reduce the cost of pharmaceuticals and services you are providing. it seems inconsistent to argue that the consolidation of hospitals to address their challenges is ok, but the consolidation of interest companies, if they fall within the doj constraints for such a merger, would not be ok. the trying to understand inconsistency or not inconsistency. one, oursh: organization, anthem, has developed a value-based infrastructure. models.ernative payment we have a hundred thousand physicians participating in that model. they are part of the model going forward, to your point. sigma plus infrastructure, like

with, has similar models that .ill integrate with our model however, let me shift to a different perspective. as you heard earlier, i provided -- i served as a provider ceo for many different systems in the state of north carolina for about 15 years. i know those delivery systems extremely well. i'm well aware of what is happening in that state, as well as 49 other states, given the view that i have today as a health plan executive. what i can tell you about my lived experience in that will is last 15 years, we were focused heavily on accusations -- acquisitions, purchasing hospitals, purchasing physician practices, although under the premise that we would

clinically integrate. it was all about negotiating better price, by way of delivering better quality. i would argue today, in terms of our commitment to value payment, our commitment to new models of care delivery, supporting practitioners with data that gives them legitimate information to better manage care, i think today is a totally different day than what history suggests as far as what the old storybook like and what it will look like going forward. i think competition is robust, but more importantly, our providers ish value added to the new markets we come upon, whether it is small groups, large groups, aca related, it is all connected in terms of value to the market. senator lee:

.cowan co >> i will be brief. swedish, your. testimony highlights some of the initiatives. as someone who has been intimately aware of sigma's work , how will these partnerships or programs either expand or increase after the merger, or be negatively impacted by the merger? what metrics will you use t ensure that they continue? mr. swedish: i think it really speaks to future state, as we envision it, it lays out a

strong model of building on the respective successes of the organizations. as i mentioned before, i believe that sigma has built out a model around accountable care methodology. a situationted wher where its members are more compliant to diabetes measures. they have witnessed a 45% lower medical costs trend versus the and the large. that is a wonderful asset to capture, in terms of blending with our own successes. with respect to how we administer in the 14 blue states that we oversee. long story short, i think the combination of the clinical performance will be greatly advanced by way of one key asset combination -- data, taking the

respective day that responds a -- the respective data repositories and melting them together. i believe our care will get better because of our stewardship becoming more enhanced i virtue of the strengths of both companies coming together. >> a number of you have talked about how the insurance market is either national or really local. i think there is an enduring tension between the perspectives offered today. being from delaware, an them has about 100 people doing analysis, and sigma has about 500 people. what sort of opportunities do you see -- should there be a

risk do- what sort of ?ou see to my state do you think, given the lack of ,ompetition in the marketplace and the significant impact that has had in some ways, what opportunities you think there might be for expanded opportunities on either the individual exchange or the marketplace? swedish: i appreciate your comment about the workforce in delaware. let me underscore that we are vitally concerned about all of our associates nationally. we focus on developing a culture rooted in our commitment of creating value in the marketplace. i want to state that, on the national basis and perspective. that is critically important in terms of all of our associates. with respect to delaware, i recognize that health care core

there, analyzing the benefit of pharmaceutical products the go to market. about 100-150 associates. with respect to sigma, they have an incredibly successful international outreach, going global. our sense is that that will remain in delaware. it is a critical contributor to the delaware economy. we recognize that. quite frankly, underscore the fact that being a growth oriented enterprise, we expect both of those areas to continue to grow. mr. pollackr lee:

, some industry observers have suggested that this might provide some necessary countervailing market pressure to balance out the widespread consolidation happening among providers, specifically providers getting in the business of offering insurance plans. what is your response to that suggestion? mr. pollack: i think it is just the opposite. but now the insurance field is already incredibly consolidated. we were talking earlier about barriers to entry. it have been studies by both kaiser and the commonwealth fund talking about how 97% of the medicare advantage markets lack competition. if you look at the breast of the blue cross blue shield plans -- in 40 of 50 states, they are the largest plan. we think that you need to have continued robust competition which leads to innovation.

we do not see how these deals provoked that aspect of it. as for the provider-based plans, while they are out there and growing, they pale in comparison in terms of scale to what we have seen with regard to the insurance company side of it. while they actually bring great value and get great quality ratings, it is still hard, in the face of some of the other entities, to in fact get into these markets. very often you have to have a ives,um number of l which it is sometimes difficult to do. senator lee: they do not weigh the same, is one way of putting it. mr. pollack: exactly. senator lee: i will get back to mr. bertolini and mr. swedish. i'm sensing that you want to respond to that.

you can with that in to this question. i've questions for both of you. both of your company's have represented that entry into health insurance markets is relatively easy. if that is the case, why not enter into the markets that are already in, instead of buying those competitors? hy cap edna -- why can't aetna expand instead of hem?ng ant i think thei: trade-off as to whether or not enter markets versus acquire markets is simply an economic discussion. how do we want to deploy our

capital, and how quickly do we want to get there? aetna was going to spend the next five years getting into markets that cover 70% of the medicare eligible. why is that more important? seniors are more portable. wey want to keep the prices offered to them which are often zero policy premiums. with this acquisition, when it wills, if appropriate, we be in markets covering 92% of the medicare eligible's across the country. mr. swedish? i can probably at go some of the same comments. with respect to being specific to our combination, certainly we have spent considerable time

analyzing the economics of the transaction. .he value added to our members more importantly, pivoting, as an organization at a very fast pace relative to how fast the market is changing and the demand of the consumers is changing, whether in national account, small group, individual, any segment that you want to look at. the turbulence, the speed of change in the marketplace necessitates a change that brings new value to the marketplace. in that regard, we believe this combination makes a lot of sense for us because we can come to market faster, better, and in turn, create more value for the consumers. otherwise, quite frankly, we're dragging with regards to the responsiveness that we believe is necessary. are going tos, we craft and administer transactions that are truly in the best interest of not only our consumers, but also the business itself, in terms of

being a sustainable business going forward. we believe this commendation creates sustainability and support to the customer. senator lee: thank you. i have additional questions, but in the interest of time, given that there has been another so-called, i will go ahead and adjourn the hearing. we will submit any additional questions and writing. senator klobuchar? guest: i'm sure there will be more to come. thank you. senator lee: thank you all for your participations. thank you for being here today. the meeting will be adjourned.

