Chris Van Hollen, Hakeem Jeffries & Ro Khanna headline Democrats' 'What's Next' conference

[0:00] took that solemn admonition to heart. [0:04] They chose hope over fear, hope over division, over disunity, [0:10] hope over a vitriolic and toxic and listless brand of politics [0:17] that has dominated our country for the last decade. [0:21] And they delivered Democratic congressional majorities [0:25] larger than any other in this century. [0:31] Part of that work involved a new generation of leaders, [0:38] many of the millennials like myself, [0:40] folks who stepped forward to do the work [0:43] our generation is called to do, a smokejumper in Montana, [0:49] a pig farmer who you heard from yesterday from North Carolina, [0:53] a small town mayor in Pennsylvania [0:56] who took on a corrupt city establishment, [0:59] and a young pastor and state legislator in Texas, [1:03] all of whom I will soon call colleagues [1:07] in the United States Commons. [1:11] They each had something in common. [1:15] They are majority Democrats. [1:17] And suffice to say that because of the work [1:22] and the grit and the determination of so many folks in this room [1:26] and the supporters of this cause, [1:28] majority Democrats has played an indispensable role already [1:33] in saving our party. [1:35] But we're also reminded of an admonition [1:41] from a Democratic president many decades ago [1:45] who addressed a convening not all that dissimilar from this one [1:49] and said, we're not here to save the Democratic Party. [1:53] We're here to save the United States of America. [2:00] At the end of the day, our goal, [2:02] our calling as majority Democrats, [2:05] is far more ambitious and audacious [2:08] than saving one's political party. [2:11] We're here to save the country. [2:13] We're here to chart a path forward. [2:16] We're here to figure out what's next. [2:20] Now, you will hear today [2:23] from some of the brightest minds in the country, [2:26] from governors, from senators, [2:28] from the chairman of majority Democrats, [2:30] my colleague from Massachusetts, [2:31] from the next Speaker of the House, [2:34] of the House of Representatives. [2:35] And each of them will provide... [2:37] He deserves a round of applause, by the way, [2:39] the next Speaker of the House, [2:40] Hakeem Jeffries. [2:43] Each of them will provide compelling recommendations [2:46] as to how we proceed. [2:48] Now, I will also say they all will be subject [2:51] to the same time limits that we applied yesterday, [2:55] and we are in Colorado, [2:56] so we do have the cowbell, [2:59] which we will use in case anyone goes over. [3:04] But before we get started, [3:06] I would be remiss if I didn't offer perhaps just one thought [3:10] for all of you to consider, [3:12] particularly given that we are in my home state of Colorado. [3:16] Because for me, as hard as I try, [3:22] as much empty noise as we might consume on social media, [3:26] as many banal speeches that one might see [3:30] on Instagram and the like, [3:32] I remain enthralled by the simplest of prescriptions [3:38] for what ails our civic society today. [3:41] It is a paradoxical truth [3:45] that perhaps the most glaring absence in our society [3:49] is of a fundamental concept, a value, [3:53] an idea that once defined our country, opportunity. [3:59] I'm not talking about that nebulous, [4:02] pithy, Pollyannish opportunity. [4:04] I'm talking about real opportunity, [4:06] the kind of opportunity you can touch, [4:08] that you can feel, [4:11] that pays the bills for families in our country. [4:15] Now, some might be surprised [4:18] about my fixation with opportunity, [4:20] but there are two people who would certainly not be. [4:24] Those are my parents who live 20 miles from here [4:27] in the same modest home that I grew up in. [4:31] My parents were refugees to this country, [4:34] from East Africa. [4:35] They came here over 45 years ago with nothing, [4:40] nothing but the blessing of finding refuge [4:43] in a country, in a home, a state, [4:47] where if they worked hard enough, they could make it. [4:50] And that's exactly what they did, [4:53] working hard every day, building a home, [4:57] starting a family, [4:58] sending their kids to a good public school, [5:01] never imagining that one generation removed, [5:05] their son could serve in the United States Congress. [5:09] That type of opportunity [5:16] is what makes me believe in America. [5:19] It's why I refuse to abandon my bone-deep commitment, [5:25] our bone-deep commitment, [5:27] to expanding opportunity for the generations of Americans [5:31] who are now being left behind. [5:34] Because the reality is, for far too many, [5:40] opportunity has vanished within. [5:42] I see it every day here in Colorado, [5:46] not here in this conference room, [5:48] but I see it hundreds of miles from here, [5:51] west, in the district that I serve, [5:54] in the eyes of the ranchers, the cattle ranchers, [5:57] that I represent, who voted for Donald Trump, [6:00] who bemoaned the heavy hand of government, [6:04] but are desperate for a politics [6:06] that just gives them a level playing field, [6:08] free of the monopolies that are bankrupting them. [6:11] I see it in the eyes of parents [6:15] at my nine-year-old daughter's soccer games, [6:19] who are firmly middle-class, working really hard, [6:22] but wonder if they'll ever be able to take their kids [6:26] on a decent vacation because everything is so expensive. [6:32] I see it in the eyes of a young 25-year-old man [6:37] in Fort Collins, who's been searching for a job for a year [6:42] and keeps coming up short, [6:45] who sees and receives more online gambling solicitations [6:50] than he does online job postings, [6:52] who is told that the only way he can thrive [6:56] is to bet whatever money he has on anything and everything, [7:00] who just wants an honest chance to build a life, a real life. [7:06] Those Coloradans, those Americans, have been neglected, [7:10] they have been rebuffed, they have been ignored, [7:13] until last Tuesday, [7:15] when a generation of Democrats stepped forward to rescue them. [7:19] So, I say to all of you, [7:24] we have profoundly important work to do. [7:27] That is our calling, that is our charge, [7:30] to give them opportunity. [7:33] It's important. [7:35] It matters. [7:37] Let's get to work. [7:53] I choose the lesser of two evils. [7:55] You see these hard lines, [7:56] and so it prevents us from really getting anything done. [7:59] If you're into that thing, it's done, girl. [8:00] Yeah, my votes have progressed. [8:11] The recipe for success is boldness, [8:14] envision, but bridge-building approach. [8:16] No witness testing people out of a movement for change. [8:19] The strength of this party and this country [8:22] is not just diversity of background, [8:23] it is diversity of thought. [8:24] Deliver good policy for everyone everywhere. [8:28] Just ruin the plan. [8:30] How do I make sure my fears are safe? [8:31] Can I need good health care? [8:33] Everything else is just happening. [8:35] Can't be who we're against. [8:37] Americans know we don't like how awesome. [8:38] That's what we are for. [8:39] What we are for? [8:40] An excellent education by the time you're 18, [8:42] a home of your own by the time you're 30, [8:44] and a dignified your title by the time you're 65. [8:46] And it is freedom that delivers that. [8:55] Please welcome Congressman Jake Auchincloss. [9:12] When people call this a once-in-a-generation victory, [9:17] they mean it as praise. [9:20] But think about what that compliment admits. [9:24] It means winning big is rare. [9:28] As exciting as last week was, [9:31] none of us want to wave once in a while. [9:35] We want a durable majority. [9:38] We're going to have to earn that. [9:41] Because if you ask the American people, [9:43] there is no question about who we oppose, [9:47] but also no sense of what we believe. [9:50] That is the question we have to answer right now, [9:53] and that is the work of majority Democrats. [10:01] We are mayors, governors, and legislators [10:04] who win and work as a different kind of Democrat. [10:09] We stand with the exhausted majority [10:11] who are alarmed by the extremes [10:13] and fed up with the establishment. [10:17] We believe, like them, [10:19] that character and personal responsibility matter. [10:23] And because we believe those things, [10:25] we hold ourselves to them. [10:28] We take responsibility for earning back trust [10:32] from the American people. [10:34] And that starts with telling the truth. [10:37] For too long, our party has given permission [10:40] to too many bad ideas. [10:43] Voters rejected bad ideas on Election Day, [10:46] and now it's our turn to do the same. [10:50] We need to let go of three kinds of bad ideas. [10:54] The ones that defy common sense, [10:56] the ones that run on inertia, [10:57] and most urgently, the ones that ignore supply and demand. [11:02] Supply and demand is a fact of reality, [11:04] and the fact is when supply goes down, prices go up. [11:08] That means you can't lower prices [11:10] by stopping things from being built. [11:18] Banning natural gas or nuclear power [11:21] ignores the pain of high energy prices. [11:23] It drives utility bills higher. [11:26] Rent control and exclusionary zoning [11:28] don't lower costs or build wealth. [11:30] They make housing more expensive for the middle class. [11:33] That's why Americans in their 20s and 30s [11:36] have to wait until their 40s to buy their first home. [11:40] Voters, we're clear, make life less expensive. [11:44] That means make markets work for the middle class. [11:49] We also have to respect their common sense [11:52] by dropping the ideas that make no sense. [11:55] In 2024, Americans rejected an open border. [12:00] In 2026, majority Democrats like Bobby Pulido [12:04] flipped a gerrymandered seat on the Texas border [12:07] by campaigning on common sense. [12:10] Nations need borders, borders need security, [12:13] and security is not the same as cruelty. [12:21] His overperformance was astronomical, [12:24] and it should be a lesson. [12:25] There's a durable majority to be built on common sense. [12:31] There's nonsense away from the headlines, too. [12:33] If you have kids in school, you may have seen it. [12:36] Those who insisted that we keep our schools closed [12:39] during the pandemic are now trying to cancel honors classes [12:43] in the name of equity. [12:45] First, they held students back by closing the classrooms. [12:48] Now they're canceling classes that help students get ahead. [12:52] That makes no sense. [12:54] Our students should be challenged to pursue excellence, [12:58] made to feel part of something bigger than themselves, [13:01] and required to take responsibility. [13:04] These traditional values have wisdom. [13:10] Other old ideas, though, are past their prime. [13:13] And that's the third kind of bad idea we have to reject, [13:17] the leftovers from political platforms, [13:19] the concepts kept alive by inertia alone. [13:23] We don't have to accept that our children will be left [13:27] with tens of trillions of dollars in national debt, [13:30] which they'll pay for in taxes and inflation. [13:34] We don't have to accept that our children will create [13:37] a social media account at 12 years old, [13:40] conscripted into a dopamine economy [13:42] in which they spend less time outdoors [13:44] than a federal inmate, [13:45] while TikTok and FanDuel profit off their attention. [13:52] We don't have to accept that when our children [13:55] get their first job, [13:56] they'll pay a higher tax rate on a $50,000 paycheck [14:00] than a $5 million inheritance. [14:03] We don't have to reward wealth and birthright [14:05] over work and merit. [14:10] Democrats, this is the moment [14:14] to challenge and cast off these bad ideas [14:17] and embrace the best and most radical one we ever had, [14:21] equal opportunity for all and special privileges for none. [14:28] Being poor does not condemn you to poverty [14:31] and being rich does not make you special. [14:34] Majority Democrats believe our responsibility [14:37] is to make equal opportunity a real promise. [14:40] And that means holding the line [14:42] against special privileges for special interests, [14:45] even the ones that have historically been on our team. [14:54] Let's swing for the fences. [14:56] Let's sweat the details. [14:57] A durable majority can do both. [15:01] We need to build 10 million homes for Americans. [15:06] Majority Democrat mayors are doing it in Denver, [15:09] in Cleveland, in Cincinnati, in San Jose, [15:12] and yes, in your backyard. [15:15] Rents and mortgages will drop, [15:17] and if Congress passes permitting reform, [15:19] utility bills will too. [15:22] We can start moving our economy to a four-day workweek. [15:27] Unions want us a two-day weekend [15:28] after the Industrial Revolution. [15:30] Today's information revolution should give workers [15:33] three days with their families. [15:37] We should insist that the pay matches the performance. [15:40] We should pay good teachers more [15:42] and great teachers the most. [15:47] We can help them out. [15:48] We can surge reading and math tutoring [15:50] to every school in this country, [15:52] so every student in this country [15:54] reads by third grade and does algebra by eighth. [15:57] I saw firsthand in Fall River, Massachusetts, [16:01] how one-on-one tutoring changes lives. [16:05] And I see there also firsthand the options they want next. [16:09] We need to admit that a college degree [16:10] isn't the only path to the middle class, [16:12] and build 1,000 trade schools across America. [16:20] And we're going to make the social media companies pay [16:22] for every tutor and every trade school. [16:25] They made trillions off our children. [16:27] Now it's time they invest in human intelligence. [16:33] The days of special privileges for Mehta, [16:35] Musk, and the monopolists are over. [16:38] The days of equal opportunity for entrepreneurs start now. [16:44] Free enterprise is a proud American tradition, [16:47] and majority Democrats admire the optimism of anyone [16:51] brave enough to start a business. [16:54] We insist they treat their workers and customers fairly, [16:57] so in turn, we should have their backs [17:00] when corporations or bureaucracies push them around. [17:04] I met an independent pharmacist in Alabama [17:07] named Anna Nugent. [17:09] Anna's father ran that pharmacy for 50 years. [17:14] She's been at it for 20. [17:16] Her daughter's studying to follow in the family's footsteps. [17:19] But Anna's not sure the pharmacy's still going to be there [17:22] for her daughter to take over. [17:24] The business is suffocating. [17:26] Pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen, [17:28] owned by health insurance corporations, [17:31] are using their size and their lawyers [17:34] to squeeze every cent they can. [17:38] When Anna fills a prescription, [17:40] she earns less than when she sells a candy bar [17:42] at the front counter. [17:43] The way she puts it, she gets treated like a vending machine. [17:48] Her experience is fuel for the frustrations [17:51] that we see at the ballot box every two years. [17:54] It's why the majority swings from one side to another. [17:57] People feel ignored and disrespected. [18:01] We can stop this seesaw and seize this moment [18:04] on the strength of ideas that deliver for our generation [18:08] a home of our own, a great school next to it, [18:10] and the chance to build wealth. [18:13] There is a durable majority that believes [18:16] that their lives should be determined by character and work, [18:20] not by birth or status. [18:26] Two years ago at the Republican convention, [18:29] J.D. Vance took the opposite side. [18:33] He started by describing his family cemetery in Kentucky, [18:37] his blood in his soil. [18:41] And then he said, [18:43] people will not fight for abstractions, [18:46] but they will fight for their home. [18:50] For 250 years, the cynics and the tyrants [18:53] have been making that bet. [18:54] Ideas don't matter, only blood and soil. [18:58] And at every defining hour, [18:59] Americans have proven them wrong. [19:03] At Bunker Hill, at Shiloh, at Normandy, [19:05] Americans fought and won for radical ideas. [19:09] Every person free, every person, [19:13] every person committed to this nation [19:15] worth loving and worth fixing. [19:19] My invitation to every person in this room, [19:22] every person who believes in equal opportunity for all [19:25] and special privileges for none, [19:27] is sign our compact and join majority Democrats. [19:32] My challenge to everyone running in 2028, [19:36] which might also be every person in this room, [19:41] is tell us which ideas you'll stop giving permission to, [19:46] the ones that defy common sense or don't work. [19:49] Tell us which privileges