healthier parents and a raise healthier kids. all right, one more in this section. alright, you on the end. yes? >> what activities are you and your family interested in the most? >> activities like sports and things? we all like different things. some like soccer, some tennis, some basketball. everybody likes to watch movies. everybody likes to travel. everybody gets excited when there is a big trip. we like to travel together. usually, we don't care where we go. it is usually fun and interesting. those are some of the things we like to do. i know. all right, who has the question here? all right, we're gone to the back. i have done a lot in the front. the young lady with the multicolored stripes. >> what are your responsibilities as first lady and did they change as president

obama goes out of town? >> that is a good question. the first lady technically does not have a job description. that is something that has been debated. whether the first lady should get paid, whether it there should be a more defined job description. right now, every first lady describes -- defies their job based on their interests and passions. some promote reading and literacy. some people promote saying no to drugs. hillary clinton promoted work with children and work abroad, a lot of the international focus. it really changes from first lady to first lady. .

>> the young lady in the red. you have a lot of people pointing at you. >> what after-school activities to the girls a do?

-- girls do? >> piano. practice for sports. sasha does hip-hop dance.' melia does flute. i am sure i'm missing something. that is the array. the sports chains by season. sasha-- the sports change by season. sasha's basketball. i will probably have them do basket -- i will probably have them do it swimmiswimming. we are done. i have to go do the rest of what items posted do as first lady -- of what i am supposed to do as first lady.

let's bring bo back up. i will ask you all to sit and being calm. -- and be calm. he is excited. i will bring him to each section. thank you. learn a lot. yes, i know. i know, i know. i am going to start in this section. i will walk around. stay in your seats. i know. come on, bo. this way. do you want to see him? bo. all right.

i am coming around this way. yeah. yeah, i'm going to leave the treats. the floor is slippery. come on. all right, you guys stay in your seats. i will bring him around. hey, guys. i love the monuments. the washington monument. thank you, sweetie. that is sweet. stay in your seats. i will come around. [inaudible]

[inaudible] >> bye! [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> here is a look at our schedule. coming up next, a look at the supreme court appointment process. later, a discussion of black leadership and public policy issues.

and then another chance to see michelle obama hosting the annual take our daughters and sons to work day. tomorrow on "washington journal," a journalist from "the christian science monitor" and another journalist discuss this week's news developments. then, the president and ceo spirit airlines talks about why his airline will begin charging for carry-on bags. laura hayman discusses job could obesity. that is live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span -- discusses childhood obesity. that is live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> we really have to get this right. if we did not, we could stifle our economy. >> as the senate moves closer to a vote on regulation, see the process unfold at the c-span

video library. every program since 1987 is now online. >> the discussion on the appointment process for supreme court nominees. we will hear remarks from sweet briar government professor barbara perry. this event is hosted by the supreme court historical society. chief justice john roberts introduces her. this is. 50 minutes -- this is about 50 minutes. >> good evening and welcome. lawyers are given to some strange language called "legalese." this is a no-no. [laughter] this pda, ipod, whatever -- off. not on silent, but off, because it can affect the sound system.

i am raff lancaster, president of the supreme court historical society. -- i am ralph lancaster, president of the supreme court historical society. i am pleased to welcome you to the series about the supreme court. the society has been holding lecturer series since 1993. -- lecture series since 1993. each one is published by our society in the journal of supreme court history, so that we can forever preserve a significant and scholarly work which we introduced to our members -- preserve the significant and scholarly work which we introduce to our members bridges is made possible by the generosity of our trusties -- to our members. this is made possible by the generosity of art trusties, members, -- of our trustees,

members, and other generous donors. our programs are hosted by the justice of the supreme court -- by a justice of the supreme court. we could not be in this magnificent room without their support. tonight's post is just as john roberts -- host is justice john roberts. has asked that there be no extensive introduction, both because he does not need one, and because i do not want to risk condemned the court -- contempt of court. [laughter] i would be remiss if i did not say again that, long before he ascended to the bench, he was a strong supporter of the society. we are now, as we have been for years, deeply in is his debt for

that support. it is my honor to present him to you. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. i did not quite know what he was going to do when he picked that up. we have the cases today involving those. i thought -- we had a case yesterday, involving those. i thought he was going to clear up some confusion. thank you for joining us for the sectongld lecture on the supreme court and the separation of power. the series is sponsored by the supreme court historical society. we very much appreciate all the society does to improve the public understanding of the supreme court and our nation's constitutional form of government. these lectures are just one example of society's -- of the society's wonderful programs.

tonight, professor barber perry will talk about the appointment process for supreme court -- professor barbara perry will talk about the appointment process for supreme court justices. justice stevens is 90 today. at 90 years of age, when most people have logged in a couple of decades of retirement, he was on the bench today at my side, not only working, but making sure that the lawyers appearing before us earned their pay as well. prof. barbara perry has a very distinguished resonate. -- resume. she is the carter glass professor of government at sweet briar college, and the director for the center of civic renewal, which works to foster effected citizen engagement through enhanced public understanding of the american constitutional system. she received her bachelor's at

the university of louisville, and made from the university of oxford, and ph.d. from the university of virginia. when she was at louisville, she visited louis brandeis's grave. it is at a law school there. i just learned that a short time ago. she is a very prolific author. her works include, "the supremes -- an introduction to the united states supreme court justices," and "jacqueline kennedy -- first lady of the new frontier." this is a homecoming for her. she is currently working on a volume with a professor about the supreme court and the judicial process. please join me in welcoming prof. perry. [applause] >> thank you, mr. sheets justice

for your kind introduction, and for honoring us -- thank you, mr. chief justice, for your kind introduction, and for honoring us with your presence tonight. my own mentor, henry abraham, is here this evening. he taught me everything i know about judicial appointments. his book is now in its fifth edition and is the definitive work on supreme court nominations. i would also like to thank my longtime friends, students colonies -- friends, students, and colleagues. i would like to thank our dean. you may have heard about a recent speech given across the street in which a resident of a large white house at the opposite end of pennsylvania avenue inadvertently advertised

the theme of the historical society 2010 lecture series by announcing his respect for separation of powers among the branches of government. i must admit that the theory behind separating government powers tends to make my students by slaves -- students' eyes glaze over. a poll revealed that many americans identified the three branches of government as follows -- republicans, democrats, in independentband i. i was grateful that the aba's president had chosen separation of powers as the focus of his tenure. our work was cut out for us. how unfortunate that americans have so little understanding of this crucial element in our nation's constitutional structure. a noted british political theorist and oauthor observe

that the principle of dividing government authority along functional lines accurately, legislative, judicial, executive, but tends to -- at times to -- attempts to establish a viable road. it is important that the government be divided. each government branch may not be allowed to encroach on the other branches. in this way, they will each be objected the others. no single group of people will be able to control the machinery of the state. though political scientist could begin as separation of powers discussion without referring to the oft quoted federalist paper no. 51, where madison describe the need for what he called "the necessary partition of power between departments." that was the language used --

that was the language he used. they may be the means of keeping each other in their proper places. the father of the constitution explained that, "the separate and distinct exercise of the different powers of government is essential to the preservation of liberty." as he said dick that each department should have a will of its own -- as he said, "each department should have a will of its own. in theory, all appointments should flow through the people with arc at had disingenuous since in the house of representatives -- growth all appointments should flow through the people. this was somewhat disingenuous since only the house of representatives is chosen by the people. the primary consideration ought to be to select that mode of toys which best secures these

qualifications -- most of that choice which best secures these qualifications. at the philadelphia convention, the framers spend more time discussing the process of judicial selection than the criteria for choosing federal judges. according to madison's notes, the delegates initially considered appointment of federal judges by the national legislature. james wilson, pennsylvania's brilliant representative, and a future member of this court, opposed the proposal, arguing that, "entry, a partiality, and concealment resulted from judicial appointments by legislators." moreover, the primary reason for creating a single executive was so that one official would be responsible for nominations. john rutledge of south carolina

countered that granting so great a power to any single person would cause the people to think we're lean toward monarchy. he would receive two appointments to serve on the u.s. supreme court. he resigned as associate justice before the court ever convened, to except appointment to the south carolina supreme court, thinking that would be a much more powerful body. congress failed to except his recent appointment after he had served five months. madison oppose legislative selection -- opposed legislative selection of judges. many of the members were not judges with these requisite and particular qualifications. he did not want executives to have the soul appointment power. -- the sole appointment power.

