator sanders was not at all surprised by todays announcement. Okay . Roberta . Did the president show senator sanders the video . Again, im not going to get into the details of their interactions, but i assure you that senator sanders was not surprised. Look, senator sanders began his statement in the driveway in front of the white house today by saying that president obama and Vice President biden had made a commitment to him early in the process that they would not put their thumb on the scale, and senator sanders himself said how much he appreciated that president obama and Vice President biden kept that promise. When was the video recorded, and why was it decided that the endorsement would be done through video rather than having an event or some kind of other alternative . The video was recorded on tuesday. And i think secretary Clintons Campaign has already announced that there will be an event, and the president is very much looking forward to traveling to green bay, wisconsin, title town, with secretary clinton to appear with her in person at a Campaign Event and build support for her campaign in the state of wisconsin, a state that president obama won twice. And does he have other plans next week to do campaignrelated events for secretary clinton . Thats the only Campaign Event thats on the schedule at this point but i would anticipate that its only the first of many Campaign Events between now and november. Michelle . You mentioned in the meeting things that the president would like to see working together on those issues. Did sanders also have things that he wanted to see from the white house or did he have any particular asks . Ill let senator sanders characterize the points that he raised in their meeting and i think he did that again when he spoke to all of you a couple of hours ago. He was quite direct about his appreciation to the president by keeping his promise not to weigh in in the democratic process and give primary voters an opportunity to make a decision about who should represent the party in the general election. And, you know, senator sanders i think, again, as i when i spoke to the president briefly about his conversation with senator sanders, i think both men are pretty enthusiastic about the opportunity that lies ahead, not just in advance of the general election but over the course of a generation to ensure that the future of the Democratic Party looks as diverse and vibrant and inclusive as our country is. Did the president ask sanders to step out of the race sooner rather than later and did he want him to step out before the d. C. Primary . Well, listen, as i mentioned yesterday when i folk tospoke t group of you, senator sanders has more than earned the right to make his own decision on his own time frame about the future of his campaign and the president certainly respects the important work that senator sanders has done on the campaign trail. He certainly respects the strong support that hes built in all 50 states and that means that senator sanders gets to decide when what the future of his Campaign Looks like. Ill just point out, again, when senator sanders spoke to all of you after meeting with the president , senator sanders reiterated how critically important it is for president obama to be succeeded by a president who shares our values and is committed to building on the progress this country has made under president obamas leadership. That certainly was part of the conversation in the oval office and senator sanders when he folk to all of you made clear that that was a priority. What was the point and the outcome of this meeting . Like, what was decided between the two of them . Look, i think the point was for president obama and senator sanders to continue the conversation that theyve been having over the course of this week and, look, in some ways this is a conversation that dates all the way back to january or february whenever it was that senator sanders was here at the white house much earlier in the campaign. And so, again, i dont think there was any expectation either on the part of senator sanders or president obama that senator sanders was going to make some abrupt change into abrupt change to his campaign strategy, which at this point has included competing in the d. C. Primary thats scheduled for tuesday. So, why release it on twitter and why have it come from clinton instead of the president . The well, i think obviously the it makes i think theres some intuitive decisions about why its important to give secretary clinton the opportunity to make this news. Obviously, you know, i saw some of the early comments from her campaign that she was deeply appreciative of the president s endorsement. And the president was pleased to have the opportunity to share it. But it certainly is the decision for secretary clinton and her team to make about how best to use this material to advance her campaign. And speaking of twitter, you see a lot of sanders supporters now putting out their continued support for sanders, many of them saying, well, its bernie or nobody, you know, it wont be clinton. How what do you think is going to be the president s best approach now that he is going to be on the trail in a matter of days to winning over those people . Well, listen, first of all its going to be secretary clintons responsibility to win over those people and im confident that she will have a very forceful case to make about the values that she represents and so i think shell have a strong case to make but thats ultimately a case she will make but president obama certainly has a lot of credibility with those voters. I think that is true. President obama over the course of the last seven years has fought very hard for many of the principles and priorities that senator sanders has been talking about over the course of this campaign. Senator sanders has devoted extraordinary an extraordinary amount of time to making sure that wall street doesnt run amok and trample on middleclass families. And the i can recite you, ill probably spare you at least right now, a long recitation of all of the things that president obama has done by implementing wall street reform to make sure that taxpayers are not on the hook for bailing out big banks that make risky bets and also make sure were focused on expanding Economic Opportunity for the middleclass. Thats entirely consistent by a message spread by senator sanders and his campaign that clearly deeply resonated with voters young and old, democrat and independent all across the country, so president obama has a lot of credibility with those voters. And look, heres the last thing, senator sanders obviously has a lot of credibility with those voters and you heard senator sanders say to all of you a couple of hours ago how critically important it is that president obama be succeeded by somebody who shares our values and is dedicated to those progressive priorities. So, there are any number of people. Secretary clinton, senator sanders and president obama who can make a very forceful case to those who were enthusiastic supporters of senator sanders in the primary. Okay . John . Josh, you mentioned that the president we obviously know wont be out next week with secretary clinton and intends to be out many other times, how eager is he to get out there on the campaign trail again . Is this like one more campaign for him . The president is very enth e enthusiastic about the opportunity he will have over the next couple of months to make a strong case in support of secretary clinton. I think thats evident from the comments that president obama made in elkhart, indiana, last week. The stakes in this election are high particularly if you take a look at the u. S. Economy. Weve made enormous progress over the last seven years digging out of the ditch created by the worst economic downturn since the great depression. The private sector is what led that recovery, but the private sector would not have succeeded without the important policy decisions that were made in the first couple of months of president obamas presidency. For those voters focused on the economy weve got a pretty strong case to make about the wisdom of the decisions made by president obama and the commitment to by secretary clinton to those principles. But i also think it was pretty evident from that video and from his appearance on the tonight show with jimmy fallon that will air tonight at 11 30 thats a free plug there, peter, for your network. Appreciate it. But i think anybody who has an opportunity to watch that interview will see the president is quite enthusiastic about this election and about the prospect of being succeeded in office by secretary clinton. I noticed in that video he seems to give secretary clinton some credit for the bin laden decision. Its mentioned in the video. But that was really his decision alone he said in the past, right . What role did she have during that critical stage . I think that point of the video where the president talks about her courage and her compassion and her heart and how her service to the country are critically important to were critically important to his decision to endorse her in this campaign. And i think the point that hes making in the video is that he chose to have secretary clinton by his side for the first four years of his presidency as he was making difficult decisions that had enormous consequences for the United States and our citizens. [ inaudible question ] well, shes certainly in that picture where that decision is being executed. And she certainly was an important architect of the kinds of Foreign Policy decisions and Strategic Decisions that president obama had to make over the first four years of his presidency. I dont know if you have been tracking her twitter feed up there i have not. It may not surprise you that donald trump has tweeted. I am not surprised. Obama just endorsed crooked hillary, he wants four more years of obama but nobody else does. Yeah. Is that what he wants, four more years of obama . No. I think there have been a number of occasions over the last several months where you all have pointed out to me some differences between secretary clinton and president obama. So, they do not have they do not have the same opinion on every issue. But i think, again, just to go back to this video that was released today, the president said unequivocally that he does not believe at least he cant remember somebody who has been more qualified, a candidate thats been more qualified to hold this office, and after getting to know her personally, working closely with her in the first four years of this administration and spending more than a year on the campaign trail competing against her in the 2008 president ial election, the president s had the opportunity to watch secretary clinton perform up close. And hes seen her tenacity, her dedication, her commitment to a set of principles that they share. And thats why the president s quite enthusiastic about her campaign. Okay . Lets move around. Thanks, josh. Could you at this point confirm that the president did vote for secretary clinton during the illinois primary a few months back . I did not ask the president about which box he checked on his ballot. But im not aware that he changed his mind at any point over the course of the primary. Okay. And now that the endorsement is officially out, i want to sort of revisit a question that you were asked a couple days ago about the first lady. Shes going to be doing an event the state of women i believe next week. Can we expect to see her now that we have our first woman nominee sort of make the case for secretary clinton on the campaign trail as well . Well, listen, that event youre referring to is one thats been in the works for months now here at the white house. Its not a Campaign Event, its an event to talk about issues important to americas women and americas families and there are a wide range of issues theyll discuss. Part of that event includes a conversation that the first lady will have with Oprah Winfrey so i dont know if it will come up in the context of that conversation. But this is an event planned independent of any consideration of secretary Clintons Campaign. That said, i think it is entirely fair for you to interpret president obamas remarks in the video that was released today as consistent with the first ladys views of the campaign. The first lady is enthusiastic about secretary clintons cam feign, and you could certainly interpret that video as a joint endorsement. And at some point, i dont know exactly when that will be, but at some point im confident that the first lady will have an opportunity to share her own views in her own words about why she believes