about muslims. >> on the next "washington journal" a look at unemployment and u.s. labor force participation. our guest is robert doar of the american enterprise institute. marche on his organization's efforts to recruit wealthy progressives for national and state elections. later, ryan lovelas with a look at donald trump's liberty university speech. "washington journal" is live every morning at 7:00 a.m. join the conversation with your calls, and comments on facebook and twitter. >> tuesday the senate energy and natural resources committee looks at the outlook for energy and commodity markets. live coverage at 10:00 a.m. astern here on c-span.

>> c-span takes you on the road to the white house and into the classroom. this year our student cam documentary contest asks students to tell us what issues they want to hear from the candidates. follow c-span's road to the white house coverage and get the details about our student cam contest at c-span.org. >> republican presidential candidate john kasich of ohio spoke about teen alcohol and drug abuse in plymouth, new hampshire. this is an hour. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016]

>> ok. this is governor kasich. we'd like to welcome governor kasich and his family, his daughters emma and reese and wifetarian. they've traveled -- and there's a third -- >> and there's a third daughter, megan. >> i'm sorry. third daughter megan. community for alcohol and drug free youth, cady. our board members in attendance include michelle elial, leslie deion who is in the entryway, -- i didn't amy see amy. and paul.

our executive director is deb, she would be here except she's on vacation and couldn't. >> where is she? > florida. governor kasich: i think you ought to add a couple of people to the board who are famous in new hampshire, particularly athletes. i don't know if you have any. i'm sure you do. do we have any former dartmouth football or basketball play her i'm for you e -- if you're raising money but what i'm really for is credibility with these kids. you need to have youth. put them on the board. make them sort of honorary board members or whatever. because we've got to be in the schools. that's where you get to these kids. there's got to be somebody that

can really relate to them. am i right, girls? >> [inaudible] governor kasich: right. right. little bit.that a >> all right, our youth advisory yaacs,ocacy council, the these kids are molly, laura and ark. and our staff members -- gnchor kasich: i'm sorry, i didn't hear. how dewpoint to co-this?

>> these two young ladies will make a presentation. >> who are you guys, tell sne >> my name is molly brown, i'm 17 and homeschooled. >> i'm nora doyle, i'm 17 and i'm a student at plymouth regional high school right down the road. >> mac doyle, 15, i also go to plymouth regional high school. >> so you guys are going to make a presentation? >> yes. overnor kasich: let's hear it. >> first of all, thank you very much for coming and investing your time to speak with us about this really important issue the opiate drug crisis. it's an honor to have you here and to speak to you about what we see as teenagers every day.

cadyac program. >> it inspires taos address problems relating to substance abuse and we keep busy with hands on projects in the commun and this past october we were honored to accept the 2015 youth in action advocacy award for a project we completed this past year. >> there are three core straps we take, education, skills and action. through the education component we are provided with background information on a topic we're interested in and research and discuss the issue to better understand the problem. we create skills to create change. we use media tools, gathering research based information and data and organization of facts into presentations and learning how to speak so people will listen. >> we then take action. we're provided with opportunities to put our leadership into use.

so in april of 2015, we testified in front of the new hampshire state senate finance committee. > i was not there. 5% of e alcohol took fwrotes sales and went back into prevention and treatment program. over years, alcohol sales increased but the alcohol fund was never fully funded for prevention or treatment and was actually -- most prevention programs were defunded. >> start that again, what happened there? >> the alcohol fund was designed to take 5% of the gross profits from alcohol sales and put it back into prevention and treatment programs, and over the years the alcohol sales increased but the alcohol fund was never fully funded so we testified to bring funding back

to prevention programs. >> hey, bob -- >> he stepped out. maybe he could step back in >> thank you. that's an interesting point. e need to make a note of that. so -- s all these people it was supposed to be 5% and even though the fund, the amount grew, the 5% is not 5% anymore. >> correct. >> the way it works, i'm a state representative -- >> you are, perfect. >> what happened was, ned gordon who is now a judge in new hampshire, originally was a senator he put in this provision that 5% of the liquor profits

would go toward prevention and services but the way new hampshire works, we have a limited budget, we have no income or sales tax and there's totally -- they're totally unwilling, there's no political will to change that. governor kasich: it was established at 5% it should have grown. >> every year we change the percentage. governor kasich: oh. >> and rob the money that should have gone, sometimes completely robbed it. it's been growing lately. governor kasich: when i look at alcohol and 5%, this, you know, while alcohol is a big issue for us, that 5% could be used to fight the prescription drugs and housing and treatment and all that. so they took some of the 5% and used it, they divert some of it. >> yeah. >> we're famous for that.

governor kasich: when you get yourself in a bind it's easy to ignore what you view as some of the soft things but it's like pay me now or pay me later. >> exactly. governor kasich: very interesting. but you know look, the other thing that new hampshire people that they did here, that you know, is expanding medicaid was a big plus. i've got to think that brought a lot of resources to help -- to help on that issue. ? we're counting on it. governor kasich: i'm just learn you don't mind if i ask questions? >> not at all. the idea of that was just, if alcohol, sales are part of the issue, make them part of the solution as well. that was the goal for that. >> so we'ral given a chance to mentor launch intrerp neuroship members, the community youth employment program. we produce videos and p.s.a.'s o raise awareness and we

completed a social norms campaign during red rib bonn week and it showed that the majority of teenagers don't use alcohol, gack and other drugs and it empowered our peers to own their decision making to be just say no to drugs and impoe urs us all to ask questions and to think about our decisions and why we don't do drugs. >> though the majority of our community's youth are not using substances this isn't necessarily the fact for other communities. adolescent substance use is america's number one health problem. unfortunately the problem is growing. 90% of americans with a substance abuse problem started smoking, drinking or using other drugs before the age of 18. we would like to share with you information specifically about new hampshire. we know these issues are just as prevalent in every state, city and community nationwide. >> new hampshire ranks in the top 10 states for marijuana use

for 12 to 20-year-olds. i ranks second in the nation for alcohol use in the past month for those between 12 and 20. one in six has used illegal drugs. >> for this reason we don't believe they should legalize marijuana. >> a marijuana decriminalization bill is coming forward again and we believe if this is passed that there will be a ripple effect of negative consequences because for such doctor because perception of visk a strong preventive strategy. when the perception of risk is the use of ll marijuana climb higher than it already is? >> a teenager's brain is wired to take risks, i'm sure this is

not surprising to anyone. this past year in the annual prevention summit a national speaker on brain research presented "risky business: why adolescents love risk taking and how to help manage it" he explained the science behind the behavior and why we love risk taking. >> the fact he is presented stuck with all of us. one was our emotional intensity is about two times more than adults. we feel it two to four times greater. two we seek out emotional rewards. if something feels good to us, that's what we'll be doing. number three, our brains are focus thondheever here and now. we don't think a lot of future consequences. and that's where adults come in. in order to keep us safe, perception of risk and disapproval needs to be way higher. parents, adults, policymakers and leaders need to be aware gung people need guidance in knowing what we should and should not do. >> marijuana is a gateway drug