madison wanted to give the power to the senate, because its members would be sufficiently stable an independent to follow their deliver judgment. even a founding father cannot be right all the time. at this point in the early stages of the convention, the first discussion of how to choose members of the national judiciary, as it was called, took place on june 5. benjamin franklin offered an interesting anecdote to break the tension. he described the scottish method of allowing lawyers to select members of their own profession to set on the bench. the possibility of dividing the newly selected judges among themselves always motivated the scottish lawyers to nominate the most qualified members of the bar, who obviously would then have the most lucrative legal practices to divvy up among themselves. not a bad idea. a massachusetts delegate suggested that federal judges be appointed by the executive, with

the advice and consent of the senate. madison proposed a variation on that idea. the executive appointment of tourists with the concurrence of 1/3 of the legislature's upper house. this would unite the advantage of responsibility in the executive with the security of -- with the security afforded to the second branch. in judicial appointments, the convention began moving toward a variation on the theme of separation of powers that included another crucial component of american constitutionalism, and in checks and balances. -- namely checks and balances. the branches would not be separate. they would interact. the great security against the gradual concentration of the powers consist of giving to

those who would minister -- who administer the power to resist encroachment of others. i know my students know this -- "ambition must be made to counteract ambition. the interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place." the delegates settled upon the suggested compromise or selecting judges of the supreme court. -- settled upon us suggested compromise for selecting judges of the supreme court. though madison had made reference to these qualifications, neither he nor his fellow delegates were more specific in their bill littlefield -- in their philadelphia discussions, nor in the documents they produced. the u.s. constitution is wholly silent on this subject. begin turn to the federalist

papers for some -- we can turn to the federalist papers or some more thought on this. he wrote several common stock for some more thought on this. -- we can turn to that federalist papers for some more thoughts on this. he wrote several papers. he said it is acquired through long and laborious study. that was his only expressed criteria. when i was invited to deliver this talk on the supreme court appointments, how did you know you would be giving this talk on appointments right when we were in the midst of considering them? i have to say it was purely arbitrary, maybe even a tad capricious. i was elated to get a call. i have written and spoken on the topic for years. my dissertation was a quarter- century ago. i have written volumes on the

role of the president and senate in court nominations. it occurred to me that speaking for the supreme court historical society, at the supreme court, might require speaking about the court. i inquired, is there a particular approach you would like me to take? she responded, i thought rather breezily, what role has the court played in appointments? has it been a bystander or an active participant? for a moment, my professional life flash before my eyes in and near-career death experience -- in a near-career that experience. i had been invited to give a talk with cheap dignitaries in the audience and have been given a very difficult question -- and had been given a very difficult question. perhaps unfortunately for you, i found some things to talk about this evening. as i pondered the question and

reflected on the history of supreme court abominations, i recall instances when members of the high tribunal -- the supreme court nominations, and recalled instances when members of the high tribunal did have our role in it. -- did have a a role in it. -- did have a role in it. i will now refer you to what i call your scorecard. this is the table i handed out. it includes historical examples of sitting justices supporting judicial nominees from 1853 to 1974. why did i choose these dates? as i can best determine, after five months of research, 1853 marks the first instant of the court successfully recommending in nominating -- recommending and nominating.

or at least twice as many suggestions, about half of which -- and there were at least twice as many suggestions, about half of which were not successful. they requested a timeframe for supreme court history produces how they define -- supreme court history. this is how they define it. this history stops with justice stevens appointment. happy 90th birthday to justice stevens today. the 18 bit the instance occurred during pearsons administration -- the 1853 instance occurred during pearson's administration. they wrote on behalf of john campbell and deputized the associate justices to deliver the supported letters to the president personally. they campaigned for him and were

successful. the president considered no other candidates in the senate approved the nomination with alacrity. campbell resigned from the court in 1861 and became assistant secretary of war for the confederacy. president clinton did agree kept his own counsel when filling vacancies. his first appointment -- president lincoln typically kept his own counsel when filling vacancies. some and chase was named as chief justice when -- when roger taney die, another was named chief justice. -- when roger taney died, another was named chief justice. age-related bonuses made his service to longer feasible. -- age-related bonuses --

illnesses made his service no longer feasible the haze presidency -- feasible. the hayes presidency is another example. chief justice morrison wade recommended william wood. he had an additional opportunity to nominate a justice only two months before leaving office. stanley matthews at also been supported by his close friend, justice wade, whose seat he would fill. the successor, the ill-fitted jeans are killed, would renominate -- be ill- -- the ill-fated james garfield, would renominate him.

they supported horace gray. the president also recommended melville fuller. he had actually recommended an illinois attorney for the post, but he declined the offer. the chief justiceship went to fuller, whom the press labeled the most obscure man ever nominated for that exalted position. when justice matthews die, president harrison took nine months to compile a long list of possible nominees before narrowing it down to two. he chose to friends with similar credentials, degrees from yale, and service on state and federal courts. they referred to each other as president herring -- they referred each other at. but justice miller fell victim to a stroke.

harrison had the opportunity to name the runner up to the high court. he would recommend jackson to fill the 1893 vacancy. apparently, jackson's friendship with benjamin harrison from their days in the u.s. senate overcame their partisan differences. nor did the senate majority delay the confirmation. let's turn to the second category -- 20th-century examples. justice louis brandeis had only been on the court after his bruising confirmation battle for a few months when he became one of several high-ranking supporters of john hasn't clark -- john clark. he was chosen unsuccessfully to run for the presidency in 1916. it is chief justice william howard taft, the only individual

to serve at both the head of the executive and the judicial branches, is among the top two reminders of nominees to the president. his chief rival, pun intended, is justice warren burgar -- warren burger. he is accorded near-great status. his leadership is unparalleled. sadly, he did not live to see the building completed. having been persuaded to run for president by his mentor, theodore roosevelt, who launched a third-party candidacy against him, precipitating his defeat for a second term, allowing democrat woodrow wilson to win the presidency. as the court's sole former president to serve on the bench, he is the only person to have

engineered his future appointment from the white house. several biographers suggest that he promoted justice edward white to the position, rather than his younger colleague, because white was only 48 and would probably serve long enough to preclude a future president from appointing taft. white was 55 years of age at the time of his promotion, served until 1921, when president warren hidiharding fulfilled t's goal. he began actively participating in every presidential position to fill vacancies. he wrote, i look forward to having you on the bench with me. i know as you do, that the president intends to put you there. president harding was happy to places brilliant friend on the court. his next choice for the court was actually his second pick for

the next seat. the president had first approached our renowned litigator, whom he considered to have sounded use, despite his democratic affiliations. the man declined. pat -- taft turned to butler. they suggested he would be a logical and reliable counter to justice louis brandeis's perceived radicalism. taft refer to louis brandeis and oliver wendell holmes as a bolsheviki's. the chief thought the court was top-heavy with seven republicans. he walked -- he worked to block the nomination of benjamin cardozo. he feared he would join the others and form are radical 30. -- form of radicals trio. -- formed a radical trio.

taft and an associate justice had also worked behind the scenes to attract support from the catholic hierarchy for butler's nomination. although religion was irrelevant, with chief justice white's death, no catholic would remain on the bench. harding's last nomination to the court, edward stanford -- edward sanford. in 1925, the big chief enthusiasm in recommended -- enthusiastically recommended harlan stone. when holmes stepped off the court, his colleague urged president hoover krueger -- urged president herbert hoover to name benjamin cardozo.

a justice himself, stone offered to resign from the court, in case people would object to cradozo becoming the third -- cardozo becoming the third member of the court from the state. this was a selfless act. hoover finally nominated him in the early 1932. he would serve only six years before his premature death. he is uniformly considered to have graced -- considered among the greats to have graced the nation's highest court. the vacancy then put franklin 6 -- franklin roosevelt in a political bind. he wanted to nominate felix frankfurter. the western states were still

without representation on the court. fdr thought ff would be a perfect replacement for brandeis because of their shared religion. geographic considerations were beginning to wane as supreme court selection criteria. justice stone was among a host of frankfurter supporters. he told fdr to ignore the geographic factor and focus on merit alone. president roosevelt ultimately followed the recommendations, nominating frankfurter in early 1939. one month later, justice brandeis resigned. they had combined their support for a plethora of progressive policies predict had fallen out over his opposition to fdr's -- policies. they had since fallen out over

his opposition to sum up at the are's stances. -- opposition to some of fdr's stances. roosevelt had packed the court by attrition. he did make one bipartisan nomination, in which justice frankfurter played a key role. charles evans hughes, the courts leader through their fractious fight over the new deal, announced that he was stepping down in 1941. fdr wanted to appoint attorney general robert jackson. as he deliberated, he spoke with the outgoing chief and the associate justices, who urged him to act with dispatch. he called hews to a white house meeting where he declared that justice don's record gave him first klan -- just as stone -- justice stone's record gave him

first priority. ff noted that he preferred the attorney general because of their close friendship. the sitting justice observe the obvious. stone had sonority in his favor -- seniority in his favor. frankfurter asserted that stone's republican credentials were an asset. frankfurter advised fdr that a bipartisan pick for chief justice would serve both the president and the court well in the turbulent days ahead. fdr advised jackson that he could inform stone of his television -- his elevation to chief. frankfurter was right. his nomination met with unanimous acclaim. harlan stone urns another award

-- not surprisingly, it is the most -- earns another award -- not surprisingly, it is the most bipartisan award. a republican who recommended a democrat to republican. an independent, frankfurter, to democrat, fdr. and a republican to democrat, president harry truman. though truman knew all of his four appointees well, chief justice added his support for burton. perhaps the award should have been labeled the most non- partisan. stricken by -- stricken by of fatal hemorrhage, he was replaced by truman. as chief, he supported tom c. clark, the attorney general, today -- to secede.

i am pleased and privileged to call my friend justice tom c. clark's daughter who is here this evening. it is wonderful to see you. thank you for being here. justice frankfurter continued his appointment influence. the jewish seat would be banned and with his departure -- would be vacant with his departure. replacing him with another jewish justice was too obvious and cute. nevertheless, jfk did so. according to president kennedy's council, jfk had consulted about his choice with justice frankfurter and chief justice earl warren. his successor, lyndon johnson, always had his own ideas about judicial appointments. he did look two sitting justices

to affirm his choices. lbj's longtime friend and political allies did not want to send the bench -- ally did not want to ascend the bench. johnson twisted tehe arms of two men -- sending justice goldberg to the u.n. lbj @ enlisted justices hugo black and another -- had unless the justices hugo black and another -- had enlisted the justice hugo black and another. the chief remained until richard nixon named warren burger. he would rival chief justice taft for the label "most active participant in presidential

selection of justice's." he received an inquiry from the nixon administration. could the president discussed supreme co appointments with him? discuss supreme court appointments with him? a frustrated president searched for nominees. on nixon's original short list was the eight u.s. circuit judge harry blackmun -- the 8th u.s. circuit judge harry blackmun, who referred to and sell as old no. 3 -- who referred to himself as old no. 3. when justices hugo black and john marshall harlan ii retired

in close succession, he had two places to fill. deciding cases with only seven justices was problematic. administration had submitted the following three names for evaluation. an arkansas visible bond lawyer, california court of appeals judge, and senator robert byrd of west virginia. the first-- this was the first serious consideration of a female candidate. women should not serve in government because they are erratic and emotional -- that was one ". thank god we do not have any in the cabinet -- that was once quote. think god we do not have any in the cabinet today.

