hydrofluorocarbons. currentlye gases account for only a few percent of global emissions, in the absence of any agreement they were expected to increase rapidly. avoiding those emissions brings us much closer to meeting the goals we set in paris. perhaps most significantly of 4, we passed the threshold required for entering into force the paris agreement. representing at least 55% of global emissions and those numbers continue to grow. parties we can expect to follow through on what they said they would do and abide by the provisions of the agreement. as we have already outlined, these are critical for putting us on a trajectory to meeting our common goals and ramping up local ambition over time in a transparent and accountable manner. emission reduction efforts

reflect only one part of our agenda. a second is in the arena of mobilizing climate finance. the international energy agency estimated that pledges made to date would yield a $7.4 trillion global investment in renewable energy in the next two decades. a lot of banks sovereign wealth funds and investors do not understand how these take allergies and pipelines function, or how to best backstop and finance such projects. sidelinedars are while they wait for more aggressive actors. if we can attract the inactive funds, it could trigger a new fund of investment in this part of our economy. one third of all develop country develop -- developed country debt pays a negative interest rate. paying the are government to hold about $7 trillion worth of their money.

bondholders are paying government instead of governments paying bondholders. about $7 trillion is out there. to me it suggests there is a need for broad-based technology markets deliberate and free some of this unused capital. context this capital -- that the countries have pledged to mobilize $100 million in low sources on an annual basis. meete on a trajectory to that pledge. we know developing countries are going to need our support in the future. we know that public money will never come close to the level required to meet the challenge. a green climate fund set up in action, is using debt and insurance projects to minimize risk and encourage the movement of private capital. the world bank, the world by

financial associations are on a similar letter -- similar pathway. finally, in addition to the finance and the mitigation, our implementation pathway has to encompass a major effort to build resilience and adapt to the unavoidable impact of climate that we face. it will become more severe when we moved to higher temperatures. even if we were able to halt the rise and only 1.5 degrees celsius, which is an effort that on, the damages would be severe. populationorlds lives at one meter or less above sea level. we currently anticipate they will rise as much as this or more by the end of the century. that means nearly 150 million people will need to move.

there are currently only 65 people in the migrant pool from syria, afghanistan, places that are currently exposed to constant persecution. just sea level rise, not the other damages in drought or agriculture impacts, more than double the current number. we have to continue to manage the increasingly severe consequences. drought will not go away. we have to build resilience for these storms. new york at the head of the they have capacity and very few others are in that place. we need to decrease temperatures because of disease vectors and agriculture productivity. all of these issues will be taken up next month in marrakesh, rocco at the 22nd -- morocco at the 27th -- 22nd

conference. i put out some information on the progress we have made to date. thisf the consequences of is the first meeting of the parties at the paris agreement will occur in marrakesh. i anticipate the session will endorse an accelerated timetable for completion of the work called for in the paris agreement. we initially thought it would take a number of years and it has gone much quickly -- much more quickly so we are elevating the timetable. the urgency means we need to merge our technical experts to keep pace and accelerate their program. we also need to guard against the renegotiation of paris. in the parlance of these negotiations, we do not want any backsliding. we will not countenance any undermining of the basic principles that govern the agreement. we have moved beyond a world, a

bifurcated world in which developing and developed countries are in two buckets and against each other. we need to move beyond that. the annual climate meetings are becoming broader in scope, getting beyond the notion of negotiations to include a wide variety of activities from countries around the globe. venueers a high profile for spotlighting what really works in terms of technology and policy, so we can all learn key lessons and deploy them with all possible speed. we need to use the venue to engage that just you sustainability officers but also videos, mayors, governors. not just environmental ministers but foreign ministers, ministers of agriculture and finance. the media and through them the public at large. the grand challenge presented by

climate demands continued engagement across the board. in spite of the difficulties in making the transition to a low carbon economy, the opportunities and prevent -- produces are enormous. failure to address climate change is actually untenable. it is not a choice. action comes with a knowledgeable upside potential while in action carries a terrible downside risk. we now have definitive proof in the united states that we can lower our emissions while simultaneously growing our economy. 2014, u.s.0 and emissions have fallen 6% while the economy has grown 28%. it is not just true here at home. for the second year in a row, global gdp grew. emissions stayed slack. we know that dozens of nations around the world have successfully decoupled economic

growth from carbon pollution, and their economies continue to grow. we have made a specific test significant level of progress this year. -- significant level of process this year. we look to build new roles for trans parent the and a whole -- transparency and a whole host of other items. i grew up in new york and most of us do not live there or use their subway systems, but the threat manhattan faces is common to all of us around the world. we cannot freeze time and halt change butclimate with the paris agreement we have a mechanism to marshal our collective will and commit ourselves to do something. it is called action. it is a call to action the world needs to heed. let me stop with that, take questions, and look forward to the conversation.

[applause] coral: jonathan, thank you so much. we will turn to hq and day. i will ask follow-up questions of issues that you raised and then turned to the audience. if you want to be thinking about your questions we will go in about 10 to 15 minutes. you mentioned that there has been this really surprising unprecedented trifecta of developments in the international climate community space. paris entering into force, the amendment on high potency greenhouse gas coolants, and the aviation agreement as well, the global aviation community agreeing to cap a trade program. at the same time, no one is

looking at these three developments says this is enough to solve the problem. all of them have come under criticism. paris is entered into force that there still are not equal enforcement or sanctions if countries choose not to follow through. criticism of the aviation agreement is a lot of that deal was written by the airlines themselves. it has been criticized as business as usual. agreement was definitely not as strong as the united states would've wanted. there is this real political momentum, but the substance does not necessarily need. jonathan: thanks very much. as we look at the set of problems we have to look at it in two contexts. the first one is where we are today and what we can do immediately, where do the politics lend themselves to? what are the other issues?

the second is where do we want to be in 50 to 100 years in terms of our reduction strategy. you can always make magic happen out some 50 years from now and say emissions will miraculously shut down, but you have to get there and that requires a collective set of actors to engage. let's start off with the aviation sector. the aviation sector is looking for alternative ways to reduce grease how -- greenhouse gas emissions. drop in producing a replacement that you can use without much change, but a small share of the market. can you accelerate that? one of the ways you do that is having a price and putting in a regulation and having a tradable permit structure. do we want to drive airlines out of business? of course not.

we want to drive a change in behavior slow enough to allow the market to keep pace, but fast enough to keep us in the range of where we want to go. this is the model that we would seek and of course it involves the aviation sector. one, the montreal protocol structure. theas the support of community deeply involved in the uses of these gases to which we phased out emissions. , the wholecarbons conversation on your car in the suburbs. do you want to phase them out tomorrow? no, we do not have replacement. create a process where there is a steady indication to the market to develop alternatives, a clear signal and timetable. those move much more aggressively than in the absence of the agreement and they lead to a fundamental shift in what

is happening. airave agreements from the and refrigeration community but also from the environmental community. this is the middle balance the politics could achieve and it fundamentally set a signal that did not exist before. i think we are in a place that you have to think through, how do you do the next possible step? i think too often we look for the perfect. i think what we have now is the very, very good. it is a good place to start. you talked about one of the key pieces of the paris agreement, of the framework is transparent. is the idea that all of these countries have put forward these pledges to the only work -- the only way it will work as if there's monitoring, verification, and we can trust

that countries are doing what they say they will do. the paris accord itself lacks specifics on how that is going to happen. at the time there was a sense that we will put that language in figure out what it is going to look like later. in the broad international community there is a real divergence of ideas of what that means. ,ill it be an outside body international agency who has the authority to drop in and do surprise expections? -- inspections? will it be self reporting by government? this is an open question. jonathan: i think this is a question that a lot of people are asking but it is well framed and important to understand. we do not have environmental agreement. relies a structure that on national limitation and that is a robust structure. i do not know how many have

followed domestic court cases around environmental regulations, but there are real consequences to those not in compliance. you have the epa coming in and the department of justice and if you do not behave you end up with potentially jail time and huge fines. those are things the international community does not impose but the domestic and national community does. the strength is predicated on the willingness of countries to adopt the programs to lead to implementation. we have pretty good indicators that countries have begun to put those in place. as far as being a structure which we are waiting out here for a decade or two, whether people will comply, we can look at law's imposed in china, india, resell, costa rica -- brazil, costa rica, the united states, in which compliance is being promoted.

