>> welcome to bloomberg politics special edition. presentt golf is in -- obama is in new orleans this evening. john, this is an event that affected new orleans most of all, but the president will talk about it tonight as a national story. there is not a single issue that does not affect new orleans, has been exacerbated about what happened with hurricane katrina. this is a story about infrastructure. mark: let's go down and listen to president obama. president obama: everybody have

a seat. hello, everybody. where you at? [cheers] it is good toa: be back in the big easy. the weather in august all the time, right? in new as i land orleans, the first thing i do is get hungry. the familyhere with a few years ago, i had a shrimp -- at parkway bakery and tavern. i still remember it. that is how good it was. one day after i leave office, aybe i will finally hear rebirth of the maple leaf on tuesday night. i'll get a chance to see the mardi gras and someone will tell me what carnival --

right now, i just go to meetings. for theo thank michelle introduction, and more importantly for the great work she is doing. what she represents in terms of the city bouncing back. i want to acknowledge a great friend and somebody who has been working tirelessly on behalf of the city. and he's following a family legacy of service. your mayor mitch landrieu. proud of him. his beautiful wife. senator bill cassidy is here. there he is. cedric richmond -- congressman cedric richmond. there's the covers and. -- the congressman.

we have got a lifelong champion of louisiana in your former senator mary landrieu in the house. [cheering] i want to acknowledge a great the efforts to recover and rebuild congressman hakeem jeffries from new york who has traveled down here with us. to all the elected officials from louisiana and mississippi who are here today, thank you so much for your reception. i'm here to talk about a specific recovery. i begin to talk just about new orleans, i want to talk about america's recovery. take a little moment of presidential privilege to talk about what's been happening in our economy. this morning, we learned that our economy grew at a stronger

and more robust clip back in the spring than anybody knew at the time. the data always lags. we already knew that over the past five and a half years, our businesses have created 13 million new jobs. [applause] oute new numbers that came showing the economy was growing at a 3.7% clip means that the united states of america remains an anchor of global strength and stability in the world. faster,have recovered thansteadily, stronger just about any economy after the worst financial crisis since the great depression. and it's important for us to remember that strength. it's been a volatile few weeks around the world.

a lot of's been reports in the news and stock market swinging and worries about china and about europe. but the united states of america, for all the challenges that we still have, continue to have the best cards. we just got to playdom right. -- play them right. our economy has been moving, and continues to grow. and unemployment continues to come down. and our work is not yet done, but we have to have that sense of steadiness and vision and sustain thisder to recovery so that it reaches everybody and not just some. it's why we need to do everything we can in government to make sure our economy keeps growing. that requires congress to protect our momentum, not kill it.

congress is about to come back from a six-week recess. the deadline to fund the government is, as always, the end of september. to i want everybody just understand that congress has about a month to pass a budget that health our economy grow. otherwise, we switch -- we risk shutting down the government for the second time in two years. that would not be responsible. it does not have to happen. america needs to find in a way that invests in our growth, in our security, and not cuts us off at the knees by locking in mindless austerity or shortsighted sequester cuts to our military can i said i would be to a budget -- i said i would veto a budget like that. we have to invest in things like military readiness, infrastructure, schools, public health, the research and develop that keeps our companies on the cutting-edge. that's what great nations do.

that's what great nations do. know eventually we are going to do it anyway. so let's just do it without too much let's do it without another round of threats to shut down the government. let's not introduce unrelated partisan issues. americants to hold the economy hostage over their own ideological demands. you, the people who send us to washington, expect better. am i correct? [applause] so, my message to congress's pass a budget, preventer shutdown -- don't wait till the last minute, do not worry are businesses or workers by contributing to unnecessarily global uncertainly, and k

globalrica the anchor strength that we are and always should be. the process of national recovery that from coast-to-coast we have been going through. but there has been a specific iscess of recovery that perhaps unique in my lifetime. the state of louisiana, right here in new orleans. [applause] not long ago, our gathering here in the lower nine probably would have seemed unlikely. as i was flying you today with the home girl from louisiana, donna brazil. she saved all the magazines that she was whipping them out, and one of them was a picture of the

lower ninth right after the storm it happened. otion that there would be anything left seemed unimaginable at the time. today, this new community center stands as a symbol of the extraordinary resilience of the city, the external resilience of its people. extraordinary resilience of the entire gulf coast and of the united states of america. you are an example of what is possible when in the face of tragedy and in the face of goodhip ggod people -- people come together to lend a hand and brick by brick, block neighborhood by neighborhood, you build a better future. and that more than any other reason is why i have come back here today. plus, mitchell landry asked me landrieu asked me

to. it's been 10 years since katrina hit. devastating communities in louisiana and mississippi, across the gulf coast. in the days following its landfall, more than 1800 of our fellow citizens, men, women and children, lost their lives. some folks in this room may have lost a loved one in that storm. thousands of people saw their ho mes destroyed, livelihoods white out -- wiped out, hopes and dreams shattered. toy scattered in an exodus cities across the country and too many still have not returned. those who stayed and lived struggle stillic

