than we need to be very straightforward and nothing abolished. it is a hard subject matter so the blue color is done to soften the town. >> host: never a time when the book would go to print and for whatever reason the cover has to be changed? >> yes. i am running of blank on that now but yes. absolutely. if that happens. but not right at that point usually but the feedback from the retailer's. it has the exact same photograph for very similar.

something that we need to change. [cheers and applause] thank you is a great to be here. not where we wish we were. [laughter] but it is great to be here in the wonderful to be with paul again. we had quite an experience and i know lot of you think it must just be awful running for are your - - for president a different hotel and debate after debate with the primaries

and the general and the adoring press. [laughter] but yet the truth is it is a magnificent experience because you get to see the country person by person, a state-by-state. the people that make the news do something stranger or an unusual. but the people we could see were wonderful and it made me more optimistic about our future. if you get a chance to run for president, led to its. [laughter] [applause] >> there was no better person to be a vice

president. [applause] if you take a shot at me. [laughter] we have some of room questions of the book you have written in and i have read it and i hope you have as well. end paul actually eroded. [laughter] most of the of books you read written by politicians were not actually written by politicians but for politicians by professional writers but i can tell he rode it because it is his voice in britain like he speaks and it makes it even more is touching and personal. the subtitle d what is the

american idea? >> zero way of life with that principle sand ideas of the country that you're burst does not determine the outcome of your life that the matter who you are where you come from or how you get started if the land of opportunity the country built on the idea that we could live in freedom and find out prosperity. no other system is quite like this one. end up reason is a lot of

people don't see it or think it is there for them. they think it is there for their kids or grandkids. if you don't like the way the country is going, we don't, the policies were governing philosophies then as readers we should offer a way forward. pulled calling is to maintain each generation secures for the next like our parents did for us. [applause] >> that is something we subscribe to the people would say american a.d. it has not worked for them or their lives. a lot of people who middle-class say it is harder and harder to make ends meet and they see the

rich and famous doing extraordinary things they cannot afford why is it some do so much better and i don't do as well as i could? howdy you deal with the growing income inequality of wealth inequality and the issue of poverty? with the income gap in the extended poverty. >> we were touring around america triumphing over the difficult circumstances that were fighting poverty person to person very successfully. there are incredible stories i tell about that. there are a couple of ways

to look at this. a lot of people don't think the opportunity is there for them. they are trapped in generational poverty or situational poverty or middle income person just doesn't get ahead. what type of agenda or principles you need to reignite the opportunity at the end of the day were is the 50th anniversary of the war on poverty we have spent trillions just from the federal death in the highest the deepest since we have been recording at. you to easily argue that success has been measured based on input how much money do we spend how many programs are recreating? not the results are outcomes.

and how many people get from where they are still mcfadyen the systematic overhaul and they need to be respectful of civil society in the federal government needs-- significant role on the front lines. all those great things that to bring people together and in so many ways it is told to the taxpayer this is government's job pay your taxes we will take care of it. that is not true. and with and many are love to reintegrate.

i am not one of these that thinks that all is figured out it is a very humbling thing to do to research. entomb talk about status quo in the reforms to break the cycle of poverty. it also means a strong healthy policies in place today it is hurting economic growth as some fixed static thing in the government's job to redistribute. removal of barriers in java strong growing economy. [applause]

what i tried to do is articulate core principles with this american id it is underdress live tell the story several americans all parts of the country the seeds are there. and we have to do every confidence we could turn things around to get our country back on the right track. [applause] >> key contrast to cities detroit and chicago i would expect the more natural

comparison. [laughter] i grew up in detroit. [applause] a red wing span and the blackhawks fan. [laughter] woes were terrific times. in talk about the 1950's or '60's and yet chicago looked at what it has become. and innovation and technology in detroit has suffered a and you describe what has happened and you contrast that and also lower to go through tough times and continues what happened? why has it gone through what it has gone through? how does that contrast with

