owned by a private institution. nonprofit institute run by journalist. politifact.com, about us, if you click on the far right there, it says about there, there is a pretty easy way for folks to send in suggestions for you to own fact checking, right? guest: there is. we're on twitter and facebook. people can contact us that way. i would say e-mail is the most direct way and it seems to be the way most readers prefer. host: one more call from deborah. caller: in it's not against the law forer to publicize that in

front of everyone. that's one question. that is in tampa. you probably know. they are going door to door in trying to get puerto ricans because they could slate the elections here to vote for rill ry and they're forging signatures. have you checked that yet? and donald trump says i am not biased against women. i'm not prejudice. and showing lewd remarks that many men said. have you set the fact that his first construction manager for the first trump tower was female -- was unheard of in new york. host: deborah, thanks for weighing in with all that. anything you want to take there?

guest: you know, i don't think that we have -- i don't think we've fact checked about trump's female managers because i don't think it's in suit. one of the things about politifax is we look at questions that are in dispute. we don't spend a lot of time that things that nobody is questioning. host: our guests in tampa has be politifax.com. and you can also leave your own suggestions. thanks for your time this morning. guest: thanks for having me. host: "washington journal" will be back tomorrow. enjoy the rest of your day and your weekend. we'll see you back here omorrow.

[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] >> gretchen carlson is going to testify after the november elections. a committee is looking into the use of force arbitration. s. carlson sued fox c.e.o. roger ales but not fox news because she had signed binding arbitration with the company. the suit was settled and the company paid the settlement rather than mr. ailes. here's what our live coverage ms. mendez will

discuss her experience at 11:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. at noon eastern, a briefing on the veterans health. how the v.a. acts as provider and purchaser of care and the potential for increased collaboration with civilian health care. and donald trump holding a rally this afternoon in johnston, peavepl we'll cover that at 4:00 p.m. eastern. hillary clinton campaigning in cleveland and a rally there at 4:30 eastern. that you'll find on c-span2. on election day, november 8 the nation decides our next president and which party controls the house and senate. stay with c-span for coverage of the presidential race including campaign stops with hillary clinton, donald trump zhare surrogates and follow key house and senate races with their coverage. c-span, where history unfolds daily.

>> russia wanted to monitor u.s. elections in november. roll call reporting russia attempting to send monitors to louisiana, oklahoma and texas. state department as well as local election officials rejected the request and said it was a russian publicity stunt the full story at "u.s.a. today."com. hillary clinton and donald trump came together in new york city last night to roast each other. the al smith charity dinner. the event took place one day after the candidates participate in their financial -- final debate. it is a white tie fundraiser for charities. this is about an hour.

al: ladies and gentlemen, your ind attention. please welcome back to the podium. al: i am back. a couple of shoutouts. i want to thank you for making this dinner possible, great job. he has been here 37 years and he eeps the trains on time. thank you.

before we go on, i would like to recognize several things area governor cuomo is here tonight. al: at last night's debate, he told bill morrow that he called the senator a tough hombre. mayor deblasio is here tonight. al: we would like to apologize because i could not grant your request to sit to the left of everybody. he got here on time.

chuck schumer is here. you may not know this, but chuck is running for his fourth term. chuck has a favor to ask. can someone tell him who his opponent is? e have the senator here. it must be nice to see two new yorkers vying for the highest office in the land. it just goes to show you that if you were born into immense wealth or your husband was president, you can accomplish nything. al: rudy giuliani is here.

mr. mayor, do not worry. we aimed at the light just right to make sure you will be in donald trump's shadow all night. governor christie was supposed to be here but he got stuck in ridge traffic. al: it is always nice to be with my friend, the cardinal. al: in this difficult time for our nation we should think about uestions of faith. cardinal dolan asks us all, how can one fully understand the spirit? what does a salvation really mean? and, are you going to finish hat?

al: i mean this sincerely. everyone in attendance is doing their part to support our efforts. it cannot be done without you or without the amazing support of the many devoted catholics in our state. catholics like henry kissinger. ort zuckerman. al: before we turn this over to our speakers i want to address the elephant in the room. i was talking to cardinal dolan -- no, that was not the plan. bear with me. i wish i had thought of that, but that does happen to fall in there. earlier about the wikileaks

e-mails that says certain members of the clinton campaign wanted to incite a revolution in the catholic church. i was pretty concerned. we had a very constructive conversation with the clinton campaign and cardinal dolan said, if they have not destroy the church in the last 2000 years, then they don't stand a chance. of course, the donald got into a public conversation with the pope. it should be easy to mend that elationship. because the donald and pope francis have so much in common. they lead lives of humility. all is forgiven.

it is now my privilege to introduce this evening's speakers. we determined to tonight's order backstage. i'm happy to report that no matter how the coin toss ended, our next speaker will say it was igged. al: i was thinking of course about the republican nominee, donald j. trump. al: there are actually some rumors going around that he was not going to show up tonight. you could say he wanted to keep s in suspense. we considered having a donald

trump cut out on the dais, but if we wanted someone still and lifeless we get asked charlie rose to speak again. it is historic the donald is here tonight. for the first time, the catholic church is not the largest tax-exempt landowner here tonight. al: we are honored to have donald and melania here tonight. donald, they kid from queens with a big heart and a big -- the microphone is yours, and it s working.

mr. trump: thank you, that was good. his is a hell of a dinner. i want to thank your eminence. and governor cuomo. hi, chuck. he used to love me when i was a democrat. mr. trump: mayor deblasio. in the old days i would have known and well. and i want to thank you for the fund-raising. nd a special hello to all of

you in this room who have known nd loved me for many, many years. he politicians have introduced me to their children i have become their best friends in many instances. they asked for my endorsement and always wanted my money. and even called me a dear, dear riend. then suddenly, decided when i ran for president that i had always been a no good, rotten, disgusting scandal.