you'll confront, [19:51] even if your donors or allies object. [19:54] Tell us which opportunities you'll promote, [19:55] so every child can share in the American promise. [20:00] Voters did not tell Democrats, we get it. [20:05] They told us we get a chance. [20:09] If we use it to show them a better future, [20:12] they will help us build it. [20:17] Welcome to what's next. [20:40] Please welcome Jeff Johnson. [20:44] Good morning. [21:01] Greetings on behalf of a triumphant North Carolina. [21:06] We flipped the Senate seat. [21:14] We flipped six congressional races, probably seven. [21:19] And we took the state house from super minority [21:22] to super majority. [21:24] Y'all, we crushed it. [21:25] We completely crushed it. [21:29] One of the folks who flipped one of those congressional races [21:32] is with us right now, Jamie Ager from Western North Carolina. [21:35] Let's hear it for Jamie. [21:37] Job well done to him and his team. [21:43] So what's next? [21:46] It feels like there is a growing consensus [21:49] that part of what's next should be a focus [21:53] on making things more affordable [21:56] and achieving practical results [21:58] and delivering for people [22:00] and doing things that are tangible. [22:03] And that sounds great. [22:05] Agreed. [22:07] But I'm the attorney general for North Carolina, [22:10] which means a big part of my job [22:12] is stopping people from getting ripped off, [22:16] which means I see all the different ways [22:21] that people are getting ripped off. [22:23] All of them land on my desk. [22:27] So rather than issue generic encouragement [22:31] to be practical and deliver results, [22:33] I'm just going to give you some ideas of things [22:35] I think we should definitely do. [22:38] First and most important, y'all, [22:42] we must end robocalls in this country. [22:49] We can do this. [22:50] We have the technology. [22:54] As a country, we get about 2 billion [22:57] illegal robocalls a month. [23:01] North Carolina gets 100 million a month. [23:06] It is basically low-grade organized crime [23:09] that targets senior citizens [23:11] and is responsible for vacuuming [23:13] an enormous amount of money out of their wallets. [23:18] And here's the issue. [23:19] Most of these calls originate overseas, [23:22] but they have to use our telecom companies domestically [23:26] to get those calls patched through. [23:29] There are thousands of these telecom companies [23:34] and a ton of them know what they're doing [23:37] and they turn a blind eye [23:39] to all this illegal robocall traffic [23:41] that they are patching through. [23:43] The reason they do that is because it's profitable [23:48] and getting caught cheating is cheap. [23:53] So you know what we should do? [23:55] We should make it expensive to cheat. [23:58] We should change their financial calculus [24:01] so that instead of turning a blind eye [24:03] to all these robocalls, [24:04] they're hunting them all down. [24:06] Imagine if this next Congress was the one [24:09] that finally destroyed the scourge of robocalls. [24:13] That is a direct and meaningful quality of life upgrade [24:17] for all of us and keeps a ton of money in pockets [24:21] of working people and elderly people. [24:24] Second, we gotta crack down on price fixing. [24:29] Y'all, I've been AG for two years [24:32] and we have seen price collusion on rent, [24:35] on chicken, on pork, on eggs, on turkey. [24:40] And we go after all of those and we make good cases, [24:43] but those cases are harder to make [24:45] than they should be. [24:47] Because the law about price fixing was written in 1890. [24:53] It was written for guys meeting in the back of a room, [24:57] shaking hands and saying, [24:58] we hereby agree to fix the price. [25:02] It's not how it happens anymore. [25:04] Here's how it happens. [25:06] Those guys, those competitors in an industry, [25:09] they find a middleman company [25:12] and they send all their pricing data [25:14] to that middleman company. [25:16] And then that middleman company issues reports [25:19] to all those guys who were supposed to compete, [25:21] saying, here's where we recommend you put your price. [25:25] So, we should have it clearly stated in the law, [25:28] if you use a middleman company to do price fixing, [25:32] it's still price fixing. [25:34] And we could crack down on it all across the country, [25:37] save people a bunch of money. [25:43] And third, we've got to stop these scam ads [25:49] all over social media. [25:51] They have exploded. [25:52] If you haven't seen them, [25:54] it's because you're not the one being targeted. [25:58] They aren't posts. [26:00] These are ads that scammers are paying to run [26:05] and that social media platforms are putting up [26:09] and showing to the target victims. [26:13] This is now a bigger source of revenue for scammers [26:17] than robocalls. [26:20] And y'all, the fix here is really pretty simple. [26:23] If you're a social media company [26:25] and you're taking money to run an ad, [26:27] first, you should check to see who's running it. [26:30] And second, if it's a scam, you have to take it down. [26:40] And if you don't, you have to answer to an AG. [26:45] Talk about changing the financial calculus [26:48] and the motivation from allowing this stuff [26:50] to passively pass through to make a buck, [26:53] to being incentivized to hunt it all down and stop it. [26:59] Now look, let me just take a step back for a second [27:03] because I know there are a lot of really big conversations [27:05] happening right now about healthcare and energy, [27:09] social security. [27:10] Big issues. [27:13] And here I'm talking to you about going after scams. [27:16] And maybe you think that that's small ball. [27:21] But last year, Americans lost over $100 billion to scams. [27:29] Some estimates have it at $200 billion. [27:31] Let's take the lower of two, call it $100. [27:34] That is more money than Americans spent on preschool last year. [27:40] And if we can just take a big chunk of that, the economic impact for people will be on par [27:47] with virtually all of the other really big ideas that we're kicking around about how to put more money in people's pocket. [27:57] And it'll be the most broadly supported and cost-effective way that we could accomplish that type of economic impact. [28:05] And I know there are folks out there who say people are expecting bolder action from us than going after scams. [28:12] I hear you. [28:13] Great. Let's do it. [28:14] But just so you know, something I've learned is AG, we have won all of our cases against the administration. [28:25] We are 20-0. $165 million in public education they tried to cut. [28:34] We stopped them. $230 million in healthcare they tried to cut. [28:37] We stopped them. $200 million for groceries for low-income people. [28:41] We stopped them. And on and on and on, undefeated. [28:45] And yet, when I take my kids to a birthday party or I'm at food line and someone comes up to me and wants to talk, [28:56] you know the case they want to talk about. [28:59] The case of the corrupt wedding photographer who swindled over 200 brides out of a ton of money [29:05] and didn't give a ton of them their wedding photos because we took that person to court and we won. [29:13] And we're getting wedding photos back for a lot of these brides. [29:17] And people come up to me and say, thank you for doing that. [29:22] And what a great reminder about what resonates with people, about what they remember [29:28] because they can put themselves in the shoes of someone who has been mistreated. [29:33] And they don't want to live in a state where that type of mistreatment of people is allowed. [29:39] So of all the things that are coming up next, this is the Attorney General of North Carolina [29:45] strongly encouraging you to put going after scams at the top of that list. [29:51] I'll keep you posted. Take care. [30:06] Please welcome the mayor of Cincinnati, Aftab Pureval. [30:10] Ohio hasn't always been the most dependable shade of blue. [30:33] Two years ago, Donald Trump carried Ohio by 11 points, more than he won Texas. [30:38] Well, this November, Ohio sent Sherrod Brown back to the United States Senate [30:43] and elected Dr. Amy Acton, our first female governor. [30:47] Ohio is back. [30:48] I'm Aftab Pureval, mayor of the city of Cincinnati. [30:54] And like Congressman Nagus, I'm the son of a refugee. [30:58] My mom is from Tibet. [30:59] She was forced to flee as a child. [31:01] My family landed in a refugee camp in southern India. [31:05] She got an education. [31:06] She made it to college where she met my father who was from Punjab. [31:10] They got married and they decided to come to America. [31:13] So my dad looked at a map of our great country, and from sea to shining sea, [31:16] from New York to California, this crazy man literally could have gone anywhere. [31:23] And he chose Beaver Creek, Ohio. [31:26] That's right, I'm half Tibetan, half Punjabi. [31:28] I'm 6'3", but I'm all Ohio, baby. [31:30] Go Bucs. [31:35] My parents believed in the promise of America. [31:38] They loved America before they themselves were American. [31:43] When I became mayor, my mom reminded me that her story came first. [31:47] And of course, she was right. [31:49] She also likes to remind me that I'm just a mayor and not a doctor. [31:58] Dr. Abdul El-Sayed really fucked me on that. [32:05] Brown people know what I'm talking about. [32:06] There's a long, long distance between that refugee camp and the mayor's office in City Hall. [32:13] But my parents came here believing that their choices would be more important as 20-something [32:21] year olds if they took a chance and left in this country, that their children would have [32:29] opportunities that they never had. [32:32] And I'm standing here tonight, or today, excuse me, because they were right. [32:37] I hope everybody in this room took a night to celebrate what happened last week. [32:40] You certainly earned it. [32:42] But victory has a nasty tendency of clouding our judgment. [32:47] It turns our eyes inward, tempting us to believe that we here in this room saved democracy, [32:53] that the American people finally came around to our way of thinking. [32:58] But the truth is, they didn't come around to us. [33:01] Last week, they gave us one more chance to come around to them. [33:06] And the morning after the election, the rent was still due. [33:10] That's the lie we tell ourselves, that Tuesday's night win has changed anything in the lives [33:15] of our residents. [33:16] The challenges Cincinnatians went to bed with, worried about on Monday, still confronted [33:22] them on Wednesday morning. [33:24] This Congress has two years to earn the trust that they've been given. [33:28] Two years to show people that their lives can actually get better. [33:32] Two years to make damn sure that when voters walk into that booth in 2028, they have a reason [33:37] to choose us again. [33:39] We didn't earn the right to celebrate. [33:41] We earned the responsibility to get shit done over the next two years. [33:49] As a young man, my dad looked across an ocean and asked himself, where can I build a life? [33:55] If you're 27 in America today, you're asking the same question. [33:59] You've got a job, you're putting money away when you can, and you still wonder when your [34:03] life is going to start feeling like yours. [34:06] That's what I want from this majority. [34:09] I want an entire generation of Americans to be able to say that their lives got bigger [34:14] because of what we did with the chance they gave us this year. [34:18] Picture a block in Cincinnati. [34:20] You've got a retired Ford worker from the Sharonville plant who voted for Trump twice, a Guatemalan [34:25] family that just opened a bakery on the west side, a nurse on the night shift at UC, a Xavier [34:31] student who just voted for the first time. [34:33] We'd probably send them four different mailers. [34:37] Knock on their doors and ask what they want for the people they love, a street safe enough [34:43] for their kids to walk home, a place they can afford to stay a fair shot at doing just a [34:48] little bit better than their folks did. [34:52] Nobody lives in a demographic. [34:55] People live on our streets and they live on a paycheck, a paycheck that ought to buy you [35:00] a little bit more of a future every year. [35:03] For too many people, it barely buys you another month. [35:07] In Cincinnati, our motto is jump to juvent, strengthen unity. [35:10] We don't rise alone as Democrats and Republicans. [35:13] We rise by what we make possible for each other. [35:17] It means being clear about violent crime because working neighborhoods are the ones that suffer [35:22] most from it. [35:23] When people call 911, they don't care what your politics are. [35:26] They want help to arrive as fast as possible. [35:29] And if you commit a violent crime in my city, I don't care who you are or where you're from, [35:34] our police are going to find you and put you in jail. [35:36] But we also work with the same urgency to disrupt the causes of violence, which is so often [35:43] poverty and hopelessness. [35:45] No one is born violent. [35:48] In fact, since the pandemic, we've cut homicides by over 40 percent, and this year we're on pace [35:53] for the fewest shootings in nearly 20 years. [35:55] On housing, we tripled the rate of our affordable housing production. [36:00] We are the first city in the state to comprehensively reform our zoning laws so we could build more near bus lines and main streets. [36:08] Some of my own wealthy homeowning supporters strongly oppose it. [36:12] We passed it anyway. [36:15] And with our partners, we raised nearly 220 million in medical debt for about a third of our city. [36:21] I am proud that we could do that in Cincinnati. [36:24] I challenge the next Congress to make what we did look small. [36:28] In America, you should be able to get the health care you need without going into debt in the first place. [36:34] We have to guarantee health care for every American, not because they are rich, but because they are American. [36:40] In America, you should be able to afford a home in the neighborhood you grew up in. [36:44] We need to build homes on a scale this country hasn't seen in generations. [36:48] And let's make it possible for the people who stuck with the neighborhood through the hard years to afford to live there when things get good. [36:55] In America, you should be able to tell your parents you're having a baby before opening a spreadsheet. [37:01] We must make affordable childcare something every family can count on in this country. [37:10] Where else? [37:12] But America should all of that even be possible. [37:15] But a promise is only as strong as our willingness to keep it. [37:19] Through all these long, hard years of running in place, working people never gave up on the American promise. [37:26] They simply lost faith that we would keep it. [37:30] We have been entrusted with something larger than a victory, larger than any party, larger than even ourselves. [37:38] 250 years after our founding, our generation has been entrusted with the unfinished promise of this country. [37:46] 46 years ago, my dad asked where he could build a life. [37:50] I want a young person in America today to be able to say right here, I can build it right here. [37:57] The people who aren't in this room have already shown us what is possible when they believe in this country. [38:02] Now it's our turn to show them what is possible when their country believes in them. [38:08] And if you doubt that America is still a place where anything is possible, consider this. [38:18] In one generation, my family went from being refugees, literally fleeing for their lives through the Himalayas, to now leading an American city. [38:29] Folks, that story only happens right here. [38:32] It's on all of us to preserve that dream for the next generation. [38:36] Thank you so much, Denver. [38:37] Thank you so much, majority Democrats. [38:39] Please welcome California State Assembly member, Buffy Wicks. [39:07] This is Buffy Wicks, and I represent the beautiful East Bay in the California State Assembly. [39:28] And whether it's the story of my childhood, or starting a family, or my service in the legislature, [39:36] the story of this California girl has always been about housing. [39:40] You see, I grew up in a mobile home in the Sierra Nevada foothills. [39:44] I was embarrassed about our trailer when I was a kid. [39:46] I didn't want to invite anyone over for slumber parties. [39:50] I dreamt of a house made of wood. [39:53] It wasn't until I was older that I realized that that $12,000 that my parents paid in 1978 [39:58] was an investment that provided housing security for me and my family. [40:03] That allowed me to go to community college, graduate from a four-year university, [40:08] to go work for President