chief justice burger fired off what he labeled a personal and confidential letter to the attorney general, repeating his threat -- for feeding his previous recommendation -- repeating his previous recommendation. the summit had asked that -- this and had asked that his name be removed from consideration -- the gentleman had asked that his name be removed from consideration. even after he was called direct it and told it was his duty to accept the nomination, he said he would consider chief justice paul then called -- said he would reconsider. the chief justice then called. he reassured the doubts and worries when h. he felt disappointed that no one expressed regret that he might

be leaving. it occurred to him that they might relish the prospect of carving up is a share of the lucrative practice. benjamin franklin was right about the scottish system of judicial appointments. it led to the naming of the best lawyer to the best. still less than certain that he should leave his beloved home and career, with his wife in tears -- she was a sweet briar alumna -- i loved to see her at alum the conscience -- at alumna functions. she would always ask if i was a student. they called john marshall -- john mitchell and reluctantly agreed to except the nomination. we are towards the end of the

outline. let's look at patterns of court involvement in appointments, are penultimate segment -- our penultimate segment. the court's involvement seems to be a postbellum phenomenon. little evidence points to justice is making special -- making successful nominations during the first half century. why is that the case? several factors arguably play our role. first, the justices in the initial decades of the court or simply closer in time to the birth of the constitution -- were simply closer in time to the birth of the constitution. second, think about the court as an institution and its rank order among the three branches. prior to the great chief justice marshall assent to the court, it could not claim parity with the

legislative or executive branch in either prestige or power. no one, including members of the court, appeared impressed with the authority of the federal judiciary. the lack of a building to call its own symbolized the courts status as the third branch. why would a sitting member of the court recommend the nomination of a colleague, ally, or friend, to an institution that had so little clout, and whose duties included the arduous and understandably the price -- understandably despised role of circuit riding? moreover, it took the justice's far afield from the nation's capital, where they might have had the most direct contact with the president. it is probably more than coincidental that the justices informal role increased steadily after their circuit riding requirements ended in the 1890's. third, one historian has

accurately observe that chief justice marshall did not need a temple of justice to create a template of justice, which obviously increased the court's influence. the presidents whose tenures he overlap or of a different ideology than him, and -- who is 10 years he overlaps or of a differen were of a different ideology than him. though the senate did not convict, the indictment must have been traumatic for federal justices. the court went out of its way to avoid precipitating political attacks. plunging into nomination politics may have seemed risky. a few brief statistics. of the 104 successful

appointments to the u.s. supreme court from its establishment to 1974, sitting justices or chief justice have had a role in roughly 1/3 -- about 27. of those, a little more than 1/3 were supported by chief justices. more than half of those were supported by two chief justices -- taft and burger. they suggested all but one of their aspiring nominees to the respected presidents who appointed them to the center chair. earl warren, when he assumed the chief justiceship, consulted with jfk and lbj. they were from the opposite party of his appointed president, republican white eisenhower. -- republican dwight d. eisenhower.

what would the founders make of this extra constitutional record compiled by sitting justices? would they conclude it depicts occasional departures from their process? in a way, recommendation of supreme court nominees by income and justices comports -- by incumbent justices comports with one particular point. the people, as he said, could not select. rather, the executive would be -- with the advice and consent of the senate would apply the proper criteria for selecting. would not incumbent members of the court a better than anyone what qualities their colleagues should possess -- members of the court know better than anyone what qualities their colleagues should possess?

here is the final count. three greats, five near-greats, 12 average, 2 below-average, and 2 failures. the distribution skews to the qualitfied. the three rates are 1/4 -- three greats are 1/4 of those in the highest category. how does this square with the theme of athe lecture -- the separation -- the separation of powers? the priestly image places the tribunal above politics. in -- involvement may be a gamble they prefer not to take. the trade-off for dependence on the other branches for appointments is judicial independence, a treasured

element of the american government system. better to remain aloof from the political process for the sake of judicial atomic, unless the latter is at stake -- a judicial autonomy, unless a the latter is at stake. chief justice hughes said, "the republican doors -- if the court has indeed helped to preserve the nation, which i think it has, it is the separation of powers principle, with its exquisite corollary of checks and balances, that has preserved the supreme court of the united states. make it always be so." thank you very much for your attention this evening. i hope to speak with you all at the reception. [applause]

>> thank you, professor, for what i considered it to be a fascinating discussion. i also express my innocence. until you begin to speak, i had no idea that any justice of the united states supreme court had ever been involved in the political process for the appointment of another. i am sure nobody else here was doing this, but i was bringing it forward to the present court, in trying to imagine -- >> it is not allowed. >> i know. i tried to imagine, given the controversy involved in the confirmation progress, getting

involved in that process. i just cannot imagine. that is me. thank you, justice roberts for hosting -- thank you, justice roberts, for hosting this evening's presentation, and for your continued support. the next lecture in the 2010 s series will be next week -- 2010 series will be next week. tickets are still available. i refer you to my good friend google. just putting supreme court historical society. you can find out the number to call to get tickets. if you are not a member of the society, you can find of how to become a member. -- find out how to become a member. we would sincerely welcome you to make that connection. we will adjourn shortly. we will go into the conference

room for refreshments. as i do each time, i invite you to introduce yourselves to the officers who are here into the members of the staff -- and to the members of the staff. we have a number of people here who are in charge of programs and membership. you can identify us by the funny little things that we have hung around our necks. if you have not met us, come up and introduce yourself. we would love to meet you. we would love to be able to improve. we would dearly love to hear from you. thank you for coming. we are adjourned. [applause]

>> you are watching c-span, created for you as a public service by america's cable companies. up next, a look at black leadership priorities in public policy issues. then, first lady michelle obama hosts children at the white house for the take your daughters and sons to work day. after that, another discussion of the supreme court appointment process. on "newsmakers," congressman jerry lewis, ranking member of the appropriations committee talks about congressional spending issues and the appropriations process, including the future of a year marks and how to tackle the federal debt. that is tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. eastern and 6:00 p.m. eastern

here on c-span. >> meet the top three prize winners of c-span's studentcam competition sunday, monday, and tuesday morning's, during "washington journal." you can watch videos at studentcam.org. >> coming up next, a look at black leadership priorities in public policy issues. we will hear from a panel. this was held last week by the national action network. this lasts about one hour and a half. >> hello. we are very happy to host " measuring the movement." . in a new his -- a new century with new circumstances and we need tangible results, not just one-liners and sound bites. today, we hope to start that a

new conversation. we must hold everyone accountable, from government to our own institutions. we must be accountable from the white house to your house and my house. you must be accountable, too. in that spirit, the president of the united states has sent a message. president obama sent a message to us that will be read by a young african-american staff member who works with him in the white house every day. me welcome michael blake shot may well come michael blake. [applause] >> deer river chart and -- dear reverend, the president regrets that he is unable to join us today.

[applause] this has been one of the most challenging times in our nation, but because of the work on the recovery act and policy is that we have enacted, we are starting we have enacted, we are starting to see the beginning of the mic recovery. however, we are aware that there is a high unemployment rate in america. we understand the critical need to create jobs and develop pathways of opportunity. that is why we have provided $1 billion in capital for minority businesses and underserved communities and all the rise in other programs to develop more than 100,000 jobs in more than 21 states. we are also investing in also investing in a skills agenda by increasing the amount of pell grant awards and

improving support for community colleges so that workers have the tools needed to take advantage of future opportunities. [applause] our success enacting health insurance reform, coupled with the first lady's initiative on childhood obesity, will serve to reduce the alarming health disparities among african americans. new benefits include free preventive care and increased access to medical attention through community health centers. in addition, no patient can be denied coverage based on a pre-existing condition, or lose their health care when they are sick and need it most. more than 32 million uninsured americans will have access to health care, and millions of them are african american. another important part of our administration agenda is working on a world-class education system that supports the aspirations -- [applause] -- of all americans from the cradle to the grave. we have drawn much-needed attention.

in the schools across our nation, jobless rates are too high and expectations are too low. we are calling for more rigorous accountability in our schools. we will reduce our dropout rates and we will raise the bar and improve outcomes for our youngest children before they reach kindergarten. we will chart a new course for a better life, a bit brighter future. since its founding, the national action network has been without help and without hope. your organization is working to see this carried out. today's forum offers the opportunity for the challenges

we face as a nation. we know that too many communities of color were living on the margin even before the recession hit. we will significantly increase the lives of many throughout our country. congratulations on today's events. sincerely, president barack obama. >> thank you, michael. let's get to work. >> live, this is the reverend al sharpton's special election network forum. >> i am the host and managing editor. >> i am tom joyner and i am thrilled to be here to set some goals to move our community forward.

