napolitano discussed the department of homeland security on c-span. >> next, "q & a." then david cameron on libya. then "road to the white house." with herman cane >> this week on "q & a," catherine wild. it is a nonprofit group made up of the heads of the city's largest businesses. its goal is to improve the economy of the largest cities in the country. >> kathryn, what is the partnership for new york city? >> it is a group put together at the end of the 1970's after the end of the city's fiscal crisis. david rockefeller lead that

effort and he said we almost lost new york. we were not paying attention to the needs of the city. i want to organize business not to be a chamber of commerce. i want to organize business to be committed to caring about a great city. >> how big an organization is it? >> we are about 15 employees. we have 300 members who represent the top ceo's of international companies based in new york. >> these are big names. >> the big names are ken from american express, the ceo of acy's, our past chairs were lloyd blankfein, and most of the

names that lead the finance media and fashion and retail industries of new york. >> i have a quote you uttered, you said it is not an easy time to defend the rich. >> right now we have the threat of a millionaire's tax coming over us. it is one of those things where we have to think about our society in complex ways being part of the global economy. we have to put them back into economic health. if you recall in the 1960's we were saying this cities are on fire. they have no hope. then in new york wall street came along. wall street helped build a global economy providing capital to the economies of the world.

with the wall street's reemergence, new york city was pulled into the global economy and became the gateway to the economy. it has prospered ever since. new york has done well by the rich. >> how big is this place? >> 8.2 million people in terms of our population. it is 1 million greater than we were two decades ago. >> you are bigger than a lot of states here. why did people want to live in this dense area? >> people like to live in a place that is dynamic that is showing leadership. new york has long attracted people from our around the world to come here. for people like myself, i came here from wisconsin.

they say new york is made up of people who did not fit in where they grew up. it is a diverse community. that is what i fell in love with when i first came here. i found it to be so diverse and exciting. learning new things every day. >> where did you grow up in wisconsin? >> madison. at the time the university of wisconsin was being blown up. i was raised in the county. i would have liked to go to the university but my parents thought i would be better off if i went to a college called st. olaf college. >> what is the difference between living in madison and new york? >> i refer to the midwest as being homogenized as compared to new york.

i think that it is truly the diversity and the pace of new york that make it different. where i grew up you were a single-family house and could not hear what was going on. when i first moved to an apartment in new york you could hear every fight. i heard the wife tell the husband she was pregnant. you could not miss a thing. new york is kind of fun that way. >> how did you get involved in this organization? >> i got involved in the partnership when it was first launched by david rockefeller. he was very committed to keeping new york city a place that was accessible to the middle class.

the first project he wanted to undertake was to rebuild the city's neighborhoods that had burned down. there had been white flight out of the city. he wanted to recreate the city's neighborhoods and provide home ownership opportunities for people living in low-income public housing. he wanted to rebuild the neighborhoods. it was a time when the city had no money. they did not have any budget but they had a lot of vacant land and unused renewal areas, property lost to the city for taxes when owners to abandon it. the city had that resource. rockefeller said we will get the banks to provide the capital.

we will get private-sector builders to create the first public apartment -- public- private partnership for affordable housing. i wrote the proposal for that program. i was introduced to mr. rockefeller bayh teo famous labor leaders. harry was the head of the electrical workers union and peter, who had been president nixon's labor secretary. they had a partnership with the rockefellers and worked closely with them on development efforts. they introduced me to mr. rockefeller. i wrote a paper on what the market may look like. i was 20-something. they said fine and a now we will

hire you to do it. i went to work their having worked for a decade in non- profit housing development. then i set up a program working in partnership with the city. with federal governments as well with -- created a home building industry in the city that we build neighborhoods. >> how friendly is it to the middle class to come here? >> too successful. when we started in the 1980's bessette -- there was not a place where you could sell a home or rent an apartment for what a cost to build it. there was a very weak market. we had to create markets.

