is, to to get all sorts of places, including potential adversaries, more transparent. notice the autocratic regimes in the arab spring face choices about cutting themselves off from the internet so they can stop communications bob mong protesters. it is hard at this stage to net out the goods and the bads. it is with us, it is with us can for sure, it is only going to get worse, and will have a big impact on the way intelligence has done much of its business. >> any other questions? in the back? >> the mention of the arabs spring, two weeks ago, in texas, a person was scheduled to speak at the hilton hotel with pressure from care and the muslim brotherhood. that was canceled. the hilton is very high-profile american corporations,

international interest, and what did you feel the ramifications of that might be? this is ansure intelligence or policy question for any of us to comment on. if i could add one footnote, it is the issue about intelligence warning, me, and gregg put his finger on it, it is a matter of timing. somebody wrote a paper in 1979 -- had a team of analysts that looked at these issues, and i have always been one who was one of a more dour people, but these are serious issues. the datapoint is the birth rate in russia is declining. it is the only moderate advance society where the protections are in the next 30 years the number of russians will go from 140 billion to the 110 million

range. if you look at the consequences of that, how do you man an army? do you import your work forces from central asia? if you take about the problems the russians have already the people from the caucuses, these are huge issues? when the ring the bell? you're not going to get a great.ing that's what i'd do with that information? it is a question of being there at the right time, and the thing that i liked about gregg's alert thatou begin to people have a problem, and you say it is coming closer, hear the reasons why, and how it plays out, and you get the technical wording, very close, and these are terrible decisions that the leaders face. in the terms of gorbachev, they

were going to watch the dissolution of the soviet union with the signing of the treaty of the former republics into independent states. it was be essentially over. that in our view was one of the major triggers to go ahead with the coup. greg, you're welcome to comment. >> basically, i could not agree more. that is too far out, probably on helpful, the question does not get asked, the injured as i can listen to. the challenge the intelligence faces is keep trying to push what is inevitably for policy makers very short time horizons, keep trying to push it out, to help them seek court decisions in the shadow of the featured in some sense. it is a real challenge because all of us have had experience on either side of the intelligence equations.

boy, that looks interesting, i will read that when i have time, and there is never time. try to do that in a forum that is useful affects what a policy makers thinks they need to do today, that is the real challenge. it is one that has charred and -- has sharpened by the shape as of the world we are in these days, and that should make for much tighter relations between intelligence and policy as a joint exploration of what this world looks like and how we advance american interest in it appeared that runs into the problem of time, as it always does. >> with that, do we have any final questions? [unintelligible]

>> i can assure you, and i think i can talk on behalf of the entire intelligence committees be, we're watching very closely. we do not have to ring a bell. [unintelligible] the intelligence committee's function is to provide information, identify trends, be they good or bad or threatening, but the policy makers have to be the ones who tried the decision process. we are there not to be recommending or advocates. we are there to lay out the information. we have to ask the right questions, and i believe we are. policy makers have to decide how they want it back on these messages.

so i think we're getting close to the end. i want to hand it over to duke. [applause] >> i would like to thank everybody who participated today. i think it was an extraordinary opportunity. it is a great day for information to be shared, great for the national arcades to be able to work with the central intelligence agency to release these documents, and i would like to give everybody a round of applause. [applause] >> wednesday morning, amanda foreman, about margaret thatcher's moment as prime minister of great britain. you can find a link on our website at c-span.org and see

the author at 9:15 wednesday morning as she takes your phone calls. coming up, bill clinton marking world aids day, which was december 1. then eric schmidt speaking to the economic club of washington, d.c. then a discussion on challenges facing wounded veterans looking for work. >> michele bachmann is here, as i understand and she is thinking about running for president, which is weird because i heard she was born in canada. [applause] [laughter] yes, michele, this is how it starts. >> is amazing to be here in washington, and here we are at

the hilton. the red carpet outside was amazing. hoop are you wearing? what does it matter? i'm going into a hilton. >> c-span coverage from the white house correspondents dinner. watch them on line on our youtube channel. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> c-span's series "the contenders" at 14 candidate who have had a lasting impact on american politics. monday, thomas dewey. tuesday, at least stevenson.

wednesday, barry goldwater. thursday, hubert humphrey. friday, george wallace. saturday, george mcgovern and ross perot. have you tried the free c-span radio app? >> it is fast, easy-to-use, and visually appealing. it is also free. it took me about 10 seconds to learn how to use it. >> get streaming audio of c- span2 radio as well as all the threet c-span television networks, including live coverage of congress. c-span, available wherever you are. find out more at c-span.org /radioapp.

>> tuesday on c-span2, and look back at some of the memorial's held this past year. we will begin at 10:00 a.m. with a tribute to bob dole appeared just after noon eastern on tuesday, the memorial service for first lady betty ford pass away in july. rosalynn carter and cokie roberts were among the speakers. also the unveiling of a statue of president gerald ford in the capitol rotunda. members of congress and the president's children spoke at the event. you can look at that at 1:35 p.m. eastern on c-span2. bill clinton was among the speakers at events commemorating world aids day earlier this month tr. other speakers included alicia keys, bono, and marco rubio.

