c-span has been delivering unfiltered congressional coverage for 45 years. here is a highlight from a key nt. to my colleagues, friends, wife and family, i have hurt you all deep lee and i forgive -- i have hurt you all deeply and i beg your forgiveness. i a fine job, but i cannot do that job or be the kind of leader i would like to be under current circumstances, so i must set the example that i hope president clinton will follow. i will not stand for speaker of the house on january 6, but rather i shall remain in the back bench of this congress that i love, wherein then i will call

for a special election to take my place. >> c-span. coming up, a conversh with dr. rachel levine and second doug -- second gentleman done emhoff, who discussed ways to destigmatize the issue. this event was hosted by the national press club. [gavel bangs] good afternoon. welcome to the national press club, the place where ws happens. my name is emily wilkins. i am honored to be the 117th president of the national press club and a d.c. correspondent for cnbc. cnbc.

thank you for joining us both here and online for our headliner event at the present council on sports, fitness and nutrition. we are happy to accept your questions today, i will ask as many as time permits. you can submit questions online or email headliners@ nationalpressclub.org. please write legibly, i cannot ask what i cannot read food youth are in a crisis, they are lonely and isolated, bullied online and off-line and beset with anxiety. mental health of the defendant has crisis of our■@ . but there is a bright spot. a recent study published in "pediatrics," found physical fitness may prevent depression, anxiety and add in adolescence. as america marks national physical fitness and sports medical and mental health awareness month, we are happy to welcome several distinguished

leaders in health and fitness to discuss how sports, fitness and nutrition can improve the well-being of americans at any age. today we will be hearing from seral folks. admiral richard levine, assistant secretary for health for the u.s. department of health and human services. brandon gasaway, senior director of social impact for the nba, and dr. feranmi okanlami, who i have been told i can just call dr. which is great, a physician and member of the council and director of student accessibility and accommodation services at the university of michigan. unfortunately, olympic gold medalist elena delle donne it is under the weather and unable to join us, but i am very excited for the panel we have today. [applause] thank you. to begin our discussion with opening remarks, it is my great honor to welcome second gentleman doug emhoff, an attorney and has been such a vice president who has used his

platform to advocate for gender equality, justice issues, health and well-being. he has traveled to 37 sets 14 countries meeting with health care professionals, parents, teachers, cagivers, community leaders, legal aid■g providers, community organizers in rural and urban areas as well as color and tribal communities, to hear their stories, and to share how the administration is working to help their families. please join me in the well-for america second gentleman, doug emhoff. [applause] mr. emhoff: thank you, emily and thanks for hosting us, national press club, this place is incredible, thanks for that. today, as emily mentioned he is here to talk about youth mental health. right now there is a mental health crisis in our nation.

depression, loneliness, and anxiety are increasing in young people. what in five teenagers reported difficulty with anxiety or depression. as you mentioned, i have traveled across our great surgen general, dr. vivek murthy, who as you mentioned, described mental health as the defining public health crisis of our time, and he is right. together as we have traveled, we have spoken with hlt and communs about their efforts to provide mental health services to the youth. they have sharedith us some of the factors making this crisis even worse -- covid, social media, gun batteries climate anxiety. they have all exacerbated this crisis we have solutions.

the solutions are out there to address these very real and common mental health challenges, but we have to take action. we have got to make sure we get these solutions out there. so we must provide each and every child with high quality and accessible and affordable health care. we have to expand school-based mental health services and counselor trainings and we more professionals as well. we have to create a safer and spaces, so critical. we have to push but we have to e more positive content on these platforms. also, there is physical activity. physical activity can boost mental health. it enhances mood and self-esteem. it helps us better manage our

mental health -- mental well-bei, how we connect with others. as second gentleman, i have events all over the world to help improve youth mental healthrts, including partnering with the nbalinic in ghana. i participated in a fireside chat with players to uplift women in sports during all-star weekend. and i have collaborated with a nonprofit called which is great, they are here in baltimore, ensuring there is equity inlay space, making sure is available to all children. sports, and have seen this all over the country and the world,. sports has the ability to bring people together and encourage us to live active and healthier

