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announcer: week, 2024 campaign trail is in milwaukee for a specialention. we will talk to the rnc host committee chief's operations officer about what it takes to fund raise and prepare the city for a convention and with milwaukee mayor cavalier johnson about his role in bringing the convention to the city. we will talk to local businesses about preparations for the big week. rsation with rnc chair michael whatley. >>■ we arxcited about being in milwaukee. there was a lot that goes the fact that it is a battleground state, wisconsin is one of the most important battleground states, but me importantly for us is just milwaukee is a great town.

eythey have the facilities to pt the convention together. the fiserv arenastic venue, and we were able to get all of their hotel rooms in wisconsin, over 15,000 we had contract for. when you talk about the logistics of bringing 50,000 people into an overnight for four consecutive nights, it is a cll host city that can work very committed to making sure we do this, and we havead fantastic partnership with wisconsin and milwaukee. >> gus of this scale. how many people are expected to come to town? >> we will/o have 24029 delegat, 4700 people that will be

participatg officially, but the full total when you include thedia, all of the folks that will beking, over 50,000 people descending on milwaukee. rlly isn bring the entire world into milwaukee. >> tell usspecific role? >> i get to gavel the who be working throughout the entire show. we will have a chair of the convention running the formal parts of it, but there is a lot that goes, and we will be having an rnc meeting while we are there. we have different press opportunities i will beoron, mel across the country, all the cram looking at two solidnnot wait. how many folks does it take on

your end to pull this off? >> thousands. we have a couplz hundred staff working full-time in milwaukee. we have 0 to■ 500 p arena, makit everything built out. we will have thousands of volunteers, people that will be helping parking, helping direct folks whe l go in the arena. folks that will help with have not just the arena itself, but there is another arena r will be the press command center. we hav outlets that have been credentialed. ■bon the technical side the logistics will be very big.

it is a huge undertaking. compare it to running the super bowl four nights in a row. we want to roll up president trump to theeople, but we also went to roll up the republican brand. er here. one is the sde. you think about a brand-new hat has never been built, 26 feet tall. part of it is suspended from the panels., 60 feet wide, not justt the floor. we have never seen an be bringin all of the speakers that we will have, and iwe will have member s and governors and senators, but we want to hear from everyday americans, real from all across the country, so we have set up the show to be able to do that, and we reallyz!■lly want

to connect not just with the people in the room, but with the db that is not milwaukee but across the country and all across the world, which are going to be rolling out the themes as we get closer to the event. we arebo i think the thing is thiss amthis is about the strength of this country, the strength ofd e have a president lead these peoo understands the strengthin amere looks like across the worl nextn with alison prange, the chief operating officer of the host committee and admit c-span outside her office in downtown milwaukee talk about her organization's role in planning this convention. >>■ the host committee has been

around a couple of years. we are on the ground to be here get things ready and make their jobs easier when they get here to set up the tion. i am in charge of the day-to-day operations for our effort, whether it is working on recruiting volunteers, and working with our board and, because that is the biggest job of the house committee is to raise the dollars to put on a convention. >> convention going to cost? >> is $68 million. 6sour fundraising is going grea. ly excited about the momentum we have. >> give us an id toward? >> when you talk about

fundraising for convention host committee is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization. it i■■a natural connection, so when they get to was, the ■8■omoney we raise really goes o building out the things you see get theonvention, so when you see the convention hall, it n center. it goes to putting on the welcome party, goes to paying buses for people to drive around during the convention. all of those things. >> give us an idea of the scale. how many people does this take and how long does it take? >> it is hard to imagine a convention unless you are in the middle of it. ■÷thousands of volunteers that will have -- the hostomrecruit thousands of volu, and happy on top of that we alse staff.