>> thank you for putting this together. this is world aids day. only somebody like you could get together a panel like this. for your work, it has been amazing. thank you very much. [applause] >> most people are actually here to see alicia. feeling the same. look, this is an extraordinary moment just to hear the words out of the mouths of this president, speaking of the

possibility of the end of this disease, the greatest health crisis in 600 years, is extraordinary, it is an extraordinary moment for so many people, activists. activists who have worked longer than i or alicia -- it is just one of those moments. i'm just thinking if other presidents could make that speech and follow through on those words, then we'd really will see the end of eight. and that is up to us now, as we leave this building, to make sure across the world that the leadership of the united states is followed through on by our respective countries. >> will be asking panelists all -- why did you

get into this issue? why did it becomes a personal? >> have seen all kinds of stuff in this work. udence probably speak better to this than ever i could pick it has a strange feeling to be in a clinic and to see lines and lines of people, men, women, and children, queueing up, diagnosed as hiv-positive, be essentially being lined for a death sentence. the strange look in their eyes, which is -- i wrote about this today in "the new york times," it is not anger, there's no

resentment, and then you talked to the medical staff. they are on fire. there is rage and there is fury, because they know that it is an accident of geography. not that there is no drugs, just that there are no drugs for people -- for poor people in that geography pick it affected me way beyond charity or a sense of compassion. for me it felt like it was a justice issue, and the challenge of the very idea of the equality and the very idea of our humanity in civilization toward the end of the 20th century, but it had that effect on the grid, i cannot believe being in a canteen of aids activists, the heroes of the struggle, discovering they were all hiv- positive themselves, and then discovering they did not have drugs. when the drugs were arrived,

then fighting amongst each other about who gets the drugs, not fighting for themselves, but pledging that they were the least important person. it was unbelievable. i will never forget it. here three or four people in bed come on top of the bed come out onto the bed, things you do not want to see come and if the rest of the world follows the leadership of the united states. thank you, thank you, thank you to the united states of america. thank you so much for the behalf of those people you will not meet. >> bono did write about this today in the "the new york times" editorial, and you live this life. you said people are angry as

hell, and he looked at you. were you one of those people who did not -- >> exactly, at the time when he knew you were in a place because you're not rich enough, it is a limited to the rich. so you go to the clinic and using a lot of people, people,bono said. when you test people for hiv, why would i encourage you to have a test, and then i tell you i am helpless but there's nothing i can do? that exactly what it felt like when you go to a clinic and you have patients who are so ill and you know the very next day he would not come in and beat some of life -- you would not come in and see some of them alive.

that is exactly how it felt like. when we have the opportunity but all these -- to have access to drugs, let me speak for myself. it was so and powering, you could feel the force, the joy that you go to the clinic with. you look at the patients and you know if you will see that the next sometimes you feel like giving money, a just getting our money. this money is not just money. it is so real, and you can actually feel it and touch it. it is not just about money. it is about lives and other people. [applause] >> kay warren, there are so many

defectors in our society in fault, and they all have a role to play. when people think about the church, they think about their role as a well. sometimes they think about the church but skepticism, and have not always been a player at the table. what is the role of the church in your opinion? >> the church historically has had a role. we went to a castle in nottingham, and in the bottom of that castle was a diorama shows like in medieval times street in need of times the church was the center of the public life. the poor came to receive the help. the sick king. this is not a new idea. the church has always been at the heart of the committee, and caring for people. somewhere along the line we advocated that role -- abdicated

that role, and the church has a role to care for that sick, the needy. we would like to help the church rediscover, help pay-based communities discovered the role. church has unique distinction is that nobody else has. talk about distribution channels. we have got the drugs, but cannot get them to the right place. the church is an existing distribution channel. it serves every corner of the war. the church brings volunteers. there are 2.3 billion people who say they are people of faith. what is half of those people were mobilized to take care of people who are positive? to take care of the orphans? the church hasn't fallen tears. -- the church has volunteers. there will never be enough

physicians, nurses, educators, but those volunteers in those churches, if they can be trained to be community health workers. when a project where we have trained nearly 3000 community health workers in rwanda. this raises the health care in the area. testing can be done in churches. people do not know where to get tested. why not get it in a place where you will get spiritual guidance and counseling? churches bring -- government has been the only government can do perry private sector -- the fate committee as of the only it can do, and have a seat at the table as a confluence of those doing things, then there can be changed and there can be the end of aids. >> alicia there will be a question coming in for you.

marco rubio, there is a lot that the two sides of the aisle did not agree on, and now we are seeing it more than ever before. this is something that see that people bagree on. kay warren is talking about the role of government. what was your reaction to president obama's speech? >> this issue is a good example of how government can work with other institutions in society to be a positive difference maker. you said -- we agreed the united states is a great country in the 20th-century. the debate is whether the united states will remain a great country in the 21st century. what is the source of our greatness? where hard-working people, innovative people, but one of the things that contributes is

we are a blessed people. we're out last week can get. this is -- and another source of our strength is our example. and my home state of florida that is the case. our example has been as much a source of our greatness as anything else. this is an opportunity for me, in the 1980's, aids was a death sentence. we are a generation of americans who are on the verge of eradicating creigh-- eight an entire generation of people who will not know hiv. that is a great thing that our nation can be a part of. you need to have --

