Over there and play. I played a little bit in germany, in their legs. Professional league, but there wasnt an infrastructure to really play the players. So there was some corruption in that regard as well. Aspect, i think it will be interesting to see you know, 1. I like to bring up prior to the sochi olympics, one organization i am involved in is athlete ally. About a hundred. A hundred professional athletes can together to basically bring up the draconian antigay law that they had in place and put pressure on the modifyforce them to their olympic charter deliver six. And principle 6. The did have them. There is a way to inspire athletes not just within their sporting event that they are participating in, but also to inspire change and bring these cultural differences outside the sport. I think you see that again prior to the sochi olympics. A lot ofis also within the u. S. Athletes. Within the world cup that just took place in canada, you saw the nigerian athletes cant lgbtq issues or even the russians in fear of persecution. With my friends who played in the league in russia, they can bring those Lessons Learned that they experienced over there back and how we can implement and help change going into the 2018 world cup. If that make sense. Manuel yeah. Marlene, i was wondering if you could comment on these things. Especially what kind of out impact do you think athletes all over the world coming to russia, what kind of impact will that russians themselves and also on the image of russia in general . Marlene two things. On the antigay legislation in russia and the lgbt issue, of course, the preparation of the cup, it is fully open in russia. But if you can consider that you have the media pressure coming from the political authorities it is a very, conservative society where these issues are very difficult to be discussed. We should hope that everything will change faster in russia around this issue. You really can see the ovulation for all these they population all of these antigay to have an open discussion on this issue, minorities have friends who are suffering athletes and try to open the discussion. But that is a very sensitive issue that is really played out by the authorities. So that is something that will be visible in two or three years when we are close to the days of the cup. Globally, and other important issue, the results of the cup could be more positive. Everything related to the high level of xenophobia in russia, showing on Tv International group playing together and so on around sport, i think that is a good message that will probably impact more, especially the young generation of russians who are kind of xenophobic just because they dont know the other and they dont have a narrative or they dont know how to learn to discuss these kind of cultural differences. On that, i am more optimistic the the couple have than on gay lesbian issue that is really difficult right now. Manuel ive been working very closely with a Company Called fair in russia. I recently visited moscow for an event that had to deal with racism and xenophobia in russian football. Struck methat really was the fact that the dialogue had finally started. One thing that i repeatedly wanted out to journalists in russia was sort of at this point , why the west is targeting u. S. Targeting us because of the racism issue. For you guys to address issues, such as racism, xenophobia or even gender equality, do it now. If you do it now, he still have three years which is of course not enough to fix the problems, but if you do it now and you show good faith and addressing it, i think you will be in a much better situation than you with then if you just let it go. It would be really similar to what ukraine i think what you say is very interesting. We still are quite a long ways off in actually resolving a lot of the issues. Points that iher wanted to make in terms of spreading the world cup across , it does force people to go to other cities in russia other than moscow and st. Petersburg. Ograd, places that most americans and europeans wouldnt even know existed. Similar to brazil, everybody just goes to rio or maybe sao paulo, but they really push people to visit other places. Those citizens in those locations get to meet foreigners as well. No, italy, im surprised how many of the locals said, this is great. And thats italy. Think what this is going to do to russia. One other thing is that ive heard over and over how german football has improved since posting the 2006 world cup. And what impact will that have on russia now that theyll have some infrastructure . They do receive some money. About 100 million or more from fifa. Not saying that is going to go far because of corruption, etc. What does this do for football . You would be better able to answer that . Manuel as i said in the opening remarks, one of the things that has happened recently is that the italian coach who made millions and millions of dollars was fired by the russian football union. He was more to blame for having very poor results, but he wasnt given very much to work with in the beginning because the infrastructure that he was given , the training grounds, everything, they match up to what german and english have, but he wasnt given that kind of infrastructure and he wasnt given the material. The players were old and russia has missed that playing development step. There is a bright spot. Ago won,just two years the 19s a big deal, and finished second at this years euros. I was skeptical that these players would be ready in time for the world cup, but i think what you are saying in regards to germany, germany take started their project. The goal was actually to win, which they failed to do, but it brought up the current generation that won the world cup in 2014. I think you are right. A tournament like that can go a football inreunite a traditional football country especially. Lori, if you want to maybe comment on that as well and what kind of impact a world cup can have on players in that country. As a canadian, i wonder what it will be like for canada in the upcoming years. Great example, the 1999 world cup, just how electrifying that can be and really ignite a country and get them excited about the sport, and encourage