you believe this, israel must be exterminated. i will instantly gather the world and lead to reapply sanctions if iran violates one crossed t or one dotted i of that deal. them back in in-line as a community together. [applause] gov. kasich: let me also tell you, no amount of money being made by any business will stand thehe way to make sure needs of israel are secured and around is not have a nuclear weapon. usamount of money can put back. and a kasich administration, no more delusional agreements with

self-declared enemies. no more. [applause] gov. kasich: as the candidate with the deepest,'s most experience i do not need on the job training. i do not have to learn about the dangers facing this country and our allies, i have lived this for decades. on day one in the oval office, i will have in place a solid team of experienced, dedicated people who will implement a long-term strategic program to ensure the safety and security of this allies and that of its such as israel. i will lead and make decisions and my appointees will work tirelessly with israel to counter arounds aggression -- to aggression.'s

iraqll defeat syria and and we will intervene financial supplies to hamas. [applause] gov. kasich: i will also work to build and expand on israel's newfound regional relations as a result of the nuclear deals. and the arabel gulf states are now closer than ever. the bad news is the united states is now not part of this web. i will work to strengthen those ties. [applause] gov. kasich: israel lays lived in one of the world's toughest neighborhoods and iran is not threats.e only isis, headquartered in syria and iraq is a mortal peril. it's spread must be stopped.

since it is dedicated to destruction in israel, europe, asia, africa, and the united states, it is a threat to all civilizations unless we recognize and tonight around these natural -- around this national truth, we will have to deal with them. because united states recognizes the x essential thread, i believe i can lead a regional and natal coalition to defeat them. we are all in this together. i will also provide support and relief to our common ally, jordan, that has shared the brunt of refugee flows. i will bring our troops home as soon as we together with our allies have created a realistic regional powers can conclude a settlement guaranteeing long-term security. i will then support long-term coalitions as they support

regional affiliates. my administration will cooperate to deny libya as a platform to mount a tax against europe -- attacks against europe. vital support a common ally, egypt, in its efforts to destroy the insurgency in syria and terrorists from libya and i will supply the afghan national security forces with the key theraft needed to defeat tell, al qaeda, and isis. and then now i will bring our troops in afghanistan back home. insurgent states such as iran and network trends national players like isis are not the only threats that israel, the jewish community, and america together face. a kasich administration will to block the beginning

terrorism whether domestic or international. particularly in international bodies. [cheers and applause] i condemn all attempt to isolate pressure and delegitimize the state of israel and i will support congressional efforts to allow this activity both here and in the european union. i am also concerned about rising attacks on israel and jewish students on our college campuses. ] heers and applause -- kasich: i will use

i pledge to use the full force of the white house to fight the scourge and i will make sure we have the tools needed to protect students from hate speech, harassment, and intimidation while supporting free speech on our college campuses. i have been ratified by the recent spate of palestinian -- on israeli citizens. these are not spontaneous attacks on lone wolves. they are part of an on president wave of attacks since october 2015 and they are the outcome of a culture of death that palestinian authority and its forebears have promoted for over 50 years. cheers and applause]

indoctrination of hate involved in part of a planned and well thought out trust strategy palestinian children raised in a culture that glorifies the is him and maiming israelis will children's test books have been filled with vile anti-semitism. families receive an annuity after they kill and maim. are receive stipends and guaranteed jobs in the palestinian civil service and a salary determined by the length of their sentence. squares, soccer tournaments are named after terrorists. toestinians cannot continue perpetuate a culture of hate and death. we must make it clear we will not tolerate such behavior. applause]

i do not believe there is any prospect for permanent peace until the palestinian authority and their friends and hamas and hezbollah are prepared to take steps to live in peace in israel and recognize israel's right to exist as a jewish state. violence is unacceptable. can bestantime, we advance stability in the region by providing israel our 100% support. hasould make sure israel what it needs to defend itself with weapons, political technology, solidarity, and working quietly to facilitate efforts at reconciliation. expectedhat would be of a dependable ally. let me conclude by talking about

the greatest alliances. those with countries such as israel, where we share a community of values. international system we built upon these common values, of course, is under challenge or attack. recommithy we have to ourselves to those values. we must not shy away from proclaiming and celebrating them. why we must revitalize our alliance is to defend and expand the international system built upon those values. a system that has prevented global conflict and lifted over 2 billion people over -- out of poverty and the last 70 years. we cannot go it alone. we must be realistic. we cannot be neutral either. we must be counted on to standby and invest in our friends instead of of using them to incur favor with our enemies. [applause]

we have to work together at home as well as across party and ideological lines whenever and wherever possible. this is exactly what i've done in my career in public service. i reached out countless times to see how we can sit together and achieve the progress america wants and deserves. we all look back to the time of ronald reagan and his meetings with tempo nail, where -- tip o'neill, where they came together to put partisanship second. reagan, as he reached across the aisle to tip o'neill, partisan legendary, they worked deals to implement the military buildup that ended the cold war. but it took a conscious effort and an attitude of wanting to cooperate. so, this is what i want to do, republicans and democrats today, i want to work together to serve the nation as a whole.

we are americans before we are republicans and democrats. we are americans! applause] let me tell you, we to that, i will not take the office of the highest in the land. i will not do it. we will rededicate ourselves to reaching the bipartisan national security policy that president reagan and the immigrants achieved and you can be assured that my strategic program will include and incorporate israel as they bedrock partner for our mutual security in the middle east.

together we will combat violence incited in israel itself and of course, it's eternal capital, jerusalem. [cheers and applause] mr. kasich: thank you. you for giving me the opportunity to be here today in so many of you who contributed so much. i am humbled by the chance to stand here at this incredible gathering of people who so much love america and so much love our great ally, israel. you see, we are connected together. it is about civilization. it is about peace. it is about love.

it is about togetherness. it is about healing the world. tradition isish everyone lives a life a little bigger than themselves and that tradition has worked its way deeper into my soul, where i tell people all across america to dig down deep. the lord has made you special. live a life eager than your self. lift others, heal, provide progress. with that, the rest of this century and the relationship between the united states and israel will grow stronger and stronger for the benefit and mutual support of the world. thank you very much and god bless you. ♪ [applause] ♪

announcer: the washington journal, live every day with policy issues that impact you. tuesday, marsha

blackburn of tennessee on president obama's trip to cuba. democratic congressman joel connelly of virginia, the cochair of the new democrat coalition, on a report group toeased last week designed promote the american prosperity of agenda aimed at growing the economy and achieving political consensus. we will also talk about the house hearing on opium and heroin abuse. a.m.gins live at 7:00 tuesday morning on c-span. and exchangerities chief mary jo white testifies on the president's 2017 budgetary request. that is live at 11:00 a.m. on c-span-two. presidentialan

candidate donald trump speaks at the aipac conference. he focused his remarks on the iran nuclear deal and criticism of obama's foreign policy in the middle east. this is 25 minutes. ♪

mr. trump: good evening. thank you very much. i speak to you today as a lifetime supporter and it true friend of israel. [applause] i am a newcomer to politics, but not to backing get the jewish state. in 2001, weeks after the attacks on new york city, and on washington, and frankly, the attacks on all of us. -- thatthat are traded were perpetrated by the islamic fundamentalists. mayor mary -- mayor rudy giuliani visited. i sent my plane because i backed the mission or israel 100%.

[applause] and spring of 2004, at the height of the violence in the gaza strip, i was the grand marshal of the 40th salute to israel parade. in largest single gathering support of the jewish state. [applause] mr. trump: it was a very dangerous time for israel, and frankly for anyone supporting israel. many people turned down this honor. i did not. i took the risk and i am glad i did. [applause] mr. trump: but i did not come here tonight to pander to you about israel. that is what politicians do. all talk, no action. late me. believe me. i came to speak to you about

where i stand on the future of ourican relations with strategic ally, our unbreakable friendship, and our cultural brother. the only democracy in the middle east, the state of israel. [applause] mr. trump: thank you. my number one priority is to dismantle the disastrous deal with iran. [cheers and applause] mr. trump: thank you. thank you. business a long time. i know deal-making and let me tell you, this deal is catastrophic for america, for israel, and for the whole of the middle east.