and they totally forgot about me. you always start out with a self-deprecating joke. some think that would be tough for me. ut the truth is -- mr. trump: the truth is, i am actually a very modest erson. in fact, many people tell me that modesty is perhaps my best quality. even better than my temperament. cardinal dolan and i have some things in common, we both run impressive properties on fifth avenue. his is much more impressive than mine.

that is because i build mine with my own, beautifully formed hands. mr. trump: while his was built with the hands of god, and nobody can compete with god, is that correct? nobody, right? mr. trump: that's right. no contest. it's great to be here with a thousand wonderful people, or as i call it, a small, intimate inner with some friends. or as hillary calls it, her largest crowd of the season. mr. trump: this is corny stuff. mr. trump: i do recognize that i come into this event with a little bit of an advantage. know that so many of you in

the archdiocese already have a place in your heart. for a guy who started out as a carpenter working for his father. i was a carpenter working for my ather. mr. trump: it's true. not for a long period of time, but about three weeks. what's great about the al smith dinner is that even in the rough and tumble world of a really hard-fought campaign -- in fact, i don't know if you know, hillary, but last night they said that was the most vicious debate in the history of politics, presidential debate. the most vicious. are we supposed to be proud of that? but they did say that, and i am trying to think back to lincoln. i don't know if they can really speak to that.

but the candidates have some lighthearted moments together, which is true. i have no doubt that hillary is going to laugh quite a bit tonight. sometimes even at an appropriate oment. mr. trump: and even tonight, with all of the heated back-and-forth between my pponent and me at the debate last night, we have proven that we can actually be civil to each other. in fact, just before taking the dais, hillary accidentally bumped into me, and she very civilly said, "pardon me."

mr. trump: and i very politely replied, "let me talk to you about that after i get into office." mr. trump: just kidding, just kidding. and hillary was very gracious. she said that somehow if she ets elected, she wants me to be, without question, either her ambassador to iraq or to afghanistan. mr. trump: it's my choice. mr. trump: but one of the things i noticed tonight, and i've known hillary for a long time, is this is the first time ever that hillary clinton is sitting down and speaking to major

corporate leaders and not getting paid for it. r. trump: it's true. you know, last night, i called hillary a nasty woman. but this stuff is all relative. after listening to hillary rattle on and on and on, i don't think so badly of rosie o'donnell anymore. mr. trump: in fact, i am actually starting to like rosie a lot. mr. trump: these events gave not only the candidates chance to be with each other in a very social

setting, it also allows the candidates the opportunity to meet the other candidate's team. a good team. i know hillary met my campaign manager, and i got a chance to meet the people who are working o hard to get her elected. there they are, the heads of nbc -- mr. trump: cnn, cbs, abc. there is "the new york times" right over there, and "the washington post." they are working overtime. mr. trump: this one is going to get me in trouble. not with hillary. you know, the president told me to stop whining, but i really have to say, the media is even more biased this year than ever efore.

you want the proof? michelle obama gives a speech, and everyone loves it. it's fantastic. they think she is absolutely great. my wife, melania, gives the exact same speech. mr. trump: and people get on her case. and i don't get it. don't know why. mr. trump: and it was not her fault. stand up, melania. she took a lot of abuse. mr. trump: oh, i'm in trouble when i go home tonight. she did not know about that one. am i ok? is that ok? cardinal, please speak to her.

mr. trump: i'd like to address an important religious matter, the issue of going to confession. or, as hillary calls it, the fourth of july weekend with fbi irector comey. mr. trump: i am told hillary went to confession before tonight's event, but the priest was having a hard time when he asked her about her sins and she said she could not remember 39 times. mr. trump: hillary is so corrupt, she got kicked off the atergate commission. mr. trump: how corrupt the you have to be to get kicked off the watergate commission? pretty corrupt. hillary is and has been in

politics since the 1970's. what is her pitch? the economy is busted, the government is corrupt, washington is failing. vote for me. i have been working on these problems for 30 years. i can fix it, she says. i was not really sure if hillary was going to be here tonight, because, i guess, you did not send her an invitation by e-mail, or maybe you did and she just found out about it through the wonder of wikileaks. we have learned so much from wikileaks. for example, hillary clinton believes it is vital to deceive the people by having one public olicy -- mr. trump: and it is only different policy in private. that's ok.

i don't know who they are angry at, hillary, you or i. here she is tonight in public, pretending not to hate catholics. mr. trump: now, if some of you have not noticed, hillary is not laughing as much as the rest of us. that's because she knows the jokes. all of the jokes were given to her in advance of the dinner by donna brazile -- mr. trump: everyone knows, of course, hillary has believed that it takes a village, which only makes sense, after all, in places like haiti, where she has aken a number of them. >>

[indiscernible] mr. trump: thank you. i won't go this evening without saying something nice about my opponent. hillary has been in washington a long time. she knows a lot about how government works. and according to her sworn testimony, hillary has forgotten more things than most of us will ever, ever know, that i can tell you. mr. trump: we are having some fun here tonight, and that's good. on a personal note, what an amazing honor it is to be with all of you. i want to congratulate hillary on getting the nomination, and over the next 19 days, someone will be chosen. we will see what happens. but i have great memories of coming to this dinner with my father over the years when i was a young man. great experience for me. this was always a special

experience for him and me to be together. one thing we can all agree on is the need to support the great work that comes out of the dinner. millions of dollars have been raised to support disadvantaged children. and i applaud the many people who have worked to make this wonderful event a critical lifeline for children in eed. [applause] mr. trump: and that we together broke the all-time record tonight is really something special. ore than $6 million. the cardinal told me that is net, net. we can also agree on the need to stand up to anti-catholic bias, to defend religious liberty, and to create a culture that celebrates life. america is in many ways divided. [applause] mr. trump: thank you. america is in many ways divided

like it has never been before. and the great religious leaders here tonight give us all an example that we can follow. we are living in a time and age that we never thought possible before. the vicious barbarism we read about in history books, but never thought we would see it in our so-called modern day world. who would have thought we would be witnessing what we are witnessing today? we have got to be very strong, very, very smart, and we've got to come together not only as a nation, but as a world community. thank you very much. god bless you, and god bless america. thank you. [applause]

al: as ronald reagan would say, "there you go again." [laughter] al: thank you very much, donald. we are honored by your presence. this dinner is a fundraiser for the needy children of the archdiocese. i am pleased to announce that tonight we have raised $6 million. [applause] al: let me put that in perspective for you. that would pay for nearly five minutes of our next speaker's speech. [laughter] al: hillary is a democratic nominee for president. but it was not exactly a smooth ride for her. she endured a tough primary challenge from that young centrist upstart bernie sanders.

