south, with a provocative racial history, the voters of the first congressional district of south carolina, a heavily white district, the home of the birthplace of the civil war elected the grandson of a man who picked cotton. i want to say that one more time . in the heart of the cells, the home of the civil war, a majority white district, these voters elected the grandson of a thewho picked cotton over children of the former united states senator and presidential candidate, strom thurmond and a very popular governor, governor carroll campbell. i havepe will because experienced the power of a state that has been transformed.

to my american family, please remain optimistic. on monday, i discussed the importance of our law enforcement community. realize that us to the vast majority of our law enforcement officers only seek , thereect and to serve is still work to be done. there is a lack of trust tween the black community and law enforcement, one that we as an american family must come together and solve. old saying is a vital part of finding solutions -- the only way to know where you are going is to know where you have been. the rich and provocative history of america is to point

in one of two directions, one is to realize over the past 240 years that we have had our challenges. our nation has nearly been pulled apart. out of the crisis of our past has come to hope for our future. in a relatively short amount of time, we have made in my estimation, remarkable progress as a nation. while i will talk about a few of the policies that will help us move forward as well as some things are simply about getting us to interact together, to break bread. one thing our collective history has taught us is that we must not lose hope. unresolved pain,

suffering and misery, but this is the greatest nation on earth and we are the greatest nation on earth for a reason. men offered to sacrifice themselves on behalf of other flawed men and together, we have done something unique in history of our planet. create aimply to country based on the premise that all men are created equal and a past -- a path will be lazed together. says, weok of joshua have to recognize our memorial stones so have a chance to move forward. there is no single solution here. i hope to share a few today, some of which i have talked about before. broad supporthave

in congress and some that have nothing to do with the federal government. believe it or not, the government is not the answer to what ails us. we can help them places but the good news is, 300 million americans, we as a nation, as a family, we are the solution. of such solutions sits in the rome of law enforcement and the justice department. over the past few years, i've talked to a wide variety of officials from across the law enforcement arenas as well as groups like the urban league or the naacp, and many other groups. one solution that seems to be acceptable and almost exciting to so many folks is the notion of body camera's. saferave introduced

officers, safer citizens act. to obtain body camera's and pay for some of the storage and other requirements. know body camera's cannot be the panacea. we have a much better chance of understanding the situation if the officer is wearing one from all sides. this is why so many law enforcement officers and agencies support using them. it is why we are seeing from cities to los angeles -- from los angeles to new york outfitting their officers with more and more body camera's. introduced the walter scott notification act along with my good friend, senator grassley.

our system for tracking police shootings is not working for our nation. it is a patchwork system not built for the 21st century. this will change is that. are to know where we know where we must go. i'm glad to see the colleagues in my house, including my good friend congressman trey gowdy, starting a bipartisan working at theo take a hard look relationship between the black community and the law enforcement community. i am hopeful a similar group will start in the senate. i have had the pleasure of working with colleagues with john cornyn, many others, working on this notion of criminal justice reform, and i am very hope all that work will

continue to move forward and produce real fruit. much of this work will be done by local government and state governments. many in the law enforcement community who talk about the need for more training, specifically de-escalation- training, diversity training and getting police officers out of their cars and it to communities , so that when they are walking down the street, that the folks know them. we talked about the notion of getting officers embedded in the that officers know the people they are talking to. this seems like common sense and the right direction.

street.two way i think the dallas police chief made the point that her than i could ever say it. he said -- if you have issues with policing in your neighborhoods, we are hiring. that is really important. the dallas police department, along with police departments all across the country are hiring. he said we will train you up and put you back into your community. sort of real world solutions and actions that build trust in the 30's. the second set of issues we have to tackle and this is no surprise to anyone who has heard me over the last couple of years, focuses on one specific word -- the word is opportunity. too many communities in our

nation feel like they have been left behind, like no one cares. why should they care? as someone who grew up in a single-parent household, i can tell you how strong that sensation to quit becomes. how quickly it grows. you start seeing the world differently you do not trust people from your neighborhood. how do we tackle this problem? the answer is simple -- education, jobs, and investment. on the jobs front, i've worked with senators like cory booker to introduce to leave act which allows for a successful south

carolina aparna ship program to become a national model. kids can earn and learn at the same time. wantsw that not everyone to or can avoid -- or can afford to go to college. but that doesn't mean they should not be able to provide for their families. folks see their potential and experience their potential through apprenticeship programs and live fulfilling and profitable lives. i have introduced the investment and opportunity act which seeks to create private sector dollars, not government dollars, the private sector dollars to be invested in distressed community -- distressed communities. we have 50 million americans living in distressed communities and over $2 trillion of

unrealized capital gains just sitting there. we should incentive those dollars to be in scented in those communities. finally, education. is thewdy says education closest thing to magic in america. i think he's right. can look at our incarceration rates, our unemployment rates, our high rates, ourout lifetime average incomes, and they all point to one specific area -- educational achievement. im the guy who just told you almost failed out of high school. i know this firsthand. for me, the answer is very clear. if parents a chance to find the best for their children and they will.