its important for secretary clinton to succeed president obama. You know, i will ill end by reminding you that there are a number of occasions where mrs. Obama has discussed her deep admiration for secretary clintons public service, her career. Shes been a trail blazer. And mrs. Obama deeply respects what secretary clinton has done and the issues that shes fought for over the course of her long career. One more. Yesterday the president at the fundraiser said that he was concerned about the ability of democrats to do sort of the hard work of the ground game of turning out young voters, lowincome voters like he did in 2008, 2012. Is that sort of a tacit criticism of the Clinton Campaign, she hasnt been able to reach those voters so far . No, its not. The president was making a point similar to the point that he made in south florida at the end of last week, where he talked about how important it is for democrats to run scared, to not be complacent about what the polls say. The stakes in this election are high, and the republican nominee has certainly defied conventional wisdom in the past. And his campaign is one that democrats should should take seriously. And the president certainly intends to devote a lot of time and energy to making sure that voters all across the country, democrats, independents and republicans, understand the high stakes and the president will certainly make a strong and clear case for the candidate that he believes is at least as qualified as any other candidate to seek the office of the presidency in our nations history. Okay . April . Josh, a couple questions. The Sanders Campaign, or Bernie Sanders, has been looking at history when it comes to this unification process. They have looked at 2008 when Hillary Clinton conceded and barack obama reached out his hand for unification with Hillary Clinton. For this president , what does the unification process with Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders look like particularly when it comes to his supporters . Listen, i think youre making an important point, which is theres some relevant history here. That secretary clinton was not in such a different situation than the one facing senator sanders today. What secreta clinton did this is wellknown history now is she was justifiably proud of the historic nature of her campaign in 2007 and 2008. She was proud of the strong support that she got from voters all across the country. But she also made clear that then senator obama was the best opportunity that our country had to advance the priorities that shed been campaigning on. And, again, i think theres a relevant analogy to be drawn between what happened eight years ago and whats happening right now. Since youre saying its a relevant analogy, can you bring us back to how beyond paying for her campaign debt, how president obama worked with Hillary Clinton to give her supporters, who were very angry at the time like now, to follow him . What was that piece of that . Well, look, i think whats important is to be respectful of those voters. And certainly in 2008 president obama, then senator obama, was deeply respectful of the investment in commitment that had been shown by then senator clintons supporters. And over the course of that summer and fall president obama and his campaign, with the strong support and endorsement of then senator clinton made a powerful case. And i dont think there were too many of those supporters that were converted in a day. But over the course of the campaign i think the president made a strong case, and i think secretary clinton is certainly well positioned to do the same thing with regard to senator sanders supporters. What is the concern in this administration about the independents that could go to trump particularly when it comes to issues of trade that didnt like Hillary Clintons trade issues or trade stand and they were for Bernie Sanders and they would vote for donald trump . Again, as you all have pointed out to kneeme a number times in this room, all three of the candidates that you named have the same position on the Transpacific Partnership and its a different one than president obama does. Sorry, one last piece to tuesday and the video. What time was that video made . Was it after new jersey or was it during the day or was it after california . What time was that video made . I believe it was during the day but it was certainly after a number of your News Organizations had declared Hillary Clinton the presumptive nominee for presidency. That was in the white house . Im not sure which room it was. It was a room in the white house residence. There are a lot of rooms. I dont know which one it was. But oit certainly consistent with the practice that previous president s have followed when engaged in taping videos for political purposes. This is what president reagan did. This is what both president bushes did, its what president clinton did. Its what president obama has done before. Costs borne by the Hillary Campaign . Either the Hillary Campaign or the dnc. What i can confirm for you it was not filmed at government expense. Who wrote the script . I dont know who was involved in writing the script but, again both camps at the white house and the Hillary Campaign, the dnc . Some combination i think is the best way to describe it. And you have always said in the past when it comes to the president s endorsements, its the candidate who makes the decision about the timing. Your hesitation about confirming that the president may have given a headsup to senator sanders in their meeting, i kind of want to nail that down. Did the hillary Clinton Campaign decide when that went up or did you guys decide when that went up . Well, i dont recall having said that the candidates themselves determine that. Obviously president obama made a very purposeful decision over the course of this campaign to not weigh in and to give democratic voters across the country the opportunity to determine who should represent our party in the general election. So, the timing of this decision was it was one that was driven by the president , but obviously as i noted yesterday the white house has had open line an open line of communication with each campaign. And so in order to make sure that senator sanders wasnt surprised, it required president obama to communicate with senator sanders and in order to make sure that secretary Clintons Campaign was in a position to release the video, we obviously had to communicate with them as well. And lastly, poor d. C. Voters, right . What, should they just stay home . Is that part of the message here, that the decisions been made now, the race is over, their votes dont matter as much as california, new jersey, or other states . No, thats not how i would describe it. I think the president is somebody who has on a number of occasions articulated his view that people should be engaged in the political process, that people should be engaged in the public debate and certainly an important way to do that is to participate in elections. There are delegates that are up for election to the Democratic Convention and that is something thats worth voting on. Look, i think what other people have suggested is that there are potentially reforms to the nomination process that could be made that would that could potentially put district voters in a position to have more influence on the process than they do now. Okay . James. Josh, thank you. A few quick different subjects. Sure. Does the president have confidence in Debbie Wasserman schultz to remain her position throughout this cycle . The president was in south florida at the end of last week and he talked about her service as the chair of the Democratic National committee. Look, the president appointed her to be the chair of the dnc during his first term which means part of her legacy at the dnc is having built a Democratic Campaign apparatus that succeeded in reelecting the first africanamerican president of the United States. President obama is the first president since eisenhower to be elected and reelected with more than 50 of the vote and certainly the dnc and the structure that was built and financed through Debbie Wasserman schultz efforts should take some credit for that. She should. The president made clear that shes had his back and hell have hers. The president announced his support for her Reelection Campaign and shes certainly appreciative for all the important work shes done at the dnc. Was there ever any point where the president ever considered endorsing anyone other than Hillary Clinton . I alluded that im not aware that the president was ever changed his mind in the course of the democratic primary. You mentioned earlier that president obama carried wisconsin twice in a row. Why shouldnt we interpret the president s decision to campaign there with Hillary Clinton as his first outing as a sign of weakness on the part of the democratic ticket since theyre going to be campaigning in a state where by all accounts they should easily be able to retain that state . The president to compete in wisconsin both in 2008 and 2012, those were hardfought elections but both times he came out on top. And i would anticipate a similar outcome in 2016. You just stated at the podium just now that you believe theres a very strong case to be made for the president s economic stewardship over the course of the last 7 1 2 years. Senator sanders in his statement in the white house driveway today painted a very different picture. Senator sanders said that the United States right now is drifting toward oligarchy. Does the president agree with that . Well, i think the president certainly agrees that there is more work to be done to address increasing economic inequality in this country. Are we drifting toward oligarchy . Those are senator sanders words. Im asking if you agree. I think what the president agrees with is the notion that theres more that can be done to fight income inequality in this country. Unfortunately many of his ideas have been blocked by republicans in congress. We could certainly start by raising the minimum wage. But, look, i think the president is the proud and justifiably proud of the progress the country has made over the last seven years. Theres a lot more important work that needs to be done which is why he believes its so important that hes succeeded on somebody that wants to build on the progress that weve made and not tear it down. If you agree that were presently drifting towards oligarchy, you would have said so in response to my question. Those are senator sanders words and im using my own to convey our view. Last subject matter. Previously the president has used one public forum or another to comment on the fbi investigation into mrs. Clinton and her email conduct. At one point he stated as far as he could see there was no real damage done to national security. You, yourself, from this podium have suggested that the investigation wasnt trending toward any focus on mrs. Clinton herself. I wonder if you could address for us the potential conflict of interest that might exist when the president of the United States, the head of the executive branch, is openly saying i want this woman to succeed me in the oval office and you have other employees of the executive branch, career prosecutors, fbi agents working this case but now have just heard how the president wants to see this case resolved in essence, isnt there some conflict there . James, theres not. You noted a couple of instances where the president had been asked of the fbi investigation and each of those answers the president made clear that that investigation is being conducted independent of any sort of political interference. Thats a principle to which the president is resolutely committed. You mentioned my comments. My comments were actually also in response to a question and were a reference to a published reports of comments from fbi officials that about the direction of the investigation. But, look, the reason that the president feels confident that he can go out and make this endorsement and record a video in which he describes his strong support for secretary Clintons Campaign is that he knows the people who are subjeconducting investigation arent going to be swayed by any sort of political g interference that they know their investigation should be guided by the facts and they should follow the evidence where it leads and the president has complete confidence that thats exactly what theyll do. When a career prosecutor or an fbi agent who is working on the clinton investigation hears this president speak openly of how he wants Hillary Clinton to succeed him, you dont think that that career prosecutor or that fib agent