and sort of egypt, sort of tunisia was talking about it. so you have an issue people saying they call themselves republicans and they were eager for revolutions, but they wanted children to rule. .ome people are unhappy population growth, social media so that people are aware what is taking place. you cannot have the iron curtain the situation. so that transformation means i am not happy and i will not change. i wonder if they have that infrastructure and geo, or other infrastructure of society, to transform. that is where it is blackened. so the transformation of freedom . our freedom

,ou have a power of authority in certain societies, you have the power of culture. it is dominant. yet you have a democracy which means the power of governing should be the dominant person. the power of religion and the emergencend of al qaeda that does not allow the physical existence of others. for instance, globalization's that promote diversity and communication between the various communities, coexistence, interdependency, that is where the key challenge is. that is why it has been hijacked to a certain extent. you have organizations that are much more effective on the any ngo structure in

place to help us take advantage of that situation, that transportation. so is it safe? our arab communities moving in the right direction? what direction do they want to achieve? still unclear. to me, that is the key difference between iraq and others. iraq has been through that pain. with all that are dysfunctionality of the various government institutions, that might be the case. but the vision of the society is clear. nobody is asking for the change of the system. the fundamental change of the system. >> thank you. yes, we are open. we are fortunate to have you as a rich source for all of us. yes. yes, please. go back. yeah. >> thank you, sir, for your

comments. -- billl look this lucas. you mentioned that the democratic project in iraq can be perceived by the neighbors as a threat. i wonder if you would speak to your relations with iran and the saudi arabians in that context. is thathreat government a mugger sees not cemented in weightson to the extent that people in the region want to practice democracy. that is one last thing. is, iner aspect of it democracy, you have a transformation. that presents a level of unpredictability. and people are fearful of unpredictability. people of the region are fearful of them and when they have a dictator, they knew what to get and give to that the tater. when you have a democracy and

that the monstrous he sang i would like to increase my whole 6, 7, 8on to be million. an intelike to have -- on interdependency within the region. but i also would like to have some dependency in my own foreign policy. so you have that issue. within that context, you have a fearful iran on the one side and you have saudi arabia on the other. they have their own legacy to deal with. with iran, they have a seven or eight-year-old war less sanctions and animosity and so on. havesaudi arabia, he also the key issue, which is the sectarian element of that as well.

democracy doesn't mean that the majority rule in iraq. the bow may be unhappy with that. because of the various discourse . i have talked about it. which is a lack of understanding or lack of trust in the people of iraq in developing a society in which they can have control and mutual beneficial relationship with their neighbors. they comment contrast is the core driver. that being the key question. as the new democracy, it has to be a threat. not answer to their system. i am saying what is the decision-making and social power in iraq. that is what i am talking about. in the region is

considering iraq as an invading country. >> that is no longer the case. >> iraq is too weak and too fragile. we need to have a safeguard against that visually. i think that is the key driver. we need to have a strong relationship with all. we cannot afford to have a weak relationship or an adverse relationship at any of the four levels. we have too much meat and we have too much of a desire to have some relationship. we are no longer going to draw the line and say we do not want a relationship with iran because we can't see the benefit to that. we have a lot of religious tourism from iran. waterways, shared waterways, shared oil wells and so on. so we cannot afford to have [applause] -- [indiscernible]

we can afford having a good relationship with iran and with the iraqi state. tell me another country in the region that have such a permanent relationship with both countries. nine. but we are the only one because we are choosing it. we are not still being dictated on us. >> your question is very important. areorically, iraq and egypt the two powerful significant force in the arab world. >> how iraq moves has its effect. >> in relation to geography and sectarian and culture and astory, that fault line means shift will take place if anything moves on that.

>> go ahead. yeah. >> it is very interesting to hear. my question to you is it seems to me that iraq has had for the past two decades a crisis of indoor management. transferring the financial income into social aspects. i would like to hear your vision . sayld the region have more in the way they want to use the ?evenue from oil

thank you. >> the iraqi constitution stipulates that the oil is for all iraqis. in oil as the key commodity the world means that the interest and the benefit for iraq can be tremendous if it is managed properly. over the last 10 years, we have been able to manage a significant increase in our oil reduction. we have service contract as well. it is not even a production sharing agreement. so we have to maximize the benefits for the iraqi economy or jet -- or revenue-generating. in addition to that, you have the issue of a substantial sort that leads to the development of core infrastructure, schools, bridges, hospitals, so on. you have a demand for it. you cannot afford mismanaging

the revenue. you need a good governance. but you need the buy-in of the people of iraq and you need the buy-in of the political entities of iraq, including the kurdish government in the north or the kr g or the federal entity of afghanistan. the constitution stipulates sharing it. so we started by saying, ok, we will share it in the existing oilfields and new oil fields need to be managed with government control. government supervision or government transparency of these contracts. so we talk about that. governments, -- plus it is clear to us that oil is one of the key elements of gelling society together.

so we are using that as a strong incentive. the wealth of the country means that you can manage that. it is not very limited wealth. it is massive wealth. the key restriction is our inability to work at each other. and the key opportunity is our ability to work strongly with each other, to find a mutual into dependent formula. and that is what we are discussing with the kr g. with the provinces, the key issue has been the proportion of oil wealth in the region. so we started saying we give one dollar of each barrel to the region and the rest goes to baghdad for the solution of the provinces. now we are moving to the 2014 budget to articulate five dollars per barrel. that means that one province will be one of the very rich is

soon. and more or less across iraq. most of the provinces have either gas, oil or refinery, which means that it will increase our share of the oil revenue toward them. we have a key challenge in the whole government over the last 10 years and that is to do with the ability to govern -- sorry, the good governance, which means that legislation needs to reflect your ability to understand your social, economical and political sort of entity and drivers of the society. so we have issues with that in recently, let me give you a simple example. recently, there was a retirement i am- over the last month talking about. there was a substantial discussion about should

parliament pass a retirement law or not. and that has to do with the social, economic and political environment as well. ago, mug. us said nobody has any ripped dentition of may. he retired from politics and that is the extent i am talking about. having good governments -- good governance is crucial. the wealth is enough to share it and we don't need to have too many fights about it. all we need to do is get the right formula. and we are working hard on that. onwould you like to comment that decision to retire for him -- retire from politics? >> no. [laughter] >> i agree with what you said in building institutions.

it takes a long time. a long long time. >> people don't know that. in 23 different countries. i can tell you. it is difficult. the iraqisent that want democracy, the current debate in iraq right now to continue the government. but i am concerned about the other side, the violence, the security issue. you had a thousand deaths last month. i won't get into the details, but a thousand deaths. so not everybody is in agreement . i am looking at the security asue as representing non-agreement. >> you can't have a significant disruption to society if certain

elements of it are diehard in their resistance. let me give you a simple example. , if you dond, ira your study on that, it says that it went up 500. they restricted it. if it is 500 one, somebody has to resign. so you can have a small element in society, but they can be very destructive and they can be very productive when they move into the political process. so you have that element. turbulence in serious next door. in which the provision of arms has not reduced the level of violence in syria. i'm talking from all size.

political support, media support. al jazeera is a good example. so you have that as well. and you also have a society it a clearade determination to move over from dictatorship or from minority rule. so you have that as well. so what you have now is these elements fighting chemical reaction to each other. if that is what you have in iraq sectarian war? it is not a neighborhood war. 2005, 2006, 2007, or 2008. but we moved away from that. leaders two so-called come to washington and none of them overtly discussed the use of violence. they were talking about the political process, forming the

political process. so you have the majority of the sunnis saying we want to be an integral part of it. the discussion was that we were not integrated enough in the political process. not that we want to move away from it. we also have a vicious enemy in al qaeda which does not allow the political or physical existence of others. so you have to deal with that. unfortunately, even the united states has challenges with al qaeda, with all their mighty and powerful capabilities. so you have that as well. and iraq has problems, legacy problems back in 2003. some of these issues, such as water control, were never managed properly even up to now. problems from the syrian's coming into iraq,

terrorism from al qaeda and so on. so you have these elements. this is unfortunate. this is something we should not live with. true. but is it stopping the democratic process? it is hindering it. i wouldn't say it is stopping it. the cousin of the determination of people to move with the democratic process. -- because of the determination of people to move with the democratic process. >> thank you. let me continue the questions. leadership,regional egypt's position as a leader in the arab world is going through challenges. as fully role of leadership because saudi arabia and others do not have the equipment to exercise it.

