bio. as nobly heard of huawei may be eight years ago groups going forward is beijing genomics institute. huge challenges there. in the middle east we have wars going on there's also geopolitical move that i think could be one of the most transformative of the next 25 years and the saudi's, the, roddy's, the other gulf states based upon their own decisions transform their economies to more technology-based and race for data centers and ai, they i believe will make the decision to stop playing off against china and russia and go with us because they want our technology. how we navigate that, the microsoft deal is the tip of the spear on that is something that needs more attention. a place we are spending a lot of money and time is the crisis in sudan.

more people dying in sudan then gaza, lebanon and ukraine combined and if america could show we actually care about africans killing africans. you don't have to pick a moral choice, a little bit of effort here and does come back to our angola question. show they care about africa which based on 2040 almost half the rare earth minerals, population increase. i've got a 25 minute version of that but that was my three minute version up talk. -- up top. i think this competition with china on energy is one of the next realms of development. it's not just extraction of minerals it's the process where china has really dominated in the process of rare earth minerals. we can go head-to-head on extraction.

we are getting better with our allies. we also have to do the process. brian: it was on most a tv segment. i think you blamed the media three times in that brief statement. sen. warner: not yet. brian: i want to work invert it. i was trying to explain what was going on to my 10-year-old son and how it doesn't get any attention. there's limited capacity i think -- sometimes i think there's limited capacity for human suffering from my end of the camera which is hard. it just physically takes a toll. anybody here from california or las vegas? you may have driven from las vegas to l.a. or the other way. next time you do it when you cross to california leaving las vegas, you are going to l.a.. the first or second exit you will see a sign that says baker

and then there is this weird looking line up on the hill. it's probably most important mine in the united states. they produce neodymium. that goes into every phone, every laser sight on these drones, advanced weapons. until recently senator that mine , which came 36 hours away from closing permanently would ship it starts to china from the desert of california by truck to a ship to the center of china to be washed and then they would ship it back to i think oregon to be processed. i think it shows where the supply chains are really screwed up. how do we fix this? sen. warner: couple that and i'm going to -- there's a mine in western north carolina that produces another key component, a quartz.

but that, frankly i wasn't fully aware about all the aspects. i think what we are going to have to do. i'm a democrat and proud to be democrat. even democrats have to realize we have to build stuff again in this country. we can have a regulatory regime that adds two to three years of added costs to try and be able to, whether it build a new -- orest supply chain on rare minerals and the fact is even if were not to do all the processing here we need to do it with her friends and allies around the world. i think this is a huge opportunity and i think there is a growing recognition of that across both sides of the aisle. >> world war ii effectively ended because in many ways

germany ran out of oil. they couldn't move their tanks. they were really out of gas. walking by tanks that were just there. i feel like lithium, neodymium, cobalt, quartz, those of the new oil. and so it's going to change strategic. i don't think and 25 years of doing this senator i have heard anybody mention the solomon islands. sen. warner: until a year ago. i wouldn't have. you've got to learn, -- brian: does that change -- how do we adjust our lines. sen. warner: recognizing there a series of nation-states of most americans couldn't identify in that wide space between hawaii and australia and a tiny bit there. frankly making sure some of them big tech companies bringing

across actually weaken either go through those islands so they can get the broadband capabilities. this is literally pennies on the dollar in terms of american investment. but it is where part of this next frontier it's also one of the reasons why i think this competition around -- i'm all for solar and wind but we are never in a power ai data centers on solar and wind entirely because you need consistent when he 47 power. while not the complete solution, is that power source, it is safe and carbon free and we saw back into the oil analogy just as nation-states became a pet -- dependent on middle east oil for literally decades on land. you a 30 year contract with a provider whether it's america or china. that means that country is locked into that system and many nation-states want to

biotechnology. the question is if this is so good why aren't you building more of these already. and what we've got in america is lots of interest, nobody wants to go first. can we make a group purchase here and frankly the hyper scalars, the big tech firms will need this power there ai data centers need that and we are getting very close to i think some major announcements which is both good for american energy independence. american energy leadership. challenges against china and frankly since this is carbon free power 80's a winner across the board. >> three mile island many of you of certain age. >> do you want to ask, people remember fremont -- three mile island. >> put your hands down. >> sow three mile island is a new -- a plant. in 1979 they thought it was can have a meltdown like radiation

huge disaster, averted disaster. they're not turning it -- the folks of the federal energy regulatory commission agreed to turn her back on but they will use that power not to power homes, but to give microsoft more data center access. oracle wants to build a data center, energy is weird and confusing. let me put it in a tv news anchor way. one gigawatt of power is about 750,000 average size homes worth of electricity to run one computer center. the country then controls the power and has the power, china is building nuclear reactors. in one fourth the time it takes us to build the one that we built in 30 years. why are they so much better at it. >> they are willing i think to cut corners in terms of safety protocols. >> and we've obviously seen we

think about with china's belton road initiative many nation-states saying please stop. in many nation-states are unsatisfied customers because they thought there were to get a lot of jobs. in the quality of the workforce this morning and still there deep in debt. these other nation-states. europe and elsewhere, we are this close to signing up. we need our own regulatory process to move quicker and i think there's been a seachange on nuclear energy. the overwhelming majority of democrats no that has to be part of the mix and i think there were even some changes on the nrc. i thought it was hypocritical when we walked away from nuclear for a number of years that we never said we will walk away from nuclear powered subs or aircraft carriers. the power on or aircraft

carriers almost the equivalent of small modular reactors which are 200 to 300 megawatts, smaller, cheaper and safer. a half-dozen in process, we need many more and go ahead and get over this process. we need to kind of breakthrough that concern about that. brian: i've been privileging my crew to go to many countries there he did one country i will not go to because i'm a journalist i am literally afraid i will be kidnapped is the congo. i learned most of what i say reading the notes. so because to your point you

didn't mention it by name. in the china comments. importing the workforce. make a couple people really rich. and then they brought in their own people. how do we prevent how do we prevent more countries from being taken over in a way with chinese dollars. sen. warner: angola was example of a nation-state focus more russian china. there's been a complete switch over. but also to show the interest. and i've been guilty of this at times. sometimes even we talk about the challenge and we always say

america and the west. every time we take off two thirds of the world because we are leaving out countries that what i think rather be aligned. i think of the moment when china has the belton road, my view is they are dissatisfied customers a little bit of attention making sure some of the tools we have like export import bank developing finance corporations. they need a little bit more equity, they need to take a few more risks and we can do this in concert with european friends and there is a seachange coming on. if you ask five years ago if folks knew what the greatest export was from drc you would get stares from 90% of the members. now the vast majority realize three major mines in the congo into our controlled by china. that is a g applicable and

strategic risk not only for america but for non-authoritarian regimes everywhere. brian: this belgian company, a lot of belgian references lately. is all these little minerals. we all know what quartz is. but this one mine in north carolina got flooded produces 95% of the super quality quartz that going to semiconductors. so all these things the senators talking about are these minerals , but every device you own, every car you drive has probably 100 of them in some fashion in them and a lot of them are mined in really weird hard places. lithium in a desert. the middle of australia, those are friendly nations but how much focus is there in the senate on to your point educating newer members, younger members. here's why angola, a country we

don't talk about geopolitically is so relevant. is it hard to breakthrough? sen. warner: it is hard to breakthrough when they're not on foreign relations. 51 overriding effort is to redefine national security. who has the most tanks and planes and guns but really the technology. it's a technology race which we've never faced that kind of adversary that was a military threat, ideological threat. china is an economic near peer in certain areas. and who wins the battle, 5g was a wake-up call for a lot of us. it is around energy, it is around some of the rare earth minerals. it's around a whole host of other domains that initially quantum computing was not viewed as a national security issue. >> cheap plug at 1:30 and 4:50 today i will be on talking about

these issues and how they differed. but i always remind people no matter who is president, we have this thing called congress. and we have the senate and we have foreign relations. you, especially you senator warner and many others are sort of running the show behind the scenes. under either outcome. how much does that change your work? is it more relevant as to the ultimate composition of this? sen. warner: news flash, the vast majority of us in the senate actually like each other and work together. brian: that does not rate. sen. warner: i make a joke i work in the play place in america were being a gang member is a good thing. every time you have a group of bipartisan senators called a gang of this or that. and so if you look at every major piece of legislation the

last covid package under trump, birthed the bill at least -- you look at the chips bill. you look at the offshore account act. these are all bipartisan. i believe regardless of who is president, that gang. and it gets hard. it's been harder for my republican colleagues. it's a great loss when we lose rob portman and mitt romney's of the world. but there is one thing about the senate is there kind of like a high school you never graduate from. so summing kisses you off freshman year you can't stay mad forever because that person will find another place. sometimes this will be my first crack at the media and you guys are actually not as guilty as most. a fact-based new station. but if you are msnbc or fox, you

give the -- a lot more attention to the loudest voices on the extreme. >> i appreciate the dig at the media paid it's not the first and won't be the last time. you are right and it is so critical to remind people of this and hopefully as people watching at home, there's 535 of you in a full house. 100 senators, 435 congressmen. the rest are just quietly doing the rest of their jobs and part of many people as well. so thank you for that. i think we forget that as well. ask me later on today, under either administration we've got a huge japanese delegation in right now. i've been in europe many times. on lng ships talking about the marshall pan marshall plan synergy.

most of europe but particularly germany after somebody blew up the nord stream. if you know who that was could you let us know. so how much would energy policy differ under trump or harris administration? sen. warner: i'm not sure how many of mr. trump's slapping on 100% or 200% tariffs on every nation-state, how much of that is bluster or reality. i think that would have an effect because even on energy, i think more generally, i was a big advocate of moving to lng to allow this to be exported. i think that has allowed many european nations to move off of russian gas, it's geopolitically to our and non-. brian: should we end deposit on certain new project. sen. warner: i would take a fresh look at a lot of those

projects. the threats to climate change are real. we see that in these once in a generation storms that happen every year now. but we are not going to flip a switch and make that transition overnight. and how we have and all of the above to make that while we push the greener. the nuclear area seems to be a place where both the republicans and democrats could actually find some agreement. brian: the change in nuclear has been nothing short of remarkable. we are going to shut down. here's something for it is any one here from the massachusetts area. boston in the winter because you can build a pipeline there will important natural gas from trinidad and they have to do that from houston because of the jones act and the shipping rule means you can ship inside the united states. >> you actually know this energy

stuff really well. brian: there are days to literally keep the heat and light on in boston they are burning trash. burning trash, polluting gross stuff. i was asked people tonight ask them what year did the world use the most coal ever. no question, a 1933, 1872. 2024. the world has never used more coal than today. you talk about liquefied natural gas and carbon emissions. absolutely but if they don't have that that's what germany's burning instead. cold. far far worse. at least we do it as responsible as a nation. >> and what you see in nation-states i china and india who are building nuclear but they're all building many more coal fire plants. the west end for 150 years. and ultimately for anyone.

>> we have about 10 minutes a couple question here. thank you. smart crowd usually get the -- one more before we go into this. you mentioned in your first answer you mentioned i've never heard of it so i don't know anything -- everything. who are they and why are they on the radar. >> i think the place where ai could have the most effect is in bio life sciences. a guy from a public company, jason kelly out of ginkgo works. he basically said you think about ai models when were trying to duplicate large language. he says ai can unlock dna. there is -- they can do that at speed and scale.

to have that happen you need a lot of dna and they are basically scooping up dna samples had an unprecedented level. they are doing the things we managed to stop and sometimes where they have investments in companies be hidden and getting access to some of our information and you combine ai and dna mapping and some of this is spooky in terms of super soldiers. and i think this is, the whole question around ai and bio is hugely important and a piece of that you think about synthetic biology you think about growing their energy or growing material sciences. through kind of a more lifecycle basis rather than manufacturing. and china is doing what they did in other domains. we talk about where they are

building up a bio manufacturing capability. we have a little of that. europeans are further ahead in this domain and frankly some of those bio manufacturing are shutting down. basically a couple of them around the chemical process. where you kind of grow chemicals rather than produce them. >> and bgi. bgi is the -- two bio what huawei is to telcom. >> we are talking about the internal, not internal terms. >> literally our dna and the race for the biologics. a couple quick questions. how do you think either candidate ai regulation. >> don't hold your breath no

matter which person wins. i still think one of the great mistakes we made in this country was not putting guardrails on social media. in terms of mental health, we trace the mental health issues simultaneously smart phones 2014 going up, so when schumer had all the ai big heads in and they all said of course we want to have regulation. they'll say they want regulation to the put words on the page. and i'm deeply engaged with a lot of these companies and think i've got a b for something. the europeans of overdone we've done nothing there is somewhere in the middle. where i think smart regulation i do think the california approach and i'm usually knee-jerk against the california approach but some level of liability regime on a nationwide basis for extraordinary harm i think there was something there. i think some of the areas, a

number of states have already passed ai regulation in terms of deepfakes and politics. alabama's and florida's and texas as well as some blue states. i think we'll find out major market manipulation. i wouldn't focus on a fortune 100 company. but i think fortune 100 to 500. how can you use ai tools. manipulate stock prices. i thought that would be a spotlight. capitalist and democrats -- emocrats, but so far we have done that. >> we kind of know the trump doctrine. harris assuming she wins what would be her one or two top foreign policy priorities day one. sen. warner: i hope it would be

to continue to recognize we live in a dangerous world. she served on my committee. i think she understands the seriousness of the challenges and understand we live in a dangerous world and our adversaries are not playing for second place. continuing to realize the challenge with china is the issue of our time but i also think making sure averaging like putin is not successful in ukraine. i'm flabbergasted that donald trump in the debate wouldn't say who he thought should win that war. and i think ukraine, its long-term challenge be a negotiation but the fact that ukrainians, and this is about six months worth of information. taking out 87% of russia's pre-existing ground forces, 63% of their tanks, 32% of their air -- without losing a single american soldier. the soviets were our ultimate --

ukrainians have done that job in an enormously powerful way and if we have not stood there, putin would have been -- the baltics would be under assault. poland and elsewhere. we along with our allies have to draw the line. it gets into a little bit of this question of realigning from playing both sides to actually saying there to make that not because of our values but because of our technology. that would be a geopolitical switch. >> i'm always careful not to characterize nation by leaders versus people. china is not xi jinping. russians are not putin. sen. warner: i think it's american policymakers are needing to make that point because every time. it's not what the chinese people. making that point the chinese comet's party uses to great advantage on we chat in the

chinese -- you see this is all racist anti-chinese. >> when putin is gone and there will be a day when he is gone. and the reason i brought up the point about the russian people, what is the u.s. long-term strategic plan. i don't want to say for russia, that implies power or ownership but with russia. what's russia's ultimate role in a post putin russia's role do they come back into the fold? to your earlier point they can't stay mad forever. >> after the wall fell, after the prime minister -- as a business guy in the 90's, i went to russia a lot. looks like us, sees like -- seems like us. i made investments. i thought russia had turned the corner. maybe it was a little bit crooked, they want rule of law.

the same thing that brought them into the world trade organization. i was a big advocate as governor of saying the more we bring china in the more it will be a stable world order. deciding the primacy of the comet's party was more important than the chinese people. i was wrong again there. so can we prevent post-russia putin? i would love to see a flowering of a more open russia but i think we have to prepare for both circumstances. you could see russia move further to the right or further authoritarian. brian: i will very quickly you mentioned venezuela at the top. humanitarian tragedy. majuro's good to be there for life it appears. listen to opec meetings and one thing that the pistol me off was the human tragedy.

he would show up with his wife and she had like $3000 shoes on. i'm thinking -- i'm a ds w shoe warehouse man myself. it was like people are eating trash in your nation and here you are showing up not only with your wife in the shoes and shopping bags. >> how do we solve the maduro. >> we basically ask the venezuelan people to get out and vote. they voted in overwhelming numbers even in the hardest barrios. the fact that we asked brazil, mexico and colombia to step back and frankly they didn't i think there should be another contact group. i think we should not take our eyes off of venezuela. it is a humanitarian issue and potentially border issue. and if we are not willing to

stand by democratic results in our own hemisphere, what does that signal. brian: anything you want to say in close that i might've missed? sen. warner: another senate filibuster. think the atlantic council. about those five regions. i hope we get a chance to continue this. >> i went to thank you for being here today at the atlantic council front page. i'm not being paid to be here. i wanted to see you again, senator. all my friends and new friends at the atlantic council. an amazing conversation. it could have gone on for hours but you have to run the country. a big hand for senator mark