lives. for young people of participion in sports and other physical activity is crucial to success on so many levels. kids who play sports, it has been shown, are less likely to be anxious o likely to feel more connected to their communities, have better social skills, and more positive academic outcomes. so it's all good. they have helped4s me. i was an athlete growing up, obsessed with sports, and i still am, and i cannot tell you how much i in my career as a lawyer and even doing this, with the confidence to be able to go around the country and around the world to talk to people get a lot of thai played a lot of sports. president biden and vice president harris recognize how critical youth mental■: healthy

is to our country schiphol future which is why they brought partners to expand access to sports to our children. into 2022 president biden hosted the first white house conference on hunger, nutrition, and health in 50 years, that was long overdue. i suppose at that conference along with ambassador susan rice and other young leaders about their efforts to promote healthy lifestyles in their communities. then in 2023, the biden-harris administration and no white house challenge to end hunger and build healthy communities. for a nationwide call to action to inspire bold commitments from stakeholders all across the country. and earlier this year i was proud to announce one of these new commitments. a historic partnership between sports leagues, players associations, and the president's on sports,

fitness and nutrition food so we are doing the work. since the announcement we have seen sports leagues all across the country deliver for communities. in march i spoke at the miami open to welcome the u.s. tennis association to the partnership. they are working with the president's council to ake tennis more accessible and to host public events that focus on nutrition and exercise. and just last month i hosted an event with sec. tom vilsack and the nfl, we visited a school in detroit to highlight the latest updates school nutrition standards. these efforts make a the lives g people across our country. so as we mark national physicaló fitness and sports month as well as mental health awareness month, i want everyone to know that the biden-harris administration will continue to fight to ensure that young people have access to mental

health resources and public spaces for physical activity. we want, we must have every child in every community grow up and lead healthy, happy, and successful lives. your partnership and your commitment to this important issue. have a good conference. thank you. [applause] ily: thank you so much. !lthose were absolutely fantastc opening remarks. i think they really set the tone for what we are about to dig into on this panel. dr. o, i want to start with you, you are one the president's council. talk a bit about what the current priorities are and what the council's overarching goal is. dr. okanlami: thday.

focusing on physical fitness has been one of our top priorities and it still is, but we have now recognizes that nutrition is vitally important as well. making sure every american has access to good nutrition and physical activit the primary tenets of what we're doing at the presidents council, making sure every american is aware of the importance of those federal programs that that improve access to fitness and nutrition. emily: staying on nutrition for a moment, what are some of the biggest goals? why have we gotten to a point where nutrition had to be added along with physical fitness and what are the obstacles to making sure americans have good nutrition and a good balance of things to eat? dr. okanlami: it starts with what you put in. as a physician i see countless patients and we know that twice the number of individuals in this country have diabetes now than just several years ago. if we don't have access to good

nutrition then whatever you are doing, even the physical activity, beginning the process is important. if we don't have adequate access to healthy foods for our children, we can't expect them to live healthy lives, of focusing on what we give our children to eat from when they are young is the type of thing that creates the practices and beliefs that you carry with you as you get to be an adult. emily: i wanted to ask you a little bit about the partnership the presidents council recently announced, a first-of-its-kind, with every major sports leagues and players association and the country, of course the nba is included. talk a bit about that partnership. what has -- what is that much to do, why is that sort of historic in terms of the council ship overall history?

dr. okanlami: we a verprrs. we see ourselves as having a very unique role in this, a very unique opportunity. i can say from my childhood that is my mom told me to focus on something or if my mom told me, there was a good chance i would. but if kobe bryant said it, i was listening! [laughter] so we went to leverage that platform, that entryway into the hearts and minds of folks to bring really important critical messages like mental health, like nutrition and wellness, so that we can create a better environment for young people to grow up and learn to play and be their best selves. emily: rship works? are you sending kids to the nba, are they getting lessons from stephen curry or? [laughter] ■obrandon: brandon: a variety of ways. we hosted the second gentleman at our all-star event this past week where we had -- as well as the surgeon general, where we leveraged our platform to talk about these important messages. we had a conversation called newsmakers where it was common, a'ja wilson, cj mccollum of the