the host committee as a volunteer board of directors. we have a finance committee and other organizations workingus ae sure that this convention is >> those 4000 are they the welcome wagon of milwaukee? >> they are. have been recruiting people because we want to showcase the city. to get a milwaukee to ask questions of people that live here so they can find the best restaurants, the best beer, the best old fashionr city. >>■o planning for visit 11 milwe takes a while. when did this start? >> that work again when the city of milwaukee -- we have a or, when cavalier

johnson began theg the conventi. reince instrumental in that. foerthey did a big pitch to winb , and in the summer of 2022 the planning began. rked for two years to put on the convention and now we are 40 days away. >> what are these last 40 days like form where most people will see that broadcast. >> we are getting moved into pfizer forum right now. we would have loved th ■■ bucks to win the championship. tnthey will nextying

that. the rnc andking on the buildout is moving in today. you empty out these arenas. there was a lot of stuff that goes into supporting the stadiums. a fabulous convention center that opened a few weeks ago, and it is phenomenpeople will be red when they come from around the world. >> these■■ facits will not look the way they do normally for a bucks game. inside. >> that is right. the republican national committee transformed that arena, and it see throughout the

week when they turn into the convention. >> you said this is a nonpartisan host committee seeking to show off milwaukee. what are you hoping those 50,000 vi■i=ñsitors that come to the r, what are you hoping there take away will be? ■(■o■uhow >> have tremendous economic impact. want all of those guys to see how amazing milwe the types of , companies and small businesses, fortune 500s tha the diversity d the warm wisconsin welcome. th that they should think about this as a destina not just vacation. if youabout moving the company think about milwaukee. it is a place to work,■zplay, ao not say go to school.

announcer: next we are at milwaukee city hall where we spoke t cavalier johnson about his role to bringing the republican invention to a city. -- republican convention to the ty we did a lot of things to convince the republicans to have their convention here. we had a contingency to come on-site looking for we wined and dinedwe had this wl conversation with them in moments thatlakpark bistro, republicans fell in love with milwaukee. them about my own personal story coming up in the city. starting off as a kid and working my way all the way to becoming mayor, and the fact

that my story also inspiration from republicans. i am ainspired me to run to offr the first place, so that story was really compelling toand befy elected a mayor in spring 2022, days mayoral election i took aay off the campaign trail to fly to d.c. with our visitors and convention bureau pitch to the republican national ilwaukee won the convention. rnc? >> milwaukee actually wanted them. we wanted the convention to come here for a host ofea. i see the rnc end, that i see it as the beginning.

we are breathing rarefied air, milwaukevi committees to win bof conventions in back-to-back cycles, but for to milwaukee to be host to other large-scale political, because i would like the dnc to go back to milwaukee, but other large-scale business, sports, entertainment ■e, and the rnc can open the door to that. we wanted them to come here and we aggressively pursued the rnc to come here there was also the hospitality of this city. this is a very welcoming city, milwaukee is. it is a great place with great people and great institutions. there is no better place to be in this country during the summertime with festivals and access to make michigan, with incredible parks system here.

this is aoodies paradise. there are major league sports teams, and the diversity of neighborhoods we have in milwaukee. whether it is folks in the rnc or folks in business or anyo hot a large-scale convention. when they see this four day long global commercl broadcast, theyg to come here too. >>ad what is the benefit to residents the benefit to folks e groundf people, in the case of the rnc if 2000, those folks will spend money here. that will support the local economy and put dollars into the pockets of people who work and live rig h. this is not the is the beginning. we opened the door to other large-scale even■3 to coere that compound that happening in

the future, so more large-scale programming means more people coming here, more people spending dollars, more people moving here, more businesses relocating here is good for our economy. >> was your city preparing for the rnc? >> preparing day and night. my chief of staff, i assigned him to be our point person on the rnc, so every single rnc, is meeting with the seservice aw enforcement agencies to make sure we are looking at every single aspect tec. related to security that my office and the secret service are working on in bipartisan way again to increase the security for the convention. the security grantcame into play in the first presidential