take fbi agent that as a sign as the way president wants them to go . They want the job they are responsible for doing without any sort of political interference and the president expects them to do that job and this is the reason we ask career federal prosecutors to take the lead on these matters. They are the ones that conduct the investigation. They have career jobs as Law Enforcement officers and as prosecutors and investigators and thats what their responsibility. Thats why the president in discussing this issue has reiterated his commitment to this principle, that any criminal investigation should be conducted independent of any sort of political interference and people should be treated the same way before the law regardless of their political influence, regardless of their political party, regardless of their political stature and regardless of what political figure has enfordorsed them. Has president obama discussed the investigation of mrs. Clinton . He has not. To what extent do you think todays meeting with bernie sappeders in front of the cameras and in here in the white house in a formality to soften the blow not only to him but to so many of his young supporters who are so badly needed on the campaign trail by Hillary Clinton . I would not describe the meeting as a formality, because i think the president is deeply respectful of senator sanders and the campaign that he has run over the last year or so. So, again, they had a serious conversation about the stakes of the upcoming general election and about the future of the Democratic Party. Something that both candidates are quite interested in. So, this was an important meeting. This was an important part of the president s day and certainly was an important part of senator sanders day, too. Was there a request to get his grassroots supporters on board with Hillary Clinton . Im not aware of any specific request like that. I think it was an opportunity for the president and senator sanders to sit down and discuss the future. They did it in friendly terms. I think you saw them walking on the colonnade. That senator sanders i think is evidently and justifiably proud of all that hes accomplished and i think he appreciated the president showing him respect by inviting him to the white house and sitting down for an hourlong conversation with him. And giving him the time and f e space thats necessary for senator sanders to make decisions about his campaign. Time and space, it was not much later than the actual endorsement came out. Thats not much time and space. Senator sanders is going to make his own decisions. When i say time and space im referring to senator sanders making his own decisions about the future of his Campaign Based on his own preferences and his schedule. President obama did the same thing. And the good news is, is that both men have a strong commitment to a core set of values and principles particularly as it relates to the importance of investing in the middleclass. Both men have a commitment to the principle of grassroots movements and grassroots coalitions and how our party and our country are stronger when citizens at the Grassroots Level are engaged in the process of selfgovernment. And both men have share the view that the upcoming general election is really important and that its important that president obama be succeeded by somebody who has the same kind of commitment to those values that senator sanders and president obama do. In the clip the president used a term fired up, im fired up, which is from his own campaign. Does the president see hitting the campaign trail now for hillary as in some ways an extension of his own campaign because in so many ways will help preserve his legacy . How mindful of that is he . Look, this is secretary Clintons Campaign. And president obama is enthusiastic about doing all that he can to support and thats exactly what he said in the video. And, you know, he the words were deliberate. It was deliberate and the president is making clear that hes enthusiastic about secretary Clintons Campaign, again, not because shes got as much shes as qualified as any president ial candidate in American History has been, but because she also has demonstrated in a variety of circumstances, difficult circumstances, the heart, the compassion, and the courage to get the job done. And the president feels strongly that shes the right person to succeed him in office. Can you tell us anything about this biden meeting with sanders today and the speech hes going to be giving . What i do know is Vice President biden has invited senator sanders to come to the naval observatory, the Vice President ial residence, for a meeting around 4 00 this afternoon where Vice President biden and senator sanders will have an opportunity to have a conversation about senator Sanders Campaign, about the upcoming general election and many of the issues that senator sanders has been discussing on the campaign trail. So, Vice President biden is somebody with a political following in his own right. He certainly is somebody who would be a valuable surrogate on the campaign trail. But, you know, once that meeting is concluded ill give senator sanders and the Vice President s office the opportunity to discuss any outcome of that meeting. Is it a strategy session . Would you describe it as that the . Ill let them describe it once theyve had an opportunity to talk. Does the president support getting rid of superdelegates . Ive not heard the president weigh in with that view. Obviously the Democratic National committee is responsible for laying out the process of choosing the democratic president ial nominee. I made a reference to this in the briefing the other day that every four years or so there is intense consideration within the Democratic Party about the best way to choose the democratic nominee. I happen to work at the dnc in 2004. And in 2003 there was an established process with public hearings and reports and blue ribbon panels all dedicated to taking a close look at the process of choosing the democratic nominee. For president. And there are a number of things that were considered, everything from the role of superdelegates to the the first in the nation status both iowa and new hampshire. Theres a discussion about whether or not primaries should be organized on a regional basis. So, there are a lots of ideas for ways to change the process of choosing the democratic nominee. I think we would all acknowledge that its a rather peculiar process that both parties are engaged in. But i think whats important and what both senator sanders and secretary clinton acknowledged is that they knew what the rules were when they signed up. They knew exactly what roles superdelegates would play in this process. But, look, if the party wants to engage in another process to consider making changes, thats something that Party Officials should do. Why the First Joint Campaign will take place in green bay . Where does that fit within your strategy of Going Forward . To be clear, thats secretary clintons strategy, so i think id mostly let her Campaign Talk about it. But i would just observe that president obama has won two president ial campaigns over the last eight years and he won the state of wisconsin both times, so he certainly has an influence and following in wisconsin. Cheryl . Thanks, josh. The president has said he appreciates senator sanders bringing up the special interest influence in politics. Can president obama do anything about Campaign Finance reform in his remaining months in office . Well, listen, i dont have any executive orders or policy announcements or anything to put forward today. The president s put forward a couple of ideas for what would bring Greater Transparency to our political process. The president s obviously an enthusiastic supporter of the disclose act. This is a proposal that was put forward by democrats in congress that would bring muchneeded transparency to the financing of political campaigns in the United States. For some reason republicans dont seem to support that principle. The president has in the state of the Union Address expressed his concern about the impact of the Citizens United decision on the financing of american elections and its why the president has speculated that what may be necessary is actually a rather painstaking process of amending our constitution to make it clear certain principles about the importance of transparency in our elections and how the American People and our political process would benefit from Greater Transparency. Okay . Peter . When did president obama first communicate to secretary clinton that he would be endorsing her campaign . Did it take place on the phone conversation on tuesday . I dont have the details of the phone call to go into. He had the opportunity to make a congratulatory call to secretary clinton. Whats also true is the president s political director david semus is responsible for managing the lines of communication between the white house and the individual campaigns, so he certainly played the core role. Thats the role thats described for him. And he played that role of communicating with both campaigns to ensure that nobody was surprised and that this was reasonably well organized. To be clear he would have taped it that day so by the time they spoke the tape would already be in the can, right . The president did do the video prior to making the phone call to secretary clint been. To Bernie Sanders supporters they would say not to give a chance for every american to vote. Why couldnt the guy have waited until after tuesday in washington, d. C. . What do you say to the sanders folks why didnt you give us a couple more days . I would say a couple of things. I think this is a sign of president obamas enthusiasm to get involved in the election and be supportive of the democratic nominee. We have a Presumptive Democratic nominee based on your News Organization and many others and the president is enthusiastic on secretary clinton watching her in action and on the campaign trail and serving as secretary of state. Look, senator sanders said it more authoritatively than i can how deeply he respected president obama and Vice President biden not weighing in and keeping their commitment to allow democratic voters across the country to make a decision about who should represent our party in the general election. And we now know that secretary clinton has gotten a majority of delegates that will be voting on the Party Nominee in philadelphia. Is the first lady traveling with him on wednesday . I dont believe she is, no. I guess beyond that theres one other thing i was going to tell you, but i think i forgot it. I can come back to you if it occurs to you. He yields the balance. Carol . Well go to the gentle lady from pennsylvania, ms. Lee. You should feel free to interrupt. Did the president come away from the sanders meeting with a commitment or at least the belief that there will not be any confrontation or contested convention . Well, i think the president came away from his conversation feeling quite good about it. Again, i think this was evident from what all of you were able to see from their interaction on the colonnade. And i think, again, i think senator sanders said it best out in the driveway here. Hes enormously appreciative of the way that president obama and Vice President biden conducted themselves in the context of the primary. And senator sanders made clear that there are a set of principles and priorities that hes going to continue to fight for including in the context of the general election. And i think based on senator sanders comments about the republican nominee, its clear that he understands the stakes in this election. President obama certainly understands the stakes in this election. Youve heard him talk about that at a number of places, including in elkhart. So, senator sanders has earned the right to make his own decisions about his campaign on a time frame of his choosing. But the president came away from the conversation feeling quite good about it. On a different topic, the other day your statement of a message policy on the ndaa, the language on the getgo provision is a little stronger than usual, and it said that the president that the white house would treat those provisions as consistent with the president s constitutional authority. Should we interpret that to say that, no, well just ignore them . I havent had a detailed conversation with our lawyers about that language, so why dont we take a look at that and well followup with you. I want to make sure i give you a good steer. I suspect the language was chosen quite carefully for a reason i just want to make sure i can help you