>> this is not a chat session. that indeed is obvious. we are with some of the top leaders, thinkers, politicians and activists for a two hour working session to discuss what needs to advance the black agenda as to how they will achieve goals over the next 12 months. >> this is not about [inaudible] it isn't about what the nation's first black president should be doing. it is about what everyone, including the president and civil rights leaders and unnamed folks should be doing to answer the call. if you are looking at this as a discussion were we would meet, talk and discuss, you are at the wrong place. this is about folks coming together to mobilize and to act.

but not just the folks in the room, but also those of you at home and online. everyone has a role to play. >> as we know that the government cannot solve every problem. but i will always be honest with you about the challenges that we face. i will listen to you, especially when we disagree. above all, i will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way that it has been done for 200 years, block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand. [applause] >> the folks on this panel will also be asking for your help as well. this conference showcasesthe most powerful and important people in america.

these well-known folks are here in new york for a variety of panels and networking but the time for talk is over. and the time for action is now. [applause] >> we want people at home to participate as well. we will be getting comments from audience members. will be sharing the input all throughout the two hours of the show. i will be back with the first question from the audience and the first of our web comments in just a few moments. let us introduce our panels.

>> rev. al sharpton and the third highest ranking democrat and the highest ranking african- american in congress rnc chair michael steele. mark morial, danny bakewell senior. also with us today is tamika mallory, angela sailor, dr. scott, the chairman of the national black caucus, the mayor of philadelphia, the

cofounder of the all stars project. [applause]. the all stars project. [applause] [applause] >> with -- where did all these black folks go? what if we show up for president obama, we do not show up for our mayors. >> i think you are right in raising the question.

usually, people do not answer the telephone at home unless it rains. the reason why blacks did not come out is because no one called them out. there was not the proper organizing and mobilizing in those states. >> we can get a rhetoric on that. we are going into six of the main and critical states in the midtown elections and we are going to register voters and do voter turnout. this is a commitment. we will increase turnout in those states by 5%. people can go with us if they want. we are going into ohio, california, illinois, and we will up the ante.

we will set the stage for the defeat for the president in 2012 if we do not win at the midterm elections. >> the reality is, we are pushing it on the web and our radio show. why do we need somebody to call us when we are most affected by the mayors in the cities? the same numbers but added for obama. we would have had a black mayor in houston. at some point, when do we truly exercise our power? >> what is real is that people are trying to keep their families -- can you hear me now?

what is real is that we have to ask why we have been fighting for 100 years to push people out to vote each time. you have got to get out, go door-to-door, and educate people. if you care enough, you should be working with people to sign up and volunteer to turn folks out. >> i would think that we have to recognize that we need -- many of these politicians are not addressing the needs in our communities. [applause] they are not dealing with the health care in our community. you give money to general

motors and aig but you do not have money for black folks. we need people to deliver for us. if you deliver for us we will deliver for you. if you do not deliver for us we are not doing anything. [applause] >> how many people in the rams' supported president barack obama? [applause] how many people in this room had been to a town hall meeting? that is my point. when it came time to demand health care, we did not show up. at one. -- what point do we say that we have to be in the game as well? >> what we have proven since the 2008 election pledge to the fact that we need a double wake-up call. the wake-up call for ourselves

is the president is not an emperor or a king. therefore, you do not elect a president and then go back to be political spectators. [applause] we have got to be engaged in every single election process because voting needs to be a habit. we do not need to vote like we get to the movies or light we listen to music that we do not like. danny's point is very well taken. there has got to be a better degree of engagement by elected officials of both black and white to pay attention to our community after the election. [applause] it is a double wake up call. it is a wake-up call for us that if we do not sustain our petition -- participation levels, we will lose ground.

it is a wake-up call for elected officials that once you get elected, you have got to keep coming back, yet got to keep in beijing, and you have got to keep delivering. >> we have got to take a break right now. we now know about the loss of momentum in 2008. the question is how do we get it back? we will answer that right after this break. [applause] we are back at the first corinthian baptist church in harlem. >> i have four kids, 12--- 12 through 17. i cannot afford any of the summer programs or the camps that their schools offer. what should i do? philip from detroit.

>> we're talking about this whole issue of politics, when it comes to some of the critical issues for african-americans, what will you be trying to drive through congress? >> thank you for having us here. let me focus on what we need to do to regain our momentum. we did lose momentum. when we got around to being real, knowing the other side was not going to give up the filibuster, and we got the 50 percent plus one, what we did was health care reform was the first step in regaining momentum. a lot of people missed it. at the same time we were doing health care reform, we did

tremendous reform to education. we have gotten pell grants. i think we have taken two significant steps to regain momentum. >> what is next? >> the next is to do financial, regulatory reform. it will be brought to the senate next week. we are going to do something. we are going to do a big summer jobs program. >> relative to the reclaiming of the election and the momentum, every movement for social justice in america has been spawned and developed on the camera -- college campuses of this nation. we have 55 historically black universities in america. we have students who are ready

to take on the leadership. we understand that many of the parents are working several jobs and cannot go to the meetings. our college campuses or the spawning grounds for the next group of leaders. relative to the sisters question about what to do with her students, by strengthening college campuses, our campuses or the epicenter of activities in the communities. there are problems -- predominantly black institutions all over. our campuses are places where our students can come to use the facilities. the nation's historic elite black colleges and universities are the answers to all of our issues. whether it is the economy are building activities. >> i think we have to do what we

were told to do 80 years ago. we have to start talking about black street, not just main street are wall street. it was grass roots organizing door by a door. we are not doing that. i submit that we have to start a new movement and i would like to call it the cocoa party. every time the tea party shows up, the cocoa party must be there. >> it is very simple. the folks of the tea party are taking advantage of constitutional rights. other folks are sitting at home.

i say, shut the hell up. from a political standpoint, what is happening in our cities? congress is one thing. >> i want to thank reverend sharpton for the opportunity. the question was, the lady has four children and cannot afford the ymca. i am not suggesting what the mayor should do. they need to find an alternative. that is on the ground. what really has to happen in cities, we talk about jobs. jobs are going to happen in cities and the metro areas. i appreciate the work that our majority whip did.

in many cities of america, those dollars have not gotten to the cities. you want to put people to work. they are going to get work in the cities. the recovery at, the dollars are flowing, but we need more. >> do we need a jobs bill? >> we absolutely -- i agree. >> we do need a massive jobs bill. >> we need people to go to job training programs. >> of what some of that cocoa. [laughter] >> it is different than -- in harlem. [laughter]

>> this president and this congress passed $817 billion stimulus package. it is there. you're not getting it because governors are not getting it to the cities. we have to make the president accountable. i know he is better than anyone else on this panel. i know his heart and his soul. he likes criticism. so let us tell the president what we want and what we need. he is not on the supreme court. but, he is someone will make an enormous difference in our economy. tell that sister that we will put her in touch with her congressman. we have the resources. let's talk about our own people to get something happening in our own community. >> this is a comment not a

question. are you going to be on the short list for the supreme court? >> we want to talk about bipartisanship to be focused on the people. >> my concern is that political activists -- what do we do about partisan politics? we need to reach out more to each party. i want to ask our political leaders to get back on one page. not just the party page, but the people page. >> when we come back, i want to

go around the horn and a talk about what we are going to commit to in the next 12 months. whether it is the policy. we will be back in a moment. you can shoot us an e-mail at blackamericaweb.com >> we are going to go back to tom joyner. >> italia from charlotte. i have diabetes and little help insurance. i may be dead by the dog the help for care -- health care reform bill kicks in. >> one of the questions from the artists -- audience dealt with by partisanship.

>> when we start talking about getting this on the ground and turning things out to grass- roots advocacy, we are open for business. our community needs to know that we are open for business. we are inviting the community to come to us. >> what are you going to do in the next 12 months? >> our candidates are ready to hear the agenda of our community. we are going to push that agenda. what we need is for the great leaders on this stage and the ones who are not here to help push our people back to our leaders to say that this is what we need for our life and our liberty. >> this is all about commitment. from a political standpoint, what is the naacp going to do in

the next 12 months? >> we have 2000 volunteers in 100 places increasing the census count by 5%. that is what we are doing right now. >> at the national urban league we focus on jobs. we are going to commit to try to assist 10,000 people in finding employment in the next 12 months. [applause] >> the black press is going to get the word out to our people in every community throughout this country. we are going to make sure that the black community agenda is not only in the homes of black people -- we are going to put the black people's agenda on the agenda of the politicians. >> nothing else will do.

i need a specific. of the individual commitments made here, are you going to send out your people to regret what you say? what is your one commitment when it comes to politics? >> we want to teach people that they are not just democrats and republicans. in new york city i will be working over the next 12 months on a non-partisan election. there are 1 million registered independents that cannot vote. 20% of them are african americans. 25 percent of them are under the age of 30. reverend sharpton will join me in this fight. we will get black leadership.

people are locked out of the system. >> i have talked to reverend sharpton and we want to have more collaboration and cooperation between the naacp and black activists. we need better cooperation between the public side -- these organizations influence public policy. therefore, the agitation is not in the washing machine. with that in mind, we want to get to the heart of the matter. we must marry politics and community activism. that is what planes at the close is the agitation. >> we are committed to putting 500,000 students out in the

community for elections through the national coalition of black student participation. we are also committed to the pipeline in bringing in the next candidates. >> the specific right now is 500,000 students to cover the next election. >> you have to have a pipeline. mandatory early childhood, upward bound programs -- >> i have to go to our next topic. we will come back and get some specifics. send us an e-mail: twister. -- e-mail: twitter. we are at the first red the and baptist church in harlem.