[laughter] al: she endured questions about her health. madam secretary, i can't believe all these people said it was not presidential to catch pneumonia. just look at william henry harrison. [laughter] al: and she said that she later had to take back. for example, hillary really did not mean it when she called half of donald supporters a basket of deplorables. to be fair, donald did not really mean it when he said he would release his tax returns, either. [laughter] al: the secretary's career in public service has been admirable. she has devoted her life to public service in arkansas, washington, and new york. she has been a tireless advocate for children, and her being here

tonight is an example of that. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome secretary hillary rodham clinton. [cheers and applause] ms. clinton: thank you. thank you. [applause] ms. clinton: thank you. your eminence, your excellencies, members of the clergy, al and dan smith, donald and melania, and all the distinguished guests. earlier tonight, al reminded me that when the first al smith ran for president he chose the

-- chose as his running mate, the progressive senator from arkansas, joseph g. robinson, who is one of my husband's political heroes. this work that you do through the dinner, al, you have done it now for 30 years, is such a labor of love. you have been a hero for both the children of the archdiocese and for the city of new york, and i think we all owe al smith a great round of applause. [applause] ms. clinton: this is such a special event that i took a break from my rigorous nap scheduled to be here. [laughter] ms. clinton: and as you have already heard, it is a treat for all of you too, because usually i charge a lot for speeches like this. [laughter] ms. clinton: but for me, it was kind of ironic thinking about a

fiery populist, al smith. if he were here today and saw how much money we had raised, he would be very proud. [applause] ms. clinton: and if he saw this magnificent room full of plutocrats celebrating his legacy, he would be very confused. [laughter] ms. clinton: it is a special honor to be here with your eminence. i know you were criticized for inviting both donald and me here tonight. you responded by saying, if i only sat down with those who are saints, i would be taking all my meals alone. now, just to be clear, i think the cardinal is saying i'm not eligible for sainthood. but getting through these three debates with donald has to count as a miracle.

[laughter] [applause] ms. clinton: so, i guess i am up against the highest, hardest stained-glass ceiling. but, your eminence, you do deserve great credit for bringing together two people who have been at each other's throats, mortal enemies, bitter foes. i've got to ask, how did you get the governor and mayor here together tonight? [cheers and applause] ms. clinton: i've got to say, there are a lot of friendly faces in this room, people i have been privileged to know and work with. i just want to put you all in a basket of adorables.

ms. clinton: and you look so good in your tuxes, or as i refer to them, formal pantsuits. and because this is a friendly dinner for such a great cause, donald, if at any time you don't like what i'm saying, feel free to stand up and shout "wrong" while i'm talking. [laughter] ms. clinton: come to think of it, it is amazing i am a peer -- up here after donald. i did not think he would be ok with a peaceful transition of power. [cheers and applause] ms. clinton: and, donald, after listening to your speech, i will also enjoy listening to mike pence deny that you ever gave it. [laughter] ms. clinton: i have had the privilege of being at the al smith dinners in years past, and i always enjoy it.

but remember, if you are not happy with the way it comes out, it must be rigged. and it's always a special treat for me to be back in new york, a city which i love and i think truly embodies the best of america. don't you think? [cheers and applause] ms. clinton: people look at the statue of liberty and see a proud symbol of our history as a nation of immigrants, a beacon of hope for people around the world. donald looks at the statue of liberty and sees a 4. [laughter] [groans] ms. clinton: maybe a 5 if she loses the torch and tablet and changes her hair. [laughter] ms. clinton: come to think of it, you know what would be a good number for a woman? 45. [cheers and applause]

ms. clinton: but i digress. i will try my best tonight, but i understand i am not known for my sense of humor. that's why it did take a village to write these jokes. [laughter] ms. clinton: people say, and i hear them, they say i'm boring compared to donald, but i'm not boring at all. in fact, i am the life of every party i attend, and i have been to three. [laughter] ms. clinton: and when the parties get out of hand, as occasionally they do, it is important to have a responsible chaperone who can get everyone home safely, and that is why i picked tim kaine to be my vice president. [laughter] ms. clinton: you notice there is no teleprompter here tonight, which is probably smart, because maybe you saw donald dismantle

prompter the other day. i get that. they are hard to keep up with. and i am sure it is even harder when you are translating from the original russian. [laughter] [boos] [applause] ms. clinton: but every year, this dinner brings together a collection of sensible, committed, mainstream republicans, or as we now like to call them, hillary supporters. [laughter] [applause] ms. clinton: now, some of my critics -- and i hear that, too -- man: yeah! ms. clinton: yeah. they think i only say what people want to hear. tonight that is true. and here's exactly what you want to hear. this election will be over very, very soon. [cheers and applause] ms. clinton: and look at this dais. we've got charlie rose and maria

