executives too, twitter is still insider tool. most people, it's not a tool for the masses like facebook or maybe snapchat where you to to persuade people. where you want to talk to people like us, and donald trump used that nobody else has. >> i would just add that, you know, reporters go to these rallies and sit through donald trump's speech and pick out what they think is the headline of that speech. that has been happening for decades now. now adays thousands people will be watching his rally online and chiming in on twitter and i've seen a couple times where he will say something a lot of times he said several times before, so to us trail reporters is not new but take a life of its own on twitter, and all of sudden become as headline. >> maddening for us, we have

written the story and now boss says write another one on same subject. i wrote it last week but now it is news now. >> that is how i see it impact. >> that is one thing i try to keep in mind throughout the presidential campaign, things that are old news for us, things we thought about for months and months, vast majority of america is not paying attention. they're checking in here and there. see something on facebook feed. this is new to everybody else. majority of america is not coming to the rallies, is not following donald trump on twitter. i always think about that context when writing my story. taking a step back, frame it a way, this has been happening for months. here is why he is saying this. and assuming readers are not following this down to the millisecond like we're all assuming. >> before we come back to the twitter, hashtag, boys and girls on the bus, if you tweet pearls of wisdom coming from the panel.

dan, i ask you a real unfair question but you sit here only representative of tv knaus that i have to ask this question too -- tv news. the latest count i could find googling this afternoon of the so-called free media that tv has given donald trump is 2.8 billion compared to i guess, i'm not sure how they count this up, but 1.2 billion for hillary clinton. you don't have control over all of that but you're a political producer for cnn. there is more and more talk in coverage of how trump dominates news cycles, particularly on the cable channels. does that come up in your news meetings. are you talking about what to do about that? >> i am woefully not in these meetings because i'm on the road. there are periods of time i wasn't at my house for 90 days. i don't go to the daily bureau meetings. i will say donald trump as we

all said up here, donald trump drives a lot of attention and while i think that you can look at stats like that he has gotten x-amount of free media compared to hillary clinton there is a reason that people are interested in him and i don't think, i don't think it is our place at times to say, this is wrong, that they shouldn't be interested. i think we as journalists report the news, report what is important. i think a lot of time there is interest what he is saying. i think we have to sometimes respond to that. that is my personal opinion, not cnn's opinion. that is how i feel. i do think that there are questions that should be asked and have been asked. i guaranteed they're asked internally at cnn. my opinion i don't think it is especially reporters and us to judge what people are interested in. a lot of people are interested

in donald trump whether a lot of people understand that or not. >> in defense of my tv colleagues here, yeah, write this one down, no, with problem with a lot of those calculations there are a whole different bunch of them, donald trump gets a lot free media, doesn't mean it is good media. >> we'll leave the discussion at this point to go live to the wisconsin delegation to the 2016 democratic convention in philadelphia hosting a breakfast. among those speaking, senator tammy baldwin, jon tester of montana and presidential candidate bernie sanders. >> give us a such a progressive message and really emphasize why we're democrats but great to hear. [applause] i am really excited to be hearing what we have in store for us tonight with president bill clinton addressing all of us. it will be another amazing night i will enjoy sharing with all of you. before we get into our speakers

this morning, and as you can see we have incredible lineup of speakers, i would like to call up our party affairs director to do some business. oh, we're just going through that. okay, cassie is not coming up right now. maybe a little bit later. i would like to start with our first speaker. we have the president of the united steelworkers, leo girard. leo became the international president of the steelworkers in 2001 and leo and the united steelworkers have been fighting tirelessly for workers across our nation. i would like to welcome leo to the stage. there he is. i'm sorry, i thought you were here. [applause] >> a lot of microphones up here.

i want to just say the same thing that the speaker just said. that was an incredible night last night, unbelievable, and the speech by michelle obama will go down in history. i never thought i would get to say something like this but after watching morning television, i think that donald trump is right. the media is fundamentally dishonest. i watched the morning television this morning and rather than focusing on the speech and the speeches, they were focusing on things that happened two days ago or the fact that the bernie group that was doing a bit of yelling during the day. they didn't talk about the kind of stuff that happened yesterday where we were more united than we've been in year, where we have the most progressive agenda than we've had in years, everyone is committed to making sure that donald trump doesn't get elected, where the speakers

are just unbelievable, and i was thinking about to what happened at the republican convention. who were the speakers at the republican convention? that guy from the wwf thinks this is a wrestling match? this is, you know, for us in the labor movement, can you hear me now? for those of us in the labor movement, we seem to always be telling our leadership and our membership this is the most important election of our lives. this time it is really true. what i've been saying to our folks, if you got to get inspired how hard you have to work, and how much you got to do to make sure that donald trump never sets within a mile of the white house, take a second and close your eyes. think about waking up the day after the election and think

that donald trump won and he gets to appoint three more supreme court justices just like him. think of what that does to the country. think of what that does to the future. let me just say this. mike bolton, our regional director, is here with me. he is probably out getting some food. i worked so hard, he worked so hard to try to defeat scott walker. we need to make sure that although scott walker is leaving, we got to make sure what he is leaving behind, the mess gets cleaned up, the best way to clean it up is elect more democrats. to elect russ feingold, to elect people that understand we have to fix the future. [applause] i want to say that as i get to travel around the union, and i get to travel around the

country, your chairwoman, martha lanning is being recognize as putting together one of the great campaigns, putting together a great team, putting together the kind of structure we need so we can win. i absolutely believe russ feingold is going to come back to the senate and will put johnson on his way out the door. [applause] got one of the great campaign managers, i assume he is in the hall somewhere or if not working back home with tom russell. tom russell will do a great job making sure we elect, not just russ feingold, but we also elect hillary clinton and make sure that she -- [applause] make sure that she cracks not only cracks but crushes that so-called glass ceiling. i thought that michelle -- i've got two daughters and i've got a

granddaughter and a grandson. i thought that michelle last night was spectacular when she talked about it. and you know what? so was bernie. so was elizabeth. this election -- go ahead. this election isn't about us. most of us that are here have had a pretty decent life. this election is about what our kids and grandkids will have. there are some young people right here. this election is about you. this election is going to be about the kind of future we hand over to them. and i really want to say to you, i believe, if we work hard enough, that we're going to win this election and win down ballot races. once we get past these conventions, and people start paying attention, you're going

to have to ask yourself, how could this guy even come close to winning the presidential election? we took care of mitt romney, and one of the ways we took care of him by forcing him to disclose his taxes. just last week, hang on a minute. just last week, or maybe the week before, sometimes i lose track of time, mitt romney spoke out publicly and said the only reason that trump would have for not releasing his income taxes is that there is probably a big bombshell in there of things that he's done, or things that he hasn't done or he should have done and mitt romney said, and i understand that, because i had to make that choice, when i released my taxes, i didn't do nothing dishonest but people thought i did things that were

immoral. donald trump is immoral when he wakes up in the morning. so i know that you've got a busy schedule. you've got at lot of things that you want to do today. i want to just say one more thing about trump. he came to pennsylvania. i live in pittsburgh. he came to pennsylvania and he stood up behind a scrapyard, with the scrapyard behind him, a metal scrapyard and he talked about, he knows what it is like to be a steelworker. this is a guy that went to work with kid gloves, not working gloves. this is a guy who inherited a small fortune from his father. this is a guy that had six or seven bankruptcies. i got to ask you a question, how do you bankrupt a casino when the house always wins? [laughter] hey?

