to congressman ryan's sun brady -- son brady. we will show this to you later on. a statement from the attorney general bill barr who says he is appalled at the death of jeffrey epstein, a story we have been following. he was found unresponsive this morning. he has been a pronounced dead. the attorney general calling into an investigation into what happened. your phone calls to congressman tim ryan coming up in about 2:15 eastern time. a live view of the des moines register -- the des moines area and the state fair. ben hickenlooper will joining us at 6:40 eastern on c-span radio and on c-span television. the day began with the governor of washington state jay inslee speaking at the soapbox area put together by the des moines register. center stage at the iowa state fair. the event runs about 20 minutes.

[laughter] good morning. my name is jay inslee. driving climate change fighting governor of the state of washington. i am here, i am here to tell you one simple thing. if you give me this microphone on the debate stage, i will beat donald trump like a two dollar meal. we treat our livestock with respect. we are different from republicans in this regard.

we know mules are different than the current occupant of the white house because i have never met a mule that lies every five minutes as well. we have some difference here. if you have heard anything about me lately, i have some things to say about the current occupant. and somebody asked me why i have said those things. there is a reason for that. we know that our struggles against terrorism and we have adopted a mantra when you go through the airport. if you see something, say something. i see something so i am saying something. i am saying it is time to get a white nationalist out of the white house. that is what i am saying. [applause] gov. inslee: we need to do that. not just out of the white house. i disagree with the vice president. after we remove donald trump, that's not the end. we need to remove steve king. [applause] gov. inslee: that is our next task. we have work to do in that regard. this is not something i came up with when i came to iowa. i get angry, my blood boils about this. i got on my bicycle and a year ago, i got a call and they said

the president is going to ban muslims from coming to the united states of america and my blood pressure went up just like that. i drove international airport and i tried to get families in so families can be reunited. microsoft employees, boeing engineers could be reunited with their families. that -- anya nation discrimination. i am proud to stand on this stage and tell you i am the first governor of the united states to stand up to donald trump's muslim ban and i will continue those efforts. we know a little bit about beating donald trump. we have sued him 21 times and beat him 21 times in a row when it comes to his discrimination and anti-environmental ethics. we know there are some current battles.

we know the suffering that we have all experienced over the last several weeks. four days after i referred to donald trump as a white nationalists, we saw the shootings in el paso and the language that basically mirrored everything he says. and now, we need to act. we should not be daunted when we act. it is something i feel strongly about. i will tell you what i mean by that. in 1994, i was a freshman congressman from the state of washington. there was a bill that came up to ban assault weapons. i knew that if i voted to ban assault weapons, i would lose my seat in congress. i want to tell you i voted to ban assault weapons, i lost my seat in congress and i have never regretted that vote. that was the right vote then. it is the right vote now. we cannot let the republicans get away by treating this as a public relations problem to do just a little bit on the edges. this is a public health crisis. we need to stand up and do what we have done in the state of washington.

i have the nra on the run in washington. if you make me president, i will have them on the run in the united states of america. i pledge you that and we will get this job done. [applause] gov. inslee: now, i want to thank you for your courtesy and hospitality. being in iowa, i know the candidates have felt the same thing. i met brian koop at the wing ding. iowa knows how to wing ding. brian's wife is a music teacher at a public school. i am the son of a biology teacher. any educators here today? let's give the educators around of applause for what they are doing. [applause] gov. inslee: i believe in doing things and not just talking about education. i have been fighting for education. as governor, i am proud to tell you as having one the biggest pay increase in the united states last year. 31% increase in state contributions.

that is the kind of president that we need. if you have heard of me at all, you might have heard of my efforts against the climate crisis. and i want to talk about three iowans, when i think of the climate crisis, i think of iowa. i think of regina, i think of norman and i think of david. i want to talk about those three iowans in just a moment. a few months ago, i was in davenport and i met a woman named regina haddock. she helped domestic violence -- she ran a nonprofit called dress for success. she helped domestic violence victims and women down on their luck get a shot out and a chance to move up in life. very successful. they took care of 1500 women a year. an incredible nonprofit, until

the flood came and washed away her nonprofit. her nonprofit lost everything, including their lease. when i was talking to regina and saw those tears of a dream deferred against a flood that has so affected the midwest, i came to believe we have to do something about the climate crisis. those tears of regina, having lost her dreams to take care of those women, were the same tears i have seen across the united states. they were just as salty as mosses, a woman i met in california, where next to paradise, you hear about paradise california, where the town burned down? she invited me to see everything that happened in every thing she had left.

