nd he hushes it up and putsy is sent around to make sure this potential scandal is hushed up. >> we do this from time to time, some video of your past. we go back to 1989. do call-in shows here. let's roll the court:. . .

especially over russia and all of that? >> part of my motivation problem for writing this is that i was lucky enough to have been a reporter before, during, and after the transformation of europe of eastern europe, the collapse of the soviet union the collapse of the soviet regimes in eastern europe, so i have an idea of what it is to live through historic events figuring things out. i always thought at some point

i cannot say i prophesies when or how. we were all struck by the rapidity of what i said there. it made me more and more curious about other periods like that and what lessons we learn from it. the world has changed radically. the media has changed radically. one of the striking things i found in writing it was what a powerful u.s. press corps there was in berlin, at one time 50 u.s. press corps members in the 1950's, representing all types of news organizations that no longer exist. >> and american correspondent >> i cannot imagine any place where we have 50 these days. there are various freelancers but even if you add them all in

in places like beijing and moscow i do not think so. >> his book is called "hitler land." we thank you so much for coming back. >> thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> for a dvd copy of this program, called 1-877-662-7726. marissa us at q-and-a.org. these are also available as c- span podcasts. >> coming up tomorrow on

"washington journal," we will look at developments in the presidential and congressional campaigns around the country with an editor charles mahtesian. after that a look at health care costs. and then, we are joined by a staff writer who will talk about what congress is expected to do with the farm bill that expires at the end of september. "washington journal," with your calls, tweets and emails." president obama was in chicago today for a fundraising event. there was an event here at the bridgeport art center. he commented on the mitt romney choice of paul ryan as his running mate and talked about when he calls the two visions for moving the country forward. tomorrow the president begins a three-day bus tour across iowa iowa. this event is about half an hour.

>> chicago looks good. and all of you look good. >> ♪ happy birthday to you happy birthday to you ♪ [cheers and applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. it is true. i am now 51. [cheers and applause] michelle, you are, too. you look better than i do. michelle says i do not look a day over 50. there are a couple of people i want to acknowledge. first of all, thank you so much, d.j. thank you so much. my great friend, for all that you do.

committee, thank you for the great job you do. now, we just had the olympics' closing ceremony, and we could not be prouder of our american athletes, bringing home the gold, conducting themselves as we would hope that somebody would conduct themselves representing the united states. they just did an outstanding job, and i know that all of you look like you are pretty smart folks, you were probably watching the olympics, and you probably also know we have a pretty intense campaign going on right now, and the reason this is such an intense campaign is because we could not have a bigger choice in front of us november. it is not just a choice between two candidates or two political

parties. this is a choice about two different visions for the country, two different directions as to where america should go, and the direction you choose when you walk into that voting booth in november is going to make a difference not just in your life but in the lives of your children and the lives of your grandchildren. it will make a difference for decades to come. now, four years ago, we came together. not just democrats. we had republicans, and we had and dependents. which we had independence -- we had independents. if you work hard, you can get ahead. the basic idea that if you act responsibly, if you are putting in all of your efforts, you can find a job that pays the bills

you can find a home that you can call your own. you can send your kids to college. you will not go bankrupt when you get sick. you can retire with dignity and respect, and most importantly the next generation can dream even bigger and do even better than we ever imagined. that is the core of the american dream. promise that made us the envy of the world, that made us the most that built the largest middle class in the world, that idea that here in america, you can make it if you try. now, we have gone through a decade in which that basic

compact seemed it was not true for too many people. those at the top were doing very well, but for ordinary families people were working harder, making less, while the cost of everything was going up. jobs were being shipped overseas. we ran two wars on credit cards. -- on a credit card. we turn surpluses into deficits and it all culminated in the worst financial crisis since the great depression. now, we have spent the last 3.5 years trying to get us back on track. we saved an automotive industry on the brink of collapse. [cheers and applause] we worked with the financial sector to start doing things the old-fashioned way lending to businesses and families as opposed to engaging in reckless speculation. half a million manufacturing jobs and been treated the most

since the 1990's. [cheers and applause] but, chicago we have all long way to go. all of us know friends, families neighbors who are still out of work or whose homes are still under water. too many folks are still burdened by enormous college's debts. too many folks still do not have a sense that tomorrow will be better than today and so the question in this election is which way do we go? do we go forward towards a new vision of america in which america and prosperity is shared or do we go back to the same policies that got us in this mess in the first place? you know, i believe we have to go forward. i believe we have got to keep working where no matter where you are, in a matter what you

look like, no matter where you come from, the matter what your last name is, no matter whom you love you can make it here if you try. that is what is at stake in november. that is why i am running for a second term as president. [cheers and applause] now, the good news is even though there are no quick fixes to our challenges, we have got everything we need to make things work here in america. we still have the best workers in the world. we have still got the best entrepreneurs in the world. we have got the best colleges, the best universities, the best scientists the best researchers. we are a young nation, and we have got the greatest years of the of talent and ingenuity from every corner of the globe, witnessed in this room. it is an example of chicago and an example of what makes this

country great. [cheers and applause] so what is holding us back is not the lack of big ideas or good plans. what holds us back is a brand of washington politics that says, "we are not going to compromise, no matter what." it is gridlock and stalemate and dysfunction and there is an idea propagated by the other side that somehow we are going to grow this economy from the top down and that people at the top are doing really, really well so everybody else is going to benefit. now, this kind of top-down economics is central to governor romney and is central to his running mate. just yesterday morning his upon it shows his running mate, the ideological leader of republicans in congress mr.