>> later today, 2024 presidential nominee kamala harris will speak to support in greenville, north carolina. e cook political report ranks carolina as a toss state. its 16 electoral votes to go to either candidate. watch live starting at 30.m. eastern on c-span, c-span now, our free mobile video app, or online at c-span.org. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including midco. >> where are you going? or maybe a better question is, how far do you want it to go, and how fast do you want to get there?

now we are getting somewhere. let's go. let's go faster. let's go further. let's go beyond. ♪ >> midco supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> now, food policy and immigration advocates discuss the link between food insecurity and migration during a conversation hosted by the wilson center in washington, d.c. topics included food sustainability, root causes of migration, and the role faith-based and local leaders play in mitigating food insecurity. >> good morning. and good evening for those who are on the other of the world.

welcome to the wilson center. we are a congressional chartered think tank and fiercely nonpartisan. so feel at home. so feel at home. the values hosted by the refugee and displacement initiative which provides analysis. right now at this moment, the state of the world is just -- i don't know how to describe it. the world is bleeding everywhere. incivility and disaster related factors that continue to displace millions of people in every region, from the middle east, africa, asia and europe to the americas and in between.

these factors contribute to the disruption of food systems, leading to food insecurity which produces hunger and the cycle continues. the world food program, the global hunger crisis is driven by the overlapping and escalating factors which are conflict, climate disasters and economic shock. in 2024 according to the world food program, it took more than 300 million -- in 71 countries. in the words of former senator bob dole, and i quote their sediment -- sentiment, we can continue to provide leadership in the world or we can turn our back on the world hunger issue.

we can empower our neighbors with the tools to put food on the table, or we can watch our enemies fill those same hands with weapons. food insecurity pin a neighborhood is over food insecurity in our household. this is because if we do not help our neighbor address the root causes of the issue, it will spill over and affect us in every way. people who do not have enough food to feed themselves or their families will make decisions out of desperation whether to stay or to migrate. we are tackling the root causes of food insecurity in america. both los angeles declaration of migration and the global compact on migration analyzing

addressing the key drivers and factors that force people to leave their homes. migration from latin america driven by factors that include food insecurity. the consequences of food insecurity highlight the need to better understand the dynamic in the region and provide policy responses to ensure the well-being of displaced people in their homes. and as political inaction and bureaucratic -- continue to stand in the way of facing food insecure communities and saving lives, faith-based actors and others are stepping up to deliver essential services with limited resources. our experts will discuss the intersection of food, poverty,

hunger and migration, roles played by actors and building hope in the solution to address the root cause. thank you again for joining us, and now i will introduce briefly our speakers. sitting on the far left is the founder of the building lives network, which is now building the center for hope in the quarters of latin america and community transport, transformation. a trained leader throughout the usa, latin america, the caribbean, africa and asia. he has experience leading in various capacities, and he's very committed to meeting the needs of all people. he is also the founder of -- and

author of -- leadership. next to him is a key global policy and advocacy officer, where she leads global policy efforts to extend the protection of refugees and other displaced people. prior to this, she served for international programs where she extended the global impact across latin america and the caribbean. rachel cofounded -- and gender

discriminatory claims in federal court in new york city. she received a ba from yale university and a law degree from university of british columbia. and next is the senior director of public policy at the world food program usa. previously worked with the united nations food and agriculture organization and the center for tropical agriculture and others on climate change, food security, and agriculture. with an interest in food insecurity and conflict, humanitarian assistance, climate change and sustainable agriculture, work on food systems in developing countries across latin america, africa and south asia. he has led several major

research initiatives including hunger and instability in the other report entitled a link between food insecurity and conflict. he has served as an expert witness at the center for relations committee. in 2018, he delivered a ted talk on winning the long game in the fight to end hunger. and last but not least, joining us virtually is a doctoral researcher at the university of arizona school of geography, development and environment. she is also studying food system transformation in communities

across the americas. the study food security politics in guatemala. her research in guatemala focuses on change in food security programs which stems from the increasing challenges of climate change and staggering malnutrition rates. she's written about positive trends in food security politics as well as the limitation of -- and other proposals to discuss food scarcity and climate change. so thanks for joining us. now we will start with the panel.

as i discussed in prior communication with all the panelists, but i will do is ask each one of them a question and respond within a limited time, and this will be a conversation. so let me start with the open question which you can just respond in one or two minutes, each of you. let me start with you, rachel. not rachel, sorry. with carrie, and then i will come here. we all have motivations in their work and in our career. so this is a question for all the panelists. what motivated you to be working in the area of expertise that you're in now, be that food insecurity or migration. your turn. thanks for joining us. >> good morning, everyone, thank you so much for the invitation

to be here. i am very honored to be invited to speak. wish i can be there in person, i'm a long way away in arizona where it is still 100 degrees. definitely wish i could be there. i i started -- as a peace corps volunteer in peru. that line of work eventually took me to work on a project in guatemala, one of the usa's flagship security programs, and then work sort of as a short-term -- on a project that was supposed to be supporting farmers and making sure the project was especially inclusive because everyone was talking about guatemala, the inclusion of the mayan people, so that was

my work in guatemala. they gave me a first-hand perspective of a lot of the systemic barriers and challenges that these kinds of programs face, and i became sort of increasingly motivated by a lot of the unmet needs that i was seeing firsthand and i eventually went back and got my phd and did research about food security programs, especially those funded by world -- funded by usaid, and the food security program. compared and contrasted with previous efforts in cultural development and food security and food security in central america. so my work has not been --, it is on migration, but my research is primarily qualitative which means i spend a lot of time in

rural communities talking with people informally and being on the ground in a place like guatemala, especially in verbal communities, it is impossible to ignore migration. it is so in-your-face all the time. so often informally, anecdotally, i would hear a lot about migration. that is how i started to think about and write about migration. >> thank you. he will start with you and then go --. >> appreciate it. i mean, i started out my career with the united nations from an agricultural organization and that was in 2009. there were a couple big events that happened in 2009 and 2010. 2009 in particular with the climate change negotiation. for those who are following that at the time, climate change negotiation in copenhagen failed pretty miserably. we had these scary warnings coming out based on the ability

to come together and come up with a solution for the long-term challenge of climate change. but on the backend of copenhagen came a lot of optimism. a kind of redoubling of the belief in the values of multilateral negotiation process. and simultaneously agriculture found a seat at the table as climate change negotiation in 29 -- 2009 and 2010, so most of my career has been riding a wave of agriculture revolution that has happened coming after that 2009 crisis, the multilateral one. the other thing in 2010 when i was at the food and agricultural organization was the earthquake in haiti and i think a lot of us remember that. 200,000 lost their lives. level of devastation that i don't think have ever been exposed to professionally before. and i remember sitting in the halls, looking over my shoulder in both directions wondering,

and then you sort of catch your own badge in the reflection and you go well, i probably have a small role to play. i got very excited about humanitarian assistance in particular as a way to marry my interest in domestic politics and international development. >> thank you. rachel, what motivated you? >> it's on, ok. first of us, thank you so much, it's wonderful to be here with all of you and the audience. mine is a very bernie i gas -- journey i guess, when i look back at my family for full can the audience as now, members of

their generation were not going the same place our parents were. that was something that really captured my attention, my focus, globally something that was in the back of my mind going through my undergraduate degree in law school, and i think really what has driven my work in refugee and displacement space has been looking about family history, but also thinking through some of the drivers of displacement -- displacement globally. you made reference to that. persecution, inequality, poverty, hunger, climate. these are these huge external factors that are sort of driving what is happening in the world together with the intersection

with sort of vulnerability in my own life, marginalization. we talked about what is the intersection with one's own identity and these major drivers. all of these things that come together that have me involved both on the legal side sort of dealing with my presentation and starting of programs to provide assistance to asylum-seekers and refugees globally. >> thank you. scott, what motivated you? >> thank you for allowing me to be part of discussion and thank you other panel members, i feel almost like a fish out of water here. many things catch our eyes, a few things catch our hearts. and because some had the privilege of going to other places in the world, i kept noticing people really don't care what you say when their stomachs are growling.

that meeting people's needs, we don't feed people, we feed animals. serve people. that is what we do. meeting their basic needs of hunger really is a great motivation. i got involved training and equipping leaders there. to give them the tools they need to transform their communities. hopefully transforming their communities that would be places of hope and peace where people don't feel forced to migrate to other places. we do understand that climate change, food scarcity, those things propel people forward. we need to help communities and people thrive. so we got involved. i looked around the room and saw my reflection and if not me, then who? obviously i'm old, i've been doing this a long time. i should be enjoying my

retirement on a beach in florida. of course the beaches right now are not so great. leaders who need to be motivated, educated, communities that need to be transformed great organizations like i'm discovering that i'm doing this in a great way. but to hear there are others in the fray gives us courage and confidence to keep doing what we are called to do. i look forward to a discussion and look forward to learning from these very enlightened, right done people. >> thank you. every issue as a human being is connected to our personal lives. now let's get into the discussion a little bit, and i will start with carrie because i know you are not in here with

--. but here, that is about food insecurity, and you find that food insecurity occurs despite strong economic growth. the first question i would like to ask, can you set the context for us? explain the link between food and security and food migration in the region. just set the context in about two or three minutes. thank you. >> sure, yes.

a tall order but i will try to summarize some of the best points that i make in that report that you mentioned. the first point that is important to understand is national and regional variability. i think we are referring to this region, the northern triangle, and there's a lot of reasons to push back against something, not thinking of a finer grained about the region. i think we are going to emphasize that there is important national and regional variability and we are talking about food insecurity and the causes of food insecurity as well as the causes of migration. and i think also by elevating the conversation around food insecurity we don't have to diminish or make light of other factors including violence, but i do think it is important.

we know that a lot of migrants are not known to be especially violent. this obviously some caveats. all that to say that they are very difficult to untangle. i'm going to talk a lot about guatemala because that is where i spend the most time. farming is a way of life just as agriculture is a way of life and we also know that there a lot of pressure on traditional practices including persistent and irregular drought.

we know that the food crisis was devastating, guatemala specifically has not bounced back to the extent that other places have. especially in places like in rural guatemala. there's not a lot of great evidence. i wish there was more careful evidence here about food security driving migration, but to my knowledge, there is a lot of qualitative research for making this link. i wish there was broader evidence for that. i think those are some of the things that we need to understand for context, food security and migration. >> thank you.

you've spoken to congress and about the history of current trends and tackling food insecurity and hunger. you previously identified the politics of hunger, that is just a blurb, but in your assessment, what more can be done to raise awareness about the link that we can see between migrating and hunger and food insecurity? >> i think court of the problem right now is that there's just not a lot of oxygen left in the room when mr. conversations about forced migration in latin america. you look across the landscape of emergencies that the program is responding to, there are other things grabbing news cycles right now.

you've got an entire population in gaza in need of humanitarian assistance, one of the largest military and emergencies around the world right now that you may not have heard of in sudan. 26.5 million people in that country facing crisis levels of hunger. not to mention northeastern if the op a, not to mention syria and yemen. so when i say there's not a lot of oxygen left in the room, i really mean that. we have a limited pool of attention. congress has a limited pool of attention. we have to make strategic decisions about the issues we bring up before those audiences for them to take action on. so we're in this world now where frankly, we are not combating the problem of global hunger with nearly enough resources. she's been studying the feed the future program for agricultural development, but that operates

at $1 billion. one billion dollars over 12 or 15 countries. we are not tackling the problem of hunger. we are in order of magnitude off in terms of what resources we are applying to the problem. lawmakers in my experience respond for one of three reasons. they either morally care about the topic, or is the right thing to do. others are motivated by the economic factors involved. when you make an investment any country that cannot feed itself, that is number two. but increasingly lawmakers are concerned about the national security implications and failing to feed someone who cannot feed their family. we have traditionally done a very good job. the moral and economic applications of acting or not

acting are pretty profound. what we haven't done a good enough job with his have food related instability can lead to conflict, can lead to migration. you look at the most recent national security strategy, that is an impressive number of references to food security. there are lawmakers who understand this. there are folks in the administration who i think understand this. there are conversations that we have had before. so i think we are making ground on this front. >> that is a factor that feeds into the quote that i just cited from the two former senators. but if we have a vacuum of not helping our neighbors, that is

something. including issues related to gender-based violence, how does gender impact food insecurity? that is an angle that you can bring into this discussion. >> thank you for that question and it is often a very overlooked question. food insecurity and gender equality are inextricably linked. so we know from the world food program, from the u.n. food and agriculture organization and others that have studied the issue that women and girls have a close to 30% higher chance of

being severely food insecure than men. that is a huge number around the world. the difference is slightly less in latin america but it is still there. that means that of the 300 million people experiencing extreme hunger, nearly 50% are women and girls. which is pretty stark. so there are some questions that we have to ask ourselves about why that is. and the answers really point in most places in the world and in latin america to deep-seated inequalities that are related to the way that communities are structured, the way that families are structured, and that means that women's access to resources, access to paid employment, it's not that they are not working, they are just

not getting paid for it. land ownership, and information about their rights and access to services are deeply restricted. and that means they're access to food and nutrition and the security and health associated with that are also limited. carrie was talking about women in rural areas, and that also can be an aggravating factor if they are primarily responsible for food production there. they may be particularly vulnerable to food insecurity during droughts and other climate shocks. so that in a section with climate that we have been talking about also plays a significant role. and that in turn will drive displacement. again, numbers are hard to really get accuracy about, but we know that food insecurity is a driver, among any other issues

-- gender-based violence, persecution, lack of security, economic unrest -- that drives women and girls to migrate out of the places where they are unable to access to sufficient food and nutrition and also unable to access security. so that hunger, however, i think is important to point out, it's not just something they will experience in their home environment, but also when they are en route to find safety, and it may also affect them in the places where they seek asylum or some level of protection. so it's important to think of the entire displacement cycle when assessing access to nutrition, and for women and girls in other at-risk populations, access to

protection and prevalence of gender-based violence. john: that's an important point, that hunger is experienced both at home and while also moving. it's a continuum. you spent time on the ground with people, and you have witnessed the social dynamics of those communities, families who are struggling to make the decision on whether to state or leave-- stay or to leave, because of so many factors, including food security. and both rachel and you, your organization are somewhat faith-based organization, and so you work with people on the ground. what do policymakers miss about the people on the ground when they are trying to address the root causes of this issue, food

scarcity? what don't policymakers see that you see on the ground? scott: john, it brings up a lot of motions to me. rachel, you set of numbers can be called. but when you look at the eyes of a hungry child, it is stunning. we helped feed 180,000 hot meals on the border in 2021. we are small, we are not a big organization. in fact, it's just two of us. we fund most of what we do out of our own pockets. and the generosity of other folks. but when you see a child that is unaccompanied, it moves you. and faith-based things, you can throw sociality in it, faith-based in it, but whether you are a person or not a person of faith, you are a person and you have great value.

whether you are a small guatemalan child or the president of sun country, you matter -- sun country, you matter. working with people in that experience is staggering. i was in rwanda a few years ago and i watched a country that was devastated by genocide. you are familiar with that, you are from that area of the world. i watched all three organizations came together and transformed the nation. going to rwanda now is a mostly going to europe. there was a middle-class almost like going to europe. there is a middle -- going to rwanda and out is almost like going to europe. there is a middle-class. the government and the faith community came together to bring about true transformation. it was in rwanda that i started thinking we have to do more than just equip leaders. to teach leadership principles is great and helpful, but we have to meet those needs, and partnering with people on the ground -- john, may be departing from the question just a bit, this has to be led by indigenous

leaders. it has to be costa ricans, guatemalans, on doran-- hondurans, salvadoreans, colombia, venezuela, they have to own this. it has to be theirs. i was in india training 5000 liters, and i walked out and i saw a lady living the field -- in an open field, that is where she lived. she was pregnant. i had a backpack full of protein bars because often when i travel i worry about my diet. i emptied my backpack, and my handler said, "please, please, do not feed her." i said i have to feed her. "you will be overrun." if i'm overrun, i'm overrun. it is compassion for one that leads us to care for the awful soup when you are not aware, you don't care.

you become aware, you have to care. you have to care. john: thank you, and i would come back to you on that, empowering, the local people, the indigenous people, as a way of sustaining the initiative. we will come back to that. but yeah, policymakers, what do they miss? that sense of connectedness with the people. and from my experience, when i was in the refugee camp, a delegation from the u.s. congress went to ethiopia in the late 1980's. and we were such a huge number, and we were chanting, "welcome, welcome, american congressmen." but what they saw there when they returned change the lives of some who visited the camp and lead to the process of resettling most of us here.