melted piece of aluminum. that was her mobile home, all she had left. it was the same tears i saw in haiti and miami where climate gentrification is dispossessing a whole community. these tears are across the whole unite states. i believe it is time to put somebody in the white house to defeat climate change. i am telling you -- [applause] gov. inslee: i am telling you, i am unique. we have a lot of talent in this field. there is a lot of talent in the democratic field. i have identified four or five potential vice presidents. it's great. there is a lot of talent in this field. i am unique. i am unique in saying what i really believe. it is this. unless we defeat the climate crisis, everything else we have worked on will be moot. i am saying this and i am the only one who will stand here today and say this. if i am given this high honor, i will make defeating the climate crisis the number one priority in the united states.

that is what we have to do to get this job done. we have to mobilize the united states with all of our energies and all of our innovative talents to defeat this climate crisis. now, the second iowa and i want to talk about is norman. norman won the nobel peace prize, creating the first green revolution. he was the product of innovation in iowa. and that spirit now tells us we need a new green revolution. just like norman's was the first. this time, it has to have a green revolution where the united states of america can lead the world in new technologies. can lead the world in solar. can lead the world in energy storage and electric cars. that spirit that gave us the first green revolution that started by a fellow from iowa,

we now need to bring with the second green evolution. that brings to my third iowan, a fellow named dave. i am sorry i can't remember his last name. he was in the wind turbine technician program. i asked dave why he is going into wind turbine technology. his answer was classic. he said well duh, this is the future. he understood jobs. and democrats understand jobs. i have rolled out a clean energy jobs program to put 8 million union workers to work across the unite. with ironworkers putting up manufacturing plants for clean energy. with idw wiring up wind

turbines. with uaw's making cars in michigan like i drive. like biofuels folks who are using feed stock from iowa, this is the greatest job creation opportunity since the creation of the interstate freeway system. when we get a president who understands the power of union workers, we will build a new economy in the united states of america. [applause] gov. inslee: if you think this is just kind of rhetoric, i hope you will take a look at my climate plan. it has been called the gold standard by representative ocasio-cortez. it is ranked as the best by greenpeace. program, to the co every group that has looked at this has said my program is the most robust and comprehensive. there is a reason for this. we don't have a lot of time.

you read that report, it comes out every week with the timeline we have to meet. i am the candidate who is saying this. we have to get off coal in the united states. it is too dirty. it is too dangerous. i am the candidate who says we have to start having clean cars. we have to get rid of fossil fuels in our electrical grid system. i have a program to do that on a timeline to get this job done. people who are too timid to do this, they don't have an argument with me, they have an argument with science. we have to meet these targets. by the way, to get this job done, we have to have more than just the president. we have got to take away from the grim reaper, mitch mcconnell, he calls himself the grim reaper. we have to take away that blade he has two cut down all progressive politics. i disagree with the vice president and other senators in

this field. we need to take away the filibuster from mitch mcconnell so we can pass climate change legislation. [applause] gov. inslee: i am committed to get that job done. it is not the only thing. i am not a one trick pony. we have a lot of work to do. i believe we have not only the iowa way to get that job done but the washington way. the washington way is to show how wrong donald trump is. we have a basic disagreement with him. he believes in trickle-down economics. if you shower billionaires with tax cuts, it will trickle down like snowflakes and we all get rich. we have a different view. we believe we build the economy from the middle out. not the top down. we believe in family wage jobs. we believe in strengthening the union movement so that people who brought us the weekends will get us raises again. [applause]

gov. inslee: we believe in progressive politics. i want to share what we have done in the state of washington. we haven't just talked about this. we have gotten things done. that is the beauty of being a governor. you can get things done. i want to share some of the things we have done in washington that i want to make national policy. washington state has the highest minimum wage. washington state has the most robust, comprehensive, family leave policies in the unite states. because, we have to take care of the health of our families. washington state has made the biggest strides toward what we believe is necessary, which is universal health care.