>> as the senate hearing comes to a close, if you missed any of it today, you can see it in its entirety on our website, c-span.org. the members moving over to the senate chamber to vote on pentagon appropriations. when that folk comes in, it will be on our companion network c-span 2. on aer, a vote was blocked bill banning nationwide abortions past 20 weeks of .residency -- pregnancy again, you can see the senate voting live on a companion network, c-span 2. pope francis is wrapping up a four-day visit to cuba and

arriving here in washington, d.c. later today to spend three days here, his first visit here. here's a quick look at our coverage on c-span. the u.s..e's visit to c-span's live coverage from washington, d.c., the first stop tour. pope's today, we abide with the president and mrs. obama to greet the pontiff at joint base andrews. on wednesday, the welcoming ceremony for the pope as the obama's officially welcome him to the white house. life coverage begins at 8:40 five eastern. later that afternoon, at 4:00, the mass at the basilica of the national shrine of immaculate conception. thursday morning, but coverage begins at capitol hill as pope francis makes the first pope in history to address a joint congress. on friday, the pope addresses the un's general assembly.

later, the pot to hold him up that religious service at the 9/11 memorial and museum at the world trade center. follow c-span coverage of the popes historic trip -- pope's historic trip to the u.s. >> we are just learning very quickly that the pope is leaving cuba right now for the united states for his arrival here later this afternoon. hill food-service workers are holding a rally for their desire to unionize. they want a $15 minimum wage. tweeted out this picture of them on the z's front easttol's front. bernie sanders will join the workers and, the pope to address income inequality.

over the weekend, bernie sanders hosted a town hall meeting in new hampshire. here is a look at the town hall meeting. [applause] [cheering] senator sanders: thank you. thank you, all very much for coming out on a beautiful sunday something very, very radical. are you ready for radical activity? [applause] we are going to practice democracy. how is that?

let me think melanie and sean. what shawn understands, and i understand, we cannot grow the middle-class of this country without a strong trade union movement. i will pledge everything i can to make sure that happens. [applause] think jeff -- thank jeff. jeff is one of the millions of unsung heroes who every day goes to work as a teacher. i know we talk a lot about the great football players and the great basketball and baseball players of this country. we page that huge amounts of money. you know what, we do not pay enough attention or thank

enough people like jeff for the work they do. [applause] we announced our can see 4.5 months ago. when i announced it, folks were very polite and nice, but nobody thought we had a chance to do anything. a lot has happened in the last 4.5 months. i think the reason for that is that the issues that we are talking about our issues that are resonating with the american people. needless to say, having gone all eder this country and talk to people, i hear a lot of remarks. people are very kind and generous, but there's one remark the stays in my mind.

we were out on the west coast, and one man came up to me and said, thank you, you are treating us like intelligent human beings. [applause] know, what a lot of politics passes for in this day and age, and encouraged by the media, unfortunately, is a game of calling people names and attacking people every day. if i trip leaving the stage, it will be a front page story. the picture of me being facedown on the ground. i think that as a nation, we have a lot of work in front of us in order to focus on the most important issues facing our country.

about iscracy is laying those issues on the table , understanding the oddest , bute can differ with us debating those issues, and seeing how we go forward in order to resolve them. that is where i have been trying to do in this campaign. [applause] the campaign is not about how i the polls, in although, we are doing pretty well here. [applause] down -- upt and go and down. i winsue is not whether or not. it is whether we transform america in the direction that we think it needs to go. [applause]

let me just start off by telling you something that i have full confidence that no other presidential candidate will tell you. this is sometimes hard for people to grasp or feel good about, but it is the simple truth. it does notanders -- matter in a certain sense who is elected president, unless there is a political revolution in this country of many, many millions of people, who are coming together, standing up, and saying loudly and clearly, and of his enough -- enough is enough. [applause]

i am beginning to hear that all over this country. people are saying, wait a second , this country belongs to all of us, and not just to a handful of billionaires who can make huge campaign contributions. that not that i make is president, not bernie sanders, or anybody else can do it alone is for the following reason. wall street, corporate america, the koch brothers, huge campaign contributors have enormous power. if you think any one can send me to the oval office, and i can say, well, i think it is payingnt that you start a tax on wall street speculation so that all of our kids will have the opportunity to go to college tuition free, and they will say, that is a great idea,

why didn't we think about that, you got it, we will spend millions lobbying to make sure we have a tax on wall street speculation. and, when i go to corporate america, and say, guys, maybe it is a good idea for you to stop shutting down manufacturing plants in new hampshire, vermont, and all over this didn't we think about that, fantastic idea, that is what we will do tomorrow. it is not happen like that. it does not happen like that. knowsrybody in this room the only way real change takes place is when millions of people at the grassroots level come together and fight back. [applause]

the fact that we have an african-american as president of the united states today -- it did not occur just because barack obama was a very strong and good candidate. it occurred because for 100 years, african americans and their white allies fought courageously, and some died in the struggle to say, we will end racism in the united states of america. that is how it happened. [applause] obviously, we still have a long way to go in combating racism. that is how progress is made. we have made enormous steps forward in fighting sexism in this country because women, for

over 100 years, have stood up with their male allies and said, we are not going to judge people based on their gender, beer going to try to break down sexism in america, and give all of our people equal opportunity. it did not happen because we had a couple of good senators. it happened because millions of people said, enough is enough. [applause] and, if you look at what has happened -- and i'm not talking yout 30-40 years ago -- if look at what has happened in terms of gay-rights in america in the last 10 years, it is extraordinary. that happened because people in the gay community stood up, they got arrested, beaten, and worked with their straight allies to say, in the united states of

america, we will judge people based on their character, not their sexual orientation. [applause] so, my point is that if you look at history in general, american history, world history, that is how change takes place. what this campaign is about -- of course, i'm here today to ask for your support in the new hampshire primary. yes, i'm here to ask for your support to help me with the democratic nomination. and, i am asking for your support to help m make the president of the united states, asking of youalso is to be with me not just before the election, but the day after the election. [applause]

that is because no president can do it alone. the powers that be are just too powerful. at the end of the day, when millions of americans stand up in. fight back, we w they may have the money and power, but we have the people. when people stand together, we win. [applause] what i would like to do is take a few minutes -- well, actually, more than a few minutes -- to go over some of the issues that, in my mind, are the issues on the minds of the american people that, we will stop and take your questions and comments. in my mind, it is important for all of us to understand that we

live in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. that is where we are today. most people do not know that. why don't they know that? they're too busy working two or three jobs. they're too busy being one of the 45 million people living in poverty to really know that. they do not know it because almost all of the new income and wealth being created is going to the top 1%. income and wealth inequality is an issue that can no longer be shoved underneath the rug. together, we are going to address this issue. [applause] here is the simple truth. the united states today has more income and wealth inequality industrialized nation on earth.

it is worth today in america than at any time since 1928. top 1/10a today, the 1/10 of 1% --1% -- owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90%. of all newtoday, 58% income being created, young people working crazy hours, long jobs, working seven days a week, 50% of all new income created is going to the top 1%. in america today, you have one family, the family of walmart, owning more wealth than the bottom 40% of the american people.

