figure out how they can bring in enough income, almost all of the new income and wealth created in america today is going to the top 1%. with this campaign is about is playing loudly and clearly, enough is enough. [applause] this great country of ours and our government have got to represent all of the people and not just a handful of years. before i get into the rest of my remarks, i want to say a few words about our campaign, which is a very different type of can pain than other campaigns, republicans or democrats, are

running. when i began this campaign eight months ago, it is fair to say we were at about 3% in the polls. we had no political organization. we had no money and much of the media considered our campaign a fringe candidate. bernie sanders, he combs his hair nicely and is a well-dressed candidate -- [laughter] but is not going to go far in this campaign. then, some of the experts said something which i think has a lot of truth to it.

if you are going to run a national campaign in today's world, you need to raise tens and tens of millions of dollars. the only way they said you can raise that money is to have a super pac and go to the millionaires and billionaires and beg for money. that is what they said. it's the only way. [applause] what they said is the way modern politics is run, and it is true. people do not do meetings like this. they spend their lives going to

mention zone by millionaires, sitting down was very wealthy people, leaving the house and putting ads on tv. that's a modern campaign. we decided to do something very different. i do not represent the interest of the billionaire class for corporate america. [applause] i do not want their money, and we decided to do it a very different way. we said to the working families of this country that we need a political revolution in this country, and you will have to help us make that happen.

this is really amazing and something i would not have dreamed i would have been able to tell you eight months after this campaign. over the last eight months, over 2.3 million individual contributions have come into our campaign. [applause] 2.3 million. that's more individual contributions than any campaign in the history of the united states. [applause] so what we have shown the pundits is yes, you can run a winning campaign without baking millionaires for money. [applause] and we are very proud that we

have hundreds of thousands of volunteers, including thousands here in nevada. i want to thank all of you who are helping out on the campaign. [applause] what this campaign is about is understanding some very important points that are not often discussed -- that is right now, no president, not bernie sanders, not anybody else will be able to transform our country to do the things the middle class and working families need unless we have a political revolution, unless millions of people get involved in the political process and away we have never seen before. [applause] the reason for that is that wall

street and corporate america and the koch brothers and sheldon adelson and all of these really wealthy guys, they are so powerful in controlling the economic and political life of this country that we cannot defeat them unless millions of people stand together. [applause] there are people standing out there, donald trump and others who are attempting to do what demagogues have always done.

that is instead of bringing people together to address and solve the real problems that we face, what they tried to do is tap the anger and frustration people are feeling and divide us up. so we have a message to trump and all the others out there who want to divide us up. we are not going to hate latinos, we're not going to hate muslims, we are to stand against it. [applause]

we are going to stand together and address and solve the real issues facing this country. [applause] when we talk about the real issues, i have two caution you in this respect. too often, people turn on the tv and say that is the issue. what i hope you appreciate is the only people who determine what the real issues are are you. not what is on tv, not what some producer believes. to a significant degree, for

obvious reasons, corporate media chooses not to focus on the real issues impacting working people. what we are doing in this campaign and the reason we are seeing so much success is we have spoken to over 400,000 people who have come to our rallies. [applause] the reason for that is people want to be treated as intelligent human beings. they want to hear a real discussion of real issues and how we can go forward in transforming our country. when i talk about the real

issues facing america, is not what you're going to see on tv tomorrow, but here's one of the issues at the top of my list. the united states today has more income and wealth inequality than at any time since 1928 and it is worse here than almost any major country on earth. i want you to hear this. you're not going to see it on tv. you may as well here it here. the top 1/10 of 1% in america today now own almost as much wealth as the bottom 90%. not the top 1%, the top 1/10 of 1%. today in america, the 20 wealthiest people own more wealth than the bottom half of the american people. today in america, one family, the walton family of walmart owns more wealth than the bottom 40% of the american people.

in nevada, in vermont and all over this country, in order to make a living, in order to bring in enough money or get some health insurance, people are working incredibly long hours. we in the united states worked the longest hours of any people in the industrialized world. the japanese are very hard-working people. we now work longer hours than the japanese. despite the sweat, toil and

stress millions of families are living under because they are working so hard, husbands don't see wives, mothers don't see their kids, because everyone is out working. at the end of the day, 58% of all new income generated is going to the top 1%. bottom line is we have an economy that is rigged. the rich get much richer,

corporations enjoy record-breaking profits, and the middle class continues to disappear. what we have to do together is create an economy that works for working families, not just billionaires. [applause] when we talk about our economy, it's not just income inequality and wealth. once a month, the federal government publishes and unemployment report. official unemployment nationally is about 5%. but there is another report -- people are giving up looking for work and working part-time when they want to work full-time. that number is close to 10%. here's something else that is never discussed. i asked some economists to do a study for me and asked them to tell me what real youth unemployment was in this country for young people who graduated from high school. for white kids between 17 and 20, real unemployment and underemployment was 33%. for latino kids, 36%. for african-american kids, 51%. if there is anybody in this room

who does not see a connection between this high rate of youth unemployment and the fact that shamefully we have more people in jail than any other country on earth, and you are missing a significant point. [applause] let me tell you what i think we have to do. we have got to invest in jobs and education for our young people, not more jails and incarceration. [applause] here is my first promise to you. after my first term as president, we will end the disgrace of having more people in jail than any other country on earth. [applause] we are going to put our kids

into decent jobs and back into school, not into jails and, by the way, we are going to reform a very broken criminal justice system. [applause] together, we are going to and institutional racism in this country. [applause] together, we are going to bring about real police department reform in this country. i was a mayor of the largest city in vermont and worked closely with the police department. the vast majority of police officers in this country are

honest and work hard at a very difficult job. but when a police officer, like any other public official breaks the law, that officer must be held accountable. we need to make police departments look like the diversity of the community they are serving. we need to do militarize police departments so they do not look like invading armies. [applause] we've need to take a hard look at the so-called war on drugs, which has ruined many lives in this country. [applause]

right now, at the federal controlled substance act, marijuana is treated the same way as heroine. we can argue, and there is a lot of debate about the pluses and minuses of marijuana. but no sensible person thinks marijuana is equivalent to heroine. that is why i have introduced legislation to take marijuana out of the federal controlled substance list. [applause] the reason i have introduced that legislation is not to encourage anybody to smoke marijuana.

