without any further introduction, please join me in welcoming tom perkins. [applause] >> tom, i want to start at the very top, which is to ask you what the catalyst was for your writing this short letter to "the wall street journal?" >> well, i think frustrations had been building up for a long time about what i see as the demonization of the rich. it was a particularly nasty attack on my ex-wife, which triggered my response. i thought, being a norwegian knight, i should ride to her defense. i spilled a little more blood than i had planned, but i'm not sorry i did it. >> i should point out that your ex-wife, danielle steel, is in the front row of the auditorium this evening. she came to hear you speak. you refer to an attack on her. explain. where was this attack? whose attack was it? what was the attack? >> i don't want to spend a lot of time on this. >> nor do i. >> over the years, the "san francisco chronicle" has had a series of attacks on her. i won't go into all of them, but there have been a lot of them. among one of the attacks is she's number-one bes

tom perkins, seated next to me is cofounder of venture capital firm. an alumnus of harvard and m.i.t.. this room knows, an outspoken capitalist. in january of this year, shortly , her his 82nd birthday wrote a controversial letter to the editor which was published in the wall street journal. gainedter has since notoriety for the parallels it makes between jews in nazi germany and the current one percent. here in the bay area, tom's comments on income inequality feel particularly relevant given the current tensions ruling among san franciscans and what is known as the techie community. without any further introduction, please join me in welcoming tom perkins. [applause] i want to start at the very top which is to ask you what the catalyst was for your writing this short letter to the wall street journal. frustrations had been building up for along time about what i see as the demonization of the rich. it was particularly nasty attack triggeredife, which my response. i thought being a norwegian night i should write to her defense. i spilled a little more

without any further introduction, please join me in welcoming tom perkins. [applause] >> tom, i want to start at the very top, which is to ask you what the catalyst was for your writing this short letter to "the wall street journal?" >> well, i think frustrations had been building up for a long time about what i see as the demonization of the rich. it was a particularly nasty attack on my ex-wife, which triggered my response. i thought, being a norwegian knight, i should ride to her defense. i spilled a little more blood than i had planned, but i'm not sorry i did it. >> i should point out that your ex-wife, danielle steel, is in the front row of the auditorium this evening. she came to hear you speak. you refer to an attack on her. explain. where was this attack? whose attack was it? what was the attack? >> i don't want to spend a lot of time on this. >> nor do i. >> over the years, the "san francisco chronicle" has had a series of attacks on her. i won't go into all of them, but there have been a lot of them. among one of the attacks is she's number-one bes

please, everyone in the room, join me in giving a big round of applause to tom perkins. [applause] >> and now this meeting of inforum and the commonwealth club is adjourned. [gavel banging] >> you did great a great job. you did great a great job. next, former secretary of state james aker and vernon jordan speaking at the funeral of robert strauss. then jay carney speaking to students at george washington university. then another chance to hear venture capitalists perkins. >> the muslims have accepted the religion of islam. they have never bombed any churches. they have never murdered anyone to girls, as was done in birmingham. they have never lynched anybody. they have never been guilty of initiating any sort of aggressive act of violence. during the entire 33 years or more that mohammed has been teaching. stemsarge of violence from the guilt complex that conscience of most white people in this country. they know that they have been violent. they have had brutality against negroes. they feel that someday the negro will wake up and do want to them as they have done -- do

please, everyone in the room, join me in giving a big round of applause to tom perkins. [applause] >> and now this meeting of inforum and the commonwealth club is adjourned. [gavel banging] >> you did great a great job. you did great a great job. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> next, former secretary of state james baker and vernon jordan speak at the funeral of former ambassador robert strauss . after that, discussion on the situation in somalia. tomorrow, a panel discussion titled "behind the headlights." -- surveillance an ongoing won al reporters pulitzer. that collected metadata of the american phone records. we will have that tomorrow night at 9 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> the muslims have accepted the neveron of islam have bombed any churches, i've never murdered little girls as was done in birmingham -- they have never murdered little girls as was done in birmingham, had never at any time been guilty of initiating any aggressive acts entire 33e during the years or more that mohamme