in my view, that is a rigged economy, not an economy that works for american workers. it has got to change. [applause] this campaign is sending a message to the billionaire cost. -- class. straightforward message. that is you cannot have it all. [applause] you are not going to continue to get huge tax breaks when children in america are going hungry. you cannot continue to send our jobs to china and other low-wage countries when millions of americans desperately need decently paying jobs.

you are not going to continue to give the ceos of large corporations huge compensation packages at the same time as you cut the wages and health care benefits, and the pensions, of the employees. greed is going to end, and we're going to end it for you. [applause] only the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality that we have to address. there is another reality out there. again, we have to put the issues on the table because if we are not discussing them, we will not resolve them. here is the issue. i think everybody who is fair-minded understands that the economy today is far far better than it was when george bush left office.

that is a fact. [applause] you know, i saw the republican painfully, for three hours. it was really amazing to me the kind of amnesia these guys have. itery problem in the world -- is all barack obama's fault. unbelievable. i never knew that one person had so much power to cause so many problems. ihey seem to have forgotten -- don't know why it is. maybe they suffer short-term and amnesia. they seem to have forgotten that when obama came into office, we were losing a hundred thousand jobs per month. and they say, yet, we are

growing 175,000 jobs per month, not enough. it's true, not enough, but it is of a lot better than losing a hundred thousand jobs .er month these guys worry about the deficit -- serious issue -- but, they forget to tell us, when bush left office, we had the largest deficit in the history .f the country, $1.4 trillion after all the trickle-down economics, the deregulation, the american and world financial system was on the verge of a collapse. economists were worried that you would stick your credit card into the atm machine, and nothing would come out. that is the economy that obama .nd hair did -- inherited we should not forget that.

[applause] but, that is also beyond us. for the last 40 years, under republican leadership and democratic leadership, what we have seen in this country is the disappearance of the american middle class. young people don't know that because they do not see the long picture. any of us who are older do -- many of us, who are older, do. anat we know today is medi income is less than what was in 1999. isknow that male workers making some $700 less in

income thatjusted he was. the question that we have to ask ourselves is how does it happen, when you have an explosion of technology, which makes every american in the world more productive, despite that, people are working longer hours for lower wages. my answer is that we are going to create an economy not designed to make the rich richer, but to expand the middle class. [applause] i started off with the jacket, got rid of that. i will probably take my shirt off in a few minutes.

it will be quite the show. no, i don't want to do that -- i don't want to embarrass the other guys here. [laughter] let me talk about another issue that does not get the full discussion it deserves. that is the issue of unemployment. every month, the government comes out with a bunch of statistics. the one you mostly see is official unemployment. that is about five and one -- 5.1%. it does not count people who , or theen up work millions of people working part-time when they want to work full-time. whole lot of people out there in that category. what is called real unemployment in america is over 10%. we have a real jobs problem in

america. the second point that we do not talk about at all. i'm trying to push discussion on it, i'm not getting so much help from the media. that is used unemployment -- youth unemployment. about six weeks ago, i asked for a study on youth unemployment. this is what they came back with. if the kid in america graduate high school between the ages of 17-20, if that kid is white, the real unemployment rate is 33%. .ispanic, 36% african american, 51%. in other words, for high school graduates in this country, we have turned our backs on kids who want to stand up on their own two feet, go out, get the money, become adults. we are saying, sorry, there are no jobs for many of you.

let me segue to another issue of enormous consequence that we also don't talk enough about. i hope every person in this room knows that we have more people in jail than any other country on earth. you know that? , and authoritarian communist country -- not all three times our side, we have more people in jail than china. what is the correlation between high youth unemployment and incarceration? it is pretty clear. we have kids here in new hampshire, vermont, all over this country hated out on street corners, getting themselves in trouble, doing drugs, etc. view, it makes a lot more sense in this country to be investing in education and jobs,

rather than jails and incarceration. [applause] just think for a moment. just think for a moment. we are spending about 80 billion keeping people behind bars. may be $60,000 per year keeping somebody in jail. think of the people we can hire to work with those kids does say, no, you're not going to drop out of school, we are going to work with you, we are going to get your job, you are not going to hang out on street .orners doing drugs we not only save human lives by savehousands, we also taxpayers money. that is the rational approach and the approach we have to go forward with.

[applause] when we ask ourselves, how does it happen that all over america you have people working two jobs, three jobs, trying to cobble together a enough income and health care to take care of their family, why is that? the answer is fairly obvious. all across this country, millions of people are working for wages that are just too damn low. that is a fact. [applause] today, the federal minimum wage .s $7.25 per hour get out your calculator and start multiplying. 40 times $7.25 is not enough money -- forget taking care of

, but taking care of one person. in my view, the minimum wage today is a starvation wage. it has to be raised to a living wage, $15 per hour over the next several years. [applause] it is not a radical idea to say that if somebody works 40 hours a week in this country, they should not be living in poverty. there is another issue tied to raising the minimum wage. that is that i sincerely hope that every man in this room will stand with the women in this room to fight for pay equity for women workers. [applause]

there is no rational economic reason. it is just based on the history of sexism that women today are making $.78 on the dollar compared to men. when we raise the minimum wage to a living wage, and when we have pay equity for women, what we will also do is give some hope to millions of single moms all across this country who are struggling desperately to raise their kids with dignity. that is what we have to do. [applause] it is beyond my comprehension, ,hen you see single moms without a lot of money, basing their kids, and how hard they work. it is amazing to me.

in new hampshire, you have, for better or worse, a whole lot of politicians tromping through your state. some of them are republican. you have heard, no doubt, time after time, republican candidates' concerns about family values. right? they just love families. all of you know what they mean by "family values." women in being is that america should not have the right to control their own bodies. i disagree. [applause] [cheering]

what they also mean when they talk about family values is that our gay brothers and sisters should not have the right to get married. i disagree. [applause] [cheering] i have four great kids, seven beautiful grandchildren, and for and i have been married 27 years. we believe strongly in family values and strengthening families. our views are little bit different than the republicans. when i talk about family values, i demand that the end the international embarrassment of being the only major country on earth that does not guarantee

paid family and medical leave. [applause] we are the only major country -- .nly one what does that mean? it means that today in new hampshire and vermont, all of this country, women are giving all of you that our parents know what an extraordinary moment in your life that is. is also pretty big day for the baby. is thatre is the but -- mom and her family have sufficient financial resources, she will stay home and do what a mom wants to do, and that is baby,time with her getting to know her baby, love her baby, bond with her baby. in what is there too

the most important time in a human being's life. but, if that mom does not have the money, if she is low income or working-class, what she is week, or do after one two weeks, is put that baby aside, and go back to work, in order to earn enough income to take care of the family, forcing women to separate from their newborn babies is not a family value. [applause] it is, in fact, the opposite of a family value. that is why i will fight for the united states joining countries all over the world and guaranteeing at least 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave. [applause]