and risk multiplier. marijuana introduces kids to a high that can lead to drug dependency and it puts kids around people who use hard drugs. many people in recovery confirm that marijuana is a gateway drug. certainly not everyone who uses marijuana becomes addicted, however the vast majority of those in treatment for addiction began their drug use with marijuana. >> and today's marijuana is not the same drug of the 1960's. t.h.c. levels were only 2% to %. since legalization in colorado and washington state in 2012, t.h.c. levels increased to 13% and the levels continue to rise. this past year, 015, t.h.c. levels were averaging 23% to 30%. marijuana use continues to evolve and it is become manager risky and not only with the higher t.h.c. level bus how it's being used. >> substance abuse -- youth substance abuse should not be looked at as harmless and a rite

of passage. if adult attitudes are permissive, then the perception of risk is low. the human brain isn't fully developed until the mid 20678s adults need to remember that the teen brain is a work in progress. when drugs are introduced as a young age it wires their brain for addiction. any substance use, including alcohol, marijuana and prescription drugs than a -- that a young person misuses can dractcally affect their life and in some cases end them. >> all drug use is a risk plultplier for addiction. if you look at this image, it shows the escalation of drug use in teen years. this is known as the escalator because of the drastic surge in use between the ages of 12 and 20678 research hoes that nine out of 10 individuals struggling with addiction began drinking, smoking and using other drugs before the age of 18. if we can prevent drug teen -- teen drug abuse, and we can, we can prevent addiction.

>> low perception of risk is one of the reasons young people are using. the number one reason why youth are using drugs is stress. teenagers are self-medicating and when quantity and frequency of stress increases, the need for the substance also ep creases. more stress equals more use and it becomes a constant cycle. thises a loud wakeup call that youth need help. they're learning to, excuse me, they need to learn healthy coping mechanisms and strategies. >> there are a lot of pressures to being a teenager. if we don't have the proper tools to deal with the stress, many will continue to self-medicate. remember, our brains are a work in progress and if we don't have the proper supports we'll imp ro vice and that can lead to long-term negative consequences. >> there's been an alarming increase in drug-related deaths in new hampshire. drug abuse doesn't discriminate, it crosses all races and

religions. drug-related deaths have been increasing. in 2015, there were 400 overdose deaths in the state of new hampshire. >> the solution to the problem is prevention. that's why we're here. prevention breaks the cycle of crime, protects children, saves lives, prevents addiction and contains cost. >> we think the best represent eags of our national drug crisis the game whack-a-mole which is depicted here. it show house we as a nation are reactive to problems in our country instead of proactive. it shows how we're reacting to the heroin aepidemic. all the attention is directed at fixing one problem. but the singular reaction is not a solution because the heroin epidemic stems from a larger substance abuse problem. the heroin epidemic was most likely preventable. result from overprescribing pioid painkillers.

heroin gave a far bigger bang for a buck. all drug problems are still present but because they're not seen as a dire threat, they are seen as less problematic because we're focused an one thing at a time. nearly all people who are addict t.d. heroin also use at least one other drug. most use at least three other drugs before experimenting with heroin. all drug use is dangerous and can lead to heroin use. according to the centers for disease control, people who are addicted to alcohol are two times more likely to be adicked to heroin, marijuana, three times more likely, and prescription painkillers 40 times to be more -- more likely to be addicted to heroin. yes, we are comparing whack-a manufacture mole to the national drug crisis but substance abuse is not a game. i don't know about anyone else,

and not stick to the rules just use the hammer. i use two hands and most like acouple of friends who also have two hands. prevention in new hampshire and most other states has just one person equipped with a very heavy, padded hammer and this isn't good enough because it needs a team approach. we must be able to have four times the help and focus not only at the problem at the forefront but have all hands on deck know another problem or mole will be popping up soon. >> another example on our our -- how our country reacts is red re-mediation. the cleaning up the mess. instead of investing in smart, sensible cost-effective sloughs we wait until we have a devastating mess and are forced to throw a lot of money at the problem. it is significantly cheap tier prevent a problem than deal with a crisis. if we can prevent addiction we

can save lives and money. >> prevention in new hampshire and across the nation could benefit from increased youth prevention programs by implementing curriculums to educate youth, adults and families. increased funding for prevention would provide alternative recreation activities and create programs for outlying communities because isolation is also a major risk factor. >> we need to expand outreach and prevention media campaigns. it is going against marketing. caady has an innovative tool kit to increase awareness of the substance abuse problem and connect the dots for solution. remember what--- whack-a-mole? we need a strong team. the first step is to increase community awareness of the problem and engage grass roots and politymakers like we're

doing now. >> we're examples of why and how prevks works. involvement has raised our awareness of the risks and dangers of substance use. we learned not only how it affects our brains and bodies but how detrimental it is to our health, relationships and future success. it's empowered us to be drug free to lead by example. we know as a presidential candidate you have many issues at the fore front other than the drug crisis. we believe the addiction crisis in large part begins with young people and greatly affects other national issues like education, the work force, and the general health, safety and welfare of our country. we are young people who want the best for our country and for our futures. we want our peers to know what we know have the opportunities we all have, and to be able to lead healthy, successful lives. we see this issue as a generational crisis. we're concerned about our few of, we need to fix this problem before the threat continues to grow. we know as governor, you have

been a national leader and we thank you for that. addiction affects everyone. it ripples out from the person using, to their family, to their co-workers and acquaintances and so on. it's been called a family disease. now we see it more like a national disease. it touches everyone, really. drug addiction is limiting the potential of our peers and ultimate -- ultimately the future of the entire nation. i care about prevention because i lost an aunt as well as a cousin to substance abuse. i also care about prevention because i want to raise awareness and live. >> i care because drug and alcohol abuse is affecting us personally. it's taking away our generation's potential and leaving behind addiction, increased mental illness and other problems in its place. >> i care because this significantly affects our generation and we want to have a secure, sustainable and successful future. prevention programs give an altern toiv to following the crowd or blove that everyone is

using substances. it empowers us to be part of the solution. prevention is powerful education. it gives us a choice, after we know the facts and way our options we're et better informed. >>'re walls told don't do drugs and just say no but prevention programs explain why and not just because i said so. speaking as a teenager there's confusing, there are a lot of conflicting messages in the media and school and it can be hard to say no many in our generation see alcohol and drugs as a rite of passage because marijuana is being legalized which is sending mixed messages and alcohol and other drugs are glorified in the media, movies and music. prevention e-- empowers us to ask questions. >> some kids are lucky enough to have parents that talk to them about not using drus or alcohol but many don't have the support system at home. pretchings is not just a feel good message, it answers

real-life, important questions we need to know in this extremely confusing world. our potential is limitless. we just need investment of sound policy and practice and we'll be empowered to make good choices. our country needs a leader who wants to protect all of us and that includes in investing in comprehensive solutions to our future. we want a leader to encourage and inspire us to live healthy and successful lives and keep the focus on what is important, our potential and our future. thank you for having us. [applause] -- vernor, kasich >> i can understand what you're saying, i'm impressed, you're very poised. in ohio one of the thing's -- things the governor's administration has started is a program called start talking.

the research shows that young people are 50% less likely to start using drugs if an adult, a respected adult in their life starts talking with them at an early age about why not to use these drugs. so the start talking program puts together all the resources out there in the state and through various venues gets them to teachers to -- teachers, to families, to people in the community who come in contact with youth, and help them do just that, start talking about why this is not a good idea. that's one of the programs we have seen work that i've been involved with. and it always touches me because when we do go out to do a start talking presentation, we usually have a family member who has lost someone to the effects of an overdose and it always touches me that they will take their time and come out and share their experience to help save others. so i appreciate that of you.