[applause] problem isthe fundamental, we have reward the world's leading state-sponsored terror with $150 billion and we received absolutely nothing in return. [applause] mr. trump: i have studied this issue in great detail. i would say, actually, greater by far than anybody else. believe me. oh, believe me. and it is a bad deal. the biggest concern with the deal is not necessarily that iran is going to violate it, because already, you know, as you know, it has. the bigger problem is that they can keep the terms and still get the bomb by simply running out the clock.

keepf course, they will the billions and billions of dollars that we so stupidly and foolishly gave them. [applause] deal does not even require iran to dismantle its military nuclear capabilities. limits on its military nuclear program for only a certain number of years, but when those restrictions expire, iran will have an industrial-sized military nuclear capability ready to go and with zero provision for iran'so matter how bad behavior is. terrible, terrible situation we are all placed in and especially israel. [applause] mr. trump: when i am president, i will adopt a strategy that

focuses on three things when it comes to iran. first, we will stand up to iran's aggressive push to destabilize and dominate the region. [applause] mr. trump: i ran as a very big problem and will continue to be, but if i am not elected president, i know how to deal with trouble and believe me that is why i am going to be elected president, folks. applause] mr. trump: and we are leading an every- we are leading in hole. remember that, please. iran is a problem in iraq, syria, lebanon, yemen, and will be a very, very major problem for saudi arabia. every day i ran provides more supporter weapons to

their puppet states. hezbollah, lebanon received, and i will tell you what, it has received sophisticated anti-ship weapons. anti-aircraft weapons. and, gps systems and rockets like very few people ever wear in the world and very few countries have. now they are in syria trying to establish another front against israel from the syrian side of the goal and heights. in gaza, around the is supporting hamas and islam a jihad. in the west bank, they are openly offering palestinians $7,000 for terror attacks in to thousand dollars for every palestinian terrorist home that has been destroyed. a deplorable, deplorable situation.

[applause] mr. trump: iran is financing military forces throughout the middle east and it is incredible we handed them over 100 if the billion dollars -- $150 billion to do even more horrible acts of terror. [applause] secondly, we will totally dismantle iran's global terror network, which is big and powerful but not powerful like us. [applause] seatedmp: iran has terror groups all over the world. last five years, iran has perpetuated terrorist attacks in 25 different countries on five continents. terrorist cells everywhere, including in the western hemisphere very close to home. i ran is the biggest sponsor of terrorism around the world and we will work to dismantle that

reach. he leave me. believe me. -- believe me, he leave me. -- third, at the very least we must enforce the terms of the previous deal to hold a ran totally accountable and we will and force it like you have never seen a contract and forced before, folks. believe me. , since the deal was in place, testfired ballistic missile's three times. those ballistic missiles, with a were of 1250 miles, designed to intimidate not only israel, which is only 600 miles away, but also intended to frighten europe and someday, maybe, hit even the united states. let we are not going to that happen. we are not letting that happen

and we are not letting that happen to israel. believe me. [applause] mr. trump: thank you. thank you. do you want to hear something really shocking? as many of the great people in this room know, painted and those missiles and both hebrew and farsi were the words, israel off theweighed -- wiped face of the earth. you can forget that. what kind of demented minds of right that in hebrew? and here's another. talk about twisted. here is another twisted part. testing these missiles does not even violate the horrible deals that we made. the deal is silent on test missiles. but those tests do violate the

united nation security council regulations. the problem is no one has done anything about it. we will. we will. i promise, we will. applause] mr. trump: thank you. which brings me to my next point. the editor weakness and incompetence of the united nations. ter weakness and incompetence of the united nations. ae united nations is not friend of democracy. it is not a friend to freedom. it is not a friend even to the united states of america, where, as you know, it has its home. and it surely is not a friend to

israel. [applause] mr. trump: with president obama in his final year, yay! [cheers and applause] mr. trump: he may be the worst thing to ever happen to israel. believe me. believe me. and you know it, and you know it better than anybody. so with the president has final years, discussions have been swirling about an attempt to

bring a security resolution to terms about an eventual resolution between palestine and israel. let me be clear, an agreement imposed by the united nations would be a total and complete disaster. [applause] mr. trump: the united states must oppose this resolution and use the power of our veto, which i will use as president 100%. [applause] when people ask why, it is because that is not how you make a deal. deals are made when parties come together. they come to a table and negotiate. each side must give up something. i mean, we have to

do something where there is value in exchange for something required. that is when a deal is. when we impose it on israel and palestine, we bring together a group of people that come something.th that will not happen with the stations. it will only further -- very importantly, it will only further delegitimizing israel. it will be a disaster for israel. it is not going to happen, fowlkes! rewardther, it would terrorism because every day they are stabbing israelis and even americans. just last week, a west point graduate, phenomenal young person who served in iraq and afghanistan, was murdered in the street by a knife-wielding palestinian. you do not reward behavior like that. you can not do it.

[cheers and applause] mr. trump: there is only one way you treat that kind of behavior. you have to confront it. [applause] mr. trump: so it is not up to the united nations to really go into a solution. it is really the parties that must negotiate a resolution themselves. they have no choice. they have to do it themselves or will never hold up anywhere. the united states can be useful as a facilitator of negotiations, but no one should be telling israel that it must be -- and really that it must abide by some agreement made by others thousands of miles away knowdo not to even really what is happening to israel, to anything in the area. it is so preposterous.

we are not going to let that happen. applause] when i am president, believe me, i will veto any attempt by the united nations to impose its will on the jewish state. it will be vetoed 100%. [applause] mr. trump: you see, i know about dealmaking. that is what i do. i wrote "the art of the deal." one of the best-selling, all time. and i mean, seriously. i am going to be very diplomatic. -- i'll be criticized, i think it is number one, but why take a chance? the all-time best-selling

books about deals and dealmaking. to make a great deal, you need willing participants. we know israel is willing to deal. israel has been trying. right. has been trying to sit down at the negotiating table without preconditions for years. camp david in 2000, where prime minister barak made an incredible offer, maybe even too generous. rejected it. in 2008, and equally generous offer to palestinian -- the palestinian authority rejected it also. then john kerry tried to come up with a framework and a boss did abbas did notd

even respond. not even to the secretary of -- unitedhe human states of america. they did not even respond. [applause] mr. trump: thank you. something i mean it. i mean it. i will meet with prime minister netanyahu immediately. i have known him for many years and will be able to work closely together with him to help bring stability and peace to israel and to the entire region. meanwhile, every single day, you have rampant incitement and children being taught to hate israel and to hate the jews. it has to stop. [applause]

an trump: when you live in society where firefighters are heroes, little kids want to be firefighters. when you live in a society whereat athletes and movie stars are heroes, little kids want to be athletes and movie stars. in palestinian society, the heroes are those who murder jews. we cannot let this continue. we can't let this happen any longer. you -- [applause] trump: you cannot achieve these if terrorists are treated -- you cannot achieve peace of terrorists are treated as moderates. -- murders. it is a horrible, horrible way to think. it is a barrier that cannot be broken. that will end. it will lend soon.

believe me. and palestinian textbooks in mosques, you have a culture of hatred that has been fomenting there for years. if we want to achieve peace, they have got to go out and if they have got to start this educational process. they have to and education of hatred. they have to and it. and, now! there is no moral equivalency. israel does not name public squares after terrorists. israel does not pay its children to stab random palestinians. you see, what president obama gets wrong about dealmaking is that he constantly applies pressure to our friends and rewards our enemies. applause]

trump: and,- mr. you see that happening all the time. that pattern practiced by the president and his administration including secretary -- former secretary of state hillary clinton, who is a total disaster, by the way. she and president obama have treated israel very, very badly. itself overepeated and over again and has done nothing to embolden those who hate america. theaw that and releasing $150 billion to iran in the hope they would magically joined the world community. it did not happen. [applause]

mr. trump: president obama thinks that applying pressure to israel will force the issue. but it is precisely the opposite that happens. already half of the population of palestine has been taken over by the palestinian isis and hamas. other half refuses to confront the first half, so it is a very difficult situation that is never going to get solved unless you have great leadership right here in the united states. we will get it done one way or the other. we will get it solved. [applause] mr. trump: but when the united states stands with israel, the chances of these really rise and rises exponentially. that is what will happen when donald trump is president of the united states.

[applause] mr. trump: we will move the american embassy to the eternal capital of the jewish people. jerusalem. applause] mr. trump: and we will send a clear sit on that there is no daylight between america and our ally, the state of israel. the palestinians must come to the table knowing that the bond between the united states and israel is absolutely, totally unbreakable. [applause] trump: they must come to the table, willing and able, to stop

the terror of being committed by -- on a daily basis against israel. a must do that. in, they must come to the table willing to accept that israel is a jewish state and it will forever exist as a jewish state. applause] mr. trump: i love the people in this room. i love israel. i love israel. soave been with israel for long in terms of i received some of my greatest honors from israel. my father before me. my daughter is about to have a beautiful jewish baby.

