>> congressman gregory meeks joined a panel this gush and on lessons learned from the 2018 midterm elections, and looking ahead for democrats in 2020. this is just over one hour. >> good morning. welcome. i'm sure this is going to be a ull ofd chock f postelection analysis for those of us on the panel. but i am just grateful that it is going to be so much more fun than the last cycle. president of social policy and politics at third way. thank you for joining us. if you are joining us on the live stream or you want to tweet from the audience, we will be 2020 wave.ashtag

i have three guests on the panel that are people that, between them, could fill an entire cyclopedia of knowledge. -- an entire encyclopedia of knowledge. i want to give you a couple of from an that we got election eve poll we conducted at third way. in the 72to people battleground districts that cook had called battleground. the day before the election, they were people who had already voted or people who were certain to vote. the number one answer was reducing health care costs. accessond was expanding to health care. and then we had good paying jobs coming in behind that. 51% of the voters in

congressional districts said health care was the top issue. i think often, people say democrats are not good at sticking on message. but when we asked people what they had heard from those democrats in their district, we asked them to name candidates. cloud ofwe made a word those open ended responses. it just said health care. it is very clear what the democrats message was at the time. i am interested to hear the panelists thoughts on how that will pan out. we also know implications for 2020, because that race starts approximately right now. figure out who's going to go up against donald trump in 2020. we know a lot of mainstream and moderate candidates prevailed through the cycle. races,ts won 80% of the and it ended up flipping 20

seats. we asked democrats and independents what you think about the ideology of the candidates. was it about matched with where you wanted it to be? did they want to see a more conservative, liberal, or moderate? most liked the candidate they got. right behind that, people wanted it to be more moderate, but only 16% of our sample said they wanted them to be more. interesting to see what that means for 2020. that was as the democrats and independents. we asked what the party should do going forward. how should the democratic party win elections? 70% said to win future elections and 70% said two when the party should appeal to a broad range of voters that may have voted in 2016, only 17% said the party should move to the left to generate enthusiasm and increase visitation among the progressives and liberals, some interesting facts as we

goingointo the next cycle that s enough for the morning let's jump into conversations. i have three great people today. i will start immediately to my left we have congressman gregory meeks from new york's fifth district, the chair of the pack and a member of the forward thinking progrowth new democrat coalition. he's been a member since 1998 and represents the most diverse constituency in the nation. he's also a senior member of the house financial service and foreign affairs committee. next to him we have emily came ththedirector of emily's list ws one of the biggest powerhouses this cycle. my favorite staff i kept quoting people that were depressed in december last year was from emily's list because of the previous cycle, they had their best year ever in the 201 2016 e we have 920 call them and say i want to run for office. this cycle has more than 42,000.

the candidates delivered 23 23 flicks dates this cycle, so i think she can say she flipped the house. [laughter] one of the democratic party's baby and yodavid the end you wir in the 2016 cycle talking about his support for background checks and a stumbling nar 15 blindfolded. he also did some memorable and this cycle with the fighter jet and the farm produced an ad called the best political ad anyone has ever seen. that's pretty good. so, i will start with you, congressman. i want to talk about how all eyes are on the house if you're

going to have the most diverse caucus coming in in history and one of the biggest if not the biggest new democratic coalition in history. what do you credit their success to? >> the candidates that come from the districts so they could feel ththe everyday needs of the community and they would be able to articulate that. it's related to their neighbors people are going door to door to make sure they went out and were able to articulate the facts that were going around on a day-to-day basis.

i traveled around the country and was amazed by that. the best were the fundraisers in the homes that were going from house to house to have fund raisers talking about issues people could relate to and i think that made a tremendous difference to the candidates that he had across-the-board. >> what was it that you saw that added to that in terms of success? .. . >> and they were not afraid to

make it personal so quite frankly to hit a new law - - a new low talking about pre-existing conditions it really shows the difference with the candidates that are running. >> first i do agree with the congressman they have to be of the district but if we are doing our job correctly we have to show these candidates are connecting on issues there was a story about suburban life. it was mostly a suburban wave like charleston and oklahoma city places we were involved

in. and the pennsylvania suburbs these are stories of women candidates like dean phillips in minnesota the suburban wave people too willing to work with both sides and then to demonize the opponent. >> if you had to pick one race you just love to tell the story of to epitomize what democrats did successfully what with abby quick. >> for me one race would be illinois, ron underwood. [laughter] absolutely magnificent how he did it 30 years old. never ran and said i will do this. talking about how he lives in

