the reason i was a big ross perot fan is that he put this agenda. the he changed the way the country was talking. he said it was a national issue that people need to pay attention to. and it is critical that there are leaders who do that. make this their key issue and costly say, how can we pay for that? how can we address this problem? because right now, the debt is levels, itst record is forecast to grow forever. and that is a forecast for a damaged economy. something none of us would be proud to be stewards of leaving to the next generation. there is a legacy for those willing to fix this problem but it is a change we need to get ahead of. we have waited so long already that it requires real political leadership. host: the committee for the responsible federal budget >> this afternoon on capitol hill, bipartisan leadership of the house oversight committee spoke on concerns about donald trump's former security advisor michael flynn received money from meeting with russian organizations in 2014 without getting permission or informing officials. rep

they were entitled to $58 million in matching funds because of the strong showings of ross perot. see had the prospect of running for president on other people's money. that appealed to him but he concluded after intense exploration that the country is not going to lectin independent country anytime soon. therefore one really has to be a republican or democrat to win the election as president. he switched back to the party of his parents and the party he spent most of his adult life in. >> host: talk about the tensions in the campaign. dramatic moments in the campaign between paul manafort and corey lynn garcia. his one person there orchestrating the campaign rallies that launch trump into the stratosphere as a candidate. how did manafort transform an unruly campaign into something with more discipline and how do you carry that out so quickly and you think it was successful in your estimation. there are certainly stumbles along the way. >> so and ask you was an advanced man. manafort was able to call on political associates going back to lend a hand, people with more experience at

so the trillion dollars he referred to for social security -- ross perot, i don't know if he is somebody you should be listening to, he lost every time he ran. it is sad when you see people say the debt doesn't matter because it does. take a look at the roads and schools and what is going on in the inner cities. are flooded with that. there's over $1 trillion in local debt. almost $2 trillion in state debt. it is sad what is going on. look at illinois. we have $300 billion in bills and we have nothing to pay for it. we have chicago -- the only thing that has come out of chicago is death. death and crime. host: that was nick. (202) 748-8001, republicans. (202) 748-8000, democrats. (202) 748-8002, independent callers. we hear next from guy in north carolina on the independent line. the guy from north carolina, are you there? you are on. go ahead. caller: all right? my name is guy. i live in cherryville. yes. i am from north carolina. i was a democrat for 51 years. changed to being an independent. host: i do appreciate the call put a reminder, when you get on the line, turned on your televi

he bought ross perot's copy of the magna carta. just months before i arrived on the scene, he was the first person to welcome me to washington. he graduated from two university. he checked with the president to make sure that i was a credible person. he has been incredibly supportive. but never pressure in terms of how we display or make decisions for us. susan: what has a simple donor like that made to the smithsonian? mr. ferriero: my colleagues can agree that philanthropic fundraising is a bit of a dance. you need capacity and a passion for something or other. you want to match them up with priorities. one thing about david rubenstein is that he has a broad range of things he is interested in. he is a voracious reader of history. when you see him do an interview, he has no notes and manages to take it from memory. he has been a terrific partner. he wants to do what the institution finds to be a high priority. to give him credit for beyond the three of us sitting here, he does the same for the american people through monuments an

ross perot said that if you were to give everybody in the world social security that qualifies, it wouldn't even equal a trillion dollars. so i'm questioning where people are making of the fictitious numbers about how we are $19 trillion in debt. i wish somebody would sit down and give the actual numbers of how much we are actually in debt. on my morninggo walk and think about the national debt. that is something we have in common. it isn't a fictitious number. it comes from the treasury. you can go to the debt to the penny and it gives a better explanation. but we are $14.5 trillion in debt for the money we have borrowed domestically or from overseas. and

what would happen if ross perot had become president ? it be similar to what were looking at now.government cuts, changes in policy, looking at the fact that a maybe america should be partying with other countries in terms of global policing and leadership. it makes it expensive. >> right. which we do but then will absolutely anger those partners that we worked so hard to operate with us on counterterrorism issues. and some from the countries were saying we don't want anything to do with right now. >> there's a false notion that there's a cut in government spending. spending on military forces and expanding military defense budget, that should be okay while other programs that are essential for people who are here in the united states is not essential? number two, the idea that the system is not workingnt in every single area. the system is not working. you have to back it up in fact, good analysis, sound analysis analysis. we did not see that coming. especially in the area around stream betting. there is extreme betting already. you've heard some compelling examples about the wai

this is what ross perot ran on, remember. got 19% -- back when 19% meant something and -- and this is what pat buchanan ran on in 1992 and '96. i'm interested in what mark said. my sense is all of us have a strike count in life, you know. maybe it's three strikes. maybe it's six if you're lucky. and i do wonder what trump's strike count is with his supporters. if it's no wall. if it's nafta stands, if it's no infrastructure, at what point do they begin to think, you know what, i -- i'm glad hillary clinton is not president but i don't really want this guy. >> yeah. >> and, again, he said he may renegotiate it in the future, not that he's dropped it all together, but, again, the whole point was to do it. >> don, as you know, when he says i'll have something in two weeks that is his tell that he's bluffing, like the birth certificate. i've got something coming on that soon. when he punts, that ball goes a long way. >> okay. so i -- i want to ask you about, again, the poll in particular has president trump done a god job choosin