[indiscernible] democratic behavior is a learned behavior. how do we train people for democracy? how can they learn it? >> i know you guys are more iecialists in this area, but have a hobby in anthropology. my own specific background is in organization culture. , when youware that look at a society culture, there are three elements you have to work on on three levels. you have the behavior element of a society. dictatorship sometimes can change your behavior or force you to change her behavior. you have the lead element of societies. so you have whatever they

believe in. so it is a conviction. and you have the assumption element of a society. lack the coren't substance of democracy. it is trying to have the behavior of democracy in place. it is changing its theoretical and conviction of democracies for social harmony. and it is far and away from having basic assumptions of society. it requires a long time. and it is the hardest to and grain or take out that assumption of democracy in a society. so here you need a bit more interaction, openness, social media and others. but it has to be in a clear method of a clear vision of what you want extended to that society. most importantly, you cannot import democracy. nor can you estimate in as fast

a pace as you would like because of the various drivers of those societies. in the united states, you don't have the driver of a culture or religion as the key driver. you have a set of governance or law as a key driver with diversity of nations and so on. and in japan, you don't have that. you have a junior society and you have a core set of government. you have still a confusing picture of who should govern. is it the tribal leader? is it the central government? or is it the religious leader? that will take time. that is the same with egypt and elsewhere. that is why the muslim brotherhood works well in secular countries because they where more than one hat.

it is important that people appended from the complexity rather than just said, while, why can't we be democratic? because it is not as easy as you would expect. gon the society had to through civil war's and so on to try to get some alignment of its various institutions of various societies to work with each other. >> the organizer of our session has very generously provided us with things here. so let's linger together and we i didn't seee -- you. go ahead. louder, please. >> yes. hi. >> [indiscernible]

you comment a little bit on what you mean by that. why do you think that is the case? hand if he could, and a little bit about the mindset that develops [indiscernible] >> the issue of dictatorship, the longer you have -- the longer and more ruthless the attainder ship is on a society, the longer it takes to sort of take off that coats and move away from that culture. europe and thet same in the middle east and so on. -- that may give you the key challenge we have in iraq. that the state

is therefore the privilege of the dictator, for the wish and the desires of the dictator, and , noteeds of the dictator of ours, that means that people don't associate themselves from the state and so i would think him a fluting takes place, that is no longer their problem. that is what took place in iraq. occupation takes place, that is no longer their problem. the united states came and occupied. so dam and his forces tried to fight back. peopleppens is that dislodge themselves from the state. not our wish.is this is not our desires. whatever he wishes, it is for his, not for us to there is no and if it. the sanctions which the u.n. imposed on iraq was more

detrimental to the social fabric of iraq than anything else. people associated the united states with sanctions. not saddam. saddam was not impacted by this. he kept the link palaces. away with ag smuggling system. he more or less created an economy and parallel with the normal economy but also a to do with smuggling and with the galaxy. legitimized smuggling in iraq. so now we have that as well. now you have all of that impact moving on to a new chapter called post-2003. you need to cleanse yourself of that process and procedures and culture and that takes up while. again?he first question

[indiscernible] >> the media element. it is easier to sell bad news. it is more complicated to try hard to understand a society than the complexity of a society. by the way, i'm not saying that we are clear in our own minds which had we are wearing and what others are not. i'm saying we are sometimes unclear on what has we are wary because of the various complexities of the society, which is to do with the element of shia, sunnis, kurds, to do with geography, to do with people who are outside of iraq versus people inside, to do with buses and so on. elements and players of society. for simple, sellable elements, which is to do the violence or whatever it's called.

it is not as simple as that. i wish it was. then you have binary elements and you deal with it in a binary wary. -- binary way. but it's not. but it is hard to understand the drivers of such arianism. my own ministry, someone went in with a suicide vest and his of myike and 11 colleagues died a few weeks ago. those who were killed were sunni sunni shiites and there were christians as well. so there is no clear-cut. mosque, maybeto a -- but when you going to a supermarket or a school or others, or a hospital, that is nothing to do with the sectarian

element. that is destabilizing the rule of law. >> thank you, thank you, thank you. [applause] let's mingle. morning, the farm foundation holds a discussion on food safety and ample mentation of the food safety modernization act. glad coverage at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span two. and later, also on c-span, deputy secretary of state william burns will talk about america's relationship with arab countries in the persian gulf. is from the center of strategic international studies. >> one, he thought he could handle it. secondly, he wanted people, young people of both races to

come into the supreme court room, as they all do by the andreds and thousands somebody to say who is that man up there. and somebody said that he is a negro. he wanted that image. >> thurgood marshall served as -- fromr general in the 1965 to 1967. friday at 4:00 eastern. president barack obama ordered administration officials to start setting new fuel efficiency standards for medium and heavy trucks by marched 20 -- by march 2016. the president spoke at a safeway

distribution center and upper middle bro, maryland. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. >> good morning, everybody. it is good to be here. i want to thank jack jacobs and all the partners at safeway for having us here today at this busy distribution center where delivery trucks get everything from doritos to diapers where they need to go. by the way, i have a soft spot heby the way, i have a soft spot for safeway in my heart because some of you may know i went to high school and lived with my grandparents -- our main grocery store was safeway. [applause]

my grandmother would send me out to go shop at safeway and everybody treated me very well so i very much appreciate the good work you guys do. i want to thank all the workers and business people and labor leaders and environmental leaders who are here today as we take another big step to grow our economy and reduce america's dependence on foreign oil. in my state of the union address, i said this would be a year of action and i meant it. over the past three weeks, i have acted to require federal contractors to pay their workers a fair wage of $10.10 an hour. we believe in a higher minimum wage. [applause] we need to train workers with the skills that employers actually need and match them to the good jobs that are out there right now and need to be filled. i directed the treasury secretary to create something we

are calling my ra to help americans start saving for retirement. we have brought together business leaders who have committed to helping more unemployed americans find work, no matter how long they have been looking. i am eager to work with congress wherever i can, but whenever i see opportunity on my own, i will do that. all of you understand that although the economy has been doing better, we have spent the last five years fighting our way back from the worst recession of our lifetime. the economy has grown. the unemployment rate is the lowest it has been in over five years. the long-term trends that have hurt middle-class families for decades have continued.

