to be pessimistic about, by suggesting you our best days in this country are ahead of us. our best days in this country us because i believe we are a few policy changes and leadership changes from the best days of america's future. i believe that with all my heart. [applause] i know we can put into place policies that will bring americans from over taxation. thatarts with breaking up -- in washington d.c. and evolving the power to the u.s. states. they know better how to deliver education curriculum to your children that some bureaucrat in washington d.c. that is why i am against common core. [applause] i believe with all of my heart that the people of iowa know how to come up with ways to deliver health care to your citizens,

that will do it more efficiently, more effectively than some bureaucrat in d.c. you pick what you want. your washington making those decisions or you want the people of iowa making those decisions. i will stand with the people of iowa every time. i will stand with the people of this country every time. i want to be your president because i know our best days are ahead of us. if you will give me your support, i will make you proud of the work that comes out of washington d.c. because it will be incredibly limited compared to what it is today. that lets you. -- god bless you. thank you all for letting us come. god bless you. >> former texas governor rick

perry speaking at the campaign s soapbox and iowa. our coverage continues with your comments and your thoughts on the former texas governor. 2-748-8921 is the number to call for republicans. 202-748-8920 for democrats. all others 202-7488-8922. we set aside a line for iowa voters. those caucuses are coming up in february. that number is 202-748-8923. also we will look for your comments on twitter. we expect the governor to make his way through the crowd. as we are able, we will follow him. we will get to your calls as quickly as we can. we go to but does that, maryland. michael is on the line. caller: how are you? host: fine things. -- fine, thanks.

caller: let's talk about how everything should be -- i don't even know what to say. there is no other country in the world where people have an attitude like this. government is set up to help people. government was set up by the people for the people. it is not set up to make people's lives worse. it is really confusing to me what governor perry and the rest of the republicans do not want the government to help people. they just want to push everything into the private sector. i think government is inherently corrupt. government currently maybe corrupt. if you send people there who are not corrupt, that will fix the system. the answer is not to turn everything over to the states,=

and to turn everything over to the private secto -- states, and to turn everything over to the private sector. talking about a wall between the u.s. and mexico. susan, go ahead with your comments on the republican line. caller: i listened to the governor's speech. i want to go on record and make sure everybody knows he is right on time. , that isg he said exactly what needs to be happening. you had a caller saying the government is here to

help us. i think that is what kerry was touching on. he has the vision that the states need to handle it because the state government are there. they are with you. they see what is happening. host: i appreciate your comment. we will listen into governor perry speak with people at the fair. perry: i have a long and inried history and agriculture. the challenges we have in this country is not in production. the challenges we have our restrictions. our ability to sell our products international or a tax from d.c. usda andlture with the

epa to list a couple. supply allied industries them with the products we need. thisfeel the brunt of washington knows best mentality, this onslaught that all too often costs us. i will give you a great example. people may not be given directly this was putk -- in place to keep everything from getting too big to fail but it is protecting these big banks. it has driven small community banks out of business in droves. maybe since the great depression we have not seen the loss of small community banks. community banks are by and large what drives the ability for agriculture producers and small-town mom-and-pop businesses to receive their financial support.

a lot of focus has to be on the overregulation, the over taxation that comes out of washington d.c. if you free the american entrepreneur, whether they are a farmer or a small mom-and-pop business somewhere or whether they are a big american company, we overtax, we over regulate. addressing those -- i think you can actually do it in a relatively speedy way. an expeditious way. we did it with a 12th largest economy in the world in texas. and allowed for health care opportunities and the access to health care to explode in the state of texas over the last decade. we can do this. it is just a matter of having

someone who has the experience of doing it. i sayone of the reason this is a show me, do not tell me election. a lot of people will say this is what i will do. i have done it. i would like to have people take a look at what we have done in texas, whether electing supreme court justices or putting policies in place to make this competitive.preventativ >> this country has a very high incarceration rate. would you make any changes in the criminal justice system? rick perry: there is an example of that when you look at the criminal justice room warm we did in texas. it is the 12th largest economy in the world, about the same size as canada or australia. we had a huge prison population. big prison buildup in the

1990's. use of federal mandatory sentencing laws that were cramming a lot of young nonviolent drug-related offenses into our prisons. it was costing a lot of money, and we were destroying lives. this is not to try to make any excuses for the activities they were involved with. they broke the laws and need to pay a price, but does this trying light by throwing them in prison for long periods of time the answer? i had a democrat district judge from dallas, texas, in early 2000 say think about this. he laid it out and we were putting people in prison for long periods of time costing huge amounts of money and there was an alternative. that alternative is drug courts. we implement of those in 2007. a republican-controlled house

and senate at that particular point in time. this is not a partisan issue. this is just a commonsense issue from my perspective. the result was in a short eight year period or seven year period of time we saved a $2 billion of taxpayer money. that is smart on crime, but it is also allowing people a second chance. i think this country has always been about second chances. at a federal level, i think you can do the same thing. states need to compete against each other. you are starting to see other states follow texas' lead on the criminal justice reforms making a difference. there is being smart on how you deal with whether it is criminal

justice or taxes. is what i think americans are looking for, in washington will not be the epicenter of that. duty to be a repository of best practices? eah, but washington needs to thes send out our back to the states. whether it is social issues or economic issues, america will be stronger and happier. texas is a great stai stateas a great fair. what do you think is the best? rick perry: i go straight with the pork chop. iowa pork producers do a great job. that is not to say there are not a lot of other good things to eat here.

