hello once again. we need you to be alive and excited moving forward to tomorrow. once ates up and down the ballot will be campaigning across the rocountry. why we s lead. as you heard today there is no shortage of challenges from the world stage it's important for national leaders to understand what happens overseas affects us here. what happens in a little town

in china, can change the world. if we want to advance our interests and values need to be engaged. and that's at the core of our impact 2024 initiative, bipartisan, educational plan of action to ensure all candidates running in 2024 have a vision for america's role in the world and fully support our diplomatic and development tools of global leadership. i'm on is the cochair of the initiative along with my cochair stephanie murphy, i know she wishes she could be with us today. let me tell you how important you are, my favorite is a leade followers is just a guy or a gal taking a walk. we are nothing without appear t need you candidates want to hear from you.

they want to hear from business leaders, faith leaders, military veterans, community activists. you are the one with the power. we need that power to multiply our voices. here's what we need from you. tell them, elevating america's civilian tools of development and diplomacy. on foreign policy toolkit. demand that they ar vision for why it's important for the [singing] to be a leader tstag. of daily partisanship which can often seem insurmountable, this is one area republicans and democrats can come together for the good of the nation and the good of the world and you can and you can make a difference. we thank you for your continued support in this effort and we are privileged to have two

political strategists who are nationally recognized for continuing analysis and commentary on political and current events greatly providing insights and perspectives to an audience of millions. donna brazil, veteran political strategist for the new york times best-selling authsenior a on. an extraordinary woman the first african-american woman who serves as manager of a major presidential campaign from a campaign of former vice president al gorethe democraã jennings strategist robert redford. founding partner of ron switch senior-level council on political media and crisis communication i could go on and

on. we look forward to being the dynamics driving the 2024 election cycle and the role of foreign policy and campaign conversation, dies and gentlemen, please welcome join me in welcoming donna brazil and scott jennings and a conversation moderated by us clc president jason gross. [applause] >> how are y'all doing? y'all have been sitting for a while. that's all right. scott and i are going to make y'all stand up and get stirred up. we wehave 156 days remaining in the 2024 presidential season ven't seen nothing yet. keep your seatbelts on. >> i love a panel that moderates itself and makes my job.

[laughter] [laughter] >> they didn't tyoi was an actress and he was a chicken farmer, he's a chicken farmer! if things get a little weird with the bird poop can i come get so you? >> thank you very much. >> i was so glad when i got booked for this gag because i knew i wouldn't have to do a darn thing. cq[laughter] >> i thought about where my socks would little round circles but i thought it would look weird so i got colorful socks on we will trade later. >> we will get into tv appearances and chicken farming and already you know why this is one of those conferences favorite panels, the intersection of foreign policy and politics always favorite of the form we have these two giants on tv leaping from the

tv screens onto here in our conference room today. so let's get into it. you said 146 days away from. >> don't shorten those 10 days can be very crucial. >> from an extraordinary consequential presidential election. november 5 we will see the first presidential rematch and 58 years since adlai stevenson and dwight eisenhower. the first in 132 years that sees a rematch of two previous incumbennjamin inharrison in 18. as we looked at the poles before the court decision of last thursday we certainly saw the poles neck and neck. we saw former president trump leaving narrowly among registered voters. joe biden leaving narrowly

voters. so to my esteemed panel we have two candidates popular with their base is extraordinarily unpopular with the other party right now what do these two candidates need to do to win over the few undecided voters in the middle while shepherding their basis to the poles this november start with donna and then turned to u what does joe biden need to do to win this? >>. >> if you just dipped his little toes in this. everything else will appear okay. i have nothing against men who turn ãclearly i like mick jagger. [inaudible] like harrison ford,

morgan freeman, i love it, i don't know. the older man is well seasoned. [laughter] mild-mannered and you don't have to tell them to leave the seat done with the bathroom they have experienced, which should also count. this election is going to be very close. you saw in 2000 it was close, god knows i was there. 537 votes. me if you thought 2016 when i shared the democratic party was unusual to see a republican candidate let alone donald trump with no previous political experience, cracked the blue wall. come on, that was groundbreaking, ground shaking. yes we saw in 2020 the democrats patched up the wall and picked up some space, some

bout. namely arizona and georgia. this election is going to come down to six or seven states it depends on with i'm having bourbon or wine. if i have why it's an everyday variety, normally a cabernet, i'm calm and i'm like we can touch the blue wall again. but i better call my nieces and nephews because they may be the problem. you know what i'm saying. i went home for christmas and being a loony aven we got four seasons, to give you a minute. i went home and some barbecue shrimp, jambalaya. i never said one because i'm not getting my good wine ãã they don't understand it. so here i am at my house my