folks at the top are doing better than ever before. average wages and income have not budged. too many americans are working harder than ever to keep up. our job is to not only get the economy growing but also reverse the trend and make sure that everybody can succeed. we have to build an economy that works for everybody, not just the fortunate few. opportunity for all. that is the essence of america. no matter who you are, where you come from, no matter how you start out. if you are willing to work hard and take responsibility, you can succeed. i have laid out an opportunity agenda to help us do that. part one is to create more jobs that pay good wages. jobs in manufacturing, energy, exports, innovation. part two, we have got to train folks with the skills they need to fill those jobs. part three, guarantee every child access to world-class education. part four is making sure that

the economy awards our work with wages you can live on. savings you can retire on. health insurance you can count on. there are very few factors that are helping our economy grow more than our commitment to american manufacturing and american energy. that is why we are here today. five years ago, we set out to break our dependence on foreign oil. today, america is closer to energy independence and we have been in decades. for the first time in nearly 20 years, america produces more oil here at home than we buy from other countries. our levels of dangerous carbon pollution that contributes to climate change have actually gone down even as our production has gone up. one of the reasons why is because we've dedicated ourselves to manufacturing new cars and new trucks that go

farther on a gallon of gas. that saves families money, cuts down on pollution and creates new advances in american technology. for decades, the fuel efficiency standards of our cars and trucks was stuck in neutral. even as other technology leapt forward. that left families and businesses and our economy vulnerable to fluctuations. every time oil prices shot up, the economy got hurt. our automakers were in danger of being left in the dust by foreign automakers. carbon pollution was going unchecked, which was having severe impacts on our weather. that is why after taking office, my administration worked with automakers, autoworkers, environmental advocates and states across the country and we put in motion the first ever national policy aimed at both

increasing gas mileage and decreasing greenhouse gas pollution for all new cars and trucks sold in the united states. as our automakers retooled and prepare to start making the world's best cars again, we aimed to raise fuel standards to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. >> while. >> yeah, wow. [laughter] [applause] that was an increase of more than eight miles per gallon over what cars that average at the time. what we were clear about what is, if you set a rule, a clear goal, we would give our companies what they needed to innovate and out build rest of the world.

they could figure out if they had a goal that they were trying to reach. thanks to their ingenuity and hard work, we are going to meet that goal. two years later, we've already seen enormous progress. we are building on that progress by setting an even more ambitious target. we're going to double the distance our cars and trucks can go on a gallon of gas by 2025. we will double it. that is big news. [applause] what it means is, you have to fill up every two weeks instead of one week. that saves a family more than $8,000 at the pump over time. i'm assuming that you can use $8,000 that you're not paying at the gas station. [applause] in the process, it cuts american oil consumption by 12 billion barrels.

we let the automakers decide how they're going to do it. we said, go figure it out. they invested in innovative and cost-effective technologies. some are already making cars that beat the target of nearly 55 miles per gallon. they have plug-in hybrids, electric vehicles, taking advantage of the investments that the recovery act made so cars are getting better. they're getting more fuel-efficient. for anybody that said that this cannot be done or that it would hurt the american auto industry, the american auto industry sold more cars than any of the year since 2007. [applause] since we stepped in to help them retool, the american auto industry has created almost 425,000 new jobs.

we raised fuel efficiency, helped consumers, help improve air quality and we are making better cars and the automakers are hiring folks again for good jobs across the country. [applause] more plants are running at full capacity. some are running three shifts, 24 hours a day, putting out some high-tech, high performance cars in the world. that is the story of american ingenuity. american grit. everybody has a right to be proud of that. but today, we are taking the next step. heavy-duty trucks account for just four percent of all the vehicles on the highway. i know when you are driving sometimes, it feels like it is more. [laughter]

they are responsible for 25% of the carbon pollution in the auto sector. trucks like these are responsible for about 20% of our on-road fuel consumption. since they haul about 70% of all domestic freight, 70% of the stuff we use, from flatscreen tvs to diapers to produce, you name it -- every mile that we gain in fuel efficiency is worth thousands of dollars in savings every year. that is why we are investing in research to get more fuel economy gains. thanks to a partnership between industry and my administration, the truck behind me was able to achieve a 75% improvement in fuel economy over the last year. 75%. it's what i call a "super

truck." [laughter] it is impressive. this one right here as well. these are -- first of all, they are really big. [laughter] you can see how they have redesigned the truck in order for us to save fuel economy. and improving gas mileage for these trucks, which is going to drive down our oil imports even further and reduce carbon pollution even more and cut down on business's fuel costs. it should pay off in lower prices for consumers. it is not just a win-win, it is a win-win-win. you get three wins. [laughter] in 2011, we set new standards for heavy and medium trucks to take effect for this year and

last until 2018. three weeks ago, in my state of the union address, i said we would build on that success. today, i am directing anthony fox and gina mccarthy, two outstanding public servants -- [applause] their goal is to develop fuel economy standards for heavy-duty trucks that will take us well into the next decade, just like our cars. they're going to partner with manufacturers and autoworkers and other stakeholders, truckers to come up with a proposal by march of next year. they will complete the rule a year after that. businesses that buy these types of trucks have sent a clear message to the nearly 30,000 workers to build them. we want trucks that use less oil, save us money and cut down on pollution.

so far, 23 companies that join our national clean fleets partnership to reduce their oil consumption or replace their old fleets of trucks with more fuel-efficient models. collectively, they operate one million commercial vehicles nationwide. there are a lot of and some are competitors. if rivals like pepsico and coca-cola and ups and fedex and at&t and verizon can join together on this, then maybe democrats and republicans can do the same. [laughter] [applause] maybe democrats and republicans can get together. so when you see these companies, it is due to this partnership. safeway was an early leader on this issue. by improving the aerodynamics of

its trucks, investing larger trailers, more efficient tires, safeway improved its own fuel efficiency and the result is so solid that safeway now encourages all the companies it hires to ship its products to do the same. to help our businesses and manufacturers meet this new goal, we are offering new tax credits for companies that manufacture heavy-duty alternative fuel vehicles and those that build fuel infrastructure so that trucks running on bio diesel or natural gas will have more places to fill up. let me say this -- the goal we are setting is ambitious. these are areas where ambition has worked out really well for us so far. make big plans, not small plans. anybody who had dire predictions for the auto industry said, we could not do it. manufacturers cannot bring jobs back to america.

every time they say that, they're proven wrong. every time somebody says that you can't grow the economy while bringing on pollution has turned out to be wrong. [applause] anybody who says we can't compete when it comes to clean energy technology like solar and wind, they have had to eat those words. you can't bet against america or you'll lose money every time because we know how to do this when we set ambitious goals for ourselves. [applause] from day one, we have known that we have to build our economy for a clean energy future and it would not be easy or quick. we have a lot of work to do on both counts. the economy has grown. we are creating jobs. we are generating clean energy. we are cutting our dependence on foreign oil. we are pumping out less dangerous carbon pollution.

if we keep going down this road, we're going to have a future full of good paying jobs. we have assembly lines that are humming with components of a clean energy age. we have some of the best trucks and cars in the world designed and engineered in america. in him if we keep going, we're going to leave a better future for our children. i'm proud of safeway and its workers for helping to show us the way. if it can be done here, it can be done all across the country. congratulations to all of you. thank you, and god bless america. [applause] ♪ >> the next interviews with senator rob worker. u.s./ discussionn russia relations. >> on the next washington gary hufbauer and robert

scott discthe impact of nafta. then the inspector general looks at concerns over funds given directly to the afghan government. your phone calls, facebook comments, and tweets. a.m. eastern 7:00 on c-span. next on c-span poss american talkse series, bob corker about his life and his time in the senate. he sat down with us on capitol hill. when did you first think

about moving from business to politics? >> you know i was leading an effort in our community to try and make sure that everyone had an opportunity for decentand affordable housing. i was doing that as a civic endeavor and i was asked at the state level and i ended up going on a real board at the state level. it was not about politics. it was more about public policy. i ended up one day, i had sold my first company at the age of 37 and a few years later decided it was something i wanted to pursue. >> your first company was construction?

