nonprofit organizations. >> president biden was critical of republican lawmakers for opposing legislation he recently signed to address prescription drug costs and climate change. he was at the rally in maryland in support of democratic candidates running in the midterm elections. m elections. ♪ [applause and cheering]

>> usa. usa. usa. pres. biden: thank you for that introduction. and wes is the real deal. [applause] the real deal. folks, he is a combat veteran. the only drawback is, he is a rhodes scholar. [laughter] former ceo of one of the biggest anti-poverty organizations in america. if we all do our part, the next governor of maryland. [applause] it has been said many times before, and excuse my back, my mother would kill me, my back, y'all. the fact of the matter is, you

have literally two of the best senators in the united states senate, ben cardin and chris van hollen. were it not for chris being my debate partner getting me prepared for the general election for president, i would not be standing here. if you don't like me, blame chris. [applause] he is up for reelection this year and i told him, i will campaign for him or against him, whichever will help him the most. [laughter] folks, both ben and chris as well are strong, principled, effective. keep them. you need them. hell, i need them. you have a great congressional delegation including steny hoyer , a friend for long time, and how about that jamie raskin? doesn't he stepped up? [applause] the man has stepped up.

he has done an incredible job, incredible job coming out of a tragic circumstance with his family. you know, you got to keep him. you need him and i need him. with just -- we are just 76 days away from the midterm elections. 76 days. and to state the obvious, there is a lot at stake. so, i want to be crystal clear of what is on the ballot this year. you're right to choose is on the ballot this year. [applause] the social security you paid for from the time you had a job is on the ballot. the safety of your kids from gun violence is on the ballot. and it is not hyperbole -- the very survival of our planet is on the ballot. [applause] your right to vote is on the ballot. even democracy. are you ready to fight for these things now?

[applause and cheering] well, then you need to do one thing -- vote. vote. [crowd chanting] you've got it. in 2020, u.n. 81 million americans voted to say vibrant democracy. [applause] that is why donald isn't just a former president, he is a defeated former president. [applause and cheering] and it is not hyperbole, now, you need to vote to literally save democracy again. i believe america is at a genuine inflection point. it occurs every six or seven generations in world history. one of the moments that changes everything. and americans are going to have to choose. you must choose.

will we be a country that moves forward or backward? will we build a future or obsess over the past? will we be a nation of unity, hope, of optimism, not a nation of anger, violence, hatred and division? trump and the extreme maga have made their choice to go backwards, full of anger, violence, hate and division. we have chosen different path. forward, to the future with unity, hope and optimism. [applause] i mean this sincerely -- we choose to build a better america. this all, there will be a choice between these two visions. and we must take our case to the american people and to be crystal clear about it. there is no question it has been

a hard few years. when i came to office, we were facing a once-in-a-century pandemic. one million people died. one million people. andover nine many people get up in the morning or sit at the breakfast table or dinner table with an empty chair and think about that. historic joblessness. businesses struggling to stay open. so much learning lost for our kids in school. but we have come a long way. [applause] in 18 months, covid no longer controls our lives. a record number of americans are working, 10 million since i came to office. [applause] businesses are growing. our schools are open. and folks, it just didn't happen. it took a lot of hard work. it took a plan that we stuck to,

even in the face of unrelenting attacks from the most powerful special interests in country, and the burn it all down politics of maga republicans continues to be a drumbeat. [person yelling] no, no, let him go. let him go. that is ok. folks, ignorance knows no boundaries. [applause] but we never gave up, we never

gave in and we are delivering for the american people now. and now, even our critics have been forced to acknowledge real progress. [applause] a record of big accomplishments matched by few administrations in history. 10 million new jobs, more than we ever crated to in anyone's presidency. a 3.4% unemployment rate, a record low in this country. a drop in child poverty a 50% compared to two years ago. and more than 220 million americans vaccinated. [applause] records. record small business creation. a big reason for all this is the american rescue plan that i signed into law shortly after i took office, with the help of your members of congress. that took america from an economic crisis to economic recovery and not a single

republican, not one single one, voted for it. not one. not a single republican. we passed a once-in-a-generation in our country's roads, bridges, airports, clean water systems, high-speed rail, internet, the biggest investment in america since resident eisenhower's interstate highway act. we did get some help from some republicans in passing it and i am thankful for that but the truth is, there is a lot more republicans taking credit for a guild that they actually voted against. you see it all over america. right here in maryland, a republican congressman named andy harris. and old andy is touting funding for a key dredging project in his district that he voted against. it has happened all over. as we say in delaware, maybe the

boy will get some religion. we passed the chips and science act, a groundbreaking law. [applause] we are going to once again manufacture semiconductors that we invented, that power everything in our lives, right here in america. [applause] this law will create tens of thousands of construction jobs, bring billions of dollars of investment to america, and revitalize american manufacturing. folks, it means we are going to build the future in america. [applause] with american workers and american factories producing american-made products. we took on the nra. [crowd chanting] >> usa. >> usa. >> usa.