Barack Obama in the White House. [40:13] That housing security allowed me to become me. [40:19] Years later, I stood in front of a gaggle of East Bay voters with a baby on my hip and [40:24] a crushing mortgage on my balance sheet, and I announced my candidacy for public office. [40:30] I ran in a 12-way primary in arguably the most progressive district in the nation on the [40:35] most powerful issue driving California politics and the economy. [40:39] But while housing reform was on everyone's mind, it was on no one's platform. [40:45] Some of my prospective voters were older residents reading their hands about neighborhood character. [40:51] But many more were new families losing sleep because of the crushing costs of housing. [40:58] When I looked at some of the most powerful groups for answers, I was disappointed by the [41:02] often stale and self-serving ideas I found. [41:06] Progressive groups were happy just to focus on rent control. [41:10] Environmental groups clung to permit requirements even in urban areas. [41:14] The building trades coveted procedural hurdles that allowed them to leverage for their workforce. [41:20] Local governments were cowed by the few residents who had the luxury of time to show up at city [41:24] council meetings. [41:27] My 11 opponents listening to the groups quickly fell into line, proposing housing policies that [41:32] offended no one and solved nothing. [41:36] I got to work organizing the district. [41:39] After 239 house parties and 116,000 doors knocked, I stood exactly where I wanted to be, [41:46] in a position to speak directly to the median voter, the voter too busy working to pay the rent [41:52] to make their voice heard anywhere other than the ballot. [41:56] I didn't need any organization to mediate my relationship with the voters or my pro-housing agenda. [42:02] I went to the voters directly and I won decisively. [42:05] From Sacramento to D.C., we have to remember, we work for the voters, not the special interests. [42:22] And that can be a lesson for all of us today, no matter where in the country we're from, [42:25] as we decide, Democrats, what is next? [42:29] When I entered the legislature in 2019, we were eight years into a supermajority democratic trifecta. [42:36] But what did we have to show for it? [42:38] California had the largest homelessness population and the lowest home ownership rates in the nation. [42:43] We had 2.5 million fewer homes than we needed. [42:48] Families were leaving the state because of the crushing affordability issues. [42:52] We had slept walked into a housing crisis of historic scale. [42:57] But instead of taking real action, what Sacramento manufactured was an elaborate fiction of progress. [43:06] Bills got passed. [43:07] Everyone patted themselves on the back. [43:09] Lobbyists gave us Legislator of the Year awards and hefty political contributions [43:15] while telling us we were the smartest people in the room. [43:18] That happens, so if you're newly elected, they will do that. [43:20] But here's the truth. [43:23] It was all performative. [43:25] We were too beholden to the groups. [43:27] The environmentalists, the building trades, local governments, [43:30] the progressive Nibi homeowners were all resistant to change. [43:35] The effort to solve a real housing crisis was actually a house of cards. [43:42] As I rose in Sacramento to become the Housing Chair and then the Appropriations Chair, [43:48] I realized I wasn't there to have a job. [43:52] I was there to do a job. [43:54] So I decided to rock the boat. [44:00] And as an Obama organizer at heart, I knew I needed to build a new army. [44:07] Instead of the usual suspects seeking to maintain the status quo, [44:12] we built a new coalition to realign the power structure. [44:16] We enlisted different voices from labor, like the Carpenters Union, SCIU, and the school workers. [44:23] Service organizations like AARP and United Way rolled up their sleeves for change. [44:29] And we were able to recruit forward-thinking, poverty, enviro, and urbanist organizations [44:35] to join our growing coalition of YIMBY grassroots groups. [44:39] We set our sights on the most notorious third rail, the California Environmental Quality Act, [44:46] otherwise known as CEQA. [44:48] They call it actually the law that ate California because it allowed anyone at any time the ability to stop housing in its tracks. [44:55] A reasonable plan to build 500 housing units in downtown San Francisco on a parking lot right near the BART stop? [45:04] Nope. [45:05] Delayed by lawsuits after years and years of litigation, the developer threw in the towel. [45:10] This kind of thing happened over and over and over again, until last year, [45:17] when we finally passed a new law exempting all infill housing from CEQA. [45:24] You can clap for that. [45:27] It was the biggest change in housing policy in 55 years. [45:32] And in the last year, nearly 20,000 units have been permitted using this law alone. [45:38] And that's not all. [45:39] We have passed reforms that have increased housing production of backyard cottages by 800 percent. [45:45] We're changing local control, forcing cities to plan for housing or face significant fines and lawsuits. [45:51] And on permitting reform, what used to take six years now takes six months for approvals. [45:57] I love the claps for permitting reform. [46:01] Like, you are my people. [46:03] Now, there's still obviously a lot more work to do to make housing affordable in California, [46:08] but instead of being a distant pipe dream, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. [46:12] I've been in politics my whole career, but I'm not a career politician. [46:16] The most valuable lessons I've learned is to look out for the lies we tell ourselves. [46:20] And there's no bigger lie than believing we have to do something one way, [46:24] because that's the way it's always been done. [46:26] Your communities might not look like the East Bay, but I want you to take from this story the following. [46:32] First, nothing is more sacred than your relationship with voters. [46:36] No one is worth listening to more than the voters who took a leap of faith on us. [46:41] Secondly, taking on the toughest of issues, no matter who you piss off, [46:44] is actually your fastest path to political success. [46:47] I've done it, I have the scars to prove it, and I just won my re-election by 80% of the vote. [46:54] And lastly, our leaders need to use our power. [47:02] We need to make our time count. [47:04] We have this kind of power for a blink of an eye in a lifetime, [47:07] because if we don't use our power, we're going to lose our power. [47:11] I'm honored to be part of this big, beautiful, amazing tent, Democrats, [47:16] and so humble to play a little role in the change that we need. [47:19] Now, Democrats, let's get to work. [47:50] Democrats, we're going to take control of Congress. [47:58] House minor leader, King Jones, is poised to make history. [48:01] You'll become the nation's first black speaker of the House. [48:04] For 10 years, Republicans have been more afraid of Donald Trump than they have been of the American people. [48:18] If the Knicks just won the championship for the first time in 53 years, [48:22] the Democratic comeback can take place. [48:24] Everyone, thank you for having us on this very special occasion. [48:52] I want to start with election night. [48:54] So I was on air, and it was demonstrably better than 2024. [48:57] And the House gets called in the 8 o'clock hour, [49:02] and then we start to realize it's going to be a massive majority as it ticks on. [49:07] You know, how does it feel to know that you're not only going to be the first black speaker of the House, [49:12] but that you're going to have a majority of this size, the biggest of the 21st century, to work with? [49:17] Well, good morning, everyone. [49:18] Yeah. [49:19] It was an incredible night. [49:21] It was— [49:21] Can— [49:28] We're going to talk about young voters. [49:30] Just two seconds. [49:32] I— [49:35] It was an incredible night for the American people last Tuesday. [50:04] When the results started to come in, I was sort of of the view, heading into election night, [50:10] that nothing for me was going to be able to top the feeling that I had [50:17] when the Knicks won the championship for the first time in 53 years. [50:21] But that feeling was topped on election night because it was such a decisive repudiation of MAGA extremism. [50:33] And we now have this incredible opportunity as Democrats [50:38] to deliver upon the type of dramatic change that the American people are demanding. [50:43] Life is way too expensive. [50:45] We know there are far too many people who are working hard. [50:48] They're playing by the rules, but they can't thrive and they can barely survive. [50:52] That's unacceptable in this country, the wealthiest country in the history of the world. [50:56] And so we have this opportunity in the House, in the Senate, all across the country, [51:00] the governorships that we've won, the state legislative bodies that we flipped to get to work. [51:05] Because we run to win, but we win to govern. [51:10] And we govern to get big things done for the American people. [51:18] I'm going to skip ahead since you brought up New York and fellow New Yorker and the Knicks. [51:23] So I want to bring up SNL. Did you see it last weekend? [51:26] Well, actually, I've been waiting for seven terms to make my SNL debut. [51:31] Yeah. [51:32] And it finally happened. So I didn't see it as it was unfolding. [51:37] But of course, a friend of mine was the first to send a clip and said, [51:43] Hakeem, do you know you were on Saturday Live? [51:46] And so I did get a chance to see the clip. [51:49] So Kenan Thompson was portraying you and he was getting to the heart of some of the criticism, [51:56] which we just saw with the young voters that were speaking out about their priorities, [52:01] that perhaps your leadership is too timid for the moment and that this mandate is enormous, [52:07] especially with these kinds of numbers. What do you what's your response to that criticism? [52:13] Well, I think, you know, as House Democrats, [52:16] we're honored by the trust that the American people have placed in us to get the job done. [52:21] And so we've got to work hard to deliver. Now, when it comes to [52:28] getting to a historic number, 260 Democrats, we're going to have the largest majority [52:35] that any party has had this century. And that comes from all across the country. [52:40] And in the last two years, we've worked hard to battle Republicans on every issue. [52:51] So we've battled them on the one big ugly bill in-house, in the House. We've battled them on the [52:56] Medicaid cuts, battled them on the Affordable Care Act tax credits, battled them on ICE funding, [53:01] battled them on the tariffs, battled them on Epstein transparency, battled them on the reckless and [53:06] costly war of choice in Iran, battled them on gerrymandering. They thought we would back down [53:13] and not fight back. But of course, we did. And we decimated their gerrymandering scheme all across [53:20] the United States of America. So we've been working hard collectively across the House Democratic Caucus [53:28] to do what was necessary to aggressively push back against MAGA extremism. And now, [53:34] we'll have the collective responsibility to really get to work fighting for an affordable America, [53:41] working hard to drive down the high cost of all the things, because life is way too expensive, [53:46] drive down the high cost of groceries, high cost of gas, high cost of housing. Certainly, [53:53] we believe that in this great country of ours, we've got to make healthcare affordable for every single [54:00] American and ensure that everyone can afford to go see a doctor when they need one. [54:06] Yeah. So, you know, what people are after right now is a marriage between the affordability and [54:15] the accountability agendas. And I know that, you know, we're tight on time in this kind of forum, [54:22] so I wanted to tick through some priorities, either the first hundred hours, which you've been talking [54:26] about, the first hundred days, you know, just something that we need to know is top of mind for you [54:31] when you get the gaggle, expanding the child tax credit. Yes or no? [54:37] Absolutely. We did it in the context of the American Rescue Plan. And in six months, [54:43] it cut child poverty in half in the United States of America. And we need to build upon that in the [54:50] new Congress. All right. Universal healthcare. [54:52] Yes. No, absolutely. So what we have to do is that we have to fix our broken healthcare system. And [54:59] what we've said as House Democrats in the face of the largest assault on healthcare in American [55:06] history, they've assaulted Medicaid and Medicare and the Affordable Care Act and medical research [55:13] and the Centers for Disease Control and vaccine availability and the National Institute of Health. [55:18] We've got to fix what's been broken. And we're going to begin very early on in the new Congress [55:26] by working to reverse the Medicaid cuts and working to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. [55:32] And then we've got to go further to make sure that we don't just fix what's broken, [55:36] but that we've built upon what we need to do moving from there. And I think, well, [56:30] So how about permitting reform? [56:31] Well, remember, Jessica, I'm from Brooklyn. This is like work. [56:41] Guys, do you think this is helping you? [56:45] You better not let a single Democrat vote for Baja. You better kill every single vote for that bill. [56:54] This is your first big test on climate. Why should we trust you when you're in the pocket of [57:00] operations? You take money. You're so chill. I find this very unnerving, even compared to, [57:12] like, the five. Remember, remember, y'all, I grew up from Brooklyn. And so, [57:22] all right. So let me let me just say, you know, [57:25] both in terms of we certainly need to get permitting reform done. And it's working its way through the [57:35] Senate. It'll come over to the House. There's still some issues that need to be addressed. [57:39] We're going to have a conversation as a House Democratic Caucus when it comes over to the House. [57:44] But we are committed to getting this done as part of our effort to build upon [57:48] the need to decisively address the affordability crisis. Now, on health care, it's in our DNA as [57:55] Democrats, going all the way back to FDR as well as Truman. And of course, it was Congressman John [58:02] Dingell Sr., who in the 1940s introduced the first bill designed to try to get this country to universal [58:12] access to health care. LBJ built upon that call to action. And we were able to, in the 60s, [58:21] decisively get Medicare and Medicaid done. Of course, it was President Clinton and Democrats in the House [58:29] and the Senate who got the Children's Health Insurance Program done. That was incredibly important. [58:34] President Obama then led the effort to go even further with the Affordable Care Act, giving [58:40] health care coverage to tens of millions of Americans. We built upon that under President [58:46] Biden's leadership with the Affordable Care Act tax credits. As we work to reverse the damage, [58:52] we're going to then keep our commitment to making health care affordable to every single American. [58:57] I think we've got to lower the age of eligibility as it relates to Medicare. I think we've got to make [59:02] sure that we cover hearing, vision, and dental. And we've got to make sure that every child in America [59:09] can be able to see a doctor with high quality affordable health care. These are steps that we [59:14] can take once we build upon reversing the damage that needs to be reversed. Okay, so something like [59:20] supporting Andy Kim's Medicaid plan in the House? Yeah, well, so I've supported that legislation. I've [59:26] supported legislation with respect to the age of eligibility. And I think what's going to happen in [59:31] the House and in the Senate is that we've got the committees of jurisdiction. That's Richie Neal and the [59:37] Ways and Means Committee. That's Frank Pallone and Energy and Commerce Committee that are going [59:42] to have to work with our colleagues on the Senate Democratic side. That's Ron Wyden and the Senate [59:48] Finance Committee and Bernie Sanders on the Senate Health Committee. Okay. [59:52] Four minutes. Oh, my God. I had so much. Ban congressional stock trading. You've already [59:57] your yes there. I'm a hard yes. Yes. Get dark money out of our politics. We absolutely have to [1:00:05] get dark money out of politics. And we will move very aggressively in the beginning of the new [1:00:10] Congress to end Citizens United. Okay. Members of Congress from ever lobbying. Yeah, [1:00:21] so I