you bankrupt the casino deliberately. you load it up with debt. and then after you load it up with debt, you turn it into a bankruptcy chapter 11. then you stiff all the small business people, you stiff the workers, you stiff all the people, and as he says, i took a lot of money out of atlantic city he says. [applause] so when i say that he has no right, he has no experience, and he has no voice to say that he knows what it is like to be a steelworker, this is a guy who gets his clothing line made in el salavador and bangladesh. this is guy everything he has touched a elizabeth warren said, he made his money by stiffing other people. he made his money, by taking care of himself at the expense of everybody else. ask yourself, wh go en youd

talk to people, name me one individual besides hisself, name me one project that he made that benefited workers. that benefited the middle class. that created a real jobs? right now, at the taj mahal, still the trump taj mahal, workers are on strike to try to get a good living. hang on. excuse me, in l.a., not l.a., in las vegas, he spent half a million dollars to keep his, to try to keep his workers at the casino from getting a union. after he lost all of the labor board cases he still tried to keep goon guards to keep them from, tried to bust the little union they were building. so as you go to the next couple of days, as you go home and do the work that we have to do to make sure we win this election,

think about the supreme court, think about these young people, and think about this is a guy that never did anything for anybody but himself. thank you very much. solidarity forever. on to victory. it would be wonderful to have russ back in the senate! [applause] >> thank you, leo. you know, i've been at this job about a year and the way we're really going to make a difference to working class families all over this nation is by partnering with great workers and organizations like the united steelworkers. thank you, leo. thank you michael bolton, for everything you're doing. [applause] so i am really pleased to be able to welcome one of wisconsin's state senators. we've heard that we're going -- not state, united states senators. we're planning on to make sure

we have two democratic united states senators by electing russ feingold. this november. but we are so pleased we have senator tammy baldwin in washington, d.c. because she is a tireless fighter for veterans, for families, and for all of us. she knows what is at stake this november and i would like to he welcome senator tammy baldwin to the stage. [applause] >> well, thank you. good morning. wow. so i guess that means you all didn't stay out too late last night or too early this morning? it's great to see you. i want to also send out my, my welcome and my hellos to the

montana delegation. come on. any montanas in the room? [applause] and to the alaska delegation. [applause] wow! excellent, excellent. it is so great to get a chance to join you and i want to thank those of you who are serving as delegates, serving as alternates. those of you from, all of the three states who serve as elected officials and candidates and, i, since montana is in the house, i want to give a special shoutout to denise juno, who i have gotten a chance to get to know over the course of her campaign for, for the house of representatives and, you got a great, great candidate there and so, we're wishing you all the

best in montana. and i can't wait to have you send denise to washington, d.c., as one in a long line of fabulous leaders from montana. so i am a little, sort of reflective standing in front of the podium today because i am remembering four years ago when i stood before the wisconsin delegation at a breakfast such as this in charlotte, north carolina, to, at the point when i was seeking an open u.s. senate seat being vacated by herb kohl who served wisconsin in a most distinguished fashion for many, many years. and at the time wisconsin had been through quite a lot and, i'll get back to that in a

moment but many, many believed that our chances of electing a progressive to the united states senate from the state of wisconsin after the 2010 elections was pretty slim, pretty grim and you proved otherwise. and our state proved otherwise. and i am grateful to you for working so hard to make that a reality. [applause] now -- i have had the distinct honor of being able to work with you and for you on some of the critical issues facing our nation. and yet i know to bring so many of the issues we want to across the finish line, if you will, we need to win elections.

and so for example, last week i was so proud to introduce alongwith cory booker, and wasn't he great last night, by the way? [applause] one of the most consequential anti-poverty plans that we've seen in the united states in a long, long time. and yet we know what sort of an effort it is going to take to make a difference, to pass laws, and part of this measure has to do with unrigging a tax system that has favored those at the very top for decades and decades, promising that the benefits would trickle down, and they haven't. it hasn't worked and we know it. and now it's time to tackle

poverty by expanding the earned income tax credit, by expanding the child tax credit, by leveling the playing field in the tax code. maybe let's call it trickle up, finally. [applause] i'm proud to be author after america sure that closes the carried interest loophole, this tax benefit to those who run hedge funds, that allow them to pay at a lower tax rate than hard-working truck drivers and nurses and teachers. that is part of the effort to unrig our tax code, and level the playing field. i'm proud to be the author of the "the inthe red act," which

is our path to debt-free college in america. [applause] as i travel the state, not only am i disturbed so deeply by those shouldering mountains of debt, just to have gotten their undergraduate degree, often from a public institution, but i'm deeply disturbed by those young people who aren't even sure they're going to aspire to college, because they have seen an older sibling or relative so indebted, they're afraid to do the same. they're afraid to aspire to a higher education. it is time that we rethink our commitment to education. you know wisconsin was a leader over a century ago when we became one of the first states

to guarranty a k-12 education to all of our young people because we understood how important that was. we also know that is not enough anymore, to get you a job, that will support a family. we've got to expand that commitment to include higher education also. [applause] so i also am proud of introducing something called the brokaw act. i don't know if marathon county, wisconsin, is in the house. but let me tell you about a town called brokaw, wisconsin, a village. brokaw hosted a paper mill for over a century.

it was part of the wausau paper company. that company was taken over essentially by activist hedge funds who decided to extract all of the profits and close the mill. it was not unprofitable when it was closed. hundreds lost their jobs. and there was no accountability. and this is happening with increasing frequency across the united states. and we've got to do something about it. when i went to brokaw to meet with the millworkers, their jobs had been lost before i was elected to the united states

senate but they took out their picture books and showed me pictures of fathers and grandfathers who worked in that mill. the pride of their community. we called it brokaw because the entire village became insolvent. because their biggest employer was gone. this can not keep happening and i am honored to have introduced the brokaw act in the name of that community so that we can fight back against these activists hedge funds. [applause] i am also wanting to share our efforts to make sure that we can fight back, in fact change the entire dialogue on a woman's right to make choices and

control her own body. [applause] it is almost every state in the union and certainly at the federal level we have been on defense for years, for years. and i was proud to introduce alongwith senator blumenthal from connecticut the women's health protection act. let me just describe briefly what that act does. it is framed in many ways after the voting rights act. that may sound a little bit surprising but if you think about it, when the voting rights act was passed it was in response to state after state erecting artificial barriers to access to the polls, right?