within 15 years there was not a neighborhood in the city where you could not sell a home or rent an apartment for more than the cost of building. the markets came back. part of that was the successful effort to get a hold of the crime problem during the 1980's, theby the end of the 1990's neighborhoods were a victim of their own success. they were becoming unaffordable even in a remote regions of the five boroughs. we were very successful in restoring the market's. the challenge today is how do we keep housing affordable so people can live here? >> i have some numbers that show 2.5 million people lived in brooklyn, 0.3 live in queens,

and there are 500,000 who live and staaeten island. for someone who has never been here, what is new york city? how does that all work together? >> the concentration of the new york city economy is manhattan. it is a very concentrated economic environment that is generating a regional growth product for the region of about $1 trillion a year. if we were a country we would be number 11 in the world.

that is the economic region. the local economy is spread across the five boroughs with small business and retail and colleges. our job base is spread across five boroughs that came together. that makes up new york city. primarily the heavy economic lift is in manhattan. the burroughs provide housing and local employment and neighborhood shopping. >> how does one become a member of partnership for new york city? >> our membership is the chief executives of companies that are headquartered or have a substantial presence in new york city. they have to really -- mr.

rockefeller's principal and the involvement once you have to be engaged. you do not just send a check. our interest is in attracting top business leaders who are committed to the city personally who want to get involved with the issues that affect the city. that has become much easier because one of our partnership members became mayor bloomberg at the end of 2001. he has attracted everybody who is serious about international business andy understands the importance of this city. what david rockefeller saw -- he was one of the first to articulate was that a global economy depends on a great world

city that has deep and diverse talent, and excellent transportation system and is connected to the world that has an excellent communication system. david rockefeller knew it was in his self-interest to build a great city. bloomberg is the alternate example of somebody who is a great international business person who is demonstrating great leadership of new york city and has broad all sorts of magness for attracting business interests to the city. we have got flourishing research

and development activities going on. one private equity firm did the analysis and said the j.p. morgan chase has more it professionals than microsoft. people don't think as new york city as a tech center but mayor bloomberg has helped articulate that we are at the forefront of the next generation economy. we are much more and increasingly technology center. >> there is another world you are involved in called the new york fed. how did you become a member of that board? >> the federal reserve bank as

regional banks. for the new york state and puerto rico the new york fed is the bank. it is run by a president named bill dudley. he originally approached me about becoming one of three public members. three representing the public. formally the three public members are appointed by the board in washington. the others are elected by the banking members. so i got involved almost two years ago and was honored because it is is very important institution but also have

enjoyed what i have been able to learn about how the overall economy works and how the fed takes lead on many aspects of the open market committee. so the new york fed had an unprecedented rol ein helping restructure the country's financing system. now the regulatory system. it has been an amazing time to be part of the institution. explain the national federal report -- reserve board is government approved by the united states sent an -- united states senate -- >> it is part of the central

bank. there are regional banks across the country that are part of a central banking system. >> they are owned by the shareholders. you are right, it is private in that sense. but it is functions as the arm of the central bank of the public bank. >> how often do you meet? >> we meet once a month and we have phone calls in between. >> what kinds of things are you asked to vote on? >> most of the actions are advisory in nature. the board is providing input to the president and the staff in terms of our understanding of

what is happening in the local economy. most of the work is advisory. we vote on the election of the president of the bank and we vote on the recommendations with regard to monetary policy. that is based on the expertise and expert advice of the president and his staff. >> what do you feel strongly about as a board member? >> my main contribution is trying to help the fed be more accessible to the average person to help people understand what it does and how important it is.

the fact the new york fed is the bank for the world, the gold in our basement is not american gold. you can see the names of every country in the world that has their gold stashed there. for a long time the american public as we saw this play out over dodd-frank where there was a misunderstanding about the role of the fed's importance. my job is to push as much information as possible about what we are doing. the fed has done an excellent job of helping america recover from the financial crisis. i would like to see people understand how important that

role was in stabilizing the country and promoting economic recovery. >> you have members of your board that are members of the fed. janey dimo -- jamie dimon and others. how do they get on that board? >> the banker's and industry representatives were elected by bank shareholders. >> who owns bankshares? >> bankers. >> if this were certain radio shows you were being -- you were accused of being -- the fed is run by bankers who control the world. what do you say to that? >> i say in this country we have