think there are a variety of different lobbying reform bills, but this pay-to-play [1:00:25] culture that exists in the United States of America has got to change. And we shouldn't have [1:00:30] people. This is the reason why we're going to move aggressively to ban members of Congress from [1:00:35] trading stock, because you shouldn't have people profiting off of public service. [1:00:40] Codify abortion rights. We absolutely are going to make [1:00:47] the Women's Health Protection Act a high priority in the new Congress. I assume you're a big yes on [1:00:55] banning mid-cycle redistricting and partisan gerrymandering. Yeah, so I'm absolutely a yes on [1:01:01] that. But let me be clear, and I said this when this all started in Texas last July, that Republicans [1:01:09] and MAGA extremists started this redistricting war, we're going to end it. And last Tuesday, [1:01:14] that's what we did, decisively, all across the country. So we're not going to unilaterally disarm, [1:01:21] but at the same period of time, as we've done in two prior Congresses, we need to ban mid-decade [1:01:29] gerrymandering and partisan gerrymandering. And we're committed to doing just that. [1:01:37] A major issue for voters, and we just saw part of this, is the gerontocracy. And that, you know, [1:01:43] we are sending a record number of millennials to Washington, and there's still a bunch of older [1:01:48] people, especially with, you know, plum committee assignments. The younger members don't want to [1:01:55] wait in line. Will you support term limits? So it's the right conversation to have. And we're going to [1:02:02] have that discussion in December as a caucus, and I look forward to embracing it. Will you support Suzy [1:02:10] Lee's amendment to the caucus rules that a member can only serve four full terms as the top member on [1:02:16] the committee? So that could be the ranking member or being in charge of the committee? [1:02:19] Yeah, I'm scheduled to talk to Congresswoman Suzy Lee tomorrow, and so we'll have that discussion [1:02:25] about what's in the public domain. She hasn't introduced it yet as an amendment to the caucus [1:02:31] rules, so we'll see where she goes with it. But I think it's the right discussion, and it's a discussion [1:02:36] that we're going to have. All right. So one thing that, you know, it's a bit newsy, but it is, [1:02:42] you know, also really speaks to what we have to think about going forward is this wild NVIDIA story, [1:02:48] which I don't know if Scott Besson is still on TV right now throwing arrows at Howard Lutnick, [1:02:54] but there's a clear mandate to investigate NVIDIA, Jensen Wong, Megaspeed. The Trump administration [1:03:00] seemingly knew that there was this huge national security threat and didn't do anything about it. [1:03:06] Will you commit to those kinds of investigations? [1:03:09] Yeah, absolutely. In fact, yesterday I said clearly and unequivocally that House Democrats [1:03:16] are going to aggressively investigate this scandal and the national security implications, [1:03:23] and that effort is going to be led by Jim Himes and the Intel Committee and, of course, [1:03:29] Greg Meeks and the Foreign Affairs Committee. In fact, I think just earlier this morning, [1:03:35] uh, Jim Himes sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick demanding, uh, that he appear [1:03:44] before the committee by December 1st and gave him until midnight today to reply. And if that doesn't [1:03:53] happen, subpoenas are going to be issued by the Intel Committee. [1:03:56] In thinking about the accountability aspect of this, and I went to see, uh, soon-to-be Chairman Garcia [1:04:05] speak last weekend after his quote-unquote, you know, lawyer up, uh, tweet from election night, [1:04:11] who or what entities are you thinking about as, you know, the one, two, three that you think you guys [1:04:17] should be investigating? Yeah, well, I'm in conversation, uh, with Jamie Raskin, the soon-to-be [1:04:24] chair of the House Judiciary Committee, uh, as well as Robert Garcia, uh, Assistant Leader Joe Negus [1:04:31] and others who've been really involved in our litigation task force efforts to push back against [1:04:36] the Trump administration and our anti-corruption efforts. So we ran as House Democrats promising [1:04:43] two things to the American people. We're going to fight for an affordable America, and we're going to [1:04:47] make sure, in the face of this unprecedented corruption, that when you have folks who've been out there [1:04:53] stealing from the American people, screwing over the American people, or shortchanging the American [1:04:58] people, beginning in the new Congress, we're going to hold the crooks accountable for all of the [1:05:05] wrongdoing that has occurred. We're going to follow the facts, we're going to apply the law, [1:05:10] we're going to be guided by the Constitution, and let the chips fall where they may. And we're going to do [1:05:15] it not for partisan reasons, right, but for patriotic reasons. It was James Madison who said, [1:05:23] very early on in our journey in this country, that the House and the Senate, that Congress [1:05:29] should be a rival to the executive branch. We're a separate and co-equal branch of government. We've [1:05:35] got to make sure that we're a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch, and that's [1:05:40] exactly what we intend to do so we can deliver a government of the people, by the people, and for the [1:05:47] people, focused on solving problems for hard-working American taxpayers. [1:05:51] Okay, we're out of time, unfortunately. Thank you guys. Thank you for being here. [1:05:57] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [1:06:02] Please welcome Senator Andy Kim. [1:07:06] Good morning, everyone. How are you feeling? Feeling energized? I'm so happy to be here. Thank you to the [1:07:27] majority Democrats for pulling this together. Thank you all for coming out from all over the country to be able to [1:07:32] celebrate what we did last week and to talk about what's next. And look, we absolutely should celebrate [1:07:39] the hard work that every single one of you has contributed to all over this country. But I wanted [1:07:45] to just take a step back and just take a look at why it is that people showed up to vote. Because while [1:07:52] we're celebrating, we have to make sure that we understand that why tens of millions of people [1:07:57] across this country stepped up and voted and showed up at the polls to have their voice heard, [1:08:02] it's because so many people in this country are struggling. So many people are hurting right now. [1:08:10] Their vote last Tuesday was a cry for help. So we have to make sure that our celebrations, our efforts [1:08:18] are not out of touch with what so many Americans are wondering about now, about how is their life [1:08:23] going to be better. There was a woman that I talked to out on the trail. I was talking to her about [1:08:29] how the Iran war is raising up costs, the tariffs are squeezing families, talking about how Trump has [1:08:36] raised himself, earned over $2 billion since coming into office in January 2025. How much has your family [1:08:44] earned? And she looked at me and she said, what about us? What about me? So when we're talking about the [1:08:53] trust deficit, when we're talking about the struggles that Americans are facing, it comes down to this [1:08:57] question, is government caring about you? Does government care about us? And I feel this on a [1:09:07] very personal level. I was not able to, I wasn't there at a watch party on election night. I wasn't [1:09:15] able to toast to the success that we have with great candidates and races around the country because I [1:09:20] spent election night at a hospital. I was there by my father's side. My father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's [1:09:28] and we've been really struggling with this. I'll be honest, it's been some of the most difficult [1:09:32] things I've ever imagined having to deal with. And it's all and more tragic because my father's [1:09:37] actually, he was a medical researcher, dedicated his entire life to trying to cure Alzheimer's [1:09:42] and now no longer remembers that that was his life. And not only is it Alzheimer's, but in the last few [1:09:49] months, my father's developed a psychosis and he's become incredibly aggressive and confrontational, [1:09:55] even violent towards me, towards his caregiver. I'm trying to feed him and he's trying to claw at me. [1:10:01] I mean, it's hard to go through this and it's not just the physical and the emotional side of it. [1:10:08] It has also been financially catastrophic for my family, like millions of families that we see that [1:10:15] our country is a place where sometimes families have to pay 14, 15, $16,000 a month out of pocket to [1:10:23] care for their loved ones or basically try to bankrupt themselves until they're eligible for [1:10:27] Medicaid. Does that sound like a choice to you? Does that sound like a real choice? This is the richest, [1:10:33] most powerful country in the world. How are we in this place where we are just trying to care [1:10:39] for our loved ones? That I have to stand before you as a caregiver that's trying to ask a fundamental [1:10:46] question of what is the best care for my father, but instead I have to ask what is the best care for [1:10:52] my father that I can afford? That is a humiliating question. I feel ashamed that we are in a place [1:11:00] where I can't give my father and my loved ones the care that they deserve. Instead, I have to think [1:11:05] about how I'm trying to take away and for my retirement savings or my kids 529s. I got two little [1:11:12] boys, a nine-year-old and an 11-year-old, two beautiful troublemaking little boys. My nine-year-old, [1:11:20] I'll share this with you. My nine-year-old just called me, told me that he just saw the Rubik's [1:11:24] Cube in a minute 20. Can you believe that? A minute 20. How amazing is that? I have never [1:11:30] solved a Rubik's Cube in my life. So I am simultaneously filled with pride and also like [1:11:35] a little insecurity as a dad here. I don't like them surpassing me. I'm going to try to go home and [1:11:40] take him down a couple of notches. But look, nine years ago, my son was someone who had health problems [1:11:47] even before he was born. The doctor came in and told us things the parents never want to hear, [1:11:52] which he said there's a problem. He said that he wasn't growing right and that we may have problems for the [1:11:57] rest of his life. There's nothing more scary than that. And I've talked to families, parents of kids [1:12:04] in the NICU worried about their kid, but also worried about how they're going to pay for that. [1:12:09] That should never happen. Never should there be a parent in the NICU with a sick kid that has to [1:12:16] worry about how they're going to pay for this. This challenge about care, it's not just this question [1:12:21] about does government care about you? It's this question of does government care for you? It's about [1:12:29] making sure that we are working together to build up that sense of trust. So that's why I'm here. [1:12:36] I'm here because I'm a son to my father who has Alzheimer's. I'm a father to two little boys worried [1:12:42] about what kind of America my two boys are going to grow up in. Terrified about the trajectory that [1:12:47] we're on. We have been given an opportunity from millions of Americans crying for help. We have to [1:12:53] deliver. In the same way that when I'm out there trying to figure out a caregiver to be able to be with [1:12:59] my father, it's about is this person someone that can deliver for my family, deliver for my father. [1:13:06] That's what people are looking for. I recognize that I am only able to be here talking to you today [1:13:12] because there's a caregiver with my father right now. And that is something we have to make sure [1:13:17] we're lifting up. I've introduced legislation called Medicare at Home that will allow [1:13:22] millions of seniors to be able to age in place at home unless they're to be able to get the care that [1:13:27] they need. It's not only the right thing for these families, but it's also financially the right [1:13:32] thing for our country as we see how expensive institutional care is. And I introduced legislation [1:13:39] called Medicaid to have guaranteed health care for every child in this country. Automatic enrollment, [1:13:47] automatic enrollment upon birth for every child birth to 26 to be able to ensure every infant, [1:13:52] every toddler, every grade school student, college students can have the care that they need, the stability [1:13:58] that they need, the reliability that they crave. That's what they need. And I designed this not just to [1:14:04] pontificate, I designed that bill specific for reconciliation. We can pass this thing. We can get this done [1:14:11] and actually deliver. I've learned a lot about being a caregiver, a lot about what it means to be there [1:14:24] every single moment that is needed, even when you're tired. What I'll say is I've come to see my job [1:14:32] not just as a caregiver to my father, but I see the work that I do in the Senate as being a caregiver to this [1:14:38] country. In the same way that I'm caring for my father who's ailing and forgetting who he is, it feels like [1:14:46] I'm a caregiver to our country that's ailing and forgetting what it is, what it stands for. So that's not just me. [1:14:54] I hope all of you feel it too. And that's my call and my challenge to you today. And now that we're [1:14:59] past election day, you are no longer candidates, you are no longer campaign managers, you're no longer [1:15:06] canvassers or consultants, you are caregivers. And our job is to deliver for the American people, [1:15:14] to be able to build a caregiving movement in this country that's going to transform it once and for all [1:15:19] and finally deliver for those that are in so desperate need and cried out to help last week. [1:15:25] I want to work with you on that. And I hope you want to work with me. Let's get this done. [1:15:29] Please welcome Senator Chris Van Hollen. Great to be with you. Last week, the American people [1:16:29] went to the ballot box and they voted for change. They voted against a reckless and illegal war in Iran. [1:16:37] It's driving up gas prices against rising costs that are crushing working families and against the [1:16:44] politics of cruelty and corruption. But my fellow Democrats, while they fired the Trump policies, [1:16:52] they have not fully hired us. We've been given a chance. It's up to us to meet this moment. We know [1:17:01] what we have to do. Because across this country, candidates from different backgrounds and different [1:17:08] parts of our party, they ran on a strikingly similar platform. They didn't run on the tired [1:17:16] Washington labels of progressive versus moderate. They ran on an economic populist message, on a [1:17:23] commitment to fight for working people and take on a rigged economic and political system that has [1:17:30] failed them for too long. And they ran on lowering costs, on ending the war, saving rural hospitals and [1:17:44] fixing a broken health care system, getting money out of politics, raising the minimum wage so it's a [1:17:53] livable wage, holding AI companies accountable and making sure that not one dime of your money goes to [1:18:02] build data centers. These are not Democratic or Republican issues. They resonate with Americans [1:18:11] across the country. And now it's our job, all of our jobs, to show the American people that we've heard [1:18:18] them and that we're going to act. And that work, it begins in the United States Senate. After the 2024 [1:18:29] election, a poll got passed around Washington DC. Folks were asked what mattered more, preserving America's [1:18:39] institutions or delivering change that improves people's lives. Nearly everyone chose change. And a lot of [1:18:48] people in Washington DC concluded that Americans have stopped caring about our democracy. But look at the choice [1:18:57] that they were asked to make. Defend the system as it is, or get a better life. For a lot of Americans, [1:19:05] our institutions sound like the thing that is standing in the way of that better life. The thing that let [1:19:13] their wages fall and stall while rent soared. That bailed out the banks while families lost their homes. [1:19:21] That justified war after war in the Middle East. That cozied up to special interests. Of course, [1:19:28] they chose change. But it wasn't a vote against government. It was a vote for a better government. [1:19:40] Another poll came out recently. It asked Americans this question, whether Washington has the power to [1:19:48] make a real difference in their lives. 