just from the standpoint of good healthy protein, iowa pork producers do a great job of laying out some food. >> thank you very much. i appreciate it. update on your indictment. rick perry: i will be more than happy to give an indictment. i wear that as a badge of honor as setting up against an out-of-control district attorney who was three times the legal limit driving. they got to did not run into someone and kill them. the idea i will send state money to that individual that she has control over, no way. if i had to do that all over again, i would do it again. this is a classic example of persecution by a very democrat-controlled county. the legislature took away all of the authority from them as far

as legislative sessions. dean ofrmer pepperdine law school and other president of baylor university wrote a column in the last week saying what the world are these charges still hanging around on governor perry for? who has a modicum of understanding about the constitution and the laws -- governors negotiate with legislators, and without process is over with we make a decision whether or not we will send money or a program forward. reiterateust want to i wear this as a badge of honor for standing up against an out-of-control official that had oversight on state elected that was in texas absolutely abhorrent in her actions against law enforcement individuals that are in custody and jail.

i would not spend a dime of texas taxpayer money, i would not let a dime money go to that. we had the best week of fundraising last week that we had since june. i think most of you are making too much ado about the story. i am in iowa. i will be in south carolina at the end of the week. i will be back in iowa again. there are people who can keep a pretty small footprint. i am one of them. >> you are not going anywhere? >> i am going a lot of basis. [laughter] >> and a comments on governor walker's plan on repealing obamacare? do you think the strategy makes sense? rick perry: i have not looked at it. you'll hear a lot of people say the right things. repeal and replace obamacare.

we have been seeing that for a long time. obviously, i believe the states are where the decisions need to be made, not in washington d.c. the entire idea that washington can come up with a way to deliver health care that is effective and efficient for new york versus new mexico versus washington, this is not common sense. let the people in the country the side -- decide. in the state of texas, we don't consider it to be effective, and we do not judge succes by how many people can be forced into insurance. the more people that have access to the best holiday health care you can't, that is why we had the most sweeping reform in the nation. our people in the state of texas -- if you want to live in a place that has really high taxes and health care being

gostantially restricted, live in that state. that is the beauty of the 10th amendment. anybody that would rather pick washington over the state will allow them to do that. responding toople -- rick perry: the campaign is about ideas. the campaign is about solutions. that is why -- all these people -- here is what i will tell you and here is what i got. border control is a great example of that. the security of the border is grea a great example of that. let's just build a wall may be good political rhetoric but the focus is on how will you secure the border?

i think a better way is to put the personnel on the border in the right places with the right numbers. you have a border that has the proper security and fencing in place, most likely in the metropolitan area. the most important aspect of this is the aviation aspect. to --an fly from tijuana and is an incredibly long border. with the technology we have today, identify activities that are clearly illegal or suspicious and quickly responding at that point in time. --you score the border secure the border, that a lot of away.issues go i am saying there is a better way. the question you need to be asking is a really good investigative reporter is how

long will it take? how much will it cost? what will you do about the ?unnels under it there are a handful of questions that come up. nobody has dealt with this issue more than i have. 14 years as a governor with a state that has a 1200 mile border with mexico, and we have been dealing with this since the 2000's. i say lay it out and use common sense about which one of these can happen quicker, which one is more effective. and dojust build a wall not have the other aspects, that all you have done is spent a lot of time and money. >> do you need both? rick perry: we have both if you think about it. when you have personnel, aviation out there, that is a virtual wall.

if that is what they are talking about, then easily that out and not just say we need a wall. that is like open change. open change probably meant something different for you than it did for her. building a wall meet a lot of different things to a lot of different people. let's be specific about how we deal with it. i do not have the opportunity to be nonspecific. i had to have answers to the challenges. i had to have answers for the spatial disintegrating, for the masses coming in from louisiana katrina, for dealing with a federal government that failed to secure the border in texas. that is why i asked people to really take a look and a you want iverson leading this country to have a record of dealing with real challenges and how they are going to respond to them, or do you want to have somebody that talks about ideas? >> with your plan include

building a wall or not? rick perry: what do you mean by wall? you are falling in the trap. tell me what your wall is. tell me how long it is going to take and how much it will cost. how long does it take to build a wall? >> i don't know. rick perry: me neither. that is the point. until you get down to the individuals, what are you talking about? americans are tired of rhetoric. they are tired of washington saying they will do something and that they don't. that's what's going on in this country today. i have laid out clearly a way to secure the border with personnel, with strategic fencing, with aviation assets. it will secure the border. thank you all. we are out of here.

