c-span has covered every minute of every political convention since 1984, and we are not stopping now. this month's political convention will be like none other in history. with the coronavirus pandemic still women, plans for both conventions are still being altered. trumbull will accept his party's nomination the next week. watch c-span at 9:00 p.m. eastern for live coverage of the democratic convention, starting on monday, and the republican convention, starting next monday, august 20 four. life streaming and on-demand at c-span.org, or listen with the free c-span radio app. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. >> at the white house, president trump spoke to parents and teachers about reopening schools and providing in person teaching during the coronavirus pandemic.

this event also included remarks from vice president pence, kellyanne conway, and education secretary betsy devos. ? thank youvery -- >> very much. we're here to talk about opening our schools. we have some of our great teachers and parents in a very representative group, and we also have some extraordinary experts with us. i like to maybe start off by asking our vice president to say a few words, and then if you would, betsy and kelly and. we will go around and talk to some of the parents and teachers, and thank you all for being here very much. >> thank you, mr. president. i want to thank all of the educators and leaders who are here. and part of the conversation.

president trump made it clear from the time that we made our way through the difficult days of 45 days to slow the spread, the president said we want to work with states to open up america again. we've got to open up american schools. at the president's direction, we have literally provided billions of dollars already to states to begin to open schools, and secretary devos and i, as you know, mr. president, have traveled around the country to places like north carolina and indiana and louisiana, and we are working literally day in and day out with governors and state education leaders to find a way to safely reopen our schools. our commitment is to make sure that our states and our schools have the best guidance. we will talk a little bit about that today. the cdc actually issued some new guideposts not long ago, but the first document that issued was

the cdc's position that is best for our kids to be back in school. the cdc recognize that it is a public health priority to have our kids back to school and in person learning. sure ourng to make schools and our states have the resources to be able to safely reopen and we are calling on congress to work with us to appropriate another $105 billion. we believe that we can safely reopen our schools. we know it is best for our kids. we won't let them fall behind academically, but also we don't want our kids to miss out on the counseling that they receive, special needs services, as well as all the nutrition programs that are available just at our schools. finally, i know that you've recognized from early on that getting our kids back to school is first a priority for them, but also it's important working families. only about 20% of single parents

are able to telework. so to open up america again, we've got to open up american schools and put america back to work and get our kids back in the classroom. i want to thank you for your leadership. it's great to be here with the secretary of education, kelly and and all these remarkable teachers in particular. as you know, i been married to school teacher for 35 years and she's preparing to go back to the classroom this fall. i want to thank all the educators who are here for all the hard work you are doing to get our kids back to school. thank you, mr. president. >> mr. president, thank you so much for your continued bold leadership through this crisis and particularly with respect to getting kids back to school. it's been a privilege to travel with the vice president to meet with educators, educational leaders, and especially with parents and students to hear about what their needs are as fall quickly approaches. and so i'm just thankful to be here with this group today to

listen and learn from now about what your needs are as we anticipate getting back to school, and commissioner, thank you for your bold leadership in florida really setting high expectations for all of the students and educators there. we know that for students and their families, they can't be held captive to other people's fears or agendas. we have got to ensure that families and parents have options that are going to work for their child and for their children's education, and so i look forward to this conversation too as to how we can ensure that we don't have a one size fits all approach, but that we do ensure every child has a chance to go on learning full time this fall. >> thank you very much, mr. president, mr. vice president, secretary devos. we're here mainly to hear from each of you today. before i do that, i just wanted

to point out that there is a fairly recent kaiser family foundation health tracker poll that shows over 65% of america's parents are very concerned that their children will fall behind academically and socially if they don't get back to school. having said that, we recognize that many school districts have already made a decision to either go hybrid or full-time virtual learning for the first month or two or maybe longer. so our goal today, the president's goal's always been how do we reopen safely? how do we reopen soon, but how do we reopen safely? we also recognize a number of teachers, particularly the 10% or so over the age of 60 are concerned. so we have given resources and guidance that allows each of those districts to make those decisions, to maybe modify the work schedules of the teachers and other administrative staff that may be affected. overall, we know the risk is low for kids in contracting and being hospitalized and of course the worst possible outcome dying from covid-19, but the risk is very high if they're locked down