understand that correctly. John . Josh. Nice to see you, thank you. Following up on carols issue of fighting on. Bernie sanders wants to continue fighting for his principles in philadelphia. Ill let senator sanders explain it but secretary clinton has indicated that the she believes those are priorities worth fighting for as well and im not sure the republican nominee has indicated as much. So, i again, i think the case that ive been making for quite some time now and president obamas been making for quite some time now is that the Democratic Party is united around a core set of principles, and defight sospite some admitt stylistic dirges differences b the two candidates their plate forms and priorities are drawn from the same values. I dont think the same is true among the republican candidates and i dont think the debate we see on the republican side of the aisle reflects that, right . There are even vigorous disputes among republicans who are currently serving in congress about the wisdom of a variety of approaches. Theyve indicated some discomfort with some of the policies advocated by the republican nominee. So, the president has pointed out that theres a pretty stark difference here between our two parties. And i think whats important and the real most important indicator is an acknowledgement of the huge stakes in this general election. And weve heard president obama talk about that at some length and we heard senator sanders talk about that on the driveway just a couple hours ago. He talked about looking forward to meeting with secretary clinton seeing how they could Work Together to defeat donald trump and also on the issues about whats going to happen in philadelphia. Is it possible the president could get involved to try to discussions and facilitate some sort of agreements using his auspices and good offices . Look, obviously, the president knows both senator sanders and secretary clinton well. The president s got deep respect for both of them, and i think that respect has been reciprocated in those relationships. So the president certainly would be able to play a facilitating role, if one is necessary, but well find out if its necessary, okay . Alexis, nice to see you. Nice to see you, too. Josh, i have three related questions. Okay. Because weve had president ial cycles where the sitting president has not always been welcomed by the nominee on the campaign trail, i just wanted to ask you, the president s enthusiasm, how will he be using his time, say between now and the convention, in addition to wisconsin . Are we going to see him coordinating the campaign to develop a schedule both separate and apart from the nominee . What does he envision in terms of the commitment of time to help . Well, let me start by saying that the president s most important job is commander in chief and president of the United States. And over the course of the last year and a half, youve all heard me say on many occasions that the president is determined to squeeze every last drop of opportunity that he can out of the days that are remaining while hes in office. So that will be his number one priority. It always has been, and it will be, even though hes quite enthusiastic about the democratic nominee. That being said, when it comes to Strategic Decisions about the president s campaign schedule, a lot of thats going to be driven by secretary clinton and her campaign. This is her campaign, and president obamas indicated that he wants to help. Im confident that hell have some advice for secretary clinton, and potentially maybe even members of her team, but theyre the ones that are making these decisions. And the president is quite enthusiastic about what he can do to try to help. My second question is related to that. Because the teams are so woven together in terms of having served in the white house, having served in previous administrations, and the president joked about, you know, i have advice. Maybe they didnt want to hear it, but i have advice. How is he going to give that advice . In other words, has he talked to secretary clinton along the way . Has he talked to her you said he talked to sanders three times. How often has he been talking to her . Is he just going to does he consider himself an adviser . No, he does not consider himself an adviser, but he certainly is somebody whos got a lot of relevant experience, and hes somebody with a track record of success. So presumably, secretary clinton and even senator sanders, as he completes his campaign, would be interested in president obamas advice. But both secretary clinton and senator sanders have plenty of advisers and plenty of other people who arent advisers eager to give them advice. So the truth is, the president s eager to be helpful, and hell be helpful in whatever way he can. How often has he spoken to the former secretary this week . Well, i know of at least one conversation. This is the Election Night conversation, when the president congratulated her for getting a sufficient number of delegates to clinch the democratic nomination. I dont have any other conversations to read out. You know that theyve had an opportunity to meet here at the white house two or three times over the course of the campaign. In part thats because theyre friends, but in part thats because they both have a pretty keen interest in the general election. Do you know whether they will be together . Shes supposed to be in town tomorrow. I just wondered if theyre going to get together before wisconsin. Im not aware of any meetings that are planned for tomorrow, so i dont believe they will. So i suspect that the next opportunity that the president will have to see secretary clinton in person will be in titletown on wednesday. The last question is, some members of the cabinet have already endorsed secretary clinton for nominee, obviously, before she became the nominee. Whats the president s direction to member of the cabinet who may want to continue to be helpful or may want to join now to be helpful in terms of their use of their time, how they see fit politically . What is his direction to them . Well, hes got a couple of directives. The first is that each of those individuals has a day job. Thats more important than the campaign. You know, each of those cabinet secretaries is invested with significant responsibilities that has a Significant Impact on the American People. And ive got total confidence that all those cabinet secretaries understand that that is their first priority. The second thing is that there are rules in place that govern the way that Government Employees can engage in political activities, and the president expects that all of the employees of the federal government, from cabinet secretaries on down, will be conscientious about following those laws, both the letter and the spirit. So that would be his second directive. But consistent with their rather significant with the rather significant requirements of their day job and consistent with the laws that govern political activity, the president would leave the individual cabinet members to make a decision about how involved they would like to be, okay . Mike. Josh, in your statement on tuesday night, you specifically said that sanders had requested todays meeting. And then just earlier you indicated that his decision to announce the endorsement today might not have been a surprise to senator sanders, given the fact that they had spoken earlier this week. Would it be right to assume that maybe senator sanders may have requested the meeting, hold off on the endorsement until that meeting took place . Can you talk more about how that meeting came together . I dont think were going to get into all of the details of their conversation, but the president certainly was interested in a conversation with senator sanders. Senator sanders did suggest, did request that president obama make time in his schedule for the two men to get together. The president was happy to do that and invited senator sanders to come to the white house to have that discussion. And the president felt that it was appropriate and respectful to withhold any formal announcement of an endorsement until hed had an opportunity to sit down with senator sanders. Obviously, late on tuesday night senator sanders was on the west coast, and president obama had his own busy travel schedule yesterday, so this morning was the first opportunity that the two men could get together, and the president was pleased to have that conversation. And senator sanders, as he said out in front of the west wing a couple hours ago, was appreciative of the way that president obama handled his business. To be clear, youre not saying that senator sanders requested that he hold off on an endorsement until they had a chance to meet . Im not aware of any request like that. I think senator sanders request was merely for an opportunity to sit down with president obama, and the president was happy to oblige and arrange a meeting at the white house today. The Vice President has been freer in commenting about the race, but does this endorsement extend to him as well or will he make his own separate announcement . Eei would refer you to the ve president s office for any formal endorsement he would choose to make. And the last question, in the video he talks about hes not sure that anybody has been more qualified to be president. Is he including himself eight years ago when he said that . Bewell, i mean, when you taka raw look at qualifications, i think thats pretty obvious. She served as secretary of state for four years. Shes somebody who has been in the public eye for a couple of decades, including four years as a United States senator and eight years as first lady. So shes somebody who brings a wide range of experience, and i cite her experience as first lady because she traveled the world and was, particularly at the end of her tenure, you know, essentially a diplomat for the United States. So i think youd be hard pressed to come up with a president ial candidate, with the possible exception of people who had served as Vice President before they ran for president , so somebody like Richard Nixon. Well, Richard Nixon or george h. W. Bush, somebody who had served for eight years as Vice President. Al gore . Al gore. So, you can think of some other candidates who had filled that role. But with the exception of sitting Vice President s, i think youd be hard pressed to come up with a candidate throughout American History whos got more experience and is more qualified than secretary clinton to do this job. Okay . Julie. Hey, josh. Not to belabor the ticktock, but to be clear, you mentioned that the president talked with Bernie Sanders three times this week. When was the first time that he approached the possibility, the prospect that he was going to endorse secretary clinton . Im not going to get into the details of the conversations, but obviously, he had a conversation on sunday, a conversation on tuesday and then the conversation in the oval office today. Those are the three conversations that i was referring to. But i dont think im going to get into the details of exactly the nature of those conversations in each day. Okay, and for todays meeting what was you mentioned the president has some relevant experience here, given the campaign eight years ago. What was his advice to senator sanders, if he had any, about how to take the coalition that hes built throughout the campaign that the president talked about in the video, was impressive and he congratulated him on, and do something with it that would help boost secretary clintons candidacy . I mean, were there specific things, are there specific things that the president thinks he needs to do now . Well, this is i think this is the best way that i can describe it to you while also trying to protect their ability to have a private conversation. The relevant experience that president obama has is from 2008 in which he had also run in a competitive democratic primary contest. President obama came out the winner, but he benefited enormously from the runnerup, then senator clinton, enthusiastically supporting his general Election Campaign. And president obama was able to speak firsthand how meaningful that was to him personally and to his campaign to have the strong support of then senator clinton for his general election president ial race. And so, thats the perspective that president obama could share with senator sanders. Each situation is different, but i think there are some clear parallels here, and i think it was beneficial. Ill let senator sanders speak for himself, but i suspect it was beneficial for senator sanders to hear president obamas perspective about how meaningful that endorsement