bartiromo and chris matthews and gayle king and katie couric. this counts as a press conference, right? [laughter] ms. clinton: it is great also to see mayor bloomberg here. [applause] ms. clinton: it is a shame he is not speaking tonight. i am curious to hear what a billionaire has to say. [laughter] [boos] ms. clinton: and look at the dais. we got the honorable chuck schumer, the honorable andrew cuomo, the honorable bill de blasio, the honorable dave dickens, and so many other wonderful officials. and we have rudy giuliani. [laughter] ms. clinton: many don't know this, but rudy actually got his

start as a prosecutor going after wealthy new yorkers who avoided paying taxes. but as the saying goes, if you can't beat them, go on fox news and call him a genius. [laughter] ms. clinton: so as i said, we have now had our third and thankfully, final debate. sharing the stage with donald trump is like, well, nothing really comes to mind. [laughter] ms. clinton: there is nothing like sharing a stage with donald trump. donald wanted me drug tested before last night's debate. [laughter] ms. clinton: and look, i've got to tell you, i am so flattered that donald thought i used some sort of performance enhancer. [laughter] ms. clinton: now actually, i did. it's called preparation. [cheers and applause]

ms. clinton: looking back, i had to listen to donald for three full debates, and he says i don't have any stamina. that is four and a half hours. i have now stood next to donald trump longer than any of his campaign managers. [laughter] ms. clinton: look, i have deep respect for people like kellyanne conway. she is working day and night for donald, and because she is a contractor, he is probably not even going to pay her. [laughter] [boos] ms. clinton: but i think the good news is that debates finally allowed republicans to unite around a candidate. the bad news is it is mike pence. and it has been a long, long campaign. that should be one of our highest priorities, shortening the campaigns. [applause] ms. clinton: and whoever wins

this election, the outcome will be historic. we will either have the first female president or the first president who started a twitter war with cher. and if donald does win, it will be awkward at the annual presidents' day photo when all the former presidents gather at the white house, and not just with bill. how is barack going to get past the muslim ban? [laughter] [groans] ms. clinton: republicans in particular seemed frustrated with their nominee. paul ryan told the republican members of the house, "you don't have to support the top of the ticket, do not worry about anyone beside yourself, just do what's in your best interest." so i guess donald really has unified his party around his core philosophy. i don't understand their unhappiness. they say donald does not have any policies. he has no policies, i keep hearing that. i would like to defend him on this.

donald has issues, serious issues. really, really serious issues. and i worry about donald's going alone attitude. for example, at his convention when he said, "i alone can fix it." in the 1990's, i said the same about america's health care system, and it did not work out so well for me either. speaking of health, donald has been very concerned about mine. very concerned. he actually sent me a car to bring me here tonight. actually, it was a hearse. [laughter] ms. clinton: but i kind of just want to put the information out there so everybody can draw their own conclusions and you can judge our relative health. we have each released our medical records. my blood pressure is 100/70. his is unbelievably great. [laughter] ms. clinton: my cholesterol is 189.

his is "presidential." my heart rate is 72 beats per minute. his is "the most beats ever for the least beats ever, whichever sounds best." but donald really is as healthy as a horse, you know, the one that vladimir putin rides around on. [laughter] [boos] ms. clinton: but i can say without fear of contradiction that i will be the healthiest and youngest woman ever to serve as president. [cheers and applause] ms. clinton: but this has been a really strange campaign. you saw it last night and tonight. donald has attacked me for life in public service. i did not get that at first. i kind of get it now. as he told howard stern, he does not like it when women have been around for more than 35 years. but donald, we have so much more

in common than you may realize. for example, i have tried to inspire young people by showing them that with resilience and hard work, anything is possible, and you are doing the same. a third grade teacher told me that one of her students refused to turn in his homework because it was "under audit." [laughter] ms. clinton: and here's another similarity. the republican national committee is not spending a dime to help either one of us. [laughter] ms. clinton: so tonight, let's embrace the spirit of the evening. let's come together, remember what unites us, and just rip on ted cruz. [cheers and applause] embrace the spirit of the ms. clinton: i hope you enjoyed my remarks tonight. i said no to some jokes that i thought were over the line, but i suppose you can judge for yourself on wikileaks in the

next few days. [laughter] ms. clinton: donald will tell us after the benediction whether he accepts this dinner is over. he has to wait and see. but there is nothing funny about the stakes in the selection. in the end, what makes this dinner important are not the jokes we tell, but the legacy we carry forward. it is often easy to forget how far this country has come. and there are a lot of people in this room tonight who themselves, or their parents or grandparents, came here as immigrants, made a life for yourselves, took advantage of the american dream and the greatest system that has ever been created in the history of the world, to unleash the individual talent, energy, and ambition of everyone willing to work hard. when i think about what al smith went through, it is important to just reflect how groundbreaking it was for him, a catholic, to be my party's nominee for

president. don't forget, school boards sent home letters with children saying that if al smith is elected president, you will not be allowed to have or read a bible. voters were told that he would annul protestant marriages. i saw a story recently that said people even claimed the holland tunnel was a secret passageway to connect rome and america to help the pope rule our country. those appeals to fear and division can cause us to treat each other as the other. rhetoric like that makes it harder for us to see each other and respect each other and listen to each other. and certainly a lot harder to love our neighbor as ourselves. i believe how we treat others is the highest expression of faith

and of service. i am not catholic, i'm a methodist, but one of the things we share is a belief that in order to achieve salvation, we need both faith and good works. you certainly don't need to be catholic to be inspired by the humility and heart of the holy father pope francis, or to embrace his message. [applause] ms. clinton: his message about rejecting a mindset of hostility. his call to reduce inequality. his warnings about climate change. his appeal that we build bridges, not walls. as you know, my running mate, tim, is catholic, and he went to jesuit schools, and one of the things he and i have talked

about is the more, the better. we need to get better at finding ways to disagree on matters of policy while agreeing on questions of decency and civility. how we talk to each other, treat each other, respect each other. [applause] ms. clinton: so i have taken this concept to heart in this campaign. as best as one can in the daily heat and back and forth of a presidential campaign. to ask how we can do more for each other and better for each other. because i believe that for each of us, our greatest monument on this earth won't be what we build, but the lives we touch. and that is ultimately what this dinner is all about. and it is why it has been such a great honor to join you all again. thank you.