call asking you what is the most important issue on your mind? generally speaking, it is a four o-b-s. word -- j- jobs. they know how follow tell the economy is. they know that if you are a college graduate, it is really hard to find a job commensurate with your education. they know that if you are a high school graduate, or a high school dropout, it is very, very difficult to find any kind of .ork at any kind of wages when you have real unemployment in this country, of over 10%, youth unemployment office

charged, what i think is we need a massive federal jobs program to put millions of people back to work. [applause] we should not be firing teachers. we should be hiring more teachers. [applause] we should not be firing childcare workers or firemen or police officers. we should be hiring more of them . [applause] perhaps most significantly, we have an infrastructure in america. rail, airports, water plants, levies, dams, that

in many parts of this country are crumbling. an enormous amount of work. when you have millions of people that need work and an infrastructure that is crumbling, common sense says we invest in our crumbling infrastructure and create millions of jobs doing that. [applause] let me also say a word about an issue that is not so sexy, does not get a whole lot of media attention, but is also important. not only should we be creating millions of jobs, we have to prevent the loss of millions of jobs as a result of our disa disasters trade policies. [applause] looking at a senator and former congressman who has voted

cafta, and willcf help lead the opposition to the disastrous transpacific partnership. [applause] anyone who wants to take a hard look at the economy, and anyone who wants to know how we rebuild the middle class, how we lower our poverty rates, how we put decentto work for a paying jobs, have to take a hard look at wall street. know,treet, as all of you through their greed, the recklessness, their illegal behavior, drove this country into the worst economic downturn since the great depression. millions of people are still feeling the impact of what wall street did. here is what is interesting.

the congress, against my vote, out wall street because they were too big to fail. four of the out of largest financial institutions , today, are significantly larger than they were when we bailed them out because they were too big to fail. you have the six largest banks in this country issuing more than two thirds of all credit cards, and over 35% of all mortgages. that type of concentration of wealth and power is not a positive thing for our economy. roosevelt, the old trust buster, were alive today, .e would say break them up i agree with teddy roosevelt, that is exactly what we have to

do. [applause] the large financial and is too big to fail, it is too big to exist. and a discussion. of discussion. , youften asked -- bernie cover a lot of issues, what is the most important issue out there? it is impossible to delineate just one issue. i will tell you. thatssue that is unique in it impacts every other issue that we face as a nation. let me be as blunt as i could be in telling you what i think most of you already know. as a result of the disastrous series of supreme court decisions in the citizens united

case, the american political system -- and i use these words advisedly -- have been totally corrupted and the foundations of american democracy are being undermined. [applause] i wish i could sugarcoat it, and not be as blunt as i am about this issue, but that is the simple truth. here in new hampshire, and in my state of vermont, since the inception of our states, we have had town meetings. in rooms like this, people come andther, and they argue, then they broke. one person, one vote. that is called democracy, from where i come from. as awhat we have now, result of this up record

decision, the supreme court said to the wealthiest people in this country, all right, you already own much of the economy of america, we will allow you now to buy the united states government, and that is precisely what they are doing now. what that means is that virtually every presidential .andidate has a super pac the reason they have super pac's is because millionaires and billionaires can spend unlimited sums of money on those campaigns . on top of that, you have the koch brothers, the second wealthiest family in america. a family that wants to end ,ocial security, and medicare medicaid, and the environmental protection agency. spending in the cycle alone, the koch brothers will spend some $900 million. that is more money than either the democratic party or the republican party will spend.

one familyve spending more money than either of the two major political parties, my friends, you are not looking at democracy, you are looking at oligarchy. that has got to change. [applause] [cheering] i have not made many campaign promises so far. monthsprobably make the ahead. there is one promise i want to repeat to you. no nominee of my to the united states supreme court will get that position unless he or she is loud and clear in saying that

they will overturn citizens united. [applause] now, we are in a school, in elementary school, here in new hampshire. i know that every person in this room, in new hampshire, and country is very concerned about education. we all understand that we live in a highly competitive global economy. we all know -- it does not take scientists to figure it out, if we do not have the best educated workforce in the world, it will be very hard for our economy to grow, be strong, increased the kinds of jobs we want for our kids and grandchildren. in that context, it is beyond my conversation how we have a

situation today where hundreds bright,ands of qualified, young people, who have the ability to go to college, the desire to go to college cannot go to college for one simple reason. money.amily lacks the that is unconscionable, not only for those young people, who want to make it into the middle class , become engineers, scientists, doctors, or teachers, but is also unconscionable when we ofnk about the future america and our need to capture all of the intellectual talent that is out there. that is why i will fight to make sure that every public college and university in america is tuition free. [applause]

it's not just because countries we're competing with around the world are already doing it or just because it or 60 years ago in america it existed but i'm going to do it for the kids in this elementary school here in seabrook, new hampshire. [applause] what does that have to do with a kid here in the fourth grade in seabrook or my hometown of burlington, vermont? i will tell you. i grew up in a family where my mom and dad never went to college. all over america you have kids with low income working class kids and they don't know anybody who did go to college.

the idea sitting here in the fifth grade that they might someday go to college is about as distant as the idea that they may go to the moon. it's not within their worldview. what our job is today is to say every child in america with her -- if you are in fourth, eighth, sixth grade if you study hard, if you take school seriously, if you do well in school -- yes, you will be able to go to college regardless of the income of your families.-- if you are , [applause] it will change the attitude of millions of children in this country who will now know if they study hard they will have a

good future. when we talk about higher education, there's another issue we've got to address and it's the absurdity of millions of people in this country, young and not so young, who are struggling under horrendous levels of student debt. in my mind it makes no sense for people to be carrying interest rates on their student date of -- debt of 6%, 8%, 10% when they can refinance their homes at 2%, three percent, 4% and our legislation will allow them to do that. [applause] i talked to many people who are paying 20% of their income in student debt who cannot buy a car, buy home, sometimes cannot get married or have kids. that's a crazy. we need to leave our planet

habitable and healthy for our children and grandchildren. there is nothing more important .o [applause] i speak to you as a member of a member of the senate energy committee by saying the and the senate environmental committee in telling you that the scientific community has decided very clearly that the debate is over. climate change is real. climate change is caused by human activity. climate change today -- look at the wildfires in california, the

heat wave in pakistan -- climate change is already causing devastating problems in our country and around the world. if we do not get our act together the situation will become much worse in years to come. the scientists are saying if we continue business as usual, by the end of the century, imagine this, the planet earth will be 5-10 degrees warmer than it is today. more drought, more floods, more extreme weather disturbances more rising sea levels, more international war and conflict as people fight for international resources to grow their crops. in my view, we have a moral responsibility to leave the world, work with china, russia,