other places in america that found a way out? but now if you look an autopsy in detroit because of poor leadership didn't borrowing and spending passing on the books they could not afford the police force or the fire department they get the worst scores in the country it is a cautionary tale of one of a call philosophy of governing if you play that out throat federal government you have a similar ending. and deceives the corner store and -- the cornerstone

of what citizens are taking matters into their own hands is a tale of what ameritech could become if we go the wrong direction the what detroit could be if we apply the right ideas and principles. become a big extended irish family cemetery is always a right and wherever you are. [laughter] please as delayed forever related to. [laughter] >> but these communities is there when people fall down. the rotarians the optimist the lions club the

lutherans, all the social groups in society we had a pretty hard not get our family and my mom and my grandma went through difficult challenges and times but for our committee, not just friends and relatives but people we did not know who came together to help make a difference then to get involved to see what it does to support people, we lost the general motors plant it wasn't a huge plunge in the stomach. hundreds of millions of payroll into a town of 60,000 people. a lot of my a buddies from high-school thought they would have the same job and career for their entire life which was a good living, gone. common to see that have picked in to see it come together we have a ways to

go but tusis civil society how people help each other gives a perfect story of that little space which is where we live our livelihood that we call civil society that the talks will rhode about this fabric of american life to sustain and revitalize if we're going to get this country back on track. it is because of my family and my community in where i come from. >> you call that social capital? what is the status social capital and what does it take to regenerate what do tocqueville thought was so unique about this country? >> i do talk up the downside of progressivism which is a principle of governing with malignant is a separate

problem that will displace crowding out civil society. by'' people who are reading in tracking social capital for a long time. bowling alone is a fantastic book we're not spending lives together as much anymore or a engaged but this is something that had to be revitalized hall with bottom up economic growth but also a new attitude toward the culture in our communities where people understand they have to get involved in government has to respect its limits of that can occur and that to me is how you revitalize social capital. don't get in the way, don't discourage horror power

overwhelm people and to me that is the critical secret sauce of american life that has to be revitalized by each and every one of us sang government has to respect its limits to do it well to maximize growth to increase social capital. [applause] >> i will turn to a topic of the national balance sheet and income statement. [laughter] a lot of people looked at simpson-bowles in the work of the commission as they laid out a plan if you were part of the effort to try to rein in the excess in washington. i don't know if anybody agreed 100 percent you agreed with parts but it it

did not deal with entitlements but nonetheless , it was in the view of a lot of people wonderful starting point for the president to say this is a bipartisan commission, taking apart the federal budget to forecast given in demographic trends and financial trends in this country and to lay down the pathway to get back to stability so we don't have to worry about the future we don't have to count on social security or medicare, medicaid or of military second to ninth. the president did not touch it. so why did nothing come from the extraordinary effort from fanfare and enthusiasm as it was released and then nothing? what happened?

>> as we put it together to do medicare/medicaid reform and alice rivlin was clinton's budget director and wait a put this together as an amendment which had that occurred a would have thought this is a complete package. it was rejected by the elected democrats and i was worried about the deep cuts of defense so there is a lot of good work then i will add rivlin right and what i would do differently on defense and pass as to the house of rap -- representing as i did that for years in a row of budget plan to balance the budget to pay down the debt. [applause] >> before you go 112 underscore of what he just

said that the house passes important legislation the republicans are not to the party of no the house has been passing legislation the road map has been passed to do with the tide of reform is getting the country on fiscal footing but yet it does now and get picked up by the senate or the white house. the idea that ours is the party of no is simply no -- wrong. we're putting legislation forward and harry reid does not pick up the people want to see action to health care and immigration and fiscal needs, a tax reform if people want to see those happened they will vote for republicans senators and a republican president as well ultimately. [cheers and applause]