>> you are going to be president and you will not answer my question? why will you not answer my question? i live in texas. >> i have a question. >> give us some air here. >> governor, what do you want

the iowan voters to remember from your speech today? rick perry: i want them to know that there are people out there with successful records and public service that have a lot to give to this country. washington is broken. we are mad at washington. some of us have been fighting washington for a long time with success i might add. we can have a president of the united states that respects the constitution. dissolve our out of d.c. compete against each other, you focus on the things you should be focusing on in washington like a strong military, like having our borders secure, and everything else will work its way out. people will figure out where they want to live.

either relating to the fear and the real distrust -- i am relating to the fear and the real distrust. i think the american people deserve a president who will reflect that. , you immigration issue have been on the border and have more experience. whati want to know is would you do immediately to deal with immigration? rick perry: you have to secure the border. everything goes back to that. all the discussions we have whether the item you get rid of the 14th amendment or you do here isd almost back to the impact on public schools and health care and these are

symptoms of the problem. the problem is a poor order. --border. i do not know why washington does not have a desire and will to secure the border. we know how to do this. i think the best way is to put the personnel in the right places, have strategic fencing in the metropolitan areas, but then aviation assets that will el paso using to help als technology that will identify what is going on and a fast response team that will go in and stop it. that is how you secure the border. it is at that time you see the other issues melting away. >> the issue of a birthright , and is now whether

anyone likes it or not debate. rick perry: then let's have a debate. how long has it been since we have changed the constitution of the united states? back in the early 1990's. 202 years totook get the amendment. the question is who will quickly address the problem? is the problem getting to the united states and having children interned for american citizenship? yes. what is the best way to take care of them? i would suggest stop them from ever coming in illegally. with aviationder assets and the personnel and the fencing. is there anyway you could support the ending or suspending of birthright citizenship?

rick perry: that is not the issue. the issue is how we address people coming here and taking advantage of the 14th amendment. i will let the legal people and lawyers have the conversation about what happens if you do away with the 14th amendment, but i have to live with reality. years or decades, and i do not have much time. i do not think america is that much time. i think you need to secure the border. -- if you a quarter secure the border, you'll solve the problems. quit trying to deflect off of the biggest challenge we have dealing with all of this immigration issue, and that is securing the border. if you do not get the border secure, you are wasting the time of the american people. that is what they want to see done.

>> it seems that this issue is dividing the pack of candidates. you are on one side of the other of the note unintended offense -- no pun intended defense. rick perry: here is where i went. -- land. i want to secure the border. of americans want people who , i am theirlutions guy. i will not talk about it. >> thank you, governor. >> how are you? >> it is all good. >> you are looking good in

maroon. >> you going to make your way down? >> it is on the left side. >> thank you for your support. rick perry: thank you.

>> thank you so much. >> looks like our video signal throws up a bit there. we will wait and see if we get it back. watching former governor rick perry after his speech at the soapbox at the iowa state fair. he spoke with reporters as he made his way through the iowa republican area, one of the pavilions there. we continue with your calls. ken is on the republican line. go ahead with your comment. caller: i am a supporter of governor john kasich. i think governor perry gave a strong speech this afternoon. the late senator ted kennedy said on one of the sunday talk

shows one time that the republican party is anti-minority. let me take his points and respond to them. reagan appointed the first supreme court justices. eisenhowerwight issued the civil rights act of 1957. we are not anti-immigrants. we are anti-illegal immigrants. mr. trump needs to get out of the race. i do not think he will that he should. host: appreciate your comments. john kasich is at a town hall in new hampshire. pretty good look at governor perry. let us listen in and see what he is saying. >> here we go on the count of

three. 3.2, >> it is the second largest port outside of new york city. a huge inland port. i was talking to the executive director and he was there two weeks ago on the agricultural and one of those bridges is for agriculture import and export. it is a wooden bridge.

[indiscernible] the whole concept of trade back and forth is a real challenge. a real challenge. the issue is we have the drug cartels and we are only -- we are 2% expecting more than that but are only catching 2%.

what is the technology we need to use to see that process and help guys like you be able to ?ove your trucks that is a real challenge. >> good luck mr. perry. >> good luck. >> did we get our picture? >> not yet. >> got it. thank you, sir.

>> we have a mutual friend. you high. to tell -- hi. rick perry: oh yeah. i have a house in austin and the house of here and i came up here when i do you were coming to the fair. -- knew you were coming to the fair. rick perry: it was a little 7-eleven and they turned it into -- you know where high park cafe is? rick perry: yeah.

>> it is on the left. rick perry: next to the laundromat. >> if you want to have some really good mexican food, go there. rick perry: i think rob has some great restaurants. >> all these awesome. -- oh, he's awesome. >> there is a cleaner. >> jack brown. >> right behind the apartments. driving by getting a little breakfast. >> he wanted me to ask you about

a time you went to the restaurant. rick perry: we used to take people there on a regular basis back when i was a governor. [laughter] >> thank you. keep it up. rick perry: where is your camera? >> thank you. thank you. good luck. >> on the count of three. 1, 2, 3. up.et your horns >> gig 'em. [laughter] >> longhorns and aggies. >> i will tell rob you said hi. . good luck.