new orleans pelicans, to talk about how they are affected in their personal lives and how these athletes, they seem invincible, they have strength. they seem impenetrable. but when they speak to the steps they have to take to take care of their own mental health, how they are affected by mental health and how they keep up■( wh their own wellness, it shows that this is something that affects everyone and we all should take that step. emily: admiral levine, of course you oversee a giant swath of the work hhs does when it comes to health and mental health in particular. talk a bit about what hss is doing right now on youth mental health given there is this new environment where kids are now up online so much more. ad levine: thank you very much for the opportunity to be here and you are entirely correct, as the secondenabout, mental healts

now particularly among our youth. i am a pediatrician, adolescent medicine medicine for many years before i was able to go into public service and public health, so i know firsthand from my clinical experience how important it is, the intersection between physical health and mental health. so this extension betweenand phy and spor and nutrition and mental health has been an absolute natural fit. mental health in our youth has been challenged even before the acute phase of the covid-19 pandemic. but certaly the covid-19 pandemic affected everyone and really impacted our youth. now that we are out of the acute phase of the pandemic, we are still struggling with the mental health of our youth as our great surgeon general has been highlighting. hhs undersecretary becerra has been dedicated towards improving

youth mental health. there are many programs under hrsa, samhsa, the whole alphabet soup of different divisions in hhs that are concentrating on the workforce, that the second gentleman was talking about, and then different programs to support youth. it is a really important time, samhsa 's program of 988, the suicide hotline. it is critical that everyone knows about that, the parents and the youth know about 988. emily: it is like 911, pick up the phone and dial -988. adm. levine: of course kids don't just dial, a text. text 9d get her trained counselors that can help young people, and adults, as well. it's very important to highlight that resource. emily: who should use 988?

if you begin having suicidal thoughts, sods like that would be a good number to call. but if you just feel really down or depressed and you have never felt this low before and it's been going on for a while, is it a good time to call 988? adm. levine: absolutely, it's a resource for mental health challenges as well as for having overt suicidal thoughts. so they can help to connect you to local resources in order to help. emily: do you ve -- you do have a background as a pediatrician. hod for kids growing up? i know to a certain extent, bullying and teasing has always been something a lot of us dealt with whether you were online or not but what, does that mean now that so many kids have social media profiles and so much of what they are doing online? adm. levin i think the impact upon the technology and particularly social media has si exacerbated, significantly made worse mental

health challenges, especially the issue of loneliness, which the surgeon general emphasizes. there are statistics that youth might spend less than one or two hours a day with other young people, so if they are very concentrated on their phones, and it isolates them. you would like to think that social media might bring people together what happens for youth. so that is why sports, as emphasized by the president's council, is so important, because sports naturally brings young people together and that is why participation in sports is so important. emily: dr. o, you yourself were an athlete. tell us about your mental health journey, how you navigated mental illness as a student athlete and now as a physician and in the many roles throughout your life. dr. okanla:zmi: thanit and say that i am an athlete. i will talk about that.

we talk about access. for those of you that can see me, i am a wheelchair user. for those who i am a wheelchair user. when we don't have access to physical activity, when he don't get all the benefits of the second gentleman mentioned. imagine an individual in your community that is a wiltshire user. think about your community. does the child have access to sports where they are? not to say that wheelchair users are the most important part of the population, but i am using the example. i was a track and field athlete at stand for. in my third year of residency, i at is why i am now a wheelchair user. prior to that point, i didn't recognize how inaccessible our world was and how inaccessible our health care. system was so it was at that life from the other side of the stethoscope. i now see how inaccessible our

world in for a community that has a need. if you use that community is an example for the type of access we need, without access to health and nutrition, access to physical activity, access to an education, all the benefits that the second gentleman mentioned will be lost. so it is not that i focus my work■ now on the disability community because they are most important, it is because if we use the disability community as an example, it is ubiquitous from the disability does not discriminate based on race, gender, economic status. i tell people that if you build with those most vulnerable in mind, everyone has access. picture this. i have seen a cartoon used. imagine a school andsnowed over. there is a set of stairs all the students use and then there is a ramp. there is one child in that school that uses the ramp. there are 500 kids using the stairs. the custodian starts shoveling off the stairs because of

