available on our website at c-span.org. c-span, "newsmakers" is next. with jimmyersation carter. that is followed by president obama speaking this weekend at a congressional black caucus dinner in washington. >> this week on "newsmakers," congressman the han -- lujan in the chair. thank you for being here. rep. lujan: it is a pleasure to be here. go ahead with the first question. , republicansan

currently have their largest majority in generations and many believe that the democrat's chance of winning back the house are slimmer than slim. 2016?s your goal for victoryld qualify as a and can democrats win back the house? rep. lujan: it will be a different year. one was a larger turnout, it's generally better for you candidates. most pundits, especially inside the beltway, are saying there will be a floor of eight to 10 seats that will be picked up and it does not seem that anyone is pressing against that. if that is the floor, it depends on what the battleground would look like.

i believe that will be in play. what does that look for the ultimate numbers. i do not have a crystal ball. there seems to be no question we will win seat. as we look at the battlegrounds across the country, starting with the 23 that president obama narrowly lost in seats out in utah, i think those made the race very close. he is working very hard already. places like new jersey, scott garrett, that was not necessarily on the republican patriot program. with the ugly things that is said about the lgbt community, that race is very much in play. we will see an expansion across the country and make sure we are ready for what comes our way. >> ultimately the stakes are quite high for this. i know a lot of conversation right now is about the

presidential race, but if democrats do not win back the house, how much likelihood of success does a democratic president have without a democratic majority. we seem gridlock for year in -- for years and years. rep. lujan: scott, that's an important question.

you're absolutely right. we need to make sure that we make the case very clear that democrats have the backs of hard-working, every day americans like my mom and dad. no matter what the numbers are, with the congress in this next cycle in 2016, but he need to make sure that we maximize them, but not only maximize those wins, but we hold those seats in 2018. we make more gains in 2018, 20 2022 as well and we need to have not only a short look, but a long look at what it takes to win the house and hold the houses democrats in the united states. >> much has been made about the so-called hillary affect, but she has stumbled over questions about her private e-mail server. we have seen her numbers drop in the polls and early primary states like new hampshire and iowa. are you concerned at all she may be dragging down now some of the candidates, and what more would you like to hear from her in order to address this issue? rep. lujan: it seems to me there is a big difference between the democratic candidates up for president and republicans. you see donald trump making a mockery of what the gop would like to see in a candidate. you see hillary clinton, bernie sanders, other democratic nominees, and we hear them putting hard-working people at the center of everything that is being talked about today. conversations we all have around the kitchen table.

the cost of eggs or milk. we are able to help with access to higher education, college kids, making sure it is affordable. that is going to be the difference. i do not believe the 2016 election is going to be about technicalities of any sort. it will be about issues that impact families in their pocket -- pocketbooks. those will be the choices that will be made november 2016. in the end though, it it is a presidential year and as we see the polls move up and down, as they do during the cycle, we still see more democrats engaged. whether it is secretary clinton reaching out to her supporters or senator sanders reaching out, everyone is being engaged. everyone is being talked to, and primaries are healthy. it's an opportunity to share ideas and talk about those differences, and if the difference is going to be what secretary clinton is talking about, against a donald trump and ted cruz, i think that is a

very healthy debate the american people want to see. scott: do you think she needs to do a better job of explaining these e-mails and trying to right the ship here? rep. lujan: if we look at the technicalities of republican allegations or assertions, they're trying to distract the american people from these pocketbook issues. look, as elected officials, interested with public trust, we need to make sure that we answer all of the questions put to us and i'm certain that that will continue to come out. but again, the election of 2016, it will be about issues that impact us and our daily lives. it will be about what that means for our households, the strength of our economy, and hopefully averting something from the next few weeks.