that district and i was amazed at how he did and how he did it. ron underwood in illinois was huge for me. >> i was going to say that but i will talk to the virginia race that people were not sure of right up until the end but this was because of who she was, former cia girl scout leader, mom who ran as herself and unapologetically if you have not seen the closing of the debate she had i am not nancy pelosi. my name is abigail so she could make it personal but then run the campaign that made her able to reflect that professionalism with her ground game. >> and that district is where

david bratt started that tea party revolution taking out eric can tour. >> it's like picking me - - asking me to pick my favorite child they are my clients and my friends there are too many races jennifer here in virginia where there was a race she was disciplined but how many democrats came out to run for office in the primaries and with a healthy contest of ideas and passion? and then jennifer survived tough primary it is exciting to be the very first victory of the flip c and that was our race in the suburbs on the issue of health care and her own personal story as a mom. if i had to pick one it would be jennifer.

>> let's talk about the primaries it felt like the number one - - the hunger games having eight or nine democrats i would like to run and then say every burnett has to go run for congress. [laughter] so what do these folks see that is crucial to the success and what might that tell us where we are going in 2020 quick. >> so to be very aggressively involved in primaries with pro-choice democratic women and what we saw we have one of the best records during the primary season but that is for those campaigns that they ran in these women who stepped up with first time candidates, a personal reason after 2016

came to a local women's march to find their voice or started training the day after and then kept saying i want to do more but then as those dots began to be connected to take on the anti- woman agenda to say i cannot sit by anymore i am doing this. and that determination helped them plow through those that primaries got messy it tended to pit the democratic party together but they could build the coalition with the ideology to back it up to run the campaign they needed to win.

>> with the primaries we had one ad that mentioned donald trump it was a divide between the candidates that wanted to be the first of the anti- trump caucus or how you solve problems or reach across party lines and democrats do value experience through the legislative process and understand how to get things done that is the divide in many races not just to can cry donald trump allowed us but who can reach across to get things done. >> absolutely. again people speaking to folks in their communities. not only can you win a primary but they can win a general election because that is what is important. they would say they are the perfect candidate to win the

primary but also they win the election otherwise you don't get to accomplish what you have to do so even now there was some inspiration what do you have to lose with that african-american candidate , health care. we don't have that infrastructure to create that type of job. so basically what it shows that is exactly what the individuals talk about and i can help make that change. >> we also see this in governors races across the countr country, running on experience and getting things done, that played out across the country at the statewide level as well. >> and we asked them would you

rather have someone that mirrored your policy preferences or meet - - beat donald trump and they picked the latter. >> so what did all of you see for this cycle that is a harbinger of what is to come? and what can we take from that going forward quick. >> they really fell into the trap of language driven by hate and divisiveness. and it was extra aggressive. and about health care in particular but i was in iowa with abby a few weeks ago as

she was coming into the home stretc stretch. the ads running against her were such blatant lies about women's health care. and then and to have that hate to based divisive ratio one - - racial charged. and that would be problematic leading into 2020. . >> i just want to add to that the reverse happened the message was crisp and simple generally we have a message it was a 20 page but actually one

of the untold stories that makes you proud to be an american with those ethnicities coming together most of those come from districts that are very few african-americans can. with those hard-fought races and the cackling of the president and moving forward and fame that our country will feel in those districts people of all lifestyles are coming

together and trying hard to win. no amount of money now we have this congresswoman. . >> when they didn't have anything to compare to they live like we have never seen before i attribute that frankly to the dying of newspapers and lack of political coverage by a correspondent most of the time when we wanted to refute the attack that we saw this that the attacks were completely false even dean phillips in minnesota except dean phillips

they had a healthy news television that ran a lot of stories that we could put in television advertising to say it is outright false. we don't have that luxury and a lot of races. as democrats we have to be prepared to know that our site doesn't use those tactics. the other side will do whatever they can to win a seat and we have to be prepared for that. >> a nice shout out to my home state of minnesota that does many things better than everyone else. [laughter] so what was the biggest surprise for each of you? . >> on the house side some of the polls are starting to change watching the results

come in we are trying to get three but quite honestly and they came through in a very big way. that was a surprise to me. . >> it's hard to say it's hard to be surprised anymore. even that level of shock has changed but what i would say but on election night so back in march our fear - - our fearless leader but she wanted to flip the house and then came back to tell me that and said gather the team will tell them what we were doing we had to have that focus every single day.

and then we have three more outstanding neck is still come in but this wave is not isolated to one part of the country or one community story but everybody story. and as a reflection of what is happened the last couple of years that really started post 2016 with women's march. people started making calls and marching and they rallied after hurricanes and parkland. so it wasn't the shock and all of election night but over the last two years it has not let up so that's why we talk about last week there is that wave we really do think of it as a seachange for women's politics and democrats in politics how we win elections who are our

leaders and what they look like. >> i would point to the two losses. i thought somebody that they could be carried to victory. but that victory is becoming and they are predicted to win that race but then there were over performances and then we are encouraging to see that democratic base mobilize. >> what do you think the democrats have not figured out

yet? we have a lot of improvements what are we still struggling with so surely what do we need to figure out quick. >> are we anti- trump or get a different alternative direction or a positive direction and we still have to figure out how we will address donald trump on a daily basis? and we have to sharpen the pencils and without getting down into the mud with them. and we see that pretty clearly.