[cheers and applause] mr. trump: in fact, it could be happening right now which is very nice as far as i am concerned. thank you all, inc. you. winky there he much. all, thank you. thank you all very much. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ c-span washington journal, live every day with policy issues that impact you. martha -- representative marsha blackburn.

and women's history month. and congressman joel connelly of virginia, who is the cochair of the new democratic coalition. promoting a domestic prosperity agenda and growing that community and achieving political consensus. we'll also talk about today's house hearing on open really and -- on heroine and opioid abuse. that is to state morning. announcer: at treasury secretary testifies before the house financial services committee starting out to :00 a.m. eastern on c-span3. the -- republican presidential candidate ted cruz

on the strategic importance of the united states as an ally in the middle east. this is 20 minutes. ♪ ♪ mr. sen. cruz:. plus aipac.

aipac.bless i am thrilled to be here with you today, and let me say at the outset, perhaps to the surprise of the previous speaker, palestine has not existed since 1948. applause] sen. cruz: on wednesday night at cross the country at senate -- on wednesday night at synagogues across the world, jewish people will read the mcgill and. which tells the story of the miraculous rescue of the jewish people from the hands of a wicked persian king. when the evil-doer haman plots jews, tds grabs him

as a nation that is scattered and spread out. teaches that it the jewish people at the time were divided amongst themselves. the lesson is when the forces of good are divided, evil can prevail. but, when we come together in unity, together, we can defeat tyrants. [applause] today we are reliving history. facing a similar time of challenge for america and for israel. you a word ofive hope. in the next few months, we will bring this country together. by unifying the republican party, and then by reaching out and building a coalition of young people, hispanics, african-americans, women, and reagan workers,

democrats. which will lead to a commanding victory in november that unifies this country and rings us together. -- brings us together. and, standing together, america will soon with israel and defeat radical islamic terrorism. [applause] to thank thewant delegates, the over 18,000 people there. the 4000 young people. the leaders of the pro-israel movement to are gathered here today. you will play a critical leadership role and making this happen and bringing us together. today, my colleague at lindsey graham very kindly hosted an event for me here.

which you should ally and a doubt anyone might have that the god of abraham, isaac, and jacob can still do miracles. [laughter] sen. cruz: i want to begin by asking all of us to remember taylor force. a texan who hailed from love it. and a goal scout, west point graduate. army veteran. tomarch 8, he was stabbed death by a palestinian terrorist in israel. forterrorist did not ask his passport. influenced by the relentless campaign of incitement that has fostered genocidal hatred towards jews, all he cared about was injuring or killing as many civilians as possible. at least 10 people were wounded by the time the terrorist was neutralized. the brutal murder of taylor is shed another brutal reminder

gather and israel to unified to defeat the terrorists. we need a president who will be a champion for america and we need a president who will be a champion for israel. [applause] sen. cruz: in my time in the senate, i have endeavored to do both. in the four years i have been serving in the senate, i have been privileged to travel three times to the state of israel. i had the great avalanche of staying at and seeing at the hospital in northern israel, where they have treated over 1000 refugees from syria wounded in the horrible syrian civil war and they have done so free of charge. showing the heart and character of the people of israel. iran named asn of

their ambassador to the united -- unitednations nations, a known terrorist who held hostages in the late 1970's, people in washington said there was nothing to do. proud to introduce legislation to bar him from coming to america. legislation passed one hundred-zero. it passed the house 400 35-0 and it was signed into law by president obama. applause] sen. cruz: when israel was facing relentless rocket attacks from hamas into the prayers of all of us and people across the , primeere with israel minister netanyahu powerfully observed, we are using missile defense to protect our civilians

and they are using their civilians to protect their missiles. i entirely agree with prime minister netanyahu. inas would place rockets elementary school. they placed their headquarters in the basement of a hospital. and, i would note, that hillary clinton, in 2014 explained this as follows. i quote. hamas puts its missiles, it's areas. and civilian part of it is because gaza is pretty small and it is densely populated. well, madam secretary, with all respect, the reasons missiles is in schools is not because gaza is small, the reason missiles are in school is because hamas are terrorist monsters using children as human shields. [cheers and applause]

sen. cruz: into in response to this atrocity at was proud to join with democrat kiersten gillibrand and authoring a resolution condemning hamas is at use of human shields as a war crime. that resolution passed both houses of congress unanimously. in the midst of these rocket attacks, we saw the obama administration cancel civilian airline flights in the nation of israel. when that happened, i publicly asked the question, did this administration just launch an economic or a caught on the nation of israel? the administration does not ban flights into pakistan, yemen,

afghanistan, in deed did not ban flights into much of ukraine. ukraine had just seen a passenger airliner shot down by a russian missile. so, why exactly was the district or should it sanction put on israel because one rocket fell harmlessly a mile away from an airport, one of the safest airports in the world? why was that time to coincide with john kerry arriving in the middle east with $47 million for gaza that would inevitably and up with hamas terrorists? question, asked that within hours, the state department was being asked, is this an economic or a caught of israel? the state department said that question is ridiculous. we refuse to answer. so i will hold it -- i will place a hold on every nominee to the state department.

thereafter, former new york mayor michael bloomberg wrote -- rode a civilian airline from london to tel aviv, demonstrating it was safe to fly to israel. applause] sen. cruz: as a result of mayor bloomberg's efforts, my efforts, and millions of others, the heat and light in detention on this administration became too much and within 24 hours, the united states lifted its ban on flights to israel. president, ird, as will lead very, very differently than the current administration. [applause] just a fewimagined years ago, if i had come to an

aipac conference and suggested the prime minister of israel was going to come to america, address a joint session of congress, auntie would be boycotted by the president of the united states, the vice president of the united states, and every member of the cabinet. that would've been dismissed as crazy, fanciful. that cannot happen. sadly, that is exactly what happened when prime minister net yahoo! came to address congress. cameime minister netanyahu to address congress. in a similar vein, my leading republican opponent has said he would be neutral be telling -- be neutral between israel and the palestinians. let me be very, very clear. as president, i will not neutral. will will stand on apologetically with the nation of israel.

[applause] sen. cruz: so what does that mean specifically? let us start with today's persian king. the nation of iran. with hillary clinton and donald trump have said they would maintain the iranian deal, although donald, as promised, would negotiate and get a better deal. my view is very different. on the first day in office, i will rip this catastrophic iranian nuclear deal to shreds. applause] sen. cruz: this agreement gives over 100 billion dollars to the ayatollah khomeini, the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism.

that is worse than the $3 billion of military aid we give to the nation of israel. that is not just unconscionable, is fundamentally immoral and if i am president, on the first day we will reimpose sanctions on iran. [applause] mr. sen. cruz: in a mockery of this iranian nuclear deal, iran has continued with missile test falls top including launching a missile with the words printed on it in both hebrew and farsi, "israel should be wiped from the arth." care my words, ayatollah khomeini, if i am president and iran launches a missile test, we will shoot that missile down. cheers and applause]

sen. cruz: engine january 2017, we will have a commander-in-chief who says, under no circumstances will iran be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. either you will shut down your nuclear program or we will shut it down for you. [applause] crows: -- sen. cruz: a year ago, i was honored to join a panel discussion in the senate about this disastrous iranian deal. not a single democrat was alongg to join to sit someone who witnessed firsthand the horrors of the holocaust. who brings a moral weight and gravity second to none. andas both powerful humbling, and i am convinced, after this election, the american people will stand

together and say, never again means never again. [applause] sen. cruz: on my very first day in office i will begin the process of moving the american embassy in israel to jerusalem, .he once and eternal capital now, i recognize four years a whole lot of republic candidates -- candidates, both republican and democrats, have said that. somed, i recognize candidates have said that today. here's the difference. i will do it. cheers and applause]

sen. cruz: and as president, i will do everything in my power to ensure anyone who provides support to the bds movement, including schools and universities, will lose any access to federal funding. to the extent they have engaged in illegal behavior, they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. all of us here understand that israel is not the barrier to peace. it is the palestinian authority that celebrates the murder of women and children and ins cites and compensates the terrorist attacks.

if the palestinians try to push through a united nations resolution, america will veto that resolution. [applause] i will fly to new york to personally veto it myself. why on earth did a cuban-american texan become one of the leading defenders of israel and the united states congress -- in the united states congress? i understand that standing with israel benefits america. [applause] literal democracy

that shares our values. israel is a steadfast and loyal ally and our military aid to israel is not charity. it is furthering the national security interest of the united states of america, whether it is missile-defense, or whether it is intelligence and military cooperation, israel provides an a more miss -- and and or miss benefit -- enormous benefit to keeping america safe. on a very personal level, for me, much of my view of israel was framed by my family story. my father was born and raised in cuba. as a kid, he fought in the cuban revolution. he was imprisoned and tortured. he fled cuba in 1957. when he came to america, he had