>> mr. chairman, it seems the polls are reflecting alack of trust. they do not feel that they can trust the hillary clinton, not about technicalities, but whether she is trustworthy enough. rep. lujan: if the polls are indicative of where mr. trump is going. polls are going to move. that is why it is so important to talk to constituents and in their homes, in their districts. ask them what is happening in their daily lives. so, when they are having a difference with republican colleagues when it comes to college affordability, why republicans in the house or gop presidential candidates refused to talk about how we can make

sure that students are able to refinance in the way that the bullpen refinance their homes or cars. real debates about infrastructure in the country. the government shutdown seem to be more on their mind and other policies. i think all of those conversations will change as they move toward 2016. reaching toward the american people, talking with them, visiting them, getting them to earn trust, that is what we have to do, and that is my primary responsibility. not only is the congressman of new mexico. we need to do better. we need to make sure that we are fighting on their behalf. >> you have mentioned the difficulties your party has reaching out. do think there would be a difference if there were more debates.

i know that there have been a lot of discussions, including about whether hillary clinton and martin o'malley and bernie sanders will be debating enough times and we have seen now for the second time already, republican candidates have drawn over 20 million viewers to watch their debate. do you think democrats should be debating more, getting their views out more? rep. lujan: i think debates are healthy. it allows the american people to hear what is on the minds of those being trusted in the white house. the more opportunities we have to reach out to the american people, the healthier it will be, and i think all of the candidates are showing that they are engaged with the american people. that is a positive thing. the democratic stage will not be

as crowded as the republican stage. you will see them all together instead of having two or three, the circus we have seen once a month. scott w: what you think are the chances of a government shutdown? do democrats see any benefit politically if the government is shutdown. we saw a slight bounce in the polls for the democrats, but it was not -- it was short-lived. is there a political effect? rep. lujan: i'm very concerned about the debate conversation as we get closer to october 1 about what a shutdown would mean to the american people. just to be clear, the democrats in the house do not want to see a government shutdown.

what we learned this last week through media accounts is there was a conversation in the republican conference that they presented their members and the outset according to polls and stats and numbers in many articles written, it is very clear that everybody knows who will be blamed and who was causing what would be a government shutdown, and that's the republicans in the house. now, i'm certainly hopeful the republicans see the $24 billion impact in a very saddened reduction to the u.s. economy. -- employees for load all over the country, employees with concerns for air force bases as we seeing california and districts around the country.

there is going to be a real debate with the differences between democrats and republicans in those districts. so, i think the american people know what is happening here. they are worried about what is happening here, and when you talk about furloughed employees, united states military bases, the fires in california where we see a restriction in funding to provide support, places out in maine that would have national parks that would be impacted, a big part of the economic realities of those would all be impacted. people would be hurt, and that's what this comes down to. there will be a conversation with this, but i am certainly hopeful that republicans will heed the call of democrats in the house. that they will work with us to avert the government shutdown and speaker pelosi has been very clear. she has reached out to be republican leadership. we have been reaching out for months to put together a budget and make sure we responsibly keep the government open, but we should not forget that we are here today because of what took place a few months ago. at the same time the confederate

battle cry was taking place in south carolina, the very day the signature was put on a visa -- the very day the signature was put on that piece of paper, the interior appropriations bill was debated about the republicans giving back that confederate battle flag. that is why we are here today. as many as 100 republicans would have been lost in that vote. that's not good. not funding the xm bank, which cost jobs and is hurting the u.s. economy. now leaving us again to a government shutdown, i think the american people are watching. we will talk about this. but we need to work together to avert this.

scott w: would you peg the chances at 50%, 75%? rep. lujan: i don't know if i can put a number on it. what has been reported the last few days, it does not appear the republicans have a plan to keep the government open. if there's an indication from the gop debate that there seems to be a push toward the government showdown over different issues. i'm worried. i am certainly hopeful that members of congress will come together and if it's any indication, congressman mcclintock led the freedom caucus. he wrote them a letter this week and said he was leaving the freedom caucus over this debate. i think that's indicative of the frustration we are seeing. and sadly, it in folds this way.

we need to not shut the government down. scott b: a lot of you are describing has led the american government to get down on government -- the more people to get down the government general. an encouraging democrats to run for the house of representatives, does this make your job harder? how do you convince people to want to take a job in the house of representatives? rep. lujan: there's a real

frustration now with the american people and is a frustration i share. the dysfunction we see unfold display with the republican leadership in the house and our members today is one -- it's really a sad point for our nation's history. but as our visit with veterans, entrepreneurs, small business owners, americans who observed in different capacities up this country, if you want to come together with other individuals with diverse you points to make a difference in their life, that is why we are asking you to serve and give a little bit of time to serve our nation, but especially our communities. that is why the democratic caucus is so diverse. we represent all different viewpoints in america and the fabric of our communities. we see 22 recruits in the most vulnerable republican districts, i think it is a reflection of people all across the country from different makeups and backgrounds that are willing to step up to represent their communities and make a difference to get the country back on track. it is hard-working people that will be put first. scott b: i'm wondering if you can throw out a couple of names

