things that have taken place this week in baton rouge, of siana and the subsuburbs minneapolis. scripture says while suffering may endure during the long night, joy will come in the morning. but in order to get from suffering to joy, got to be willing in america to have a meaningful, legitimate, authentic conversation about the hallenges that race continues that race continues to pose and the relationship between law enforcement and communities of color. that's why we called for a high-level conversation unfettered between leadership here in the congressional black caucus, the attorney general, the f.b.i. director and people

in the law enforcement community from all throughout the land in order to make sure that we can turn tragedy into triumph through action. and let me just lastly comment about the black lives matter movement. john lewis will tell you that in order to make progress in america as we continue to march toward a more perfect union, u need peaceful agitation to precede legislation. and i think that's simply what the overwhelming majority of young people in america want, to be able to grow up and fully experience the american dream without the possibility of it being tragically cut short by either a criminal or rogue police officer and we'll continue to affirm that as we forward.

ms. jackson lee: let me add, our hearts are broken. we would hear from the conscience of the congress, john lewis. not only are we students of john lewis but of martin luther king. in the birmingham jail he told us to leave our places and to fight against injustice. it should be very clear we should repeat it again, we are praying for the families of those fallen officers, and it was a terrorist act and a mass shooting. we are broken hearted and sad. but it should be very clear that this violent perpetrator using an ar-15 said that he was not affiliated with any group, that he came out out of hate and anger. and what we are saying to you is we are among these young people and i want to call the name of d'andre. he's a big young man, 6'5".

he was out last night in the washington protest. as a mother as i watched those children welcoming the fact hat somebody cared about them, when he finally reached the white house this young man broke down on the ground. he was so overwhelmed that he had been able to lead john, like you did as a young man, nonviolently. and all he said to us, terri sewell, do something. he said, no fly, no buy. i was so impressed that he even knew those words. but he fell on the ground. i think america needs to use us as leaders of unity. we want to do that, to be unified and to be as much a unifying force for law enforcement officers who are serving their nation and for those young people who have

seen the loss of life and are praying for action from all of us. we are going to do that, and i think we can do that if the nation listens to what peace and nonviolence is and listens to the call of dr. king and john lewis, that we must fight against injustice. it was not black lives matter. it was a person intended for violence. mr. butterfield: thank you. et's go to the far left. reporter: sky news. with every piece of graphic footage that emerges of the latest police shooting, anger is mounting and mounting. from your experience, how is it possible to contain that? what's your message?

mr. lewis: sometimes when people are knocked down or beaten, arrested and jailed, sometimes when some of our leaders, some of our co-workers and friends are murdered, we have the capacity, we have the bility to get up and move in orderly, peaceful, nonviolent fashion. this young woman here, congresswoman terri sewell, who was born and raised in selma, alabama, a mother and father, relatives were involved -- her mother and father, relatives were involved, schoolmates marched across the bridge. they didn't fight that. but because of what they did we got the voting rights act passed. and now hundreds and thousands

and millions of our citizens can participate in the emocratic process. mr. butterfield: thank you. thank you, congressman john lewis. we are closing out. i want to thank you for coming know that we -- believe in the congressional black caucus that this movement is maturing. it started after trayvon martin. it continues to escalate. this is a movement we are going to be serious about and there will be more announcements yet to come. congresswoman eddie bernice johnson representing the dallas community. she lives a few blocks from where these police officers were sadly assassinated last night, and she joins us in this effort today. thank you for coming. [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]

>> the democratic national committee is holding its fourth and final hearing to set the party's principals, known as its platform for the 2016 elections. "road to the white house" coverage now live from orlando, florida.

>> one again, we're looking at live pictures from florida. the democratic national committee will set the party's principals, also known as the platform, for the 2016 elections. coverage will get under way.

actually it's under way here. we do expect this to start in just a moment. live here on c-span. we'll also have coverage tomorrow as the d.n.c. continues its platform hearing. we'll have it here on c-span right after "washington journal." bernie sanders is poised to endorse hillary clinton at a campaign event that will happen tuesday in new hampshire. that is provided that final disagreement in the d.n.c. can be resolved during the weekend party meeting here in orlando.

>> once again, we're live in orlando, florida, as we await the start of the democratic national committee's fourth and final hearing for the platform committee. the platform is the party's principals, and they set the platform for the 2016 elections. this should get under way in a couple of minutes. we're learning -- we just spoke with a parliamentarian down there and we're understanding it's going to be a couple more minutes. they are still meeting some of the party leaders, still meeting. so we'll have live coverage under way. we'll show you a discussion from this morning's "washington journal" on the black lives matter movement.

host: joining us from baltimore. good morning,. welcome back to the program. guest: it's good to be back. host: so gosh, where to start? louisiana, minnesota, dallas. what's your reaction, sir, to everything that's been going on, not just this week but in general in the country? guest: sir, remember, we shouldn't have to protest. people shouldn't have to be in the street to be heard. people protesting is the last resort. we know police have been inflicting violence in communities for a long time and it wasn't until we were in the street in ferguson in 2014, the fourth conversation at the national level about this tear that was happening in communities. what we see in louisiana, what we see in minnesota are two black men who should be alive today but they're not alive because an officer chose to kill them. when we think about the lack of convictions across the country

that have happened at least just in the last two years, what we know to be true is the courts are not saying the officers are not involved in the death of these people. the courts are saying their involvement is not criminal. and that reminds us that we need to make sure that laws, the policy and practices actually hold the police accountable because the police have incredible power to take people's lives but they operate with impunity and they aren't held accountable by any of these structures. you know, my heart goes out to the victims of all violence when we think about what has happened over the past 48 hours. host: our guest will be with us for a half-hour. we'll put the numbers on the bottom of the screen and get to mccassen. for deray confusion overnight what kind of protest it was. some people were calling it a black lives matter protest. some were saying it wasn't, that the organization doesn't even have a branch or anything in dallas. a, does that matter?