92% said yes. Then they asked about whether it actually does [1:19:58] make a positive difference in their lives. Only 43% said yes. That 49% gap, the trust deficit, between those [1:20:11] who say Washington has the power to make a difference in their lives and those who say it actually does, [1:20:16] tells us that Americans have not given up on what their government can do. They know our government and [1:20:24] our democracy can make their lives better. But they have wholly lost faith that it will. The lesson [1:20:33] for me is not that Americans don't care about government or our democracy. It's that they want [1:20:40] their government to work and change to be worthy of their trust. We should be preserving our institutions. We [1:20:49] should not be preserving our institutions if they are not delivering for the American people. And we [1:20:56] should be making delivering for the American people the single mission of our government, even when [1:21:03] that means shaking things up. And that is why I'm running for the majority leader in the United States [1:21:13] Senate. This is the key question before us as a country. It's bigger than the Democratic Party. It's about [1:21:37] our country. This question of trust. We have an opportunity to restore faith in our democracy, [1:21:43] not by preaching about its virtues, but by delivering for working people. That work starts in the United [1:21:50] States Senate. What if we actually had votes on the Senate floor on things that the American people [1:21:56] really cared about? No poison pills or tricks to hide things that are deeply unpopular or at the behest of [1:22:04] corporate lobbyists. Show the American people, show the American people where we stand. And if Trump wants to veto it, [1:22:13] and once again, show he stands with his billionaire buddies, let him do that. But we should not decide what we do [1:22:20] based on what he might do. What if we went toe to toe with the president to take on the fights that are too important to lose, [1:22:30] not just using the tools in our power, but by making the case to the American people to end the war, [1:22:38] to protect health care, to stop our neighbors from being sent to foreign gulags, to defend our [1:22:45] constitution? What if we took the incredible energy we saw around the country last week and made that the [1:22:53] North Star for the United States Senate? Our candidates ran on platforms that are popular to the American [1:23:01] people. But what they ran on was not so popular with many powerful special interests who profit from [1:23:11] the status quo and who deploy armies of lobbyists in Washington to defend that broken status quo. We must ensure [1:23:21] we must ensure that the interests of the American people that we heard and are reflected in the candidates who won are not [1:23:29] drowned out by those special interests. That means putting our new members on the front lines of the [1:23:37] United States Senate. About what it would mean in 2028 for that to be the Democratic Senate that we've had for [1:23:48] two years. My friends, as I said yesterday, this is not about any one individual. It's about heeding the message [1:23:57] of the American people. We must overcome the trust deficit. This country does not belong to the people [1:24:06] who can afford to buy influence. It belongs to all of us. And it's time we governed like that. Thank you, [1:24:14] fellow patriots. The job done. Please welcome Congressman Ro Khanna. I'm for Chris Van Hollen. [1:25:03] We met at a time of voter anger and anxiety in America. Anger and anxiety directed at the most corrosive, [1:25:19] corrupt and anti-democratic administration in our great nation's history, but also directed at an [1:25:28] economic and political system that is unfair and lopsided and has led to the greatest wealth and income [1:25:37] inequality since we've seen since the Gilded Age. This moment demands a Democratic Party that, like FDR, [1:25:49] has absolute clarity about an affirmative role of government and champions progressive and liberal [1:25:59] policies. Now look, the organizers here want a big tent, one big enough even to invite anti-establishment [1:26:10] voices like me. I hear they've even let in the lever reporters. We're working on American Prospect. [1:26:17] But look, I'm all for a big tent, but not a shallow one. A big tent cannot mean that we water down [1:26:29] principle for political expediency. It cannot mean that we make room for organized money and compromise [1:26:40] our purpose to appease donors. This is not the politics that Americans are looking for, [1:26:48] not when 989 billionaires, think about this, 989 billionaires are worth 22% of our GDP while young [1:26:57] adults are stuck living in their parents' home because they cannot get a good job. This is an [1:27:04] economy where one-third of the nation's wealth, 25 trillion dollars, one-third of the nation's wealth [1:27:12] has piled up in my district and the 50-mile surrounding area. When I was along with Tim Snyder, [1:27:18] said the nation can't survive that way. Well, so many Americans face stagnation and despair, [1:27:25] not when we're in an illegal and immoral war in Iran. This is not the 1990s. We cannot cobble together [1:27:35] a fleeting big tent through perpetual triangulating, straddling and calculating. Our generation must aim [1:27:43] bigger. Like FDR, we must build an enduring big tent the hard way by being uncompromised. This is how [1:27:53] we reach disaffected independents and MAGA voters who want change. This is actually how we win. This [1:28:01] means standing up to private insurance and drug companies and delivering Medicare for all. No half [1:28:09] measures. It means saying no to the defense contractors and cutting a $1 trillion bloated [1:28:17] Pentagon budget. It means a wealth tax on the billionaires who are the economic royalists of our [1:28:25] time. I want to ask you something. If I can support a 5% tax in the heart of Silicon Valley, [1:28:34] how is this a hard vote for 434 other members? It would raise $4 trillion. Think about what $4 [1:28:43] trillion from Silicon Valley invested across America would mean. Free college, free child care, [1:28:51] fully funded IDEA and public schools, an industrial development bank. It would give every American a [1:28:59] stake in our future. And you know what? The poor billionaires would be worth what they were [1:29:05] on Labor Day. On Labor Day. You know what else? We can afford a $25 minimum wage while corporations sit [1:29:13] on trillion dollars. Being uncompromised means standing up to the Epstein class even when pundits [1:29:21] call it a distraction. Thomas Massey and I are not giving up our fight for survivors as we just secured [1:29:28] 218 signatures on Epstein 2.0. It means rejecting this idea of heritage Americans and not being afraid of [1:29:39] saying clearly and unequivocally, we are proud of immigrants in this country. We stand for citizenship [1:29:46] for those who are undocumented and who live by our rules. And yes, we will abolish ICE. [1:29:52] Rejecting APEC, pulling out the genocide. When the foreign policy blob, when they come and they say, [1:30:19] Mr. President, we need an aerial bombing campaign on a rogue regime, a president must say, not on my watch. [1:30:27] And when they come back and they say, it will only be a few days, it will only be a few places, [1:30:35] it will only be a few planes. The next American president must stand firm and say, no more foreign [1:30:44] wars. Not FDR built America for the industrial age. You and I too have our rendezvous with destiny. [1:30:59] The modern democratic party will build America, not for the few, but for all of us in the AI and [1:31:08] technology age. The modern democratic party knows how to do this. Americans know you don't build [1:31:15] modern wealth by conquering Greenland or getting into wars. Maybe that was the way centuries ago. [1:31:24] But what Democrats will do is unleash the greatest economic project we've seen in generations. An [1:31:31] economic bill of rights and a revitalization and empowerment mission across this nation to give [1:31:38] dignity and agency to those who have left felt left out. A Marshall Plan, not for Europe, but for America. [1:31:45] America. America's next new deal. Here is what I believe. If we bring economic hope to those who [1:31:56] are unseen and unheard. If we bring modern economic prosperity to the hollowed out factory towns that [1:32:04] I grew up with in Pennsylvania, to the working class towns in the Southwest, to the Black South, [1:32:11] then our generation, our generation will help fulfill Frederick Douglass' prophecy [1:32:17] that America will become a composite nation, a nation of all nations, a nation of people of all [1:32:23] backgrounds, and we will be the first beautiful multiracial democracy in the history of this world. [1:32:31] Democrats, that is our mission. Let's go do the job. Thank you very much. [1:32:35] Our country is bigger and better than any single person or any single president. [1:33:20] Governors in smaller groups can be, as you say, both a firewall and a force multiplier. [1:33:26] You are sick of the status quo. I've got stopped at the doors of the governor's office. [1:33:37] Things can just start a party. Building up those broad coalitions, not just to win, but to govern, matters. [1:33:50] Trust-based, respectful relationships that allow you to work together, to compromise, and to solve problems. [1:33:56] The president doesn't get to tell us what to do. That's Russ's side. [1:34:00] Hey, everybody. Whoa. I'm looking at that clock. They took my 10 minutes back. [1:34:32] This is the Special Olympics of moderating. I've got four governors here, and apparently 25 minutes to [1:34:37] have a conversation with them. And then they added a guy named Christ Tompkins. So just saying his name [1:34:43] will take up a little more time. So if you don't mind, and so does Governor-elect, [1:34:49] I'm just going to refer to you all by your first names. We just had a historic election, [1:34:55] and you guys, I mean, the Republicans would refer to you as the canaries in the coal mine [1:35:00] because of the victories you won last year that cheered this group who needed hope. [1:35:05] But talk about what you read the elections to mean. What were people telling you? What were they [1:35:11] telling Democrats generally? Well, I'm always really surprised with our shared history and values [1:35:18] and culture that when I leave my state, how few people understand that New Jersey really is the [1:35:24] center of the universe. And so, thank you. I'm glad there's someone separating us, Mikey. [1:35:32] I know. I didn't sit next to Abigail. You'll get your turn. [1:35:36] She can't reach across. But so I think we were lucky, though, that it really was in late 2024, [1:35:43] because Abigail did a marvelous job clearing the field. In New Jersey, we had a six-way primary, [1:35:50] Democratic primary. So we were running the only statewide Democratic primary in the entire nation [1:35:56] after 24 ended. And we didn't have time. We had to get into that race to get it done by 25. We have [1:36:01] that off-year cycle. We had to get into that race right away. And so immediately, the reason I say [1:36:07] we were lucky to have it in New Jersey is New Jersey is a bastion of retail politics. We have the most [1:36:13] densely populated state in the nation. We have more municipalities than California, and we have an [1:36:19] incredibly diverse state. So in a very short time, I'm talking a matter of hours, I can get in touch with [1:36:24] everybody who thinks about everything in the entire world. I mean, you know, every issue. [1:36:29] Let me just interrupt for a second, because I'm watching this clock roll down. Since you can get [1:36:33] in touch with everybody, what are they telling you? They're telling me affordability. And everybody [1:36:36] else is telling me that's boring, and that's not a way to run an election, and you can't do it, [1:36:40] and you have to run a democracy and NATO and, you know, you name the issue at the time, DOGE and [1:36:46] Democratic institutions. But people on the ground are telling me affordability. That's what we ran on. [1:36:51] And then we created this huge election, and we're able to win big. And I think that's what rolled us all [1:36:56] into 26 on affordability in a powerful way, which I think puts our Democratic Party in the best [1:37:03] possible place it can be. Phil? First, I'll start with affordability. Not too long ago in Colorado, [1:37:10] average age to buy a home, start a home, was 30 years old. It's now 41 years old. That means people [1:37:15] here are saying, I don't know I can afford to live here. Teachers are saying, I don't think I can afford [1:37:20] to buy a home where I teach. That is a moral and economic challenge we've got to take on. Health [1:37:24] care, huge challenges. People feel like the health care system is busy ripping them off, [1:37:29] not keeping them healthy. I also want to add our kids' future. Something like 10 to 20 percent of [1:37:35] young men, 18 to 22 right now, are doing nothing. This is before AI changes the workforce. We've got [1:37:42] a clarion call to fight for our kids' future. And finally, how do we ensure that we have an economy [1:37:48] that works for everybody? That people can feel like they can build the business, get good jobs. [1:37:52] There's a lot of concern out there. That concern went our way. We've got to deliver on those issues [1:37:58] to make sure the voters know we heard them. Let me just change it up just a little bit. [1:38:03] Do you feel that you have the tools to make a real difference on the affordability issue [1:38:11] as a governor? And are you worried about – well, you're nodding your head, [1:38:17] so I'm just going to shut up and let you answer it. Without a doubt. In fact, I think the places [1:38:21] where you'll see the most progress over the next two years – of course, during the remaining two [1:38:26] years of the Trump administration – will continue to be at the state level. So when I won in 2025 – [1:38:31] Yes, we can – Yeah, let's give it up for governors. [1:38:36] When we ran in 2025, it was issues of affordability, housing, health care, energy. It was issues of stopping the [1:38:42] chaos, the trade war that was wreaking havoc across our communities, rising gas prices – not even before [1:38:50] we went into this senseless and strategy-less war. And what we have been able to do at the state level [1:38:58] is – I pushed out when I was first elected my affordable Virginia agenda. Every single one of [1:39:03] those bills passed. I signed them into law within my first 100 days. And some of them have immediate [1:39:08] impact, right? Like, Virginia's historically one of the worst states in the country for renter [1:39:14] protection. So one way to make sure that people can actually afford to live is to not boot them out [1:39:18] of their houses. And we have done, you know, the short term where you can see the immediate gains, [1:39:25] not requiring prior authorizations to go to see a specialist. That's important. It saves you time, [1:39:31] it saves you money, and it makes the customer's experience better. One big thing, right? ACA subsidies were [1:39:37] cut at the federal level. Over the last year, the first year of my administration, we saw 100,000 [1:39:42] Virginians drop off of the marketplace. And so we put $150 million into the state budget to say, [1:39:50] this is the cohort of folks between 138 and 250 percent of the federal poverty level. [1:39:56] If we give them subsidies aimed at a 70 percent savings, we can bring 200,000 people back into the [1:40:04] healthcare marketplace, lowering their costs and stabilizing the market during this time of [1:40:09] record of steadiness. So let me ask you, do you, do you, just an add-on to my question, [1:40:15] do you think that those all, the people who voted Democratic in Virginia were saying, well, [1:40:22] it's not as big a problem for me because my governor and my state has done these things, [1:40:27] or is the affordability problem still one that everybody's being held accountable for? [1:40:34] Well, I think that, you know, certainly at the federal level, people recognize, [1:40:37] and because we also make clear that people recognize, that even though the state, [1:40:42] I say this all the time, the state can step in and try and stop some of the greatest harms. [1:40:47] Yeah, that's what I'm getting at. That's sort of what I was getting at. [1:40:48] But we cannot afford into, like, perpetuity to bridge the gaps of federal dollars. We just, [1:40:56] we have a requirement for a balanced budget. We can't do it. And so we've made smart choices to [1:41:00] try and mitigate the harm. But in fact, if you're looking at gas prices, record diesel prices, [1:41:05] the impact on farmers, chaos of trade policies, obliteration of our health care market. [1:41:09] No, I