-- to lead to the world and work with china, russia india, all , over this globe to move towards energy efficiency and sustainable and -- sustainable energy. [applause] [applause] one of the themes of my campaign has been to that the american people to think big, not small. to not get in the mindset in which we debate whether we cut education by 2% or 4%, to get not into the mindset of whether we do this little thing were that little thing, to understand that in the wealthiest country in the history of the world if we stand together there is nothing that we cannot accomplish. let me give you one example.

the united states of america today is the only major wealthy country on earth that does not guarantee health care to all people as a right. we are the only ones. [applause] now, i voted for the affordable care act and it has done a lot of good things. we have significantly increased the number of people who have health insurance. -- we've driven down the numbers of uninsured. but at the end of the day, we still have 30 million americans without any health insurance and many of you who may have insurance have high deductibles and high copayments. yet at the end of all of that, as a nation, we and up spending -- we end up spending far more than any other country per capita on health care. in my view, the united states of america should guarantee health

care to all of our people as a right. we can do it in a cost-effective way by moving toward a medicare for all single-payer program. [applause] [applause] if every other major country on earth can do with, we can do it as well. we can spend less per capita on health care than we currently do. i'm the ranking member of the democratic opposition on the budget committee. i want to take the second the talk about values which is reflected in the federal budget which then goes to the appropriations committee. some of you may know, but most

of you do not, the nature of the republican budget that passed the congress. at a time when 30 million americans still have no health insurance they voted to and of -- to end the affordable care act, make massive cuts in medicaid, throat 27 million people off of health insurance. they have no response. when you ask them. what happens to 27 million more americans? how many of them died and how many of them will get sicker than the other wise would have. they have no response. not one of them. you will notice in the recent debate nobody talked about the fact that 30 million americans have no health insurance. millions more are underinsured. it's not their concern. and then when you talk about the republican budget at a time when

millions of working class families are struggling to figure out how they will send their kids to college, republican budget over 10 years cutting health grants by $90 billion. -- pell grants by $90 billion. and then, when you talk about the reality that millions of families in this country where the breadwinner is making $10 an hour cannot afford to feed their family adequately, republican budget cut nutrition programs including the program for low income pregnant women and their babies by many billions of dollars. and then to add insult to injury, to tell you really what their priorities are of the republican party, after cutting health care, education, nutrition they provided over $250 billion in tax breaks to the top 0.2%.

brothers and sisters, those are not the priorities of the american people and we will not accept that. [applause] [applause] and then when you have many republicans, including a number of presidential candidates, coming before us telling us we have to cut social security, let me tell you that i will not cut social security. we have millions of seniors trying to survive on $13,000 per year. in fact, what we are going to do is lift the cap on taxable income and expand social security benefits -- not cut them. [applause] [applause]

as i mentioned earlier, as a nation, i believe we have made significant progress in ending racism in this country, but there is no doubt in my mind that we still have a very, very long way to go. when i talk about racism, i'm not just talking about a very sick person who walks into a charleston, s.c., prayer session who prays with people in the room and takes out a gun to kill of them because of the color of nine their skin is different than his. i'm not even talking about the hundreds of groups in this country, hate groups, whose whole function and existence is to promote hatred against blacks, gays, immigrants, jews, catholics, anyone who is

different than they are. i'm also talking about the sad truth that for many, many years you have unarmed african americans killed while in police custody. that is unacceptable and that has got to change. [applause] [applause] we need major, major reforms in criminal justice in this country. i was the mayor of burlington for eight years and i worked very closely with our police department and the vast majority of police officers in this country work hard. many of them are underpaid, overworked. many have crazy schedules which impact their families and they are trying to do their best under very difficult

circumstances, but like any other public official, when a police officer breaks the law, that officer must be held accountable. [applause] [applause] when we talk about creating the nation we must become, in my view, we have to understand we have 11 million people in this country who are undocumented and, in my view, we should not be demagogue in this people. we should not be attacking them in a vicious language. we should not be calling them rapists and criminals when the vast majority of them are hard-working. in my view what we need to do in , this country is moved towards comprehensive immigration reform and a path towards citizenship. [applause]

[applause] all of you know -- i wish i could tell you differently but it's the truth -- we live in a very crazy, complicated, dangerous world. turn on the tv and you see things that make you nauseous. cutting off people's heads, turning children into sexual slaves. horrible, horrible things. i will tell you -- anyone who says they have a magical solution to these problems is not telling you the truth. i heard what george w. bush and dick cheney and donald rumsfeld had to say about iraq back in 2002. i listened to what they said. i analyzed to what they said and i concluded that they were not telling the truth. [applause] [applause]

and that is why i voted against the war in iraq. [applause] [applause] i am not proud or happy to tell you that if you go to youtube or my website and read what i said back then about my fears of what would happen in terms of the destabilization of that region, a lot of what i said turned out to be true. right now, we have another global situation, foreign policy situation. i believe it's imperative that iran not get eight nuclear weapon. -- get a nuclear weapon. i also believe that what we've got to do is everything we can to achieve that goal without going to war. [applause] [applause]

and that is why i strongly support with the president and secretary kerry have negotiated. can i guarantee you that this agreement will work? nobody can. i think a great nation like ours should do everything possible to resolve international conflict ,ithout going to war understanding that war is the last resort, not the first resort. [applause] [applause] you have been very patient. hot back therey as it is up here.

let me conclude by saying this -- we are the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. we are a smart people. we are an incredibly hard-working people. let some divide us are black or we white or hispanic or asian american, if we do not allow them to divide us up as to whether we are a man or a woman or whether we are a or straight or whether we are born in this country or born somewhere else, when we stand together, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish. everything i have told you -- this is not utopian stuff. this is stuff that exists in many cases and other countries around the world. what we have got to do to make these things happen is engage in a political revolution which says that millions of our

friends and neighbors who don't vote or web given up on the political process, they have got to get involved. they have got to start standing up and fighting not only for themselves but for their kids and their parents. [applause] [applause] that's all. that's what a political revolution is about. i'm not asking you to spend as much time discussing the important issues facing our we do worrying about the new england patriots. i would not ask that a view that's too much. [laughter] at least, let's reach out to our friends and say we are fighting for the future of this country. let's stand together, let's make this political revolution. thank you all very much. [applause] [applause]

thank you. [applause] thank you. [applause] thank you. [applause] [applause] thank you. thank you. ok, are you there? who else has a microphone? has once a one, phil let's take a few questions. do you have somebody? hello, senator sanders. i want to thank you for all the great things you have done for our country. >> thank you. [applause] i am a student in new