kyoto had a series of noncompliance consequences and the only country to go through it with canada, who decided they would simply withdraw. now we have a process in which there are not these kinds of consequences and china is in and india and canada and the u.s., that is a much better outcome. it appears from our current indicators that we are going to , countrieset these that are on trajectories to implement their targets. they have put in policies for individual actors to take them on. that shift in the model is what made it possible for countries to join and at least so far, that countries will meet their objectives. coral: the united states under paris has pledged it will lower its emissions 25% to 28% from 2005 levels by 2025, but there is a lot of analysis showing even given the clean power

plants and the obama administration regulations that will get their. clean power plan is still under litigation and it could have slower timetables for implementation. , under the obama administration the u.s. is probably going to struggle to forth, andt has put under the structure of the paris plan in 2020, the u.s. has to go back to the table and offer a stronger plan. what specifically does the next administration need to do to ensure that the u.s. can meet the pledges under the obama administration and significantly strengthen them? jonathan: if i had a crystal ball, it would be fabulous. the dynamics of what the next administration will do our a little opaque.

att we can do is take a look what expectations we put in motion in the course of this agreement and where it comes out. the first thing is to think about the exogenous forces that are independent of policy. a number of things are happening in the united states emission sector. an extension of the production tax credit for nobles. and 2025 the consequences are likely to mean that the clean power plan will not bite before 2025. we will get continued reductions and penetration because of the supports, but it goes beyond that because what we are seeing now is a price decline in the marketplace that is very pronounced. part of that will help historically significant investments in r&d made by the government and the private sector. part of it has been helped by a change in price globally.

the cost of solar panels has come down more than 10 times just in the last decade. with thepect now that support that congress had passed -- and passed after paris -- that you can install solar for less than you can install gas which means the next administration needs to think about additional actions it can take. to 28% we have committed ourselves to is within our grasp. you have to keep pushing these options forward the next generation is harder. we have to think about a variety of things. we have put some in motion ourselves. the secretary of energy has done along with a group of private sector investors, to double the r&d we are spending now on clean energy. we have been joined by the 20 largest r&d investors in the

world under something called mission innovation. china is in, india and germany are in, and they are doing the doubling. they are complemented by a set of investment being made by the private sector players, a coalition called the breakthrough coalition organized by bill gates. it has committed itself to put aliens of its own money in investing in the outputs of ofse research -- billions its own money in investing in the outputs of those research. the paris agreement also calls for the development of a bad midtegy -- mid 70 -- century strategy. is it going to be nuclear power? how do you think about the price of solar? all of those can be factored in and you can look at where you will had. on transport, will it be electrification of vehicles, hydrogen vehicles, a biofuels

program? what are the consequences. what about buildings? you can go into a number of buildings in washington that are net zero building, there is only a handful, but they are very attractive. we have been in portland and austin, texas and aging and by mumbai.ng and can we invest in those things? those are not just federal, is our local, state corporate. that dynamic is going to play out in a fundamental way to drive us to a 2050 horizon with an 80% reduction, not the 26% to 28% we are striving for in 2025. coral: a lot of climate change the session 10 to revolve around the biggest emitters -- tend to revolve around the biggest emitters.

there might be questions on whether they can reduce emissions as quickly as they said they will. the leaders of all those entities have come to the table and said politically, we have the will to do this. a really important player in this space as russia. state, dependsro on sales of fossil fuels or its isnomy, and vladimir putin one of the only world leaders who has been openly skeptical and mocking of the science of climate change. is essentiallyc business as usual and does not purport to make ambitious reductions. i would love to know what you hear or see from your russian counterpart in this space, and also address the question, can this be done if you do not have this major player at the table? jonathan: the russians are a really interesting case.

we had last week a meeting called the pre-cop, a discussion that happens among a group of 40 to 50 countries in advance of the conference. it was held in morocco. the russians were invited and did not come, and i think that is the current story. it is not that they are stopping things, it is just not engaging. at the end of the day, the fact that they are not blocking things i think is an important signal. russia has been an on again, off again player. sometimes they are antagonistic. thatimes they are now climate change was horrible as the fires that consumed much of the steps went through. he thought climate change was the driver of that, so he kind of blows hot and cold on this question. the question of russia's export

markets are going to matter a great deal. how is this going to be shaped in the energy infrastructure over the next 20 years? what is that dynamic for ukraine as a state? what is that dynamic for russian competition with north sea supplies which are declining? have you think about north africa? it is a much complicated story. let's look at the other petro states and how they are playing. maybe they will give us some insight into the dynamics of russia. my favorite is saudi arabia. announced a has series of targets for renewable energy for a variety of reasons, but fundamentally looking at altering it economy. saudi arabia is doing it because as their population grows they are looking at consuming more and more of their oil domestic and so there's less available for extra -- export. number two, i need to have new

jobs because the oil market does not provide many and stability in the kingdom requires you provide new economic environment -- opportunities. they see renewable energy as providing that marketplace. they are actually threatened by climate change and although this is not number one or two, this is a driver for a ship. a lot of their facilities are on the coast and they have already tolerably high temperatures and only a marginal additional increase could be fatal. here is a play with you would never have expected by the years ago. what happens in five years ago in russia? what is the export market going to move to be? what is the domestic consumption and demand? these are uncertainties, and if the rest of the world moves down the structure of a change in price the future russian leadership is going to have to manage this. it is independent in some sense of the current view. it is a function of economic

-- fundamentala change in russian supply and development might move them a different way. if their productivity sector is not able to keep pace in the shift on climate, fundamental problems for russia. they have gone through times where they were importing vast amounts of american food. these kind of things will shape their politics and policies in a way i think the current administration in russia is not going to block and will ultimately have to get in line with. coral: one question and we will turn to the audience. in terms of going forward on climate change in climate policy, what do you worry about the most? what are you most optimistic about? what role might you play in a

hillary clinton administration? jonathan: i have been asked and i do not know. the other two i think are more complicated. what am i most worried about? i am worried we will not have the political capacity to keep up on the medication side with the rate of change. it is coming faster than we thought. the upside, so are the policies and technology. the climate is getting worse at about the same rate that our policies are getting better. office weme into thought realistically in 2025 the trajectory, the upper outer bounds is supposed to be a meter and now it is supposed to be two meters and it looks like we will have a foot by the end of this decade. so much faster. on the upside, technology is doing really well. elon musk has a self driving electric vehicle that you can buy an option to get one in a couple of years.