and propel other youth athletes to get involved in that sport as well. 1999, we had a little bit of a lull afterwards between our professional leagues in the early 2000s to the late 2000s, but i think what happened in germany happened here. Myselfted players like who were coming up the ranks to get involved and to play more often, and you see that group with the world cup. We hadnt won the world cup since 1999. Just like germany, it can get people excited. It also empowers, specifically with the females, to speak out about issues. In this world cup, not only did we win, but you saw quite a few more athletes who spoke out, came out publicly, and arguably in my opinion at some of their best world cups. I think that inspires and creates a freer level of play. , wheny at a level that you are playing in an environment where you are free and being your true self, i think you saw that. Being a wonderful role model for upcoming female athletes as well. Manuel one image that stood out for me was [indiscernible] hugging her partner after the u. S. Won the world cup in vancouver. Away, we have Robbie Rogers who is openly gay. He could be at the world cup maybe. Do you think in three years time, we might have a male gay athlete playing at the world cup . [indiscernible] think we could have Something Like that in russia or is it still too far away in terms of gender equality . Lori it is tough to say. It is exciting for me to talk hugging andombak kissing her partner, having one of the best tournaments of her career so far. I think that was inspired by her coming out and being true to herself. Is, weortunate thing still have a ways to go in terms of, as i mentioned earlier, nigeria and russia, fear of persecution if they come out, soabout being gay, or i think we still unfortunately have a way to go. Im only speaking about my experiences. Which ay is a platform bunch of us players in the u. S. Team are involved in. That is a platform to speak about advocacy and a quality. But you dont see that in a lot of other countries. Even though thats exciting on one end, it is still quite unfortunate on another. I think it is hard to say. I would say it is a little too soon. There is a move both within the Olympic Movement and fifa to better educate the National Football associations on Good Governance and fair play and equality and situations like this. It will take time. Just look at our country. Racistfree. t we have our challenges too. And i think we are all growing. We are all trying to improve. It is not going to happen overnight because you are bringing the world cup here. A lot of people think, the world cup is coming, everything is going to be wonderful now. It just doesnt happen. I think it can move the needle and that is what we are trying to use sports four. If we work hard enough and use the media and players, we can move the needle a little bit, but it is not going to move you forward 50 years. Specifically for this womens world cup, it could be a Good Platform for that. Move the needle a little bit. Manuel yeah. Lisa this goes back to the 1936 Olympic Games, jesse owens, hitler. There is example after example of how sports has had an influence on society. Lori you mentioned manuel you mentioned the influence on society. Im going to ask this question to marlene. Howyou think important is the world cup as a soft power for a country like russia, and when you take the example of the sochi olympics, where it was very much a display of, they were called putins games, how do you think this will play out in the world cup 2018, especially with regards to the election held three months before the tournament kicks off. Marlene thats the kind of hard balance game. It will be a difficult balance game for russia. They will be under the media spotlight for their president ial election a few months before. They will have to manage the soft power. As i said in my introduction, that will be the first major soft power event after the ukrainian crisis. That will be interesting to see. Well as itl work works for the soft power that russia displayed or it will not be so successful. What seems to be so important is that it will be the last fourthill be in his mandate, and officially the last one. So that is something where, at least if he hopes to stay until the last day of the last mandate, it will be a very symbolic importance for him in a that heway of showing has almost 20 years of political presence in russia. Theerms of soft power, Olympic Games are all the sports. This is the soccer cup. Summer is so much linked for russian population to europe. It is a european sport. You really want to play with the big european countries. In a sense, it makes that kind of symbolism of the world cup even more visible. You really have to interact with countries that russia consider as its equal, or the ones she wants to partner with, the u. S. And european countries. I think that will be a kind of very highlevel focus for russia and for the population. That is the narrative around this kind of reconciliation. That will be a kind of howresting moment to see they will suddenly have to display a very positive narrative about western culture. Make the shiftto before the cup arrives. Lori you want to add to that manuel you want to add to that . Eventsost hosts of major want to bring visitors in. Im a little confused on the russian visa process. There were so many people who did not go to sochi, one because of the fear the u. S. Media put in everybody, but also the process you had to go through to get to sochi. All the visa requirements and all that. Also, i was brought over to advance andonths in i supposedly was doing a Sports Tourism session. I said, wheres the tourism people . One of my specializations is how to leverage major events to increase tourism and Economic Impact in the future. And they are like, we dont have any Tourism Development here. I said, this is your chance to do that. So theres a missed opportunity if russia maybe this could be their platform, talking about building a tourism infrastructure, doing a plan, building their image, then more people would go to russia as a tourist destination. Again, im not sure they really want that to happen. Intersect, ito believe russia will actually