hampshire and i will be voting in the next election. one of the things that matters most to myself in the growing generation of younger voters is internet privacy. i would like for you to share your thoughts about national security agency. >> excellent question. [applause] funny, in vermont and new hampshire on issues of civil liberties and privacy rights, i think we feel very strongly and perhaps stronger than many other parts of the country about this. i have heard people say to me in terms of the nsa, they say the nsa is tapping my phone and listening to what i say and i don't care. i'm not a terrorist so i don't care. i think that's a sad statement. i think privacy rights, the right to know you can live your life, you can read whatever you want to read, that's your

business and it's not the government's business. it's not just the government, it's not corporate america's business as well. they have more information -- [applause] i want you to know couple of things -- it is clear to everyone or should be that technology has far outpaced public policy. you know that this thingamajig, this cell phone enables somebody to know exactly where i am at this moment. that's a fact. government callsepting your phone and logging them and between corporate america knowing everything you buy and may be getting into your medical records, think we have seen a huge invasion of civil liberties and our constitutional rights

and american privacy. number one, you are looking at a guy when it was not popular -- after 9/11 -- i voted against the usa patriot act. [applause] [applause] that was not popular. and i voted against the reauthorization of the patriot it because i believe -- believe terrorism is a real threat to this country. there are people who want to hurt us and we got to do everything we can to protect our people. but i happen to believe we can do that without undermining the constitution of the united states and the privacy rights of the american people. thank you for the question. there is in enormous amount of work that has to be done. public policy has not kept up with technology. it's tough stuff. technology is exploding every

day but in my view, the american people should be allowed to live their lives without the government and corporate america knowing as much about their lives as they currently do. [applause] [applause] >> i came from pennsylvania yesterday to help with their office in manchester. before a go home, i want to ask you a you to question. you talk about the importance of over turning citizens united and we need to think big. congress functions the same way in the 1700s by having representatives who represent corporate interests. the technology to represent ourselves in the legislative process by logging onto a website and selecting legislation the same way we do online banking or taxes.

do you think the key to a overrule revolution to citizens united is to bring congress into the 21st century by allowing people to represent themselves directly in the legislative process? >> i think it's more complicated than that, to be honest with you. that technology and social media and the internet have radically transformed the nature of american society. from a personal point of view, my campaign would not be doing as well as it is up we were not communicating with many millions of people through social media. i would answer your question by saying i think we've got to expand the ability of the american people to communicate with their members of congress and as president, i would certainly do that but i don't think you can just run the internet. through the

i am old-fashioned enough to believe we should be electing people to represent us. [applause] [applause] >> i am a little old-fashioned, too and i wanted to talk about the idea of disenfranchisement and helping people vote. one of the suggestions that has been said could be done is to have a day off on election day so working people could get to the polls and vote instead of having to give up a day's pay to be able to vote. [applause] another suggestion would be to investigate the motivation behind what i would call the disenfranchised movement in keeping people from voting which taking hold in many places and i want you to address that if you could. >> you are right on both counts. we have introduced legislation to make voting day a national

holiday. [applause] [applause] look, we have one of the lower voter turnouts of any major country on earth. there are a lot of reasons for it. clearly, in every way, we should try to make it easier for people to participate in the political process, not harder. kind in your second question about what we call voter suppression. it is not questionable, it is not hard to understand, why republicantes, i.e. states with republican governors and republican legislatures are in fact making it harder for people to vote. i will tell you why because i feel passionate about this issue. i run for office. i have to go to the people in my

state and tell them what i believe and fight for votes. it has never once occurred to me to figure out a way to make it harder for people to vote because they might disagree with me. that is cowardice. [applause] [applause] for all those governors and all those legislatures figuring out how you can make it hard for low income people to vote or people of color are older students or older voters or students, if you cannot defend your political ideas, get a new job. [applause] [applause] ok. >> good evening, senator sanders and thank you for speaking today and allowing me to ask a

question. it's a question regarding something dear to me and i believe it strongly important to the future of people in this country and across the globe. as a member of the regenerative biology community doing research, i was wondering what specific ideas you have for policies to increase awareness, education, and funding for scientific research and especially for medical research. [applause] >> good. one of the dismaying things going on in congress now, a congress which is controlled by a very right-wing republican party, is they prefer to give huge tax breaks to the very wealthiest people in this country rather than invest in education and scientific research. if we look at medicine in america, what do we know?

we know that if you don't get a handle and come up with some kind of effective cure or treatment for alzheimer's, we will be spending unbelievable sums of money. we know we are seeing an explosion in diabetes and other illnesses. obviously, both in terms of trying to save lives, prevent suffering -- by the way, let me throw in another issue -- that is mental health we have a huge mental health crisis in this country. [applause] [applause] investing in trying to understand the causation of those illnesses and figure out a way we treat them is the human and smart thing to do. by the way, it saves us money. that's the last point i would make on that. i want everybody here to know that in america, we pay by far

the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. americans -- you go to the doctor and he writes a prescription and you cannot afford to fill it. what sense is that? we've got to demand that we have legislation to do this, to make sure that the pharmaceutical stoptry in this country threatening off the american people. [applause] [applause] maybe a couple of more questions. >> how's it going, bernie? i came up from boston and i am a student at northeastern university. what i'm worried about is my debt will be massive in five years. isry year, might wish and $63,000. for private institutions across america, to dish -- tuitions are ridiculously high and i appreciate that you are trying to make public institutions

free. i am incredibly worried about private loans. the interest rates are high and mine will be 8.26% and i am one of the lowest of my friends. >> you are frozen there? >> it can go up to 25%. >> this is insanity. what is your name? >> robert. >> thank you for the question. the question is what we are going to do about it. everything being equal, you will leave school deeply in debt and pay an 8% interest rate and probably pay 25% of the income you earn in your job when you leave school. it will tie your hands as to what you can do in your life and limit your opportunities, is that right? i have talked in my state to a -- whosean crying crime in life is that she went to medical school and is now a primary care physician working

with low income people, the kind of doctors we need. her debt was $300,000. we have a major dental crisis in america coming not enough dentists, not affordable dentistry. i talked to a young woman in iowa left dental school $400,000 in debt. there is a lot we can do. me say that you should not be paying 8.2% interest rates. go outnse is it if you and get a home and you want to refinance your home? you can do it at 3% so why should you be stuck at 10%? you toislation says to go out and get the lowest interest rate you can. they will be lower than a .2%. you will not be frozen, you got that? also, the federal government should not be making billions of dollars in profit off of these debts. [applause]

if we do those two things, it will substantially lower your student debt. bernie, youo me, want to make colleges tuition free and lower student debt. how will you pay for that? it's about $70 billion. you know how? we will pay tax on wall street speculation. [applause] [applause] put a tax on wall street speculation. when wall street crash, the -- the middle class bailed them out in its wall street's turn to help the middle class. [applause] [applause] where are you, last question? i came from massachusetts.