i am proud to stand before you and say washington state has adopted the first public health care option in the united states. now, we need to continue that effort in the united states. and we, we are radical in the state of washington. i have to admit it. we think women should make the same as men. it is a radical proposition. i understand that. we have adopted the best gender pay equity's loss in the united states. we in the state of washington believe it is high time to attack the dark shadow of racial disparity that we have suffered across the united states of america. i want to share some of the things we have done. we understand the criminal justice system has been rife with racial disparity. that is why one of the things i have done is been the first governor of the unite states to offer pardons to thousands of people who have been caught in the drug wars. we are not only legalizing marijuana, we are pardoning people caught in the drug wars. we have illuminated the death penalty. after you do your time, you get a job. we want people getting jobs after they come to the criminal

justice system. we have embraced affirmative action. this is the washington way. donald trump thinks that if you do these things, it will destroy your economy. if you treat people fairly and adopt net neutrality and adopt the first long-term care plan for seniors in the united states like we have done, it will wreck your economy. guess who has the best gdp growth, it is washington state. it is time to make that across the united states of america. this is the way to defeat donald trump. i am happy to be up there. before i go, i would love to stand for some gentle, easy criticisms and great questions. >> my name is betty and i am an aclu -- gov. inslee: go ahead. >> i am a rights for all voter and my question is about ice. many of these people who are in

detention are long-term residents and have green cards. it has become so bloated it has increased almost 60% the last two years. could you commit to decrease the numbers by 75%? gov. inslee: the question is could we decreased the number of people in detention and the answer is yes. by taking children away from their young parents, it is the darkest moment of donald trump. that is what we are going to stop. we are going to stop that. we will have reasonable protection of people's rights. we will have comprehensive immigration reform and we will do what i have done in washington, which is protect our dreamers. these kids are some of the most inspirational people in the united states. when i am president of the

united states, the dreamers will have education, not donald trump. address theyou childcare crisis? inslee: we're going to move forward with early childhood education. just because you are born in poverty doesn't mean you stay in poverty. we have had a massive expansion of early childhood education and a massive expansion of financial aid to reduce the debt that kids have to go to and we did it in the right way i not texting working people texting bank and tech companies. that is who should be paying for the education and childcare. support all americans, we pressure the iowa democratic party to make the coxes -- caucuseso

assessable 70 can get access? inslee: we have had some success in washington state. we have to make sure we hire people and give people with challenges. this is a family affair for me. my son is the leader in a group for out tears -- outdoors for all they take line people outdoors. we have to make sure this is true. caucus you go into andt get out -- and without slee [indiscernible] inslee: the question was

about refineries. i don't know why donald trump doesn't like that. he denied markets and now he has reduce the need for having biofuels. this is one of the many things he is wrong on. when i think about biofuels i think about the need to defy the climate change crisis. there are people working hard today in iowa and the leadership is here and some of the best science is coming out of the there is here in iowa a guy who really believes it. thank you. by the way and i believe the democratic party needs to have a debate on climate change. we need to have all of the candidates be required to step up to the plate and show what they are going to do if you want

to see climate change on the . to see climate change on the stage for the third and fourth debates, i hope you will go to jay inslee.com. if you know anybody who has a dollar, after eating all of the corndogs here, ask them to send it to jay inslee.com to make sure i stay on the stage. i need $15,000 more. we have had 20 people sign up -- 20,000 plus new people sign up for climate change since the last debate. let's keep this going. it's be bold. this country is a big, bold, ambitious nation. it needs a big, bold, ambitious president on education, women's right, disability and access, climate change and rebuilding the youth movement. -- the union movement. early to bed, early to rise. let's go get a new president. thanks a lot, good luck. [cheers and applause] >> come back at 10:30 for our next candidate.