get rid of the visa process for world cup ticket holders. That will already make it a lot easier. If we get any indication from brazil, i believe 40,000 americans traveled to brazil for the world cup, and brazil had a visa process for americans as well. That gives us an idea where we go with this if you maybe want to comment on that. Lisa brazil waived the visa fee for americans if they showed they had an actual ticket. I have not yet heard that for russia. It would be great if they waived on top of the visa, we had to get a tourist or olympics spectator card in sochi as well. There was two things we had to go through. Manuel wouldnt it be in the best interest of a country like tosia to bring in tourists say, we are an open society . Isnt that in the best interest of a host country in general . Lisa that is what they should be doing. Everybody says the olympics in greece were the fault of the economy right now. I dont think it was. It was poor planning. I got a call six weeks ahead of time, what can we do to leverage the games you are late. If you go to fifas website, they have each city listed and a description of the cities. But it is kind of old. You have to spice it up a little bit. They are just not used to marketing and Tourism Marketing especially. I think they need some help there. Maybe y last point, i hope for russia that the next big event in football is the. Uro 2016 in france i think traditionally the world cup kicks off after that. Then it is one year to the confederation cup, two years to the world cup. I think that will be sort of the deadline, wouldnt it, for a country like russia to get ready and say, this is what we are doing. Lisa no, they should start now. [laughter] lisa because now, you start working with sponsors. After the last world cup, everybody starts looking at the and one, doing other plans, now is when they need to start. So you have it all planned, you kick it off during the euro, but if you dont start planning until euro, you are not going to be ready in 2018. Planning takes a while. Manuel thank you. One last question, and this is for everyone. Mind, and maybe we start with marlene on the right, do you think it is worth hosting the world cup . Marlene yes. Manuel why . Not letting you off the hook that easy. Marlene i think it is very important for a country like russia to get this kind of recognition. That is an important tool. We have been discussing how russias soft power will be playing around the cup. That is also our own soft power that we can use on that occasion. I think it is a nice way where we can celebrate what we share together with russia and try to put everyone at the table of the discussion. I think it is a wonderful opportunity on both sides. We can also flavor it. Also have to [indiscernible] the population will be very much interested in sharing more stories about their experiences. I think everything makes sense. Lori i would agree. Just provides an open dialogue for some of these social issues, whether it is racism or gender equality issues. Anytime you can bring some of these issues to light, it can be always positive. I think theres a lot of misunderstanding in media about the money and how it is spent and all of that, like the boston situation. I think the bostonians lost a great opportunity to host an event that would probably change their city. But maybe a lot of people in boston dont want their ci ty changed. Russia, it is as we discussed before, an opportunity to open them up a little bit. The world cup has never gone that way in that area. I think that is what fifa was saying. Open up and get more people excited about football and give them some infrastructure. Overall, i think theres a lot of tangible and intangible theres the leaders, and people will make money off of it or do it for their own reasons, but lets look at other reasons too, like the volunteers and the youth. Remarks, ifinal think that russia has a fantastic opportunity with this world cup. This world cup is, in my opinion, long overdue. Russia is the oldest and biggest european country to have never hosted the world cup in the past. There has been a lot of debate on the process. I want to take that aside and leave it open. We can probably agree that everyone who did on that world cup probably has some dirt on their hands. I think russia 2018 is a huge opportunity, not just because , but because it will open up a dialogue as you said. Point where weis are in u. S. Western relations, that is probably the best thing that could happen to us right now. Thank you. We will do question and answer now. I will take the opportunity to ask one question myself. We are here in d. C. , in virginia, we have a proud tradition of womens soccer. If you could just talk to us about our soccer scene here in d. C. And the United States. We are getting a new stadium for united. Look back at the u. S. Right now. We now have premier league on nbc and the womens cup was very successful in terms of television. Talks u. S. About that. Time extremely exciting for women soccer. And i would argue womens sports in general. I dont know how many people know we actually have a professional Womens League and a team in d. C. I dont know why we call ourselves d. C. When it is an hour away, but that is beside the point. Since the world cup though, we have nine teams in the league and every stadium up until i want to say last weekend was sold out for the most part. Theres an exciting time for out justyers, to speak in regards to promoting the game, promoting womens sports in general. So if you do live close to germantown, you should check out the washington spirits. We do have one of the best stadiums in the league, at the germantown soccer plax. It is an exciting time to get remotewomen soccer and and promote gender equality in that regard too. Anything else i should speak about more . We are entering the last few games, last month of the season, so it is pretty tight playoffs. We talk about a threeweek break in the middle of the season. Now, the world cup players and the National Players as well are back playing with their teams, which has sparked excitement as well around the league. I would argue it is the most Competitive League around the world. Definitely