pres. biden: thank you. you are right on top of things. let's turn to the general. >> mr. president, thank you, chairman. on behalf of the department of defense, aggressively taking action. as soon as requested. in addition to the aircraft and ground forces and the installation support that president biden and chairman brown mention, we have identified other capabilities such as helicopter support, search-and-rescue, both from the ground and the air, distribution, medical capabilities we have wanted to move forward to make sure they are able to deploy to california and operate just as quickly as they are requested. to do that we are cooperating

closely with fema, the state of california and the national guard to deliver the right capabilities at the right time for the women and men of california. pres. biden: the defense department has stepped up immediately. thank you, all. you have incredible capacity and capabilities to move as quickly as possible. that is the most important thing and you are doing that right now. i think you will see an awful lot of help based on what you want to do, based on what you can do. the entire department is at capacity, my understanding. including the equipment to fight these fires. thank you very much. now i would like to speak to our department of energy secretary.

she will brief us on power outages and the initial assessments of impact on the power grid in the los angeles area. it is all yours. >> we are looking to see if she is still on the screen. the deputy secretary. >> it looks like she is on her plane. pres. biden: fire away. >> she is on the way, mr. president, to puerto rico on an official visit given the islandwide blackout. of course, again, per your guidance we are doing everything we can to help and working with partners, including our utility partners and other federal partners. as just coming into this meeting, a little over 400,000 customer outages in california. these are both actual outages,

power that has been disrupted because of the fire, and proactive shutoffs. we have two main utilities, southern cal edison and the department of water and power. we have contact with their ceos, as well, including calls with them a few hours ago to make sure we are doing everything we can. we are coordinating with those utilities and utilities across the country to make sure we have all the capabilities, our utility partners to provide that. i want to thank you, mr. president. you joined a call a couple months ago to thank all of these utility ceos. we have a phenomenal partnership across the country called mutual assistance. if any utility it needs help, all the other utilities -- a phenomenal partnership to bring

40,000 utility workers to florida, north carolina, south carolina, regions affected by the hurricane's. pres. biden: has been deployed so many places. >> they are all in colorado for this meeting. they appreciated you taking the time to thank them for their personal leadership. we are working closely with all the utilities. we are in continuing contact with the transmission operators. the disruption has been at the local level but we want to make sure there are not broader outages or concerns. as of now we are not seeing any issues with broader transmission , either in the region or across california. that is good news. we are working with utilities, trying to restore power to customers as quickly as we are able.

full restoration will take some time. in particular are the comprehensive damage assessment will take time and cannot start until it is safe for crews to get in and do the assessments and do the work. we are working with a real sense of urgency but also with a sense of doing what we can over the long haul to do right by our responsibilities. pres. biden: one of the things everyone has mentioned so far is the mental stress it will cause for average americans caught in the middle of this. these are not every day -- no matter how well educated one is -- power is transmitted the way he had and so on. could you explain to the folks here come of the public who is listening, what the impact is that some of the utilities have

had on the ability to generate the pumping of water? there are a lot of accusations going around that it is because of local leadership that did not care. explain how this works and why it makes sense. david: this is an issue -- the secretary was on the phone with cal edison to make sure we are doing everything we can on that front -- it is the power issue -- you mentioned generators and other ways we can help solve the problem, but also the pressure. making sure we are thinking about these things holistically. my experience the last four years under your leadership, it is not one department or one slice of the federal government responsible. they overlap in a lot of way. we work with our epa colleagues to make sure we are bringing all of our expertise and explaining it to fellow americans. it is important we give

transparent information people can rely on. pres. biden: people do not know how it functions. since i have been president, i have been in an aircraft flying over wildfires from arizona all the way up to idaho and beyond. that makes up an area larger than the entire state of maryland that burned to the ground. one problem is people do not understand that when the high winds occur, or when the storms occur, these utility poles, these big lines, they fall to the ground in the middle of the forest. it is not just about raking leaves, it is about the fire that causes. utilities have to shut down. the consequence of that, i do not think most people think no matter how well educated they are, there is a direct