you are laughing, but that's the truth. i smoked marijuana twice and all i did was coughed my guts out. it did not work for me. but i do understand other people have had different experiences. [laughter] here is the point, and this is the serious point. over the last many decades, millions of people have been arrested for possessing marijuana. most of those people do not go to jail. but all of them get a police record and if you have a police record and you go out and try to get a job, it becomes more difficult. and the racial component of this, it turns out the black community and white community do marijuana at about equal levels, but blacks are more likely to be arrested than whites. so there is a lot to be done in

reforming a very broken criminal justice system. our job is to provide opportunities for people so they do not get arrested. we have to make sure that people who are arrested doing nonviolent crimes do not spend time in jail.

we have to make sure people who are arrested and are in jail, when they are released, have the education and job an opportunity to make it in civil society. [applause] there is a lot of work that has to be done. i just want to give you some aspect of criminal justice reform that needs to happen. but there's one simple fact that everyone knows about but we do not talk about it. that's the reason people are working incredibly long hours is wages in this country are too damn low. [applause] the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is a starvation wage. [applause] we have to raise the minimum wage to a living wage -- $15 an hour over the next few years. [applause] when we talk about fair wages, i hope every man in this room will stand with the women and fight for pay equity for women workers. [applause]

there is no rational economic reason women are making $.79 on the dollar. that is old-fashioned sexism and we are going to change it. [applause] in nevada, you are going to see a lot of politicians running through your state because your state plays a very important role in the primary and caucus process. you are going to hear a lot of republicans talking about family values. they just love families. but you all know what they mean by family values. what they mean is that no woman in nevada or in america should have the right to control her own body.

i disagree. [applause] what they mean by family values is the federal government should defund planned parenthood. i disagree. what they mean by family values is that our gay brothers and sisters should not have the right to marry. i disagree. [applause] i have been married 27 years. i've got four grandkids -- i've got four kids and seven beautiful grandchildren. my wife and i believe very much in strengthening family life in america.

but when i talk about family values, i talk about ending the international disgrace of the united states being the only major country on earth that does not guarantee paid family and medical leave. [applause] it is not a family value -- i want you to think about this -- when a working class or low income woman has a baby today, she will be forced to separate herself from her baby after a week or two weeks because she has to go back to work to earn enough money to take care of her family. that is not a family value. that's the opposite of a family value. that is why together, we are going to establish three months of family and medical leave.

[applause] there is enormous economic anxiety out there. people are so worried about whether they will have the job tomorrow or be able to find a job. real unemployment is 10%, youth unemployment is a lot higher than that. that is why we need to create millions of decent paying jobs. instead of firing teachers, we should be hiring teachers. [applause] we need to hire hundreds of thousands of people to go into childcare to provide our little kids with the best three k

education in the world. when our infrastructure, car wastewater plants, airports and rail are deteriorating, we can create 13 million good paying jobs through a trillion dollar investment and i intend to do just that. [applause] it is not only a question of creating millions of decent paying jobs, it is a question of preventing the loss of decent paying jobs through disastrous trade policies.

right now, we have a set of trade policies, all of these trade policies were written by corporate america in order for them to get the cheapest labor possible on this planet. our message to corporate america is the time is finished when you are going to shut down plants in america and move to china. you are going to reinvest in this country. [applause] when we talk about the economy, there is an elephant in the room that must be discussed and dissected. and that is that the greed and recklessness and illegal behavior of wall street has done intelligible harm to the people of nevada and the people of america. [applause]

i find it interesting and very telling about the nature of american society and our criminal justice system that you have young people who are caught possessing marijuana, they get a police record. and yet the ceos of wall street firms who have destroyed the lives of millions of people get away scott free. [applause] not only do we have a situation where we have banks that are too big to fail, we have bankers that are too big to jail. we are going to change that. [applause] are you ready for a really radical idea? even if you are a ceo of a large wall street firm, you are going to have to obey the law. [applause]

the truth is after we bailed out wall street because the banks were too big to fail, three out of the four largest banks in america are bigger today than they were when we bailed them out because they were too big to fail. the largest six financial institutions issue two thirds of the credit cards and one third of the mortgages in this country. when you have a small group of people at financial institutions who have so much economic and political power, the time is now to break them up. [applause] when we talk about the major

issues facing our country, there is one issue which is unique in that it impacts every other issue. that is, as a result of this disastrous supreme court decision, the united states campaign finance system has become corrupt and american democracy is being undermined. today in america, most of the campaigns, most of the candidates are receiving more support from super pac's funded by millionaires and billionaires than they are from their own fundraising efforts.

the people of iowa, they say have the first caucus in the country. they are wrong. the first caucus was held here in nevada by sheldon adelson. and what he did was invite a number of republicans to tell him what they will do for him. and if they say the right words, they get tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars

in campaign contributions. the koch brothers and a few of their friends, multi billionaires are per -- are prepared to spend $900 million on this campaign. mothers and sisters, this is not democracy. this is a look our key and we are not going to allow that to continue. [applause]

-- this is oligarchy and we are not going to allow that to continue. [applause] here is what we are going to do. what we are going to do is make it very clear that any supreme court nominee of mine will be loud and clear in telling this country that one of their first orders of business on the supreme court will be to vote to overturn citizens united. [applause]

and, by the way, when we talk about a democratic society, we are going to end the kind of voter suppression we are seeing from republican governors and legislatures all over this country. my message is to republican governors and legislatures, if you don't have the guts to

participate in a free and fair election, get another job. [applause] in one way or another, either by a constitutional amendment or legislature, we are going to pass law that says in america, if you are 18 years of age or older, you are registered to vote, and of discussion.