[cheers and applause] al: hillary, thank you very much. al: hillary, thank you very much. that was terrific. an observation, i did see the candidates reach across the great divide tonight and shake hands. [laughter] al: i think we should nominate cardinal dolan for the nobel peace prize. what do you think? [applause] al: it is my honor to present cardinal dolan. [applause] cardinal dolan: thank you, everybody.

it has been the honor of my predecessors, and now mine as archbishop of new york, to conclude this joyful and historic evening with a word of gratitude to all of you, and more solemnly, to the lord himself. pardon my congestion and cough. i am afraid i am coming down with a cold, which is completely understandable, because i have had a seat between the two candidates in what is probably the iciest place on the planet. where is global warming when you need it? [laughter] cardinal dolan: to those who

generously underwrite this endeavor and to carefully distribute those accounts for the fruits of this a great dinner, i thank all of you. secretary clinton and mr. trump, your distinct careers in commerce, education, communication, health care, charity and philanthropy, you are graciously present on the dais and in this ballroom. two other persons are with us this happy evening. the first are those thousands of women and children in this city we cherish as our earthly home who will benefit from the proceeds of this event. [applause] cardinal dolan: i'm talking about the african-american mom in the bronx, eager for a scholarship to get her children

into one of our renowned inner-city catholic school. [applause] cardinal dolan: i am talking to the troubled young mother needing support and encouragement to bring a tiny baby in the sanctuary of her womb to birth. [applause] cardinal dolan: i'm talking to the mexican immigrant mom approaching our catholic charities for health and uniting her family. for obtaining citizenship, english language instruction and job training. none of these women could afford a ticket to the al smith dinner because it is more than they make in a month, but they are grateful that you could, because as of tomorrow, because of all of you, $6 million will float out to lift them up. [applause] cardinal dolan: and the other person here with us this evening, the lord.

he has told us and the scriptures that we cherish the he is in the midst of any event, characterized by love, care, concern, and service. his son, jesus, is here in our midst. his bride, the church, is honored to affirm the dignity of every person and sacredness of all human life. so please its stand and join me in a final prayer. we praise you, lord, for our faith, our families, and our friends. our call to serve those in need. we are grateful to be citizens of one nation under god, who a claim this evening that in god we trust. bless our two candidates, our benefactors, and those who the al smith foundation has been

honored to serve for seven decades. guide us safely home this evening and for all eternity, through christ, our lord, amen. god bless and thank you. thank you, al. 30 years? how about it? al: thank you. ladies and gentlemen, they said this could not be done. we got it done. thank you very much. [applause] [inaudible chatter] [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] ♪

>> we take you live to the u.s. commission on civil rights. on your screen is activist sylvia mendez whose parents

fought to end racial segregation in california public schools. for abouten speaking five minutes. life coverage on c-span. and had gone to school, loves school. but he always remembered when my grandmother told him, you have to go out there and start working in the field. we have no money. can't stay in school. he remembered how he left school. when he went out there to work in the fields he said, when they are going to own a farm. father,and said to my .ou can take care of the family my father was a businessman.

i remember going with him to take him the money. when we got to the farm, it was during school season. she gathered us all up, she gathered my brothers and myself and my two cousins alice and virginia. .y aunt took us to that school you can leave your children here, but your brothers had to go to mexican school. my at us husband was mexico -- race again for mexico but he had a french time because at one time mexico was occupied by the ranch. -- french. had they saw my cousins

,hite brown eyes, light hair they said just say you are belgian and we will keep your children here. the same thing rosa parks said. she took a stand. not leaving my children here. if you are not taking my brother's kids children, i'm not leaving them here. what was i doing? playing. i didn't even realize what was happening. it wasn't until. i didn't even realize what was happening. it wasn't until we got home that my at says, you can't believe what happened. they wouldn't allow your children. calm. said, be tomorrow go and talk to the principal. we live right next to the school. i'm sorry, but we have two

schools now in westminster. one for mexicans and one for whites. my dad was so upset that he went to the superintendent of schools . he said, i'm sorry, mr. mendez, they will have to go to the mexican school. he went to the superintendent of schools in orange county. he was informed, in orange county we have five cities. orange,a, garden grove, and westminster that have decided they are going to segregate. i'm sorry, i can't do anything about it. my father was so upset that he went and heedless talking to everybody. somebody said, i just heard about this lawyer. his name is marcus and he just fought a case in riverside where they would not allow the latinos to go into the public parks or swimming pools. he fought that case. times" just wrote about it.

why don't you hire him? says, we have the money. let's go higher him. they went and hired mr. marcus. .r. marcus was very intelligent he said, let's not make this about the children. let's make this a class action lawsuit for only 5000 mexican in southern california. my father had to go from house to house trying to convince the other families that it was an injustice what was going on there in westminster. the people were so happy that the schools were placed right next to their homes where they could just go into those segregated schools. of my father made a committee and they all went around talking . they met miss william guzman.

he was fighting to get her child into a white school in santa ana. ana. and then they went to orange and they talk to mr. frank palomino. get hisrying to children into a white school. in orange were side-by-side.