>> whether it is coal or wind or --anol [indiscernible]

rick perry: laurel agencies that those are all agencies that are too big. i can promise you i can sit down with the agricultural department and we can have more streamlined decisions to serve the people of this country. it is just a really big --bersome

government is too big, too corrupt. keeping something or making it work are two different things. it's easier to say just get rid of them. making the epa efficient and -- in texas, its ozone levels by 23%, carbon dioxide

levels by 9% when i was governor, and we did all that .ithout the federal government we're the number one energy producer in the nation. have the same amount of people of two i/o was if you want to put it in perspective -- s, if you want to put it in growingive, and we are faster than any state in the nation. we have the largest refining capacity in the country, a lot of emissions. and we produce ozone. some would say your air is going to be dirtier. it is not dirtier. it's cleaner, and

because there have been incentives put in place by the state, not by the federal government. , criminal things should be arm, states issue. if the states are supposed to be laboratories of innovation, let them do it. >> can you tell me again your favorite food? >> what is your favorite food? >> at the fair. we didn't get that. >> i got my pork chop.

cracks governor, can we have an autograph for this gentleman? >> let's get a quick picture. >> no problem. >> hold the sign up. hold the sign up. 1, 2, 3. are you going to do for the united states? >> that's a pretty broad question. like,now, but for .nsurance, water >> do you know my background?

where did i grow up? down by the border. i know how wet it can be. i also know how dry it can be. >> you are probably going to take care of our crops. >> do you know what my degree is in from college? >> agriculture. >> do you think anybody is running for president who knows more about agriculture than i do? >> probably not. a lot we can do, whether it is overregulation by

the federal government, building john deere tractors, the federal government deciding to control all the water in iowa. >> and every midwest. thank you. >> thank you, ma'am. you doing all right? you look great. do we also have an honored veterans program?

[inaudible] [indiscernible] >> your favorite band or artist performing at the 2015 grandstand. >> can we go back and do this again? i'm going to let my wife make this vote. that is my wife's favorite, and i like anything my wife likes.

>> we have a new program to honor veterans. >> thank you. >> it's a pleasure. thank you. >> so, the jake foundation is right around here. >> can you say hi? >> hi, buddy. >> what is his name? >> isaac. >> that's a big tractor you've got. >> can you make the noise?

>> it was a cold day. we needed to warm it up a little bit. >> who are you? >> alley. >> you have pretty blue eyes. >> thanks. >> any boys in the family at all? >> i have brothers. >> good luck.

>> ok, ok. >> all right, god bless you, brother.

>> nice to meet you, man. >> this guy is a disabled veteran right here.

>> thank you for your service. >> thank you. >> did you ever see a c-130? yes. did you ever spend any time in vietnam? >> no, i was a little young. i got my pilot training in 1973. >> you are real lucky. have a good day. >> do you look after this man? >> yes. >> you are a good woman. >> how are you? >> i'm good.

>> were you in a little ride we had on the sixth of june? >> that's a good day. >> can we take a quick photo of you with the americans for prosperity gang? guys, let's gather around the governor for a photo.

>> 3, 2, 1, smile. you know you. -- >> hi, i know you. i am sharon. >> banks are helping. >> thank you.

thanks for helping. >> thank you. >> we are counting on you. >> i am army. >> are you in the reserves now? no [indiscernible] >> the boy who -- well, he is not auditioning anymore. he has actually asked my daughter to get married.

he is still in the reserves. he spent eight years in the war. >> i will, i will. the other thing is my family is from texas. my family came from mexico to waco. .y great-grandmother came >> for 50 years, we were basically open for business. in the last decade, people said .ait a minute said waithappened, we a minute. we have a real challenge. of the little flavor fair there he des moines, iowa. texaserry, former

governor, working his way through the crowd, speaking with reporters and others. we will hear from you and your thoughts. 202-7 48-8921 for republicans. 202-7 48-8924 democrats. james in south holland, illinois, on our republican line , go ahead with your comments. caller: hi. i listened to the whole speech of governor perry, and i thought it was terrific. he is saying we need competition. we need competition among the states. we need to give power back to the states. and he has a plan. ourink we ought to give him support. he can grow the economy. he can grow jobs. i say go governor perry, and

help our country be number one again. he also believes in sacrifice. he has done this for our country. i am truly proud of governor perry. post: let's hear from wanda on the independent line. caller: i would like to thank governor perry for his service. , can't think of a better thing no greater love, then one who has won for his brother, would lay down his life or his brother, and i thank all the veterans that are listening. the air served from force, from what i understand. he is the governor of the state in which i live. he has made such a difference in the state. he has done everything people wanted this country to have.