correlation between the utility company and the ability to pump water out of a hydrant. it allows for a lot of uninformed people to make assertions or concerns or accusations about the local officials not caring. as i understand it, the vast majority of the circumstances where the water resource has been diminished is because of the utility company not being able to maintain the electric transmission because they are knocked down or shutting down so they do not cause more fires. we are getting cooperation from the utility companies to bring in generators to generate the energy to allow that fire hydrant to function. explain that a little bit. david: this is the pragmatic "can do" attitude and making

sure we are solutions oriented. we sometimes called our department the solutions department. whatever gets the power on to allow the water, whatever gets the job done, a lot of time it is working with defense colleagues with terrific assets that can be brought in quickly. thank you for the vice president's leadership, your bipartisan legislation provided $10 billion to a program to improve the resilience of our grids so when the grids do go down, they come back quicker. that is $10 billion being invested in communities across the country. we need continued focus on infrastructure. pres. biden: it matters a great deal. one thing i knew that -- it would be a lot easier if these

electric lines are running underground and contained vessels in the middle of the forest. it costs, what, six times more? david: six times more. we are doing a lot more undergrounding. it is not cost-effective everywhere. pres. biden: in some places it is necessary. i think we are moving in the right direction. this is really, really, really difficult for families to have to deal with it. i have a family member who lives out there. the area where he lives -- i will not get into detail where he lives -- there is something like 240, 260 homes that burned

to the ground. everyone has to be evacuate. people are going, when do i get back? will i ever find that picture, for the jewelry my mom or grandmother gave me? there is so much anxiety that is generated. we have been through this once before in hawaii, where the fires occurred and we are trying to build back up the community. it is really, really, really hard. i want to make an appeal right now to the united states congress. we have to step up when we ask for more help. more help to get these people the shelter they need, the help they need because it really does matter. you all do a hell of a job. we have learned so much. there is, in case you have not

noticed, global warming that does change weather patterns. winds going in and winds going out. you get the one coming in but you do not want the one going back out. the more we can explain to the american people in plain, straightforward, honest english or whatever language you understand, what exactly is happening, the more likely we are to get support and not make a political deal out of this. i'm leaving this office shortly. it is not about politics. it is about getting people some sense of security that we will get this under control but it will take time. like i said, in the next little bit, we will be going back to congress asking for more help and i hope they are ready to step up because we can afford it. we have a little infrastructure buildout is over $1 trillion

that will help a little bit. what we will do for providing rebuilding of communities. the most important thing we have to do, those of us sitting around this table and on the screen, is explain in simple, straightforward language but the capacity we have is, how we are using it and what capacity we do not have and we need. in crisis, rumors and fear spread quickly and the most important thing is to bring this down. be honest with people what is at stake, be straightforward with them. what can be done and how we will get it done. i thank you all very much. i am proud of the job you are doing. i am, quite frankly, proud of the job local officials in

california are doing. i have spent a lot of time with the governor and the mayor of los angeles. they are doing everything we ask of them and beyond. we are stepping up as best we can. any of my colleagues around the table or on the screen want to add anything before we close this out? v.p. harris: as the californian at the table, thank you for all of the leadership everyone has provided, starting with our president. we are beyond the point of calling it "fire season." we are seeing this around the country. years before we will talk about a particular season of extreme weather. we are seeing it does not matter what month of the year, we should be ready. the work our administration has done in particular on the issue of infrastructure, together with the inflation reduction act and

the attention we are paying to the climate crisis is so important because we have to invest as a country in adaptation and we have to invest in resilience. that is about homeowners, that is about families, cities and local governments, state governments, and we have to adapt to this changing climate. for example, fire hydrants are pretty much built to deal with an individual house fire -- not with a wildfire that is taking on entire residential communities, where these homes are providing the fuel for that fire to grow. we have to put more resources into our fire departments and firefighters, understanding we are asking a lot from them that traditionally they never had to do. because of their commitment to their profession, they are

attempting to rise to the moment of crisis but we need to put more resources into those individual professionals and the departments that sustain that work with the mission that is such an important mission at times like this. mr. president, i appreciate your leadership and your foresight over these last four years what we could do to leapfrog in front of what we know to be a changing climate to meet these types of moments and god bless all the people on the ground right now in california doing that work. pres. biden: thank you for your comments and i totally agree with you. there is an expression from a famous irish poet. all has changed in the weather. climate change is real. fundamentally altering -- not just here but around the world. around the world. what is going on.