[indistinct conversations]

>> you have to go see the blade this guy knows what he is doing. let the record flecked i believe in children. [laughter] >> thank you. >> thanks, guys.

my wife would be pleased to meet you. >> thank you so much. >> governor, real quick. gov. inslee: where? >> all right. thank you. gov. inslee: hold on, guys. did you guys drive by the wind turbine blade driving in here? that is the future. this is the present. this is an important message from iowa. what is happening in iowa is a clean energy revolution. it is the second green revolution. over 30% of our electricity comes from wind power. we know that in iowa, donald trump is wrong. wind turbines do not cause cancer. they create jobs.

the jobs are happening in iowa. i am excited to be here this morning and looking forward to the corndogs. my intent is to be the first presidential candidate in american history to have at least one bite from every single food vendor in the state of iowa. questions? >> have you seen the human diamond report encouraging -- climate seen the u.n. report encouraging people to eat less meat. do you agree with that? gov. inslee: i think it is a matter of personal choice. i believe that our nutritional decision has an impact on the climate environment. i am eating less meat now. that is a personal choice and i think that sharing information with people is the right thing that we can do. we can still have very healthy ag economy and i believe that is the case. i think that one of the things we need to do is to do the things i suggest, which is use new technology to allow farmers in the ag industry to make money off of a reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

i have rolled out a plan or will in the next few days, which will create a revenue stream for the ag industry to engage in carbon dioxide being taken out of the atmosphere and into the topsoil. this is possible today. we have income streams happening in california. i believe it can happen nationwide. i believe the ag industry can be profitable coming forward to be climate change because they can become an ally to us in topsoil management and manure management and can take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and put it into topsoil where it doesn't do any harm. this is a winner for the ag industry. >> there has been discussion over whether the president should be labeled a white nationalists. you have called him a white nationalists. do you think the label matters? there are some candidates who

have not gone as far as to call him that. gov. inslee: i believe this is dangerous to the fabric of the united states. it causes anxiety. donald trump causes pain in people almost every day. kids don't know if their parents will be there when they get home from school. it is the children who might be in the muslim faith who are worried about their parents' it is people, anybody who doesn't look like donald trump, their children are made afraid by what he does. i believe we need to speak up for these children. we need to speak out and stand up. the reason i say that is because hatred grows in darkness and hatred grows in acceptance. we cannot accept this. i want to extend my just criticism of republican officeholders who are silent. silence is complicity with donald trump.

my point is we need to remove these republicans who are afraid of donald trump's shadow and haven't said anything in lieu of said boo of his obvious racism. this is not a one-time event. in the first days, he lied about barack obama, our first black president. in the middle, he said there were good people on both sides. in the end, he told people who were of color from the united states to go back to where they came from. this has been a constant refrain of his. it has to stop. we all need to speak up against this evil. >> when joe biden won't say he is a white nationalists what do you think that that matters? gov. inslee: i have a different view from the vice president and it is fairly fundamental. he has expressed the view that once donald trump is gone,

republicans will return to their senses. i fundamentally do not have that type of hallucination. mitch mcconnell is not going to suddenly decide to speak out against racism. the republican party is rife with this. they have been complicit. as a result, i think it is appropriate and necessary to use strong language. that is what i have done and i fundamentally believe it. >> why do you think some of the candidates are choosing now to call him a white supremacist. they have called him a racist but what has changed? what is the difference in the new rhetoric? gov. inslee: i can only speak for myself and i have been doing it since day one. i was the first to speak out against his racist muslim ban. when he threatened to send refugees from syria to my state, i said send them.

i called him a white nationalists, which he is, at the second debate before the murders in el paso. i recognized this a long time ago about this person. that is why he needs to be removed from the white house. why others have not spoken out, i don't know. i was a standup guy. i stood up against george bush in the iraq war. i stood up against the banks on repeal. i stood up against the nra on the assault weapon ban and i start against donald trump since he reared his head. white? is -- what is the difference between a racist and a white supremacist? inslee: we have seen an increase in white supremacist

and nationalist activity. it is a great threat domestically. we have seen the seeds he planted of racism in white nationalism and that has become apparent during the last year. we need to call this out and i am doing that now. you are strongly inslee: we have seen the seeds he planted in racism becoming nationalism in the last year or two. strongly opposed to cap and trade, the clean power plan. because they are heavily dependent on coal, they said we would make big increases to world power rates, farmers and rural communities. how do you address that? inslee: what we are fine and washington, is that has not been the case per what we pass renewable portfolio standard, it

did not increase, huge utility rate increases like people feared. a $6ad it just built billion wind turbine industry. it still replaced call and now we are shutting down our last coal-fired plant in the state of washington. and we are doing at the right way. we are providing a transition for the coal-dependent communities and families. what we are doing in washington i think is the template for the nation. to make a commitment for a hundred percent clean electricity. and to help those families and communities through this transition check out centralia washington. you will see how this works. we have created a $55 million fund to help with this transition. we have to understand what is happening. coal cannot be our future. it is not our future. it is not are present. it is dying because it is too expensive and it is too dirty. donald trump has not brought back coal. two thirds of the plants have now closed in the past decade.

