legit corruption. the issue is that everyone has dirty hands. the only proven case of corruption was england 2018, where they have found cases of payments being made. most likely, there was corruption involved. yes, probably. that is how these games are awarded. lefthe train has sort of because the tournament is set in stone. the same issue can be said about qatar. i'm not sure if this world cup is really another feather in ead, because i'm not sure it is going to be as beneficial for him as he thinks or as the west thinks. it is going to open up the country.

it is going to open up dialogue. it is going to show certain elements of russia that are probably not always welcome to the people in power. i think having the world cup there is going to do much more in terms of resolving current problems then taking it away. the moment the west takes it away -- that is how it will be perceived in russia, the west taking away the world cup. they are going to completely isolate themselves and the situation will probably deteriorate even more. i've lived in ukraine myself. i get that. but i think taking the world cup away from russia will not solve this issue. people involved in the game in ukraine want to go if they qualify. i think that shows some of the problems.

i think that in terms of the bidding process, it was russia's time, just like it was brazil's time. i think, whether the payments were made or not, they were lined up. the difference is qatar. that is a whole different story. >> [indiscernible] regardingef comment how germany succeeded is really a trifecta. investing in youth, developing the youth, and marketing it. it is a clear formula. it was a 10-12 year process. the formula exists.

helpin fact is planning to russia that way. i've been in touch with the medical director of fifa. they will be starting so-called fif 11 that will be taking place throughout russia in the german model. it requires a commitment. fifa will try to capitalize that process that worked for germany to do it for russia. as you can imagine, as a soccer player and physician, russia's health system is completely down. who will ensure the well-being and health of the athletes at this world cup? i know what they did for sochi. because to hear more, this is across 12 different cities. ge divided all-

the medical equipment. they built new clinics. they had helicopters. expertise ifin the they did not have it locally. russia, you know in the russian system, it is more complicated than just being kind of collapsing. you have a system in provincial cities that is in bad shape. you also have a private system which is growing. -- they have more an issue with having good people trained, skilled surgeons and so having that kind of equipment. i think they will advance what they did for sochi. when you cannot modernize the system, you are just creating parallels.

a centralized system that is really where the state is putting a lot of money has to make sure it works. they will open new clinics. they will have the right equipment. that will cost a lot of money. that will be very well functioning during the cup. it doesn't mean that once the cup is over, the system will bring a lot of new positive elements for the population, which will continue to go to the public sector. but i think they will manage that well. they will have enough money, and even if there is less money, they will still be able to manage this element of the system. lori, i assume the teams bring their own doctors to these events. lori: for the u.s., we have a couple doctors that travel with us. i'm pretty sure the majority of the teams will travel with their

own doctors. curious for those people studying russia, what happened to all the equipment? i know ge and the other suppliers left all the equipment , the x-ray equipment, in sochi. i'd like to see if it is being used. putting a new, ge unit on top of their olympics sponsorship, and the results are that it is saving i forget how many thousands of babies each year. so i'm hoping that the imaging equipment and everything that was left is doing some benefit to the people in the sochi region.

>> let's suppose worst came to worse. some countries boycotted the games. are there any rules in fifa that would cause them to penalize those countries? lisa: no. any team is allowed to say they don't want to participate. and the other countries will be happy to go. manuel: to be honest, even in ukraine, they are saying, we are going. i have a very high doubt -- unless some kabbalistic event happens -- some cataclysmic event happens, i don't think we will see boycotts.

i think the u.s. will definitely go. >> [indiscernible] manuel: that is a very good point. first, you need to qualify, which i think you will. lisa: we learned our lesson from 1980. it didn't solve anything. thank you. this is a question for manuel and lori and whoever else might be able to chime in. i take the example of france hosting the world cup in 1998, a traditional football country, football is not played by many french women and girls. that changed after hosting the world cup. there were considerably more women in the stands in french stadiums. there was what they call the p, increase in girls in youth programs.

seen as ainitely catalyst and coincided with a real dedication to growing the women's game in france. i'm curious to hear what kind of insight or thoughts you might have in terms of whether something similar might be the case with russia and female football there and whether this might be a catalyst to help it grow and give it perhaps more wings and backing. manuel: russia is very far behind when it comes to gender equality in terms of women's football. they have a leak. they have a competition. they participate in the women's championship. that said, i think, in general, a world cup always sparks attention and always gets people to play. i would say that it will definitely increase and help the women's game just as much as it

will help the men's game. people will see it on tv and aspire to be these athletes they see on tv. i would say yes, it will have a tremendous impact. lisa: the other thing is that there has been history, once a country has hosted a men's, they host a women's. i'm not saying they are going to get it for sure, but it could be something down the line. lori: just to piggyback off of what manuel said, i think this world cup was an exciting time for other women's national teams , like nigeria. because of social media as well, we went from, in 2011, we had 16 teams in the women's world cup. this year, there was 24.

eight new teams participating. some, which some would argue shouldn't have been there, like thailand must to germany 10-0, but in my opinion, i think it opened up some dialogue and brought awareness and put some pressure on fifa to mandate that these countries put more money into the women's grams. so if we are going to have 2014's, they need to start spreading -- to have 24 teams, they need to start spreading. spark and this will inate a little bit of a bump pushing and giving more, developing the women's side of the game as well. hopefully that will be the case with russia as well.

