women veterans. thank you very much. >> thank you, sec. mcdonough. now we are going to transition to the close portion of our meeting. we will take a brief break. announcer: centers joe manchin and susan collins testified on the need to perform the 1887 electoral count act before the senate will send administration committee. the act governs how electoral votes are counted after a presidential election. watch the hearing tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. watch on our free mobile video app, cspan now app, or online at c-span.org. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2022] announcer: cspanshop.org is c-span's online store. browse through our latest collection of c-span products, apparel, books, home decor, and accessories.

there is something for every c-span fan. every purchase helps support our nonprofit organization. shop now or anytime at c-span.org. s aneesa mcmillan from priorities usa. good morning. guest: good morning. host: can you remind our viewers of the work of your organization and how you are funded? guest: at the beginning of this cycle, we committed $30 million to a digital effort focused on the general election in november. the investment focuses on governors races, as well as key states and -- i am sorry, congressional races, that will be key to protecting the majorities in congress for

democrats. host: out concerned -- how concerned are you at this stage about one or both sides of the house or send going over to the republicans? caller: -- guest: we are seeing great signs in our research and polling. one of the things we do as an organization, we stay in touch with voters throughout the cycle. we do not just bombard folks two weeks before the election with ads, we try to make sure we make key investments. research focus groups to understand what matters most to voters. cautiously optimistic, we know we have to protect the slim majority to get two senate seats, that is what we are focused on. host: as far as bright spots,

what would you highlight? guest: number one, what is happening now in congress. this has been for voters, a long road. we are here, we are talking about those issues particularly around climate and the economy. a lot of the senate negotiations we are seeing really speak to the heart of those pocketbook issues we hear about a lot from voters that matter to them. we are cautiously optimistic, but understanding that for us, the work is making sure we communicate that to voters, as far as what is happening on capitol hill. host: you did polling earlier this year, asking people about the importance of midterm elections. you described them as mobilization voters, and he

found that -- you found that 76% of mobilization voters say elections -- matter to them. when you look at low motivation low mobilization voters, 57% say it does not matter who wins. persuasion voters, 87% saying it doesn't matter who wins. as far as those numbers, what is the interest level of people going out in a midterm election this time around versus a presidential election? guest: we know from our research a lot of folks tuned out. we saw that across the board after the 2020 election. they showed up to elect joe biden, and after the chaos from the previous four - 5 years,

everyone has tuned out. that is why our program is all digital. we are talking to voters where they are on social media, streaming platforms. through google searches, other great programs where we are talking to them online. a lot of the ads you see on tv, almost 30% of those that are online, they do not see those tv ads. to your point, that is an excellent point. of course, motivation is key. we think that is by talking to them where they are. like i said earlier, making sure the message pertains to those issues that they care about with their families. we are doing that directly online. host: our guest with us, if you want to ask her about some of the issues leading up to the midterm, specifically from a congressional point of view,

give us a call at (202) 748-8001 four republicans. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can text us at (202) 748-8003. aneesa mcmillan, one of the ads you talked about was bodycam. i want to show the viewers the ad. >> far-right extremist groups are recruiting across the country. organizing to take over congress in 2022 and returned trump to power. our boats can stop them, be ready -- our votes can stop them, be ready. guest: i think all of us were trying to answer the question, you want to vote trump? how much do you talk about him, how much do you keep that context to make sure you are addressing the key issue?

one of the things we mentioned that we found in our focus groups earlier is that, for us, we approached it as a means of trumpism, so to speak. that is, white nationalism, racism, violence. a lot of those things that manifest as mainstream ideals within the gop have become mainstream. if you can look at this from the primaries last night, what we have done and understand from voters, they are starting to understand those things are tied to a republican government in a way that helps them to understand -- you mentioned the polling earlier, it matters who they elect. that was an ad that we released i think around the beginning of