i think being there and seeing the reality is different from watching the news and reading the statistics. carrie, i'm coming back to you, because these small farmers in rural community are the backbone, and so let's talk about what improvement has been made -- again, building on your research in the region -- to better their lives in the lives of people who have been displaced there? and how do you assess success based on your research on the ground? carrie: yeah, thanks for the question. i am employed in academia and i get to be critical and pessimistic quite a lot. it is harder to be optimistic, but i'm going to try to say a

few positive things here. i'll start by saying i think the covid pandemic was really tough. it took a toll especially in rural areas in guatemala. we have to acknowledge that that probably sent back a lot of-- set back a lot of progress. i think it's hard to speak in concrete here. there is a lot of development agencies including the u.s. agency for international development and feed the future program which i look at specifically which report a lot on output, the numbers of farmers being trained, the number of women receiving training, good nutrition practices or breast-feeding practices, these kinds of things. it is a lot harder to actually know nationally or regionally what progress is being made. yeah, hard to give a lot of specifics there. i will talk to a couple of

positive trends that i've noticed in my work. i talk a lot about this sort of export agriculture-driven approach that a lot of development agencies including usaid have been invested in for decades and decades, especially in central america, this approach that assumes that connecting farmers to value chains or to markets, global markets, getting farmers to adopt the production of nontraditional exports like snow peas or broccoli or the kinds of things that don't go induring certain times of year, getting farmers to change to these clubs and then focus on export -- change to these crops and focus on exporting these crops, that will alleviate poverty and a lot of the challenges or a lot of the impacts of poverty such as food insecurity. but i think there are cracks that are starting to form in

this kind of dominant thinking about how to resolve these issues, and i think climate change is putting a lot of pressure on us to change the way we think about how this problem gets fixed. and so i do think that there is -- chase also talked about climate-smart agriculture. i don't think that is necessarily as an umbrella perfect or even coherent approach. i do think that some of these new discourses, these new approaches are pushing things forward, and climate change in particular i think is forcing us to ask questions about what needs to be done. so i think that is generally positive. and that also there are small examples i can give that are positive, specifically in the case of guatemala. there was i thinking 20-- i

think in 2018 the foreign agricultural service of our country put a lot of pressure and did a lot of logging in guatemala -- lobbying in guatemala. we talk about the importance of this being sort of driven at the national level. so putting pressure on the guatemalan government to resolve some of these issues. one thing that happened in 2018 was a school feeding law passed in guatemala that tripled the budget that went to school feeding programs also mandated that 50% of the food purchased for school feeding be purchased from local folders.-- holders. there are lots of logistical challenges to rolling that out, but i think it is the kind -- and it's still not being fully

realized, but those kinds of laws, those kind of structural changes are really important, and i have been encouraged to see the u.s., usaid, and the foreign agricultural service lobbying those more structural political changes that i think are really what are going to resolve this issue in the long run. john: thank you. rachel, coming back to you, your organization is present in the region and you have been in the region as a practitioner, and one of the organizations operating there. what trends are you seeing, and what our successful responses to the protection needs of people on the move, whether it is violent related or food insecurity-related? what is your organization -- rachel: sure.

i think a lot of us have seen coverage of people moving from south america through central america to the u.s.-mexico border. one big trend is that it's not just local populations, it's not just south americans and central americans on the move. people who are flying in through different regimes that allow them to come into brazil, nicaragua, what have you, from asia, from africa, all over the world, and trying to make this dangerous journey, often having to pass through the derby and cap, you may have read about, the dangerous jungles in panama. that is one big trend. people are moving for a whole variety of reasons. food insecurity is one of those. that is the focus here. but it is often connected to a range of other driving factors, whether that is violence, insecurity, gangs, lack of

economic opportunity, total economic breakdown, and lack of security, as in the case of venezuela. there are a whole bunch of drivers that come together. and there are different ways that countries, multilateral, and ngos are responding. i can speak as an ngo in the area. hias has been around since the 1880's. we are the oldest refugee resettlement organization in the u.s. and worked with displaced preparations globally 20, 25 years ago, and our first stop was in ecuador responding to displacement inside of colombia that expended to venezuela, and now countries from guyana up to the u.s.-mexico border. we do a number of interventions. some of them are related to legal assistance and documentation, others are

related to access, gender-based violence prevention and response. we do mental health support compared is often underestimated as a need for people on the mood -- on the move. and we do work related to food security. in ecuador we work with world food program, we provide 5000 people a month with cash and voucher assistance, which allows them to feed themselves. it is also supplemented by nutritional education. in peru and other parts of latin america, we implement something called the graduation model, which is a sort of comprehensive approach that allows people to achieve food security through skills training, resources, connection with local communities, and really focusing on the specific needs of high-risk communities. we do that work in colombia and

costa rica, we do work specifically to help women in their communities accept greater protection and security. and in places like venezuela, where access to food is so limited, we equip refugees and host community members with skills to generate secure income and some stable access to nutritious food. what we find is doing the work around food security also needs to be done not only with populations on the move, but with local communities. and to this point about engaging indigenous populations, a a lot of the work that we do is in partnership with local organizations and local communities. and another key factor is looking at intersectional identities and recognizing that women and girls, indigenous populations, afro-caribbean

populations are going to face additional challenges to accessing resources, and so programmatic responses really do need to take that factor into account as well. john: and building on that, scott, so your organization and power locally-- empower locally the people, but also the host communities, just what rachel was saying. talk about your plan, what you're currently doing in the migration corridors where you have established some centers. scott: in fact we are in the process of building -- i will probably mess it up in spanish -- i don't speak spanish, but i speak redneck fluently. we want to build centers of hope, places where people there more en route -- or en route

confined places of hope. our strategy is simple, we want to partner with indigenous leaders. fortunately we have a great relationship with the methodist church in costa rica. my counterpart who is costa rican, his uncle happens to be the bishop of the methodist church. that's an open door. it is funny how relationships not only make our life rich, but fuels are movements. we are building kitchens of hope. cost is about $15,000 to put in a high functioning full-service kitchen in a local church that that is responsible for creating these things, partnering with indigenous leaders, equipping service leaders as opposed to egocentric leaders, teaching them time-honored leadership principles, assisting the poor, not giving them a handout, but giving them by hand up, which includes micro financing, agricultural initiatives, all

tied into what you guys do so amazingly well. and that we want to care for the sick. during the aids epidemic, it was just devastating that the sick were ignored. i'm going to say this, and hopefully it is not offensive -- it is not a sin to be sick, but it is a sin not to take care of the sick. what we discovered in costa rica is a high level of addiction. so recovery opportunities, helping people to break the grip of addiction, to move away from sickness and also waterborne illnesses and other things you guys know so well about. we want to do this last thing, and that is to educate, to educate children, educate women, give them what it means to have a healthy life. that spells peace. p-e-a-c-e, partnering, equipping, assisting, caring,

and then education. we want to bring peace to bring community transformation. i wish i was smart enough to think that a i stole it from others who stole it from others. please don't publish that. if you do, leave my name out of it. in costa rica, nicaragua, colombia, and mexico, and we are asking for opportunities in the triangle, which we have yet to make it into the northern triangle and two other places. that is what we are trying to do, build these centers on the corridors that bring hope and transformation and community. and hopefully people stop and settle and say this is where i want to be. i think this -- i may be wrong, you can help me -- most people don't want to leave where they are from, they like where they are from. but they cannot stay where they are from if they are not secure, socially or physically or mentally, if they cannot feed their children, if there is no

hope for the future. they have to move. this is what i said about the policy makers, if we spend more energy on the root, maybe the other problems would be diminished. john: that is a very good transition to what i want to ask chase. your peace plan working with the local people in partnership to the issue, and chase, you where so many hats-- wear so many hats. the policy side of things, world food program one of the largest dealing with this issue. but as you mentioned, there is not enough oxygen. what is the world food program doing about this, especially in the region now, and the shifting political gear or lack of political will? chase: well, i guess to start

out i would reinforce something you said earlier, john, which is seeing refugee camps firsthand, seeing feeding operations, emergency feeding operations, etc., that can be transformative for lawmakers and staff. a big part of what we do with the world food program usa and partner organizations is to take lawmakers out and get them in front of the programs and come back. typically in those situations they feel compelled to act. that is a powerful tool for someone to see that firsthand. i went to reinforce that in terms of things we need to be doing next and were often-- more often. let me say some thing optimistic. i'v been working with folks on capitol hill for almost a decade. i came into washington, d.c., quite pessimistic. i think it is easy to be pessimistic about her politics today. it is quite easy to be frustrated with congress. but there are people who genuinely care, and particularly

people who genuinely care about this problem of global hunger and forced migration. and it comes from unsuspecting places at times. there are folks on the state foreign operations subcommittee, people in the agricultural committee, who you wouldn't consider an ally. but for one of those reasons, moral,, economic national security reasons, they are willing to come to the table and fund international food assistance programs because they feel compelled to do so. capitol hill and congress can get things done, and we have seen that happen the last couple years. act in response to the covid-19 pandemic and russia's invasion of ukraine, lawmakers managed to pull together a $5 billion supplemental for food assistance program. that is unprecedented, it is huge, larger than the base funding for those accounts. so that was a massive achievement and a good example of congress acting with a lot of political will. we saw the same thing come in the national security supplemental a few years ago. this is on the back of the

events in gaza, or you're going out, another half billion dollars in food assistance programs. we would like to see this coming more permanently and we don't want congress to come with a firehose every time there was a fire and we want to make sure they are providing robust resources for not just food assistance programs, but programs like the future. so i think that are reasons to be optimistic. part of the reason we benefit so much at the world food program from american support -- you have to remember, the world food program, we have a $23 billion operational budget this year. we will deliver 15 billion euros over the course of the year. it is a massive operation. but we never meet that level of assistance from donor governments. this year we are looking at about 11. the gap is $12 billion of support from donor governments all around the world. but the united states cares about this program because the world food program at the end of the day is inherently an american idea.

it was an idea that was born in the aftermath of the second world war, stood up during the eisenhower administration, or at least proposed, kennedy, the start of usaid, was critical getting this started. george mcgovern, who worked alongside bob dole and tom daschle, all of these folks have been critical in moving the needle forward on funding for international food assistance programs, and simultaneously developing safety-net programs in the united states for school feeding and snap programs. there is this shared history, there is an understanding of one of the best american ideas that no one ever heard of, the world food program. it is critical important to remember that going forward. we're run by ambassador cindy mccain. the --we have been led by an american since the 1990's. there is an investment here and the world food program is something we can be very proud

of in this country. john: thank you. now this is the second round with a panel. start preparing your questions to submit to the panelists, whether online, virtual, and here in the room. but before i take your questions, and then we will go to the final round where the speakers will have key recommendations, key take away for you and policymakers, let me go back to carrie. and this is the sustainability question. we hear that funding is not enough for all the challenges we have globally. what is being done locally? and maybe that is where scoot will jump in ash where scott will jump in -- maybe that is where scott will jump in, too. but working with small-scale farmers in rural areas, what is being done about sustainability or food security? you talk about the national

level, how the policies -- but tell us something about sustainability. carrie: i'll do my best. so i take a lot of encouragement in social movements, in particular in guatemala the 17 movement, indigenous -- sovereignty movement, indigenous sovereignty movement. there was really earthshaking presidential election in guatemala this year. and an exciting, very credible anticorruption leader was elected. and thanks to some pressure from the united states and other western countries, he was able

to peacefully transition and take power just this year in guatemala. and a lot of that can be -- we can thank social movements for electing him. i think there is a lot of reasons to be hopeful about this administration and about some broader changes afoot in guatemala. that is one thing that we should look to regularly, what is happening, who is organizing, what things are they organizing around. to give a more specific example, this has also been something that usaid and feed the future have invested in and that i've been really happy about, food sovereignty at the local level initiatives like seed banking.

more interest and effort and investment in subsistence practices, traditional maize and beans. this thwarts the decades-long approach of encouraging export ag, so i think that is happening through external funding, like through feed the future, as well as local indigenous groups demanding these kinds of changes. that is also something that i'm encouraged to see happening at the local level, but reinforced through external funding. john: thank you. scott, how you are building kitchen centers, and how are they sustainable? scott: that's the big question. hopefully we can have an

indigenous movement of local farmers and produce to bring that, and maybe some corporations in the nations themselves that would be benevolent enough to lean in with us. one of the local churches, they are developing a farm, and they want to produce produce, protein, and product. the product will help with poverty. and of course the protein, the wonderful things that they eat in costa rica, that is part of that process. but the local people have to have ownership of it. i've watched this as i gathered with a group of costa ricans this summer as they literally came together and fed thousands of people, thousands of people and a gathering where the community brought their sustenance together. when communities are brought together, whether it is through the course of faith, the course of care, communities accomplish

a lot. what i want to do is throw gas on that fire, to encourage leaders to be bold. there is a proverb that says don't despise the small beginnings, because of the small beginnings can become great things. i love to hear chase, he talks about the annual budget of the billions and i think about the $12 i pay for the lyft to go to the airport. it is the al qaeda process. the resources art -- it is the whole kind of process. i know i'm surmising, and i apologize for that, but local people know the needs of their community, they are best equipped to meet the needs in the hearts of their community as opposed to us organizations who fly in, observe, and fly out. empower the local leaders, and they will change the culture. i believe that is our mandate, and that is what we are trying to do through the building lives network. john: thank you.

before i ask the audience -- that's great -- rachel, there is something i want to ask you about. the president and ceo went -- there is a lot going on, and we have a fellow here at the wilson center who is writing a book about the gap. the title of the book is that is that it is a billion-dollar market by human traffickers. you have litigated issues -- how do we -- again, and might be out of topic here, but it is related to people moving for reasons including food insecurity, but you also have human traffickers in that part of -- that adds to the complexity of the movement

itself and also the root causes. maybe hias is present here, you can comment on that. human traffickers. rachel: sure. i think one thing to recognize in this ecosystem is that smugglers are going to be around, people are going to move. it's normal. our families all moved. we got here. displacement and migration is here to stay. we need to come up with ways to address the full ecosystem. some of that is by focusing on the root causes, like we are talking about here today, food security, safety, economic opportunity, political stability. and so there is a lot of work that has to go in that direction to break the smuggler model, if you will, if that is even a

goal, which i don't think we can really -- it is never going to be eliminated, so we do have to recognize that. i think another big piece of this is that our kind of -- the obsession with smuggling in certain corners of congress has meant that organizations like hias and many other local groups on the front lines providing assistance, helping survivors of gender-based violence, providing emergency shelter or emergency cash, are being accused of smuggling or facilitating caravans to the border. and we need to work to educate members of congress and others who are basically vilifying the organizations that are trying to help people and people on the move themselves.

i think there are models that can be looked at to address the amount of money that is going to smuggling, and there are plenty of agencies in the u.s. government and through the entire region that are focused on that. but that work has to be done within this broader ecosystem of addressing the drivers of displacement and helping to support folks that are on the move without turning them into villains or the organizations like yours and others that are trying to assist them. scott: may i interject something on that? john: sure. scott: rachel, you are so absolutely right. i the privilege of interviewing a smuggler in july, through an interpreter, of course, my compadre. he got out of smuggling because he had a spiritual transformation. he was exposed to something greater then the lure of money.

he smuggled people from the panamanian border to nicaraguan border. $18,000. that's a lot of money. a lot of money for me, a lot of money for most all of us in this room. but what happened with him was his heart turned, and he said he could no longer do this. when he walked away the next night, the leader of the group was killed by the police. he escape his destiny by spiritual transformation. so what happens in the heart of someone changes the trajectory of their community. that is why we can't look at people as numbers or products, or people on the move. they matter. humanity matters, from the smallest child even to the coyotes. they matter. and have to take care of people, and meeting them where they are. i was nervous when i interviewed the coyote, but i soon found out he was a guy who had a family,

who had a need, who saw how to meet the needs of his family, and chose a dangerous disaster of a path. but there was intervention. i guess i am pollyanna-ish, hopeful that could happen to more and more coyotes. one coyote at a time. i don't even like the word. one person, one man, one woman at a time. sorry to interject, but i had to bring that up. that was transformative to me, because i have a tendency to look at people globally instead of individually. i need to change my view. john: and that is the humanity aspect of it, too. thank you. i'm going to turn to the audience, and i want to maybe give her the first comment or question we have. cindy, a this to quit fellow of the wilson center, the former direct -- a distinguished fellow at the wilson center, the former director of latin america program here, so she got her

sense a complexity of the things we are talking about in the region -- she understands the complex and the of the things we're talking about in the region. >> [indiscernible] -- i have a brief comment and then a question. you mentioned the lack of -- ok, about the lack of evidence -- i guess i have allowed boys -- -- a loud voice -- the lack of evidence about hunger and food insecurity as a driver of migration. i have to say, sometimes i get really frustrated by the attempt to draw specific linkages, because if you ask and refugee coming -- or a migrant coming into the united states, why are you coming, and you give them a list of reasons, they may say