s. has made job he has dealt with the borders. he has done that more than anyone has done that. served in the military. there are connections. toepfer veterans. all you veterans that are listening, i mean, -- hope for veterans. veterans that are listening, i mean, i can't think of a better candidate. the second amendment. i not think anyone in the country supports the second amendment more than texas is. we don't have state taxes, which gives people a chance to keep some of their money. we have cut taxes down here. issue.er

the drones. saying theyare would do, governor perry has already done. i love the way he says america. that is number one. i have traveled the area of des , the quad city area many times. i know the area for many a time ago. , i don't wantere to go down the line, but the people who are saying things, do that youthat, this man are watching here on television has done what they are trying to say they would do. i believe all the people are good people, good candidates, but if we talk about securing the border -- and the people coming from other countries are

coming to texas. the his annex, latinos -- hispanics, latinos, they know what this state is. for: wanda, thanks your comments. we have a tweet from deborah davis. road to the white house coverage continues. in 40 minutes, we will head to new hampshire. let's go to virginia, alex on the republican line. atler: rick perry is the up a me of being a true american. he is a veteran. of being a true american. he is a veteran. his father was a veteran who served in the second greatest war we have had. the only way they don't pay taxes is to pay cash under the table, which has decreased 90%

thanks to september 11 and the security put in place. a lot of people don't get paid cash these days. when they get their social security numbers and their check, they get every deduction everybody gets. difference is they cannot claim it at the end of so goes back into social security, back into your world, back into your state, and they don't get none of it, they lose at all. plus, they can't get food stamps. if you don't have social security, you can't get food stamps. you kick it social services. none of that. can't get social services. none of that. in virginia, if you are white -- host: what did you hear from rick perry on immigration? caller: he is ground zero. if you want to talk to somebody who fixed immigration, talk to him.

lived in texas with a big flood of mexican -- not just mexican immigrants. white, brown, german, yugoslavian, everything. they travel to mexico. it's not just brown skinned people. it's everybody in the world who wants to come to a free country. we continue to take your calls about rick perry. one of the many candidates we are covering. next up from georgia, on the democrats line, mike. where to begin with these folks. first of all let me back up and answer one of the callers that the republican party is not anti-woman, anti-immigrant, anti-minority. he has been brought up abraham lincoln, which is what they always fall back to.

they don't mention that abraham lincoln was the leader of that when it was the liberal party in america and the -- partyc hardy was was the conservative party. johnson angered all the democrats in the south, and racistsces -- slaughtered the party we had. ifaham lincoln would not win he was alive today. they keep talking about how great the second amendment is. to change the 14th amendment to strip the civil rights of mexicans or people of mexican heritage because -- to me, i feel this party is truly a core.arty at its host: you think the republican

party is the nazi party at its core? caller: the ideology is in nationalist extreme chatter of the nazi party, and if minorities keep voting these people in, one day they will wake up in a country that truly mirrors that. they are trying to strip, to make people non-caucasian feel they are not part of this country. host: that is mike in georgia, democrats line. your five more minutes of phone calls, governor rick perry. tweet from the hill about ben carson, who spoke earlier this week at the state fair in iowa.

that is phoenix, arizona. 6000 in phoenix. let's check facebook. , i just love .istening to war mongers calls.e more we go to don and alabama. go ahead. caller: i was watching governor perry there. all these people talk about building walls and everything. first of all, if they are over here, they are illegal.

they are going to have to stop it is to pass .aws i think all they have to do if they really want to get rid of the illegals is to pass laws or thatecutive order companies are anybody that hires and illegal, give them's xd days. if you have illegals working for , impose such ays fine on them, 60,000 or whatever dollars you want to come up with , if they are still working, you're going to be find that -- fined that. and the next time, just close them down. that way, if they aren't giving them jobs, they won't day here, and they won't need walls.

order to get them out of here. go to hollywood, california. rick perry speaking in iowa today. vigo, go ahead. caller: thank you for having me. the governor spoke very well, but he didn't say anything that would get americans more united. this is the united states of america. we need to get that back. that is what we are fighting for. that is why so many heroes died in the different wars we have. we don't need any more wars. we have to deal with iran and not have another atomic tom in this world.

this world.mb in now, some people in the republican party, and some democratic, are against helping the president to go through with this deal. it's a complete negative action to everything our president is doing. mr. barack obama try to take of immigration reform. they stop him. he wants to take care of obama care issues, and they stop him. are paying them tuesday in the congress and the senate. caller mentioned obamacare. governor scott walker released his plan to repeal and replace the law, should he be elected. you can find that at c-span.org.

.ere is where the polls stand real clear politics in their rolling average, top of the pole poll, the average through sunday, donald trump at the top with 22% and rick perry with 1.3%. let's take one more call. caller: good morning. all of the politicians want to do well when they get into office. but the problem is, we have red , ands and blue states these guys are high on their ideology, and they stick with it, and it makes it difficult to get the job done. they don't want to do the will

of the people. if they just want to do the will of the red state or the blue state. immigration the m republicans't think or democrats want to solve that problem. they know we need the illegals to do the hotel and the agriculture. its just political back-and-forth because they know they can't give them a path to legalization, because then they go in front of the people who are waiting legally in line. it's a political football. it's a game they are paying -- playing with the american people. they will secure the border to a certain degree, and that is it. they will always allow so many illegals in, because once you secure that border, nobody is going to do hotel cleaning, and

nobody is going to do illegal immigration. theyy of their speeches, don't try to cross the line or try to give any of the democrats anything. how do you expect young people anticipateand try to us living as a republic when it's a constant football game, me against you, us against them. that's what the republicans are putting out, whether they realize it or not. they haven't given obama credit for anything. host: rodney, we appreciate your input. more road to the white house coverage continuing live from new hampshire. in about half an hour, we will take you to a town hall meeting with ohio governor john kasich. governor chris christie is also having a town hall meeting in new hampshire.