>> so then to be united that we all agree that donald needs to go but then to recognize that it can just we about one kind of democrat and these 33 brand-new women that we are adding from emily's list may be and how they talk about and why it is important. and they will all set a different set of five to allow them to be the best representative from their districts that should be able to happen and we see an

opportunity to lead by example but also how to serve that is a reflection on how we ran. >> that's what our challenge will be and the issues that our important to us so when we are having issues you only hear one voice and then the key in politics is how you compromise so when someone who comes to new york city that i need my urban district and coming from georgia that is a completely different type of

district to put forward the agenda that the american people can see across the board to see that interest taking place and not to be focused simply on donald trump. that will not change their life. they are concerned about their future, health care, children, families, jobs but one of the examples that shows that and the affordable care act and with those midterms and with that deciding issue and if you look at the affordable care act not

everybody the left wanted so to get something done. and that resonated throughout everybody and that's good for the american people. >> and to study those social issues and how they have shifted this cycle do you think that's true in terms of running against the nra for five years ago. >> icom unapologetically that's where i live and where i come from it's a very different conversation about

gun ownership than other parts of the country but and also :-colon powell and that they were the people to serve those communities they were not running because of the nra and that's a different with those around the country. >> i agree with everything emily said a cultural issue that depends on your running like heidi and north dakota was a strong proponent of the second amendment that the

voters just assumed you better we on those issues. and with those early attacks it really is a state-by-state issue do you feel like the ground is shifting but in some places it really hasn't. >> so now democrats have a big new class and after the wave they have to defend their seats in pretty red areas. so what advice would you have for someone who just got elected that knows they have to run again in two years quick. >> don't let washington change you. be yourself tell your stories and no back home. and i also say that key is

having a great staff to have people on the ground but all politics is local. don't get caught up into the hullabaloo of dc but stay focused on the people and with that open communication because you are still running and make sure you stay in contact. and then report back to them. >> not only at the federal level and gubernatorial level but also 280 new state legislatures and the advice is the same for all of them

remember where you came from talk to your constituents be present show up and talk to those who disagree with you and didn't support you understand how they feel see you can carry their message also as their member of congress i was shocked i was in 11 states the last six weeks everywhere i went the offices were bursting literally with volunteers they couldn't even move outside in some places they didn't have room in the offices those people showed up for you you need to make sure you keep in touch with them and how to help between now and the next election this is a journey you are on together with your constituents and your volunteers and your staff it's important to keep them together every step of the way. >> the last panel like this that said you know, a good politician if they walk into a room that finds who disagrees

with them and that is who they go talk to. >> i would say that what the congressman is saying know your district and your constituent services has to be top-notch make sure you were there for everybody and you will help them out. so the conversation everyone is invited to be welcoming of all voices to make sure everybody has a voice democracy is something eric paulson *-asterisk doing many years ago he stopped holding town meetings so be accessible so those who are coming from purple to a red district find places where you disagree with leadership in good conscience to vote the way your district wants even if you have pressure from the national party leadership and that's a

hard thing to do but you saw that an arizona she ran to the center she was not left of center she did a good job of reflecting of the values of arizona and the state is becoming more purple but she could point to places where she did agree with republicans and work with them and others where she worked with democrats and that's a good model in that district. >> it's important you also consider the focus nontraditional we have a high turnout some of those came out for the first time in you have to stay in contact with them as you want them to come out the second time in many campaigns and incumbents would work on the triple to get out the vote for three primaries in a row.

but one of the things are non- traditional voters to keep them engaged and then to never come back out again we have been here for a while so let's make sure we keep engaged. >> that blue wave definitely happened in the house in governor's races and state legislative races but we did have more struggles in the senate. how do you explain that divergence where those two storylines went? it is still a tough break for democrats and discourse with other places.