poll taxes, tests, all sorts of things that weren't what they say they were. they were actually like we're seeing today, measures aimed at keeping people away from accessing their right to vote, to speak in this democracy. well the women's health protection act creates the same sort of test for the courts to say, was this measure passed to prevent access or to protect a woman's health or life? and if the court says that it has nothing to do with helping promote safety, it's presumed unconstitutional. [applause] and it will change, it will change the debate that we're

having in this country. so i am, thank you for indulging me to be able to talk a little bit about the work that i have had the honor of doing in the senate on your behalf and on the behalf of people all across the country but i need partners. i need a partner in the white house and i need a partner in the united states senate from wisconsin to help get these jobs done. [applause] to help level the playing field. to help protect a woman's right to choose, to help all of these regards. and, you all know that, and you're all here because you're committed to do the work necessary to make that happen. and i am so grateful for that. i said i would return to what we

know and what we've learned in wisconsin. because i feel like on a national scale we're seeing what we've seen in our state all over again. it is deja vu. many of you here i joined in a cold february and march time frame, marching against scott walker's attacks on working people and labor unions. [applause] how much marched around the capitol at madison? thank you for that. thank you for making your voices heard. you know, it was devastating to us in so many ways because in wisconsin we're so proud of our, being the first state to give public employees collective bargaining rights. being the first state to pass workers' compensation laws.

being the first state to pass unemployment compensation laws. we're the first in some regards and to see that torn apart was crushing. we also know that the divide and can kerr tactics were used. wisconsin is a state where for years, decades, we could disagree on the issues and still break bread together, enjoy one another's company and get along, and now we have seen families divided by the politics of our governor. we've seen it all in a six-year preview to what we are seeing in the united states now in the presidential candidacy of donald trump. so we can all tell you who

aren't from wisconsin a little bit of what that experience is like and how hard it is. to lighten the moment a little bit, i described donald trump as nothing more than scott walker with a spray tan. [laughter] but we know in order to make progress we must win. we must win elections, we must elect russ feingold to be my progressive partner. [applause] we must elect hillary clinton to be the president of the united states. [applause] and we must work together rather than allowing anyone, scott walker, donald trump, or anyone to split us apart because we're here, because we care

about our fellow citizens, our neighbors and we care about making sure we respect the dignity of work in allowing people to get ahead in our nation. thank you so much for having me here. [applause] thank you so much for all of your support. love you. [applause] >> thank you, senator baldwin. being somebody who grew up in one of those small paper mill towns, a town that has lost its paper mills i watched fellow community members lives change right before our eyes. it is so nice to have someone like senator baldwin fighting for the little people, fighting for the hard-working people of our state. so thank you again, senator

baldwin. give her a round of applause. [applause] speaking of people that are out there fighting for the working class, our next speaker, senator jon tester, is strong defender of medicare, social security. he wants to insure that all children have equality. he is? okay. he is a strong defender of quality public school education. he wants to be sure that any family that needs health care can get it, so that when a medical tragedy hits them, it doesn't destroy their life anymore than the actual medical emergency does. we don't want people going bankrupt because they got cancer. so so i will be welcoming him to the stage. looks like he is two minutes out. that was the little note was. everybody enjoy a few conversations.

as soon as senator tester is here we will welcome him and the montana delegation will be pleased to see him because he is fighting for them. [applause] [inaudible conversations].

[inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> again we're bringing live coverage this morning after breakfast with the wisconsin delegation to the 2016 democratic national convention. we have heard from senator tammy baldwin of wisconsin. we are waiting to hear from senator jon tester of montana. just a couple minutes before he speaks. later it will be former presidential democratic candidate bernie sanders. he is scheduled for 9:00 this morning. quick reminder of our live coverage of the convention tonight starts at 3:00 p.m.

eastern with our preview program. coverage of the convention starts at 4:00 with remarks tonight by former president bill clinton. >> i would like to welcome to the stage general pal mary -- jen palmeri, hillary communiqueses director -- communications director. she is doing tireless work to make sure we elect hillary clinton in november. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. i wanted to open with talking about portrait of america that the democrats showed last night, particularly in stark contrast to what we saw from the republicans in cleveland last

week, and thought that it was, in particularly important on that first day of our convention for, when america tunes in after having seen a pretty dark and even apocalyptic version of america portrayed by donald trump on thursday night, that they see a party that thinks america is all about inclusion. and i think that you saw that very movingly communicated by senator booker, and talking about unites us as a nation and also, talking with, from senator warren talking about how we want an inclusive economy. we need to embrace our diversity, the strength of our diversity, and that is something that we celebrate as a nation but there is so much work to do to insure that we have an economy that works for everyone, that the economy is as inclusive. and, then, mrs. obama, a former staff person for president

obama, so proud and moved by what she, the portrait of america that she showed, that we want to raise our children in, and i can't imagine a more effective contrast, more effective hopeful, real contrast with what donald trump showed on thursday night than mrs. obama. [applause] yes, right? she is so amazing and she nails it every time and she really gets to the guts of what, you know, what we should celebrate in his presidency and what is at stake for our country if we let donald trump become president. and, finally you know, as a member of hillary clinton's team, so grateful for senator sanders's speech last night where he laid out not just the stakes but shared goals hillary clinton have for this nation and

offering his support for her and was really proud as democrats you saw hillary clinton supporters come together to cheer for him. you obviously saw senator sanders's supporters come cheer for him. this has been a passionate, spirited, important primary with a lot of important issues that have been, that this primary brought to the forefront. i think that you know, and that there are few things as democrats we should be proud of at this convention. that the hillary clinton campaign and bernie sanders campaign have come together to produce the most progressive platform ever. [applause] without the very spirited and engaged debates that we had, an engaged primary that we have, those issues would not be at the forefront of the national debate. that is very important that they are and we were able to produce

that, to produce that platform. and second, is that, another core strength of the democratic party, of american values that we care about our children. we don't ever give up. that is what you will hear about hillary clinton tonight, the fight of her life, that started as a young woman working at childrens defense fund and continued to motivate her through today. that is the core value of the democratic party and one of the best things about america too. and if we, i think that is so, we should all be proud that tonight we will elect our first woman to be the nominee of a major political party. [applause] pretty amazing moment and i think one that everyone as democrats americans are proud we're following the first african-american president, our

first african-american democratic nominee, with the first woman nominee and hopefully our first woman president. and i know the, it has been a very hard-fought primary and that is something that, particularly senator sanders supporters people feel so passionately about the future of the country to be as involved as all of you are and hope that if we want to make this progressive platform more than a platform and into reality, that you'll join us in, in fighting for that, for november. i can't imagine that is more at stake. i can't imagine anything that is more troubling than i've seen in my lifetime as a presidency of donald trump and this opportunities that we have. senator sanders, hillary clinton, ban together to not just defeat him but take that party platform, take the progressive values are represented in that policies

embody that and get that done in november. so, thank you all very much. [applause] >> thank you very much. well, i did a little introduction earlier. and he didn't get to hear it all. i know i and the montana delegation are proud to welcome senator jon tester to the stage. [applause] >> thank you very much. i haven't seen this many microphones since god knows when. great to be here.