of people we should be watching in 2016. who will be the next joaquin castros? rep. lujan: i think there are fantastic individuals willing to step up to serve in the congress. let's start with one of the districts not on the radar of so many people in the country. a district that governor romney won with overwhelming support, a district where doug collins, i recruit, well challenge me a lot. his father served in the congress. he is well respected. he is salt of the earth. i would say watch people like him. kiersten is another is doing very well. she's making a world of

difference. i think very highly of an emergency room physician who is reaching out for his community. he started free clinics in his community, free clinics to deliver health care for people who could not afford health care before all of the debate associate with the affordable care act started taking place. he is also associated with mentorship so children from those communities can get into schools. as we look to the retirements we just learned of, i look at ron -- lon johnson, who is so well spoken and well-respected. just such a real, genuine person and down in florida, if you have ever had the chance to visit with my calling, she draws you the chance to visit with my her, she draws you in because of the compassion she shares for her community. all parts of america from the northeast down to florida across the country, as we travel from the midwest, they really reflect the values of those communities. >> we have a little over five minutes left.

if i could go back to 2016, and ask you about vice president joe biden. if he could get into the race, what impact would he have on the races at the house level? rep. lujan: i've so much respect for vice president joe biden. someone like my father who has reached out to communities, and the nation mourned with the loss of his son beau. everyone was so moved. i think vice president biden speaks in a very candid way. he is very honest with the american people and reaches out to them. whether we have one or more new candidates who will be seeking the nomination for a democratic not for the presidency, i think that is all welcome. people want to make sure they are hearing different ideas and diverse ideas. he is a well-respected individual.

he is one of the strongest leaders we have in america. >> is an announcement from him sooner rather than later more of a benefit to democrats? rep. lujan: i don't have a crystal ball. i leave that to those who can look at this from a numbers perspective. whatever their family decides, dr. biden as well is the vice president, i'm sure there are those across the country who would welcome that response. there would be him on the stage. there's only a few democrats at the debate coming up in a few weeks. unlike having to make room for the republicans, sometimes they have to find overflow rooms just for the candidates, as opposed to the ones listening in for the republicans. scott b: i want to ask your

question about the republican candidates. donald trump has been dominating the headlines. as a democratic messenger and campaigner, are you excited to see jump out there from the perspective that his position is so diametrically opposed to yours, or as a hispanic congressman representing hispanic constituents, would you like him to go away? rep. lujan: i don't know about donald trump with the ugly things he is said about women and immigrants. it is damaging to the country. we to make sure not only democrats, but a diverse country, that we are holding donald trump accountable for the ugly things he is saying that are hurting people that are distracting to the contributions immigrants from all over the world have made to america.

president kennedys book, "a nation of immigrants," we have to fall back and heat and listen to. entrepreneurs, business men and women, heroes across the country, medal award recipients. those are people being attacked in and day out by mr. trump. we will make sure that mr. trump is known for the ugly hateful things he says. but we're going to can see him called out, not only by democrats, but republicans as well. scott w: congressman, for weeks now we have seen turmoil among house republicans when it comes to speaker john boehner's leadership. there is a band that has been

openly plotting to try to remove the speaker. if such a motion did come to the floor, and how would democrats respond to that motion? would you guys team up with boehner owl eyes and try to preserve his speakership, or -- with boehner allies and try to preserve his speakership, or would you ban together with some of these conservative rebels and throw the house into chaos and expose some of the divisions that we have seen in the republican conference? rep. lujan: well, as we see the dysfunction with the republican conference, not only with policy and ideas, and republicans now in the congress seem to be on this path toward a government shutdown, we are also seeing the dysfunction with their leadership fights as well, and i am not invited to the republican conference meetings. i do not know what conversations are taking place with the freedom caucus or ted cruz. i just know what's we do happen with that. but i think it's another example of the dysfunction we see within the republican conference and