finally, solutions on a personal level. i turned to dallas. as i was watching one of the surgeons at parkland hospital talking about his feelings toward law enforcement. he was saying that he was struggling tonight after the shootings. he had worked all night trying to save the lives of these officers and he was tossing and turning, torn up on the inside that he could not save their lives. felt.t imagine how he i cannot imagine how he felt trying to save the lives of men, women who are willing to give their lives. for others. i can't imagine.

he was an african-american man. as he woke up and prepared for the next day, he struggled because he struggled with his personal relationship, his personal concerns with law enforcement. so what is he doing? i think this is instructive for all of us. he said he is making sure that his daughter sees him buying lunch for officers, sees them interacting in a friendly way because he does not want to pass on to his daughter any sense of fear of law enforcement, but respect, appreciation and affection for men and women who wear the uniform. hometown ofit in my charleston, south carolina. it's an amazing experience.

of officers, dozens of volunteers show up at city hall. these boys and girls go door to door in the poorest neighborhoods. i've been with them once or twice. they knock on the door and look into the eyes of a little girl or little boy who is expecting nothing for christmas and a hand that child toy. there are ways to bridge the divide between the african american to me or d law enforcement. , simple ways to make a difference. the government cannot make us get along. simply cannot force you and i

to take the leaf of the -- the leap of faith. the notion of america is built on the foundation of faith, faith in each other, faith in a higher calling. if we are to mend the -- withinips, then our family, we will have to do looking into each other's eyes, walking in each other's shoes, and listening, not waiting to talk, but listening. listening with your heart so that you hear and feel the pain .nd challenges of others

this is a simple commandment from god's word -- to love your neighbor's as yourself. this requires action. trey gowdy and i are going to together with law enforcement officers in south carolina so we can have honest and sometimes painful conversations about how to move forward together. in charleston county, i had a chance to speak with a sheriff he said both sides have to come together because this is not a one-sided issue. i proposengford and

an idea called solutions sunday we will talk more about that in premisesg weeks, the you have to do more than just go .o church together you have to eat together, do .rojects together i will continue to reach out to my colleagues and friends who may not look like me, who may have a different philosophy than i do. so that i can understand their dreams and frustrations because listening is so important. it seems to me we have not done nearly enough listening to each other. in closing, i hope we all

remember that we have survived before.t times the civil war, the great , 1968.ion, world war ii and in south carolina, 2015. i still -- il still marvel at how we talked about the shooting at mother emmanuel. love conquered hate. lost mythis year, i grandfather. and meant sors old much to me. this was a man born in sally, south carolina in 1921. i can only imagine what he has

seen in south carolina. i can only imagine the life, the challenges, the struggles and african-american man in the deep south come in 1921, 1931, and the 40's. he did not finish elementary school. he had to pick cotton. he never learned to read. he eventually got a job at the port of charleston. a job that while it did not give much in the way of tangible resources, it provided an immeasurable lifeline for our family. has this is the story that aftereated generation generation in this country. i heard this story from my good friend marco rubio. it is a story of success, a story of significance. it is the story of america.

yoursndfather's grandson, truly, is a united states senator. grandson rose to the .ank of command sergeant major my nephew, his great grandson graduated from georgia tech, duke university, and now is on his way to emory for medical school. that is the beauty of america. congress in one lifetime. we are beautiful nation. we are an amazing family. families fight sometimes. it's ok. we are oneember single family. we can all get to where we are going.

we must get to where we are going and we will get there together. time slowone more remember thend madefice, the sacrifices by five dallas police officers. rouge andies in baton minnesota. we have been through so much, is stillght future there for our taking. let's make sure we grab it together. staff say thank you to my who worked very hard all week long to make sure we were prepared for these presentations. i want to specifically thank my communications director, sean smith. helped put most of

these words together, help us work through the emotions, they challenges, and how to frame the conversation we believe america must have. director whoations happens to be a white guy, a chief of staff who happens to be an african-american female, as we work together, it reminded me in the midst of our struggle, our challenges, our i depend on athat rainbow coalition, a patchwork quilt to present my thoughts and heart to america. americans. god has blessed the united states of america. >> we have been standing by for president obama scheduled to toe out about 20 minutes ago

speak to reporters about the news from baton rouge, louisiana this morning -- a shooting leaving three police officers dead, one critically wounded and -- instable conditions stable condition. also coming up shortly, should beginning started around the top of the hour, the republican national committee holding a press conference in cleveland. we will have coverage for that for you as well. as we wait for president obama, let's bring you an event from thursday night with house democrats holding a candlelight vigil caught talking about gun legislation. weird from lawmakers as well as -- ims from gun we will show you as much as we can as we wait for president obama.