b, can you clarify anything for us? guest: yes. two important things. the movement is bigger than any one organization so it's confusing about -- what's confusing about this moment, there is an organization that has the same name. when people think about this moment, they talk about the black lives matter moment which is more expansive than any one organization. there is an organization called black lives matter. the organization didn't start the protest but it is one of the organizations that is around the country. but there's so many incredible activists and organizers that are pushing to make the more -- world more equitable. you think what happened in dallas, minneapolis, baton rouge, at its root it's people coming together saying the world can be better and here's how. let me find other people who believe it with me. host: david is calling from waynesboro, georgia. good morning.

caller: good morning, y'all, c-span, deray. how you doing? i will throw history at you. y'all were listening to politicians and talking like politicians. please quit it because as americans we need to speak as americans. what is going on in our country is fascism, plain and simple. it's age old, been going on forever. they call the people over there in the persian world radical muslims. sir, it was started at the end of world war ii when there was a fascist state in egypt and it moved into the middle east. that is the plain and simple of it. and until like what y'all are doing with black lives matter point out that it is fascism and that the good people of our world have to say enough and

crush it and quit teaching it to our children. this is going to continue. deray, i hope you can do something that will change what's going on and i wish you all the luck in the world. host: let's hear from our guest. guest: i appreciate it. what's real is there is a tear happening in the police across the country. you can call it fascism. you can call it dictatorship by badge. you can call it a host of things. the outcomes are the same no matter what we call it. at this point is black people are being killed by police. police killed three people every day in 2016. 2015, a police killed somebody every day. host: what are your expectations? you want to -- you want police to be held accountable. moving forward, what actions do you expect to come from this? what's realistic in your view right now? guest: we believe we can change

structure of the system, change the culture. what we know is the culture of policing is broken. a culture is a culture that says officers can do what they want and they won'ting held accountable and that's not ok. we think about things police contracts. you think about in louisiana, the bill of rights says officers don't have to give a statement for administrative hearings for 30 days, right? there's no civilian, there's no other public servant that gets 30 days before they have to appear before police to be interrogated. there are a host of those. freddie gray, when he got killed, the police didn't give a statement for 10 days. that's an unfair protection police vfment and ranging from things like body cameras to independent prosecutors. there are a range of things we were calling for. we launched a website. joincampaignzero.org. in this moment what i hope will come forward from the obama administration and will also be

included in the democratic convention platform is a call for a national use of force standard that both explicitly calls for the preservation of life and makes deadly force the use of last resort. host: democratic caller. hey, natalie. caller: good morning. hi, deray. host: yes, you're on the air. caller: i am very, very upset what's going on, but the oblem is we as brown people, brew israelites, stop trying to, how can i say, govern the aw because god gave us the law at the risk he gave us the law. we know the law. 10 command @s. thou shall not kill. stop trying to deal with these people and that is caucasian

people, ok, because they're not going to do right by us. they want to destroy us. for 400 years think been trying to kill us and that's what they're doing. we need to turn back to god's laws and the lord will protect us. the almighty. the great one. don't be mad about it. stop killing our men! host: that was natalie. deray mckassen. guest: yeah. so we are people who made our way out of no way and like you know, we exist in the legacy of struggle because this country has not been kind to black people since its beginning. we have always been people who have had to push and press because of racism and because of systemic injustice. so that is real. what we also believe to be true is this is our country too. that we have the power to change laws, to change policies and practices that force the system to respond to our lives

differently. i think what we've seen since august, 2014, is a different type of mobilizing amongst black people and also people building coalitions to say we can make this world a better place and i firmly believe that. it's important we continue to note that at the root of all this is white privilege, white supremacy and racism and we have to talk about the way that racism forms so many things in our country because it is so traumatic and it has real outcomes. host: what about yourself and group? ponzi on twitter wants to know, are you a leader of black lives matter? how is he chosen to speak to the people of ferguson? first off, your position within the group, can you explain to us? guest: yes, there are so many people leading across the country and that's powerful. there are no one leader, two leaders, three leaders of the movement. there are people at the local, state and national level and

that's important. i am one of many people to do work in this space so make sure we have an equitable and just society. and campaign zero, i, like many people, was also in the streets of ferguson using social media, our bodies, to push back on dominant culture narratives. what's important about this moment as you continue to see is so many people are speaking out and have their voices heard in ways they have not before. host: here's a "washington post" story you have probably seen recently. with police killings back in the headlines, americans remain uncertain about black lives matter. they say the two fatal police shootings in less than 48 hours in louisiana and minnesota have reignited long-running tensions over police and race. at the center of it all is black lives matter moment. and over the course of its existence, black lives matter have become a polarizing and often contentious political movement opponents accuse it of

fomenting violence, anti-police. it is to disparage treatment of black people by law enforcement. how would you describe yourself, mr. mckesson? guest: yeah. i'm mindful that the movement is young. that this is an old fight but this iteration of people coming into the street, people orking, especially young people and saying we can do something about it, this is a relatively young space. can do something about it. but this is a relatively young space. there are misconceptions about the movement. i know there are incredible people across the country who do really good work. but the changes that will result in the police being held accountable our local. this is about cities and states passing legislation, policies, and changing practices, in ways that will make communities safer. it is all about having a different mind shift about what safety means. if i asked you where you felt the most safe, you will probably not tell me in a room full of police.

you will probably tell me with people who love you, in a shelter. this is slow work. issues of race have always been a thing in this country. people still look back on slavery and other injustices and do not do a full accounting of the trauma they have inflicted on communities. so it is no surprise that people in this moment are afraid and uncomfortable. we must talk about race. host: have you met with presidential candidates this year? , i met with president obama in february, but also with hillary and bernie. bernie has come a long way in his understanding of racial injustice. he had already had a deep understanding of economic injustice. hillary has devoted her time for a long time as a politician. i think that her platform has been -- is brought in a way. i am hopeful that her platform

and the democratic convention for arm will call national use of force standard, and the other that hillary said is that she believed in communities having oversight of the functions in communities. that does not come across in her platform or the democratic convention platform, which worries me. host: calls. lauren in elk grove village. lawrence caller: in elk grove village. i was listening -- caller: i was listening to the earlier segment. concerning the police officers, the five who were killed and the 12 who were shot total -- do we know the race of those people? i did not see all the reports, so i do not know. the four people that were i guess the terrorists, or the murderers -- i know one was killed himself, and the other 3, 1 being a woman -- do we know

the race of those people? did i miss something? i am just serious. i have a comment after that. host: i have not seen that in the early reporting. i am not sure our guest knows. i am not sure why you are asking. make a comment. guest: -- caller: a few of the callers earlier had facts. seem veryhy many wealthy because they seem to be clairvoyant about issues they do not know about. even the shooting about the man in minnesota in his car -- i am confused about that issue, too, because the only video we had is from the girlfriend of the man who was shot, after the man was shot. so i am curious why no questions have been asked about what happened before that. apparently, he was stopped i believe for a taillight being out.