that's something the american people are tired of. they want a group of members that can come together to make sure that we are promoting the ideals of the country as opposed to just tearing it apart and all of these political in fights. so, we need to have congress that functions. a congress that understands the importance of governing. and it sadly seems the tea party influence has taken over the republican conference and it's sad insistence that governing has no place -- we need to find a place we can work together. i'm hopeful that we are able to have real conversations from the house floor about avoiding government shutdowns, putting the american people first, conversations about college affordability, how can we have a long-term look at infrastructure in america, so you can get to and from work safely, and the republicans with all of this

distraction and this political infighting and insecurity -- things have to get better for the american people. >> mr. chairman, if i can ask you about the pope's visit this week to review will be addressing the joint conference. what does it mean for you personally to sit in the chamber listen to this worldly figure? rep. lujan: we are so honored to be welcoming pope francis to america and our nation's capitol. for me and my family, this means a lot. we were getting asked back home, as members of congress were inviting different dignitaries from across america, from our states and districts to participate in this joint session. i was asked to i invited, and i invited my mom. she's such a strong figure, not

only in my life, but the church at home, and it means to me so much to have conversation with a figure like pope francis who can change the conversation around the world, to remind us that we have a responsibility to combat poverty, to look after those who are least amongst us, to look after mother earth and look ing after our land and water and resources, and our conversation about the contributions we see from across america. calling on the compassions of us as people, not only in america, but around the world, to make a difference in the lives of our brothers and sisters. those are lessons i learned growing up and have been instilled in me, so it is a great honor. >> what does it mean to your mom to be that close to the pope? rep. lujan: i'm sure that mom will tear up and we share those emotions with one another, but it means so very much to her. my father, sadly, passed a few years ago in a battle with lung cancer. it was always mom and dad's hope that they would be able to go to

the vatican. while they were not able to do that, we will make this dream come true for bomb. >> chairman, we appreciate your time. thank you. rep. lujan: thank you. >> we are back with our reporters. you asked the chairman right away about predictions for capturing the house for democrats. how many seats realistically will they pick up? could they capture in the house in 2016? scott b: he made a great point. democrats are in a good position to capture seats, but they are starting from an historic low in the modern era. the problem encapsulated in 2012, even when present obama -- president obama won reelection comfortably, house

republicans won a million more votes -- now democrats are deeper minority. the chances of them taking back and majority are fairly slim. it still could be done. you mentioned the upper peninsula of michigan which is a republican leaning seat that just came open and that's exactly the type of district where republicans have a 45 -- have a 4-5 point advantage were democrats have to go after it hard to retake the house. >> if they don't, how many cycles are they looking at? scott b: there are a couple of problems. they are in situations where they can win votes, but not districts. part of that is democratic voters tend to be clustered in cities. we are seeing in washington and elsewhere, democratic strategist, democratic groups meeting in planning for the next decade, when these senses well

-- the census will come out soon and they are trying to run strategies for ballot measures to develop different methods of redistricting to set them up better for the next decade since things have gone poorly this decade so far. greta: scott wong though, this next cycle includes the presidential election. hillary clinton, martin o'malley, bernie sanders running. any concern from democrats on the ticket with her about the impact if she is the nominee, the impact she could have on them with the controversy over the private e-mail server? scott w: i think on capitol hill and around washington, there are a lot of democrat scratching their heads saying, what is going on here? why is hillary clinton tanking in the polls? bernie sanders is beating her in iowa. that has got to be tough for the clinton campaign to be stomach

ing right now. if you look of the polls, there is a distrust of how hillary clinton and her campaign have handled this e-mail situation, and is not something that republicans on capitol hill are going to let go of. in fact, hillary will be coming to capitol hill october 22 to testify in a public, you know, on these e-mails, as part of the benghazi investigation. so, this issue will be hanging over her head throughout the campaign. and you can be sure that republicans will be dragging this out as long as possible. greta: any concern, though, that bernie sanders wins the nominee and you have a suffered in a fight socialist on the ticket? -- self-identified socialist on the ticket? scott w: yeah. i think that is not going to play well in some of the swing districts. these districts that could flip is a republican or democrat. that certainly has got to be a

concern when you have somebody on the far left, a self-described socialist, who possibly could be the nominee. greta: what about the vice president factor here? joe biden possibly getting into the race. scott b: it is such an unknowable question. i think the interview he did with stephen colbert recently really laid that bare for a lot of people. it was very interesting from the perspective of a political observer to see someone talk so openly about that. but it did very little to clarify exactly what is going to happen. it is clear that he thinks he would make a great president. that he on some level wants to run for president. but he doesn't know if he has the emotional energy to give. greta: there is more to watch, obviously, with campaign 2016. thank you both for being on "newsmakers." scott w: thank you. scott b: thank you.