he bought ross perot's copy of the 1297 magna car at that. a he was the first person to welcome me to washington. he graduated from duke university, he checked with the president there to check me out and make sure i was a credible person to be taking care of his magna carta but never pressure in terms of how we display or making decisions for us. >> what has a single donner like that meant to the smithsonian? >> let me back up a little bit and talk about the general case. philanthropic fund raising is sort of a dance where you have to bring together somebody with capacity, it doesn't have to be huge capacity but a passion for something or other and you try match that up with some priority that the institution has, and when those things come together, it's a beautiful dance. but one of the things about david rubenstein, he has a broad range of things he's interested in, not only historical documents but a voracious reader of history. he knows a lot of things. i'm sure you do know. when you see him do an interview, he uses no notes. he somehow

havedo you think would happened if ross perot had become president, it would be very similar to what you are looking at now. government cuts, you're looking at changes in policy, you're looking at the fact that maybe america should be partnering with other countries in terms of global policing and global leadership. it is really expensive. goingch we do but we're to anger those partners that we have worked so hard to have them cooperate with us on counterterrorism issues including some from the countries we are saying we do not want anything to do with you right now. x there is a false notion that there is a cut in government spending. on military forces and expanding military defense budget, that should be ok while other programs that are essential for people who are here in the united states, that is numberential, that one. number two, the idea that the system is not working and you can make the argument in every single area. the system is not working. you have to back it up in fact and sound analysis and we did not see that coming, particularly in the area of so-called extreme vet

what do you think would've happened if ross perot had become president? it would be very similar what you're looking at right now. you're looking at government cuts, changes in policy. you are looking at the fact maybe america should be partnering with other countries in terms of global policing and global leadership. it's really expensive. >> which we do but then we will absolutely anchor the artist that we have worked so hard to have them cooperate with us on counterterrorism issues, including some from the countries where think we do want anything to do with you right now. >> i think there's a foolish notion that there's a cutting government spending. spending on military forces and expanding military defense budgets, that should be okay, while other programs that are essential for people who are here in the united states, that's not essential. number two, i think the idea that the system is not working, you can make that argument every single area. the system is not working. but you have to back it up in fact, and in good analysis and consent analysis

i remember back in thed any to late 1990's with ross perot and the great suck sound and all the americans that sat down there on that congressional floor and championed the chinese acceptance into the w.t.o. it was a historic event. it happened on c-span and i watched every bit of it because i worked night shift and i would come home and watch c-span in the morning. but i'll never forget it because they swore up and down that in china into the w.t.o. through so much for china eventually and it was a natural industrial event which eventually would lead to china's becoming a democracy. and look at us today. the number one city in the world, beijing, that has more billionaires than any other city in the world, taking over, of course, from moscow. and now you have over 100 billionaires in china and their servant class is still making 50 cents an hour. so for me, i don't care where something's made as far as whether it's in america or not but i care is do they share our labor standards? do they share our labor ideals? do they share our idea of a minimum wage? do they share our ideas of social

there's still, let's say you look at eds that beat ibm consistently because their strategy under ross perot was to litigate whenever the government-- dod didn't award the contract to the lowest price bidder. you could measure price, but harder to pressure quality of service which ibm during those decades. what you want to bring to bear, knowledge and not just what data. so we make the best enveloped decisions. if it's a blunt instrument, kellman at the harp kennedy school would argue, government contracting shot itself in the foot for a number of decades, but focusing on what's the least cost bidder and you want the full performance, but it's a great question. >> actually, there's a question, i think, right over here. >> maybe i didn't see that correctly. >> do you have a question? >> okay. this may be-- i'm thinking, could there be-- when you're talking about the-- in democracies, i'm thinking what could there be further outside injunctions that would help the democracy? i'm thinking for some reason that it's coming to my mind. would there be some point that the concept of innovation-- [in

was --my basic instincts the problems ross perot talked about. it really will. that's a good thing. american education needs a good boot in the behind and parents will be screaming at schools to finally do better. i mean, a high school education in new york state today and even when i was a boy, was not like the high school education my father got. and we really needed this. the reality is, we send more than half of our children to college now and colleges aren't doing their jobs. one study shows something like 40% of graduates can't do critical thinking. a lot of the college graduates working in starbucks are operating at their full skill level. they look good, smile, sound educated. how educated they really are? i don't really know. i'm starting to doubt it. they certainly aren't prepared to live in a world where hold your breath guys, if you live 20 more years, i hope to be 88. the dentist filling your cavity may well be a robot. that is indeed, really possible. in that environment, the kinds of work that's going to be available and the countries that are successful, is going to

responsible for taking ross perot public to cofounding home depot.apital firm remains an active investor in companies and securities, and he is a major philanthropist. ken langone joins us now. welcome to the program. you have been a supporter of republican candidates in the past. you did not start out with trump. he started out with governor christie. you ended up a good supporter of donald trump. could beill think he one of the greatest presidents we have had given what we are seeing in washington? showing guts.is he is making tough decisions. he is learning that unlike in , unlike in sector wantedernment, if you something done, you could get it done like that, but he has learned it does not work that way in washington. i think he has shown courage and made a lot of decisions. i think smacking syria was brilliant. forget about the big bomb, the fact that he sent to the journals that you will fight that war, go do it. that is a major breakthrough. we have not had that in a long time. by the way, a pox on both houses. look at what rumsfeld did. the g