i do not even understand how any of this happened, until we know what happened. host: let's get back to our guest. anything to respond to there, deray mckesson? guest: what we know to be true he was killed and he was not posing a threat to the officer. -- alton. and also to philando castile, the officer was still pointing a gun at him when he was immobilized, was still considered to be a grave threat when he could not move. in the mindset of the officer, it seems like bodies are threatening even when they are immobilized, because he shot him at point-blank range. we have questions outstanding, but again both of these men should be alive, and we can all agree on that. host: deray mckesson spoke about social media -- its strength and power these days.

, your taker reaction on the role of social media? broughton is out to media in general because we did have a caller earlier today who said a lot of this is created by the media, fueled by the media, and that is part of the problem. what do you think? alwaysblack people have faced these issues of erasure. in these moments, we become the on erased. twitter and facebook has allowed people to tell their own stories unfiltered by any other source, so in both of these cases, one being a cell phone video and one being facebook live, we can expose these to audiences that otherwise they would not be able to if we did not have these tools. that is incredibly powerful. it has been powerful to us in ferguson, in minneapolis, in cities across the country. what we see now is the media

actually asking the police questions and pushing on the police in ways we have not seen before. criticalmuch more perspective, holding police accountable, and i think that has changed how people understand the role of the police. there was a point where the police could do no wrong in any capacity. if the police said it, it must be true. marion on the line for republicans. you are on the air. marion? go ahead. caller: i wanted to say i am so glad that this young man is on talking about this, and i want to say that i hope that they keep it going --

white people, black people, everybody. police shooting at a car, where a mother is fleeing with her five kids, it makes me angry. when i see police beating up black women, little girls, 14 years old, and i see the police appoint -- the police put a gun in a car with a man who is already shot, he should not be a policeman. there is something very wrong, and i hope he keeps up straightening everything out in this country. host: thanks for calling. mr. mckesson, any reaction? guest: what is also real is that these officers are choosing to inflict harm. one of the incident she talk

about that she talked about was in mckinney, -- one of the incidents that she talk about, the officer who had his knee in a girls back in mckinney, the officer chose to do that. , andmake these choices when they murder, they will pay protected at all costs. we have a real problem in this society and we have to work on it. host: steve, a call for deray mckesson. good morning, steve. caller: i had one comment, but since i have been listening to your guest, i have several more. he said the police wanted to kill freddie gray. every policeman that has been put on trial so far has been found not guilty, or insufficient evidence, or whatever. so that is an incorrect statement. the second thing i would to say

is that people need to be taught how to deal with the police. i am a middle-aged white man, and i feel insulted when the police approached me with their hands on their puzzles -- with their pistols. but i say, sir, i will reach glove compartment to get my drivers license. if michael brown had followed their instructions, he would not have been killed the police. also, i want to dress white privilege. about do not talk to me white privilege. i grew up in southeast maryland in southeast washington. i get up every morning to go to work at 4:15. i work 12 hours a day, five days a week. thank god i am off today. sunday tourday and have what i have. nobody has given me anything. i have black men and white men who own businesses who are just like me -- we work.

that is not due to any privilege on my part. host: let's get a reaction. when i say that the officers made a choice, i stand by that. the officers chose to ignore any medical call for help that he gave. that was a choice. what we know to be true is that when freddie. into the band, -- when freddie got into the van, his spine was ok. officers chose to do actions that led to his death, and that is real. mike brown, which you brought up -- i do not believed people should die for jaywalking. michael at best was jaywalking. we live in a country where officers have incredible power and can do with a want, and that is deemed ok. that happened with mike around and with a lot of other cases. when you say that the officers were not convicted, it is not a

not that the officers were guilty, it was a sign that the officers can do whatever they want to do. --means that the wrongdoing we have a shadow justice system for the police. and then when we think about white privilege, it disappoints me that you have such a deep misunderstanding of the history of race and racism in this country. your white skin afford you a set of privileges and benefits, more than any other person in this country. there is a legacy of racism that is so deeply embedded -- the set of benefits extend to you regardless of gender and income, because of your whiteness. when we think about little things like band-aids, what skin tone looks like on products -- like that is white, that is normative. and then in the larger sense, we treat whiteness as the defining

attribute of what it means to be normal in this country. way meansg hard in no that white privilege does not exist. it in no way means that if two people apply for the same job that they will not be treated different light. -- it is not because black people did not work hard. people have worked hard for centuries and were not compensated for their labor. but again, because of the way whiteness functions in this society, there is an immense privilege afforded to white people. host: just about 10 minutes left or our guest, a community office r and a black lives matter activist. frank, from houston, texas. caller: i want to give my heart out to the families of the officers that were killed in dallas. i would like to say the last caller was spot-on. black lives matter movement grew out of the frustrations that was

fanned by the media to get convictions on men, officers that were doing what they should withdone -- not so much zimmerman, but the rest of them, there were no convictions. they were tried by a jury of their peers, they were leaned on by the department of justice. they were leaned on by the president of the united states. black lives matter movement is a frustrated fascist movement. they go around disrupting demonstrations. you, being a community organizer, should know that when you let the media fan the flames, you say you know the man was shot and killed in louisiana.