house. many of these young people through college at least i helped them, those who couldn't help themselves. i said after they had their cheetos with the raspberry cranberry juice . i will see you later. said you all are going to support joe biden right? and they looked at me with silence. i thought, maybe i should turn up my hearing aid but i don't have one. i sent you all are going to support joe biden and kamala harris and they are like, maybe. in every election season i not voters, especially young voters, and perhaps minorities not all, are looking for a new dance partner. right now joe biden to make mixtures he can reclaim the "great lakes states. and at least be competitive out in the lesson about arizona and

then in my beloved lose election i don't know how close but i'm gonna tell you one thing, 99.5% of us you are not really in the shot you in the game you not in the shot. we have about less than 6 million voters out of the 244 million eligible that will actually decide this election. whether we saw in 2016 when trump broke the blue wall. and of course in 2020 when biden expanded the coalition onbe tied and i hope that as up to the partisans.ion is although i'm a partisan. this election is not just about

the partisan. thursday we saw the election in south africa. great britain is coming up, the eu coming up in june this month, this is really about american standard in the world and now more than ever we have to think about the stakes for our r country not just in the short term the next four years. but the long-term. we are up against our 250th anniversary. america and yet our young people are down. our young people are not feeling it. we have a lot of work to do in this election season it's not just about the election of politicians it's about making sure we can reimagine america's future in the world. >> same question, how does donald trump this fall become

grover cleveland and not adlai stevenson and the chance to win? >> first before i start i wanted to we are on the same network i don't get to spend much timeith my panelist but when your political operative from the south also an elevatio you look up to. for their candor and good humor and civil discourse i just n the stage today and she's fantastic and we look up to you. >> first of all, i think trump is currently winning the election i think the election d win. i look at the map and two chunks the sunbelt from nevada over to north carolina. and i look ■+at the northern bl wall when i look at thsunbelt states i see trump had in all

of it. i see rfk junior getting on the biden. and mostly hurting i think it's florida 33 to 2 for the president are bad. he has to win pennsylvania, michigan and wisconsin and i look at two those three i think trump is probably ahead in two of the three. when i analyze the map todaahea. have not yet fully absorb what i think the verdict last week will mean other than to say it's likely only to be a margin i if i were trump command center and tracking two groups it would be seni citizens who stuck with joe biden -based they supported them in 2020 more than they usually do democrats they stuck with them they have some strength with seniors most likely to be offended by a felony conviction

or some of the details of the case. also, low information vors, people who get very little notice and may have only seen a heline "trump convicted" they may not know what the case is about other than that. if i were trump i would be watching those two groups very closely.i always believe there was a cohort of voters would not vote for a fellow but i'm not sure working to be able to see that ewashout in the polling just yet. my view is 's strengths is simply the american people basically want to fire joe biden. he stuck below 40% job approval he's been four months and really he's been ounderwater since august 2021 when we pull out of afghanistan he has never been above water in his personal approval since august 2021. they are stuck in the mud. this month of june is an

enormous opportunity for them to shake the ball. they got there conviction at the beginning d the end of the month they will have a debate. i'm interested in the poles today i'm really interested in july 1 because after this consequential month nothing has changed if i were in biden headquarters, you think there is panic today. if i were in trump headquarters i'd be thinking g about how do prevent quicksand they appear to be in. my current view is if trump stays focused on the reasons joe biden's job approval is about 40 he will win and if the election is about anything else he will likely lose. for my entire career which started in the 2000 presidential campaign with george west bush the paradigm of the republican party has been high turnout helps decrats. our view has always been they will turn everybody out and it will be good. in this election will turn out

well plotted look at why democrats are winning midterms off year elections and special elections. the highest propensity voters tend to be democrats now people with college degrees seniors in the mid to lowest propensity voters tend to be repuan so if you have a high turnout in the selection it likely means trump was able to successfully bring out a bunch of infrequent orders and/or register a bunch of new people and change the composition of the electorate. one thing i'm looking for out of the trump campaign is can rastructure that drives turnout as high as possible. because if they do they will win. >> great insight from you both on the overall election. let's get into foreign policy.

as we all saw during consideration of the last ■y national emergency spending package there was some serious public splits between republicans and the republican party on aid to ukraine and a number of other related issues. you have the establishment long serving republicans like fellow kentuckian mitch mcconnell. leaving one some of the new arrivals into the senate and congress opposing support to ukraine certainly more skeptical on america's traditional leadership around the how do you see sadonald trump messaging on america's role in the world, foreign policy. >> i think one of the ways to

be a successful president is to successful country in the world and i think both of these candidates know that i don't believe trump is an isolationist on the order of some of the people who are true isolationist in the republican party. very concerning actually. but i don't actually think he is. what's happening in congress is equally if not more important and here is why, the vote, foreign aid package was overwhelmingly bipartisan and overwhelmingly showed that people who are willing to stand up for america's role in the world can win the debates. it wasn't close, people's twitter feeds may have made it feel like it was close this is not a debate.