>> i had started working like most folks when i was 13 doing all kinds of odds and ends and migrated to being a construction laborer and a rough carpenter when i graduated from college. i ended up being a construction superintendent so after four years i had built some regional malls around the country and learned how to build projects and i saved $8,000 so when i was 25 i went in business. i started doing a lot of repeat work, small projects where i could be paid quickly and the company grew at about 80% a year the whole time, ended up living shopping centers around the country, retail projects in 18 states so it was energizing, it was a great place to be. the energy when you come into the front door would almost knock you down. i sold that when i was 37 to he a man who had worked with me for many years. and of course have done several things since. i ended up acquiring a good deal of real estate through the years through portfolios and other companies. i love being in business.

i loved everything i have ever done. >> let me ask you about malls and plazas and developments like that. how do you have a vision to say we're going to put this here? >> yeah. in the beginning up until i was 37, mostly what i did was build projects for other people and then began owning the projects myself. around the shopping center, you basically know that a particular tenant wants to be in a location so you try to find a place that you think will work and overtime you option property and end up negotiating the lease and then build the project and of course, you figure out, you end up having architects and others involved with you that cause it to evolve in the right way but i will tell you that being a developer, being a builder really helped me in my first public office, elected office being mayor of a city and that

is to be able to create a vision, a bold vision and to put the pieces in place to make it happen. i really do think that that helped me tremendously in being the mayor of chattanooga. even though this is a legislative job i think it has helped me here in trying to put the pieces together to make things happen. >> a lot of midsized cities are struggling. what is different in chattanooga? >> you know, chattanooga is the greatest community. i love it and i represent the whole state of tennessee, the each city is different. i could not be more proud of it. i gave a talk in marietta, georgia the other day about how chattanooga became the way it was. i became so emotional about my hometown. chattanooga was one of the

things that is unique is our city has been able to keep the civic, business, and cultural center downtown. so many cities across our country have not. we have a lot of entrepreneurialism there and some great manufacturing especially recently, brought in a great company. it is filled with people who are so unique. people who give of themselves to make other people's lives better. it is a very unique place in that regard. if you look at the outdoor amenities, i just yesterday rode my bike with my wife elizabeth along the riverfront which again, as a community, we created, it is an outstanding place to live. i do not know about community that has a better quality of life in america than chattanooga. the interesting thing is, it keeps getting better.

we have been able to build on the successes of people who have come before us and i could not be more proud of the people of my community and i could not love living there more than i do. >> so based on that, what advice as you look at other communities, larger cities like detroit certainly suffering a series of problems separate than what you faced in chattanooga. how do you turn around a downtown area? >> i met a man in my 30's who gave me some advice. he built the city of columbia from scratch in maryland. went out and bought 15,000 acres or whatever and built the city from scratch. at a time when i was getting involved as a civic leader. i know i would be successful with my first company. i went on a mission trip to haiti and it affected me in a huge way and i wanted to be part

of helping make my city a better place. i met jim rouse in that process. what he told me his true. always create a bold vision. not a small vision. even if you just get 80% of the way done, you still accomplished so much more than if you have a small vision and you achieve it. the other thing i would say to people who are mayors of cities is, do not do a plan and let it sit on a shelf. plan on making it happen. i think that is what has made chattanooga so unique. when i was mayor and so many people have done things of equal significance in our community, we created a vision to do a 21st-century waterfront plan and built it, came up with the idea, the funding, developed it and built it in 35 months and when citizens see that you're going

to carry something out, that you're not going to just create a study or a vision and let it sit on the shelf, you carry it out and make it real. what that does is it energizes the city and they want more. again, create a vision, get your community involved, and when you lay out what you are going to do something, do it. again we have been so fortunate to have that happen over and over again in our community. >> he ran for the senate once and lost in a primary. what did you learn from defeat? >> i did run in a primary back in 1994. there were six of us in the republican primary. bill won the race. and he should have, he was the better candidate. if you run the right way and we did, bill frist and i became great friends and he recruited me to run for his seat when he left 12 years later. i think what i learned is, if you run the right way you never lose. meaning that the experience itself enriches you as a person.

just the experience of going around the state with 95 counties and meeting citizens and seeing where they are in life and understanding what motivates people, you cannot run an elective race like that and run the right way and lose. that was what i learned. candidly, i did not ever think i would run for united states senate again. i ended up being in an appointed position after that. that kind of validates what i am saying. a newly elected governor asked me to serve and his cabinet as a result of the wave the race was one. i loved it and told the gentleman i was going to leave the day i started and ended up going back into business and people in my community am a our community asked me to run for mayor and i did. i did not expect to do anything electorally after that.

i really did not and then bill came down and talked about the fact he was retiring. i think people who offer themselves for public office and go about it in the right way, and semi-people do, i think it is hard to not take away something from an effort like that that makes you a better person. >> based on that, who are your role models? >> you know, i do not know. i, you know, i have taken a little bit from a lot of folks. i do not know if there is anybody that is in particular a role model. i love serving with lamarr alexander. my colleague. i loved getting to know howard baker through the years. there are so many people who

have -- i take a little bit from everyone. i do not know that i could say there was anybody who was my perfect role model. >> if you look at howard baker and lamarr alexander and your brand of politics, is it different from other states or legislators? >> i do not think so. when you say different, what do you mean by that? >> you are not aligned with the tea party, you are often viewed as the bridge between democrats and republicans. >> yeah. i look at myself as a true fiscal conservative. i really do. i think that, i mean, we have laid out those stuff things that need to happen to save our nation. i am not talking about just laying them out rhetorically. we have written bills that have the tough medicine in them that lay out what needs to happen to

make sure that the entitlement programs that semi-people depend upon are solvent over the next 75 years. that our country is saved in the process. i think one of the things that would make me unique possibly in our state is the fact that i was a real business person. so many people say they were in business but, i mean, i was really in business and build a company that operated around our nation and understand what it takes to go through that. i look at myself as a significant and serious this will conservative. at the same time, i understand that the goal is to make the --

gains. to make our country stronger along the way. i do not know what brand, to use your word, politics that would be. i really do consider it a tremendous privilege to be here and i wake up every day trying to make our country stronger. one of the things i hope you will never interview me about is taking cheap political shots or trying to make it about me. i really do wake up every day knowing again, our citizens across tennessee have given me a responsibility to wake up and to use every ounce of political i have to advance our nation to a better place, so i do not know what rent of politics that would be. >> do those cheap shots occur in the senate? >> gosh, yes. i think yeah, there is no question, obviously. i will leave it at that. i think that if you look at the role that outside groups have begun to play and the effect that it can have on people that are otherwise sensible, thoughtful people, and how people can end up being pushed in positions that you are -- you

know that our not advancing our country's interest, things -- that certainly has an effect. everybody here is human, nobody here is without having made some mistakes, but i do try to resist, if you will, with every ounce of energy i have. i try to resist forces that wish you in a direction that certainly are not about making our country stronger. >> if you could fix the senate as an institution, what would you change? >> i think the senate does not really need fixing.

i think the way the senate has been set up by our forefathers should work. i think that people coming here really attempting to be great united states senators versus potentially using the united states senate as an operation to do something else, that has nothing to do with the great united states senator. that is taking the problems and issues we have and taking them head-on and to try to stretch, i find so many and it happens at the white house, too. i find folks being afraid of trying to stretch their base and trying to get to a place where you actually solve a problem. and to me, having political support is all about trying to explain how, if we could stretch some, we can get to a place that makes our country stronger and still live within the principles

the respect of folks ran on. there seems to be more recently, it has not it about that, i will put it that way. let me say this. there are a lot of really great people here. i will say this. i came appear with a healthy disrespect of the united states senate. no doubt there are frustrations of serving in the united states senate. i know it is sometimes difficult for the american people to see this, but there are some outstanding people here who wake up every day really trying to advance our country and move it ahead. sometimes i wish the american people could see more of that versus some of the public efforts that have in some cases nothing to do with that. >> is the republican party, is the base more narrow than it

should be at the moment? >> i have always said republican party is a big tent party. to me, i have always looked and i do not want to be offensive to my friends on the other side of the aisle but i have always thought the republican party was the party that should try to be the adult when it comes to making tough decisions. especially when it comes to fiscal issues and those kind of things that make our country stronger room generation to generation. i will get quibbling from the other side. i have always felt like what it came down to making the tough decision, that is what the republican party was about.

