talked about his decision to run for governor. >> you guys are beautiful. thank you for being here.

i'm going to introduce, some of our elected members. i will posit it. judge any brown. -- andy brown. singer sarah eckhart. wendy davis. running for hd 50 what here in texas county. [applause] george marlys. and judge ishmael garcia. i'm going to pause. ♪

now we are ready. i am the state representative in travis county and i am the chair of the women's health caucus, where along with wendy davis, we have a been fighting this bullshit for years. [applause] i came of age before roe v. wade, many of you have no nothing but the protection of roe v. wade, i came of age before roe v. wade. i know what it was like when women did not have autonomy over their own body, able to make their own choices, be able to pursue education and employment opportunities and be equal participants in society. abbott, and the republican-controlled

legislature. [booing] they have totally banned abortion and texas -- in texas. without even an exception for rape and incest. and for women who have complications in their pregnancy. the doctors are telling us, we have to wait for women to start dying before we can intervene and save their lives. any forced pregnancies occurring in a state that has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country and in the developed world. so i'm sure you all heard last night when abbott was asked what alternative is there for those who have been sexually

assaulted, they cannot get an abortion? baby supplies. [booing] you can't make this shit up. we are going to change what is happening at the legislature. [applause] and because we have been jerry -- because gerrymandering makes it very difficult to change the legislature, we can affect change because the governor of the state of texas has the veto power. so despite despite the legislature we can still make headway here because we can elect the governor who will veto this shit. [applause] beto o'rourke is a fighter for

texas women. [applause] he will fight to ensure that every woman in this state has the power to make decisions herself about her own body about her own health care, and about her own future. [applause] we are not going back. beto o'rourke is the path forward. [applause] so let me present to you the next governor of the great state of texas beto o'rourke. [cheering] >> austin!

thank you for being here. how's everybody feeling? it is so good to be here with you one of the most beautiful days ever created under this glorious sky with all these wonderful people who are around us. you know all of that chaos and cruelty and confusion that is the product of this current governor, that is not reflected in the faces that i see here right now. someone who wants us to hate each other or be scared of one another based on our differences instead of coming together to do the big things in texas today that's not us we are the ones who are going to do the big things that we have been waiting to do for far too long but have been divided and kept from doing so because we have people in power who are more interested in their power than the people that they are supposed to serve, am i right? i want to thank donna howard,

all of these amazing vips and public servants, extraordinary leaders, other people who are on the ticket right now ladies up and down the ballot men you as well. we've got luke warford our railroad commissioner candidate who is right over here. jay clayberg who's running for land commissioner. susan hayes agriculture commissioner. janet for comp stroller. i know comptroller sounds boring but can we get it --get around of applause for janet? rochelle garza, your next attorney general. are you ready to win this one for governor? [cheering] i tell you what, i feel it more today than i have ever before. mostly you're on the road, no county or community to small, to

rural, to republican representative for us to show up, no community too big, too blue, too urban for us to listen and learn, from those we want to serve and represent. i'll tell you what, what the things that were talking about in this campaign, bringing people together, getting beyond the division and the hatred and the polarization, it is working everywhere that we go. almost every town hall that we've held, we invite anyone to ask any question and we say it does not matter. no me importa if you are a republican you're in the right , place democrats you're welcome as well independence we're glad that you came. even those who come out to oppose us and protest our presence, we invite them in too. they are just as important as anyone else. it is starting to work, listening to, finding the common ground amongst one another.

we are in bowie, anyone heard of it? there you go. this protester who came in because we invited her in, wouldn't relinquish her abbott s ign, listen to 10 everything that we had to say about expanding medicaid and fully funding our schools and ensuring that the best jobs in america are created right here in texas and we give her the microphone, she says, i kind of agree with what you have to say. i'm a retired principal. this underfunding of our educators, it's hitting here home in montag, we cannot find enough teachers to bring them on the roles. by the end of the conversation, she and i are agreeing with one another. we are shaking hands, we may have even one her vote. here's the kicker. the following week, the greg abbott campaign emails all of their supporters around the state of texas and they say, listen, it's fine if you want to protest beto's visits in your