course, 500 kids need to get into the building, but the wiltshire user says,, if you shovel the ramp first, all of us can get in. so what types of programseate tl and figurative ramps to givow 't what my work is, but as a physician who runs the disability services for the university of michigan, my role is providing equitable access to the university of michigan experience for every single student with her that is their academic accommodations, whether it is testing accommodations, and i am proud to say that i am the founding director of the adaptive sports and fitness program which, the second gentleman was at the paralympic games a few years ago, i am not sure if you plans on going again, but there is still sports for the disabled community. there are two movements. one from early focusing on individuals with intellectud one with a physical impairment.

but all of these improve the mental health of the individuals we serve. there are many facets of this world that we can connect the pieces to give access toll those benefits we mentioned are felt by everyone. [applause] emily: dr. o, i asked admiral levine a bit i think about kids, and you work with college students, so i will kind of pose a similar question to you. how have you seen the socialness, the atmosphere on college campuses shift, the more online in young people have r/become? dr. okanlami: admiral levine hit it on the head. we think social media is meant to connect, and in ways it absolutely does. but it can be very isolating while so. i work with college students, i also have a 13-year-old son. i have this view i get to see every day o transition students are going through, when i was 13, i didn't have access

to the internet. the immediacy with which students are getting feedback now, which is not always positive, helps tothat loneline. similarly at the collegeso we cy and social media for good, but we have to recognize the damage it can cause and make sure we are not relying too much on that and if we do use it, that we continue to pump out messages in those spaces. i know many people that learn a lot from tiktok and all these other social media channels. so if our children are going to be on them, we need to be those spaces, as well. adm. levine: an example i was talking about with the surgeon general with that back in the day, when we were inggest activ. he would go to dinner and there would be conversation at dinner and with young people, college students studying many different things, talking about their studies, their social life. walking to the cafeteria now, it

is pretty quiet and everyone is on their phone. it's very different experience, very different social experience. that would be an example of some of the challenges young people face. emily: i would open the floor for this question. what needs to be done? as a reporter, a covs say we ned these social media companies to step up. and the company's say, the app store should step up. then there are folks who look at congress and say you are actually the one who needs to set certain parameters and regulations. from your on-the-ground experience, what, at the end of the day, will make a difference for these young people in terms of how they use social media? adm. levine: i think it's incumbent upon the federal government, and we have a test

force at hhs working on that with other departments as well, looking at safety. for young people on social media. and so i think it is incumbent upon the executive branch and the congress to make sure that social media is safe. to try to limit misinformation, disinformation on social media. i don'teral government will change the culture about that. that really will need to involve all of us. all of us not only in washington, d.c. but in, local areas, communities, to really try to help young people with sports and with otheractivitiesd interacting with their peers as opposed to just on their phones. i don't think that can come just from washington. emily: brandon, i saw that you were about to respond as well. brandon: yes, on the infrastructure side, we have a program called night health which we started in 2018 led by jimmy white, former w nba

player, stanford cardinal. and dr. hunter, clinical psychologist. it is to put that infrastructure in place -- not only for our players, but for league personnel so they have safety nets in place, learning how to deal with scales like stress, work-life balance, prioritization. life in the league is a very tumultuous and difficult thing especially when you come into it. wethis especially for our young players. so before men or women in the wnba entered the league during transition, doing something called a top 100 that we do for the prospects, they are exposed to these■g league. each team has one or two mental health professionals on staff that are accessible to each player and personnel on the team. there is a psychologist also in place. we have year-round educati to tt

al what to do if you are in crisis and how to manage that. but also, presenting that as all mental health is not a crisis. it's not illness. it's a spectrum of things and having a deepernderstanding and connectivity with that helps you better manage that. dr. okanlami: i also think one thing we need to do a better job of it is the stigmatizing mental health. you just mentioned when we talk about mental health, i think people think about the negative side of mental health. we think about illness, negative, loss or lackff. but mental health encompasses all of that. so we should also promote messages about good mental health and positive mental health. it gets back to another thing i talk about after the witches thate a four letter word, and mental illness is something people see as a deficit mindset rather than as sort of a spectrum of human