>> how can it be tougher when -- economy is tough now. it will get even worse. [applause] >> it is exceedingly smart of the united states to do this kind of stuff. just looking at africa, by 2050 >> the continent of africa will double in population in terms of china. think about that. there will be more young people in africa than there are chinese. this is the teacher. there are the 15 economies -- is a rich place. if you have any doubts about this, ask long-term thinkers like china, because they are

going to africa because they see the future. for american jobs, european jobs, trade, everything else, this is a smart thing to do. >> you listen to this, you heard the speeches, and your name is about on every piece of hiv aids legislation. [applause] you should meet a letter backstage -- she is getting her colleagues to sign this right now, so she is beating the drum on this constantly. when you hear the other speeches, what goes through your mind? >> i am so humbled and excited today that we are here talking about the world free of aids. i also have to say that i am very blessed and honored and

pleased to be working with such great human beings -- bono, r rubio -- weo4 would not be here if it were not for all of us working together come our focus groups. let me say the importance of our bipartisan effort, because, yes, i wrote the initial bills with congressman leach, worked with congressman rondell, my predecessor, who had some amazing work in congress. hyde, poelosi, henry and i can just call the names of democrats and republicans who said we see what we can do.

as president bush said whom much is given, much is expected pick it has been an important effort, and there have been challenges. when we came upon those challenges, we were able to work them through. as i was thinking earlier about how we work on our legislation and funding, and i remember the appropriations committee and the challenges we were faced with, but as we did this i said, here in washington, d.c., i hope all of you and all of us look at how the congress and political leaders put aside their partisanship and their different points of view and come together to say be our point of pork to ensure that we have an end of aids. again, we are at a critical moment, and we have to recommit

ourselves today on world aids day to continue the battle to win this war, and we're winning, but had a long way to go, and i encourage you do help us get the funding, push the legislation, and work in a bipartisan way to complete our work. [applause] >> as our discussion continues, we will get specific as possible in terms of what that means. this is the audience to present specifics to. where streaming live on youtube. if a question from youtube, this is for alicia. years old, i 8 would like to ask why do you think it is important to help people with aids? >> oh. >> she's pretty cute?

why is it important? ppreciateater th stella's question. when i was 18 i was introduced entire internal -- and atti pandemic. i saw beautiful girls, just like stella, who had no one, and they youngerising their how he brothers and sisters.

the medicine was there available to treat people, but they did not have access to it. just because of where they lived, and then i was devastated. that is when we co-founded -- so when i started seeing kids who were hiv-positive and had access to medicine, and a thriving and plain and running and jumping and living, i was like, wow, here is this possibility. the next time i went back to africa i was pregnant, her and i met women who were also going to the mother's who were hiv-

positive, and they did not have access to treatment that would allow them to have babies that were born free of aids. i said, whoa, what if that was me? here you are thinking learning -- i learned a thousand babies are born today with hiv, but they do not have to be. only 50% of mothers have access to the treatment. what if every mother had access to treatment? what if every mother had access to the treatment, and so if we have the power to do that, and we?ldn't these are the things that started to impact me, and then i realized this is just bottom- line. it is the most horrendous disease of our lifetime, and it

is not them over there and then we are over here. it is us. this is an us thing. are all living with this. it is in my life, it is in your life. if we do not care about, then what in the world are we going to do? we all have to care about it. stelln to feel lighke for a, we are living in an incredible time, and we have the opportunity to be a global community that can leave a legacy of an aids-free generation. like for real? you know what i mean? it makes me so unbelievably committed, and this disease is

30 years old. when my son is 30, we must make it that he will not even know about it. he will know that it is in the past, and now we have created the end of it. if we have the power, then we must. >> amen. [laughter] [applause] >> as a journalist, things change when you have kids. it got tougher after i had kids come out and people say, do they remind you of your own children? that is not the point. they are my children. you could only understand when you have traveled to the places we have to travel. what alicia is describing, you have seen first hand. you're telling me this backstage, and it is awkward for me to ask, but if you can share

a double bit of your own story and what you have been through. >> i want to thank the american audience and the government let me come here. as the president sent a they have lifted the veil for hiv- positive people. the history i'm going to share with all of you, i want to take a chance to honor my daughter who pass away 15 years ago. other organizations, mr. bush -- i cannot thank him enough for introducing -- i cannot think the work that president obama is still doing today people, like

the senator, congresswoman loee, bono, alicia keys -- it is an honor to be here, a part of the tape. 15 years ago i lost my daughter. i found out that i was hiv positive. i volunteered to become a counselor, and the store is told where jerry the stories were people are going to die, and most people die, including my own daughter. in places where -- in sediments, people are still struggling to access drugs. a lot is being done, and today i was blessed with two children who have tested hiv-.

[applause] i have a 10-month-old baby that is hiv negative. today i have a reason to smile. i have a reason to be here. i'm healthy. i have a reason to be alive, but i also have reason to fight the fight that we are fighting pi. we have women and children who will go to the same thing. i'm glad that we will get rid of hiv, and no child will die of hiv. we still have a number of hiv- positive people who do not have enough skills to make sure their own children did not good to the same passage. we have seen how skills have been built for doctors to

educate about hiv, but also to know how to treat people living with hiv. be still have women and men will go to the same thing, because they do not have money to feed their children, poverty is a problem, and everybody has done great things. today we have chronic illnesses being treated, and now we have heard about -- we have children earning around pick my own children running around. we have help the people like myself, but we have people who do not have a chance who are dying, waiting to be helped. i believe the fight is not over. we still need to educate people, give them skills in order to for themselvesd so the cycle does not repeat

itself. >> i cannot help but notice this -- we have a coke sitting here on the lectern. every place i traveled in the world, you still see coke, trucks, signs, everywhere. when you got invited by bono come to and the event like this, what is the role of cok,e business overall, when thinking about this issue? >> am very proud to be here as well as every one of the 770,000 employees of coca-cola around the world.