athletically. Product,onderful familyfriendly environment. I should be a spokeswoman for the league. Definitely check out a game. Unless something goes terribly wrong, we should make the playoffs. [indiscernible] thank you. This question is for marlene. The socialreciate soft power economic benefits of russia hosting the world cup. Im of ukrainian descent. I have a completely different perspective on this, a biased perspective obviously, because i betweenanalogy drawn hitler hosting the 1936 games, i see putin as being the 21st century hitler, getting more emboldened by showcasing again after sochi, i cant fathom i think there are two big elephants in the room here. Fifa is undergoing its own investigation here for corruption. I question how this process occurred, why russia was awarded hosting the games, whether bribery was involved. The second elephant in the room is, russia invaded ukraine. Again . Showcasing russia coup in his as a head. Hes a dangerous man. If you could comment on that, please. Thank you. Marlene on the corruption issue , that is a huge elephant in the room, but russia is not the elephant of the room. I think it is a general debate over the label of corruption. Globally in sports and in fifa. Oil countrybeing an has you being easily corrupt and corrupting because money was easily especially at that time. For me, it is kind of a general discussion. I hope the investigation will go on. Demonstrate that they have evidence that russia and qatar really won because of corruption schemes, then i dont know what would exactly be the process, but i think we can develop on that issue. For me, it is a general issue where russia is one element among many others participating globally in this corruption scheme. On russiaukraine relations, that is something very specific. Argument, and i understand you would be unsatisfied with it, is that it is not through the world cup that we will stop that issue. If we are solving the issue politically, then what else can we do . The west has been failing in securing ukraines security since the beginning of the crisis. It is more about our own general inability to find a solution to secure ukraines integrity. It is a small issue for us. It is a big issue for russia. On that, we have been a little bit naive about the capacity of the west to resist on something where globally, the current context for the west and europe is not the major issue. Russia, the capacity to do whatever it wants almost in ukraine because it is mr. Putin and he has the popular support. Russia havingk the cup because of the ukrainian issue doesnt make any political solution and doesnt send any good message because we dont have the political or military or Financial Institutions to help ukraine. It is just that we dont have any kind of good solution. Fifa could be the last element. If we try to focus on that, we are avoiding saying that we dont have the real longterm solution for the country. I understand that doesnt solve anything for the ukrainian people. I dont know how the Ukrainian Team will be playing and so on. That would be a political issue. [inaudible] between the antiwest sentiment putins russia, theres a very real issue. It really is. Again ism the games another feather in his cap. It just emboldens the man. He was given the games way before this issue actually came up. To answer your question about corruption, it is likely. We dont know. It is allegedly option a legit corruption. The issue is that everyone has dirty hands. The only proven case of corruption was england 2018, where they have found cases of payments being made. Most likely, there was corruption involved. Yes, probably. That is how these games are awarded. Lefthe train has sort of because the tournament is set in stone. The same issue can be said about qatar. Im not sure if this world cup is really another feather in ead, because im not sure it is going to be as beneficial for him as he thinks or as the west thinks. It is going to open up the country. It is going to open up dialogue. It is going to show certain elements of russia that are probably not always welcome to the people in power. I think having the world cup there is going to do much more in terms of resolving current problems then taking it away. The moment the west takes it away that is how it will be perceived in russia, the west taking away the world cup. They are going to completely isolate themselves and the situation will probably deteriorate even more. Ive lived in ukraine myself. I get that. But i think taking the world cup away from russia will not solve this issue. People involved in the game in ukraine want to go if they qualify. I think that shows some of the problems. I think that in terms of the bidding process, it was russias time, just like it was brazils time. I think, whether the payments were made or not, they were lined up. The difference is qatar. That is a whole different story. [indiscernible] regardingef comment how germany succeeded is really a trifecta. Investing in youth, developing the youth, and marketing it. It is a clear formula. It was a 1012 year process. The formula exists. Helpin fact is planning to russia that way. Ive been in touch with the medical director of fifa. They will be starting socalled fif 11 that will be taking place throughout russia in the german model. It requires a commitment. Fifa will try to capitalize that process that worked for germany to do it for russia. As you can imagine, as a Soccer Player and physician, russias Health System is completely down. Who will ensure the wellbeing and health of the athletes at this world cup . I know what they did for sochi. Because to hear more, this is across 12 different cities. Ge divided all the medical equipment. They built new clinics. They had helicopters. Expertise ifin the they did not have it locally. Russia, you know in the russian system, it is more complicated than just being kind of collapsing. You have a system in provincial cities that is in bad shape. You also have a private system which is growing. They have more an issue with having good people trained, skilled surgeons and so having that kind of equipment. I think they will advance what they did for sochi. When you cannot modernize the system, you are just creating