community but whatever you do, did not go outside and listen to what he has to say because we are losing too many of you. these visits, going everywhere, for everyone, writing no went off, taking no one for granted, our ability to go toe to toe with greg abbott in that debate on friday night, did you all see it? [cheering] did we make the case that we need change? i feel pretty good, i felt pretty good then. i felt good all along. but never better than i do today because ladies and gentlemen, i know that we are going to win this election on november 8. [cheering] we are going to win, because we're fighting for every woman to make her own decisions about her own body, her own future, her own health care. we are going to win because we prioritize the lives of our kids over the interests of the nra, any politician, any political

consideration whatsoever. we are going to have the backs of every school teacher, counselor, librarian, support staff, bus driver, those who make public possible pay them enough so they don't have to work a second or third job. give those retired teachers the cost of living adjustment, they have not had one in 18 years. cancel the damn star test so you can focus on the kids in front of you. this is the texas agenda. we're going to do commonsense sense, bipartisan things. what about returning $10 billion of your federal income taxes to texas to connect more people with haircare -- health-care care or mental health care so it is no longer our county jails doing the jobs. it psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists. listen in in honor of the man who will follow me on this stage

when we win, we're going to legalize marijuana in the state of texas or you'd[-- in the state of texas. given the fact that texans of all races, all ethnicities, all backgrounds, use marijuana at roughly the same rate but only some particularly brought -- black and brown texans are disproportionately arrested, stopped, frisked, incarcerated, upon release forced to check a box on every employment application form going forward, we will expunge the arrest records of anybody caught in possession of assessment -- a substance that's already legal in most of the rest of the country. you all with me? [cheering] and in a state where in march during our primary election, 13 of the mail-in ballots castle reject it or returned, 13 -- cast were

rejected or returned, 13 out of 100 votes cast never made it to the candidate of their choice. you don't know if that's a democrat but in democracy that doesn't matter. 95 years old world war ii veteran, true story, his ballot by mail was rejected not once but three times. this guy in world war ii was willing to give his life to defend our democracy to fight fascism half a world away tell me there is someone who has better earned the right to vote than the guy we got to make sure that when we win we got a restore the right to vote for everyone in the state of texas. that means no more gerrymandering where members of congress choose their voters independent redistricting commissions where you choose the boundaries. automatic, online and same-day voter registration. and for those who are struggling to take some time off from work or you'd or to school to castor ballot how about this -- cast

your ballot, how about this, we replace confederate heroes day as a state holiday with election day as a state holiday, you all with me on this? [cheering] here's another way i know we are going to win. our start up close and personal on friday night. that is the fact that we are running against the worst governor in the united states of america today, greg abbott. [cheering] let me give it to you by the numbers. one month ago, his most extreme abortion ban no exception for rape, incest, it begins at conception, in the more internal mortality -- maternal mortality epicenter of the u.s., three times as deadly for black women, one month ago that law went into effect. here's the thing. not only can we overcome this, we've overcome a challenge like this before against much longer odds, 50 years ago abortion wasn't just that the legal in

the state of texas as it is today. known outside of the state road to the rescue of the women in texas. it was the women of texas who road to the rescue of this country. jane roe, three texas women availed upon an all-male united supreme court to win a roe v. wade, protection of the right to make your own decisions without any government interference. listen, if it was that the women of texas who did it 50 years ago, it will be the women of texas to do it again today. [cheering] we are so lucky right now to be joined by some of the family members of jackie, an extraordinarily beautiful, gifted, talented young girl whose life was taken from us on the 24th of may, 2022, along

with 18 of her classmates at robb elementary in uvalde,. texast. two teachers what already given their best lives to those kids day in and day out, literally gave their lives to keep them alive when someone armed with a weapon of war designed to take an enemy soldier down at 500 yards, penetrate the steel helmet, walked into the classroom, not five feet from those kids with nothing on their heads but a baseball cap. they were absolutely defenseless against him. they were absolutely defenseless against the governor, who refuses to lift a finger to prioritize their lives. 19 weeks and nothing has been done, to prevent this from happening to any other child in any other school, in any other committee in texas. here's what we have to do. after we win this election, we must come around the table,

prioritize those lives and say, look, we are texans. we will defend the second amendment, but we will better protect the lives of those children, the teachers, the people in our community, in a state or gun violence today is the leading cause of death for children and teenagers. we know we can do better. though this may be greg abbott's thus far, we are pinching it, all of us are culpable. if you're like me feel the jet -- fear the judgment of your kid. we cannot be found wanting. this is what we will do. universal background checks for anyone who wants to buy any firearm in the state of texas. a red flag law, so if you have that firearm, and you're threatening to use it against somebody else, we can intervene, before it is too late. at a minimum, let's rage the agent purchased a 21, for an ar-15 -- let's raise at the age of purchase to 21 for an ar-15. i'm with you, but on this much,