appeal upheld the ninth circuit court decision. i along with thousands of other minorities throughout orange county started going into integrated schools. remember going to court every day while they were fighting the case, never realizing what they were fighting. all this time i just thought they wanted me to go to a school with a beautiful playground. the mexican school was a horrible school with no playground and it was right next to a cow pasture. there was a fence around the cows. it had a little bit of electricity in it. that was the fence between the schoolchildren and the farm. playing balll was

and she went to get the ball and when she went to grab the ball, she got a hold of the wire, the fence. the wire was not enough to kill the cows, just to shock them. got a holdat student of that wire, it would not let go of her. she just kept shaking. i remember the teacher going all the way around to where the saying, you have to turn off the electricity. one of my students is caught their. -- there. schoolbooks we had were handed out from the white schools. the furniture with all headed down. what were they teaching us? how to crochet, how to embroider. the boys were taught vocational. we were not taught academics, had to read and write so we

could become secretaries or work in an office. they wanted us to become mates maids.f my dream has finally come true. but yet you don't know what it has taken. takene wanted this to be into the standards to be taught in california for over 20 years. we went to the curriculum committee and said, this is an important case. it should be taught in schools. the curriculum committee said, i don't think it's that important. she vetoed it and it wasn't taught. somebody says, sylvia, find me a politician. we found maria salas and she introduced it to the senate and assembly in california.

then we had a governor at that time. when it went to his desk, he vetoed it. the teacher said, why did you veto that? inon't want to get involved agitation. after all that work it was taken away. then we went to the curriculum committee. they said we will put it in the framework this time. but we don't have any money so it can't be published. if the teacher knows about it, .hey can teach it finally two months ago the sent out a committee mail order that they're going to teach mendez versus westminster in california, aside from just the latino history, they will also teach them muslim

involvement in the united states, the filipino and other minorities. it has been -- been a long, hard struggle. finally it's going to be taught. latinos who were fighting. i tell students when i go and speak about this case, because it is so important with latinos who have such a high dropout from school, i think it's important that they know they have unsung heroes that they never heard of. i let them know that so many people came in and helped. civil liberty came in and health. national lawyers guild came in and helped. the japanese-americans who had just been interred came out and helped.

the jewish congress -- everybody will join you, i tell the students. if you are fighting for something -- people will join you. happened at that time. i go and i tell them, it is so important that you get an education. that will give you the american dream. it has been hard. you have to persevere and you have to work very hard. there will be obstacles coming and people that are still prejudiced and yes, you will be discriminated. them whatemind roosevelt said. the only thing you have to fear is fear yourself. if you want to get out of these ,reas where you are segregated we have to help you get that education because here in the united states you can move to .herever you want to

our struggle right now is to make sure the students are in those desegregated schools, getting the same quality of education. they might not have the same building. they might not have the same furniture or books, but we want the teachers to be there teaching them and inspiring them and making sure they have ap classes. we want to make sure they have counselors. we want to make sure they are inspired to go out there. we talk about these students -- used to call it the railroad to the prisons. now they call it the pipeline to the prisons. we are trying to make sure that students are not taken out of schools for minor infractions in california, that they are given time in school to study rather than letting them be out for

four or five days because they've done something bad. keep them there and make them study. some of the latinos thought that was fun. they did not see that as a punishment. we are working very hard with that. it's a very important case and it was our governor at this time who desegregated california in 1947, seven years before brown versus board of education. they used so many arguments in the brown case that were used in the mendez case. finally he said, we used everything from mendez.

i had been in a class at usc talking about miss mendez. that's not true. mendez was not a preceptor to brown. saying, we used everything from mendez to fight brown versus board of education. high dropouts with of schools, low percentage in college, it's so important that they know they have a latino legacy in education. mendez, the palomino's, that all fought for equal education. according to edward padron, over 46 million latinos earn less than $20,000 a year. only 27 percent have a high school diploma. just like 12% have a college

degree. fact that onlya 1% of the millions of latinos in the united states, only 1% have a phd. how sad is that? role models that are not portrayed in the movies as prostitutes and criminals. they have to know that we have role models we need to learn about. supplements,nos as not as decision-makers, not as consumers, not as producers, as makers. they css tax expenditures, not tax contributors. we have to change that stereotyping. if i can inspire students in the united states to stay in school by describing the mendez case, i will go to any school and talk about it.

i will know i have fulfilled my .egacy to my parents we live in this great, wonderful nation of ours where everything is possible. the greatest country in the world. there's no reason why we have to not be number one in education right now. my parents were intelligent, courage.ing, and had they did not even finish high school, but they demanded equality. they fought for basic human rights. if you recognize the importance of education, the same as everyone involved in the court case, our students must relate to them and know they have the same capacity and same opportunities here in this country. this meant we celebrate latino heritage month. borno proud to be latina,

in the united states, where i can continue to learn my american dream without giving up my language or any part of my culture. i will continue with my legacy to tell the story, a part of american history where ordinary people were able to change the course of history. any time we make a compromise anything we want to do, we can achieve. by encouraging students to stay in school, and go to college. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, miss mendez. that was amazing. some of my commissioners might want to ask you some questions. that was amazing history you shared with us. it's important we continue to .how that history with others

commissioners, if anyone has any question -- this is not a briefing. the type of question we ask would be different. i want to give our commissioners an opportunity to say something. >> so much appreciate your passion about education. our commission this year had a hearing on the resegregation of k-12 schools and the disparities in public school financing. we share your concern about the state of education in its fabulous to know we have an advocate out there helping people to understand why this is such an important issue. --lso think it's important an important story because a lot of americans think the racial discrimination was just in the south and targeting african americans. they don't understand the places like california, the fact that we are deeply discriminatory.

largest massd the lynching and it was of chinese. my own parents -- i was born in seattle. we faced segregation because there were covenants on a lot of properties where we couldn't buy homes in most parts of seattle. that's why you saw japanese-americans and other asian americans in only certain parts of the city. i think your story is important levels i want to thank you for telling it. as a little girl, were you scared at all about the focus of attention? levels i want to thank you for telling it. there much hostility about the fact to your families were challenging the school district? >> no, my parents were very protective of me. realize what was happening. i thought they were fighting to get me into this beautiful school so i could have my --

have this beautiful playground. it wasn't until i got into an integrated school in santa ana and my father had said to them, i'm bringing my children herewa, and the teacher knew about it, said, hi sylvia. said, hi sylvia. and other integrated schools, just like the one in westminster. the school bell rings and we go out to play. this little white boy says, what are you doing here? don't you know mexicans are supposed to be here? -- aren't supposed to be here? i started crying and i went home. they don't want me there. i don't want to go to school. she said, don't you know what we were fighting for?

we all deserve the same equality, the same education. yes, you are going to school. school and io found that not everybody is born with bigotry and hatred in their heart. i went on to go to integrated schools for the rest of my life. >> any other commissioners? have an't so much question as, i want to thank ms. mendez for coming out here and talking to us about your case. fascinating piece of history. i am inspired to want to learn more about it. i will be looking into it some more. thanks for coming. >> any other commissioners? it is an honor to be in your presence. thank you very much. >> any other commissioners?