get it. That's why I asked. [1:41:10] That happens at the federal level. [1:41:12] How about Alaska? You guys have, this clearly was an issue there, or maybe the issue. [1:41:20] In rural Alaska, there's $25 a gallon heating fuel. There's $20 a gallon milk. So affordability [1:41:28] sort of has a whole meaning in Alaska. Alaska wins in a lot of ways. Easternmost point in the [1:41:34] United States. We're the state of superlatives. But affordability is very front and center. [1:41:40] What does heating oil normally cost for those who are not from states where they rely on heating oil? [1:41:45] Like, how expensive is that? Sorry to take your job. [1:41:49] It depends on the state, four to six. That's okay. Nobody elected me. [1:41:52] Yeah. I mean, and rural Alaska is just sort of a world onto its own in terms of just the cost of [1:41:58] living and the realities of living. But affordability is very front and center. And I mean, I think to your [1:42:03] question, David, about what can the governor do about it, there's no magic affordability wand you can [1:42:09] waive. But in Alaska, housing is a real lever you can pull. And yes, in my backyard for ADUs. Yes, [1:42:17] my backyard for apartments. Yes, in my backyard for tiny homes, for prefab, for modular, all of the [1:42:22] above. And so I think that sort of pro-housing, let's build stuff agenda has real resonance. And [1:42:28] then also energy and electricity. And at least in Alaska, the governor appoints the regulatory [1:42:33] commissioners. So in terms of working with utilities and having energy abundance and more supply and [1:42:39] lower costs. That's another lever to pull. States, we call states laboratories of innovation. I'm sure [1:42:46] you all think of them that way. I really want, I want just one thing. What is the one thing that [1:42:52] you're doing or hope to do that would be an innovative public policy advance? So we hit the ground [1:43:04] sprinting. As I say, we froze rate hikes because our utility companies were making a billion dollars in [1:43:08] profit while everyone else paid double digits more per year. Yeah. So the rent freeze is your [1:43:13] innovative idea? So that the expansion of generation and the movement of responsibility [1:43:21] away from rate payers onto utility companies to come up with the innovation ideas. And so we've [1:43:26] expanded power generation, plug-in solar. Let's rip that off, Abigail. And stuff like community solar. [1:43:32] Would you have admitted that she weren't sitting there? No. Okay. No, I wouldn't have. She has to hold me [1:43:37] accountable. But so, and with all this, an independent study said we've already, already, the work [1:43:45] we've done, and so this idea that states can save people money, have saved, are going to save great [1:43:50] peers over a billion dollars a year. So that's the kind of quick movement states can make when you're willing to [1:43:55] take on, like, entrenched interests, et cetera. I know, you're cutting me off. I have so many good things to say. [1:44:01] I know, I know, but you're not even on the ballot this year. So, uh, uh, Phil, talk about what is the one [1:44:09] thing that you most want to do that you think would be a, uh, a, uh, a breakthrough, an innovation? [1:44:16] Let me pivot to my second point about our kids' future. Our kids, seriously. [1:44:20] That's an interesting question. At least he passed his, uh, he passed his first point. [1:44:24] But I'm answering as an innovation because, um, in addition to affordability, right now for young [1:44:31] people, they are deeply concerned that they're not going to have jobs in the future, that they don't [1:44:38] have a sense of connection or belonging. In Colorado, we're going to build something called Colorado Corps, [1:44:42] calling young people to serve in law enforcement, firefighting, counseling, nourishing, teaching, [1:44:48] and thinking about how we can use AI to do good things in nonprofits. Because young people, [1:44:54] they're looking for meaning, connection, and purpose. We can't call young people to serve. We [1:44:59] have shortages, David, in our state, in all these areas. And whether it's after high school, community [1:45:04] college, or college, saying to a young person, spend some time in these key areas to serve. It's going to [1:45:10] change their outlook on their future. Some of those require training, and you're going to provide [1:45:13] that training? Correct. Nursing, for example? Absolutely, yeah. We need to create these workforce [1:45:17] pathways. We have a huge nursing shortage right now, and people are graduating high school and can't [1:45:23] get good jobs. That's a huge disconnect that we can do something about. Yeah. I want to give you your [1:45:31] shot, uh, Abigail, but, um, since AI came up here, you've, you have more data centers in Virginia than any [1:45:39] other state. That's what you walked into. Yeah. Uh, 631 or something, I swear, but maybe more than that, [1:45:46] and 500 more on the planning. Yeah. How, how, that obviously was a huge issue in this campaign. How [1:45:52] are you, uh, are you creating a pathway for other governors to follow here? Uh, yes, and I'm happy to [1:46:00] share our plan. Um, so Virginia has more data centers than any other state in the country, which means that [1:46:07] we're further ahead of the conversation. So the things that we're percolating is concerns, whether it's [1:46:12] noise pollution, air pollution, uh, water consumption, energy consumption, all of these [1:46:18] topics, or even local siting or use of NDAs, all of these topics have long been of great concern [1:46:23] within Virginia. Um, and so certainly as the conversation is really percolating and strengthening [1:46:28] in other parts of the country, we were really ground zero for that conversation. Um, and so earlier this [1:46:35] year, I rolled out our data center accountability framework, getting at every element of that concern, [1:46:41] ensuring that we've already put in place through legislation, a variety of things. We have the [1:46:45] first in the nation, uh, consumption tax on data center utility use. We have put strong parameters [1:46:52] in place in terms of the, what is required, uh, for localities to know information related to water [1:46:58] consumption and air pollution, et cetera. Um, but the framework builds upon that and it is kind of souped to [1:47:05] nuts, the highest standards in the country, and has been called that by independent organizations, [1:47:11] highest standard in the country for, uh, protecting water, requiring high technology, best technology, [1:47:17] lowest consumption of energy, ensuring they pay their fair share, whether it's for infrastructure [1:47:22] or actual energy usage, bring your own energy, having them work as virtual power plants, requiring [1:47:28] battery storage, requiring innovation, requiring community benefits plans so that in fact there is [1:47:34] real benefit to a community, uh, Claude could not have summarized it better than that. Well, [1:47:39] there's just a couple more things. Eliminating NDAs when it comes to, uh, eliminating NDAs and requiring [1:47:48] individual, uh, in every case, local approvals rather than by right construction so that people can [1:47:55] say whether or not they want to choose to have a data center come to their community or not with full [1:48:00] information. Okay. Thank you. I, I did that to myself. You did. Uh, what about you? Uh, what's the [1:48:09] innovation we want to do? Jonathan, yeah. What, what is the one big innovation that you would love to [1:48:15] pioneer in Alaska? Well, very abundance-minded, so I'd like to pioneer many innovations in Alaska. [1:48:22] Um, but I just met Phil last night and I thought I, I might have, uh, inadvertently been, been, been, uh, [1:48:28] um, stealing Phil's idea, but I think it's a variation of what you described, Phil. Um, I'm very [1:48:33] interested in national service and as society stratifies, there are fewer and fewer, I think, [1:48:42] truly democratizing institutions in the United States or in our states. And, uh, the, the idea of [1:48:50] national service is something that has always appealed to me as exists in other countries. Um, [1:48:55] it used to exist, you could argue, in the United States when we had the draft and military service [1:49:00] was more of a universal calling. Uh, but I think the idea of, of national service or state service, [1:49:07] and I think Governor Moore has led on this, the NGA is doing work on this, is very appealing to me. [1:49:12] And, and trying to, uh, pilot and develop a program that brings Alaskans, if you're native, if you're Samoan, [1:49:18] if you're white, together into a year of service where you're contributing materially to your [1:49:24] communities, has, has great appeal. The other benefit of national, yes, yeah, that's the other [1:49:29] benefit of national service, of course, is that people from various backgrounds, divergent backgrounds, [1:49:35] get to know each other and work with each other and are not caricatures that are foisted into their [1:49:40] silo on, on social media. And on that point, um, uh, James Tallarico was here yesterday and stood on this [1:49:49] stage and he said, uh, I want to, I, if, if the president wants to work with us, we ought to work [1:49:57] with him. If he's willing to work with, uh, with us to solve problems, uh, we ought to do that. And if that [1:50:04] makes him the most, you know, the last two years of his presidency a success, that's fine, fine by me. [1:50:10] Now I heard a combination of modest applause and gasps in the crowd here. And there were some people [1:50:17] trying to figure out whether they should do one or the other. Um, but talk to me about that. You, you, [1:50:22] you've expressed some, I saw after the election, some doubt, uh, about whether that possibility is real. [1:50:29] But, uh, shouldn't, uh, the proposition be tested? He said immigration reform, you know, I want to work [1:50:36] on that. We went too far. We ought to find a pathway for these people who are here. And then two hours [1:50:41] later he appointed Stephen Miller. So, but shouldn't these things be explored? We've explored them. Um, [1:50:51] I think, I think we've, we've really had the measure of Trump in New Jersey for a very long time. [1:51:01] He'd bankrupted Atlantic City, um, put family businesses out of business that had been a [1:51:08] business for generations, left everyone holding the bag. Uh, the art of the deal to Trump is he [1:51:14] figures out what you want. He leverages the, you know, what out of you and keeps taking, taking, [1:51:19] taking and never delivers. He does not follow through on his commitments. Um, he, uh, wanted to [1:51:26] take away the gateway tunnel. Art of the steel. Art of the steel. He, he wanted, he stole all the money, [1:51:31] or it was playing with the gateway tunnel money, the biggest infrastructure project in the nation, [1:51:36] like it was his pocket money. He withheld it illegally. And there were those that said, [1:51:42] we can work with him. We can get a deal. And so. So your advice to Senator Tallarico is forget about [1:51:47] it. My advice to Senator Tallarico is if Trump wants to work with us, we will lay out the agenda [1:51:54] and he can sign it. So if you are standing on the principles you believe in, that we need to take [1:52:07] climate action, that we need to treat immigrants humanely, that we believe in equal rights for all, [1:52:12] and that all of us need all of us, then we're on solid ground. If the president will meet us on solid [1:52:18] ground and work to make life better for people, he can sign the bills. But if he's going to continue [1:52:24] lawless bullying, corrupt games, we're going to call him out. That's why this election was so historic, [1:52:30] because the American people were fed up with the lawlessness, the corruption, the cruelty. We have to [1:52:36] stay true to what our values are. Never bend the knee, never try to give up on what we believe in, [1:52:42] thinking we're going to get something for it, because we won't. We're able to fight in the courts, [1:52:47] and we've been winning again and again. That's where you win. Well, let me ask you about that, [1:52:51] because one of the reasons you are sitting here today is that you are the attorney general of this [1:52:56] state, and you are a national leader. You are a national leader in taking the administration to [1:53:03] court on a whole, I think, 90 different times. 88. I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. [1:53:10] Thank you. Now you're the governor. Does that put you in a different position than you were as [1:53:16] attorney general? Because you need to deal with the administration on issues, accepting everything [1:53:23] you just said. How do you think about that? Well, as attorney general, I was the leader of this [1:53:28] national litigation against Google for being a monopolist, and I was working side by side [1:53:33] the Department of Justice, because they were actually doing their job. But when the Justice [1:53:37] Department is corrupt or abetting lawlessness, whether it's from ICE or other quarters, [1:53:42] I fight back. And that's not going to change this governor. As governor, I am going to fight for [1:53:47] what's right. If this administration wants to see me in court, that's fine. And we're going to have [1:53:52] people in Congress who are going to also act on a check. That's going to be yet another tool we have. [1:53:58] This administration needs to get the memo. This is a republic under law, and the rule of law, [1:54:04] which means everyone's treated fairly, is the foundation. If they can't get that memo, [1:54:09] then we're going to be fighting with them. If they can, there's ways to work together. [1:54:12] My answer is twofold, because I think certainly governors are on the front lines of standing up [1:54:22] to this administration because we are trying to protect the people that we serve. We are [1:54:27] legislatively driving on policies to mitigate the greatest harms. I mean, even economic development, [1:54:33] as there's foreign direct investment coming trying to open businesses or manufacturing in Virginia, [1:54:38] we're trying to say we're steady despite all the chaos, right? And so the ways that as states, [1:54:45] as governors, we stand up against this administration, it is foolish to think if you ever make a deal, [1:54:51] if you ever give anything, you give an inch to the president, there is no reason to believe, [1:54:56] he has no track record of ever following through, that if you make a deal with President Trump, [1:55:00] he will ever actually abide it. Now, on the congressional side, Congress, and as a former member of Congress, [1:55:07] I'll say this, Congress should pass bill after bill after bill that is broadly, very clearly popular, [1:55:15] results and responsive to what folks across the country campaigned on, and send it to the president's desk. [1:55:22] That is not pre-negotiations, no discussions, oh, will you do this, will you do that? No. Pass a bill, pass a bill, pass a bill, pass a bill. [1:55:34] Quickly, he likes detention, eventually, he'll want to do a signing ceremony, and eventually, [1:55:45] he might sign a couple of them, and if not, then in 2028, folks say, look at these bills that passed [1:55:51] through the House, passed through the Senate, the president didn't take action, he vetoed these bills, [1:55:56] we need a Democratic governor who will actually work to lower housing costs. [1:55:59] Democratic president. [1:56:00] President. Oh, I see governor. Yeah. [1:56:02] So we need. We need a Democratic president who will be responsive to all of these things [1:56:08] and actually sign all these great bills. [1:56:10] Jonathan, your state is probably more reliant on their relationship with the federal government [1:56:15] than any other. How do you expect to approach your relationship with the administration? [1:56:21] First, I love Abigail's advice for Congress, and I hope that's what happens the next two years. [1:56:27] We are intimately interdependent on the federal government in Alaska. Federal land, [1:56:34] a lot of unique federal laws, such as ANXA and ANILCA, that shape our state and its future. [1:56:40] I think that the goal is to find wins when there is common ground and alignment, and in Alaska, [1:56:50] there's a lot of bipartisan interest in responsible resource development, emphasis on responsible, [1:56:56] and I think there's ways, working with Senator Murkowski, Senator-elect Peltola, [1:57:00] that I think there will be a lot of alignment between myself and our congressional delegation, [1:57:07] both of those senators and potentially the president, and also eyes very wide open [1:57:13] that it's actions and not words with the administration, and I think Phil's words are very well taken. [1:57:19] I'm going