tonight we're here for inforum's event, tom perkins, the war on the one percent. tom perkins, seated next to me, capitalnder of venture firm, kleiner, person is, caulfield and buyers, an alumnus he's aard and m.i.t., renowned businessman and as everyone in this room knows an outspoken capitalist. in january of this year, shortly after his 82nd birthday, is that correct? >> yes. >> he wrote a controversial letter to the editor which was published in the "wall street journal." the letter has since gained notoriety for the parallels it makes between jews and nazi oneany and the current percent, here in the bay area, toms comments on income inequality feel particularly relevant given the current among sanewing franciscoans and what is known as the techy community. without any further introduction, please join me in perkins. tom [applause] to star at the very top, which is to ask you what the catalyst was for your writing this short letter to the "wall street journal." think frustrations have been building up for a long the about what i see as demonization of the rich.

>> tom perkins should not have been interviewed. he put a spin on this struggle that made every aspect of what the tech world is trying to do suspect. the tech world is not unlike the medical world. you have mission bay. that is the biotech world. that is where medical science is making great progress and new people are coming in. all those are things that need to be done. >> what responsibility do companies like twitter have? and companies like google that are not based in san francisco? >> they have the same responsibility that pg&e has. the same that wells fargo or bank of america has -- every aspect that people who produce would have. they need to give back and participate and have their employees live here. they need to pay them a good wage so they can live here. that is what they need to do. >> former mayor willie brown, thank you for stopping by and sharing your point of view. we appreciate having you here. we will be back with more, talking about disney next. ♪ >> welcome back to "bloomberg west." i am emily chang. disney is

this is a question for tom perkins. >> what do i tell the people i work with in east palo alto? if you could speak to them, what would you say? >> thank you. >> i feel very sorry for them. i wish that the war on poverty had not been such a fiasco, and then they wouldn't have the problem that they now have. the solution will take a very long time. it depends a lot on education, which is getting worse because of, frankly, the teacher's union. it's making it impossible to have quality schools in the inner cities, and so on and on. there are no quick answers to these kinds of questions, i'm afraid, at least not from me. from barack obama, yes, they flow. >> over here, please. >> hi, hello. well, good evening. thank you very much for coming and sharing. you made a lot of statements of, frankly, the teacher's about pointing fingers, but one of the things you didn't address was the role of financial literacy, the role of access, and the role race plays in a lot of these things. if you could, just highlight maybe your thoughts. how are you bringing financial literacy to a lot of these c

you might remember tom perkins who said wealthier people ought to get more votes in the american elections. i would ask chief justice roberts to -- because that is where the outcome is headed. so it is a sad day. again, implications of this particular decision are significant but not huge. but the direction the court is headed in is dramatic and just dark. i just want to mention one other thing. our colleague tom udall could not be with us. he has introduced a constitutional amendment that would allow the congress to impose limits that the supreme court seems to be part -- seems to deem part of free speech. the opponents of the -- the proponents of this decision talk about free speech. that is an absurdity. no amendment is absolute. you can't falsely scream fire in a crowded theater. you cannot distribute child pornography. you can't libel somebody. those are limitations on free speech. it seems illogical to americans that a limitation should be on the wealthiest of donors reading our political system. but somehow, the supreme court, five of them anyway, cling to this idea that putting the

that is followed by tom perkins on income inequality in the u.s. we now return to the ongoing crisis in ukraine, this time with the help of a eurasia analyst at the foreign-policy initiative. we have been a week removed from an agreement aimed at easing tensions in ukraine. we're are seeing reports of more bloodshed, international monitors being seized over there. is the international community's efforts to de-escalate this crisis working? guest: i think a lot of people have been disappointed in the way this agreement has seemed to fail to quell any of the violence or quell the separatist movement. they seem almost fed up with it. some of the remarks you have seen from the state department, from john kerry himself, they seem to be very disappointed in the way this worked out so far. you mightbe tomorrow see more sanctions that the government of perhaps europe would put on. russia not fulfilling their part of that bargain. host: do headlines like this concern you? this is from the editorial board of the "financial times." high noon looms over ukrain