was. And youll recall that that endorsement from then senator clinton came after she celebrated the accomplishments of her campaign. She gave a big speech here in washington, d. C. , i believe, at the National Building museum, where she talked about the 18 million new cracks in the glass ceiling. And that was a genuine celebration of the movement and campaign that she had built. And the success of that campaign was worthy of enormous respect. But shortly after that, she traveled with president obama to new hampshire, and they had an event together where her presence on the stage alongside then senator obama was really important. Didnt change everybodys mind that day, but it initiated a process where over the course of the summer and fall president obama and senator clinton made a persuasive case to her supporters that president obama was the right choice to succeed president george w. Bush in office. I think whats also true is that then senator clinton announcing her support for senator obamas general Election Campaign didnt diminish her status at all. I think if anything, her status as a singular political figure in the Democratic Party and in the country was enhanced. And her performance on the campaign trail, both in the primary election where they competed against one another, but also in the general election where she was giving voice to many of the priorities that were animating president obamas campaign were part of the reason that he chose her to be secretary of state. So, again, these situations are different, the candidates are different, the dynamics of the race are different, but i think theres some relevant parallels to be drawn, and hopefully, president obamas perspective was useful to senator sanders as he makes important decisions about the future of his campaign. Did he request that senator sanders actively think about endorsing her and doing it quickly . Look, president obama was deeply respectful of senator sanders. And because of the enormous success of his campaign, senator sanders is entitled to the time and space that he needs to make that decision on his own. And the timing of the Campaign Appearance with senator clinton or secretary clinton next week is it a coincidence that its a day after the d. C. Primarys over and its important for senator sanders to compete in that, or is that something that the president did consciously, knowing that senator sanders wants to be able to be a factor in that contest . For the decision about the timing, id refer you to the Clinton Campaign, schnock lana . You mentioned a couple times that the president and senator sanders seemed to have a fun time walking. You saw them laughing. The president even patted him on the back. What were they talking about . I didnt talk to him about that aspect of their conversation you dont know what the joke was . It was a funny one, apparently. But look, i think i suspect that based on my observation and president obamas own experience in having run a vigorous, longerthanexpected democratic primary campaign, that theres a little bit of a weight thats lifted off senator sanders shoulders. Hes got some critically important decisions to make, but i think he can be profoundly proud of the movement that hes built and the results that he has to show for it. And i think that put anybody in a good mood. Donald trumps appealing to sanders supporters by asking them to get even with clinton by supporting him. How important thats quite a campaign slogan, huh . Get even. Lots of slogans coming out of this campaign. That would be real inspiring. How important is sanders concession and the timing of that to trying to keep those sanders supporters enthusiastic about the democratic nominee . Is tuesday better than july . Well, list yen, im not goin to back seat drive as senator sanders makes these decisions. His the unity of the Democratic Party will be important and important to secretary clintons success in the general election. And in talking about how secretary clinton can succeed in winning the support of the 10 million democrats and independents that supported senator sanders in the race, senator sanders is going to be an enormously influential voice and advocate to his support eer. But ultimately, his decision about all this will be up to him. Since being reported on tuesday, was the plan always to release the video a couple of hours after the two men met at the oval office, or did that meeting have an influence on the timing . The rough time iing as yo could tell by a couple of changes to todays briefing schedule, the timing did shift a little bit over the course of the day today. So once again, i appreciate your patience with that. But the general time frame here is something that was well established. And my last question about the attacks in tel aviv. What does the white house make of israels decision to suspend entry permits to palestinians . Does the white house find that an appropriate response . Is it too similar in some ways to the Presumptive Republican nominees proposal to temporarily ban muslims from entering the United States because of terrorism . Well, let me start by saying that we offer our condolences to the families of those who are mourning the loss of loved ones in a terrorist attack in tel aviv yesterday. This is violence against innocent civilians, and its an outrage and something thats worthy of widespread condemnation. The United States continues to stand strongly with our allies in israel as they confront a very difficult security situation inside their own country. So were going to support them and were going to stand by them as they deal with the challenge of securing their country and protecting their citizens, but i dont have any comment on the steps that they have taken to try to do that. Okay . Juliette . In terms of Debbie Wasserman schultz, you reiterated the president s support for her. Bernie sanders has been a critic of her leadership of the dnc and im wondering if you could provide insight of whether her leadership came up within the context of their conversation or whether theres anything you can say about to the extent that the president and Bernie Sanders talked about structural changes within the dnc beyond the platform that could help reflect his efforts to change that . I dont have any Additional Details of their conversation to share. As i mentioned to james, the president is deeply appreciative of Debbie Wasserman schultz service as the chair of the dnc, and i think her track record, particularly as it relates to the last president ial election, speaks for itself. Over the last several months, senator sanders has expressed some frustration and concern about the process of choosing the democratic president ial nomin nominee. And you know, hell have to make his own decisions about how best to pursue reforms of that process. But look, everybody knew the rules when they signed up. And senator sanders has indicate ed a desire to change those rules in a way he believes will make the process more fair, and thats something that will have to be considered by democrats across the country. Okay . Mark, ill give you the last one. Thanks. Josh, can you tell us why senator sanders arrived at the residence rather than at the west wing . Or was it just a put off . Yes. Being short. The green bay event on wednesday, is that a Hillary Clinton Campaign Event . Yes, it is a Campaign Event in support of secretary Clintons Campaign. Do any white house staffers have to go off payroll in setting up the president s participation . No. Not that im aware of at least. Im going to have to go back to jog my memory from the 2012 campaign. There are members of the president s staff who can support him as he does his job, and one of those is the leader of a political party. So there are narrow circumstances in which members of the president s staff can assist him and advise him as he undertakes those activities. The best example of that is the president s political director, david simas, who has been the principal point of coordination, again, within the bounds of the law, between the white house and the relevant president ial campaigns. Have you got any white house reaction to the chinese intercept of the american aircraft, Reconnaissance Aircraft . Is this another one of those incidents where youre just going to lodge a complaint through normal military channels . We certainly will raise our concerns through usual military channels, but the department of defense has mentioned directly that back on june 7th earlier this week there were two chinese jets that intercepted a u. S. Reconnaissance aircraft that was operating in International Air space. The concern is that the chinese jets conducted that intercept at an unsafe, excessive rate of closu closure. The initial assessment from the department of defense is that this intercept and its unsafe nature appears to be a case of what the department of defense has described as improper airmanship. And they arrived at that conclusion, because based on their analysis, there was no other provocative or unsafe maneuvers that were executed. So thats the analysis of the department of defense. So even though it was a case of improper airmanship and not otherwise provocative, you know, we still do raise these concerns with chinese officials. Because again, the u. S. Aircraft was operating in International Air space consistent with International Law and consistent with the principle that the president and secretary of defense have articulated on a number of occasions, which is that the United States will operate, fly and sail anywhere that International Law allows, and thats just what our aircraft was doing on june 7th. Does that mean the administration does not believe china was trying to send any message to the u. S. With this intercept . Well, i think in this case the assessment from the department of defense is this is a case of improper airmanship and that there were no other provocative maneuvers that occurred. And one last issue. Beside that of a proud parent, will president obama be playing any role at his daughters commencement, graduation tomorrow . You have adequately summarized the president s entire role in tomorrows ceremonies. He will be there to see his first born across the stage and receive her diploma. And he and the first lady are enormously proud of their daughters accomplishments. Do you know if he was asked to speak . I dont know if he was asked to speak, but if he were, he would decline. Because hes going to be too overwrought with emotion. You hear him say it again and again. The president s had an opportunity to give three commencement addresses this year, and this is an opportunity for him to not play the role of Commencement Speaker but rather to play the role of proud parent, as you described it, okay . Is it bittersweet . Can you address that . Well, the president talked about this a little bit with mr. Fallon on the tonight show later tonight as well. And i think for every parent theres a sense that theyre enormously proud of their child, pleased to see that theyve grown up healthy and successful, but also, yeah, its a little bittersweet to see your child grow up. My sons only 2 and there are times i find myself a little bittersweet about his growth, so have you turned down walkers high school . Yes. Before i go, i also want to acknowledge that today is actually the last day of Frank Beninati in my office. Many of you have worked with frank for quite some time now. Frank has been a loyal member of the president s team for quite a while in a variety of roles, including on the president s Reelection Campaign, including at the office of management and budget. Fortunately, franks not going far. He will take a senior position at the epa, so many of you will have an opportunity to be in touch with him over there. But to end the breefiefing, i wanted to acknowledge frank and his professionalism and service to the president and the country. Were deeply appreciative for it and were going miss you. So with that, thank you guys. I assume the applause let the transcript reflect that the applause was for frank, not for me. In spite of that it was completely inaudible. Maybe. Oh in spite of that, ill be back tomorrow. Ill see you then. Our road to the white house coverage continues on cspan3 this evening when we cover a rally by senator Bernie Sanders. Hes here in washington, d. C. , in advance of the nations capitals primary coming up. You can see his remarks live at 7 00 p. M. Eastern, about 45 minutes from now here on cspan3. As you heard many questions at the White House Briefing today about senator sanders and his meeting with president obama earlier today that meeting took place. And afterwards, the senator