the january 6 hearings. host: you talked about the primaries last night. one of the things that was a result was kansas turning back on the abortion provision. you think those issues will become more at play as people decide how they are going to vote come november? guest: absolutely. it is interesting, that question was asked a lot when the dobbs decision was leaked prior to the official decision. we were already hearing from voters that abortion was going to be an issue. we built it into our programming, because a lot of voters were telling us in our focus groups that they were concerned about losing the right , as we saw with the dobbs decision and the supreme court decision made that real. absolutely, it definitely being a motivating issue. voters are telling us that often

when we speak with them. host: aneesa mcmillan. our guest comes from louisiana. go on with your question. caller: hello. i am interested in mr. goldstein's talks about what is happening throughout the world. host: i apologize, that was the last segment. do you have anything for our current guest? caller: i want to vote, vote, vote, but be concerned about our allies. priorities in the usa, we certainly should be concerned about nancy pelosi going to taiwan and our voting. there are sony priorities that have listed down here, priorities -- so any priorities -- so many priorities. host: dee in maryland,

independent line. caller: good morning. according to some reports i'm hearing, hispanics are going over to the republican party in droves. would that be latinos or hispanics, and what is the distinction? thank you. host: ms. mcmillan. guest: in most cases, we make the mistake of looking at latinos and hispanics, as well as black voters that are mobilizing. we do not assume that anyone is going to vote democrat. what we do, typically, is make investments early. like we talked about, you will notice that the key things for a

lot of what we say and what i say this morning is that we make long-term investments. we are also doing the work to understand what messages they respond to online, where we can understand those distinctions, understand regionally what things matter to latinos and hispanics, people of color in general. it is not much difference than those normal, kitchen table issues that a lot of people are concerned about as far as we head into the midterms. that is a good question. for us, it is a long-term investment in making sure we understand what they need. host: a recent quinnipiac poll took a look at those issues people are concerned about leading up to november. 34% saying inflation is the most recent issue for them. 66% was disappointed in the

biden administrations handling in the economy. doesn't make a difference as to whether people decide whether or not whether they vote republican come november? guest:i spoke about it earlier. the packages that are coming from congress, from this administration according to our research is some of the most popular policies or well-received policies in decades. and of course we know that -- to pass bills in congress does take some time. of course we know and understand that we have to share the biden agenda with folks. and also talk about what has happened. the american rescue plan.

the fact that the administration has been able to get some things done early on into the cycle. those are things that we also communicate around. making that distinction between the republican party and democrats. we always approach our work with that in mind. realizing we do have some things that we can tout to voters that matter. host: on the line for republicans. this is dale in alabama. go ahead please. caller: i would like to know if ms. mcmillan, are you a member of black? do you contribute to black lives matter? host: what's the significance of the question? i will leave it there. you can answer if you wish.

guest: no comment. host: let's go to michelle in georgia. caller: good morning ms. mcmillan. i'm proud to see you. listen, don't buy into any of the negativity from whoever these crazy folks call in here. they want to set us back a thousand years. but we will not be turned back. we are going out in droves. numbers. joe biden's poll numbers could be at zero, but he will still get my vote. my whole household. every black person needs to know that they are dealing with the kkk. they have the grand wizard in the white house for four years. he wants to take us back to the plantation.

-- go to hell. host: we will leave it there. as far as the ads you are putting out, engagement, going door-to-door. you said you made your investment in digital. do you go as far as person-to-person when you are talking to people about november? guest: our investment is all digital but we do work with partner organizations across those states that we have outlined in our plan across the country. and they are on the ground leading a number of programs and so we have a huge network of partners across the country that help us in this work in different ways. as far as priorities of the organization, we are focused on digital. host: do you think biden should do a better job in the

democratic party of touting its efforts? guest: we are all working towards that. we know that this has been a difficult time where you have the dichotomy between trying to get your message out and the fact that folks have tuned out. so of course we are committed to that. we are going to be as an outside organization working to tell that story voters because we do understand that we have to make an appeal to them. particularly communities of color, a direct appeal to them to ask them to show up again for us in november. host: this is from don on the independent line in kansas. caller: hello. i want to say for one thing, i went out and voted against amendment two and was really glad to see it decisively defeated. we face a truly dangerous far

right political movement in this country and they are not quitting. i respect priorities usa. they have done a lot of good work in the past. but we have to -- we can't fool around. these people are mobilizing. unfortunately kris kobach won the republican nomination for attorney general. kris kobach is a dangerous human being. i would like to see more of an emphasis on class issues and less on racial and ethnic identity issues. we won't succeed unless we get some proportion of white people to vote for us and of course there's plenty of whites who do. that 80% of whites are right-wingers i guess. host: when you say class issues what do you mean? caller: i mean the continuing decline in the standard of life for about 80% of the u.s. population or more. the fact that people can't afford to go to school, they can't afford to buy a house. food has gotten very expensive.