[applause] when we talk about what is going on in our country, i know every person in this room understands that we live in a very, very competitive global economy. and if our economy is going to do well today and in the future, we need the best educated workforce in the world. within that context, it is beyond comprehension that in our country today, there are hundreds of thousands of

wonderful and bright young people who have done well in school but cannot go to college for one reason. and that reason is their families lack the funds. that is grossly unfair to those young people and it is absurd for the future of our country if we want to tap the best intellectual capabilities are people have. [applause]

that is why i have introduced legislation in the senate and will make happen as president legislation that does two things. first, it says every public college and university will be tuition for a. -- will be tuition free. [applause] that is obviously important for young people who are thinking of going to college. but it is much more important

than that. i grew up in a family that never had a lot of money and my parents did not go to college. the people my family associated with did not go to college and that's the way life is. you have millions of kids today in the sixth and seventh grade whose parents never went to college, who don't know anybody who went to college and don't believe they will ever go to college. what i want these kids and teachers and parents to know is that if they study hard and take school seriously, regardless of the income of their families, they will be able to go to college. [applause] but, not every kid wants to go to college. there are kids you want to do things with her hands, they want to be electricians, plumbers, carpenters. they deserve to learn those skills to go out and make it. and then, in terms of higher education, we have another absurdity -- we have millions of people and some in this room who are struggling with outrageously high student debt. [applause] raise your hand if you are dealing with student debt. 1000 month -- the young lady right here talking about paying a thousand dollars a month. $1000 a month. i have talked to people all over this country -- just a few stories about how absurd and dangerous the situation is. i had a meeting in vermont on this issue. a young woman comes to the meeting and says i want to to medical school and i did. i wanted to practice primary care with low income people, which is exactly what we need. she said the price i had to pay, the penalty i had to pay for being a doctor treating poor people is that i am $300,000 in debt. i was in iowa a couple of months ago and said that and at the end of the meeting, woman comes up to me and says $300,000 in debt. i just graduated dental school was $400,000 in debt. all over this country, people

are leaving college in debt, paying interest rates of 6%, 8%, 10%. in my view, if you can refinance your home today for 2% or 3%, why are we paying 8% or 10% on student debt? [applause] our legislation will allow people with student debt to refinance at the lowest interest rates they can find and not be stuck forever with high interest rates. i have been criticized by some who say that's a nice idea, free public college and lowering student debt is expensive. that's about $70 billion for year. do you know how we're going to pay for that? we going to pay for it with tax on wall street speculation. [applause] when wall street's greed and illegal behavior helped destroy this economy, the taxpayers of this country bailed them out. now it is their turn to help the middle class of this country. [applause] when we talk about our responsibilities as adults, there is nothing more important than leaving this planet to our kids and grandchildren in a way that is healthy and habitable. [applause] i am on both the senate environmental committee and energy committee. i have talked to scientists all over the world. the debate is over. climate change is real.

[applause] it is caused by human activity, and it is already causing devastating problems through out the world. in my view, pope francis is right when he said we are moving in a suicidal direction in terms of climate and the planet. we have a moral responsibility to lead the world and work with china, russia, india and other countries and transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy. [applause] i have been told that here in nevada, your public utility is making it harder for people to install solar. that's about the dumbest thing i've ever heard. [applause] our job is to make it easier and more affordable for people to move to solar, wind and other sustainable energy. [applause] and when we do that, we can create millions of jobs as we transform our energy system. let me connect the dots. i mentioned a moment ago about how corrupt our campaign finance system is and how it impacts every aspect of our lives. let me give you one very clear example of that. you have a republican party today that with few exceptions refuses to even acknowledge the reality of climate change, let

alone trying to transform our energy system. the reason for that is very clear. the reason is one fundamental thing. if any republican candidate stood up and said climate change israel -- climate change is real. on that day, that candidate would lose their funding from the koch brothers and the fossil fuel industry. [applause] that is the reality. i say to my republican colleagues, i understand that is a tough issue for you. but you have to be looking at the planet you are leaving your kids and your grandchildren.

have the guts to stand up to the fossil fuel industry and do the right thing. [applause] what this campaign is about and what i mean by a political revolution is not just involving millions of people in the political process, but it is also thinking big. we are the wealthiest country in the history of the world, but very few people know that because almost all of the wealth and new income is going to the people on top. but because we are the

wealthiest country in the history of the world, if we get our priorities right, there's nothing we cannot accomplish. [applause] right now, there is one major country on earth, one industrialized country that does not guarantee health care to every man, woman and child and you are living in that country. in my view, the affordable care act has done some important

things. it has provided health insurance to some 17 million people who otherwise would not have had it3. [applause] it has ended the obscenity called pre-existing conditions. and it has done some other good things. but, at the end of the day, in america today, 29 million people have zero health insurance. millions more, including many in this room, are underinsured with high deductibles and high copayments. you've got millions of people with $5,000 the dockable. they cannot afford to go to the doctor because they don't have enough money to do it.

meanwhile, we end up spending far more per capita on health care then do the people of any other nation. we spend almost three times per person what the british do, who guarantee health care to all of their people. we are spending 50% more than what the french do guaranteeing health care to all their people. i think maybe it is time to say loudly and clearly that in this country, we are going to guarantee health care to every man, woman and child. [applause] >> and by the way, when we do , we will end the absurdity of people paying the highest price for prescription drugs of any person on earth. [applause] when we talk about america

today, is important to understand now, in the holiday season when families are coming together, that there are 11 million people in this country who are undocumented. many of those people are living in fear. many of those people are worried about being supported. many kids are worried about seeing their parents deported. in my strong view, this country and our congress must pass comprehensive immigration reform . and we must move. citizenship for undocumented people. act, i willwill not

powere executive inherited in this presidency to do everything i can to protect undocumented people. now in this world today, as everybody knows, we are living in a crazy world and a dangerous world. we turn on the tv and we see disgusting things that turn our stomachs. we realize this group called organizationbaric and has got to be destroyed. in terms of foreign policy and military policy, it is not good "tough." us to be it is not good for politicians

to be ranting and raving how tough they are went it will be somebody else's kid going into war. we have got to be not only tough but smart. hard about thek consequences of military action. in 2002, i listened very carefully to what bush, cheney, rumsfeld and all those guys were saying about how we have to invade iraq. i ended up voting against the war. pride, no joy to tell you that much of what i said on the floor of the house -- go to youtube, it turned out

to be right. i will never forget the many funerals i went to in the state of vermont for my young people in my state who never came home. thehe former chairman of veteran committee i understand the cost of war and i know that 500,000 young men and women came home with ptsd or traumatic brain injury not to mention the 6700 who never came home alive. smart ins to be very terms of how we destroy isis. the way we do it is to understand and learn the lessons of iraq. that is we do not do it and should not do it alone. [applause]

what we need is an international coalition. [applause] recently one of the heroes in the region, king abdullah of jordan said the following. he said, terrorism is of course a international issue, but it is primarily a muslim issue because we are fighting for the soul of islam against those who want to deem -- demonize our religion. i think he is absolutely right, for doesn't reasons, the way to this growing -- destroyed isis is due at the muslim countries on the ground taking them on. [applause] now we have the united states, u.k., france, russia which have a important role to play in the coalition.