i am proud today to be part of this. i am proud to be part of this date and the next fight in the last fight against aids. i am here because we are the largest single employer on the continent of africa, and we have learned one thing in the last 125 years. this is the 125th anniversary of coke. when it learned one thing -- you are only as good as the communities you probably serve. you have to play in today's world, in the 21st century, to be a meaningful part of making sustainable communities. that is why i am so proud to be part of this last fight. that is why as president bush and president obama said about today is the date we recommit. that is what we're doing, because this new agreement we

have with -- as complementing what ever we have done and are already doing in africa, china, russia, other parts of the world, to help fight aids. i am also here because today's in the world, societal issues are complicated, and government cannot solve societal issues. neither can civil society. here in this panel and before we have heard presidents, governments represented here, civil society is represented and business is represented it. i call it the golden triangle, and the golden triangle is what we need more room to work more collaborative leak to solve these big issues, and that is why i am here, and that is what i am so proud to be here. i cannot think of -- stay is going to be remembered certainly

die me, but it also happens to be my birthday. [applause] i cannot think of a better place to be. i cannot think of a better place to be, right here, because -- and it makes good business sense, that is why i am here. africa, as you heard,bono, is the next frontier. the be the story of africa. billions of people, the richest continent, we have to be part of making it a healthy continent. that is why we are here today. can we compress time? that is why we're here today. we need to compress time. we can do it. the call on business today is that yes, governments are strapped.

we have heard it many times. i think it makes good sense for business to step up. apart from the monetary demand companies make, the other important piece is awareness. when african consumers invite our products into their lives 100 million times every day, we can play a critically important role in raising awareness. we can continue to not only the support the fight with red berets awareness, better habits and to ensure we can compress this time and we can all see very soon the day when we can

talk about this in the history of the world. [applause] >> everybody remembers that advertisement that coke ads life, everybody knows it's an extraordinary thing, but now, it saves life. it's a beautiful spin on the copywriter's idea and i rather like that. sap has just joined up with red today, and that is a big deal. [applause] >> if i could just say one thing, they tell me things all the time, but i have to say from a pragmatic standpoint, coke being everywhere in terms of

access to medication, because of your infrastructure on the ground, it is quite remarkable. >> the last three years, we have been working with the global fund on tanzania. just ensuring we can share some best practices with our supply chain in how we get things to remote villages, medicine has been made accessible, it is just incredible. it is not just the money, but ensuring you can land at your awareness and your supply chain and just getting things done quicker. >> i believe the satellite is

up. carlos slim from american mobile, he has an announcement to make. please welcome him. [applause] >> good afternoon. can you hear us? >> good morning. hello, we are very proud to announce today our partnership with red. we will make our networks through all of latin america great and we will drive to fight aids, the next four years

through 2015. i am sure that we can fight the calamities in the world. we will make with these networks donations to our customers and we are very glad to join our efforts and work together with the family and support of our customers to help reach the end of aids. thank you very much. [applause] >> that is great because it is a global and it is all over the world. having a the leadership of

carlos slim is amazing and his 230 million people on his the various networks, we get to have communication with them. i still do not know the announcement i'm supposed to make, but we do want to invite people who are heroes and who got us excited about this. >> maybe that was the announcement because that is a pretty big announcement. >> we're going to be hearing from president clinton in just a few minutes. i mentioned this at the beginning. everyone has a personal connection, bonheur talked about his own interests -- do your constituents talk to you about this? is this on your mind on a regular basis? >> when i was running for united

states senate, they showed up at every event i was at. that is a very effective and, congratulations. i really want to recognize that. early on, i served in the florida legislature. we have a significant problem around the country. we have longstanding problem with hiv aids in florida and america. but one thing that came to mind was minority males in affecting females and there was an enormous surge in females being infected in florida. it was the first time i was able to work in the political realm on this issue and i had met all lot of women who had been affected by this. it was the first time i had ever worked in a bipartisan fashion on this issue. not being fully familiar about

the efforts of the united states had been in, at a time when there is some much negativity, it is important for the american people to understand what their generosity means and it allows us the opportunity to say this is a nation that helped end world war two and put a man on the moon. this accomplishment is as great as anything this nation has ever been able to be a part of. [applause] >> just to follow quickly on what the senator said, it is important within today's remembrances and celebration to understand that here in america, we have minority communities where the rates of an infection are off the scale in terms of the disproportionate rates. 14% of our population, 45% of

new infections with african- americans. we have been working with this -- bono came to my district and i have wanted to put the pride of the community of color as relates to the african-american community within a global context. you heard the president today and bond know came and went to the naacp image awards and received a wonderful award for his service to the world. that was the beginning of us to put the domestic plight as well as our international plight within the global context so that we are one and we are talking about minority communities and all of those individuals who, for whatever reason have been shut out and

discriminated against. finally, we are beginning to see some movement as it relates to the strategy. all of the bringing us all together as one is a very important step to take given the fact we finally did repeal the discrimination ban, that is a seminal and important moment. >> you have heard about this and he is suggesting people bank of america for their commitment and what is happening and people around world should think of the united states. first of all, should day and what do you see on the ground in reality. how has other people's lives changed as a result? >> you were talking about the importance of leadership. it is amazing what has been done