indefinitely. nearly 100% of our 75 million students k through college left their places of learning, left their instruction between the first and third weeks of march this year. we see that all situations are not created equally. the lack of digital assets was very obvious for many of our students, lack of nutrition, lack of social emotional mental well being and development. we also heard from many school administrators and teachers, they're concerned because roughly one out of five child abuse cases are detected in schools. so we have to also think about all that we don't know and all that is being lost for these children by keeping them locked down in indefinitely. in the interest of opening soon and safely for this entire country, mr. president, we would like to start with lisa from wisconsin a single mother and , small business owner. her son luis is entering a

public district school, the 9th grade, i believe, freshman year for luis. >> correct. >> first of all, what were the advantages or disadvantage of him being a bilingual student when you had to go virtual learning? we understand that your school district has not yet announced a reopening plan. we're in pretty much mid august. can you address both of those for us? >> correct, yes, we as parents, we had to take a survey regarding either going back to school or going virtual. at the moment, like you had mentioned, we do not have an answer yet. hopefully we do, and i'm hoping that we do go back because all the details that you just mentioned are very critical and important, and i'm 100% of what you guys are saying, at the moment. it was kind of difficult for him because it's really hard being bilingual and having to learn

two different languages, but with the help of teachers and the community, he stood up and did a great job. that was the advantage that when he needed help, teachers were there to help him, you know, and fulfilled whatever gap, you know, was not being covered, and so he did pretty well after that. >> but you would like going back immediately; right? >> oh, yes, 100%. >> a lot of people agree. >> yes. >> thank you. >> you are welcome. >> very good job. >> dr. paul peterson is the director of program on education policy and governance at harvard university and hoover institution senior fellow. we have heard an awful lot including from the president and vice president, cdc director and others about their relative problems that children could face if they are in indefinite lockdown. could you please expand on that as a doctor? >> we know for every year you

spend in school, in the future, you'll earn 10% more in lifetime earnings. so if we lock down schools for a year, we assign this generation of students to a 10% earning loss in the rest of their life. i mean, this is profound, the costs are vastly greater than people have appreciated. to say nothing about the importance of young people being together, with one another, the most important element in social growth is being with your peers, with your own friends and neighbors and not being isolated in a setting where you don't have social relationships. to say nothing of the medical costs of being isolated and not -- you know, i remember when i was a child, i had -- the teacher said, you know, he can't see. he needs glasses.

well, i've got some new eyes now, so i can see, but yeah, you are told in school what the problems are and then you can get those problems solved. all those things are out the door if you are not in school. >> so sitting in isolation, with a computer looking at a laptop, , is not the same as being out there in the real world? >> you know, at one time, mr. president, i thought digital learning was the future, but we have learned through this covid crisis, that we haven't got digital learning to the point where you can really engage young people. they've got to be in that classroom. they have to be with their peers. >> so if you're a presidential candidate, and you're sitting in a basement and you're looking at a computer, that's not a good thing? [laughter] >> well i -- >> i don't want to put you on the spot. >> i can't -- [laughter] >> hypothetically speaking.

i don't know a single parent who thinks their kid needs more screen time to your point, dr. peterson. lynn grantas from arkansas. you have been a special education teacher. you are entering your 19th year, but also considered higher risk from contracting the coronavirus since you have asthma, is that correct? tell us about how you feel about going back to school. my son is a radiologist at stanford. every time there were rumors and myths, i just called him and said what are you hearing there? he never once, not once said please don't go back. he knows how much i love my special education students, how much they need those special resources like your speech my other colleagues provide, the instruction was extremely difficult for my students. a lot wouldn't come to the zoom meetings. it's just so different. what i was going to say is i typed the protocols for the public schools and i'm very comfortable with them. they've gone beyond the call of duty. i gave it to my allergist, e-mailed it to my son, and both of them gave me the ability to go back.

