when i start tearing apart, you will see that this guy is not a true conservative. the one thing i say is positive is he's a great debater and this is the kind of guy and 2012 that would have tied obama into knots. obama would have been scared of this guy, he is not mccain or romney. he's not a lightweight like john boehner, mitch mcconnell, or paul ryan. he doesn't have a chance and i think donald trump is going to be the only choice republicans can make because he can cut through the mustard. he speaks in a way that ordinary people understand. he is u ordinary people understand. he reaches out to everybody. i think he will do a lot of damage. host: some of the earlier moments during hurricane sandy when president obama was working

with chris christie. take a look at this article from nbc -- chris christie no longer looks like mr. electable. "chris christie challenge when mr. electable no longer looks so electable." host: taking your calls on chris christie and the entire presidential field and how it is shaping up. richard calling democrat.

caller: if you listen to my voice, you probably hear a brooklyn accent. i back on is very similar to mr. christie. i got my undergraduate degree because i had a very similar background. i got it because i was able to go to the city university of new york. watching mr. christie, i look at him and it has been 116 years since we have had a bona fide bull loose. i look at him and he is literally, figuratively, and physically a bull loose in the presidential run. i'm a life long democrat but i'm serious attempted to cross my lines. i'm also in an ordained clergymen. my father soap is that mr. christie will go to bed one night, have a revelation and his sleep, and wake up a populist

democrat. believe me, i'm thoroughly tempted to cross party lines. i think that guy says it like it is. i think he is a brush of fresh air in the overgrown and overbloated field of one of these -- of wantabees. host: thank you for the call. here is a tweet that echoes what he was saying. chris christie once voters against turning over the white house two obama second mate, hillary clinton. a call from patrick in california, line for independents. go ahead. caller: yes. i have heard mr. christie speak before. he lays out lots of times -- the american people work hard, we do not have the kind of time that

politicians do. if politicians pander to multinational corporations their finish finish a responsibility has never -- the government needs to fix things. the government needs to make it to where we do not suffer. they look for slave world around the world. they play around in washington and sell houses to people who cannot afford them. i'm sick to death of people like chris christie who think the american people need to suffer to fix things in america. host: who are you interested and in the field, is anybody? caller: you know, about the only guys who has ever had a history -- you known there is not everything that i like about donald trump, but the one thing

that he has done, he did not make his money in wall street. he built buildings. he hired american people to build buildings, golf courses. host: alright thanks for the call. we will have to leave it there. we appreciate all of the calls. if you did not have a chance to get through, we'll open the phone lines again tomorrow on "washington journal." i want to let you know, if you missed chris christie's announcement from new jersey, we will show it again tonight at primetime right here on c-span. we'll take a look back now at that announcement in its entirety. >> ladies and gentlemen, the

next president of the united states, chris christie. [applause] ♪

governor christie: thank you. thank you, new jersey. thank you. and thank you to livingston. you know, lots of people have asked me over the course of the last week, why here? because everything started here for me. the confidence. the education. the friends. the family. and, the love that i have always felt for and from this community

. when i decided to make this announcement, i did not have any choice. i had to come home and home is livingston for me. i want to thank sheila, a dear friend of my mom's and a wonderful representative of this town for welcoming us here today. i want to thank my friend lynn. some of you may be confused. you may have thought that she was being "boo," for reasons i will not explain, her nickname from high school was "the j uice." thank you for being here. i'm also here because this is where my family raised me.

for good and for bad, where we come from is from our parents. you heard sheila and lynn talk about my mom today. i am here in livingston because all those years ago, my mother and father became the first of either of their families to live the city of newark and come here and make this home for us. my mom is not with us here today, but i feel her. my dad is here and i really privileged to have him. they raised my brother and i.

these are the fields that we grew up on, the school that we built our friends with and came and learned ways. ever since i left and shared a room with mary -- i shared a room with todd all the time -- it was a smooth transition. my sister and todd are as big a part of today as anyone else. they are both here today, i love them both. [applause] governor christie: everyone think i am the politician in the family, we did a coin flip when i got married. i had tails, but the

woman that is just as good as me is the woman that i met at the receipt of delaware, from a family of 10 people. people say, why are you not shy in a crowd you should see the family i am married into. my wife has been an indispensable part of my life over the last 30 years. she is largely responsible for the four amazing people that you see standing with her. [applause] governor christie: ever since i have been governor, i have been happy to use the veto at home too. so far so good, i've not been overridden there either. i'm so happy for them to be here today. i could not be prouder of four children that i have of them. [applause]

i told you my parents moved to livingston, and they moved here to make this part of theirr fulfillment of their version of the american dream. they both lost their fathers at a young age, and were raised by extraordinarily strong women under difficult circumstances. my dad, one of the students in his high school class, admitted to chlamydia racy -- columbia university, but because his father passed away, he could not go, they did not have the money. he went to work at the bright as ice cream plant -- bryer's ice cream plant in newark, new

jersey. after he met my mom, he decided to go to school at night at rutgers for six years while working at the jobs during the day to get his degree in accounting. my mom, one of her favorite family pictures was on the day that my dad graduated from rutgers. the first person in either of their families to ever get a college degree. it was the first family picture because she was six months pregnant with me. the smiles on their faces was indicative of not what they had accomplished, but what they saw coming ahead. the smiles were about the fact that they thought that nothing was out of reach now. they had each other, they were building a family, they worked together, and with the help of both of those strong women they gave them $5,000 each --

probably all the money they had in the world -- to put a down payment on a house in the sound to give their children a chance to take the dreams that they had started to build and make it even bigger and better. i not only think about my mom and dad about my two grandmothers, women who raised children largely on their own women who knew how to work hard and new that that hard work would deliver something for their children. i know that both of them are watching down today and today is part of the flotilla of their dream too -- fulfillment of their dream to. my mother told me, christopher if you work hard enough, you can be anything. if you just work hard enough, you can be anything. that story is proof.

parents who came from nearly nothing. parents who brought nothing but love to their marriage. the good amazing this generation is. one person removed from the guy working on the plants of the ice cream plant is the two-term governor of the state where he was raised. [applause] governor christie: see, that is not only what my parents have done for me, but what new jersey has done for us. you see, this place that represents the most ethnically

diverse state in the country the most in slate populated state in the country, we are all different and on top of one another like you are all on top of each other in this gem. -- gym. what has come from that is the absolute belief that not only can we achieve the dream that we want to achieve, but that we cannot only do it together, but we have to do together. we have no choice but to work together. we must work together again, not against each other. [applause] when i became governor six years ago, we had a state that was an economic calamity and $11 budget

on a deficit. a state that no longer believe that any one person could make a difference in the lives of the people of the state. we rolled up our sleeves and went to work. we have refused to raise taxes on the people of the state for six years. [applause] governor christie: we made the hard decisions that had to be made to improve our education system. we made the difficult decision to reform pensions and health benefits and continue that fight today. we have stood together against each and every person -- every cynic who said, why are you wasting your time? the last six years, we proved, not only can you govern the

state, you can leave it to a better day. that is what we have done together. now, we face a country that is angry. when i hear the media say that our country is angry, i know they are wrong. last year, i want to 37 states. i met people in every corner of america, and they are not angry. americans are filled with anxiety. they look to washington, d.c. and see a government that does not even work anymore, it does not talk to one another anymore. does that even pretend to work anymore. we have a president in the oval office that ignores the president and the congress that ignores the president.