the american$& people want the united states s to be engaged. it's obvious what the people want. people will respond to leadership and we've got sun and speaker. mike johnson who deserves an enormous amount of credit for standing up to some of the people in his own conference. i took great satisfaction and heart from what we saw and a foreadow of what might happen in the election. mitch mcconnell will no longer be the leader. he will be unburdened, unleashed and senior member of the appropriations mmittee.

juergen i have a raging bull in the united states senate appropriations committee buying up all the hard and soft power anybody can find and it's a great thing. i'm as interested in these nk congressional elections as i am anything because i think you're bipartisanship in the congress on this topic. >> we look forward to that. different dynamic. sometimes more about the prioritization of foreign policy versus domestic imperative democrats largely got behind president biden who came the ukraine vault but an election year especially what you see democratic candidates voters coming out on the choice sometimes on where to prioritize foreign-policy president biden's vision and communicating on foreign-policy to the voters or the domestic.

>> all of the above that's the reason why democrats learned early on in life you have to walk and chew gum. without a strong leader who understands america allies america's needs, security interest and america's place in the world are not to be able to succeed on domestic front as well ecbecause the projection o america's power and leadership also influence how voters think about the character candidates they support. so it's important to talk about america's place in the world we are spending close to $1 trillion in the defense budget. including rays for military which was warranted. we can have a strong military but as you said, we've got have democratic tools we need soft power as ay something right after the 2010

elections. after the 16 election i traveled abroad. i went to germany and france and ended up in the netherlands. it's always nice to end up in the nethernds. i had to talk about america and america the elections of course. many people thought because i guess i was a democrat and the former chair i would orjust tra the election of donald trump i didn't trash it. all, i'm not cannot oad i'm not, do it in america and e american electora because they disagree with me. it's like when the saints finished playing i hate the falcons. there, trash alanna. you recognize that we are a country in need, we are like everother major western

democracy i call them growing pains and millions of americans feel like there is no ho when they see themselves as living on the outskirts of hope and they want somebody to o the cir opportunity. that's what trump represented. that's biden's challenges to say i see you too. and i am the leader that can help you and your family and i can help bring america into the future. that's biden's calling card. if he can pull that off he will become president again but i read something when i saw i was going sto be with jason becaus he unafraid of luckily with gray hair i didn't know. he can be my boo any day. [laughter] [laughter] able. >> tosuffice it to say i'm a handful.

[laughter] as my book yti [laughter] i'm gonna stir something if it ain't in you i'm gonna find it. 61 percent of republicans, 61% of independence, 75% demoat america should have a leading role in world affairs when it comes down to priorities it's a little different but the fact of amer are. lead america when you talk about foreign-policy in the u.s. world you can lead a conversation and engage more voters who perhaps don't have a great understanding of what's happened abroad. we tend to focus in the united states on the politics within our country.

that's one of the reasons i didn't want to be on cnn and fox if i'm on cnn i'm going to drink one piece of i get along with my neighbors. the fact is we might make succotash.>>. [applause] >> cooking grease. >> this is america. we are in usual. i get a chance to read the applications of hundreds of thousands of applying to get fu grants or scholarships. there are some evenings and think not i just have a dog in the house. my poo■1dog is like money stop ñ steps if she wants to cut and she's going to get accepted to mit. of course i'm gonna approve that. what they say about america and the opportunities to learn here

what they can take. we cuss each other out every day and don't know how important we are to thworld. are narratives need to change. [applause] hello. >> i could not agree more with this. there are people who believe there is political benefit right now to either a telling us america is a bad guy in the world or america is a diminished power. i see it as two sides of the same coin but that's not what thbelieve. the american people, as she pointed out, by and large believe we are good, we are a force for good and the world is a better place when we are in it so when you talk to candidates and having conversations with political actors who are being screamed at by the fringes on either of

the two fronts please tell them do not listen because where the people are and where the fringes want you to be our two different places and the way nd forward in any ■ón#campaign is believe that america is good and we are a force for good and there's a wide metal that believes that some are liberal summer conservative and some are little of both.but most, the vast majoty of us -in the u don't believe we are diminished and we don't believe we are bad and that's where most candidates are gonna find success in campaigns. >> yes the spirit of this organization you guys have channeled in this audience audience q&a and a second couple of questions we make sure but i do want to bring up something a couple weeks ago us glc lost a member of its family and a friend and colleague of

