things, but the unions and the teamsters, if they don't have it closed down, they're not going to exist. they're not going to be able to exist. so thank you very much. thank you. >> what about those who vote for the bill -- >> i think they're making a terrible mistake if they vote for the bill. it's a terrible bill. terrible bill for our country. it's a terrible bill. 5,000 people alone. don't even look at the rest of the bill. 5,000 people? a day? coming into our country. who is negotiating this bill? it's a terrible bill. thank you, all. see you on the trail, right? >> what is wrong with your hand? >> what was wrong with it? >> you do not see the photo? >> no one told you? >> the other one. >> nothing. maybe it's a.i. [laughter] nothing. i didn't see that. >> infrastructure is a priority

for the teamsters? >> infrastructure is very important for the teamsters, because they are thwe had a gre. very nice. sean is a terrific friend. we talked about it. we had a very good -- we just had a very good discussion. we did not come to any conclusion, but we had a very good discussion. thank you all very much. thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> how >> how are you doing?

sean o'brien, president of the international union of teamsters. what is the question?it went fi. it has been like the process with donald the past five meetings. we have got specific questions and issuere importantly, we have rank-and-file numbers out there working the trenches every single day that have an opportunity to present questions like we have done in the past to preserve -- to the candidates. there's a lot of due diligence that needs to be done, a lot of boxes that need to be checked. we have a long wayz to go before we make a decision. president biden has not committed a date as of yet. >> what kind of reaction -- [indiscernible] >> she has not reached back out to us at all, so we have no reaction as of this point. it is not surprising at all. she has publicly stated that,

you know, she doesn't support unions. i think in one press conference she said, you know, the reason why boeing chose to go to south carolina was because there wasn't a strong union presence. she supports that. so it doesn't surprise us. >> you talked in the past about issues you've had with the former president's record on union issues. did that come up? >> yeah, we had a long conversation, dialogue about right to work, pro act, making it easy to organize, supporting workers' rights legislation, working together on bankruptcy reform. today's dialogue was basically about putting our issues out on the table and letting people know, letting all the candidates know how important these issues are. this is what's going to determine an endorsement or nonendorsement. it was an engaging conversation. look, a lot of this, i think, with every single candidatere nt as well-versed on a lot of these issues. it's up to us that we can articulate exactly what it is.

i mean, we've been working hard across the street with a lot of senators that aren't democrats, that we've been able to get su they wouldn't support prior. so this is going to be a continued work in progress before we make a decision. >> were any of the answers surprising? >> no. every candidate has a way of answering questions, some are more direct than others. i think what we have seen consistently with all candidates who have come to meet with us as they all say they are per worker and they say they'll support workers. at the end of the day, no matter what choice we make, we have to be the conscience of the people we support. so pleasant. it was direct. and, at the end of the day, we still have some more questions that need to be asked of both candidates. and more importantly, we've got to get consensus. we are going to be doing a lot of polling with our members. because this is going to be the

most important decision under our administration, the o'brien-zuckerman administration, moving forward. so we need to get it right. and the way we are going to get it right is the inclusiveness and transparency of our 1.3 million rank and file members. >> president trump often talks about rank and file union members supporting him. suggesting it is a pretty high level. what is your sense on rank-and-file members supporting president trump? >> we do not have that polling done yet, so it's tough to speak. i don't support any other union than the teamsters union. that's why, the next several weeks, several months, we will be doing that due diligence. we can revisit that question. there is no doubt about there's union support for president trump. and there is always union support for president biden. regardless, president biden has done a lot of good work for union members. he fixed 300 pension funds that were on the verge of being

insolvent, created a lot of jobs, chips act a lot of issues , important to us. but what i've stated before, what you have done in the past doesn't guarantee us a future with us. are you going to support our issues in our time of need? are you going to step up and do" what's right by working people in the country? >> you endorsed biden in august of 2021. do you -- >> historically, theandidates have endorsed after their respective conventions. we've got a great executive board. the faster we get president biden in here and the more questions we get answered from both candidates with strong commitments, the endorsement or nonendorsement may come sooner than later. we haven't made a decision yet. >> how much of your conversation with president trump was focused on exclusive labor policy and pro act versus immigration policy? >> a lot of the conversation, the narrative that we were putting forward was all our members' issues.

he has a strong passion, a strong opposition to what's going on at the border right now. look, we are all products of immigration. and, you know, the teamsters union supports immigrant workers, because we all come from products of people that came from different countries. there is an opinion that there's a lot of criminals coming across the border, a lot of crime being committed, a lot of countries releasing prisoners. we don't know if that's factual or not, but that is some of the due diligence we'll check on as a result of the meeting today. >> [indiscernible] >> sean o'brien never -- >> some more questions and then we have to wrap up. >> he said you may endorse him, is that realis i am sorry i did.

can you repeat the question? you said it too fast, i'm from boston. >> [indiscernible] >> the only realistic possibility out there, whoever candidate supports our issues is going to get our endorsement. if we are not confident in any candidate, they will not get any endorsement. we have to move on. >> what about the rank and file? >> they're more important than i am. trust me. they are the reason this country keeps moving. >> what's the most important issue for everybody in the endorsement decision? >> for me, it's right to work. >> i would agree with -- right to work. >> is there a difference between political support from the rank and file versus union leadership? >> one more time? i am sorry. >> do you also feel -- the way president trump described it,

there is a political consensus between the difference from the rank and file versus union officials? >> i can answer that question. i was posed the question last -- i was posed the question, you know, you're a union boss. so, you know, you have to, you know, guide your members the right way. i'm not a union boss. these are the bosses. our rank and file members that allow us the privilege. so whatever decision is going to be made, it's going to be very inclusive and transparent. we're a bottom-up organization. >> is right to work, if you look at nlrb versus the trump nlrb, what is the argument you would make for endorsing president trump given what happened with organizing? >> there's no question -- there's no question the biden administration has been great for unions. but again, sometimes dialogue helps formulate difference of opinions that will be favorable to unions and positions moving forward.

so that's what our goal is. again, we're not looking at what happened in the past. we're looking at what's going to happen in the future. >> we have to wrap up. thank you so much. >> thank you. appreciate it. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> today, watch c-span's 2024 campaign trail, a weekly roundup of c-span's campaign coverage, providing a one-stop shop to figure out where candidates are traveling in the country, this, along with first-hand accounts from political reporters, updated poll numbers. watch c-span's 2024 campaign trail, today at 7:00 eastern on c-span, online at c-span.org, or download as a podcast at c-span now, a free mobile app. c-span, yourtered view ofol