both parties have failed our country. both parties have stood in the corner and held their breath and waited to get their own way. both parties have led us in america, a country built on compromise that compromise is now a dirty word. if jefferson, washington, and items believe that "comment compromise" was a dirty word, we would be still led by england. this dysfunction has led to an economy that is weak and has not recovered as it should. it has led to an educational system that is the 27th and industrialized world in math.

it has led us to weak leadership around the world. this weakness and indecisiveness in the oval office has sent a wave of anxiety across our country. the anxiety can be swept away by strong leadership and decisiveness to lead america again. [applause] we just need to have the courage to choose. we need the courage to stand up and say, enough. we need the courage to course a new path in america. it must start with this. we must tell each other the truth about the problems we have. if we tell the truth, we will realize that truth and

opportunities today will lead to growth tomorrow. what are the truths? those truths are that we have to ignores that our government is not working anymore for us. we have to ignores that and say it out loud. we have to recognize that it is the fault of the big ringleaders and washington d.c. who no longer listen to us. we need to acknowledge that all of anxiety and failures are not the end. they are the beginning. what we need to decide is that we can make a difference we can stand up and make a difference in this country. that is why i love the job that i have kids ask me all the time,

the fourth-graders to come to the state health, the two questions are always asked -- one, what is your favorite color ? always. second what is the best part of your job. i always tell them that it is that i wake up every morning knowing that i have an opportunity to do something great. i don't do something great every day, i am human, but every morning, i wake up with the opportunity to do something great. that is why this job is a great job and the president of the united states is an even greater job. [applause] governor christie: i have spent the last 13 years of my life as u.s. attorney and governor of the state, fighting for fairness and justice and opportunity for the people of the state of new jersey. that fight has not made me more

weary, it has made me stronger. i've now ready to fight for the people of the united states of america. [applause] governor christie: america is tired of indecisiveness and weakness in the oval office. we need straight and -- strength and a decision-making in the oval office. that is why today i'm proud to announce my candidacy for president of the united states of america. [applause] [cheering] governor christie: and now as

livingston and new jersey turn its gaze to the rest of america today, what do we see and what do we have to confront? we need a campaign of big ideas and real truth and opportunity for the american people. we need to fix a broken entitlement system that is bankrupting our country. let me fill everybody else in -- lying and stealing has already happened. the horse is out of the barn and we have to get it back in. we can only do it by force. [applause] governor christie: we need to get our economy growing again at 4% or greater. we have to make this once again

the country that my mother and father told me it was. as hard as you work, that is as hard and high as you rise. that is not the case anymore. we cannot honestly look at our children and say that to them. we have an economy that is weak and does not have the same opportunities that i was presented when i graduated from college. when i graduated from college we did not weigh about getting a job, we worried about picking which job was best for us. we knew that if we were taught we would be successful. this country and its leadership does the same to my children and yours, and i ready to give it to you. [applause] governor christie: we need a tax system that is simplified. we need to get the government off the back of our people.

we need to encourage businesses to invest in america again, not overseas. invest in our country and our people. in a world that is as dangerous and frightening as anytime i have seen in my lifetime, there is only one indispensable force for good in the world. it is a strong, unequivocal america that will lead the world and not be afraid to tell our friends, we will be with you no matter what, and tell our adversaries, there are limits to your conduct, and america will enforce those limits to that conduct. [applause] governor christie: here it

comes. after seven years, i heard the president of the united states say the other day that the world respects america more because of his leadership. this convinces me that president obama lives in his own world, not in our world. the fact is this. after seven years of a week and feckless economy, run by barack obama, we better not run turn it over to his second mate hillary clinton. [applause] chris christie: in the end leadership matters. it matters for our country, and american leadership matters for the world.

if we are going to leave, we have to stop worrying about being loved and start worrying about being respected again, both at home and around the world. i am not running for president of the united states to be prompting of america. i'm not looking to be the most popular guy that looks in your eyes every day. when i stand up on a stage like this in front of all of you, there is not the you will know for sure. i mean what i say and i say what i mean. that is what america needs right now. [applause] unlike some people who will offer themselves for the

presidency in 2016, you are not going to have to wonder whether i can do it or not. in new jersey as governor, i have stood up against economic calamity and an unprecedented natural disaster. we are recovering and that is because we lead and work together to do it. as governor i have proven that you can stand up and fight the most powerful special interests that this state has, by the same time reach across the aisle to our friends on the democratic party to say, if you have a good idea, i'm willing to work with you. that is what our country needs. as governor, i have never wavered from tell you the truth as i see it, and then acting to

make sure that you know that is the truth as i believe it, in my heart. as a candidate for president, i want to promise you just a few things. first, a campaign without spin or pandering. you will get what i think, whether you like it or not, or whether it makes you cringe. a campaign when i am asked a question, i will give the answer to the question that is asked not the answer that my political consultant told me to get backstage. [applause] governor christie: a campaign that every day will not worry about what is popular, but what is right. what is right is what will fix america, not what is popular.

a campaign that believes. believes in an america that is as great as the hopes and dreams that we want every one of our children to have. not a campaign that terrorist people down -- tears people down, but a campaign that rebuilds of america where we want our children to grow up in again. that is what america has always for and that is what this campaign will stand for. [applause] governor christie: all of the signs say tell it why it i like it is gearing we will tell it like it is today so we can create greater opportunity for every american tomorrow. the truth will set us free,

everybody. all the years, all 52 years that i have spent in the state with our people have prepared me for this moment. we have no idea where and how this journey will end, but we know it is only in this country only in america, where someone like me could have the opportunity to seek the highest office the world has to offer. only in america could your voices and efforts make a difference to change a country as big and vast and powerful as this one. only in america. only in america have we seen time after time after time, the

truth of the words that one person can make a difference. you see, the reason that is true is because it is the only thing that has ever made a difference in the history of the world. one person reaching out to another to change their circumstance and to improve the lives of their children and grand children. i do not seek the presidency for any other reason that because i believe in my heart that i am ready to work with you to restore america to its rightful place in the world, and restore the american dream to each one of our children whether they live in livingston or mendham new ark or camden, or jersey city.

we need to make sure that everyone of those children believe they have a president who not only speaks to them, but here's them -- hears them and understands that their voices are what make any president great. if you give me the privilege to be your president, i will wake up every day not only with my heart strong and my mind sharp but with my ears open and my arms open. to welcome the american people no matter what party, race creed, or color to make sure that you know, this is your to make sure that you know, this is your country. we will go and win this election. i love each and every one of you. thank you very much. [applause] ♪

>> this announcement will be shown against night on c-span.

next, a look at foreign and domestic issues with former president ginnin jimmy carter. he set out to talk about race relations, mental health, and also about meetings with political leaders. [applause]

>> welcome back. i will start with a quick story. kathy and i are actually here because of president carter. i was invited to a dinner, i thought, a black-tie dinner? i'm just getting back from atlanta. it was at that dinner that i was recruited. believe it or not, president carter is now 90.

not only does he not look 90 but we were just talking about what he has been doing and he said, i want fishing. i want to start, if i may president carter, by looking at some of the troubles you have done recently with this wonderful book. tell me about your trip to the middle east that you just came back from. where did you go? president carter: i went to russia first. we met with gorbachev. also, met with putin for about three hours. i asked him a question and he responded.

he was aware of the typical issues. he gave his answers himself. he was quite relaxed. he had a good sense of humor which was a surprise to all of us. >> vladimir putin hadd a sense of humor? give us an example. president carter: we were surprised to hear him say that. he said, if they take it off six weeks later, that will be fine.