anyone can answer who feels like it. coming from georgia, the country, i've seen russia occupied georgia. i've seen russia occupying ukraine. i've seen russia adopting laws that outlaw homosexuality and racism flourishing in the country. recently, i've seen russia destroying western food. it sounds to me a little bit naive when we are speaking about these games opening up russia. if you are saying so, let me give you this question. what was the benefit of the olympics? how did it change russia to a better country in sochi> sochi> lisa: we were still discussing

that before the panel. those of us that attended really fell in love with russia. ,nfortunately, the week after all of our opinions that we had formed changed again, back, even worse, because of the invasion of ukraine. so all the goodwill that they built up, unfortunately, i think, went away. russia.nfortunate for but i do think during the games they had an opportunity to change a lot of people's opinions and move forward, yet they chose to revert. many people said it was already in the planning, that they knew they were going to do this after the games. i don't know about that. to your question, we can only hope. we have no scientific proof that it is going to help any, but is

it worth trying? is it better to just close it off and say, we are not going to deal with these people because they are going to keep going? i don't know. >> [inaudible] lisa: i think they did. the people that i talked to had broadened their -- the citizens, the individual citizens that took part in the olympic games benefited. i can't say that putin changed. i don't think that's the case. but i think the citizens benefited. first, in terms of russia with a country of racism and lgbt issues, we all agree it is not the only one.

look at the lgbt writes in qatar. we also need to be careful. a lot of countries getting big sport events are not the ones we consider the best in terms of social or gender issues. politicalnd the point, but i think if we fail for russia and ukraine, it is a political failure of the west. trying to solve the issue -- [indiscernible] i think it is very important also not to forget that it is not only giving soft power to putin, it is also giving us soft power. engage with the international community. they will have to change. they will have to allow foreigners to come. it is also a way for us to speak

to the russian population beyond just putin. if you look at the sociological survey, you will see the russian population getting tired of the situation in ukraine. people have a lot of concern. pressure of huge media is kind of slowly now diminishing. people are worried. they have concerns for their economic situations, their well-being. you can find a lot of people in russia who would say yes, we wanted crimea to go back, and we wanted the russian population in becauseto be secure, that is the way they would interpret the situation, but the price of this is higher than we imagine. things can change a lot in three years. if you suddenly cut any

communication with the russian population, you don't need diplomacy, you just need weapons. i don't think that is the right solution. >> [inaudible] marlene: you don't see for means for thehis 50,000 volunteers who participated, how that change their lives. you don't know if that has them opening discussions. you also have long social transformations where you don't see the results right now. maybe the olympic games didn't change anything. does that mean we shouldn't have them and that not having them makes things easier? i don't know. this, it would add to is not that long ago that we had those olympics. it is hard to judge the impact

of those olympics at this moment. you've seen a lot of events play out, but these events were already taking place prior to doing the olympics. you said 50,000 volunteers. what is the long-term benefit of that? i think it will be positive. also, what is the solution? take away the world cup? that is not going to do anything. i think it would actually make things worse. judging from what happened at euro 2012 in ukraine, the second-largest football tournament in the world, it has some very similar issues in terms of racism and gender rights. now, take that with russia, and on top of russia having problems with neighbors, russia will get full on media attention for two

years. over,n as euro 2016 is there will be full media attention on russia. that is going to do a lot more than just taking away the tournament. >> [inaudible] but it has not been very long, has it? it has been a year. that is not very long in terms of dialogue. >> olympics has not brought any benefit in terms of opening russia. that was the question. thank you. marlene: that is your own interpretation of our answer. at least two people sitting here are historians by background. managing something that happened fifth in months ago is more complicated than that in terms of how human beings can change

in society. >> to those in attendance and asked questions, excellent. fantastic discussion. let's give a round of applause for our speakers who did a really excellent job. [applause] before, wetioned you can follow along if you want to continue to participate in the discussions. so thank you for your attendance. >> a number of presidential candidates are attending the candidates soapbox event at the iowa state fair.

we will have live coverage tomorrow and all weekend. in a moment, we going to show you some of the candidate speeches from today. we will start with former arkansas governor mike huckabee. then, remarks from jim webb, followed by martin o'malley. on the next "washington journal," new york times health care correondent margot sanger cats joined us. we will look at her recent these looking at whether health insurance expansion cuts health care costs. then, the 80th anniversary of social security and what the future holds. later, a conversation on the u.s. foster care system with the director of policy reform and advocacy. we will also take your phone calls, comments, and tweets. "washington journal" live each morning at 7:00 eastern on

c-span. "q&a," sunday night on institutes for policies fellow and antiwar activist phyllis bennis on u.s. foreign policy since 9/11, the negotiations with iran, and the war on terrorism. >> who is isis? what are their origins? all those questions are important. i think what is more important in some ways, because it is something we can do something about, is the u.s. policy regarding isis. why isn't it working? can we really go to war against terrorism? are we doing the war wrong or is it wrong to say there should be a war against terrorism at all? those are the questions that are the most important. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern and pacific on c-span's "q&a." >> former arkansas governor mike huckabee was the first of the