>> well, i think one thing we've got to do, we've got to pick this up. today is martin luther king day. do you mind if i stick this over on this' sell? let's take this, put this, probably knock the thing down here. ere we go. so, um, sweetie, you're right. you're right about the schools. but i have to tell you, we invited 5,000 people, the attorney general and i, on a call, we have the start talking program, now i'm going to be very interested in what you think the most important messages are, we invited 5,000 people who were some sort of school entity, i think we had 200 that got on the call. we're not taking this seriously. our leaders in the schools, i mean, i can just tell you in my state, i'm disappointed.

how can we have, we know that these programs of just -- they say they don't -- they need to have descriptions of why they shouldn't do drugs. actually what the evidence says is they just hear don't do drugs. they won't do it. 50% less chance. now, i'm going to be interested to hear what they all say about what's most effective message, but the schools are the place to go. and by the way, i figured out who you should ask to be on the board, seth myers. he's on television -- ask him to be an honorary board member of this. let these young people send him a note if they can't get through to him, we'll help. i think it would be great to have a guy like seth myers talking about the immediate to fight this. you know who he is? big tv star. you don't know who he. is i was with leo last last -- last week i would get him but i'm not that close to him.

you know what i mean? leo dicaprio. anyway. so any of you, what do you think is the most effective thing that you can hear when you're a young person about not doing drugs? >> i think there's actually a presentation that came to our school a few months ago that was done by an e.m.t. from the city of manchester about heroin because as we mentioned that's a prevalent issue at the moment and the presentation i believe was perfectly engineered for a high school audience because this man was entertaining, he -- he was comical in some places but there was a fear factor involved as well which is something that increases credibility when you're talking to a young audience. they don't take a lot of things seriously but i know he had a power point and some of the images of people who had done heroin after they had overdosed

and were all bloated an it was disgusting and it was perfect because it scared people into not doing heroin and this is shutch a big issue that this is not an extreme and it's something that has to be done. governor kasich: if you girls were at a party and somebody said here, take this pill, what would you think? why would you not do it? or would you do it? i know you wouldn't, why. because i told you. is that really it? how about you, emma? you would say because i told you not to do >> go ahead. >> someone older. younger and hip people. the people come into our school.

they take it as a joke. how about a cool, if hip middle-aged guy? what we do in regard to the youth is what we do is send talking points and the teacher delivers the message, not somebody else who comes into the school. we also have a program where the chief, and i think we have shared a lot of this, where we take our highway patrol and they go in and talk to the student athletes and they recruit them as ambassadors in the school. and then they tell their friends, don't be doing drugs. how about you, megan? you see it in the school, don't you? >> we are taught a lot about the

bible and god and stuff. a lot of people in their school have their mind set straight for the right thing to do. schoolf the kids at our due would they want because they don't have god and stuff in their lives. john kasich: how come you don't do drugs, megan? >> it is not good for your future. kasich: who told you that? your mom? you.mom will kill >> we have a program that helped roin-addicted boy. he started in grade school. wasparents had no idea what going on. thought isd what he

one of the biggest deterrents, what you are saying. you show people detox. you show them what it is really like. i thoughtllow-up and we should show them what it is really like. : there is noth enough to go around. that is why you have to create a network, i believe it should be two or three places. it should be in every church, in every synagogue where they should talk about this a couple times a month. and also, in the schools. all you have to do is have an e-mail that gives you talking points for the week, oyou know. and the teacher just looks at it. you don't need a lot of money to do this.

you just stand up and say, let me explain it to youl. if you get hooked on these d rugs, your future will be changed. this is a haunting, horrible will hear it.ds if your third grade teacher told you not to do drugs, you will listen to your third grade teacher. and yet, we have not been able to fully include the schools in this. and it drives me insane because it does not take much. a call about how we would spend more money, i would have had 5000 people on the call. we also sent e-mails to the parents, but it is kind of hard. look, we are doing everything we can possibly do, i believe these big organizations where kids are the ones that have to hear it just last week i was up here at hotel washington, we went there

tom. this guy comes up to me and says, my daughter -- it was the daughter, is that right? my daughter is a recovering heroin addict. and her daughter, 13 years old, was there. i see this little girl and a put my arm around her, maybe i got her a little bit spooked, but probably not. i just looked at her and i told her aunt and we got our people, i said, this girl needs help. if you are 13 years old and your mother is a heroin addict, what you think is going to happen with you if somebody doesn't talk to you? so, you have got counseling now that is involved here. we have got friends who are very wealthy. our friends' sister has a son and a daughter, all of whom overdosed, right?

and they have four kids. think about the extent of this. it could go on and on. we could tell a billion stories about this. i think everybody knows it is real. so now, what do we do? i think this is a great program. maybe we could have them start something like this. i just have to keep doubling down on the schools. we put together a school kit. it is this huge thing other schools have purchased. messages toives for go out every week. there are articles in the paper and information. other schools are saying, we wanted a prevention program, but did not know how to go about it. governor kasich: i would find out how many of your schools are really doing it.

maybe your schools are different than mine, but might have not showed the kind of interest that they showed. we actually had a superintendant who said, drugs are not an issue in our school. right? now we have the best guy, he is the best and he gets it. >> he has a totally different attitude. governor kasich: i tell you, you have to use large organizational club or thes girls club. i have been working on this for years. what happened was doctors were willy nilly. you know what they did? they take out your wisdom teeth and they give you 25 oxycontin. what has happened is people have been getting hooked on that drug.

now that the entire country is focused on how we can limit prescription drugs, you can't get them. the in our state we see prescribing dosage dropped because now we have protocols. if you write a prescription, we know if you are out of bounds. have been set by physicians. if you have chronic pain or acute pain, we are watching you. we also have a medical board and we will take your license away. we're not screwing around with t his. you can know longer go from emergency room to emergency room. theave a link that hooks pharmacy with the pharmacy board. we can monitor everything. you used to have to log out and to report.n now, there is an interface goes right to the pharmacy board. we have fixed the pharmacy board too. we have limited the supply of

prescription drugs. so, the price has gone up. what happens? people can get heroin next to nothing. we have lost almost an entire generation to this prescription drug business. clean under cabinets. clint your cabinets will stop the fastest way to get to heroin is prescription drugs. i can't get oxycontin, i can get behind. so, now i go to heroin. listen to this one. listen to how whacky this is. there is a drug they give you if you are dying of cancer and it is called ph entonal. they have figured out they can take that drug and lace it with heroin to give you an even stronger affect. that means there are people that

are actually taking this stuff, making money taking it out of the hospitals. every time you get your hand on it, there is another amoeba out there. i believe it is busting the drug dealers. here is another thing. this is interesting. el chapo, right? wait and watch how they try to glamorize this guy. i like what you said about the multiple messages. you watch a movie today, or i have watched a couple movies on the plane that all of the people who are with me tell me they love these movies. you know what they are all about? violence and drugs. and it is crap because it keeps sending messages to these young people. um, you know anyway. we have a great band that is coming out of those schools called 21 pirates.