maybe his $35,000 card is not quite come out but it is going to be close. can we do that fast enough? i am worried we will not win and if we do, the cost of doing so because the impact will continue to grow, we will still have to face those. what am i optimistic about this the other side. i think this is a fundamental marker of a shift in thinking. ultimately, who came to submit their ratification of the paris agreement? heads of state. in, in enormous numbers to sign, 180 countries signed the agreement the first day was open. we have never had that. the previous high water mark for any agreement was about 70 nation. 180 countries said yes, this matters, and i'm going to send my head of state to sign on.

that is a huge shift in the politics at the global level and that leads me to be much more optimistic. >> we will turn to the audience for questions. .here is one in the back please state your name and affiliation. >> francis the short hamilton. francis hamilton. you mentioned resilience, there is an immense amount happening. you look at the germans and the vulnerable 20 and the private sector there are sectors that are coming together to do this. i wonder if you could talk about the u.s. priorities in the resilience space and also a little bit of the role of the private sector. are they stepping in or are they rely in or ahead of the curve or behind? >> i think they fall into a couple of different categories. work being runof out of the -- that is really pushing on the resilience front.

one of the things we're trying mapping develop better tools and understand where the impacts are and what kind of damage we see already am a kind of damage we might anticipate seeing over the course of the next decade. that involves all of the agencies and the -- we are to support communities as they build their own domestic internal if structure. that is a significant piece. there are resources available by almost all of the agencies for different sectors. the department of agriculture has programs. --noha is doing work to upgrade a risk maps and potentials. the interior department has a series of programs managing land structures. the corps of engineers looking at bolstering flood zone mapping and the structures that manage

how it does in deployment of its own resources to improve resources they are responsible for. that whole suite of things is underway. there will be a question where resources come from and ultimately it will be altered -- it will be private driven. mixede see a much more story. it is yes -- less evident that people have yet to make the donations required. the question is will we change the laws that we would have to change to modify structure? fema will provide you with insurance that will pick up the damage cost for various kinds of weather disasters, but they pick up the cost to replace exactly what you had, not the cost of the improvements to make it more resilient. there is good reason for that, the idea was to not have the federal government the fray the cost of building your fancy new space. in this new world you want to

make these improvements and we haven't but those systems into place. some pretty interest in things are happening and i am struck by the largest companies, walmart is an example. i am seeing real change in the ways they make their own deployments of their own assets to build resilience into their infrastructure. walmart does it for a just asked, thinking about where they have to deploy resources in case of things being cut off by storms. you have things in the power sector where they are building more capacity for cooling the plants. side, it isnational easier, but i more diverse community. usid. is work being run by we have national adaptation plans for which the green has got between $2 million and $3 million per country -- per developing

countries to help them put in place a series of national plans -- organizations like is usaid. germany, the u.k., japan all supporting these endeavors. we see an increasing level of attention and focus on that and the idea is to think about a balance between adaptation and mitigation up finance provided to address this problem. i want to mention there is a small number of countries responsible for the bulk of omissions -- emissions. image you have about 180 countries that did not do much to create the problem comes what they feel the impact and that has been a concern you see in the process in negotiation and convention discussions and that is the community that needs this support to help them out of this bind. >> next question, there is here in front. >> thank you.

>> do not forget your name and affiliation. >> albert from should near energy.- shanir i know there was a feel of chagrin and despair that there is a strong anti-fossil fuel bias. the u.s. has reduced their greenhouse gas emissions after kyoto much more than any kyoto signatory because of the use of natural gas. toural gas is well poised help developing countries afford a cleaner, less emitting energy source until the development of renewables on an economically viable scale. you mentioned saudi arabia, but two dull -- gulf countries have already imported u.s. based

natural gas. will there be any effort at prop 22 to put natural gas in a different basket than the other fossil fuels as one that is actually reducing emissions while maintaining current levels of power generation? no, but forr is different reasons you might think. it is not so much a function and i hope i did not come across as being anti-fossil fuel. i want to come across as anti-carbon and the option in my mind plays a different series of solution, one of which is to remove yourself from high emitting sources to low emitting sources and in that gap, the united states has played a central role. there is no way we would be down if we did not have a gas in the mix and if we were not phasing coal out. the price is competitive, it has declined sharply from only a debit -- a decade ago. we are in -- over $13 and now at

less than four dollars. look to 2050, gas will have to be also captured and stored if we are going to continue to use it. for me to question is not whether gas is good, but whether carbon is good and how i manage that part of the equation. for me, capture and storage becomes essential and one of the things i worked at -- worked on was thinking about how to increase potential to generate that capacity. i also see need for backstop technology. at the moment we have a variable supply generation in terms of wind and solar. what is the model for quick ramping up electricity when you need it? at the moment the best choice is gas. there are no turbines that work that fast except for spinning reserves. how do you marry these questions in a much more complicated system going forward?

that is the explanation we have to do and that is the model we have. in all cases come if you have a high carbon footprint that will get smaller and smaller over time -- it will not work. we will not solve the problem only with gas. we will solve the problem with decarbonization and gas is a transition to that. >> we have time for one more question. there is one here. daily.s from the energy i wonder if you could give us a sense from the u.s. perspective what is the best realistic outcome of the marrakesh conference. jonathan: i think there will be three buckets into wish i would t theich i would bpu discussion. it is the first political meeting since montreal, the kigali conversation.

what does that mean? ministers come together and reflect on the new world dynamic. the second, paris itself has a variety of explicit obligations that it incorporates. we are now and to do by the first series of parties technical tasks. there will be an accelerated timetable and a degree of urgency around the technical work. we will sit down and do negotiations over those predictors. the third is a structured set of prediction -- discussions over what is called the action agenda and that is a series of themed days were rehab discussions on everything from energy, in which gas and renewables and efficiency will play and they will have a theme day on water and agriculture and on forests and on finance and on adaptation . a series of these days were senior figures from around the world with expertise in each area will begin moving us in the

way of negotiation into -- negotiation into discussion. paris was negotiation and barack started phase two. >> i will grant myself the privilege of another question. do you anticipate a morocco document? which will be inscribed and gaveled through as a concrete take away? it sounds like you are describing a lot of discussions. jonathan: i do not know yet, i think it remains to be seen. i can imagine the pieces coming out in the standard form, which is decisions. you have to have a decision with the timetable and with the program of the works and with a decision recognizing conclusions reached and captured by the parties of the paris agreement. the decision is what we use as our structure. comesrst decision that out of morocco, will it be a

political statement? i think it will be. how much will be in it? i think that will be a function of these discussions. had he recognized progress we made it but do not rest on your laurels and demand the next stage? historically the host country has wanted that document. the paris agreement, the lima accords, in south africa, each one of these has their own structure. i would think the moroccans would want something saying, this is what happened at our conference and we can look at with pride as the president and host and we would endorse that kind of an effort. >> thank you so much for your time. great conversation. [applause] i want to thank jonathan and coral for this incredible discussion a great moderation and questions from the audience. thank you for being here and we look forward to your coming the next time on our next program. let's give around of applause for jonathan.