spoke with reporters for about five minutes outside the white house. Thank you all. Let me begin by thanking president obama and thanking Vice President biden for the degree of impartiality they established during the course of this entire process. What they said in the beginning is that they would not put their thumb on the scales, and in fact, they kept their word, and i appreciate that very, very much. Our campaign has been about building a movement which brings working people and young people into the political process to create a government which represents all of us and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors. We will continue doing everything that we can to oppose the drift that currently exists toward an oligarchic form of society where a handful of billionaires exercise enormous power over our political, economic and media life. This is the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. We should not be having millions of Senior Citizens and disabled veterans struggling to put food on the table because of inadequate Social Security benefits. We should not have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country on earth. We should not be having americans in inner cities, in rural communities, on native American Reservations who have life expectancies lower than many people in third world countries. We should not be having many of our young people leaving college deeply in debt. We should not be having in this great country an infrastructure which is crumbling when we have millions of workers prepared to rebuild that infrastructure. And in the midst of all of that, we should not be having a situation where wall street Corporate America and billionaires are failing to pay their fair share of taxes. These are some of the issues that many millions of americans have supported during my campaign. These are the issues that we will take to the Democratic National convention in philadelphia at the end of july. Donald trump would clearly to my mind, and i think the majority of americans, be a disaster as president of the United States. It is unbelievable to me and i say this in all sincerity that the Republican Party would have a candidate for president who in the year 2016 makes bigotry and discrimination the cornerstone of his campaign. In my view, the American People will not vote for or tolerate a candidate who insults mexicans and latinos, who insults muslims, who insults africanamericans and women. Needless to say, i am going to do everything in my power, and i will work as hard as i can to make sure that donald trump does not become president of the United States. I will, of course, be competing in the d. C. Primary, which will be held on next tuesday. This is the last primary of the democratic nominating process. The major point that i will be making to the citizens of the district of columbia is that i am strongly in favor of d. C. Statehood. The state of vermont, which i represent, has about the same number of residents that washington, d. C. , has, except we have two United States senators and one congressman with full rights, while d. C. Does not. That does not make any sense. Also, i look forward to the full counting of the votes in california, which i suspect will show a much closer vote than the current vote tally. I spoke briefly to secretary clinton on tuesday night and i congratulated her on her very strong campaign. I look forward to meeting with her in the near future to see how we can Work Together to defeat donald trump and to create a government which represents all of us and not just the 1 . Thank you very much. Bernie sanders and the president spent more than an hour together at the white house today, and following the remarks you just saw outside the white house by senator sanders, president obama officially released his endorsement of senator sanders rival, Hillary Clinton and her campaign to become the democratic president ial nominee. Heres what the president had to say in a prerecorded video message. For more than a year now across thousands of miles and all 50 states, tens of millions of americans have made their voices heard. Today, i just want to add mine. I want to congratulate Hillary Clinton on making history as the Presumptive Democratic nominee for president of the United States. Look, i know how hard this job can be. Thats why i know hillary will be so good at it. In fact, i dont think theres ever been someone so qualified to hold this office. Shes got the courage, the compassion and the heart to get the job done. And i say that as somebody who had to debate her more than 20 times. Even after our own hardfought campaign, in a testament to her character, she agreed to serve our country as secretary of state. And from the decision we made in the situation room to get bin laden to our pursuit of diplomacy in capitals around the world, i have seen her judgment, ive seen her toughness, ive seen her commitment to our values up close. Ive seen her determination to give every american a fair shot at opportunity, no matter how tough the fight was. Thats what has always driven her, and it still does. So i want those of you who have been with me from the beginning of this incredible journey to be the first to know that im with her. I am fired up and i cannot wait to get out there and campaign for hillary. I also want to thank everybody who turned out to vote and who worked so hard for our candidates. This has been a hardfought race. I know some say these primaries have somehow left the Democratic Party nmore divided. Well, they said that eight years ago as well. But just like eight years ago, there are millions of americans, not just democrats, who have cast their ballots for the very fire time, and a lot of that is thanks to senator Bernie Sanders, who has run an incredible campaign. I had a great meeting with him this week and i thanked him for shining a spotlight on issues like economic inequality and the outsized influence of money in our politics and bringing young people into the process. Embracing that message is going to help us win in november, but more importantly, itll make the Democratic Party stronger and it will make america stronger. Secretary clinton and senator sanders may have been rivals during this primary, but theyre both patriots who love this country, and they share a vision for the america that we all believe in, an america thats hopeful, an america thats bighearted, an america that is strong and fair and gives every child the same chance that we had. Those are the values that unite us as democrats. Those are the values that make america great. Those are the values that are going to be tested in this election. And if we all come together in common effort, im convinced we wont just win in november, well build on the progress that weve made and we will win a Brighter Future for this country that we love. Again, more coming up from senator Bernie Sanders. Our live coverage of his remarks at a rally here in washington, d. C. Its set to get started at 7 00 p. M. Eastern time, just a little over a half hour from now. Again, that will be live on cspan3. Until then, part of yesterdays Democratic National Convention Platform hearing that was held here in washington. Yes, there she is. Okay. Angela gloverblackwell from policy link. Shes ceo and president. She is a leading voice in the movement to use Public Policy to improve access and opportunities for lowincome people, communities of color, particularly in areas of health, housing, transportation, education and infrastructure. Without further ado, let me turn the attention to you and to your testimony. Thank you very much. I am so appreciative of having the opportunity to speak before you and appreciate your accommodating me in this way. This notion of thinking about how we create greater opportunity and level the Playing Field has to be the end of the conversation about the nation shifting demographics. We all know whats happening. We know that by 2040, the majority by 2044, the majority of the people in this country will be of color. But it is much more urgent than 2044, because what we know is that we have an aging population that is white. Of those people over 65, 80 are white. Of those under 18, 46 are people of color. We know that by 2030, the majority of the young workforce will be of color. And we know that since 2012, the majority of all children born in this country have been of color. And so, as we think about the future, 2030 is the time we need to think about. Thats when the majority of the young workforce will be of color. If we dont get everything that has to do with preparation and inclusion and participation right for people of color, the story for the nation is not a happy one. I like to think not just about people who live below the Poverty Level as deserving and needing our attention. I look at people who live 200 below the Poverty Level. Thats 105 million people, nearly a third of the population. 53 of people who are africanamerican live in that group. 53 of people who are latino live in that group. And as we think about how it is that were going to create a society which all can participate, prosper and reach their full potential, we certainly need to have a safety net that allows this nation to live up to the qualities that it thinks it holds dear. People should not be suffering. People should have food, they should have housing, they should have adequate income. The safety net must be strong. But we also have to think about pathways to the middle class. We need an agenda that actually understands that people who are native american and asian and africanamerican and latino are anxious to be entrepreneurs. They start businesses at three times the rate of people who are white. We need to be think being that. We need to understand that if we get the equity agenda right, we get it right for the nation. Heres what we have to be thinking about. We need to grow good jobs and we need to make sure that those jobs are accessible to the people who need them. We need to build capacities. Of course that means we have to Start School Ready to learn and have a strong k12 program, but we know we have to be talking at least through community college. By the end of 2019, 47 of all jobs in this country will require at least an associates degree. Only 28 of latinos, 28 of africanamericans have it, only 14 of foreignborn latinos. Weve got to focus on building those capacities. But heres what we have to do that we havent done nearly enough of. We have to remove barriers. We have to remove barriers and we have to expand opportunity. We know that we have not done right by so many people who have been incarcerated unfairly, unjustly for too long. We have to remove the barriers that they face when they come back, but we also have to expand opportunity. We live in a nation in which where you live is a proxy for opportunity. We need to invest in places, understand that we are a metropolitan nation, that as the cities, as the poorer of our regions, we need to make sure those places provide the support system that people need to thrive and that were investing in transportation so people can access jobs wherever they might be, that we are Building Communities that are healthy and allow people to thrive and they are safe, that we are thinking about with every dollar that we are spending how do we create the jobs that allow people to be able to live in their communities, contribute to their communities, and that their communities can become part of the regional economy. It is regions that participate in the global economy, and everybody who lives in the region is needed for those regions to be competitive. And so, when i think about the future, i think that the future could be very bright, but the asset that we have to acknowledge, that we have to invest in is the people who are going to be the future. And it requires that we invest this inequality that has become absolutely toxic hollowing out the middle class, baking in poverty, stalling mobility. We need strategies that get this economy working again. It means the people who are going to be the future have to be working, too. Thank you. Thank you very much. Are there any questions from the yes, neera. Hi, angela. Thank you so much for your comments. My question is really twofold but very quick. One, how do we change the understanding in the country writ large that addressing some of these disparities is really in the economic benefit of the entire country, something i know youve worked a lot on. And then the second question i have is are there i really appreciate your comments about placebased solutions. And is there a model, is there a community you think the committee should really look at as a model for addressing the needs of all communities, investing in all communities and ensuring that theres really Economic Opportunity for people of color in those communities . Thank you for your questions, neera. Policy link has looked across the nation, and we have developed something that we call the National Equity atlas. And it lays out data about the shifting demographics as ive just described, looking at 50 states, 100 regions, 100 cities and the entire United States, looking at the shifting demographics, looking at the Economic Indicators of wellbeing, but also looking at what the benefits would be if we got equity right. If we were to close the gap in employment between people who are white and people who are of color, we would have a 2. 