been fortunate to have a situation where there is an interplay between government and the private sector expertise. the structure of the fed is set up so our public banks -- for guiding our economy has this network of relationships with the financial community to constantly update information about what is going on. there are some members of those boards like the immediate past chairman of our board was a labor leader here president of the afl-cio. some members on the board to provide input of what is going on in the public and private sector. that is the genius of what has

made this a great economic power. we have not had a government trying to run things. we had a central bank that took the input from banking andy took it from the industrial sectors and served as pretty well for many years. under the new initiatives going forward, it will serve even better. >> how does this relate to the dodd-frank? >> they did not screw anything up to bad light. there is going to be a consumer protection function that will be put in place now that there will be more opportunities for

banking institutions to interface on issues that affect consumers so hopefully we can avoid the problems we got into with subprime mortgages. i think that will be a plus. i think that we will end up saying that our big important international banking institutions survive, but they are regulated in a way there is more transparency. incentive compensation is more related to reality. things like that. >> why should we watch jamie dimon run the biggest financial institution in town? and served on the board of the fed?

isn't that a conflict? >> the board does not set rates. it gives recommendations -- it tells what is going on in the economy. who has a better vantage point than jamie dimon with all the consumers that bank with him. he is able to provide real-time information on what is happening in major portions of our economy. that is complemented by the other members and industry who give their own perspective. a big part of what we do is share those parts of you. other banks are doing the same thing. the board includes one big

banker. they are all term limited so they serve a seven-year term. there is also a small bank representative. the banker from upstate adirondack region of new york. there is also a midsize bank. that is represented by richard who is the ceo of -- there is a variety of opinions coming from upstate and puerto rico, as well as people from industry. emily just joined the board. she is the president of a metropolitan museum of new york. we share those perspectives.

that becomes information that the bank used when they are thinking about their economic projections and judgment on what will happen with the interest rates. >> what things do you vote on that will change people's lives? >> at the board level we do not vote on anything that would change people's lives directly. those decisions are made by professionals. as long as we have put great professionals in their -- during dodd-frank there was one recommendation that the president should appoint a president of the regional federal reserve bank. many of us thought that was a huge mistake and it would

politicize the fed. these banks have been professional particularly in new york. very highly respected as being nonpolitical. as adon't see this washington political operation. they see this as a high integrity operation. >> as things are not going the way you want them to go where does your vote change things? what is the power of the advisory board? >> we a point the president. >> i suppose we could make that recommendation. do you need a certain number of people voting? is it just a 5-4? >> it would be a majority. >> the board is really there to

represent a broader community industry financial community to provide input to the bank. that is why it is a great example of an american institution. it is the government looking to a variety of private sector interests to come and and give their opinion before the government makes its monetary policy. our role is to help with that advice. >> how many people work for the fed in new york? >> 2500. >> do they get a government or bank check? >> check from the fed. >> so they are a u.s. government employee? >> yes.

what is left after the it recent financial crisis that has not been corrected? >> the regulations associated and specifics of how various instruments will be treated and regulated is under negotiations. the treatment of how bankruptcy proceedings will affect the rights of creditors is still up in the air. there are many areas of dodd- frank that were left for further review that have not happen. we have two-thirds of the biggest hedge funds here in the new york area. they are all wondering how are these systemic risk definitions going to affect them? there is a whole range of uncertainty about what the

rollout of the regulations will do. that has had a role in retarding investment and job creation. you have many financial people standing on the side. there was a discussion in the last couple of months about banks and their capitalization requirements. if you did not have 20% down to buy a home the banks will have to treat you as higher risk capital. having worked much of my career

to rebuild urban neighborhoods and the house of preference for communities -- as an owner with three rental units and nothing is more secure than the income for rental. there is always a demand. under this requirement, if you have a two-family home, that will probably cost $500,000. you would have to have 20% cash. most middle-class families don't have that kind of cash. it will change very profoundly if those requirements go through and we have lowered downpayment mortgages because we are overreacting to fears of what happened in the subprime

scandal. it is a big threat to home ownership and our urban neighborhoods. >> when will that figured be finalized? >> they are talking about it now. there are a combination of decisions but it is the combination of regulators. it is their commission that will decide together. because that has been a critical source of mortgage financing.