2016 presidential candidates to speak at this year's iowa state fair. following his remarks, he took questions from people attending the affair. the des moines register posted this event. nk you very much. welcome to the first day of the iowa state fair. let me begin with the recommendation -- pork chop on a stick. trust me. it is what is for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack. i want to send a thank you to "the des moines register" for giving us this forum and for all of you to coming to listen to a politician talk. i think a lot of times you and i hear a lot of politicians talk. you hear a lot of people come to your city. this time 17 republicans are coming to iowa to ask for your vote and support in the

caucuses. there will be a handful of democrats that will come as well. hillary probably is not going to come. she will e-mail in her appearances. [laughter] i know the clinton's pretty well, i was born in hope, arkansas, the same town bill clinton was born in. people wonder how it is possible so many people would come from such a small town. the answer is i don't know, but what i do know for the republicans who are deciding how to vote, who to vote for, a lot of the questions are, is there anybody on our site that has a good opportunity to take on the clinton political machine? i am the only person who is ever done it because every election i ever ran in all, every time i did not just run against an opponent but the entire political apparatus the clintons had built over a 25-year period. i know many of you think the most democratic state in the country is massachusetts, maybe

oregon, vermont, new jersey, but you would be wrong. for the 1990's most democratic state in all of america was arkansas. and i was elected, i was only the fourth republican elected in 150 years. when i was elected lieutenant governor, i got the state capitol and they were so happy to see me being the only republican in the state capital that's my door was nailed shut from the inside. [laughter] literally nailed shut. it stayed that way for my first 59 days for the elected governor of the state. that was my introduction to hardball politics the clinton political machine knows how to play. every time i was ever on the ballot, both bill and hillary clinton came and campaign for my opponent. i have never been bitter about it, it made me a better candidate. i not only took them on, but i

repeatedly beat them, and i lived to tell about it. that is why i am here today. [applause] you will hear from the other side they have done such a great job running the country and the economy is in a recession -- and that the economy is in in a recovery. everywhere i go i do not save the economy is recovering. i talked to people whose economy is not recovering. last night i was at a pizza ranch. of course i was. a guy comes up to me and is a contractor who owns a small business and does landscaping, and i was talking about a guy that i met in south carolina three weeks ago. a guy named mark. the guy i met at the fairfield inn in aiken, south carolina, at 6:00 in the morning. my team stays at the fairfield inn because it is a free -- cheap hotel with free internet and free breakfast.

weise and your campaign money by trying to be frugal. i am down there 6:00 in the morning for breakfast. merck is working the shift for the fairfield inn and strikes up a conversation. we get to talking. he is a college-educated accountant and three years ago he was working as an accounting in aiken, south carolina when the company closed down and should this all 300 jobs to mexico. 300 factory workers and front office people of which he was one all lost their jobs. now mark is working three part-time jobs and with three part-time job to does not make as much money as he used to make on the one job he once had and the factory. mark story is the story of 5 million americans who have lost jobs in manufacturing the year 2000. 60,000 plants have closed since the year 2000.

last night when i was talking to the landscape contractor in waulkie, he said i can really because that is fine. he's that i am working 100 hours per week. there are a lot of american sweating through their clothes every day, lifting heavy things, and they are not getting a lot to show for it. it used to be if you could just get through high school, get a good job and work hard you could take care of your family and work through the middle class. lord knows i was able to do that because of a hard-working dad who worked two full-time jobs but could barely pay the rent on the orange brick house i lived on 2nd street and hope, arkansas. i am not blue blood. my family did not come over on the mayflower. my family is blue-collar.

we got jumped off the shores of georgia. my ancestry is not something that is all that noble. my father always told me don't look very far of your family tree, there is some stuff you don't need to see. let me tell you why i love this country, because if the kid like me can grow up like i did with parents who never had the opportunities of a great education, my father never finished high school. his father did not end his father did not -- i am the first male who ever graduated heist will, much less went to college. if the kid like me can become the governor of estate and aspire to be the 45th president of the united states, this is an amazing place to live. [applause] and i am grateful to god to be in this country.

i have a few years on me now. three grown children and five grandchildren. when people say why are you running for president? sometimes i ask myself out. i can tell you why, because i want those five grandkids of mine to have the same hopes and opportunities. i want them to be optimistic about their country as i looked being, and i want them to believe america is the greatest nation on earth and believe that is true because it is true. we have to fight for it to be true again. i am not willing for us to be a second rate nation. i want us to have the best military, best economy and best and are of right and wrong morality that any country has ever had in history of polarization, and that is why i am running for president, because i want those rankings of mine to love america and have a great america to love. [applause]

but if we are going to make the country great, we have to make some big changes. not little things. we have to make some truly major changes like get the fair tax passed and quit punishing people for their work, and once and for all, get rid of the criminal enterprise known as the internal revenue service. be rid of them. [applause] let's get our military strong again where no one wants to fight with it. the bully in your school when you were a cake, and i hope it was not you, but the bully in your school only picked on the kids he thought he could beat. he never takes on a kid that was so new it would put the bully on his rear end. if we want to keep america from having to go to a war, it may sound counterintuitive, but the best way to do it is to have the most robust, well-trained, well-equipped, best ever

military in the history of the world that nobody on this globe that wants to ever pick a fight with. nobody. [applause] when some people ask what is the most important issue facing this country? most people ask is if the economy or national security? is like asking me which wing of the air plane is most important? when i fly on the plane i like for both wings to be on their. just flies better. of course we have to get our economy going. people need to work, and we cannot work when taxation creates migration and folks are getting the jobs in china, mexico, japan, south korea, and indonesia, but not the united states of america. i don't care i have jobs there but i sure as heck care if people miss country have good jobs that pay good wages and let them see them -- the family and