we have got to provide the air support, special forces, training of the soldiers in the muslim world. but this is a nightmare, i will do everything i can to prevent. i will not allow this country to be involved in a never ending, perpetual war and the middle east. [applause] i believe that if we are successful in putting together a coalition, of we demand that some of the wealthier countries in the reason -- region like saudi arabia start paying their fair share into helping us the

story isis, we can do that without the united states being involved in perpetual warfare. [applause] brothers and sisters, we are living in a pivotal moment in american history. we are the wealthiest his -- nation in the history of the world. but so many of our people are suffering. we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country on earth. we have youth unemployment that is off the charts. with 29 million people with no health insurance. we've a child care system which is dysfunctional. we have millions of people working longer hours for low rages. -- low wages. i believe that if we do not allow our import -- opponent, the trumps of the world's divide

us up. whether we are quite, lack -- white, black, latino, gay, straight, if we stay together there is nothing we cannot accomplish. [applause] let me repeat what i said when i began. nobody can do it alone. we need a political revolution. we need all of you to be part of

that revolution and together we can transform america. thank you all very much. [applause] c-span takes you on the road to the white house and into the classroom. this year in our student documentary contest, ask students what they want to hear from the presidential candidates. get all details about our student cam contest on c-span.org. earlier today, hillary clinton held a town meeting in portsmouth, new hampshire.

this is an hour. >> ladies and gentlemen these welcome hillary clinton. [applause] hello my name is brenda bouchard, i am an all-time are

-- alzheimer's advocate. my husband had alzheimer's disease. my 89-year-old mother also has alzheimer's disease. i am sure many of you in the audience know that it is a heart wrenching, devastating disease. 30 years ago, my husband asked me to marry him. at the time he said to me, i want to build a life with you. and 30 years from now i would like to sit on a beach with you and reminisce about the beautiful life we have built together. next year we would -- be married for 30 years. we have some wonderful memories. but today, i am the only one with memories. he no longer remembers. for a person with alzheimer's,

how horrible is it to lose one of the most special gifts you are given, your memory. today i am here to introduce hillary clinton. i am not only here on behalf of my husband, my mother and myself, i am here on behalf of the millions of americans who struggle with alzheimer's every day. i'm grateful for hillary clinton for giving them a voice. [applause] i am here for the 28 million babies born that will have alzheimer's by 2050. i'm here because alzheimer's is the sixth leading cause of death in the united states. i'm here because alzheimer's cost more than $200 billion annually. during the president will campaign, in the state of new

hampshire, we had so many candidates come through. i've had a great opportunity to talk to 13 of them. while many of them are supportive of finding a cure around alzheimer's, there is no doubt that hillary clinton has brought this conversation to the forefront. [applause] i asked hillary clinton, at her first town hall meeting in dover in june. she listened. she put forward a thoughtful and comprehensive land to prevent, effectively treat, and your alzheimer's by 2025. that makes her a pioneer, that differentiates her in this political field. [applause] next year into done 16 we are going to elect our new president. that person is going to walk into the oval office just more than a year from now. hillary clinton is a person i

trust to get the job done for me and the 5 million people struggling with alzheimer's today. so i would now like to introduce you to hillary clinton and say hillary we are counting on you. [applause] hillary clinton: thank you. [applause] thank you all. thank you. i am really delighted to be here on the first winter day the season. [laughter] hillary clinton: to be here in this beautiful city in a church that has been the site of a lot of occasions. and especially to be introduced by brenda, who -- as she said, i first met in a town hall in

when you call on people in town halls, you have no idea what they're going to say or what they are going to ask. when i called on her, she basically said i have a husband with early onset alzheimer's, i have a mother with alzheimer's. i'm taking care of them. what are you going to do about alzheimer's? it really caused me to think hard about the kind of president i want to be. obviously, i want to be a president who gets the economy moving for everybody. and get incomes rising and more good paying jobs. i want to be a president that keeps us safe and secure and takes on the threat and dangers that we face. i also want to be a president who works for families, like brenda's. who understands that the problems we keep you up at night are ones that we also have to take seriously. it means the world to me to have her support in this campaign.

and, as i've said to her and to others who have raised issues with me during the course of my time here in new hampshire, i will do everything i can to try and find answers. alzheimer's, as she said, we have 5 million people currently suffering. the projection is for many millions more. it is the sixth leading cause of death in america. but unlike the other causes in the top 10, there is no real path to prevention or effective treatment, work your. as there is with other diseases that take so many lives. my proposal is that we tackle all three of those. what can we do to try and prevent it? what can we do to try and more effectively treat it? and what would it take to invest in finding a cure? after talking to experts, the leading experts in our country

-- not just in alzheimer's, but in other neurodegenerative diseases, like parkinson's, the overwhelming response was if we invested just $2 billion more a year, we would make tremendous progress. we would have a real shot at understanding more about this disease, and trying to cure it. and the heavens and support what we are going to do on behalf of alzheimer's and the patients, the families, and the caregivers. [applause] hillary clinton: i want to thank my friend terry marelli, who i see here, for her great service and leadership over so many years, and for friendship. i want to just make a few other

quick acknowledgments. and then we will move on to be ready for the questions. the mayor. i want to thank the mayor. where is mayor lister? i saw him somewhere. there he is. thank you so much, mayor. wonderful to see you, thank you for your support. and to the church, thank you for letting us be here today. [applause] hillary clinton: and it to the overflow, which i stopped by to see on my way here. it was packed. we thank you for your patience. they have a big screen, they are having a good time watching. we are delighted they are here as well. as brenda said, on january 20, 2017 -- someone will raise a hand to take youth of office and become our 45th president.

that person will, after being sworn in and the celebrations that go with an inauguration, go into the white house, go into the oval office, and face the challenges that await. this will be a consequential election in so many ways. because we've worked to do. -- we have work to do. i'm excited about the work to do. i'm optimistic about the work we can do together. [applause] hillary clinton: but i need all of you to be part of this campaign. to be part of the first in the nation primary. because in many ways, you are the first -- depending on how you define it, the last line of defense. the decision that hampshire makes is so important. i've had a great time traveling across the state, meeting by now thousands and thousands of people. having a chance to set forth my ideas and answer questions on whatever may be on someone's mind.