ever heard of them? they don't glamorize any of that stuff. they're good. do you like them? it is all about being stressed out. is that right, girls? they talk about how to deal with it. i will have you meet them sometime. said enough. i love what these young people are doing, but we have to bust the drug dealers, rehab people when they are on drugs, and let me tell you, mary, what we have been able to do by taking dollars -- frankly, we have moved our addiction services into the prisons. we treat people and release them into the community and our recidivism rate is less than 20%. are significant things

happening. we have a crisis, but we know it now. i think we are all beginning to realize that. we have to get the network in ds the samesense message out over and over and over again. if you know what the secret is, please tell me because we have to figure it out. we will take it to the colleges and universities now too. they will be more cooperative because i will make them more cooperative. >> we have college interns that can work with the kids. governor kasich: i think it is great. girls, do want to say anything else? no? no? why aren't you at school today? [laughter]

yeah you do. yes, oh you've got questions. we can do all of this stuff you are talking about. we have to do this one on one or one on two. governor kasich: speaking of dr. king and that message, we are our neighbors' keepers. maybe we don't think we are, but we better be. because whether it is violence, whether it is drugs, we better keep an eye on what is happening around us. you are right about that. i wrote a book many years ago and i talked about what is called "the home run theory." if we can't hit a homerun with the bases loaded, sometimes we think we shouldn't even bat.

the fact is, if you save one life, if you talk to one kid, one at a time, one, two, three, you are right. you need to stick your nose in these kids' business. i think. all you say to them is, please don't do drugs because i don't want to see you get crushed. stay away from the drugs. you know what my staff tells me. don't tell them not to do drugs because you sound like an old man. that is not appealing. forget it. who cares? if one kid listens, he may grow up and develop the cure for alzheimer's. do i have your permission? >> one thing governor, in the alex story when he talks to the kids at school, one thing we found is after he does his presentation, he does it with

actors to represent the story. he takes questions. , they start toam ask where they can get help for a friend or a sister. justice blackmun: governor kasich: -- governor kasich: it is just heartbreaking. >> he gives them a number to call. it is affecting everybody. governor kasich: when you think about that, the heartache and the heartbreak, i mean, this little 13 year old girl, i am looking at her and i can see she is ready to collapse. you know, her mom is a heroin addict. she is 13 years old. think about what it would have been like when you were 13 years old. about what it would have been like if your mother was an addict. girls, i mean. anyway. >> i spoke to the superintendent the other day. governor kasich: at the school?

>> katie is very much a part of our school. so, the work that the kids do is in our building every day. it is a terrific opportunity. i don't know about those ohio superintendents. governor kasich: part of it is the schools have so many things that are going on right, and the open rate has been pretty good. you think i am standing appears saying this and i'm not going to get a bunch of people angry at me in ohio? you think i don't know that? but that doesn't matter to me because this is a crisis. we have the open rate. it is a pretty good open rate. that doesn't mean we don't have great superintendents out there. maybe part of it is they don't think they can make a difference. i don't know what explains it,

but i don't like it. i have to keep at it and added. i give a lot of credit to the attorney general. this all theut time, as our lieutenant governor does, we just have to do better. why have you paid so much attention to it? >> it is important that in the schools that we address all of our community issues, not just academic education, but also how to be a good citizen. and the responsibility you have as an adult, and i think the work that nora and mac and all of the kids here do is incredible because their peerws listen to them. we got a lot of grief for the presentation. it was too gory. i still think it was the right thing to do and the message got out there. i think we did the right thing.

governor kasich: it doesn't matter if they get mad at you. right? >> absolutely. governor kasich: what are you going to do? hide in a hole somewhere? life is hort. -- life is short. it has to be followed up, though. hear a presentation and they are wired. we have to be constantly going, right? then i think, once we get beyond it -- because i actually think the prescription drugs are extremely serious. i agree with the other issues. i agree with all of that, but the prescription drug problem, and we can crank that done over time. i think we will have better results. that is my sense of it. agree. i think the coordination between the pharmacies, the pharmaceutical board, the

physicians, and the state licensing people is huge. for a number of years, people acted as islands. as you said, when you got your wisdom teeth out, you got your prescription. they were pretty free and easy. and now -- governor kasich: and in our state, the medical board looked away. i appointed don kenny and he does not tolerate any nonsense out of our physicians. if you violate the hippocratic of, you will lose your license. -- if you violate your hippocratic oath, you will lose your license. the interface, the way i understand it is, if you are a pharmacist and you need to report to the pharmacy board, just until not long ago, you would have to log out, contact the pharmacy board, and log back in. now we have been interface where

they don't have to do that. that makes things easier. i think it is catching on. kroger, you don't have kroger appeared to you? that is a grocery chain and it is big. they have done a fantastic job and the ceo of that chain has been awesome. all of the pharmacies are doing this and we are trying to find out, is everybody doing it? this interface and the reporting -- the other thing that we did was a couple years ago. i have this lady who runs the department and she is unbelievable. somethingssign her do and you get in her way she will run right over you. i asked her to meet with the prescribers. they originally wanted me to mandate a law. i said, why don't we get everybody together. involved ino is prescribing, get them together, and see if we can get a voluntary situation.

if it is voluntary it will be a lot better. and that is what we have done and it has been working. that is great. >> i understand the importance and value. i think another huge issue is marijuana. governor kasich: i think that is right. and a lot ofctive states -- and i know ohio just went through a vote -- governor kasich: we voted it down. >> it is going to happen. it is going to come up again. theee it coming through back door with medical marijuana. i think this is a huge issue that can't be neglected. governor kasich: i think that is right. when i look at the problem, and where the most acute problem is, i find it in the other. i am not going to tell you that that doesn't matter. i was so thrilled when the people of ohio voted it down. >> the illegal use of marijuana

is not trackable. isn't that why it is less acute? governor kasich: i don't know what they say about thhc levels, but i know that the prescription drug gives you the kind of high you will want to sustain with heroin. you don't want to legalize marijuana because you don't want to send a mixed message: don't do drugs, but this one is ok. one of the perverse ideas about this is, we can make money and have more money for budgets if we legalize it. that is nuts to me. aren't you all glad i talk the way i always talk. john, is going to say, tone it down. but i don't agree with that. the medical marijuana is a different issue. now, what i have told people in the state is we can't use it

as a backdoor. if a doctor were to come to me and say, there is an element of that that can be used to deal with the problem of seizures because some of young people can have 30 seizures a day, something to think about. it should be controlled, tightly controlled. i don't know what we are going to do with that yet, but the other issue, the fact that we can just look the other way, or like what you are doing in colorado, i don't agree with it. i am glad ohio turned it down. it has taken them three years to get the system in place for medical marijuana. governor kasich: we are probably going to look at it because if they put that on the ballot, we are likely to pass it even if it has loopholes. our legislature is beginning --

speaker rosen talked about it. we will see what we do on that. i appreciate what you are saying. yes, sir? >> i want to thank you for being here today. it has been about you, and not about your competition. you are qualified. i am one of your delegates. so, i hope i see you again. but it has been a wonderful campaign. way,nor kasich: by the they are coming to trash me. jeb, mr. i play on the high bringing his negativity and trash and i guess when you have billionaire friends you ca dn do that. he warned us in the debate, get ready for half truths. that ist say that, but what he should have said.