we have to adjust to it. we can. it is in our power to do wit but we have to acknowledge it. just acknowledge there is a change taking place. we will not be able to legislate it away. it is real. there is global warming. it is real. it is having a profound impact. we have the capacity to respond to it if we exercise our good judgment. thank you all, very much. i appreciate it. >> do you trust california will get the aid they need in the next administration? pres. biden: i am not in a position to answer that question. i pray to god they will. >> do you have a sense of how much this will cost? pres. biden: the truth of the matter is no one can tell you that. for example, just clearing the debris -- you saw what happened

when we were dealing with the hurricanes from north carolina to florida. the cost of the debris cleanup is gigantic -- gigantic. the cost of replacing housing is almost exponential. we do not know what it is but we know one thing we have to do -- we have to stay with it. we have the capacity to do it. anyone who gives you a number now, they have no idea what the hell they are talking about. it is a big, big number. whoa, wait a minute. >> can you update us on the hamas hostages and what you think of the incoming administration's efforts and ultimatum? pres. biden: i can but i'm not sure it is appropriate now. we have made some real progress. i met with negotiators today. i think what is going on right now in lebanon, and they finally have a president. he is a first-rate guy.

i spent 20 minutes to a half hour on the phone with him. they have a plan. . they are working very hard with the lebanese military. accountable to the lebanese people -- not hamas, not hezbollah or any other group. i think we are seeing some progress. i know hope springs eternal but i am still hopeful we can have a prisoner exchange. hamas is the one getting in the way of that exchange. i think we might be able to get that done. we need to get that done. thank you very much. >> what else can you do to help ukraine before you leave? pres. biden: get them everything they need. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2025] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> that wraps up president biden's briefing on the federal response to the california wildfires.

we take you back to our marathon of trump nominees in their own words. >> infringe on second amendment rights. [applause] we strengthened our stand your ground law. meaning if a round is chambered, making it easier to respond in situations when seconds count. we made south dakota the first state in america to not charge a fee for any concealed permit. we pay for your federal background check. it will not cost you a penny to exercise your second amendment rights and south dakota. [applause] while at leadership in washington, d.c. fails to deliver meaningful solutions for the nation our state will take

action. south dakota has the strongest economy in the country, lowest unemployment and unprecedented economic growth. make no mistake -- freedom generated those blessings. winston churchill once said never give in, never, never, never. honor and good sense. here, my honor and good sense require me to continue to fight for freedom and that is what i will do. as i look around this room i see resolute faces prepared to stand up for honor and good sense. you are prepared to defend our right to keep and bear arms. i also see a media at the back of the room who insist we are crazy for doing so. they are prepared at times to shame us and demonize us -- i know they will attack me for giving this speech and what i said -- but if they think that will stop me, they were not paying very much attention during the pandemic.

it is not just a media and big government -- [applause] -- it is not just the media and big government attacking our rights. now we are seeing banking institutions go after industries they disagree with. have you seen that? they are threatening to withhold funding, cancel loans and hold them to a different standard than how the left is treated. none have been more impacted than those who support the second amendment. not on my watch. i will not stand for it. not in south dakota. i would like to ask wayne if he would come back out and join me on stage because today i will be signing an executive order to protect your god-given right to keep and bear arms to be infringed on bind financial institutions. well, wayne to the states.

-- welcome wayne to the states. [applause] today i will sign an executive order to protect the god-given right to keep and bear arms from being infringed upon by financial institutions. my executive order, effective immediately, blocks state agencies from contracting with large banks that discriminate against firearm related industries. in 1787 thomas jefferson wrote a letter to james madison and he talked about how committed he was to freedom. he made this point in latin but translates as i prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery. [applause]

i am not sure, do you have a microphone, wayne? you don't? i get to put words in your mouth. wayne is extremely grateful to me for doing this for the nra. [laughter] wayne: on behalf of everyone in this room, gun owners throughout the country and all firearms owners in the great state of south dakota, governor, god bless you. >> thank you. [applause] stay right here. this is executive order number 23-04. the state office of the governor, i will be signing it on behalf of protecting those industries related to the gun and firearm industry from being discriminated against by

financial institution -- banking, credit card or otherwise. [applause] there you go. thank you. thank you. i will wrap up and then we will go -- [applause] as you leave here today, i want you to remember that quote that thomas jefferson wrote to james madison. "i prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery." may we all eat here today inspired by history and the blessings we all enjoy and the burden of responsibility that rests on your shoulders.