student, rightng now, there is a lot of jobs out to have twoequire years of experience for you to be able to get hired. i would like to know what your opinion is on that. what do you think we can do to fix that problem. for many students to get a job, they have to go and get experience. those internships are difficult because there is a lot of competition and there are people going for those positions. what is your position on that? >> on the issue of internships -- it is a modern form of exploitation. [applause] [applause]

i will be honest with you and i did not fully appreciate that until a few years ago. somebody educated me on this issue. this story is relevant to your question -- if a person comes from a family that has money, the kid of that family can intern for nothing, make contacts, learn what he or she has to learn and then they go out and apply for a job. they say i interned here and you get hired. what happens if you don't have a lot of money? can you do an internship for zero a question mark you cannot do that. what i learned from that is we changed our policy in washington. we have interns in my senate office. as i understand it, most interns in washington are paid zero. there now paying them highest rates of any office, $12 per hour for just that reason.

they will not live high on the hog but at least they can stay alive while getting their internship experience. i think that's an important issue. let me just thank you all for being out here this morning. it's a good discussion. we have an enormous amount of work to do. i think we stand a very good chance of winning. new hampshire with your help. [applause] [applause] if we do well here in new hampshire than i think we will do well in iowa, then we will have a path toward victory and we will make history and we will make a political revolution while we make history. thank you all very much. [applause] aplause]nd

[applause] ♪ ♪ rockin' in the free world] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> thanks for coming out. >> did you watch the video of the attack? >> thanks very much.

>> thank you very much. i want to say i will be 18 and i will vote for you. >> thank you. >> you fired us up. >> thank you. you guys are friends? >> we are. >> thank you so much. >> senator, >> i lived in burlington. >> thank you so much.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

[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]

>> pope francis arrives in the united states this afternoon at 3:45 p.m. he will be greeted by president obama and the first lady. the ceremony will be live here on c-span. the pope's arrival, politico reports that in congress, the democratic and republican parties have done a role reversal incomes of their relationship with the vatican. after years of stepping gingerly around rome due to the teachings abortion and other topics, the democrats are in agreement with the vatican. politico reports republicans seem to visibly squirm when asked about the frances

adventures into the political arena. you can read more at politico.com. the pope's visit to the u.s. and c-span has live coverage from washington, d.c. p.m., we are3:45 live with the president and mrs. o, to greet the pontiff. wednesday morning, the welcoming ceremony for the pope as the obama plus officially welcome him to the white house would live coverage at 8:45 a.m. and later that afternoon at 4:00 canonization at the basilica of the national shrine of the immaculate conception thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. live coverage begins from capitol hill as pope francis makes history, becoming the first pontiff to. address a joint meeting of congress friday morning at 10:00, live covers from new york is the pope speaks to the united nations general assembly on c-span three, c-span radio and

www.c-span.org. at 11:30 a.m., he will hold a multireligious service at the 9/11 memorial and museum. follow our coverage of the pope also start trip to the u.s. live on tv or online at www.c-span.org. more road to the white house coverage with republican presidential candidate evan or chris christie sitting down for tv inerview with wmur manchester, new hampshire. commitmenta wmur 2016 special bit with financial report from save the children action network. . conversation with a candidate. tonight, new jersey governor chris christie. [applause] and good evening, everyone welcome to our conversation. our guest this evening's new jersey governor chris christie. we will get to know governor

christie and where he stands on the key issues. we'll start the program by asking questions and after the break, we'll get to our studio audience for their questions in a town hall style format. get a look atet's the candidate must biography. >> chris christie was born in 1962 in newark, new jersey and lived in the state his entire life except to go to college at the university of delaware. after college, he graduated from seton hall school of law in 1987 and joined a private from where he became partner. he was elected as a freeholder, similar to a county commissioner in morris county and served as director of the board there. he was named u.s. attorney for the district of new jersey in 2002. was sworn in as governor of new jersey in t10 and was reelected to a second term. as president, he wants to perform that reform social security, medicare and medicaid and the criminal justice system. it would like to create a new

tax system and make college more accessible for everyone. he is often joined of the campaign trail by his wife mary at and i have four children. >> is that close enough? >> that was right on. >> let me start with the expectations or maybe the burden of expectations. in 2012, you were the republican savior for this party and a you are stuck in a crowded field. what happened? >> first off, i decided not to run. i was comfortable with that decision and was comfortable to support mitt romney. you never know what will happen in politics and now we have 17 people in the field and its crowded but no one ever gets anywhere without working hard. >> you are never implicated in the bridge thing but is that still hurting you? >> it certainly did at that time.

i was tried, prosecuted, and convicted before anybody knew the facts. independent investigations, i had no involvement and i did what leaders do. because itountable happened on my watch on until i fired the people who were responsible. i set new standards in my office as far as checking on these things and then you move on. are 60,000 people working for you and you cannot know what every person is doing every day. it hurt me at the time and it hurt me more because the media coverage was so incredibly biased. it was so incredibly wrong. you live with it and move on. i am running for president of the united states and i will let the people of new hampshire judge me on my merits. >> how often are you asked about that and the importance of public integrity and trustworthiness? >> i'm a former united states

attorney and in new jersey, we prosecuted and convicted 130 public officials for acts of public corruption. we did not lose one case in my seven years. people know my record on that and they know how strong it is. in new hampshire, nobody asks me about that. >> here and around the country, you are running a campaign based on telling it like it is. , do you a candidate feel like it's getting overshadowed to a certain degree? i will not mention his name. he has taken up a lot of the oxygen. doesn't make it difficult for everyone else? >> sure, it makes it harder if any one person in a race is getting the overwhelming majority of media attention and a makes it harder for the people to break through. .t's early

they are not going to make the decision about who's the most famous are entertaining but who will be the best person to lead a country. misledntry has been so that we need a new president that will shoot straight and tell us what we need to hear and not be afraid to make hard decisions. for you, that sometimes includes telling the truth and it hurts. in this giant field, what will separate you going into the home stretch? >> americans for tax reform took i didreport that said more tax reform as governor than any other governor of the united states.

if you want someone who is going to stand up to congress as president and force them to actually do the work, i am your guy. if you want to find someone who stood up to a democrat in the new jersey legislature and said no to taxes and higher spending and cut over 800 programs to balance the budget. i am your guy. that's what people are going to get to know about me -- a very conservative record in new jersey and the only person who has put forward a detailed plan to reform entitlements in this country. because it is 71% of all federal spending is entitlements and debt servicing. if we continue to do that, we are on our way to being greece. we need a strong leader that will say no. josh: will talk about that and much more. we will take a break and get to the audience? stay with us. ♪ ♪ josh: welcome back to our conversation with republican governor chris christie. time to bring in the audience with their question. i will jump in as needed.