[applause] announcer: we head straight now to the alliance defending freedom and a discussion about religious freedom, civil rights and small businesses under way. speaking now is the former fire chief of the city of atlanta. overcomehild i would racial barriers and do hard work and professionalism and i could eventually become recognized as an equal to my firefighter brothers. in 1999i became the first african-american appointed fire chief of the city of shreveport in in 2008 i was blessed to become the fire chief in atlanta, georgia. because of what i had previously toerienced, i made a promise myself that under my leadership

no one would ever have to go through the horrors of discrimination that i hadn't doored because i was different from the majority. using a strategic team, i atlantathe atlantic -- fire doctrine which establish a culture of justice and equity for all members of the department and how we would serve our community and one another. the task force included all people groups and demographics of the department, including women and members who identified themselves as lgbt. one of our core values was to create a culture where everyone looked forward to coming to work every day and eliminating barriers that would hinder us from giving our very best, was a core value we called ism free. we wanted an atmosphere there was no racism, cronyism, nepotism, or territorial is a

more we could have the department we all believe in our heart we could become. after 20 months serving under the leadership -- leadership of mayor shirley franklin i was appointed by president barack obama and confirmed by the u.s. senate as the united states fire administrator, the nation's highest ranking fire official. during my senate confirmation hearing a few of the members remarked that it was the most bipartisan at least controversial hearing they had experienced. less than one year later the honorable mayor recruited me back to the city of atlanta and i assumed my duties as fire chief of the city. i was internationally recognized by my professional association, the international association of fire chiefs as the career fire chief of the year. career 2014, my 34 year came to an abrupt halt when i

was suspended for 30 days without pay after the city of atlanta's officials who disagreed with judeo-christian beliefs about marriage learned that i had mentioned those believes in a book written on my own time for a christian men's bible study. the city launched an investigation to determine whether my religious beliefs caused me to discriminate against anyone. i welcomed the investigation because i was confident that a just examination of my work toward inclusion, tolerance, and justice would dispel any concerns regarding my leadership integrity. my faith does not teach me to discriminate against anyone, but rather it actually reinforces and instructs me to love everyone without condition and to recognize the inherent dignity and work of all peoples and to lay down my life if it was necessary for anyone in my

community. after concluding the investigation, the city determined that i had never ,iscriminated against anyone nevertheless, on january 6 2015 the city of atlanta terminated me anyway. meis still unthinkable to that the very faith and patriotism that inspired my professional achievements is what the government ultimately used to bring my childhood dream come true fairytale career to an end. i simply wrote a book to inspire and encourage men to fulfill their purposes as husbands, fathers, and community leaders. just a few paragraphs and 162 page book addresses the biblical teachings on marriage and sexuality, versus taken straight from the holy bible am yet atlanta city officials including the mayor made it clear that it

was those religious beliefs that resulted in my suspension, termination, and ultimate investigation that really exonerated me of their concerns. following my termination, and atlanta city council member when you are a city employee and your thoughts, believes and opinions are the -- are different than those of the city, you have to check them at the door." the city's actions do not reflect the true tolerance and diversity that has always set america apart from other nations. equal rights and true tolerance means that regardless of your position on marriage, you should be able to peacefully live out your beliefs and not be marginalized or suffered discrimination at the hands of the government. i strongly encourage you, ladies and gentlemen, to consider this perspective today as you hear from professionals that have

similar experience. thank you so much for your participation. [applause] >> people would like to come sit down. i am mollie hemingway and it is an honor to be here with these brave people who are dealing with these serious issues. i am a journalist interested about religious liberty. we are talking about the underlying principles at stake, talking to attorneys and we get a glimmer of the people involved . this is a treat today to hear from people whose cases are at play and i think for many of us who are not journalists, we think about how we would handle a situation if our deeply held beliefs came into conflict with a government edict and if gives usa chance -- and this gives

a chance to see how people have engaged that and dealt with the problems that arise as the government expands in scope and size. i have a couple of questions for our panelists and maybe we can begin with you, blaine. >> it is always fun to be able to go first. than a t-shirt printer, you are a t-shirt designer. >> from the beginning is about the design and we started the company back in college and one thing i could not stand was christian t-shirts. they were so cheesy and an example would be the old slogan "have a coke and a smile." they would change it to say "have jesus and a smile." it was awful . we set out to say, let's create something that people want to wear and 20 years later that is what is going on in the company. people call us and they say we have a bible verse or a

christian camp and we want to impress this on kids. we will take that and create something off of it -- our hope is people actually want to wear it after the event and its basic core message and they will get it out of the drawer and where it versus be embarrassed of it. it was always about the design from the beginning. >> great. tell us a little bit about your relationship with the gentleman who is suing you? they have been a favorite customer of mine. he would come in and tell me what kind of event he was celebrating, birth date or anniversary or party and would pickme the theme and go out unusual bases and containers and hand them to me and say "do your thing." i absolutely love that because i got to get out of the box and make something different and unique.

i loved doing arrangements and he thoroughly enjoyed them. we had a good relationship. >> can you tell us about what happened that led to this lawsuit? >> rob had been in twice before and told theasked girls he was going to get married. so i went home and talked to my husband and we discussed it at length and the things that our faith teaches us is things is between a man and a woman and symbolizes christ and his relationship when the church. so when rob came in to talk to at that mye wedding hands on him and said "i am sorry, i cannot do your wedding because of my relationship with jesus christ." said he understood and he talked about his mom walking him down the aisle and he talked about why he decided to get married after living with kurt for so long. we chit chatted for a while and

he said "would you recommend another florist." i recommended three i knew would do a good job . rob and i hugged each other and rob left. he went home and told his partner and his partner kurt said something on facebook that was simply "she has a right to her believe, but she hurt our feelings." and for twoviral weeks we had nothing but death threats and bombing threats. i had to contact the police to my had to get a security system income i had to change the way i go to work and come home and even today we are in constant threat of new customers coming in that might harm us. the attorney general and the aclu without a complaint from rob filed a lawsuit against us personally and for bradley so we

-- corporately. so basically if we lose the lawsuit, we owe over $1 million now and probably over $2 million by the time this is finished. we stand to lose everything we have worked for and owned. >> i want to discuss religious a while back npr in your case came up and the person i was talking with said something about how you were nothing more than a they get and you could not throw sticks and flowers in a jar and i mentioned the case involved a customer you had served for nine years faithfully. this was a distinction on the type of service that was being provided and i distinctly remembered the host and/or the other predicament said "wait, really?" and they said, will that is totally different. this is totally different than the case presented in the media.

i want to ask you about the thing about throwing sticks and flowers in a jar. is that how you would describe your work as a creative professional? >> i hope not. when we do weddings they are very involved and i spent hours and months with the bride and groom to find out what their idea is and what they want to convey in the wedding and what message they want and what the event they want to have. so we spent all of that time to create something that is perfect for them and symbolizes what they are to each other and their ceremony. many times i will go in and help the bride get trends -- get dressed and button a tux. i will greet guests. there is a lot of involvement and for me to create something that would celebrate something that was totally against my believes, that would dishonor christ and that was something i could not do. >> thanks. joanna and breanna, can you tell us about how your business. started?