"because i can't make a living." so that person is classified as an economic migrant, therefore less worthy of protection or asylum than someone else fleeing persecution. but the way that climate change affects food insecurity and therefore results in the incapacity to feed your family are so closely linked that trying to separate these things -- and i've seen numerous articles that say climate is not a driver of migration. it just drives me nuts, because i think it is obvious that it is when you look at -- when you peel back the reasons why people think they are economic migrants. my question is really for all the panel and carrie may have the best sense of this on the ground, but all of you may have an idea, is whether the root

cause is strategy that started under the obama administration and has continued through the biden administration, has focused on this specific aspect of food insecurity as a driver of migration, because my perception, which may be inaccurate, is that a lot of the effort from the office of the vice president has been to get large corporations in the u.s. to make investments and thereby create employment and opportunity, but not necessarily addressing the rural sector, which in countries like guatemala is easily 50% of the population. i would be interested in your take on that. finally, a quick plug, in march or april of this year we put out a report on climate change and local community resilience in

addressing this that intersected over and over again with food insecurity, and we relied on lots of reports from the world food program and the fao. thank you. john: let's start on that first, that others can come, but carrie , why -- the root cause of the strategy used by the administration and investing in employment that fails to address the root cause. carrie: thanks for the question. i don't know that i have a great answer, so i can punt to other panelists as well. personally i would say i haven't seen a lot of really groundbreaking changes since the

root-causes strategy or language started being employed. i do think there has been an increase in funding for food security and agricultural development. and i do think not only because of the root-causes strategy, but also this just blatant fact that malnutrition is not going away in guatemala, even though there might be some improvements in the last couple of years. there really is just such a stark and inexplicable kind of phenomenon. i think because of those facts as well as the reality of climate change and the long droughts and things like that that there have been some shifts in programming that i think are important to acknowledge. i do think that unfortunately most of the food insecurity funding still goes to training

farmers, capacity-building efforts that are still focused on export ag. one example would be training farmers in bio sanitary sort of conditions that need to be met so they can qualify for starbucks programs and things like that. and while i don't want to diminish those efforts, i haven't seen, at least first and, those -- at least firsthand, those being life-changing or the kinds of programs that would change the underlying conditions of people in rural and specifically the western highlands of guatemala. maybe someone else can step in and speak to that point more. john: chase, quickly comment on that, the root-causes strategy. is it being realized, or is it just in the book?

chase: well, i am probably not right person to comment on this. i'm willing to say a couple things, but i don't really want to get into administration policy and how it affects manager and operations. we in particular operate under neutrality and work with beneficiaries regardless of where they are from. i don't want this to become a conversation about whether the united states migration policy and root causes is working or not. but i will say, to reiterate the coming here that i made earlier--comment here that i made earlier, we are not meeting the problem with the skill of funding that is required. when you look at guatemala, maybe carrie can say more about the level of funding that came through for the future, but my suspicion is there have been really good outcomes, outputs at least in that program and outcomes probably, but are we in a position where we can truly

scale that with the resources available? i don't know the answer to that. that would be from a third-party perspective. john: unless you two want to comment, but i want to put this and then get more questions -- and let the root causes of -- unless the root causes of foreign displacement are addressed, forced displacement numbers will keep going up. and that is just logic. and i think talking about root causes, if we are talking about food insecurity, wars, instability, conflict, other factors, if we don't address them at their roots, we are reacting to the symptoms. and the symptom is manifested in the number of people displaced. so that is something that should be in every conversation tackling the root cause, whether it is food insecurity, whether it is war. that is in the best interest of people being displaced.

everyone want peace, everyone want to go back to their homes. but unless those factors are addressed, people will keep moving. scott: there is an african proverb that says when the elephant fights, the ground suffers. what we see around the world is the elephants are fighting and all of us are suffering. instead of policies and politics -- i know i am a beating the drum of humanity, but to see that there are organizations that are trying to make a difference, that are hopefully making a difference one person at a time, that is what drives us to see that bellies are full and hearts are healed. and maybe that is a slogan, but it is more of a slogan when the reality is changed. that is why we do what we do. that is why it motivates these distinguished people on this panel, are far more gifted and

educated than i am, but we do this together. i think about the people in the audience and perhaps online. i would love to take you. i would love for you to see the former refugee camp on the border of panama and costa rica. over 2000 people crowded into a half-acre spot with no food, no water, no sanitation. we went in and we fed over 400 people, starting with women and children. especially if you are a woman, we took care of -- especially if you are pregnant woman, we took care of her. because it matters in your heart is changed. i know i'm being a little preachy, sorry, but that is the humanity of it. if we as government organizations, food organizations, partnered with local congregations, local people, i think we could see a difference. we've got a group of guys that are going to pay out of their own pockets to go build a kitchen.

we're not looking for a government subsidy. that would be nice. good gracious. but we are going down to do good, and that is what america has been about. john: that is why we have this public conversation, so that the real citizen can get involved in all this and help wherever they can. ok, questions? just introduce your name and then straight to the question. >> thank you. i'm from george mason university. i guess i headed question -- >> mike's not on. >> oh, there you go. i'm from george mason university. i have a question for everybody, i guess. i'm with an organization that helps refugee students get connected and succeed on campus.

i guess the question is, we talk about compassion and stuff like that -- i guess the question is how do we get connected with people especially in congress? how do we get connected to people and show them what is going on? how do we effectively do that? because i've heard from you guys, it is easy to get really hung up on whether it be smugglers and stuff like that or pinpointing exact things going on but not looking at the broader picture. how do we connect with them and just help them help us, i guess? john: ok, thank you. we want to get one more or two. yeah.

>> is it on? my name is marlene, i'm from norway. we talk a lot about investment and root causes of food insecurity, local projects. you mentioned empowering indigenous leaders, and carrie mentioned structural, political changes. m questiony is how can foreign governments and organizations ensure projects are enduring and transformative long-term, especially when it comes to combating corruption and community inclusiveness? i know we have talked about this, it's a big question, but the main takeaways of what organizations and governments can do better in that department. thank you. john: thank you. one more. ok.

go ahead, go ahead. >> ok, sorry. hi, i'm kate. my question is we talk a lot about agriculture as the root cause, but often times violence increases when people are hungry, they become violent because they are desperate to feed their family or to gain opportunities that are oftentimes not there. we have seen some improvements in the northern triangle related to national security, but i wanted to kind of get your thoughts on how violence -- how hunger contributes to violence we often see in this region of the world. thank you. john: do we have online? >> yeah, from thomas kim, humanitarian policy advocate with care -- in tackling these

root causes, how concurrent modalities of assistance-- can current modalities of assistance be better -- better integrate gender sensitivity into helping communities? john: ok. panelists, we have a lot to work on here. ok, how do we effectively get connected to congress, that's one question. how can foreign governments invest in enduring solutions and addressing corruption, inclusiveness? what is the connection between hunger and violence? how can hunger contribute to violence? a hungry man is an angry man, that is the same. and the current model of assistance incorporating gender-sensitive. so why don't each of you take whatever you take?

let me start with carrie, because you are virtual. among those questions, if you could quickly, because time is coming now, your key take away. one minute each. carrie? carrie: i will respond to i think marlene's question about how can foreign governments invest in more sustainable ways. i would just say that spending more money or making sure that more resources are actually contributed at the local level, the distribution of benefits are really important when we think about foreign investment. as much of the resources that can stay in communities, especially at the grassroots, the local level, that is really important. so much of the funding gets spent just managing and operating these programs. i think there are positive examples of foreign governments investing in ways that stay more

at the grassroots level. i would also say there is the importance of listening and really matching investment efforts to the needs of rural communities and the intended beneficiaries. i think that is often an overlooked step in the process. john: thank you. that's brief. chase, you want to talk about the current model of assistance, effectiveness? chase: there is a couple in it there that i think are directly in my wheelhouse. i think the first question and one of the later questions about food-related instability is an important one. if you haven't checked out "systematically -- "dangerously hungry," report that looks at how food insecurity drives conflict around the planet, from social unrest to interstate conflict. that is a good resource. i don't want to cheapen that relationship, it is complicated,

it is messy. hungry people are not necessarily violent people and a violent people are not necessarily hungry. there is a lot we have to take into account. on congress, it's an open door. you can walk up there right now and knock on your representative's office and tell them what your issue is. it is your house at the end of the day. you do sometimes have to assert that. but your voice is more powerful in the collective. there are ways for you to be joining broader movements and the extent to which you can do that, the more pings an office is going to get, the better. one easy thing you can do if you're interested in hunger specifically -- sounds like it is refugee resettlement or hunger issues -- but you can go to wfpusa.org and that message

is darkly to capitol hill offices. as a staffer, it is difficult to ignore the mountain of comerica -- a mountain of communications coming from people. it does move the needle. john: thank you. rachel, the current model and gender sensitivity. rachel: sure. and i will piggyback on that and say there is a numberless organization called the refugee council -- there is an organization called the refugee council usa and you can see how groups and campuses across the country might want to come together to chase this point and meet with representatives about your issues. on thomas's question about mainstreaming gender protection into current modalities of assistance, there are a number of ways to do that. the first piece is to assess what women and girls need. before you design a program, talk to the people you are going to be accountable to in designing programs.

codesign programs with women and girls, do that together. ensure the evaluation of programs involved the people who are meant to be protected or supported by those programs. those are some very key ways of doing it. essentially the core of that is listening to the people that are affected and being accountable to the people who are impacted by the programs or the funding that is meant to support them. john: all right -- scott: i will piggyback on that just one second. empower women to lead. i'm not being biased here at all, but women addressing women issues, because they understand the issues, like men, we don't. empower women to lead. i'm thankful to my wife, who has shaped my leadership over the

years, and value a woman's voice. we are to be complementary to one another in our genders. rachel, i'm very impressed with you. you are a great leader, so keep it up. whatever that means from an old man, keep it up. john: thank you. time is up, so i'm not going to take more questions. but i want the panelists to have that forward-looking sentiment you can take away from here today. each of them will give the key take away for the audience. and then restart virtually wi-- we start virtually with carrie, and then we will go to rachel, and then we will go to scott, and then we will end with chase. quickly, what is your key take away for the audience, and recognition, whatever you want to say for one minute? carrie: i would reinforce thew

work, the research on the inability to engage with system practices -- assistance practices and decisions to migrate. the inability to practice subsistence agriculture because of land access, climate change, and market forces, things like global coffee prices. i think those are really important factors that don't get enough attention. and even though i'm in agreement with chase, there are just really vast challenges that are difficult to meet within the budgets that folks are working with, i still think that developing programs including feed the future need to continue to improve and better meet the needs of communities, vulnerable communities wealth already -- who are under so much pressure and are making choices to migrate. john: rachel, what is your key

take away? rachel: two. one is to piggyback on the last one. to the extent congress is appropriating funds for latin america, they continue to recognize the importance of keeping that funding coming through regardless of the administration. and create pathways for that funding to trickle down to not just large multilaterals for the u.s. government but local organizations and local leaders so it is actually hitting the communities directly. the other piece relates more broadly to the region, frankly, congress needs to pass comprehensive immigration reform and has not done that in more than three decades. they can really recognize not

only the concerns of u.s. citizens, in particular employers in desperate need of laborers, but to uphold basic rights to announcer: you can finish watching this at c-span.org. to north carolina now, where democratic presidential nominee kamala harris is speaking at a rally. live coverage on c-span. [cheers and applause] >> thank you, everybody. my name is thomas reverend 10 and i am a proud sophomore here at east carolina university. and i think it goes without saying, go pirates! i grew up here in greenville, in a family that lived paycheck-to-paycheck where we

bought store brands, fix things instead of buying new, and we were grateful for what we had. [cheers] from my time working through high school, to now as a student living on my own, i have become keenly aware of the costs of everyday life. and i am planning for my future, thinking about securing a good paying job to support myself, and to save to buy a house. that's why i am so worried about donald trump's project 2025 agenda. we cannot afford the risks he poses to this country. experts say that trump's concepts of a plan could lead to a recession in the first year of

his presidency. which definitely is not the job market that i or my friends want to enter into. they are also warning that he would raise taxes for working folks in north carolina by nearly $4000 a year. that would be a huge hit for families like mine. and it doesn't stop there. economists say that trump's plans would drastically increase inflation, making everyday assessment is like gas and groceries more expensive. families like mine cannot afford donald trump. and young people can't make it in an economy that they have destroyed, or a state that would become the poster child for extremism.

it's clear that donald trump and j.d. vance don't have ecu students' best interest in mind. just look when he came to town for the ecu football game. we lost. and i don't know if you all know this, but he was cheering for ab state. if that's not a disqualification, i don't know what is. but luckily for us, there is another path that we can take. vice president harris understands the dreams of people like me. she's fighting to put our dreams within reach. the dream of someday owning a

home, starting our own business, and protecting our freedom to choose how and when we want to start a family. [cheers and applause] this is the first presidential election that i will be eligible to vote in. [cheers and applause] and i'm excited to support her. because her vision offers the future, and offers something that donald trump and maga republicans don't. and that is hope. [crowd: "vote"]

but for now, it is on us to fight for them. to continue to speak out, to organize our communities, and to show up for our families and our futures and our freedoms. by casting our votes for harris/walz at the ballot box starting this thursday! [cheers and applause] this thursday is the first day of early voting in north carolina and i can't wait to see you all there. and now, the fun part. it is my honor to introduce the next president of the united states, kamala harris.