and again, this is about ensuring that people have opportunities to better themselves. i do not think we talk near enough about the second part. to me in many ways we have not done enough yet about the first part. i do think people back home sometimes forget republicans only have one third of government right now and sometimes it is difficult. when you think about the fact that over the last two years we have real reductions in actual spending that have taken place and tax policy has been fixed for individuals, something that did not happen when george bush was here and had both the house and senate, we were not able to do that and that was done for 99% of the people of the people in the country. strides have been taken. i do not think we focus near enough on ensuring that we are the party of opportunity, too. sometimes we can forget our goal here is to try to make sure that every day where doing things that improve people's quality of life and they have the

opportunity if they are willing to put out the effort to enhance their families -- family's opportunity and situation in life. that is what brought me into this. again, that is what brought me into the public arena was working on an issue that i really thought was going to affect people in a real way. 10,000 families in my home town of chattanooga. this was a civic endeavor. i was able to see that and i felt the same way as the commissioner of finance. i think that again, you can have things -- i never did a business

deal with anybody and feel like i did some pretty significant ones for guy who started with $8,000 in savings. i never did one where the person on the other side of the table said we will do it exactly the way you just said. there was a negotiation that took place and obviously, for me to have entered into that transaction, i must have felt there was something that was good for me that was coming out of that. i assume that the person on the other side of the table must have felt there was something good for them that was coming out of it. i think sometimes that part is forgotten about here, too. >> let me ask about your own family. growing up where in tennessee, how many mothers and sisters and described her parents. parents.e your >> chattanooga, tennessee. we lived in south carolina when i was a younger person. my dad was transferred over and he was an engineer at dupont. he was transferred when i was 10

or 11. my sister is to got -- two years younger. i have a wonderful wife named elizabeth who grew up on a farm. we have two daughters, julie and emily that are roughly, depending on when this airs, 25 and 24. the 25-year-old is married to someone she met here on our staff. my younger daughter is living in new york. she is product development manager with the program -- with a company that makes these shabby stylish handbags and the proceeds go to feed people in africa. they are happy. that is the most important thing in life is that they are productive and doing well and happy with who they are. as individuals.

elizabeth is happier than she has ever been. i am gone four days a week now here and i say that in jest. i am fortunate to be married to someone who would allow me to do what i am doing and to be such a strong-willed, good person. i feel very fortunate with having the family that i have. that is the kind of thing you care about on a daily basis. >> how did you meet your wife? >> i met her on a blind date. she was doing interior decorating which is what she still does some of. one of my best friends kept saying, you have got to take this person out and somehow or another we ended up on a blind date. and cap dating from that point on. -- kept dating from that point on.

>> did you grew up in a political family, did your parents talk politics? >> no. when i first began thinking of running for public office, i literally went out to my parents' home and apologize to them. i am tied of embarrassed but i am thinking about running for the united states senate. no, we did not. my dad ended up over time, he ended up serving as the mayor of a small town, it was nothing like a political job, i assure you. he ran an ad for $25 and the local people and got more votes than anybody else and served as mayor for four years. i think that was after i had decided to run for the united states senate. so no. that is not what we talked about. my dad was a little league baseball coach and worked at dupont. we went to sunday school and did all those things that people in middle class families do.

certainly, politics was not something we talked about. i love business, i really did and i still get excited when i hear one of my friends or someone else for some big deal they are getting ready to work on. i have had some success and it has allowed me to serve in a way that i think is very unique. as much as i love this this and i did not come from a political family and all, i really do cherish the fact that i am able to weigh in on issues that are very important to people across our state and country. >> one of those issues is a member of the senate foreign relations committee. you have been to how many countries? >> i have not counted recently. i would say i've been to 56, 57, 58 countries. many of them multiple times. i have been to pakistan four times, iraq four times, afghanistan, four times. repeat visits, turkey, syrian

border multiple times. over time you certainly absorb a lot and as you are alluding to i think, here i was a mayor and a business guy who built shopping centers around our country and i am now the ranking member on foreign relations and it has taken a lot of quiet work and a lot of travel in the last six and a half years to feel like i had the ability, if you will in a small way to be helpful in that effort. >> when you went to haiti as a citizen, not as a senator, what did you see? >> i had been in business 24 years and i knew i would be successful. i went with a church group, they needed someone who knew something about construction. what i saw was just people in such need who were so grateful for any kind of assistance that people were willing to give. i not only saw grateful people who had the biggest smiles and lived in such dire poverty, but also saw that the people who

were really helped were the people who went on the trip to help others. no doubt we were able in a small way to help these families in need. i think everyone of us left impacted in a way that affected the entire rest of our lives. we all know of the parables and sometimes reverse of what you think may happen happens and certainly in that case, i was the one who was helped, not the people i was there to help. >> how do you think the world views america today? >> i still think we talk pretty negatively about our country and let's face it, we have let

ourselves down and let the world down. i think we are viewed with tremendous strengths. we are still the greatest economy in the world. if you look at leaders around the world they want their kids to go to college. we are still respected country. coming into work today i bumped into a lady who was getting ready to do a publication for a chinese audience. i do think that our inability to deal with fiscal issues has really affected us in ways beyond just our own economy. it really has. i was just recently in china, japan, and south korea. the chinese look at us as being not as competent as we otherwise might be. our allies are worried about whether we will be able to live up to the obligations that we have agreed to.

i think we are at a point where all of us who have some effect on where our country is headed should take notice and realize we are not living up to the standards that we lived up to and most cases in the past. we need to get our act together and we need to solve these problems, we need to again to move away from governing by crisis and act far more responsibly in what we are doing. we need to realize the rest of the world is watching and as the greatest nation on earth, continue to flounder in these ways i think it makes the world itself a less safe place. >> how do we get there? >> i think we are going through a low point right now in dealing with our country's issues. i think countries, companies, individuals go through cycles.

i think that we obviously have been at a low point in that regard. i feel a critical mass of people building at least here who want to rise to the occasion and again, so much of it, the american people have more to do with that than they think. we look out across our country and people on one hand say, look how divided congress is. look how divided our country is, too, and whether people want to admit it, back home, elected representatives and up reflecting the more fully than they think. our nations -- i think the financial crisis that happened in 2008 was a blow. shattered some people's feelings about free enterprise, certainly not mine. we are going to have to build back from that. our best days are in front of

us. i believe our best days are in front of us but we have got to again again as elected officials remembering that the reason our country is so great today is the -- those people who came before us ensured that and they were willing to make sacrifices to ensure that people who came after them had a better life, and certainly the generation that is leading right now is doing a much better job of that. >> let me conclude on the snow. what is next for bob corker? any interest in national office, being on a ticket? what else do you want to do? >> i have always lived by this sort of life standard that you do the best job you can at the job you're in and everything else will take care of itself. i really wake up every day wanting to be the most impactful united states senator i can be towards making our country

stronger and not to make it about myself but to make the things we focus on those things that cause our country to be stronger and i do not have anything on my mind right now other than that. and continuing to be a good parent, a good husband, and hopefully, a good citizen. >> any advice from your wife on this? >> my wife is very apolitical, i assure you and very unique for a public official's spouse. so fresh, so strong in so many ways. she would say that i think she likes the way that i serve and she likes the independence with which we both are able to live at present. we both know what a privilege that is and i think she would just cheer me on and ask me to