let's them moved to the next rung on the ladder. we have to make that a focus. [applause] i will secure the border within the first year because we had to do something about letting our country become an open door where we no longer control our border. if you think it is resumption on my part to say i think we can secure the border in the first year, i'm here to tell you it can be done. 73 years ago we built bridge between british columbia and alaska. 1700 mile route and build it in less than a year. that was with the engineering capabilities of 73 years ago and the construction of the arctic winters of the north. of course we can secure the border, but you have to have a president that says i will do it and make sure it gets done, and

i will be a president that gets it done. that is my commitment to this country. [applause] even if we have both wings of the airplane, i also believe you have to have is doing mechanism, otherwise, without a steering mechanism to wings will fly it to the crash site. the steering mechanism has to be a strong, moral fiber that comes from what our founders said in the declaration of independence, and then here is to the laws of nature and laws of nature's god. let us never apologized for who we are as a country, a country that cannot be explained apart from the providence of god himself. there is no other explanation for the united states of america rather than his providence and intervention. [applause] if we are going to invoke his blessing, as we often do, and does not matter whether it is a

democrat or republican running for president, here is something we always a at the end of her speeches, god bless you, and god bless america. every democrat says it, every republican does it, but folks, i am not sure how we fully inspect to invoke god's blessing on this country if we continue the slaughter of unborn children in their mother's wombs, 60 million of whom has passed away since 1973. let's stop the slaughter. when i hear people say we will defund planned parenthood, wonderful, we should do it, but let's do more than that. it's not just ends funding for the nightmare, let's end the nightmare and make it so that when we asked god to bless us he can look down from heaven and say i will.

i thank you very much, and i will take a few westerns for the remaining time i've got, which i probably will regret. this is called queuing day. questions and answers in your world, but for me, it is called questions and avoidance. i will try not to do anything that will end my presidential aspirations today here at the soapbox. you, front row. >> [inaudible] mr. huckabee: how do we get it back to the growth rate? $11 trillion of capital is parked offshore. i guarantee you we will goose economy if you bring $11 trillion of working capital back to this country. and you stop punishing evil for working, saving and investing and quit rewarding people for making mistakes, which is the way we are operating now, we will transform the economy. we will bring manufacturing jobs back, because under the fair tax we will not be at the

competitive disadvantage to make things. it is not enough for us to have a design and create things, we have to make the things we create. right now we are designing things, creating things, but we are making them in china. what we need to do is make them here, but we can't because there is 22% and that attacks and everything we do here. it comes back cheaper than what we make. the fair tax changes that and gives us the competitive edge to bring the manufacturing jobs back. we stopped the crazy regulatory environment. i have a contractor friend and has a great back on the back of his hard hat. it is true. it ought to be at least as hard to get welfare as it is to get a building permit. do you agree with that? [applause] yes, sir? >> [inaudible]

mr. huckabee: the question is, what we continue to fund things like the global fund? i have been to rwanda and seen the benefit of the mosquito nets we provide for about $10 to save thousands of lives. i think there are many humanitarian things we can do. we cannot fix everything the world. we cannot be the world's policeman. we have to get our own house in order. our own children and grandchildren will never be able to have the great america that can do great things around the world. that has to be job one. does not mean we won't care and want involved, but the number one goal is to make it so people in this country will have the kind of money they can contribute to the seven dollars mosquito net that save the children that are right not dying of malaria unnecessarily.

let me pass this on. i think sometimes we fail to understand our involvement in the world needs to be from a position of strength, not weakness. the one thing i am committed to that america will no longer be a nation that asks permission to speak or act. we will act in americans best interest and american workers best interest. we will make this country strong and make it so that wages in this country are worth something again, something that has not happened in 40 years when the bottom 9% of the economy has had geithner wages. that has to change. back here. >> [inaudible] mr. huckabee: she says i am a real campaign for arts education. i am. i am one of the only governors to mandate arts and education for k-12th.

one in every three high school children drop out of school. you know why duck they are bored. the reason a lot of kids are bored is because they are right brain dominant students, which means they are created in nature. they are the ones who create things like your iphone. the problem is, if you put them in a traditional classroom and say sit still, put your feet and front of you, you lose them. they are thinking and dreaming all over the place. put music and art and dance and theater and paintbrush in their hand and you will change their lives in the outcome of those kids. [applause] let me be very clear, i am passionate every student in america should have access to not either/or but music and arts education. should that be a federal requirement? no, your station do it, because i am convinced one of the biggest messes in education, is

that if wedding moms and dads and states run their education, we have let washington run it, and washington has no idea what is best for students in iowa, but you want to make sure in iowa you don't let any kids go with an art and music exposure and education with certified teachers. yes, sir, in the hat. what does that hat say? >> [inaudible] mr. huckabee: the question is, will i support ethanol and fuel? some people say that is not a conservative position. let me tell you. if the government tells people to do something and spends millions of dollars in infrastructure to follow a new government mandate and do it, and the same government comes back and pulled the rug out from under them and says we will not do that and work, you just messed up on whole lot of people who made the investment to cut

they trusted their government. the reason we cannot just pull the rug out from renewable fuels is it was a government that asked american farmers to engage in the process. now, if you go back to change the rules after the guys have gotten the game, you will disrupt another big he said the economy. this is one of the reasons i'm running for president. it is time for someone to understand when america is make thomas, you keep it area not just farmers and people in the renewable fuel industry but promises to the veterans who keep promises to the country and fought to get our freedom. it is time for someone to understand when america makes up on this, you keep it not just to the farmers and people in the renewable fuel industry. i have no intention of going in