to, because they stole 10 minutes from me, I'm going to try and get two questions in [1:57:23] here and hope they don't throw us off the stage. The first is, 565 legislative seats, [1:57:30] the last I saw, were flipped in this election, 12 chambers were flipped, all in the direction of [1:57:35] Democrats. [1:57:36] And in the South! [1:57:37] Yes, yes. So, I think five or six states now have the trifecta, both houses, and now, [1:57:47] and some states have super majorities now, including Colorado, and this group is thrilled by that. [1:57:54] You can hear whoever that person is. But my question to you, and it's a serious question, [1:58:01] is how much is, from a governor's standpoint, is that an unalloyed positive thing? How much is too [1:58:08] much? Maybe I should start with you, Phil, because you're the recipient of the new super majority here. [1:58:14] Well, first I want to say, in Colorado, the people who were elected to Congress, Lauren Boebert, [1:58:22] is going home packing. And Colorado Springs, that had never elected a Democrat, elected a Democrat. [1:58:31] In the state legislature, some of the most conservative counties, Weld County, the north of [1:58:36] here, elected Democrats. So, I just want to start by saying, the people who were elected are remarkable [1:58:40] people. I'm excited to work with them. And second, I would say, part of the discipline we have to do, [1:58:46] and Roy Romer, a former Colorado governor who I've got deep reverence for, he would say, [1:58:50] all truth is partial. It's on us to recognize whatever ideas we're testing, we shouldn't be in [1:58:58] our own bubble, our own echo chamber. We should be willing to take feedback from every place we can [1:59:03] get it to make our ideas better. Yeah. I see you nodding your head. You've actually vetoed, [1:59:10] I don't know, 30-something bills from Democratic legislature, taking some heat from some of those [1:59:17] legislators for it. But you obviously agree that the role of the governor is to evaluate these ideas, [1:59:25] and if they're not in keeping with the broader, your view and the broader consensus that you need to add. [1:59:31] There's a couple of things. Broadly, for the new majorities coming in, it is a requirement that [1:59:37] they know their mandate, right? Know their mandate, be responsive to the things that people need, [1:59:42] and prioritize those. Not to the exclusion of other bills that are good policy processes. But at the [1:59:47] state level, and as governor, my job is also implementation. And so even ideas that I am fully [1:59:54] aligned with, if a bill is not written towards implementation, because a bill might have been pursued [2:00:02] under a Republican predecessor governor of mine, in my particular case, then it is my responsibility [2:00:07] to get it right, so that we set up these good ideas for real success. And I'll give a perfect example [2:00:15] of this. Over the summer, before I was ever elected, so a year and a half ago, I was working with [2:00:21] legislators who had been working on a Paid Family and Medical Leave Act bill. We are the first state in [2:00:27] the South, now, to have passed a Paid Family and Medical Leave Act bill, which I am very proud of. [2:00:33] And so even as a candidate, and then once I was elected, I worked with those legislators because I [2:00:39] said, I agree with you 100 percent, I want this bill, but I am now on the implementation side as well. [2:00:46] Let's make sure it is ready for success, because the way that you endanger good democratic policies, [2:00:54] that might be a little more than people are ready for, is by not setting them up for complete [2:01:01] implementation and success. And so we refined the bill a little bit, not changing any of the benefits, [2:01:10] not changing any of the goals, but just the actual text to set it up for success. And working with those [2:01:17] legislators, they were willing to do it, we did it, I'm so proud of the bill, and we're in the middle of [2:01:22] implementation, and we are meeting every one of our meted out, like, marking points to ensure that [2:01:27] we're ready to go by the time the program's ready for full implementation. [2:01:30] So let me just end with this. One of the things that struck me about when you, [2:01:35] Mikey, got elected, when you got elected, on the same day Zoran Mamdani got elected, [2:01:41] and, you know, all of us chin-pullers were trying to figure out, well, what does this mean? Is the party [2:01:46] going left? Is the party going right? And there was a little bit of that in this election as well. [2:01:52] But it seemed to me there was a through line between all of these races. And, Mikey, I want you [2:01:58] to talk about that, because you were part of this. You were in advance on this thing. [2:02:07] So when I say it was so important to set this up on affordability, and focusing on middle class [2:02:12] families, it's because that has united every aspect of the party. And what also unites is this idea, [2:02:19] and you've heard, you know, from what Abigail's implementing, what we're ready to implement [2:02:24] as governors right away, and how powerful it is, is people want that change now. And they want you [2:02:28] to take on the status quo and deliver. No excuses. And that is what puts our party in the strongest [2:02:34] possible place. They did a poll in my state after I won. And the two most popular Democrats in my state, [2:02:41] with approval ratings of 80%-plus, were myself and Bernie Sanders. [2:02:45] I have long said people on the ground are not defining themselves at their place in the political [2:02:50] party. They are defining themselves as people who want you to get something done. And if you can [2:02:55] deliver on that, and our new champions of the Democratic Party can deliver, they have run in [2:03:00] hard places and hard races and identified what is going to matter to people in their lives, and they [2:03:05] are ready to deliver immediately. They know this is not cloakroom, this is not let's do a 10-year study, [2:03:11] let's have a strongly worded letter. This is delivering on the ground, and that's what ties [2:03:15] us together. So this idea that we're going to fight within the Democratic Party, I don't buy it, [2:03:20] because we have our mandate, and we have our mission, and it is time now for us to get to work delivering it. [2:03:27] There was, but, and I'm sure our friends who are in the media up there will report this. [2:03:35] I sound like Donald Trump. But, should report it, but the Speaker of the House was sitting here, [2:03:41] it was disrupted a couple of times over issues primarily around the Middle East. [2:03:48] Does this conversation that we're having about affordability, does it cohere, does it hold the [2:03:54] party together going into 20, 20, 80, though? Absolutely. And I think what Mikey said so well, [2:04:02] people are tired of feeling their lives is getting worse, getting harder. Kids are feeling they don't [2:04:08] know hope in the future. They need to see us delivering for them. And that's the through line. [2:04:13] Are you getting, I'll use the plight word, stuff done, are you showing that you heard the voters on [2:04:20] housing, and you're making a difference? And the states as laboratories democracy that can do this, [2:04:26] that sets us up for 2028. So you can have the split screen of a Trump administration that played [2:04:32] political games, tried to enrich themselves with corruption, broke the law and harm people, [2:04:37] Democrats who are fighting for people, who hear what people are feeling on the ground, [2:04:42] are developing real solutions, making people's lives better. We can make that split screen. [2:04:48] We can have another wave of election two years from now. [2:04:50] Yeah, agreed. [2:04:51] You, you may, you guys may want to comment on that. What, what about this tension, [2:04:57] what about this tension on, what about this tension between that, we're getting cowbell. [2:05:03] They're saying more cowbell. [2:05:04] You guys cannot comment on this. You're not allowed because they're cowbelling us. [2:05:08] It's about urgency. I'll just say this. It's about urgency. It's whether you run at a problem [2:05:14] trying to fix it, whether you are saying to the American people, I'm going to pull on every lever [2:05:20] within my control to try and address this challenge. And we're not going to fix it in a day, [2:05:25] but we're going to work relentlessly to do it. The urgency, I think, is what binds people across [2:05:31] any sort of ideology or perspective. I'm not going to deprive the governor of Alaska [2:05:36] the chance to be the last word here. Affordability, I think, is a uniting issue, [2:05:45] but what's more important is I think this party, our party, needs a common framework of values and [2:05:53] moral values to be built on. I still think that's a little bit unclear and part of the reason the [2:05:58] Democratic Party has wended and wandered the last number of years. And to me, those values, I think [2:06:04] some of the values that are common in this convening are free and fair markets, equal opportunity, [2:06:11] special privileges for none, advancing the common interest, not a special interest. [2:06:16] But I think the party needs to home in on the values that truly unite the party, ideally in the most [2:06:21] big tent sense possible. I think if we can do that, that sets us up best in the long term. [2:06:26] What a wonderful note on which to finish. Thank you all. [2:06:34] I'm under Alyssa Slotkin. [2:07:55] The Dam Cowbell. [2:08:11] Thank you for being here. Thank you for coming out. Thank you to Majority Dems for [2:08:18] bringing us together so soon after an amazing election that gave some hope back to us. [2:08:26] I'm the senator, the now the senior senator from the great state of Michigan, [2:08:30] who was asked to speak about what is next. And many of you know I have a national security [2:08:38] background by training. And in that world, in order to talk about what is next, you have to talk [2:08:44] about the lessons learned from what just happened. So here's what I think we just saw a couple of days [2:08:50] ago during our election. Most of it can be encapsulated by my experience two weeks ago, [2:08:58] knocking doors in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Thank you for the one person who cheered for [2:09:03] Sterling Heights, Michigan. I was knocking every single door and to a house, everyone is clutching my [2:09:11] arm, some of them in tears, talking about the economic choices they are making, the economic stress they [2:09:19] feel, the shame they feel because they can't provide for their kids what was provided to them, [2:09:25] a feeling like someone else is getting rich while they are getting poor, and then on top of that, [2:09:30] a feeling like AI and technology is going to make that worse, right? They're making trade-offs between [2:09:36] prescription drugs and food. They're deciding which of their children gets to go to college. [2:09:41] These are the kinds of things that are leading to a deep sense of shame, and their vote on election night [2:09:47] was because they cannot handle that level of stress going forward. So the lessons for me on what we [2:09:54] need to take, as happy as we all are, are very sober. They're threefold. First of all, the economic crisis, [2:10:01] the talk of affordability is actually much bigger than that. The thing that we have going on right now [2:10:07] is whether we will have a middle class in this country, whether the American dream in this country is [2:10:12] real or not. And it is up to us to deliver and make sure we demonstrate how we feel about that. [2:10:20] Number two, and I would just say I am a national security person, but the existential crisis in [2:10:26] this country, the existential threat, is not coming from some other country abroad. It is coming from [2:10:31] that threat to the middle class. Number two, on election night, people voted very clearly for a new [2:10:37] generation of leadership. That was very, very clear. People won all over the country, and to be honest, [2:10:45] they did not wake up in the morning and say, well, I'm a progressive or I'm a moderate and this is the [2:10:50] way I'm... They voted for a new generation who thinks differently and works harder and never forgets [2:10:56] who they serve. And I just want to say, because we're at a conference of Democrats right now, [2:11:01] I think Michigan gave a really clear demonstration that whatever side of the Democrats you feel like [2:11:08] you're on, that is not what is important right now, okay? Teamwork is what is important, and if you have [2:11:16] elected officials who are spending all their time fighting progressive versus moderate, then they have [2:11:20] missed the plot of the election, okay? That new generation is not going to be defined by progressive [2:11:28] versus moderate. That new generation, quite simply, is are you on team fight or are you on team flight? [2:11:35] Those are the only two distinctions we have, and I think for me, the third thing that came across so [2:11:41] clearly in these elections is that people are desperate for big and bold ideas. They do not want [2:11:47] marginal change. They do not want small bureaucratic changes in a bill. They want big swings. So what does that [2:11:56] mean if those are the lessons from this election? It means going forward that, number one, we have to be [2:12:03] ruthless about fighting for a middle class. That means passing legislation, as we just heard in our last [2:12:08] panel, that takes big swings, first of all, to mop up what President Trump has done with the war and the [2:12:14] tariffs and the Medicaid cuts. But it also means putting our money where our mouth is on big swings on [2:12:21] health care and prescription drugs and housing and then daring the president to veto them. Number two, [2:12:30] we have to have accountability for people who broke the law and who stole taxpayer dollars. That is, we have [2:12:37] to be a country of rules and laws, so picking signature cases of people that really abused the law and taxpayer [2:12:45] dollars and going and demonstrating that you can't do that. This should not be a controversial statement. [2:12:50] It has become controversial, including for me last night when the Department of Justice [2:12:56] indicated that they are again threatening to criminally indict me for those exact words on [2:13:01] accountability. And then number three, we need to make sure that a very unsexy group of people are [2:13:09] thinking very hard about how to Trump-proof the government going forward so that no leader can do this [2:13:15] again. No leader can enrich themselves on the backs of the American people, Democrat or Republican. So we [2:13:23] had a great night on election night, right? It gave us hope in a way that I think I'm so glad for my Gen Z staff that they [2:13:31] got to experience what it was like to feel hope on an election night, right? It was great. I was [2:13:37] particularly thrilled, I got to say, as a good Midwesterner to see all the wins in the Midwest. Thank you. [2:13:43] Because I think the Midwest is a place that understands core values that can be very, [2:13:50] very useful at this time, right? Putting your head down, being practical, being neighborly, [2:13:56] pulling together when your community and your country needs you. Because we are in a moment of an [2:14:02] economic crisis, but it is not the first time our country has been in this kind of trouble, right? [2:14:08] We do have experience of coming together and getting through tough moments. Think about what [2:14:13] was going on in a city like this in the middle of the depression, right? Every single time our country [2:14:20] has been at a tough economic moment, we get through it with two things, engaged citizens and principled [2:14:27] leaders. Every single time, engaged citizens do a little bit more than they're used to doing because [2:14:32] their country they love needs them. And then there are principled leaders ready to receive the ball and do [2:14:39] something about it. So thank you for being here. Thank you for participating. Thank you to all the [2:14:44] voters who came out and voted. You are engaged citizens because you love your country and you [2:14:49] love your community. And I am so thrilled to be up here on stage and will do everything in my power [2:14:56] to be the principled leader that you all deserve. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate you. [2:15:00] Please welcome Senator Ruben Gallego. Good afternoon. Last year, I was talking to the New York Times, [2:15:53] and I said that every Latino man wants a big ass truck. And more importantly, I said, and there's [2:15:59] nothing wrong with that. But here's where that line actually came from. When I ran in 2024, I would set up [2:16:06] burrito stands in the early morning hours so I could talk to workers as they were coming in and leading [2:16:11] ships around 4 to 5 a.m. And I tell these guys who are walking and working in and say, listen, if you [2:16:17] elect me, I'm going to make sure that you can get out of your mom's house, get your own business, [2:16:21] and get your own trojita. And you know what? Get rich doing it, not just get by. That same year, [2:16:29] Donald Trump carried Arizona, but so did we. That same year, Donald Trump won Latino men in Arizona, [2:16:37] but so did we. And on Tuesday, big ass truck politics went coast to coast. Texas elected Gina [2:16:47] Arajosa, the first Latina governor in the history of the state, and sent my brother James Tallarico to [2:16:55] the Senate. In South Texas, a great Tejano singer, a good friend of mine, Bobby Pulido flipped a house [2:17:01] seat. In Nevada, the second district, they elected the first ever Democrat at Latina. In Kansas, [2:17:09] they elected a Democrat for Senate for the first time in nearly a century. And back home in Arizona, [2:17:14] we hit the trifecta and reelected Governor Hobbs. This was a win for the ages. And I was so proud to [2:17:21] endorse many of them, including Gina Arajosa. This cycle, whether it was in bakery shops in San Antonio, [2:17:30] whether it was in Miami or anywhere, people were telling me the same thing. The system has failed them. [2:17:39] They wanted leaders to fight for them and to make their lives just a little bit better. [2:17:46] Tuesday was a total verdict on Donald Trump when it comes to that. On tariffs, on a stupid war in Iran, [2:17:53] on an ice that went after moms and dads and separated these families. And it was not, [2:17:58] not though, a love letter to the Democratic Party. Yes, Latinos came back to the Democrats. Latino men [2:18:05] moved double digits back to vote for Democrats. But going into election day, fear that half of [2:18:10] those Latinos said that they thought that Democrats were fighting for them or that we care about them [2:18:17] at all. So this isn't a blank check. If anything, it is a short-term loan that we need to keep paying [2:18:23] or we will lose it. So here's what they are saying and feeling and living with right now. A family with [2:18:30] both parents are working don't feel comfortable. They're working harder and harder than ever, [2:18:36] and they're more stressed than ever. And they feel like nobody cares, Democrats or Republicans. [2:18:41] And the feelings keep getting worse and worse. They're not poor enough to get government assistance, [2:18:47] and yet they're not even rich enough to feel comfortable. I know this feeling. My mom raised [2:18:54] me and my four sisters on her own. I saw her sacrifice every freaking day just to make sure [2:18:59] we had anything we could go. I went to work as a young man working at meatpacking factories, [2:19:04] construction, restaurants, just so I could give a little check to my mom so she could feel a little [2:19:10] better at the end of the day. There's a saying in Spanish, and for some men out here and women out [2:19:17] here, Latinas, you don't understand it. Dale ganas. Dale ganas is something you hear on the work [2:19:21] site all the time. It means give it more. Anytime I wanted to punch out a little early from the meat [2:19:26] packing factory because it was too dirty, I was tired, my uncle would come over and say dale ganas. [2:19:33] You know what that means? It's not because I love to work. It's because I knew that if I did give ganas, [2:19:39] if I gave one more hour of work, I could bring a paycheck home to my family. Because we want to do the [2:19:48] simple thing. To make more money to take care of your family. And if you could take care of your [2:19:54] family, that means you're a good dad. And that's not even a Latino thing. That's an American thing. [2:20:00] Right now, too many Americans feel that they're giving everything they have, but they just can't [2:20:04] make it. So what's next, right? That's why we're having this whole thing here, right? Big ass truck [2:20:11] politics comes down to one thing. It's fighting for working class America and against the billionaire [2:20:17] class. Democrats, we are at our best when we take people's sides. Not when they're playing hall [2:20:23] monitors and not when we're imposing these purity tests. For too long, we've been afraid to talk [2:20:28] like normal people. This big ass truck politics is what unites Democrats like never before. It is in [2:20:35] our DNA to fight working class people. If you want to see what it looks like, look at what happened. [2:20:42] Two incoming freshmen, Blue Dog Bobby Pulido and Progressive Caucus member Randy Villegas. They ran [2:20:50] for the America who measured their wealth by how many hours they work in a week. Winning movements [2:20:57] believe in addition and not subtraction. The answer is not Randy or Bobby. It's Bobby and Randy together. [2:21:07] That's how we have a winning coalition. People do not need any more ideological fights. They don't [2:21:13] need another lecture. They need someone to stop the insurance company from screwing them, to stop [2:21:18] corporate landlords from raising their rents using AI, to stop big tech data centers from raising their rents, [2:21:23] taking a water, and costing us even more money. It's simple, especially for your parents out there. [2:21:30] Every father and mother wants to feel like they are a provider and a protector. Our job as Democrats is to [2:21:38] make that possible. Make them feel like that again. Work should bring dignity to a family. A paycheck to [2:21:45] let a mom believe that their kids' future is going to be better for them and they may actually enjoy life. [2:21:52] So here is the plan. We need a new deal for middle class America. We need the Senate to even start acting [2:21:59] today. A federal jobs program to employ millions of Americans who are going to be laid off by AI. [2:22:06] A $20 an hour minimum wage. A very generous child tax credit. And a universal health care that [2:22:13] everyone can have. And for God's sakes, a housing plan. A housing plan to build 8 million homes to give [2:22:20] young families a chance to actually get a house. And please stop Wall Street from buying up those same [2:22:26] houses and crowding out people. This is a real plan for a real America. I know some of you guys are going [2:22:34] to say, oh great, no Democratic win. But what we really need is a strategy to fight. Last summer, [2:22:41] when the President tried to stop one of our bills, our housing bills, I froze every bill that was coming [2:22:46] from the House Republicans till it passed. This is the kind of fight that we need. And we need to do it all [2:22:54] as proud Americans. I've told you the ills of this country. But one thing you'll hear from all these [2:23:00] people that tell me what's wrong is that they still love this country. They say this country needs to [2:23:04] change. This is the country that I want to see. But I'm still proud to be an American. I'm a proud [2:23:10] Marine, as many of you guys know. Served the United States Marine Corps in Iraq. And one of the things I [2:23:15] did, of course, because I wanted to repay this country. Because when we were hungry, I had the free lunch [2:23:20] program. When I wanted to buy a home, we had the FHA loan. When my sister and I wanted to go to school, [2:23:26] the country made sure we could do it. And there's a reason why the people that joined the military [2:23:31] come from my neighborhoods. Because even the darkest moments in this country, they do believe the future [2:23:37] is bright. And what makes America great is we're always to make America greater. So here is what's next. [2:23:44] We have a once in a lifetime generation to define big ass truck politics. By 2020 late, [2:23:51] I want us fighting for an America where a full-time job pays a full life. Where a young family can buy [2:23:57] a home before they even have kids. Where you can be proud of your flag and proud of your roots, [2:24:02] and nobody makes you choose. But remember, that was just a loan they gave us. In January, [2:24:09] we have to start paying it back. Bon ganas. So whether you drive a Subaru or a big-ass truck, [2:24:17] remember, we share the same road, we share the same destination, and let's build a party worthy of [2:24:25] those who gave us this power, who gave us a second chance, and let's go build that country [2:24:30] we all want. Thank you. Please welcome Governor Josh Shapiro. Good morning. It is great to join [2:25:20] majority Democrats when now we have majorities in Washington DC and all across America. I am proud [2:25:29] to serve as the governor of the swingiest state in America alongside my history-making Lieutenant [2:25:37] Governor Austin Davis. But now it seems like we got some competition. Texas and Georgia, Ohio and Iowa, [2:25:46] South Carolina, Kansas and Mississippi. Well, they're all looking pretty swingy right now. And our party [2:25:53] is ready to take on some big swings too. Not just going out and scrapping for 270, but fighting hard [2:26:02] to swing for 370. Now, look, I know we're here to talk about the future. So forgive me for taking us [2:26:10] 2,000 years in the past. You know, back in Caesar's time, the wealthiest guy in Rome was named Crassus, [2:26:19] and he formed the first Roman fire brigade. Whenever a building caught fire, they hurried to the site, [2:26:27] but the brigade, well, they didn't spray water. They were ordered to just stand there doing nothing [2:26:34] while Crassus offered to buy the burning building for pennies on the dollar. If the owner said yes, [2:26:42] well, the brigade extinguished the fire. If the owner said no, they'd watch it burn. And get this, [2:26:50] later on, Crassus often leased the buildings back to their former owners, extracting even more money. [2:26:58] This story is obviously ancient, but it sounds pretty familiar today, I know. Not only do we have [2:27:06] our own Crassus in the White House, we have laws and courts and a whole brigade of enablers who are [2:27:14] allowing this fire to spread all across our country. Elected officials who do nothing while our economy is [2:27:23] in flames. Tech companies that track where we go and what we do so they can lease our lives back to us [2:27:31] for profit. Private equity that sucks up our hospitals, daycares, even our kids' sports leagues, anything to [2:27:39] extract profit and then stick us with the damage that they leave behind. Heck, private equity even bought [2:27:47] up the fire truck manufacturing system. And now prices in America have doubled and communities have to wait [2:27:54] for years to get one. I believe the sound that we heard on Tuesday was the citizens of this republic [2:28:02] saying enough, enough of the chaos, enough of the corruption and enough of the culture of Crassus. [2:28:11] To be fair, the American people did not extinguish the fire on election night, but they did call in [2:28:19] a new brigade. So the question is, what kind of force are we going to be? The answer is [2:28:25] it starts with actually understanding people's lives and the very real challenges that they face. [2:28:33] Everyday Americans waking up just getting ready and bracing to be burned. Burned at the grocery store [2:28:40] and at the gas pump. Burned by the insurance companies that overrule our doctors and deny their claims. [2:28:47] Burned by some pharmacy benefit manager that made them spend more online rather than just go down the street [2:28:54] to the ma and pa pharmacists that they've shopped at for years. I meet people fighting these battles [2:29:01] every day. And you hear me on this. Not one of them gives a damn about shallow litmus tests or where we [2:29:08] fall on some imaginary political spectrum. All they want is a party that can put out the fire, [2:29:17] then build something stronger and fireproof the hell out of it for our future. Last Tuesday, [2:29:25] the American people called on all of us to answer the alarm. Every wing of our party, every corner of [2:29:33] this country, pastors and farmers, Christians, Muslims and Jews, smoke jumpers and a literal firefighter. [2:29:41] We cannot fail them. We cannot meet their big resounding voices with small ideas. This moment calls for more, [2:29:53] more than tinkering with tax codes or patching up safety nets or just throwing a few bucks at an old [2:30:00] problem. We're miles away from people feeling like they can get ahead. And it's time we acted like it. When [2:30:09] I-95 collapsed and jeopardized the whole Northeast economy, when red tape and small thinking tried [2:30:16] to convince us it would take months, I said enough, fill that hole, pave it over, build a new bridge. [2:30:24] You've got 12 days. Leadership today has to be about how big we can think together, how tough we can [2:30:33] fight and whether Democrats have the discipline and the know-how to be able to actually deliver [2:30:40] for the American people. That's what we've done in Pennsylvania, blocking energy companies that try and [2:30:46] hike our rates, criminally charging contractors that steal workers' wages, stopping data centers from [2:30:54] running roughshod all over local communities. And it's what we're going to keep on doing with our new [2:31:00] trifecta. The minimum wage will rise, housing we will build, and the abortion rights we will enshrine [2:31:08] in our state constitution. Look, I'm proud to be the GSD, I'm proud to be the GSD governor, the get [2:31:18] shit done guy in Pennsylvania. But hear me on this, no state can usher in the wholesale change that our [2:31:26] country needs right now. Governors and Congress, state legislatures, city halls, we all have to marshal [2:31:34] every tool we have that the people just put in our hands. That means ending this reckless war and [2:31:42] these tariffs that drive up our prices and drive away our allies, bringing accountability to the [2:31:50] sweetheart deals, the mass agents, the use of American weapons on open seas and across the globe. [2:31:59] Rescuing capitalism from the forces that funnel it to the top instead of letting it work for everyone. [2:32:07] Fostering competition, protecting consumers, slashing the red tape requiring AI to actually serve human [2:32:16] beings. Building an economy where everyone can get ahead and if you make something cool and if you take [2:32:23] real risk you can become wildly successful here. That's the dream that lives in our DNA. But I know for [2:32:32] too many it feels like the game is fixed before it ever starts. Above all else, America has to get back [2:32:41] in the future business. Research and cures, skills training and innovation. We cannot, we cannot be [2:32:49] limited by the status quo. Laws will need to be changed. Investments will be necessary and if we have [2:32:57] to amend the constitution to make it happen, well so be it. That's how we stand up to the arsonists and the [2:33:06] opportunists. The ones who never met a culture war they didn't exploit. The ones who hook our kids on feeds [2:33:14] full of sly. The ones who play footsie with white supremacists at home and abroad who fall for honey [2:33:22] traps who then compromise our security. The ones who were born on third base and think baseball should [2:33:31] have never been integrated. We need to be clear eyed about the scale of the challenge we're up against [2:33:38] and the scale of what we can accomplish together. And if we do that we will do more than just put the [2:33:44] fires out that have raged for too long. We will build what comes next. An American bargain so strong [2:33:52] and so fireproof no crashes can ever buy it away from you again. That if you work hard you can earn a good [2:34:00] life. A school where your kid can learn and chart her own course. A decent house in a safe neighborhood. [2:34:08] A good job that lets you save for retirement. Health care and child care that doesn't bankrupt you. And [2:34:14] freedom from the forces that want to drain your money to control your future. Look, we've been dealing [2:34:21] with the grifters and the bullies longer than just over the last few years. They've been around for decades, [2:34:27] for millennia. But history has shown the power of those who want to chew us up and spit us out is [2:34:35] dwarfed by the power of decent people standing firmly together. That is what Democrats can and must be. [2:34:45] We have the beginning of a mandate. Now it is time to lead with conviction, vision, and with faith in this [2:34:54] country that we love. I will be doing my part and I feel blessed to be doing this work with all of you. [2:35:01] Thank you so very much and may God bless our great nation. Thank you. [2:35:05] Thank you for this morning's session of what's next. There's more ahead with our side stage programming. [2:35:28] Please make your way outside to the shuttle lots.