but you do not have any evidence of that. you are doing -- you are going by what the woman said. let the facts come in, let the trial be held at then do your protests. thank you. began by calling your group a frustrated fascist movement. what is your reaction? -- it is always interesting. what he said is that because the officers were not convicted, essentially they must have been in the right. i think back on the history and the history of racism in this country, and there were very few convictions on lynching. they were not right to lynch people, though. it highlights that the laws are racist and protect a set of people in ways that are unfair. when i think about the police, it is a similar circumstance. the laws are saying -- no judge has said the police were not involved in any capacity in

these people's deaths. says the police's involvement was not criminal because we have a system that protects the police at all cost, and that is not ok. the acquittals do not push me to think that the officers had no culpability. it is about a broken system and we need to fix the system. in terms of him suggesting that we jump in to conclusions -- i will not accept that might brown should be dead -- that mike brown should be dead or that freddie gray should be dead. toe and time again, we have have officers who do not kill black people. but when we see a 12-year-old boy in cleveland get killed, standing still with a toy gun, offices are choosing this time and time again. to ignore the racist element and this is to live in a wonderland. the severald about dozen laws that are out there these days, to address police

violence. is there one piece of legislation you can point to out there that you think might make a significant difference moving forward? guest: president obama could signing executive order, or congress could put legislation forward. the national level, that could have a demonstrative impact, if we had a standard that highlighted the preservation of life. you think about places like baltimore, it was until recently, like the last few choke hold people. it was not against the rules. that is true in cities across the country, and that is ok. -- that is not ok. there is negative discipline, and that does not make sense. it is not a system designed to make officers accountable.

it would be around a use of force standard that was really robust. using deadly force as a last result. from sean is calling inglewood, ohio, a democratic caller. caller: first off, sir, you are nothing but a racist or that his point-blank simple. host: let me jump in and ask you why you are saying that. caller: i have worked in the urban setting for the last 20 years of my life. i am disabled now. these police have a split-second over 10,000think things of what they are going to do in that split-second decision. sir, have you ever been placed in that situation, where you have a split-second decision to

think of over 10,000 things that you are going to do, and have you ever been put in a situation where you have to make that decision whether you are going to take somebody's life? host: let me jump in and get a response from our guest. guest: i would ask you -- have you ever been a doctor? i worked in the medical field for 17 years. guest: have you been a dr.? doctor?are you a guest: have you been a doctor, sean? i am asking you. you know your argument is faulty. you know you have not been a doctor before, but when you go to the doctor's office, you have a set of expectations of how your doctor functions. same thing -- i am not a police officer, but i have an expectation about how officers behave in society.

it is disappointing that you offer a set of opinions, and you are unwilling to be challenged on them. i would push you to think deeper about the thoughts that you put out into theorld, and that you reflect on your arguments. host: sean, anything else? ?re you still there you caller: yes, i am still here. i challenge you, sir, to go take a police exam and work those streets. guest: again, you are deflecting. you are deflecting. i do not have anything else to say. and argument fell apart, you are trying to put it back together. i appreciate your call, and i hope you reflect on the way that you construct arguments and put them in public. host: from nbc in chicago, here is a tweet.

"suspect in dallas stated he wanted to kill white people before being killed by a detonated bomb, police chief says." guest: i have more questio than answers. most of the answers that come out in the immediate aftermath is just incorrect. i am holding off. it is important to note that the protest in dallas is over, and the media is reporting that this happened during the protest. i spoke last night to the people who put together the protest in dallas, and i know what is true and what is not about when these shootings happened. host: we go to carl in dallas. caller: i would just like to say that when the shootings happened in minnesota and down in know,ana, i would like to where were the republican

senators, congressmen? they did not make any statement of any kind. as soon as the tragedy happened over in dallas, now they are all tweeting, making statements. so it kind of goes to show that there is a we versus them or us versus the police and tally. police-- us versus the mentality. we all know that donald trump likes to run his mouth. as soon as the one happened in dallas yesterday morning, he comes out and makes a statement. and the laws really need to be changed because that is a very high bar. any time a police is involved in a shooting, the first defense they are going to offer is, "i felt threatened, i felt for my life."

in all these shootings, that is the first defense of the officer. "i felt threatened, or i felt for my safety or my life." those laws need to be changed. let's get a final answer from our guest. guest: these situations highlight -- i also agree with you that when we see lawmakers selectively choosing to speak out about these things, they have seen at least the videos from 2014. we have not seen trump or republicans acknowledge that this is happening. the lack of acknowledgment goes with people's deep discomfort with talking about race, and also withholding police officers accountable. for so long, the police have been a group of public servants who have just been able to do whatever they want to do.

>> a live picture of the gathering of the democratic national committee. they're meeting in florida for the fourth and final hearing to set the party's platform for the 2016 election. d.n.c. members have been meeting behind closed doors, it's getting started later than plan wesmed got a five-minute warning just a few moments ago, we'll have it live when it gets under way here on c-span. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016]

>> good afternoon. welcome to the democratic national convention platform hearing. i serve as co-chair of this committee along with my fellow co-chair govern yordan malloy. -- governor dan malloy. thank you for joining us today to represent your state or territory. i'll now call the meeting of the platform committee to order. [applause] as we begin, we must acknowledge the incredible tragedys -- tragedies that have taken place other the last week. so much senseless violence has

taken too many innocent lives. and it's a sad irony that we are meeting today in orlando, as the city recovers from a horrific tragedy. as a former mayor, i have seen such violent and how it can devastate a community. it breaks all of our hearts for we were taught that every life is precious. >> let me say that shootings like the ones that played out in baton rouge and st. paul this past week are a shock to all of us, to our hearts and to our souls. this isn't who we are as a nation. certainly not who we aspire to be or who we want to be. and we must acknowledge that things must change in our nation. as the president has said, all

americans should be troubled by these incidents, and we've seen too many, too many of these incidents play themselves out. it is just heartbreaking. in the face of injustice, our country has a proud tradition of peaceful protest, it's what we've been known for. yesterday we saw the fundamental right of americans being exercised and their rights being abused. americans stood up to demand change, to seek action and to raise broader awareness about critical but complex issues that are facing our nation and they did so largely in a peaceful way. that should be celebrated. what we saw in dallas, however, was un-american because it was those police officers, those very same officers who got killed and injured who sought to keep protesters safe and uphold our rights for freedom of

expression. the events in dallas twisted a proud american tradition of protest and turned it into a tragedy. what happened is saddening and it is unacceptable. and it must be condemned. let me also say that i pray for our president. i, like others in this room, have had to share occasions like those that played out in two cities, three cities, in our nation. he will be called upon to explain to americans how we move beyond where we are and where we need to go. he has done it eloquently in the past and he will find the right words and the right sentiments to move us forward. let me also say that we should be proud of our system of law enforcement and those who we have asked to protect us. officers, first responders, put themselves in harm's way day

after day and although compensated, perhaps not fully appreciated, and certainly the sacrifices of their families are not fully appreciated. we need to work to build trust amongst our community. we need to build a stronger and safer america. we need to get away from the violence that has plagued us and seems to be increased -- increasing every single day. we need to support our troopers, our police officers, our first responders, and let me say as a governor and like my co-chair a former mayor, that i have been proud to serve with those individuals in the past. i'm going to ask you all to please rise for a moment to remember those lives lost throughout our country this past week and to remain standing so that we might have a pledge of allegiance. please join me in a moment of silence.

