graduate. he just finished his sophomore year. so the direction life has changed. they still live in this troubled community but their mother told me that when i saw the children in that community these -- be successful in school, it changed how people felt about the community. there were changes in people's lives. we found not only that it changed the child, who is the recipient of the scholarship program, but it changes the parents and what they see as every parent wanting their children to be better than they did. it also changes the community. that was kind of a bonus to us, going out and seeing how everybody embraced the kids in the scholarship program in every community we visited. we also had wonderful experience

of jordan light. -- jordan white. she was not necessarily a bad student. she was just really bored. she told me when she was in seventh grade, that her teachers did not get her. i remember thinking what does , that mean? she said they just do not get me. they do not understand what i need. she got a scholarship and also went to georgetown i believe and graduated the top of her class and her study was japanese studies. she went to oberlin. a little african-american kid from washington dc majoring in japanese studies. graduated from oberlin and for , the last two years, she has been a translator for a japanese company in japan.

her mother went over to visit for the first time in japan. she called me when she got back and said, i'm just amazed at how well my child is doing. those are the kinds of stories we hear over and over again. children who had access to scholarships just took a different journey. parents were happy about with we -- what they were doing and were more excited. my own child graduated valedictorian. this child, people told me, i remember when he was about 12, someone suggested i might want to send him to an institution because he was just out there and not doing well and breaking all the rules. he turned out to be a fine young man. the best example of what the program has done for the children of the district that i have had exposure to is tiffany,

a young woman raised by her grandmother for whatever reason, and told me when she was 13 that she had to be the hope of her family, and i did not understand that. what do you mean? as she talked, i found out she had lost a cousin through violence, who had been the hope their family, and she felt like -- the hope of their family, and she felt like she had to take on the role. she was there by herself applying for a scholarship. we had worked to help her get through it, but she brought herself there and was determined that she would really do well in life, and tiffany got a scholarship to syracuse, went to syracuse, did well, and i lost

track of her, and about a year ago, i got a message on facebook that says, i found you. i caught her and found out that not only had tiffany finished undergrad, but she was working on her phd, and she got her phd in june, june 23. so last month. and i remember thinking, that is just the c thing i've ever seen in my life. you know, when i lost track of tiffany, i thought when i would reconnect with her, that she would finish college, i never thought she would go further. so i was delighted to find out. in talking with these young men and women now, what i find is they get what an opportunity they have, they understand what a chance they have to make it in the world. they totally understand that had

it not been a chance to go to school that best serve them, their journeys would have totally different. that pleases may. -- pleases me. more and more of the kids coming back and talking to us and telling us what is going on in their lives, we started realizing we need to find out what they are doing. i'm constantly happy when i make a connection with a parent, that the child is doing something extraordinary. we see it more and more these days. as i go around the country, i see the same thing. all of the scholarship programs that are out there and i meet the children and i meet the parents, i see there is a specialness about understanding they had an opportunity that

other people oftentimes do not get. i have become a milton friedman follower watching what happens with these children. i did not know who milton friedman was when i first got into this. i got involved as a parent and i wanted to see kids do well. period. as time has gone on, i understand it. we have got to be a part of making sure that every child is in a place where they can thrive, where they can store -- soar, and watching the young people in dc that i have kept in touch with, has been an incredible reward for a hard-fought battle here in dc it continues to be a hard-fought battle and we will continue to fight because we had tiffany and carlos and calvin and jordan and many other children who will

stand up and say, i understand why it is so important, never when i asked them to come back and speak with in programs never do they say no. they get it. they understand. we will continue to work with those students and remember what dr. friedman said. for every student that receives the scholarship, they receive success in life. that was important. that is what he said to me. he encouraged me to continue fighting for kids. hearing dr. friedman say, keep fighting, you know, enough to keep me going for a long time. that is what we have to continue to do. the research always excites me , and i always have a copy of the book somewhere around because i want people to see that i am not just telling

stories, so the research supports what we see happening out here with the children. that is what we have to continue to work on. thank you. [applause] jonathan: good afternoon. imd education director at the goldwater in two, which is headquartered in phoenix arizona, but active around the country and preserving limited government and protecting individual liberty. i know as we talk about dr. milton freeman, he would be so proud that his legacy means, as well as the research and numbers that support the movement, that we are all a part of, that is a powerful legacy. as my presentation comes up, take a moment now.

we will go to kenya where john operates an otherwise nondescript real estate and transportation company. he uses what may be the most advanced way to send and receive money in the world. a telecommunications company created it in 2007 and anyone in kenya with a cell phone can use the program to deposit money and pay bills and transfer funds to family and friends. he also uses the program to pay employees and transfer money to customers. he explains when one of the vehicles breaks down, he does not have to run the risk of carrying large amount of cash to remote areas. he says call me, tell me your call me, tell me your problem

and how much you need, and i will text it. i do not need to go to the bank when i have the bank in my phone. we remember milton freeman today and his last and legacy and parental choice in education. what does a mobile banking system in kenya, halfway around the world, have to do with how u.s. children learn? with that let's come back to arizona where, in 2011, the goldwater institute along with our partners at the friedman foundation the american federation for children, , heritage foundation, past the nation's first education savings account program. with an account, the state deposits a portion of child funds from the district formula in a private bank account that parents used to make educational -- to purchase educational products and services for their children. in arizona, education savings account parents use a visa card to pay for personal tutors for their children, educational therapists, online classes

private tuition, textbooks, and save for college, to mention a few possible uses. in some cases parents will find a tutor or therapist for their child, and the provider will swipe across the top of their iphone, just like they do with taxi or some restaurants. the dizzying map with qualifying tax rates, support level and more, terms that probably mean about as much to you as it does to an arizona parent, when all they want to do is find a quality experience for the child, has met its match. thank you. with the research that lindsay and i have conducted, we found approximately one third of arizona families using an education savings account do in fact make multiple decisions simultaneously with their child 's account.

the families are using the accounts as intended. take the idea of a voucher and transform it from a check or a coupon and put it into a flexible spending account. today, nearly one in five students assigned to an air is -- arizona public school are eligible for a savings account. a quarter million children in the state of arizona. that is not all. today, tennessee announced the opening of their enrollment period for education accounts for children with special needs. that law was passed last year. last friday, nevada courts -- would be available to every public school child in the state of nevada, half a million children. overall, as the pie chart shows across five states, nearly one , million children are eligible for savings accounts in just five years in 2011. -- since 2011.

dr. friedman would be proud. as posted on their blog a few years ago, dr. friedman once said the purpose of vouchers is to enable parents to have free choice, and the purpose is to allow the educational industry to get out of the 17th century and get into the 21st century. he went on to say why not let parents pardon the voucher for math in one place and english and science somewhere else. functionally different from vouchers and providing more choices for education and scholarship, they do just that. the program is growing in arizona, having doubled in size every year since inception. you can see here. in the coming year participation will be close to double once again. let's go back to kenya and what was significant. it is widely knowledged kenya is the world leader in mobile

money. more people are using mobile money there than anywhere else in the world. 20 million kenyans use this service. across the country, with 60 minutes calls a giant grade of human atm's. the u.s. here, we have been slow to respond to the growth in mobile banking. for the sake of time, we will run through a couple of reasons why. for more information, please see information available online. it is available on my twitter page. on facebook, it is there as well. if you do not use any of those there is no hope for you. [laughter] in the u.s., there is not enough payment terminals at merchants. we simply do not have enough hardware. banks are largely skeptical of the new technology and have been slow to adopt it into their practices.

we need a sizable threshold of users for mobile banking in order for larger companies like banks to take advantage of the way technology is changing. we are a highly banked population in the united states. kenya's system was a solution to help what is, what was largely in on banked population. this flexibility and access provided to families around the country, and in these five stations mentioned earlier, they are moving us closer to a day when a child reaches a school age, instead of being assigned to a local school district getting a letter in the mail saying what school you are assigned to, we are getting close to the day where you hand the family and account from which they can choose a public school or private school service, pay for online classes, all the things mentioned before, even pay for massive online

courses at a tremendous discount. data from the u.s. federal reserve this is the next graph , that demonstrates how kenya is in fact a leading the world in global payment technology. -- mobile payment technology. this chart was similar to something done by the economist several years ago. data was not available but you can see kenya is outpacing even nations like china. so why now and why does it matter for us today? data from the u.s. federal reserve indicates the millennial generation, read about age 18 to somewhere around mid 30's, that two groups on your left here they are the generation most prepared for such a transition from the old school method to a new method of using account -based technology to provide a

learning experience for their child. these data come from a fourth installment looking at using mobile devices for financial services. the current and future generation of parents and workers are more likely to own a smartphone as you see up here in the chart, far more like the in many cases. they are also more likely to use the smartphone for mobile banking, here in the past 12 months. you can see the green bars. also making mobile payments with a smartphone. obviously, still outnumbered but you can see in the graph that the younger generation, we are likely using mobile technology already to make transactions. we are actually not so far away from these convenient mobile payment systems as it may make the united states same. -- seem. arkansas has partnered with a company that specializes in designing smartphone applications for public services

called the national information consortium, the company that created a mobile app that allows for personal property and real estate tax payments, so residents can use the app to pay their taxes. in missouri, the state enables child-support deposits and payments to debit cards through a partnership with visa. there are the education savings accounts i described earlier in arizona. in nevada, where the program has been suspended in court due to a lawsuit from the aclu, lawmakers are planning to take the next step, even further, with a n education savings account. benefit wallet to manage education financing. they are a health savings account company, they are a subsidiary of xerox. they serve 2 million hsa's around the country, they have

$1.74 billion in assets. the point being this was an established company taking interest in the movement in the education space. in an interview for my report, the nevada treasure staff explained there were deaths the -- their system had key differences from those in another state. in arizona, parents report the spending quarterly or they reported to the state department of education, which then reviews the expenses to make sure they are in line with the law. families will only receive the next education savings account deposit to use for their children once officials have confirmed all of the families purchases. arizona can protect against fraudulent uses of the account and keep them from shredding -- spreading every quarter. it is good but it does not stop bad transactions from happening. arizona's agency conducts audits for parents and students after they use the account, after the fiscal quarter.

in nevada, educational vendors must first register. to initiate a payment, a mobile app on a device or a computer. or by visiting a learning provider. in order for an education savings account purchase to be completed benefit wallets checks to make sure the merchant has registered to participate. they then directly from the state for the transaction. all of this is happening in the mobile banking behind the scenes and parents will never have to see it. this is taking place so parents do not have to worry about it. furthermore, nevada's multistep process is meant to prevent them -- fraudulent purchases from occurring in the first place. this is potentially an improvement over arizona's methods.

it is effective at identifying fraud after it has occurred. it does not prevent account holders for making the mistake in the first place. notably, in the first ever audit performed by the state general they recommended that arizona's department of education do more to put the reporting process put it online and have invention -- prevention tools online, like an online forum to prevent misuse, for example. the auditor was pushing arizona's agency into the future and more reliable systems and checking thousands of expenses by hand. for now, a combination of checking by hand and expenses with online register that bank of america created for arizona. nevada is just beginning to benefit this partnership, the potential for seamless mobile -- mobile payments ineducation is notably closer. last year, i met a gentleman, a phd living and working in reno

nevada, and he operates a tutoring service in the state. we were attending a hearing about what rules would be covering the process in nevada. the process i explained earlier about how educators will need to register with the state, it is interesting. it turns out his company is part of a network of tutors that he has a colleague in, of all places, phoenix, arizona. his affiliate there provides services using the education savings account. you can see vendors providing the services to children are operating in states all over the country. when the partners wanted to make it easier for the canyons to transfer money, they had no choice but to be creative. we had no roadmap but created solutions we went on a pilot slated to take several months took almost two years.

state lawmakers that have enacted or are considering an education savings account and are taking similar ambitious steps. such courage has already benefited thousands of students around the country. we had to take the great ideas from dr. friedman and others who had been around for many years and create a whole new concept where parents have multiple choices and can make multiple decisions at one time. policymakers should integrate solutions into payment platforms for the education savings accounts. lawmakers should take advantage of the existing relationship with financial institutions like benefit wallets to expedite the availability of mobile payment systems like other services so that consumers and parents of school-aged children can take advantage of them. the effects of such policies can only multiply. as "the economist" explains, having an established base of initial users, they then

benefited from the network effects. the more people who used it, more people sign up for it. educational service providers can benefit from these effects that helped kenya's program grow so quickly. the future of learning is an exciting and hopeful place for students of all walks of life. every child should have access to an education savings account in the same way every child has access to a public school. the future is full of opportunity, and we cannot get there fast enough. thank you. [applause] >> thank you all. i want to say a few quick words because we are here in d.c. on what we can do on the federal level to advance these exciting options. we've heard about the research, we have heard real life stories, we have heard about innovative options like education savings accounts, but can we advance these ideas at the federal level, particularly if we recall

what milton friedman said about what happens when you put the federal government in charge of anything. that famous quote of if you put the feds in charge of the sahara desert, in five years, there would be a shortage of sand. that is often attribute it to him. should we put something as important as a school choice program in the hands of federal policymakers? i will walk through a couple of options for doing that really quickly. if we think about education financing, the vast majority of that financing comes from state and local taxpayers, derived from state and local taxpayers. about 40% of that comes from the state level, roughly, so depending on what state you are in, maybe 30, and then we have the remaining 10% that comes from the federal level. we have about 90% coming from state and local taxpayers about 10% from washington.

as a practical matter, if we want to advance choice options it has to come from states and localities. beyond that, there are concerns rightfully, about federalism issues about public schools and private schools and charters and the impact of regulations as the result of federal options expanding. having said that, there are quite a few options that are entirely appropriate at the federal level to consider when thinking about how to advance choice. i want to walk through five of those. the d.c. opportunities scholarship program, the voucher program that virginia spoke about a few minutes ago and how life-changing it has been. i will talk more about it. the obama administration has tried to phase out that program almost every single year. it is still here and going strong and fighting. thinking about expanding that program. thinking about transitioning the district of columbia and its

entirety which is under the jurisdiction of congress into an all education savings account district. instead of funding traditional public schools in d.c., making all that funding student centered and affordable. education schools, providing education savings accounts to those days. title i portability we will talk about and a second. a corollary to that, which is portability of ide a -- idea funding to students with special needs. kids get adventure of between about $8,000 to about $12,000 depending on if they are in an elementary school or a high school student. there are approximately 1244 children who are benefiting. we have about five applicants for every available scholarship.

high demand for this. the average household income, and you know this is not much, $21,000 per year. these are low income children who are benefiting. i mentioned a second ago that the obama administration has tried to phase out this program year after year. we see it happen almost every year when the presidents budget comes out. this is zeroed out in the budget. that has been a real travesty. it is a school choice option right in the president's backyard that was he singled out every year. this is a student in the program. we ran some advertising when it was jeopardized a few years ago. it was successful in union station and the buses around the city. there is an important reason to think about not only retaining this but expanding it.

we went through all the information about the impact of the dcosp. if you keep the 20% graduation rate increase in mind, and you think about how funding is structured, it is -- one of our colleagues who does the foundation for excellence in education, he talks about how difficult it should be for us to justify educational financing in the district. he says the system, and by that he means the d.c. public school system, routinely spends $29,400 per year, that is revenue per pupil, routinely brings in $29,400 per pupil for high income students. it provides $14,000 a year for high income students to attend public charter schools, but only mx thumb of $8,000 to $12,000

for low income students who would like to attend a private school system using an opportunity scholarship program that increases their chance of graduating high school by 21%. he's right, that's a financing system that should be incredibly difficult for us to justify. think about -- or member the fact that he is under the jurisdiction of congress. transitioning the district into an all esa district. where all spending is student centered and portable in the form of an education savings account, which jonathan described earlier. you could use those funds for private tuition, online learning, or a whole host of other providers. so, the third option -- i said i would be quick, too. if you think about bureau of indian affairs schools, i don't know if anyone saw this article in politico six month ago.

the title says it all -- how washington created some of the worst schools in america. it's an apt title. in the article they said the network of schools for native american children run by an obscure agency of the interior department remains arguably the worst school system in the united states. a disgrace that the government has known known about for 8 decades. they have some of the lowest test scores and graduation rates in the country. even as the education they are getting is the nation's most expensive. that's a direct quote from politico. you get a chance to read that expose and i urge you to do so. if you look at it, it takes the reading scores for native american children who attend

bureau of indian affairs schools, 182 on the reading exam. to put that in perspective their native american peers in public schools scored 207 on average and reading. that's the equivalent of about two grade levels and reading -- in reading for the kids. half of these children that attend bureau of indian affairs schools actuate. you heard about how important graduating high school is? funding for those schools is almost entirely federal. we are, again, in a unique position to think about transforming that funding into an education savings account. the department of ed funds spend $830 million a year for the 48,000 children who attend the schools. $16,000 per child.

lastly, i would just note title i affordability, we spend about $15 billion per year on title i. title i of the elementary and secondary education act, all of the federal funding in the k-12 district. there are maybe seven experts across the country who could tell you how a title i spending formula works and whether or not funding will actually make it to a child in poverty. so, thinking about doing a set per pupil allocation per child in giving states the option -- which is critical, giving states the option to make those dollars affordable to follow a child to -- a child to any school or provider of choice. the same could be said with disabilities education act funding. giving states the affordability option there is well. i've already mentioned dr. matthew, but i think he's got some of the best ideas on reforming education.

another shout out, he says we think about the traditional school voucher model, a great model, we can sort of think about it like the rotary phone. it did this technology really well, but it did this one technology. the thing about a voucher is that it the ability to go to a single private school choice, a lifeline for the students who get it, but it's sort of where the flexibility ends. not only do they do that one technology really well, like the rotary phone -- i felt making it akin to an iphone, it's more like facetime, but they do all of these other things. all of these applications that you can get on your iphone. you can hire a private tutor. purchase special ed services. textbooks, curricula. and you can pay for private school tuition, rollover funds year-to-year. it really is the next generation of education choice. notice, we hardly ever say school choice anymore, as we've so refined that thinking.

just a quick recap, those five items, the d.c. opportunity scholarship program, school expansion, converting the district into an all esa program, giving the bureau of indian education affairs programs savings accounts, and both title i and ida funding are five smart options of the federal level that could advance and could achieve goals we've heard about today. thank you. [applause] >> thank you so much for our panel. we now have a few minutes for questions. does anyone have questions? we have microphones floating around. we would be happy to answer them. >> hi, there. [indiscernible] my friend, jason russell sitting next to me, recently wrote a piece about the

prospects for the next administration's potential education secretary. obviously, we know that hillary clinton has had some very flattering things about teachers unions [inaudible] -- more how you see her potential victory influencing what the fight would look like. ms. burke: i can only speak to the policy. not the interesting parts of your question that you brought up. i would say that from a purely policy perspective, i think that moving forward no matter what happens in the next few months it will be frustrating to see the types of progress we have seen in the states not continue to advance. for whatever reason it might eat. whether it's a continuing union stranglehold, or anything else

that might come our way. the progress that mary clare described earlier, in state after state advancing not only choice options, but innovative options like education savings accounts, that would be a real travesty to see that boarded. having said all of that, i'm hopeful. we are frankly at a tipping point. every year now heritage puts out in index of opportunity collected by use of school choice options across the country. every year that data looks better and better. i think we are almost at a tipping point when it comes choice.

i would say that no matter what happened forward, that that sort of tsunami of choice is going to overwhelm. pretty soon most states, most people in most states will be able to look around and say -- hey, how come i don't have access to choice? if i'm in texas and oklahoma doesn't make it happen? we can say -- hey. i'm eternally optimistic. if anyone else has anything to add to that? >> washington deals with a huge amount of money when it comes to education, but it's the states where you live. to the extent that states can determine their own destiny and provide programs like education safety accounts? there is still a place for state lawmakers to be well aware of what is out there and what they need to do to give children quality opportunities. that will be really important, regardless of the shifting sands in washington of what has been regarded. >> education choice, and our event of the night, they said they were going to do bigger and better things and make sure that

those plans continue to happen and we will keep moving forward because children and parents are demanding that. >> what we have seen recently with the every student succeeds act, there is a strong political and policy movement towards decentralization. education has been a state and local policy. no child left behind was a bit of an aberration. and now with esa, there's a strong -- strong pushback to decentralization and delegating. nothing is more complete in the education field and placing the decision in the hands of parents. i think it would be difficult to take that away from so many families in so many states across the country.

>> hi, i work for the federation of children. thank you for advancing the policy idea of creating esa opportunities for students relegated to the horrible bie schools. the american federation for children put out a mini documentary yesterday called american underdog, students in crisis. it showed hopefully the whole country the horrible situation and conditions that these children are stuck in at these schools. i encourage you to watch the video and understand the crisis there. i heard you say that when you first started talking to d.c. parents, they didn't realize they could have a voice in this area? i'm wondering if maybe then the

parents stuck in these buie- ie schools feel that way. what do you suggest for families who didn't know they could have a voice? ms. walden ford: thank you. that's a really good question. when we started off parent said that they never realized that they could complain, could speak out, could be advocates for their children. that's something that we really encourage them to do. you have to be advocates for your children. in this case it goes beyond the low income of parents in the d.c. who are african-american. i've had some experience with native american families i think that spending time talking to parents, saying to them that you have had every opportunity every right to speak out on behalf of your children as americans, that's kind of a week

constantly told that over and over again until they do have every right. we have to go back to the fundamental way of dealing with parents that we started in the 1990's. most parents that we dealt with early on said -- we have never been told that we could speak out. to the contrary, people told us to get away. we run this. once parents understood that they had a chance -- that's how we were able to organize so many. we said to them over and ove's your right. these are your children. you can tell people what you want and i think that's what has to be done in this case, but even harder. because those circumstances -- i'm from arkansas, i'm close enough to oklahoma.

i've seen really bad situations. so. >> we have time for one more question. >> one choice we didn't talk about today was [indiscernible] essentially a program funded by individuals for corporate tax credit. i'm wondering, did milton friedman the talk about that before his death? if not, what would he think about it? they take money away from the public schools, whereas that's not really the case with this scholarship that is funded entirely separately. ms. burke: so, i say bring it all on whatever it is. there are huge benefits.

there are also some limitations, as with any option out there. if you are a state trying to phase out your income tax, for example. i think it's important for states to be just like us, all of the above quickly the 700 level course -- course on school choice where we get to the point were you have a tax credit funded education account. if you are in a state that has a restrictive amendment with compelled support clause, the something to be said for the tax support route. prof. wolf: our privately run tax scholarship programs, when we look at the results separately the test impact were somewhat higher really

-- for the government voucher programs. we think the reason was that the funding was significantly higher. i don't think that there's any problem with the mechanism. it's just that it tends to be a smaller resource for families and therefore don't deliver as much terms of test scores. i think we would see the same results that we see with voucher programs. ms. burke: funding follows the kid, but i think that's a feature that milton would have called the future, a competitive pressure placed on the public system. obviously can't speak for friedman, but he would be supportive of that scholarship level as well. mr. butcher: and why would you

do that once the child have left? >> great, thank you all for coming here today and for your great, insightful questions. please join me in thanking our panelists. [applause] [laughter] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016]

>> "washington journal" live every day with issues that impact you. later this morning, jobs numbers. we talk about the numbers, which show a strong hiring rate for the second consecutive month. jonathan greene, an author discusses the evolution and impact of third parties in the u.s. from the anti-slavery liberty party to ross perot's

reform party of the 1990's. watch "washington journal" this morning. join the discussion. >> hillary clinton spoke at a conference of black and hispanic journalists in washington, d.c. she also takes questions from the audience about immigration in the e-mail server controversy. donald trump declined an invitation to speak at the same conference. this is 45 minutes. ♪ >> good morning.

i'm so pleased to be here. i want to thank you all for the invitation, the introduction, to everyone associated with nab j and an eight hj -- nahj. , to mark the moment because you were created in this hotel. i don't know if there are any original founders, but if there are, could you please stand up so we could give you some recognition. [applause] i am delighted to thank you for the important work to do every day and now more than ever we need you to keep holding leaders and candidates accountable and in the tradition of pathbreaking

journalists like ethel payne and ruben salazar, we need you to make sure that america's front pages and nightly newscasts and online information reflects the great diversity of our nation. someone i had the privilege of knowing, the late, great bob maynard, former owner of the oakland tribune once said, and i quote it is in seeing ourselves whole that we can begin to see ways of working out our differences of understanding our similarities in becoming a more cohesive nation. that is what you do every day helping us to see ourselves as whole, looking for to the discussion which i'm sure will cover a wide range of issues but i want to take just a few minutes to focus on account that does not get enough attention of

the i've been trying and that is how do we expand economic opportunity for african-americans and latinos across america? you know very well it has been said that with the economy catches a cold, communities of color get pneumonia. the great recession hit our whole country hard but the toll was especially difficult for black and latino family's. black wealth was cut in half. the latinos it dropped 66%. that represented decades, even generations of hard work. during these past 18 months people across our country had described to me how hard it has been to get back on their feet

in an economy that is still not working the way we all want to see. and there is a systemic racism makes that even harder. i believe that president obama does not get the credit he deserves for leading us out of the great recession. [applause] i like to remind people he had nothing with -- to do with creating it in the first place. he came to office in the worst of all financial crisis since the great depression. i think if you fairly look at the record, you have to conclude that his leadership save us from a great depression. as bad as things became, 5 million jobs lost, 13 trillion dollars lost, as bad as it was there's no telling how power --

far down we would have gone without his leadership. we are out of the ditch that we were in and now we have to do more. we have to but on the progress. 20 million people now have health insurance did not have it. we have to have the will and the plan together to move forward that is why i proposed a comprehensive new commitment to african-americans and latino committees to make serious sustained investment to make more good paying jobs. support black and latino owned businesses. for me these are not just economic issues, they are part of a long continuing struggle for civil rights.

rosa parks open at every seat on the bus. yet expand economic opportunities for everyone can afford it. we have to make sure the bus or every neighborhood and connect families with safe and affordable housing. we have to help every family afford books computers and internet access that our kids need to learn the 21st century. in my first 100 days, we will work with both parties to pass the biggest investment in good paying jobs since world war ii. that includes jobs in manufacturing, manufacturing clean energy. small businesses and infrastructure. and if we invest in infrastructure, we will not only create jobs today, we will lay the foundation for the jobs of the future.

we are also going to focus on creating jobs in communities where unemployment remains stubbornly high after generations of underinvestment and neglect. i'm a big fan of congress meant jim clyburn's 102030 plan. 10% of federal investment to neighborhoods where 20% of the population has been living below the poverty line we need that kind of focus, targeted investment entered in places, whenever americans have been left out and left behind. we also going to invest in criticality and people. there's a big gap here. ---- the unappointed rate a young among latino and african-american youth is significant higher than for whites.

we are going to help get that first job so they can get the second job and build a good, solid middle-class life that will give them and their families a better future. we are also going to do more to help black and latino entrepreneurs have access to capital so they have a real chance at turning their ideas into thriving businesses. i think that is not only good for the austin, it is good for their families, their workers in achilles. additionally, as part of our end to end reform of the criminal justice system, we are to help people succeed when they return home from jail or prison. we are going to ban the box so they can be judged by their skills and talents, not by their

past. and we will dedicate $5 billion to provide training and support to returning citizens so they can get a good paying job. and i first 100 days, to introduce legislation for comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship and settling the right to do, every independent analysis shows it will add hundreds of billions of dollars to our economy and will also keep families together. we need to bring hard-working people out of the shadows. america has always been a place where people from around the world or card and apply the talent to american growth and innovation in pursuit of their own dreams. you will do everything we can to get this done. we need to build an economy and a future that every american can

be proud of and be a part of. in economy that works for everyone not just those at the top. that will be my mission as president. these are just some of the highlights of my plan. i will hope you will go to my website, hillary clinton.com to read the details. including how we are going to pay for everything i've proposed. and i hope you will compare what i'm proposing what might opponent is talking about. here is one measure you could use that comparison, an independent economist recently cap related that if my agenda for jobs and growth is but into place, our economy would create at least 10.4 million jobs

within four years. we actually think it could be more than that. this economist also ran the numbers on donald trump including his disasters and inhumane plans to round up and deport millions of hard-working immigrants. the result, according to the economic advisor to john mccain during his 2008 front for presidency, the result of doldrums plan would be a lengthy recession with 3.4 million jobs lost. of course, donald trump problems go far beyond economic. at every turn he stokes division

and resentment. he says horrible things about one group of americans after another. he is back to the most shameful chapters of our history and appealing to be ugly impulses of our society. you know the list, he reported on it. he started this campaign but it's coming mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists. he retweets white nationalists. he has a distinguished federal judge can be trusted because he is of mexican heritage. he talks about banning muslims from coming to the united states, a land built on religious freedom. and yes, he also talked about curtailing press freedom as well. we need to stand up as a country and say that donald trump does not represent who we are and what we believe. that is what my campaign, tim kaine and i and everyone supporting us is doing every

day. we're going to keep at it because i believe with all my heart that america is better than this. america is better than donald trump. we just launched in all spanish twitter account because they want to bring as many americans as possible into this conversation. we've opened offices in every state because we want to compete everywhere. we want to bring our message and our vision to all corners of the country. we can't do it alone. everyone, republican democrat, independent news to stand up and speak out. i think journalists have a special responsibility to our democracy and a time like this. as i do b wells once said, people must know before they can act and there is no educator to compare to the press. many of you are showing the way. it is a badge of honor when jorge ramos gets thrown out of a press conference for challenging donald trump. [applause] or when another is organization gets banned for reporting what he said. as jorge said, the best you know some happened when you take a stand, when you denounce injustice. i hope you will keep calling it like you see it. keep holding all of us accountable. i have laid out all of these plans and i'm well aware that i have been sometimes made fun of

for putting out these plants about the economy and education and criminal justice reform and health care and guns and all the rest of it. you have this idea that when you run for president, you ought to tell the voters of america what you would do as president. i am going to keep telling you what i would do because i want you to hold me accountable president citizens alike. the stakes are as high as they've ever been in our lifetime. we all have to do our part. thank you for what you do every day, thank you for inviting me to address you today and i look forward to taking some of your questions. thank you all very much. [applause] >> please welcome moderator kristin walker. white house correspondent for nbc news and national correspondent for telemundo.

. [applause] >> good afternoon to all of you. what an honor to be here. it is fantastic to see so many people gathered here for this great conversation. we will have with secretary clinton. thank you for being here today. we really appreciate it. usually i am on the campaign trail with secretary clinton. it is great to be able to have this conversation this afternoon. >> thank you so much for a company knows. some questions, so little time. i think we should just get to it. you alluded to the topic that i want to ask about, latinos are very much concerned about the economy from their concerned about education, they also believe in trustworthiness. i'll to start with a topic that i believe will result, the

future of it after this election, this immigration reform. many latinos are discouraged by the lack of immigration reform. they believe their vote has been taken for granted. we know what your position is. what i would like you to is walk us through the steps, how will you get immigration reform, something that president obama was unable to do so that latinos can believe that something is going to happen, that their vote is not being taken for granted considering that the house will remain under republican control. >> great question. one that i have given much thought to. i determined we are going to comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship. here is how i see it. first of all, we're going to start immediately. i want this to be a clear, high priority for my administration.

we will be prepared to introduce legislation as quickly as we can do so. i am hoping that the outcome of the election, which i am working hard to ensure a victory will send a clear message to our republican friends that it is time for them to quit standing in the way of immigration reform. if you remember after the 2012 election, the republican national committee did what they call an autopsy of their loss and concluded that they could not continue to deny the importance of immigration reform and they urged republicans running for office to get on board. that has not turned out the way that they seem to have hoped. we have instead a republican nominee who has been

anti-immigrant. there is nothing like winning to change minds. i think number one, we have a good chance of having a democratic senate. if everybody does what i hope they will do and vote for democratic candidates for the senate. i believe we will pick up some seats in the house and at least, if not take it back, near the numbers. if we move in the senate and demand that there be a vote in the house, i'm convinced that if the bipartisan bill that had been achieved in the senate, remember when marco rubio was for it and people worked hard and achieved it, if it had been allowed to come for a vote in the house committee would have passed. i view the political landscape as increasingly favorable to us

making this happen. i will also depend president's executive action. i like he was disappointed with the supreme court decision but remember what it did, it sent the case back to be tried. it did not determine the case. they are still alive. donald trump has said that his first acts as president would be to eliminate every executive order that president obama has signed, including those on immigration issues. i will defend them while i work vigorously for immigration reform. i proposed an office of immigration affairs for the white house. so that we are able to answer questions and provide information and help people. i will take a very hard look at the deportation prior to, my -- priorities.

my priorities are violent criminals, people suspected of any connection to terrorism, not hard-working mothers and fathers and people who go to work to help support the economy and pay $12 billion a year to social security. we will take a hard look at that. we will close private detention centers just like i want to and -- and -- end private prisons. i have a very active agenda and we will be moving on it and i believe, and obviously it depends upon the outcome of this election, which is why it is so important to register more voters, my campaign is try to register 3 million more voters, convince people to turn out because we are going to start early and we will be tenacious and absolutely committed to getting a positive result and i think the chances once they win -- we went -- win will improve dramatically.

>> you spoke about the deportation. president obama has been called the the portrait chief -- the port -- deprorter in chief. you have alluded to your priority of criminals. how do you walk back the deportation. people who are not criminals deported daily from this country. how do you walk back to deportations, comply with the law and not inherit the title of deported and chief? at the same time, all of these steps to help mobilize the latino community, many who still believe that their vote is taken for granted in 2008, 2012, and we have the e-mails from wikileaks that say they are the loyalty brand of the party. mrs. clinton: i think that the president was committed to immigration reform. that is for the recently got the bipartisan bill passed in the senate. and what we did not get was in the political pressure to turn that bill into a voting issue in

the 2010 midterm election. here is one of my frustrations people turn out to vote for presidential elections and then often don't for midterm elections. [applause] we lost a lot of the leverage because we lost the house of representatives. nothing happens easily or quickly in modern politics in america. here's what i know. as i have said, we are not going to be deporting hard-working people and break up families. i have been on record for a year and a half about this and that will be how i direct the department of homeland security to act. we are going to push on immigration reform and i will need not only a considerable vote in november, but i will need people across our country to make it clear to their elected representatives that

they're going to be held accountable for how they are going to act on immigration. if we put enough organizing and political effort into this, i am optimistic and i believe we can get this done. it will not happen simply because we want it and i can only say that i will give you my very best effort and i would do everything i can to help elect a democratic senate and a party -- i already talked to some of my former colleagues in the senate, this will be fast tracked. we already know what impact the senate because it happened just a few years ago. if we then put enough pressure on the house and do everything we can to really force them to have to take what the senate passes, i think the outcome will be very different this time. that is my goal and that is what i'm going to do to achieve. >> your poll numbers went way up

this week and yet the e-mail controversy was still in the headlines. i want to give you the opportunity to respond. you told to separate news organizations that fbi james comey that your answer was truthful and consistent with what you have told the american people. that assertion has been debunked by multiple news organizations which point out that there was no indication you like to be fbi but he did not weigh in on whether or not you are truthful to the american people. my question for you, are you mischaracterizing director comey's testimony and is this not undercutting your efforts to rebuild trust? mrs. clinton: i appreciate you asking that. i was pointing out in both of those instances that the director has said that my answers in the interview were truthful. that is the bottom line here.

i have said during the interview and in many other occasions the past month, that what i told the fbi, which he said was truthful is consistent with what i have said publicly. i may have short-circuited and for that i will try to clarify because i think chris wallace and i were probably talking past each other because of course, he could only talk to what had told the fbi and i appreciated that. i haven't knowledged -- have acknowledged that using two e-mail accounts was a mistake. i take responsibility for that. i do think, having him say that my answers to the fbi were truthful and then i should quickly add what i said was consistent with what i had said publicly and that is really, in my view, trying to tie both ends together.

>> said he never sent or received classified material and he said there were three e-mails that were marked classified at the time. it is that an inconsistency? mrs. clinton: here on the facts, i sent over 30,000 e-mails to the state department that were work-related e-mails. director comey said that only three out of 30,000 have anything resembling classified markers. what does that mean? usually, if any of you have served in the government, a classified document has a big heading on top which makes very clear what the classification is. in questioning director comey made the point that the three e-mails out of the 30,000 did

not have the appropriate markings. it was therefore reasonable to conclude that anyone, including myself, would have not have suspected that they were classified and in fact, i think that has been discussed by others who have said to out of those they were later explained -- two out of those three were later explained by the state department not to have been in any way confidential at the time they were delivered. that leaves 100 out of 30,000 e-mails that director comey testified contained classified information but he acknowledged that there were no markings on those 100 e-mails and so what we have here is pretty much what i have been saying throughout this

whole year and that is that i never sent or received anything that was marked classified, now if in retrospect, which is what behind the 100 number, if in retrospect some different agency said it should have been although it was not, it should have been, that is what the debate is about. director comey said there was absolutely no intention on my part to either ignore or in any way dismiss the importance of those documents because they were not marked classified. that would have been hard to do and i will go back to where i started, i regret using one account, i've taken responsibility for that, but i am pleased to be able to clarify

and explain what i think the bottom line is. >> very quickly before we get to the panel, donald trump says the whole thing cannot be trusted with national security, here endorsed by farmers cia director who said trump cannot be trusted. he went so far as to indicate that he has been turned by you. you agree with that assessment? mrs. clinton: i've had the great honor to work with him. he's a professional who has devoted his entire professional career to protecting our country. i was honored to receive his endorsement. i will let his comment speak for themselves, but i really appreciated his explaining as he did in his op-ed some of what is at stake in this election. >> thank you.

i believe we have a question from one of our panelists from the previous --could you stand up? >> national political reporter with the new york times. my question, accuse donald trump of using racist and sexist language. what does this say about the electorate that so many americans are supporting him? mrs. clinton: i really believe that the core of his support i'm not going to speak for everyone who supports him because i think there have been some quite distressing statements coming out of his rallies and his supporters and who has aligned himself with him. i think the core of his support really centers on the disappointment and the economy that so many americans feel. what i have been saying, i want to bring this country together.

i think we have three overarching goals. we need more economic opportunity, protect the national security and we have got to work toward american unity. i have been trying to understand what it is that has driven people to support donald trump. i have met with some people i have listened to them. so many of them are looking for an explanation as to why they lost the job they had for 18 years when the factory closed and nobody cared about them. what they are going to do when their whole life was spent mining coal and they made it out -- $80,000 a year and now they can barely find a job making minimum wage. why the centers of so many old industrial towns in america are hollowed out and people are turning to opiates and heroine and the list goes on and that is

what i have heard. i think we have to recognize that of course some of the the is xenophobic and racist and misogynistic and offensive. we have to acknowledge that. but let's not lose sight of the real pain that many americans are feeling because the economy has left them behind. i have said and i have said it again in my acceptance speech last thursday, i want to be the president for all americans. i want to lift up and give everybody a chance to pursue their dreams. that means people who are supporting him. when i went to virginia, i knew that i was not going to win west virginia. i can tell you that. i was in a meeting with a group of folks including a coal miner

was incredibly emotional and talking to me and outside there was a big trump protest going on and one the people at the protest was blankenship, who i -- had just been convicted of reckless indifference to the well-being of his coal miners causing deaths. clearly the lines are stark. i have said i have a plan for coal country and indian country and inner-city and rural communities. it is one of the reasons i've said that i support jim clyburn's 102030 proposal which would help all kinds of communities in america. jim and i have talked about this. we have to reject and stand up against the appeals to the kind

of bigotry and use of bluster and bullying we see coming from donald trump campaign. let's not forget the real economic challenges that too many americans of all backgrounds are facing today. that is how i think about it and that is how i will try in this campaign to respond to and rebuke all of the horrible things he says on a pretty regular basis, not about me. i could care less about that. but when he goes after individuals, when he accuses a distinguished federal judge of mexican heritage of not being fair. insulting a gold star family. you know the list. i will stand up and call him out on that. i will also keep reaching out to americans of all races and ethnicities to tell them that i

will not forget about them after the selection. i will work my heart out to help every single person have a -- income and make sure the kids get a good education and everything else i think they are owed here in america. [applause] >> another question from the panel. >> washington post, thank you for being here and on behalf of all of us we encourage you to do this more often with reporters. [applause] especially the news organizations that travel the country with you everywhere you go. a majority of voters consistently say they don't like you and they don't trust you. and that's a pretty much the same thing about donald trump. either you or mr. trump will be elected president. how would you leave the nation -- lead a nation where the majority of americans mistrust

you and what extreme response -- extra responsibility might you have? mrs. clinton: every time i have done a job, people have counted on me and trusted me. at the convention last week, we highlighted the rights -- fights of my life starting as a lawyer for the children's defense fund taking on the problem of juveniles and adults jails of south carolina, segregated academies, fighting for kids with disabilities to get an education and all the way through the work i did as senator after 9/11 and representing all of you as secretary of state. i take this seriously. don't doubt that. i take it seriously. it does not make it feel good when people say those things and i recognize that i have work to do but when i started running for the senate in new york, a

locked of -- a lot of the same things were said. i won, i worked hard to the people of new york and i was reelected with $.50 of the vote -- 50% of the vote after a -- i demonstrated that i would be on the side and i represented. i ran a really hard campaign against barack obama. to my surprise and asked me to be secretary of state. he trusted me. i served as secretary of state and when i left, i had a 66% approval rating. [applause] ask yourselves, 67% of the people in new york wrong? were 66% of the american public wrong? or maybe, just maybe when i'm , actually running for a job there is a real benefit to those on the other side and trying to stir up as much concern as possible. i take it seriously and i will

work my heart out in this campaign and as president to produce results for people, to get the economy working for everybody, not just those at the top. to do as much as i can to help people who may not even vote for me. i think our country is that it crossroads election. president obama says extremely well, this is a crossroads election. there is so much at stake. you can look at my record of public service and meet people and families who are benefited by the children's health insurance program. you can meet people who are benefiting by performing the foster care and adoption system. you can meet first responders and survivors from 9/11 were benefited because i went to bed -- battle with them.

you can meet national guard members who did not have health care must they were deployed before i worked with republicans to fix that. you can go down a long list and we would be happy to provide it to you of what i have done because i believe in public service. i'm proud that i had the great opportunity to work on behalf of giving more people a better life ever since i was right out of law school. i'm just going to get up there every day and make my case and i think there will be an opportunity to a lot of people to execute. [applause] >> editor in chief of the undefeated at espn, what is the most meaningful conversation you have with an african-american friend? mrs. clinton: can i tell you that i'm blessed to have a crew

of great friends, i have two chief of staff to african american women friends. i have been blessed to have people by my side in politics . i've had a great group of young people who i have been really motivated by and frankly learned from. i have really had a lifetime of friendships going back to my college years and one of my best friends was an african-american student. i can't compress into one conversation. they have supported me chastised me, they have raised

issues with me, they try to expand my musical tastes. [laughter] we have had a lot of great times because of our friendships. i can't pick one conversation at 50 years of conversation. i don't want to embarrass my friends. the dean of communications at trinity washington. i want to congratulate her. donna brazil here. she is the acting chair of the dnc. [applause] i guess i will leave it at that. i'm going to respect the cone of silence. please know i have a lot of great friends who have given me

so much. >> there is such little time and lots of questions you i would be remiss, we are in a room full of latino journalists. [applause] i have to ask you, and give you an opportunity to respond and set the record clear, that the democratic party, does your campaign take latino voters seriously or you taking them for granted that they will automatically vote democrat. mrs. clinton: i take them seriously because i've had the great privilege of working for many years with latino leaders activists, businessmen and women. just as i responded to the question, my first experience working on behalf of latinos was, even before i was a legal services lawyer, through my

church, i babysat latino kids on saturdays while their parents and older siblings went to the fields outside of my home in chicago which used to be, hard to believe now, miles of farmland. it was my first real lesson in how much more we all have in common. there i was, 11, 12 years old babysitting these kids and at the end of the day, the old ramshackle bus stop at the end of the road and the parents and the older brothers and sisters got out in these kids broke loose and started running down the road with her arms outstretched calling for their mothers and fathers and getting swept up very tired arms. then when i was a little bit older my church arranged exchanges with latino churches.

we were going to the city of chicago, to basements, talk about our lives and again it reinforced what to me was so much of a common sense, what we wanted in our lives even though their lives in mind were very -- and mine were very different. as a legal services lawyer, as the chair of the legal services corporation, we expanded legal services in two places against a lot of political opposition. i feel very fortunate that i've had the chance to work with and learn from so many latinos and latinos across america. when i ran for the senate i work closely with our elected representatives, but that the city, state, and national level. i was honored that they rallied around to support me and were

part of the great victory that we had in the primary in new york. i'll take anybody for granted and i particularly don't take any voter who is placing their trust and confidence in me for granted. because i'm going to get up, as i said, everything a bit and work my heart out to get the result that i told you we are going to achieve together. i know it is hard. i have been around. as you all know, very well. i'm not new to this. it does not happen by hoping it happened. it happens by doing everything you possibly can. i'm blessed to have such close working relationships and friendships with latino leaders. tonight at my house we will be having a big event with latino business leaders coming from around america and i will do what i've always done, i think at the core of political

leadership is relationships. you have to build relationships with individuals and communities. i know that does not happen by just asking for it. it happens because you work hard. i will do everything i can to make sure any latino voter that votes for me knows that i will be doing my best to deliver on everything i have said. i will tell you as we go along with the challenges are because i need to -- may need to ask you for your help and put pressure on elected officials. i may need you to for the internet or for the old-fashioned mailbox of elected representatives so they know people are watching. that is how we're going to get it done and i'm pretty confident and optimistic about that. i hope that people will take this election seriously because i sure take you seriously and together, i think we can create

i want to thank you very much. a big round of applause. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> this week, we'll take you to the green party convention. >> the green party is the only national party that is not poisoned by the corporate money >>, lobbyist money, super pac's. >>on sunday at 9:00 p.m., see

the acceptance for president and vice president nominee for the green party. www.c-span.org you can watch any time atwww.c-span.org. >> at a campaign rally in green bay, wisconsin and donald trump endorses paul ryan and john mccain and kelly i of and talks about why hillary clinton is unfit to be president. we will first hear from mike pence. this is one hour, 20 minutes. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please

welcome the next vice president of the united states, governor mike pence. ♪ gov. pence: wow. hello wisconsin. for those of you who don't know me which is most of you, i am mike pence. just a few short weeks ago i

was honored and humbled beyond words to be nominated to run and serve as the next vice president of the united states of america. [applause] i've got to tell you that i joined this campaign in a heart beat. the phone call came at 11:00 at night with my wife at my side and i heard that familiar voice on the other end. he said to me it will be great. [laughter] i said, yes because you nominated a man for president and never quit. [applause] he never backed down. does she never backs down. he is a fighter, and a winner and until recently looked like he was fighting all on his own but now we are united. this movement is united and we will elect donald trump to be

the next president of the united states of america. [applause] to get to know is good man i just travel highway 40 in indiana. we talk straightforward and plain down there and donald trump gets it. right? he understands the frustrations and aspirations of the american people more than any other leader in my lifetime since ronald reagan. [applause] he is a genuine article. he is a doer in a game usually reserved for talkers emma donald trump does is talking, he does not tiptoe around all the rules of political correctness. [applause] the political class blaze of him though way of men and women trying to make a difference. he says it like it is and [applause]

[applause] he will make america great again. [applause] democrats in the media have the same problem. they keep saying the usual methods will work against him. they'd keep thinking they have done him him, this has come up and now it's all over. the next morning, donald trump is stronger than ever before and fighting for every american to make this country great again. [applause] the man has got resilience. he is an extraordinary leader. he has never forgotten. he has never forgotten the men and women who work with their hands and grow the food and

build our roads and bridges. they tend to wear sick and teacher kids. a lifetime of a builder building structures around the world. he has stood shoulder to shoulder with the men and women who raised those structures to the sky. it really is extraordinary. he has never forgotten the people that do the work in uniform as well. his devotion to our soldiers and their veterans comes straight from his heart and donald trump will stand with those in uniform and stand with those who have served. [applause] i will tell you what, as chief law enforcement officer of the united states, a president donald trump will support our law enforcement community with the resources that they need to do the job to protect our

families and come home safe to theirs. donald trump will be a president who restores law and order to every city and every community in this great nation. [applause] it really is pretty amazing. at the very moment when america is crying out for something different, crying out for new leadership that will take our nation back in the direction of strength, the other party has answered with a stale agenda and the most predictable of names. people in both parties are restless for change and are ready to break free. the other party has actually nominated someone who represents everything this country is tired of. did you see the speech the other night? honestly, i watched most of it.

actually, i watched most of the speech but i did not see all of it. i had is harder time staying awake as her husband did. [laughter] [applause] it was long and it was late. it wasn't just that. it was just the same old, same old. did you notice that? more taxes, more spending, more borrowing, more bailouts, and more obamacare. just this week in omaha, did you hear about that? the democrat nominee actually spoke the truth accidentally. did you hear about that? she actually said in her speech -- we are going to raise taxes on the middle class. she accidentally spoke the truth but she quickly corrected it. really just earlier today, i

heard that she was called out by the press for saying that the fbi director had not concluded that she had been dishonest. and mishandled e-mail. what she said today is she had sort -- short-circuited remarks. let's decide here and now that hillary clinton will never be elected president of the united states of america. [applause] they tell us --

they tell us guys, i heard in that speech, they tell us this economy is the best that we can do. the morning after hillary plus speech, official washington put out the numbers. 1.2% growth. in our gdp. the slowest economic recovery since 1949. they tell us this economy is the best we can do but donald trump and i know it's not the best we can do. it's just the best they can do and went donald trump becomes president of the united states we will cut taxes balanced budgets, negotiate strong trade deals, repeal obamacare and we will put the american people back to work. [applause] and their record abroad is just as bad as their record at home.

7.5 years of barack obama and hillary clinton plus policies have weakened america's place in the world. terrorist attacks at home and abroad, graham and heartbreaking scenes or ally in france, a catholic priest to just days ago, laid to rest after being murdered in view of zone church in france. history teaches us that weakness arouses evil and the weak leadership of barack obama and hillary clinton on the world stage has aroused the enemy plus freedom around the world whether it's moving redlines, three sets russia, or paying ransom to terrorist sponsoring states. [boos] we cannot have four more years apologizing to our enemies and abandoning our friends. america needs to be strong for the world to be safe and on the

world stage, a president donald trump will lead with american strength. [applause] donald trump will rebuild our military stand by our troops defend our allies, confront radical islamic terrorism and donald trump will destroy isis at its source. [applause] defend our allies, confront [crowd chanting usa] the choice could not be more clear. you leave here tonight and go find your neighbors and friends and say it comes down to change versus the status quo. it really is. the american people can elect someone who literally personifies the failed establishment and washington

d.c., the establishment that for far too long has been peopled by folks used to saying one thing and doing another while they pile a mountain range of debt on our children and grandchildren. or they can do what you have done and come november, we can choose a leader, a truth teller someone who will stand strong on the world stage and fight every day to make america [applause] great again. [applause] so i say -- it is my high honor and distinct privilege [applause] for the sake of our troops who deserve a commander-in-chief who will have their back, for the

sake of hard-working americans and businesses who deserve a president who will get washington, d.c. off their backs , for the sake of a supreme court that will never turn its back on our god-given liberties or our constitution, i give you the man who must be the next president of the united states of america, donald trump. [applause] ♪ ♪ [alright now by free] ♪ >> how good is he?

special. he is a special man, a special person. there is a lot of people here. hello, everybody, your football team will have a great year. [applause] iwatch. you've got the quarterback and the whole deal and i think it will be a very good year. if you get into that super bowl, i will be going. i wrote something down before and i think it's important. i love you, too. because -- we need unity. we have to win this election. this is truly one of the most important elections certainly in my lifetime. because we are -- if we are losing, we are in the wrong direction and maybe it's gone.

supreme court justices, remember that. but so many different levels and when you see what happened with crooked hillary today, it was a disaster. she had a disaster. she lies. badly. i just wrote this out. i wanted to say to this group that i had a really great time when i was in wisconsin. i did not quite eke it out but i thought it was going to but after that it worked out and you build me up and taught me about politics. when i left here, i said i think i have learned a lot. i love it. i love the people and i have many friends in wisconsin. they are incredible people. you are incredible people, have to tell you that and we will have a lot of fun. i had to write this. this campaign is not about me or

any one candidate. it's about america. it's time for a change. we need a change, real change, not an obama change. remember obama change? we don't need an obama change we've had enough. it's time to change a rigged political system that works only for the insiders and to replace it with a government that serves the people. 2 [applause] we have to do it. i know both sides. i have been on the other side, believe me. i actually like this site better. this is a movement. maybe like they have never seen in this country. according to even the political pundits.

this is a movement that some say, most say, is one of the great phenomenons they have ever seen in politics. some say it's the single greatest phenomenon. [applause] the media does not want to talk about it, we have done something , we all of us together -- i am only a messenger -- we have's did -- we have done something truly historic together. standing before you as nominee for president and i am not a politician proudly. [applause] i am not part of the system. iran against the system and i'm probably better off running against the system. iran against the donors.

i admire own donor, essentially. i have a lot of money in this deal. this is a very expensive process, i want to tell you. i funded, as you know, the primaries. now i am in for over $60 million. i am largely funding my campaign as we go forward. in addition to that, in addition to that we have raised tremendous amounts of money and much of it from small donors, $61. as a republican that does not happen. it happens because what you see in front of you today. if you remember, just prior to june, they did a story -- donald trump has not really done too well with fundraising. i'm not going to raise funds -- i would have had enough if i did not make it. i would've said bye-bye politics

but i wanted to make sure. i got it and then i started raising money. for the republican party and we raise a lot of money. we started on june 14, flag day, my birthday. [applause] and in june, we raised approximately $51 million. can you imagine? those people could not believe it, they were surprised, big headlines. don't give me too many good headlines. i do things that i think are fantastic. i say there is no way they can cover this badly. and they cover it badly. i gently tell a woman that i love her baby and let the baby cried, it's ok. as the baby that had a voice that was superior to have a rutty pav --arotti continued to

cry, i told her to stay but after three or four minutes and i try to speak and it was in jacksonville, we had a massive crowd that filled at the stadium and the baby is screaming. i said ma'am, i would like to reverse my order. perhaps you can take the baby out. i did it so nicely. she was happy. even the baby was happy and stopped crying. [laughter] would that be possible? the whole place is cracking up in the next day in the newspaper, it said trump throws baby out of arena. [boos] terrible. they are very dishonest. that was a tough one. and i just had a reporter come up to me backstage. mr. trump, sir, why did you throw that baby out of there? i said i was having fun and i was so nice. everybody likes me, the baby

liked me, the mother like me and we had a good time. i tried to keep the baby and but the baby had such a powerful voice. in fact, i want to find out who the baby is because i want to sponsor the baby. that baby will sing someday. in philharmonic hall. new york city. the great filler monica. -- the great philharmonic. i'm not part of the system, iran against the system. iran against the donors, i am largely my own donor. i am running against myself. i never thought of it that way. and against the status quo and the status quo we have to get rid of because it's not working, folks. [applause] that's why i put up a lot of money. while the democrats nominated the candidate of special

interests and really a candidate of total corruption -- take a look at what she's doing -- republicans made history by choosing a nominee from outside of this very corrupt system. it is a corrupt system. you want something done? they can do it for you and that's not necessarily good for the country. that's right we are going to be able to deliver real change and real safety and real opportunity to all americans. we have to unite, remember that. everything i have accomplished, i have done by putting together a really fantastic team. including mike pence of indiana whose has done an incredible job. [applause] he did an incredible job. my staff is working so hard, my

family my friends. it's expanding all the time but i need the republican senate and the house to accomplish all of the changes that we have to make. right? i understand and embrace the wisdom of ronald reagan. a big tent within the party. remember ronald reagan. he united democrats and independents and republicans and we will have the same thing. there are a lot of democrats in this room. are the democrats in his room? e raise your hands. h. i don't think we need to many to be honest.

i embrace the wisdom that might -- that my 80% friend is not my 20% enemy. ronald reagan. [cheers] that was stated by ronald reagan, pretty good. we will be the big tent party. we are going to have a lot of crossovers. you're going to have a lot of bernie sanders people because of trade. because bernie sanders new we were being ripped off by trade. trade is a disaster with china japan, mexico, with be a non-, -- with vietnam. so many countries every country. , we don't win at any level with anything. as a unified party, we will lead our country to unity as well.