and i know that we are going to make the right decision. not because my name will be on the ballot, but because all of us know what the stakes are. and how high they happen to be. so i'm excited, and very much looking forward to the sprint towards the primary. and to have a chance to hear even more for more folks here in the granite state about what is on your mind. about the big economic challenges, the security issues, and all those problems they keep you up at night. i have learned a lot, listening to folks here in new hampshire. i learned a lot about the struggles, the opportunities, the disappointments.

as you know, i have had two full townhall meetings just on the issue of substance abuse. when i made a list of what i was going to talk about this campaign, it wasn't on that list. on my first trip. new hampshire -- on my first trip to new hampshire, that was what was raised with me. and then visit after visit, i was given mass cards showing the pictures of beautiful young people no longer with us because of overdoses. i met those in recovery, who thankfully, were able to get help when they needed it. i met grandmothers like myself,

raising children because their children couldn't. lost to opioid addiction, heroin addiction. that's why taking the big issue to me. i will never stop leading with the values i was raised with, about who we are as americans, what we're capable of doing. i will never stop listening, learning about what's on people's minds. i think you actually learn more when you listen. and i will ever stop working with you to solve problems. that is the america i was raised in. that was the america i think we all cherish. and that's the america i'm going to do everything i can as your president to make sure it is stronger, better, fairer for everyone going forward. [applause] hillary clinton: let me now turn to all of you. if you raise your hand, i think we have microphone somewhere that we will try to get to you. and give you a chance. this woman right there. please stand up.

>> this is such an honor. you look stunning, and i've always wanted to talk with you. i have been on your bandwagons that you were first lady. we are nine days apart, but i know why you look so much better, because you are younger. [laughter] >> to have this interaction. as a cancer survivor, three years ago, going through surgery, chemo, radiation, and having a job i loved, i was let go for my job in the private sector. however, i did come to redo myself as a justice of the peace in massachusetts. and i work now with elderly and the council on aging. i have seen people up close and personal that are delights, as

well as being able to hear them. one of the issues i've heard lately is the hearing is a problem. and that they cannot afford to buy hearing aids. because they are thousands of dollars. as a senior myself now, the affordable health care for getting the supplements to medicare is an issue as well. because if you are not -- if you are too far above $100, $200 above the guidelines for medicaid or mass health, you cannot -- you have to pay full prices to supplements. but the seniors are saying they need help and hearing. hillary clinton: have any of you heard this before that seniors who need help appearing cannot afford to get the hearing aids because they are so expensive?

[applause] hillary clinton: a lot of people thought we would figure out a way to solve in the affordable care act, but we haven't yet. it's something i take really seriously. if you can't hear well, very often, people kind of withdrawal. they become more isolated. some of the recent research shows that back and be a trigger for other kinds of conditions. i don't think hearing aids, when you can't hear, our luxury. they are a necessity. i'm going to do everything i can -- [applause] hillary clinton: to move them from what would be the elective list, to a supported list, so the people who have financial problems will be able to get help to afford them. because you are 100% right. it's a growing concern.

in part, because we have a lot more people living longer. in part because we have a lot more people losing their hearing earlier. some people say it's because of loud music that some of us are member listening to. but for whatever reason, there are a lot of issues around it. i'm going to do what i can to make sure we make hearing aids financially available on a sliding scale, so more people who need them can actually get them. [applause] hillary clinton: this gentleman right there. in the yellow tie. here comes the microphone. >> good afternoon. i meant to be in your neighborhood. i have a message for you, i'm from liberia. liberia, we elected the first female president in the continent of africa. [applause] >> your hand is raised up, to take that oath. i'm here from liberia, the

president of liberia says to say hi to you. i have to find my way here. do me one favor. i want to take a picture with you and send it to her that i was here, as i promised. if you don't mind, please. hillary clinton: we will do that when we finish. don't let me forget. but the president of liberia, and was been elected twice come as you rightly say, the first woman president anywhere on the continent of africa has been -- [applause] hillary clinton: has been an extraordinary leader. she inherited an economy in a government that was bankrupt. they had this terrible, long civil war that are just destroyed so much of their productive capacity, in addition to taking so many lives in leaving so many maimed and injured people behind. a lot of liberians left liberia

because of the laugh -- the lack of safety. she has been, i think, incredibly focused on trying to improve the government. improve the economy. and then she was dealt the terrible blow of ebola. then all that it meant to her country. i want to tell you a quick story. it's good to remember how important it is to keep trying to work with people, even if you have serious disagreements with them. i went to visit the president why was secretary of state. i got a big briefing from all of her top officials about what was happening in her government. and what they were trying to accomplish. and then i was supposed to go speak to the parliament. there congress. she took me aside and said i want you to go speak about how hard democracy is. how hard we must work together. how we have to move past the past. and then she said to me, some of

the very people who are now in the parliament are people who were very much involved in the civil war. in some of the terrible things that happened there. the leaders went to war crimes tribunals. but others, for whom there was in evidence, with a played minor roles, were actually elected. you can imagine. so i go to the parliament and i speak about democracy and all the rest of it. i take some pictures and do some visits afterwards. i thought boy, we think we have it hard. here she is, trying to work with a congress that includes people who were mortal enemies with one another against her, against

others. and she is working so hard to make this democracy when it should be. against tremendous odds. so when we complain about our problems here in our country, we need to put them into some perspective. we have to figure out how we work together even with people we disagree with going into the future. so thank you. we will take a picture. i promise. this young lady in the red. then i will go further back. >> thank you so much for being here and taking my question. i am the mother of a 16-year-old boy who is smart and beautiful. he also really struggles with mental illness, and he is currently in an inpatient program right now. i think -- my family, i think anyone would agree that my family has incredibly great health insurance. and i know that mental health parity is the law. but we still have to fight for every single admission. every single new treatments that we have asked -- that the experts, his doctors all agree that this is what he needs to get better. and the health insurance company constantly tries to whittle it

down and only provide the minimum amount. as a parent with a sick child, i only have so much energy to fight this fight. and something just really needs to be done. hillary clinton: how many of you know someone with mental health problems? [applause] hillary clinton: how many of you know how difficult it is to get the medical care you need to help somebody with mental health problems? what you are describing is exactly the case. we passed a law -- i remember voting for it back in the day, another was another law passed, and incorporated into the affordable care act, or what they call parity for mental health trade in other words, if you have a physical illness,

whatever it might be, you were supposed to get treated for it. if you have a mental health illness, you need to get treated for that too. number one, we need finally to remove the stigma for mental health. [applause] hillary clinton: too often, i hear from parents who say i no longer even tell people that my son has schizophrenia, my daughter is bipolar, my child has got chronic depression. because i feel like i'm judged. we are learning more about how the brain operates. that is one of the things we want to do. that's part of what my goal is for alzheimer's research. we have to understand the brain. we have to unlock its secrets. i applaud president obama for the investment in the brain project that his administration has made. we need to remove the stigma, we need to enforce the law so you get the quality and the number of treatments you need, whether it's outpatient or inpatient.