>> and now to demonstrate who we are and paraprinciples we stand for, please join me in the -- and what principles we stand for, please join me in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. thank you. lease be seated. here with us today is the democratic national convention

mmittee c.e.o., reverend lea daughtry. there she is. now reverend daughtry has previously held this position in 2008, which makes her the first person in the democratic party history to serve more than once as c.e.o. of the national convention. [applause] reverend daughtry previously held senior leder shape positions at the d.n.c., the u.s. department of labor, and the united states congress. please join me in welcoming her. [applause] > thank you. good afternoon, my sister and brother democrats. this week, communities across this nation have been plagued by relentless violence. from the gunning down of two

in apparent men police abuse of power, to the tragic murder of five law enforcement officials last night. we are experiencing troubling times. i stand here as the c.e.o. of the 2016 convention with my first -- but my first training is as a pastor. and as a pastor, when you're train, you take as many exercises designed to help us help our communities navigate challenges and grief so that we can dry crying eyes and mend broken hearts and answer nagging questions and soothe grieving souls. but today, in the aftermath of baton rouge, minnesota, and

orlando, and dallas, i confess that i just don't know how to do that. how can you mend broken hearts when my own heart is broken? and how can i dry crying eyes when my eyes are wet with tears? and how can i answer your questions when i am seeking answers myself? and how can i soothe the grief and calm the rage when i am angry. when i am grief stricken. i don't know that i have the right words but i do have my unshakeable faith in god and in the inin it -- innate goodness of our people, and in our ability to rise above adversity. and rage. and grief. to see the truth and to speak truth to ourselves and our

nation. something is wrong when people feel that their lives are valued less because of the color of their skin. or the color of their uniform. something is wrong when people feel unsafe in their homes and on their jobs. something is wrong when people do not feel free to be who they re or to love who they want. just 25 days ago here in orlando, the nation stood still and our hearts were broken as the deadliest mass shooting in recent history took place at pulse nightclub. once again, someone whose heart was filled with hate was able to obtain a gun and violently extinguish the lives of innocent americans. my heart breaks for those victims and for their families. who must now grapple daily with

the loss of their loved ones. this cannot be who we are. we are americans. and we can do better than this. just this week, two young men of color lost their lives in an apparent police abuse of power and some mother, some wife, some daughter, has to bury her child as a result of gun violence. we are americans. and we can do better than this. last night in dallas, five officers on the job, protecting us, protecting those who were exercising their right, lost their lives by someone filled with hate. this is not who we are. we are americans and we can do better than this. through some strange twist of fate we gather this weekend as

democrats to set a vision for our party and our country. and as we engage in what is sure to be spirited debate, let us remember who we are and what we fight for. as we discuss the issues, let us remember that just a couple of miles from here, families are grieving. that in dallas, five families woke up this morning without their husbands, their brother, their father. that in louisiana and minnesota, wives and daughters are planning funerals. let us remember that as democrats, we have a mission, a mandate, and a moral obligation to speak, work, and fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. regardless of race, color, or ethnicity, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, those with plenty and those with

little, those with more than enough and those with not enough, all of our people, we are mandated to fight for. that is our mission. the votes at the bottom and the votes at the top. the least, the last, the lost, and the locked out. the business owner and the day laborer. the student, the teacher, the parent, the firefighter, the policeman, people of all faiths, no faiths, and little faith. this is who we are. whether we live in cities, suburbs, indian country, rural or indigenous communities. we all want the same thing. to feel safe, secure, empowered, and heard. and to have the tools and support we need to achieve the american dream. let this be our north star today as we debate, as we discuss. let us remember why we are doing what we are doing. let us disagree without being disagreeable andless us do all

this work and have all this discussion holding as our north star the families for whom we work, fight, march, and pray. god bless you. [applause] >> we are fortunate to have reverend daughtry leading the convention and also to give us encouragement and inspiration today. so we thank you and we look forward to working with you throughout these next few days and the convention. also here with us today is mayor dier of orlando, florida, who has served in this position since 2003. in the wake of the pulse nightclub shooting, mayor dier showed tremendous leadership by establishing a family assistance center to help the victims and

their families, and he established the one orlando fund to provide financial assistance. to support first responders and volunteers who worked on the front lines, he brought in grief counselors to help them process the information and also the experience. he has shown incredible strength in this community and he has shown that strength to the world. and set an example for other communities coping with tragedies. please join me in welcoming mayor buddy dier. -- dyer. [applause] mayor dyer: as i welcome you to orlando i want to thank all of you. our city has changed a great deal in the last month.