with the presidents i remember. i come from south africa and i acknowledge our wonderful minister of health is doing a great deal in fighting hiv aids. over 90% of people are now testing for hiv which never happened. but even our own leaders could not stomach the fact that hiv does cause aids and we saw the leadership of president bush, and mr. colon powell became and encouraged our leader. we saw ambassadors from your congress come and encourage leaders all over africa to say we need to fight together and we need to stand as leaders and

make a difference. i have the honor to thank him for coming to south africa and show our own president that hiv does call it -- doesn't cause aids and is about time we fight. if it was not for america, we would not have that. in the last 30 years, we are told, women are going to die. children are still dying, but children's lives have been saved because of the leadership shown by america. that is beyond funding. program i know in my entire life of living with hiv that has brought food to the table and has worked with communities of people living with hiv and has brought enough technical skills for doctors and

nurses all over africa, that has made sure other institutions. they have done an amazing job and making sure we eliminate pediatric aids. the global fund is looking at the steps that have been taken and a learning from the wonderful programs that have banned implemented. i stand here and think we had the world cup in south africa. i was not celebrating because i thought i would be dead and guess what. when the world cup was there, i was expecting my second child. i was thinking i am alive. every year, i think it is the end of the year and i have not been to hospital and i have not

been sick. what is it that i have achieved. you need to look at that as well and say what is it we have achieved and get excited. the excitement should not be over because we are just starting. we need to make sure that nobody dies of hiv anymore. [applause] >> on the subject of activists on the continent, you are hearing a great one -- i remember and you must remember when the group in south africa took their government to court to get access because the government at that point under

a the leadership had denied aid was a problem. some of the most surreal conversations i had in my life or a round of this disease. i asked how much of the workforce had been effected by the disease. i'd just spoken to someone in coca-cola to said it 10%. i said you cannot be serious. he said we have a problem and we don't have an aids problem. i felt like i was in a kafka novel, like this was some strange experience in the early soviet union. i went to see president mandela and i asked him to leave the room and i asked, can i ask you

what is going on with their president. he looked at me and i hope he doesn't mind me saying this. you know it is a funny thing to live in exile. he lived in exile in london and other places. to never know who is going to knock at the door or who you might meet when you walk around the corner, i'm looking at him and i say are you saying he is paranoid? he said yes. [laughter] what it is, he's a very smart man in so many ways. he has the job to take south africa from a first level economy. this knock came on his door.

we have a problem. we have a crisis. i know what to do. it is the denial, always that gets you into worst trouble and honesty that sets you free. breaking and the stigma has been the key and i want to salute the activists, people who are not represented in the room. people who have taken this fight. [applause] >> to me, there is still a gap and i don't know how to address it. one of the things that makes me most proud as an american, when i see the benefits, and ed -- my heart fills with pride and yet i come back to the united states and a vast majority of the people i know have no idea what it is.

the president's emergency plan for aids relief. they have no clue. >> why do you think that is? >> i don't know. i know that the message, what it has done, the testimony of the doctor that can tell you here is the difference in has made, those stories have not gotten out. i think that affects the american politicians because the politicians who were in office when it was instituted, a lot of those are gone. it feels like we have to do a better job of communicating how amazing this program is, the lives that it saves, why it is worth american dollars and attention. we have to recreate for people,

i read this week the article that said we have to get louder. i read a that -- a kaiser family statistic that says four out of five americans know someone who has died, in the african- american community, six out of 10 people know. it is a quiet epidemic. if that many people know someone who is positive, why is it so quiet? we have to energize the debate and engage the public and private sector. >> i am told we are going to go to youtube for a second. we have a question for sir elton john to is at the sydney opera house as part of world a day -- as part -- as part of world aids day. let's hear elton john. >> i am currently working in the

field of global health and development and i always at get asked the question if it is about more money. what is your response? >> it is not all about money, but it is an important part. by following president clinton and president bush, we need to keep it up so teachers and nurses and doctors can still be around to treat people have hiv. if we do not increase the donations or we decrease it, these people will not have the funding they need and it will affect all parts of society and disease will spiral out of control. we have the disease by the scruff of the neck and if we take our grip off, we're going to lose everything we fought for for the last 20 years. it is vitally important all the leaders of the world come together now and recognize that by giving more money to aids, we

can eradicate the disease. [applause] >> we wanted him to be here but he is lighting the sydney opera house in commemoration of the state. we're joined now by president clinton. somebody who everybody in this room knows his commitment to this particular cause. what he did as president and what he has done in terms of -- i know many people have seen the impact of that as well. i believe he is joining us from florida to talk about the work the clinton foundation continues to do. everybody, please warmly welcome former president bill clinton. [applause] >> thank you very much.