late --arted a little over a year ago, may of last year. we have been planning the business since january 2015. andfficially filed in may we have both been artists on our own for a while, just doing that in our spare time and decided we wanted to make a business out of it. >> you have different specialties? >> i am the painter/artist at the studio and joanna is the calligrapher. or hatted youeet get to know you are both interested in this? >> we go to the same church, so we met in a group we were a part of and we were talking and getting ready to start the business on my own doing calligraphy and i wanted the painting aliment and i am not a painter so i was struggling with that. in talking with her she was new

to the group and looking for work and i found out she was a painter and i thought, i wonder if she would want to work on something like this. so i talked with her about it and she was like, i have never done anything small-scale like that but i will give it a trial. i found -- saw the first thing to created and it was what i was looking for so we started collaborating and it went from there. >> what has it been like having a business together? what you enjoy about it? >> it has been a blast. we love creating art together, especially because we pull ideas kindeach other and we just of -- the art we do is custom, andlients bring us an idea we take that idea together and put it into something unique and beautiful for them, their event, their home, whatever the piece of art is for. it has been fun to work

together. >> what do you create question mark any tell us about the products? >> our favorite and the majority of our business custom is for weddings. we will do invitations or stuff for the receptions, signs and menus and place cards. >> great. back to you blame -- back to you blaine. just a second here. pardon me. top.s right there on sometimes people were criticizing your taste, saying that what you are doing is just a t-shirt and that you should be able to just printed t-shirt. what do you say to that? scratch my head at the idea that it is just a t-shirt. i have this example that imagine if i just had a check mark on

and you look at it closer and you see it is a nike swoosh. suddenly the image that has no words, just a check, but you see it as a nike swoosh and oddly there is power behind the logo and your mind is flooded with ideas whether it is michael jordan or lebron james or a sports team you were a part of. the company spends millions of dollars to promote something on t-shirts, it is a very credible advertising avenue and so i would disagree with that because companies, businesses across the country spend millions of dollars to use t-shirts to speak a message. was is the first time you ever turned down work? >> no, that was consistently and the judge noticed that we have declined messages over and over again throughout the years. even churches. i have had people come and in

one case somebody wanted to have jesus on a pirate ship and there is silly stuff all the time you see. >> i think that is a great idea. [laughter] have had tone we declined messages over the years and i have always set it up to where there is a local company who will honor whatever price i gave and that is our normal practice to send it to the other companies so the customer has an avenue to make sure they have a place to go if it is something my conscience won't allow me to print. >> in that case, did you do that and what happened? blaine: i mentioned the other company and i said they would handle the order with the same price and that is when the conversation ended. they hung up and i was it. >> were they able to get t-shirts? >> actually they got the shirts for free because the other company stepped in and took care of it for them. that is kind of the hidden goal.

>> i am curious about that with you, barronelle, were you able to refer to another business? rronelle: absolutely, i recommended three other florists. >> there was something else you said that gave me pause. the harassment your company received when he took the stand, was it difficult for you knowing that it affected people other than you. barronelle: it was very difficult for me and my staff. the things that came through the mail and through the phone were things i could not repeat. it is ok because the message that comes to my mind is that god will blind your heart to the

truth so people that spew out that kind of hate are very hurtful inside. so it is ok. this is great as you are starting your business, joanna and breanna, think about all of the joy that can come from this. what you like about being entrepreneurs? >> i think the art part of it, obviously. getting to create. we love what we do and we enjoy getting to take ideas that the bride or any other clients bring and make something really beautiful and unique out of it. i think as millennial entrepreneurs we bring a unique perspective and a fresh twist to the art we create, so we are able to kind of look at traditional ideas of art and add something fresh to it and make

it modern and new and the bride's really love it and all of our clients. it is just fun. >> there is something into thing about your case, which actually i am not even sure if you can talk about, which is the nature of the law means you cannot talk about your beliefs on marriage. your attorney is here? >> yes. >> yes. [laughter] this is perhaps something, i think as a private citizen what would happen if the government came after us or if laws were passed or came into being that would affect our ability to practice our religion or speak our minds on things. in some ways, all of these cases are ominous and chilling, but

this seems very chilling. what should people take away from this case? >> understand them nature of the law they are challenging. the law they are challenging says that no business can publish any communication that states or implies someone is unwelcome, unacceptable, undesirable. that type of language in that language is so broad that it could -- it could prevent a business from posting on their website "i disagree with same-sex marriage" because back and make someone feel unwelcome. it could also prevent a business from saying "i disagree with very scaryy." it is when the government has the power to tell a business or really anyone you can post this statement on your website on the internet and you cannot post that statement because one of is tooessages

unwelcoming or not acceptable and that situation really we no longer live in a free marketplace of ideas. we live in a society where the government can tell us what to say and believe. that should be concerning for people of all bullies when the government can cap -- of all beliefs, when the government can tell us what to say. things tointeresting say about, there is nothing about custom wedding invitations made for same-sex couples that is expressive. plus, the correction -- creation -- i am only a lawyer and i have no creativity at all. i cannot draw or paint or do anything, but i do right words -- write words and they

communicate messages. it is a strange world we live in when you can put on an invitation the words come join the celebration of this marriage and that doesn't communicate a message. that seems bizarre to me and that is why we feel confident in our case that we will eventually win. >> i heard nothing but message or creative expression and to say that is not those things is interesting. >> i am going to sit down and get off the couch. >> maybe you can give us an update to who you are representing, my colleague wrote a piece on this case which was very illuminating. can he tell us where things stand? >> david's case is a great one. jack is a christian man running masterpiece in lakewood, colorado for many years. he declined one custom wedding

cake for a same-sex couple and said you can have anything in the shop, i just cannot create coming that violates my beliefs, promoting a -- something i disagree. what was disturbing to me is what the commission said about jack for the 30 second polite exchange. they liken him to perpetrators of the holocaust. jack's father fought in world war ii and was part of the d-day invasion and was injured i believe it was on omaha beach and received a purple heart later on. he refused to stop because he wanted to go on with his troops and he ended up being part of the group that was the first to liberate jewish people from concentration camps. you can imagine how jack must

have felt when the commission compared him to the very people that his father fought and liberated people from. another thing interesting about jack's case is the same people -- in the same area, the same commission, there were three bakeries -- there are a lot in that area and someone went to those bakeries and asked them to create custom cakes expressing religious views that disagreed with same-sex marriage. that same commission that ruled against jack under that same exact statute said that was ok. it was just ok. and so, you look at that and you have to wonder, what is going on here? jack asked the supreme court to take a look at that case and there is no question this guy is a cake artist. i think it was season two of "cake boss." it was his work that was featured in commercials

promoting the upcoming season and if you back and look at the commercials it is jack's hands and works focused on camera. we have an artist being forced by the government like everyone else here to promote a message in which they disagree and being called horrific things along the way. we will see what happens in at the supreme court decides to take that are not. >> barronelle, you alluded to this, you are being sued in personal capacity and corporate capacity. your retirement, your living place -- you stand to lose everything if you lose your case and because washington state is a community property state that means your husband also stands to lose everything in his name. it is worth noting for people who are not been following this case that with respect to this this is an unprecedented level of attack on a person property were offered a settlement and declined to take it. can you tell us why? offered a: i was not

settlement, i was offered an ultimatum. either you will do as i tell you to do, you will think the way i think, you will perform the way i think you should perform and create, and if you do not i am going to destroy you. i do not call that a settlement. i believe in the constitution. i believe in our free rights. it is not just us. it is all of us, whether you are religious or not. if we do not stand up and fight, soon we will have absolutely nothing to stand up for. [applause] >> i think that is a good place to leave things unless you have anything else you think would be good to mention. i was thinking we could hear a little better about chief's