both of yours and al stewart. alice was a mainstay of this usglc stage, she used her pulpit on television to talk about america's role in the world. tell us in your own words, what made alice special and why have we seen this outpouring from colleagues who work with her from both sides of the aisle on her passing.>> alice i knew for we were fellow travelers and political operatives in. came to know each other very well in our time at cnn and the reason everybody loved alice is that she was a nice person. the power of beina nice person, alice embodied it. she was always the first person in the green room and our to ha

talk to our democratic debating partners to try to make the conversations a little bit more civil. to try to ããat the end of the day make it so that the audience believe despitediffere americans we all want the same things, a arbetter future. alice was rt sas a nice person she generally believed in friendships across the aisle and i don't know a single person in the media alice. she was ããsomething that is important to me i'm from kentucky she's from middle america arkansas georgia roots she is one of those people that brought a middle america perspective to core doors that often are dominated by people from the coast. and urban areas.i appreciated that about alice because she

represented middle america well. she meant a lot to us at cnn, it's a huge hall, we miss her greatly, it still doesn't seem real to me but she was one of the best and i miss her. >> thank you. >> i'm not afraid to tell you my age because i've been involved in politics since the age of nine and had tremendous experiences, 10 presidential campaigns, i've campaigned and 49 states, one more state i will be miss usa without the bikini. [laughter] but when i became a political commentator when you go from being a campaign operative to political commentator, we were the only never r forget when we started bring in more women and ople of color cnn would assign me to republican i said only if the

person drank i'm not trying to break in everybody if you don't drink wine ããbecause the first two after the 20 of course it was a tea party our eyes to wear red as if to say i'm not tea party but i have read on. thisttgobase i met alice when she worked for mission i thought she's going to be on her rockers. she's one of ■those? the woman had grace, she was smart she knew politics. when she went to ted cruz and said are anyou okay? what for michele bachmann to ted cruz to need intervention? he said i'm to be okay my former colleagues when i became chair

maria, and karen, we got on the call we all gave each gother t alice stories i can't tell you all because i want to keep whatever's on face covered she was just a gentle spirit a wise woman and i can imagine god needed her now because god strategist to sort all this out. alice is now god strategist and i'm just gonna keep talking to her. >> let's get a couple of questions from .audience to be two to compare together so we have a little time. i see gary olivera has a question from. 's. >> marks lachman from florida, you both mentioned florida by way of election 2000 we have a be apparently involved in the

presidential election so i would appreciate your perspective on one ecurity economic security, human rights, humanitarian concerns, how or whether climate change will be framed within this upcoming presidential election and i say that for florida that i will pause, iggiven among oth things the florida legislature in the florida governor current evidence just signed implementer legislation that will strike any reference to climate or climate change from a range of statutory provisions. >> okay let's get together maybe one more.>> i think it's going to be a big issue i think it's going to be another big issue in the election because this is an issue young people care deeply about. of course i care about because louisiana for the same reason my sister lives in orange about it we we can afford the

insurance. just to live in the states i was talking to somebody from boca raton yesterday the water is like bathtub stop i was telling talking to senator coleman about i said i hope you guys get more snow the most snow i never thought i would beg canadaãwe need precipitatio■q" incursion " of water from the gulf of the mississippi river which will threaten the lives of others the weather heforce t wind, rain, hurricanes have a significance, this is a major issue and why not prepare for it while we can. how many mudslides do we have to see? how many forest fires that can't be controlled and how many people must diasnow becaus heat.folks, this is a real

issue. i knew it was a real issue with the girl growing up in the south, it's a real issue. let's not pretend it doesn't exist but let's mitigate let's management and let's plan ahead for the future. i love renewable >> bob hollister from pennsylvania panelists, do believe there will be 4sufficient debate about america's foreign policy during the election season? given the stakes we have and give everything you just talked about. if the answer is no, is that a fault or obligation of media or on the candidates? >> first of all, my condolences to your mailbox is about to be violated gprepeatedly. and your tv on your telephone any other device you have for communication. i think in the actual debates, i think they will occur.

i think there will be discussion of foreign-policy i think the actual debates between the candidates will feature sufficient topics. however, we get outside the debates i think the election is largely going to be spun around domestic issues inflation economy immigration and that's can occupy 90+ percent of the ark oxe debate space. i think the media will treat it fairly. >> if it's a 90 minute debate you might get 20 minutes. the candidates will prepare for given ukraine the mia/4lewhatev see between now and june 27. it will be part of the conversation but is that a ■9driver?