to all the people have been on this program, let me begin by saying i feel a great deal of gratitude, as you said in your remarkable article, for what has been done. i appreciate the announcements made today by president obama and my friend, carlos slim. i thank elton john for what he said. i want to recognize one person who is not there today, bill and belinda gates and the dates the foundation. they have helped us keep countless people alive in the last 10 years and i'm very grateful to them. we're going to have a question and answer session, so i will be

brief. everyone knows what the problems are. we have serious budget problems in the united states. we had a glitch in the testing program with the microbial gel, but i believe that will be resolved in favor of continuing it. it is important to remember the death rate of 1.8 million people last year is lower than it has been. at least 700,000 lives have been saved. that is the dilemma. how do you get to 2.5 million and how we get fewer people infected? i think what the secretary of state said the other day about the end of aids being in sight because of early intervention,

because of male circumcision, because we have the power to eradicate mother to child transmission, that is all true, but we have to focus on how we propose to do that given the current economic reality. it depends on the you to try to get more money out of the united states and other contributors to the global fund, but if you look at the resources out there now and the phenomenal work that has been done and a good that has been done by -- it is responsible for three-quarters of all the kids on aids medicine stay alive. it is obvious to me what we should do. at the clinton foundation, we are working on new ways to further lower the cost of the

treatment programs and to extend them into the rural areas where people do not have treatment available and reduce that number of hiv who do not know their status. it is important to remember that have a world away from you and me, there is a fascinating meeting going on about the nature of aid in south korea and the need for greater transparency. while the countries that receive aid need to be more transparent, the countries that give it also need to be more transparent in terms of whether the money is being spent as well as possible. this is one of my obsessions. you talked about how this was an opportunity to work in a bipartisan fashion.

one thing screaming for a bipartisan resolution is to increase the percentage of american aid dollars actually going to the people for the purpose to which it was intended. many countries that give an even higher percentage to their income than we do only spend half, sometimes less embarrassingly than half of the money appropriated in the countries affected on the people who it is designed to help. one of the things we americans should do, just as we led the way under president bush's leadership and as president obama intends to continue with, we ought to take the lead in spending a higher percentage of the money we allocate on the people who is designed to help. there is more money there than

people know and we could make a big difference. [applause] the last point i would like to make is that the aids epidemic is coming back in america, especially among gay men, primarily african-americans. the spending programs have been pared back, especially those that require state match for budgetary reasons. in 2014, if the provision of the health care bill comes in, we will be able to overcome that. meanwhile, we are stuck with where we are. the treatment in america cost about $10,000. our generic programs in africa and lower-income countries and latin america and southeast asia, providing the medicine

itself for about $120 itself, the children's treatment for about 60, one thing we might consider is, built on an agreement i made with president bush, interestingly enough, he said the money could be spent on these generic drugs made primarily in india and south america. if the drugs had been cleared by the food and drug administration, but the fda is being safe and effective. almost all of our medicines work. we might consider a two-year emergency time, where we could give the medicine to the states for a couple of years until the economy picks up and then we can resume giving it the way we

normally do. i am worried the death rate is going to go up simply because of the budgetary constraints on the states if we do not do something. meanwhile, you work on more money and i will work on lowering the cost of delivery and we can all lobby for a more effective expenditure of aid money. not just in bed united states but other countries in the world. [applause] >> president clinton has graciously agreed to answer some questions. one thing which he said at the end, if you could give us a peek behind the curtain. you describe a great discrepancy in cost for these treatments in the united states and what you have been able to do through your foundation in africa.

what does it take to get these drug costs of lower? how do you do it? there were three things involved. the most important thing we did was go to major manufacturers and ask them to change their business model. but this would not have been possible if it had not been for the global fund or bilateral donations. the generic drug manufacturers were charging about $500 a year for treatment for adults and 600 for children when we started. they or operating on a flawed business model, on the assumption they would have low volume and uncertain payment, so

they needed a high profit margin. you might run a small town jewelry store in the united states. we ask them to change to a grocery store model, with a high profit margin. we worked to return the supply chain and then we worked in the countries that asked us to help on improving their forecasting and delivery mechanism so that they cut their own costs and after that, we did exactly the same thing where there were no generic producers with aids testing and equipment. that worked really well and we had big companies lower their unit costs and we then tried to integrate the treatment of

mother to child prevention with maternal health care with all of the other things so we could have a comprehensive and therefore lower-cost treatment in rural areas in africa and the station. we have been doing all those things. you just have to make the money go forward but you do not have to make these suppliers lose money. the suppliers are making more money now than when they were charging more for aids medicine. even though 4 million people are getting medicine from these contracts, the truth is, everybody can get the medicine with in 10% of the cost because it would be immoral to charge this price for these contracts. collapse the entire price structure. it has been a wonderful thing and there is more we can do. the gates foundation has found it most of what we do and elton

john has helped. we will have more progress on that front, but while the world is going through this economic crisis, we have got to do better as well as try to improve the efficiency of the dollars spent throughout the world. >> you have a question. president clinton talked about the issue at home as well and not to lose sight of that. >> it is good to hear you and see you today. thank you for your leadership. i remember you signed the first global aids released back in 2000 at the end of your presidency which set the stage for the framework of the global fund. let me just say a couple of things as it relates to the domestic pandemic in america -- i love your idea about the

generic drug possibilities and i want to see if it makes sense for those of us on the hill to see if we can figure out a strategy because we have so many people waiting for their medicine now in florida and california and we have long lists and to me, it is immoral and unethical and we have to figure out how to supply these medications very quickly. in terms of what is taking place in the african-american community, african-american women have the highest rates of new infection. african-american men -- we have to figure out a way that, a comprehensive strategy to reduce stigma. that is part of it. we have to figure out a better way to do that. we also have to figure out how to convince people it is ok to

get tested. community activists have been phenomenal pushing leadership to get tested. my church is phenomenal. we have an aids ministry and it's important for all of us to come forward and get tested publicly. members of the congressional black caucus have done this. i was tested in south africa. with young people -- the lions came when they saw them get tested. we have to look at best practices taking place elsewhere to figure out how to develop a bold strategy so that we can begin to end aids in america and throughout the world. thank you for that suggestion and denote we are going to figure out a way. you know we are going to do it to see if it makes sense in terms of the generic drug