pres. biden: we took on the nra and we beat them. we just past the most significant gun legislation in 30 years in this country. [applause] and i promise we are not stopping here. i am determined to assault weapons in this country. [applause and cheering] i did it once before and we will do it again. [applause and cheering] we are going to do it for those families in buffalo, uvalde, newtown, el paso, charleston, orlando, las vegas. i have been to almost every one of those places to be with those parents. we are going to do it for all of our kids, gunned down on our streets every day that never make the national news. we are going to do it for your kids, who are learning how to read and write in school instead of learning how to duck and

cover. [applause and cheering] so, this november, we have to ask every candidate -- are you for a ban on assault weapons or not? and if you are not, we are not going to vote for you, period. in my state of the union address, i put forward a unity agenda that included taking care of our veterans. [applause] especially our veterans who have been exposed to burn pit, like my son. i won't start talking about my son, but he spent a year in iraq. he was only about 200 yards from one of these burn pits, the size of football fields, 10 feet deep in afghanistan and iraq that

incinerates the waste of war, tires, chemicals, jet fuel and so much more. our soldiers breathe in that toxic smoke. they came home with headaches, numbness, dizziness, cancer. i just signed into law the pac act to take care of veterans who were exposed to those burn pits. [applause] it is the least, the least we can do for them. i believe they nation has many obligations, but only one truly sacred obligation -- to equip the men and women we send to battle and help them and their families when they return home. [applause] army captain wes moore understands that. he saw it like my son saw it. we have done all this. but our critics say inflation, the global inflation caused by

the pandemic and putin's war in ukraine? where making prices -- making progress. gas prices are down more than a doll in the summer and we are going down. i just signed into law the historic inflation reduction act. it wasn't easy. we had to take on the big drug companies to pass this bill, and we did. [applause] for decades, big pharma thought giving medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices. and for decades, big pharma won. but not this year. the american people won and big pharma lost. medicare now has the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices. seniors will see their out-of-pocket costs for drugs limited to no more than $2000 a year no matter how many drugs they need or other diseases.

a limit. you are on medicare and have diabetes, the cost of insulin be capped at $35 a month. [applause] we also included a provision that would allow anyone with diabetes, including kids and their families, to get charged between $600 and $1000 a month, how does it feel being a parent looking at your kid knowing you didn't have the insurance and knowing, if they did not get that insulin, they may die? there is thousands of people in america going through that and these republicans ripped that out of the bill. but we are coming back. [cheering and applause] this also keeps down the cost of health care.

thanks to the american rescue plan and this new law, we are saving a family of four and average of 2300 dollars a year on health care premiums. it is a big thing to somebody making $80,000 a year as a family. it is a big deal. some might even say it is a bfd. [applause] we also had to take on the climate deniers. guess what? we beat them. [applause] we beat them. for decades, these climate deniers block any meaningful progress in dealing with the climate crisis. but not this year. this year, the american people won and the climate deniers lost. [applause] consequently, we are taking the most aggressive action against the climate crisis ever -- 368 billion dollars.

we have created more than one million jobs. it will help us trickle -- triple our solar power and own the market on electric cars. [applause] that is the future -- made in america. for decades, decades, the biggest corporations and the wealthiest americans fought to block a favorite tax code. and again after decade, they won. that is why 55 of the largest fortune 500 companies in america paid zero tax after making $40 billion. no, i am not making it up. it is the god's truth. $40 billion. but this year, some of the biggest companies in america flooded capitol hill with lobbyist send money and campaign contributions.

-- with lobbyists and money and campaign contributions. but they lost. and the american people won. now, corporations up to pay a minimum tax of 50%. is that of 15%. isn't that painful? the days of billion-dollar companies paying zero tax are over. eddie always here publicans talk about the deficit and big spending democrats. when the last guy was president, he increased the debt by $2 trillion and not a penny of it pay for -- penny of it paid for. we reduced the deficit. the inflation reduction act lowers the deficit by $300 billion over the next 10 years. [applause] and that is on top of the $350 billion i reduced the deficit last year, and the $1.5 trillion

reduced this year. [applause] you with they kept the republicans really cared about reducing inflation, they would have voted for the inflation reduction act. but every single republican voted against it even though i knew at least a dozen republicans should have voted for it, but they would have been primaried. every single republican in the house and every single republican in the senate, every single one, voted against lower prescription prices, health-care costs, tackling the climate crisis, lower energy crisis, -- lower energy prices, good paying jobs, every single one. every single american needs to return the favor, when we vote. [applause] and thanks to our historic deficit reduction, we can afford

to cancel $10,000 in student debt, and $20,000 if you are on a pell grant. four tens of millions of americans making under 120 $5,000 a year, this is a game changer. every election is a choice my dad used to say joey, don't compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative. the alternative to the democrats are the maga republicans. wes knows all about the maga republicans, he is running against one of them and says they are so far outside the mainstream that it would be dangerous and the governor's office. end your current republican governor agrees with that. check out what your republican governor said about wes's opponent. how extreme are these maga republicans? think about what happened since