i'm going to work with a mental health community, which is laid out an agenda about how we get this right, once and for all. because it's not fair. it's not fair to the person suffering, it's certainly not fair to the families who are trying to cope without suffering and get the medical care that is needed. i will do everything i can to make it somewhat easier for you and your son, going forward. [applause] hillary clinton: this young man right here. >> when you become president -- when you become president, what is your plan to connect mental health problems and guns to make sure that me and my brothers and friends are safe from violence at school? [applause] hillary clinton: wow. i'm going to do every thing i can do.

i'm never going to stop trying. because right now, we lose 90 people a day to gun violence. homicides, suicides, and tragic, avoidable accidents. that's 33,000 people a year. i think we need to pass some laws that i have been advocating for. we need comprehensive background checks. we need to close the gun show loophole. close the online loophole. [applause] hillary clinton: and we need to make sure that the information that is needed to make the judgment about whether someone is qualified to buy a gun is in the record. very often, we don't have real-time information. because we also have to close

what is called the charleston loophole. where the killer in charleston went to buy a gun. he filled out the form. under the loophole, he could come back and get it after three business days. the information that he wasn't eligible because he had a felony conviction didn't come through until after he went and use that gun and murdered nine people. in a church like this, in charleston. so we have work to do. and the mental health piece of this is especially troubling. because you don't want to unfairly signifies people, but you want to protect the community, so you've got to have information. the killer at virginia tech, you might remember, have been committed. but that information was not in the records. we need to prohibit people who are drastic abusers with

restraining orders against them from getting guns. and we certainly should get the congress to prohibit anyone who is on the no-fly list, the would-be terrorists, from buying guns in america. [applause] hillary clinton: and we need to repeal the immunity from liability that was even to gunmakers and sellers by the congress. [applause] hillary clinton: so that we can do as good a job as possible, trying to prevent people who shouldn't have guns in the first place from getting them.

i know we can do this in a constitutionally consistent way. so i'm going to reach out and work with anybody, but i will also continue to advocate for this. because we are in a whole different era, where these mass shootings, these 33,000 people killed every year has become a rebuke to us. that we can't figure out how to deal with this. i, personally, am asking gun owners to support these changes. because right now, what i just outlined -- comprehensive background checks and the like, is supported by 92% of americans. and 85% of gun owners. but the gun lobby lives off of fear and misinformation. it is willing to say and do whatever it takes -- [applause] hillary clinton: and it is really time for gun owners to form a different organization that will do more on gun safety, do more on gun responsibility, and hand up for the safety -- stand up to the safety of our children and our communities.

[applause] hillary clinton: this gentleman with the cap on has been standing up. why don't you ask the next question? >> thank you, hillary. first and foremost, i want to say that i love you. and i really mean it. [laughter] >> my name is james mackey. we hire young people to talk about issues. we create initiatives around those issues to build relationships with young people in the community. i work in boston, all the -- [applause] >> thank you. all the committees that are underserved.

my question to you is -- we just lost one of our youth organizers, two days ago. from a tragic accident. there are 5.6 million young people around our nation who are 16 years old to 24 years old, who are disconnected from school as well as from work. and when they are not in school or at work, what are they doing? they are in underserved communities. so my question to you is -- what is your stance on supporting young people who really need opportunity, and more resources out there for better education, as well as better employment? and what will you do as president to help support those 5.6 million young people around the nation who is affecting? [applause] hillary clinton: thank you. thank you. first of all, thank you for being an organizer and reaching out to young people. that is so important. [applause] hillary clinton: i hope you heard what he said. think about this number. 5.6 million young people between 16 years old and 24 years old,

who are neither in school, nor work in that is a recipe for unemployment, or incarceration, for all kinds of behavior that has bad consequences for themselves and for their families. it something i care deeply about, because if you look at where we are -- underserved communities have had a resurgence of poverty. inner-city, old suburbs, small towns and rural areas. native american reservations, coal country, this is across america. what we have disconnected young people from a path to a productive life.

i think we've got to figure out how we rebuild that. i'm absolutely committed. let me say three things. i want to support programs like what you described you do, because we've got to get people in the communities -- it's literally a one on one project in many cases. what is it that can be done for john or mary or whomever? we need to support nonprofit groups, advocacy groups, organizing groups, faith communities to do this work. secondly, we have to take a hard look. one of the ideas i have been thinking about -- if we take a hard look at communities where you have very persistent poverty. for education outcomes, other kinds of indicators of problems -- poor education outcomes, the kind of indicators of problems. we have to figure out what works. people of try different things,

and a lot of it doesn't work. throwing money at it doesn't necessarily work. building relationships is the work that has to be done. how do we do that? i don't think the answer lies in washington, although as president, i can be a convener, a coordinator, catalyst, is a order. i think we have to do this in communities. and i want to provide support and resources, where possible, to give more people a chance to do that relationship building. we are going to need more ged programs very we need more community college programs. we need more pressure programs. we're going to need more pathways out.