and saying we will raise the age at which you retire and take your benefits away from you, because that is your money. it does not belong to congress. it belongs to you. [applause] you did not have a choice about whether it came out of your check. there is no way to the person who took the money from you ought to be able to your. my time is up. i want to thank you for yours. i hope you have a great time at the iowa state there. i need your vote in february at the caucuses. i don't care how cold it is that night, please go vote for me. if for some crazy reason you are not going to vote for me in the caucuses, for god sakes stay home that night and do not leave your home. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

mr. huckabee: one should not necessarily -- the porkchop on the stick is utterly healthy, it really is. it's fantastic. things that if i tell you i have to kill you. it will definitely be on my menu for lunch today. thank you, gabby. mike huckabee, nice to see you. i wish we could have a few more republicans on the ballot, right?

[indiscernible] >> i'd like to present you with the keys to the city. i met you yesterday. ckabee: that's pretty neat. >> i wonder if i could get a picture. mr. huckabee: sure. >> thank you.

[indiscernible]

mr. huckabee: hi, there. great to see you.

i believe marriage is between a man and a woman. i don't believe we should redefine marriage.

mr. huckabee: one of the things about this is that it's an unfiltered audience. this is an audience of people who want to come to the fair. the politician happens to show up, they get to ask me anything they want. they can say nice things, they can criticize me, they can say anything they like. it's a real opportunity to see that dynamic that doesn't exist in other politics.

most politicians don't rub shoulders with people here sweating in the state fair. mr. huckabee: every billion dollars that we spend on

road infrastructure creates jobs. if we are serious about creating jobs we must obe serious about infrastructure. to do it with creative financing for use of improve the economy and make america is more efficient placed function. >> what would you do -- [indiscernible] i think we need to keep open the idea of tariffs in china. they have manipulated currency, stolen from us, violated laws of intellectual property. this week the steel industry has filed another complaint because the chinese are dumping steel in the u.s. the largest steel producing county in the entire country -- what the chinese do when they

dump steel into this country -- that jeopardizes american jobs and enterprise.

mr. huckabee: chris, you are doing some heavy drinking there. [laughter] mr. huckabee: i recommend porkchops on the stick. how are you doing, sir? thank you. i knew you were a smart guy. mr. huckabee: how are you folks?

have fun at the fair. good to see you all. >> we will have more live coverage from the iowa state fair all weekend. our live coverage is on c-span, c-span radio, and c-span.org. here is the schedule. this morning at 10:30 eastern, jeb bush. starting at noon on saturday, republican rick santorum at

noon, followed by lincoln chafee into bernie sanders. on sunday afternoon, republicans ben carson and george pataki. 2016 -- takinggn you on the road to the white house. >> now we will hear from former virginia senator jim webb at the iowa state fair. mr. webb also serve the secretary of the navy. senator webb: thank you very much. it is a pleasure to be here with you today. i know this is a 20 minute timed event. the first rule you learn in marine corps leadership is you never put your crowds face into the sun, whether talking to marines or citizens out here today, so i apologize having to put you through being in the sun during this next 20 minutes. i've been here and about -- been

here about an hour and a half. i thought it walking through and saying hello to people. it's a great opportunity to meet people and listen to their views, and before i say anything else, i also want to say that i belong to one of the most unique fraternities in the world. it is a saturday that has to go across all business and ethnic lines, and that is the u.s. marine corps and one of my great friends who served in the platoon in vietnam is with us today. his name is dan broome. for those of us who are in the infantry during that time, it was a brutal time. we lost three times as many marines in the vietnam war as

were in the entire korean war. in 1969, more americans died, and in fact, twice as many americans died in vietnam as have been lost in iraq and afghanistan combined in the last 12 years of war. it is always a great honor for me to be able to give my thanks to the people who served with us and yesterday was the anniversary of when dan broome was wounded. he was wounded twice. it is great that he is with us. [applause] senator webb: also, general washington, i got to meet him backstage. i was wanted to meet general washington, because my great-grandfather's served in the revolutionary war under general george washington. those of you who remember the encampments of valley forge across the delaware, general

washington reminded me of how much he appreciated his virginia soldiers during that engagement. i was also glad to see that governor huckabee preceded me. my mother is from arkansas and i've been to arkansas many, many times. and it is good to have his views in this election process. one thing i would like to say in this short timeframe is our country right now is going through a very emotional process. when you look at all of the debate that is going on about issues that are bothering people and the attention that some of the candidates who are more on the extreme are getting in the media, and the way that people are trying to figure out where the country needs to go, the one thing i would ask you when you are looking at who you want for your next president is, when all

of this cool down and -- comes down and you have to make your decisions about who you want as commander-in-chief, who you want has -- who has a record of demonstrating judgment across party lines, i hope you will look at my career. you are going to need a commander-in-chief. number one responsibility of the president of the united states is the burden of being commander-in-chief and making these ultimate decisions about foreign policy and when to use military force, and what it is wise not to use military force. i have been around the military my entire life. i grew up in the military. i was honored to serve as a marine in vietnam. i spent five years at the pentagon, one as a marine, and for as -- four as assistant secretary in the navy.