1 trillion addition to the gdp, and that would be on a yearly basis. If we get it right for those being left behind, we get it right for everybody. Theres no question about that. And regarding this notion of place, the Current Administration has really taken some bold and effective steps in this regard, trying to expand the work of the childrens zone into the promise neighborhoods and the promise neighborhoods are beginning to show results, concentrating on those places, providing resources, pulling together collaboratives. The promised Zones Initiative thats encouraged cities to be able to be creative and innovative and make commitments for what they want to achieve for those left behind, and it allows them to actually have the flexibility that they need to be able to move to the top of the line and show what they can do. The secretary foxx has been extraordinary in the way he has articulated transportation as an opportunity agenda. And there are some examples of communities having the leeway to do local hire so that our Infrastructure Investments, we ask several things where do we need to put infrastructure to be equitable . Where do we need to place our focus on jobs to be equitable . And how do we make sure that Infrastructure Investments help the entire region to be equitable . So i think there are many examples that we can pull from. Thank you. Anyone else . Thank you very much. And now id like to invite don cravens jr. From the urban league, senior Vice President for policy and executive director of the washington bureau. Thank you. Good day. My name is don cravens. And i serve as the senior Vice President for policy for the National Urban league and also as the executive director of the National Urban leagues washington bureau. As you know or you may not know, the National Urban league is the nations oldest and largest civil rights and urban Advocacy Organization dedicated to Economic Empowerment and historically underserved urban communities. Founded in 1910, the urban league has empowered and improved the lives of tens of millions of africanamericans all across our nation, and weve done it through our 88 affiliates who provide direct services to men and women in those communities in over 36 states, including the district of columbia, and we also conduct policy research and advocacy in our washington bureau, which i am very honored to oversee. Its appropriate that the National Urban league is here with you today. When i saw the title of our session, leveling the Playing Field creating opportunities and removing barriers, thats what we do at the urban league. And just three weeks ago, we released our annual report, the state of black america, the 40th anniversary doc of the state of black america. And what the state of black america has done for 40 years since it was begun by mr. Vernon jordan, our president and ceo at the time, it continues to highlight the inequalities that exist in the urban areas, it continues to highlight the wealth gaps that exist in the urban areas, and this year it even highlights the unemployment rates that in some urban areas are triple for africanamericans and latinos compared to our White Brothers and sisters. But we didnt just highlight problems in this years state of black america. We also talked about solutions. And our president and ceo, mr. Morial, who apologized for not being here today but will submit video testimony next week and written testimony, lays out his plan for solutions in our state of black america, and his plan is called the main street Marshall Plan, to coin a phrase from the Marshall Plan after world war ii, when we reinvested and rebuilt europe, wartorn europe. We believe its time to reinvest and rebuild america, the urban communities of america. This bold and strategic investment, dare i say overinvestment in america wouldnt it be nice to overinvest in america . In americas urban communities . It requires a multiannual, multiprong commitment over the next five years that would course correct our urban communities and our main streets. The urban league will submit this plan in detail before the june 18th deadline. As i said, we will do so both in writing as well as via video. Our president and ceo who could not be here today will do that. We ask you respectfully to consider allowing the state of black america as well as the Marshall Plan to be part of the Democratic National committee platform. I will talk a little bit, very briefly, about the key components of the plan today, since my time is limited. We are looking for investments and improvement in education, employment, housing and infrastructure, the same four empowerment goals that the urban league had in mind when it was started in 1910 when africanamericans were leaving jim crow south, moving to the north for better opportunities. The urban league was founded for that reason, and we are still fighting for those reasons. Education. We are talking about things like universal childhood education, doubling the pela grants so that more young men and women can attend college here in america. And employment, we are talking about a federal living wage indexed to inflation. We are talking about a new main street small and micro Business Program to make sure that that would be especially targeted to minorityowned businesses and womenowned businesses. And why is that . Because women and minority Business Owners tend to hire people who go to church with them and live in their communities, people who look like them. And if were going to deal with unemployment in our urban communities, weve got to get businesses that can hire those folks as well. Housing. We want to see a revised Home Ownership tax credit program, expansion of Financial Literacy and a home buyer education and counseling program, an expansion of the section 8 program to make sure more families who qualify for section 8 can achieve the American Dream of having a home. And finally, we have got to invest, and again, dare i say overinvest, in the infrastructure of our urban communities, whether that be transportation, whether that be building or whether that be broadband so that our young men and our young women have the same access to the World Wide Web and to the technology that is out there. We have to invest in the infrastructure. In conclusion, president obama and many of the members of congress who have left today, they were very successful. And i worked in the senate at the time. Very successful in righting the American Ship after 2009, taking us from the brink of depression, while we were in a great recession, and righting the ship. However, the recessions recovery, the recovery from the recession has not hit every urban city. There are many, many urban cities that are still struggling. The economy and the infrastructure of these communities have been shattered not by bombs or by tanks, like in europe, but by indecisiveness, neglect, malfeasance, corporate malfeasance, government indifference. We cannot continue to rely on the policies that have proven ineffective in communities with high unemployment and low income. You see, we are not asking for a new deal at the urban league. We are demanding a better deal for the urban communities of america. We must focus our resources and our efforts on the neighborhoods where they are most needed. And so, acting chair, id just ask that again, we will submit our written testimony next week in a video testimony. We will ask that our state of black america and our Marshall Plan be included part of that and ask that you respectfully review that. And ill just say this in closing. Several years ago in 2013, many of the historical civil rights organizations as well as some others put forth the 21stcentury agenda for jobs and freed freedom. And i didnt have enough copies to pass out today, but we will include that as well. That was a collaboration with the National Urban league nan, the naacp, the coalition on black civic participation as well as many of our other africanamerican leaders. It even delves further into some of the other issues, the social justice issues and some of the other issues we think that we should be looking as we develop our platform for the party. With that, maam, i will yield for questions. Thank you so much. Questions . Paul . Thank you for your testimony and for your emphasis on investment, mr. Cravens. Would you want the platform to draw attention and to point a finger at the disinvestment, the political and economic decisions that have eroded in the wellbeing of our big cities . I mean, its one thing to call for adding investment where its lacking, and youve identified the four key areas in which that needs to be done, but you want the platform to go further . Because you use the words that are that we headlined this session of removing barriers and expanding opportunities. And when we talk about removing barriers, were making an implication that there have been wrongheaded decisions that are hurting people now. And we have to decide how explicit we want to be about that in our platform. Whats your advice . My advice would be we must definitely Pay Attention to the past, and you have to acknowledge things so that we dont repeat those things. What i would suggest and i would caution against is pointing fingers and focusing on the negative. What ive been very proud of to see with both of our candidates in this election cycle is both of the candidates have said weve got to stop complaining about the past and weve got to focus on the future. And so, all i would say is, yes, lets look at past policies that failed to make sure that good intentions dont no good deed goes unpunished. Make sure good intentions dont lead to negative results. But i would absolutely caution against us pointing fingers, because some of the people who put barriers in place unintentionally were some of our very dear friends. I mean, some of the policies that exist in the inner cities were done by friends. And the intention was not to harm people. The intention was maybe this will help. Weve learned from that. And so, my advice would be lets move forward. Lets have a robust agenda on how we can rebuild, how we can invest and how we can Work Together to Better Things in those communities. Ms. Parker . Yes, thank you. Thank you for being here today. My question on the National Urban league is it says its dedicated to Economic Empowerment in historically underserved urban communities. Yes. And i primarily say africanamerican and a little bit about hispanic. Yes. Do you also work with the urban native community and Asian American communities . Yes, many of those communities. All of those affiliates are their separate 503 c organizations, each run by a man or woman who is their ceo. Many of our urban league affiliates, depending on the gee graphics and demographics of that area absolutely partner in many, many different ways to provide the services and the empowerment. And im also proud to say the urban league does not turn Anyone Around when they walk into the door of the urban league. Weve got so many programs that our affiliates, whether they be reentry programs or afterschool programs workforce Training Programs, if thats what that Community Calls for. The urban league doesnt say, nope, youre a little too dark for the urban league, you cant participate in this program. We are open to all of those urban communities. Weve just, as i said, our history was formed we were formed because africanamericans were leaving the deep south to escape the vestiges of slavery. And when they got to the north into urban areas, they found they were still having problems with education and housing and employment. So, the urban league was really a collaboration of different leagues that got together and said lets see if we can help people find a better life. Okay. But today, the modernday urban league, we try to help where we can be helpful to anyone, regardless of their race or ethnicity. Great. Thank you. Dr. West . Yes. I