[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] >> c-span, created by america's cable -- cable companies 35 years ago and brought to you as a service. carterer president jimmy recently gave an update on his cancer diagnosis. he was joined by his wife to discuss the carter center global initiatives. this is an hour. [applause] >> sir? carter: you don't have

anything to say? all right. well, thank you all for coming. and for the many messages you have sent since i announced i have an illness. it verying treated for well. medicine that has been developed for my disease, lizamap. called pembro it took me three weeks to learn how to say it. i get the stream is four times. we'll have a positive effects later on. with 84 ounces of fluid today and of the doctors have been back to 64 ounces a

day. instead of being productive, i spent a lot of time in the restroom. [laughter] that is the extent of my treatment. i will continue now with the notes that marion gave me about the center. we have been working on a number of issues, as you well know. has beenr center establishing itself, ever since we found that it, for the future when rose and i will not be active to raise money and be here as leaders. we have a very viable and attractive and well qualified group of trustees. roughly 22 with 11 of them being chosen by the carter center and the other chosen by emery and approved by us. bindinga legally

contract between the carter center and emery. we provide active programs and emery provides the academic background research and everything. it is a permanent arrangement. we have allies and friends from many countries in the world from those who have joined us in preparing for peace and helping us with diseases and those sort of things. we have an endowment that we built up that was about $600 million before the recent reductions in the stock market. i'm not sure what it is now, but it is in that neighborhood. we have never taken any money out of the endowment. andre prepared financially organizationally to continue for quite a while. we have a new vice president that i want to introduce tonight. would you stand up?

[applause] he is in charge of all of our peace programs. he spent 24 years with the united nations and he has been ambassador in several of the countries in which we do business. one of the things we started was monitoring troubled elections. this has been a simulating -- stimulating and productive process. totalitarian just or dictatorial government, within the carter center there are certain proprieties that we raise that they have to meet, we monitor their election. sometimes the democracy will get so powerful that the opposition parties are not willing to

compete with aroubled election or an honest election because they do not think it will be honest. get permission and then we go again. we just finished our 100th election back in may. our programs are doing away with troubled countries that have diseases. is one of our primary commitments. the majority of our money and our people in dealing with health care and people who are desperately in need of that assistance. know, we started in 28 countries and 28,600 villages. we are down now to four countries and a few villages. we have only 11 cases in the

whole world. [applause] we hope this will be the second disease ever eradicated. longer thanliving it will. we have an ongoing exhibit, if you visit new york, at the american's him of national history. there been very popular and it will be january of 2017? is that right? >> yes, sir. pres. carter: we are looking at the possibility of putting some of the exhibit in london. that has not been finalized yet. the human rights defenders program, as you know we are concentrating these past few years on the horrible abuses of women and girls around the world. we had another session on that

in february of this year and we talked about how women have been so vital in promoting peace. they are the ones who are the foremost most of the battle for peace because they are the ones who up -- experience the all, onous effect of their homes and the people they care for, their children. this fall, later on we will have a special program in ghana where we have both muslim and christian leaders who have already been trained in nearby synagogues and they will come to ghana. i was going to go but my doctor won't let me go. other people will be representing me. we are continuing to promote the concept and religious scriptures in the bible and the koran and

so forth. there is no allegation by god or allah that women are inferior in any way. which right to point out those places in the bible or the koran that guarantees equality of treatment. to make sure they know about these facts. recently i have been traveling a good bit, about as much as i ever have before. i was in the gulf states with , raising money for the program that she will describe later on for mental health. dealing with some of the richest people on earth. russia with ato group of people called elders. and we metsix of us with former president gorbachev and other leaders. we spent almost three hours with president putin, in a private lace where he lives, and we --

private place where he lives, and we discussed all the items on the agenda with president obama and other leaders around the world. it was an extended conversation, but he was saying how much he has been working with the opposition forces in syria, along with the leaders in syria. he is try to bring the two together. he says that what he hoped to see develop, was an arrangement whereby russia and the united states could sponsor a session with three other countries, one would be iran, another saudi arabia, and a third turkey. if you think about the geography and the politics, that is a wise decision. if you brought them together, decisiond agree on any for syria could be likely accepted by other countries. i said, what did obama say when you mentioned it?