i have a lot of press around and they want to know what i will do to break out. what should i do? lower th ee bar? supposed to be yelling stuff? what about my daughters and my wife? my wife said to me, you have seen the family for 30 minutes january. if i am appear being a goofball, it isn't worth it to be away from them. if i can raise the bar and get people to realize that there is a way to improve our country, you don't have to be a yeller or screamer, then i am proud of what i have done, win or lose. win or lose, it doesn't matter. i am going to do my best. we all have feet of clay. i am not telling you i don't have the capability of doing something dumb, but i am going to do my best because i believe life is hortshort, sir.

thank you for being a delegate. i want to have a good legacy. winning an election is not all that matters in life. there are many people who watch. there is also one who sees every thing. i don't want to cross him, believe me. thank you. i appreciate it. last night we came in and there were 50 volunteers at the airport. car and theyis had the headlines shining on these volunteers. it was like a movie. i gave some of them a hug and got to talk to them about believing that things can be the way we hope they are. been in politics a long time and my idealism has not been shippechipped one little b. i am a believer.

me, don't you believe politics is a zero sum game? it is the opposite. everybody wins. and i have to tell you, one of the things that has most happened is we have had tough court cases in cleveland. butve encouraged protests, not violence. the community came together, the ministers, the mayor, the community leaders, and we have gotten through it and we are moving to the next thing. that meant that everybody worked together and so, it was a win-win-win. we are going to change parts of the system we don't like, but we don't want to be driving negativity. that is wha that i think.

last one, and then i think we are going somewhere else. but i have no idea where. >> i love what you just said about family and community. you said disapproval of adults is what keeps kids not using, if they know their parents disapprove. we also have prevention and so, prevention is underfunded. we need to have one, mass community. i want to know, when you become president, will you put more funding towards prevention, recovery.and prevention and recovery of the biggest things we can get money for nowadays. don't knowsich: you this, but i have been absolutely hammered because i brought tesources act to ohio to trea

the mentally ill, the drug addicted, and the working poor. one of the attacks jeb made on me was because i did this. you know how i feel? i feel great that we did it. we now have the resources here that freed up the local community to be in a position where they can treat people. and not just those who are poor. they broadened the circle of people who are in need. that should speak for itself. this is a national issue and while i believe we can -- look, i have balanced budgets in ohio and washington. you have to have priorities. she said it, we all said it. pay me now or pay me later if you don't get on top of these issues, but i want to go back to what she said. community,y, it is it is the state, and she wlilill tell you this state has changed

because of the crisis. they are now aware of it and it is a higher and higher priority every day. so, yes. of course i am going to provide the resources he goes we have to win this battle and it is so multifaceted. when the movie comes out on el chapo, don't go. sorry, sean penn. you are out of luck. thank you very much. i want to thank you. [applause]

i just got this coat? what do you think? someone said i looked like don sheila and from the 1980's super bowl. >> that is not true. governor kasich: well, tell him.

ok. thank you. i'll see ya. thank you. thank you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] here is a look ahead at the republican caucus and primary calendar. we are just a couple weeks away from the iowa caucus. february 9 is the new hampshire carolina holdsth its republican primary on february 20. the nevada republican caucus is february 23. the candidates and primary caucus events can be followed on c-span o.org and the c-span

networks. >> c-span takes you on the road to the white house, best access to the candidates at town hall meetings, speeches, rallies, and meet and greats. we are taking your comments on twitter, facebook, and by phone. every campaign even we cover is available on our website c-span.org. >> coming up on c-span, attorney general loretta lynch takes part in a ceremony honoring martin luther king jr.. the british house of commons debates banning donald trump from the u.k. because of his remarks about muslims. later, we hear from donald trump speaking at liberty university. on the next "washington journal," a look at unemployment and u.s. labor force participation. our guest is robert doar. then, gara lamarche on his

organization's efforts to recruit wealthy progressives. later, ryan lovelace, campaign reporter with a look at donald trump's liberty university speech. you can join the conversation with your calls and comments on facebook and twitter. >> it is far more interesting to look at the republicans than the democratic side. that may have something to do with why there is more interest in these candidates. >> sunday night on "q&a," carlos discusses books written by the 2016 presidential candidates. many of them. everyone has interesting stories and their lives and politicians are so single-minded in this

pursuit of power and ideology. when they put out these memoirs, they are sanitized. they are vetted. for minimumhere controversy. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's "q&a." >> attorney general loretta lynch spoke at the martin luther king jr. breakfast. clemente of reverand pickney was there. this event is two hours.

>> it is my pleasure and privilege to bring up reverend al sharpton. for i do, i would like to take a note of personal privilege. we always say, tomorrow is not promised. for me, it was almost not promised because i was almost not here today. serious fentanyl surgery last year that almost took my life and left me paralyzed on my left side. i had one call to make.

i called reverend al sharpton, who prayed for me and i want you ,o know, all of that paralysis they told me i might not survive. i want you to know that healing that you gave me, look right now. thank you so much. lost,an looks out for the they left out, the disinherited, the disenfranchised, the locked up, the letdown, the turned out, the shut in. let's bring up the head of our wondrous band, the one and only reverend al sharpton. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. and thank you nate. i grew up in the church of god.

reverend jones and reverend hicks baptized may baptist. we believe in healing. if trump wins, i might have to go back to healing. [laughter] let me welcome all of you to the king day breakfast. this is what we do annually. anniversary ofh it being an official holiday. we must remember that even the holiday was not automatic. mrs. lorettoen for scott king. others.rend jackson and we would not have had a federal holiday. what asked this morning does the holiday mean?

30 years ago when i was a younger man, we never thought 30 years later on the king holiday that we would have a black president, a black female attorney general -- [applause] black, maleeded a attorney general. [applause] it is a long way. it is a long way and a long journey, but we have yet a long way to go. celebrate, black unemployment is still high and there are questions of policing and profiling before us. economic challenges are still before us. we still must face those

challenges. stay on thewe must forefront of raising these issues. it is not enough to remember dr. king and not really try and bring about what dr. king's policies were all about. when a look over the last 18 months from eric gardner to ferguson and some of our leaders , i wanted some of the young people who are not about headlines and flashing, but about sacrificing and working, i wanted them to be my guest this morning. stand up from ferguson, missouri. [applause] lee,end compton stand up. [applause] and many of our board members a nd others that are here,

reverend michael, who is the pastor for the first corinthian baptist church of the largest growing church in the country, especially in new york. he is with us. the dean of the civil rights movement. somebody called me the other day and i was in the civil rights establishment. i have been fighting my entire life. i remember, i wasn't even established. wade henderson is with us today. [applause] the secretary department of agriculture is with us. where is joe? [applause] movementueen of our

who has done so much for civil rights and gender equality, melanie campbell of the national coalition -- [applause] also, i knowo they gave the blessings, but there is no one more legendary and in my judgment, more proficient in the ministry who served for decades and worked shoulder to shoulder with my pastor, who mentored me in civil rights. give another round to reverend dr. hicks. [applause] face a hour, we challenge in front of this supreme court. section 4at took out

of the voting rights act. that is now deliberating on the fisher case that could undermine affirmative-action, a court that is looking at the case that could undermine labor. day,e celebrating king but we are not celebratory of these times. we must be recommitted because the wrong decisions from this court and the wrong president to succeed president obama giving further strength to those who want to turn back the clock could eradicate all that dr. king and the king era established. we are at risk today, but we also are here to put them on notice that we are not going to let them go into the america the foot king and frenulu

soldiers of the 60's brought us from. you can turn back the clock, but you cannot turn back time. we are not going back to a divided, hateful america. battleht too hard and too long and just because barack obama is leaving the white house does not mean we are going to let you change the american house of justice and fairness. we are going to keep marching and keep working from the toeets to the suites preserve dr. king's dream. that is what we are here to say. [applause] i bring our keynote speaker. i am moving fast, i know that. eat time at breakfast you and then hear speeches. but we are doing two cities.

you can eat quietly. [laughter] yourhe right fork, slurp coffee quietly, but we are going to move through the program because they are others that are going to be doing your day of service because dr. king was about service. dr. king was not about profiling. he was about service. we want to bring our keynote speaker on. we're also going to hear from the secretary of education. we are honored to have both of them here this morning and we are going to present awards to those we feel have operated in the tradition of dr. king. the lady i am about to present as personified what dr. king's dream was about.

she is the daughter of a minister who excels in her education. the law enforcement community and the criminal justice worked,y is where she but she never left the commitment for justice. her as she had to make tough decisions. decisions sometimes the community light and sometimes, decisions the community did not like, that we always found out she was fair and just. we don't expect people to get into high places and become like others who distorted it. we expect them to do what is right, even if it is unpopular. she has had the courage and tenacity to enforce the law and a stand up for what is right.

that is what dr. king was about. it was of no supplies to those of us that knew her in new york, those of us who knew her from north carolina that the succeedt would have us one of our major honorees this morning. twois a woman that, if my daughters could grow to be part of what she is, i would be proud because she has represented our community and our nation well. and children unborn will read the story of this preacher's daughter that became the first black woman to be the attorney general of the united states at a time when these states needed someone sitting in the seat that robert kennedy and others sat with the balance and the courage

to do what the times and the law called for. can we hear from the attorney general of the united states, the honorable loretta lynch. [applause] attorney general lynch: thank you all for that warm welcome. thank you, reverend sharpton for inviting me. to spend a few minutes with you today before we all get back to work. i am delighted to see you reverend takehicks as well. thank you, reverend sharpton for your work over the years. have known you since my time as

a young prosecutor. you always bringing justice in york and now, new to the nation. we are so grateful for your guidance. you have been partners in this struggle for years and i know it will continue. you have been focusing on the right to vote, but more than that you have expanded the notion of the civil rights movement as dr. king was expanding it to cover not just voting rights, but access to education, to employment, to focus on nonviolence. you have driven those important conversations. i am honored to be here with my colleague, john king. in the happy he is chair of secretary of education. i am the daughter of a minister. granddaughter and great-granddaughter of a minister. i am also the daughter of a teacher and a librarian. those forces are the two

together that will lead our country out of the darkness we see today and ultimately, save us. i am so glad that john is here as well. i am glad to see my predecessor, mentor, friend, attorney general eric holder. when i say the ag, he is who i think of. thank reverend sharpton for bringing his board members along as well. i want to thank all of you for being here today. we are here as we are every year on this day to pause for a moment and reflect on the contributions and extraordinary sacrifices of a transformational leader. we know his story, of course. a young minister from a remarkably young age he was a n unwavering champion of liberty and a tireless proponent of unity and progress. he spoke up for people who had been silent.

he stood up for those who had been oppressed. as we celebrate dr. king's legacy, overtime sometimes he becomes a static figure. he seems to be almost frozen in amber, at a particular moment of time, when the reality is what he is best known for and for he best achieved were through his actions. he was a man of action. he took action over and over again in the face of violence, in the face of adversity. he went to jail for his actions and wrote one of the greatest pieces we have seen since the letters of paul to the corinthians. i refer to the letter from a birmingham jail. his actions were what product to keep the conscience of the nation. we have long failed to deliver.

of course, he is known for his words. he turned the days in which he was living, a long night of racial injustice and of course it was. he and countless other brave men, women, and children worked so hard. they took action against jim crow. they took action to tear down the barriers to the ballot box. and in doing so, they enshrined new productions of freedom and dignity in our codes of law. the voting rights act and civil rights act, statutes i am proud to a pulled today. these were extraordinary achievements and it is right we celebrate them today, but even more than celebrating, even more than remembering his words, even more than enshrining his accomplishments, it is fitting that we act. that is what we are called upon to do today.

new complacency and apathy where as dangerous to the mind as a billy club and a fire hose were to the body. he also knew that progress was not inevitable, but belonged to those who were willing to ssieize the moment. as he stated in that famous letter, he knew that justice and injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. notwords and his deeds are the vestige of the history, but they are timeless calls to action. the strategies that he worked on are the strategies that are effective today and that we need to call upon to push that mission forward. call and his mission have animated the department of justice since the inception of this administration

and a field our ongoing work to ensure that everyone in this country can achieve the full blessings of american life. the conscience of the department led by our outstanding head is committed to ensuring that access to the ballot box is as fair and unencumbered as dr. king dreamed it would be. wherever the franchise is being diminished, whether through historical barriers or newly erected ones, we stand prepared to use every tool at our disposal to protect the sacred american right to vote. the civil rights division is making significant progress. [applause] done and morebe will be done. we are also making progress in a bringing criminal civil rights cases, as well over the course of this administration.

i am proud to say we have filed more criminal rights cases and prosecuted and convicted more defendants for hate crimes charges than any other time in the department in history. [applause] but we also know that we cannot just look outward at what is happening in society to protect our civil rights. we know we have to protect our civil rights within the criminal justice system. part, we are doing this by strengthening the relationships between law enforcement and the communities that we serve, but we are also focusing on ensuring constitutional policing across the country. we have launched many new programs and innovative efforts at the local and national level, including my own six city listening tour to promote

community policing. to build the relationships of trust that are so vital. but more broadly and most importantly, we are working because we have to. we have to ensure the fundamental fairness of the criminal justice system at every level. at the federal level we are continuing to implement the smart on crime initiative. that approach was begun by my predecessor. in its first couple years, the initiative has not only become a bipartisan rallying point. i will say after nine months in washington i thought maybe a few things that seemed to inspire bipartisan connections, but it has also been a resounding success with federal prosecutors, using their resources to bring wrongdoers to justice, but also focusing on ways to handle the nonviolent offenders that do not shackle them with the collateral

consequences of incarceration far beyond what is necessary . not only is the incarceration rate going down, but so is the crime rate. is one i amive proud to carry on today because it is one that serves our country. it serves our values and serves our children. but for fairness and justice to be consistent and have meaning, we have to look at every stage of our criminal justice process and that is why we are also looking to end, to end, the shool to prison pipeline that has sent so many of our kids out of school and into the criminal justice system. [applause] e been working with schools across the country to and sure that all children,

especially our children on whom this policies for most harshly, have a chance. a chance to get an education and not a number. a chance to become someone and not a statistic. a chance to be heard and not become one of those we try to ignore as we go through our criminal justice system. also investing in diversion programs, treatment programs, looking at evidence-based approaches to public health and criminal justice. if we can focus on the root causes of why so many of our brothers and sisters lose their way and find themselves caught up, as my grandfather used to say in the clutches of the law, we can save not only them, but we can save families. we can save not only families, but we can save communities. we can save not only communities, we can save our nation. that is that we can do, what we will do, and what we must do. [applause]

but there is more than one level there as well. we are focusing on those trying to prevent people from going making suretem also our prison systems are run fairly and efficiently, looking at things like solitary confinement. we're looking at the educational programs. we are also focusing on reentry programs, making sure our formally incarcerated individuals, our formally incarcerated family members, because we are all affected by this, have the tools and the resources that they need to successfully rejoin society and contribute to their communities. a statistic saying more than 600,000 people come out of prison every year. people look at that as a number, but those are mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters. those are siblings and friends.

more to the point, that is human capital. that is a resource that is invested in our economy wisely, could pull many of our communities out of poverty they find themselves in now. we have an obligation to give them the tools to contribute to that effort. [applause] reasons i am so honored to be here with secretary king is the department of justice has recently partnered with the department of education to extend grant support to incarcerated individuals. [applause] institutions will go into our incarcerate where he institution and offer college-level courses. visit oneivilege to of these programs right here in the d.c. area, and the baltimore area, and talk to inmates going to the program and actually watch them.

the let me sit in on a political science class. of course, the grasp of nuance and the grasp of political theory was as high as any you would see. supporting those getting the brill yens -- brilliance trapped behind bars. it's what we have to do. i thank you for your efforts. this is vital work. it's really life-changing work. it's life-altering work. as we all know all too welshing we still have -- too well, we still have a long way to go. we hear concerns so strikingly similar to the early days of the civil rights movement. as i travel this great nation f ours, i speak to people who are afraid to turn to law enforcement for help. they find themselves stranded between fear and violence. i hear from people who see the right to vote, the fundamental way in which we determine our

destiny, they see the right to vote becoming some sort of a shell game and held just out of reach. i hear from people, i hear from those who worry that a country founded on the freedom of all religion, may deinvolve into one diminished by fear. i hear the question asked over and over again, how far in fact, have we actually come? these are good questions and they are the questions of our time. these are difficult times. my friends, these issues have always been difficult. they've always been hard. we have always had to move forward with no guarantees of success. we've always faced resistence. that is the human condition. maybe it's the american condition as well. we have prevailed before and we will prevail again. [applause]

because my friends, it is the challenge of every generation. to learn this lesson, to follow this path to keep the dream alive every generation faces the challenge. every generation faces the uncertainty, the fear of the unknown. every generation has to learn that the price of freedom is constant vigilance. sometimes it has to be paid in blood. that's why it's so fitting. on a day dedicated to justice, to equal opportunity. a day dedicated to action were gathered by national action network. because progress never asses. progress does not simply arrive. it doesn't just come because we wish for things to get better. because in this extraordinary nation that still has so much to offer to all of us. a nation created by and for the people. progress.

progress is the product of a steady drum beat of marching feet. it's the result of a sustained campaign through hardship and oppression. as our president, president obama said, in his final state of the union address, progress is not inevitable, it is the result of choices we make ogether. now the time when nothing, nothing about their success seem ordained, the foot soldiers of the civil rights movement chose to keep going. after each night in jail, they chose to press on. after each billy club, police dog or fire hose, they chose to get up and keep going. after each church bombing, after each church bombing. dr. king and his followers confronted their doubt, they

faced their fears and they chose to march on. rosa parks chose to take a seat on that bus. others chose to take that first step on to the edmund pettus bridge they chose to step forward. no matter how tired or bloodied they were. the men and women and the children of the civil rights ovement summoned their courage, they leaned on their faith and they chose to take hat next step. even without knowing what lay ahead. so, my friends, as we come here today to celebrate the life of dr. king as we seek to apply his lessons to the challenges that we face today, here's the uestion.

facing all of us. what will we choose? when we witnessed discrimination against others what will we choose? when we see the right to vote rolled back, what will we hoose? when we hear voices saying, we should be satisfied, you come o far, look how much you achieved, look who's in the white house, when you hear people telling us that it's time to stop, what will we hoose? will we choose to remain silent? will we choose to stand aside and quietly acquiesce? will we choose to keep this country marching towards freedom. will we choose to speak up and to stand out against the voices of bigotry and prejudice? will we choose love over ate? will we choose open over

despair? what will we choose? my friends as i stand before you now, i commit to you as the ttorney general of these united states, that this department of justice will always choose to act. we choose to act. [applause] [applause] we choose to act to ensure that the promise of america, the equality and the opportunity that is america is within the grasp of all americans. we choose to act. we choose to act to lift up the humanity and the dignity and the equal rights of every american regardless of what they look like, where they come from, whom they love or the god that they choose to worship. we choose to act.

we choose to act to use the law to push us forward. not because the law is perfect, because it pushes us towards our better self-s. -- selfs. we choose to act on behalf of those who has been left out and left behind. it doesn't mean that the road ahead will be easy for any of us. i wish that i could, as i talk to people across this country and hear about the struggles and the fear, i wish i could bring tolerance to every soul and humanity to every heart. while i cannot guarantee the act of prejudice, i can guarantees the presence of justice. i do so. [applause] despite all the questions and despite the concerns that i hear, i travel this beautiful country of ours, i still remain optimistic about everything that

we achieve. everything that we can do together. despite the pain, despite the troubles and the things that we see on the nightly news every night. i have two reasons why i am so optimistic. first, despite the pain, despite the agony that we see, played out on the daily news, captured in the cell phone videos of 100-foot soldiers of justice. we have opened the conversation about the pain that goes on in this country that has been larger than we have ever had before. we are at that point. dr. king knew that what we had to do was push forward to make our case known to everyone in this society and become part of the dialogue of this society. i'm also optimistic because i see so many young people fighting this fight. i see so many young people

leading this charge. as they did 50 years ago, with energy, with different ideas, pushing all of us forward. keeping all of us on our toes. that's what they do. impatient, they should be. eager, they are. energetic, i thank god for that. that's where we were 50 years ago. all of those voices came together. all the different thoughts how to accomplish so many of the things that we've done today. we do face challenging times. we're at a crossroads. we have choices to make. but we have the strength of our history. we have the faith of our fathers and we have the energy of our future. call -- all coming together to prepare us like no other moment in time to seize this opportunity and to choose to act. my friends, choose to act. choose love over hate. choose hope over despair, choose

peace over violence. most of all, choose to continue to fight for essential equality and dignity and beauty of every human being. i thank you so much for giving me a few minutes to talk to you today. i thank you so much for carrying on this fight. [applause] >> i told you all she's a preacher's daughter. give her a hand. attorney general loretta lynch. [applause] after that, i've attempted to raise a offering. that wouldn't be appropriate. i thought as she was speaking

about when i was 18, i was youth director for a lady's campaign for president named shirley chism. i thought about we have a young lady in the national action network. one thing i try to do is encourage and bring and give leadership, platforms to the leaders of generations behind me as those like reverend hicks and others have did for me. i'm proud that our youth leader, nationally, who form chapters all over the countries with us today. she's 17 years old. she's the president of the freshman class at spellman as she leads the youth from our atlanta office, mary pat. where is mary pat? [applause]

mary pat, now, i want mary pat, i want you to go right there where i was sitting. i want you to take a picture between the two black attorney generals in history of the country. you can show this to your grandchildren. that's what this is all about. as i said, she's president of the freshman class at spellman. we're going to make her stay in school with her activism. i got active and dropped out of college. that's when i got on msnbc, he to learn how to read the cue cards right. you stay in spellman so you can read your cards right. they won't be -- eric holder will be laughing about you.

i want to thank our "washington bureau" chief who done such a great job. i'm so proud of ebony riley. give her a hand. our legislative chief, faith blackburn. to show young women of our community is not just men. one of the things that president obama has done among many, he's been the best president that i've seen. [applause] he has also elevated young men. now heading the my brother's keeper alliance who was in office of engagement in the white house. strong young sister that the whole world will know because she has done such a wonderful

job. i see her in the audience. stand up. give a big hand. is stephanie here? stephanie young who's in the white house now in the office of engagement, another young black female leader who's daughter of a preacher. stand up stephanie young from the white house. all right, thank you. i want to before bring on the secretary of education, start with our first three awards. reverend j. david cot will help me present the last three. i think it is important that we honor first a lady that symbolizes and stands for what

the attorney general spoke to. last year, when there was a video police shooting in north charleston, reverend nelson rivers called me and told me what happened that night. i flew down and preached to the church that sunday. trudy, who is here, had the mayor of north charleston and police chief come. they immediately took action on that video tape. we went to the scene of the shooting and a minister led us in prayer. two months later, reverend nelson called me and said that minister was conducting bible class in his church. that very same minister had been shot and killed along with eight of his members in the middle of bible class.

a man young, he sat there and prayed with them an hour. hate made him kill. as we headed to charleston and saw the funeral. i went to several of them and spoke at some. then the president came to the funeral of that minister and sung amazing grace, it was not the president singing amazing grace, it was the families of the charleston nine that showed amazing grace to this country. which showed what reverend pinckney was teaching that not was what they believed. it was our grace, our grace despite the pain, our grace even in the face of murder that brought us from the back of the

bus to the front of the white house. it's that grace even in painful times like this that will keep us going. dr. king was a man of faith. he was a man of grace. he was a preacher first. you can't celebrate dr. king's day and divorce him from what he stood for. we wanted to honor today the widow of reverend clement pinckney. because her and her members showed this nation our community and our country at its best. showing that even through our tears, our faith remains steady. even through our pain, our steps will keep moving forward. we refuse to become part of the hate that we fight. we refuse to succumb to those that see us less than what god

made us to be. we honor jennifer pinckney who became the bride of reverend pinckney in 1993. now mrs. pinckney raises his children and leads on everyday of her life. they're in the pain of a soul mate gone but having the knowledge that she and others must continue to personify what he stood for or his living and teaching would be in vain. may you help me in honoring the legacy memory of reverend clemente pinckney as we honor his wife, jennifer pinckney. [applause]

this is also reverend pinckney's sister. if you saw reverend pinckney, you're looking at him now. give them both a big hand. >> the honorable reverend clementec. pinckney. he lived a life like the dr. martin luther king jr. he was a preacher. he was a teacher.

he was about service, peace and taking action. he was a voice for the voiceless. he believed in seniors getting affordable healthcare. before his untimely death, he was working with an organization and that was trying to develop a mobile health unit. he -- his area was a rural area. it was a large area. now they're trying to work with me so they can raise the $250,000 to actually get this

mobile unit into action. he believed in public education. there was never an issue when our daughters were born where they were going to go to school. they going to public school. i went to public schools, i was in a poor district, a poor school but look at me. that's what he would say. i'm a product of public schools and our daughters will be a product of public schools. another issue that he was working on before his untimely death, body cameras. policemen to have body cameras at all times. these are just a few of the issues and things that my husband worked on and believed.

a lot of people knew him as senator. lot of people knew him as reverend. family members like his sister, called him clem. but he was my taye. i called him taye. before we were married, he was taye. all of my friends thought of calling him taye. on the -- on behalf of myself and our two beautiful daughters, ages 6 and 11, we want to thank you for this prestigious award. taye was a spiritual man. i know he would say that he

wasn't deserving of any type of award. but since this has happened, the family has been very grateful for the love and support that we have received. the community, our state and our country. many people all over the world have prayed for us and pressed their love in so many different ways. we're blessed for the service of my husband. he loved his work as a senator. he loved his work as a pastor. i am committed and it is my hope

to continue his work and all of the issues that he stood for. that's why i created a foundation in his name. want to make him proud. he always said i got to do for my girls. we were his girls. because he lost -- they lost their mom, my mother-in-law at a young age, about 15 years ago, he adopted my mom, my mom became his mom. instead of him having three girls, he had four. i got to take care of my four girls. i leave you with this, i missed

taye. the girls miss their father. on that faithful day, he was at work in the senate. he knew he had to drive two hours to charleston to be a pastor. i said, i'll go with you. i'll go with you so that i can help you drive and you can relax and do the things that you need to do to make phone calls. i'll go with you. at first, he was like, no you stay home. but for some reason, i wouldn't

let it go. i kept texting him. i'll go with you. so he finally gave in and he said, i'll be there to pick you up 2:00. be ready. i have to get to church. i told our 6-year-old, i'm going to church with daddy. of course she says, i'm going with you. i told our 11-year-old, i'm going to church with daddy, your sister is going with us. well i'm going to stay home with grandma. he told milana on the trip to charleston, baby girl, when i'm

finished, i'm going to take you to mcdonalds. unfortunately, we never made it to mcdonalds. unfortunately, my husband never came back home. continue to pray for the victim families. continue to pray for my family. continue to pray for the survivors, the five survivors and out of the five, i was ones of them. and so was our 6-year-old

daughter, milana. i have work to do because i'm going to my taye proud. i'm going to continue to honor his legacy and go forward with his dream. live your life like taye lived his, an honorable man. a loving man. going to continue to carry out his work. that's what he would want. thank you once again. thank you for this award.

may god bless each and every one of you. [applause] >> give another hand. ms. jennifer pinckney.

attorney general talked about the foot soldiers. i often thought coming up what would make them facing biting dogs and facing jail cells sing "we shall overcome." maybe they had a belief they looked in the future. that their sons and daughters would vindicate their sacrifice. as we honor people like robert smith, who has become the most successful person in this industry as we honor neighbor leaders. i think our