i want to thank you all. i will admit a major sin. i was not there last night. but i'm going to tell you but on television it looked very, very good. i want to thank all of you what you're doing, whether you're bernie supporters or hillary supporters it doesn't matter. the fact is that in november we have some very, very important elections that are up. in my real life i farm as folks in montana. yeah. i will just tell you that i was cutting winter wheat when, when "the donald" was speaking the other night and i've got tell you it scared the hell right out of me. this can not happen, i'm telling you. if this were to happen i would be looking buying property north of moose jaw. we don't want to do that. we want to stay on the land that my grandparents homesteaded. but, first of all, for the folks

in wisconsin, if you're from wisconsin, clap. [cheers and applause] yeah, i would just tell you, i would just tell you, this is no bs, and that doesn't stand for big sandy, that stands for something else. that this is no b. tammy baldwin may be the best senator in the united states senate. [applause] she is. when i took this job as chair of the dscc some 18 months ago, i volunteered for it, call me crazy, and i am, but the truth is, that tammy is head of an outfit called our women's senate network and she is one of those people who gets-done. that is a fact. she works hard and that is incredible. [applause]

we thank you for sending tammy to the united states senate. i'm going to be a little bit presumptuous here. i will thank you for sending russ fine gold back to the united states senate too. [applause] i will tell you unequivocally, my mom passed away. i got elected in 06 and i was elected in 09. my father's favorite senator even after i was sworn in was russ feingold. we need him back in the united states senate. i tell you if wisconsin does their job, i'm confident they will, we will have russ back in the united states and we will have a working majority of democrats in the united states after this election in november. [applause] so, but we have our work cut out for us. and i will tell you that, in montana we have an incredibly difficult gubernatorial election

going on and i brought these papers up because i'm not very familiar with scott walker but, but i'm going to tell you that, that i think we do have some connections with the governor's race in montana and what you guys experienced in wisconsin. in wisconsin you had hundreds of millions of dollars cut from public education, right? you've had right to work laws imposed, yeah. you have have photo i.d. laws so people can't vote in a democracy, unbelievable. you have five planned parenthood clinics close in the last three years. i will tell you what that sounds like to mon tan. that sounds like gray giante, who is running for montana. we want bullock who has done a great job to get reelected. quite frankly done a great job as governor of montana. that is one of the reasons why

elections are important. all we have to do is look at wisconsin, we love you, we love your cheese but we don't want to be like your governor's office, okay? that is the way it is. that's a fact. [applause] so, we are where we are today and i've got to tell you when i walked in the room and i saw that tammy was speaking, and i figured tammy would be speaking which is good, and then we got tomorrow harken who was probably my mom's second favorite senator behind russ feingold and we got the bern. is the bern here? he will be here soon. bottom line you have great speakers to hear from. i just want to say a couple things. i can't tell you how important it is that we all come together, regardless who you supported during this tough primary fight, that we all come together and make sure hillary clinton is the next president of the united states. it is critically important. [applause]

it is critically important. i'm telling you, it is not important for anybody sitting in this room. this is a generational election. there is no ifs, ands or buts about this, it has to happen. i will also say 18 months ago when i raised my hand to go to the bathroom, and harry said you will be dscc chair, it is really important we get a democratic majority back in the united states senate and i will tell you why. it is. it is. i will tell you why, and by the way if you watched any part of the republican convention last week you know why they're worried. we've got a supreme court that quite frankly hasn't been working for middle class america for a long time. and this election could well determine three or four of the next justices on that supreme court. and if you doesn't have a senate that will confirm those folks, we're in trouble. and so the senate is important. it is why tammy has done such a

great job, by the way, helping us get a democratic majority back. we got, there are 34 sights up this cycle. 100 people in the senate. every once in a while it is 34, not 33. of those 34, 10 are controlled by democrats. of the rest, 24 are controlled by republicans. we have target-rich environment and we have some of the best candidates running across the country than we ever have. russ feingold at the top of that list. we will quite frankly get a majority back if you guys stay diligent. i'm talking about folks from montana, folks from iowa, folks from wisconsin, everybody. keep your shoulder to the wheel. none of these races are gimmes. you we know that we saw happened back in 2010. if we don't stay diligent and we don't stay focused and we don't help our candidates do, if we don't help them win in november, this country will be a whole different place. i'm going to tell you, it won't be for the better.

so from that standpoint it's a little bit scary. from the good standpoint we have good candidates and we have great people and we have great people supporting them on the ground. quite frankly i feel good about what will happen in november if we keep focused on the prize. i just want to say thank you all, thank you for being here. thank you for what you're doing, enjoy the convention. this is a pile of fun. it is. it is good stuff. and, just, just leave you with this we've got, this is july, august, september, october, we got 3 1/2 months, okay? we got 3 1/2 months and if you think this is a party, we win the first tuesday of november, we'll have one hell of a party. thank you all. [applause] >> thank you, senator.

our next guest speaker, senator tom harken, has served diligently in the last 40 years in the united states congress. he has fought for his iowans, he has fought for students and has fought for members of the disabled community. i would like to welcome him and it is my honor to welcome tonight -- him today. good morning, senator. >> thank you. hello, wisconsin. and montana! and alaska. [applause] and i'm glad to be here. martha, you're a great state chair. thanks for inviting an old has-been senator to meet with some of my long time friends in wisconsin.

cory, your executive director, thank you. let me echo what jon tester said, thank you, 10,000 times over for sipping tammy baldwin to the united states senate. she's wonderful. she's just great. [applause] now wisconsin made a mistake six years ago. this year you can rectify it by returning russ feingold to his rightful place in the united states senate! [applause] i served during his three terms in the senate with russ. i count him as a very close personal friend. someone that we worked together on so many progressive issues and i know you will send him back to the united states senate. mayor tom baird was here but i can't see where the heck he is. back there someplace. somewhere back there. well, thank you, mayor, milwaukee. thank you. paul hoagland is here from madison, one of my favorite

places in the entire universe. our assembly leader peter barca. i is here someplace. again a great progressive leader. [applause] i know you will return gwen moore and ron, and tom kind and send tom nelson to the house representatives this year! mustafa ahmed[applause] i got looking at lineup of wisconsin. you have five republicans, three democrats. time to reverse that. time to reverse that ratio in wisconsin. and it is, look, i have so many fond memories of wisconsin, campaigning there. some of you who have been around for a while supported me when i ran for president in 1992. i guess maybe i was sort of the bernie sanders of that time, maybe, i don't know. had some good friends and edgar very, what a great friend edgar