there is common ground. listening to republicans, gun owners, democrats and non-gun owners, people in the state of texas, they know we can get this done. ladies and gentlemen, we are going to get this done. two more numbers for you. 19 months ago, almost to the date, you are freezing in your apartments and in your homes. here in the energy capital of the world, the guy in power, could not keep the power flowing to the people he purportedly served. while rolling blackouts were taking place across texas, he ordered the price of electricity sold at its highest a liable -- allowable rate, gas started trading at 200 ton -- times what it sold for the day before. his best friends and top campaign contributors literally made billions of dollars while you are freezing in your home.

[booing] 700 of our fellow texans lost their lives, froze to death in their beds unable to pile enough blankets atop their bodies. burned up, when their parents set fire to their furniture trying to keep their kids warm, died of carbon monoxide poisoning in the garages. do you think this governor, has called a single one of those families to apologize for what he has done? you think he has paul -- bother to fix the grid? all he has done is pass the buck. you're paying $45 more per month on your utilities because of greg abbott. that is the abbott tax in texas. we got an answer to that. one, after we win the election, we weatherize every part of the grid. two, we connect our grid with the national grid, so we can draw power when we need it. three, for those who took $11

billion from us in our moment of need, when we were suffering and dying, we are going to take those pastors to court and get every -- bastards to court and get every single penny back for the people of texas. we will bring down the utility bills as a result. the last number i want to give you, that is the number eight. that's how many years this guy, greg abbott, has been serving in the highest position of public trust in this state. for those of you who watched or listened it to the debate on friday night, he would blame anybody, but himself. the problems in our state, if you would listen to him, are all joe biden's fault. or this guy, even though i have not been governor for any years over the last eight years, if you think about the challenges we have in texas now, if you're feeling pain at this moment, i want you to think about greg

abbott, the eight years he has had in order to make things better. i want you to remember that. when he seeks to scare you about all of us. he's going to talk about violent crime in the state of texas. he's going to talk about funding law enforcement in our community. hear me right now. after 18 years, homicides -- eight years homicides are up 50% because one police officers and sheriff's deputies begged him not to sign permit list carry into law, which allows anyone to carry a gun in public without a background check, any vetting, training whatsoever, he turned his back on them and looked right at the nra and signed that into law. now, today, homicides are up 50%. more police officers are shot down in the state than any other in the union. gun violence, the leading cause of death for children and teenagers. the governor, when he was

signing his total abortion ban and was asked by a reporter when he was going to do about the fact that there was no exception for rape, infamously, he replied, we're going to eliminate rape in the state of texas. because of greg abbott, more rapes have been committed in the state of texas than any other state, because under his leadership, there are 3000 untested rape kits at dps headquarters right now in austin texas, because under greg abbott, a rapist has more rights than does his victim. he can soothe that victim's family if they insist on on her to get an abortion and get a $10,000 bounty. he has made us less safe. he has given criminals, especially rapists, more free reign in the state and has dropped the ability to bring them to justice by half under his watch. i will tell you what, we win

this election, not only will we fully fund a law-enforcement, we will fully fund their training so they treat every single one of us equally under the law, regardless of the differences between us. and for those who abuse the public trust and that life-and-death power they hold over us, we will hold them accountable. there will be justice for the people of texas. that increases trust, it improves public safety and security. last thing i want to tell you, because it's the first thing he's going to try to scare you about, he is the master of the flexion and distraction -- deflection and distraction and lies. ask him why he can keep the lies on -- lights on or why teachers are leaving by the thousands in texas or why cps is the worst run foster care program in the u.s. and the scare about transgender kids or critical race theory, who knew that a

graduate level courses being taught in the first and second grade in the state of texas? nobody knew because it is not. but, the thing that is going to try to get you most scared about is the border. and the people he wants you to be afraid of, more than anyone else, are those who seek to come here to work, to join families, to seek asylum, because to return to their countries of origin might very well mean certain death for them or for their children. now, bussing migrants to washington dc, chicago, new york, building 1.5 miles, it is more than art and -- our insulation then it is a security device in the state of texas. that is not making a safer. i'll tell you what. this rhetoric, describing human beings as an invasion, asking texans to defend ourselves, he literally said this, take