i was in beirut when our marines were in beirut just before the bombing that killed more than 220 americans in one day. i was in afghanistan as an embedded journalist. and the experience i've had in the senate as a member of the armed services committee and the foreign relations committee is something that has prepared me in the best way that anyone can be prepared to be your commander-in-chief. the second thing i would like for you to think about is how we are going to make this a better country in terms of issues like economic fairness and social justice. i've been speaking about the breaking point between the people at the very top and our working people for 10 years now. it was one of the primary issues that i put into my senate campaign in 2000. it was the first -- in 2006.

it was the first issue that i stated in response to president bush. we have a long record here. and you have to remember we are the most unique society on earth. we are the greatest country on earth. we want to live the american dream. the american dream has three pieces to it. the first is, if you have your ideas together, if you can get yourself into the process, you can shoot the moon. you can go all the way. we want to preserve that. the second thing is, we are not doing our job right as your government leaders unless we insist that along that journey everyone has absolute fairness. everyone has absolute access to the american dream. and the third part of that is that for those who have fallen on hard times, for those who are in retirement, for those who

have suffered disability, this country has always guaranteed a safety net under the people. that is the american trifecta, the dream at the top, fairness along the way, and the safety net under our people. i've heard people say that we have that system in place economically right now. i've heard other people say we have five billionaires at the top who are controlling a lot of how our economic process works, and in a way they are kind of both right. if you look back at this recession that we endured going into 2008 and 2009 and how we have climbed back out of it, in april of 2009 as we started coming back out of it, the stock market has a most tripled. it has gone from a little bit above 6000 and above 18,000. if you own stock, if you have capital asset, you are probably

doing very well right now. at the same time, wages and salaries for our working people have been flat, and actually have gone down, as have loans to small businesses. so if you are not in the flow of capital, of owning stocks, real estate, those sorts of things, you are probably not doing very well right now. and we need to make sure that the american worker, who is the hardest, most productive worker in the world, gets a share of this economy as we bring it back. [applause] the one thing i can guarantee you, if you look at the record i have put on the table over many years within government and out of government, is that i can take complex problems and work

with people from across a philosophical spectrum and actually get things done. i'm very proud of the post-9/11 g.i. bill. i wrote this bill. i actually wrote it before i went into the senate. i introduced it before i went into office. and we developed a leadership prototype in terms of the senate as far as how you can work across the aisle to solve the problem. this was not an easy list. --lift. the bush administration oppose this g.i. bill. they thought it was going to cause people to leave the american military. the exact opposite occurred. and in 16 months, working with democrats and republicans together, we cast the greatest g.i. bill in history, and now more than 11 million gis have been able to take advantage of an educational program that pays their tuition, buys their books, and give them a monthly stipend.

that is what happens when you get people together to solve problems. [applause] we took the same approach in terms of trying to solve our broken criminal justice system in this country. i started talking about this when i was running in the senate. we spent 2.5 years of hearings listening to different approaches from across the philosophical spectrum. we put this issue into the national debate. we took a lot of hits along the way. but we got people across the philosophical spectrum. if you can imagine any issue in front of the u.s. congress that has the support of the national sheriffs association, the international association of chiefs of police, all the way over to the aclu and the marijuana projects, we pulled it off. we got people to talk to each other about how to solve these problems.

i can do that for you as your next president if you will support me, and particularly right here in iowa. thank you very much for being with us today. i'm not sure how much time we have left, but i have time to take questions. yes, sir? >> take you for your service, senator webb. as a voter in iowa, i believe that children all across the world have the right to grow in their full potential. one of the ways we can make a difference on that is by supporting early childhood nutrition and education. if elected president, would you commit to creating a presidential initiative to fund programs for early childhood education? senator webb: the question was about early childhood education and new print -- and nutrition programs, etc. i'm not point to say right now that i will sign a petition to do anything, but i will tell you

i will focus on this problem. i don't find pledges. i pledge that i will give you my leadership. -- i don't sign pledges. i pledge that i will give you my leadership. >> in the 20th century, who is your favorite president? senator webb: i'm going to have to say, and i don't know what party you are in, but there is one on either side. franklin roosevelt for what he did. my mother grew up in utter poverty in east arkansas. she was one of eight children, three of whom died in childhood, not childbirth, childhood. her father died when she was 10 because there was no medical care for a fractured hip. franklin roosevelt stepped forward and put programs into place, created the tba, put work out there. my grandmother could not work.

there was nothing out there in this rural area after my grandfather died. but she finally got a job through one of the roosevelt programs. social security, back when it was created, people were saying it was a socialist program. i doubt there is anyone out here who wants to stop their social security check. i like mine. the other favorite is ronald reagan. i served in the reagan administration. i will tell you, the reagan administration did a terrific job, whether you agree politically with them or not, of putting strong people into the administration, giving them guidance and having a step forward and lead. and in a wet administration, we will do that. we will bring the greatest minds in america to the table, given direction as to where we want this country to go, and have

them lead. >> there are a lot of people concerned with losing our democracy because of big money. what would you do to get big money out of politics? senator webb: the question is, what i do to get big money out of politics. i will tell you, big money is having a very deleterious effect on our democracy, particularly the citizens united case. [applause] senator webb: there is no question about it. the power of the financial sector to shape the issues being debated right now. i will say two things to you. first, i am on bought -- i am not bought and i am not boss i will listen to everyone, but i have my own mind anded. you can see that in the trajectory of my career. i have people saying i like the super pac's. the idea is, you can only to between $700 for my election campaign, but you can rock -- you can only give me $2700 for

my election campaign, but you can walk across the street and give me much more for the super pac. if you think that is wrong, why are you taking the money? if you want to change that, then vote for someone who won't do it. which is me, by the way. [laughter] senator webb: yes, right here. >> how do you stand on the pipeline? senator webb: i support the pipeline. if you look at it in terms of the environmental analysis, it is neutral. you can come here to the northern part of iowa and watch these trains and the accidents they are having and the environmental degradation of having to haul the oil down in that way. on balance, i think it is good. it is good for jobs. we are gaining the kind of independence we need for our energy sources.