he said, i have not brought it up with him yet. i said, do you mind if i do that for you? he said ok. so the next day i sent president obama and secretary of state carry this proposal, and shortly after that, secretary of state me to putinith to support that idea. we need to do whatever we can with russia and china to promote peace and harmony in the world and future economic development for everybody. as you knowe way, we have the first official visit of president xi with president obama later this month. has been in office for a long time. i would say he is the most powerful leader in china since

ping. it is great to see the united states and china cooperating whenever we can. treating each other as -- with respect and as equals. china has emerged to be one of the greatest powers on earth. china announced then under deng xiaoping, that they would be open and reformed. have reformed their government and far -- insofar as freedom is concerned, but they also have diplomatic relations with us every country on earth. they have become the second-largest economy in the world and are destined to be the top economy on earth. they have some great challenges ongoing in china right now, with

which xi jinping has to deal. i hope is that he can find common ground on as many things as possible. normalized relations, since 1980, china has not been to war with anybody. and theis that china united states can cooperate and bring peace to troubled places in the world. that is happening this month. have, that ism we ongoing, that i have been asked to mention, is the right of people to have access to information. programs. ati so citizens of different countries can have the legal right to know what their government is doing. what kind of contracts, what kind of sales are made, resources, things of this kind. we take it for granted because

we have had partially implemented laws for quite a while. we are trying to do that with countries all over the world, and we are working very hard. additionally, in the last year or two, to make sure that women have the same right to have the same access as men to the legal insight into what the government is doing and what their basic rights are. what agricultural assistance they can get. we found that in guatemala, and liberia, women are greatly deprived on an equal basis of having the same access to information as their husbands. now, to get back to the diseases, that will be a last thing i mention. we just finished administering medicineillion dose of that deals with river blindness. the carter center has been

transforming asia in changing our basic goal in dealing with river blindness. in the past we just try to control it by giving one dose of medicine to people that have river blindness and will not have it for another year, and need another dose. but in latin america, they have found out if they get more than one dose per year, up to four, that we could completely eliminate the disease from that country. we have done that in four countries in latin america, and with the exception of one little tiny tribe on the border between venezuela and brazil, we have done it. we will soon be free of river blindness in the entire hemisphere. we have taken that knowledge to africa, and instead of just

trying to control her blindness every year, to completely eliminate it one country at a time. ofhaven't yet set a goal doing away with it for the entire world. we are just dealing with it on a country by country basis. that is elimination, not total eradication. and malaria, we becauset them together it is caused by the same mosquito. of thean get rid mosquitoes we can treat both of those at the same time. we are doing that all of her nigeria. talked that the only place in this hemisphere but still has malaria, is hispaniola, haiti and the dominican republic next-door on

the same island. we have been able to reduce the amount of malaria in the dominican republic by two thirds 33% since the equator. concerned, wei is ,ave reduced malaria by 80% since the earthquake took place. tose are the things i wanted say to bring you up-to-date and i will turn the problem now over to the boss of the carter center. [laughter] rosalynn, you take charge as you always do. [laughter] rosalynn: this is a program we started 19 years ago. we were sitting around thinking what else can we do about overcoming stigma.

since the print -- since someone said, since the president has such an impact of what people think about mental health issues, why don't we bring some reporters and train them so that they can report accurately and in-depth. this is our 19th year. 165.ve trained we have six from our country and we have expanded it from new zealand to south africa and columbia. we do them one at a time, and we usually choose another country after the last one. , -- this is my favorite program of the year. it is so exciting to see people coming from all over the country. thead 116 applications for six slots.