[applause] the commitment from the national action network in the next 12 months -- >> we are going to increase turnout by 5%. we are going to lay out an agenda. we need to demand what they are going to do on education. the third thing is, i think that we ought to have our own immobilization in the communities. i do not know if this is going to call -- if we are going to call it the cocoa party. we need to build up towards mobilization on financial reform. we are going to work with the urban league and the naacp.

we need to go out into the streets. we need to register and recommit to those numbers. we need to not stop talking about young of leadership. jamaica mallory is not even 30 years old. -- tamika mallory is not even 30 years old. >> we're going to chance for from politics to economics. >> we gained political freedom. >> pure and simple. the assistant professor of finance at syracuse university is joining us.

we had the president of the black nurses association. georgetown university professor and author is also joining us. [applause] recently i talked to the congressional oversight panel. 50% of black wealth could be wiped al as a result of the all foreclosure program. let's be honest, it has been a failure. when it comes to economics, what do we need to do when it comes to the home foreclosure issue to deal with black well not be wiped out? >> excuse me for being frank, but when i spoke to the white house recently i told them that

president obama is the economic a visor's should be removed immediately. the reality is that no matter how much academic training you have, if your heart and your conscience is not in the right place you do not have the ability to solve the problems. when i look at the president's economic the advisers, the reality is that our issues were not put on the table when it comes to economic concerns. when you look at unemployment, i see you are putting money into everything. the proof is in the potato salad. black unemployment has gone up. we need a better solution. >> the president said in a terms -- in terms of economic plan, when you talk about education you have a targeted program.

if you have an hiv problem, you can say here is the overall budget and we will target those who are most in need. the economic plan must be specific to the unemployment rate. >> we did do that. if you look at the recovery package, you will see that it targeted every community. 20 percent or more of the people were beneath the poverty level. can% of the money as well as the tax credit must be targeted to those communities. that is in the bill. it is amazing to me that people are not aware that we did indeed target that money. >> with the stimulus funds you

mentioned earlier, the reality is 1% have gone to black firms. >> said the money to the mayors, not the governors. >> when you say we recommended this, -- >> the idea is that money went to state governments. we think that if you are going to target, if you are going to get money into local communities, they ought to go to city governments are community- based organizations together. here is the point, the stimulus is what the stimulus is. we needs a jobs bill that all is a different model than the stimulus. that is what the urban league's six point plan is.

the governors have held up money. i am talking about across the nation. new york may be a different situation. in most communities, it is the state governments and the governors that are not sensitive to the days of the communities. >> i am going to a web content. >> do you believe the high rate of foreclosure and school closings in the black community are plots to get poor blacks and hispanics to move out so that wealthy white people can buy up the property and price it out of reach? how can we keep that from happening? that is from pasha in little rock. >> what we are looking for our specifics. things we need to do over the

next 12 months. we will deal with that when we come back. >> welcome back to this special. before we went to the break we had a question from the web. the what you address that? >> when someone hits you you have got to hit back. the reality is that we have been hit by bankers. we are suing banks now saying that you have to change the way you treat our people. your one home can have the same bankruptcy protection that john mccain's six homes have. the reality is that your 1 home

should be protected by the courts. we have got to hit back. >> are those names on your web site? >> it is naacp.org. >> you are moving people to deposit money in community banks. >> we keep talking about the government. the government is not our father. if we target our money to black america, they will be targeting us. i am asking for a commitment from everybody in radio and television, we have $150,000.

in two weeks -- let me say something else, as a bankruptcy attorney, they put us in sub- prime loans. we need to educate the consumers that they have been taken advantage of. we need to make these politicians put money in our black banks. they have taken everything from our community and have not put anything back in it. [applause] >> i want to hear this issue from a small business standpoint. what must we be doing from an individual perspective to help small businesses? >> economic distribution was clearly not equal. if we only got 1% of the stimulus money, the money did

not come down. it must be executed correctly and distributed correctly. all politics is local. most of the state of illinois is in a deficit. to give it to them is like, what did you do with that? it did not come. we need the money to come. it needs to go local. it needs to go to the mayors. take it to the aldermen, ticket to the calcimine, ticket to the community organizations. -- take it to the councilmen, take it to the community organizations. >> from a small business standpoint, what a small business do? is it lines of credit? is it access to capital?

>> 23 years ago when we started, it was our home because we bought home foreclosures. if you take that away, where you build the wealth? small businesses are the backbone of the country for jobs. we can hire and train and sent people out to the gun business people if they so choose. but if they do not have the access to capital, it is over. >> we talk about economic power, what specifics do you have to get people to save? spending for the government is great in terms of getting access to capital. if you cannot save, you do not have a shot at owning a house. >> some of the comments that

have come in today, we do not have any concrete things that people can do today. we should be talking about economic politics. you have to dot -- fine people and develop them to go into the community and be politicians. that is how our problems will be solved. >> the one thing we heard -- you make the point on opening checking accounts. >> we pay city, state, and federal taxes. we need to make the city, state,

and federal government put some of our tax dollars in the black banks. why do they not have our money deposited in our banks? [applause] >> that will allow our community to open businesses and have employment. >> we by 25% of general motor's cars. they do not give us 25% of our budget back. the are not picking 25% side of our people on the board of directors. we have a billion dollar budget, but we do not get 25% of it.

>> hold on. we are going to a break. keep it tight because i will cut you. [applause] will have your audience comments when we come back. people want to note who is in charge of making these decisions about where the money is going from the stimulus programs? who do we hold accountable? here is the person in charge of this money? this -- >> what changes to public policy must be made to help improve our financial condition? >> we will combat with specifics about what commitments we should make. what are the folks here going to

do to make it a reality? >> welcome back to the national action network for on. we are at the baptist church in harlem. >> shanna from chicago, i filled out by census form and mail it back. i am wondering how long it will be before i see some benefits in my neighborhood. we have a park with no lights. when will i see the benefits of the 2010 census? >> you have to organize and fight. that is why people joined the naacp. not on cissus they are voting day, that change happens every day. >> my parents formed a city's

club in our neighborhood. it is not what they are going to do, it is what you are going to do in your neighborhood. >> everybody makes a commitment. what think you have to remember, this president was a community organizer. he knows the difference between fraud, talking loud and black is not going to do anything. you have to organize. half the people criticizing him have never organized. they are sitting high and looking at low. [applause] >> we talked about economic specifics. warren, i want to go to you. >> we are specifically calling

on investment in black owned at banks. every corporation, every type of industry would be begging to be the target of our money. we would have the control to purchase homes, we can be our own stimulus package. [applause] >> we have got to get stimulated. it is stimulus, not stimuthem. disproportionate numbers of black and brown people live in cities. most of the stimulus money has gone to nine diverse states. disproportionate numbers of black and poor people have not been benefited by the stimulus. we have got to get out and vote

for the mayors and the state senators and the state representatives because when you talk about the distribution of economic capital, unless you go to the polls, you cannot get the money redistributed to the banks. if you cannot get to the senators and state representatives -- you and i have to recognize that we will that be power. we want to hold the president, the congress people and the senate responsible. we also have to hold ourselves responsible by voting with our bank accounts. we have got to get to black businesses, we have got to go to black banks, we have got to go to black churches because we still think that the white way is better.

then we have a better future. >> the specifics out of all that is by black. -- buy black. one second. we talked about health care and what is happening. we'll talk about economics. what would your association be doing when it comes to economics? >> those people who have health insurance now is low. we are committed to ensuring that there is a quality, high- class work force. that means people who look like us. we represent only 4.5%. >> the number of black nurses

that you want to bring into the field in the next 12 months -- >> in the next 12 months i want to bring in 10,000. we are talking about mentoring and coaching because our students have a difficult time. everybody in here -- >> the york black world coalition has 70,000 members nationwide. we have a financial literacy program we created to challenge people to add one at revenue stream to their income. you do not have job security if you just have one job. we are also going to expand the program to include formerly incarcerated individuals. >> we need some new formulas. i want to pick up on something

that reverend sharpton said. we spend the taxes. we paid the taxes. proportionately what we get back from the taxes is not correct. we need some new formulas in place for contracts, in the white house -- i do not know if this is commerce or the president -- we need an overseer to look at what is going on in black businesses. something is wrong when we only get 1%. >> we are pushing for city, state, and federal funds. we can heal some of our own issues if we are empowered. >> what are you going to be pushing for? >> we are going to be pushing for the new jobs bill. that is the bill that we think we can pass in a few weeks. it is a big jobs bill. healthcare is a big creator of

jobs. i want everyone to understand that we put in $11 billion for additional community health centers. we put money in for new training. i want everybody to understand that when we talk about this new pell grant that is going up to $5,900 per person, that is the kind of money that can get us into these training programs for nurses and everything else. $2 billion in the health care bill is for community colleges. we believe that if you are a lawyer you need a plumber. if you are a plumber you need a doctor. if you are a doctor you need an electrician. we need to focus on where these fields or. >> 15 seconds.

>> if a gay and lesbian people yesterday argued that they should be able to visit their people who are in the hospital, if we do not know the money is there, the people who need to get the money that do not know the money is targeted towards them -- we have to target black communities so that the of bird -- upward mobility can be catalyzed. >> you cannot separate education and economics. our people are miss educated. specifically, we have to stop

the achievement gap. we have got to put our history -- we have started the rising network. we'll start them in the church and the communities on the grass roots level. -- let me say this, if you want to talk about economic power, if our people do not graduate you can forget all of this. we have got to make sure they stay in school. [applause] when we come back -- we have talked about politics and economics, we will talk about reestablishing the black family. we'll tackle that with specifics up next. >> welcome back to the national

action network forum. this form is designed to bring about change in the african american community. sell them. we are back on tv. settle down. the bible says the harvest is principle but the laborers are few. >> i am sorry. i was busy going through the blogs on the web. the irs is dragging their feet with my home buyers' credit refund check.