the reason is because noble energy is becoming much more efficient. the cost of solar energy has come down 80%. the cost of wind has come down 20%. the cost of renewables are coming down. the cost of coal is not coming down. the future is pretty obvious. and the sooner we grasp that future, the better we are be. we're going to put people at work -- to work along this nation, like david des moines. i'll have to track him down. dave into mine, when he went -- dave into -- in des moines, iowa. when he went to community college, here did not say i want to see if i can get training in the industry of the future, coal. he said he understood the future, which is renewable and clean energy. it is the future because of cost. it is also the future because it is necessary. the pollution coming out of the smokestacks kill 15,000 people, more per year than all the car crashes in the united states. this is a health requirement as well as a job requirement. refused to hold a climate

centric debate. you're possibly knocking to be in the september debate. what are the democrats see ed to the people of i-10 who have suffered the rainiest, by not focusing the conversation around climate? inslee: there are two reasons we did a climate debate. we need voters to be able to require candidates to step up to the line and say what they have really got in more than 62nd sound bites. this is a complicated issue. we have to mobilize the entire energy of the united states. you cannot describe that in six to seconds. everybody should have to show at them got. i believe mine is going to be shown to be the best because it is. but it is important for the voters to be able to evaluate that. there's a second reason. that theo understand very weakest point in donald trump's armor is the environment it is the thing that people despise in the most on. what i have beat republicans as i have many many times. it is by attacking their weakest point. donald trump's weakest point is

the environment. this is where we should attack him. we should attack him with the strongest candidate on the climate change crisis and figure out who that is i have a nominee. for both reasons, both for the voters benefit and for the benefit of the democratic party, we need a climate debate. had he appealed silence you do not believe in climate change? that is a rapidly dwindling number of folks. inslee: it is hard we are standing knee-deep in water as people were. in hamburg, iowa. hamburg iowa is a beautiful community founded in 1858. since never been flooded 1858. now it was under eight feet of water. many 20% or 30% of the people will never be able to return to their homes. you cannot argue this when reality intrudes. you cannot argument when the family in new hampshire i met, who told me about their daughter that lost two years in college because she got lyme disease, which is moving north.

you cannot argument in seattle washington, where the air was so clouded with smoke from the forest fire, arcade could not go outside. we had a close our swimming pools in the state of washington -- our kids cannot go outside. get a closer some impulse. this is not an argument you can have more in rep reality. have to republican voters in the u.s. today if you ask them will say yes, we have to deal with the climate crisis. republicanthat the politicians who are wedded to the fossil fuel industry, it is mitch mcconnell who unless we take away the filibuster will stop anything from coming to the floor of the senate, we need to break the stranglehold on the u.s. congress the fossil fuel industry. once we do that, we will pass clean energy legislation. the american people wanted and people in iowa wanted to. you talk about the assault weapons ban. a lot of candidates have released gun plans in the wake of shootings in el paso and dayton.

what is your plan now to combat gun violence? inslee: number one, to defeat donald trump it was full of baloney. you have to understand what he and his republican sycophants are going to do. they're going to try to have some public relations deal by saying we took care of guns by doing the most destructive -- most modest thing. we need to ban weapons of war. we need to prevent them from getting in the hands of people. we need to increase the edge to get this. we need to close all of the loopholes in the gun safety networks and the system is rife with this issues. sure people are trained. we need more than risk protection orders. we need to make sure these guys are not in the street with these high-capacity ammunition clips. we need to make sure people are trained. we need to have gun owner response ability. you know why? almost half the gun deaths are due to suicide. a lot of these are children or they get access to a gun they should not of ecstasy. we need gun owners to take response ability for safe storage. we need the full meal deal, not