>> i want to ask you about the 13 cats and 10 dogs. are there more now? >> what you are referring to is i have a home and a husband and a menagerie in puerto rico which i visit on a regular basis. we have many dogs and cats that have adopted us and shown up hungry. we try to find homes for them. when there is not another home it ends up being hours. in puerto rico that is great. it works out fine. >> when did you meet your husband?

>> the early 1970's. >> when did you get married? >> that is a good question. 2002. >> why the living situation? >> he is poor regan -- he is puerto rican and really wanted to go back. i am very committed to my work here. we worked things out. >> how often do you go to puerto rico? >> every month. it is 3 hours and 15 minutes. jetblue is new york's hometown airline so that goes well. >> how did the responsibility for the fed in puerto rico get under the new york fed?

>> not really because it is this same region for huhd and -- hud and epa. puerto rico is part of the new york region. i think it is are sixth bureau. >> it seems to me there are 800 different languages spoken in new york city. >> i would think so. it means everybody can come here and feel at home. there is always somebody that speaks your language. >> it is the largest single african-american community, and there is something like one quarter of the south asians who live here. >> could be. >> if you were to go visit your

mayor in new york city and said what can i do for you? what is the number-one thing you would ask for? >> that is a good question. >> a few years ago i would have served their -- said serve a third term but he is doing that. i guess it is -- what i would ask the mayor is how we can help him finish off the work he started with school reform. the mayor has undertaken a very large game changing initiatives for new york city.

it is hard to get it done. it takes time and it is turning a battleship when you bring major change to a city like new york. think there don't is anything i would ask him for besides how can we keep this going how can we engage more people and support these efforts over the long term? because his term is up in two years. we want to keep many of the good things he got started going. >> did you think he should have run for president? >> no, i liked having him as mayor. many taxis are hybrids. is that something the government

encourages? >> they have tried to encourage it. they even tried to mandate it. they have not -- that was litigated by the taxi drivers who did not want to be mandated. it is supported but i don't think there is a burden. >> if you went to see the governor andrew cuomo in albany and he said what can i do for you? what do you want changed? what would you tell him? >> i would say keep up the good work. the governor campaigned on a program of reform, budget reform and bringing economic investment and making new york state a stronger economy. he has been amazing in going forward, taking on rough

challenges that in other states like in wisconsin have blown up into camps. the governor has been working collaborative lay with all sectors of the community trying to bring everybody in. we are seeing real coordination of communication and people trying to work together rather than standing at the i think that governor cuomo is doing an amazing job. and he's in the home stretch, our fiscal year ends april 1. and i think it's possible that he is going to workout with the legislature and the various stakeholders and from business and the community. i think he will work out where we have a positive change and everyone is participating. even though new york is one of

the dozen states with a work situation, we have a 10 billion deficit and have the highest education costs and highest taxes in the country. he's got a huge challenge that he inherited. but he's said from the beginning, i am going to work with everyone and bring people to the table. and in the health care arena and have to figure out how to bring it down. and met with many people and they came with a plan to cut the budget by 2.5 billion dollars in the health care area.

that everyone agreed to. well, not everyone but the task force was strong and recommended to the governor and said that's my program, i will go with you. it's totally different from leaders or governors who have gone in and said, it's my way or the highway. >> you had the largest number of leaders in history, but if you come to the city it's horrendously expensive in certain areas. you can go to the outer area and it's not. how do you keep this up and how much farther can it go. and over the years everyone that has come here, and it dipped down after 9/11 and you can spend 20% of a hotel bill on taxes. >> yes, actually mayor giuliani

brought the hotel taxes down. and was able to demonstrate he was earning more revenues with lower taxes because people came back and we got lots of new hotel rooms built. and that was a good lesson in how high taxes do not always yield good revenues. the tourism industry, mayor bloomberg's goal is that we hit 50 million. and we have high costs and congested airports. and we are responsible for two- thirds of the air traffic delays come out of our airports. so that's really the limit. now right now there is an experiment going on with f.a.a. and jetblue to see if we can put in new equipment.