billionaire tom perkins recently said the 1% is being persecuted. his fellow billionaire sam zell said the 1% should be emulated, not envied. the 1% work harder. i asked buffet if he thinks the 1% which he is a part of has been attacked unfairly will. >> i don't see anybody in the 1% who want to leave that category and sdwroin join. the 99% because they're being untacked. >> do you think they're being attacked unfairly? >> believe me, it is no great -- it's no great burden to live in the 1% or even the .1 of 1% at all. >> minimum wage is a key topic right now in this country. should the federal minimum wage be raised? >> that's the toughest question you can ask me because i've thought about it for 50 years. i don't know the answer. >> really? >> well, i just don't -- economics you have to say and then what? the real question is, are more people going to be better off, you know, if it is raised. and i don't know the answer to that. i know if you raise the earned income tax credit significantly that would definitely help people who have gotten short s

then tom perkins on what he calls the demonization of the one percent. and vernon jordan speaking at the funeral for former investor robert strauss. white house press secretary jay carney recently spoke to george washington university students about media and public affairs. he is president obama second white house press secretary, replacing robert gibbs. prayer to his appointment, he was director of communications for vice president biden and worked as washington bureau chief for time magazine. this is about an hour and a half. [applause] you, it'smust tell unfamiliar for me to look at you from this vantage point. thank you very much for having us come here. to have an informal conversation before all of you about white house press issues, 's transformation from being a journalist to being a spokesman for the vice president and then the president. then we will take questions. the methodology we are going to we will have you write your questions down on cards. and welcome to our c-span audience watching live. it is, as i said at the top, a privilege to b

please, everyone in the room, join me in giving a big round of applause to tom perkins. [applause] and now this meeting of inforum and the commonwealth club is adjourned. [gavel banging] >> you did great a great job. you did great a great job. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> coming up, a look at how health care companies are responding to the health care law. later, i look at how technological advances are affecting middle-class jobs. tuesday, new jersey governor chris christie is the keynote speaker at the new jersey chamber of commerce congressional dinner. coverage starts at 7:15 p.m. eastern here on c-span. >> during this month, c-span is pleased to present our winning entries in this year's student cam video documentary. student cam is c-span's annual competition that encourages middle and high school students to face -- to think critically. the question we asked students was what is the most important issue the u.s. congress should consider in 2014? will is a junior from oklahoma. h

i would ask chief justice roberts did tom perkins argued this case because that is where the outcome is headed. so it's a sad day. the implications of this particular decision are significant but not huge. but the direction that the court is headed in is just dramatic and just dark. i just want to mention one other thing. our colleague tom udall could not be with us. he has introduced a constitutional amendment that would allow the congress to impose limits that the supreme court seems to be part of free speech and a decision like this makes that amendment more and more likely and one other point. the opponents -- the proponents of this decision talk about free speech. that's an absurdity. no amendment is absolute. you can't falsely scream fire in a crowded theater. you can't distribute child pornography. you can't libel somebody. those are limitations on free speech. it seems so logical to every american that's a limitation should be on the wealthiest of donors rigging our political system but somehow the supreme court, five of them anyway cling to this idea that putting the same di

then tom perkins on what he calls the demonization of the one percent. and vernon jordan speaking at the funeral for former investor robert strauss. white house press secretary jay carney recently spoke to george washington university students about media and public affairs. he is president obama second white house press secretary, replacing robert gibbs. prayer to his appointment, he was director of communications for vice president biden