>> explain what the elders are. president carter: the elders are a group of 11 people. nelson mandela was our founder. his wife is a member. i represent the united states and this region. and this region. a former prime minister of norway who is a medical doctor and also was the head of who for a number of years. the former president of ireland. the former president of finland, who also won a nobel peace prize. a former president of mexico and also a former president of brazil.

that's 11 members, and also we have the chief negotiator from the united nations for 10, 11 years, and he also tried to bring peace to syria. so, he's a very wonderful negotiator. we meet every six months or so and decide where in the world we could be helpful. and we tell the truth. we do not have to accommodate voters, so we can always tell the truth. walter: let's get back to the middle east question. where did you go in the middle east? president carter: we last last year, and the former prime minister of norway and i went to the middle east. the carter center has had a full-time office in ramallah which is in the west bank, and also in gaza for the last 15 years.

the carter center still has the policy of bringing peace to israel in our immediate notice. the carter center has monitored the palestinian elections and we work with the palestinian factions in israel, trying to promote peace. walter: do you think netanyahu wants a two state solution? president carter: no, i never have thought so. i was in europe, i was in jerusalem on another visit when netanyahu made his speech and said he would accept a two state solution. i did not believe him then. everything he has done has indicated he does not want a palestinian nation next door to israel. my belief is he was to take over the entire west bank except for a little tiny spot -- a couple of little tiny spot to believe for the palestinians. walter: you did the last really

major candidate of peace accord. what kind of solution do you think is possible now? president carter: the camp david accords had different factors. one was to bring peace between israel and egypt. that peace agreement is now about 34 years old and has never been violated, not a single word has been violated. there is still peace between israel and egypt. but the one we worked hardest on was full of time -- autonomy for the palestinians and that part has not been honored. that is what i hope and what i hope my successors in the white house would attempt to do and try to bring peace to israel and try to bring peace to israel and its neighbors, but we have pretty well given up on that since the recent election in israel and an even more conservative or right wing government now than they had

before. and he has made it plain in recent days he does not want a two state solution. walter: you also met with king solomon on this trip. what do you think of america's alliance with the saudi's now, especially when it comes to bombing yemen. how did you find out about the bombing of yemen? president carter: also in saudi arabia and qatar ends other arab -- and other arab countries in that region. i was waiting for saudi arabia to leave with the new king solomon and we were supposed to leave with the crown prince. we met with the crown prince and then we were escorted to our car to go back to our hotel. about an hour or two later i got a message from the king saying he was to see you the next day.

we found out that night that the reason he could not meet with me was because he was planning and approving an unfortunate decision to attack yemen. and since then saudi arabia has been bombing yemen, which i think is a serious mistake. i met with him the next day to talk about the issues i have a my schedule. walter: mrs. carter, when you go to a place like saudi arabia what is your role and what is your role in advocating for women in places like that? mrs. carter: this time i did not advocate for women. walter: but you have before. mrs. carter: i did not with the king. but i did in dubai and qatar and the other places. and i also -- we went to seven or eight of those countries. the main thing i worked on was

health issues. i have fellowships with journalists, teaching them how to report on mental health issues accurately and in depth. we have been doing this for 18 years now. so, i wanted to get a journalist from al jazeera, because they cover the whole region and the stigma there is so bad. they shut people up and do not let anybody know they have a mentally ill person. but there is a really good program, so i did talk to and advocate for women and caregiving and those kinds of things. but not with king solomon. when i go with jimmy like that i , take notes.

walter: ok. mrs. carter: i get to see the top officials because i take notes. and i write down everything he says. president carter: she also gives me instructions -- [laughter] walter: yeah, i was reading this book, which was a total delight. i am going to ask mrs. carter about this. you say the president rights and -- writes in there, that when you came back from the navy and you're doing your business work in georgia, you left dollar b decisions to the family, but in 1962 when he decided to get into politics a changed your relationship with mrs. carter and she became much more a partner in making decisions. is that right? i want to fact check this book. mrs. carter: i did not want to come home from the navy. by then i had become very independent. because jimmy was gone all the time in the navy and i was taking care of everything.

so, i became a total housewife for a few years. then jimmy called me and asked me one day to come down. he was the employer and had no employees, except seasonal. we sold seed and fertilizer and when we bought the produce from the farmers. so, he did not have anybody to stay at the office while he went out to visit the farmers, so i came down. it got to be a habit. the children -- the schoolhouse is right across the street, the highway from our office and the children would come, the little boys would come over in the afternoon after school. but pretty soon after the first year or so, maybe not even that long, i knew more about the business and the books than he did. i could say, shut down the cornmeal.

we are not making any money off of it. we developed this really good partnership that lasted for a long time. walter: how long has it lasted? mrs. carter: we will have been married 69 years. walter: whoa. [applause] mrs. carter: in july. walter: what is the secret? i will tell you one secret i learned from this, you wrote a book together once. mrs. carter: oh, that is the worst experience of my life. [laughter] we have totally different writing styles. i am a night person. he is a morning person to start with. i like to write at night. he does not like for me to write at night. that's not much of a problem. the problem was trying to remember what we did in the past -- it's not possible. you can remember 95% and we

would fight. we got so we could not mention it without me crying. and so, we started writing notes to each other through the process. and he said, it takes me a long time to write a chapter because i wanted to be just right. he can write one in an afternoon . then, he wants to swap, so, he sees mine and i see his, and i was like, i figured my chapter was -- i had gone up on mount sinai and came down with it in concrete words and i did not want him to change a word. and it was true. walter: that does a semi-get rough draft.

mrs. carter: could not do it. president carter: so we decided to give up on the book. we had gotten a small advance, and we decided to give the advance back and cancel the book. [laughter] our editor came down on a plane and said, look, you've written 95% of the book. this other 5% is where you cannot agree. let me resolve this for you. we said, ok. half of these paragraphs are rose's and she can write them and jimmy you cannot touch them and the other half are yours and rose cannot edit them. so, if you read our book, a lot of paragraphs have an r by the side or a j. [laughter] that is why we are still married today. walter: let me, if i may, take you back to world affairs for a moment, which is your presidency

is when the iranian revolution happened. let's go back there, but also what is happening with the u.s. and iran right now. after the iranian revolution, you kept diplomatic relations. but the hostages, that is who they were, the diplomats. you think the ayatollah wanted to have that rupture with the united states? president carter: no, he didn't. i think he was completely surprised when the young -- students i call them -- captured the u.s. embassy.