finance capital runs the u.s. and they have no loyalty to our country at all. they are just extracting everything they can and they would like to leave us in a nightmarish chaotic dystopian country. host: ok. that's don in kansas. ms. mcmillan. guest: i wanted to take the question into two parts. we need both. i understand his distinction about class, but all of these issues matter to everyone. it's just that we do have to and we have a mandate frankly to understand how they impact different voting communities differently. especially for the democratic party where we have had such major success and long-term support of black and brown

voters, it is still up to us to also make sure that we understand how issues affect voting booths uniquely -- voting groups uniquely and how we speak to those issues. there are definitely kitchen table issues that impact us all. we have to just make sure we understand what individualized challenges folks across the country may face. host: we talked about inflation. do you think voters hold president biden directly responsible for that and is not going to be an issue november -- come november? guest: historically that's always going to happen. it doesn't matter who is in office. that is something that we hear about when we talk to voters and the reality is that history will tell us and has told us that that is a common thread. we know that inflation and gas prices whether it's fair or not

are some things that are ultimately tied to who is in power at that time. that's why i mentioned the negotiations in congress earlier. the bills that are being put forth will help alleviate some concerns and we are starting to see across the country gas prices drop to less than four dollars. like i said earlier, cautiously optimistic. but that unfortunately is just the historical reality of the party being in power. host: you talked about that climate legislation and other legislation that's being negotiated. as far as other things this administration or democrats could have done about the influences of both senator manchin and senator sinema of arizona. your thoughts on that. guest: i mean, it's difficult. they are two senators who have told us that they vote on issues

based on what they think their districts need. the reality is that no republicans -- supported any of these initiatives either. that's an important distinction. especially when president biden was committed to bipartisanship. and the reality is that the democratic majority was split to begin with and we are hoping to grow that. we need at least two senate seats. we are focused on that and i think we are starting to see some movement as a result of that. host: let's hear from pam in michigan. independent line. go ahead. caller: good morning. my heart aches. i'm 67 years old. i used to be a democrat until i started really paying attention

and that was when i turned 40. we are starting fights in the same issues that these people claim they are going to deliver us from. they get your vote and then they renege on what they say. today. ok. the segment of people suffering the most from the policies that biden has put forth are the black and low class. for lack of a better term. they love saying that they are going to help you out of your situation. the kitchen table conversations and stuff. once they get in office, you all end up in the same position. and i have watched this for over 20 something years. when are we going to wake up, start doing our own research and start being accountable for where we are? host: that's pam in michigan.

ms. mcmillan, go ahead. caller: ok. i'm sorry. i hear that, i understand. i would point out progress is something that does take a long time. we all know that. but there is a groundswell of young folks across the country who are also more aware. and i think kansas, the abortion amendment that we saw last night is proof of that. that folks are starting to pay attention. and we as i said earlier are making those appeals to voters and we understand, this has been a tough few years on top of covid, everything that has happened. we definitely hear those concerns.

host: this is from diane in ohio. caller: could morning. is there a way that you could legally maybe put pamphlets out that would allow the information of what republicans are trying to do in terms of say for instance, address the senior citizens. they are trying to get rid of social security, medicare, medicaid. or when it comes to the white supremacists. when the rittenhouse trial was shown on tv. the three people he shot were white supremacists. what were they doing with the black lives matter rally? and number three. when it comes to abortion, according to -- journal in the year of 2020, 52 young girls

under the age of 15 were raped at had to have abortions. and we have the heartbeat law and the people in cleveland are having to put the kids that they don't have places to put them in , sleeping on the floor in their offices. what are we doing? host: that's diane in ohio. guest: i certainly hear your concerns specifically on abortion. there are lots of organizations locally that i'm sure we'll have some information. i agree. i think we are in a dangerous place specifically on issues of civil and human rights. host: one of the efforts priorities when it comes to voting rights.