and by the way, i'm open to all options on energy, but i would support the pipeline. yes, sir. >> [inaudible] senator webb: the question is, do i support the renewable fuel standards. i support renewable energy and i think iowa is an area where it could work. i have visited a wind farm and got an nation of how it works. i have visited an ethanol plant and i'm very impressed not only with the ethanol program, but the advances they are making scientifically in terms of the type of stuff not being used. and by the way, ima proponent of nuclear power -- i am a proponent of nuclear power. i went to the naval academy and i saw the brightest minds going into that program. we have the safest nuclear power plants in the world. they are the best managed and totally clean.

>> you talked a lot about how you are able to bring people together to solve problems. what do you do when people don't agree on what the problems are? how would you handle that? senator webb: i talk about uniting our country and bringing people together. what do you do when people disagree with you? well, the first thing you learn in any leadership position, whether military or business or government, there will always be people who will disagree with you. and we build the most creative society in the world because we have our disagreements and we worked them out and solve the problems. trust me, i was elected in virginia. i was a senator from virginia. that is a demographic microcosm of the country. on any given day on any issue, 40% of the people in virginia are angry at the people leading them.

it could be the people in the far southwest, where they are conservative socially or the: the north. leadership is bringing people together and getting them to talk about things. i think we did this again and again on criminal issues and federal justice issues. you need a leader who will stand up and looked for the future, make their recommendations and take the hits, instead of playing it safe and trying to figure out which way this particular crowd would want to go. that is what leadership is all about. yes, sir. >> americorps has been a success story for 20 years. nearly one million american men and women have served in america or am i but congress wants to -- in americorps, but congress was to cut its funding in half. if you are elected president, will you keep americorps to hope -- help build our country?

senator webb: i will not tell you that i will support the expansion of any particular program, but i will tell you that i do support finding ways to put young americans into areas of public service that affect our infrastructure, that affect the degradation not only in the cities, but in areas like the appalachian mountains. and by the way, when we talked about the early childhood program, in terms of education, let's remember two things. i only have a minute here, but lets her member two things. one is, only about 75% of our young people even finish high school today. we are not focusing on that problem. we talk about all of these educational incentives. how do we take that person, who when they maybe get to be 20 or 30 years old wants iran act of to get -- wants a way back up to get an education.

i believe one of the ways we can motivate young people is to get them involved in programs of community service that also address their education. i believe in that and if you will support me, i believe we can do it. thank you very much. my time is up. [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]

[indiscernible] >> we would love to have you talk. thank you. i'm working with arthur scott on this. the v.a. a strong here in iowa. [indiscernible] >> what separates you from hillary clinton? >> he will have to sort that out for yourself.

[inaudible conversations] [no audio]

>> thank you. >> i wish you the best of luck. >> can i get a picture with you? >> thank you. [inaudible conversations] >> can i get a selfie? there we go. awesome. thank you. have a great day.

[inaudible conversations] >> john. this is my son. this is him right here. >> [indiscernible]

[inaudible conversation] senator webb: [indiscernible] and in the long run there are people who are saying they want more renewables in the market rates. -- the marketplace. [indiscernible] >> and the other question i have is, i was -- i what is considering changing the name. should they do that?

senator webb: [indiscernible] we are allowing them to say that simply because they are still being called an emerging economy they don't have to meet the requirements that we do. >> they are doing more. and we are, too, but if we keep extracting oil, that could make the problem deeper. agree or disagree? senator webb: i think on that, i disagree. >> thank you. >> [indiscernible]

with his rise and you not really coming up in the polls yet, how do you see that happening? senator webb: we are gearing up and i'm looking forward to this next couple of months. i served with bernie for six years. it is an invigorating job. >> where do you see your place in this party in this cycle? senator webb: we will see. >> no plans to share a mac? senator webb: i have -- to share on that? senator webb: i have no further comment right now. >> what do you want to try to

accomplish tomorrow -- to accomplish in iowa? [indiscernible] senator webb: actually, i'm going to be in new hampshire. >> ok. >> [indiscernible]

senator webb: micro has been in public service and private enterprise. -- my career has been in public [inaudible]

max donald trump will hold a town hall meeting in new hampshire. >> thanks very much. thank you. [applause] my goodness it is wonderful to

be in iowa. my name is martin o'malley, im a democrat and i am running for president of the united states to rebuild the american dream. [applause] as i have traveled all around her state, one of the things i have been reminded of is just how seriously the people of iowa take their vote and their responsibility as the first in the nation americans to make this decision. [applause] i know that you want to meet each of the candidates, once, or twice or three or four times before you make your decision. you don't expect -- you expect all your presidents to do a question and answer, otherwise it does not make any sense. [applause] let me share a couple thoughts with you and then we get to

question and answer. i would like to talk to you about the story of us. you and i are part of a living, so creating history -- self creating history, call the united states of america. it is a very concrete promise and covenant that wherever you start in our country, whatever your parent's zip code or income levels. for your own hard work, your own talent, you should be able to get ahead. that is the truth of the american dream that we share. that is the most important issue on the table of our democracy this year. let me ask you, show of hands. how many of you believe that you have enjoyed a better quality of life than your parents or grandparents? almost everybody right?