>> first we have missouri and indiana both senators were helped in the reelection bid that frankly in this environment they might stand a little better chance than they did six years ago also there is a red wall we saw this and north dakota which was a hard loss for heidi that it was uphill for a long time. we had to get double the number of republican votes to win because the state had shifted into the a hard republican state it's more like utah than south dakota. that was our reality we had to deal with in 2018 but the map is a lot more favorable to us in 2020. >> just the earlier point

about the increased democratic turnout and even with those tough losses and to look at that groundswell and hopefully with those at a higher level. and now look out the opportunities that stacy abrams comes within that percentage point or two, then that percentage point or that

is challenging giving the run of his life i would say no way so to see how close we have come in that short period of time with that encouragement that 2020 will be different and republicans now so i am encouraged by what i saw in the selection and i say this especially georgia and florida to prevent individuals with voter suppression and then

with these elections being so close people will be more determined they are registered to vote or those it was huge to show that resolution number for past and those that were convicted of a crime can go back to vote and 1 million people would make a big difference in the florida elections. >> talk about the red wall it's not necessarily what we think of a presidential election with those midwestern states. >> we had this conversation 18 or 20 months ago we would say baldwin is in so much trouble spending so much money to defeat her but could not come

up with a candidate to run against her that matches the dollars the weekend before the election that the super pack is my opponent i guess because that is who is coming at her. not another person and there are lessons to be learned how she started that was how the polls closed and that was good. >> we will open it up to the folks in the live audience. i have a spreadsheet of 35 people who might be running for president. [laughter] i'm sure by next week that will be growing i'm sure you'll have several pages but if you have to give one lesson learned from the midterms from the many folks that will jump into the fray to go up against

donald trump what would it be? . >> don't just run against donald trump. you just cannot say no to him but you have to bring of course, a fierce determination to defeat him but also those that voter did for democrats last time he keeps them at the table to give them ownership of that election and try to bring democrats together don't spend the primary to divide into different camps of democrats it only makes it harder to come together to wake up every day we all don't want him to be president anymore that is the unifier that should withstand any test of time i hope so it's incumbent on the candidates to run the campaign for the good of the order but also keeps the new voters engaged.

>> first i want to look back at 2016 that it's hard to draw a lot of parallels between the midterm election presidential elections are unlike anything else so as democrats we have to do a better job of working class voters not just white working class but all working-class we saw some pairings on that level of 2016. and how we know they are empowered. so with 20 greet - - 2020

cannot be anti- trump but a positive vision for america for the working class of this country and what they are looking for in their leaders. >> that is tremendously important one of the things that i know was said to me is if you have to explain it you're in trouble. if you have to explain your method you're in trouble. it has to be kept simple and something that can touch america no matter the reason figure out what works together so when i think about the past presidential election, the last two, there are 20 or 30 or 35 percent of individuals

donald trump is correct he could sue somebody in the middle of times square they would still vote for him but there are 15 or 20 percent of individuals that voted for donald trump who actually for a - - voted for barack obama twice so you need someone who can speak to them because that is what wins the election. that 15 percent to sway them to come back to us, to vote for the candidate and that's the same kind of thing that happened with brownback to be able to speak to those issues as indicated and to do that in a simplified way that they understand because of the story they have had.

america loves an inspirational leader. barack obama was inspirational even bill clinton. a kid. even ronald reagan inspiration so you have to have someone that can talk common sense in the inspirational way. you have to combine those two so they think i can believe in this person or he or she will make my life better. >> to say they can win on fear but democrats run on hope. >> i will just ask you to say your name if you have an organization identify yourself we have a microphone coming around so let's wait before it starts speaking.

>> so the question looking back at 2016 how much of what happened to hillary clinton was rank of gender bias specific to her? because there is a lot riding on the answer to that question with all of these democratic women wanting to run for president and i think it's the case the vote among black and hispanic men for trump was uncommonly high in 2016. so was this any kind of gender issue that democrats just can't ignore in 2020? . >> the general point of gender and sexism playing a role is undeniable and it certainly

has driven the element that plays out even where we see how they sound how they dress and i would argue to the point hillary clinton was also inspirational to millions of americans but when it came to the fear if we look to 2020 what is refreshing we are talking about multiple women who could run my list started in july with four women and stopped at 25 men it would be larger now but the difference is it's not a surprise we could see a woman this time i think those that are come contemplating it each have their own personality to bring together the party in different ways or people from different backgrounds to put

together a winning coalition but i don't think sexism will go away at all we will see the republicans double down and it's something as a party that in 2016 we didn't always know how to parse out sexism for those who just wanted to talk about hillary clinton and how we prevent it and respond to it and overcome it. >> number one, i agree hillary was inspirational. but i was surprised and we have to get better because some of that was a backlash against obama to a degree but if i look at the numbers at that point the most surprising thing of the 2016 election