[chanting "no bill, no break"] >> thank you very much for being here this evening. we have then observing a

critical mass of people here over to my left and right. we will give them just a few more moments to get here. before we start this evening's is fittingthink it and proper as i bring forward for an invitation and hopefully and observance of the people of france who once again are experiencing the wrath of demented beings who are uponcting their notions unsuspecting people in such a way that it brings great sorrow to all of us. the pastor tok

return the indication, let us pause for a moment of silence for the people of france who are experiencing a lot of trauma as we begin this program. thank you very much. for anould like to call indication from pastor howard john wesley. >> let us pray. creator and omnipotent god, god weing light of and mercy,

gather under the sovereignty and protection of thy hand, believing they'll has called us to this lease to shine our light in the midst of these dark times. times when we have seen too many act of gun violence in our land to remain comfortable or quiet. calling to live in the light of the lord is crystal clear. we gather in this place where the laws are written and crafted to protect the people who you call to your alike that office and we beseech you to show us a more excellent way. as we petition your throne, so do we address our government with the grievous and -- the grievance of gun violence and that there must be changed. that gun laws be brought to the floor and be passed. we seek your presence for all of those who mourn as a result of

gun violence in orlando, baton rouge, dallas, minneapolis, charleston, chicago, and virtually every other city in these united states. your wisdom to guide us forward and your spirit would lead us to raise our voices against the violence and death in our land, that that will continue to unite us as a people regardless of color or creed, religion or race, sexuality or preference,tics or with equal respect given to all faiths gathered here, honoring the different names i which you are called. i prayed to you in the name of my savior and my cries, amen. -- my christ's, amen. >> now to lead us in the pledge of allegiance to our flag, which all of us can see in the distance, i call upon the vice

chair of the house democratic caucus, joseph 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. [cheering] >> thank you. introduceld like to the leader of the house democratic caucus, and it is my leader the future speaker of the house of representatives, nancy pelosi of california. [applause] pelosi: thank you for

being here. to light the way to disarm hate. it is an honor to be here with every one of you, to be invocation, the sharing the grief of his state , leading us in this beautiful ceremony this evening inspired by our colleague, a global hero, john lewis. [applause] we are here outside on a day when we are supposed to be in the session. but the majority in congress has decided they had more important .hings to do then to save lives they decided that they would not give us a vote on preventing gun

violence. instead, they went home. we have a message to them, we will never stop until we have a no-fly,ul vote to say, no buy, and to enhance our gun violence prevention laws. in a number of ways. and background checks. i say to you that we are here, colleagues, my having events across the country, in districts, we all committed to the pledge, we will not stop until we succeed in passing the legislation, so i think my colleagues for their leadership. so often we heard" about

reverend martin luther king saying that he dreamed of a nation where his children would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. if we apply that to the american people, they come up very strong, because we are a nation of people based on values, compassion. pres. obama: good afternoon, everybody. this morning, three law enforcement officers in baton rouge were killed in the line of duty. wounded, onewere is still in critical condition. as of right now, we do not know the motives of the killer. we do know whether the killer set out to target police officers whether he donned them down as they responded to a call. regardless of motive, the test of these three brave officers

underscores the danger that police across the country confront every single day and we as a nation have to be loud and clear that nothing justifies violence against law enforcement. attacks on police are in attack on all of us. earlier this afternoon, i spoke with governor edwards and mayor holden and i offer them the support of the federal government and reiterated my support for law enforcement in baton rouge and police officers across the country. i also spoke to the attorney general. the fbi has artie been on the ofne and through the work all levels of government, justice will be done. out of all, our hearts go to the families who are grieving. over prayers go out to be officers who are still fighting. this has happened far too often. i have spent a lot of time with

law enforcement this week. i'm surrounded by the best of the best every single day and i know whenever this happens, wherever this happens, you feel it, but families feel what i want you to know today is the respect and gratitude of the american people for everything that you do for us. five days ago, i traveled to dallas for the memorial service of the officers who were slain there. killer wouldt that not be the last person who tries to make us turn on each other, nor will today's killer. it remains up to us to make sure that they fail. that decision is all of ours. the decision to make sure that reflectedelves are across america, not our worst. that is up to us.

we have our divisions and they are not new. around-the-clock news cycles and social media sometimes amplify these divisions and i know we are about to enter a couple of weeks of conventions where our political rhetoric tends to be more over-heated than usual and that is why it is so important that, regardless of race or ,olitical party or profession regardless of what organizations ,ou are a part of, everyone right now, focus on words and actions that can unite this country rather than d9 -- rather than divide it further. we do not need of hamyd mourad rhetoric -- we do not need inflammatory rhetoric or to advance agendas. we need to temper our workers and open our hearts, all of us. we need what we saw in dallas this week when the community can

together to restore order and deepened unity and understanding. we need the efforts that we saw this week in meetings between community leaders and police, some of which i participated in, where i saw people of goodwill pledge to work together to reduce violence throughout our communities. needed right now and it is up to all of us to make sure we are part of the solution and not part of the problem. wrote, aone once butet need happen only once for peace to work, we need to be reminded of his existence again and again and again. my fellow americans, only we can , through words and through deeds, that we will not be divided, and we are going to have to keep on doing it again and again and again.