perspective on this and i was thinking we could talk a little bit. about yourearlier face motivating you and inspiring you to do what you do and how has that played out, even now? since i becamefe a christian from an early age my family has been heavily involved in sunday school vacation bible school, baptist training, we just constantly on the face and one of the terms that describe my faith is a living faith which simply means that when you live out through faith and obedience there should be evidence that it is real. going up -- growing up in poverty in shreveport, louisiana sandwichesmayonnaise

when the welfare checks and food stamps ran out and having utilities cut off from time to time, having a dream that i wanted to be a firefighter one day, having a dream that i would be a father and a husband one that your taught faith and obedience to that would cause of that to happen, especially in the united states of america. living out of that faith, i am one of those american christians -- my life is proof that it is a living faith, that jesus came so we may have life and have it more abundantly. none of my children know what it is like to have to eat melanie -- mayonnaise sandwiches. they do not know what it is like for our water to be turned off and lights to be turned off faith. we have a living i became a firefighter, i became the highest fire official in the united states of america because it is a living faith. in our faith, if we believe it

we should live it out. it should be a public demonstration of our faith so that when people are so curious about, how is it that you can have this life, we can point them to jesus christ. it is a matter of fact that jesus said if you deny me publicly, i will deny you before my father in heaven. when we have to make a choice according to the way i was raised, when you have to make a choice between your faith and your job, you choose your faith and that is what i did. that you hadmagine a lot of advanced thought or preparation going into the battles that you faced. or did you think this might happen or what happened when the fight came to you? >> i can say from my experiences personally and from what i have learned over my life -- and you

really do not think about the totality of the preparation until you have actually passed that moment of having made that decision, but god has been preparing me for that moment all of my life and i believe he never puts us up to circumstances unless he is convinced in his heart that he has prepared us for it. >> i am a christian and when i took my confirmation vows we take a pledge in lutheran church that you will suffer all up to and including death rather than renounce the faith and i always thought that rick -- sounded romantic like something that used to happen to christians or something in far-off lands in the older i have gotten the more i realize this suffering, of globally caning deal with loss of life, other persecutions you did not necessarily realize were

possible. it does seem to me -- one thing i think is intriguing about your cases and other cases we hear of people standing up for their faith, they seem to have this strength that allows them to fight these battles, where do you find your source of strength? might source of strength -- we have all been through trials and tribulations in our lives that brought us to where we are and they aren't necessarily things we want to go through, but were put through and one of the things -- a couple of things i have been through that really hard times in my life, right after i was married i found out i had breast cancer and my father passed away and i think god took all of those things that i did not understand to use

them to prepare me for what he has for me today. god doesn't need me, all i have to offer him is my sin and he says if we seek him out and are obedient he will take care of us and that is what i caps on -- and that is what i count on. >> do you have anything to add, blaine> ? >> what was the question again i got caught up in barronelle? , too, i cry every time she talks. we are all wondering when the fight might come to us. how do you have the strength to take this on? it would be so much easier to succumb, and you guys are not doing that. where does the strength come from? blaine: definitely in our relationship with jesus christ. my life and my worship of god is not confined to a building. is how i live my life and love

my life -- love my wife and the tv shows i watch and how i treat my neighbors. . can the end of the day look at me and say well done my good and faithful servant, that is the hope of the journey i am on and it is really the will of god i feel like -- you talk about god preparing you for something and the more you read scriptures and you get the truth of god, it is like this guide that helps keep you -- societies .se will change and shift he is the thing i go back to. whatever the cost is, i am ok with it because my hope is in you and not in me. i am curiousing about from each of you is whether you have received support from surprising quarters . it seems there are extreme sides and extreme partisanship on this

topic. is that how it has been in your life or have you received support may be from people who disagree with you personally or support your right to religious expression? blaine: some of our homosexual employees -- we have some employed, but the ones who were not with the company said, i worked with you for years if you need me to stand up with you and explain this i will do it. naturally there was a lesbian screenprinting company that came out in support of us and you said, you need to stand up because we do not want to print messages either that the government would cry or us to print, so they get it, they understand it is not just a christian issue that when the government wants to force us to do things against our conscience, that is not ok, that is the line. to answer the question, absolutely we got support on both sides.

even people that disagree with my position still understood my right to do this. barronelle: we had a gentleman who called and said i have -- i am a gay man and i have $5,000 in his savings because i think what they are doing to you is he said he knew he would be ostracized by the gay community and he said he did not care. we had lesbian women who does with us for years and they continue to deal with us. they say we have never treated them poorly. there is encouragement in that and the cards and the letters on the phone calls and the prayers are overwhelming, so there are many blessings that come from this. i thought it might be fun for some of the staff -- senate

staff here. you have been here before and you went through a senate confirmation hearing and there were interesting things said to you at that time. do you want to talk about that? >> first of all it was one of the greatest experiences i have had in my life. i am -- i enjoyed the process how the staffers at fema and the department of homeland security prepared me for days and days and days to actually meet with the staffers first. they grilled and drilled and asked tough questions and they were so tough, by the time i got in front of the senate homeland security committee it was a whole lot easier than i had anticipated, but it was really a joy because the questions they directlyng were associated with my core conviction of what firefighters do for our country and that is

to lay their lives on the line in the prevention and training necessary through emergency prepared it and the f5 administration, necessary to take our profession to the highest level. across both sides of the aisle they were very pleased with my responses and they had their favorable comments to say afterwards and it was one of the shortest that they said they had ever experienced and one of the least controversial and bipartisan. that was an honor for me. >> if only you could be nominated for everything. when you did have your hearing, you were asked why you were willing to take on this work and why you wanted to do this work and how much it would disrupt your life. what did you tell them? >> i can make a difference. i believe in our constitution. the preamble of

the constitution of the united states, especially the part, and sure domestic tranquility. that summarizes what the fire service responsibility is to our country. patientmy persistent and associate -- through my association i felt i had a firm grasp on the national issues that impact the fire and emergency services industry and i had relationships i could use to collaborate and partners to make a difference at the federal level. >> senator carper in the hearing said you best exemplified what it meant to have a heart of a servant and he asked you where he thought that came from. what did you tell him. it came from my face. i was raised that way. , yourou come from me beginnings and your hope is god and the constitution and it actually works. it really drives your motive for

everything you do in life. rihanna and joanna come anything you would like to add? -- breanna and joanna, anything you would like to add? >> the gentleman that is suing you, rob, what would you say to him? barronelle: i would be so excited to see rob. i would hug him and catch up on his wife and i would serve him another two years. i miss him. >> i think that concludes our time for now. if you are interested in coming up and chatting, i know there's

would welcome it. i appreciate you all coming out, especially in the blocked out streets, no it was hard to get in today. we look forward to talking to you again, soon. thanks. [applause]

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announcer: you can find this conversation online, religious freedom, just go to c-span's video library at c-span.org. coconutclinton in creek, florida for what her campaign is calling and over -- an early voter rally. real poll politics show her with a three-point lead in florida and her rally will start at 2:15 eastern time. donald trump holding a rally in tallahassee scheduled at 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span 2. here's a closer look at the elections. two weeks until election day this is the headline at politico.com "donald trump's window is closing." joining us on the phone is been trekking to -- ben schreckinger.