paul ryan. i want to congratulate congressman ryan. i know him. i welcome him to the race. congressman ryan is a decent man. he is a family man. he is an articulate spokesperson for governor romney's vision but it is a vision that i fundamentally disagree with. [cheers and applause] my opponent and congressman ryan and their allies in congress they all believe that if we just get rid of more regulations on big corporations and we get more tax breaks to the wealthiest americans it will lead to jobs and prosperity for everybody else. that is what they are proposing. that is where they will take us if they win. this is not speculation.

it is on their website. it is embodied on the budget -- in the budget that the house republicans voted for repeatedly. the centerpiece of governor romney's economic plan is a new $5 trillion tax cut, a lot of it going to the wealthiest americans. this on top of the bush tax cuts. last week, we found that to pay for this $5 trillion tax cut, not only would we see them cut education investments, gut investments in science and research gut investments in things like building our roads and bridges, but it turns out that the governor romney plan would also raise taxes on middle-class families by an average of $2000 each. not to reduce the deficit mind you. not to create more jobs. independent economists have looked at it and have said

"there is nothing in the governor romney plan that would create jobs right now." it would all be to give another 250 thousand dollar tax cut to people who are making $3 million per year or more. let me tell you something. they have tried this before. they have tried to sell us this trickle-down fairy dust before, and guess what? it did not work. [cheers and applause] him it does not work. it is not a plan to cut the deficit. it is not a plan to create jobs. it is not a plan to revive the middle class. it is not a plan to move our economy forward. we do not need more tax cuts for folks like me. we need to give more tax cuts to working americans and middle- class families for folks who are trying to raise their kids and keep them healthy and send them to college and keep a roof over their heads.

that is the choice in this election and that is why i am running for a second term as president. [cheers and applause] four years ago i promised the people but i would cut taxes on middle-class families, and that is what i did. the average american family is paying $3,600 less in their taxes than when i came in office. and i want to keep income taxes exactly where they are for everyone making a certain amount. if your income is $250,000 or less your income taxes will not go up a dime. on the other hand, if you are lucky enough, like i am, to pay in the top 2%, what we have said is you can afford to do a little bit more so we can pay down our temasek and still help young people go to college and still make sure that we are investing

in basic research to deal with things like alzheimer's and cancer. we are asking you to contribute a little bit more, and look. government is still going to have to do its part. we have already cut $1 trillion in spending, an additional $1.20 trillion. we can cut out programs that do not work to make sure we can invest in things that do. we can make government more streamlined, more efficient but if we are going to really be more serious, and for folks like me to go back and pay at the rates that existed when bill clinton was president when we created $23 million new jobs, when from deficit to surplus and created a whole bunch of millionaires to boot that is the right thing for america and, by the way the reason it is the right bank is because when a construction worker or a teacher or a receptionist, when

they have got a little money in their pocket what do they do? they may be going out and buy that new car or buy that new appliance or go to a restaurant or heaven forbid they take a vacation once in awhile and said that means business as more customers, and they hire more workers. historically that is how our economy has grown not from the top down but from the middle up from the bottom up. when we. an opportunity for everybody who works hard to get ahead. this economy grows. that is the choice in this election and that is why i am running for a second term as president. [cheers and applause] now, that choice, you can see it in every issue between myself and mr. romney as when the automotive industry was on the collapse. governor romney said, "let's led

detroit go bankrupt." i said with any with -- with an iconic american industry on the line, going to bet on them. and three years later, general motors is number one again. that is the choice. [cheers and applause] so now i want to make sure that high-tech manufacturing takes root not in germany but in the united states. i want to give incentives to companies who are investing here in chicago investing in pittsburgh. let's create jobs here in the united states hiring american workers, making american products selling them around the world, stamped with three words, "made in america." [cheers and applause]

i am running to make sure that after a decade of war, we start doing some nation-building here at home. in 2008, promised we would end the war in iraq. we have ended it. i said we would go after al qaeda and bin laden. we did. [cheers and applause] now, we're beginning a transition in afghanistan making afghans more responsible for their own security and bringing our troops home. all of this is possible only because of the extraordinary men and women in uniform who protect our freedom every single day at great sacrifice to themselves. but the question now is what country are they coming back to? we want to give them a country full of opportunities. now, part of that means making sure that we are doing right by them, and as long as i am commander in chief they are going to get the benefits that they have burned because if you