$100 sound into his underwear -- sewn into his underwear. he paid his way through school and he went on to start his own business. when i was a kid, he used to say to me, when i faced oppression in cuba, i had a place to flee to. if we lose our freedom here, where do we go? i will tell you it is an incredible blessing to be the child of an immigrant who fled oppression and came to america seeking freedom. there is one other nation on earth that is like the united states that was created as a beacon of hope to people who had faced horrible murder and persecution. the nation of israel is a beacon of light unto the world.

all of us here understand, as ronald reagan did, that piece is achievable -- peace is achievable only through strength. time fort have political correctness. weakness is provocative. appeasement increases the chance of military conflict. i believe this iranian nuclear deal is munich in 1938 and we risk catastrophic consequences to allowing a homicidal maniac to acquire the tools to murder millions. [applause]

the way to avoid conflict is to stand up to bullies. in 1981,nation, iran, released our hostages the day ronald reagan was sworn into office. that is the difference a strong commander-in-chief can make. together, standing as one, we can and will do it again. thank you cover god bless them it -- thank you, god bless america. [applause]

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>> washington journal live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. republican congresswoman marsha blackburn of tennessee on president obama's trip to cuba and her work on women's history month. gerald connolly of virginia, cochair of the new democrat coalition on a report that group released design to promote an american prosperity agenda. journal washington begins live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on tuesday morning. >> coming up on tuesday, arizona holds its presidential primary. utah holds caucuses for both parties.

democratic 85 delegates and 58 republican delegates. in utah, 37 democratic delegates and 40 republican delegates. we will have results and speeches from some of the candidates on c-span. during campaign 2016, c-span takes you on the road to the white house as we follow the candidates on c-span, c-span radio, and c-span.org. >> vice president biden spoke to attendees of the aipac conference on sunday. minutes.

♪ [applause] honored thatibly presidentuty as a pet -- as aipac president to welcome a very special guest to the aipac stage. mr. vice president, thank you for being with us here tonight. most importantly, thank you for being a champion of the u.s.-israel relationship. only do you know that the alliance between these two great democracies is in america's

national interest, but you also formed your own personal affinity for the jewish state, a love for israel, which you have shared with your children, with eau.er, ashley, and bo we welcome you this evening. ladies and gentlemen, the vice president of the united states joe biden. [applause] vice president biden: thank you for that introduction.

, past, present, and he was moving folks for the photo line. beend, don't worry, he has giving the orders for years and years. and board chairman. it is wonderful to be back with so many friends. please excuse my back, i apologize. hell is going to be the next venue? ,700 people! i will clap for you guys. i thought the reason for the crowd, after the academy awards,

a lot of you thought i was bringing along lady gaga with me. aipac has been moving to bigger venues because you are growing. you are growing, more than 18,700 people here in washington. numberld, the largest ever. i was being asked backstage theher or not -- how big first convention i attended was. it may have been 300 or 400 people, i don't know. maybe it is because i am getting too old and senile. look, we are all united by our unyielding commitment to the survival and security and

success of the jewish state of israel. [applause] what impresses me most is what what you understand, the lifeblood and security, the more than 4000 young people you have here. will all of the young people here stand up? [applause] it is really, really, really teenagers tom

college kids making an enduring promise. i want to thank you for being here. we talk about relationship between our two great nations and how to deepen it. it is a generational issue. generation after generation is the building block upon which we guarantee the success of our endeavor. i want to start tonight by offer my deepest condolences to all of the victims wounded by the terrorist bombing in his, so many of whom -- istanbul, so many of them were israeli citizens. out to thego families. so easy to use that phrase, it

almost sounds like it is meaningless. we all know. we all know. it is a tremendous void, the loss of those innocent victims. it leaves entire communities and entire families. the united states of america stands with our allies israel and turkey in that fight against cowardsm, against the who murder innocents and seek to impose their will through fear and intimidation. i was talking to howard and we were talking about how much it has changed. muche sense, israel is so stronger. but it was so much less complicated when i started as a 29-year-old kid. the united states has never and

will never move that resolve. israel will never waver. terrorists can not and will not prevail. attacks such as the one that is come to dominate today's news -- at last years conference, there was only one topic on everyone's mind. the possibility of a nuclear deal with iran. immense.s were for israel, it is sexist and show. existential.ist an we are no longer dealing with hypotheticals. there is a real concrete report. i would like to update you with

what was accomplished. more than two thirds of iran centrifuges have been removed. more than 9 -- more than 90% of the enriched uranium has been shipped out of the country. an unprecedented inspections are happening at all of iran's nuclear facilities. iran is muchply, further away from obtaining another nuclear -- from obtaining a nuclear weapon than they were a year ago. whatever feelings -- whatever your feelings were about the deal, i hope you're happy that they are further and further removed from the possibility.

removing the threat of a nuclear armed iran peacefully is critical progress in the region. otherwise facing too much instability and too little opportunity. the chief of staff of the israeli defense force acknowledged the agreement reduces immediate threat to israel because it rolls back iran's nuclear capability and deepens the monitoring capabilities. it was his assessment, not ours. leaves iran that it will make great effort to fulfill their side of the bargain. line.centives are in we will make sure they do. we are watching tehran like a hawk. iran will never be allowed to resume nuclear weapons.

never, never, never. [applause] , what we saidyou all along still holds. deal, theolates the united states will act. the united states will act. our commitment is unambiguous. it will be impossible for the next president not to honor it. neither are we giving iran any slack in the threats they continue to stir up. the violation of human rights for ballistic missile activities, though sanctions remain in place and we are enforcing them vigorously. the day the nuclear deal came into effect in january, we opposed 11 -- we imposed 11 new

sanctions. we have serious sanctions , includingbollah money launderers and financiers. confirm oursenate new undersecretary. he is the best we have ever had. so we can benefit from his experience. we have the authorities we need to counter iran. we are not afraid to use them. we are working with a community of regional partners to check iran. not just israel. this is the key subject in my recent trip to the middle east.

the uae, israel, jordan. the need for us to unite and join in making sure iran's activities are thwarted. in israel, i met with prime minister netanyahu. how are you doing, mr. ambassador? he was in the meetings as well. he and i have something in common. we both love israel and we speak our minds. we are friends. time in tel aviv as well with one of the finest men in the world. that is not hyperbole. s.esident pere

my visit did not occur at a peaceful time for israel. on the night i arrived, a palestinian terrorist stabbed a dozen people, innocent victims enjoying an evening on the boardwalk. an american hero, a veteran of the army who served in iraq and afghanistan, was murdered. it took place a mile from where i was meeting with the president at his center devoted to peace. couldwe were speaking, we hear the sirens. an hour later, i found out my wife, daughter in law, and my two youngest grandchildren were even closer. they were having dinner on the beach less than half a mile away. the conditions under which the israeli people live, the constant fear of attack, is real.

the people of israel have lived under siege since the beginning. they built a nation in defiance of threats from their neighbors. they sustained that nation in the face of rocket attacks, terrorist tunnels, and this unconscionable stabbing. me, youid not know might think i am making it up. israel is a nation of uncommon courage. it should not have to be this way. i condemn the attacks, all of them. i condemn the failure to condemn those atrocious acts of violence. no leader, no leader has the

right to tolerate terrorism. [applause] that is exactly what i said to himident abbas when i met in ramallah. excuse for killing innocents or remaining silent in the face of terrorism. i made it clear -- i will be honest with you, after extensive meetings with leaders on all

sides, including different parties within israel, i must tell you straight up i did not walk away encouraged. the current prospects for peace are not heartening. there is no political will among israelis nor palestinian's to seriousward with negotiations. that is incredibly disappointing. the only way, in my view, to guarantee israelis future and as a jewishentity and democratic state, is with a two state solution. that remains my view. it is the only way to ensure the dignity and self-determination that the palestinian people deserve as well. eyednk it is a clear

political and demographic reality. hard to take a risk for peace. because i am irish, i understand all hatreds die slowly. i mean that sincerely. i have been involved in the northern ireland situation as well. james joyce said, history is a nightmare from which i am constantly trying to awake. history is a nightmare from which i'm constantly trying to awake. , the famous quote, if you will it, it is no dream.

if you will it, it is no dream. [applause] dreams in israel have never been impossible. were they impossible, there would be no israel because there exists within the jewish community and iron will. so right now, i don't have the answer but i know we have to work on renewing that will for peace. we must remind the constituencies among both the israelis and palestinians to create a fundamentally different future. the future with the grievances means that -- that terrorist attacks must stop. the rhetoric that insights of

violence against innocents, it must stop. [applause] retribution and revenge must stop. there is another line from an irish poet named yeats -- he sufferingo much and "too much of suffering makes a stone of the heart. " ladies and gentlemen, terror is it must beerror and condemned as such, plain and simple. ab is interesting how our ar friends are now figuring out,

until we all understand that, we will not succeed. actions on either side to only take usst further away from the path of peace. actions like at the human to undermine israel -- at the u.n. to undermine israel or settlement activities. to be frank, israel's government has a systematic process of expanding settlement and seizing land. b.b. thinks it can ban be accommodated. i don't. trends are moving in the opposite direction. a one state reality which is a reality that is dangerous.