and senator ted cruz, back to iowa we go for the state fair and the candidates soapbox, this friday morning. live, all of that here on c-span's road to the white house coverage. speaking indoors .ecause of the rain and again, live coverage coming from new hampshire at 1:00 p.m. eastern. >> welcome to the des moines register political soap locks. -- soapbox.

our next speaker is governor john kasich of ohio. he held his first elected office as state senator in ohio. he spent 18 years in the house, budgetng serving on the committee. he was elected governor in 2010 and reelected in 2014. governor kasich, welcome to the relocated soap box. asich: can i stand down here so i don't fall off the stage? you know what happened to the leader of the foo fighters. he fell off the stage, and i don't want to do that. i want to tell you a little bit about my background and my record, just so you know. in a little town

outside pittsburgh. my father was a coal miner. my mother was an opinionated and smart woman, but not highly educated, because her mother could not speak english. it was a town where if the wind blew the wrong way, people would find themselves out of work. i think it's important for people to know that i grew up in it was harde working folks. i got elected to public office including even so much the republican party. i ran for office because i thought i would make a difference. . am a republican

but the party is my vehicle. it has never been my master. so, i recruited a lady like you, ma'am, to help me and to go door-to-door. i have then throughout my entire career a pretty independent person. i believe in balanced budgets, but i believe in cleaning up waste no matter where it is. i was one of the original fighters against corporate welfare and the congress, and it was, at times, a lonely endeavor in the congress. i spent 10 years of my life in washington to balance the federal budget. my first budget i presented after a guy challenge me -- i wrote my own budget, and there were votes on for budgets that year. the president cause budget, a republican, the black caucus budget, and the kasich budget. the vote on my budget was 405 no and 30 yes. i thought i was doing pretty well because i had 29 other people that thought it was not right to mortgage our young people's future.

i also thought there was a good value, which is you do not live in debt. i spent 10 years of my life fighting for that. literally 10 years. in the late 1990's, i worked with the clinton administration, and i was one of the chief architects the first time we balanced the budget since man walked on the moon. the economy was doing very well. i also was a military reformer. when i first went to congress, the only committee i was on was the defense committee, and i found hammers and screwdrivers and wrenches along with a couple of other congressmen that cost tens of thousands of dollars. i went about reforming the pentagon. most of my career, people called us cheap hawks -- that we were for a strong america but wanted to make sure we did not waste

money there. after that budget episode, he had a $5 billion surplus, and i decided to leave. i went into the private sector, and then i've out the call to go back into public service. hopefully, i can get to this in just a few minutes. i ran for governor, and the state was in very bad shape. we were $8 billion in the hole. we had lost 300 50,000 jobs. our credit was at risk. we're now up 350 thousand jobs and running a $2 billion surplus. we've cut taxes by the most amount of any sitting governor, including tax relief for small businesses, which are the engine of economic growth. as we have grown and become stronger -- and this is an important thing for me to say to you -- we don't believe that anybody should be left in the shadows. we feel that with more economic progress, people who have mental illness, drug addiction, the working poor, development to leave disabled, the autistic, and our friends in the minority

community, that everybody deserves a chance to live out their god-given purpose. we had a reelection, and i was able to receive twitty 6% of the african-american vote. 51% of union households, 61% of women, and the second largest electoral victory in modern ohio history, and it happened for, i think, two reasons. one, hope has come back to ohio. the second reason is i like to think that many, many people in ohio do not feel as though they are being shut out, that they are being listened to, that they have a chance to get ahead. i think that is what we want in our country. i want to talk to you about something that is, i think, so critically important for me to suggest to you and you to listen.

over the weekend, there were some articles printed about isis rounding up 12, 13, 14 year old girls and using them as sexual objects and trading them as an object to their fighters. isis represents, in my opinion, with the beheadings, the attacks on people of eight, the abuse of women -- the attacks on people of faith, the abuse of women, and the attack on civilization, not just a national security threat to us, but something even deeper -- people who want to destroy our very way of life. that same weekend, i read about two young people who live in mississippi. i have been to starkville, mississippi, the home of mississippi state university.

it is a very sweet town. the story was about a young man and a young woman who were arrested because they were trying to board a plane to make a connection to fly to syria to join isis. let me be clear on the military front. i have said for a long time now that america as part of a coalition needs to destroy these people. we need to go, even road them, and destroy them -- erode them, and destroy them. we even need to do it now, or it will cost us a lot more later. at the same time i say that, the military effort is only one part of what i believe we all need to think about. why would this 18 and 19-year-old seemingly normal -- two very attractive people wanting to go and join isis?