what's the effort that you are making? >> -- guest: since 2015 we have led and supported a voting rights litigation program. we supported and funded a lot of the lawsuits that you saw across the country regarding protecting and expanding access. we know that after every huge republican loss, they cut back with these huge voter suppression laws across the country that specifically target black and brown voters. so we announced the investment at the beginning of the cycle. $10 million to continue our litigation efforts paid we are in court all across the country fighting those suppressive laws at the state level. there is a $10 million investment on just traditional -- i shouldn't say traditional, but online ads that walk voters

through the process. one of the cornerstones of voter suppression we know is confusion. causing doubt within the system. there is something to that. we have known this for decades specifically after the supreme court case shall be re-older. -- shelby versus older. if you need to know and understand how to turn in your ballot. we are going to be asking you to go to plan my ballot. we are going to be asking you to make sure that your voter registration is up-to-date so that you can navigate what will be a lot of very onerous laws that pop up across the country. host: one of the efforts you supported was to keep a voter id initiative off the ballot. what does priorities usa see

wrong with voter id? guest: i will talk about the ballot first. that was an interesting case where there was a petition being circulated that was trying to bypass the state legislature to enact voter ids and that in itself is problematic particularly because it bypassed duly elected folks who didn't have input on the measure. the issue with voter id is like i said earlier, not only does that impact black and brown voters, but a lot of folks get left out of the conversation and that is disabled voters. young voters. those young folks that are in college who may not have utility bill or something they need to be able to either register to vote or have an id to vote. it can be in most cases a burden

to people who may not have access to those pieces of id. and so that is where we stand. we believe that we should not be making unnecessarily harder for people to vote. and the laws are complex. i will say that. it seems like voter id may be simple. in certain states you have to have six different id requirements. that is where you start to see the burden being placed on communities disproportionately and we have been able to prove that in court on several occasions. host: in maine, republican line. your next. -- you are next. caller: good morning. joe biden made the statement that if you don't vote for him, you ain't black. do you agree with that? guest: -- i'm not going to answer that. host: in georgia, patricia.

democrat line. caller: good morning. i think the problem with the democrats is they don't put out the messaging. message is the key. the republicans are trying to do away with medicare and social security. and i think the democrats should be talking about this all the time. the republicans base everything on lies. like crt. this is something that is taught in law school. but you guys allowed the republicans to put all this false information and people better wake up because if you don't have your medicare and your social security -- the trump tax law they are going to expire for the average people. he made it permanent for corporations paid republicans are looking out for themselves. people better wake up.

-- for corporations. republicans are only looking out for themselves. people better wake up. guest: thank you for pointing that out. we are doing that. we talked about making sure that the message gets out and we are committed to doing that but thank you for your thoughts. host: ms. mcmillan, there have been several groups, some backed with progressives calling for joe biden to stay out of the 2020 four race. what is your impression of that effort and does priorities take a stand on this issue? guest: no. we believe -- joe biden has first of all said that he will run. both he and the white house press secretary have said that. we are focused on 2022. and making sure that we motivate and turn out as many folks as we possibly can. host: there is a group that made this case -- acknowledging they

are grateful for his defeat of president trump in 2020. aggressive's also need to keep demanding more executive orders from biden in the coming months that improve people's lives, beginning with student debt cancellation. -- the party in power for washington has to deliver for working people and soon. those calls for more from the president via executive orders. where does priorities fall on that? guest: we are focused like i said earlier on those issues. i have no doubt personally that joe biden will make the best decision for this country. he has said that he is going to run and it is important for us unless that changes for us to make sure that we are focused on what is happening around us. there has been a push for executive orders.