experience that we all have. especially our youth, when they see or hear that they have an illness, it is stigmatizing. it makes them feel different and ■vothered. i am not ashamed to say that my 13-year-old son has a therapist. he talks about seeing his stigmatize mental health and normalize conversations around it, we then don't separate people and make them feel othered. that is something we can do on social media as well. emily: can you give an example of reframing mental health in a positive way? because think when people hear the term mental health, they frequently think of those who have a mental illness and need either a prescription medication or therapy to overcome it. so what is a positive way to do that? dr. okanlami: i will actually say that i think what we need to do is de-stigmatize the fact

someone might take a medication. not to separate that and say that those who take medicine are different, but those who take medicine, use wheelchairs, have low vision, have anxiety, depression or bipolar, they are no different than anyone else. by normalizing the conversation and letting people know that in this audience i can guarantee you there is an individual that may be taking psychiatric medication. you can't necessarily see them because they don't say it on their chest like a scarlet letter but by talking about that and making sure people know number such as 988, having programs like the campaign we have at the president's council so see ways to get out and get active, i don't think we will eliminate the negative aspects of mental illness, but by capitalizing on the resources that we have like the national youth sports strategy, promoting postings on social media, it will give young people an opportunity to then see themselves.

when we seek partnerships with the nba, wnba athletes talking about their own mental health journey, i think it will normalize things. i don't think we can eliminate the negative aspects of mental health, but by pushing up the positive things to have come to that, that is a good approach. adm. levine: i agree with dr. oh completely. we need to destigmatize the issue in terms of mental health and challenges to mental health. it is critically important. i also think it's important to view it as wellness. not only physical wellness -- we have been talking about physical activity, nutrition, but also mental health and wellness. a metaphor i have often used in young people in talking with groups is the eye of the hurricane. we had storms. tremendous storms over the desk over much of the country. we are entering hurricane season. winds of the hurricane are

very, very strong. it is sort of a metaphor for our lives, which are stressful. people have stress. but in the eye of the hurricane, it's quiet and calm and peaceful. so we need to help young people find something to help center themselves. so that is different for every person and variable -- different for every young person. it might be sports, art, music, their faith, theirers them. everybody needs to find that for themselves. brandon: something i can throw in on that we hear these anecdotes about players like lebron■x james to spend a millin dollars a year on their body and physical health leading up to games and seasons. there is massages, stretching, strength, cardio, all sorts of things. that seems prioritization should be put on your mental health. is not just oh, i have this

injury. if you are and preparation for daily life, not just the game, but your daily life, looking at it that same way with that same level of preparation. . emily: brandon, i wanted to ask you a little bit, you work with nba players who are absolutely well-known, household names, talkit about how they should be using their platform t mentaa and communicate with young people about wellness. brandon: we have a number of players across both ue has writ, has done speaking,y others, talking about this from their personal experience. everyone's experience is different and unique in their own way. but it's not absent from any of us. we all have something we should take care of in our own lives, and players speaking

authentically to that makes it feel ok, especially for younger people to really wrestled with that and deal with it in their own way. emily: and working with the nba, i often think of them as physical activity, but he also mentioned there are■u folks on each team try to take care of the mental well-being of their players. talk about the nba's history with that, making sure there is a focus on the mental as well as the physical. brandon: yes. we try to put the same weight on both from the nexium investment and prioritization. in 2017, we worked with the players association to really set standards in place of those consistency across the board for the team, to have those resources available for players. in 2017 therwas what we call requirements and recommendations. and put them together. they go out on an annual basis.