no. if i'm talking to young people about climate change, we are basically summing all probably know this but you all are so targeted, we know where you live we know who you are. you know your turnout, we know how you get your news. as a black woman i love to subscribe to the golf digest and national review. somight look a little ã■wãonce i got that nascar subscription. [laughter] >> have you heard the good news about tax cuts? >> i'm soto close to rerement and you don't want to have a tax in the state competition. let me tencourage you to go out

eat drink by some things and help our local economy. >> we have time for two more work min a group together two more audience questions. >> my first queson roll tide. >> you know what, baby, i saw the tide i were. won the sec championship, [laughter] at alabama, i'm not all that hateful. i like the state but i don't like the team. >> understand. >> we are so delighted to have you all here. i have a question about your perception of a couple of things to stop when you look at where president biden isand where president trump is

regarding ina therdifference when you look at where they are immigration there's always a marked difference. look at international relations and foreign affairs, tell me your perception about where the differences are between his two candidates for our time there would be one question now, the ■ differences, similarities between trump and biden on foreign-policy. >>. >> one similarity is an economic pastor, tyyou alluded it obviously biden has adopted trump's view of economic posture on china. i think they have different views on interpersonal relationships with the alliances but i would say this even though this is not the biggest focus of the campaign it is interesting to me that the issue that sucked biden under the polling was foreign issue is foreign affairs matter it was afghanistan it wasn't anything else, that was the

moment when people kind of lost confidence. it might be that if i were i his shs think about how to prepare that i don't know if it's possible but it's something to think about if you were in their camp. >> epic trade, tariffs, there is no difference even the so-called executive order that will be issued tomorrow is one that was crafted under trump and struck down by the court. so yes, that's politics. you can't get nothing through the congress. so he's gonna play that game. there's a lot of differences between the two leaders there, the projection of america's power, alliances but i think foreign-policy is going to matter. in the margins not the middle. >> donna's cocktail recipes are

expensive and have taken a lot of our time so far. [laughter] we have time for close right now i wish i could go on forever but this many in the crowd are going to go to capitol hill, talk to members of congress i want to try something a little different. i'm going to ask you to give advice for these folks me of h democratic members congress what would be your advice for senior republican operativeb crowd should say why americans leave the world to invest in the tools. >> my advice honestly it would be if you're looking for a role model john federman if i were meeting with i refer to myself as a veteran republican because he has shown absolute leadership on israel and he has

shown a willingness to not listen to the fringes of anybody in our politics. i don't agree with him on everone thing i respond to and think other people could emulate his absolute backbone and a willingness to tell the fringes i want to hear it. i don't need you to yell at me into an elevator i am where i am, here is my clear position. if i were meeting with the democrat when i would say do it like john federman because since he burst out on the israel issue last fall the approval rating is up 15 points. thank god for people like john federman, that's what i would say. >> meeting republicans tomorrow what's your advice as a seasonedpolitical expert. >> when i see the speaker i jority leader's, steve scalise, from woods on the e bayou or when i see some of the members of the united states senate in the greenroom i leadership and despite the

problems we have here at home and are concerned about inflation are concerns about reproductive freedom, all of the big issues we care about we have to maintain america's leadership in the world. then using concrete examples i think is important that when you approach republican lawmaker or republican whoever is there to meet with you, tell them about your own experiences. so they can learn from your experience why it's important. i just have to close because i have 30 seconds i'mago i was in to the ste dinner i had two speeches that day, that was tough speeches, by the way, high school. college you can tell them for things you are done goodbye but high school you know you to be a freshman again right?

[laughter] i got invited to the state dinner forhe of kenya. at 19 i left america i went to un conference representing united su didn't but that's another story. ronald reagan's daughter i went to kenya at 24 to work on the jackson campaign, working on doctor can birthday holiday. i went with ããi went to african with marine dragon. i say that because i kenya seve and the last píer ambassador to kenya and he had no ", he didn't have a ticket for the

dinner. when i learned that the former ambassador someone i went to kenya as an election observer the cochair, he was my day. so tell your extalk abouthe first time leaving amer talk about when you go back when you had an important coerence and talk about even your most recent experience when you had to wear a dress you could barely get into. but i did d to r own stories, why you because there is no one better, why now because tomorrow is not soon enough. your own stories will make a hell of a difference whether republican or democratic lawmakers, many of them unless they go to congressional delegation on several occasions when i was a congressional staff they don't know the world they don't see the world they don't come out. become tuesday leave thursday afternoon and god forbid if they get asked to go somewhere. because m your stories it might be the