on june 12, we had the darkest day in our city's history, but today i couldn't be more proud of our community's response and the reasons -- response and support we've received from around the country and around the world. i see many familiar faces and old friends here today. nancy jacobson there in the front row. i want to take this opportunity to personally thank you for your messages of support and assistance and guidance and advice and there are many more f you i don't recognize. i want to thank you as well. we heard your words of comfort. you had vigils all over the country in small towns and big cities. you lit up your public spaces in rainbow colors of support. you hung banners for residents to sign with messages of hope and love for the people of orlando. most importantly you sent your

prayers. on behalf of everyone who calls orlando home, let me offer my thanks. you reminded us every day that we weren't alone and this morning i had the opportunity to in touch with mayor rauings -- rawlings of dallas as his community deals with the horrific aftermath of loss of life there. a month out, we are a stronger and better city than we were on june 11. the people of orlando have refused to be defined by a single act of hate. rather, we have chosen not to react but to respond. to respond with love, to respond with compassion, and respond with unity. so much like the grinch who stole christmas, our collective hearts grew three sizes that day. nowhere has this been more profoundly evident than in the attitudes toward our latino and lgbt communities. many hearts have quietly changed

as we have shifted to focus to how we are all alike rather than the superficial ways we can be different. as you gather these next few day, i'll leave you to decide what lessons should be taken away from our experience here that could become blanks in our kemic platform. you'll decide what position should be take on gun control and campaign finance reform, immigration reform, funding for the protection of our citizens. i'm going to continue to focus my energy on helping our community heal rather than promoting legislation. i do leave with just one request. that you listen to the people of orlando, we need real unity. the kind the world has seen here in orlando and around the country in the wake of all these tragedies. a unity that moves us beyond the artificial divisions based on insignificant differences like race or cultural heritage or sexual preference. it provides for equality and fairness for everyone.

thank you, welcome to orlando, and god bless you. [applause] >> a special thank you to mayor dyer for welcoming us to his city and for his welcome. it is an honor for me to be appointed by the d.n.c. to co-chair the democratic national platform committee, and a privilege to work with my colleague, governor malloy from connecticut. on this important effort of our party and our country and our world. and it would be inappropriate for me not to acknowledge that there are two women from georgia on the podium. ms. franklin: dr. hale and i. so we are well represented from georgia today. the georgians appreciate that.

over the next two day, we will have the opportunity to hear, review, discuss, deliberate, debate, and hopefully listen to each other as we discuss the draft of the democratic party platform. i want to take a moment to commend chairman cummings, who we'll hear from shortly, and the other members of the drafting committee, for your hard work and accomplishment. i, like many others, am looking forward to our adoption of the platform in a few hours, tomorrow. on behalf of this committee, i would like to also thank the 114 individuals who presented testimony and took their time to share their perspectives and recommendations on the issues confronting americans today. we appreciate your sharing your

expertise at the d.n.c.c., mid atlantic forum in washington, d.c. the southwest florida in phoenix, arizona. i'm also delighted to give a shout out to the more than 1,000 individuals from 43 states and the district of columbia who made time to share their comments or post written and video testimony on the website. when democrats say we the people, we mean all the people. and we value your input so that every viewpoint could be expressed and heard. the platform draft puts forward a vision and specific proposals to address the challenges we face as americans today. it is a blueprint for our country's future. it is based on the core values of democrats, and the belief that we are stronger as a

country when we work together and recognize that everyone, that everyone has a role to play in building our future. so i want to thank you and i will now turn it over to my co-chair, governor malloy, for his comments. mr. malloy: thank you, shirley. i want to thank some other folks who have yet to be thanked, andy grossman and patrice taylor for their support in conducting the platform process. [applause] our chairwoman, debbie wasserman schultz, for her leadership of the d.n.c. and welcoming us to florida. i've already thanked the c.e.o. of the convention and again it is remarkable that she decided to do that twice in a row. so thank you very much. we are going to hear from congressman cummings but i do want to thank him for his great

leadership of the draft committee, but i also want to thank him on a broader basis for his great leadership, standing up to bullies in the congress of the united states, to -- [applause] to the role he played in making sure people understood what did and did not happen at benghazi and for his strong statements on that matter as well. and finally, i want to thank mayor shirley franklin. she and i have worked together as mayors and have the opportunity to work again together on -- over the next couple of days. i truly appreciate that. let me say that this platform is an historic achievement for the democratic party. the draft platform we are here to consider today reflects the input of thousands of democrats from across the country and as shirley said, it reflects the testimony and contributions of

over 114 experts, advocates, and concerned citizens who came out to be heard. it also reflects the priorities and values of secretary clinton and senator sanders. and make no mistake, this is a historically progress i document. for the first time, the draft platform calls for an end to mass incar -- incarceration. we're shutting down the school to prison pipeline. ending systemic racism. [applause] it also contains the most ambitious jobs plan in years, with bold investments in infrastructure, clean energy, and manufacturing, specific policies to crack down on corporations that shift jobs and profits overseas and a robust standalone plank on youth jobs. this platform reflects strong progressive principles on wages. it says that all americans should earn at least $15 an hour

and it -- [applause] and it strongly reaffirm ours party's commitment to protecting workers' rights to organize and llectively bargain and it -- and it calls explicitly for eliminating the subminimum tipped minimum wage. [applause] the platform reflects our unwavering commitments to taking on climate change, which is one of the greatest challenges we face in the nation even if donald trump doesn't know that it exists. the platform we are considering today contains historic commitments to building on -- to building a clean energy economy. it also reflects the need to secure environmental and climate justice for communities that have been left out and left behind, including america's coal

community. this -- this is a platform that we can be proud of as democrats, as congressmen,ing -- as congressman cummings has said in leading the drafting process, this is a platform that does not merely reflect common ground, it seeks higher ground. this is the spirit that i hope we will guide one another through in the coming days as we finalize our platform. there is another thing that congressman cummings has emphasized and has already been said today. we have work to do. there will be disagreement, but we don't have to be disagreeable in that process. with this platform, we are putting forward a bold, progressive vision for our country's future that respects the diversity and views of our party. i cannot emphasize enough how different this document is and how different this entire process is from what we will see on the other side. i hope everyone is proud of what we have already achieved with

this document, and i know that when we are done, this will be a stronger and better document and we will be a stronger and better party for that. thank you. serving along with mayor franklin and myself, we have vice chairs, over here, on my far right, rhode island secretary of state nellie garbiev. she has held this post since 2015. she has improved the election system by acquiring new state of the art voting machines, instituted online voter registration, ushered in tough legislation to increase government transparency, and made it easier for entrepreneurs to start and grow businesses. she is the first hispanic elected to statewide office in new england. she is currently the only latina to hold statewide office as a

democrat in the united states. great to have you. [applause] reverend dr. cynthia hale is the founder and senior pastor of the ray of hope christian church in decatur, georgia. in 2004, dr. hale established a ela ing program known as pass tofrl ministries incorporated to assist in the development of pastors and church leaders. in september, 2005 she convened her first women in ministry conference to focus on mentoring christian women many ministering for the 21st century. in july, 2009, she was apointed by president barack obama to serve on the president's commission on white house fellowship. thank you for serving. [applause] edwin m. lee was elected mayor