the administration is looking into those. i just -- we have to really make sure that we turn our attention to 2022 and understand what's at stake. host: from mechanicsville, new jersey. caller: shame on you, thinking black people are too stupid to know how to get id. i got another comment to make. obama and biden both said they were qualified -- the abortion and passed laws. they didn't. shame on your party for making money off the backs of dead babies. thank you. guest: i don't have any -- i'm not going to respond to that. host: from rhonda in new jersey. democrat line. caller: good morning to all my american families out there. i want to give a shout out to first of all to the election last night for the kansas

republican women, protecting their children and their grandchildren. to be able to have control over our reproductive rights. i would like to say the republicans that they are going to lose the white house, the senate and the congress because they overturned roe v. wade. that was the biggest mistake that they made in this midterm election and it's going to cost them. women are not going back to 1934. we are not doing it. and one thing i want to say which is so destructive about roe v. wade, this stops women from becoming lawyers. congresswomen. senators. there is no hope for them because they have no control over their bodies. which means they will have seven and eight kids, if that's the

way these bigoted old men want women to live. and women came out last night and made a powerful statement. i also want to give a shout out to rockstar liz cheney. i hope wyoming's aren't stupid enough to lose the best senator, should run for president. she would sure get my democratic vote. that's how much i respect this female. host: ok rhonda. thank you. we will let our guest respond. guest: i agree with some of what you said. we talked about earlier just the importance of abortion access and i want to point out that this will definitely disproportionately impact women of color, specifically black women that are already facing a maternal health crisis in this

country where deaths are just skyrocketing as a result of childbirth. it is a very important issue. host: this is loretta in ohio. go ahead. you are on. caller: good morning. good morning pedro. good morning to everyone, ms. mcmillan. i want to take this conversation back to some type of normalcy. i'm looking at kids that graduated every year from high school. are we registering those people? a friend and i, we have gone around to all the inner city high schools for the past couple of years explaining the voting process, showing them what a

ballot looks like. how to determine what side you are really on when voting you have to teach this. and i think that is something that we need to do. i think another thing that you need to do is black radio and black newspapers nationwide. everybody don't have internet access. especially in the black community. so we have to open up our avenues to reach people. and i think that there should be people at all of those food stations registering people, people down at the welfare office registering all these people. host: we got the point. we will let our guest respond. guest: she makes an important

point. a lot of these elections are really close. every vote matters and that is critically important to make sure that at the local level we are engaging folks across the spectrum. and yes, we do black radio and other ads in the past. host: with the digital investment you talked about, how do you know you are getting a return for the investment you are about to make? guest: it is targeted. for a little history, we have been investing in our digital efforts since 2018. we have a $3.5 million training program that not only teaches other folks in the progressive space how to target and make sure that they create and facilitate effective digital ads but that they also know how to go into campaigns and set up

digital programs. these are long-term investments that we are making. our training and fellowship program also is available to young folks who might never have had the opportunity to work in politics but specifically on digital ads. so these are long-term investments. what we have done is taken what we have learned from the past whether that is targeting, understanding how to deal with ads. it is so much more than just turning a traditional tv ad into a 32nd online ad and then just putting it out there online. there is a way that we approach it. so we have not only gotten that information through the work that we have done by leading in the digital space, but we also have created resources for other organizations that may come to us -- or just in general to help

feel that infrastructure that we need. host: let's hear from robert in panama city beach, florida. caller: yes. first time caller. do you support the no bail policy and the prosecutor -- l.a., boston -- not boston pit chicago and new york? please answer my question. thank you. host: we can broaden this to criminal justice issues if this is of importance. guest: we can. though had. host: go ahead. guest: the way the question was framed is obviously problematic, but of course that is an issue. we have just released some polling with voters across the country and they appreciate the efforts around the executive order that was signed.

so that is still an issue in terms of finding ways to address criminal justice reform and so it comes off -- it comes up often when we are talking to voters and the folks we work with. it is an issue that is i think concerning to most folks. host: the website for the organization is priorities.org. anisa mcmillan is the deputy executive director priorities >> next senators joe manchin and susan collins outline changes to the electoral count act. then president biden -- executive order aimed at protecting abortion rights during the inaugural meeting on reproductive health care access.