>> i have enormous respect for simpson-bowles. the thinking was here are the numerical benchmarks to stabilize the fiscal situation i did not like parts of what they did i thought it was missing a lot as we put our own together. we had assumed the president would do the same he would put his own plan out there to meet those benchmarks and he chose not to do that either. it was said by his executive order so we did expect him once we decided not to support it and do our thing we thought he would have trade related like bill clinton for the sake of 2012 but instead he jettisoned and demagogued what we're doing in did not offer incredible alternative that

was anywhere close to simpson-bowles but yet we still have the same problem over us. my personal theory is ideology. but you have to ask him. [laughter] i write this in a booker was clear the decision was made and i just think it was ideological interest front and center of his mind verses something that was more moderate. i believe that that money he decided to demagogue republicans with no credible alternative that this is what this administration was about and i concluded we needed new president to fix the mess. [applause] >> i agree if. you might describe how it was unveiled to you. your experience. >> i had a ferraro seat.

>> a personal story that is interesting but yet whether or not to remain? image as three house republicans chairman of ways and means and the budget were ron simpson-bowles and they divided -- and by this to a budget speech jeb the white house of the media came up the day before to say he will do a social security reform or the olive branch to reduce something to reach out. said we were thinking he was pretty far left but maybe fiscally he will move to the middle and triangulate we thought for sure we saw a everybody from the commission he would embrace it. we figure that would have been. we had a front seat and he was sitting closer than 20 feet away giving a speech calling for another round of 400 billion of defense cuts

on top of what they had already done that was said budget driven strategy but not for defense but then wooded demagogue the work we had been doing nothing about simpson-bowles it became very clear what was coming out of his speech was aimed at doubling down to go hard left hit the fence raise taxes and go after republicans in their realizes this is not a compromise or moving to the middle we got a text saying you should get up and leave right now. we looked at and disgusted but decided out of respect for the office of the presidency we would not do that even though it was over the pail survey data from properly left afterwards then did a press conference. >> we're almost out of time for me to ask questions.

i happen to think the president has not been successful. [laughter] that is an understatement of the evening and i will put aside for a policy where his failures have been most glaring but domestically there was an article this week in "the wall street journal" how to calculated what america would be like if the recovery were like the other postwar recoveries and he calculates approximately 14 million more americans working and the per capita income is $6,000 higher. up pretty dramatic difference between the president's record and what he campaigned. the president said he would

bring america together to be post partisan presidency with reaching out across the aisle. these things have not succeeded again. i wonder why? from your perspective why has the president failed to unite or work across the aisle with a time frame? the private sector will find its way through and find a way that as innovators do but it has taken a long time. why has it been so unsuccessful in taken so long to get jobs or higher in comes with the unity of the president campaigned on? period this is the worst postwar recovery we have had in the foot is just the average of the prior than since rolled were to it would have had those

metrics. there is 1.that is very important to make that i try to make in the book is not justice president coming as if we get another president it will all be better it is the philosophy of governing in the policies pursued by this administration. but for government i think we would have had those recoveries. if you take a look of the enormous amount of uncertainty those have been cancelled for production of cheese for fear of the new regulations and that hits hard at home with the wisconsin. [laughter] the fed is of their end the money does not get to small businesses and dive brings

make big things bigger and you have obamacare that has an incredible amount of uncertainty with the employer mandate so people are not getting hired even the cbo tells us it will not work because of the disincentives to work of obamacare c. of taxes and regulations and the dead is $17 trillion and growing with no end in sight and you have a political modus operandi a that does not seek to bridge differences that is polarizing and intimidating dividing people to pray on the emotions of fear and anxiety verses' the aspirational political system speaking to people with ideas on hope and

opportunity it could be done again but the philosophy that is employed in a third term to keep he's going with a policy that believes with the unelected bureaucracy is to run our lives effectively to micromanage society the whole idea is this self-government to see equal application the private sector is shrinking as a result are not beating the potential as a result. [applause] >> we have fantastic questions over lot of issues last couple of years event

we see things similarly for the defense program and the states of things now. first give the assessment of america's foreign policy tell us what you think. >> big topics parker you have questions and no not take much time on this but we had a foreign policy as a nation frankly since truman who after the second world war said we have been dry gin to awful things as the world and as a nation. and for that to not have been in the future we have to have been to adopt a series of policies in dean acheson wrote presence at the creation of foreign policy that is the basis of america's foreign policy ever since. the book basically says a