i want to there for my students and help them navigate through this and make them comfortable to come back safely. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. dr. melanie mcgraw, from charlotte, north carolina, a neonatologist but also a mom of three who i think has been home with the kids helping them navigate the on-line world of learning. could you tell us as a mom of three who has been home with them but also through your medical experience, how can we learn to safely and quickly return to school? >> sure. my children i would say did not have a great experience in the spring, particularly my youngest, who was in 1st grade at the time. i think the on-line learning for the young ones, it just doesn't work, and my school, it's a private independent school, recognized that, and when they go back next week, they're sending the little ones back every day which i think is great. the middle and upper school ones will be back in a hybrid way every other day. they have incorporated some choice too. if parents aren't comfortable,

they are able to do a full on-line experience. we are definitely going back as much as they will let us. in terms of being a pediatrician, i think the science is so clear that the risk of death or hospitalization for children with this virus is so so low. but we know the risk of missing school are catastrophic. we probably don't even know how high they are yet. they cover so many different areas. i feel like, mr. president, thank you for your leadership on trying to get students back in school safely. so appreciate it. >> and the concept of every other day seems a little ridiculous, right? if you are going to do it, you do it. if you are not going to do it, the concept of going back even from a management standpoint from the school, every other day seems very strange. >> i think the idea is they are going to take half the student body on a days and half the student body on b days so they can socially distance in the facility doing it that way, and then if you are at home, you will be watching it on technology. >> ok.

but you'd rather see them go back period right? , >> i would. >> that's right. >> great job, thank you very much. >> it sounds like your children are back in school, following a decision that you and other parents had to make with respect to keep them at home learn virtually or go back to school. you chose go back to school. why? how is it going so far? >> the y is very easy. i'm a hispanic small business owner so i need my kids in school to run the business. i know a lot of families, it's a struggle if you're working your business and being teacher at the same time. it's just not easy. but we've made that decision, and i really want to thank the leadership of governor bill lee who emphasized to the school , district to offer the options of in-person learning and virtual so that parents would have the freedom to choose which education route would be best for their child.

the parents in my area and at our school decided to send our kids back. our kids are excited. there is social distancing. there's a lot of protocols in place. their temperatures are taken every morning. everything is going very smooth, but what is really good is that my son and daughter, they understand the seriousness of the virus for those at risk. so they're keeping an eye out for those who are at risk so we can look after them. we have a group chat with the parents, and we're communicating all the time, if there's any symptom so that we know to, you know, if something's happening or not, whether we send our kids back to school that day or not. and because the virtual class is happening at the same time, our kids will never fall behind. >> that's great. thank you very much. well said. >> claudia, you are a kindergarten teacher at a public school. and we understand you had a very

successful in-person summer school experience, which may be very surprising to some people here that that actually was happening this summer. can you tell us about that from lubbock, texas and how is that , for an in-person fall? >> i'm from lubbock texas. i teach at an elementary school. we had a successful summer school. there were no outbreaks. it was in person. there was precaution of six feet apart. children had to wear masks, 10 and older. there was temperatures taken for the staff and the students. this year our parents had the choice, whether to do virtual or in person. and so far we have 70% wanting to be in class. and so we're ready to go. we start monday. >> very exciting. >> thank you. thank you for all of your leadership with this.

>> thank you very much. i know the area well. it's great >> thank you. thank you, mr. president. >> mr. president, you heard from a couple of our last speakers, something that you actually have made happen in signing the cares act. there's about $13 billion worth of funding, and i was briefed by an official this morning who said only 4% has been tapped into. they can use that to help them with the temperature checks, with the testing, however they would wish to use it. we would really implore the states and local school districts to take advantage of the money that you and the vice president and secretary and others have already secured in a bipartisan fashion. >> what i would like to do is i would like to see the money follow the student. if a school is going to be closed, and we're giving all of this money on a federal basis to a school, and if a student is going to go to a different school, really at the choice more of the parent, in all fairness, than the student, you know where you want to go and what school you want to bring the student to, i think the money should follow the student. and that's something that we want to do. we're having a hard time with