that is how this country gets united, that is how we bring andle to get it -- together only we can prove that we have the grace and character and humanity to end this kind of senseless violence, reduce fear. to set an example for our children. that is who we are and that is who we always have the capacity to be and that is the best way for us to honor the sacrifice of the brave police officers who were taken from us this morning. may god bless them and their families, and may god bless the united states of america. thank you very much. president obama speaking to reporters at the white house. we are going to take you live to cleveland. he will see the room where the republican national committee news conference was scheduled to get underway.

they decided to wait until the president had finished his remarks. you can see the screen's still showing the president, some electronic delay, i guess. they are scheduled to get underway right now talking about the preparations the made it is this convention the gets started at 1:00 tomorrow and we will have every minute of the event live right here on c-span. you can also listen on c-span radio or view video on demand now, take, so, live cleveland, the republican national convention news conference getting underway any moment now.

announcer: you were toldannouncer: they were going to get started here with his news conference right after president obama that what we would do is this, show you some of what was going on late thursday last week while the rules committee was working on the rules for this convention that gets started. let's watch that as we wait for business conference to begin.

as we wait for this news conference to begin. announcer: we are going to show you that committee meeting from thursday as we wait for the news conference. this time, we will use sound. >> this amendment is meant to within the rnc. we are the party led by the common man.

reduce the influence peddling without impropriety -- should have picked a different word. nonprofit lobbying is exempt. i'm a lifetime member of the nra. will slow down the purchase of the rnc by the prophet influences. -- by the profit influences. >> are there any in opposition? i speak as a member of this body and as a first amendment lawyer from california. danny people from participating in politics because of their profession is un-american and conflicts with the right to earn a living which is part of our constitution. this amendment would not only

been anybody -- ban anybody -- wally, -- ban a nybody from lobbying. would be banned and that is excessive. with registered lobbyists, there is total transparency, there is not back room dealing. we are looking at singling out other potential unfavored professions, used car salesman, insurance agents, farmers who people do not like. our preamble says republicans believe in bringing people together and in freedom of speech, not carving them into separate groups.

>> thank you. is there anybody who wishes to rise in support? >> thank you. firsthand theed influence of paid lobbying focused on spending taxpayer dollars versus advocating for everyday hard-working citizens. i encourage support of this grassroots rule. our party should be giving voice to everyday hard-working citizens and not giving in to the voices of insider lobbying. affect --would not lobbyists forred

the right to life because that or anonprofit organization gun activist, for example, who voluntarily lobbies on behalf of the nra. affect an employee for the largest lobbying firm, who would be affected. so i encourage a favorable vote for this amendment so that this rule that no rnc member has a financial stake in the in the rnc and this insider politics has been heavily permeated within the party and we all know that. --ublican voters haven't rejected insider politics this rejected cycle and our nominee has campaigned against special interests. republicans need to make a

statement that we stand in contrast and have higher standards than the democratic party. we make america great when we empower the everyday american instead of insider lobbying. i urge the committee to support this amendment. >>'s or somebody who wishes to speak in opposition? >> go ahead -- >> mike sturla, west virginia. i believe that every state should be able to determine its representatives to the rnc whether that be priests, pastors, lobbyists, flood victims, coal miners. issue, states rights each stake is to determine who we sent to this important body, the republican national committee. if we pass us, the lobbyist industry is not going to go away

. the republican national committee will be viewed as a hostile group to this group that plays an important role in the way our government functions. i urge you to oppose this amendment. it is appealing on the surface -- it is like a used car salesman, right yet coke at what point do we decide, who can be members of the rnc? that's proudly vote against the sentiment. >> thank you. are there others who wish to ?peak in support ye >> i just wanted to make one thing clear, i understood our thatate who was opposed -- this would eliminate anyone who ever has been a lobbyist and that is not what this says, this says if you are a paid lobbyist,

i just want to make that clear, and another thing that seems to be conflicting, this would exempt nonprofits such as right nraife, exempt the lobbyists. grassrootst is the people would actually -- you know, that would be exempt from this and there is a lot of lobbyists on this committee right now and we have a media washing so we have an opportunity to say the republican party is the grassroots party and is the grassroots people that will make the decision for the rules and not the paid lobbyists. mrs.e chair recognizes demonte. >> i rise in opposition to this amendment. i thought it might be a good

deal. circles, lobbying is not the nicest term but after reflection, i started thinking, if we start with lobbying, where do we go from there? lawyers? consultants? officials?d it is now my belief that this amendment -- >> the president could finish , i ammarks -- real quick that communications director for the convention and i in going to turn it over ceo, jeff larson, to give you an update on the logistics of where we are today before tomorrow starts and then a trunk campaign representative will give you an update on the programming we kick off tomorrow at 1:00. thank you, i am ceo for the

republican national convention. welcome to cleveland. fine weather we have today. thoughts asshare president obama laid out, the events in baton rouge, a national tragedy -- our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those who lost loved ones. it is a national tragedy and our thoughts and prayers continue to go after them. we have been planning this convention for over one year. we look forward to kicking it off tomorrow at 1:00. we will have a business session that starts at 1:00. the evening session will kickoff at 8:00 tomorrow evening. i think we are looking for a great convention. last fewseen for the days, those of you who have been over to the arena, the stage -- i think it is one of the -- you know, best audience we have ever