very has been of mind all these years. any been to the fighting bob fest in baribou? i spoke there a lot of times until they started scheduling it at same time of my steak fry in iowa. now i'm no longer having steak fries maybe they invite me not fighting bob fest in wisconsin. great, great people. i think about wisconsin. what do i think about? i think about the progressive era, the things that were done in this country to regulate utilities, get control of monopolies. outlaw monopolies, workmen's compensation, women's right to vote, all those wonderful things led by progressives from the state of wisconsin, and bob la follette. that is where it all originated. [applause] wisconsin, second state to abolish the death penalty. think about that, all the way back to the progressive era. you've been there. [applause]

doing a little history, we started looking up sort of where i came from, my great-grandfather, daniel harkin came from ireland and settled in a place near mineral point. is that right, mineral point? mineral point. daniel harkin settled there and in -- my sister-in-law doing some research found that he was a delegate to the 1847 constitutional convention before wisconsin became a state. wisconsin became a state in' 48. he was there in in '47. there were some records made, there was records that this daniel harkin from mineral point, a recent immigrant, had spoken against a proposal to say that all immigrants had to be in wisconsin for 10 years before they could vote. daniel hark kip spoke against that and said he was as good as

any person in wisconsin. he had just come there from ireland he should have the right to vote! [applause] by god, he won! [applause] so, you can see my fondness for wisconsin is pretty darn deep. and when i was first elected to the house i served with some giants, giant progressives, people like henry royce and people like bob cast 10 meyer, dave obie, my good friend i got elected with, father bob cornell. they were great, great congressman. and represented progressives so well in the house of representatives. and you know, i don't know what happened, i don't know where the scott walker character came from, but you know, there were a couple of nicks in your history you know. need i mention joe mccarthy.

and scott walker. but then i repeat myself. [applause] gosh, anyway, i just, again, want to let you know what i'm doing right now. i'm speaking today at 4:00. they gave me a little slot. today, the 26th of july, is the 26th anniversary of the signing of the americans with disabilities act, the bill that i was honored to put through the united states senate. [applause] so, thank you. thank you. thank you. 26 years later they gave me a slot today. . .

a what i'm saying here yesterday, what we will see today, tomorrow and thursday is yes, we have our differences. we have our clinton people. we have our standards people. i understand that. by the way i want to say to the sanders people who are here, in 1968 i got out of the military. i was so upset with the vietnam war and i lost so many friends in vietnam that i immediately got on the campaign of a guy by the name of gene mccarthy. some of you may remember that. [applause] to younger people who was the bernie sanders of 1968.

so i was on his campaign. we didn't make it. we didn't make it. and i often thought after that perhaps those of us who had been so strong for gene mccarthy, or bobby kennedy, and bobby kennedy got assassinated that year, that maybe we didn't work as hard as we should have. like hubert humphrey, and he narrowly lost, and think what history would be like if we had not had eight years of richard nixon in the white house. just think about. [applause] so i say to all my friends, and i'm a hillary clinton supporter but i say to my friends in the bernie sanders camp, bernie is one of my closest personal friends. that's on us. he and i am jane and ruth my wife have traveled together. i spent last night with bernie just the two of us before spoke, just the two of us, talking about where we are headed.

and so here's what i say to my friends in the sanders camp. what bernie is done for this country is remarkable. how he is moved the progressive agenda in america. how he is moved our platform. this is the most progressive democratic party platform in my lifetime. [applause] and so i say to you, look, we've got to come together. the other side is way too scary. and what they would do to this country. so we've got to come together and support the nominee of our party. i know, i don't know what wisconsin will do. i know in iowa the bernie sanders people are going to vote for bernie. that's fine, nothing wrong with that. as bernie said last night, he's going to do everything in his power to elect hillary clinton

president and deny donald trump that office. furthermore, i think i can say this without saying any private conversations, that his movement, his progressive movement alongside paul wellstone's wellstone action movement and alongside the 21st century democrats which i started, we are going to but had to keep the aggressive agenda alive and well in america. we will make sure -- [applause] there's an old saying, fdr, my friend-- all the other office, r years, i have my dad wpa part in the office to remind me of who saved my family in the depression, franklin roosevelt. i thought a lot about it. i'm a big labor guy, a big labor supporter. [applause]

forty years in the congress, 95% voting record with the afl-cio and i'm out of that, i will tell you that. [applause] so went on some labor people went to see franklin was the about the time of the fair labor standards act. president roosevelt said look fellows, they were all men at that time, we've come a long way, he said, look, i'm with you. now go out and make me do it. go out and make me do it. it's not just enough to elect hillary clinton as president. our progressive agenda, now we've got to go out and make her do it and make the congress do it and make the senate do it. make the supreme court do it and get a new justice into the united states supreme court. [applause]

[cheers and applause] [chanting] thank you all. and let me just, it is an honor for me to follow one of the great senators in the recent history of our country, tom harkin. [applause] when tom tells you he's a labor guy, he is not just getting. i was in many, many closed-door meetings. there was nobody, and i see nobody, who fought harder for unions and working people than tom harkin did. no, thank you so much. [applause] i'm going to be very brief but

just first of all let me thank wisconsin, montana, and alaska for your support. [applause] i was in montana. we campaigned. my wife and i did the work and alaska. [applause] and that's where we got the largest load, so i don't know, but my son is here. there he is. [applause] look, i just want to pick up on a few of the points that senator harkeharkin made. personal this is an unbelievably critical moment in american economic and political history. i don't have to explain to

anybody in this room that while we have come a long way economically in the last seven and a half years, republican friends don't talk about it. they don't talk about the economy that president obama inherited, and the fact we were losing 800,000 jobs a month and that the world's financial system was literally on the verge of collapse. that's what obama and biden inherited. and nobody except the most cynical and partisan people in the world would deny that we are in much, much better shape today than we were when president obama came in. that's true but there's another truth. there is another truth that also cannot be denied. and that is while we're better off today than we were in the midst of a very deep and dark depression, the truth of the matter is that for the last 35 or 40 years, the great middle-class, once the envy of the world, has been disappearing. that's the truth.

the truth is that millions of our people in wisconsin, in wisconsin, in alaska are working longer hours for lower wages. they're asking why, what happened? we've seen an explosion of technology, worker productivity is going up to cut the fat. why are people working longer hours for lower wages? it has everything to do with bad public policy. [applause] and if there is a scene of our campaign, that theme is we have to think big, not small. [applause] you know, if we were a poor country, a poor country, as are many poor countries around the world, then we would sit around and said it's too bad, we can't

have a healthcare for all people because we are too poor. we can't have good education for all of our children, we are too poor. we can't rebuild our infrastructure. we are too poor. well, guess what. the united states is not a poor country. we are the wealthiest country in the history of the world. [applause] but the problem is, and we have to deal with this problem, that in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, almost all of the new wealth and income being generated is going to the top 1%. we've got to deal with that reality, and that means raising the minimum wage to a living wage, in my view, 15 bucks an hour. [cheers and applause] and i want you all to know, hillary clinton is running against a guy who does not want

to raise the federal minimum wage above the starvation a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. in fact, he supports the rights of states to lower the minimum wage, all right? we need pay equity for women. no excuse. [applause] hillary clinton erase that. donald trump does not. on the ranking member of us in on the budget committee sluggy with a lot of these issues. we deal with the senate budget a couple of years ago. republicans pushed a budget that would eliminate obamacare, the affordable care act. throw 20 million people off of health insurance. i asked the ranking member, the right to do this, tell me, mr. chairman, what happened to 29 people who were put off of health insurance? by the way, how many of them will die? we don't know anything about that. no comment on that. that's the reality. we need is a nation not to be

throwing 20 million people off of health insurance. we need to be moving come in my view, to a medicare for all health care facility. [cheers and applause] hillary clinton is running, it is, all of us have republican friends and we have conservative friends, and would like them and we disagree on policy. nothing wrong with that. it's called democracy. but when he becomes embarrassi embarrassing, tom harkin knows this because he was innocent. tammy baldwin, where he is can be? tammy knows this. how do you make judgments about public policy? he's got to go to experts, scientists. that's what you do. you can't do public policy without having actual scientific information in front of you.