in 2018, mind health was developed. it was really to work under one umbreanhip with s association and really focus on three things. first, humanizing mental health, talking about it in a normal way , like it is something that is an everyday occurrence. and then humanizing, honoring that lived experience that i talked about before. and then elevated your participation within that. so, folks can see that while it may be stigmatized in some places, it is something that is crucial player that can be crucial to your succesin whatever arena you may bring it to, or just getting along day today. it's how we have done it and our players have really embraced that which is really great for

me to see personallyecause it helps folks who might not want to engage with this. who might have some sort of apprehension, to give it that second thought. emily: and dr. oh, that we talked about covid-19 and its impacts. i would like to ask question directly as someone who sits on the president's council for fitness and sports and nutrition. have you seen a change in the aftereffects on the council of the covid-19? dr. okanlami: covid exacerbated things that already existed. this mental health crisis is worse. access to physical activity is worse. so one of the things we can use to talk about the partnerships, while it's great for the wnba and mlb players to use their platforms to get the message out , partnering with the president's council is wonderful

because they are helping to amplify some of these federal programs that exist. while lebron can get on tv and say something, if that child doesn't know what resources exist in their community, and they will not have access. that is one of the things you are most proud of that we will be able to do together, is amplify the message and by then making sure people are aware of federal programs that they may not have known, provide better access to them and their communities. emily: 988 was a great thing toe council has that you feel did not get the attention they deserve and are worthy of a shout out now sodr. okanlami: ie national youth sports strategy. to become a champion, you get it to that allows you to promote the progrs you do. to become one of these, you apply. it's not like there's some complicated application process.

but it elevates grassroots programs wherever they are who are already providing access, but people maye programs exist. so by becoming a national youth sports strategy champion, we are not reinventing the wheel, we are elevating the work of people in the communities already doing it. as we speak right now, we have some awards coming from the president's council that will also give people an opportunity to demonstrate the leadership in eir community and the programs they had built. so we have wonderful things that exist, but awareness is sometimes the problem so these historic partnerships and the work of the council and all the work admiral levine does through her office i think are helping with that. emily: and admiral levine, you have the olympics and the paralympics coming up. i am wondering if we can expect anything from hhs or the president's council, trying to have some awareness for mental health, mental wellness around the time?

adm. levine: there will be activities. the president's council at that time will be highlighting those amazing events. we are very thrilled and excited about the work of the president's council, with dr. o, with elena delle donne and chef jose andres and all the different members, some of whom are here, who are doing so much work both in washington, but actually locally, they come from throughout the country, highlighting these critical issues. highlighting the importance of physical health and mental health, the importance of nutrition in terms of food security and nutrition security and the parallel work in terms of food is medicine. so when we have great events like the paralympics and special olympics, it just highlights these issues. emily: i have also seen athletes who have become more vocal about the struggles they have had with -- the mental struggles they have had. the issues. i feel like in the last olympics, we watched a say, hey,

i am not in the headspace. forgive me if this is not the best term to use, but she had something where she had to step back and rss and make that call for her own health and safety. i am wondering if you are seeing more athletes begin to talk about things like that and if there is a particular reason why you're seeing that shift now? dr. okanlami: folks are definitely getting more comfortable doing that. brandon: having, some of the guys i mentioned earlier, show that leadership that you can do that and it's ok, it will not affect your career or affect your endorsements for how people see you. but you can talk about these things in the human way and it's good to benefit a large group of people. we have this partnership that gives access to experts where we can make sure they are getting materials and resources for themselves but that they can go and discuss thein public forums. we have sourced all that, if you

put nba mind health into google, you will see all of that, members and players of the nba and wnbaalking about their own personal journeys and it is very encouraging to see that continue to grow not only in our league, but across all sports. emily: i know there has been a lot of promotionbout sports. but it has also been a number of headlines in recent years about force injuries, particularly concussions, and the impact on players both in the moment and then going forth, for their adult lives i know. dr. o, since you are currently at the university, has there gd anything the council has done in interacting with these issues, injuries and concussions, what needs to be done to make sure that those w ay can remain safe?