done before for a convention and we are very proud of it and very pleased with how it has turned out. it is the highest technology that you can build today with the infrastructure that we have. we have 640 panels that make up the screen. i think it is going to be able to project what we are trying to project as a party and a nominee and our ticket in a way that has never been done before so we are excited about being able to show that off. atorrow, we will start off 1:00 on tuesday, we will start at 5:30. we will kickoff with the nominating process and get into ,ur programming and wednesday seven: 30. today was the first day that the gates go out in a transportation pieces get in so there are a few hiccups.

hopefully it will get better as we go along. i rode over on the media shuttle, that seemed to be working pretty well, that part of it is working well. allwe are excited about you the. it about this convention getting kicked off. i think that it has been a long time coming and we are just excited to kick it off and be here. i'm going to turn it over to paul who was going to talk about the programming and some of the things the campaign is going to do, so thank you. >> we are glad to convention is here and we are excited about it that theow arrangements have put together an incredible program as far as the technical aspects of the convention, the stage itself we think is incredible, donald trump loves it.

we are looking forward to a very positive time this week. i would talk bit about what we are trying to accomplish and we will open it up to some questions. for the trump campaign for this convention is to help the american people understand more about donald trump the man not just the candidate they see on the campaign trail but the breath of the man himself, his career, his personal life, his .hilanthropic life we'll be featuring speakers that are beyond just the traditional political figures that tend to speak at conventions. there will be family members, people who know him, friends, will be people who have worked with him in business, outside the companies -- they will talk about his business acumen, his personal life, his ability to solve problems, and then we will have

ordinary americans, people participating in some of the historic moments of the last several years talking about their experiences and some of the things that failed policies of the obama and clinton administration. and isme tomorrow night certainly appropriate today is to make america safe again. it will deal with both the crises that the country is suffering as well as the crises that the country is suffering like you saw today in that and rouge in we will be talking about personal experiences of people as well as folks who have been affected by some of the failed policies. i am not going to go into the speakers tonight, jeff will do some of that but i will go through some of the themes and answering any of your questions. some of you care about what is

going to happen tomorrow afternoon at the business session. we are confident that the platform that was recommended by the platform committee will be passed. changes to theal platform from 2012 that have the distinct impact of donald trump his campaign. in particular, the platform recognizes donald trump's position on trade and the importance of dealing with trade on a bilateral basis versus a multilateral basis and the importance of having what he calls good trade deals for america that bring -- excuse me -- that bring jobs back to america. embraces the tax cuts he is talking about and his economic programs. also embraces the repeal of the johnson amendment which was passed in the 1960's which c3 and the tax status of

c4 organizations, particularly their churches. at and alsohes deals with issues such as i mean, back. frank -- these are all things than mr. trump has spoken about on the campaign trail, the importance of breaking the gridlock and breaking up the system, the banking system, the economic system, the political system. resultsleased with the of that committee and we are confident that the business session in the afternoon tomorrow, the delegates to the convention will reaffirm it can also we are pleased about what happened in the rules committee --s week we're attempts where attempts to try and discredit the primary season in the votes of millions of republicans and independents who was rejected by the delegates overwhelmingly -- as i call that, it was crushed.

a lot of the news that was made leading up to the committee about the trump organization's was not reflected in the convention, itis was more super pac organizations that were being funded by third parties that had nothing to do with the convention and they were trying to disrupt the decision-making of the republican voters who participated in the process of the primary. we are confident that the rules that affect the delegates that were selected will be approved tomorrow at the business session, as well. at this point, i think i will stop and open it up so that we -- so that we deal directly [inaudible] --[inaudible] [no audio]

>> [indiscernible] >> first of all, the delegates were elected by the voters according to the rules of the convention and they will perfect those primaries and yes, of course he is going to win. this is a trump convention. it is the republican national committee but the party is united to there has been much to do about very little and this whole, support for trump reflected in the republican party or in the republican delegates, only one with the largest number of votes ever,

the people that can together as delegates who were elected and selected from not only trump candidates but other candidacies as well. the party is united. it is a few people who are holding out and they do not reflect anything other than their own personal opinions. solid convention tomorrow. people voting their consciences have voted them already. >> mr. trump talked a lot about how he was looking [inaudible] >> it will be a different kind of convention. we are not going to have traditional, wall-to-wall speakers from washington. you'll have a combination of people from everyday life. people who have been affected by events over the last several

years and family members. it will be the impact that family members have in talking about the candidate. we feel at the personal story of donald trump is something that needs to be told. it will be told through their eyes best. we have marcus littrell, a u.s. navy seal. the mother of a benghazi victim. with theohn teagan battle of benghazi. rachel and sean duffy, rachel with the hispanic initiative. david clark, the sheriff of milwaukee county. mayor giuliani, the law and order mayor of new york. and mrs. trump. we have a wide assortment of people who are everyday people, and others who have a story to tell. it will be a different convention.