first question comes from laura flanagan. take it away. >> what message do you want to distinguish or separate yourself from the rest of the field? gov. christie: first off, i have governed in one of the bluest states in america. i would give my right arm to have one easy week. i had a democratic legislature and yet the whole time, yet what we have done is lower taxes by $2.5 billion on businesses that helped create 195,000 new jobs. we have reformed teacher tenure, great teachers are protected and bad teachers can be fired. well done capping a property taxes for the first time ever in new jersey of the slowing down of property taxes in our state. all of that was done, including reforming pension for public workers with a democratic legislature. i am battle tested for

washington, d.c. i'm the person who has been able to deal with reaching across the aisle and making things work. the biggest thing people are first read about in this country is no one works with anyone anymore. i have the experience reaching across the aisle and talking to democrats. in my state, if i don't work with democrats, i will be working alone in the statehouse. it makes me different from the other governors running and certainly the folks from washington, d.c. are part of the problem and not the solution. josh: the next question is from viola. >> my question is about social security. if elected as president, how would you protect social security instrument and for future generations? gov. christie: i'm the only

candidate in this race who has put out a plan on this out of 17. i am the only one. here is how we would do it. there's a study that says social security, if we do nothing, will be bankrupt in seven to eight years. this is not something we can stand. while living longer lives, the average life expectancy of a woman is 83 and a man is 79. the fact is these programs were built for people when they passed away in their 60's. it is a blessing. we live a longer life. let's raise the retirement age and i say raise it two years and phase it in over 25 years. one month a year increase for 25 years. i don't think anyone will wind up being hurt by that. certainly not to the people on social security or near receiving it. second, i don't think the wealthy who retire wealthy should be getting social security. if you make over $200,000 in retirement income a year, that means you have $4 million or $5 million saved.

i don't think you should get social security. social security is insurance for people who have worked hard, played the rules and paid into the system to make sure they don't grow old in poverty and choose between rent, heat, and food. if someone is making $200,000 a year in retirement, i don't think they need social security. the alternative is what mrs. clinton wants to take the caps off of social security taxes. here is the thing. do you really want to give the government more money? this is the same government who said they were going to put in a trust fund. what is left is a stack of ious. they have spent all that money already. so if you have two ways to solve a problem -- less benefits and more revenue, why would any of us want to give the united states government more revenue? i wouldn't. what you are trying to get at is people make a lot of money.

you are getting those people on the backend. if you have that much money put aside, god bless you, good job. your country did great by you helping you have those opportunities. but we will let -- if we give them your money, they will find something else to spend it on. that is what i would do to help social security. that would save over $1.2 trillion and make that system secure. josh: a big topic in this race. the next one comes from mckinsey nicholson. >> you have said you would like to repeal and replace obamacare. can you tell me what your plan would look like and how you would ensure low income families don't lose access to the health care plans they currently receive in new hampshire? gov. christie: there is no way the government in washington, d.c. should be running the health care system for the country. it makes no sense. our two states are about the

same size geographically but, in this state, you have 1.3 million people. in this state, you have 8.9 million people. the differences in problems between health care are really stark. when you have people spread out across the state, access to health care is by distance and and you cannot get to the specialist because it is such a long way away. in new jersey, we trip over a hospital every four miles. they are everywhere. our excess problem is cost. let's get rid of obamacare. let's mandate that every state comes up with a plan that works for its state. things that work in new hampshire may not work in new jersey the right way and what happens in new jersey is very different than what happens in wyoming or antenna. -- montana. i trust the governors and state legislatures to make these decisions. i like that because you can have a greater effect. you cannot figure out what is going on in the d.c., but we

trip over hospitals in new jersey. you trip over state representatives in new hampshire. you have 400 of them. everywhere i go, i see a state rep. the great thing is you have the influence to go to those state reps and center -- senators and say this health care system is not working for me. the access point is to make sure everyone has access to care financially and where they live. we need to develop that kind of system in new hampshire. in new jersey, it is built on cost. when people can't afford to get insurance, they go to the emergency room and when they go to the emergency room, they get bad care and it costs a lot more. let states run these things. remember what the constitution says -- all the power the federal government has is listed here. everything not listed here goes back to the states. i do not see health care listed there. i trust the governor to do the right way -- i don't trust her

-- governor hassan on a lot but i trust her on this and i trust the legislature to get it done. josh: a lot of people are already in this system, it is a reasonable to scrap it? gov. christie: it is absolutely right to scrap the whole thing. if the state wants to keep some -- certain portions, it is up to the states. let them make the decisions. the federal government should not be like bigfoot in this area. who really believes that giving more power and money to washington, d.c. is a good idea? i certainly don't. josh: let's go to social media. this one comes for facebook. what is your problem with legalizing marijuana? gov. christie: i have a few problems with it. first of all, it is against the law now. this is part of the lawlessness of this president. if there's certain laws he doesn't like, he doesn't

enforce them. he doesn't like the marijuana laws, so he does not change them. he says to colorado and washed, if you do not like them, don't worry about. station where he cities, if you -- sanctuary cities, if you do not want to their sanctuary -- sanctuary cities, if you do not want to follow immigration laws, don't worry about it. i took an oath, put my hand on the bible and said i'm going to enforce the laws in the state of new jersey. it did nothing enforce the laws i like. if people want to change it, they have to change it through congress. but the second problem is that it is a gateway drug. new hampshire has the same problem as new jersey an, epidemic of drug abuse. we know marijuana affects your brain in a negative way. we know it leads to other drugs. why do we want to legalize something? the argument is alcohol is legal. does that mean two wrongs make a right?

we should not be doing that. it hurts young people, it hurts older people. it's not necessarily needed. in my state, we have a medical marijuana program and i have allowed to go forward for people who need to get relief. i think that is asking about legalizing for recreational use and i'm against it. if i'm president of the united states, get high right now in colorado and washington, because if i'm president, we are going to get back to enforcing the law. josh: the heroin epidemic is very real in new hampshire. you talk about the importance of drug courts. do candidates need to be talking about going to the source of the problem, which is across our border somewhere? a lot of people are seeing the effect of this every day. gov. christie: i have said we need to embed the fbi and dea agents to try to interdict guns and drugs from coming across the border. but let's be honest.

the biggest problem is demand in the united states. if demand for drugs was not the high in the united dates, the drugs would not be possible to send over here. we need to deal with that side. what would've done in new jersey is to say for first time, nonviolent drug offenders, people charged with possession, which is over 50% of our prison population, we don't incarcerate those people anymore. we say you go for mandatory inpatient treatment. we want to change lives. i want to save lives in my state. we need to treat these folks. it is a disease. my mother was a lifetime smoker and she knew from 1964 forward that smoking was bad for her. she knew that but continued to smoke and ultimately got lung cancer at 71 years old. no one said to us don't