please continue to take on the toughest issues we have. >> senator bob corker, thank you very much. >> thank you, sir. >> more now from our american profile series. she talks about her family, career, and time in the u.s. senate.orried -- >> when did you first think about running for elected office? >> my first office was in high school when i was on the student council. back then, the girls did not run for class president, sadly. i was the secretary-treasurer of the high school class and my claim to fame was that i coordinated the lifesaver lollipop drive to raise money for the high school prom. it may not have been a major ideological battle but we really did not have enough money for the prom and i was able to raise enough. by the time it got to be a senior the juniors failed at

their job and we had to have it in a shopping mall and we danced around the fountain and my date went in the fountain with someone else so that was luckily not the end of my political career, but it was the first time that i ran for office. i got involved in politics, ran campaigns, worked with walter mondale. it was a defining moment to run for major office. in my case it was county attorney. when our daughter was born and she was very sick and she could not swallow. it was at a time when they had the insurance role in place that you could only stay in the hospital for 24 hours, a mother could. she was sick, she was in intensive care and they did not know what was wrong. i got kicked out after being up all night with her. and so she was in the hospital for quite a while in her first year. one of the things i did as a citizen was i went to the

legislature and worked for some of the legislatures -- legislators and testified in it was one of the first bills that guaranteed new mothers and babies of 48 hour hospital stay. after that i was pretty hoped that you could get something done and i took on the companies who were tried to slow down, i brought six pregnant women to the conference committee because they were trying to have it take place later knowing that they were against it and the outnumbered the lobbyists two to one. i decided to run for office. >> your daughter is how old now? >> our daughter is 18. >> how is she doing? >> she is doing great. she has a really rough first few years and she was fed for a stomach tube through the first year and got better and better and she was an incredible girl

and did well in school. we're pretty proud of her. >> you became county attorney and one of the things you worked on was to make sure that drunk driving was a felony. my question is, why was that even an issue? >> minnesota was one of the few states that it was not a felony. some of it was in the spirit of our states and some of it was a fluke but we did not have a strong drunk driving law. there was a notorious story of one of our legislators taking to the house floor when they were trying to pass .08, and said if we pass this, how will my constituents get home in the morning? i had a best case to use when i testified. the guy had been arrested 16 or 18 times for drunk driving and when the cops stopped him in minnesota for this one, they said why did you move here and he said colorado has been a felony, i would have been in jail. we were able to use that case and i worked with republican and democratic legislators it took

two years and we passed that bill that made it clear that if you had more than three dwi's that it would be a felony. >> where did you grow up? >> we -- it was in plymouth. we had a nice family. we went on our family trips to the black hills and the tetons. i never went anywhere that did not involve a tent or a camper. i went to public high schools my entire life. my mom taught second grade until she was 70. >> she recently passed away. >> she did. one of the things i loved about going and public service is my mom and dad in their own ways performed public service. my dad took on public causes -- people's causes and my mom was a teacher. i was reminded of that when there was a visitation when she died and people i did not know came.

there was one family who is disabled and they recalled how my mom's favorite unit was about monarch butterflies and she would dress up as a monarch butterfly and she would carry a sign that said "to mexico or bust" because that is where butterflies fly. she would go grocery shopping. what she never told me until i found this out from the family is that she went to this particular store because this kid that she had in second grade was now 22 years old and he worked bagging groceries at that store. he loved that monarch butterfly unit so she would go to that store and give him this big hug when she went through the line with her groceries. that family and that kid came to her visitation to tell me that story so it is an example of what teachers do all the time and how she loved her job and what she did. >> you have been candid about your dad's alcoholism. what was that like growing up and what did you learn from all

of that? >> my dad had a struggle with this. he grew up with a hardscrabble life at the iron range in minnesota. there was a lot of drinking in the culture up there. then he was a newspaper man, a lot of drinking in that culture. at some point he started drinking too much and it was when i was young. i would remember we would be waiting for him on christmas morning. my sister sitting over the couch looking out the window for hours and he would finally get there and it was things like that that made it hard, and i remember fight to my taking the keys away from them when i was older when we would drive up north to see my grandma. over time he got three dwi's and it did not mean much then. my husband and i got married in 1993. he got his third dwi and it really meant something. he got good treatment.

he had some actual time hanging over his head. he changed his life around and he is happy, married for the third time, and doing quite well at age 85. >> he has described you this way. there is a lot of joy in his daughter and she has an eye for the absurdities of life. does that describe you? >> i think to survive in washington you have to have some eye for the absurdities of life. what he meant by that was it is important to be able to take your work seriously and not necessarily take yourself seriously. you have to be able to stand back a little and realize this is just life and people will do some crazy things but you try to find the common ground and get things done. certainly he and i on our travels, bicycling all around the world, we bicycled in russia, through red square and bicycled in slovenia looking for our relatives. he felt that he had found his relatives when the man said there was one -- someone with his mother's name in the town. they were minstrels and they were always drinking and play the guitar and the man would get

drunk and play the guitar and he would offer to sell his house late in the night when he -- for a dollar and someone took him up on it and he went to america. having those experiences with my dad who has this amazing way of seeing the humorous things and also seeing the joy in ordinary lives and the extraordinary stories of ordinary people really taught me a lot growing up.

>> he has been described as a legendary sports columnist. >> he started out in sports and did that when i was growing up. at some point at 1965 he got a full-time column, anything he wanted to write about. he would write about politics, consumer stories, always pushing and helping someone who had called in. he did crazy things, he went for the abominable snowman, the paper said him there in california. they said him to sweden because minnesota is a scandinavian. when they changed sides of the road that they were driving on in the entire country, his story was supposed to be all the problems and the swedes had deputized a neighbor for every street corner. there was not one problem except for a norwegian truck driver on the wrong side. he literally went from this mining life where he worked 1000 feet underground in the summers, going to everyone interview

everyone from mike ditka to ronald reagan. >> how did you meet your husband? >> we met at a pool hall to some friends. then we went to see "wayne's world" with someone else, that was our first day. -- date. he grew up close to me, an hour and a half away. he grew up in a trailer home until he was in sixth grade. he has five brothers. his mom really wanted girls and got pregnant again and had identical twin boys. they had six kids in a trailer home. they eventually move to a small house and they are an incredible family. his parents are a lot of fun. we do a lot of things with their family as well. he is a lawyer and cares a lot about the world around him and teaches law school. he has been great. i do not think we could have done this and had me have this job if he had not shared in a lot of the work load and done things together and been incredibly supportive.