election after 9/11, so 2004, and they have been stuck at $50 million since then. costs have gone up. ve anecdote that when i was a kid back then, i could take a dollar and go to the corner store and get cice, a pay bun for abuck. we have work to increase the funding so now itcollaborativel, particularly those impacted because theyotprint to be best d for this. our visitors and tourism bureau are working to make sure that businesses all tmilwaukee and on opportunity to get plugged in with opportunities with the rnc as well, so whether it is security, working with the secret service, we are

focused in on making sure we are prepared to have a convention safe and one that will benefit everyone here in how doe inesses that have been be around the convention site? >> that is exactly what i was talking about before. we are actively working and holding meetings with those residences, those businesses that will be impacted as well to let them know about the upper and also help them know about the logistics of getting their dwelling, to have deliveries to come further impactedct that the convention will be in their backyard. were all of those conversations with all of the impact of the parties to make sure we hava convention for eve. i hope that is what our goal is. >> what is your role during convention week itself? >> do not know if the rnc will

ask have an official role during the convention itself. i will be out there. i will have conversations with our community more broadly about what is going on that■a+o day, d working to make sure i am a welcoming figure for folks who work coming here and encourage here and our economy, but also we we uplift the ■d d i have is a democrat during the convention as well. will be official, and some of it will be political. i have told the republicans time and again i appreciate the fact that they are coming here. i want them to come here because of our support for the economyee political andgvs -- end do i age

the answer is absolutely not. announcer: next to look it up milwaukee's business community is preparing for this year's rnc with peggy williams-smith, the president and ceo of visit milwaukee. >> our job is to sell and market the city, to create economic impacts through travel and tourism, and we are so proud to do that each and every day. /dthis process started two years ago mail from the republican national committee, and from there we have been able to bring people in, show them what milwaukee has to offer. show them our incredible lakefront, our threeur amazing dining scene, our institutions as well as the numerous performing arts venues that we have. we are a city of small businesses. when you walk through the

streets of milwaukee you will see there are not a lot of chains. we do a lot of locally grown retail and things of that nature, so this is important to our community. obviously tourism cannot go everywhere, but we find ways to help businesses to them. >> like war milwaukee. it will tpçs be a major economic event for the city? >> it already has been. ■úit started two years ago. we have had more presidential visit to then in any other election cycle. that has to do with the fact that the rnc is happening. we had mastered the debate in milwaukee. ■m have people who moved here from d.c. and live tier 1.5 years. married here, getting engaged, and having babies.

these are all things that help with the vision to grow our population, and we think this is step in that. but week of we note that our hols will be filled out not just in our city but throughout the on, and be a huge impact tr small business community. a former president coming to the city as well as a lot of high-ranking elected officials, security will have to be more intense, and ndh that may hurt some of our small businesses, i hope would people see as the overall impact that the convention will bring to us. even just today having you here at c-spansyredentialed journalists experiencing milwaukee for the first time. that is an opportunity to let milwaukee shine on an international sta. noun one of those business ■k=owners is the founding and co

of parks and recreation, a gro we met her at the group's new it is a beverage and activity center. we have eight bowling, two curling ports, beer, wine, soda, cocktails, and upstairs s and local food from restaurants, so also in place to be when you are here visiting milwaukee. >>2q how close are we to the pfizer forum? >> a hundred feet across the plaza. absolutely the closest option and the only option for beer and a brat. >>a

business owner in milwaukee to have a big convention like this come to town? >> the mayor of milwaukee called as the living so proud of that, and we want to show that off m]er milwaukee. we are builto be the place for local visitorsme and experience all of milwaukee in one stop, so that is what we have multiple food, local beer, local entertainment th i about f milwaukee. we have you can come into everything that you want and take home a t. we have local artists and makers and everything you would want to take home. it is great we will have an all summer, not just during this convention, but everything we have going othis t