>> what is next? [laughter] >> come back to me. >> for so many years, many thought we would never see an african-american president. president barack obama proved them wrong. he often speaks about raising expectations in our communities. the president has dealt with the issue of father would, of family -- father did, family, and values. -- fatherhood, family, and values. we just talked about political economics. when you look at the statistics, the reality is you have a greater chance of owning

a home, building wealth, voting, not going to prison when you are operating from a two-parent household. what are the 100 black men doing to deal with this whole issue? black men being responsible fathers and husbands that contribute to that political and economic power. >> 100 black men of america recognizes an epidemic in our nation. when you do not have the pipeline being created, we will step up to provide mentors for our young people. we are in the schools and mentoring them. this is not a one-off discussion. this is not a project we are involved in. we are committed long term. >> we have 116 chapters around

the world. >> people to -- this is a critical issue. how do we bring the black family back together? what should we specifically be doing from an organizational standpoint, a policy standpoint, or an individual standpoint? take your pick. >> i think the black family is suffering at the same level of the broader community. i think that the church needs to increase its effectiveness in how it deals with -- we spent more time talking about if marriage is supposed to be between a man and a woman. i think there needs to be a fundamental process by which we are understanding what marriage means as it relates to commitment, as it relates to

childhood, as it relates to finance. it the family does not work, the rest of the community does not work. if we do not have -- we have forgotten how to be families. we have young mothers that believe that nobody is supposed to help them raise a child. when we came up in multigenerational families -- it was not just women, it was man in a multigenerational framework that understood that without this framework -- >> on that point, we are talking about specifics. are there any ministers in the

room? stand up. stand up. i wrote about this on a block. i said that no pastor should -- if there is a specific, a pastor should get to the heart of it. you are at the point of building a family. you are part of the problem. >> i think two things on that. i think you are absolutely

right. i think we also have some with mentoring programs. a lot of people who are criticizing the church have not been to church in 20 years. they do not understand that there are some churches to arguing that. the other thing is that there are other obligations where we can mentor people. i came from a single-parent home. reverend william jones and others made a difference for me. you cannot tell a kid because a daddy left it is over. we all have to be somebody's daddy. >> i want to go to leslie.

average graduation rate at fisk is 28% of young black men. all this whole issue of black families, what are some of these universities are doing to reach out and get them earlier and earlier to pull them into the process? >> we recognize the challenge. one of the things we are doing is partnering with 100 black men, but also the children's defense fund, a dream academy -- we are starting pre-k and recognizing that we will not have enough children to fill our seats. on our campuses, we are not just

academic institutions. we reinforce the social, the cultural, the mores that you should be getting at home. we are also starting rales for strong black families. >> when you talked about reception the other day, you talked about being a single- mother. what do you think organization leaders should be doing when it comes to black families whether it is dealing with black women are black men. >> we challenge media conglomerates to stop allowing ourselves to be denigrated and this respected. that is one major area we have to challenge. we cannot allow our men to wear

their pants hanging down. once we deal with that, it is not part of culture. once we respect ourselves, other folks will respect us and our families. >> when my 10 and 11-year-old children watch television in prime time, they see black people portrayed as a buffoons on comedy shows. we need to do something about that. >> i say this to the mother, you pay the cable bill. you tell your kids what to watch. that is selling those in my family. >> black man tell each other you

love each other and that you are proud of each other and that you support each other. sometimes just talking to these kids -- i went to chicago and sell a boy with a gun on the side of his hip. he told me that he listens to me all the time. i told him he had to put the gun down if he wanted to talk to me. it was a teachable moment. he asked me about president obama as health care reform plan. i asked him why he wants to know this. he said he was 19-year old and had just had a baby. i had an event to go to. he gave me his gun and made a commitment to be there for his child. >> you took the time at the very moment to mentor. >> [inaudible]

or communicate with black people every week. get your black newspaper. subscribe to those newspapers. we are committed to changing the images that you see. when you read those newspapers, use the positive things about black people. we are not to stigmatize. we have a lot of black men who are standing up and are taking care of their families. those are the stories that we have to tell. >> i think we have got to stop criminalizing black men over this black father issue. we have to stop criminalizing our brothers. there has to be safe daddy houses where they can be trained and get the education to raise

their children. we have to understand the root cause of the separation of the black families. all of these things we are saying we should be doing are not going to happen until we deal with it. church by church, school by school, it is a systemic problem. there is a problem -- until we raise our greatness, our men, women, and children will continue to act this way. >> where you start if you lay down with somebody, you've got to wait for something else. we will be back in a moment. >> welcome back to the national action network for on live from the first correct the and baptist church in harlem. >> the comments from the web are hot.

we will continue to have these talks unless we address the black family. values are in stilled by a parent. that is from blackamericaweb.com my nephew has been in prison from -- for eight years. he will come home to a neighborhood of gang members and drug dealers. there are no jobs or services out year. i almost think he is better off in prison. i have denise right here. >> my question is i would like to know what type of programs we are going to put in place for young men when they come home after being incarcerated.

>> like the lady says, she thinks she picked -- he is better off in prison. >> jobs are essential to all of this. families cannot stay together. when the unemployment rate goes up, the marriage rate as down. . . let me say, we have passed the second act. we have incentivized the

employers to give a second chance to be incarcerated. it is now law, and we ought to use that law. let them know that you have this problem. >> what kind of incentives? >> tax credits, which will allow a second chance. >> what at this point, if we don't know what? that is why people who go to these companies were turned down, because of these groups. we have to press these companies. there are a lot of things that we want without taking a advantage of it because we don't know it. if people don't know it, they will not be able to ask for it. >> first of all, they are

stigmatized. when returning prisoners come back to society, if we don't have an organization to receive them with open arms, don't just visit people in prison, but a program where you remove the stigma and reappoint. secondly, we talk about fighting stereotypes with statistics. nonresident black father spend more time with their children -- a study came out from boston to years ago -- then any group in america. third, we cannot criminalize black masculinity. black people are used for our prowess on the gridiron and basketball court, but demonized in the communities. in terms of pop culture, but we have learned, i am just saying, if "booty call" comes out, people go see it, but you vote with their pocketbooks.

go see the stuff that you want to see represent. >> that is not the ultimate solution, but the kind of things we have to hold our legacies accountable for, i believe, to be against the law to refuse somebody a job because they have a felony. >> one second. >> all of this talking about churches and organizations, what needs to happen, nonviolent felons it should not have a felony on their record for the rest of their lives. that is what needs to be happening! so when these guys and girls get out of jail, if they were a non violent felon, within two years of getting out of jail, it is never on the record. i[applause] >> i want to go to public enemy chuck d. >> what stop the momentum of the

corporate is asian of these prisons? companies start to invest in these prisons, and all the sub the job market becomes almost like slave labor inside of the prison -- and all of a sudden the job market becomes almost like slave labor inside of the prison. >> if you have been convicted of a crime, they can make you a slave. it what we say, this is modern- day slavery. that is the truth. >> the systemic racism in education is a pipeline to those jails. it will not go away until we deal with those problems. >> before i go to break, we have been having extensive conversations about felons getting jobs, removing from the record, but the greater conversation has to be how not to become of felon. we want to see you talk about

that. he could talk about the industrial complex, but the key is not getting into that complex. if you drop out of school, you have a greater chance, if you don't love your kids, a greater chance of going into gangs. don't look at the present system, look at your household. -- don't look at the prison system, look at your household. welcome back to the first baptist church in harlem, where we continue on an action plan to advance the black agenda. first, some comments on the web? >> investing in black-owned banks is a must. they are called community banks for a reason. that is one. here is another, do you see a trend in hollywood for celebrating black man -- men who

are feminized? where are the strong black male models in the media? >> on this panel, one second, quiet down. on this panel, i did not hear as pacific commitment from you. -- i did not hear a specific commitment from you. >> as i have said, without going into the banking situation, talking about banks, part of it, i agree, we must have our communities do that, including our churches. but we, the national action network, address state, federal agencies to put our taxpayer dollars there. second, we work with black farmers. we need to deal with the whole farming issue, to develop our farms, developing those that were ripped off. that is an economic part of our

community. we will deal with black banks in terms of municipal, state, federal government, and black farms. >> they have come to an agreement on the settlement. when will congress approve the money, billion dollars-plus, for the black farmers? >> we need to decide it today. >> you need people to call the white house, congress? >> absolutely. it is not just the black farmers but the native american farmers. we think all of that will be wrapped into this next jobs bill, and we will pay for it all together. >> specifics may be when it comes to families? >> we are committed to ending the cradle to present pipeline and helping the -- the cradle to prison pipeline by establishing

academies. the academies will target african-american boys, get them into a 10th grade, take them through 12th grade. something happens between the classroom and getting home. >> how many over the next 12 months? >> in the next 12 months, we're trying to have a pilot. we need everybody in the sound of my voice to call or e-mail and help me to talk to chairman miller in the united states congress, in the elementary and secondary education act, to pass opportunity academies, residential opportunity academies on all around the center. >> the national urban league will expand its efforts to provide job training for formerly incarcerated african- american men. we will take an initiative

called the urban youth empowerment program and add 10- 15 sites within the next 12 months. part of reunifying the family is giving men dignity through work, and then they can do a better job to support their obligations. >> let me sound two warnings. we are losing our kids right around seventh grade, before they ever get to an hbcu. we talk about elementary and secondary. elementary, 1-6, secondary 9-12. but in seventh and eighth grade is where we are losing them, and we have to zero in on that. that is what we're trying to do. >> real quick, ages 8-18 is our focus. we will work with you and others.