some pr statement by mitch mcconnell, who understands he in deep, deep trouble in this issue. jeffrey elstad committed suicide. what is your reaction to that is? inslee: my reaction is i just heard that and it is sadness as it would be at any death. i hope we can succeed as a nation and ending this gorge - scourge of abuse of children and women. we need to redouble our efforts to do that. we have certainly done that in my state. >> calling for answers. how this happened while he was in prison. do you think we should look into this that question should be asked? inslee: yes that's why came out as one of the earliest calling for the resignation of a cabinet member who is one of the cast of thousands donald trump put in place but no business being put into public life. it was clear that the whole sorry episode of the lack of

prosecution was just absolutely disgusting. john will -- donald trump is associated with that, epstein, because he picked a guy who was associated with that. but i just found out about a death so i'm going to have to express sadness over any loss. anything else? thank you very much people don't forget to vote. onto the corndogs. governor inslee, question about prescription drugs? very : we need very, [indiscernible]

inslee: i have said that many many times. i think we should consider all kinds of effort in that regard. unstintingshould be in getting reasonable priced [indiscernible] you might want to check out what we have done in washington state and we have adopted one of the most innovative ways to get lower-priced drugs or people. we have been very successful and we need those kind of efforts to get people lower drug prices. >> what is an assault weapon? inslee: assault weapons are as defined in a 1994 bill i voted for. i was a new member of congress and an assault weapon ban came up, and i knew that if i voted for it i will lose my seat.

but i want to head and voted for it. and i did lose my seat. and i have never regretted that boat. we need to ban weapons of war. it -- that vote. ed needs to happen fast. -- we need to ban weapons of war. it needs to happen fast. send you the definition which is quite accurate and has been very accurate. if you if you're looking for research, there has been a reduction of the shootings where there were assault weapons used following the enactment of the bell. that is white -- the enactment of the bill. that is why i'm so angry at the republican party who are kowtowing to the nra. that time is up. we have broken the back of the nra in washington state. we have now passed three measures... >> how is it the nra's fall? inslee: they have captured the

weak hearted republicans who will not vote to protect our children. protect children with guns? gun save our lives and they kill? -- how do you protect children with guns? gun save more lives than they kill? inslee: where the corndogs here. inslee: what she affected by the floods? >> no, we live on the hill. [speaking on the phone] [inaudible]

>> she will get that for a long time. that for a long time. inslee: we are getting there. lori, this is governor jay inslee calling it for the iowa state fair. i just met this incredible budding journalist. be confident he is going to an amazing writer or speaker or , so we kenexa get good news. and i have to share this with you. i think donald trump is full of it. i think journalists are doing a great job. we believe in the news. and i think this guys do great work.

don't forget about. see you later. thank you for your work. excuse me. our you heard about long-term care plan that we have passed? this is new and is very important. a wave ofat we have retirements. in our state we have passed the first long-term care bill for people so they can age with dignity. andpeople have dementia other problems. it is a really, really good land and it is the first in the nation. announcer: that was earlier today. washington governor jay inslee the first of nine candidates speaking at the washington state fair -- i was state fair. our coverage is available at c-span.org. a couple of tweets we want to share with you. c-span's i wasng state fair coverage? this is the d.c. nerve center for our coverage. led by ben and director extraordinaire.

2003 drank ao in strawberry smoothie, he got a lot of attention on that, saying in this tweet the other day, in my defense, it was delicious. but you are right. that smoothie clearly killed me in the iowa caucuses. and this from the c-span bus at the iowa state fair. good morning, we are excited to be at the fair. come on and stop by the c-span booth. if you're in iowa get some cool swag including our brand-new 2020 water bottles. -- campaign 2020 water bottles. coming up senator amy klobuchar scheduled that 1:45 eastern time followed by senator kirsten gillibrand and john hickenlooper. life coverage continues from the iowa state fair. i am rachel stassen berger,

the politics editor for the paper. i see some old faces who are here when i was making this announcement before. and someday faces. let me go over the ground rules. some of you folks already know them you can listen to something else. the rule is iowa nice. if you have signed, that is great. but do not hold them up because people behind you cannot see. feel free to cheer. but do not jeer. that is not very iowa nice. one more we have to add because of some of the previous crowds. pick up the trash when you leave. as kathy abroad of it said this morning, your mom is not here. your dad's not here. you have to take care of your own trash. fair? without further ado, senator amy klobuchar. [applause] klobuchar: