just saying. no slacking. how long will it be before tales begin to emerge with a petite chanel spirit roaming the galleries and the halls? just checking to make sure that things are running smoothly. but most importantly, she will once again lay down beside the man who was the love of her life, the one that she loved until the end of her days. they watched the sun dropped over the hills over the west toward the sea as night falls, they would look across the valley. my father would tell her the lights below are the jewels for her. the moon and the stars will turn overhead, and here they will stay, as they always wished it to be, resting in each other's arms, only each other's arms, until the end of time.

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>> amazing grace! how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch, like me! i once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now i see. 'twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved,

how precious did that grace appear the hour i first believed! the lord hath promised good to me, his word my hope secures, he will my shield and portion be as long as life endures. when we've been there ten

thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing god's praise than when we first begun. ♪

>> god of grace and glory, we rumor before you this way our sister nancy, we thank you for giving her to us, her family and friends, give us faith to see in debt to gate of eternal life so that in quiet confidence we may continue our force on earth, until you're called and we are reunited windows that have gone before, amen. please be seated. today, we are exactly where we ought to be, standing with this family, and one another before the mystery of life and death,

say in our prayers and farewell to nancy davis reagan. the great 20th century rabbi was once asked, what is the most important thing that a religious person can do? his answer was given in one word. remember. that is precisely what we do this day, this is what we do as religious people every time we gather. we hear again and again the stories of encountering god, ancient and cherished, stories that point to god as ineffable mystery, yet still revealed to our fragile and mortal humanity. we were ever god's saving love, for the human race and family, and in that act of remembering, the god of life and giver of every good gift is present to us. in these moments that i speak to you, it is really for one purpose, to gather all the

remembrances that you have just heard, those that you carry in your hearts, those of the people of our nation and the world, and to remind you where to place them all, before the living god, who gave nancy life from the first, and who now receives it back again. who is this god? this is the one who raised of israel out of bondage in egypt, fulfilling ancient promises, and who raised of jesus from the dead and who resurrected life. the gone in whose presence we gather today and to whom we commend the life and soul of nancy is a god of justice. who wants to lift up the poor, the vulnerable, and all on the margins of life. a god of love who wants you to know that in every circumstance of life, that you are beloved, precious, sacred, just because you are you.

this is a god who loves fiercely, who traffics in light and death, and is encountered in every dimension in life, beautiful and complex. nancy knew of this. she knew it because she lived it. in november 2014, i was invited to meet mrs. reagan at her home. there were four of us, mrs. reagan and two of her dear friends. we entered her bedroom where mrs. reagan dressed comfortably, and with a quiet elegance, was partly reclined on her bed. we were there over one hour. i mostly listened, as the three of them told stories from the white house years and beyond, some dramatic, some hilarious, and others that caused us to fall into a companionable silence. turn to the photographs on the

bedside table, i asked about several of them, and one by one, she looked at them and spoke about places and events over long years. finally, i picked up the one closest to her. it was worn and creased, slightly weathered. what about this one, mrs. reagan? she held it in silence, and turning to me, she said, this one is my favorite. the photo was of president reagan, who had begun his dissent into alzheimer's. he, too was mostly reclined. the angle of the photo was their profiles. nancy just above them, their faces one -- very near to one another. nose to nose, eye to eye. it showed a deep tenderness, even in the illness. of all the photos, this was her favorite.

she kept looking at it, seemingly transported to another place. i said, mrs. reagan, that is a picture of you living out the promises of your marriage and fidelity and love. after a brief silence, she said, yes, it is, and handed it back to be placed on the table, nearest to her. poet henry van dyke written, time is too slow for those who wait, too swift or those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice. but for those who love, time is eternity. nancy reagan glanced at truth. she and her beloved ronnie shared a great love. a very great love. that is legendary and could instruct us all.

now she knows that eternity is about so much more than time, for it is about fulfillment and completion. and so important for nancy, reunion, as she is joined with her beloved ronnie. so, last week, as we give thanks for the life of nancy reagan, i want to speak of an even greater love. it is one that we know as christians, and the life, death, and resurrection of jesus christ climaxing at that first easter. each gospel tells of it differently, ironically, undergirding the veracity, providing a stereoscopic view of a truth, unparalleled in all of literature and life. the events of holy week leading to jesus's death sent his closest disciples into fearful

hiding and finally brought the strong women to his tomb in the dark of that first easter don. there, god had acted, a cosmos-altering explosion of divine light and life was released, surging at god's command, breaking the three-day canopy of silence. there jesus rises. from death to new life. and all creation rises with him. in a newly beheld radiance that is without analogy in the risen christ. death is defeated, vanquished, forever. god raised jesus that you and i might share in his resurrection. it is true, we are raised with him as is nancy, who now stands on another sure, and in a

greater light with a multitude of saints that no mortal can number. in our last visit with mrs. reagan, i asked, at the end, to be alone with her. we spoke for a few moments, and then we prayed, giving thanks for life, for the love that god had brought to us, and for strength and grace for the days ahead. now, we all read things, but i have made a life out of trying to read human hearts. in those last moments with nancy, she was at peace. as if she was already leaning into heaven. and now, she has fallen asleep, and awakened in the heart of

god. now she knows intimately of what the 17th century anglican priest and poet john dunn wrote in these closing words. bring us, oh lord, god, at our last awakening, into the household and gate of heaven, to enter into that gate and well in that house where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light. no noise, nor silence. but one equal music. no fears, nor hopes, but one equal possession. no ends nor beginnings. but one, equal in eternity. in the habitation of that glory and dominion, a world without end, amen.

nancy, dear, nancy. may you gaze upon our lord, face to face, may angels surround you, and saints welcome you in peace, and may your heart and soul now ring out in joy to the living god, in whose presence you are held, forever. amen. now let us all join together. our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespassers as we forgive those

who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory. in peace, we pray to you, lord god. almighty god who has been together thine elect in one community and fellowship in the mystical body of your son christ our lord. on earth, the highlight and eyepiece. granted all who had been baptized into christ death and recommend -- resurrection and to rise to newness in life that through the grave and gate of death we may pass with him to our joyful resurrection. great to us still who are in our earthly pilgrimage and who walk by faith that by holy spirit may lead us in holiness and righteousness all our days.

grant thy faithful people part and in peace that we may be cleansed from all our sins and serve the with a quiet mind. grant to all who mourn a short confidence in thy fatherly care that casting on their grief on the they may know the consolation of thy love. give courage and faith to those who are believed, that they may have strength to meet the days ahead and the comfort of a reasonable and holy hope, in the joyful expectation of eternal life with those they love. help us, we pray, in the midst of things we cannot understand, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection to life everlasting. grant us grace to interest nancy to die never failing love, receive her into the arms of thy mercy and remember her according to the favor which now embarrassed onto that people. granted increasing knowledge and love of the she may go from

strength to strength and the light of perfect service in the heavenly kingdom. grant us will all live and die with the hope of the resurrection to have our consummation endless in thy eternal and everlasting glory and with all thy saints to receive the crown of life which abound does promise to all share in the victory of thy son jesus christ who live with and rated with being the holy spirit, one god, for ever and ever. would you please rise for the commendation. give rest, o christ, to thy servant with my saved, where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing but life everlasting, not only aren't a

mortal of the creator and maker of mankind and we are multiple forms of the earth and onto earth shall we return, for so doubted or game creators dos thou art and onto dust shalt thou return, or we go down to the dust, yet even at the grade we make our song on the new year, hallelujah, hallelujah. give rest of christ to thy servant with by saint, for sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing but life. and to thy hands are merciful savior, we commend thy child and servant nancy. big knowledge we humbly beseech the, sheep of thine own fold, a lamb of thine own flock, a sinner of thine own redeeming, receive her into the arms of thy mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the

glorious company of the saints in light, amen. the blessing of god almighty, the saw there, the son, and the holy spirit. this day and ever more, amen.

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>> here that raised up jesus from the dead will give life to our mortal bodies by his spirit that dwells in us. thou shalt show me the life. there is pleasure furthermore.

through our lord jesus christ, we commend to our almighty god our sister nancy and recommit her body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. the lord bless her and keep her, the lord make his face to shine upon her and be gracious unto her. the lord lift up his countenance upon her and give her peace, amen. let light officially shine upon her. may her souls and all the souls of the faithful departed to the mercy of god rest in peace. amen. now may the god of peace and our

lord jesus christ, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well leasing in his sight and the blessing of god almighty, the father, the son, and the holy spirit, be upon you and all beloved to you this day and forevermore, amen. >> ♪ >> god bless america stand beside her and guide

through the night with the light from above from the mountains white with foam god bless america my home, sweet home ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, all guests are invited to pay their respects at the interment site and enjoy a luncheon reception in the air force pavilion. ♪

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>> tomorrow road to the white house coverage continues in ohio . hillary clinton will talk about economic opportunity in st. louis live. >> campaign 2016 continues tuesday with primaries in missouri, illinois and ohio, north carolina and florida. electionrage of the results begins at 7:00 eastern. taking you to the road to the

white house. weekend, live all the coverage of the tucson festival of books from the university of arizona. featured authors on saturday fdr,de douglas brinkley on linda hershman on the supreme court. sunday's authors include margaret regan. panel about voting rights and independent voters. many authors will join us to take phone calls and comments. afterwardsight it is with michael eric dyson.

>> the practical considerations were once you get elected you want to get reelected. to get reelected as the first black president may be more marketable. maybe more difficult. when he around the first time he had no record. he was a senator for a little while. he was a clean slate people could inscribe hopes, dreams, theiries and project ideals. now, you have done stuff. they are supporting you or their critical of you. >> go to book tv.org for the complete schedule. >> now, president obama's weeks at the sxsw festival in austin,

texas. sittinge first president to visit the festival which began in 1987. [applause] thank you.: >> hello mr. president. pres. obama: it is good to see you. hello austin. [applause] pres. obama: i love austin, texas. good to be back. >> nice to have you here. welcome. let's make news. you stopped at tour cheese -- torchies. when you tell me your order? pres. obama: i ordered the democrat. [applause] then i ordered a republican. and an independent.

i wanted to give all people a proper hearing. i wanted to be fair. >> bipartisan talk owes. you are nice to be here with us. you came for a purpose. you want to accomplish something. you said as much in your weekly radio address. for their benefit and people outside of the room will you say why you are here. pres. obama: first of all, i'm here because i like excuses to come to austin, texas. that is a good enough reason. i want to acknowledge your mayor os with me.t tac i normally don't do this. i want to acknowledge the chancellor of the texas system. .e's one of my favorite people a truly great american. vilma craven -- bill mcrae even.

mccraven. it's rare when a chancellor of the university system can mess you up. in case the students are wondering, don't mess with your chancellor. i knew him as admiral. he served america as well as anybody. are at a moment in history where technology, globalization, our economy is changing so fast. sxsw, bringsg, together people who were at the cunning -- cutting-edge edge of those changes who offer enormous opportunities, but also are disrupted -- disruptive and unsettling.

they empower individuals to do things that they could have never dreamed of before but they also empower folks who are dangerous to spread dangerous messages. challenge as i have been president is trying to find ways in which our government can be a part of the positive change taking place, and can help convene and catalyze folks in the private sector and nonprofit sector to be part of the broader civic community in tackling our biggest challenges. three things i talked about during my weekly address were this group primed to make a difference. we are spending time figuring out how between make government work better through technology,

digital platforms and so forth. fafsa formuced the process where you apply for student aid by about two thirds by digital rising it and putting it online. it now possible to apply for social security online in ways that could not be done before. agencies, we are interacting every day with our government. the question is how do we make that work better? and antigovernment mentality grows because people are not getting good service. the second thing that these new technologies allow us to do is to tackle big problems in new ways. we had a conference in washington a few weeks back on

precision medicine. the capacity to cure diseases because we understand the human that aand we understand cure for me may not be the same as a cure for you. there is incredible research taking place all around the country but we haven't gathered all that data together to make sure that the whole is greater than the sum of its part. we want to make sure we are using big data, analytics, technology to make civic participation easier. voters. andeasing voting rates making sure people are informed about who they are voting for and why. making sure that community organizations, or activists are

able to meet and help to shake our society -- eight our society in new ways. the reason i am here is to recruit all of it is to say to you as i'm about startve office how can we coming up with new platforms, new ideas, new approaches across disciplines and across skill sets to solve some of the big problems that we are facing today, because i have said this before, the most important office in a democracy is the office of citizen. talentow, with all the that is out there, our government is not working and our politics are not working as well as it should. the only way to solve that is to get citizens involved. >> mr. president, the theory of bringing tech along with

government in solving problems but the reality is thboth cultures could not be more different. government is big and slow and run on outmoded systems and equipment. tech is sleek and streamlined and sails fast. how do you take these two things that seem so unlike and put them together in a way that they can and want to work together? president obama: [sigh] [laughter] you know -- let me give you an example of the big and the bloated and the frustrated. lawmay recall i passed this called the affordable care act to sign people up for health care. [applause] and then the website did not work. >> i heard that. [laughter] president obama: this was a

little bit embarrassing for me because i was the cool early adapter as president. [laughter] my entire campaign had been prem ised on having really cool technology and social media and all of that. well, here is what happened -- was that the procurement systems, the specifications, the way software was built and wasovernment adapted for the age when procurement was for buying boots or pencils or buying furniture as opposed to buying software. and, there is an example of an outdated system, bloated, not working well. here's what happened as a consequence of healthcare.gov breaking down -- we had to bring in a swat team of all my friends

from silicon valley, austin, some of the best software engineers in the world to fix it which we did in about three or four months tops. thatwhat we realized was we could potentially build a world-class technology office inside of government that was helping across agencies. we dubbed that the u.s. digital service system. we have some of the top talents fromgoogle, from facebook, all of the top tech companies. these folks are coming in for six months, in some cases, for two years. they are making an enormous difference in making sure veterans are getting services on time. fixing outdated systems. making sure that agencies like

the small business administration, that has been clunky, is redesigning itself so if an entrepreneur wants to start up a business here in texas, they can go to one spot and within a day, they have handled on the regulatory red tape that used to require them months to navigate. now, the folks were working the digital service, they are having a great time. in part, because they are harnessing incredible skills to a purpose where they know that millions of people can be helped. and, what they will tell me is as they feel they have a president and somebody who is providing some air cover, there is no system that they cannot get in there and work and change and make significantly better. part of my job is to try to

institutionalize that over the next several years. i want to make sure the next president and the federal government from here on out is andonstant improvement mode we are constantly bringing in new talent and new ideas to solve some of these big problems. it can be done. it will require some effort, but everything requires some effort. >> i have talked to tech people in advance of you coming and if you were asked by the president to work with them, what with the conditions need to be to make it possible? they said they would need some flexability with rules and regulations. we can donate back to the private sector. we want to give some of the employees the opportunity to work in government. maybe you can get as you would with another donation a tax break. we can work with the government but they would have to benefit

us in some direction. president obama: i'm saying we are doing it. it is currently happening. the opportunities are there. i want to focus on the fact that there are different ways for people here to get engaged. it is not just you coming in. although, we want to create a pipeline where there is a continuous flow of talent that is helping to shape the government. the other thing that we are doing is also convening people to solve problems. they may in their existing roles be able to work together to make a huge difference. i will give evea specific example. i met with an incredible group of people, entrepreneurs, moviemakers, organizers, tech leaders, to talk about how we can make a real difference on countering violent extremism.

it is not enough if we are going to defeat isil just to take out their leadership or to control certain territories. virtual world, and they are consistently reaching kids here in the united states or elsewhere and recruiting them and twisting their minds to do terrible things. we have to be able to penetrate that. for good reasons, we don't what the government to be -- want the government to be the lead on that. we are not credible with the people who might be receiving those messages. it is difficult for the government to get into the business of propaganda. what i said to them was we will help convene and put you guys in a room together where the resources that are necessary we can help provide. essentially, you figure out how we can reach young people who

might be vulnerable to extremist messages. you tell us based on the analytics, the data, the algorithms you are working with on a day-to-day basis to sell products. what is it that is going to really penetrate? how can we amplify powerful stories that are already taking place so they are on a platform that can reach as many people as possible? they solveyour or the problem, it is all good. president obama: exactly. a second problem is the issue of voting. we are the only advanced democracy in the world who makes it harder for people to vote. but it ise laughing, sad. we take enormous pride in the fact we are the worlds oldest continuous democracy and yet we

systematically put up barriers and make it as hard as possible for our citizens to vote. to orders much easier than it is for you to exercise the single most important task in a democracy and that is for you to select who will represent you in government. now, i think it is important for uproup like this, as we come to an election, regardless of your party affiliation, to think about how we can redesign our systems so that we don't have 50% or 55% voter participation on presidential elections, and during off-year

congressional elections, you got 39% or 40%. >> you are in the state with the worst voter turnout in the country. we would take 55%. [laughter] president obama: there is a reason i'm bringing this up. [laughter] it is not just texas. so, one of the things we are doing is engaging folks who are already doing interesting work in the online space. how can we create safe, secure, smart systems for people to be able to vote much easier online and what other technologies to help people get aware of what they are voting about, who they are voting for? that is an issue you don't want the federal government engineering on that. what we can do is having the incredible talent that is represented in this auditorium

spent time thinking about that and getting to work on it. >> governments need to play a role to pass legislation to enable this. texas had terrible voter turnout. we still have a second worst voting. we cannot get out of her own way. we need texas legislation to enable this. we cannot allow people to register to vote online in texas. register online. we can pay our taxes, we can pay with our credit cards at the supermarket but online voting registration is insecure or same-day registration. president obama: it is not insecure because the folks were currently governing the good state of texas aren't interested in having more people participate. [applause] so, obviously, you have to make a political argument about why this is important and not every

state will move along the same direction, but i will tell you that if we can create more and more models that show that if made easier more people vote and that it is seamless and secure. and, jurisdictions that are willing to adopt these new mechanisms are in place. if we were building more models of civic engagement and using the tools and technology we are doing that we are using to buy things, to participate in self-governance, then over time -- texas will never be an early adapter of what i'm talking about here. [laughter] but, over time, pressure builds systems that make government more responsive. >> let me say and talk about something you alluded to earlier

that they were a lot of people who don't like government, do not trust government. the hating onas, government capital of the western world. we hate government so much, we would rather have no government than we would have nobody to sue. change the perception that government can do good at a moment where people have decided ent obama: part of it is the fact that when government does break things, we take it for granted and it is not a story. every day, government is delivering for everybody in this room whether you know it or not. i can find the fiercest libertarian in the room who despises every level of government, thinks it is all corrupt, but they are checking the weather on their phone and lo and behold it turns out there is a government satellite out

there that is facilitating that. they seem really irritated if they cannot figure out if it is going to be 70 and sunny or 60 and rainy tomorrow. but, that is not recorded as government. we take for granted. of and geo-satellite systems. of course, we have special forces who are making sure that folks are not blowing up or our buildings. is to tell our task a better story about what government does. government is often its own itst enemy in the sense that has to also be more responsive where people interact in a direct way with government. i have said before that i can change the politics of america faster than just about anything

if i could just take control of all that dmv's in the country. because if somebody goes to get their license, it takes them to ours. wtwo hours. that's their impression of government. or if their primary interaction with government is the irs. you don't have a good association with government when you are writing that check. if we make it easier, if it is being done online, if suddenly capacity to interact with government in a way that also gives you some feedback about how your tax dollars are being spent or why this is important, so it is a two-way exchange as opposed to something that feels distant and

you have no control over, then people's attitudes change. here is the problem and this is why politics matters. who despise those government, oftentimes because the absence of government allows keep as muchte or money as they can or not have to answer to consumers who were complaining about their practices, if they are controlling those who are currently in government and government gets start in resources, then it can be a self reinforcing notion that government does not work because it is being start. ves. d. a great example of this -- i met with financial regulators this week to get a report back on how we are doing on wall street reform. one of the things that the left

and right agree on is after the financial crisis, nothing changed. folks on wall street who have done these terrible things and got away with it and we did not change the system. well, the truth of the matter is a lot changed. the banks have been forced to capitalize much more some of the shoddy practices have been shut down. we set up a consumer financial protection bureau that prevents some of the mortgage practices that have been ended up not only hurting individuals, but also destabilizing the entire system. derivatives now have to be set up on a clearinghouse platform that allows oversight in a way that did not exist before. the financial system is much more stable than it used to be and too big to fail is much

less likely because if some of body engages in reckless practices, we can unwind them without bringing down the entire system. >> why don't we know it then? president obama: first of all, that is not a story that is interesting to people. what is more interesting is a cynical view that terrible things happen and nothing got changed. that is how it gets reported both in popular culture and in the media. the second thing that happened -- where weis not still have work to do in this space. the main reason we have work to do is because this congress has prevented oversight agencies spc to befcc and the c able to enforce as much as they could some of the laws an

that have been put into place. we go back to the need of civic engagement. we cannot solve the problems in government and we cannot solve the problems we face collectively as a society unless we, the people, are paying attention. an age in which people are getting information through digital platforms, through the internet, where people's attention spans have shrunk, it is critical that all of you who are shaping this environment are spending time thinking about how are we getting people, citizens engaged? you yourselves have to be engaged and spent time thinking about it. it does not mean you have to do it full-time, run for office yourself, but it means whatever your field is, there is a way

right now for you to participate and take this democracy back in ways we have not seen in a long time. >> what you are preaching, mr. president -- [applause] will take issue with the idea of more civic engagement in a digital age, but the question is whether all of us in this country are in the same digital age. you are in a state that is seeing rapid change in its population. the hispanic majority. in this state and a lot of other states, the digital divide -- access to wi-fi, devices continues to be an enormous problem. 50% of adults in hispanic households do not have access to internet at home. 54% of african-americans have access, but many don't. many more white households have access to the internet. we know we have this massive digital divide in this country, in texas and elsewhere.

shouldn't the government before we provide civic engagement make sure that everybody is in the digital space first? [applause] president obama: that is exactly what we have been trying to do over the past several years. when we passed the recovery act, the stimulus, that was very controversial at the time, that continues to be criticized by factther party despite the that unemployment is now below 5%. we avoided a great depression. [applause] thanks, obama. [laughter] [applause] aut, but, embedded in that was massive investment in making sure that communities that have

been left out of broadband and wi-fi were reached. we have made enormous progress in extending more and more internet access, high-speed internet access to communities all across the country. a second example, we have set up something called connect ed. our goal, and we are on track to meet this by 2018, that 99% of classrooms have access to the wayed wireless and we have done that is through federal spending. but, what we have also done is partnered with an array of companies, private industry has really stepped up. so, part of the task, you are right, we have to make sure that given the power of the space, everybody is plugged in.

but, one of the great tricks to all of this is making sure that whatever government is doing is then supplemented with an enhanced by a private sector and not the profit sectors that are ready to step up. it is not just getting, you know, a line in or wi-fi. it is also training teachers. we have set up something called -- open book. somebody out here -- there you go. open e-books. [applause] i knew somebody in the audience knew it. to make sure kids in places that do not have a lot of books, suddenly they have access to this enormous new library and that that becomes folded into the mechanics and the

infrastructure. >> mr. president, very good. it is important to have large classrooms but part of the problem is 70% of homework assignment is given by teachers require some internet access. it is one thing to wire classrooms but the problem is homes. there was a story about a couple of kids, a brother and sister, standing outside their school building into the wee hours of the night having to do their homework on their phones using the wi-fi from their school after hours because they had no wi-fi at home. president obama: which is why we something called opportunity networks that will go into public housing, low income communities to make sure access is available for those young people to do the work. i'm trying to solve every problem. [applause] goal, io have a understand. president obama: these are it is notroblems, but

a matter of us passively waiting it.somebody else to solve that's part of the mindset that i'm trying to break. i tried to break it back in 2007-2008 when i ran for this office. as you will recall, the slogan was not yet i can, it was yes, we can. we could sit here and you can list out an array of problems, inequities that have to be addressed. one,i'm saying is, number government actually works better in so many areas than we give them credit because we tend to focus on those areas where it is not working as well. number two, part of the reason

that government does not always appear to provide a satisfactory solution is because government has to take on the hardest problems. the private sector does not have to figure out how to educate the poorest kids. the private sector does not have to figure out how to protect us from a terrorist cell. have aging, sick veterans, the private sector may not serve them as well or to figure out how to get homeless off the street. the toughest problems are government problems. finding solutions to those things can take time. you are never going to get 100% satisfaction the way you might get that perfect cup of coffee, the perfect latte, or the

perfect, the lowest price on your ticket to cancun. because these are harder problems. the third point i'm trying to make here is that if we can reconceived of our government so that the interactions and interplay between private sector and nonprofits and government useopened up and we know,logy data, you social media in order to join forces around problems, then there is no problem we face in this country that is not solvable. the key is to have incredible is gathered here to focus on it.

it is not enough just to focus on what the cool next thing is. part of what we have to do is figure out how do we use and harness the cool next thing to make sure everybody in this country has opportunity and make sure we are dealing with our environment. >> i want to harness the time we have. we have 10 minutes left. thank you. i took the baton. i have done this before. president obama: that was good. [laughter] >> we asked for questions from regular folks through the website. some are related to the topics we are talking about and some are not. i will quickly so we can use the time we have. some people wanted me to ask you about apple and the situation with them and the fbi. [applause] you are trying to persuade the tech community that they should work with government, but it looks like government is the enemy of the tech community in the way it is dealing with apple. the question of want to ask you

is putting aside the specifics of this specific case, the company and the fbi, there are big questions around the idea of how you balance the need for law enforcement to conduct investigations and the need for citizens to protect the privacy. this is the privacy versus security debate. where do you come down on the privacy versus security debate? president obama: first of all, i cannot comment on the specific case so let's set that aside. value our privacy and this is a society that is built on a constitution and a bill of rights and a healthy skepticism about overreaching government power. before smartphones were invented there isis day if

probable cause to think you have abducted a child or that you are oraging in a terrorist plot guilty of some serious crime, law enforcement can appear at your doorstep and say, we have a warrant to search her home and they can go into your bedroom and in your bedroom doors and rifle through your underwear to see if there is any evidence of wrongdoing. we agree on that because we recognize just like all of our other rights -- freedom of speech, religion -- there are going to be some constraints that we impose in order to make sure that we are safe, secure and living in a civilized society. now, technology is evolving so

rapidly that new questions are being asked. areof the view that there very real reasons why we want to make sure government cannot just willy-nilly get into everybody's iphones or smartphones that are full of very personal information and data. snowdenace it, the whole disclosure episode elevated people's suspicions of this. so did popular culture, by the way, which makes it appear as if i'm in the sit room and moving things. >> you have been watching "homeland." president obama: having the fingerprint. half an hour later, i'm tracking the guy. [laughter] >> it is not merely that cool? president obama: it does not

work that way. sometimes i'm just trying to get a connection. [laughter] [applause] issue.hat was a real i will say that, and i don't want to go too far off field, but the snowden issue vastly overstated the dangers to u.s. citizens in terms of spying because the fact of the matter is our intelligence agencies are pretty scrupulous about u.s. persons, people on u.s. soil, wha. what those disclosures did identify was excesses to people who are not in this country. a lot of those have been fixed. do not take my word for it. there was a panel that was constituted, an independent panel that graded all the reforms we set up to avoid those charges.

i understand that raised suspicions. we are concerned about privacy. we don't want government to be looking through everybody's phones willy-nilly without any oversight or probable cause or a clear sense it is targeted as somebody who might be a wrongdoer. what makes it even more complicated is we also want really strong encryption, because part of us preventing terrorism or preventing people from disrupting the financial system or our air traffic otherl system or a whole set of systems that are increasingly digitalized, hackers, state or non-state, can mess them up. we have two values, both of which are important. the question we now have to ask is if technologically it is

impenetrableake an device or system where the encryption is so strong that there is no key, no door at all, we apprehend the child pornographer, how do we solve a, or disrupt a terrorist plot, what mechanisms do we have available to even do simple things like tax enforcement? because if in fact you cannot crack that at all, government cannot get in, then everybody's walking around with a swiss bank account in their pocket. so, there has to be some concession to the need to be able to get into that information somehow. now, what folks who are on the

encryption side will argue is , even if itsoever is starting off as being directed at one device could be ended up being used on any device. that is the nature of these systems. that is a technical question. i'm not ia software engineer. it is, i think, technically true, but i think it can be overstated. the question now becomes we as a society -- setting aside this specific case between the fbi and apple. setting aside the commercial interests, the concerns about what could the chinese government do, even if we trust the u.s. government. setting aside all those questions, we have to make

decisions on how to balance these respective risks. and, i have a bunch of smart people talking about it, thinking about it. we have engaged the tech community aggressively to help solve this problem. what my conclusion so far is you cannot take an absolutist view on this. if your argument is strong encouragement no matter what and we can and should create black boxes . that i think does not strike the kind of balance that we have 300 years andr 200- homesfetishizing our above every other -- phones above every other value and i cannot be the right answer. i suspect the answer will come down to how we can create a system where the encryption is as strong as possible, the key is as secure as possible.

it is accessible by the smallest number of people possible for a subset of issues that we agree are important. how we design that is not something that i have the expertise to do, but i caution -- i am way on the civil liberties side of this thing. mccraven will tell you that i anguish a lot over the decisions we make in terms of how to keep this country safe. i'm not interested in overthrowing the values that have made us an exceptional and great nation simply for expediency. the dangers are real. maintaining law and order and a civilized society is important.

protecting our kids is important. i would caution against taking an absolutist perspective on this because we make compromises all the time. i haven't flown commercial in a while. [laughter] but, my understanding is it is not very fun going through security, but we make the concession because it is a very big intrusion on our privacy that we recognize it is important. we have stops for drunk drivers. intrusion but we think it is the right thing to do. this notion that somehow our data is different and can be walled off from those other trade-offs we make, i believe is incorrect. we do have to make sure given the power of the internet and how much our lives are digitalized that it is narrow

and constrained and there is oversight. i'm confident that this is something we can solve, but we are going to need the tech community, software designers, people who care deeply about this stuff to help us solve it, because what will happen is if everybody goes to the respective corners and the tech community says, you know what, either we have strong, perfect encryption or else it is a big brother, orwellian world, what you will find is after something really bad happens, the politics of this will swing and it will become sloppy and rushed and will go through congress in ways that have not been thought through. then, you were really have a dangerous threat to civil liberties because we do will not have done -- the people who

understand this best and care civilbout privacy and liberties will disengage or take a position that is not sustainable for the general public over time. >> sadly, the clock is telling me we are out of time. you give a great answer on that question and i'm happy to have that the last bit. thank you so much for being here. president obama: i'm the president so i will take one more minute. [applause] -- there areo say a number of different ways in which all of you can plug into what i have been talking about here today. so, if you are interested in figuring out ways to make government services work better, you can go to

whitehouse.gov or u.s. digital services and find out what they are doing. if you are interested in how we can make sure classrooms are properly connected, you can plug into what we are doing with connect ed. projects hasorite gotten started over the last several months is diapers are really expensive. we have actually set up a system whereby through social media and the internet, non for profit's purchases ofake diapers save 25% so they can distribute those two low income moms and families. convergence of diaper makers and logistic companies and internet companies. convened the thing

but it is not running through a government program. so, whatever you were interests in or whatever your passions are, concerns are, we need you. i want to underscore the fact that in 10 months, i will not have this office. it has been the great privilege of my life, but it is not like i stopped caring about the things i care about right now. it is not like i'm going to stop being involved in promoting the best, most prosperous, most peaceful, most tolerant, most ecologically responsible america that i can. i will be sitting in an audience with you. [applause] i expect you to step up and get

involved because the country needs you. if the brainpower and talent that is on display here today and throughout this conference takes up that baton, i'm going to be really confident about the future of this country. all right? thank you, guys. [applause] c-span's road to the white house continues with a donald trump rally in ohio live at 10 a.m. hillary clinton talking about economic opportunity in st. louis live at noon eastern. see both events on c-span. >> american history tv on c-span3. this weekend, today at 6 p.m. eastern, edward ayers looks at the end of the civil war and the don of the reconstruction era. >> i think we can see the first convergence of them roads that will become reconstruction in the summer of 1864.

especially august 1864. that is a strangely specific date, i realize, so let me see of i can make a case for you. at the beginning of the summer of 1864, no president of the united states had won a second term since andrew jackson. isn't that amazing? >> at 7:00 am of the congressional gold medal ceremony to recognize the contributions of foot soldiers during the civil rights movement. >> over 50 years ago, a preacher and educator, reverend frederick douglass, as president as the dallas county voters league, invited reverend martin luther king, and the members of the southern christian leadership conference to help lead selma's voting rights protest. today, the american people and their congressional representatives bestow the

congressional gold medal upon the courageous foot soldiers who dared to march in the 1965 voting rights movement. >> sunday morning at 10:00, from 1988 presidential campaign of new york republican congressman jack kemp as he answers questions. conservativeve values and conservative on progressivey, i'm with regard to my belief in the republican party being a lincoln party, a party of black and white, blue collar, white collar, all people. i call it progressive conservative to differentiate myself. >> at 4 p.m. eastern on real america, for the 50th anniversary of the gemini eight manned space mission, we will show the 1966 nasa film "gemini eight." >> expert sit down and analyze the flight.

they know it is a three-day mission. poses is thepersons iur first docking in space and a two hour spacewalk. >> for the complete american history tv weekend schedule, go to c-span.org. now, the funeral for former first lady nancy reagan. the service was held at the ronald reagan presidential library in seamy valley, -- simi valley, california. among those speaking at the service, brian mulroney, tom brokaw, and the children of the former president and first lady. this is just over three hours.