parallels. A centralized system that is really where the state is putting a lot of money has to make sure it works. They will open new clinics. They will have the right equipment. That will cost a lot of money. That will be very well functioning during the cup. It doesnt mean that once the cup is over, the system will bring a lot of new positive elements for the population, which will continue to go to the public sector. But i think they will manage that well. They will have enough money, and even if there is less money, they will still be able to manage this element of the system. Lori, i assume the teams bring their own doctors to these events. Lori for the u. S. , we have a couple doctors that travel with us. Im pretty sure the majority of the teams will travel with their own doctors. Curious for those people studying russia, what happened to all the equipment . I know ge and the other suppliers left all the equipment , the xray equipment, in sochi. Id like to see if it is being used. Putting a new, ge unit on top of their olympics sponsorship, and the results are that it is saving i forget how many thousands of babies each year. So im hoping that the Imaging Equipment and everything that was left is doing some benefit to the people in the sochi region. Lets suppose worst came to worse. Some countries boycotted the games. Are there any rules in fifa that would cause them to penalize those countries . Lisa no. Any team is allowed to say they dont want to participate. And the other countries will be happy to go. Manuel to be honest, even in ukraine, they are saying, we are going. I have a very high doubt unless some kabbalistic event happens some cataclysmic event happens, i dont think we will see boycotts. There were more women in the stands and there was the world bump. That did not sustain itself seen recent years, it was realcatalyst and a dedication to growing the womens game. What kind of insight in terms of whether something similar might be the case with russia and whether this might be a catalyst to help it grow with backing. They participate in the champions league. Cup sparksthe world attention and gets people to play. I would say that it will definitely increase and help the womens game just as much as it will help the mens game. People will see it on tv and aspire to be these athletes they see on tv. Especially young people. I would say yes, it will have a tremendous impact. Lisa the other thing is that there has been history, once a country has hosted a mens, they host a womens. Im not saying they are going to get it for sure, but it could be something down the line. Lori yeah, just to piggyback off of what manuel said, i think this world cup was an exciting time for other Womens National teams, like nigeria. Because of social media as well, we went from, in 2011, we had 16 teams in the womens world cup. This year, there was 24. Eight new teams participating. Some, which some would argue shouldnt have been there, like thailand must to germany 100, but in my opinion, i think it opened up some dialogue and brought awareness and put some pressure on fifa to mandate that these countries put more money into the womens programs. So if we are going to have 2014s, they need to start spreading that money. Themen usually qualify for knockout round. Some argue the women should not have been at the world cup. Hopefully this will spark and create a little bit of a bump in pushing and giving more, developing the womens side of the game as well. So hopefully that will be the case with russia as well. Anyone can answer who feels like it. Coming from georgia, the country, ive seen russia occupied georgia. Ive seen russia occupying ukraine. Ive seen russia adopting laws that outlaw homosexuality and racism flourishing in the country. And recently, ive seen russia destroying western food. It sounds to me a little bit naive when we are speaking about these games opening up russia. But if you are saying so, let me give you this question. What was the benefit of the olympics . How did it change russia to a better country in sochi . Lisa we were discussing that before the panel. Those of us that attended really fell in love with russia. Unfortunately, the week after, all of our opinions that we had formed changed again, back, even worse, because of the invasion of ukraine. So all the goodwill that they built up, unfortunately, i think, went away. It was unfortunate for russia. But i do think during the games they had an opportunity to change a lot of peoples opinions and move forward, yet they chose to revert. Many people said it was already in the planning, that they knew they were going to do this after the games. I dont know about that. To your question, we can only hope. We have no scientific proof that it is going to help any, but is it worth trying . I mean, is it better to just close it off and say, we are not going to deal with these people because they are going to keep going . I dont know. I think they did. The people that i talked to had broadened their the citizens, the individual citizens that took part in the Olympic Games benefited. I cant say that putin changed. I dont think thats the case. But i think the citizens benefited. First, in terms of russia with a country of racism and lgbt issues, we all agree it is not the only one. Look at the lgbt rights in qatar. We also need to be careful. A lot of countries getting big sport events are not the ones we consider the best in terms of social or gender issues. I understand the political point, but i think if we fail for russia and ukraine, it is a political failure of the west. Trying to solve the issue [indiscernible] i think it is very important also not to forget that it is not only giving soft power to putin, it is also giving us soft power. We have to engage with the international community. They will have to change. They will have to allow foreigners to come. It is also a way for us to speak to the russian population beyond just putin. And i think if you look at the sociological survey, you will see the russian population getting tired of the situation in ukraine. People have a lot of concern. Much more so. This kind of huge media pressure is kind of slowly now diminishing. People are worried. They have concerns for their economic situations, their wellbeing. You can find a lot of people in russia who would say yes, we wanted crimea to go back, and we wanted the russian population in ukraine to be secure, because that is the way they would interpret the situation, but the price of this is higher than we imagine. Things can change a lot in three years. If you suddenly cut any communication with the russian population, you dont need diplomacy, you just need weapons. I dont think that is the right solution. Marlene you dont see for example what this means for the 50,000 volunteers who participated, how that change their lives. You dont know if that has them opening discussions. You also have long social transformations where you dont see the results right now. Maybe the Olympic Games didnt change anything. Does that mean we shouldnt have them and that not having them makes things easier . I dont know. Manuel i would add to this, it is not that long ago that we had those olympics. It is hard to judge the impact of the olympics at this moment. Youve seen a lot of events play out, but these events were already taking place prior to dashboard during or during the olympics. You said 50,000 volunteers. What is the longterm benefit of that . I think it will be positive. Also, what is the solution . Take away the world cup . No, that is not going to do anything. I think it would actually make things worse. And judging from what happened at euro 2012 in ukraine, the secondlargest football tournament in the world, it has some very similar issues in terms of racism and gender rights. Now, take that with russia, and on top of russia having problems with neighbors, russia will get fullon Media Attention for two years. As soon as euro 2016 is over, there will be fullon Media Attention on russia. That is going to do a lot more than just taking away the tournament. But it has not been very long, has it . It has been a year. That is not very long in terms of dialogue. Olympics has not brought any benefit in terms of opening up russia. That was the question. Thank you. Marlene that is your own interpretation of our answer. At least two people sitting here are historians by background. So managing something that happened 15 months ago is more complicated than that in terms of how human beings can change in society. I understand it will always be a sensitive issue. Do we have other questions . One more. To those in attendance and asked questions, excellent. Fantastic discussion. Lets give a round of applause for our speakers who did a really excellent job. [applause] as i mentioned before, we intend to continue this project with additional discussions, research, and other activities. With the website you can follow , along if you want to continue to participate in the discussions. A number of candidates are attending the soapbox at the iowa state fair. Moment, were going to show you some of the speeches from yesterday. Huckabee, andmike then jim webb, followed by martin omalley, the former governor of maryland. This sunday night, antiwar activist on u. S. Foreignpolicy since 9 and the war on11 terrorism. Who is isis . Why are they so important . It is something we can do something about. What is the u. S. Policy regarding isis . Can we really go to war against terrorism . I think those are the questions that in some ways are the most important will be the most useful. Q a. Nday night at 8 00 on former governor might come to be was the first of the candidates to speak at this years iowa state fair. The two questions from people attending the fair. Thank you very much. Welcome to the first day of the iowa state fair. Let me begin with the recommendation pork chop on a stick. Trust me. It is what is for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack. I want to send a thank you to the Des Moines Register for giving us this forum and for all of you to coming to listen to a politician talk. I think a lot of times you and i hear a lot of politicians talk. You hear a lot of people come to your city. Your state. This time 17 republicans are coming to iowa to ask for your vote and support in the caucuses. There will be a handful of democrats that will come as well. Hillary probably is not going to come. She will email in her appearances. [laughter] i know the clintons pretty well, i was born in hope, arkansas, the same town bill clinton was born in. People wonder how it is possible so many people would come from such a small town. The answer is i dont know, but what i do know for the republicans who are deciding how to vote, who to vote for, a lot of the questions are, is there anybody on our site that has a Good Opportunity to take on the clinton political machine . I am the only person who is ever done it because every election i ever ran in all, every time i did not just run against an opponent but the entire political apparatus the clintons had built over a 25year period. I know many of you think the most Democratic State in the country is massachusetts, maybe oregon, vermont, new jersey, but you would be wrong. For the 1990s most Democratic State in all of america was arkansas. And i was elected, i was only the fourth republican elected in 150 years. When i was elected lieutenant governor, i got the State Capitol and they were so happy to see me being the only republican in the state capital thats my door was nailed shut from the inside. [laughter] literally nailed shut. It stayed that way for my first 59 days for the elected governor of the state. That was my introduction to hardball politics the clinton political machine knows how to play. Every time i was ever on the ballot, both bill and Hillary Clinton came and campaign for my opponent. I have never been bitter about it, it made me a better candidate. I not only took them on, but i repeatedly beat them, and i lived to tell about it. That is why i am here today. [applause] you will hear from the other side they have done such a great job running the country and the economy is in a recession and that the economy is in in a recovery. Everywhere i go i do not save the economy is recovering. I talked to people whose economy is not recovering. Last night i was at a pizza ranch. Of course i was. A guy comes up to me and is a contractor who owns a Small Business and does landscaping, and i was talking about a guy that i met in South Carolina three weeks ago. A guy named mark. The guy i met at the fairfield inn in aiken, South Carolina, at 6 00 in the morning. My team stays at the fairfield inn because it is a free cheap hotel with Free Internet and free breakfast. Weise and your Campaign Money by trying to be frugal. I am down there 6 00 in the morning for breakfast. Merck is working the shift for the fairfield inn and strikes up a conversation. We get to talking. He is a collegeeducated accountant and three years ago he was working as an accounting in aiken, South Carolina when the Company Closed down and should this all 300 jobs to mexico. 300 factory workers and front Office People of which he was one all lost their jobs. Now mark is working three parttime jobs and with three parttime job to does not make as much money as he used to make on the one job he once had and the factory. Mark story is the story of 5 million americans who have lost jobs in manufacturing the year 2000. 60,000 plants have closed since the year 2000. Last night when i was talking to the Landscape Contractor in waulkie, he said i can really because that is fine. Hes that i am working 100 hours per week. There are a lot of american sweating through their clothes every day, lifting heavy things, and they are not getting a lot to show for it. It used to be if you could just get through high school, get a good job and work hard you could take care of your family and work through the middle class. Lord knows i was able to do that because of a hardworking dad who worked two fulltime jobs but could barely pay the rent on the orange brick house i lived on 2nd street and hope, arkansas. I am not blue blood. My family did not come over on the mayflower. My family is bluecollar. We got jumped off the shores of georgia. My ancestry is not something that is all that noble. My father always told me dont look very far of your family tree, there is some stuff you dont need to see. Let me tell you why i love this country, because if the kid like me can grow up like i did with parents who never had the opportunities of a great education, my father never finished high school. His father did not end his father did not i am the first male who ever graduated heist will, much less went to college. If the kid like me can become the governor of estate and aspire to be the 45th president of the United States, this is an amazing place to live. [applause] and i am grateful to god to be in this country. I have a few years on me now. Three grown children and five grandchildren. When people say why are you running for president . Sometimes i ask myself out. I can tell you why, because i want those five grandkids of mine to have the same hopes and opportunities. I want them to be optimistic about their country as i looked being, and i want them to believe america is the greatest nation on earth and believe that is true because it is true. We have to fight for it to be true again. I am not willing for us to be a second rate nation. I want us to have the best military, best economy and best and are of right and wrong morality that any country has ever had in history of polarization, and that is why i am running for president , because i want those rankings of mine to love america and have a Great America to love. [applause] but if we are going to make the country great, we have to make some big changes. Not little things. We have to make some truly major changes like get the fair tax passed and quit punishing people for their work, and once and for all, get rid of the criminal enterprise known as the Internal Revenue service. Be rid of them. [applause] lets get our military strong again where no one wants to fight with it. The bully in your school when you were a cake, and i hope it was not you, but the bully in your school only picked on the kids he thought he could beat. He never takes on a kid that was so new it would put the bully on his rear end. If we want to keep america from having to go to a war, it may sound counterintuitive, but the best way to do it is to have the most robust, welltrained, wellequipped, best ever military in the history of the world that nobody on this globe that wants to ever pick a fight with. Nobody. [applause] when some people ask what is the most important issue facing this country . Most people ask is if the economy or National Security . Is like asking me which wing of the air plane is most important . When i fly on the plane i like for both wings to be on their. Just flies better. Of course we have to get our economy going. People need to work, and we cannot work when taxation creates migration and folks are getting the jobs in china, mexico, japan, south korea, and indonesia, but not the United States of america. I dont care i have jobs there but i sure as heck care if people miss country have good jobs that pay good wages and let them see them the family and lets them moved to the next rung on the ladder. We have to make that a focus. [applause] i will secure the border within the first year because we had to do something about letting our country become an open door where we no longer control our border. If you think it is resumption on my part to say i think we can secure the border in the first year, im here to tell you it can be done. 73 years ago we built bridge between British Columbia and alaska. 