there were 70 ambassadors there, diplomats. he had almost to the same amount in washington. after the young students were there occupying the embassy, the ayatollah's son went to the embassy and allied himself with the students and then and only then did the ayatollah endorsed the taking of the hostages. walter: do you think we could and should work to have restored relations with iran? president carter: i do. the others did, by the way. the others go where they want to. but the present negotiations -- i hope the present negotiations on the nuclear issue will be successful. walter: do you think that will take us back to the. of the 1970's where the irani and people are -- iranian people are our strongest allies in the region? president carter: i do not think the strongest. one of the things putin said

not to change the subject, he said, i have had two different sessions in russia this year, in january and april, with representatives from syria to try to resolve the syrian issue. he said it has not been very fruitful. what i think we should do is have the united states and russia sponsor a meeting with the top leaders in the region. saudi arabia, iran, and turkey. if you get those five literseaders together or the representatives, and we can decide together what to do about syria, and whatever we decide, aside and his syrian opposition will have to agree to it. i said, that's a phenomenal idea. have you made that proposal to president obama? he said, no, i haven't. i said, do you mind if i make that proposal to him on your behalf? he said please do. i sent obama an e-mail and told him that is what putin had asked

in about a week later, you may remember that john kerry went to see putin to discuss the issue with him. i do not know what has happened since then. walter: what you think of john kerry as secretary of state? president carter: i think he is one of the best secretaries of state we have ever had. i think he is outstanding. walter: what about president obama's successes or failures on the world stage? how would you assess that? president carter: on the world stage, i think they have been minimal. he has done some good things domestically. on the world stage -- to be as objective about it as i can, i cannot think of many nations in the world where we have a better relationship now than when he took over. if you look at russia, england china, egypt. i am not saying it is his fault.

but we have not improved a relationship with individual countries, and i would say the united states influence and prestige and respect in the world is probably lower now than it was six or seven years ago. and let me add -- let me repeat -- i do not blame him for it because circumstances have evolved. but i think john kerry has been a very courageous and innovative and dynamic secretary of state. as a matter of fact, when president obama was inaugurated the second term, rose and i went to the inauguration and john kerry came to our hotel room and spent two hours before the inauguration ceremony and john kerry outlined all of the things he planned to do as secretary of state. at that time, president obama had not even visited israel era -- that was one of the things

he said he was going to ask, for obama to visit israel, which he did later on. he tried, i think, his best to bring about a peace agreement in the mideast and do other things that i need not mention. walter: to what extent though do you think it is partly obama's fault he has not been able to establish relationships with other countries? president carter: i think -- this may not be a good thing to say to a group of americans, but i think the historical trend is for the united states to relinquish its unquestioned domination of the world's politics and economy and cultural influence. walter: is that a good or a bad thing? president carter: i think it should be a good thing, because i think the so-called bric countries -- china is rising russia's going to come back. india is increasing its influence, compared to what it was 10 years ago.

i cannot say i could blame president obama for it. i think it is an inevitability. i think the thing for president obama and the next president is to say how can the united states fit in? instead of promoting the elements of a superpower. what are the elements of a superpower? this may be preaching a little bit, but i think a superpower should not only be the top country as far as military power is concerned, which we are going to continue to be, but i think the american superpower goal should be to be a champion for the peace. [applause] and to be the champion of human rights. and to be the champion of the environment. and to be the most generous nation on earth.

those of the elements that i hope of eventually the united states will set as goals. we have been the most warlike country on earth. we have been a laggard in addressing the problem of global warming. we are now violating about 10 of the 30 paragraphs in the universal declaration of human rights. so, you know, i think these are opportunities for the future. walter: the two of you came on this aspen trip that a lot of us took to the arctic. i want to turn to mrs. carter -- your views, how they changed on the environment, that trip to the arctic, and also may be just what it is like traveling with president carter? [laughter] mrs. carter: i travel with him all the time.

we go -- we have been to 80 countries. 80 countries, the most isolated countries in the world. but that trip to the arctic was really special, i thought. we had on that ship, i think was -- what was it? national geographic? yeah, it was national geographic. everybody had to be an expert, had to say something about the environment. we heard the best people.we heard the best people. jimmy's been working on environmental issues since he was governor of georgia, marshlands. so, i think he has taught me pretty well a long time ago that we really needed to take care of the environment. walter: president carter, in this book, which i really do urge people to read, one of the

things i didn't really quite know, although i did read "hour before daylight," about growing up in a tiny, unincorporated town. you were one of only two white families and the only white kids in that town. explain how your views on race were formed there, and then i would love to take you to this past week, where we had another great confrontation on race. pres. carter: well, you're right about this. there were about 55 african-american families and our family, and i was the only child of that age. and all of my playmates when i grew up were african-american, were black boys. and we played baseball together and fought and wrestled and went fishing and hunting and worked in the field together, so that was my life. it was during a time of racial segregation, which lasted 100

years in this country, as you know, from the 1860's to the 1960's. and i was very unaware of the racial distinctions, because we treated each other equally. whoever was the best wrestler or caught the biggest fish or hit the baseball the best was the best for an hour or two. [laughter] i didn't realize at the time that the african-american kids had inferior skills -- schools. they had to go to their own schools, their own churches. black people were not permitted to vote. they were not permitted to serve on a jury, and so forth. but my opinion was distorted by the fact that the richest and most influential and respected person in archery was a black person, and african methodist episcopal bishop. that was the same denomination

as the church in trusting -- charleston. he was in charge of the ame churches in five northern states. when bishop johnson came home to archery, it would be front page in the county paper that he would be visiting his home church on the weekend. he was rich. he had a black cadillac or a black packard. he had a driver. he was a chauffeur. when he got ready to talk to my father, the custom was the black people didn't come to the front door of a white family. he wanted to abide by the mores of the south but not admit he was inferior in any way. he would send his chauffeur down to our house to make sure my father was at home, then he would go back and get bishop johnson and drive up in our front yard and blow the horn and my daddy would go out and talk to bishop johnson in the car. i look upon him as the most

successful and admirable person in my life. but later, i began to see much more clearly about the distinctions. my mother was a registered nurse, and she was immune from criticism because of treating black people as equals. after my father got a little farther along, my mother quit nursing in the hospital. she nursed in an african-american home in archery. she was supposed to get paid $6 a day for 20-hour duty. so, my sisters and i very seldom saw my mother during those times because she would come home at night at 10:00 and she would wash her uniforms and take a shower and write instructions for us for what to do the next day, and she would go back on duty at 2:00 in the morning. she was on duty 20 hours a day. she refused to admit in any way