[cheers and applause] vp harris: north carolina!

good afternoon, north carolina. [cheers and applause] can we hear it for thomas? good afternoon. it is good to be at ecu. and it's so wonderful to be back in north carolina. thank you. it's so good to see you. [cheers and applause] thank you, thank you. this is an auditorium packed

with incredible leaders and i thank you all for taking the time this sunday afternoon, with all that you have going on. i thank you, i thank you. thank you all. i also want to thank state senator smith, state senator hunt, your next lieutenant governor, congressman davis, a proud graduate of ecu. and let's elect josh stein as your next governor. [cheers and applause] and he and governor cooper are not here today because they have been working around the clock with hurricane recovery efforts. we want to always thank them, and all the incredible local, state, and federal leaders who have been working together for north carolina. i was here eight days ago in the aftermath of hurricane helene,

and since then there was another powerful storm, hurricane milton. and our hearts and prayers go out to everyone who has been impacted by these storms. i have spoken to both state and local officials, both republican and democrat, to let them know we will be with you every step of the way as you recover. [cheers and applause] because in times like this, we stand together as one nation. that is who we are. [cheers and applause] so, north carolina. [cheers and applause] we have 23 days until election day. and we are nearing the home

stretch. we are nearing the home stretch. now, listen, let me just say, i know we are really excited to see each other. i could not be more excited to see everyone here. but i'm going to tell you, it is going to be a tight race until the very end. and we are running as the underdog, so we have some hard work ahead of us. but we like hard work. hard work is good work. and with your help, in 23 days, we will win. we will win. we will win. [cheers and applause] yes, we will. we will win. so what we know -- [crowd: we will win] vp harris: and here's why, here's why.

one of the reasons is that we all know, and we are gathered here together, because we know this election really is about two very different visions for our nation. one is focused on the past. the other, ours, focused on the future. ours is a campaign focused on issues that matter, for example, to working families across america, like bringing down the cost of living. investing in small businesses and entrepreneurs. how many small business owners do we have here? [cheers and applause] thank you. we are focused on protecting reproductive freedom. [cheers and applause] we are focused on keeping our nation secure.

but none of that is what we hear from donald trump. [booing] instead, from him, we are just hearing from that same old tired playbook. he has no plan for how he would address the needs of the american people. he is only focused on himself. and he's not -- but here's the thing north carolina, he's not being transparent with the voters. he is not being transparent. so, check this out. he refuses to release his medical records. i've done it. every other presidential candidate in modern era has done it. he is unwilling to do a "60 mi nuters" interview.

like every other major party candidate has done for more than half a century. he is unwilling to meet for a second debate. [booing] and here's the thing. it makes you wonder, it makes you wonder. why does his staff want him to hide away? one must question, one must question. are they afraid that people will see he is too weak and unstable to lead america? is that what's going on? [cheers and applause] so folks, for these reasons and so many more, it is time to turn the page.

it is time to turn the page. because america is ready to chart a new way forward. ready for a new and optimistic generation of leadership. which is why democrats, independents, and republicans are supporting our campaign. because they and we know, we need a president who works for all the american people. and that has been the story of my entire career. i have only ever had one client -- the people. as a young courtroom prosecutor, i've stood up for women and children against predators.

as attorney general of california, i took on the big banks and delivered $20 billion for middle-class families who faced foreclosure. i stood up for veterans and students being scammed by the big for-profit colleges. i've stood up for workers being cheated out of the wages they were due. stood up for seniors facing elder abuse. and as president, it is my pledge to you that i will always fight for all the american people. [cheers and applause] and together, we will build a brighter future for our nation. and that future includes building what i call an opportunity economy, where everyone can compete and have a

real chance to succeed. under my economic plan, we will bring down the cost of housing and help first-time homebuyers with a $25,000 down payment assistance. we will expand medicare to cover home health care for seniors. so more seniors can live at home with dignity, and give more support to the sandwich generation, for those of you who are raising young children and taking care of their parents. and look, i just have to say something about home health care and the need that i know so many people have for health. look, so when my mother was sick after she had been diagnosed with cancer, i took care of her. and for for those of you who have taken care of somebody who

needs that kind of help, it's about trying to cook something that they have a taste for an want to eat. it's about trying to find something that they can wear that is not irritating their skin and is soft enough. it is about trying time and time again to figure out something you can do to bring a smile to their face or make them laugh. it's the work that is about getting folks dignity. but far too many people on this issue of home health care, if you need the support to give that care to your family member, it means either paying down and using as much as you can to be able to afford medicaid, or having to leave your job, which means cutting off the very important part of your income, just to give people in your life the dignity and the support they deserve. that's why i'm saying, we're

going to have medicare cover that home health care, to help you. [cheers and applause] to help you. we will lower costs, including on everything from health care to groceries. i will take on corporate price gouging. i've done it before and i'll do it again. i will give a middle-class tax cut to 100 million americans, including $6,000 during the first year of your child's life knowing that the vast majority of parents have a natural desire to parent their children well, but not always the resources to be able to do it. and so, extending the child tax credit to $6,000 to give folks the ability to be able to buy tha car seatt for that crib in that most fundamental phase in their child's development.

so all this to say, i will always put the middle class and working people first. [cheers and applause] i come from the middle class, and i will never forget where i come from. now, donald trump, well, he has a different plan. [booing] just google project 2025. it is a detailed and dangerous blueprint for what he will do if he is elected president. donald trump will give billionaires and corporations massive tax cuts, cut social security and medicare, make it easier for companies to do not overtime pay for workers -- to deny overtime pay for workers. he will get rid of that $35 cap for insulin for seniors. he would impose what i call a trump sales tax, a 25% tax on

everyday basic necessities, which will cost the average american family $4000 more a year. and on top of all of this, donald trump in tends to end the affordable care act. and he has no plant o replace it. did you see the debate? he has concepts of a plan. ok, so he's going to threaten the health insurance coverage of 45 million people based on a concept? come on. and take us back to when insurance companies had the power to deny people with pre-existing conditions? you know where i'm going. well, we are not going back! [cheers and applause]

no, we're not. no, we're not. [crowd: we're not going back] vp harris: because we will move forward. ours is a fight for the future. and it is a fight for freedom. like the fundamental freedom of a woman to be able to make decisions about her own body, and not have a government telling her what to do. [cheers and applause] because we know donald trump hand selected three members of the united states supreme court with the intention they would undo the protections of roe v. wade, and they did as he intended.

and now, more than one in three women in america lives in a state with a trump abortion ban, including right here in north carolina. many of these bans have no exceptions even for rape and incest, which is immoral to tell a survivor of a violation of their body that they have no right to make a decision about what happens to their body next. that's immoral. and let us agree, let us agree, one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree it should not be the government telling her what to do. not the government. [cheers and applause] if she chooses, she will talk with her priest, her pastor, her rabbi, her iman, but not the government telling her what to do. and when congress passes a bill

to restore reproductive freedom, as president of the united states, i will proudly sign it into law. [cheers and applause] proudly. and north carolina, across our nation, i am telling you, i am traveling, we are witnessing a full on assault on other hard-fought, hard-won freedoms of american life. like the freedom to vote. the freedom to be safe from gun violence. the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride. [cheers and applause] so much is on the line in this election and this is not 2016 or 2020. the stakes are even higher.

because a few months ago, the united states supreme court basically told the former president that he would effectively be immune from whatever he does in office. [booing] but let's think about that. y'all have heard me say, i do believe donald trump is an unserious man. but the effects of him being back in the white house would be brutally serious. just imagine donald trump with no guard rails. he who has vowed if reelected he would be a dictator on day one. that he would weaponize the department of justice against his political enemies. he has called for the, quote, termination -- oh wait, hold on, hold on, hold on.

because here's the thing, here's the thing. let's let the courts handle that, and let's handle november. we'll handle november, how 'bout that? [cheers and applause] because listen, this is what we know. anybody who wants to be president of the united states who has called for the, quote, termination of the constitution of the united states, should never again have the ability to stand behind the seal of the president of the united states. never again! never again. [cheers and applause] and the people who know him best know it. his former national security advisor. two of his former defense

secretaries. his former chief of staff in the white house. his own vice president. have all warned america, donald trump is unfit to serve. or just listen most recently to what we heard general milley said. general milley, former chairman of the joint chiefs under donald trump. it was just reported he said, quote, no one has ever been as dangerous to this country. in referring in referring to donald trump. think about that. think about that. and we can already see what he's up to as a candidate. most recently spreading disinformation in the wake of national disasters.

blocking real solutions that would stop drug cartels from stopping the border when he tried to kill, and did, that border security deal. because you see, donald trump cares more about scaring people, creating fear, running on a problem instead of what real leaders do witches to participate in fixing problems. i care about fixing problems and as president of the united states, i will be focused each and every day on solving problems that affect you and your families. but north carolina, it all comes down to this.

we are here together this sunday afternoon because we you know what is at stake. we are here together this sunday afternoon because we love our country. we love our country. [crowd chanting "usa"] vice pres. harris: that's right. we love our country. i believe it is the highest form of patriotism to fight for our country and to fight to realize the promise of america. the promise of america. election day is in 23 days and in just four days, early voting will begin statewide.

you can go to the polls and cast your ballot. if you haven't already registered to vote, you can do it right then and there. register to vote and vote. now is the time to make you plan to vote. if you have not received your ballot in the mail, look for it. if you have, i would like you to fill it out right away. [laughter] please don't wait. because as my friends say, the election is here. the election is here and remember always that your vote is your voice and your voice is your power. [cheers and applause] and so, north carolina, today i then ask you, are you ready to

make your voices heard? [cheers and applause] vice pres. harris: do we believe in freedom? do we believe an opportunity? do we believe in the promise of america? and are we ready to fight for it? and when we fight -- we win! god bless you and god bless the united states. [cheers and applause]

[applause] >> tomorrow, vice president harris returns to the battleground stay in pennsylvania with a rally in erie. you can watch that live starting

at 5:00 p.m. eastern online at c-span.org or the c-span now, our free video app. > tonight on q and a, historian keith hardage lee, author of the mysterious misses nixon, talks about the life and times of the former first lady. she argues pat nixon, voted most admired woman in the world in 1972 was largely missed portrayed by the press who characterized her as being elusive and plastic. >> plastic pat, this was one of the things that would show the opposite of who she was. it was a real caricature, it was very deliberate, and i think it was done to distinguish between jackie and pat, but it's also kind of a dig at richard nixon. these things are done to all first ladies to get at their husbands and to upset them.

she was the furthest thing from plastic in real life that you could get. she was warm, personable, interested in people and not plastic. >> heath hardage lee with her book, the mysterious mrs. nixon tonight on q and a. you can listen on the free c-span now app. >> c-span's washington journal, our live forum involving you with the latest issues in government, politics, and public policy with washington and across the country. coming up monday morning, doctors oldenburg and andrew do cross with the center for american progress talk health care policy proposals from both vice president harris and former president trump. then mark hugo look what is on the impact and political influence on latino voters in

this year's election. washington journal, join the conversation live at 7:00 eastern monday morning on c-span , c-span now or online at c-span.org. >> with one of the tightest races for control of congress in modern political history, stay ahead with c-span's comprehensive coverage of key state debates. this fall c-span brings you access to the nation's top house, senate, and governor debates from across the country, debates from races that are shaping your state's future and the balance of power in washington. follow campaign 2024 coverage from local to national debates anytime online at c-span.org/campaign and be sure to watch tuesday, november 5 for live, real-time election night results. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics covered by cable.

>> the house will be in order. >> this year, c-span celebrate 45 years of covering congress like no other. since 1979, we have been your primary source for capitol hill, providing balance, unfiltered coverage of government, getting you to where the lessees are debated and decided with the support of america's cable companies. c-span, 45 years and counting powered by cable > in neaska's second congressional district, republican representate don bacon and his democratic challeer tony berg is participated in a debate. nebraska's second district could play a crucial role in the presidential election by providing a sole electoral delegate for the 2024 democrac

nominee kamala harris. the debate was hosted by the omaha press club and w o w t tv. >> now is your time to be loud. let's meet the candidates. this is a sequel from two years ago, democratic challenger state senator tony vargas. [applause] thank you for being here. and the republican for term incumbent, don bacon. >> a journalist is calling me right now. [laughter] >> gentlemen, let's debate. a coin flip to determine the order. that's talk the economy. today u.s. employers added 254,000 jobs, economists say it assigned that the economic growth is solid. the federal reserve lowered

interest rates with the idea that inflation is under control. help me understand how as a congressman you would make my life better. don't tell me what others won't do. what would you do? state senator tony vargas. mr. vargas: for all the individuals here from all different parts of nebraska from participating in democracy, participation of congressman bacon, i want to start off about where i come from. i'm the proud son of immigrants. this is my mother over here. they are very important to me, my parents. they are the reason why i became a school board member and state senator and a public school science teacher. they are also the reason i care about working-class and middle-class individuals. i know what people are going through. we faced it in my household and we are facing it is working-class parents. my wife and ava and luca, i

know that because i've worked the last eight years on working on lowering the cost of living. i've been a member of the budget appropriations committee. we balance budgets, to not only cut costs and reduced spending, but we actually passed two of the largest tax packages in state history. i think that our economy is important for us to invest in. that's why i want to create jobs, invest in higher education but also matters when we reduce spending at the federal level and have a record of doing so in the legislature of nebraska. it matters when we have opportunities to have different leadership. unfortunately for congressman bacon, he has voted to increase taxes on nebraskans. he has voted to take away the opportunity for coverage for 700,000 nebraskans with pre-existing conditions and made it harder for people to afford pre-existing conditions. -- prescription drugs. i think that matters and this is the reason we are running. [applause] >> congressman bacon -- alright

folks. the debate started. what would you do to make life better? rep. bacon: thank you. thank you to the league of women voters. appreciate tony being here. i want to recognize my wife of 40 years. 16 assignments and four terms of doing this. the number one issue facing our country is the economy. why? we had the worst inflation in 40 years. inflation outpaced wages significantly. the average person in this room is 4.2% poorer today than they were four years ago. first of all, the administration with a have control had 3 trillion dollars of supplemental spending and created this terrible inflation. we have been able to stop crazy spending and got inflation back down. tax cuts for those on social security, we will extend tax

cuts to help the middle class. tony said he is from the working-class. the working-class does not miss 20% of their votes, they show up to work. he missed 20% of votes in eight years. 4.5% of the time, that is a poor record defending taxpayers. he voted against them every step of the way and then voted for them at the end. he did propose the largest tax increase in the history of this state. that is his record. >> senator vargas, you have 30 seconds. sen. vargas: i was named a taxpayer defender and voted for $6 billion worth of tax relief that passed. i have been brought to pass more than 65 bills in the legislature

that republican colleagues of mine voted for. it matters when we look at the record of congressman bacon. it is frustrating when he votes to increase taxes and votes against health care costs for nebraskans. >> congressman bacon? rep. bacon: it is not true. i voted for tax decreases. in 2017 we voted to decrease taxes for those who earn $50,000. i believe in making health care more affordable. i have supported the 340b program for cheaper -- the fact is -- one time in eight years. 12.5% of the time is not a taxpayer defender score. >> the next question focuses on younger voters.

a federal judge open the door for student loan forgiveness. it really could affect student loan holders. average student debt is $32,000 in nebraska. at a time college tuition is skyrocketing, why is this not progress? rep. bacon: i disagree with the president doing this by executive order. the house controls the purse. this is an executive branch that is too big. the checks and balances are gone. there are things we can do for students. i believe we can help students redo loanst ath a lower interest rate. eir the universities have to go to each student and said this is what it will cost you for four years. this is likely what she will get with a degree that you are getting. we have to have more

transparency. we want to show the graduation rate for universities. we also have to teach responsibility. i had a choice of colleges to go to. i went to a two-year school because i thought i could afford it, community college and then i went to a four-year school that i thought was most affordable. i was a dishwasher at the university and had to work two jobs during the summer. we have to teach people accountability. we should have more transparency and a lower interest rate. >> senator vargas, 90 seconds. sen. vargas: thank you. i am a former public school science teacher. i have watched on the front lines what it looks like to invest in our public education system. in the legislature i focused on fully funding our education

system. i believe a higher education system needs to work better. this is an example where i disagree with past administrations and the current administration. i do not agree with providing student loan forgiveness in the way it happened. it was not the most economical and pragmatic. it made it harder for working-class individuals like my own dad and mother who did not attend colleges. they do not get the same release. i want to make the middle class work better but it will not matter if we spend beyond our means. i think it is possible for us to reform systems. we can reform the federal pell grant system. it also starts with getting members of congress -- unfortunately for my colleague he has a 28% lifetime record with the national education association. we control within our means and we do so in a bipartisan way and

that is what i plan to do in congress >> congressman bacon, 30 seconds. rep. bacon: there was a vouchers vote. the biggest bill on education. how did tony vote? one of the 20% of the time he would not vote yes or no. that was a significant vote. one thing i believe we can do better is also offer more trades, whether high school, junior high or post-high school. one of the main things he has focused on was getting more of our youth into the trade programs. it is the best way to get folks out of poverty. >> senator vargas, 30 seconds. sen. vargas: i think the trades is important for us to invest in. it is why i have tried to focus on making it easier for people within the middle class to get a pathway to getting a job just like my dad.

i am proud to have ibw with me today. i'm proud to have the endorsement of organized labor across the state. it still matters when we have a record against supporting education especially when it comes to making sure it is fully funded. >> when voters are deciding who to pick between you two, there are countless ballot initiatives that garner tens of thousands of signatures to get to this point. nebraska law are regarding abortion, illegal after the 12th week. there are two petitions voters will be voting on. in the most basic sense one is about abortion rights, the other restrictions. how would you vote and why on your ballot? senator vargas, you have 90 seconds. sen. vargas: i think democracy is important.

the history of nebraska having these ballot initiatives is our opportunity -- to make sure our voices are heard. voters get the opportunity to weigh in. this is another example. i will support the measure that listens to women and protects their freedoms and not the one that is trying to further restrict them. i think my record in the legislature of voting on behalf of women's freedoms is important. i also think it matters and we have members of congress -- it does frustrate me when individuals, an original cosponsor of an abortion ban -- that is what congressman bacon did. he cosponsored it three different times. there are no exceptions to the life of the mother for rape or incest. i think it matters when his

record of voting against women and health care decisions are ultimately what we will be deciding on this ballot in november. i am proud to stand on behalf of women. i do not think politicians should tell women what they can and cannot do with their bodies. [applause] >> let's keep that down. that is why some places do not have live debates. rep. bacon: i believe god created us. we are created in god's image and we have a soul. i will support the nebraska law. reasonable restrictions and exceptions for rap and inceste and the health of the mother. i will support the law with exceptions. he knows better. the bill he mentioned never mentions abortion or ivf. it is demagoguery.