never give in. never, never, never. our freedom is in your hands. thank you. ♪ [applause] ♪ >> more now from the c-span archives of south dakota goveorristi noe who has been nominat to serves homeland security secretary. here she is talking about her state and the 2024 election at a turning point action event in detroit earlier this year. ♪

>> good evening. how are you guys? you guys look fantastic. turning point, are you ready to make america great again? [applause] you look like it. i am standing here today. i am kristi noem, the governor of the great state of south dakota and i am 100% convinced our best days are still ahead. our best days are still ahead. do you want to know why i have that kind of confidence? this last week i had the chance to go to ellsworth air force base -- the air force base in south dakota that has the b-1 bombers. the platform the protect this country. the bombs we dropped in iraq and syria recently, they were my

airmen out of south dakota running the b-1, taking retaliation for tower 22 and they said they delivered the pain and anguish back for the americans killed to those who attacked us. [applause] i went to that base and the reason i was there was the wing commander was retiring. they were installing a new commander over the wing. the base has a commander and the bomber wing has another commander. i went to the retirement ceremony and it was interesting -- as the base commander stood in front of everyone he said i interviewed everyone who worked for the wing on the one statement they said consistently about this wing commander as he retires is he consistently had sustained optimism while facing difficulties. i thought, wow, what an incredible thing for your team

to say about you. that you have sustained optimism while facing difficulties. he also had these four points of advice for the new wing commander. he said number 1, achieve success on purpose. achieve success on purpose, which means, have a clarity of mission. number 2 was to remember the importance of people. number 3, resilience. resilience determines what you will accomplish. number 4, make productive mistakes. create an environment where people are willing to take a risk that they know they will take a risk to get ultimate success and know they will be supported. when you make a mistake, learn from it. those four pieces of advice were incredibly powerful. we have a mission and clarity of purpose. it is about the people.

it is not about governors and senators and government officials -- it is not about found she or nancy pelosi and we all know joe biden sucks. we are pretty clear on that. [applause] absolutely. it is about the people. in south dakota our motto is under god, the people rule. i love that motto. my job is the people decide. we get our rights from god. [applause] the whole world was losing its mind during covid and falling apart and slamming the door shut and locking people in their homes, south dakota made a different choice. we ended up being the only stick in the country that never closed a single business, never mandated any masks or vaccines. [applause] i never even defined what an

essential business was because i do not believe the government has the authority to tell you your business is not essential. [applause] we were the only state in the entire country that did not take the elevated unemployment benefits. we said thank you but our people want to work. they worked the entire time. [applause] when you saw those riots and violence happening across the country, tearing down statues and history, in south dakota we did an advertising campaign that said come to south dakota. to our law enforcement officers, if you want to be respected, come to our state. the very first week we had over 800 law enforcement officer say we want to come to south dakota. they move there with their families to be a part of our way of life. [applause]

where are we today? today, south dakota is thriving. we are growing like crazy. hundreds of businesses have moved to our state and thousands of people have moved to our state. we have a aaa credit rating, we have paid off all of our debts and our technical schools and universities. we have built roads and bridges and dams and railroads. we have more money in reserves. incomes have gone up 30% since i have been governor. people have more money in their pockets. remember, in south dakota we do not have an income tax. we do not have a personal property tax. all we have is a 4.2% sales tax. we gave more money back to the people because it is their money, not the government's money. [applause]

one of the things i am the most proud of is south dakota has the highest birth rate in the nation. [applause] people are having babies. in fact, i have three grandbabies of my own. i think they are so incredibly special. we are the only state in the country that well you see all this madness going on under the biden administration and the threats we have to national security and all the issues with the economy, we are the only state where mental health challenges are going down, suicide rates are going down and the only state where overdoses are dropping. this is happening because people are happy. [applause] people are happy because they are free. they are happy because they are free and they get to have personal responsibility to make decisions for them and their families. [applause]