and we are going to have to take a hard look at the living conditions and the schooling conditions that a lot of these kids face. i used to have i call the chelsea test, when i would go into the school. i would walk into a school and i would spend some time, i would look around and look at the physical facilities, talk to the staff area and i would say what i want my daughter to go to the school? a lot of times the answer was yes, absolutely. a lot of time, the answer was no. some of the physical conditions in the schools was deplorable. and then you have to look at the housing that a lot of people are living in. a lot of this housing is really substandard. but in dangerous ways. i will end with this -- lead paint poisoning effects many, many children in the northeast, the mid-atlantic, and the midwest, where we had a lot of old housing. where we have old pipes for water supplies. lead poisoning is academic and behavioral deficits inducements. people end up being worse off. and we are not doing enough to notice the, to deal with it, to eradicate it. there's a lot i think we have to

take a hard look at. and i will do that. but it will be in partnership with young people like you and the groups you recognize and represent. thank you. [applause] hillary clinton: i see a hand way back there. black and white. >> thank you, secretary clinton. it is an honor. i'm from alabama. i know it is important for candidates to focus on undecided but for liberals in conservative states, we sometimes feel left out. i would hope the democratic party in your campaign would go into those conservative states and really push, and give us hope and encouragement.

that your platforms will be heard there. i ask you, please don't leave us to the republicans. [laughter] [applause] hillary clinton: i have been to alabama twice already in this campaign. and i will do my best to help rebuild the democratic party in places where it hasn't been particularly successful in recent years. because i think there is a lot we can recommend. i really do. i think that our view about what we need to do to get the economy going again, and fix all the problems that we see with the affordable care act, and get early childhood education -- you know, there is a very inconvenient fact that my republican friends hate when i mention but it is true. our economy does better when we have a democrat in the white house. [applause]

hillary clinton: and that is true in alabama, just like it's true anywhere. we are going to make that case, do the very best we can to kind of get people to recognize that we are all in this together. and getting the economy to work better, getting our government to be more effective and productive in producing results, building on the progress that president obama made -- remember, he inherited the worst financial crisis since the great recession. and then he had to make sure it didn't fall into a depression. i don't think he gets the credit he deserves for making sure that did not happen. [applause] hillary clinton: we are going to make that case. we are going to make that case throughout the country. i hope, effectively. at least i'm counting on that. the man in the blue vest. >> this is an honor.

i'm a retired teacher from massachusetts. i've never been involved in any political aspect. we are about the same age, hillary. i respect one woman in my life, which is my wife. you are the number two woman i respect more than any woman on this planet. i have watched you since your early political days. we are both grandparents of very young grandchildren. i'm a little bit nervous here. i just wanted to tell you that there is one thing that has come in the minds of most people -- we have doubts. we have doubt about so many things that we've hoped for, and we've seen evolve. you eliminate doubt for someone like me. you eliminate doubt.

your knowledge and your grasp of what's happening, and what you've been through, and what you see things that you know , that we don't know are what make me feel confident that you were going to be the next president. [applause] hillary clinton: thank you. thank you. there is a little hand right there, that little girl right there. i like having all of these young people here. >> hi, i am ella. i think there are a lot of people who don't have enough money for college and schools and that kind of stuff. how can we help that? hillary clinton: a very good question, ella. [applause] hillary clinton: that is a great question. how many people have student debt or ever had student debt?

that's nearly everybody here. there are two big things we have to do. first, i want to make college debt-free, so you don't have to borrow money for tuition to go to a four-year public colleges -- public college or university. and it will work, because what we are going to do is to focus on it being a compact between the federal government and state governments, and institutions. i do think that colleges and universities have to take a really hard look at what they are spending money on. so that they make sure what they are spending on is related to helping prepare a student for life, for professional career. sinvestedtates have di in higher education area a lot .

a lot of the money that states use to put into colleges and universities has gone into everything from prisons to roads, you name it. we got to figure out how the state does more of its fair share. in order for it to be debt-free, families above a certain income level will have to continue to fund college. i think that's only fair. and i want students to work 10 hours a week. because i want students to know they are working for their education. and that it is something they really value. [applause] hillary clinton: i want to do more on national service. so more students get big discounts because they will have done national service. military service, civilian service. [applause] hillary clinton: we have a good g.i. bill now coming after 9/11, a new g.i. bill for the new generation of vets. i want to make sure they don't get ripped off. because sometimes that veteran education money is going to institutions that don't really serve them well.

we have some work to do to make sure it is done right. and that i want to help you pay down your debt by refinancing your debt. just like you can refinance a mortgage or a car payment. you ought to be able to refinance your college debt. [applause] hillary clinton: and it really is quite disturbing to me that we have had, as everybody knows in the last several years, because of the great recession, mostly -- we've had really low interest rates. and yet when i ask students what interest rate they are paying on their debt, lots of them are paying 6%, 7% from 8%, 9%, 10%. some of it private, some of it to the government. i do not believe the federal government should be making a profit off of lending money to students to be able to go get a college education. [applause] hillary clinton: so we are going to make a lot of changes, ella. certainly by the time you get there but hopefully sooner. we will have a lot of good changes you will be able to take advantage of. there's a lady right here. here comes the microphone.

>> thank you for coming to portsmouth. i was very disappointed in the last debate that the international agreement on climate that was agreed upon in paris was not even mentioned. could you comment on that, and tell us as president, what you would do? hillary clinton: yes. i happen to think the paris agreement was an historic achievements. i give a lot of credit to president obama's leadership. because if the united states is not led, it would not have happened. and i know how hard it was, because president obama and i went to the big international climate meeting in copenhagen in 2009. and literally, we could not even get a meeting with the chinese, the indians, the south africans and the brazilians. , led by the chinese, who did not want to have the meeting with us where they might make a

commitment to actually doing anything. and so we had to chase them around this big convention center in copenhagen. we finally found them, the chinese guards were preventing the entry in. the president is a lot taller than i am. so he kind of pushed through in the hands went up and i ducked under and we got in the room. and the president says, we have been looking all over for you. we pulled up chairs and we sat down and said look, we have to begin this process. their argument was the typical argument. we didn't cause the problem. it was the developed countries. we said, that's fine. but you are now the biggest emitters. and you are going to have to help solve the problem. and they began to agree to do some internal accounting and public reporting. fast forward from 2009, we had a series of climate meeting in cancun and durban, and we made

progress. the agreement coming out of paris does, for the first time, include every nation -- regardless of level of development or need or threat from climate change. and now, we have to enforce it. as president, i would do everything i can, using every tool that i have, to hold other nations accountable. including our own. about what we need to do both to try desperately to move more quickly away from fossil fuels towards clean, renewable energy, to try to at least put a cap on temperature rise and emissions. and try the best we can at the same time to do more on resilience and adaptation, to try and help countries and parts of countries that are particularly at risk. portsmouth is a seacoast city. i know the mayor and is working hard on resilience and you are really taking a hard look great -- a hard look.