[applause] folks, that is in direct conflict with the goal we share of assuring israel's future as a secure jewish and democratic state. as i tell everyone, i never tell anyone their business. all i can do is say what i believe to be. their truth as a relates to arbors as well. to both parties they need to take meaningful steps to demonstrate their commitment to a two state solution that .xtends beyond words things must begin to happen now to build confidence. i know he is talking about it. i heard it being talked about on the palestinian side. there has to be a little show me

. this cannot continue to erode. i know that is not a message that is particularly welcome, but nobody ever doubts -- i mean what i say. sometimes i say all that i need. -- sometimes i say all that i mean here it i am not pessimistic about the dynamics of the region. in the past, i have seen a remarkable consensus develop among israelis as well as its arab neighbors around three issues. that may have the ability to begin to change the dynamics on the ground. for the first time in my years working on israel, i found this agreement. tohink it presents a chance change the underlying dynamics. first, there is widespread agreement among all parties that

iran's destabilizing activities are a concern for the entire region, for israel and the arab states as well. by the way, that wasn't the case seven years ago. was the case five years ago, even three years ago. we have been speaking with israel about this for decades. they have been speaking with us. today it is also on the agenda of many of their members. -- many of their neighbors. it will be a major topic of discussion when obama meets with the gulf states cooperation council in saudi arabia next month. we are taking critical steps to strengthen our security cooperation so that they can engaged diplomatically with iran from a position of strength and everyone in the region agrees

that in iran's behavior continues to pose a problem and provides an opportunity though -- my mother would say, bad things and good things happen if you look hard enough. finding opportunity for cooperation across the divide. the joint view of the threat posed by iran. second, israel and their neighbors share an overwhelming concern about the threat that radicalization poses to their own security. the arab nations have begun to isisly figure out that sees a caliphate not in israel that arab land, that a threat to their

existence. it was a common thread in my discussions not just in jerusalem but in ramallah, abu dhabi, oman. isil hasion of crystallized their resolve to receipt -- has crystallized their resolve to defeat this photo. foe. preventing isil, al qaeda, from metastasizing, infecting their countries, bringing them down. and, as we saw again this weekend, that concern is real. that is why so many arab states joined the counter-iso-coalition and many are members in more than name only. our strength, hosting forces,

contributing resources and training. it is overwhelming, the self-interest of these nations throughout the region to share information and to work together isil and i could deepen cooperation. military leaders said they have no closer military ally then israel. there is no reason that the chance does not exist to broaden that cooperation. ground is thathe driving need for nations to secure enough energy. to meet the needs of their people. that creates another enormous opportunity for israel. chances are natural gas resources are making the u.s. and north america the new

epicenter of energy for the entire world. israel is emerging as a dynamic hub in the eastern veteran in your turkey, egypt, jordan, all have a desire not to be dependent on anyone energy source. israel has both the resources and the capacity to provide for those needs. we see the potential for deals that benefit everyone, deals that could increase the channels of could, increase the channels of cooperation. i spoke about these issues with prime minister netanyahu and king abdullah during my trip and i spoke about it with prime .inister davutoglu we are working with our friends to bring these deals to fruition. their decision, israel's decision, but we are prepared to

help. there is no guarantee that any of this will happen. tough choices are needed. backed by the political world of change in the full potential of this cooperation of these three changes in the region is more likely to be realized if meaningful political progress is able to begin to be made between the israelis and the palestinians. for the first of in my career, i see the potential for relations between israel and many historic .ntagonists beginning to fall whether or not 10 and a change in the middle east or relations have opened up, one thing is certain. in united states will constantly and forever have israel's back. [applause] v.p. biden: just like we have

1948.israel's founding in i hate to say this because it dates me that i have worked with eight presidents. as we catholic say, bless me, can't be don't know, i titled and i mean this sincerely. no ministration has done more to advance the security of israel then we have peered our cooperation makes me incredibly proud. our commitment to israel's -- will not change. we will make sure that israel has the best equipment available when we deliver 35 jets.

they will be the only nation with fifth-generation aircraft. [applause] we will continue to make sure israel has the capacity to defend itself by itself for itself in an incredibly dangerous neighborhood. look. during a time of tight budgets and difficult politics, israel security has always been a priority. $23.5 billion in foreign military financing in seven years we have been in office. additional $3 billion to help them build one of the most advanced missile defense systems in the world. on top of that, another $1.9 million for munitions last year. a household name. every dollar a meaningful investment is saving the lives

of innocent israelis. we are successfully testing another system in december. both systems bringing us closer to coming in line to protect israel against even wider range of rocket attacks. israel is stronger and more secure today because of the obama biden administration period, period. , as some of of it our critics would have you believe, but because of it. folks, now discussions are underway regarding a new memorandum of understanding that will cover in the next decade of

security cooperation between our nations. it will be the most generous security assistance package in the history of the united states. [applause] i am hopeful that we can work at all the details -- we had some discussions when i was there even though i did not go there to negotiate that issue. as i told netanyahu, israel may not get everything it asked for and that will get everything it needs. course, commitment to israel's security is about more than weapons systems and military financing. that about making sure israel will always exist strong and capable as the ultimate

guarantor of security for jewish people around the world. abiding moral obligation we have. again.never, never without israel, there is no guarantee. [applause] v.p. biden: i have been criticized for saying that if there were no israel, we would have to invent one for our own self-interest. after all the time i hadn't been doing this we still have you to defeat -- and the reason why we need israel so andy -- the pernicious

persistent evil of anti-semitism. it is on the rise into many parts of the world. europe are made with swastikas painted on synagogues. when jewish people are targeted in terrorist attacks. thousands of european jews immigrate to israel out of fear when a seemingly organized effort to discredit, delegitimize, and isolate israel persists on the international stage, it is dangerous. it is wrong. it, weime we encounter have an obligation to speak out against it. [applause] v.p. biden: some will remember in the 1990's when i was ranking

member and chairman of the foreign relations committee. insisted on holding hearings on anti-semitism in europe and russia. in the press, i was criticized for doing it. people questioned if it was necessary only if we were going .o legislate european values i made no apologies. i make none now. it was necessary then and it is necessary now. [applause] v.p. biden: because quite frankly, silence to quickly becomes complicity. we must speak out where we find it. i'm going to continue to speak out. here today for the rest of my life. we have to stand up against the attempts to delegitimize israel. no nation including israel is immune to legitimate criticism

but it should not be unfairly singled out. we will continue to stand against biased resolutions and attends to delegitimize israel at the united nations. [applause] continue towe will ensure that israel is represented on committees like other nations and we will continue to push back against the call in the u.s. for people to boycott, disinvest, or sanction israel. [applause] v.p. biden: it is wrong. it is wrong. i know it is not popular to say but it is wrong. because as a people know better than any other people, any actions that marginalize one imperils us all.

it is incumbent upon us, all of us to stand up against those who traffic in pernicious stereotypes, who seek to divide us for political gain. the future belongs to the bridge builders not the wall others. .- wall builders [applause] v.p. biden: that is why we are here. exists. exists to build bridges to extended unbroken chain of generations binding israelis and u.s. citizens together. 4000 ofwhy we need all you students. we need every single one of you. it is your obligation, your obligation to do what you are doing. d why i took my

son's children to israel with me. they said they are young. they are. but they did the same thing for my beau when he was a kid. i took his brother and sister -- my other grandchildren. almost all of them to doc israel. they do not have to be 25 to understand it -- they can feel it. they can taste it. they can see it. they know it. vp biden: it must be part of who they are. as my father ensured it was part of me, they need to know, as you

young people need to remind your generation, they need to know sot happened, why israel is essential. a place that creeps into your soul, and habits it -- in habits it -- inhabits it. let me close with two last thoughts. first, i want to thank many of you here tonight, like barbara and larry weinberg, norm brownstein, lonnie kaplan, michael adler. , i had theyou

privilege of learning from all of you. with greatserving men. all of you, and i mean this sincerely, thank you. mentoring me. thank you for teaching me. thank you for standing with me. appreciateuly, truly it. fornd, i want to apologize telling many of you the story i am sure you have heard me say before. this is mainly directed at the 4000 students who are here. i got elected to the senate when i was 29. i was raised by a father who was

absolutely committed to the establishment of israel. a man who was high school educated, well read. our dinner table was a place we sat down to have conversations and incidentally eat. i not joking. proud at age 30 -- barely 30 -- sworn in as a senator and went to israel. meir.to meet golda i met with every prime minister since then. i will never forget sitting in her office -- i say this to you students -- it was after the six-day war and she kept flipping those maps she had.