that overall 53 percent of white women voted for donald trump. when i would have thought that never could have happened that they would have stood up bigger than that because here was an opportunity that we will elect the first african-american president right behind the first woman president then to see 53 percent did not vote they could shut it down that was surprising i don't think that will happen again. >> anything more and sexism? . >> i worked for the governor in rhode island the governor elect with witmer in michigan and stacy abrams with the agenda bias as well as racial bias she ran a very strong campaign so i am constantly encouraged. women do have to do everything

perfectly they have to be perfectly put together, can show anger and are held to a higher standard and every woman that speaks about these challenges they have to be perfect all the time it's true in politics they have to hit their marks but we are seeing great success and to win an overwhelming reelection victory that is a tough state to men for any democrat that hasn't happened in decades. i'm encouraged. >>. >> are you surprised by the trump coalition? so in those primaries with

ideology what about the take on trump will be a factor? . >> i come from the home of governor the page elected 2010 saying that guy could never win. but had 39 percent of the vote and saying he could never get reelected but he won with 40 percent of the vote. if you look at walker finally able to defeat him this past week but the coalition is no better than 2010 it sticks together that's the congressman's point why does 15 or 20 percent of people that are willing to switch?

but now they are coming back it is a cautionary tale for democrats who says they could never get reelected to look at those governors that did get reelected because it can happen we just cannot take for granted that somehow that outrageousness will not lead to a reelection it has shown time and again that they do hold together. >> good morning. so with the turnout in the way we have not seen before that it has been the highest turnout sense suffrage has passed but even more so in places that clinton could not win in 2016 how do we avoid that apathy in 2020? . >> i think turnout was up and

it was the woman turnout that was substantial that would be the encouragement anytime i think of anything that is successful and the interest for example, i walked into a barbershop to get a haircut and these young folks talk about something else they didn't know who i was at the time i had my cap on. [laughter] i sat down to just listen to didn't say anything and they were talking about politics and going on in their communities what they had aspirations for within their families and the changes they want to make. to me that means they are locked in and engaged that was the emotional come out and

vote this is what we have to do to make sure our lives in the future will be better that will help and that turnout is a just one election or one midterm election type of thing that you will see probably increase in 2020. >> i have been saying that democrats cannot just run against donald trump but also recognize he has been a great recruiting tool for democrats to have less than 1000 women reach out emily's list in the 2016 selection and that 4,202,018? also suburban women that tried these races they are ready to come out and vote because of the actions of the president the same thing in alabama which is a very unique circumstance that turned on women's vote and people of

color so these are the blocks that are highly motivated by the president that will not change by 2020 it will just grow that's why i'm encouraged and 2020. >> i'm a policy student with carnegie mellon so how do you deal with donald trump on a daily basis how you run against him or to the degree that you do that what's the most effective way to fight that message in a way that doesn't turn others of off? . >> with my district what i say especially on television or something of that nature i'm likely to say donald trump is a liar or a con man but then i

say that's not just me to say that get the videotape. ted cruz said it. marco rubio said it. met romney said it. even to a large degree even the former speaker ryan said it. so i'm just doing in a non- emotional way to show we know who he is. now i will tell you what i will do to make your life better now we also talk about the rest of the world in my experience and the accomplishments and also how other world leaders and other people are looking at him and the american people so it's important for us to show who we are as americans because

health care was tremendously important talking about guns i'm sorry talking to a lot of individuals who are nra members that are gun owners they want universal background checks because guns are now becoming an issue if you talk to the suburbia moms they are scared of their children going to school they don't think the answer is to bring more guns into school so we want to make sure we are all safe in that regard with the best way we can get it done. the shooting that just took place in california i have a kid in college now do we have to be concerned about our

child going to college night? we can share those experiences and that makes a difference. >> i know you both work with people who have had to balance this in their district that was to go against every single thing trump says every three hours and others that say is relevant to their lives. how do you suggest they balance that? . >> first, you have to know why you are in office what issues got you there what's in the core and why you ran you can be easily distracted by the noise so instead if you can focus on results not try to get distracted on a daily or

hourly basis but instead focus on results that will help you make a case for reelection ultimately you do have to answer to the voters and why you deserve reelection and that's more important than winning a twitter war. >> this is a marathon and not a sprint every day we jump into the morning tweet session drama every day we are sect and that's what we could be doing something in one - - something else that's a challenge of the new president a democratic house republican senate they have to find things they can actually do particularly on things we should agree on like the economy or infrastructure and working families and good jobs

and the progress that could be made and also to hold the president more accountable the opportunity with the new majority to increase transparency and accountability when it comes to the president but whether a tweet in the morning or a press conference there are members in the house to have the ability and the authority to ask the questions and get answers that is a much stronger and clearer path for democrats heading into 2022 talk about what they did at work this week and that's the best combination. >> we will do our jobs. . >> and we want the oversight

so we will do our jobs. so one other issue in the 2020 election and now it has come to the forefront of the supreme court that will be a big issue with the individuals we talk about but with the court being where it is and kavanaugh and obama the blocking of his supreme court nominee and to survive the presidency that is an issue that candidates have to focus on to motivate folks that are the supreme court justice for these lifetime appointments.