the virtually the entire scientific community is an agreement, unanimous agreement. climate change is a real. it is caused by human activity. and it is already not tomorrow, today, as all of you know, doing devastating harm to our country and countries all over the world. what about the forest fires raging right now in california, the drought in california. the floods, miami being flooded. et cetera, et cetera, all over the world. and you have a candidate running for president of the united states rejects science, who tells us that climate change is a quote-unquote hoax perpetrated by the chinese by the way. you can't have a president who reject science, not when you're dealing with an issue in which the future of the planet is at stake. so our job is multi-folded seems

to me. number one obviously in the next few months we've got to do everything that we can to make sure that donald trump who, in my view, is the worst least prepared candidate for president in my lifetime. number two, we've got to obviously elect hillary clinton. number three, we have got to come as tom said a moment ago, stay focused on our issues and force every level of government to represent working people. [applause] and one of the things that come with the competence of our campaign was to involve millions of people, a lot of young people in the political process and we

got to keep it going. and we are going to keep that going. our campaign is going to transition to another organization which is going to support candidates running for school board, for city council, for state legislature. [applause] there are, if i've learned anything in this campaign, and i say this not rhetorically but from the bottom of my heart, the are wonderful people in every state in this country, really great people, who love this country, the want to see this country become all that we know that we can become. so our job is to bring people into the political process around a progressive agenda, an agenda that says to the 1% sorry, you are not going to get it all. this country, our government, belongs to all of us. so let me conclude by thanking

all of you for the support that you gave a political revolution, and i continue to look forward to working with you in the future. thank you all very much. [cheers and applause] [chanting] [applause]

>> [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> all right. second warning. the raffle is commencing. thank you, everybody, who is sticking around the.

[inaudible] >> live picture of the vfw convention taking place in north carolina. yesterday hillary clinton spoke at this event. donald trump will be here this morning. live coverage expected to start in just a couple of minutes. we will hear what hillary clinton had to say to veterans yesterday.

♪ ♪ ♪ >> please be seated. our next guest is the first first lady ever elected to public office, and is the first new yorker to ever serve as the senate armed services forces committee, which she did for eight years in the united states senate from the empire state. she last appeared before us in

2007 as a candidate for president of the united states. and before moving on to serve our nation as its secretary of state in the first obama administration, i'd like to also point out that she is a former first lady, married to bill clinton, our past president. originally from chicago, she graduate from wellesley college and yale law school and is married to former, as i said, bill clinton. enough times? i think so. comrades and auxiliary members, may i present to you the presumptive democratic party nominee to become the next president of the united states, former secretary of state hillary rodham clinton spent thank you so much, commander. thank you so much. [applause] thank you. thank you so much. thank you very much, commander,

for the very warm welcome your thanks to your executive director, bob wallace, and all the men and women of the vfw, of the auxiliary, for your commitments, your service and your action. on behalf of america's veterans. this is a 117th national convention. that is quite a legacy. and in that time the vfw has built a record to be proud of. you have been a moving force behind hallmark achievements, like the creation of the va, the passage of the g.i. bill, the establishment of national monuments dedicated to those who fought in world war ii, the korean war, the war in vietnam,

women in military service, and veterans disabled for life. these monuments are sacred places. i've been too many of them, also to our cemeteries around the world. people come to sit quietly, maybe lay a flower or a letter, or other momentum to reflect on the courage and sacrifice of those who fought for our nation and our ideals. i don't think it is an overstatement for me to say, those memorials might not exist if it were not for you. so thank you, and thank you for

standing up today and everyday for veterans health, for veterans education, or the right of all veterans for dignity and security. and thank you for continuing to push our nation to live up to our obligation to those who serve. i've been a direct beneficiary of your expertise and commitme commitment. some of my top advisers are members of the vfw. i'm grateful to all the veterans and retired military leaders who have shared their knowledge and counsel with me. i especially want to thank the vfw for the close consultation you provided as we work to put forth our plan to reform the va. today, i especially want to acknowledge and appreciate

retired marine general john allen, former deputy commander of u.s. central command and command of the international security assistance force, overseeing nato troops in afghanistan. i had the great privilege of working with general allen and, therefore, i am deeply honored that he endorsed me this morning. his confidence in the comment that of the other esteemed military leaders who support my campaign means a great deal to me. but it also imposes a high responsibility on me as well. so i thank you. i thank you for what you have done behind the scenes as well as in public. to make sure that america keep our promises, honors our history, and gives our veterans

the respect and the opportunities they have earned. a lot of the issues you have fought for are at stake in this election. america is grappling with big questions. how do we keep our country safe? how do we make the world safer? how do we make sure we give our troops what they need to see their mission through wrecks and when they come home, that they have the support and access to services they need to lead off the, productive successful lives. these challenges matter to me personally. not only as the proud daughter of a veteran. my father enlisted in the navy shortly after the japanese attacked pearl harbor. he became a chief petty officer responsible for training thousands of young sailors

before they shipped out to sea, mostly to the pacific theater. after my father died in 1993, i received letters and old photos from men who had served under him, talking about what a difference my dad made in their lives. these are letters that i treasure. my dad once told me how said he felt when he left the great lakes naval base and accompanied his trainees to the west coast to join their ships. he knew some of these bright, energetic, young men would not survive. some of them probably thought it, too. but still they went to serve. because they knew our country

needed them. that's the kind of courage and honor our men and women in uniform demonstrate every single day. i thought a lot about my father's experiences later when i became a senator from new york serving on the senate armed services committee. and then as secretary of state. i have worked hard over the years on many of the issues you care about and work on every day. i am not a newcomer to these issues. and today i want to tell you a few of my core beliefs which will guide me if i had the great honor to be elected this fall. because americans are not just choosing a president. we are also choosing a

commander-in-chief, the person who decides questions of war and peace, life and death. there is no more solemn more serious responsibility than that. so you deserve to know what we candidates believe about national security, and how we would go about making life or death calls. because they will affect our men and women in uniform, first and foremost, and they will affect our veterans. let's start here. i believe the united states of america is an exceptional nation with the capabilities that no other country comes close to matching. and we have -- [applause] we have the world's greatest military.