dr. okanlami: the president's council is a federal advisory council. while we ourselves have and this in something directly, we amplify the work of others, so there is a lot of work that has been done around safe sports and safe play. we have worked with individuals to try to make sure there is soafe sport that we need to do. i don't need to collect any institution, but there is one that does some work that --around concussion prevention. so the council helps to amplify work being done in other spaces. i will be more direct and say that i don't know of right now a specific condition that we're working on with respect to concussions but we have organizations doing concussion work themselves and we are amplifyinghee talked about socil media. i know that biden administration has turned to social media influencers to get out certain messages that they have in trying to be able to promote certain things that they are doing with the government. has been a consideration to using some of

those most loudest voices on social media, maybe not by people who are the youth follow and pay attention to, and using that to get out the messages about some of the mental hlth impacts social media can have? adm. levine: there, of course, social media platforms used by the white house and others used by hhs and other departments, including for the president's council. primarily we rely upon twitter and others. there are different platforms where we try to get our message out because we know that young people and adults are using the social media platforms so we want to be there so thatcan highlight the great work the president's council is doing and we are doing across hhs. emily: how do you think about crafting those messages where it is sort of like, hey, you are a social media, get off social media. have a good day? [laughter]

adm. levine: so it's not that social media inherently is bad. it's a tool, a platform. we don't want people to only be on social media. we want young people to be playing sports. to be in school. to be doing other activities and interacting with their peers. but we know that young people are on social media, their parents are on social media. it exists. it's not going to go away. even though there are recommendations to make sure it is safanons that it is safe, we are going to use the tools we have to get our message across. dr. okanlami: i was going to say that one thing the president's council does, we talk about the fact of physical activity can come in ny forms. while so we talk about sports today sports are one way permit dances is another form of physical activity. getting out and walking your dog is another form of activity. so we put a combination of videos together for our "move

your way" campaign to talk about the way we move. to show everyone that it doesn't have to be an organized team sport. but if you are already on social media and you will be seeing this, we want people to see that being active is any form of activity. encouraging people to do whatever it is, if it is bachata, tap dance, swimming, running, tennis, wheelchair rugby, wheelchair basketball, whatever you, are doing that is why we are trying to leverage that platform to get those messages out so that the historic way we think about is the collectivity is not what we are limiting it to, even a youth sports now, even video games are more active than they used to be back in the day. emily: and for students, have we seen -- are there any particular trends that have come with how many kids are playing sports or on teams, on dance teams, on

cheer teams, doing things that could qualify as physical activity? is there any data as to how -- if that has changed over time? adm. levine: obviously with the acute phase of the pandemics, there were challenges with that. but it is coming back. but i don't have specific data. emily: like people are getting back to being on teams, feeling more comfortable being less than six feet apart from their peers. interesting. dr. okanlami: i would say that if my sense sports calendar is an example, we are always avome soccer travel game or baseball game. our country is doing a much better job of youth sports. back when i played youth soccer, there weren't as many oppoitrting to professionalize a youth sports a little bit, which i have my thoughts on, but i do see more opportunities for kids to play and a lot more sports that t we. emily: i remember a kid growing up where it feltike they had a

part-time job as an amateur at many places and doing so many things. i'm curious on what your thoughts are if you're trying to sell the idea that sports is an accessible thing that is healthy and good for everyone, how do you mesh that with these very intense time commitment, sports he leagues? dr. okanlami: on my way here, i got an email because my sohave s for next year. there is something called the elite 64 which is like a national travel soccer. my son plays multiple sports. you don't want to, as you said, over do anything in one particular sport. but if you are at home, whether you are mom or dad or uncle, however any family it is, having a conversation about what is reasonable for you and making sure the child is centered in the conversation so it is not overbearing parents for somethid

having autonomy to choose what level of play they want to have. i think it can go to an extreme, but making sure you are having a conversation and including the child in the conversation doesn't mean you let them make every single decision. but at least if you a making them feel involved in participating. almost like a choose your own adventure story to say, how much of this do you want, while having adults in the room making sure there keeping an eye on them. emily: i also know that has become legal, more widely accepted, more individuals getting involved with it. of course gambling can be a fun and harmless activity. but it can also be addictive and lead people to get themselves and their families into ve, spa. feel free to an. is there anything that hhs is specifically doing when it comes to sports gambling. samhsa has resources for

people who have gambling addiction. it h n priority for hhs, but there are some resources. emily: i don't know if you have anything to add on that? brandon: it is something we certainly pay close attention to, we invest a number of resources in making sure that folks have access to the responsible gaming resources. we do throughout the year and makeur website. we have partnerships with the national council a gaming to making sure we amplify their messaging as well permit we also put limits on the amount of advertising in every nest and television. it is something we are definitely aware of and doing our best to play our part. dr. okanlami: as a family medicine physician, i will take this opportunity to highlight the fact that we mentioned addiction, these addictions are not just someone being a bad person.