the supreme court overturned roe v. wade. in red state after red state, there is a race to pass laws against abortion without exception even for right or incensed. but these maga republicans. they are, they want to pass a legislative national ban in the congress. and if women will not have the right to choose anywhere. let me tell you something. if they take it back and they try and pass it, i will be know it. -- i will be told know it. and by the way, as clarence thomas said in the opinion, he said that the right to privacy does not exist for the right to

use contraception, marriage equality, the whole right to privacy. we cannot let that happen. you cannot let that happen. not today. not tomorrow. not ever. and i do not believe we will. the maga republicans have awakened the powerful force in america, the women of this nation. the court used the phrase that women have a right to vote. well, guess what? maga republicans do not have a clue about the power of women. let me tell you something. they are about to find out. oh, yeah. and by the way, look, i served

in the congress since i was 29 years old. i served with a lot of great republicans. well, here is the deal. what has happened is there are not many real republicans anymore. by the way, you are proceeding governor is a republican you can deal with. we disagree, but at least he is in the mainstream of the republican party. i respect conservative republicans. i do not respect these maga republicans. everybody thinks i am exaggerating, but they are coming after your social security as well.

go read the only election year plan the republicans have put out. this is no republican plan that is about what they want to do with regard to social security. here's what they said. rick scott, sent social security and medicare should be on the chopping block. all federal legislation sunsets every five years. if a law is worth keeping, congress can pass it again. your social security every five years will be eliminated unless it's voted back into existence and it's your money. you paid for it. you paid for it. but i'm not joking. think about this. think about what they're doing

and all it's all there in black and white. he wants to require congress to vote on the future of social security every five years. so every five years congress will vote to change, cut, reduce or entirely eliminate social security. how does that make you feel? do you want to put your security -- social security in the hands of ted cruz and marjorie taylor greene. but it's not just so security -- social security. senator scott wants everything voted out of existence. that includes medicare, veterans benefits and everything else. and then along comes senator ron johnson of wisconsin. this is their plan. he thinks five years is too long. i'm not joking. you think i'm making this up? he wants to put social security

and medicare on the chopping block every single year. this is the same guy who said if republicans get control of the united states congress, they're coming after the affordable care act. denying health insurance to anyone with a pre-existing condition because if you don't have thing affordable care act, people with a pre-existing condition cannot get insurance again. just think of it as a parent or a brother or sister. looking at a brother, sister, son, daughter and you can't take care of them because they have a pre-existing condition. these guys never stop and we're never gonna stop either. my friends, we offer a starkly different version and vision of this country, a vision of a better america that's within our reach, that's within our hands. if we just vote. if we elect two more senators,

we are gonna get a lot of unfinished business done. look, we will codify roe v wade. we will ban assault weapons. we will protect social security and medicare. we will pass universal pre-k. will restore the child care tax credit, will protect voting rights, and make sure no one ever has an opportunity to steal an election again. and we'll continue. we'll continue to build an economy where everyone gets a fair shot. an economy built from the bottom up in the middle out, not the top down. an economy that rewards work, not wealth, finally stops billionaires who pay an average

of 8% of federal tax. i think they should be able to be a billionaire. but pay your fair share, damn it. because we understand something maga republicans don't. wall street did not build this country. you did. working people. middle class built this nation and unions built the middle class. and were not going to let anyone or anything tear america apart. i'll close with this. we're at a serious moment in our nation's history. the maga republicans don't just threaten our personal rights and economic security. they're a threat to our very democracy. they refused to accept the will of the people, they embrace political violence. they don't believe in democracy. this is why in this moment. those of you who love this

country, democrats, independents, mainstream republicans, we must be stronger, more determined and more committed to saving america than the mag on republicans are destroying america. we the people are the first words of our constitution, and we the people will still determine the destiny of america. if we the people stand together, we will prevail as we the people. we just have to keep the faith. we just have to persevere. we just have to vote, folks. we just have to remember who we are. we are the united states of america. and there's nothing nothing

beyond our capacity if we do it together. so let's get it done. god bless you all. and may god protect our troops. thank you. thank you. thank you. we can do this. we can make it. [applause]

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>> coming up, the white house press secretary will be briefing reporters on president biden's agenda in student loan debt forgiveness plan. at 2:00, the white house

monkeypox sponsor team will give an update. you can watch these live on c-span, and on c-span now. >> c-span brings you an unfiltered view of government. our newsletter recaps the day for you, and halls of congress to daily pref -- press briefings to remarks from the president. stay up-to-date on every thing happening in washington each day there and subscribe today using the qr code or visit c-span.org/connect to subscribe anytime. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government, funded by these television stations and more, including minco -- midco.

♪ >> midco supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. by dr. richard besser, a former acting director of the center of disease control and prevention. joining us to join -- to talk about the future of the cdc in the wake of scathing reviews leading to some major changes at the cdc. first on those internal and external reviews, what did they find, where did the cdc dropped the ball during the pandemic? guest: yes. as you are saying last week the cdc came out with changes that they want to make to make the agency stronger to address concerns during the pandemic. to answer your specific