our focus is getting 1 million at mentors into our communities. >> how many now? >> we are working with susan taylor and other organizations -- >> 100,000 more? >> we want to double it. secondary, we have schools, charter schools, five more with the eagle academy. >> ok, that is his specifics. you have yours. jeff johnson? use the microphone. >> number 1, the first thing you have to do is use a better job of raising my kids -- i have to do a better job of raising my kids. second, i am working on my own to do things. the first thing i want to do is partner with churches to open

the doors. on the day you don't have anything at your church, how can we help you identify something to keep the lights on and partner with nonprofit organizations for tutoring, mentoring on the days they are closed. second, i want to work with people with green for all and brothers of chicago to take those who are in gangs and prepare them to do green jobs and understand greek economy. last but not least, we want to do a project to work of the next three years to increase the number of black male teachers at the secondary level by 10%. we have to work to recruit them, train them, and support them. those are three tangible things. >> report. >-- real quick. >> this has led to women having problems finding marriageable mates. first, we want to keep them out

of prison. second, hbcu should also stand for helping black children up. if you help them in the fifth, sixth, seventh grade, that will help. secondly, we are working on the mentoring movement. finally, if you help with the aspirations of young black kids, you don't have to worry, their paths will follow. but the dreams first, the path will follow. -- lift the dreams of first, the path will follow. >> we need to put these boys to work at an early age. i have created a lawn service in my neighborhood that employs 22 boys, ages 11-14. >> talking about the mentoring process. we're going to break. when we come back, we will close this out. also, you have a commitment to yourself. we will get to that any moment.

welcome back to our last segment. >> this is the last segment? that when fast. >> we are grateful to them, but they cannot do it alone. here in the church, we have passed out commitment cards. hold them up. don't be trying to sit on them, hold them out. ok, if you don't have a card, you'll get one. fill these out with your name and contact information, and the one issue you want to work on. so they will call on you for help on your issue. for those that have you at home, do the same. send your emails to commitment @tv1online.com. let us know the one commitment that you want to work on it over the next 365 days.

the organizations will contact you with regard to your commitment. again, commitment@tvonline.com. >> the most dominating question i have gotten over the internet, who will hold these panelists accountable? >> the number one question >> we came with answers. first, my show on tv one, tom is on a morning show, black america.com. we have recorded these commitments. every 90 days, we will check in with each individual to see where they are with when it comes to their commitment. if you say, i don't hear it, that is your problem. you need to watch the show. that is how we are going to hold them accountable as relates to honoring their commitments. they came here, made a public

commitment, we hold them accountable. but also you and the audience and the folks at home. >> we will also be conducting follow-ups, and, folks, it has been a great day. i think lots has been accomplished. but there is a lot more to do. i want to thank our guests, panelists, studio audience, and all of you out there who watched and participated by e-mail and tweeting. thank you so much. rahman will close us out with a staple of his work on tv won. -- tv 1. >> when you read the bible, he had a vision to reveal the wall of jerusalem that provided security to those living inside. after surveying the wall, he went to the people and told him -- told them his vision. they said, let us rebuild. and they did. there were those who were haters and they said it would never happen, and i am confident when

these folks look at this forum, they may say this was a waste of time and nothing will get done. like they told the people then, keep building. the most appalling aspect of the scripture is when you read about a particular group rebuilding the portion of the wall right in front of their homes. -- the most appealing aspect of the scripture. no one person, no one president can solve all of the issues. but if every person rebuilds the wall in front of them, whether it is education, crime, economic empowerment, voting power, you name it, progress will be made. where there is progress, others to doubt it, will join in. if you want change, you must work for it. if you want to see a thriving black community, you must lead the effort. and of talking, not complaining. it is time for us -- enough talking, and of complaining. it is time for us to put on our hard hats.

we have to ask ourselves, what are you prepared to do? i cannot answer the question for you, but i can guarantee that if you get off the sidelines and get off your butt and off the couch, and joined the fight, you will change and your house will change. when your house changes, you will be the folks on your street to change. when the streets are stronger, the blocks are stronger. when the blocks are stronger, the neighborhoods are stronger. whenever the stronger, the cities are stronger and then states. when the states are stronger, america is stronger. when america is stronger, the world is stronger. it all begins with you. so what are you prepared to do? thank you for taking part in the national commitment form. -- forum. >> thank you for being here today, especially reverend sharpton and the action network for making this possible.

good bye from the first baptist church of harlem. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> up next, first lady michelle obama hosting children at the white house for the annual take our daughters and sons to work day. then they look at the appointment process for supreme court nominees. later, a discussion on the media's role in covering national security issues. >> tomorrow, a memorial service for the 29 miners who died at the upper big branch mine in virginia. we will hear remarks from

president obama, vice-president joe biden, and west virginia governor joe manchin. that is live tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. earlier this week, first lady michelle obama hosted children at the white house in the annual take our daughters and son to work day. she talked about the role of the first lady and daily life at the white house. this is about 50 minutes. how're you doing? hi! hello! yeah, you can pet bo. he is the highlight of the visit today. all right, come on, bo. come on, bo.

ok, i will make sure he comes around to everybody. a. how is everybody doing? that is good. welcome to the white house. how many of you guys have done this? who did this last year? that is good. so, we're going to make this much more informal than my share. last year i talked a little bit, and then you got to ask questions. the truth is, it is more interesting to talk and answer your questions. we will do that today. let me welcome you today. this is an important day for all of us because your parents spend so much time here helping me and president. and we know that a lot of times they do it because you will make the sacrifices to be here. your helping us just as much as your

parents are. first of all, thank you. thank you for being patient and making sure that you are doing what you are supposed to do at home, so that your parents can do what they need to do here. sit down, bo. so let's just start. do you guys have questions? what we start with questions. all right, you and the front. the question is, do i like living in the white house? yes, it is fun living in the white house. [bo barks] bo likes it, too. one of the most fun part is sharing the house with some of the people. we have thousands of people who come here every month just to visit. is really fun to meet a lot of people and make sure that they feel like this house is special for them and to share it with everybody else. 1;svkvyvav1;1;1;av1;1;1;avararar

>> how does it feel being the first lady? >> how does it feel? it feels like being made. you don't change as a person just because you have a different job. what is your name? >> isaiah. >> you know how you feel, isaiah, with the war at home or at school. you are always isaiah, right? i feel the same way. i feel like i am who i am. i have to take care of my kids and i want to do a good job as first lady. i want to make sure i am making my country proud, but i still feel like me. does that make sense? all right. all right, and the couple blue,

pigtails, handout. -- aqua blue, pigtails, and out. >> what are you doing for birthday? >> earth day? i think we are having a reception this evening. there is a reception this evening for earth day. sasha brought home some energy- efficient bulbs to put in the house. we will do some replacements. all right, you, right there. >> do you miss chicago? >> there are some things i miss about chicago. but i think the things i miss about chicago are the things that i would miss anywhere. one of the things that the president and i cannot do is sort of just walk down the street by ourselves. we cannot just leave the house

and walk by ourselves because we always have security and we have to make sure -- we have a lot of people with us. the thing i miss in chicago is being able to walk out of my house and go down to the lake and ride my bike. but i cannot do that here, either. what i tell my girls is if there is a reason -- if there is something amiss about chicago, it would be my family and everybody is here with me. so it makes it easier to just because all the people i love are still right here. and we have bo, and we did not have bo in chicago. all right, in the orange and white? you want to ask that question into the microphone? >> what do you think are the leading causes of obesity in america? >> that is a very astute question. and you definitely have read my

biography and what my issues are. [laughter] that is a good thing. there are a lot of things that cause of the city. i think it is the lifestyle we live. i think a lot of kids these days spend a lot of time in front of the tv set, on the computer. when we were young, we did not have 120 channels, 24 hours per day, we did not have the internet and computer games. when you were bored, he had to go on outside and play. a lot of kids are driving to school or take the bus to school. i think we're getting less exercise, and people say that we snack way too much, there are a lot of stocks out there, especially for kids. they say the average kid has about five snacks per day, something like that. how many do you have? if you have two, that is good. that is on average, so somebody out there is having more than you.

come here, bo. and i think that we have to make sure that we eat and a balanced way. he cannot live life without vegetables. you have to have pitched balls. [bo barks] yes, you do. i think there are a lot of things -- you have to have vegetables. we have to look at how snacks are healthy, portion sizes. there are a lot of things. that is why with the initiative, we're asking everybody to be involved in figuring out what we can do to make things better. but thank you for that question. all right, some leeway in the back, the maroon sweater. we have time. -- somebody way in the back, what the marin's water.

>> is it hard for you and your family to spend time together? >> actually, it is not. it is easier now than it was. the president's office -- where are we? it is over there somewhere. it is real close, and we live upstairs. so it is very easy for us, when we are working, i can come down from the house and work. a lot of your parents, they have to get on a train, to have to come here. there is a lot of flexibility. we make sure that we are at home when the kids get home and we have dinner together and we spent time over the weekends together. it has been a lot easier than i would have thought for us to spend time together is a family. all right, you. >> what school do your kids go

to? >> they go to a school called sidwell friends, and washington, d.c. there is another school in bethesda. there are two different buildings. have you heard of that school? [bo bark] >>shh, quiet. all right, let's get another question, bo. who is next? we did not do this side. right here, on the edge, light blue. >> what inspired you to become so involved in childhood obesity? >> just watching how children's diets and habits change. i saw in my own households how easy it was, with schedules as busy as they are, parents

working a lot of hours, we get into the habit of giving you guys what is easy sometimes, macaroni and cheese, the drive through a little bit too much. time is just short. i noticed it in my own household. i thought, if i am having these kind of challenges, it must be hard for the average family who does not have a lot of resources and things like that. i think being a mom and seeing my own kids. [bo barks] what? i know! i know! >> when you were a kid, did you ever dream of becoming the first lady? >> when i was a little kid, i probably had dreams like most little kids.

i wanted to be a pediatrician because i like kids. i never wanted be a veterinarian. [laughter] then, after i went to college, i wanted to be an attorney, and i practice for a while. but, no, as a matter of fact, the notion of being first lady of the united states, you know, there had never been anybody of my race who had been here. [bo barks] >> i know. you are going have to go. are you ready to go? [kids say "no"] >> you want to say hi? calle[cheers] i will let him get his energy out with you guys.