>> mr. chair? yes. , i too want to add my andks for your coming in a fascinating story about your experience. 1965 when myck to siblings and i integrated into the public schools of florence, .outh carolina children are children. you mentioned the young folks who said ugly things to you. about any one that stands out in

your mind and that you would like to share. >> the integration in california went very smoothly. the only thing was they were calling my father a communist and he was very upset. he came crying sunday and said, can you believe they are calling me a communist because i'm trying to fight this case? that was the only thing. >> any other commissioners? mr. staff director? >> ms. mendez, thank you for coming. i've known you for many years. i really appreciate the historical significance of this as a lawyer. i want to ask you a quicker question about, how did your -- ly i nats the case finance the case? lawyers don't work for free.

>> at the time marcus was very inexpensive. 1945, a was in about $500. they had just got into work at the ranch at that time. later during the appeal, other people came and joined in to help with the appeal another case, myt the mendez dad had spent everything they are making -- sometimes they would spend a thousand dollars a day in the ranch. the ranchers had 40 acres of asparagus and tomatoes and everything. he was going around and trying .o recruit when the japanese family came back, my dad didn't have many left.

they were so nice, the japanese family lit as live there for three months after they came back. moneyave my father that to go back. we go back to santa ana and that is when other people came and joined in. thank you, ms. mendez, for sharing our history with us. [speaking spanish] without you we would not have these opportunities. thank you. >> and my parents. >> and your parents. it was a group effort. we will now be a joining the meeting. but i want to invite all those who are president with us to

join us for light refreshments thoseet ms. mendez -- refreshments are not paid for by taxpayers. to now officially adjourned the meeting at 11:35 eastern time. [applause] >> sylvia mendez's parents fought to end racial segregation in california public schools to the 1947 court case. you can see all of her comments at c-span.org. coming up in 20 minutes or so, we will be live with a briefing

of the veterans health care system. that is hosted by the alliance for health reform live on c-span at noon eastern. until then, a look at the presidential race from this morning's "washington journal tilde -- journal." ballotpedia. is the place to go for all that writing. this campaign different, and put it in the broader perspective of how this country moves forward after what we have been dealing with. because, is different largely of donald trump. you have a total political rookie that goes out there and the republicanns nomination.

you got hillary clinton, who would be the first woman president in the united states. stages been on the public for 25 years or so. it is a rather remarkable combination, that we've got. the big question that everybody -- we saw that in the third presidential debate. we even saw a little bit of it at the alfred smith dinner, last night. how does the country move forward, after such a tough, hard-fought, divisive contest. towill be a challenge whichever one of these candidates inns up winning the election to pull the country together. that is not going to be an easy task. we live in a pretty polarized

country, right now, and this has been a very tough campaign. host: on numbers on the bottom of the screen. supporters of donald trump and hillary clinton, those of the first two lines we will put up, and then we have lines for third-party voters and undecided voters. we believe those numbers on the screen and we will generate some calls and get this conversation moving forward. isind us of what ballotpedia all about. guest: we are a nonpartisan, nonprofit website that really is sort of the encyclopedia of military american politics. we cover everything from the presidential race down to the school race -- school board races and the largest school districts in the country. we have a great feature where

voters can go and plug in their address and take a look at what the ballot is going to look like when they walk into the voting booth. we've got a not of it -- a lot of initiatives and things on the ballots besides they presidential race -- besides the presidential race. tried that, yesterday and it was really easy. i learned a lot about what is going on to get set for november. ballotpedia.org is the place. guest: we are a nonprofit funded by contributions from individuals and corporations. host: we want to get your take on what donald trump had to say at the debate and in ohio about the results and whether or not he would accept them. we know he came out briefly in ohio and said i will accept them if i win. then he came out later in that

same speech and elaborated on what he is talking about. let's take a look. >> america is a constitutional republic with a system of laws. these laws are triggered in the case of fraud or the event of a recount where it is needed. of course i would accept a clear election result, but i would also reserve my right to contest or file a legal challenge, in the case of a questionable result. always, i will follow and abide by all the rules and traditions of all the many candidates who have come before me, always. bottom line, we are going to win. we are going to win so big. host: your take on this week's

dialogue. guest: it certainly was the big moment of the debate, and it was a bit of a self-inflicted wound by mr. trump. he is kind of a rookie candidate. it doesn't necessarily understand or appreciate all the traditions of politics. if you remember the very first , thee that was in columbus very first question was asked by brett mayor of fox. anybody on there was this day, raise your hand if you cannot rule out running as a third-party candidate, i and donald trump raised his hand. he was the only person who did. e forused a big kerfuffl weeks. he ultimately signed a pledge, sort of a loyalty pledge saying

he would support the nominee. this shows this is just a guy who does not like to be pinned down. that,tinctively resists where a politician -- a more experienced politician, somebody who has run for office, they would understand the convention and understand that you just specter of not respecting the results of the election, and i think we saw from that clip, donald trump trying to walk it back, but even at that rally, earlier on, he just could not resist the temptation of tweaking everyone by saying, i will respect the results if i win. this is a guy who loves to thumb his nose at political convention. host: before we go to calls, some have compared the situation