feel the trauma sometimes of what happened. there is one woman who recently part of the deep whole story is the grief." ande was grief then, there are still some grief in our hearts. here i new orleans,n a city that embodies a celebration of life, suddenly seems devoid of life -- seemed devoid of life. a place once defined by the color and sound, the crawfish oils and backyards, the music in the air, suddenly was dark and silent, and the world watched in horror. we saw those rising waters drown the streets of new orleans. family stranded on rooftops,

bodies in the streets, children crying, crowded in the superdome. an american city dark and underwater. and this was something that was supposed to never happen here. maybe someplace else, but not here, not in america. to realize that what started out as a natural disaster became a man-made disaster, a failure of government to look out for its own citizens. and the storm laid bare a deeper tragedy that had been brewing for decades, because we came to are liens,that you like so many communities across the country, head for too long been plagued by structural inequalities that left too many people, especially poor people, especially people of color, without good jobs or affordable health care or decent housing. too many kids grew up surrounded

by crime, were few had a shot to break out of poverty. and, like a body weakened already, undernourished therdy when the storm hit, e was no resources to fall back on. visited, shortly after the storm, i visited with folks not here, because we could distract local recovery efforts. instead, i visited folks in a shelter in houston. many who had been displaced. and one woman told me we had nothing before the hurricane. and now we have less than nothing. we had nothing before the

hurricane. now we have less than nothing. we it knowledge this loss and this pain not to dwell on the to wallow in grief. we do it to fortify our commitment and to bolster our hope, to understand what it is that we have learned and how far we've come. because this is a city that is slowly, unmistakably together is moving forward. because the project every building here wasn't just to restore to the city as it had been. it was to build a city as it should be, a city where everyone know matter what they look like, how much money they got, where they are born has a chance to make it. [applause] and i'm here to say that on

aat larger project of better, stronger, more just new orleans, progress that you have made his remarkable. the progress you have made his remarkable. things are say perfect. mitch would be the first one to say that. we know that african-americans and folks in hard-hit parishes lessst. bernard are likely to feel like they have recovered. scarsinly we know violence the lives of too many youth in this city. as hard as rebuilding levees are. i agree with that. i'll get to that. .hank you,

as hard as rebuilding levees, a s hard as rebuilding housing is, real lasting structural change, that's even harder. and it takes courage to experiment with new ideas and change the old ways of doing things. that is hard. getting it right in making sure that everybody is included, and everybody has a fair shot at success -- that takes time. it is not unique to new orleans. we got those challenges all across the country. but i'm here to say, i'm here to say,up a mirror and because of you, the people of new orleans working together, this city is moving in the right direction. i have never been more confident that together we will get to where we need to go. you inspire me. [applause]

your efforts inspire me. no matter how hard it's been, how hard and how long the road ahead might seem, you are working on building and striving for a better tomorrow. i see evidence of it all across the city. by the way, along the way, the people of new orleans didn't j ust inspire me. you inspired all of america. folks have been watching what is happened here. a reflectioneen of the very best of the american spirit. as president, i have been proud to be your partner. board, i have made the recovery and rebuilding of the gulf coast of priority. a made promises when i was senator that i'd help. i've kept those promises.

[applause] we're cutting red tape to help you build back even stronger. we're taking the lessons we have learned -- we have applied them across the country including places like new york and new jersey after hurricane sandy. if katrina was an example of what happens when government fails, the recovery has been an example of what is possible when government works together. state, local, community. everybody working together as true partners. we have delivered resources to help louisiana, mississippi, alabama, and florida rebuild schools and hospitals, roads, police and fire stations, restore historic buildings and museums. and we're building smarter.

doing everything from elevatingh homes to improving drainage. our communities are better prepared for the next storm. working together, we transformed education in this city. new orleansstorm, public schools were largely broken, leaving generations of low income kids without a decent education. andy, thanks to parents educators, school leaders, we are seeing real gains in achievement with new schools, more resources to -- to develop and support great teachers and principals. shows beforethat the storm the high school graduation rate was 54%. today it is up to 73%. [applause] storm, college in rome it was 37%. today it is almost 60% -- college enrolled was 37%.