few things. that means the economy is the second point american principles and freedom and enterprise to be promoted around the world and the combination to promote our values and linking our arms without lies to have a strong military and those things to do so with our allies is the foundation of our form policy the president has adopted a very different policy in clinton -- hillary clinton said something that he does not have one. i used to say that in the campaign but the truth is he did is -- he does. [laughter]

and his farm policy is one based on the view that everybody has the same interest. and all one same saying. i don't believe that i think some people want to dominate in the press of other people. and looking of vladimir putin please have of reset which tries to distance himself and that would work better if she was not secretary of state for four years. [laughter] [applause] is she was the one with the picture of herself with the big button reset? can you imagine such a thing they do not understand people of different objectives? it may be to rebuild the russian empire.

those mistakes combined with other tactical mistakes to draw a red line to say to i cannot react without getting congress's approval but nonetheless could not do it then to step back from the red line altogether that sends a message that is extraordinarily unfortunate for america so we see an explosion of very bad things because the rest of the world is captivated so that is a dramatic reduction of military capabilities. the quadrennial review that was reported on by a commission with department of defense secretary just take a gander to see what is happening to the navy and the air force and the army and the nuclear capabilities

and guess what? america is not here we can compete china is investing enormous in in the military including deepwater navy is in their military capabilities i think the president's policies and believing that people all want the same thing we can all get along the be a multi polar world militarily who else besides us? if it is a multi polar world are others russia and china? is that what we want to see to have the american economy and diplomacy and military so strong space in the world would think of testing us.

[applause] and so i am proud to say i want to return to the principles of harry truman. to say we will be involved in the world. but to keep bad things from happening. intelligence tells us that isis is being formed a and the president watched now it is difficult to pull it out it is important. this kind of group would-be a terrible conclusion for the world and for us. and not pulling back to say we hope that things will happen. that is like paying the cannibals to eat you last. [laughter] we have to be involved we're the leader of the free

world. we will promote our values and free enterprise human rights, human dignity and finally we will be strong and how the military and linked arms with the allies we will not waffle about our creditors. [applause] >> if you have to see that for safety and security and confidence our children will live in freedom and have prosperity. foreign policy in domestic policy are linked you cannot have one without the other. the president has been effective i was not expecting a with love his second term but i was even more disappointed than i expected. i am hopeful it will be

successful to elect more good colleagues like paul or people who read your books we can pass legislation to the president's desk to take a new direction. american aids real leadership. [applause] >> their obvious goal is to build a coalition to win the majority of the country. one last question before the audience pretty easy to answer. if you had to decide peppers or alan? >> julie as peppers of course, . [laughter] >> now we're ready for

audience questions. we screen them quickly what is the status of the immigration reform? as of the possibility for compromise between the house and the senate? i think part of the problem is the administration has decided to go outside the purview of the law you have a crisis on the border in three weeks ago the house passed legislation to deal with the trafficking lot to do is powless to secure the border we have heard nothing from the senate yet while we have a border crisis right now a humanitarian crisis needs to be attended to. if the president goes alone again and tries to unilaterally right to laws to change immigration laws

which is beyond the purview of the executive branch's power he will poison the well to make dip far more difficult to come together as a person who writes specifically i hope he does not go along and confidence-building to fix the border and then maybe we can start talking but we are a long ways from that right now. >>. the next question is what do we do on health care? >> how much time do you have? [laughter] i will be brief. we want the system everybody can have access to affordable health care including pre-existing conditions we can have that without the cost of government takeover that is a patient's centered system

in the insurance companies competing it is called the market-based system the reason why i can see you so well i have lee six surgery 14 years ago. it was elected now it is half as much in three times as good. it is not as if the great principles of quality are immune to the health care system they have not been fully applied. so what kind of a patient centered system we have to go to medicare and medicaid we need the individual taste market-based system where we collaborate and serve each other and providers have the incentive to innovate.