don't let anyone tell you otherwise. [applause] we also have an economy that is larger, more durable, and more entrepreneurial than any other on the planet. and we are guided by values that have long inspired people across the world, a commitment to freedom and equality, justice, and diversity that fundamental american idea that every single person deserves to be treated decently and with respect, no matter who they are. [applause] i believe in standing with our allies. because they are part of what makes us exceptional. no other country in the world

has relationships like we do. generations of american troops fought and yes, died, to secure those bonds. because they knew we were safer with more friends and partners, and fewer adversaries and enemies. [applause] our men and women in uniform carry that work forward today. my running mate in this election is a wonderful man from virginia named tim kaine. he is a u.s. senator. he was governor of virginia, mayor of richmond, virginia. if you're not familiar with and yet, i urge you to check it out. he's a great public servant and a terrific guy. his son is a marine.

his son is actually deploying today to help defend our nato allies in europe. that's how committed he is, and many others are, to our alliances. and we should be, too. after all, america's word has to mean something. [applause] >> i believe in being firm but wise with our rivals. finding common ground where we can and standing our ground when we must. that's a balance that made it possible for me to work with all kinds of nations, to work, to increase pressure on north korea. to work to stand up to the

chinese in the south china sea. to work with russia to conclude the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty that reduces nuclear stockpiles while standing up to them. because of their threats to our friends in eastern europe. one thing for certain, you will not ever hear from me is praise for dictators and strongmen who have no love for america. [applause] >> and yes, i believe with all my heart and democracy. and i believe in diplomacy. it is often the only way to avoid conflicts that can end up exacting a much greater cost. i believe the most sacred responsibility of a

commander-in-chief is deciding whether to send men and women into battle. i have visited our troops in theaters of war and tension. i know how serious this is. force must only be used as a last resort. and only with a clear and well-thought-out strategy. our troops deserve nothing less your american expects nothing less. i believe our troops strive to comport themselves with honor. and they deserve a commander-in-chief who will never order them to commit war crimes. i believe in listening to our generals and admirals, because they have invaluable knowledge and experience. and they are doing one of the

most important jobs there is, commanding america's sons and daughters. as commander-in-chief i will always show them respect and hear them out. you will never hear me say that i only listen to myself on national security. [applause] i believe in doing everything we can to meet threats at home and abroad. i know we live in a dangerous world. that's why we need real plans, real strategies to deal with terrorism, including homegrown terrorism. i've worked with experienced people from across different fields and, indeed, across the political spectrum to come up with comprehensive strategies for these and other threats. i will be ready to get to work

on day one. i take nothing more seriously than our security. most of all, i believe in american leadership. i believe that who we are as a people -- >> to the convention, please welcome this next guest. our next guest is an american businessman, and television personality, an author and now politician. he was born in queens, new york, and attended fordham university in the bronx before entering the wharton school of finance and commerce at the university of pennsylvania where he would earn a bachelor's degree in economics. comrades, i present to you the republican party nominee to become the next president of the

united states, mr. donald j. trump. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> thank you very much everybody. wow. thank you. thank you very much. [applause] what a privilege to be here with

the incredible, and i mean incredible men and women of the veterans of foreign wars. [applause] and we set today and all time registration record. that's pretty good, right? congratulations to you. spending time with our veterans has been the greatest honor of this campaign. i want to thank commander-in-chief, big john. and really for the welcome. he has been so fantastic from the time we walked in. he has been so fantastic. also many thanks to bob wallace, auxiliary resident, francesca, and for your incoming leadership. you have ryan duffy and call it a bishop, two terrific people. two terrific people.

before going any further today i would like to bring up onto the stage my good friend, governor mike pence. [applause] and by the way, mike is the son of a soldier, and the father of a marine. mike. [applause] >> thank you, mr. trump. thank you to the commander. it's an honor to greet you all at the 117th vfw where no one does more for veterans. thanks for all you do you. [applause] >> it is an honor to stand with donald trump today. it is even a greater honor for me to stand with those of you who have worn the uniform of the united states. as mr. trump just said, i am, i was not a soldier but i am the son of a combat veteran who served in korea.

[applause] and i am the proud father of a united states marine and i feel a great indebtedness to all of you who serve, and i'm proud of the record we had in the state of indiana. you'll be glad to know in indiana where more than 500,000 veterans call home, we have made extraordinary commitments. we've more than doubled the funding for the department of veterans affairs. we increased the number of counties veterans service officers 10 fold from seven to 72 counties into privacy the hoosier state has the second lowest unemployment rate for veterans in the united states of america. [applause] when i entered this call, when donald trump called i answered this call for a few very simple reasons. number one, i answered it because in these challenging times i believe we need renewed and strong american leadership

at home and abroad. and donald trump will bring that leadership for this nation. [applause] our military is too small, and he will rebuild it. [applause] our va is broken, and this builder will fix it. [applause] and it is extraordinary to think that yesterday in philadelphia, 61 speakers came to the podium, and not one of them named isis by name. this man will name our enemy is without apology, and he will defeat them. [applause] thank you to the vfw. i say thank you. i say thank you to my new boss, a man who's given me the

privilege to run and serve as vice president of the united states of america. and i pledge to you, each of you, that if we had the privilege to serve, i know this man's heart. i hear the way he speaks when the cameras are off about those who serve and those who have served. and we will ensure that our soldiers have the resources they need to complete their mission and come home safe. and we will stand as the vfw does am with him and her who have borne the battle on their shoulders. we will stand with our veterans and we shall see our way forward as a nation. thank you very much and god bless you, and god bless the united states of america. [applause] >> thank you, mike. and thanks again to everyone for inviting me to address you today. the veterans -- i love you, too. the veterans of foreign wars

represent the very, very best of america. when i'm president i pledge to work closely with your organization and your members to accomplish our shared goal. our veterans are the bravest and finest people on earth. [applause] the members of your organization have fought for the american flag, and boy, have you fought come on distant battlefields all across the world. your members have shed their blood and poured out their hearts for this nation, like nobody else your our debt to you is eternal. [applause]

yet our politicians have totally failed you. our most basic commitment to provide health and medical care to those who fought for us so bravely has been violated completely. the va scandal that have occurred are widespread and totally inexcusable. as we know, many have died waiting for care that never came. a permanent stain on our government. can you imagine the waste and corruption, and i will tell you we will find it and we will find it big league when i become president in january 2017. [applause] i recently released a detailed

10 step veterans reform plan, and we've worked on the plan with the chairman of the veterans' affairs committee in the house, and he really good god who loves the vets, jeff miller. he is a good man. we are going to take care of our veterans like they have never been taken care of before. [applause] the other candidate in this race, you know her name, crooked hillary clinton, and believe me, folks, she is crooked, has a much different view. she recently said of the va scandal that it's not as widespread as it's been purported to be.