proposition. let me make a suggestion. first, thank you for everything you have done. i remember how you were out there and we were trying to come to grips with this. you were one of the first people who really understood what was at stake. i think you should go to the pharmaceutical companies who are the major suppliers and to the clinics in america today. we have a clinic a couple of blocks from my office in harlem. they've got a tough case load but they have done really well. i think the last time i checked the price, it was $10,000 a year. but these companies also provide medicine at a much lower cost. they allow the funds to be spent in countries where it works on

big pharma and the generic ones if they have been cleared by the fda. if you went to them and said we understand this is a whole economic picture, but we've understand you have to get certain revenues in the countries that are able to pay to make the economics of what you do in africa and elsewhere were, but for the next two years, every state in the united states is on a balanced budget. they are cutting back wherever they can and they're making life for death decisions based on too few dollars for many demands. help us figure out how to this and then, after two years, i think the economy will be stronger and the health-care reimbursement system will be different.

even if you could do it for a year, it would make a huge difference. these states are in desperate shape and they do not like doing this. but if you look at some of the other decisions, they are agonizing and a place terrible dilemmas. to jammend we don't try this through or get around big pharmaceutical companies. hiding we should ask for their support of this proposal just to get through the next few years. everyone knows what we are up against. it's not like they are going to lose money. there has to be away to work through this for two years. they might even allow us to get their medicine at a bargain- basement price and get reimbursed later, sometime within a bill next -- within the next five years. there are a lot of ways to do this and i think it's very important. the other thing that is also

important is it is not 60% of the hiv-positive people who don't know their status as it is worldwide, but it is high among people who are relatively recently infected. i think we ought to look at the strategy that the secretary of state outlined for the rest of the world in terms of male circumcision and early provision and prevention of mother to child transmission and see how much we can apply here. america went to sleep at the switch and a lot of the high- risk community thought it was only in america when it was raging in africa. now, we think it is only somewhere else and not in america.

this conference, one of the things it will do is raise the profile of the resurgence of infection in the united states. >> that is what we are working on. [applause] >> i think we're going to lose president clinton's satellite feed. i don't know if you have a question or comment you want to make. >> this is one of the great communicators on any subject that we're listening to. or- just as we don't know americans don't know, there are 5 million people in the united states with this disease. a lot of people down no debt cancellation which was kicked off by this president and followed through by his successor, there are 45 million children going to school in

africa because the government was very smart about where they put the money. i don't think president clinton gets enough credit for that. it's an astonishing figure. [applause] if you ask a person on the streets how they feel about this foreign-aid business, we know they will say. if you ask them to guess how much of the budget is spent on the subject, they will say 10% or 20%. when you explain all development assistance is less than 1% of the government budget, they are

completely taken aback. when you explain the lives that have been transformed in this one area, 5 million lives, they think it's the greatest return on investment ever. my question to you, mr. president, bill from little rock, is how do we communicate that to the american people? it is still a lot to ask of anybody. how do we communicate the value for money? i'm not sure we are getting through on that and you are a great communicator. >> first of all, let me go back to a point you made. i have been looking at this survey for probably 10 years. if you polled the american people consistently, they say

the first thing we should do in a budget crisis is cut foreign aid. you might be cynical and say of course they say that because those people don't vote or pay taxes. but the real reason they say it is because they believe briards spending somewhere between 10% and 20% of the budget on foreign assistance and they think we ought to spend 3% or 5%. when you tell them they spend one%, they almost don't believe it. the more you can say it, the more important to this. the second point yet to make is that this works for the people we are trying to help. if you feel there is a moral and ethical as well as self interested reason to do this, you have to show we have learned a staggering amounts in

the last 10 years on how to do this. the third point i would make is that as bob gates said, who served both president bush and president obama, it is a lot less expensive to make more friends and your enemies and it is to go to war. therefore, this is a important part of our national security strategy. all during the time there was controversy over the iraq war and america was disliked widely in many parts of the world, our popularity and never flagged in the southeastern africa because of this program because people thought we cared whether their kids lived or died. the visibility of the gates of foundation helped. i will never forget when we went out on a sunday afternoon to a

100% muslim area in tanzania, to announce what we were trying to do in malaria and merge it with that aids problem. in a village of about 1000 people, 12,000 people showed up. they did not come to see me. most of them did not remember who i was. they came partly because nobody was home watching pro football. but mostly because they were really smart. they thought this was about whether our children live or die. if we could get that message to the congress and to the country that people care more out whether their children live or die than anything else then the work of these efforts being made will send that signal, we care whether your kids live or die. that is an enormous part of our

national security strategy and it is worth 1% of the budget. [applause] >> thank you very much. you look great, by the way. he is the guy many of us turn to with our questions and you cannot have a discussion about the beginning of a door and of aids without talking about the science as well. can you quickly -- i think every speaker has alluded to this, but where are we in the science of actually achieving this goal that people are talking about. >> thank you for that question. i think the difference now and the end of 2011 is that we have over several years but