but you need a partner in washington and in the congress, as well as the president. there are a lot of places in our country. alaska has already been hit hard. they had to relocate the villages from the coastline. i know that miami is really facing some big challenges. we have to get serious about this because it is happening. we are seeing the results of this drastic increase in temperatures that human activity has not just contributed to, but caused. so, it's time for us to -- [applause] hillary clinton: deal with the problems. but i believe it's also a great opportunity. this is what i have a hard time understanding from my republican counterparts. -- they all are into denial. and when asked about climate change, typically will say i don't know, i'm not a scientist. the answer to that is go talk to one. [laughter] listen to what the scientists tell you.

from my perspective, we have economic opportunities here. that we are leaving on the table. we can do so much more, putting people to work in wind and solar and advanced biofuels. we can make a difference in the economy with new, good paying jobs. and i will say this, when not in new hampshire, i often in iowa. iowa now produces one third of its electricity from renewables, or dominantly wind. 7000 people now work in the wind industry. they are now assembling turbines in old abandoned factories. they are educating young people in the community colleges to actually work on these turbines. they have gone the whole supply chain. good for them. every state should be doing the same. every state has that same economic potential here. [applause]

hillary clinton: when we let politics -- really politics that are under the thumb of the fossil fuel industry, and in particular, the koch brothers, decide the future of our country -- shame on us. we are better than that, we are smarter than that, and we all -- republican, democrat, whatever. we all need to say we are taking on this challenge, and we are going to make jobs and incomes rise because of it. that, to me, is the right approach for us to be taking. [applause] hillary clinton: oh my goodness, so many hands, so little time. you are standing right there may. why don't we go with that lady right there? >> thank you. i've had a lot of time teaching art in women's prisons. in the majority of the women i worked with our from minority, low income families. the majority of them are in the

second, third, fourth visit to prison. they say it easier to live in that cycle then try to break out of it. how would you approach helping end that cycle? hillary clinton: thank you for working in our prisons. we are still in the midst of the holiday season. for those of us who celebrate christmas, it is good to remember that we are called upon to care for the homeless and the stranger, the prisoner. the refugee. those are important reminders at a time when there is so much political dispute about all of this. i think we have incarcerated too many people. we have 5% of the world's population, but 25% of the prison population. we actually have one third of women who are imprisoned

anywhere in the world imprisoned in the united states. so, we have to begin in a thoughtful way, to deal with the effects of incarceration. obviously, from my perspective, we need to take a hard look at the low level, nonviolent offenses for which people end up incarcerated. we have to take a hard look at our bail system, because we have too many people in jail and prison who haven't even been tried yet. we don't know if they are guilty of anything other than poverty, because they can't meet the bail that has been set for them. and we need to do a careful analysis of who can and should be released from prison, while we try to deal with people who don't pose a threat to the community. particularly, the number of people with low-level drug offenses who need treatments, not imprisonment. [applause] hillary clinton: so we have got

to look at all of this and -- i don't think that's enough. it goes back to the gentleman's question there in the hat. the issue is, if we are going to divert people from prison, what are the things we're going to do? i'm a big believer in drug courts. i think drug courts are a better option than imprisoning people. they should be given recovery, they should be held accountable. i believe there are more programs that are cheaper and better. i want to just quickly tell you about a program i visited in reno, nevada. it was a program originally started for alcoholics. people who were found on the street and were picked up, taken to jail. a month later, they are on the street again, taken to jail. or maybe they wouldn't end up being put into an emergency -- an ambulance, taken to the emergency room, maybe admitted. a month or two later, back on the streets.

a really great partnership between the county sheriff's office and catholic charities said there has to be a better , way. first of all it's expensive to , jail and imprison people. they built a facility that had small bedrooms, that had work to be done. that offer this option to people they were picking up saying you , can either go back to jail, back to the life you have, or you can try this. got enough people to try it. they tested them three times a day to make your they were cheating. the sheriff said you want to , know the best thing about this? i can justify this anywhere. he said the first year the sheriff and the hospital in the jail saved $4 million because they were no longer putting people in high intensive places like jails and emergency rooms. now they are moving on to drug addiction. because we've got to think differently about how to help people overcome the problems they confront.

and i just don't think that jail is a place for people with substance abuse or mental health problems. and therefore, we need different approaches that will be actually better and cheaper. so let's try and figure out how we are going to do that. this young man. >> i have a dad that works for people with developmental disabilities, and i have an uncle with autism. i was wondering what are some of , the ways that you can help people with disabilities and people with special needs that need help? [applause] hillary clinton: great question. thank you dad for us. is your dad here? thanks, dad. people with disabilities -- i was very proud that the united states became the first nation in the world to open schools to people with disabilities.

i worked on that when i was with the children's defense fund. we went door to door, asking people, do you have a school-age child who is not in school. we found a blind kids and kids in wheelchairs and kids of behavioral problems. we gave all the data to the congress, congress acted, and schools were opened. then the americans with disabilities act was passed. a bipartisan accomplishment that made a huge difference. so now we have to do more to make sure we provide supportive housing, that we support families. the biggest concern that people talk to me about when they have children with disabilities particularly with autism, is , what happens when they are no longer there to take care of their children, and how will that work out. i am rolling out a plan about autism in about a week, where i

talk about all the different we need to do to try and support families and people who are diagnosed as on the autism spectrum disorders. how many of you know someone with autism? wow. well you know, the latest data from the centers on disease control is that one out of 68 children have some feature that would place them on the autism spectrum. so that is something we need to deal with. so we will be addressing that. but i guess my bottom line would the, we, as communities need to support families and people with goabilities so that they can as far as their talent, their there skills will take them. there are a lot of opportunities we are learning about the we can apply. i have just been told this is my last question. oh my goodness. i should not have said this,

this is totally unfair. [laughter] hillary clinton: you got promoters right here. this young man. you have a whole team that is giving you a chance. go ahead. i really do love to call on kids because that's what this election is actually all about, is their future. [applause] >> my name is willis riley. i'm from massachusetts. my mother is complaining that she does not get much more money than my father. [laughter] [applause] >> my mother is an engineer. i meant teacher. my father is the engineer. i think that my moth i