go away from our 1960's air traffic system and update it and be able to greatly expand the number of flights. and get rid of delays and move air traffic in and out. and that's a big deal in tourism industry, because time is money. and in terms of affordability, i was talking to someone at a party friday night and she told me she retired and has a guest house in harlem and loaded for opportunities and you can go to ethic neighborhoods. and my neighborhood has local accommodations and we have

wonderful restaurants and legacy and italian and best mid east food in the city. >> and i have heard that over the years a lot of people don't want to bring their conventions because of the unions and in the case of the cable industry pull cables. >> this is great, you are giving me an opportunity of everything we fixed in the last two decades. and new york had a problem with our feather bedding and under costs was fixed.

>> how. >> they came down like a ton of bricks on illegal activities and kick-backs and practices that have been going on for a long time. and cleaned it up. and basically said, we have to fix this for the good of our economy. and got it done. the -- and we now have both at the state level and at the city level we have a convention and tourism bureau that is doing a terrific job of attracting and marketing. and also keeping an eye on what is going on here. and making sure for example, where the cabs were overcharging. and that stuff is cleaned up and is there a strong enforcement. again under the bloomberg

administration tourism industry has reached a whole different level. we are the number one tourism destination in the country, we have surpassed orlando and want to keep it that way. >> so, you have visited the mayor and the governor and now go to the president or congress, and what do you tell him what you don't want as much as you do want? >> in this case there is a long wish list when we get to washington. what we would love to see from washington is immigration reform. something that allows this country to operate on a much more market-driven approach to immigration. we have a very difficult time getting appropriate and timely visas and green cards. we are sending graduates of our great universities that we have

trained and sending them back to their countries for lack of a green card. we are not as open as we were, and part of that is post-9/11, but in general we think that our society and future economic growth depends on a rational immigration policy and dealing with the problem of the people here illegally. to find a path of citizenship for them and their kids. we have undocumented people that are here and have jobs and only here because there is work for them. and their role is important here. we have to figure out how to fix that. and looking forward we want to make sure that we get more control over immigration. so it's a tough battle.

but i think that from the standpoint of this country's future, i think 40% of new yorkers are foreign born. that is our feeder system. that's our source of talent and it is for this country. and always has been. and we think that's a big problem that has to be solved. >> what is a rational immigration policy? >> it's one that reflects policy that is not emotion but it's practical. the problem of the people here, it shouldn't be an emotional amnesty, you can't throw 13 million people out. you have to figure out a practical solution, we have to make sure to sealing our borders for future immigration situation. and we have to figure out a way to make that you are sure that

needs are documented. and to keep top talent here and not send them packing. >> if someone comes to new york city and they are not legal, what do they have access to and what i am getting to, can they go to school? do they have access to medicaid and all the social contract things? >> not all. not all. but definitely they can go to school. and new york city does not go after them. and tries to bring them in. but no, technically they are not eligible for medicaid but they can go to our public hospitals and get service or to any hospital and get service. >> you said first of all, rational immigration policy and then practical immigration policy. >> in my mind they are the same thing. >> and my question is give a

specific, does it add up to amnesty? >> for people that are here and working citizens and have not committed a crime and willing to learn english. i would not call it amnesty but earned citizenship. thoseat's the option for who are contributing to our society in a positive way, absolutely. >> what about if you are coming here illegally after this, wharf is decided. what then would be your remedy? >> clearly if you intervene early it's a lot easier to deal with on a case-by-case basis. that would have to be a system for quickly identifying people. >> if they don't? >> if they don't, i have to leave that to debate in