>> and somebody who started working on judicial nominations i'm so excited someone just said the appellate nominees because that has never happened before. [laughter] . >> congressman what is the first piece of substantive legislation we would see? . >> first it will be infrastructure to be done in a bipartisan manner and to be focused on that and now to get cheaper prescription drugs to protect individuals with pre-existing to keep children on health care after 26 and

send that to the senate in a bipartisan manner. . >> i will end this here but what i referenced at the beginning the discussion will be online today thank you very much to our panel. [applause] journaln's washington live every day with news and

policy issues that impact you. coming up sunday morning, tom davis and marjorie margolis discussed the political climate after the election and what that means for the new congress. and john talks about recent reports north korea is continuing its ballistic missile program. watch c-span's washington journal live at 7:00 eastern on sunday morning. join the discussion. newsmakers,end on democratic congressman peter of oregon, the top democrat on transportation and infrastructure committee. he talks about the possibility of a bipartisan infrastructure bill in congress and his hopes for democrats as they prepared to take majority in the house. newsmakers, sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> and this morning, president trump left washington for california to survey the damage

for wildfires. he spoke to reporters outside the white house. everybody.rump: hey, so, we're going to california. we're making two stops. we're going to the two areas you know very well. many more people are missing than people thought were possible. i want to meet with firefighters and fema and first responders. we'll be coming back here, probably landing at 4:00 in the morning or something like that. we want to spend a lot of time, discuss with the governor and the new governor-elect. so we have a lot of things to talk about. we will be talking about forest management. i've been saying that for a long time. this could have been a lot different situation. the one thing is that

everybody now knows this is what we have to be doing. but i think everybody's on the right side. it's a big issue, big issue. very expensive issue, but very inexpensive when you compare to even one of these horrible fires. it will save a lot of lives in addition to a lot of money. we'll be out there talking to the governor, first responders. they've been incredible. the firefighters have been unbelievably brave. some of the stories i've read last night, unbelievably brave. [inaudible] president trump: well, we haven't been briefed yet. the cia is going to be speaking to me today. we have not been briefed yet. as of this moment, we are told it did not play a role. we will have to find out what they have to say. [inaudible] president trump: say again.

[inaudible] no, we do that: next week. they're all done. [inaudible] we're taking a: look at it. will also have a great ally in saudi arabia. they give us a lot of jobs, a lot of business, a lot of economic development. they have been a truly spectacular ally in terms of jobs and economic development. i'm president. i have to take a lot of things into consideration. so, we will be talking with the cia later and lots of others. i will be doing that while i'm on the plane. i will also be speaking to secretary of state mike pompeo. [inaudible] president trump: we have not been talking, no, with have not been talking about it. -- we have not been talking about it. we'll see.

[inaudible] president trump: it's not under consideration. we're always looking. whatever we can do for turkey, and countries we've been getting along with pretty well. he came to front and back last week and we appreciate that. we are doing very well in turkey. i get along very, very well with the president. is a friend of mine. is a strong man, a tough man, but he's a friend of mine. whatever we can do, we'll do. but that's something that we're always looking at. but at this point, no. [inaudible] president trump: what? [inaudible] president trump: we haven't even talked about it. [inaudible] president trump: yeah, we have a tremendous military force on the southern border.

we have large numbers of people trying to get into our country. i must say, the reason is increased is because we've been doing so well as opposed to the rest of the world. you look at south of our border, not doing so well. but regardless, we have millions of people online to get into the country legally. and those people have preference. they been waiting a long time. they've done it legally. there's a lot of things happening, but we have a great military force on the southern border. we're not letting people into the country illegally, and we're not doing releases. they think they're going to be released into our country like the old days, like the years and years. we're not releasing. they don't get released. what? [inaudible] president trump: as long as necessary. they built a very powerful

fence. different kind of fence, but very powerful. the defense -- of the fence is fully manned. they'rey're caught, not released. it's interesting. they talk about the great fear and their country, but they all wave their country's flag. they have such fear and problem and they hate their country, why do we see all the flags being waived? honduras, el salvador. why are they waving flags? this has nothing to do with asylum. this has to do with getting into our country illegally. we have to know who's coming into our country. ok. [inaudible] president trump: no, i don't question his loyalty at all. he is 100% loyal. this is a phony story.