>> we cannot have a question -- hear the question. >> will there be any surprises? >> donald trump is going to be here and we will deal with that tomorrow. >> [inaudible] >> we will announce that tomorrow as well. >> we heard about the security aspect. the cleveland police chief union has asked that the governor try to an act a further restriction on guns within certain zones outside the convention center. the governor said, that is not something i am able to do legally. just wanted to hear your thoughts not that things have raised to a different level. >> security is important. they have been planning around

the security issue for over nine months. the open carry laws have not changed recently. they have had a number of big events with open carry without issues. it is the constitution of ohio. the governor cannot suddenly say, i will relax it for a day or tighten it for a period of t ime. there will be plenty of law enforcement in downtown cleveland. i feel good about the security plan. i think they have had a couple of issues that got dealt with quickly and easily. there are a lot of people coming here to execute their first amendment rights, and we will be supportive of that. people get a chance to do that in an orderly fashion. when they get disorderly, the police will move in. i feel good about what we have

planned and i think it will be fine. the speakers should be in your inbox. we sent out a press release about 5:00. >> [inaudible] the first openly gay speaker at the republican convention. can you speak to the symbolism of that? and [inaudible] >> peter teal is speaking because he knows donald trump. hea successful entrepreneur, can speak from a standard that we think is important for the american people to hear. preference,s sexual this is an open tent party and

people will be speaking on this conviction based on what they's want -- on they want to say not on any titular sexual preference. -- on any particular sexual preference. mr. trump embraces the platform -- many aspects of the platform. those positions are well-known. thompson from philadelphia and wurd. an african-american talk radio station. my question is this. donald trump is not doing well with african-americans and lationos. in order to win, donald trump will need those groups. we saw one poll that shows donald trump with 0%. how does donald trump convince african-americans and others to vote? are you concerned he might not

get those votes in critical states like pennsylvania? poll thatf all, any has 0% i don't pay much attention to. to say he has 0% in any community is not a credible number. with think the problems in the inner cities have not been solved by the obama administration. things have got worse in the inner cities, not better. we think the message,, donald trump talking about jobs security, trying to bring law and order into the community with no preference to any ethnic group -- we think those messages will resonate. while the african-american community has been taken for granted by the democratic party, given the situation they are confronted with, we think there will be a peel in hit that -- there will be an appeal within

the community. do we expect her -- expect to carry the majority? no. the leaders of that demographic have been in the democratic party. we think establishment support is growing. in the states you mentioned, if you look at the polls, you'll see that mr. trump's support in the hispanic community has grown. as we carry our campaign to those communities, we think the appeal of his message will work. i expect it to do much better than romney did in 2012. >> [inaudible] >> you will have to speak up, i cannot hear you.

>> [inaudible] there will be another night. we are talking about making america safe again. tuesday we will talk about foreign policy issues. >> thank you. >> thanks everyone. we will be back here tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. for a briefing. have a good night. [indistinct chatter] >> this news conference is wrapping up here in cleveland with donald trump's campaign

manager. the four-day event getting underway tomorrow at 1:00 est, and we will have every minute of it live on c-span. >> the republican national convention from cleveland starts monday. watch live on c-span. listen life on the free c-span radio app. watch live or on-demand anytime at c-span.org on your desktop, phone or tablet. you will find all of the convention coverage. follow us at c-span on twitter. like us on facebook to see video of newsworthy moments. don't miss a minute of the 2016 convention starting monday at 1:00 p.m. et on c-span, the c-span radio app, and c-span.org. ago,st about a half hour

president obama coming out of the white house briefing room speaking with reporters about the news of the three police officers shot and killed in baton rouge, louisiana this morning. one officer reported in critical condition and two police officers reported to be in stable condition. a suspect dead. shot by police. the president made remarks about 5:00 p.m. et. obama: good afternoon, everybody. as all of you know, this morning, three law enforcement officers in baton rouge were killed in the line of duty. onee others were wounded, is still in critical condition. as of right now, we don't know the motive of the killer. we don't know whether the killer

has set out to target police officers, or whether he gunned them down as they responded to a call. regardless of motive, the death of these officers underscores the danger that police across the country confront everything will day. we as a nation have to be loud and clear that nothing justifies violence against law enforcement. attack on police are an on all of us and the rule of law that makes society possible. earlier, i spoke with governor edwards and mayor holden and offer them. or. -- offered to them. full support. i also spoke to the attorney general. the fbi has already been on the seencene. justice will be done. most of all, our hearts go to

the families grieving. our prayers go to the officer who is still fighting for his life. this has happened far too often. i have spent a lot of time with law enforcement this past week. i am surrounded by the best of the best every day. whenever this happens, wherever this happens, you feel it. your family's feel it. ist i want you to know today the respect and the gratitude of the american people and everything that you do for us. five days ago, i traveled to dallas for the memorial service of the officers slain. i said that killer would not be the last person who tries to make us turn on each other, nor will today's killer. it remains up to us to make sure that they fail. the decision is all of our's.