why do we find some of the most successful people, and we read about them being attracted, and what isis tries to offer is a sense of family, a sense of importance, and a ticket to paradise. they are liars, distort her's, murderers, and rapists -- they are liars, distorters, murderers, and rapists. what about us? for a while, western civilization has practiced two fundamental objectives. a "new york times" columnist wrote something about this. one, we worship freedom, and i don't mean just freedom to be free, but everybody can do whatever they want to do, and nobody -- there's no overarching rules. there's just do whatever you want to do. i think about my 15-year-old

twin daughters. if my wife and i raised our daughters to do whatever they wanted to do, what do you think would happen? secondly, in the west, there seems to be an aggressive effort to find happiness. because we all want to be happy. but i have to suggest to you that we as human beings who represent the western ethic and the western tradition -- we need to realize that we have a purpose here on earth. our purpose relates to healing those who live in our world, and i believe that our purpose involves justice in this world. we build a holocaust memorial on the grounds of our state house so that every day young people,

people of all ages could recognize what happens with man's inhumanity to man. the inscription on one of the wall's says this -- "if you save one life, you have saved the world." our responsibility, in my opinion, as human beings and someone who has had a lot of experience and seen a lot of success and so many ways in which we all live together -- i believe that all of us have to be a center of justice and a center of healing, and to realize that life is not just about us alone. life is about us doing something bigger in our lives for someone else. we have the former speaker here, brent secrest. he's a coach. i have a state senator here who coached in high school. he is now a state senator.

their passion was to show young people the way, wasn't it? it was not necessarily to win the football games or the wrestling tournaments. it was to build character. some people ask what that is all about. i think there's some fundamental values we need to think about. i outlined them in my inaugural address. personal responsibility. we cannot make excuses for why things don't work out. the dog it my homework went out in the fifth grade. secondly, the idea of resilience. you get knocked down, and you get yourself back up. i don't know about you, but i'm rooting for tim tebow to make the nfl. i'm rooting for him because i love to see the comeback story. third, empathy.

too much anger in america today. too much division. you know what empathy really is? it's putting yourself in somebody else's shoes and understanding how difficult life can be. i just had a woman the other day tell me that she knows a bunch of young people who have -- they've now grown up. they committed felonies. they have nowhere to go, cannot get work. they were young when they made a mistake. sometimes we can shake our fist, but i think rather than shake our fists, we ought to think about how they get up on their feet, live their god-given purpose, think about the people that lose their jobs at 51 years of age, think about young kids who grow up in an environment when they wake up in the morning

and hear gunshots when they go to school. my mother told me that, as a young boy, it is a sin not to help people who need help, but is equally a sin to continue to help people who need to learn how to help themselves, and we can all be part of both ends of that. and then there is the value of teamwork. you want to fix the fence? you want to deal with immigration? you want to balance the budget? you want to deal with entitlements? you want to do any of those things? you've got to do it as a team. one party cannot do it all. while we may be republicans and democrats and liberals and conservatives, above all, we are americans. this is not a game we play in public life. the purpose of it is to give people an opportunity to be lifted. then there's the issues of family. what is the great appeal that they lay out there to these young people -- you can come and be part of something.

and i'm not going to apologize for faith. we've run faith to much out of our society. it's not about the don't's. in my opinion, it's about the do's. it's about loving your neighbor, loving people who don't like you. that can be a hard one. take it from me. it's about so many of the good things. so today, i'm walking around this fair, and i see a young man there wearing an alzheimer's shirt. standing for something, huh? yeah, we do need to double the nih budget and do the medical research, and it should be a priority of the government. i just visited the no labels -- teen of young guys came scrambling in, and one of these young guys asked if he could take a picture with me because i'm here at this booth and standing up for no labels.

earlier today walking through, a young man came up to me wearing a one t-shirt. do you know what that campaign is? i met bono back in the late 1990's, and he said, "i think we should help people in africa who have big debts who will never be able to pay them back and help those countries get on their feet to save lives. no handouts, just a hand up." i met with bono. i liked his idea. the song he sings, "i still haven't found what i'm looking for," is not a song about his car keys. we worked together in washington, and then president bush, after i left, took up the mantle.

because of simple things like vaccinations and mosquito nets and clean water, people on the other side of the globe now have a decent life. you know what? when a young boy or girl dies in africa, we all lose a little bit of ourselves. when we save a young boy or young girls life -- young girl's life in africa, the world moves up. because we are all connected. what i want us to think about is what about us? we need to have a strong leader. it's absolutely vital that we have someone who can set the tone and bring us together, but you don't think, do you, that that is the answer? the answer is in this room. the answer is back in my hometown.

the answer is from one part of this country to the other, from one ocean to the other, from one border to the other. it's about us. it's about citizenship. it's about believing that we are the glue that holds america together, not somebody else. government can have its role, and it is important that it has a role, but we cannot wait for somebody else to grab one of these young people and say, "do not do drugs. it will lead to a life that you will always regret." we cannot wait. i just saw a man over here in the booth, 57 years married, his wife died on the fourth of august. i asked why he was here today, he said, "i cannot stay at home."