so many people are interested in mental health now. on what theyreport will be doing and the outgoing fellows report on what they have done. have five fellows here from colombia. they do it a little bit different. instead of having one person on one issue, they have two. so we have five. not sure where the extra one came in. [laughter] colombia has become a model for la sebatas based in university, just outside of bogota. the whole university has supported the program. it makes so much difference if you get the program based with those who will really work on

it. all of them have been good, but this has been special. evaluation of the program this past year, and learned about so many things that have been going on. brought the colombians here in person to report on that, the projects they have had. i will point out a couple of them. the health superintendent forced to resign. the government announced he would shut the hospital based on reports of inhumane practices. formation of quick response to mental health service teams. this is just something that had never happened. changes in daily procedures for families with mental illnesses. this one i really like, $47 million in state legislature budget allocated to psychiatric

beds in one of those places -- we are always begging for money. i was glad to see that had been supported by the government, too. program,egan our started and liberia. it is the first time we have ever tried to develop a mental health program in another country. train 150al was to mental health the nations. before we started, they had one psychiatrist in the country. that was all. when we got 144, we had not reached 150, so we did one more class and just finish that in august. we had about the same number as before in each class, so we actually trained 165 clinicians.

we suspended it when ebola hit. to informations in liberia, an access to justice and the mental health program. we suspended all of that to teach people about ebola and how contagious it was and what they could do. it was really gratifying, because they did overcome the ebola. later,one that came up but it was really satisfying to be able to do that. for the carter center to have that kind of input to that terrible disease. thank people. we have had an outpouring of support and prayers, and in spite of all that is going on, it has been really kind of wonderful. just a note we have that kind of support. [applause]

we have thatow kind of support. [applause] >> president and mrs. carter will take as many questions as we have time for tonight. i want to thank those of you here, who submitted questions. and those who submitted questions via twitter. we had chosen those that represent the main lines of interest. aesident carter, there were number of questions about your health but i believe you already addressed that. easy one.ve on to an the is from the audience, whole world is concerned by the european migrant crisis, how can this be sold globally? [laughter] know, theer: as you

united states has been the prime recipient of immigrants from the founding of our country. when we have had horrible crises like the vietnam war, that is when i became president. the united states was receiving immigrants from vietnam and cambodia. 12,000 a month. as we used to that, our good example to encourage the europeans and others to accept immigrants as well. i would hope there would be a similar reaction, maybe with germany. as you know, the german government started out with very open arms, and lately they have closed down their borders pretty strictly. meetingkel called for a tuesday to try to get all of the european countries to agree to accept a certain quota of

immigrants. the total quota is about 125,000 per year, and the estimate is 400,000 per year. so even if they are generous and opening their borders, i don't know what will happen. the united states will also take -- i think president obama announced to take 10,000 in two years. just a tiny group of the total. the best thing is to deal with syria. that is the main origin of those people trying to come through turkey and greece and go up through hungary all the way into germany. so, there is not an easy answer. we now have more refugees from war zones on earth than we have ever had in history, even after

the second world war. about one fourth of the total population of lebanon are refugees from syria. jordan is also heavily afflicted. turkey has taken a lot of those refugees. i really think the united states ought to follow up with this suggestion from earlier, from president putin. , after thesome way nuclear thing is approved, where russia and the nine states can try to lead the world in italy. boarded anytates thwarted any possibility of president assad being involved in the future. we thought he should not do that. but russia and iran have supported the assad government,

and no isis has taken over a good portion of the eastern part of syria. syrial with the war in would be the first major step, and i have my own ideas about what to do. leading, inogram is effortys, the constant to resolve some arrangement whereby there can be a general cease-fire, and orderly government process set up. we meet with the norwegians, the united nations and fellow leaders. even those involved in the war itself. trying to bring this about. we also have a mapping program that the carter center has originated, that lets the united wheres and others know the rapidly changing forces are located in syria. to deal with syrian war and

peace is the first step to be taken in dealing with the refugee situation, and to be accepting of those escaping for their lives or safety. program: this mapping was done by one of our interns watching social media, and he can tell people how to go safely with supplies, it is really remarkable. eed.t is, ind president carter, this question comes from sarah and the audience. mostnaval academy's distinct graduate, what advice can you give a high school student seeking to attend the academy and serve our country after graduation? pres. carter: a lot of the candidates would disagree with that first thing you said. [laughter] first of all, study hard and make high grades.

secondly, if your parents are involved in politics, like mine, get your congressman to give a letter of favor on your application. and prepare yourself in advance. old that myx years soul purpose in life was to go to the naval academy. when someone asked, what are you going to do when you grow up, i always said, even in elementary school, i will go to the naval academy and become a naval officer. a few prospective candidates and to prominence like me, i have been fairly accommodating -- i started to say liberal. [laughter] people's families and students, grades in school. if i really