it's like she's trying to sweep it under the rugged. which by the way, politicians have done for years and years and years. it's going to be four more years of the same issue ever got in, but that's not going to happen. [applause] make america great again, you're right, thank you. we know how she takes care of the veterans. just look at her invasion of libya and her handling of benghazi. i disaster. or look at her e-mails which put america's entire national security at risk. [shouting] >> and to think she was there yesterday. i guess she didn't do very well. [applause]

we are going to bring honesty back to government, and that starts with fixing the veterans administration. we will fix it. here is my 10 step plan for veterans reform. one, i will appoint a secretary of veterans affairs it will make it their personal mission to clean out the va. and this person, man or woman, will be outstanding with an outstanding track record. [applause] in other words, a person that can get it done. number two, i'm going to use every lawful authority to remove and discipline federal employees or managers who breach their public trust. [applause] three, i will ask congress to

pass a bill giving the va secretary full authority to remove or discipline any employee the risks for health, safety, or well being of a veteran. [applause] i will appoint the commission to investigate all of the wrongdoing at the va, of which there is plenty. and then present those findings to congress as the basis for reforming the entire system. five, i'm going to make sure were that the honest and dedicated people of the va, of which we have many, have their jobs protected and are put in line for promotion when they do a good job. we are going to get them promoted like they deserve.

[applause] i will create a private white house hotline. this could keep me very busy at night, folks. this will take the place of twitter. a lot of truth to that. that is answered by a real person 24 hours a day, to make sure that no valid complaint about the va ever falls through the cracks. [applause] now, this is the tough part. this is the tough part. i will instruct my staff that is a valid complaint is not acted upon, and issuer who brought it directly to me, and i want to have it, will bring it directly to me and i will pick up the phone personally and get it

completed and get it taken care of. that's a lot of work. we better do a good job because that's the lot of work. but i want to have somebody, a real person and a really competent person in the white house without hotline going. and if that person is not doing the job, i'm going to find out about it and that's the best way to find out about it. that's called real life. that's called business. instead of giving bonuses to employees for wasting money, we are going to create a new incentive program that rewards employees for saving money, and improving the quality of care. [applause] our visa programs will be reformed to ensure that the veterans are put in the front of the line for jobs. in this country, they fought and to protect us.

now we are going to fight them. they're going to be put right in the front line, and these are our great people. and by the way, governor pence is right at the top of the nation in employment for vets. when he took over he was number 32 or 38. now he is right at the top. he has done an incredible job with respect to employment for vets. so mike, good going and keep it going. [applause] we are going to increase the number of mental health care professions, and increase mental health outreach to veterans outside of the system. so important. we are going to ensure every veteran in america gets timely access to top quality care, including the best care in the world for our female veterans.

[applause] the veterans health system will remain a public system, because it is a public trust your but never again will we allow any veteran to suffer or die waiting for care. that means veterans will have the right to go to a va facility or the right to see a private doctor or clinic of their choice. whatever is fastest and best for the veteran. there will be no more five day waits in line. if you're waiting in line, you go to a private doctor across the street from a private or public hospital across the street or nearby and you will be taken care of quickly and efficiently. people are waiting in line five days, six days, seven days, and many are dying with a simple procedure they would live, and they are dying because they

can't even get to see their doctor. so there's not going to be anymore of that and we will pick up the bill. it will cost us less money and the kid will be amazing, okay? you have my word on that. [applause] come january 20, if i'm elected president, and you are going to notice a change in the va, and the whole entire government system, which is a mess. [applause] all you have to do is try to get on an airplane and you will see what a mess it is. a change in attitude and a change in results will absolutely take place so fast right at the beginning. government is going to start working for the people again. especial -- a special interest opposing our reform, and they do propose it for their own reasons, and reform for america,

the same people who have led us to one economic and foreign policy disaster after another. the global corporations and immediate executives who oppose our plan, and they are opposing them strongly, we need plans for change and want to keep the system in place, except for the sections that the rig. and that's a lot of it. we're getting rid of our great system. i started using that term a year and a half ago, and now everybody is using it. this morning i was watching one of the democrats who i've been talking about as a rigged system. he used the word rigged system. i will have to come up with another word, very sad. but the system is rigged, so badly and it is weighed against the veterans, too. that's why their message is that things can change, can change.

with these people they can't change. these are the same special interests who have driven the economy into the ground and who have created one calamity after another overseas. horrible, horrible thought process. these washington interests are telling americans to stay the course. they are telling us that we can't fix our trade deals, or we can't fix our va. or we can't fix our broken tax system, or we can't fix immigration. because they are benefiting from the status quo. they don't want to change. we need change. they don't want to change. my message is the opposite. things have to change, and have to change right now. [applause]

here is just some of the change we need. we need to change our tax energy and regulatory policies to produce millions of new jobs, and trillions in new wealth, and invest in our country, and in our infrastructure which is falling apart all over this country. our roads, our tunnels, our bridges, our airports, our infrastructure is that of a third world country. not anymore. and i'm very good at building, remember that. and i build under time and under budget. very important. you don't hear that from government very often. those who seek to raise taxes and expand regulation will only weaken our country, hamstring our economy, and so many millions more out of work. and as you know, hillary clinton

wants to institute a massive tax increase. massive tax increase. we all already just about the highest taxed nation in the world. our immigration system most also be fixed so it lists of people out of poverty instead of throwing them into poverty, which is what it is doing right now your our terrible trade deals must be renegotiated completely, nafta is a disaster. to keep jobs and wealth in america. we are sending our jobs away your we will keep our jobs in america and we will bring new jobs back. [applause] we need to change our foreign policy to focus on defeating and destroying isis. a word you didn't hear last night at the democrat

convention. you didn't do it. they didn't want to talk about it because in a very true way they really established isis because of weakness. the people in this room know better than anybody else or any other audience what i mean by weakness. but because of weakness, isis has been established. it's also essential that we suspend the refugee flows from syria and other dangerous countries so we don't bring into the united states the same terrorism that our american soldiers are fighting overseas. we have to be smart. [cheers and applause] thank you. hillary clinton wants to bring

and, if you can believe this, 550% more than the president obama. more. and tim kaine wrote a letter very recently asking for more than even hillary wants. what are we doing? what are we doing? we have to be a smart country again or we are in big, big trouble. our depleted military must be completely rebuilt, then from a position of strength and respect, america needs to extend our hand in friendship to foreign nations who want to be our friend, and we can't be speeded we will leave donald trump for just a couple of moments to go live to the senate for a brief pro forma session. we will be back with live coverage after the gavel.

the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., tuesday, july 26, 2016. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable john barrasso, a senator from the state of wyoming, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: orrin g. hatch, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. on friday, july 29, 2016. july 29, 2016.

if we do this, we will truly, absolutely, 100% make america great again, greater than ever ever before you thank you very much for your god bless you work thank you. thank you, everyone. ♪