do republicans see a path to 270 for donald trump? not bt: most of them do -- most of themen: do not. fewhis point there are very republican operatives that will say they feel confident. >> early voting is in place and well over half the country. what do trends indicate? ben: they are relatively encouraging for democrats. in florida, where republicans have consistently outperformed democrats in mail in early voting, that narrow advantage yeararrowed further this and democrats tend to outperform in in person early voting that is starting this week. in north carolina, republicans

in 2012 totally dominated presidents in terms of mail in early voting and that margin has shrunk considerably in both places. republicans need those margins to be competitive. in nevada, we saw a very well organized effort by democrats with death help -- unions this weekend to get people to the polls deploying a lot of surrogates. for example was urging people to get to the polls early. overall it is positive for democrats and discouraging for republicans. about utah which is not a voted for a democrat since 1964. right now the polls are showing a tight race with an independent potentially taking -- picking up the state for the first time since 1968, evan mcmullen. what can you tell us about that? show evan tend to

mcmullen and stop and neck with hillary clinton not far behind. clinton is sending more staffers and deploying more resources. privately, republican operatives think mcmullen is actually the favorite here, so we could see this conservative, mormon independent picking up electoral votes. anytime that you are republican and utah is in doubt for you, it is a sign not just of trouble, but up potential catastrophe. state where republicans are deploying more resources -- what to the polls say in that race? : polls have been the in earlier this month, if anything giving a slight advantage to ayotte. she said she was voting for donald trump, but not endorsing him. when this tape leaked of him bragging about apparent sexual

assault to totally disavowed him . the latest poll i have seen was last week from wme you are showing -- wmur showing him eight points behind. trump has many diehard supporters that are more loyal to him than the republican party, so when candidates disavow donald trump they can face a penalty. >> where is this put hillary clinton as she tries to run up the score and pick up key senate races to put democrats back into the majority potentially and also down ballot races where democrats are hoping for the possibility of recapturing the house of representatives? ben: they are going on offense now and refocusing in many cases on down ballot races. we have not heard hillary clinton do much senate campaigning up on the stump, but we heard her go after pat toomey in pennsylvania, that was the

first and we are likely to see more of that. we have seen barack obama come out and issue picolinate even further at the republican majority there. ways moreeen in many of a story about how that the congressional losses are going to be for the republicans. dobased on all that, how democrats make sure to -- their voters go to the polls. largely it comes down to executing on your ground game. hererats have an advantage . they have to execute on that and for bothpectations

sides. voters will potentially stay home if they think it is a done deal. bottom line -- >> bottom line for donald trump, what can we expect for each candidate? what is going to be your approach. ? , the strongest possible hand. with trump, when things got bad you saw him really .atchet up his rhetoric

it's possible as things get down newhe wire, he will find rhetorical extremes. it will be interesting given all the speculation to see what he has to say. reporting online at politico.com. >> thanks for having me. >> every morning this week, we haven't spoke interesting -- we have been focusing on the battleground states. from des moines, jason noble. good morning. >> morning. >> can give us your take on why

you think i would is a battleground state this year? >> would got a pretty competitive presidential race here. madecandidates have appearances here. we are definitely feeling like a lot of attention has been put on stake. >> -- it is usually close. if you look at presidential politics, democrats have typically one. -- won. to the 1980's, democrats have typically one here.- won

so far, this campaign trumpet has been ahead here. comes to him running ahead, how are his numbers doing compared to hillary clinton? >> we haven't seen a poll for a couple of weeks here. the latest on showed trump leading by about 4%. one showed trump leading by about 4%. as far as the people -- before we do that, we been showing people the major cities. could you paint the scene as far as what areas of the state do

areas dotrump and what well for clinton? and which ones both have to compete heavily? the further west you go, the more republican, the more east, the more democratic. the big population centers are .es moines, cedar rapids those lean democratic. the other key area is the quad city. in ruraldoing well iowa. of campaign has put a lot attention on small manufacturing towns. definitely focusing on

that. >> as far as hillary clinton then? focusing on the urban areas, the suburbs. they have also focused a lot on college campuses. we have seen a constant stream entertainers. guest tonoble is our talk about iowa as a battleground state. if you want to ask questions -- t this campaign thoughts --to share

you can also give your thoughts to c-span on twitter. voters.alk about young >> there is an effort to see that. you are also saying that from groups.ent that is less than a focus here

than other states. the big key is suburban voters. the idea that there may be supportut there who marco rubio. donald trump but may be willing to look at hillary clinton or sit out the election. host: when it comes to on the ground, give your impressions of both the campaigns of clinton and trump. what is their machinery like? guest: you are seeing a very strong ground game. get out and vote effort from the clinton campaign. they have 33 offices across the state. a lot of organizers and volunteers. they're bringing in famous surrogates to hold the events to encourage voting. it is a robust effort. he haven't seen hillary clinton herself here a lot but she will

be back here on friday in cedar rapids. we have had bill clinton, bernie sanders, michelle kwan -- the figure skater -- here later today. all of that is geared towards getting people enthusiastic about the race and getting involved in the lengthy early vote time. we have seen efforts from donald trump. we have seen the candidate more. we have seen donald trump and mike pence here a bit more than the clinton principles. but less events with surrogates aimed at one group or another. republicans are doing well in the early vote in getting requests out for ballots from their supporters. but they haven't done as well in getting the votes back in the ballot box so far. host: we have calls lined up.

scott in north carolina, on the line for others. you are on with jason noble. of the des moines register. caller: thank you for taking my call. but iery nonpolitical, will say this. what can we do in all honesty, to restore our constitutional government as you can see in my humble opinion, you can see that the political parties today are corrupt, both of them. and we are basically, for the first time, we have one person who is an outsider. he has major flaws -- you know who i'm talking about. and even though he is a flawed theon, i believe he has in terms of nation

getting people to realize how this country is going downhill. both political parties, people are fed up with this. and we need somebody from the outside. possibly not from donald trump, someone's we do to get not from the washington insiders int can bring about change half the -- have the continued corruption. .hen we have another republican we need to make change. >> that's a big question. i think the american political process is slow.

it is slow by its nature of serving 325 million people, but it is responsive. if there is a grassroots campaign for change and moving the system and moving the system in a different direction, it will happen as long as people stand up and vote for that change and do the things and the public arena that call for it. host: let's hear from mike in des moines. caller: i would just like to say i drive a delivery vehicle every , day and what i see is a lot of more trump them signs than hillary -- trump signs than hillary. hillary won in the early polls, but i see trump looks like he

took the momentum and iowans are supporting trump. i do not like that she is trying to cash in more on women. i do not think it is right. it looks like trump is more popular in iowa than hillary. guest: the signs on the ground -- that is part of the campaign and i would guess it varies from area to area. neighborhood to neighborhood. i think it is right that so far in the polling and the way we are measuring, trump has been ahead. it be interesting to see in the next two weeks how things come together and the ground game and organization and get out of the vote from the clinton campaign changes the dynamic that has been in place. host: we have seen one of the papers highlight mr. trump's claim of phony polling, does it resonate amongst iowa voters?

particularly, republicans? guest: among his supporters, there's definitely that sense that he is being treated unfairly by the media and there's is not a real fair shake going here. i have talked to a lot of his supporters at his events and people who have responded to the polls and the feeling among his supporters that there is sort of a campaign against him not to just buy hillary clinton but by the media and others. i do not know if that is shared widespread beyond that. with jasonis a brian noble from des moines, iowa. caller: hello. good morning.