reflecting on the fact that you r primary care provider or physician if somebody you can talk to about this, this goes back to de-stigmatizing mental health and mental illness and letting people know you can if you think gambling is a problem, to make sure that we are not ostracizing individuals who identify as having that as a struggle, making sure the resources that exist in your community are something you are aware of as well. emily: we also have another question, many who participated in remember getting badges and incentives in the past. do they still exist in the digitalj> arefer to as you knowu

probably remember pe, you had the presidential fitness test we had to do. i think i can be comfortable saying that the president's council over the years has recognized that while the goal of that was to encourage physical activity, it started to make people feel as though they weren't achievin we have these t we are elevating such as the national youth sports strategies, something that you do get these dntioned earlier. it is probably the closest reflection of what that iteration was we also have president council members working to make sure the programs that existunie expertise that exists, is something that the president's council is amplifying. we as individuals are not promoting our own work■tbut having this council is just a wonderful opportunity as a nation to start to get this information out.j emily: i wanted to take a minute and ask those on the council ife and let everyonse and be recognized?

[applause] thank you, didn't mean to put you on the spot like that. i appreciate it. [laughter] i nt to tat to thank the organizers of this event, headliners, team coup leaders. today's headliner event coordinator, today's washington program manager, the club membership director, and to it is also my honor to present each of you with the coveted national press club mug, given to ambassadors, very famous people, public officials. we hope you dri■nk a it, plus te alcolic beverage of your choosing. now for our final question, we will go each intern starting with you, admiral.

with your busy schedules, what is your secret to staying physically and mentally sharp? adm. levine: it is important for all of us to have some h we consider ourselves and deal with the stress all of us face in life, in our personal and professional lives. for me, i will either go for a walk or i will swim or i will do a bike. eep my self-centered the best i can, given the schedules we have. emily:randon? brandon: it might be obvious, but i still hoop as much as i can. [laughter] you shoes. i tried to ball asuc exercise iy activities. i will try to walk and avoid driving, or do things i can walk to or have physical activities

involved instead of the doctor'n athlete. dr. okanlami: i tried to do my best. i don't stay assports we are tre like wheelai basketball, wheelchair tennis. adaptive sports are not sports for people with disabilities, they are mely sports that are more inclusive for everyone. since my man as if anybody wants the smoke on the record, i will challenge him to play wheelchair sketball. [applause] brandon: accepted. dr. okanlami: it is a sport that keeps everyone active, but just like he has got on a pair of shoes to play basketball, being in a sport chair is not being in a medical device. it is a pieceif we have every la offering ■@for anyone who wantso

play in the community, that child will have a team to play sports with them. keeping up with my 13-year-old and training to take him down. [laughter] emily: we will look forward to that particular matchup. thank you all so much, thank you to our fantastic panel for being here, and thank you to everyone in the audience for being great participants and all the great questions. thank you so much. [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] >> c-span is your unfiltered

view of government, funded by these television companies and more, including comcast. >> you think this is just a community center, it is way more than that. comcast is partnering with 1000 community centers to create wi-fi enabled listings so students from low income milies can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. >> comcast suppos c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> today an unprecedented armada landed on the shor■es of normandy. >> these are the boyshé of hope. these are the men who took the

these are the champions who helped free a continent. these are the heroes who helped end the war. >> 2 million suns from 15 countries jumped into the skies and bloodsoaked serfs and met death on an even playing. >> the sons of democracy improvised and mounted their own attacks. at that exact momentbeaches, thm turned the tide of the 20th century. >> the road was hard and long and traveled by weary, valiant men. and history will always record where that road began. it began here, with the first >> more than 150,000 souls cited towards