>> i.m. sari you can see me more clearly. i apologize. >> with the things said about you during the campaign? >> more terrible things were said about him. when i was running for governor in massachusetts the political strategist said he had a couple of rules that i could not as to read to my campaign and no articles that all. because we will win on tv but i said i want to read these articles because he will have a 22 year-old person who'd does not like you and you find yourself

subconsciously all day long for predatory to read these articles it is great advice i did not see all the awful stuff said about me. in the presidential campaign we were working early in the morning event after each event and the late at night. a lot of fund-raising and riley's. is exhilarating. you cannot go to sleep at the end of the day you have so much energy. we have a crowd of 20,000 cheering and if they in kevin's for the gideon sid and the bible like to read that to go to sleep. [laughter] particularly if he tells bin time it is harder on your family but you're in it

because you desperately care in if you're worried what people say you should not get in the race. >> dell leggett you and staehely are in just go do it and don't worry about the rest. >> what about your family is? >> they did just that our kids were young. everyone treated them well, of the media, the obama campaign that was respectful. my wife doesn't like the criticism i get but she learned how to grow six skin and their strong intelligent women who knew understood the stakes for the country to see it through as well. >> is the debt worth the payoff? >> no.

and it depends. it is not in job training reform skills is essential to dozers detail how the half -- has to happen. we have to make it cool again to get a welding degree or go to years to get a high value skills to give a good livelihood if we keep feeding the beast in one pocket and out the other plane need to go to the of root cause. we have real competition with the brick and i'd be but we are a new and innovative society those who may not be able to go to a

college online to get the math scores physiology from notre dame in engineering from wisconsin to bundle together and allow the new and innovative things to happen already erected against these ideas to excel at education and flat in the cost reid were competition that is the way to get at the root cause along with transparency business degree get me where i want to go? and then they compete for those values to a get a good

job for a good salary? can we compete right now or not? a. [applause] >> after this the most important thing that these two gentlemen will do is participating in the cold water plunged. [laughter] like cannot wait to see that a. >> my aid daughter down to bader -- a bucket of ice water on my head. >> you think the children of illinois who are raised by gay and lesbian parents are better protected more likely to be happier lives now that the sexual merry jack to is

legal in illinois? >> if there is the child that is adopted or an orphan or finds a home with loving parents that is a child that is no longer from less. [applause] -- homeless. >> good questions. not a bad question. many thanks for coming today. just one request. clear the i/o because the two of them have to get to a press conference rather quickly. so help to clear the ideal to let them get through would be much appreciated. [cheers and applause]

at. >> host: the book is called "the contested murder of latasha harlins" justice,

gender, and the origins of the la riots" published by oxford university press. the author is ucla history professor brenda stevenson. professor stevenson, who was latasha harlins? >> a 15 year-old african-american girl who lived in south central los angeles at the time of her death she was living with her grandmother, her aunt and cousin. a freshman in high school and she was killed march march 16, 1991 in south central in a store at empire market. by the shop keeper. >> host: why was she killed? >> guest: there was a struggle over a bottle of orange juice that cost $1.79. she has entered the store we can see this on the video

camera within the store intering in 938 and goes to the refrigerated cases and picks up a bottle of orange juice and places it in her backpack the top is protruding out and walks forward to the counter. the owner is there and immediately asked if she was trying to steal her orange juice. latasha says no. i am trying to pay for it. obviously there is a language difference and difficulties because and as a naturalized citizen she is from south korea an english is not good. there is an argument that ensues in sheikh katchis latasha by the are to pull her across the counter to see what is in the backpack and latasha response by punching her in the face. she gets back up and still tries to catch latasha at