of san francisco in 011 -- in 2011 while serving as the interim mayor. he's the first asian american mayor in the city's history. he was city administrator where he spearheaded government efficiency measures and reforls that reduced the size and cost of government to save tax dollars. mayor lee first began working for the city and county of san francisco in 1989 as an investigator for the city's first whistleblower ordinance and has since served as executive director of human rights, director of city purchasing, and director of the department of public works. thank you for serving. dr. greg rosen baume is the president palisades associates incorporated, a private equity firm based in bethesda, maryland. he was previously a consultant with the consulting group and a

vice president of the buyout form tyson, tyson and moran. in 2014 president obama apointed him to the holocaust memorial council, the govern yog -- governing body of the american holocaust museum. he was named to the board of director of the national jewish democratic council and in 2014 was elected as council's chair. thank you for serving. [applause] now we're going to start to get down to business so i'm going to turn it back to shirley. >> i'm not sure what that means but thank you. i need to find a quorum. to determine if a quorum is present we need each committee member to vote yes, not yet, by

pressing the 1-a button on the top of your clicker. so i am going to introduce ms. mcfadden and she's going to go through the details. ms. mcfadden intk good afternoon. we have a screen up and if you your clickersa on we will watch it tote up there. as you can see it's toting up the number of you who are here. and a quorum in this instance is 91.75. so there is a quorum present. ok. now you have also been given a

copy of the proposed rules, those were sent out to you last week. i'm going to -- these are essentially the same rules we have been using for better than 20 years, ok, and you will be asked to adopt these rules shortly when our chair returns here to the podium. i want to point out a couple of things. i have already said some of these two you. -- the side is labeled for and against for the purpose of the chair being able to alternate speakers. for and against. so if you will go to that microphone, the chair is going to ask you to line up on the chair's right if you are for something. and on the chair's left if you are against it. and the chair is going to -- the sheep and goats will be there.

and the chair is going to take a sheep and a goat and then a sheep and a goat, ok. now, i've already asked you to, if we are -- you are being requested to second something or show your consent to something, other than using those clickers, if you would put something in your hand so that it will make it easier for the chair to see it. sometimes the chair is going to be looking for 15 of you. sometimes the chair is going to be looking for 20% of you. the chair will let you know when the chair has ascertained the correct number. then those clickers are going to be used to vote for substantially every vote that you're going to make. the chair will be here and i will be here. if you have any parliamentary questions.

ms. franklin: is there a motion to adopt the rules of procedure? is there a second? there's our 15. is there any discussion? seeing none, we'll move to a vote to adopt the rules of procedure. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the rules of procedure have been adopted. we should applaud that. that's our first accomplishment. [applause] >> each platform committee member should have received a copy of the draft platform via

email last friday. you will also find a fresh copy in the folders on the table before you. the draft document was developed by the platform drafting committee pursuant to the call for the convention. this 15-member committee was appointed by the chair of the d.n.c. with the platform drafting -- would the platform drafting committee members who are here please rise so we might acknowledge an thank you. [applause] the drafting committee is chaired by a great democrat, and i have previously referenced the congressman, congressman cummings, again i just want to say how much i appreciate all you have accomplished on behalf of the people of maryland and on behalf of the american people in the role as an outstanding congressman. but i also want to thank you for the lion's work you have done in getting taos this point where we have such progress i document

which we will amend in the coming days, but your straightforward approach, your ability to get people to work together and to find a common voice is greatly appreciated. congressman, would you please join us. [applause] mr. cummings: thank you very much. thank you. thank you. thank you very much. thank you, governor. mayor franklin, to the distinguished members of the democratic platform committee, as i was standing back there i was thinking to myself about all

that has happened over the last few days in minnesota, baton rouge, and dallas. and i couldn't help but think about a sign that when i got here, we were running a little late. when i got here, governor, the first thing i saw on the table ,ack there was a sign that said love trumps hate. we need to, we need to put that in the d.n.a. of every cell of our brains, particularly at this moment. and it reminded me of something else. and that is that ladies and gentlemen, and i saw this, and i want to keep focused on this. we can spend a lot of time concentrating on who we're fighting against. but ladies and gentlemen, the people in america want taos concentrate on what we're

fighting for. what we're fighting for. [applause] today i'm proud as a public servant, i've not always felt this way, i've seen things in the congress, i know benny thompson, congressman thompson and congresswoman waters and holmes norton were here, we've all -- it's not always been that way. there have been many times where we've been embarrassed. we've seen colleagues of both parties vote against the poor and the infirm. against the homeless and the elpless. against the meek and against the weak. i've seen people vote against the america i live every day and the americans i proudly represent.

and i know why they have done so, and you do too. for far too long, the powerful and the influential in our society have shaped the policies that have come out of our government. the overly influenced not only the laws that come out of our congress and out of our state legislatures, but also edicts and administrative orders that come out of executive offices in washington and across the country. and that, ladies and gentlemen, is the real problem. it is a problem because the powerful and the influential have either built or inherited a position of privilege in our society. a position that leaves them to oppose change.

try to limit the right to vote. limit access to wealth. limit access to power. to close doors to millions of hardworking americans. the ones that i saw getting up this morning at 4:00 in the morning to get the early bus. but today, we, myself and the 14 hard working, fair minded members of the platform drafting committee, and it was an all-star group, i've got to tell you, give them another hand, please. [applause] we have not only stood up, we have stood tall. we do not merely strive for common ground, we reach higher ground. and i beg you, as you go through this process, reach for higher

ground. that's what the american people want. we've authored a party platform unlike any other. a platform which you and the members of your committee can be proud. you don't have to mess with it that much. no. you could be out of here by 12:00 noon tomorrow. i'm just telling you. sometimes people assume they've got to mess with something. but i'm just telling you, it is a good platform. a platform of which our nominee, our next president, can be proud. and a platform of which democrats from coast to coast, from congress to city and county council, can be proud. we have a platform that speaks directly to the real needs of hard working americans. move form that does not