i believe in order to have sustained optimism in the face of difficulties that you have to have someone to look to. you have to have some more to look to have hope and this country is desperate for hope. hope is not just wishful thinking. hope is optimism with a plan and that is what we have to delivered. we deliver hope with an optimistic attitude and with a plan to take america back from this administration and make it great again and strong again. [applause] so, yes, i have been bold. i have done some things in south dakota that have led the way. first state to ban tiktok and the other states took action. the first state to ban having digital currency. [applause] i was the first governor to send

national guard to the southern border. when governor abbott asked for help i said south dakota will be there right now. [applause] we have since deployed six different units down to the southern border to help build, patrol, conduct surveillance and help make this america as safe as we possibly can. i have an engineering unit down there that is building barrier wall as fast as they can to make sure we do to protect this country. [applause] we also passed the strongest bill in the nation to protect girls' sports. [applause] since then, almost a dozen states have used are a bill as motto language because they know it is written correctly and will withstand a court challenge and will be upheld.

we will not let mediocre men to take away opportunities from exceptional women. we are not going to let it happen. [applause] i had someone asked me not too long ago -- how do you make your hard decisions? i know you make a lot of decisions but how did you make the hard ones? i said i do not think the hard ones are all that hard. they are pretty easy for me. i am a decision-maker. my whole life growing up, being raised by my dad is a cowboy, there were no boy or girl chores, there were just chores we did together. when i was elected to the legislature, there were more men than women but nobody talked about it. in congress they were not as many republican women. nobody ever discussed it.

i never thought about it. and then i decided to run for governor and i found out in the polling that it was hurting me that i was a woman. you see south dakota had never seen a woman governor before. they were ok sending a woman to congress to vote and do policies but they were not quite sure they wanted a woman to be the boss, to be the ceo. i had to convince them. when i got elected, i remember standing in the rotunda being sworn in for the inauguration ceremony and i was standing there and looking at the hundreds of people and the ceremony started, i realized the entire ceremony was built around the fact that day i was being sworn in as the first female governor of the state of south dakota was the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote in the state of south dakota. it was the 100th anniversary. [applause] they kept talking throughout the

ceremony about how historic it was. 100 years before that women could not vote and now we were swearing in the first female governor of the state of south dakota. i was standing there for the first time and started to get nervous. i started to think, oh, my goodness, this is historic. it is a big deal. i better not screw this up. but then i put my hand on my dad's bible and i raised my right hand and i took my oath. when i was saying my oath back to the chief justice of our supreme court in south dakota i was making two promises. the first promise was to uphold the constitution of the great state of south dakota. the second one was to uphold the constitution of the united states of america. [applause]

and i thought, two promises? i can do that. that is not hard. that is how i have made every single decision in my role as governor. the first question is, is it constitutional? does the constitution say i have the authority to do that? what happens if i overstep my authority? that is where the beginning of every decision has to start. hard decisions are not that hard if you have your priorities right. if you have your foundation right. if you love your country and realized of power is not with the federal government. states are much more powerful. the real power granted by the constitution is to the people and it is given from god. that is where it comes from. [applause] so we have a very weak president

in the white house. and when he is in the white house, we have extreme challenges. russia invades its neighbors, china takes advantage of us all around the world, israel gets attacked. when you have president trump in the white house, peace deals get signed in the middle east, the economy thrives, we take advantage of china and america gets respected again. peace through strength is what he brings. i was in wisconsin doing some events for president trump talking to women and independents and different groups asking them to get engaged. i was talking with kevin, the youngest person to be held

hostage by iran back in the 1980's when jimmy carter was president. they were held hostage by iran by 400 44 days well jimmy carter negotiated. they were released on the day ronald reagan was sworn into office. iran let them back. that is what peace through strength is. jimmy carter was a weak president and iran recognized immediately that ronald reagan would not put up with it. joe biden was a weak president and all of our enemies will recognize that he will not put up with it anymore either, that he is going to take action. he will give us economic strength, a secure border, we

end political prosecutions, and he will bring law and order back to our streets. that is what president trump will deliver for us. so if you are sitting here and struggling to have sustained optimism, i will remind you of something. a lot of you in this audience are very young. you have more life ahead of you than you have behind you. at the founding of our country, when the founders and those colonists decided to fight against the british army and take our freedoms for us, think about what we are doing. john was 40.