>> her daughter abigail, how would you describe her? >> she is humorous, she just sent me an e-mail yesterday telling me that she had found out that this book of that she had never cared about that i wrote when i was in college about the politics behind the building of the dome stadium in minnesota, i never have been able to get her to read it. she found out they were using it at brown university still. i get $.68 on book. she sent me an e-mail saying they were using it at ground and i said how did you find out and she said she found out from some guy named david something. i got the typical freshman e-mail back. he was my middle school prom date, duh. she has always attempted to keep me real. i was going to take her to target to buy a swimsuit for a pool party for eighth grade. they had a vote in the senate so

my husband had to take her. she called me and i picked up the cell phone as i am walking into the senate and she is in tears and said, they said we cannot wear a bikini at the pool party but you can wear tankinis. she said dad does not understand the difference between a bikini and a tankini. i said, get him on the phone right now and i walked into lindsey graham and i almost knocked him over. i am not doing this balance right now. if you are trying to balance the family in the work, you never do it perfectly and anyone who says they do is wrong. for me, having my husband there has been a great blessing and a help. >> i want to come back to that. in your official biography, that lists the essay that you

referred to. what is it about? >> on the dome stadium? it is called "uncovering the dome," and i based it on a same analysis of how you look at things first on the macro level and that would be the world of pro sports and pro sports teams and the second part is how you get a bill done with the various special interest groups and everyone is fighting with each other and the weird alliances that take place in the case of the stadium to get it done. and pro sports teams and the second part is how you get a bill done with the various special interest groups and everyone is fighting with each other and the weird alliances that take place in the case of the stadium to get it done. the third was implementation. i talked to all the people on the stadium commission who were charged with deciding where i would be located at the time, whether in minneapolis or lymington, minnesota, and they

chose minneapolis and it was about how the stadium way back in the early 1980's... on time and under budget. let's forget about the fact that it collapsed a few times. i was saying with the demise of the stadium when it was deflated for the last time, this time a planned deflation that we would stop hearing the jokes about how you should not wear a pointed hat in the top row and various other things. it has been a great stadium for our state. it is where we won two world series and some incredibly precious moments for minnesota sports. >> the story goes you come to washington and you are in the u.s. senate and you walk into the men's room during the first week. >> that is a correct story. now it is all of our 20 women. we have had a traffic jam in the women's bathroom. here i was brand-new and i did not know my way around. i had not had much connection here at all.

i had been a prosecutor elected three years and i did not know my way around and i did walk right in to the men's bathroom and i believe john kerry was coming out at the same time. [inaudible]d not in the bathroom. we had the official lunch in the lbj room and there we are with the major portrait of lyndon johnson looming above us and i went and got a salad and a cup of soup and i am ready to dive in and patty murray is at my table, 10 senators and she gets up and runs are on the table and grabs my arm and says you just took the entire bowl of thousand island dressing and you are about to eat it. i looked at her and said that is what we do in minnesota, we the thousand island dressing. it was an example of the women coming to each other's rescue. it was a hard adjustment for me and for my family. in our saturn with

the shower curtain from college. i got to make some very good friends here. i love my work and being on the commerce committee, i did a lot of consumer work which felt somewhat like the prosecutor work i had done before, not just i got to manage an office of 400 people which was very fulfilling. i had worked on legislation in that area. i did that and i did agriculture which i was interested in. and later joined the judiciary committee. >> why did you decide to run for the senate in 2006? >> we had an open seat, mark dayton had decided at the last minute not to run, he is now our governor. i had loved my job as a prosecutor. i had made some good changes with the office and gotten positive results. i had seen what you can do where you can make a difference in government by holding people accountable in this case, putting out goals, publishing what happened when you got the goals done. i wanted to take that kind of philosophy in a system where i

know people still believe everything has been broken. my optimistic belief that you can still get things done. that drove me from a professional standpoint. and then from a substantive standpoint, it was all about standing up for people and doing things for the good of the state and the good of the country. little did i know when i got to the senate that a year later, that bridge would collapse in the middle of the summer day. -- anlly any line highway eight lane highway. bridges should not fall down in the middle of america. we decided we would rebuild that bridge. we work together and we were able to get that money in a record amount of time and it was rebuilt in a year. tragically, a dozen people lost their lives and many more were injured. it was a reminder of what your job is when you represent an area or the little girl who died in the swing pool -- swimming

drain thatat on a dismembered.s in democracy and believe that a freshman senator was going to be able to get a bill done that was sitting around congress for five years and at that moment when we were able to attach it to the energy bill and make pool safer -- going forward and there have been much less depth from this kind of bad and faulty equipment. when i got to call him from the cloak room and tell him we passed that bill was probably still the proudest moment i had. >> congress and its approval ratings are pretty low. as you know. someone said it is broken. how do you view the senate, how

do you view congress, and can you have working relationships across the aisle? >> i hold hubert humphrey's se at. theyed for his desk and mistakenly gave me gordon hump hrey's desk. i had the desk for two years. i told jeanne shaheen the story. lid, and i dide not know they had corrected the error. i have hubert humphrey's desk. optimistic and believe you could get things done and believed in the idea of emma chrissie and that is what guides me. i have found the best of my colleagues. i headed up the national prayer breakfast at one point. i am president of that group. half the senate comes once a

year and tells their wife -- their life story. tried to find that common ground whether it is passing a bill with senator blunt or inhofe. in health -- whether it is introducing a bill on immigration in terms of bringing in some of our high skilled workers which i did with senator hatch. the two of us were voted the two senators waste likely to get into a scandal by "the washingtonian" magazine. find common ground and an understanding of the issue and go from there. it has helped me get things done for my state but to feel good about the work we do every day and he gives you some hope which we have now seen, i would argue,

in fits and starts, borne out in the last year, whether it is that incredible moment when the senate passed that bipartisan rubioion bill with marco and john mccain working with senator mccain and senator andin and senator menendez senator hatch and i contributed to that bill or whether it was battery -- patty murray and barbara mikulski to get that budget done or the work on the farm bill that senator stevan abinow has done recently. still find it within themselves, this courage to stand next to someone they do not always agree with for the anderment of this country, that is what keeps me inspired and keeps me going. >> there is a picture of senator humphrey and muriel humphrey who had this seat. she served for about a year.

did you meet them? >> yes, when i was very young. hubert humphrey. i was able to meet him and i met muriel later. family and their son skip and others i have gotten to know. one thing apple did not realize about hubert humphrey -- people did not realize about hubert humphrey. i was -- there is a movie out on him, we chose how much he did -- he did work across the aisle. he transcended party lines and in that way he is a big role model for me. >> do you enjoy being in the senate? >> i do. i really do. i think that it is a place that needs improvement. i think some of the new rule changes, while they are tough to deal with, are the right thing to do. we should not be wasting our one on hours of debate not an amendment but a person and we

should have up or down votes more often and we should move things along and that would make people feel a lot better about themselves and the institution, and certainly we would be serving democracy better. when the president talked in the state of the union about the soldier and how it is not easy, the soldier was in a coma after sustaining a roadside bomb attack and getting to the point where he could be sitting there next to the first lady at the state of the union was a message to everyone. america has never been easy. our democracy has never been easy. there was a message to congress at we just have to keep shouldering on. 2014, why is equal pay for equal work and issue? >> i think we still have situations when you look back in the past when women just are not treated the same way. look at lilly ledbetter. she was told, you do not get a raise because you did not find

out what people are making. this idea that women should be paid the same for work that a man does was something i think most republicans stood up for when the president talked about men"iving in a "mad discriminatory situation. that was one of the most surprising moments in that state of the union speech this year. i think just the crowd in that isen -- of the senate changing things. it is the jobs that we have. we have need major chairs from the budget committee to appropriations to intelligence. to transportation. chaired byttees women. i am the senate chair on the joint economic committee. you get to hold hearings on whether or not it is income inequality or the immigration bill or women in manufacturing. it changes things and because of

it, i get to go to the chairman's lunch and i get to see firsthand the numbers when you look at who is in charge of those committees is higher than the percentage of women in the senate overall because the women have tended to get reelected and stay in the senate so they chair committees. i think that is what is the best thing for changing the way things work around here. susan collins led that effort to end the shutdown and we had a group of 12, 14 of us, have for women. he basically said here is how we think we should end this and we went to our leaders and we will do a press conference. you can work it out if you want to but this is what we are going theo and i do not think -- point is half the people were women. >> how do you describe your ideology? >> i would say i am someone who stands up for the people in my state. i am someone that believes you need more stability in

washington. if i had to pick one word it is optimistic for the future and optimistic for what we can get done. >> this comes in the category, what is next? have said that-- you would be perfect for the u.s. supreme court. >> i love the job that i do now. that was a surprising question. i love the job that i do now. minnesota -- our voters like to see change. we that means a lot to me for our state. i have a lot of workers so want to do here here >> what about the presidency? >> i love the job are i have now. hillary clinton may be running on our side and that is exciting. >> when the new york times says that you are among a dozen or so people that potentially would be president someday, what is your reaction?