she had a bank of maps and there were like eight, flipping up and down, pointing to every encounter and chain-smoking while she was doing it. and she had a guy sitting next to me that i met for the first time an assistant. and after about 45 minutes, and i was increasingly depressed as what was aabout was rate against the israelis and how they had to candidate if i didn't all of a sudden she looked at me and this is the god's truth, she said, would you like a photograph? thought, well, yes. we opened the double doors into that section that is like a yer in there were a bank of

photographers. we walked outside and we were standing next to one another looking at the cameras. there were no statements being made. and looking straight ahead she said to me, don't look so sad, senator. we have a secret weapon in our battle against the arabs. i thought she was going to tell me something that was classified. [laughter] v.p. biden: i swear to god. i thought she was the only one -- i unwittingly -- i was supposed to be looking straight ahead -- turned and said, madam prime minister? , we have nonator place else to go. [applause] i tell that story

and i say to you students -- i tell it over and over again because it was a piercing moment for me. a formative event that has shaped my life for decades. today ass as relevant when she said it 40 years ago. we have nowhere else to go. fire andcaptures the the steel, the optimism, determination of the israeli people. lightll brings to vivid the plight of the jewish people everywhere. passion thate supporters of the israeli feel in the marrow of their bones. ladies and gentlemen, i have years to be for 30

events from the first time i was elected. i still support the work in mission of this organization. and to make sure that there will always be an israel, to make sure there will always be a place to go, that is why we are here. god bless you all and thank you for having me. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪

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this concludes our evening program. thank you and good night. w.ouncer: ben ginsberg looking at the possibility of a contested convention. explain what this means. candidatesone of the arrive at the commission with the majority of delegates. by definition, they have to contest to reach a majority.

there will be balloting when the delegates get there and to see if and then balloting your candidate can win enough delegates to get over the majority. >> a lot of attention on the rules committee. here is the question. how much authority does the committee have over the convention structure? ben: there will be two rules committee. one is the national committee which will meet the week before the convention, come up with what amounts to a working draft. that draft will be approved by the full committee, historically on the wednesday before the convention. go to aument will temporary convention was

committee which is made up of delegates as opposed to the republican national committee members. those delegates will work through the draft. and do whatever they choose is their authority to make the rules for the convention. so that draft rule will then be sent to the full convention on monday. that committee will meet again as a permanent committee, approved the rules, then it goes to full convention for passage. the answer is, the republican national committee rules committee is essentially doing a working draft. host: we keep hearing about rule 40. take a step back and explain what that was about and why it can be changed. 26-42 are rules that apply

to each convention and must be passed by each convention for itself. the rules that were passed in 2012 are not in effect for 2016 unless and until the convention rules committee passes. in the two previous conventions in 2008 in 2004, the number had been majority in five states needed to approve. ron paul claimed that they had five states. that would have caused a lot of messing with the schedule. at thees committee suggestion of the romney campaign increased the number of put in a namet to for nomination but that rule is not in effect for 2016. there is no rule on the numbers states for 2016 until the

convention rules committee and ultimately the full convention vote on the rules for some session. host: but there is a rule requiring delegates to vote on the first ballot. what are the rnc rules this year and now obligated or the delegates to the candidates they supported in the primary? ben: that is rule 16, part of the permanent. that role requires that the delegates vote according to any statewide vote in their state. that was put into effect because in 2012, there were a number of instances where the candidates who came away with the most convention delegates have had actually won the state. so the rule was put in place to of theain that the votes primary voters who participated in primaries and conventions

around the country actually had their votes reflected in what the convention did. is it safe to say that the last time this was an issue was 1976? ben: yes. host: we will go back and see ronald reagan and president ford. before we do, what happened that year? basically, gerald ford did not have a majority of delegates. ronald reagan was a credible challenger. primaries,ast of the both campaigns include mood the delegates. president ford legally using the prerogatives of power that the white house brings, managed to convince enough unbound delegates to vote with density had a majority. host: he will see senator

before he got the nomination, which was something unprecedented. ben: unprecedented that may be capable of repetition. host: let's go back to kansas city, 1976. president gerald ford. [begin video clip] [applause] >> he is gesturing to him. reagan is still signing autographs. he is shouting into the microphone. down, he says.me >> come on down. >> they have just a live in the alabama standard to reagan.

>> everybody in this great , we're alltonight tremendously pleased and honored to have ron reagan and nancy reagan come down. [applause] >> we are all a part of this great republican family that will give the leadership to the american people to win on november 2. i would be honored on your behalf to have my good friend governor reagan to say a few words at this time. [applause] [end video clip] host: as you look at ronald

reagan, what turned the tide for president ford? are there lessons? there are certainly lessons. there will be fewer unbound delegates in 2016 then there were in 1976 because of that role he talked about. the front how close runner is to getting a majority of delegates, on how big that pool is through this produced a great moment of unity in an otherwise divided convention. that would be a lesson for whoever is in what position in 2016. host: mississippi turned the tide for general ford. who they were the delegates stayed as a group and were able to put president ford over the top. int: if selected delegates

undecided states, how does that play into the delegate totals for candidates? ben: interestingly enough, on june 8, after the last of the , you will know to highly accurate degree what each candidate's totals are. that is six weeks until the convention on july 18. he will also know who the unbound delegates are. they will become very popular people. can you determine in a dance how delegates will vote after they are unbound? what happens? ben: it is the front runner's dilemma because the rule. while well over 90% of the delegates are bound on the first ballot by the time he gets to the second ballot if there is no state rulese first,

takeover. under this state rules, three quarters of the delegates will be unbound for a second ballot. is there a way to tell how they will vote? i think the campaigns will have to invent terrific new databases to track, contact, know who the delegates can must be persuaded by. it will be a different phenomenon and a whip operation like we have never seen before. are the republican candidates right now preparing for this yet good to they have people who will guide them through the process? ben: i believe they do. each campaign has named a squad of people who will pay attention to the state conventions and the state caucuses. who will choose the actual delegates.

each knows the importance of that and are working toward picking delegates and then keeping track of the delegates ble to have been responsive on the floor in cleveland. to 19 48.s go back the last time at a republican convention there have been multiple ballots, ultimately getting the nomination was robert taft of ohio. .e was the republican lessons? ben: you need to keep track of your delegates. sometimes the second-place candidate can end up in first place if it goes to multiple ballots. host: let's talk about the state. which states are you keeping an eye on? which have the most power? ben: interestingly enough one of

the great differences from 1948 in 1976 is the way the party structure has evolved. the party structure will not have nearly this way over their delegates that they did before. there are no brokers left in the republican party for a variety of reasons having to do with society as a whole, also campaign finance laws. there are a few states where individual political figures will still have control over the delegates per john kasich in ohio, for example. ois 66ve control over delegates in the sense that they .ere less weight in california, one of the few states in new hampshire -- when the few states where the candidates themselves can pick their delegates.

in new york, it is a slate chosen entirely by the state central committee. it is not exactly clear who the delegates who will be loyal to. , the delegates are chosen at the state convention either in congressional district caucuses or the statewide delegates by the convention as a whole. those will probably be free spirits but of course ted cruz -- his home state. the first of all, what is the republican establishment? who were what isn't? -- who are what is it? ben: that is tough to say. the fundraisers. they have not had a successful cycle.

super pac's have not had the power they seemed to have. i am not sure it is the fundraisers. elected public officials in some instances will when i hear their term -- i think of republican and inolders in congress statehouses around the country. the way we do over delegate selection process now is not at all clear that the establishment will have control over the delegates or how their states vote in the primary. suspended hisbio campaign that he can still raise money to pay off debt. that will depend state-by-state. what happens when a candidate is that a campaign different state laws have different requirements and whether or not the delegates are still bound to that candidate.

in a few states, and they will be down to senator rubio said they will have to feel in senator rubio's name on the first ballot. many states, the delegates become unbound, they may listen to him as a matter of loyalty but they have no requirement under their states law to vote the way you would like them to vote. host: so they do not have authority? ben: correct. hear what the chairman said on cnn about the party rules and what to expect on cleveland. /wha way, that was put it in 2012 at the 2012 convention. the rules committee for the 2016 convention will decide what that role is. there is nothing mysterious about that. likes to be a person who

to keep things the way they are but it is not my decision. i am not the person that gets to decide the delegates take elective nature the states made rulescision for what the for the 2006 convention will say. i am saying anything nefarious. this is just the way it is. [end video clip] host: let me ask you about the platform process. sense that each delegation to the convention will elect to people to serve on the platform committee to come up with that. there are four committees altogether, the rules committee, the platform committee, the and atials committee, committee called the committee on permanent organization that reinforces the rules.