matters into our own hands. we experienced the consequence hat in el paso on the third of august, 2019. somebody listening to greg abbott and the former president, who thought there was an invasion coming to this country, but a weapon to war, drove 650 miles to my hometown, posted online, before he walked into that walmart that he had come to repel the invasion of hispanics who were coming to take over the state and murdered 23 people in a city, that doesn't lose it 20 people over the course of an entire year. el paso, one of, if not one of the safest cities in america, not despite but because we are city of immigrants and we find a way to come together and do right by and for one another. we thought again this last week -- or saw it again this last week. someone was shot and killed what come into this country seemingly

randomly, someone here who may have been fueled by the same hateful rhetoric. not only is what he is doing not making a safer, it is costing the lives of our fellow human beings. look, you may or may not feel this way, but let me invoke your powers a map of the -- empathy. nobody travels at 2000 miles to this country on foot, on top of a train known as the beast, for kicks. no one climbs into the back of a tractor-trailer with 52 other people on a hot, texas summer day with their kids to steal your job or take your place in society or get the red carpet treatment from this country. they do so because it might be the only way to save their lives and to save the lives of their kids. john lewis with whom i was lucky to serve in the congress had the saying, we all got here in a different ship at a different time. but today we find ourselves in the same boat.

your family may have come here 15,000 years ago. we should remember we are standing on indigenous and native lands now. -- indigenous native lands now. your families may have been kidnapped in africa, brought here against their will and in bondage, forced to build the wealth and excess of the state without ever -- success of the state without partaking in the benefit. your family like mine, may have come in the 19th century fling famine in arlen. a million lives were claimed in that country. they came to the one place in the planet who would take them in. those coming from haiti and el salvador and honduras, are part of the same tradition that made this country great in the first place. all i ask is we meet to this opportunity with common sense and some common values. we say, look, you want to come to this country? follow our loss.

but on our end, we will make sure our laws, follow our interests and needs. it will be a safe, legal and orderly path for anyone who wants to come here and do better for themselves and by extension do better for all of us. those of us want to join family, i want to be with family. those who want to work, who doesn't want to work? those who want to save the lives of their kids, there's nothing more human or texas than that. we will be able to get this done. what it will take is all of us doing all we can with what we have, where we are. i appeal to you over these next 37 days, join us in this campaign. knock on doors, make phone calls, join our letter writing campaign. sign up with one of the volunteers wearing the yellow reflective vest. they are all around us in the crowd. they are up the clipboards now. i promise you, those very texans, who are the focus of this governor's suppression and intimidation efforts, the people

who have been intentionally drawn out, i will put you on their doors. you will meet them face-to-face, human human, eyeball to eyeball. that connection, more than anything else that we can do, will bring them into this next election. and the very people who were written off, will provide the margin of victory one we win this on election night. are you always me? -- are you all with me? there's one more super important reason, that gives me confidence we are going to win this election. that is because we have willie nelson with us now. are you all ready for willie? here he comes. thank you, austin texas for coming out. welcome willie, micah and kevin. here we go. [cheering]

♪ >> how are you all doing? go beto. ♪ whiskey river, take my hand don't let her memory torture me whiskey river, don't run dry you are all i've got, take care

of me whiskey river, take my mind don't let her memory torture me, whiskey river, don't run dry you're all of god, take care of me -- you are all i've got, take care of me i'm drowning in a whiskey river

bathing my mem'ried mind in the wetness of its soul feeling the amber current flowin' from my mind and leaving a heart you left so cold whiskey river, take my mind don't let her mem'ry torture me whiskey river, don't run dry you're all i've got, take care of me whiskey river, take my mind don't let her mem'ry torture me whiskey river, don't run dry you're all i've got, take care of me ♪ ♪