>> that is an honor to have people think of you in that way. i think one of the things i've learned is yet to keep your eye on what you are doing and enjoy what you are doing and be humble about it. runningirst considered for office in minnesota, a lot of people told me i should run for secretary of state which is a very important job especially for the womenn are strong and the men are good-looking and the recounts are above average. that. urge me to run for they said, you run statewide in won't have as much controversy. said, no, i think i want to do the job that i want to do for now that i see as challenging and that is what i did. i did that job. manage 400 people for eight years and another opportunity came up. i think it is important what you do your job, you like what you're doing and you keep focusing on it.

if other opportunities come up, great. people spend their entire time looking for the next step, they find out that the grass is not always greener and they don't enjoy or do well that what they are doing. thef down the road virginity rices for higher office, would you be interested? >> i want to focus on what i am doing now but i appreciate the question. i appreciate that you are wearing viking purple. we have faith the vikings will emerge again. >> they have never won the super bowl. itmy dad wrote a book about and said the he wrote it in the 1980's and that is so relevant today. >> gehl and the university of chicago, why those two schools? >> i really had no connection to the east coast and i applied to a bunch of schools. i got into a lot of schools and

i remember my dad really wanted me to stay in minnesota. some editor at the newspaper we were on -- we're on an elevator, i said i was going to the library. he asked me where i was going to college and i said i didn't know yet. and my dadyale said i was not going there because it was too expensive. we were able to scrape together 10,000 dollars at the time but i most remember that i brought my pink polyester prom dress. i'd never been to the east coast except for one trip. i brought my pink polyester prom dress and matching shoes in case i needed it. i would often take the greyhound bus back and forth from college to minnesota to save money. it wasn't exactly a glamorous life but i met so many good friends and it really opened up a new role for me -- world for me.

i always wanted to come back to minnesota. >> is your daughter interested in politics? >> i don't know. my husband always jokes when people asked that question. he said what would you be interested in if your mom's job had an approval rating of 10%? i think she really has a keen eye for politics and understands that in government she is volunteering in college in helping immigrants learn to read. she is doing the newspaper, writing for the newspaper with a focus on politics. she likes that. i really want her to do whatever she wants to do in life and not director in any which way and it seems like it is going fine right now. our one comment to me recently was that she felt walt whitman's poems were too repetitive. she clearly is a girl who things on her own.

>> usurper two years with barack obama become -- before he became president. what was your relationship like with them personally? >> we get along well. he is someone who has taken on some major difficult issues. you think about when he got into office how challenging that was when we were losing more jobs at one month and there were people in the state of vermont. you think about his calmness. there are so many international crisies. his wanting to bring the troops home from iraq and afghanistan. he has been steady and strong and sticking to what he wanted to do. it has been frustrating not to be able to get anything done for him. he certainly got a lot done. i think if he can get this yougration bill done then will be able to look back at some major changes that he has made in the country.

some major social changes whether it be the don't ask, don't tell repeal or his position on gay marriage. the emergence of so many strong women in his cabinet including hillary clinton. devotiont is just been to doing something about keeping the economy going again a lot of attacks that he gets every day. himll continue to work with on every issue that comes along. we like when it comes to visit our state and hopes he comes again soon. >> you get back home how often? >> i get home about three out of every four weekends. with the weather being so lovely in minnesota right now, you don't want to miss it. there was a date when we were colder than mars. that day has passed. we have now moved on to warmer pastures.

>> if you have a rare day off with nothing to do, what do you enjoy doing? >> i love going bicycling in the summer. i biked with my dad across the country from minneapolis to wyoming, 1100 miles in 10 days. i like going to movies with my husband. we have a lot of fun doing that. i like taking walks. i like to check in with my daughter if she answers the phone. it is nice to take that time where you can be outside, even in the winter. >> was a bigger sense of humor, colleague? that ipresident declared was the second funniest senator. that was incredibly humorous. he has worked very hard at his job and so you don't always see

that humor. he clearly has a very big sense of humor. >> you don't always take yourself too seriously? >> no, but it is rather amazing to go one-on-one with al franken. we do have to do this. they have is both do humor and my favorite moment was he called me after one of them and said he liked my jokes and that i liked his jokes. i worked really hard on that. he just had to put that together. the difference was that you are a professional and i was a prosecutor. he is a lot of fun to work with and i do think having some people with a little sense of humor in this town can go a long way.

>> thursday night we talk with two senators. how she went from mary catherine to heidi. >> i grew up in a small catherine -- catholic community. the two classes whether it was first or second or third and fourth were in the same classroom. at that time there was a small group of girls. there was a lot of marys. mary jo.and my parents never called me mary. my best friends name was cathy. she decided in the third grade she would rename a. -- mae. she was a voracious reader and had read hundreds of books by the time she was in the third grade. she gave me the name and it

stuck. >> later on how the senator's grandfather changed the family name. >> when they got to ellis island, they did not know english with the exception of the words apple pie and coffee which they learned on the way over but they were asked why the immigration officials to change their name because they thought it would be too difficult to spell and pronounce for people in this country. elsik.name was gj name of the farm where they lived. my grandfather was nikolai gje lsik. they had a sponsor in south dakota and they came out to work on the railroads. thursday ats 9:30 p.m. eastern.

>> coming up, a discussion on u.s.-russia relations. obama talks about fuel efficiency standards for trucks. the energy secretary will talk about domestic energy production and take questions at the national press club. before becoming energy secretary, he was a professor at mit's. -- at m.i.t.. live coverage here on c-span. a conversation on cyber security infrastructure. live coverage from the brookings institution and also on c-span2. >> at the creation museum we are to link to admit our beliefs but

we teach people the difference between beliefs and what can -- what one can observe an experiment. we are teaching thinking -- critical thinking and right terms about science. we should be educating the kids up there because we are thinking -- teaching them the right way to think. evolutionistsng to believe -- to be up front about the difference. >> i encourage you to explain to us why we should accept your word for it that natural law agoged 4000 years completely and there is no record of it. you know, there are permits that are older than that. populations that are far older than that. the traditions that go back farther than that. it is just not reasonable to me that everything changed for thousand years ago by everything, i mean the species,

the surface of the earth, the stars in the sky, and the relationship of all the other living things on earth to humans. it is not just reasonable to me that everything changed like that. >> evolution versus creationism, build nine working with darwin's origin of species and answers in genesis founder on the bible. >> recent disagreements over issues like syria and edward snowden have complicated america's ties with russia. a panel at the brookings institution looks at that relationship. we will hear from peter baker of fromnew york times" and fiona hill who wrote a biography on vladimir putin.

it is terrific for you to come out for what will be a first class discussion on the relationship in recent history and no doubt contemporaneously as well between the united states and the russian federation. we will probably reach back into period as well. newspaperpages of the give us occasion to have this discussion every day. that is the publication of the terrific book to my the limits

of partnership. i will come back and say word or two before i turn things over to my colleague, fiona hill, who is going to moderate a discussion among the four of us here which is to say she is a player coach. she will have to moderate herself. fiona i think most of you know is the director of our center on the united states and europe. many things in common with the author of the hour. both of them served as the national intelligence officers and the intelligence community of our government. both of them, by the way, have not typically american accents, which is also an interesting point. they served this government and this nation very well, keeping an eye on -- i guess it was called the eurasian complex. we