let me ask you this more troubling question. how many of you believe firmly that your children and grandchildren will enjoy a better quality of life? there it is. an tougher times, michael roosevelt told us not to be afraid. john kennedy told us to choose. i say to you that progress is the choice and that is why today i have laid out 15 strategic goals for our nation. if together we follow them, we can bring greater financial security and better earnings to every american household. if together, we pursue these goals, we can eradicate childhood hunger and protect the dignity of every individual in our country. if together we pursue these goals, we can square our shoulders to the challenges of our time like climate change and make this opportunity hours.

we are americans. we make our own future and destiny for the choices we make. there are many candidates in our party who will stand before you. some of them may come to the soapbox and make progressive promises. i am the only candidate who can look you in the eye and tell you that in 15 years of executive her stash executive experience, i have brought people together to make progressive accomplishments and get things done. [applause] what are some of those things? the biggest crime reduction of any major city in america over a 10 year. -- over a 10 year period. we passed the dream act and marriage equality in maryland and defended it on the ballot. we defended a aaa bond rating through the recession, but we invested in infrastructure. we invested in new jobs and

industry. note to governor branstad, rather than cutting education, we increased our funding education. [applause] we made our public schools the best in america for five years in a row and we went four years without a penny's increased to college tuition in order to make college more affordable. these are the things -- [applause] what does any of that have to do with the here and now? the reason i share that with you is this. hoping and wishing for a better future will not make it come true. the good news is we only need to return to our church sells as americans. my daughter is here, a first grade teacher in baltimore. [applause] she teaches first grade in

baltimore city public schools. 60 days ago, i announce -- after i announced for president, she returned to work and the place was buzzing and a little girl in her class and said "ms. o'maley, i'm not so sure about your father running for president, because i like barack obama." [laughter] a lot of us like barack obama. [applause] when our country was this close to a great depression, we elected a new leader to make tough decisions, not the popular ones. the good news is this, we have now created more jobs every month then we have lost for 65 months in a row. give america a round of applause.

[applause] the hard truth of our times is this. 70% of us are earning the same or less than we were 12 years ago. in the hearts of a lot of great americans, -- great american cities, unemployment is higher than it was. we elected a president, not a magician. we will need new leadership everyone to make our economy work for all of us again. how do we do that? we return to our true selves. remember that our economy is not the money. it is people, all of our people. therefore -- [applause] therefore we must, just as our parents and grandparents did, raise the minimum wage and keep it above the poverty line. we need to pay overtime pay for overtime work.

we need to extend family leave and paid leave so more women can participate in our workforce fully. [applause] we need to make it easier to vote and not harder, and we need to make is -- make it easier to join labor unions and bargain collectively. [applause] unlike some of my colleagues in the republican party who would advocate cutting social security, we need to expand it so that all americans -- all-american seniors can live in dignity. [applause] these are the things we do as americans and let us also fess up to the things that as a party we have done in the past that have not been good to build a strong american up -- economy. i'm talking about the bad trade

deals that fast-track jobs and corporate profits out of the united states. i am opposed to the transpacific partnership. we need to build our own economy. [applause] let's talk for a second about wall street. eight years ago, we were all on the hook. the big banks became too big to fail, too big to jail, apparently too big to manage but not too big for all of us have to bid -- to have to bailout. we are in just as much a danger of wrecking the economy again. we need to put prosecutorial muscle back on wall street. finally, there is something we need to do for ourselves because it will the country is going to do it. china and india, they have

countries of their own to invest in. we need to invest in our own infrastructure. we need you square our shoulders to the challenge of climate change and i am the first president to advocate moving america and putting forward a plan to move america to a 100% clean energy grid by 2050. [applause] these are the things that we do as americans. there is a thread that runs through the better part of our history. our grandparents and parents understood it well. what made is known as the land of opportunity all around the world is that in every generation, we took action to include more people more fully in the economic, social and the political life of our country. that is why affordable college and debt-free college is

important. that is why it is important to get 11 million out of -- 11 million of our neighbors out of the shadow of economy. [applause] it is all about including more of our people fully and the economic life of our country. in more workers earn, the more money they have to spend and the more our economy grows. i leave you with this final thought. as we had to question and answer. if you have answers i am on a search. over the better part of the last 30 years, we have strayed far away from the american formula of success. we embraced trickle-down economics. anyway you want to slice it, it

was all about concentrating wealth at the top, removing regulations anywhere you could and keeping wages low. they promised us eventually the clouds would burst. they did not. our economy nearly did. we need to return to the economics that actually work. we have so concentrated wealth and power in the hands of so few that it is literally taking opportunity out of the homes and wallets and the neighborhoods of the many. the great bruce springsteen once asked is a dream alive if it does not come true, or is it something worse? we have better choices to make. there are only two paths forward, and only one of them is good. one path is a sensible rebalancing based on the common good we share and our concern for one another in building an economy that works for all of us