he wrote the declaration of independence at age 33. james madison was 25 and alexander hamilton was just 19. it's incredible. they were taking on the strongest military in the world and those colonists picked up their hunting rifles and their muskets and decided to fight for freedom. if they can do that we can do what we have to do this election cycle. we can do it. in fact, ben franklin at the time reminded them of the job. ben franklin said as he signed the declaration of independence

we must all hang together or most assuredly we will all hang separately. they knew the risks but took on the fight anyway and did it for us. they gave us this experiment of a republic if we can keep it. and now is the time. they fought and let's not lose it on our watch. i will tell you one last story before i leave your years ago i had a lady walked up to me and she said to me my name is sherry and she said you don't know me but i own a pearl store. i said, really? she goes, yes. i go, why do you only sell pearls? she said because they are the only precious gem made from a living creature. all others are created a different way but pearls are created by a living creature and in order for that pearl to be

created, that oyster has to go through something hard, something that causes it pain and is uncomfortable and is challenging for it but it takes that challenging thing and it turns it into something beautiful and precious. since the day i have always worn pearls. to remind me that life can be hard. there can be challenges. maybe you have seen a few attacks on me. attacks will come but i will tell you one thing, if you take the hard things in your life, the challenges you see it end that are facing this country, we can use that to turn something beautiful so that our kids and grandkids have something they can enjoy just like we were blessed with when we work in the united states.

it will take worth but -- take work but i can tell you sustained optimism in the face of difficulties is something we can be proud of. yes, the world looks unstable, yes, we have a president that is endangering our country. this election cycle is not about republicans versus democrats, liberals versus conservatives. this is -- this election is about people who love america and people who are trying to destroy america. that's what this election cycle is about. i know you all of america. i know you are committed and i know you are all in. i will ask you to start having conversations with people you have not talked to in a long time. this is your mission and your pep rally in your talk on what you can do. it is clear to me that we are not winning their hearts and minds.

we are right on our policies and values but we have to win their hearts and minds too so i want you to think of someone you have not spoken politics to for a while because they have offended you or maybe you have offended them. get over it and talk to them. have a conversation. we have to start asking them questions about their lives and what we can do to show them that all you have to do to see that leadership has consequences's look from state to state to see it matters who is in charge. look what happened what -- happened when president trump was in the white house versus president biden and how dramatically their lives changed, how much their energy bills went up, how much more dangerous their life is now. those of the conversations you need to have.

somebody told me that this world is addicted to being offended and i think they are right. we love to be offended, don't we? get over it. every day, people are going to throw fences that you. you are the one who decides whether to carry it around with you. let's have those conversations and remember that we are more blessed than 99% of the people in the world just because we woke up this morning in the united states of america. what an incredible blessing that is. when we do that, we will win. we will win and we will win big so may god bless you and continue to bless the great united states of america. thank you, everybody. [applause]

♪ >> since 1979, in partnership with the cable industry, c-span has provided complete coverage of the halls of congress from the house and senate floors to congressional hearings, party briefings and committee meetings. c-span gives you a front row seat to how issues are debated and decided with no commentary, no interruptions and completely unfiltered. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. book tv, every see -- sunday on c-span2, has a look. mark clifford with his book the

troublemaker talks about the life and activism of, media mogul and dissident jimmy li. at 10 p.m. eastern on after words, adam chandler on his book 99% perspiration. he's interviewed by author alyssa quart. funny full schedule on your program guide or watch any time at booktv.org. >> c-span, democracy unfiltered. we are funded by these television companies and more, including midco. >> where are you going? or maybe a better question is how far do you want to go? and how fast do you want to get there. now we're getting somewhere. so let's go.

let's go faster. let's go further. let's go beyond. >> midco supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> kevin hassett has been inked by the preside to lead the national economic council after serving as chair of thcouncil of economic advisers during the first trump administration. we will show you his confirmation hearing for that position in 2017. this was before the senate banking, housing and urban affairs committee. >> this hearing will come to order and we will consider the nomination of mr. kevin hassett to be chairman of the council of economic advisers