from the bottom or the top, the criticism of inequality bothers some people intensely, people like tom perkinse. prestigiousost venture capital firms in silicon valley. it bothers people like ken langone. you could argue the greatest entrepreneurs -- >> one of the most philanthropic guys right here in new york city , reinvented nyu hospital. >> i think it sets up a fascinating contrast. i asked diller what does he think about people about langone who say these complaints about inequality are tantamount to persecution. >> it's ridiculous. sorry. but --ct those people ridiculous is what he said. unfortunately we lost the rest. -- apparently it might be queued up. it's ridiculous. sorry. i respect those people, but i contest. i think it is odd for anybody. ken langone is a very generous man, charitable in every other way and has very strong political beliefs. i don't think i share them, but he has every right to say them. >> and that is what is most important at the end of the day -- it's a free country with free speech and we should have this exchange of idea because there is no one person who i

inter-capitalist tom perkins on what he calls the demonization of the one percent. see formernce to secretary of state james baker and vernon jordan speaking at the funeral for robert strauss. >> what we're seeing right now where we are embedding capabilities more and more into our environment. some technologies disagree on this but i personally consider the smart phones that we all carry around with us or at least 70% of the american population, should be a trademark example of the internet of things. we are becoming human centers because we are caring around an extremely powerful computer in our pocket but it also takes the form of different centers that exist in the physical ward around us -- world around us. we pass underneath when we access ezpass on the new jersey turnpike. it takes the form of sensors that are all around us. certainly, surveillance and cameras that collect data and send that somewhere else. this is all part of the internet of things which is basically the embedding of computers into our real world. or the deputy at her -- edit patrick tucker

>> reporter: well, you know, we've heard tom perkins came out, the venture capitalist, and said that jews and the 1% work harder and we should emulate them, not attack them. buffett laughed when i asked about that. he said a lot of people would like to be in the group of the 1%. you know, i don't think see a lot of people in the 1% begging to be in the 99%. and no, he said he's a friend of sam zell but does not agree that the 1% work harder. there's plenty of people in the 1% who don't do much, and he knows plenty of people who aren't in the 1% who do a lot and who don't do a lot. so no, he doesn't agree with those comments. >> okay. if we want to see the whole interview, where do we go? >> reporter: cnnmoney.com. >> poppy harlow, thanks so much. or you can go to my facebook page. we'll be right back. tylenol® provides strong pain relief while being gentle on your stomach. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol®. [ banker ] sydney needed some financial guidance so she could take her dream to the next level. so we talked about her options. her valuable assets w

venture capitalist tom perkins talks about income inequality and the wealthy. later, look at health care companies are responding to the health care law. >> on the next washington journal, committee for responsible federal budget president will talk about deficits and federal spending. followed by irs national taxpayer advocate nina olson with a look under annual report to congress. league of young voters executive director robert baker looks at the role of younger voters in the political process in 2014 elections. your calls, tweets, and facebook comments. live every morning beginning at 7 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> tuesday, a discussion on challenges faced by national security whistleblowers. speakers including daniel ellsberg. here is part of what he said. snowden look at these examples, look to chelsea manning, looked at julian assange and realize he had to be out of the country if he was going to put up this amount of information to be able to tell why he had done and to comment as he has been doing. i was personally, 40 years ago, i was out on bond and th

tom giles. thank you. coming up, he is a legendary designer and the latest partner to join connor perkins. our special guest host for the rest of the hour. john meada is here. ♪ >> i'm emily chang and this is "bloomberg west." john maeda spent a decade at the m.i.t. media lab as a professor and head of research. he then went on to be president of one of the most prominent art schools in the country. in the world, really. the rhode island school of design. he is with kleiner perkins and also the chair of the ebay design advisory council. john meada, our special guest this hour. thanks for joining me. i have been looking forward to this. >> me, too. it is nice here. >> that means a lot for someone with an eye for design. how is he going so far? how do you like silicon valley and venture capital? >> it is amazing. i think the speed is so extraordinary. the people, the energy, it is intoxicating. >> how did kleiner perkins convince you? >> i was tracking a lot of designers going into venture. recent graduates went off to silicon valley. >> like the ceo of air bnp. >> and i kept telling student