that african-americans were not at least equal to white people. and so that, those kind of experiences really shaped my life for the future, i would say. walter: what happened in charleston last week involved three of the most controversial issues we have -- race, guns and mental health. i want to get this is carter to address them in -- get mrs. carter to address the mental health issues. what was your reaction on how people reacted with regard to race and the guns issue? pres. carter: on the race issue, i think there is no doubt that south carolina is going to finally lower the confederate flag. [applause] georgia did about 10, 12 years ago. and the governor that lowered the confederate battle flag was defeated in the next election by republicans who were in favor of

keeping the flag and the republicans have been in power in the south in georgia ever since. i think that's one thing that will be accomplished. but i don't think the nra is going to relinquish any of its present, almost disgusting influence over state legislatures or congress. [applause] we will continue to have a plethora of guns quite unnecessarily in the united states. i don't think we are going to have any need for proof of past experience of whether you're qualified to get guns. i think the nra tends to prevail, which is adapted -- dastardly -- which is a dastardly thing to have happen. i'm a hunter. i've got a number of guns. but i think that anybody who gets a gun ought to be fully qualified and give a background briefing. i don't believe that we ought to authorize the sale of submachine guns and armor piercing bullets and guns in churches and guns in

schools and that sort of thing. i think it is absolutely ridiculous to do that. [applause] mrs. carter: i get very upset when people with mental illness are blamed for everything that happens like that. because only 4% of all violent crimes are committed by people with mental illnesses. and if you look at the statistics or if you look at their lives, most of them, you will find, have not had access to services. people knew that they needed services, but they didn't -- the one in washington, in the capital, how many times had he been in to try to get help and could not get it? anyway, it just -- i hope the stigma is lifting a little bit now. i have a program at the carter center, a mental health program there.

and we have mental health fellowships with journalists. and when they were sitting around 18 years ago, trying to decide what else we could do to overcome stigma, and somebody said, why don't we bring journalists in and let them know about mental illnesses so they can write accurately and in-depth, and my journalists have been doing that for a long time now, and i think it has made a little bit of difference. but i just -- i do also think that stigma is beginning to lift a little bit upward on mental health issues. i've worked with mental health issues for 44 1/2 years. i started with stigma. but now, we, with our journalists and our programs in california, our international program on trying to overcome stigma -- now, a countries including australia, to european

countries, and others, have a program like that, which makes me feel really good. [applause] i do think the time has come. young people now will go for help. older people don't go for help because they don't want to be labeled mentally ill. hopefully, hopefully, hopefully that stigma is beginning to lift a little bit. walter: what can we do to have more access to mental health services, especially for young people, in addition to lifting the stigma? mrs. carter: well, the largest mental health facilities in our country are the prisons and jails. you can get money for prisons and jails. it's really difficult to get money for mental health services. mental health, ever since i started working on it, has gotten what was left over after everything was funded. the parity law is changing that a little bit. i hope it's going to change it a

lot. sometimes, it takes a little while for people to get access and services because of stigma. but the parity law is insurance for mental health illnesses the same as those for any other illnesses. and i, one of my greatest disappointments in my life, was passing a mental health systems act that the next president put on the shelf and did not implement. we had parity in insurance. we had integration of services meaning -- now we are working on having somebody with a mental professional in the office of a primary care professional. and that's really helping, too. the whole country is kind of moving that way. parity -- once people begin accessing

services, i think it's going to be a flood doing that. i had parity, i had integration of services. i had incentives for people to go into the mental health profession. all of that in my bill, what 30-some years ago. walter: this was during the presidency period? mrs. carter: yes. i did work in georgia, too, the governors commission, and in the white house, the president commit -- president's commission. walter: thank you for what you do. [applause] one other program you are involved with is what i will call domestic caregiving, but i would rather you describe it. explain how that works. mrs. carter: when we came home from the white house, our local state university had a small mental health program. by the time i thought i could do something because i was writing a book and doing lots of things, by the time i thought i could do something else, i already had a

good mental health program at the carter center. so, we decided to work with those caring for people with mental illnesses, because i had seen so many people, when somebody in the family would develop a mental illness, they had no idea where to go or what to do. and there are lots of services out there in the community. before the first conference that we had, a program on burnout, we brought in people in the small community. everybody knows what's going on. we had people who were caring for the very elderly family members or handicapped children who wanted to come. we invited them in. we let the university students go and sit with the ones they were caring for. it was the most emotional meeting i've ever been to. people crying. this was 1987. people crying, saying, this is the first time i've ever been

with anybody who knew how i felt that was talking to each other and we knew we had hit a real program -- problem. so, we began that program. it has grown and grown and grown. we started working with the national guard in georgia with veterans coming to. -- coming home. and michelle and jill have a program for veterans. i wrote michelle a letter and said, "you left something out because these veterans are coming home with mental and physical problems, and somebody has to take care of them." by then, i had seen so many young wives, particularly, who had no idea what to do when someone came home with mental illness. johnson & johnson has helped me, too.

we have done program for alzheimer's caregivers. -- done programs for alzheimer's caregivers. this caregiving program for veterans, going into the home and working with the families -- people who work with veterans have a hard time getting a veteran -- we talk to the family. it's a lot easier to get in. there are a couple programs i'm proud of. walter: thank you for that. [applause] i'm going to ask president carter about two more court -- countries and then we will open it up to questions. first, china. you went there for the first time, i read, in 1949, right?

when it was before -- before it had become a communist nation. and you been almost -- you have been almost every year since then, is that right? what should we be doing with china? are we handling it right? are we turning them into a competitor more than a cooperative alliance? pres. carter: i got interested in china because i did go there on a submarine. this was a time when the nationalist chinese were permitted by the communists to stay in a few seaports. that's the one we visited -- those are the ones we visited. a few weeks after i left china is when the people's republic of china was formed, on october 1 1949, which was my 25th birthday. i'm 25 years older than the people's republic of china. i've been going back ever since. when i became president, one of the things i put at the top of

my agenda was to normalize the relation with china. the president had been to china in 1972 and had the shanghai communique. he announced that there was only one china, but he did not say which one. we continued under him and president ford to recognize taiwan as the only china. i committed to normalize relations, which i did january 1, 1979. i've seen tremendous change taking place in china. they still have some serious human rights problems, but they have made a great deal of progress compared to what it used to be when the communists first took over. first, there were no bibles permitted in china. there was no religion permitted in china when i normalized relations. i wanted to let bibles back -- i wanted him to let bibles come

back and freedom of religion come back, and that's now the law of china, with some restraint. china is now the fastest growing christian country in the world. they've made some progress. under xi jinping, whom i've met five times now -- i met him three times before he was leader. under xi jinping, he has become the most powerful chinese leader since deng xiaoping. i think he is very highly committed to a nationalistic point of view, that is, china has to be preeminent. you see the long-term trend taking place where china is becoming the leader in politics and the economy. i think what the united states needs to do is to make a very firm commitment to find some areas in which china and the united states can cooperate with each other. the last two or three times i've