this city is in the form in it as■2 well. >> what is yr pitch for milwaukee for people coming to town? >> milwaukee is really special because we have so many local businesses. we are all about local s. i think the mayor is really supportive of local businesses. years, and i have been able to on five businesses in downtown milwaukee at that time. i have a full collec■5tion of entertainment brands i am excited to show off, and i think it is really unique atcity whern really come and put their mark town, and to a difference, build a jobs, and time here, and i want to show (t world during the

summer. >> milwaukee had the chance of posting the dnc in 2020, but with covid that did not happen. a lot of folks depending on this, our folks feeling better about this one pulling through? >> i certainly hope it will pull through. we were really disappointed about the dnc. that was crushing to have that opportunity right at our fingertips and to see if all through, so when we got the news -- i remember where i was when they announced we had secured the republican national convention, and it felt like an opportunity for a do over. i think there is deaf to the ex community. i think in the hospitality , there is nothing better to plan big e busy, to sd show off our food, our drink,

said that is really positive, and everybody is excited to have that opportunity. people the renderingke? we have never had the opportunity to do everyone is nt hospitality in general. announcer:week's 2024 campaign s outside the pfizer forum -- fiserve forum where we met one of the transportation providers. >> we started with four buses bn the 1950's from the kitchen r we have grown to 1400 employees and 1200 vehicles, most of them school buses. quite a few commercial services vehicles as well.

that services the public with airport transfers and sedans all the way up to motor coaches like this one. >> you guys have a big role in this year's republican national convention. there is a huge transportation neetothere is wht is taking delicate spread out all of southeastern wisconsin of the three primary fiserve fod they need hundreds of buses to do that. we are a local company. 50 o#vehicles for this effort, so i am sure the rnc appreciates making one phone call to get 40 buses taking carof rig how does■

this is one of those situations wherexpand out and become a large company. we do project out to cover large events like golf tournaments in the arear sporting events, but nothing the size of this as reallaukee in a. are hearing it is four super bowls in consecutive days, so the preparatio aabout surveying, making sure equipment is up and running. a lot of our techs are certified to do warranty work, so we can get them up today right away, so there was a lot that goes into making sure at top efficiency. at the same time,e ivers obviou. we are always r drivers, and this was a large part of that recruit and effort

over the last year. ne of her when year ago, and that wase been aiming for that week in july for quite a while. >> this is another layer of security than you normally see epic events ined obviously we he of their perimeter. there is a sub perimeter, hard perimeter, and obviously when we motor coaches adrivers in-servc the secret service does take custody of the equipment, and they are using magnetometers for alls and everything every day, so they are in a secure location for thatthen that morning drivers gt their marchingthey q■s havalrean preauthorized by the secret service to do this work and

there was also a law enforcement on all of the vehicles as well. announcer: a reminder, this program and all of c-span's 2024 campaign coverage can be found online. ♪ june into■óerage of the nationl political convention starting with■r■÷ milwaukee on july 15. next up gets the democrats as they convene in chicago kicking off on stay connected to c-span fnse oy at work. watcth and democratic national committee mentions live this summer on c-span, c-span at c-span.org. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics, powered by cable. announcer: up next on c-span "after words" with

york times editor lawrence ingrassia. then world bank economist discussed economic growth in latin america, and later republican members of congress take part in the faith and freedom coalition's road to majority conference in washington d.c. announcer: c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, ining charter communications. recognized as one of the best internet providers, and we are just getting started, building 100,000 m infrastructure to reach those who need it most. announcer: charter communications supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers , giving you a front row seat to democracy. ♪

on thursday, june into the cnn psi debate so live on cpahe two presumptive nominees joe biden and donald trump face-off as they try to earn your road ahead of the in november. our coverage begins in adequate p.m. eastern with a preview of what is to come. then00 p.m. eastern our simulcast of the debate. following the debate say we c-span as we take your calls and get the reaction to the firstthe simulcast live thursday at 10:00 p.m. eastern on c-span 2, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. , your unfiltered view of politics. in an 8-1 ruling the u.s. supreme court upheld a law that makes it a crime for