, you understand this better than anyone. they are preparing for this possibility. ben: the chairman said that. you have to prepare for all possibilities. so, that is the proper thing to do. it is now a possibility, as we have read. host: based on history, in early june, no one candidate has the 1237 delegates. what is the process going to look like? ben: it will be an interesting time. they will need to concentrate the unbound delegates. there are 116 unbound delegates from states that do not hold statewide votes.

there is a pennsylvania delegation. that is 166 delegates who will be unbound. there are an additional 12 from candidates who dropped out before senator rubio did. and in the marco rubio delegates, which are about 159, slightly fewer than that because of the state rules. campaigns in that period will go to the unbound delegates to convince them to vote with them on the first ballot. those delegates will be extraordinarily popular. i suspect they will have many visitors. host: who determines who sits on the committee? that is determined by each state's delegation. once the delegation is chosen in the memberstions,

of the actual delegation to the national committee will vote. two on each. host: link trump says he is denied the nomination -- for him or anybody who comes in with a majority of delegates but not happens to the delegates yet cohead is a convention prepare for the resentment? ben: i think the rules is the rules. as the chairman said, the rules say that you have to have a majority of delegates to the convention. it is not a plurality. historically, conventions have not pluralityrs, winners because you want the strongest possible candidate. you have to get a majority have your base at creating that should be the candidate.

that is the historical reason that you have the majority in the rules and it is in the republican national convention rules, it is the majority of delegates to the entire convention. host: what question do you think the campaigns need to ask themselves going through this process in terms of what the rules say, what the delegates will be up to? askedirst question to be is how do i win delegates in individual states? this is still about winning elections for now. the second question is how do i go to enough states through the convention process or the executive committee to win delegates who are sympathetic to my cause? to ask theed question of when things will look like on the floor. upjune 8, you will tally with the votes are, whether

somebody has a majority, how far they are from a majority, how many unbound delegates there are. in the rules they will be a tober of questions asked rate the majority of delegates have to sign a petition. you need to be sure that you can get enough delegates to get your name and nomination. and maybe ted f the role committee you will ask -- and maybe that at the rules committee -- 2016 rules committee sets the number, is it advantageous to the candidate to have the number at one? three? five? eight? 18? 20 eight? 28? each campaign will need to make the calculation. once they know how many states and whether they have enough signatures on those ballots,

there are a number of other procedural rules -- motions -- table motions to reconsider, motions for a roll call, all of which require side signatures from the majority of delegates in particular number of states to achieve those -- to make those motions. they will think about that and give some thought to who their vice presidential candidate is 1970 six, policy perhaps what you think that a little bit before the convention to get some of the, of the unbound delegates -- you may give some thought to the officers of the convention are and especially who the chair will be. and you will have to ask the question of yourself, how do i get the chair's attention on the floor with 2400 screaming that ies to get emotion believe needs to be heard actually recognized by the chair? host: which leads to this follow-up because it would be a fascinating convention and

watched as we have presented before. typically, a republican convention in recent times has been a coronation and so the apparatus for example in 2012, then romney really taking control of the convention and the schedule and the agenda, if this were to happen in 2016, the party was still very much control the agenda and you would have conceivably 1-3 candidates vying for the nomination cannot really control in the messaging of thai convention -- he just wanted to the nomination. ben: it is a really interesting point. there is not a majority of delegates achieved by any one candidate, you have to ask, which first lady speaks on the first of the convention? what do you do about the keynote address? what do you start the business of voting? convention committees take longer than they historically have in the past? because there are conflicts on those individual committees. gavel-to-gavele

coverage. it's a conceivable that the convention could start much earlier in the day in the late? ben: sure. anything is possible at this stage you don't know. pragmatically, you still do want to have as much messaging as you can in the convention itself. so, that probably argues for starting things earlier on the first day, trying to get through as much of the convention business as you can so you can get to the messaging part of the convention as quickly as possible. host: a question that the chairman was asked, when all of this be transparent? ben: certainly everything that happens on the floor will be pretty transparent. if no candidate has a majority of delegates, there will be more private conversations with the unbound delegates. transparent in the sense that there will be votes but there will be a lot of deal cutting and erstwhile deal

cutting that will not be visible until the votes are cast. host: as a longtime republican strategist and activist and former counsel to the rnc, what is this moment mean for you and the party? ben: it is a crucial time in the history of the country. it is very important to actually unifyingified or convention. if there is a nominee, somebody who gets up of the majority, people need to rally around that person. if it is a contested convention, so that nobody is going into the convention with the majority of delegates, the moment you showed of gerald ford: re: contact the stage -- gerald ford calling to thereagan down just ag stage --crucial. you have to unify things at the end. host: a veteran of multiple campaigns, ben ginsberg.

thank you for expending all of this. ben: thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] announcer: washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you are coming up on tuesday, republican congresswoman marsha blackburn on president obama's trip to cuba and her work on the selective investigative panel on infant lives in women's history month and democratic congressman -- from virginia, the cochair the democratic coalition on a report released last week designed to promote a domestic american prosperity agenda aimed in growing the economy and achieving political consensus. we will also talk about the house hearing on heroin and opioid abuse and president obama's trip to cuba. washington journal begins live at 7:00 eastern, tuesday morning. coming up on tuesday,

arizona all this presidential primary. udall's caucuses for both parties. i has caucuses for democrats. has 85 delegates. 50 republican delegates. 27 democratic delegates for grabs tonight in idaho. utah, 30 seven democratic delegates and 40 republican delegates. we will have results and speeches recently candidates on c-span. announcer: democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders campaigned in phoenix on saturday ahead of that state's primary. he spoke to supporters about immigration, minimum wage, criminal justice system. his remarks are about one hour. [cheering]

senator sanders: thank you. let me thank all of you. you.e thank all of this is a fantastic turnout. senator for hisator cruz on own introduction. around, i see a lot of energy, i see a lot of beauty, i see a lot of enthusiasm. [applause]

and i see a lot of people who want to transform the united states of america. [applause] we began this campaign about 10 months ago. were a 3% in, we the polls -- we were at 3% in secretarybehind london. we had no money, no political organization and we do not have much name recognition. --the last [applause] last 10 months, a lot has changed. [applause]

in the reason i think that we are doing so well, that we had so much energy, that in state after state, we went people 45 years of age or younger, the future of america. [applause] a report just came out yesterday and it said bernie sanders has received more votes from people under 30 then hillary clinton and donald trump combined. [cheers and applause] and i get my inspiration, i get my energy from you. [cheers and applause] i get my energy and inspiration

from people who have an idealism, who want to transform this country and make it a lot better than it is today. now, the reason i believe we have so much energy and we are doing so well is because we are doing something very unusual in american politics. we are telling the truth. [cheers and applause] as you all know, the truth is not always pleasant. sometimes it is harsh. sometimes it is hurtful. understand the reality in front of us and not shove it under the rug. unless we are prepared to deal with that reality there is no

hope for change. and here is some of that reality. number one. today we live in a country in which our campaign finance system is corrupt and it is undermining americans' democracy. [cheers and applause] this is no small thing. the concept of democracy is not complicated. what it means is you have one vote and you have one vote and you have one vote.

what it does not mean is that people with unlimited amount of money should be able to buy elections. it does not mean that billionaires like the koch brothers and others -- [booing] $900d be able to spend million in this campaign cycle to buy politicians who will represent the rich and the powerful. that is not democracy. that is all a guard he -- ol igarchy. [cheers and applause]

and together we are going to stand firm. this country will not become an oligarchic society. but it is not just a corrupt campaign finance system which is undermining our democracy. what we are seeing now all over this country are cowardly republican governors trying to suppress the vote. as a nation, we have one of the lowest voter turnout rates of any major country on earth. our job is to increase voter turnout.