it is no surprise that the previous caller from iowa believes that there are more people in iowa are voting for trump. and i won't mention that the speaker was white and male. for all of those calling about health care prices, if they would've voted for single-payer, which most of the industrialized western countries have, and then they would realize a portion of the tax money that complain about paying all of the time, understandably so, would pay for single-payer. they could get single-payer if they realized it instead of paying a third-party, the insurance companies, and outrageous amount of money for health insurance costs. i had a couple of other thoughts. host: why did you bring up about trump voters and white male, why

was that important? caller: it speaks for itself. don't you think? why did you bring it up the ecco -- up? i do not know if i want to get into the minutia, the statement speaks for itself. host: jason noble, what did you take from the statement? guest: there's definitely a sense that trump's strength has been routed into the demographics of the state. iowa is over 90% white. it is much whiter than other swing states. a higher percentage of the electorate is without a college degree, which is characteristic of trump's supporters. they tend to be white and without a college degree. we have more of those as a share of the electorate.

host: from connecticut on our line for others, tom. hi. caller: good morning. a couple of quick questions. jason, what if any is your political affiliation? guest: i'm a registered no party in the state of iowa. caller: have you made contributions to any political party? guest: i have not. caller: finally, i am concerned about the the tape released of the nine or more women, what has the register done on those

individual females who have come forward? guest: oh quote the des moines" register -- "des moines" register is part of the u.s. today network. host: our line for others. caller: i am sorry my voice has been damaged in surgery. i am not sick. i would like to ask your guest, distresses me this year is the discussion of what to do to make a difference in the lives of the ordinary american people has just been eliminated more or less in discussions of her politics. what kind of mass transportation

do you have in iowa? can people get from one town to another on public transportation -- or do they have to own and maintain their own vehicle like we do a missouri? i am concerned about do you have enough doctors? i know we have a shortage of doctors in the united states and there seems to be no discussion about producing more and allowing young people, more young american young people to study in graduate programs. i know there are quotas and the schools across the country, which i am not sure i agree with. host: mr. noble, do you want to take any of those? guest: the case speaks to an

important issue i hear from voters that it feels like it has been a very personality, very important issue i hear from politics driven campaign that want talking about substantive issues advance been a real disappointment for voters across the board. when candidates are trying to talk about policy and it is drowned out and may not be showing a wilderness to dig into the details and focusing on character and past history and things like that. host: mr. noble, can we turn away from the presidential election and talk about mayor elections. chuck grassley, who is he running against and how is that going? guest: sure. it is his 6th term. he is facing democratic challenger patty judge.

she is the former lieutenant governor as secretary of agriculture and the state. she came into the race in march right around the beginning of the discussions about the supreme court. senator grassley is feeling a key role in the nomination and has been on the judiciary committees who has refused to hold hearings for the nominated judge garland. judge entered the race as it was heating up. under the calculation, it would be a defining issue. it has not really happened. as with gone along, chuck grassley has had a comfortable lead throughout the race and the less iowa poll he was leading by 17 points.

he is well-funded. he has been much more present on tv and more visible in the campaign. it looks like he is headed toward a comfortable reelection. host: (202) 748-8000 for those of you living in iowa. (202) 748-8001 for all others, folks in iowa as a battleground state today. to follow up on that, jason noble, recent story of yours looking at outside money in congressional races being spent. can you tell the folks at home about the story? guest: sure. the story focuses on 2 congressional races in iowa. the first to district which is northeast iowa, cedar rapids, traditionally democratic. the others the third district which includes the des moines metro and point southwest. both have freshman republican and seem to be very competitive. the story you referenced looked at the money coming to the campaign outside groups. a lot is spending on tv and other voter outreach, republicans and democrats see these as competitive.

democrats see them as potential pickup and republicans as seats they need to defend. $3.5 million on both races. host: if you want to see the debate in the third district, it takes place live on wednesday. representative david young and jim mowrer on c-span live this wednesday at 9:00. outside spending when it comes to the presidential campaigns, jason noble can you paint a picture? guest: we are seeing outside spending in the presidential race. the big democratic super pac is spending money here. there are couple pacs supporting donald trump. the bulk of money is from the hillary clinton campaign is self. we have nothing quite as robust

as outside spending in the presidential race compared to congressional races. host: south carolina on our line for others is jim. caller: good morning. a quick comment about your guest is making that comment about the candidates not talking about the issues a it is the way they do not talk about the issues is they know if they tell the american people the truth and talk about the budget deficit and the spending cuts that need to happen, people would not want to hear it anyway. i think hillary and trumpet know this and think it is a lost cause. i would not blame the candidate -- i blame it on the voters who do not want to hear it and the people who are elected and know this. host: mr. noble? guest: umm -- that is one way of looking at it.

at one point, those issues have to be addressed. calleret's hear from a in clive. evelyn, you are on. caller: hi. first i want to congratulate the register on what i think is excellent writing through this and the stance it has taken. i think "the register" was one of the first major newspapers that was kicked out of trump rallies and anything having to do with trump. trump went on to battle the "washington post" and other major newspapers. given the importance of media, i would like his opinion on the effect it has on -- on the

effect that has on the election where you have a major candidate who is fighting the media. guest: sure. i can speak to "the register's" experience. our editorial board who expresses an opinion on matters of politicians has been critical of trump. i do not take part in those conversations or have a role in that. the editorial board has been critical of trump and that did lead to a time, us not getting press credentials and the access other journalists were getting to is events. that did not really affect our coverage because we were still

able to get into the events and cover with the general audience. but how has trump's handling affected the race is evelyn's question? he has made it an issue and do something for him that has rallied to his supporters and created a sense of solidarity among his supporters. the broader effect, i do worry it undermines objective journalism. i do not think it is anything we cannot come back from. host: one of the topics the candidates are addressing his jobs and the economy. i was current unemployment rate is 4.2%. the income is $67,000 for a

family income. how do those factors play out in how people decide to vote when they look economic issues? guest: i think that is kind of an important distinction that voters are going to make between these candidates. we asked the question our latest poll about how you feel the direction of the country is going? the differences were stark between the two parties and supporters of clinton and trump. trump supporters, more than 90% of them in our iowa poll, said the country was in the wrong track. among clinton supporters, it was a majority that they believed

the country was on the right track. it goes back to how voters are feeling about their position and their opportunity in life. the numbers overall that you reference in iowa looked pretty good. the income is relatively good. that is not uniformly felt across the country. some of the smaller communities were a big employer has left and nothing has come to fill the gap, the people who are feeling the anxiety are going to trump. host: if you are in the agriculture business in iowa, are you looking at this election differently as well? guest: the question is really an interesting one from the agriculture industry. corn prices and other commodity prices in iowa are down. they are below the cost of production, which is not good for farmers. there's a lot of angst of the obama administration and the way it is handled some cities for

ethanol and biofuel. they are feeling resentment within the agriculture. the trade issue of which is been a centerpiece of trump's campaign, he is on the other side with the farmers. and farmers, agriculture groups like the notion of free trade. and they see asia as a huge market for soybeans and other commodities that are producing. i do not think they are too enthused about tariffs and a trade war with a major trading partner. there is an interesting push and pull. host: jason noble joining us as we take a look at the battleground state of iowa. sherry joins us. sherry, good morning. caller: good morning. my comment is, i heard a little bit about term for politician