the democrats. they want the money to follow the union, to be honest. it is very simple, give it to the union. but the fact is give it to dues, because the union people are fantastic people in there, but the people that run the union, it is disgraceful, and the dues, the teachers, that's what it's all about. i would like the money to follow the student, and this way you can make your own choice. if the school is closed. you know, why are we paying if a school is closed? why are we paying the school if it is closed? i would rather give it to the student, the parents, and you do your own thing, and to me it makes a lot of sense. >> secretary devos? >> i would just add to that, senator tim scott has a bill introduced in congress, that would do just that. it would empower parents to make the choice for their children to find the right setting and the right fit for them, depending on their circumstances, and with the president's bold leadership here, i think we can get it done. congress can do the right thing

on behalf of parents and their kids. >> mike, we will let him know we're in favor of that. tim scott is fantastic. the bill is really good. why don't we do that. ok? >> we will, mr. president. i assure you. kellyanne: excellent. you have always been the school choice president, school choice candidate. i know as governor of indiana, vice president pence expanded charter schools and other educational freedom opportunities, and i will say that we as a nation can philosophically and politically differ on many issues but i have very ever heard a compelling persuasive reason that people oppose the kind of school choice you two would like. our last question is goes to parents, parent's ability to choose the right choice of learning for their children. particularly in this pandemic. we have a former public schoolteacher herself, a reading specialist.

her school district plans to provide full time virtual instruction. she believes her high schooler will be fine, but her kindergartner has down syndrome and must receive in person instruction. her husband chris is here. he serves as the chairman of the president's committee for people with intellectual disabilities. thank you very much for being here, chris, and god bless you and your children. would you like to tell us about how you are approaching the school year? >> absolutely. when schools closed in the spring abruptly, it was especially difficult for families with children that have special needs because for us, it was like falling off an early intervention cliff. schools not only provide the academics for students with special needs, but it also provided some much-needed therapies and services to address developmental delays. and the structure and routine of school day is so critical for this population of students. it simply cannot be replicated in a virtual platform, and especially for a kindergartner

with down syndrome. unfortunately, our school district has adopted a virtual-only reopening plan. it's been extremely disappointing because as a parent, i wish -- well, i need and i wish that i would have been given a choice because i know for a fact that this style of learning will cause my son to regress and to fall behind. and we were working so hard for him to be fully included with his peers. so my hope is that we can all work together to get in-person learning especially open for the students that are most vulnerable and to have that choice for parents, because i know my son best, and i know what he needs. >> really well said. so it's been a burden, a tremendous burden, what you've been through has been a great burden, obviously. how do they change that? how do they change it? what would you recommend? >> i think families with children with special needs who are already carrying a pretty tremendous burden.

we are constantly incorporating different therapies and things of that nature. what's nice about it being incorporated in the school, it happens during the school day. unfortunately in my situation, we have been forced to change and find another school option for our son. we're fortunate because a lot of families don't have that option because smaller schools, private schools, parochial schools may not have the staff and the structure to accept children with special needs. so there's not always that option. we're fortunate in that situation, but now my family has taken on the burden of not budgeting and planning for tuition, so having the dollars follow the student is very critical for a family like ours. i'm also having to plan all of his therapies on the outside, so we're talking about a kindergartner that's going to school from 8:00 a.m. till 2:00, 2:30 in the afternoon and then he has to have occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, all after school, that's a long day. >> a lot of work >> it is, thank you. >> fantastic job, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> how did she do, chris?

>> she did excellent. [laughter] >> thank you. you know, i think the conversation in america right now, that children with special needs have really been left out. and so mr. president, i want to thank this administration, mr. vice president, when you and the secretary came to columbia a few weeks ago, you addressed that issue, that people with disabilities are being left out. and so what we have here are people that are on the front lines in education that are saying we can open the schools, for everyone. i visited two schools this week, in south carolina, that have charter schools, students are in class. teachers are there. they're learning. they're playing with each other. i mean, it's been a great experience. so we can do this in america. we can get america back to school and make our education system great. >> that's great, thank you very much. appreciate it.