all right, he is in play mode. i will take him out, and i will let him come back in. all right, let's go. c'mon, let's go outside. i will make sure to bring him back in when we are done and everybody can get a chance to say hello. all right, take him out, kristen, so we can run. we will bring him back in. i will make sure everybody gets a chance to pet him. yes, yay for bo. does that answer your question? ok, good. let's see, you and the gray sweatshirt. turnaround. >> what are you growing in your

garden? >> gosh, lots of things. lots of vegetables. we have a lot of greens, lettuce, almost every kind of urban, garlic, thyme, rosemary, all the good stuff. we have some peas. we have a beehive. we have honey, berries, rhubarb. have you ever had rhubarb pie? it sort of looks like lettuce. sort of like celery. but it tastes really sweet like strawberries. so it is a good dessert. we have broccoli, spinach. it we had spinach last night from the garden. it was really sweet. we are growing all kinds of vegetables and fruits. i think you'll get a chance to see the garden? is that true? is that part of it? so you let me know how it is coming, right? ok. sounds good.

ok, what type of dog is bo? he is a portuguese water dog. they love to swim. at first, he did not want to swim. we had to teach him how to swim, but now he loves the water. he gets in the water and a chance he can get. they are retriever dogs. they used to bring in boats and do things with fishermen. he is a very active dog and it is a part keep him running and playing. now is kind of like his busy time. there are some parts of the day where he is quiet and sleepy, but with, butbo, they love to play. there are some dogs that are more lap dogs. he is a running, plain kind of dog. you have to give him a lot of exercise. he was a gift from a friend of ours. senator ted kennedy, who recently passed. his favorite breed of dog was

portuguese water dogs. we found that we were looking for a dog, he gave us bo. he helped us to adopt him. he is special not because he is just a special doll but he was a gift from a very special friend -- a very special dog, but he was a gift from a very special friend. all right, let's see. purple, in the middle. >> does bo bite? >> yes. did he buy you? what he does, he is not biting like he wants to bite you, he is playful. does anybody have a baby brother, somebody teething? he is beyond teaching, but dogs play and they like to have things in their mouth. that is the kind of playing that he does. the have to retrain him to make sure -- you have to really train

him to make sure, we put our hands in his mouth so he doubts -- knows how hard to bite on a human. plan with a dog and plan with sasha and malia are two different things. you have to make sure that he is off when it comes to people and skin, right? he gets playful. that is why is support for him to get exercise before he sees everybody. he is just as excited to see you as you are to see him. all right, the young lady in the navy blue, on the end. yes? >> what is your favorite health food to eat. >> my favorite health food? i have a lot. some of my favorite vegetables are spinach, broccoli. those are big in my household.

good snacks, some of the sort of power bars that they have. it some of them are nutty, but some of them have chocolate, too. sometimes those are fun and they make you think like you are having candy and you are not. but it is good food. i love juices, as much as i can get. does that help? ok, the gentlemen and blue striped shirt. >> how is the obesity cure going? >> how is it going? we have not quite solve date yet, but we are on our way. -- we have not quite soft it yet, but we are on our way. some scientists say the way to obesity is genetics, something

you are born with. what we are trying to figure out is how we change the behavior, particularly in kids, to teach them different habits. my theory is that kids can learn to love vegetables just as much as they learn to love the taste of candy. i truly believe that. you may not agree, but i think if you are eating healthy things on a regular basis, you start to like them. you start making choices about snacks. instead of the snack being a piece of candy, a good stack might be a bunch of grapes. right? how many people like grapes? that is one of those learn things. instead of saying, mom, i am hungry, can i have a bag of chips? you will say, mom, i am hungry, i have grapes? and if you ask her that, she will say yes every single time and will be just as good. if we teach different habits and

you ask for different things, a mentally that helps your health. if you are moving and exercising, that will make you healthy and solve the problem of obesity. we have a lot of work to do. we need all of you to help us do it. all right, right in the front. i know, i know. we will try to get to as many people as we can. >> what is your favorite room in the white house? >> my favorite room is the blue room. did you walk past it? it is the oval shape. you walk down the hallway, is in the center. there are only three rooms and the residents that have the oval shape. one is in the bottom called the diplomatic room. the second one, which is the blue room. then there is a room upstairs in our house called the yellow oval room. all of them look out onto the south lawn, and you could see

the fountain and the washington monument and so much of washington. it is still a cozy-feeling room. when we have a lot of guests over, it is nice to have them see the view. when we did the easter egg roll -- i don't know how many people saw that. were you there? was it fun? we walked out, and we walked out onto a balcony. it was the balcony connected to the blue oval room. was that room. -- it was that room. yes, the football activity sessions? yes, that is where the blue oval is. it is important know where the rooms are in relationship to the football activity center. all right, you. "aw." >> are there any things that you

have to do that you don't like to do? >> hmm. yeah. there are always things grownups have to do that we don't want to do. i had this conversation with my kids. they came home, they had homework. but they saw me sitting and i was reading over by work for next week, the tv was on. they said, mom you are so lucky, you have nothing to do. i was like, yeah, it seems that way. but grown-ups, a lot of the stuff we do is stuff we don't want to do. a lot of times we would rather be playing outside and eating candy, playing with our dogs. that is part of being a grownup. i think it is just responsibility. sometimes you don't want any. i don't think runups are any

different, right, parents in the room? -- i don't think grownups are any different, right, parents in the room? there are a lot of things i have to do that are fun. like this is something that i love to do. this is something i have to do? i think so, but it is also something i really love to do and it is a lot of fun to talk to you guys. i got to go with the winter olympians yesterday. we went to a school, shawnee davis, speed skater, very cool. if i have to do that every day, i will take it. right? all right, a green shirt. there you go. you forgot? that is okay. it is ok. when you remember, as in asia remember, we will come back to you. don't feel pressured.

-- when you remember, as soon as you remember, we will come back to you. all right, the green raincoat. keep an eye on him. >> what kind of music do you like? >> that is a good question. i like all kinds of music. this is what is in my ipod, some of the stuff in my ipod. i love stevie wonder. you know stevie wonder? i have some michael jackson. i have some rhianna, beyonce. i have some new usher. i am try to relate the things that you could connect with. sting, anyone? no? what is so funny? and i like jazz. lots of jazz, but i won't go

into that. how many people here love jazz? yell out some of your favorite artists. who? ok, he is not jazz. the we armstrong? don't have any of him, but he is good. -- the we armstrong? don't have any of him, but he is good. it is a lot of different things. i love to dance. i love a good beat. all right, did you remember yet? all right, the little lady and the orange? yes, you. >> i have two questions. >> please stand for two. >> the first question, how often do you use the movie theater? >> good question. almost every weekend, but not

always. >> i actually have three. the, ok. [laughter] >> i don't want anyone from the press to get any ideas. >> the second honest -- the second one is, is your movie theater able to play any movie that you want and new movies? >> the only thing that we cannot play, we cannot play 3d movies. and the engineers? we do not have 3d capabilities -- yet. but we get all kinds of movies. we get movies in theaters now and we get movies that are old movies. you can play the tv on there. we have a big super bowl party and we watch the super bowl. third and final question. >> third and final question. >> ok. >> what do you use the most in

the white house? you have a tennis court, you have -- i can't remember what else, but a lot of things. >> there is a lot of stuff here, there is. right now, i think we are using the tennis court the most because everybody is taking tennis lessons. but when it gets hot, we will use the swimming pool allot. we have not used it yet this season, that is one of those things we use a lot. it is coming. alright. the young man, on the end. i am moving around. i am coming back. >> what do you care about most in the environment? what animal? >> what animal, what plant? we are big tiger savers.

malia's one issue for her father is saving the tigers. we talk about the tigers at least once a week, and what he is doing to save the tigers. he is telling her he is working on it and a lot of people are thinking about it. he has not come up with a sufficient answer yet, but he has a couple more years or so to fix the problem. i think the obama household, we're trying to save the tigers. all right, ok. here comes the microphone. ok. >> do you spend more time with your dog or with your kids? [laughter] >> did everyone get that question? i think the appropriate answer would be my children. no, it is pretty clear it is my kids, because they're my kids. they need me. bo can be with anybody.

we try to spend a lot of time together as a family, but during the day, a lot of times bo is outside, running around. he is not interested in being with me. for now. he was not even that interested in sitting here. i was trying to get quality time with him and he just wanted to play. i was boring. all right, in the pink. yes, you. you, you, you. >> how often do you go into the oval office? >> how often? not as often as you think. i cannot think of the last time i was over there. because that is work, to me. that is my husband's job. sometimes i have to cut through the west wing to get to another building. if i am there, i will stop in, see what is going on.

but i don't go there every day, like the president does. because if i need to talk to him, i wait until he comes home. yes, he is in new york. he just left. did you hear the helicopter? were you here when they took off? he just left to go to new york, you are right. ok. green, he is ready! >> is there any thing that you have and the white house that you did not have in chicago, any of the other stuff? >> pretty much the movie theater and all the other stuff. we did not have any of this stuff. when we lived in chicago, we lived and a regular house, backyard, neighbors. we did not have security or a swing set or the south lawn or the movie theater. we had dvd's.

>> any other kind of stuff like the basketball court? >> we had nothing, none of it. sorry. >> what about bo? >> we did not have bo. we had nothing. [laughter] we had each other. we had love. that is what we had. no, we did not have any of that stuff in chicago. we did, there was a basketball hoop in our backyard. that was about it. it all right, you. get the microphone. >> what is your favorite part about being the first lady and having the power to change the world and stuff? >> the power to change things? >> i guess. >> yeah. my favorite thing is a