"anybody looking after you? anybody taking care of you?" i think if we can drive home that we all matter, that we all count, that the strength of this country rest upon us, and our commitment to making a difference -- we are not looking for sainthood. i'm the most flawed person in this room, but i'm doing this election in this campaign for one basic reason -- the lord has been good to me. he has given me some tools, and i have an obligation to use them. people ask about these other candidates, this guy or that guy -- i do want to thank donald trump because he got 24 million people to watch the debate. that was good. but why don't we just as people holding office or running for office commit ourselves to just doing the right thing as we see it?

realizing that we don't hold the monopoly on truth, that together we can build a stronger country. that's what i'm all about. if i am elected president, you invite me back here, right here, and i will tell you what i'm doing because i never run from my record. i will come right here, and then i'm going to ask you what you are doing. if we do it together, we will have a stronger country and more inspired people, and that is what america is all about. thank you. [applause]

>> our politics reporter is ask a couple of questions. >> three porkchops, an ear of .orn i haven't got my ice cream yet, and i laid out on my posture. posture-pedic mattress. i sat on those beautiful chairs over there, and my staff is like, "you got to do this. you got to go to this." i was like, "i go to the fair, i go to the fair." bill: that was going to be my question. do you always eat like this or is it just because you are at

the iowa state fair? kasich: it's so crazy. you wonder what it's like -- monday -- or sunday night, i flew to birmingham, alabama, and i went to church there where for -- four little black girls -- an were killed in a bombing in the 1960's. the minister showed up. the history and the struggle was overwhelming to all of us. i was with some of my friends who traveled with me. and sitting on the credenza was a bible that was on the altar that day of that explosion turned to the 23rd psalm. that is pretty remarkable. the next morning, i got up, and i went to the -- think about this. i went to the university of alabama sportscenter.

i graduated from ohio state university. he talk about tough. the governor of alabama endorsed me for president of the united states. i was flabbergasted. i did not even ask him. he called me up and said he wanted to do it. then we flew to columbia, south carolina, and we had meetings where i signed to get on the ballot and interview with cbs and some other things, some other meetings, and then we got back on the plane and flew to myrtle beach. we had meetings there. i had about four meetings there including a forum, and then we flew to iowa. and then tonight, i fly to new hampshire. if i'm not eating, i ain't functioning, ok? there are a couple of things you need to do when you do this. i'm a believer you've got to be awake. some people want to get 3, 4 hours of sleep. i'm not going there.

i want to be rested because i want to be happy when i do this. so i exercise. i eat. i call friends. i say my prayers. i talked to my wife and my daughter's -- well, you will know how hard it is to get two 15-year-olds on the phone. then i had a chance to come here, and it's not just a great fair because i'm here, but you know, ohio state has a great fair. we had 980,000 people. you will have 1.1 million. i love it. it has been great. and i ain't leaving until i get my ice cream, ok? bill: this is a celebration of agriculture. what is your vision for agriculture? would you make any changes in the usda? mr. kasich: i'm for agriculture, let's be clear. we are a big agriculture state, too. it's our largest industry in ohio. you know, you think about agriculture, and we think about

traditional agriculture, but what we really have to begin to do is to think about what agriculture is going to begin to look like in the next 20 or 25 years. i have the former head of the ohio farm bureau with me, and i believe there are so many products that can come from traditional agriculture that can improve the lives of americans, and i keep pushing our people to think about that, to use universities to do the research, to make sure that agriculture and businesses closely linked together so that we can spawn new industries out of agriculture. we're lucky in ohio. we found natural gas. one of the great things about that as it is allowing us to become energy independent so we do not have to kowtow to the saudi's anymore when it comes to conducting our foreign policy. you can clap for that because it is a good and. -- good thing. i look in industries and ask what are the new industries. what can come from it? back after 9/11 -- i'm giving

you a long answer. is it ok if i give you a long answer? after 9/11, i was invited to the pentagon with former secretaries of defense to talk about the threat against us, and i began to realize that people who lived in caves in some ways had a technology advantage over us, and i suggested to donald rumsfeld that maybe we get some of the best minds in the country to come in. two of the people showed up and called me back and said they want to do it. two of the guys i took in the went to california and i went back with them, and they showed up for dinner with their in-line skates tied to the top of their volkswagen. now they tie there's dates -- there skates to the top of the boeing 707. they started a little company called google. we need to look into the future on all of these things,

agriculture, energy. this notion that government cannot work is baloney. just treat it like a business. fix it. i read the other day -- and you know this to be true -- how dare a city keep goober -- keep uber out in order to protect the taxi industry. that's just wrong. are you going to stand in the way of progress? so free uber. bill: you briefly touched on the issue of people who have committed felonies having trouble finding work. this is a country that incarcerates about as many people as any place in the what. -- in the world. should there be changes in the nation's criminal justice system? mr. kasich: let me tell you a few things about that. we have performed our criminal justice system, and i was

meeting with attorney generals and other states saying that the system of blocking people up when it is not even appropriate it doesn't make any sense. we have a 30% recidivism with a national recidivism being 40%. we are giving people a chance to work their way out of prison and work in jobs that exist, so when they get out they can get work. let me tell you another thing. i have been criticized by some in my party for having expanded medicaid. i want to talk to you about this. we have 80% of the people in our prisons and rolled in substance abuse. -- involved in substance abuse. 10,000 people in our prisons have mental illness. let me ask you a question. does anybody here think we ought to lock up someone who