particularly over the past year- and-a-half or two, through a number of very important clinical studies, we have clearly demonstrated beyond a shadow of doubt that we have the wherewithal, if we implement it, to do what we are talking about. years ago, there was an assumption if you put somebody on therapy, their viral load might come down and you might inhibit greatly the likelihood they would transmit their infections. but if you look at the scientifically demonstrated a fact of medically supervised circumcision, it is over 60% for more than four and half years. the recent studies announced in the international aids meeting in rome as a treatment as prevention is astounding. 90% decrease in the likelihood of transmitting to your

heterosexual partner as you start early. when president obama pan president clinton were talking about the importance of implementing what we have, bringing up to 6 million people from 4 million people, which would translate to even more as you get to 2015, is in fact going to tip the trajectory. when you think about infectious diseases, it is a leveling off. if you really want to gain the momentum of making the beginning of the end of the aids epidemic, you have to turn the trajectory down. what the president spoke about today and what we will be implementing is just that, not wishful thinking, but scientifically verified capability of doing what we are talking about. that is the first time we have been able to do that.

it is unique. not only is -- not only is it an important goal, but it has scientific backing. [applause] >> one amusing story about tony, during the struggle, there would be people pushing for and pushing back against the idea of an intervention. people in the head ministration who were incredible supporters of this movement. we would find out that there were people who think it's impossible to get these drugs out there and this science is not with us. one day my partner called me and said we are in trouble. we are losing momentum. what are we going to do. he said there's only one guy who could turn this around. he's in georgetown. he says you cannot go home.

go to him and he will sort it out. we eventually got through and he answered the phone and says what is the problem? he said i'm happy to talk. its about the size. people are disputing it. we need to talk. we need to talk now. he said a my kids are doing homework, where are you? i said i'm outside. [laughter] he made dinner and the kids are doing their homework, irish rock stars in your face. that guy is a proper hero. [applause]

>> we need to ours is to hear all the stories. i want to give you the last word in part because a lot of what we talk about has been theoretical. you are someone who has been on the front lines for some time. two hours later, your thoughts and reflections? >> it is true that the beginning of the end of aids, we have all the science, whether we want to implement it or not, what happens, a lot of times when it comes to the united states and other places, a lot of research has been done in the evidence is available and then we in africa picked these things and have to implement them. sometimes there is a challenge because you have issues with whether you will be able to do it or not, but the most important thing is you need people who are champions who are

ready to say it is possible and it is feasible. when you do that, of course you run into a few problems, but it is possible. for people in africa and other places, the evidence is there. how are we going to implement it? how are we going to make sure we have more than 90% of pregnancies -- every mother wants to do their best for their child. there is no mother that says i want to have a chance for my child to die. every mother wants their best for the child. you tell the mother, this is what to say. these are the drugs, take them. we need that passion to continue. sometimes, just like people have to give money to get a little tired.

but the passion should go on. everything is available and we need to continue with the drive. it is possible in the next few years we will see children born without hiv. that is very probable. [applause] >> i want to thank you again for letting me be a part of this event. it is one of the most important and high impact things i get to do. thank you very much for allowing this event to happen and educating selling people. we will give you guys the final wrap. >> i'm going to jump right in. this is such a powerful moment and we are all united in this desire to create the beginning of the end of aids. as we were watching and seeing all of the great advancements and support from some of

people, it is important to reiterate this is our potential, this is our opportunity, and we must take it. this is not something that is finished. is not over. this is just the beginning so that we can say this is our moment to create the end of aids. even with all the amazing support, this is something everyone in this room, everyone watching at home, we must participate in showing how important this is to us. it is important globally, it is important domestically. we are all living and dealing with this. no one is exempt. no one is excluded. we have to make sure we are telling our government this is

important and we will not stand by and watch each other died. this is our family, our brothers and sisters. we love each other enough to use our voice and we will get loud. we have to be loud and we have to be aggressive. i want to encourage all of us watching to know this is our opportunity and we can create this legacy but we have to continue the work to make sure we have a great, loud a voice. you have to know that your voice matters and what you do and what you say, believe me it is heard. this is something we have to do. for everyone's expertise and i think we wanted to give tremendous love to be organizations here in this audience who have done tremendous work and i have worked for 30 years that this has been in existence and we

want to bring some people up. >> absolutely. again, thank you for being here and all of the apple store is going read a around the country. you will see them in at starbucks, going crazy with this stuff. here in the room, we have some of the coolest companies in unexpected places like belvedere vodka is here. [applause] that is the most innovative company. >> all of the companies can come. let me see who i've got here. we have representatives from apple, nike, del -- where is

bugaboo? >> here. >> bugaboo is the one. a very poetic choice. we have heard from the government's, but a leash and myself, we want to honor the people we have learned from and the people who led the way before us and with us. [applause] they are incredible. the united methodist church, the pediatric aids foundation. before you finish, leigh -- they're going to finish out the

roll call. a film on this very subject. it's on at 9:00 on the showtime and it tells the story in the most beautiful piece of filmmaking i have seen in a long time. >> we would like to bring up the friends of the global fight. save the children. [laughter] that -- [applause] the u.s. conference of catholic bishops. come up. [applause]

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] ♪ >> still ahead on c-span, the executive chairman of google speaking to the economic club of washington d.c.. at 8:00 tonight, the army vice chief of staff on brain injuries and posttraumatic stress disorder. after that, a discussion on challenges facing wounded veterans. it then, "the contenders." c-span's series looking at president roh candidates who lost but had an impact on politics. we will look to the 1944 and 1948 campaigns of republican tom