the top issues in the country our economy, border and crime. he needs to craft something he can get ahead with because he is losing on the other issues. reasonable exceptions. he has been asked for years what restrictions he would like. there are only seven countries in the world out of 200 that have abortion until birth. that is where he stands. the inhumanity of an eight months or nine months child that is liable with a healthy mom -- that is where he stands. he is on the extreme end of this. most nebraskans do not want where tony is out, no restrictions. most of europe is at where nebraska is that right now -- three or four months. we are with the western world, not the extremes. sen. vargas: i do not support abortion on demand. i have said that many times in

the past. what does matter is when i look at my five-year-old daughter and when roe v. wade fell, it was the first time my daughter had less rights than my wife. this is the reason i support not only women's reproductive freedom and rights and i will stand up against don bacon and his cosponsorship of abortion bans that will take away those rights. rep. bacon: there is no mention of abortion or ivf. he was asked if he would support restrictions at nine months and he said no. eight months, no. for a healthy mom and healthy baby. he has been asked what restrictions he would support and it is always none. >> next question is on immigration. nearly 1 of every 10 nebraska workers are immigrants. when former president trump

talks about, in part, fixing the border crisis, or mass deportation, explaining it would be part of his plan, how would it work and how would it impact other deportation safeguards? rep. bacon: i do not believe it will work. we should be looking at who is here as a convicted murderer or convicted of sexual assaults. we know the number is around 26,000. we should focus on those not welcome in our country based on a criminal past. not just vote in the house and pass in the house the restrictive border security bill. we will have border security, more judges and processing capabilities. also, remain in mexico. i believe our country should have expanded legal immigration. what we have seen in the last four years, 10 million folks coming here illegally, 8 million

through the southern border. with a drug problem, losing 100,000 people per year. many people want to come here at work but there is a criminal element. we have seen innocent people get murdered in our country because of this policy. we need to have a policy that is remain in mexico, get screene for whether or not you should come here or notd. if you get approved, come here, you get a job permit and we can get you a job. we need to have a better legal immigration process but we cannot have the unfettered border that we had the last four years. sen. vargas: i am a product of working-class immigrants. it is an important part of my story. it is also why i am proud to be a former public school science teacher. i am listening to constituents about border security and this

is a priority for me. it is a priority because i see what is happening in congress. this is the most ineffective congress we have seen in any generations. it is not my opinion. it is fact. not only is this congress right now unable to get things done, but when there is the strongest bipartisan legislation in the u.s. senate, led by a republican, that could actually address border security, supported by law enforcement and the border security administration, it took donald trump telling individuals like don bacon not to vote on this or bring it forward because it will hurt his chances politically. but i care about is trying to come across the aisle on working on issues that will solve the problems. we cannot afford to have a congress that will only hold onto power. when don bacon did not tell his speaker of the house, we need to

vote on this bill, it tells me he cares more about the speaker and trump that he does about nebraskans. rep. bacon: we have to do government 101 with esther vargas because it did not pass the senate. if it does not pass the senate it does not come to the house. he is a friend of mine, -- if it could have made it through the senate i would have likely voted for it because it would have been a bipartisan bill but it could not make it out of the senate because it was 5000 a day. he does not vote 20% of the time. if anyone here did not work 20% of the time, they would get fired. sen. vargas: i bring up the senate to vote or the senate bill in particular because it matters that he had the opportunity to bring in a bill just like that that would have

gotten bipartisan support in the house. but when trump tells him to do something he has stepped up and said we will not vote on that issue. we will not bring those solutions to nebraska. my record in the legislature matters. 65 bills passed. tax relief that i voted for the past on behalf of nebraskans. >> next questions. this week omaha's police chief talked about a trend. officers are recovering guns like never before. it is putting law enforcement in his view into a precarious position understanding the more guns a cop crosses, the more chance for a tragedy. 6 in every 10 americans favor stricter gun laws and it is too easy to get a gun in america. why can't this be fixed? mr. vargas, what would you do about the prevalence of guns?

sen. vargas: i'm very proud of my two nebraska raised kids. when i think about our affairs when it comes to gun violence, it is personal for me and my wife. i want to make sure our communities are safer. it is the reason why i support common sense gun legislation. the majority of nebraskans and americans also support common sense gun control. it is the members elected that have voted against bipartisan solutions. congressman bacon voted against a bipartisan bill that had 29 members of his own party coming across the aisle to actually vote for and support. when you vote against something that is bipartisan that would make our community safer also supported by law enforcement, you are voting against the public safety of our communities.

i want to work on bipartisan legislation that will advance the issue. i want to continue to fund law enforcement, like i did with $37 billion in the legislature. >> congressman bacon, a minute and a half. rep. bacon: a lot of platitudes, a lot of buzzwords, no meat. do not let violet people out early. early parole for all criminals, he is pushing that. he has tried to take away mandatory minimums. the one major thing he has done in eight years is make it harder to hold juveniles that are violent. the best thing we can do, violent people, serve your time, do not do cashless bail. people are buying guns and

giving them to folks who are not supposed to have them and not being prosecuted. we need to do better. his one major accomplishment was he made it hard to hold dangerous delinquents. we have at a 100% increase in juvenile violent crime. folks have been arrested five times and then released. they say tony vargas' amendment is tying their hands behind their back. we had two people murdered by juveniles who had been arrested five times. they say it is tony vargas' amendment. it is costing people's lives. 100% of police endorsed me. they know what you are about. sen. vargas: i think what matters is i voted for $37 million for law enforcement.

law enforcement across this country supported to make our community safer. to make my own family and my kids and every single child across nebraska safer in their communities. not voting against a bipartisan solution tells me when you talk about being bipartisan and you vote against these things that make our communities safer, you are voting against nebraskans. rep. bacon: 100% of the sheriff's and the county attorneys support me. 100% of the omaha police voted for me. why? he was protesting deb in the summer of 2 -- he was protesting them in the summer of 2020. he was protesting our police, son and daughters. i stand with our police. we had more police injured in the summer of 2020 than on

january 6, you did not stand with the cops. >> the question is what would you do with guns? [laughter] [applause] [no audio] sen. vargas: i think there is common sense gun safety legislation that would not only enhance background checks, they would make sure we are supporting the kind of training that is needed. it matters when you vote against bills in the legislature. that would have made our community safer and addressed gun safety legislation and he has not been responding to his vote against bipartisan gun legislation. rep. bacon: if you have good due process on the front side and the backside, that is good. the red flag laws do not have that. there was a red flag law, people

are coming into get financial counseling. the aclu said it was wrong. you put people like tony in front of the red flag laws, you will lose your second amendment rights. very strong constitutional was strong due process and that bill did not have it. >> the u.s. supreme court subjected itself to a code of ethics. many argue there are many loopholes and it is still -- there are much more regulations for other judges. a member of congress has to follow ethics rules with accountability. why is it so hard for the u.s. supreme court to do and cannot be trusted to judge themselves? -- and can day be trust -- can they be trusted to judge themselves? rep. bacon: they should have

stronger rules. i have to report every year -- i have to file things. the supreme court is under attack in some ways because you have a 6-3 in the supreme court so they have been a pretty good target from the left. i would be a leader and say -- we cannot be taking paid vacations from people. they have open themselves up to criticism. we talk about ethics violations, tony took $60,000 from a dark money group. it was in the washington examiner. it helps pay for his housing, food and utilities. that is what they said. that looks like an illegal contribution.

$60,000 he put in his pocket. it looks like an illegal contribution. ethics violations, he is under the scope right now. sen. vargas: i think you are highlighting one of the reasons we do read -- reasons we need renewed civility in this country. it matters what our record is. when there are investigations, there have been ethics violations that have been brought from pro public identifying issues. the real answer to this question is congress has a responsibility to make sure we uphold the laws which also applied to other branches of government. we need to make sure there is no impropriety within our supreme court. not to allow these miss dealings. it is why it is really important we talk about congressman bacon,

this actual instance was brought by investigative journalism that claims investigations. he did a political favor for donald's media company and cut the line for immigration and did it knowingly and told his staff to do so. i think it matters when we have these power plays that do political favors and we cannot have that kind of system in d.c. and we should be holding individuals accountable. rep. bacon: i would request local media to pry into how he took $60,000 from a dark money group and put it in his pocket. why are reporters not digging into this? i do 700 visas and passports for constituents every year -- 700. i treat them all the same. i don't care who you are. i will treat requests the same

way. i did it for this gentleman who is a constituent and work for trump. he would politicize his constituent services if he did not like them. sen. vargas: i think what you heard from congressman bacon is he said he would do it for everybody. an interview with a former member of his team said he was told to do so by don bacon even against her own ethical misgivings. it matters that we hold elected officials accountable to the kind of character we need in congress right now at this moment. >> next question, a tornado to a hurricane force wind. a good chunk of the nation has been battered by hurricane helene.

wild fires burning longer, wider, extreme heat getting hotter. longer droughts. a human report says fossil fuels are by far the biggest contributor to climate change. mr. vargas, are we moving away from fossil fuels fast enough? sen. vargas: no, no we are not. we need to make sure we are providing a balanced approach to renewable energy and energy for this country. i'm a former public school science teacher. i care whether or not we are educating our communities and schools and whether or not we are leaving earth, land and water in a better place than we found it. climate change is real. we need to address it. we need jobs that will reduce our carbon footprint. and making sure we have a diverse set of energy sources.

we cannot just go in one direction. i also think it matters we are not investing in these jobs. this is an opportunity to raise wages for nebraskans to make it possible for people to be in the middle class. and voting against these bills is voting against nebraskans having an opportunity to have a piece of the american dream. this is one of the reasons why i am running. i believe we need these jobs and i want to make sure we are investing in them. so not only taking care of our country and our climate but also the middle class. >> mr. bacon, a minute and a half. rep. bacon: i brought in $5 billion in infrastructure spending. i brought in thousands of jobs to this district. and i have saved thousands of jobs with the infrastructure money we brought in. he talks about the chips act. that was $275 billion for one industry.

it was $75 billion. i thought it was outrageous. i am a supporter of all of the above energy. the work i did in 2017 got solar and wind energy tax credits put back into tax law. i heard from constituents. i went to the ways and means chairman and got them put back in. i worked on geothermal as well. natural gas will be the way of the future for a while. it burns cleaner than coal. we have the world's largest supplies. we should be energy independent here. we should be supplying europe so we can get them off russian energy, iranian energy and so forth. nuclear is the future. france is 95% nuclear. they import zero from russia. nuclear is the way we have clean energy and it is safer pray the

new technology is incredible. and help incentivize to expand on sustainable farming techniques. that was my bill with abigail spanberger from virginia. sen. vargas: the bill he talked about, the chips act, he said he voted against hundreds of thousands of nebraska and american jobs, opportunities for the mill class to grow. i want to make sure it is easier for people to save because i know where i came from. i also know that times are tough and we are not creating the kind of jobs in our own country. those jobs would've made us more competitive across the globe. more competitive against china. when you talk about this type of not only sector, this sector is a game changer for the kind of opportunity, the kind of benefits that would've made it easier for the working class.

that is why it is clear to me that when he votes against bills that make the working class easier that we need to hold him accountable. rep. bacon: when he said hundreds of thousands of jobs it is laughable. it is not true. he said $3 trillion in supplemental spending. now we are looking at $270 billion over one industry for some of the wealthiest companies. i don't think it was right. we are spending too much it is it is. i will come back to my original thought. i've done $5 billion in infrastructure in this district in the last eight years. no one has done that before. new airport, bridges, natural gas pipelines. i could go on. sewer infrastructure. we have brought thousands of jobs here and we protected thousands of jobs. like at the air force base.

>> quick follow-up. voters a lot of times like to know on the most macro scale. senator vargas, do you drive a hybrid electric vehicle? sen. vargas: i do not. i drive a jeep. rep. bacon: i drive a 10-year-old chevy impala. [laughter] >> next question. this is a little more serious. we have had ukraine and russia at war. israel at war with hamas and hezbollah. mr. bacon, should the united states continue to be the world's police force, if it is not in manpower, it is the checkbook? rep. bacon: we are the world's superpower for freedom. nobody can stand in our spot and ensure the values of freedom and free markets. if we hide behind our borders, there will be a big void and russia, china and iran will fill it.

i have learned as a five-time commander i deployed five times in the middle east, saw combat two times. i don't want our men and women in combat if we can help it. but in this case, we have an opportunity to help ukraine win with weapons. russia is doing this invasion. it's a barbaric invasion. if we don't help, they will fall. you will see other countries around the periphery fall as well. we have to stand up to a bully. china is looking at how we handle this and looking at taiwan. we have to support our ally israel. they were attacked october 7. 1200 people murdered. they just had 180 ballistic missiles fired from iran. if we don't stand with israel, they will fall. i believe it is our moral and spiritual calling to help israel survive as a jewish state safe , a haven for jews all over the world from 2000 years of persecution. we have to support our allies

and support the values that russia, china, iran and north korea. this unholy alliance. they don't support our values. if we are not there our world , will be a more dangerous place and they will be at our border. sen. vargas: it's ok when we agree on issues of national security and i believe we do. we need to make sure that we are not only responsive to russia and making sure we are supporting ukraine, but that we're also supporting israel. we have a responsibility to not only be a support to our allies across this entire globe, i think we have a mandate to. it is the way that we not only have a responsibility to be a good neighbor but it is the definition of what it means to be a good ally. in good times and bad we say we stand with you and will support you with the reinforcement of aid and military and support

that is needed. it is our response ability to make sure we protect democracy. i also believe we have an understanding to make sure we counteract this at every single level of government. i do see there is a dissonance even within right now and jd vance how they will support both israel and ukraine. i 100% will make sure to find that they get the support they need. it is within our interests and what it means to be a strong ally. rep. bacon: he is from the jewish federation, a great friend of mine, and i appreciate tony saying he is against anti-semitism and supports israel. i wish he was more open about it. we need more people to stand up and say what is going on on our college campuses. i want to stand by our jewish-american friends. we have to be clear

anti-semitism is repugnant to the values of being an american. sen. vargas: congressman bacon, i think we should be telling truths. i cosponsored resolution on the eve of october 7 to make sure we were not only condemning hamas but we are unequivocally supporting israel. also doing so when we have legislation brought forward. and standing by our community. it is the reason i continue to stand by not only israel but ukraine because we need to stand by our allies when they have their backs against the wall. >> this summer the supreme court overturned the chevron doctrine. an agency could reasonably interpret a statute if congress did not spell it out. in your view, will this slowdown agencies doing business because they need courts to determine details or will it prevent rogue

actors from their own ideas? sen. vargas: i think it is our responsibility to be reactive to these issues. company is playing a bigger role in policy, the need to be partners in this. i want to make sure we are thinking about the taxpayer and the costs and how it is trickling down to how they are feeling. it is one reason i believe when we look at what the middle class is going through, i want to make sure we are addressing the price gouging we have seen over several years. they should be doing everything they can to lower the cost within reason. it also matters when we have a congressman and it frustrates the taxpayer who has voted against price gouging measures that would lower cost for nebraskans. it increased taxes for the middle class. donating to campaigns rather

than siding with you. i am fighting to make sure we control the costs. we can work with companies but we ultimately do need to address this kind of price gouging happening in our communities on behalf of the communities and nebraskans. rep. bacon: total baloney about a tax increase. silly stuff. you spoke up in october about israel. where were you december, january, march, all the way through now. saying it once or twice in this environment is not enough. we had bureaucrats legislating that congress was supposed to point out what was done. the executive branch is supposed to execute the law. what we have seen since woodrow wilson was we gave too much power to bureaucracy to interpret.

massive policy fluctuations. congress legislates, bureaucrats execute the law. we got so out of whack with that. what he did for the businesses of consumers, they would do it in then four years later with the new administration they would get different rules and it would cost them tons of money. chevron was a good case because it will provide predictability to our free market system and to our consumers. if we have to change the policy, congress changes policy. a lot of congressmen like this because they do not have to legislate. we have to take the tough votes. tony would not know about that. he votes presence, not voting 20% of the time. sen. vargas: i hope we notice that he did not respond to voting against lowering the

price gouging that is happening that we are actually talking about right now. it also matters when you are talking about congress legislating and standing up for the american people, project 2025 is a very real document. the authors have a plan in place as soon as they see a republican majority that wins. the same authors are donors of congressman bacon. the same pacs and special interests that support him are more likely to listen to him the nebraskans. when we see the amount of special interest money and donations coming through, it is very clear he has a responsibility to be accountable to that. rep. bacon: do i get an extra minute? let's talk about 2025.