to what he said in 2000 in the bush election. is that adapt collect -- comparison? guest: i don't think it is, because we had a different circumstance. we had a recount situation going , itn florida and ultimately got to the courts and it was decided by the supreme court. for camp so important -- for candidates to concede on election night? what is it about that moment? number one, it is sort of reinforcing the tradition that we respect results and that we have this kind of peaceful change of power transition. time.back to that 2000 over whata cloud happened next. having to wait for that supreme

court decision. it complicated the transition of george w. bush. a person gets elected, they have three months to create their whole government. having something like that did not make it any easier for the bush folks to carry out their transition. you recall they were not announcing nominations during that period. we know staffing up an administration is a pretty big job, and you kind of need every minute you can get. that is another reason why we don't want this kind of question after the election. we want the new president to be able to get on with the business of creating a government, and focusing on how to lead the nation. barnes,rst call for jim alexandria, virginia, a trump

supporter. caller: good morning. i am a trump supporter. i honestly think he speaks more to millennials then hillary clinton. i am a millennial so i can say a little bit about that. host: how so? caller: he is real. he is raw. when you look at what he says, it is unpolished, but it has an integrity to it. rehearsedt it is more and i don't feel the integrity with hillary. it is not so much that there is that whole issue with the security clearances and the documents being translated back in north, it is the integrity of the person and if you watch them during the debates, it really

riews hillary having this ee kind of smile that i just don't trust. i don'talso say that see myself being to go through red tape. may be entered -- other generations see a kind of hierarchal structure to get to a -- get to the next level. hillary has a lot of experience, but it is about having a voice, having a vision, and acting on it and not letting any roadblocks get in the way, that you might consider to be a natural progression and a more traditional style of leadership. host: we know the group that is called millennials is a very large group in this country. are they going to come out and vote and what are the candidates doing to appeal to them?

guest: good questions. younger people tend to vote at a years rate every four then in the midterm elections, so we are still going to be looking at this election, as to whether or not the turnout matches what barack obama brought to the polls in both 2008 and 2012. some question whether mrs. clinton can do that. emily is the type of voter that hillary clinton's campaign worries about, but we have also seen evidence in the polls that younger millennial women, and it confounds the clinton campaign, are really resistant to mrs. clinton, notwithstanding the fact that she is breaking the highest glass ceiling in the land. probably iscampaign

going to focus on social issues, a lot. she talks about her strong support for gay marriage, she talks about other sort of issues related to more of the tolerance arena. i think that is one of her big pitches to younger voters. donald trumps pitch to younger voters is hey, i am a businessman, the kind of guy who can get this economy moving. you are just starting out in your careers, some of you are just coming out of college. i am the guy who was going to create a lot of economic growth and that will create jobs. host: moving on to james. calling from in the district, he is a hillary clinton supporter. caller: good morning. mr. barnes was very kind when he

alluded to donald trump not really being qualified. joke, so much that it is scary, that a gentleman who has the candidacy in his hands has one basically two points substance factors. is going to build a wall, and export 11 million people. my question for mr. trump, who is going to staff your hotels and i don't understand how this if i'mome an issue of -- if i am going to in one breath, he says we are going to win, and then he is already recounting the votes that are not even occurred. how does this become a national

issue? that is my question. it becomes a national issue when he sort of dropped that little bombshell in the middle of a debate with 60 plus million people watching, so it gets a lot of attention and totally dominated the third and final debate and it is an unconventional position to take, to start talking about maybe i will, maybe i won't support the outcome. questioning the election's integrity is not helpful. the caller noted trump is a real rookie in this.

he did not do himself any favors. on the issues front, that is another thing that comes up in the debates, that thou trump does not have the kind of policy death that hillary clinton does, so when he is in these debates, he really can't string together responses to questions where he is highlighting his positions on what he would do if he would get into office. well.id not serve him a lot of times in the debates, he was just sort of reduced to disagreeing with mrs. clinton and he would just sort of say wrong into the microphone. depth hasf policy

been a handicap for him in this election. host: washington times hisorialized about statement that the mainstream media cooks the story. the notion that a losing candidate must not been any circumstance look for fraud is absurd. what is the reality right now, as you see it in this country when it comes to supposed voting fraud? guest: i don't think that there is so much fraud in any jurisdiction, for instance that could swing a state. if you get into a situation that is close enough to florida. we had an election that was ultimately decided by about 500 votes. of, hey,nto questions our people casting their ballots

in the right district? i don't think we have seen enough concrete examples. votes, this, buying is part of our election history, but it is history that goes back to the 19th century, that may have gone back to some of the big-city machines, during the new deal era, the 1930's. -- you back to a time read the excellent series on there are some pretty outrageous examples of voting fraud that happened in the famous 1940 lyndon johnson senate race. another book talks about the ballot box stuffing that probably went on in the rio

grande valley for the kennedy/johnson ticket in 1960. has it happened in the past? sure, but i think this is more of a function of the past. host: >> find all of today's program at c-span.org. we will take you live to capitol hill. so, a look at the potential for increased collaboration. it's being hosted by the alliance for health reform. live coverage here on cspan. >> we are going to go ahead and get started. i am with the alliance for health reform. on behalf of our honorary cochairman, i would like to welcome you to today's briefing on veterans health care.

the veterans choice act became law in 2014, grading a pathway for some veterans to receive some of their health care through the private sector. there has been a debate on how best to deliver health care to veterans for some time. the last two years have provided some experience to consider as policymakers in washington decide how to proceed going forward. today, our speakers will help us understand the complex system through which veterans receive their care, and how that is changing given the unique needs of veterans. i would like to thank our sponsor for today's events, ascension health. i'm going to turn over the microphone to mark case for a few words. >> welcome. i'm going to be brief. i want to thank you all for coming to this important reaping on important issue -- briefing