that is real progress. new orleans is coming back better and stronger. g together, we are providing housing assistance to more families today than before the storm with new apartment and housing vouchers. we will keep working until everybody who wants to come h ome can come home. together we are building a new orleans that is as en trepreneurial as anyplace in the country with a focus on making sure more people benefit from a growing economy here. we're creating jobs to rebuild the city's transportation infrastructure, expanding training programs for industries like high-tech manufacturing, but also water management because we have been building some good water management around here and we want to make sure everybody has access to those good, well-paying jobs. small businesses like michelle's

are growing. it's small businesses like hers that are helping to fuel 65 straight months of private-sector job growth in america. that is the longest streak in american history. together we are doing more to ma ke sure that everyone in the city has access to great health care. more folks have access to primary care in neighborhood clinics, so they can get the preventive care they need. we are building a brand-new v.a. medical center downtown, a long try -- a longside a biosciences corridor. we are working to make sure we have additional mental health facilities across the city and across the country, and more people have access to quality, affordable health care. some of the more than 60 million

americans who gained health insurance over the past few years. [applause] this progress is the result of the commitment to the people of this region. i saw that spirit today. we mentioned i started walking around a little bit. such a nice day outside. -- we saw returning residents living in brand-new homes, mixed income, new homes near schools and clinics in parks, childcare centers, more opportunities for working families. we saw that spirit today at will may's.-- willie after katrina had destroyed that legendary restaurant, some of country chefs in the

decided america cannot afford to loose such an important place. so they came down here to help. ustped rebuild and i j sampled some of her fried chicken. it was really good. grease spot on my suit, but that is ok. if you come to new orleans and you do not have a grease spot somewhere, then you did not enjoy the food. glad i did not get it on my tie. that spiritheard of new orleans in the remarkable you people from ruth's music. [applause] storm washed away a lot of middle school music programs, it helped fill the gap. and today it is building the

next generation of musical talent. the next trombone shorty or the next dr. john. here's a marsalis kid in somewhere. how you doing? i saw in the wonderful young man i met earlier. life,e part of nola for focused on reducing the number of murders in the city of new orleans. there is a program that works with the white house's my brother's keeper's initiative to make sure that all young people, and particularly boys and young men of color who so disproportionally are impacted by crime and violence, have the opportunity to fulfill their full potential. in fact, after the storm, this city became a laboratory for urban innovation across the

board. we've been tackling with you as a partner all sorts of major challenges. fighting poverty, supporting our homeless veterans, and as a result, new orleans has become a model for the nation as the first city, the first major city to end veteran homelessness -- which is a remarkable achievement. a model forbecoming the nation when it comes to disaster response and resilience. we learned lessons from katrina. army corps of engineers developed more advanced techniques for levees. in louisiana we built a $14 billion system of improved pump stations and gates, a system that stood the test of hurricane isaac. we've revamped fema. i just have to say, by the way, there is a man named craig fugate who runs fema, and who -- extraordinary

work. his team all across the country every time there is a disaster. i love me some craig fugate. although it is a little disturbing, you know, he gets excited when there are disasters, because he gets restless as everything is just quiet. but under his leadership we have into a stronger, more efficient agency. in fact, the whole federal government has gotten smarter preventing and recovering from disasters. and serving as a better partner to local and state governments. and as i'll talk about next week, when i visit alaska, making our communities more resilient is going to be increasingly important, because we are going to see more extreme weather events as the result of climate change. deeper droughts, deadlier wildfires, stronger storms. that's why in addition to things

like new and better levees, been investing in restoring wetlands and other natural systems that are just as critical for storm protection. so, we have made a lot of progress over the past 10 years. you've made a lot of progress. that gives us hope. but it does not allow for complacency. it doesn't mean we can rest. our work here will not be done when almost 40% of children still live in poverty in the city. that is not finished job. that's not a full recovery. our work won't be done when a household earned half the income of white households in the city. the work is not done yet. [applause] our work's not done when there

are still too many people who have yet to find affordable housing. especiallyy people, african-american men, who cannot find a job. not when -- too manythere's still people who have not been able to come back home. folks who around the country every day live the words sung by louis armstrong "do you know what it means to miss new orleans?" but the thing is, the people of new orleans, there's something in you guys that is just irrepressible. of making ae a way way out of no way. [applause] you know, the sun comes out after every storm. you've got hope. especially her young people reflect hope.

young people like victor carter. where's carter? stand up, victor. i had lunch with him. this is a fine young man i just met with. stand up, everybody. these are the guys who i ate chicken with. [applause] really impressive. have overcome more than their fair share of challenges. but are still focused on the future. sit down. i do not want you to start getting embarrassed. so, i'll just give you one example. victor grew up in the eight wrad. -- ward. loved math. hit.s 13 when katrina he remembers waking up to what

looks like a disaster movie. he and his family waded across the city towing his younger brother in a trash can to keep them afloat. they were evacuated to texas. six months later, they returned, and the city was almost unrecognizable. his peers struggling to cope. so he joined the organization called rethink to help young people to get more involved in rebuilding new orleans. a recently he finishedn a coding boot camp at operation spark. today he is studying to earn a high tech job. wants to introduce more young people to science and technology and civics. so they have the tools to change the world. these youngor and men i just met with, they have overcome it stored mary od -- extraordinary odds. they have lived through