i have not read it, i do not plan on reading it. i do not know anyone who has read it. it is a democrat bogeyman. the issues are not on their side. the economy, the border. i do not know a single person in my circle who has read it. i am about project nebraska 02. $5 billion in infrastructure spending. i increased the jobs in this district. project ne02 is better. >> if someone moved to omaha and turned on the tv he or she would not be out of line to think voters would elect one of you and you two are the worst people in the world. [laughter] based on commercials. your campaign is to stay positive but it is the outside money, the spending on negative ads over which you have no

control. are you ok with that? if so, what are you doing to fix the system and do you want others to speak for you? rep. bacon: it is frustrating when you see your record distorted. every survey i have filled out, it said protect the life of the mother. i do not mind hard ads if they are truthful and it is a real problem. my goal is to not attack tony -- there are a lot of things i think are bogus. i don't believe in the files ads made up or one comment that is twisted. it is more about the outside spending. the courts have looked at it and say it is freedom of speech. to restricted, you are

restricting other people's read him of speech. i grapple with that. i do not like lies and distortion but if you are a farmer banning together with other farmers, it is your right to support a candidate you like. i have the support of 65% of local labor here in omaha. i am looking at one of them nodding his head yes. if we curtail people's ability to spend on these ads than we are curtailing their freedom of speech and i struggle with that. sen. vargas: i think all the dark money coming in -- the money that matters are the taxpayers' money when they want to support a candidate. it is one reason why it is an opportunity for us to right the ship. if we cannot work on something

where we agree this money should not have an influence on politics, we will continue to have these negative ads. i think it matters that wendy's ad -- i think it matters when these ads -- congressman bacon said he had an exception for the life of the mother. why did you cosponsor a full abortion ban in the constitution three different times for no exceptions for rape or incest? no protections for contraception? why cosponsor three different times if you did not believe? these ads need to be called out and both sides will do that but what really matters is when we hold ourselves accountable to voting records. rep. bacon: he took $60,000 from a dark money group and put it in

his pocket to help pay bills. it is under investigation. he is speaking with a forked tongue. it does not mention ivf. . it is a matter of principle as a christian that unborn children deserve protections. they are human. the author of this bill never intended to ban abortions. it is a matter of principle we believe it. sen. vargas: to the allegations he has been spreading, there is no propriety to the investigation he is talking about. it is simply republicans and the dark money trying to make something out of nothing. what i think does matter is when we have a record of looking at the people donating to congressman bacon, when the authors of project 2020 five or

donating to congressman bacon, heekin said he does not read it or does not plan but they can make sure he is enacting the plan. we should make sure we hold them accountable. >> this next question talks about foreign land ownership in nebraska. foreign countries own nearly 2% of agricultural land. mr. vargas, is this a threat or is it the free market at work? sen. vargas: 1, we need to make sure we are addressing housing prices and availability for different options of land and housing. it is an opportunity for us to make sure we are being reactive and responsive to the needs of nebraskans. it is why i have worked on a lot of different housing issues in nebraska. record number of dollars so we can lower the average market price in our communities. republicans no there is a

bipartisan's -- republicans know there is a bipartisan solution to the problem. it matters we are working across the aisle with the industries that support this. home builders, realtors and other members working in the sector have supported by legislation because they know it will make the american dream more possible for nebraskans, possible for my family, mother, father and every single person trying to figure out how to afford their first home and make ends meet on their mortgage and the rent. rep. bacon: -- i'm glad he admitted. i have my retirement and my income and i do not pocket any money. he admits he just did.

you talk about foreign land being bought. i have a bill passed out of committee that will say they have to give a full accounting of how much land is being purchased primarily by china. we have indications that china is buying land by hour bases and we want an accounting of how bad is this problem. right now it is a lot of guesswork. we got it out of committee and it will pass out of the house and i believe it will have good support in the senate. i believe it will be one of the 11 or 12 bills that we get done. it is important to know how much china is buying and where it is buying it. it is not the only actor but an important one. we talk about 04 to will housing. right now i'm trying to incentivize the use of manufactured homes. they are a third of the cost of normally built homes.

this is an opportunity. i'm also trying to incentivize our police. and also fire fighters to get them half-price on homes and hud home so we can incentivize them to go to where they are needed. >> 30 seconds, mr. vargas. mr. vargas: i believe we need to make sure we are stating the facts and congressman bacon continues to state lies with investigations concocted by special interests across the country and it is wrong but i also expect better from someone that talks about civility. i worked to try to make sure that housing is more affordable across the country, the state. by lowering the costs for nebraskans, by investing and incentivizing in the kind of housing opportunities that will make it possible for the american dream. it is my record and something i will keep working on in

congress. congressman bacon: he supported those policies that created inflation which created high interest rates. those are some the biggest issues right now. if republicans come in -- i have 10 bills passed out of the house. i'm working hard. we stopped the crazy spending and inflation is back to normal. those are some of the most important things we can do right now. the lowering interest rates is the key thing that we can do for the housing market right now. >> we are getting close to wrapping up where you will each have two minutes for your closing arguments. this is the last question. you will have 30 seconds and no rebuttal. winner take all is off the table for the election which means the district, the most purple of all in the state could make a big difference in the race for the white house. mr. bacon, are you are the mindset of many political

scientists who say that if winner takes all was in effect none of the major candidates would come to omaha and omaha would lose its relevance? rep. bacon: i'm of the view that we should -- i'm of the view that all 50 states should do what we do. this creates huge distortions down ballot. $20 million being spent nationally. i wish all 50 states did what we did and it would be a more fair process by all. mr. vargas: i've been proud to represent this community for the last 11 years, 10 years in office. i'm also proud that in the legislature we have worked on bipartisan solutions. past legislatures for decades have maintained an independence because they believe in the voices of nebraska's second district. you have to earn the votes.

it is also the reason why donald trump won in 2016 and biden won it in 2020. unfortunately for congressman bacon is taking away the electoral vote process because donald trump told him to and was graciously awarded with an endorsement from mr. trump and that tells me he cares more about mr. trump than our electoral independence. >> congressman bacon, you have two minutes. rep. bacon: we have the highest rate of growth of anywhere in the united states. i'm so proud to be here and i'm proud to have been a part of it. what do we do? we have brought in 5 billion dollars in investments here which brings jobs, more employment, higher wages. i'm proud of my record. i had to do it through hard work. the center of lawmaking effectiveness rated me the number one in the house.

this is -- number two overall, the committee looks at six different factors and reach people on their bipartisanship. there are four people out of all of the house, senate and governors, four got a perfect score and i was one. i get things done. what does this mean for us? we have $1.4 billion to rebuild it and 10,000 jobs there. we rebuilt camp ashlan after the floods. $48 million. we will have the first modernization of 40 years at huntley. i got $70 million to do that. we have an international air force -- airport that goes

directly. what does this mean for our country? i've been the most effective advocate for our nations national security and defense than anyone. the center of effective lawmaking rates me number one when it comes to our defense. i've served as chairman where we had 31 changes made for the quality of our airmen, servicemen, 2 million of them and now i'm the chairman of the cyber warfare's -- warfare committee. i ask for your vote. it is been a privilege to serve you. >> senator vargas, two minutes. sen. vargas: thank you for moderating and for the league of women voters and my wife and my mother. i appreciate you participating in democracy. i love this community.

i've raised my two puerto rican-nebraskan kids here and this is home for us. my parents taught me the values of working-class values because you cannot forget where you came from and who you serve. that is who -- that is why i became a science teacher. i love this community. it is the reason why i went across the ir and voted to actually provide tax relief and was named a taxpayer defender. it is also the reason why i fought for our law enforcement funding, a training center, their pensions and their pay and it is a reason why i'm proud to receive the endorsement of organized labor. it is also the reason why it matters to me that i will fight to lower your cost of living. because times are tough. but i also think it matters that when there is an opportunity to stand up for bipartisan solutions, and you've heard many brought up today, congressman bacon had an opportunity and voted against them.

when you only listen to whatever the party bosses tell you or what donald trump tells you, that is when you take a -- take away our electoral voting independence. that is when you cosponsor the most extreme abortion ban in the constitution three different times with no exceptions. and then when you increase taxes on the middle class and continue to make it hard for working-class families to afford their health care and say hell, yes, to repealing nebraskan's coverage for pre-existing conditions, we get to hold you accountable in november for voting against nebraskans. thank you so much for participating in democracy. i appreciate you and i hope i can earn your vote this november 5. [applause] >> thank you for agreeing to the

debate letting voters know where you stand. good luck on election day. a special things to >> tonight on q&a, historian heath lee talks about the life and times of the former first lady, pat nixon. she argues that pat nixon was largely missed portrayed by the press, who characterized her as being elusive and plastic. >> plastic pat. this was the opposite of who she really was. it was a caricature. it was deliberate and i think it was done to distinguish between jackie and pat but it's also kind of a dig at richard nixon.

something done to all first ladies to get at her husband and upset them. she was as far from plastic in real life that you could get. she was not plastic. >> the mysteous mrs. nixon tonight at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span's q&a. you can listen to q&a and all of our podcasts on our free c-span now app. >> the house will be in order. >> c-span celebrates 45 years of covering congress like no other. since 1979, we have been your primary source for capitol hill, providing balanced, unfiltered coverage of government, taking you to where policy is debated and decided with the support of america's cable companies. c-span, 45 years and counting, powered by cable. >> president biden traveled to

florida skull coast to survey hurricane milton damage and recovery efforts. he also participated in an aerial tour, received an operational briefing, and met with first responders and local residents. his remarks are about 20 minutes. pres. biden: hello, folks. just been with a number of homeowners wiped out and coast guard and fire department.

i'm in florida for the second time in two weeks, and to survey the damage of another catastrophic storm. hurricane milton. thankfully its impact was not as cataclysmic as we predicted. but two on top of within another seems to be getting worse. but for some individuals it was cataclysmic. all those folks who not only lost their homes but those who lost their lives, lost family members, lost all of their personal belongings. entire neighborhoods are flooded and millions without power. earlier this morning i did an aerial tour of st. petersburg and the battered coastline. i flew over drop can into field

and the roof is almost completely off but thank god not many were injured. i spoke to first responders who are working around the clock. i also met with mall business owners here and homeowners. they have taken a real beating in back-to-back storms and they are heartbroken and, -- exhausted and their expenses are piling up. i know from experience how devastating it is to lose your home. several years ago my home was struck by lightning. the thing i was most concerned about was not just the home but was all those things pres. biden: all the pictures i saved that my daughter will drawn when she was little, family photographs and albums and things that really matter. folks, the fact is that when you

lose your wedding room, old photos, family keepsakes things that can't be released and sometimes that is the part that hurt the most. i'm standing next to the mayor here and chairwoman peters. both their homes were damaged in hurricane milton. the mayor's home flooded, family vehicles washed away. experienced significant damage in the past two storms. just finished rebuilding and suddenly back in. now they have to do it all over again. both their families lost precious personal belongings. but they stepped up not only to look out for themselves but help other families, help their neighbors. that is the resilience of the people of west florida. i want to thank them and all the public officials who suffered

consequential losses but are doing things to help other people who had serious losses. it matters. the american people should know the sacrifices they are making. they have been steadfast partners as well. we have been in frequent contact and it is moments like this we come together to take care of each other, not as democrats or republicans but as americans, americans who need help and americans who would help you if you were in the same situation. we are within united states, within united states. i also came to talk about all the progress we have made. it is a whole government effort from state and local to fema to u.s. coast guard, army cause of engineers, department of defense just to name a few. fema has delivered 1.2 million meals, over 300,000 liters of

water and 2,000,000 gallons of fuel and installed satellite terminals to restore communications so families can contacts their loved ones to be sure everything is ok and reach out for help. speaking of help, so far we have 10 disaster recovery centers in florida with more to come so people can have one stop to meet with officials and get the federal health that they are entitled to and no interest payment loans, mortgage relief and so much more and being go online to disaster assistance gave or call 1-800-621-fema. yesterday after i signed the major disaster declaration more than 250,000 floridians registered for help. the most in a single day ever in

the history of this countries. 250,000. i know you are concerned about the debris removal. we are working with state and local partners to clear roads and get wreckage off properties so more folks can return home and businesses can receive much needed deliveries of food, medicine, other essentials. that is a priority for me. power is also being restored it over 2 million people in a matter of days. thanks to tens of thousands of power workers from 43 states and canada working nonstop even more people will have more power restored soon. today i'm proud to announce 612 million dollars to six new cutting edge projects to support communities impacted by these hurricanes including 47 million dollars for utilities and

another $47 million for florida power and light. this funding will not only restore power but make the power system stronger and more capable and reduce the frequency and duration of power outages we extreme weather events -- we extreme weather events become more frequent. we were able to restore power because of things i did as vice president to enforce the grids. that means the power prosecute it is produced to homes and businesses. we have been hardening the grid by burying transmission lines and replacing wood power amaze will concrete or composite poles so they don't snap.

we have other cutting technology. i'm here to personally say thank you to the brave first responders, men and women in uniform, utility workers. look at the numbers that showed,from around the country, from canada, california, nebraska, all over the country, to come here to help. healthcare personnel, neighbors helping neighbors an -- and so many more. it is a team effort. you made a big difference and it saved lives but there's much more to do. we are going to do everything we can to get power back in your homes not only helping you recover but build back stronger. god bless you all adds -- and may gods protects our to first responders and protects our troops. i will turn it over to secretary

granholm. >> i would like to echo the president's response to the first responders and utility crews who have stepped forwards to help in our time of need here and in the other affected states. d.o.e. continues to work with the utility sector to make sure you have what you need. i'm pleased to say about 75% of the pure has been restored across florida and most believing that by the end of tuesday the vast majority will be online. the unprecedented intensity of the damage and disruptions overwhelmingly underscore the actions that the biden-harris administration has taken to harden the grid against extreme weather including the new investments the president announced for the southeast.

when we took office we knew the grids were suffering in decades of underinvestment. there was dire needs for it and they got funding in the bipartisan infrastructure law. before the president's announcement today since the passage of that law the department of energy has allocated roughly $680 million to grids resilience projects just in the states that have been affected by hurricanes mills ton and helene -- mills ton and helene and roughly doubles with matching investments in states and utilities and several were under way for example undergrounding the power lines, raising substations in the face of flooding, installing technology on the grid that can identify blackouts before they happen and

shorten them when they do happen. technology that increases transmission capacity so the power can move where and when it is needed most. so, the announcements of additional $612 million the president made today will mean we will have seen $2.5 billion investment in these states it make the grid more resilient, a combined investment from the department of network, states and private utilities and the partnerships are critical to making these projects successful and bringing resilience to families and businesses across the southeast. they are not going to prevent the next storm but they will certainly make sure that in the coming years we can respond and recover more quickly. so, to the people of florida as the president has said, we will be here for you as long as it takes. thank you. with that i would like to bring

up the mayor of st. pete. >> thank you, maddux -- madame secretary. mr. president, i want to thank you for coming here today to see the devastation and destruction with your own eyes. we thank you for your support during this difficult an historic time. like so many of my neighbors my family and i felt the full force first of hurricane helene and also milton. after the floodwaters of helene hit we thought we could begin to recover patching windows, cleaning debris and trying to get back to something like normalcy. as we began it finds our footing here comes mills ton and another wave -- mill -- milton.

trees,pulled up. homes destroyed and like so many in our town, my wife and i we thought we are concerned about our safety, about the future of our town. i have walked these streets and seen with destruction and sat with families that have lost so much and seen businesses struggling it reopen. i have first happened felt the emotional and economic toll these storms have taken on all of us. but one thing remains true. we are americans. we have been beaten, we have been battered but we will not be broken. we are resilient and we will rebuild. we can not do this without the incredible support of fema, state, county, first responders and your administration, mr. president. the resources that you have helped provide have been a life line to my family and community

and neighbors. on behalf of all st. pete beach you have our sincerest gratitude. we know the road to recovery is long and today i ask for your continuous support to bridge the gap between where we are today and where we need to be in the future. we need help to ebuild infrastructure and provide assistance to families. the urgent needs are clear. we need economic relief and federal resources and a path to ensure our community and other cities who are devastated like this town can emerge stronger tan ever before. together, with your support we can and will rebuild. thank you for standing with us.