make it easier for people to vote. and yet today we have republican governors who are trying in every way imaginable to make it harder for poor people, for people of color, for young people for old people to , participate. and i say to those cowardly governors if you don't have the guts to participate in free and fair elections, get another job. [cheers and applause] [crowd chanting "bernie"]

and if elected president -- you can bet your bottom dollar that we are going to have a department of justice which will vigorously take on every one of the governors. [cheers and applause] what i want to see in this country is something simple and straightforward. and that is if you are 18 years of age or older, you are registered to vote. end of the subject. [cheers and applause] but in addition to the fact that we have a corrupt campaign finance system, there is something else that we have got to address and address in a very

straightforward way. and that is that we have a rigged economy. now, the television stations and the corporate media do not deal with this issue very much. but let me tell you what a rigged economy is about. what a rigged economy means is that today the top 1/10 of 1% now own almost as much wealth as the bottom 90%. [booing] means that the 20 wealthiest people in this country now own 150 wealth than the bottom million half of our country. , and let me give you another

example of what a rigged economy is about. it turns out that the wealthiest family in this country is the walton family who owns wal-mart. [booing] as many of you know, wal-mart pays wages that are so low that many of is workers are forced to go on medicaid, food stamps, subsidized housing. what a rigged economy is about is when working people have got to pay more in taxes to provide food stamps for the employees of the wealthiest family in america. [cheers and applause] that is a rigged economy.

and i say to the walton family, get off of welfare. pay your workers a living wage. [cheers and applause] and here is another truth that we cannot continue to avoid. in this country today, we have more people in jail than any other country on earth. [booing] and i understand that in your state, incarceration is a very big and profitable business. well, we are going to end that in a number of ways.

number one. we are going to do away with private prisons, private detention services. [cheers and applause] it is unconscionable that corporations are making money by locking people up. that is wrong. number two. we're going to do our best to make sure that when young people in this country can't find a job or can't stay in school, we're going to invest in jobs and education, not jails and incarceration. [cheers and applause]

i want this country and what this campaign is about is thinking outside of the box. do not allow the media or anybody else to define for you what is possible. you do that. [cheers and applause] and what is possible is having the best educated country in the world, not the country with more people in jail. [cheers and applause] and together we are going to demilitarize local police departments. police departments should not

look like occupying armies. they should be part of the community, not oppressing the communities. we are going -- we are going to make police departments look like the diversity of the communities they serve. all of us are tired of looking at tv and seeing images of unarmed people being shot by police officers. i have -- i am a former mayor of burlington, vermont. all right. and i have worked with police departments for many, many years.

and the vast majority of police officers are honest, hard working, and they have a very difficult job. [cheers and applause] but like any other public official, when a police officer breaks the law, that officer must be held accountable. and a president sanders justice department will investigate every death that takes place in police custody or during apprehension. [cheers and applause] [crowd chanting "bernie"]

criminal justice reform means that we have to take a hard look at the failed war on drugs. [cheers and applause] over the last 30 years, millions of americans have received police records for possession of marijuana. [booing] and if you have a police record it is sometimes very hard to get a job. now, right now under the federal controlled substance act marijuana is listed as a schedule 1 drug. [booing] alongside heroin.

now, everybody here knows that heroin is a killer drug. scientists can argue about the minuses of marijuana, but marijuana is not heroin. that is why i have introduced legislation to take marijuana out of the federal controlled substance act. [cheers and applause] [crowd chanting "bernie"] now, as all of you know, the decision about whether or not marijuana becomes legalized is a state decision, not a federal decision. but i believe that possession of marijuana should not be a federal crime.

[applause] and when we talk about drugs and the danger of drugs, in my state of vermont nearby new hampshire , and in states all over this country we are facing an , epidemic and a crisis of heroin addiction, of opiate addiction, of people dying every day from overdoses. in my view, we have got to treat substance abuse not as a criminal issue but a health issue. [cheers and applause] [crowd chanting "bernie"] we need a revolution in mental health care in this country.

[cheers and applause] when people are struggling with a mental health crisis or with addiction, they should be able to get the treatment they need today, not six months from today. [applause] now, let me just take a moment . all of you know that i'm running against secretary hillary clinton. [booing] let me just take a moment to explain or express to you some of the strong differences that we have on important issues. first, when i began this campaign we had no money and we had to make a very important decision. should we establish a super pac?

[crowd shouts "no"] well, we agreed with you. [applause] this campaign -- this campaign does not represent the interests of the billionaire class or wall street. [cheers and applause] we don't want their money. so we did it another way. and what we did is we reached out to the middle class and working families and what happened is literally mind blowing. i could never in a million years believed that this would happen. but as of today, we have received well over $5 million. -- 5 million individual contributions. [cheers and applause] [booing] -- [cheers and applause] [crowd chanting "bernie"]

that is more contributions than any candidate in the history of this country at this point. [cheers and applause] anybody here know what the average contribution is? right. $27. now, this in itself is revolutionary because it shows that we can run a winning national campaign without being dependent on wall street and big money interests. [cheers and applause] two paraphrase abraham lincoln at gettysburg, this is a campaign of the people, by the

people, and for the people. [cheers and applause] now, what that means when you are not dependent on big money interests, you can do what is right for working people. [cheers and applause] i don't have to worry about some billionaire on wall street calling me up because we don't have their money. we don't want their money. we don't need their money. [cheers and applause] secretary clinton has chosen to go another route in terms of how

she raises money. [booing] she has several super pac's. the largest one recently recorded that it has raised $25 million in special interest money, $15 million from wall street alone. [booing] as some of you may also know, secretary clinton has given forches on wall street $225,000 a speech. [booing] now, what i have said is if you're going to be paid $225,000 per speech, it must be an extraordinarily brilliant speech. [applause]

it must be a speech that could transform our country and the world. it must be eight shakespearean-type speech. and if that speech is so great, let the american people see it. [cheers and applause] the second issue. all of you know that foreign policy is a very important part of what a president does. the most important foreign policy debate in the modern history of this country took place in 2002. now, i listened very carefully to what president bush and vice president cheney and all these guys had to say. [booing]

and they were saying we've got to invade iraq, we've got to invade iraq. i didn't believe them. [cheers and applause] and i voted against that disastrous bill. [cheers and applause] then senator clinton heard the same arguments, read the same information, she voted for that disastrous war. [booing] why thetalk about middle class of this country has been disappearing for 30 years, why many millions of workers today are working longer hours for lower wages, a lot of that has to do with horrific trade

policies written by corporate america. [applause] since the year 2001, this country has lost 60,000 factories and millions of decent-paying jobs. [booing] i have opposed every one of these trade agreements. nafta, cafta, the agreement with china. [applause] secretary clinton has supported virtually all of those corporately written trade agreements. [booing]

now, one of the reasons that our campaign is doing so well is that we are not listening to big money campaign contributors. we are listening to the american people. [cheers and applause] and this is what the american people are telling me. if they are workers, they are saying they can't make it on $8 or $9 or $10 an hour. [applause] they are tired of working working and working and not going anywhere. and that is why we need to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. [cheers and applause] now, i understand that you have a governor here who is trying to make it harder to raise the

minimum wage. [booing] that is exactly the wrong thing to do. [applause] this campaign is listening to senior citizens and disabled veterans. [cheers and applause] and i know that arizona has a whole lot of men and women who have put their lives on the line to defend us and we thank them all. [cheers and applause] but here is the truth. no senior citizen or disabled vet can live on $11,000 or $12,000 a year social security. [applause]

unbelieveably, we have republicans in congress who want to cut social security. [booing] well, i've got bad news for them. we're not going to cut social security. we're going to expand social security benefits. [cheers and applause] this campaign is listening to young people. [cheers and applause] and what young people are telling me is, bernie, we were told that it was the right thing to do to go to college or graduate school. [applause] you told us how important it is for us to get the best education we can.

why is it that when we leave school, we are $30,000 or 50,000 in debt? [cheers and applause] anybody here with student debt? unbelievable. unbelievable. now, i want you to think outside of the box. think outside of the status quo. you all know that we live in a very competitive global economy. we need to have the best educated workforce in the world. and you all know that many of the new jobs being created today require a lot more education

than the jobs of the past. now, for a very long time when we thought about public education, what we talked about was first grade through 12th grade. and that was great 50 years ago. but the world has changed, the economy has changed, technology has changed. in my view, when we talk about public education today what we've got to be talking about is making public colleges and universities tuition free. [cheers and applause] [crowd chanting "bernie"] this is not a radical idea. all right? the world has changed. our educational system has to change with it.

other countries -- and i know that you all know this. other countries, germany, scandinavia, they do that. they provide free college education because they know that investing in their young people is what will make their economy strong. [cheers and applause] and the other issue is that millions of people some young and some not so young are really being crushed with high levels of student debt. and what we have got to do is to say to those people you will be able to refinance that debt at the lowest interest rate you can find.