met with xi jinping, i have urged him to form a partnership with the united states in dealing with global warming, because i think that, no matter what they decided, if the united states and china would agree on anything, that would help prevent climate deterioration -- on anything that would help prevent climate deterioration, the rest of the world would have to go along. without diplomatic or financial or military problems, if they could agree on that one thing, it would transform the world. i think it would be the basis for further improvement. i would say that particular issue and any others we can find on which we have particular agreement, to emphasize those instead of the differences which exist between us. walter: finally, in this book, you reminded me that you were in favor of normalizing relations with yuba, -- cuba if possible when you were president. why did you not do so? what do you think of what's happening now? pres. carter: when i became president, i saw the cuban

policy was unsustainable and erroneous. so, i lifted all travel restraints on american citizens. while i was president, any american could visit cuba if they wanted to. i worked with fidel castro on moving toward full diplomatic relations. we made very good progress the first 2 1/2 years. for instance, he released 3000 political prisoners he was holding and about 1000 of them were permitted to come to the united states. we established an intersection in havana. the last time i was there a few years ago, there were 300 people working there. our ambassador -- they have almost the same number in washington. we got right up to the point of normalizing relations, but castro went back on his word to me. he sent a large number of people

do ethiopia to fight alongside the communist dictator and the russians. he also continued to try to convince some latin american countries to adopt his policy. i wish i could have normalized diplomatic relations with china, and i would have if i could have. i think what president obama has announced doing is a very good move, and i hope he will go through with it. constitution -- the constitution gives the president unilateral right to recognize any government he wants to. the congress has nothing to say about it. this is one thing the president can do by himself, one of the only things i can think of. if he wanted to, he could say, "i recognize the cuban government." i hope before he goes out of office, he will be able to do that. walter: let me open it up.

as i do, let me single out bonnie and tom mccloskey. this is the first of our mccloskey speaker series. thank you very much for doing that. >> what you make of edward snowden?: pres. carter: first of all, i think edward snowden violated the law and the customs of keeping our secrets secret. but at the same time, i think that his overall impact on the united states has not been a disaster. and i think what he has revealed to the american people needed to be revealed. and i believe that what we are now seeing in congress backing out from the unlimited intrusion into the internal affairs of every human being in america is

coming to conclusion because congress has now seen what snowden said. i think what he has done has been beneficial to our country in the long run. i don't think he has betrayed anybody that works in security overseas, so far as i know, but he did violate the law. i think if he comes back home, he would be tried, and that's what he's not coming back. so, in balance, i think that what he's done has been helpful to our country instead of damaging to our country. [applause] walter: yes, sir. right there. >> thank you for speaking, president carter. i wanted you to maybe address the audience, the project you have going on to eliminate parasites in africa. i think that's one of the best things going on right now. pres. carter: the carter center started out reloading piece. i was -- promoting peace. i was going to have a little camp david. i would negotiate peace agreements by going to their countries.

we still do a lot of that. we go to north korea. i won't list all the countries we go to. the second thing we were going to do was to promote democracy and freedom by orchestrating and helping paln -- plan and then monitoring honest elections in the world. we just finished our 100 election, in -- our 100th election, in guyana, last month. also, dealing with issues in health care that no one else wants to do. there are diseases that the world health organization calls neglected tropical diseases. we have five of them that even medical doctors in the united states would not know about. these are the diseases we address.

also at the carter center, we have the only international task force on disease eradication in the world. we bring in top leaders from the health field in general. we analyze constantly every human illness to see which ones might possibly be eliminated from a particular country or region or eradicated from the entire world. so, we are the ones who decide and recommend to the world health organization which diseases should be targeted for elimination. we are working now on getting warm -- on guinea worm, one of the most terrible diseases in history. it's in the bible. it's the fiery serpent that attacks in the old testament. so, we undertook this about 35 years ago, to eliminate it -- eradicate it from the world.

we found it in 20 countries in india and africa and 26,600 villages, we've been in every village that had guinea worm. we found 3.6 million cases. we told people -- top people what to do to do away with it -- we taught people what to do to do away with it. i just got a report yesterday that we have five cases of guinea worm left in the world. [applause] so, if we are lucky, we will soon have guinea worm completely eradicated. walter: congratulations. were there any women? ok. i will get to you next. pres. carter: one thing i might say, this year, the carter center will treat 71 million people for these diseases that no longer exist in the developed world but afflict hundreds of millions of people in africa primarily. 71 million. [applause]

mrs. carter: and most of it is by companies that give us the medicine. walter: i'm sorry, companies that? mrs. carter: give us the medicine. pres. carter: the companies -- walter: they give you free medicine to do it. it's great to have you all in aspen. >> it's terrific that the aspen institute was able to bring you. president carter, when he first ran in 196, -- 1976, there was a well-known aspenite woh die -- who died a few years ago. he was one of the first to say "this man has a chance to win the presidency." can you tell us a little bit about the collegiality with hunter thompson? pres. carter: when i was governor of georgia, senator ted kennedy came down to make the

main speech at the university of georgia law school. and i was going to make a speech to the alumni in a separate meeting at lunchtime. when kennedy made his speech, i was almost -- it was all most exactly what i was going to say. i went in the back room and made some notes about the problems with our judicial system in this world, in this country. i made my speech, and hunter thompson was listening to my speech. he was filling up his iced tea glass with wild turkey. after my speech, he was profoundly affected by it -- [laughter] walter: the wild turkey or the speech? pres. carter: the speech. maybe both. he finally got a copy of my speech from the university of georgia president. he lived near aspen. whenever anybody visited him at his home near aspen, he would make them listen to my speech as a ticket to come to his house for entertainment.

[laughter] when we used to come out here to ski, hunter thompson always came and spent late at night with my sons and daughter. i generally went to bed at around 2:00 in the morning. he was a very close friend of mine. i remember one time when i was campaigning, by the way, he insisted to my press secretary that he would interview me. hunter thompson brought a bunch of stuff out of his room and built a fire in front of her hotel room. [laughter] so, he had his idiosyncrasies, but he and i were good friends. mrs. carter: and only time we had little white things flying all around was when he came. walter: did he come visit you?