>> it is very good to be here and i love to see our first responders who have done an outstanding job. i can tell you that the county is working diligently to get our water running, sewer systems back up and with duke energy following them to cut down trees to make sure they can get the power grids up and running. we have worked closely with the state and i cannot thank our governor and state officials enough. they have done an amazing job to helps with re-- to help us with removal of debris and get the port open to get gasoline and gets businesses running. i have spoken with the president and his staff and they are working tirelessly to send assistance and i'm very grateful to the way the president has responded. i think he's done an outstanding

job and i'm truly grateful. i sent a letter to the state which will then go to the white house asking for just at a minimum to merge the two storms. can you imagine if we had to separate our debris this is helene debris and this is milton debris. there's no possible way we would be able to do that effectively and efficiently. by merging the two into one disaster will help expedite a lot of red tape to make it much quicker a recovery. so, i'm looking forward it that announcement that that will -- to that announcement. i want to thank the most my neighbors, first responders, neighbors have been helping neighbors, i too will four feet of water in my home and lost all my personal things and clothes

and memories. but what has been outstanding is every neighbor helping other neighbors, the kindness that has poured in has been amazing and overwhelming. it makes us so proud to be americans. america has always been strong and this is just an example of the resilience and strength of every one of our residents in our community and i'm so eternally grateful for all my neighbors, police officers, fire an e.m.s. personnel. my son was in the water rescues people at night during helene and in the water rescues people in the apartment buildings in clearwater. i can't thank first responders enough. this is a story we will never forget. thank you that have been working with me to meet with the president and make our community safe again.

thank you so much. and thank you, mr. president. thank you so much.

>> c-span's washington journal, inviting you to discuss the latest issues and government, politics and public policy from washington and across the country. monday morning, dr. joel rosenberg and andrea talk about health care policy proposals from vice president harris and former president trump. a pew research center official about the impact of political influence on latino voters in this year's election. c-span's washington journal. join the conversation live at 7:00 easter monday morning on c-span, c-span our c-span.org.

>> do you solemnly swear that in the testimony you are about to give it will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? >> what our encore presentation of american history tv's 10 part series congress investigates. authors and historians will tell these stories. we will see historic footage from those periods and we will examine the impact and legacy of key congressional hearings. monday, lawmakers from 1973 in 1974 examine the events surrounding the break-in at the democratic national convention that committee headquarters at the watergate hotel. it led to the resignation of richard nixon. what congress investigates on c-span. welcome back. for more on the federal response

to the devastating hurricanes we seen over the last couple of weeks, we are joined now by tim frazier, the faculty director at georgetown university's emergency and disaster management program. welcome to "washington journal." guest: thank you. good to be here. host: can you give us a sense of the challenges that emergency managers are facing with these two back-to-back big storms and whether or not they were prepared? guest: i don't think anyone is prepared for storms of this magnitude. the very definition of a disaster is when it overwhelms the local capacity to deal with that event, and obviously we seen that with these two storms back to back. so one of the things that is always short is human capital. we are talking about communities, particularly in western south carolina, there are communities that don't have the abundance of budget to have reserves, so we are really seeing unprecedented challenges for our country. host: and in particular, i

imagine if you are living in the mountains of north carolina, you are not expecting to need to build resiliency for hurricanes. guest: yeah. that is something i like to refer to as seasonal resiliency, predominantly to winter, when activities are being cut off, they cut their wood, they get ready for winter season, but they don't typically get ready for hurricane season. host: what is the federal response to the storm? guest: there's always a challenge, and the challenge is typically human capital, resources and the local community, and when the local community does not have the resources during an event like this, what we typically do is we scale it up. it goes from the local community to the state, and when the state is overwhelmed, it goes to the federal government, than the federal government comes in and decides resources, and the state distributes those resources. it always seems to be slower than it needs to be, and we are working on that.

i understand the need, the resources responsible. but it is always slower than it needs to be, particularly for those most impacted in those areas. host: yes, we had a caller earlier in the show today who was struggling to get some aid in the aftermath of the storm, but there has been a lot of talk on the campaign trail in particular about fema and famous response to these disasters. guest: yeah. host: can you explain exactly what fema's role in the aftermath of disasters like these, what fema's is and what it is not? guest: ok. yeah. i think one of the big challenges around the country is for those living in these communities that are impacted, don't really know what fema's role is, what they are allowed to doing and what they don't do. fema it not have the authority and the right to go into a state or a community and provide any federal assistance unless it is requested by the governor of the

state. the governor has to request assistance, fema low income of the federal government will go in. it is more than just fema. there are other agencies involved. they will supply resources as best as possible for the state. fema does not do first response. they don't do boots on the ground emergency management as we typically think of ourselves as emergency management. basically fema writes checks, and that is basically what fema does. host: you mentioned that fema writes checks, but there have been quite a few narratives about how much those checks are for and who is getting them. fema administrator deann kurzweil was asked about the role of impact of misinformation going on around fema and what is going on this week. here is the answer? . [video clip] ms. criswell: yeah. the biggest thing is people are not asking us for assistance.

they are not registering for the help they need or they are afraid to approach some of our staff because they are unsure of what the government is doing. i think one of the biggest ones that i continue to here is that we are going to take their land from them. simply untrue. when you register for assistance, we give you an initial amount of money, $750, to help support of the media needs. and there are rumors out there that if you receive this money and he did not pay it back, that we would take you home. simply untrue. this is a series of assistance we give over time, those immediate needs. we've already given out over $60 million in north carolina alone for people's property losses as well as this immediate assistance. we will continue to give that money out. and as it relates to my staff, it is just demoralizing. they take it personally. they have left their families and their homes to come here and

support people in need, but they are focused. they continue to stay focused on why they are here. they know their purpose, and that is to help people, and we will continue to do that. host: fema is so concerned about the misinformation and the rumors about the response. it has a webpage, hurricane room a response, on fema's website with many of the rumors that have been circulating online, and their response to them, such as fema controls's transfer stations, dump sites, not true. that fema would provide $1200 if you been without power, that fema would only provide $750, which is also false. this is short-term assistance that administrator criswell was just referencing. fema's advice is to stop the spread of rumors by doing three easy things, find trusted sources of information, share

information from trusted sources, and discourage others from sharing information from unverified sources. how does this sort of spread of misinformation in the rumors coming out of these storms and fema's response compared to previous disasters? guest: it is getting worse all the time. i will tell you a historical narrative here. there was an academic paper written in the 1980's called social amplification of grit, and it is basically the mob mentality. we start following the power of the mob, spreading rumors, and the gossip becomes the reality, perception is reality, and 20 or 30 years ago, we would have emergency manager, and the emergency manager would tell the public what to do, and the public would follow the

directions of that emergency manager. but now was social media, everybody has got facebook and twitter, and what happened is the emergency managers are that one voice that people listen to. so people pull in all this information from multiple sources, and they become their own emergency manager. and the local message gets lost. it is really dangerous, to see the inefficiency of response and inefficiency of recovery relative to what actually needs to happen based on the truth. and so when we battered eyes the true come up to a certain extent, what we get is -- when we bastardize the truth, to a certain extent, what we get is bastardized results. it's like in the emergency room, the sickest people get the most carefirst, and that is what

happens with emergency response. host: republican, you can call (202) 748-8001 -- excuse me, we are going to do regional phone lines for this conversation. we are not breaking it down by party. [laughter] guest: that is a good thing. host: if you are in the eastern or central time zone, that is (202) 748-8000. mountain and pacific time zone, (202) 748-8001. and if you specifically have been impacted by a hurricane, that is (202) 748-8002. if you have questions or a story to share that you would like to get 10's response to -- tim's response to. if you could break down how fema aid works, specifically folks who have been affected by hurricane helene and milton. guest: there are a certain amount of aid made available,

like the short term aid. you heard the fema administrator speak to that. try to get resources in the hands of people as quick as possible. there is the direct aid coming down from fema to the state agency, to the local government, and distributed that way. and there is in direct aid. in direct aid could be coming from nonprofits of ngo's live red cross, being in the field, sheltering. there's aid from fema that is administered to the aid, and indirect aid that comes from nonprofits. host: there are other buckets of aid that are more long-term, say, loans to rebuild and things like that. but some of the funding is either inconsistent or not available for some of these programs, as we learned with some disaster aid being left out of the stopgap spending bill. does fema have enough resources

for the longer-term recovery? guest: fema never has enough resources. every year, we spent all we have to looking at the level of disasters in our country keep climbing. also climate change. the good news is the situation for fema's we spent all the money every year, which is unfortunate, but we are giving aid to people that need it, which we have more disasters. that is the bad news. the good news, congress seems to give more money to fema when it is necessary and needed. we see the budget, the reality is, disasters in our country come over the course of our history, we've been able to find money from other places and enhance the budget of fema when it is necessary, when it is needed. host: and you think that will happen? guest: it is what happens every time. host: before we get to the calls, many of the folks

affected by these storms, particularly in north carolina, did not carry flood insurance, and there is a big concern about a lot of these losses being uninsured. who is going to pay for this recovery out of guest: there will be a combination of factors. one can we have this program in the u.s., the national flood insurance program. it is a mess. we could do a weeklong show about it. so that is problematic. there is the stopgap, private insurance, and most people carry enough private insurance, particularly if you don't live in a floodplain or you live adjacent to a floodplain that is not typically flood, that is why when you have an amazing event, catastrophic disaster, this is an everyday flood event, a lot of people do not carry insurance for that. so there are uninsured people that will struggle to

recover. host: we will get to your calls, and once again we are doing regional phone lines for this segment. if you are in the eastern and central time zones, that number is (202) 748-8000. the mountain and specific time zones, (202) 748-8001. and if you have been impacted by hurricane directly, (202) 748-8002. if you've got questions about fema's response to these latest natural disasters. we will start with trent in omaha, nebraska. good morning, trent. caller: good morning. i just wanted to say a couple of things real quick. my first is for the fema guy come in a sad that donald trump and the rest of the people are listening to him and the lives spread about fema, and like you had the black guy talking about why they don't like, why they are going to vote for donald

trump after all the stuff he's doing, and, yeah, the democrats are not the best when it comes down to what they are doing, but over donald trump's policies, in the black neighborhoods? his response is the national guard to come in. his response is for them to push us from the car and give us a hard time. his response is not to find a way to help us in to help black people, his response is to put us in jail and lock us up, and those are the facts of what donald trump said. so for the black people out here who people -- like host: do you have a question for tim regarding fema's response? caller: for fema come i don't really have a -- host: we have a statement that we received via text from joan in the lobby. "i wish ms. criswell would realize there are scammers posing as fema who are praying on the hurricane victims."

can you talk a little bit about that, tim, the risk of that, especially as we just heard from administrator criswell, as people are already hesitant to talk to fema workers? guest: yeah. there is distrust, and it is warranted by people scamming and the prospect. i think the best thing to do is always go to local officials, so be sure when you are going to get aid, that you go to the local officials, local emergency manager, with the state, and if you work with a contractor, you were with a contractor who has been vetted by officials and vetted by the state. it is just like everyone else. we live in a capitalist country, and there are people who are very capitalist and doing the best they can to do their job, and there's always people trying to take advantage of the system. so, again, local officials, state officials, make sure any when you use for contracting and any other aid purposes are vetted through the local channels. host: let's hear from joe in

iowa. good morning, joe caller:. yes, hi. just to qualify my calling here from my experience in the state of iowa and most unknown natural disaster that i don't think people are aware of, and that is a derecho, which stressed from i believe up in canada and did like a horseshoe traveling across iowa, 40 miles wide and i believe what he miles long, and i think it also made it into indiana. the derecho is like a straight line winds, so it is like a tornado force or hurricane force standing out those miles i mentioned. we were so decimated, we lost 50% of our trees and 80% of our canopy. but the main thing is is that all the destruction and damage was all over the place.

you could not get through. people's homes were destroyed. there were a couple of fatalities. and the worst part about it is that nobody seemed to know about it. you drove south to iowa city, and they had no idea that this happened up here come up north. you go up to waterloo, they had no idea that this happened down south from them. and it was just amazing, because i could not believe the lack of response. and i think some of it fell on the local government, unfortunately, in the way that i found out later, we found out that the superintendent of the county we were in apparently turned down aid or help, saying oh, we were fine. we had no electricity, cell phones went out within a matter of probably 30 minutes. i had a chance to leave a message with some of the senators here in iowa, which i never heard back from, and the governor. and i just said, you know, things are going to probably turn. back a man they turned worse. . the cell phone service turned

bad, we had 100 degree temperatures with humidity. my dad with cancer, we were taking care of him here come the kids with asthma, it was mass destruction nobody seemed to know about it. host: jo, do you happen to know if your local officials later on called for aid from fema or other federal agency? caller: yes, i found out that later they did, but we are talking, what, a week later? don't quote me on that. but it is similar to when a child goes missing. if you don't commit action to help people, the most of the danger or the risk of people's lives and so forth is more threatened or, you know, more at risk because you need to be there as soon as possible. host: i think the story you are telling is being repeated all over the country, especially as climate change makes these

storms worse and worse. guest: yeah. unfortunately, the skill level and experience level of emergency managers and first responders vary across the country, so in place that they can hit more often, for example, have more expertise. florida is a prime example. emergency managers in florida, when katrina hit new orleans, louisiana, mississippi, emergency managers in florida were asked, how are you dealing with this? how would you handle the situation? in the response from the state was, we have food and resources distributed in warehouses around the state. we have enough to last four days. why a four days? in the response was, that is how long it will take fema to get here. there was an understanding in florida, because they had more experience in a high level expertise with emergency management on how to deal with it, but in rural states or rural

communities, unfortunately, that level of expertise is not as high, and it is a lot easier to be overwhelmed. and if the aid is not requested at the local level and the state level, it is not going to come. host: ashley is in pennsylvania. good morning, ashley. caller: good morning, kimberly. good morning, mr. frazier. i kind of have a comment into question, i guess. my comment is, something i've noticed over, i want to say the last 20 years, as it kind of correlates with a lot of this disaster relief, and this goes back to, like, katrina and everything, i've noticed that as the distrust in fema grows, so, too, does the incline of fani willis groups behind projects -- of fundamentalist groups like behind project 2025, the same kind of personalities spreading

rumors across the board. specifically, i'm not sure, kimberly, if you could look up a link to this, or if mr. frazier is familiar, are you folks really are with a group masqueraded as disaster relief called meta-core, related with the dauber family and that sphere of influence? i feel like that needs to be addressed, and i don't want to give those people any more recognition or anything, but at the same time, they were just featured hanging out with ivanka trump and elon musk, and i think if they have billionaire funding behind them, that is extra dangerous. so i guess if that is something you guys could address. host: have you heard about this group, tim? guest: fortunately or

unfortunately, i have not. i do know that there are legitimate and illegitimate actors in this space of people getting in the way, not helping, and there are people scamming and doing disaster or tourism so to speak, and they are not doing a lot of work in the field. host: i'm not able to find anything on that. let's go to washington, d.c. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i went to make a comment more than a question. it is the local officials, people are providing in our area that are taking bribes, stealing for the

influence, and they just planted guilty for taking bribes and stealing money, so when tragedy occurs or something happens, this is an opportunity for us to make money, because we are not being accounted for, when they put this relief money and federal money. and it is not fema, its people at the local, the help, you know, they are profiting off of this, and that is what helps more than anything else. the people we vote for right here in our community commit is like the green overcomes, you know, the policies, you know,, all they want to do is line their pockets. and that hurts more than anything else. you can vote for whoever you want to -- in life host: this point he is making is something that often comes up in discussions with fema and how it distributes aid, whether or not it is really getting to the people it needs to. what do we know about that?

guest: unfortunately, he is right about criticizing emergency management. the great effort -- he is right about politicizing emergency management. the great effort is to not politicize it. elected officials are always running for office, and we see that in emergency management get a prime example is hurricane maria in puerto rico. fema not getting aid there, not getting the things they needed to do. they were grandstanding to be reelected. what we typically see in our community is like the level of agency, and when we say agency, we don't me in the agency of fema or hud, we mean your ability to affect your own change with infrastructure, society, we just say agency. if you have a line of agency, you are going to be fine, post-disaster.

it's the people that lost that agency that are in trouble, that rely on local emergency managers, local public officials to help them, and >> next, congressman adam schiff and steve garvey, the democratic and republican candidates in california's u.s. senate race take part in a debate. the cook political report with amy walter reed's this race as a solid democrat. and on q&a historian heath hardage lee, author of the mysterious mrs. nixon, talks about the life and times of the former first lady and argues pat nixon, who was voted most admired woman in the world in 1972, was missed portrayed by the press, who characterized her as being elusive and plastic. later, british prime minister

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