>> florida's commissioner of education, you spearheaded an emergency declaration with governor desantis basically to meet the demands of parents for in-person instruction. parents overwhelmingly are saying yes, when asked do you feel safe for your son or daughter to return to school? and often they are being big footed by a county health commission or a school board. how are you meeting that demand? how do you know that parents are so in demand in florida for in-person instruction? what are you hearing? >> we did exactly that. we did an emergency order that basically gave increased flexibility and increased choice to parents, teachers, and the districts, and certainty in the funding. what we're saying and what got reported, you know, the same day you said open schools so they said we colluded. i wish i colluded with you. [laughter] >> that sounds like a good idea. >> they like that word. [laughter] >> but we opened up, you know, we said you have to open up as an option five days a week for schoolchildren. and now in florida, we're in august. our first schools were opening

up this week. and throughout august, we'll throughout august, all of our districts will open up. even in our phase one counties in southeast florida, we have told them, you had better robe with -- better open up with children with unique abilities on day one. the other dayform with a parent who had a downs child. he thrives around other kids, and at home he is diagnosed with depression. the great news is already we have 13 districts that opened up this week. of those districts, we are being sued by the union bosses, and they are disgraceful. but the reality is of the districts that opened up this week, six of them have almost

100% participation. back in thet to be classroom with other kids. august 31, when all the districts open up, we are probably going to have 70% to 80% students in face-to-face options, and we will have more of that percentage of teachers in the classroom. there is no substitute for it. we have the largest virtual school in the country. it is a second-tier education. the best education is when you have a great teacher, a great mentor, someone who has great wisdom, the children and their peers together getting a great education. education, we say, is everything. education is freedom. education is the uplifting of human souls. to deny a child of education, you are robbing them of a lifetime of who they are as human beings. i stole that from frederick

douglass, but that is really what education goes to. you are scarring a generation of children for their futures. that is what they are doing what you don't have that option. -- if you are a parent have children -- all of them are going back to school. but i respect and honor the decision of a parent who says, i don't feel safe. i think the evidence is overwhelming. you have that right. if you are going to do business learning, we are going to do with the best possible way, but the other 80% of us have the right to go back and have our kids get that world-class education. pres. trump: something we have learned during the china plague is that virtual is not as good as being there. we have heard how great it would be.

we have the ultimate sample, the whole country, practically, and it is not as good. telehealth is very good, up 3500%. people can stay in their homes and not have to go to hospitals and doctors and everything else. that's been an incredible success. you know, who would have thought that's become tremendous and really has been good, but the virtual learning is not like being in a classroom. and we have learned that, i think, very strongly, in almost all cases. people thought for a long time that would be the answer, but that's not the answer. the answer is an old-fashioned one. thank you. ms. conway: our next guest is a mom, one of the parents who said question, do you feel safe returning your children to

school? and her older daughter will have, in fairfax county, just four-and-a-half days of virtual instruction at her grade level and one day off. lindsay has decided to exercise her parent choice and do pod homeschooling. can you tell us about that, please? >> yes. yes, absolutely. that's all correct. everything that everyone has already mentioned, we also had a very poor experience with virtual learning. the kindergarten age, i think, is very difficult, as everyone has already spoken about. it's important to know an -- important to note she is an absolute lover of learning in children. she's very bright and very eager to learn. we really watched that all fade. we watched her education deteriorate. and we also really saw her mental health suffer, over the course of the spring. so we were, you know, very eager to get her back into in-person learning, and we really felt very confident and comfortable with the precautions that were put in place by our district. originally we were offered two

days in person, three days virtual. and then that's actually since changed over the last few weeks. and we are now 100% virtual. fortunate for us, we had already kind of gone a different route and set up a homeschool situation for her with a small group of parents in our community, and, you know, we're very grateful for that. that was certainly not, you know, an easy choice to make. you know, it's an unexpected cost and something we hadn't planned for, but we felt like it was really, really important for her to be in a classroom setting. pres. trump: thank you very much. >> thank you. pres. trump: very uniform, very interesting, and i think most people do feel this way. wouldn't you say so? i think most people feel this way. we have a man with us who is a great expert from stanford. he's working with us, he's consulting with us, and he's going to be at our press conference in a little while, at 5:30.