what was it like to host dr. thompson? mrs. carter: it was interesting. [laughter] but he did always complain, what are all those little white things in my bedroom? walter: what were they? moths? hallucinations, i get it. yes, ma'am. >> thank you for the opportunity to ask a question. my question is for the first lady, mrs. carter. first, i would like to thank you for your service to improve the lives of people around the world. and very heartfelt when i think of all the humanitarian efforts -- i'm very heartfelt when i think of all the humanitarian efforts you've gone to. i'm also intrigued by the research and outreach provided through the rosalynn carter institute. is there anything else you would like to share about the institute, the research, or maybe a specific family story

that comes to mind that really touched you? mrs. carter: this is one of the most interesting things. when we decided to have a program -- a mental health program in a post-conflict country, and we decided on liberia, because we already had access to information, trying to help women know what was available to them, and access to justice -- we had people all over liberia anyway. we found out they had one psychiatrist in the country. that was all. no other mental health professionals. so, we organized a program to help the country organize a mental health program and trained 144 -- our goal was 150. we saved 144 before the ebola crisis. but when the ebola crisis came

along, we started working with -- we stopped the classes, and we started working with the families of those who died and the survivors. and we did that all over the country. all of the access to justice and access to information people. on may 9, ebola -- libera was declared -- liberia was declared ebola free by the world health organization. that's one of the things my program did. it seemed a miracle to me with a note mental health workers, then -- with no mental health workers, then to have 144 in the ebola crisis. it was a miracle that we were there to do that. [applause] walter: the woman in the back. you've got it. shout. i'm trying to get our staffers

physical fit by calling on people in the back for a change. >> thank you, rosalynn, mr. president. we would like to ask a favor from you. we just got married. my new husband -- my only husband. you are really nice and good example for us, how did get together for such -- how to get together for such long years. that's why we thought, if it was possible, to ask you a favor design as a witness on our marriage license -- to sign as a witness on our marriage license. walter: i would leave it up to the president and mrs. carter. maybe we could see what could be handled. this will be -- we will try to make it quick and

get one more afterwards. >> given what you said about america promoting human rights how does that or how should it affect america's alliance with saudi arabia? pres. carter: that's a very difficult question to answer. because i'm particularly interested, which we haven't mentioned this time, about the rights of women. i wrote about that, describing all the abuses of women in the world. the most horrible human rights of use on earth. saudi arabia is one of the chief culprits in mistreating women. it's almost impossible for a woman in saudi arabia, even if she graduates from college, to get a job and hold a job. women are not permitted to go on the sidewalks were into stores -- sidewalks or into stores shopping in saudi arabia unless accompanied by a husband or another man. she has to wear a veil. women are not promoted to vote or to drive a not a mobile in

saudi arabia -- drive an automobile in saudi arabia. i wish the united states was not supporting saudi arabia in their bombing of yemen, by the way. it is important to have saudi arabia supporting our policies within the arab world. it is no doubt that the king of saudi arabia, the protector of two holy places that all muslims worship, is a valuable ally. the united states has to swallow its commitment to human rights in order to have good relations with saudi arabia, because saudi arabia can help us in many ways concerning stability of the oil and dealing with other arab countries. it's not a good answer, because there is no clear answer to it. but you cannot be absolutely pure in saying that human rights has to come above everything because there are some human rights abusers with whom we have to negotiate and deal.

by the way, the carter center, we meet quite freely with human rights abusers and people who are basically outcasts in the international world, because they are the only ones who can end the human rights abuses or bring peace to an unnecessary war. so, we need with them in order to try to negotiate peace and to promote human rights. walter: it's a good question, and there is no simple answer. there is a young woman who everybody keeps pointing to. you get the last question. you have lots of fans. >> i have a question for president carter. i know you haven't spoken on this yet, but i know you left your church. can you please describe what led you to do that? pres. carter: for 70 years, i was very active in the southern baptist convention. i was on international boards of directors and things of that kind.

but in the year 2000, the southern baptist convention decided at their convention in florida to depart from what i consider the holy scriptures. and they ordained, for instance, that women had to be subservient to their husbands and inferior in the eyes of god. and they also decided that a woman could not be a deacon in the church or a pastor or priest in the church for a chaplain in the military forces. and in addition to that, they even went so far as to say that a woman who taught in the baptist seminaries couldn't teach a class if there was a boy among the students. so, because of the obvious discrimination against women, we decided to withdraw our allegiance to the southern baptist convention. [applause]

we still belong to a baptist church, merrin off the baptist church -- maranatha baptist church in plaines. i hope you will come and visit not all on the same sunday. we have women deacons. rosa was the most famous woman back to -- woman baptist deacon in the world when she was a deacon. we have had women pastors as well as men pastors. our baptist church demonstrates that women, without question should be equal in the eyes of god. [applause] walter: that is a beautiful sentiment that ties in everything you've been doing for 90 years. i have one quick, little

question, which is, you told me found a better fishing spot that you even told president putin about. pres. carter: the year before last -- last year in june, we went fishing in the pinoy river in russia, west of murmansk. we had already finished in the eastern part -- already fished in the eastern part. then we were closer to new york than we were to moscow. we had a wonderful visit there. when i got to fishing in the pinoy river in russia, i wrote president putin a letter and told him he might enjoy going there to fish and also to continue to protect the stream and not let it be to spoilt -- be despoiled in any way.

if you go to norway or to canada to fish for atlantic salmon, if you catch two a week, that's really good. during the five days we fished in russia, together, we caught 38 atlantic salmon. it's the best fishing of your life. go to russia and fish in the pinoy river. i hope that president putin will protect this river. it's when i asked him to do. mrs. carter: we fly fish and we catch and release and we press in the hook so it won't hurt the fish. walter: i always feel that flyfishing is a sport for life. what you've done is been good stewards of the planet and good servants of humanity, for which we thank you very much, mrs. carter, president carter. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its

caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> new jersey governor chris

christie announced his bid for the presidency. two more governors, scott walker of wisconsin and john kasich of ohio are expected to get into the race as well, bringing the total number of republican presidential candidates to 16. governor christie made his announcement today outside of livingston high school where he graduated in 90 teen 80. governor christie: i have spent the last 13 years of my life as u.s. attorney in the state fighting for fairness and justice for people in the state of new jersey. that fight has not made me more weary. it has made me stronger and i'm ready to fight for the people of the united states of america. [applause]

america is tired of hand wringing and this in the overall -- in the oval office. we need to have authority back in the oval office and is why i am proud today to announce the candidacy for the room publican party for president of the united states of america. >> governor chris christie's announcement in its entirety tonight on c-span at 8:00 eastern. >> the c-span cities tour is partnering as an affiliate this weekend. join us as we learned about the history and literary life of omaha, nebraska. the forest club was one of the first fighting for racial equality. >> omaha had a reputation as a

city that when you came in, if you were black, you need to keep your head down and aware that you were not going to be served in restaurants or be served in hotels. when the do club began their operation some of the term civil rights -- they used the term social justice because it was not part of the lexicon. the idea of civil rights was so far removed from the idea of the greater community of omaha or the united states that they were operating in a vacuum. there were not the support groups, there were not the prior experiences of other groups to challenge racial discrimination. >> we look back to the union pacific and how it helped omaha plus economy. >> one of the premier railroad companies of america was founded

in 1862 with the pacific railroad act signed into law by abraham lincoln. they were charged with building the transcontinental railroad that would connect the east and west coast. they started here, moving west moving east and a met up in utah. that is what propels us even farther. we become one of the gateways to the west. >> see all of our programs from omaha. >> the national sheriffs association has an holding its conference in baltimore this week. the group has heard from several presidential candidates. former arkansas governor, my

custody, addressed the group yesterday saying that it has never been more dangerous to be a cop. governor huckabee -- mr. thompson: thank you again to all the first responders who are