typical new york times phony story. mike pence is 100%, not even a doubt about it in my mind. he's been a trooper. he's been with me as soon as i won the primaries. is the one i chose. i could not be happier. i don't question his loyalty at all. is already been tested in many ways. mike pence is a terrific person. written a phony story by the new york times, who by the way, never called me for a comment. fake news. how do you do a story like that and you don't call the principal? i would give them a plug, and say that's not true. and that's the end of their story. but they didn't do that. they make up phony stories. like you write a novel. have you ever written a novel?

that's the way these news stories are written. that's why it's fake news. it's fake. and it's a very bad thing for this country. they should retract that story. you can't do that story without calling me for a quote. or you can call sarah huckabee. can i get a quote? and there she is. i would be happy to give a coat. you know what the quote would be ? mike pence is 100%. now you can't do your story. that's why they don't like calling me for a quote. [inaudible] i would helpmp: nancy pelosi if she may need some votes. i like her. can you believe it? i like nancy pelosi. she's tough and she's smart. and she deserves to be speaker. and now they're playing games

with her. the president of your country is doing a great job, but he's being harassed. it's presidential harassment. and away, -- in a way, her own party is speaking out. certainly they can start off with nancy pelosi as speaker. and irony have a lot of votes. i will give her the votes. [inaudible] president trump: well, i thought tom reed, an example of a fine man, a congressman. i would call him a moderate. there. get him from whatever number of votes he needs, if it's 50 or 10 or 201, he's got it from me automatic. tell the opposition they're wasting their time. reporter: are you ok with a

shutdown? president trump: talking about a border wall, about $5 billion. i think probably if i was ever going to do a shutdown over border security, when you look at the caravan, when you look at the mess, you look at the people coming in, this would be a good time to do a shutdown. i don't think it's going to be necessary because i think the democrats will come to their senses. and if they don't come to their senses, we'll continue to win elections. you know we won the senate. you do recognize that, right? being named,udges it'll be easier. its historic. that's a tremendous difference. these are senators i really like. thank you all very much. [inaudible] president trump: what? [inaudible]

no, we haven't. until that decision is made, we have a great gentleman in matt whitaker. everybody tells me he's doing a fantastic job. [inaudible] president trump: i consider pam gandhi for anything. i know her very well. in the meantime, she's got a very good job. she's always done a very good job. but in some form, i'd love to have her in the administration. we have great people. we have tremendous people. our cabinet, i'm very happy. will i make adjustments? yes. but we have a great cabinet. look at our military. has a lot to do with the secretary of defense, by the way. mattis is doing a great job.

i could go through every one of them. you might figure out the one or two i'm a little less happy with. , ok thank you. i'll see you in california. [inaudible] we'ree --president trump: going to be looking at everything, thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> this afternoon, the president arrived at gail air force base in northern california on his way to tour wildfire damage.

he was met on the runway by outgoing governor jerry brown, incoming governor gavin newsom, and fema administrator brock long. mr.r touring fire damage, trump made remarks in paradise, california.

tosident trump: ji want thank the mayor and the governor and the governor-elect. we know the fema folks. brock, i want to thank you for the job. it's been incredible. law enforcement is beyond anything i could be believed. to see everything that's happened here, nobody would have ever thought this could happen. so the federal government is behind you. we're all behind each other. and gerry and i have been speaking, gavin and i have gotten to know each other. we're all getting to know each other and we'll do a real job. this is all set to see. as far as the lives concerned,

nobody knows quite yet. this is the kind of destruction. they're telling me this is an even as bad as some areas. some errors are even beyond this, just charred. one thing we have, we have the greatest people in the world looking to help the first responders, fema. you people have been incredible. law enforcement always, they never let us down. they never let us down. so we are here. kevin, thank you very much for the job you've done and the support you've given in washington. kevin, anything we can do, you know we're here. just bring it over to the office. reporter: what needs to be done immediately from the federal government? >> what needs to be done is what is being done.

do the job the first responders are supporting. with got the manpower, the appointment power to get the job done. theve got the cleanup, search for people that have lost their lives. big massive cleanup after a terrible tragedy. it's basically people that are , stateere, local people people that are doing the work. the federal government is putting in a lot of work, a lot of money and some expertise. we will put it together. reporter: is there any way to prevent this from happening again? president trump: we've been talking about that on the ride over. we do have to do management, maintenance. l be also working with environmental groups. i think everybody's seen the light. i don't think we will have this again to this extent. we will have to work quickly.

think hopefully this will be the last of these. because this was a really, really bad one. and i know gavin is committed, we're all committed, i'm committed to seeing us get this cleaned out. take care of the floors of the forest. it's very important. you look at other countries where they do it differently, and it's a whole other story. i was with the president of finland and he said we have a forced nation. based -- forest nation. they spend a lot of time cleaning and they don't have any problem. it's a very small problem. i know everybody's looking at that to that end. it's going to work out well. we want to take care of the people that are so badly hurt.