from the tough issues confronting americans from maine to california. a platform enacted that will raise incomes and provide economic security to our struggling middle class and working families. and let people out -- lift people out of poverty so they can get into the middle class. a platform that if enacted would ensure peace of mind of those americans entering their golden years. because we would not just protect social security and medicare, we would expand them. [applause] come on, y'all can do better than that. a platform that if enacted would grow our economy by investing in small businesses, the economic engine that drives our nation's economy, and would rebuild our manufacturing sector, a platform which recognizes that good paying jobs and a cleaner

environment are not adversaries but allies and that our children and our nation's youth are the greatest resource we have. [applause] you know, when you go to disney world, there's a sign in one of the villages, and it simply says these words. it says, we do not inherit our environment from our aner is -- ancestors, we borrow it from our chirp. we por row it. so we have a platform that if enacted, would promote economic fairness. stand firm against income inequality. because it would stop corporate consen trailings, reverse corporate outsourcing, and repair our rigged financial ystem.

a platform that if enacted would remove barriers to success and instead create ladders of opportunity for all americans and in doing so bring us together as a nation. a platform that if enacted could put our party on the right side of history by championing the rights of those too often overlooked or left behind. by standing up for civil rights, voting rights, disability rights, lgbt rights, and by honoring our indigenous tribal nations and recognizing the many contributions of our immigrants and our newest ariles. that's what our platform aims to do. atform -- a platform that if

enacted would ensure that no community is left out in the cold. not r that -- where it's merely valid by publicly welcomed. a platform that if enacted would protect the voting rights, check our campaign system and restore people's trust. restore people's trust, hope, and faith in this great democracy. and in the principles first articulated by our democratic orefathers, so as a platform drafting committee went through this, we could not help but keep our eyes on our children. and we realized that the greatest threat to our national security would be the failure to properly educate every single one of our children.

very single one of them. and so we drafted a platform that if enacted would provide the children of our great nation with an education that is not merely affordable, but that -- for the poor but equip them with high quality, first rate education that enables our children to aim high, to reach for the stars, and to make their unique mark based on their own god-given talents. a platform that if enacted would ensure the health and safety of all americans because it would value each american. stand firm against gun violence. domestic violence. nd violence against women.

a plalt form that would embrace the fundamental principles that health care in our nation is a right and not a privilege. [applause] a platform that if enacted would stand firm against our many global threats and at the same time recommit america to be a leader in the battle for a more secure world, always while supporting our troops, our veterans, and everyone who so proudly wears the united states uniform. yes, and i'm proud of our platform. proud to have worked with my 14 colleagues, and let me -- just let me give you a footnote here. there were 41 amendments, there

were 41. 30 of them passed. so i want you to know, we -- this was not a simple process for us. we stayed up until 2:00 in the morning. addressing the issues that we're all concerned about. and yet, we created a platform. and we're proud to have worked with, and i'm proud to have worked with all of my colleagues. but as proud as i am of the result, i'm every bit as proud of the open, honest, and transparent process we collectively undertook to get here. i'm proud that we held six hearings, spread across our great nation, proud that we incorporated the views of thousands of democrats who submitted their comments online, proud of the way we took the drafting process out of the back

rooms and into the light. and prodused this document in the most transparent manner any party committee could have ever ndertaken. and so i'm proud of our drafting committee. i'm proud of my 14 men and women colleagues on the drafting committee. we were neither clinton appointees -- when we entered that room we were neither clinton appointees or sanders appointees. instead, we were proud democratic members. and i'm proud that we're the national -- that where the national media predicted division, guess what, we delivered unity. where they predicted -- where they predicted disarray, we delivered ewe nan himity. so much of the credit for this

goes to our committee members themselves. who consistently rose, listen to me, rose above petty political battles and who always kept their eyes on the prize. making life better for working and middle class families that we are here to serb. don't forget what i said. it's not about what we're fighting against, it's who and what we are fighting for. there's a big difference. [applause] so as i close, so as i close, because i'm going to leave it up to you all, i credit also our distinguished party chairperson, congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz. who not merely appointed each of us but also provided thoughtful

leadership, insight, and valued council. -- counsel. proud as i am of our committee members, i'm every bit as proud and grateful to both our professional staff at the d.n.c. , for our new mexico rause and immensely talented volunteers for all of their excellent work. the ability of people from all walks of life to come together and work together with determination for the betterment of their party, their community, and their country is something that never ceases to amaze and inspire me. on behalf of myself and every member of this committee, we simply say thank you. mostly, ladies and gentlemen, i'm proud of the lasting nature of our platform.

because my fellow democrats, this document is met tissue is meant not for this election. if you think it's just meant for this election, you're thinking too small. you're thinking too small. it is met -- it is meant for generations yet unborn. it is to pave the way to a more perfect union. and it will serve as our g.p.s. to get there. and so, to the powerful and to he privileged i say i'm sorry. and your ime has come time has gone. [applause] because today we stand at the dawning of the new america, an america where the light of

opportunity shines through and the road to success beacons forward. so on behalf of each of my distinguished colleagues on the platform drafting committee and on behalf of each and every one of the hard working americans to which this platform gives voice, gives trust, gives hope, and gives commitment, i proudly commit to you -- submit to you and this committee the draft platform for the 2016 democratic national convention and i say simply, thank you and i thank all of you for being a part of this process. this is what democracy is all about. i thank all of you for being the democrats that you are. i thank all of you for wanting

to lift up people's lives and make them better. i thank all of you for making it possible for the son of two former sharecroppers, only a third grade education, to rise to the congress of the united states of america. i thank all of you. you made it happen. and guess what. now -- and people like you made it happen. and now we have to make it happen again and again and again. may god bless. [applause] fwell

>> we certainly join together to thank congressman cummings and the committee. the drafting committee worked hard. this worked long. they were thoughtful. they were visionary. they were bold. they were not afraid of difference and they found unity in their approach. and we as members of the platform committee have an and tunity to review discuss the platform as they have presented it. ms. franklin: i am especially encouraged by his words that we too have to mess with it much. as a co-chair, i don't get to determine that. you do. but i do get a chance to talk with you about the protocols associated with the meeting and whatever messing we'd like to do. first and foremost