fought for america you should not have to fight for a job or a roof over your head when you come home. [cheers and applause] but it also means making sure the economy is absorbing all of these folks who are coming home which means i want to take about half of the money we are spending on war, and let's start investing in here in rebuilding our schools and roads and bridges. let's make sure that we are putting teachers back to worked. there is so much we can do with the savings that we have, and it will make america stronger. it will make america safer not just for the next five years or for the next 10 years but for decades to come. that is the america we want to build. that is the choice in the next election. i am running because i want to make sure we have got the best education system in the world. [cheers and applause]

i want to help local school districts hire and retain the best teachers, especially in mathematics and science. i want to give 2 million more people the opportunity to go to community college and get trained for jobs businesses are hiring for right now and i want to make sure, building on the work we've already done that we make college affordable, not only to make sure that we continue to expand our efforts with the pell grants and student loans but also that we're making sure that colleges and universities are keeping their costs down, because higher education is no longer a luxury. it is an economic necessity in the 21st century and we have got to fight for it. that is the choice in this election. on every issue there is a conference. when it comes to home ownership. my opponent says, just let

foreclosures bottom out. that is not a solution. i want to make sure that homeowners across the country can refinance at historically low rates, say $3,000. how many people here can use an additional $3,000? i want to strengthen the housing market and put more people -- more money in people's pockets. my opponent says we should go back. he wants to kill the affordable care act also known affectionately as obamacare. [cheers and applause] i believe it was the right thing to do for young people to be able to stay on their parent plants. 6.5 million young people have insurance that did not have it before. i think it is the right thing to do that people with pre- existing conditions are able to get health insurance. i think it is the right thing to do for seniors to get discounts on their prescription drugs. i think it is the right thing

for people to be able to get preventive care, including women, you can have some control over their own health care decisions. when are not going backward. we are going forward. that is the choice in this election. [cheers and applause] we did the right thing to end it do not ask do not tell. we are not going backward. we did the right thing helping out kids. we are not going back. we are not going backwards we're going forwards. across the board on these issues all of these things, whether we are talking about manufacturing a fair tax code a strong housing market affordable college all of these things pitch together. it has to do with how to recreate security for middle- class folks, and how to recreate ladders of opportunity for everybody. that is how we have always

grown the economy. that is at the heart of what we believe, that everybody who works hard has a shot, that everybody gets a fair shot. everybody does their fair share. everybody plays by the same set of rules and a belief that we are in this together that we are not all in -- not all on our own. that is the vision we put forward in 2008. that is the vision we are fighting for in 2012. that is the choice in this election and that is why i am running for president. [cheers and applause] >> four more years, four more years, four more years, four more years, four more years! >> we have got less than three months less than three months. that goes by quick. and as you get older, when you

get to be like 51 as you will find out it goes by even quicker, and during this time, you will see the other side spend more money through the super pac's than we have seen ever. they are writing $10 million checks. if you live in a battleground states you cannot get away from their advertising. now, the reason they have to advertise like this is they know economic theory. they know, we did not get an nation. we remember trying what they are selling, and it did not work. so they are basically going to appeal over and over again -- to repeat over and over again that the economy is not good, and it is obama' s fox. it may be different but it is the same. it is not a plan to strengthen

the economy. it is not a plan to revive the middle class. it is not a plan to make america stronger. it feeds into the theater that so many americans feel about washington but it is not a plan for hope. it does not capture america at its best a big, bold generous, optimistic america and so, so the good news is we have been outspent before. i have been counted out before. but what has always given me faith, given me faith giving me confidence is you. it is all of you. it is the fact that when the american people come together they cannot be stopped. [cheers and applause] when you guys are out there knocking on doors making things

happen you cannot be stopped so i am going to need your help. we have gone too far to go back now. we have got too many teachers we need to hire, until many schools we need to rebuild too many students needing help for college, too much energy we have to generate too many people we have to bring home. we have got more doors of opportunity we have to open and that is what is at stake, so i am not just asking for your vote. i am asking for your work. i need your help over the next three months. i need you to knock on doors. i need you to make phone calls. i need you to talk to your friends. i need you to talk to your neighbors. i need you to load up and go over into iowa. we have got to get help. you have got to get involved in the election. you have got to make sure you

are signing up. if you are as passionate and as energized and as determined as you were before then we will not lose and it is true that i am older and a little grayer but, you know and they promise to you in 2008. i said i would always tell you what i thought it and where i stood, and most important i told you i would always every single day every minute of every day, think about you and fight as hard as i knew how for you. i have kept that promise. i still believe in you. and if you still believe in me and are willing to get out there and work during the next 86 days we will not just win this election but we will finish what we started in remind the world just why it is the united states of america is the greatest nation