bestke sure that our selves are reflected across america. not our worst. we have four divisions and they -- we have our divisions and they are not new. the round-the-clock media sometimes amplifies these divisions. i know we are about to enter a couple weeks where our political rhetoric is more heated than usual. that is why it is so important for everyone, regardless of race, political parties, or profession. race you are what a part of, everyone needs actions that can unite this country rather than divide it further. we do not need inflammatory rhetoric. we do not need careless accusations to score political

points or advance an agenda. we need to temper our words and open our hearts. we need what we saw in dallas this week as the community can together to restore order or deepen unity in understanding. we need efforts we saw this week, meetings between community leaders and police, some of which i participated in. where i saw pledged goodwill working together to reduce violence throughout all of our communities. that is what is needed now. it is up to all of us to make sure we are part of the solution and not part of the problem. bulletone once wrote, a it happen only once, but for pull it -- but for peace to work, we need to be reminded of its existence again and again and again. my fellow americans, only we

can prove through words and through deeds that we will not be divided. we will have to keep doing it again and again. that is how this country gets united. that is how we bring people of goodwill together. only we can prove that we have the grace, the character, and the common humanity to end this senseless violence. to reduce fear and mistrust within the american family. to set an example for our children. that is who we are, and that is who we have the capacity to be. , and may god them bless the united states of america. thank you very much.

>> i had a rough upbringing. i got involved in the streets and i met some friends. they were selling drugs. it was the thing to do. i started selling drugs. i sold marijuana, mescaline tabs, cocaine. than crack cocaine came out and we sorted selling that. i was on the streets for five years. >> tonight, the 25 year veteran of the nypd discusses his book, "once a cop." he talks about his former life as a drug dealer and a police officer. >> i criticize the police a lot, and i'm talking about the bad police. that is a small percentage. the majority are coming to work and doing their job, but you do not hear about them. you hear about the tamir rice, the eric garner cases. you hear about the bad cops, the bad policing.

once law enforcement starts weeding them out. every time you see this, you look at their background. seven complaints of use of force, five substantiated -- the guy was a mess. we don't find out until they kill somebody. >> the hard-fought 2016 primary season is over with historic conventions to follow this summer. >> colorado. >> florida. >> texas. >> ohio. >> watch the nomination of the first woman ever to head a major political party and the first non-politician in several decades. watch live on c-span, listen on the c-span radio app, or get video on demand on c-span.org. you have a front row seat. beginning on monday.

>> i want to welcome david gilbert, thank you for being here. let's talk about what you do. what is the host committee and what is your spots ability? hostat is your responsibility? organization, apolitical nonprofit organization that is set up for the express purpose of fulfilling the community's obligation in its bid to host the convention. so that is why our organization was set up about two years ago. and it's our job to do -- it's a number of things. one is raising the funds that were put forth and that is to fulfill the obligations. there's a lot of thing that is we provide so the committee on arrangements, the arm of the rnc that runs the convention itself can do a lot of their business. we also are involved in really

all the city preparation. it's everything from hotels to thousands of volunteers to getting in every way shape or form every small detail in getting the city ready. the one thing we don't do is the safety and security. that's done by city of cleveland police, secret service, hundreds of different agencies all coordinating together. host: how did you get your job? guest: i'm from here. i've been involved in civic organizations actually run our sports commission destination cleveland our convention and visitor's bureau, was the lead on the bid, and was asked to take on this role for this period of time. it's been very exciting. this is just so incredible for our city. we were thrilled. there's been so much that has changed about cleveland particularly in the last four, five, six years. we were bidding on both the republican and democrat

convention. for us it was a civic decision to go after trying to host a political convention as a way to showcase all the great thing that is have happened in cleveland and where we're going. host: so your obligation is to find the money for this to happen. 64 million is what was pledged. there have been news reports and one of our viewers was talking about it that you're short $6 million is that still the case and why? guest: there's a couple pieces. $64 million was the budget in the bid and that was the max amount that would have to be raised to pay for everything we are obligated to do. we're at now about 58-1/2 and 59. and if you look back at past conventions and timing, it's tampa four years ago, and it's very normal to be at 5 or 10% short the week of the convention. and as dollars still come in.

we have raised far more than any convention in history to this point. there was federal funding for the last 20 plus years that had gone to help both democrat and republican host committees in paying for the convention. those dollars went away which we knew about when we were bidding. we had a community discussion would we still move forward, as did -- there were eight finalist cities ultimately in bidding. and we actually feel very good about where we are. the fact that we've raised so much the fact that we're very close. and we will absolutely meet every obligation that we have. host: the convention starts tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. eastern time. do you have to have the 64 million in place? guest: no. there isn't a date set or a check that has to be in the bank. it's also making sure that all the bills are paid. and the budget the maximum that can be spent. so we're in very, very good shape. host: there was a letter sent out by the host committee to she