congress. >> because you know you came from wisconsin. there are a lot of people outside of this area where there haven't 40% of people living in other countrys and live there and don't want to pay for amnesty and people coming from other lands, and the issue is strong on both sides. >> it does, although i have found people across the country. we have a network of business associations around the country. and when we talk to our colleagues in colorado or minnesota, they all recognize how broken our immigration policy is. and we got to figure out a better way to handle it. if you -- i was up in quebec recently and visiting with their officials. and canada has a much more practical approach, and they

welcome people. and that's the way we have functioned in the past. and based on the needs of our economy and the globalization of the economy, we have to keep doing that. i talk to small businesses that would like to go global. they need someone who speaks languages, who knows the culture, who can market for them. they can't get visas in or out, and it's difficult. and similarly for countries to invest in jobs, and many of them have a terrible time and like a third of people from china to invest and create jobs are turned down and not able to get through the immigration process. it's broken in a lot of ways. and there are many parts of the

policy that are a huge problem for the economy. >> you have been over 30 year for the partnership for new york city. >> i guess so. >> and you told us earlier you have 50 people. what kind of money do you have to raise every year? and i know you are involved in other associations to raise money too. >> yeah, our annual budget is about $12 million a year. >> and what do you spend that on? >> mostly people. >> and do you lobby yourself? >> i do. >> do you have to register. >> well, not in washington, i am state and city. >> what is the hardest part of your job? >> the hardest part, i guess the hardest part is wanting to get more done and having to limit, in my job because i work with people who are well-known

as top international business leaders. and because i am accessible. people who have needs and have concerns and want a job for their kids. i get calls from all sorts of people looking for help for access. to what they perceive as opportunities. and it's just impossible to respond to all of those requests. and so i guess that's my biggest, i like that least about my job, have to say no to people. >> and go back to that phrase, it's not an easy time to defend the rich. obviously you are around a lot of rich people. if you were in a closed room and they asked what about rich people and as it relates to this country. what advise would you give them? >> i guess, i consider david

rockefeller as a model. i used to take him to visit the houses on the program he established. and i would introduce him to people in the community, and people who bought the homes and local tenants. because there was no one that he couldn't talk to in a natural, easy way. because he didn't see himself as separated by wealth or fame. or his own society. so i guess, i think that model and that tends to be the way that many of the people that get involved with an organization like ours are. they are really interested in people. they don't see themselves as

separate. they see themselves as part of a community. and they are probably unusually driven by the desire to be successful. a lot of type "a" personalities. but they don't see that as making them better than anyone else. so i think it's to get out and meet diverse people and make sure they understand that -- i mean what is great about america is. and i see this in contrast to some european societies, we are not a class-driven society. and the people that i work with regardless of their wealth tend to be very down to earth. interested, committed people that care deeply about the issues facing americans and facing the world. but i think we tend to get so

busy and into strata, where we are not out there enough relating. what i love about my job, yes, i can have access to some of the wealthiest and most successful people in society. but i am also very much of the part of all aspects of our community and have the opportunity to be constantly in touch with young people coming up and entrepreneurs that are struggling to make it in new york. so i got, i think that we should all -- those of us who live in new york have the great advantage to cut it through it all and see every sector of our society. and that's what i think they should do. >> kathryn wylde, president and c.e.o. of the nonprofit partnership of new york city, thank you for joining us.

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> for a dvd copy, call the number on the screen. for free transcripts or give us your comments about this program, visit us at qa.org. are also available as c-span podcast. >> next, british prime minister david cameron on libya. then "road to the white house" then a discussion on what is ahead for congress and the white house. tomorrow on "washington journal," jack spencer examine its nuclear power energy in the u.s. in the wake of the disaster

in japan. they discuss the consumer product safety information database which would allow consumers to report safety problems and read complaints filed by other consumers. and president up america's promise alliance talks about her campaign to reverse rising high- school dropout rates. "washington journal," live at 7:00 a.m. eastern. >> provide coverage of politics, nonfiction books, and american history. it is all available to you on television, radio, on line and social media networks. find our content online through our video library and we take c- span on the road bringing our resources to the community. it is washington your way, this c-span networks. created by cable, provided as a public service. public service.