this time they jus' falls out of the backpack and then it when she stands up again there is a gun in her hand. latasha picks of the jews and puts it on the counter and looks up the gun and turns to walk away and the gun goes off fish year shot in the back of the head and that is the beginning of this very, very difficult case and the circumstances for south boston angeles. >> host: in your book "the contested murder of latasha harlins" you talk about latasha history what was that? >> she had a difficult history growing up in 11 homes by her family was troubles in the sense that her mother had been killed by an associate when her -- when she was only nine years old this was very

devastating as you might imagine. her father in and out of the home and having difficulties with the lot and associated with selling the drugs and that kind of thing. her grandmother had taken her under the wing as another child and was raising her but we can only imagine being 15 and living in those circumstances your mother is killed your father is missing some time after the of murder so to figure out what she was as young woman or a as a girl in her neighborhood she was dating someone who was much older than she was. but she was also a good student and also was in school activities with lots

of friends and lots of dreams. she wanted to become an attorney when it heard -- when she was sentenced to was only three years of prison so latasha that that was an injustice so she had her own dreams around her but it was said difficult life for her. >> host: end? had become an epidemic there? >> yes. the end of the '80s, 1991 and her family was affected by that. her mother and father.

in than people were using the drug war was the difficult existence. and then to see the impact of crack on the community and what they had to deal with walking home and then who were drugged up trying to elicit their attention and that was a frightening time. and the same time she was living in the area there were two serial killers helles fairly close in the is people were targeting young african-americans and women. >> the police tried to protect her of course, as a family but oftentimes.

>> who is or who was the owner? >> 49 year-old who had become a citizen of the united states and emigrated in 1976 with her husband and they're three children. we hear the story of being well educated she had a college degree he was in the korean army because of the lack of english skills they could not place in that part of the economy their professional part but eventually they saved enough money and were able to buy a the last liquor store here in the sanford and valley. then a few years later in 1998 they have purchased the

empire liquor market in south-central l.a.. so we know she was another, merchant and wife and a deaconess at her church. >> host: you write in your book that she considered herself tv tie-in in south korea but that did not necessarily translate here in the united states. >> she was and had grown up in this small farming village and her father was the only doctor in that village he had sent her to be educated in literature and she married into a family in which her husband's family were industrialists and also were in the military. he was a teacher of tai kwan dough and other kinds of martial arts. she was. when she arrived in los angeles and a mood to

inglewood first i don't think she was prepared psychologically to see struggling working class families or people of a different race of those who were not caucasian and to see the inner-city difficulties for those people of the working class and she did hold herself aloof and thought she was better than many of the people who ended up being her client base in south central. >> host: what was her reputation at the empire market? >> guest: the empire liquor market did not have a good reputation. something had happened before latasha was killed two years before. a couple of people went to the store there is a shooting on the street they went in for cover and the owner should them out because he did not want any trouble but when he went

back out he was shocked and hurt very badly and the committee thought how lucky you have shoo'd him out in the middle of a gun battle? they also had a reputation to be very rude and to not selling the best kinds of food. also growing difficulty with those persons whose sell liquor in the community because people really wanted greengrocers of liquor stores of course, they produce a lot of incumbents they don't serve the community well. the store was not well liked >> host: this was march 16, 1991, what was the press reaction for the community reaction in? >> community's reaction was

immediate. by monday there was a boycott by the store. they jumped right on it. a black girl killed walking elman in her hand how could this happen? they immediately boycott and shut it down and were called to make sure she had justice in the community. the police department immediately arrested the owner and was charged her with first-degree murder with special circumstances and that is a death penalty case. they immediately responded. there was a lot of discussion. there was press coverage i as well. en latasha is killed two weeks after the beating so there was a great deal of discussion about race in the press and those were harmed because of the racial

affiliations. when this happened, it was another incident that race seemed to be very important. >> host: how did that tie into rodney king? >> initially people thought the owner was charged with first-degree murder with certain circumstances in the police department tried to make amends to the black community for the beating of rodney king that happened only two weeks before they said see we do take another race seriously we have asian-american woman who killed the black pearl and we threw the of boca her. many people thought she received this type of a rest and people said look at ho