the families, what they've lost. a lot of people have been lost. we don't know the number. we won't know that for a while. there are areas you can't even get to them yet. we have incredible people doing the job. so we'll get that done better than anybody else could do it. we want to thank you all for coming and being here and showing. because i think people have to really see this to understand it. and back in washington, mr. congressman, you know that, kevin and everything. we have two great members of congress. we'll do everything we can, 100%. thank you for my -- thank you very much. we'll get it taken care of. >> i'm just going to say a few words. we know how tragic this has been. i find it hard to find the right way to put it. people work really hard, people

suffered. some of these people from some of these different backgrounds and services have come together. i think the firefighters and first responders, and thanks to the federal government. fema has been terrific. i appreciate the president himself being here and focusing the spotlight on one of the were strategies california has -- worst tragedies california has ever faced. president trump: thank you, jerry. i also want to thank fema, law enforcement. you guys have been incredible. firefighters are out there now. they have a lot of territories to cover. big area of a very intense flame very now next to a explosive area. it's a very big problem going out there. they are fighting like hell. we've never seen anything like

this. it's like total devastation. but again, i want to thank everybody. brock is going to give a little presentation of where were going and why we're doing it. the men and women fighting this fire are incredible. more than 70 people are lost. we're looking for hundreds of people right now, literally hundreds that they're looking for. hopefully that's going to be a good conclusion instead of a bad conclusion. may be they left. lovedthey're with their ones or somewhere else. we'll know the answer for the next 48 hours, for the most part. brock? a little bit of a presentation as to how we're going to stop the rest of this monster. discussed, this

is probably the worst disaster i've seen in my time here. not only helping the governor achieve his goals, but it's the time for neighbor helping neighbor. fema is on the ground. i've been here since tuesday, making sure we have situation awareness on how to help the state achieve what needs to be done when it comes to the firefighting, but also taking care of people's cars and that issue. we've set up the national disaster recovery center. we ask you to call the number or go to disasterassistance.gov to register. out close to $3 million to those who have qualified for assistance. obviously, the firefighters' main priority is taking care of people and make sure we can get people transitioning out of shelters and coming home. we're also working with the state of california, who has

done a tremendous job, understanding how we're going to be doing debris removal and get power back up, so we can get back to the new norm. it's time to turn over to the incident commander. >> this is a progression map of the fire. the very first day, we experience the most significant damage, almost 55,000 acres in the first 12 hours. [indiscernible] there are still significant challenges. the weather, the wind. the red fog -- red flag warning is still coming in this weekend. this whole area, the river drainage. other communities outside the burn areas we're concerned

about. thank you very much, sir. >> mr. president, do you see the role of climate change in these fires? president trump: i think you have a lot of factors. we have the management factors. i know jerry's reading up on it very well. they're going to be working on it together. that's a big problem. we're putting quite a bit of money, $500 million in the money for management and maintenance to forests. the on this area, we're going to manage the $500 million. the farm bill is moving along pretty rapidly. we have great farmers. we have a new category.

that's management and maintenance of the forest. i want to thank you folks over there, law enforcement. great, great job. [applause] does this change her opinion on climate change? president trump: no i have a strong opinion. we have a great climate and we're going to have forests that are very safe. we're going to have safe forests. >> you said there should be changes in fire management. president trump: we're going to work with state, local, and federal government. we're going to help them with funding. it's going to take a lot of funding. >> [inaudible] president trump: a lot of things they can learn. they been working very hard.

i think you're going to see something very spectacular. >> i think if you really look at the facts from a very open point of view, there's a lot of elements that need to be considered. the president, as you saw, and i'm looking forward to the next months and beyond, understand the whole matter of thousands, all the rest of it. it's not one thing. it's a lot of things. when you look at things, we'll get more done. president trump: thank you very much. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> c-span's washington journal live every date with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up sunday morning, former members of congress tom davis and marjorie mongolia discussed the political climate after the election and what that means for the new congress. and john from the brookings institute talks about north

korea continuing ballistic missiles. watch c-span's washington journal live sunday morning. join the discussion. newsmakers,end on democratic congressman defazio of oregon, he's the top democrat on the transportation and infrastructure committee. he talks about the possibility of a bipartisan infrastructure bill and his hopes for democrats as they prepare to take the majority in the house. newsmakers, sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. the white house did not release a weekly address from the president this week. virginia commerce men gerry connolly delivered the democratic address. he talked about the democratic agenda. rep. connolly: hi, i'm congressman gerry connolly of virg