but maybe dr. scott atlas could say just a couple of words, and we will be covering it in more detail in a little while. if you're interested in watching, we would love to have you. scott, please. >> thank you, mr. president. it's a great honor to be asked to help out any way i can, and the event, i thought, was terrific. i want to thank everyone for participating, and to reiterate the bottom line on this as the president and vice president and secretary devos have said, which is we know that the risk of the disease is extremely low for children, even less than that of seasonal flu. we know that the harms of locking out the children from school are enormous. and we also know, as we all would agree, that educating america's children is right at the top of the list of our nation's priorities. i thank the president and everyone here for acknowledging these truths and to get kids back to school safely. thank you.

pres. trump: thank you, scott. that's very good. we will have more from scott in a little while. we're going to meet together, and we've been working with him very closely, all of the task force, all of the white house, and we've made a lot of progress. we've made tremendous progress. you see countries, other countries are now blowing up in terms of the disease -- you call it what you want, so many different names for the disease, whether it's china virus -- and some i won't get into because i just get myself in trouble every time i do, but i'm angry about it, and so is everybody else in this country, angry about it. we will have a press conference in a little while. you will be seeing the doctor. you will be seeing a few other people, and i will be making a statement. i think that will start at about 5:30. i want to thank everybody very much for coming in and being

with you. we're on your side 100%. we're on your side. we would like to also see football get going. we want to see college football, and i don't know what they are doing with high school football, but i guess it's the same kind of a thought process. we want to see that happen. i think some of it will happen. to a large extent, it is going to happen. they want to do it. i will tell you who wants to do it, the players and the coaches. they want to do it. i spoke with trevor lawrence, the great quarterback, and he's very smart. he understood it very well. he said, hey, i'm a lot safer on the field than i am being out there. he got it. he got it very quickly. coach o, i spoke with him, he's some coach. he's a great coach. he feels his players want to be out there. we have spoken to a lot of different people. they want to get out. and our country is opening up. we're opening up very strongly. if you look at retail sales numbers, car sales numbers, used car numbers, and employment numbers, we have -- we're hiring

, over the last three months, the most people ever hired in the history of our country. so we had a lower base, but nevertheless, we hired a tremendous amount, by far the biggest number of people ever hired during a three-month period, for the quarter. i just want to thank everybody. we'll see you folks in a little while. thank you very much. appreciate it. [applause] reporter: mr. president? mr. president, what do you say to the families that that don't feel safe with their kids going back to school? pres. trump: we'll talk about it -- [inaudible] there's too much at stake. would you like to get in here? come on, chris. [inaudible conversation]

pres. trump: thank you very much. [applause] >> all right, guys, let's get moving. pack it up. look at our live coverage thursday. c-span, our coverage includes vice president pence speaking to

farmers in des moines, iowa, at 2:00 p.m. eastern. at 9:00 a.m., a look at the political situation in venezuela from the atlantic council. at 11:00, the u.s. senate returns for speeches. 2:00, a discussion on racial inequities at a conference hosted by the progressive group net roots nation. netroots nation. >> american history tv, exploring the people and events that tell the american story every weekend. coming up this weekend, saturday at 10:00 a.m. eastern on "american artifacts," a library of congress curator on life in the 1930's and 1940's through color photographs. three on "real america," films on the 1986 election.

p.m. eastern on "the presidency," exceptions speeches from nominees -- acceptance speeches from nominees. watch this weekend on c-span3. joe biden formally introduced senator kamala harris as his vice presidential running mate earlier today in wilmington, delaware. this was the first campaign event since the vice president announced senator harris as his vp pick. this runs about 35 minutes. ♪