here. i am jonathan thompson. today is a great honor for the association. we are taking ourselves in a new direction. with that goes so many obligations, so many opportunities that we, as an association in launch oarsman, can and should -- in law enforcement, can and should take advantage of. today represents the first time ever presidential candidates have been invited to participate in your annual conference. all of the candidates for president of the united states received an invitation to participate in this event and talk to you, the men and women in uniform who do walk that line, to hear your questions, to talk with you about the issues you face every single day. republican and democrat, they were all invited. ladies and gentlemen, i want you to take notice over the next couple of days as to who is here. i want you to take notice of the people that aren't here. and i want you to take notice of those that are here, that they are standing tell with you and

they are renting -- they are answering your questions and they are talking to you. they are not talking at you. they are talking with you. our first candidate is former arkansas governor mike huckabee. governor huckabee has the distinction of being one of the longest standing governors in that state's history. he left a legacy of tax cuts job creation, the reconstruction of state's road system, k through 16 education reform and a heralded and duplicated health initiative that focus on the less expensive approach to prevention than the closely big government top-down approach of intervention. "governing magazine" named the governing as one of its public officials of the year in 2000 510 "time magazine" countered him as one of the five best governors in america.

he has been honored by numerous organizations for his commitment to music education. he served as the chairman of the prestigious national governors association as well as the education commission of the states. may southern governors association and the interstate oil and gas commission. governor huckabee is also a new york times best-selling author former host of number one weekend show on fox news channel and a longtime radio personality. governor huckabee is an avid musician and a bass player. his hobbies also include hunting and fishing. he was named one of the 25 most influential people for conservation by "outdoor life magazine" and was named the end of the year by an american sportfishing association. the former governor and his wife, janet, who is seated here with us today, have three grown children and five grandchildren.

ladies and gentlemen, please stand and welcome governor mike huckabee. [applause] governor huckabee: thank you very much. i am kind of that all the republican candidates did not show up this week. otherwise, your conference would have been extended by three more days considering how many they are and still growing. a lot of people have said, is it going to be difficult having that number of candidates and how in the world will we sort them out? i do have a solution to that. i don't know if it will go over with some of the others. for me, it is a very simple one.

they all drop out and endorse me and then we move on. i think that would be a great idea. maybe we can encourage them to do that. it is an honor to be with you today and i appreciated the tribute that you have given today to the members of a baltimore police department, well-deserved. and i want to say that, one of the reasons i look forward to being with you is that you serve one of the most important parts of law enforcement in the country in that every single one of the 3000 plus sheriffs in america are elected by the people of their communities. so we always know that the motto of law enforcement is to protect and to serve them for the sheriff's office, if you don't serve, they will send you home. and if you do serve, they will appreciate it by reelecting you. it is one of the important elements of our lump -- our law enforcement community because of that. we are living in some very

challenging times, to say the least. i am afraid that my kids and even more significantly my five grandchildren are growing up in a very different kind of america than the one that i was so blessed to grow up in as a little kid down in south arkansas. a few years ago, as governor, it was always my duty sometime during october, when they have national reading week, to go to a public school and sit down and read a story to children and it would cause the press to come in and take photos and you whole point was to encourage people to read. so i was scheduled to be at the georgia elementary school and spring arkansas on a saturday morning. i had been in the junior high science fair earlier that day. it had run a little late. by the time i got to georgia elementary, i was already if you meant behind. the principal met me at the door ringing her hands say we have to hurry the kids are down there and waiting for you. so we hurried down the hall to

melanie keyes's first-grade class at the george elementary school. all the kids were sitting on the floor facing forward. why -- right in front of them was one of those little first-grade shares for me. -- chairs for me. they handed me the book that they wanted me to read. i looked at these kids and i thought, i just don't want to break into the story. i want to spend a moment or two getting to know them. these are first-graders. i said, before i read this story, kids, would any of you like to say something or ask a question? being first-graders, every hand went up, everyone of them. i thought, boy, this is going to be easy. so i pointed doing to and another and i noticed right in front of me, dead center in front of me was a little girl and she just did not have her hand up. she had her hand up like this, making sure that i could see that her hand was waving

vigorously in my face. i wondered how long could you keep this up? so i thought, ok, i will go to every other kid but her and see it she can handle this. sure enough, for the next several minutes, it did not matter who i talked to. she was waving their hand at me. i was going to run kid and another and they were saying things what they were going to halloween. i could not imagine what this logo was so enthusiastic about. i was hoping she would say that's what this little girl was so enthusiastic about. i was hoping that she would say my mother thinks you are the best governor we ever had. finally, she is the last one standing and she still has it going. i said, yes, sweetheart, i know you want to ask something. so you go ahead. i later found out it was ashley. what was it you wanted to say to me?

she looked up at me and she says, governor, we are already late for lunch. [laughter] you see, i found out that wednesday was found on day at george elementary. the truth is the little girl did not care that the governor of her state came other way across arkansas to read to her class of all the schools in the state of arkansas. what matter was wednesday was corndog day and if we didn't hurry up and get through that story and get those kids to the cafeteria, she might miss her corndog or else it might be cold. needless to say, my staff give me the business about that. they were calling me governor corndog for a while. until i reminded them that i would be calling them former members of the staff if they kept that up for that little girl, the only thing that mattered to her was getting to her corndog on time. and i tell you, i wish to god

that little girl never had to worry about anything more important than her corndog. unfortunately, she is going up in a world in which there are far more things to say against her than her corndog. we sometimes have heard the expression "there is a new sheriff in town." i would say that america is going to be in real trouble unless we get some new leadership in town. there has got to be an understanding that the direction this country is going is going to make it very difficult for little girls like ashley to grow up and not worry about things like: dogs. she is going to ask on dobbs. she is going to have to worry about whether or worry about

things like corndogs. she is going to have to worry about whether or not foreigners will come into this country and attacker. there are some elements in our culture that want to put to the blame on the police officers which is about as smart as blaming the umpire when the pitcher beams the batter. they result of a lot of this anti-police sentiment across this country from elected officials, a starting with the attorney general, is we have seen a 24% increase of police officers killed and killings are up by 56% of all officers killed by firearms just this year alone. it's never been more dangerous to be a cop.

it's never been more dangerous to be a cop. and i don't think the problem is that we have too many police -- we are living at a time in the rebellion of the laws and lawbreakers. we have seen what happens when a mayor and district attorney disparaged the lease who are trying to keep this city safe. baltimore has the fifth highest murder rate in u.s. cities. when the baltimore mob rioted doing millions and millions of damage to the city, putting 144 vehicles on fire and injuring 113 police officers, it was not the police we needed to worry about. it was the

it was the lack of a unified support at the highest levels of leadership for those who went out there and held the thin blue line against anarchy. [applause] governor huckabee: in the city of baltimore, one in 70 are likely to be a victim of violence and in west baltimore it's one in 48. to give you contrast, in fort worth, texas, it's more like 1 in 179. in new york, where a new mayor decided that some of the policies of the previous mayors, which had been very effective in dramatically reducing murders and violent crime, he thought their methods were too heavyhanded so he reversed them and shootings are up 20% in new york city from just a year ago.