want to thank you so very much for being here. Youre part of a very rich tradition, and i think its impossible for us to reflect on a progressive urban policy without coming to terms with the most comprehensive report on the state of black america. And its true, its primarily on the black side of the chocolate slice that the urban league is highlighted, but weve always embraced others, because im very much a part of the same tradition. But it seems to me, and you tell me what you think, that what i like about this main street Marshall Plan is that it puts a priority on black poor and working people. See, oftentimes, the success of black upper class and upper middle class overshadows the plight of our precious black poor and working poor. Now, weve all, all americans citizens across the board and all black folk, but oftentimes, the poor and working classes get pushed to the margins. And what i like about this of course, ive already read this, so this come out a couple weeks ago yes, sir. That you have just brought a vision. So, i just want to thank you for that and let you know we will be wrestling with this as we write this platform. Dr. West, thank you so much. What i will tell you is when i saw the title that my boss chose for the Marshall Plan absolutely. From poverty to prosperity thats right. As an employee, i was very proud of that, because youre exactly right, we have focused a lot in modernday america weve all fallen victim to it. Thats right. On helping those who already have a little bit get a little bit more, and theres absolutely nothing wrong with that, but we have to focus on people who have nothing. And there are a lot of People Living in our urban communities who have nothing. Absolutely. And are struggling each and every day. So, we hope this Marshall Plan, and the platform youre working on, ladies and gentlemen, helps all of those folks. Look, from poverty to prosperity, and theres help every step along the way. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Mckibbon . Just one particular thing as youre submitting more testimony. Id be grateful for particular suggestions around public transportation. I think its an area that weve lost hold of in a lot of ways in recent years, policywise and one that id be grateful for some pointed and explicit suggestions about. We will do that, and we will also, because this question was asked for the lady who testified before me, the economic benefits of the public transportation. Not only the access and the ease of travel and the social effects of public transportation, but the economic aspects, the shortterm gdp growth that urban transportation when we build stuff, the jobs that are created, the wealth that is generated, the people who get a sense of pride in building those things. So we will definitely present that in our detailed plan. Thank you. Representative reese . Thank you. I, too, want to thank you and marc morial, and certainly my local and state urban leagues for the work that you have done. And i know that in our party we just, we have diversity. We heard from the Indian Nation and weve heard from the Asian Pacific americans. And i dont think its bad to hear from the urban league focusing on africanamericans. I know in ohio over 100,000 additional africanamericans voted in ohio to help us get to the white house. And so, the question becomes, with this group who has been a loyal base to our party in our platform, i look at is that a salesmanship of why you should vote for us, because youre included. So, i guess my question to you weve had a number of Training Programs that we partner with the urban league and the micro business piece, but i want you to focus on the business piece because i know were going to do a lot on poverty. A lot of people go to poverty. But coming from an africanamericanowned business myself of my parents of over 40 years where theres been little help, i think thats a component, because a lot of Millennials Want to be entrepreneurs or are entrepreneurial. And sometimes we dont have them included in the process. So can you maybe talk about the micro loan program or the need or some policy that we should have in there for minority businesses and not leaving africanamerican businesses behind . We lost so many during the recession that never recovered. So do you have anything in there that maybe you think in our platform that we could speak to these minority businesses who are not on wall street but are on main street and are located down a street in our neighborhoods . Representative reese, i could talk about this all day. Its my passion, Small Business. Before this job i got a chance to work for senator Mary Landrieu from the great state of louisiana. She was chair of the Small Business committee and i was staff director of that committee and i did that for four love it. One of the things im most proud of is we have 11 Entrepreneurship Centers. What the anywhere does and its part of the Small Business Administration Network where they have Small Business Development Centers and the Minority Development Business Agency has a center but what wef been able to do is make sure our 11 centers abide by requirements and i am seeing firsthand here in washington we have a dynamic Entrepreneurship Center that trains the startup but helps some of the people that dr. West was talking about, some businesses that have capacity, how do i get contracting here. We work with startups, micro businesses, all businesses, we dont care what color you are, but we focus on the inner cities and most of them are africanamerican and we help them through that process. Its the financing and contracting and counseling. I believe more investment in those types of programs would have an immediate effect. When you ask people in government to invest in counseling programs, many of my friends on the other side of the aisle say thats a waste of money and thats not true. If you look at the money when you invest in those Small Businesses and those Development Centers theres a high rate of return on those dollars because those programs are successful. How invaluable is counseling and is having a peer to discuss someone, an expert to ask and call on for advice when you need that help . Who can introduce you to that banker who can provide you the access to capital that you need. One thing this party could do is reaffirm our commitment to the Small Business administration which president obama has done. I love this stuff and i promise im not going to overdo. The past administration cut the Small Business administration more than any other agency in the federal government. So for the past eight years weve been up holding the Small Business administration but more programs like that, my personal opinion is that businesses should be strengthened and grown because they make a direct impact on minority and businesses so more focus, investment, reinvestment in people could make a difference in those businesses and those people will hire people and those people are going to get unemployment down in the inner cities because theyll hire people from the inner cities. Thank you. We very much welcome Additional Information on these particular points in your written testimony as well. Our next testimony comes from gayle. Shes the board chair. Good afternoon. Good afternoon to you. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for allowing me to join you and its certainly an honor to be here speaking on behalf of reconnecting mcdowel and West Virginia. This was an initiative that was started four years ago by myself and randy president of aft. The goal was to reinvigorate and revive a community that had been totally devastated by the energy bust, the lack of coal mining in that area. So childrens education, housing, transportation, health care, all became issues in which mcdowel county became tops in the worst of in all of these lists. Not only first or top of the list in West Virginia, but across the nation. So reconnecting mcdowel was an initiative that created a partnership to start turning this picture around. What we knew, im also a former president of our state school board and president of the National State school boards, which means im old so ive been around for a while, but what we knew is one entity could not solve the problem. The state school board had taken over mcdowel county over ten years ago because of the low success across the county and its schools and ten years later achievement had not improved at all. So as a state what had we done . The county had tried. Then the state tried and they did not succeed either. What we found out was when children are hungry, when theyre neglected, when they dont have a home, that all of these services that we have to look at children hole listicly and when you think about app lasha, West Virginia is the only state in the appa latcha complex were talking about areas that are very isolated. We say rural. Theyre rural by guy ogfy and by isolation, People Living far out into what we call the hollars and how do we address those issues and ensure that children get the same opportunities and quality of education that every child in our state and in our country deserves. So when this initiative started, this partnership, that was our goal to improve the achievement of children in West Virginia but in doing that also improve the Economic Development and economic recovery of that area because in order to sustain and grow it has to be the multitude of those. We have a partnership of over 125 partners, parters from all walks from the National Level, state level, local level, business community, labor community, faith community, nonprofits, corporations, private citizens, because it takes everyone filling one part taking one from column a something from column b and something from column c and integrating all of that so as we Work Together were creating an effective sustainable project. Not only sustainable just in mcdowel county, there are other mcdowel counties in West Virginia but more importantly there are mcdowel counties across this country. We know that about one in every five children that graduate from high school comes from rural america. We cant afford to lose onefifth of children from our education because we are not offering the same education and opportunities and resources. We look at mcdowel county and 28 of these children do not live in a home where an adult is gainfully employed. Almost half of the children in this country do not live with a biological parent and this is due to incarceration, drug abuse, so they live with grandparents, they live with foster parents. Sometimes they look for anywhere they can go at night. The county has one of the highest rates of obesity, accidental Prescription Drug overdoses and an array of Serious Health problems. So the schools face those issues, but they also face the issue of teacher turnover. Primarily because there is no Housing Available in mcdowel county. Teachers that are recruited to come in to teach there live in bluefield or beckley, which is an hours drive either way for those teachers to come. Of course when a teaching position becomes open in beckley or bluefield those teachers leave mcdowel county and go to where they can teach closer. Theres nothing more sad than to have a High School Student look you in the eye and say why do teachers not like us . What are we doing wrong . Why do people not want to come and teach in our schools . And thats heart breaking. And so as a result and 125 partners later we have undertaken several steps to move forward and we have moved forward. We are showing some success in mcdowel county but one of the initiatives is now to build a res in a sans village, a housing unit, building, for teachers and other professional people in what we call downtown mcdowel West Virginia which would have reteal servic Retail Services on the first level to hopefully inspire Economic Development and the upper floors would be apartments. Ms. Mansion. Yes. You cant see the clock here. Were running a little long but i do want to ask you a specific question. We have a few minutes left to this. Okay. In terms of the specific policy for the platform, how would you prioritize recommendations you would make to us for mcdowel and other similar countries facing the crisis you note. Give us a couple of specific policy recommendations you could in the few minutes we have remaining. Okay. And i apologize. I think first and foremost for sustainability and anything you begin like this you want to be sure youre able to sustain it over time so that when the original partners are gone its still growing. You have to work with the people in that community. You cant go in and do it for them. You go in and do it with them