♪

[cheering] > ♪ ♪

cowboys ain't easy to love and they're harder to hold they'd rather give you a song than diamonds or gold lonestar belt buckles and old faded levis and each night begins a new day if you don't understand him and he don't die young he'll probably just ride away mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys don't let 'em pick guitars or drive them old trucks let 'em be doctors and lawyers and such

they'll never stay home and they're always alone even with someone they love cowboys like smoky old pool rooms and clear mountain mornings little warm puppies and children and girls of the night them that don't know him won't like him and them that do sometimes won't know how to take him he ain't wrong, he's just different but his pride won't let him do things to make you think he's right mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys

don't let 'em pick guitars or drive them old trucks let 'em be doctors and lawyers and such mamas don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys 'cause they'll never stay home and they're always alone even with someone they love ♪ ♪ >> thank you very much. you can help me on this one the stars at night are big and bright. the prairie sky, ♪

the rabbits rush around the brush, deep in the heart of texas.

the stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of texas, the prairie sky is wide and high, deep in the heart of texas. the sage in bloom is like perfume, deep in the heart of texas. reminds me of the one i love, deep in the heart of texas. ♪ ♪ [cheering] >> thank you very much. i would like to do the song or our next governor.

♪ ♪ \roll me up and smoke me when i die when i get my wings and it's my time to fly call my friends and tell them there's a party, come on by and just roll me up and smoke me when i die. take me out and still a roaring fire. just roll me up and smoke me -- for about an hour.

roll me up and smoke me when i die roll me up and smoke me when i die and if anyone don't like it, just look 'em in the eye i didn't come here, and i ain't leavin' so don't sit around and cry just roll me up and smoke me when i die. i didn't come here, and i ain't leavin' so don't sit around and cry just roll me up and smoke me when i die. ♪ ♪ >> thank you very much. ♪ ♪ on the road again, i can wait to get on the road again, the the life i love is

making music with my friends and i can't wait to get on the road again on the road again goin' places that i've never been seein' things that i may never see again and i can't wait to get on the road again everybody sing on the road again like a band of gypsies we go down the highway we're the best of friends insisting that the world keep turning our way and our way is on the road again i just can't wait to get on the road again the life i love is makin' music with my friends and i can't wait to get on the road again i can't wait to get on the road again ♪ ♪ [cheering]

>> thank you. thank you, very much. help us sing this one, this is an important song. if you don't like was in there if you don't like who is in there, vote them out. that's what election is all about. the biggest gun we've got is called "the ballot box" so if you don't like who's in there, vote 'em out vote 'em out (vote 'em out) vote 'em out (vote 'em out) and when they're gone, we'll sing and dance and shout bring some new ones in and we'll start that show again and if you don't like who's in there, vote 'em out

if it's a bunch of clowns you voted in election day is comin' 'round again if you don't like it now if you don't like who's in there, vote 'em out vote 'em out vote 'em out and when they're gone, we'll sing and dance and shout bring some new ones in and we'll start the show again and if you don't like who's in there, vote 'em out one more time. vote 'em out vote 'em out

when they are gone we will sing and down sent shout bring some new ones in and we'll start the show again and if you don't like who's in there, vote 'em out big finish. if you don't like who's in there, vote 'em out ♪ ♪ [cheering] >> thank y'all very much. it's a good day for texas. [cheering] thank y'all. [cheering]

♪

>> to the parents who have gone through incredible sad times, remember that it's not something you get over, but something you will get through. thank you. [cheering] ♪ >> c-span's campaign 2022 coverage of the midterm elections continues in october

with life debate, including a senate debate between senator mark kelly in challenges mark and victor. friday at 8:00 p.m. eastern, incumbent senator ron johnson debates democratic challenger mandela barnes. georgia congresswoman marjorie taylor greene interject -- democratic tones are markets flower debate october 16. october 17, republican governor brian kemp takes on stacey abrams. do not miss a single election moment on c-span and take us with you on the go with c-span now our free mobile video app. be sure to visit c-span.org/campaign2022, your website for all our midterm election campaign coverage praise c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. >> c-span is run unfiltered view of government. funded by these television

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there are tips, tools, resources and a step-by-step guide. >> c-span now is a free mobile app featuring your unfiltered view of what is happening in washington, live and on-demand. keep up with the day's biggest events and flurry seedings and hearings from u.s. companies, white house events, courts, campaigns and politics all at your fingertips. keep up with the latest episodes of washington journal and find scheduling information for c-span, tv network and radio, and a variety of podcasts area c-span now is available on the app store in google play. were front row seat to washington anytime, anywhere. >> voters in iowa heard from labor secretary marty walsh during the fundraising dinner for the iowa democratic party.