woulden addleson. organizers had to apologize. there were according to news reports in that letter some facts that weren't accurate. can you explain what happened why this letter was sent out and why ask him to make tup difference? guest: well, as you could imagine we have been in our fund raising efforts we have been working for a year-and-a-half on targeting and asking particularly people who in the past have given to the host committees of past cities. and mr. addleson is certainly one of those a major republican donor and the kind of person that would be on our list from the very beginning. and we've been in discussions with folks from his organization for many months. we were asked to provide one evening that they were getting

close to making a decision. the letter wasn't a last-ditch effort. these have been discussion force a long time. we were asked to give particular information. and that happens regularly. they're all a little bit different. one of the things asked for was are there companies and organizations that had particularly not given? and we -- so we provided a list. our mistake was we didn't provide a disfinchings. there were a handful of companies that had made hard specific pledges to the host committee and then backed out. and then there were other whose we had substantive discussions with had not made a specific pledge but at some point had said we're going to be out as well. we didn't make that distinction and we want to make sure we apologize. host: folks are saying that the reason why you can't get these companies to pledge like they have in the past or follow through was what they said they were going to do is because the

republican candidate is flawed. is toxic. guest: well, we're an apolitical organization and it's not our job to talk about the candidate in any way shape or form. we're not involved in the political part of what happened. this is about our community. in most cases, people who tell us that they will give or won't give don't give us a specific reason. and we have an idea of why people give. many, many of our donors have done it to support cleveland. people in cleveland, people in ohio. there are people who give to upport the process and give to host committees, the republican ide the democrat side. but ultimately very few give a specific reason why they do or do not give. there were a handful that just said based on all the media around the craziness, they have decided to sit that one out.

host: how many individuals have given and how many corporations have given? guest: i don't have that exact number. 60 days after the end of the convention we are legally required to provide a full accounting to the federal election commission as part of every host committee. that's when it becomes public. so i don't eevep have the number in my head of how many individuals versus corporations. i think somewhere in the 150 to 200 different individuals, corporations or organizations. host: and how much can an individual give? guest: there's no limit. we are a 501(c)(3) organization because we're political and we're very careful and we have to be that anything we spend cannot be related to the actual convention, the business of the convention. and because we're a 50 1 c 3 there are no limits. >> and are most of the individual donors wealthy individuals like she woulden add

elson? guest: largely yes. we -- these are larger again especially when you're talking about companies and people specifically locally around the state that have given. they've given in a bigger way to support cleveland. so in raising those dollars and if you look back at all the past conventions it's usually five, six, seven-figure donations. host: we'll go to new york. caller: i want to say just a couple of things and i will do it quickly. first, i would like to know if anybody is still going after mr. trump for his taxes. for his tax returns. second, i want to know if he is taking any money from the super pacs since he always claimed he was using his own money. and where is the money from the

campaign coming from. trump ishird thing mr. very good at tagging people with mes like crooked hillary and goofy warren. i would like to tag him and i hope that somebody in his -- in the hillary campaign. i would like to tag mr. trump as dopey don. host: let me leave it there. tell our viewers the distinction between you raising money for the convention in cleveland and the campaigns raising money in the general election. guest: absolutely. and i appreciate your making the distinction. as mentioned we are an apolitical nonprofit organization. our job is to get our community ready and our job is to make sure that the infrastructure is ready to host a political convention. that the venues are ready.

that the media center is the ready. all of the pieces. the transportation. the logistical pieces that it takes for everybody who comes here. 50,000 plus people coming as part of the convention that we have everything ready for them. everything inside which is the convention inside, any business in the convention is not the matter. none of our dollars will pay for that. so we don't take any stance whatsoever related to anything related to the campaign or the party or the candidate. host: people on the host committee are they republicans? guest: we've never been asked. it's never been a distinction. if you look at the offices of our host committee and the people around the table, they're top corporate leaders, civic leaders. we have a democrat mayor, a democrat county executive. they've been praised by the rnc. when the rnc chose cleveland,

after they said one of the the things that stood out was the people here and how much you wanted us here. and they went out of their way to praise our mayer to say here's a democrat mayor that was here welcoming us when we got off the plane, welcoming us when we got back on the. everything in between. this is about our city. host: what is the economic ben sfit guest: economic benefit. and past studies from conventions on both sides show a direct spending somewhere $250 million that takes place from outsiders coming into town spending during the convention and the weeks and months leading up to it. we think of that as short term. the long term is largely we are show casing our city to the world. and there's been so many unbelievable thing that is have

propelled cleveland. it is such a vastly different city. we're a city that really went through a 40-year recession. very difficult part of the world, manufacturing hub of the world in many ways and things have turned around so showcasing that long term is probably the biggest benefit. host: jo in florida. caller: he doesn't really represent mr. trump or the republicans that are there. he uzz just the money man for getting the arena. he's like the head of it. but i do have a comment and i don't think he can answer this. when trump was in sarasota, florida, i have a permit to carry a gun. i'm a democrat. and i'm a member of liberals with guns. i went to the arena after mr. trump said that if everybody had been armed in the mall shooting that it probably