mandatory minimum. the only way they can get out of that is cooperation. that is how we move up the food chain. host: explain that. thet: the people they got drugs from, internally in the united states, mexico, or afghanistan. that is the target. separates federal and state prosecution is that we have the ability to cross state borders and international boundaries and are interested in going after the more serious violator. mandatory minimums give us the opportunity. in the federal system there are only 13% or 14% of people serving mandatory minimums. they are people that did not meet the safety valve and refused to cooperate. the congress of the united states says those are the people that we want to serve the mandatory minimum sentence.

mandatory minimums have been around since 1790. we have mandatory minimums today not only for drugs, but human sex trafficking, child pornography,and -- and identity theft. romney is running the open senate race for the seat currently held by orrin hatch. while we wait for this event to begin, with former governor romney, we will take a look at mike pence's remarks. they talked about the vice presidents recent trip to south

.merica and the olympic spirit >> please welcome our host mike allen. mike: thanks the bank of america for that message. think you for making these conversations possible. thank you c-span for carrying this event today and i thank my colleagues for our and our cofounder. you for being here. i really appreciate it and look forward to seeing you on axios were we make you smarter and faster. om. on axios.c

our next guest has been a congressman, house republican leader, governor of indiana, and is now vice president of the united states. he is always a hoosier. on behalf of my partners at axios we're happy to welcome vice president mike pence. [applause] mike: mr. vice president, welcome back. vice pres. pence: thank you. mike: you were just telling us that a given fix you realized wintere that it to sports, sweating and skiing. "big picture" if i i get off thece: slopes without anything more than sweat at the gold medal. mike: you used to call yourself rush limbaugh on decaf. [laughter] mike: do you ever think to

yourself that this would be so awesome if you are still on radio? vice pres. pence: how do know that was where i started out? it was a little radio station in indiana. i did a washington update on wednesday nights. into a daily radio program that i thought might actually be my career in broadcasting. but the opportunity came along to run for congress one more time. i had the great privilege of serving for 12 years and now i am sitting with you as vice president of the united dates. it is all very humbling to me. mike: regina wednesday morning update. on air force two on the way home, you said you had conversations with south korea about further engagement with north korea. is the u.s. stance for talking with north korea? vice pres. pence: first off,

let's be clear who we are dealing with aaron north korea is the most tyrannical regime on the planet. nations, north korea is a nation that oppresses its people. seven out of 10 north koreans require food assistance just to survive. koreansillion north were left to starve and die in the 1990's under this regime. imprisonmentality, and more than a hundred thousand inth koreans as we speak are modern-day gulags. as president trump said memorably, north korea is today nothing short of a prison state. that is the reality. in modern-daythe fact that north ks developing and pursuing nuclear weapons that could be delivered on ballistic missile's to the

con now united states is completely unacceptable. the fixed policy of the united states of america is that we are going to continue, with all options on the table, to bring intensifying pressure to bear until north korea once and for ,ll, completely and verifiably abandons its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program. that is the fixed policy of the united states of america. as president trump has said many times, he said i always believe in talking. we've made it very clear that we are open to communicating our policy to the regime in north korea. what north korea needs to understand, and as i made clear in an announcement in japan,

when we announced a new round of sanctions that will be imposed -- the largest ever sanctions imposed by the united states, and we are confident our allies will join us, nothing will change. until the day comes that north korea permanently abandons its nuclear weapons and the stick missile programs and seizes -- ceases. like as you look at the tools in our belt, we may do more talking. i think it isce: accurate to say we want to make sure north korea understands us. if there is an opportunity for talks that can communicate the fixed policy of the united states of america to them, the president has made it clear. he always believes in talking. but talking is not negotiation.

talking is understanding one another and when you think of of this regime, of the appalling record of human l last weekat in seou with defectors from north korea. a woman who had been jailed for 28 years for no reason whatsoever, who managed to escape that regime. another young woman who had been incarcerated and then sold into sex slavery and once she was sheptured by the regime, was forced to have an abortion and lost a child she still grieves for with tears in her eyes last week to this day. we all heard the extraordinary and inspiring story during the president's state of the union address. we cannot allow a regime like north korea to possess nuclear weapons in ballistic muscles to threaten the united states of america.

the record they have demonstrated, direct -- their lack of respect and their willingness to use violence and torture. we will continue to maintain. completely will abandon its nuclear missile program. when that commences, then and only then can we consider any change to the international community. is it a little swampy to say you will talk but not negotiate? as of a little washington-y. vice pres. pence: the president has made it clear all options are on the table. the united states has viable military options to deal with the threat of nuclear ballistic missiles from north korea.

achieve is that we can with the world community has concluded long ago should be our objective. the denuclearization of north korea and the removal of nuclear weapons from the regime. what want to exhaust every opportunity to make sure north korea understands our intention. and the seriousness of the u.s. and our allies. this is a very important point. there is no daylight between the united states of america and south korea and japan. our commitment to intensify our maximum pressure campaign on north korea until they abandoned their nuclear weapons program. south korea has commenced with oreankorean -- inter-k

talks. thatve made it very clear irrespective of those talks, we will all remain united in our shared commitment that the kim regime in north korea must permanently abandon their nuclear weapons program. to see it dismantled and to accept denuclearization before there is any progress whatsoever on the pressure. >> we do take you live now to the utah convention center. one of the speakers preceding him, congressman john curtis. rep. curtis: i have the opportunity to be here with for interns who are with me tonight. thank you for being with me tonight. [applause]