1700 mile route and build it in less than a year. That was with the engineering capabilities of 73 years ago and the construction of the arctic winters of the north. Of course we can secure the border, but you have to have a president that says i will do it and make sure it gets done, and i will be a president that gets it done. That is my commitment to this country. [applause] even if we have both wings of the airplane, i also believe you have to have is doing mechanism, otherwise, without a steering mechanism to wings will fly it to the crash site. The steering mechanism has to be a strong, moral fiber that comes from what our founders said in the declaration of independence, and then here is to the laws of nature and laws of natures god. Let us never apologized for who we are as a country, a country that cannot be explained apart from the providence of god himself. There is no other explanation for the United States of america rather than his providence and intervention. [applause] if we are going to invoke his blessing, as we often do, and does not matter whether it is a democrat or republican running for president , here is something we always a at the end of her speeches, god bless you, and god bless america. Every democrat says it, every republican does it, but folks, i am not sure how we fully inspect to invoke gods blessing on this country if we continue the slaughter of unborn children in their mothers wombs, 60 million of whom has passed away since 1973. Lets stop the slaughter. When i hear people say we will defund planned parenthood, wonderful, we should do it, but lets do more than that. Its not just ends funding for the nightmare, lets end the nightmare and make it so that when we asked god to bless us he can look down from heaven and say i will. I thank you very much, and i will take a few westerns for the remaining time ive got, which i probably will regret. This is called queuing day. Questions and answers in your world, but for me, it is called questions and avoidance. I will try not to do anything that will end my president ial aspirations today here at the soapbox. You, front row. [inaudible] mr. Huckabee how do we get it back to the growth rate . 11 trillion of capital is parked offshore. I guarantee you we will goose economy if you bring 11 trillion of working capital back to this country. And you stop punishing evil for working, saving and investing and quit rewarding people for making mistakes, which is the way we are operating now, we will transform the economy. We will bring manufacturing jobs back, because under the fair tax we will not be at the competitive disadvantage to make things. It is not enough for us to have a design and create things, we have to make the things we create. Right now we are designing things, creating things, but we are making them in china. What we need to do is make them here, but we cant because there is 22 and that attacks and everything we do here. It comes back cheaper than what we make. The fair tax changes that and gives us the Competitive Edge to bring the manufacturing jobs back. We stopped the crazy regulatory environment. I have a contractor friend and has a great back on the back of his hard hat. It is true. It ought to be at least as hard to get welfare as it is to get a building permit. Do you agree with that . [applause] yes, sir . [inaudible] mr. Huckabee the question is, what we continue to fund things like the global fund . I have been to rwanda and seen the benefit of the mosquito nets we provide for about 10 to save thousands of lives. I think there are many humanitarian things we can do. We cannot fix everything the world. We cannot be the worlds policeman. We have to get our own house in order. Our own children and grandchildren will never be able to have the Great America that can do great things around the world. That has to be job one. Does not mean we wont care and want involved, but the number one goal is to make it so people in this country will have the kind of money they can contribute to the seven dollars mosquito net that save the children that are right not dying of malaria unnecessarily. Let me pass this on. I think sometimes we fail to understand our involvement in the world needs to be from a position of strength, not weakness. The one thing i am committed to that america will no longer be a nation that asks permission to speak or act. We will act in americans best interest and American Workers best interest. We will make this country strong and make it so that wages in this country are worth something again, something that has not happened in 40 years when the bottom 9 of the economy has had geithner wages. That has to change. Back here. [inaudible] mr. Huckabee she says i am a Real Campaign for arts education. I am. I am one of the only governors to mandate arts and education for k12th. One in every three High School Children drop out of school. You know why duck they are bored. The reason a lot of kids are bored is because they are right brain dominant students, which means they are created in nature. They are the ones who create things like your iphone. The problem is, if you put them in a traditional classroom and say sit still, put your feet and front of you, you lose them. They are thinking and dreaming all over the place. Put music and art and dance and theater and paintbrush in their hand and you will change their lives in the outcome of those kids. [applause] let me be very clear, i am passionate every student in america should have access to not either or but music and arts education. Should that be a federal requirement . No, your station do it, because i am convinced one of the biggest messes in education, is that if wedding moms and dads and states run their education, we have let washington run it, and washington has no idea what is best for students in iowa, but you want to make sure in iowa you dont let any kids go with an art and music exposure and education with certified teachers. Yes, sir, in the hat. What does that hat say . [inaudible] mr. Huckabee the question is, will i support ethanol and fuel . Some people say that is not a conservative position. Let me tell you. If the government tells people to do something and spends millions of dollars in infrastructure to follow a new government mandate and do it, and the same government comes back and pulled the rug out from under them and says we will not do that and work, you just messed up on whole lot of people who made the investment to cut they trusted their government. The reason we cannot just pull the rug out from Renewable Fuels is it was a government that asked American Farmers to engage in the process. Now, if you go back to change the rules after the guys have gotten the game, you will disrupt another big he said the economy. This is one of the reasons im running for president. It is time for someone to understand when america is make thomas, you keep it area not just farmers and people in the renewable fuel industry but promises to the veterans who keep promises to the country and fought to get our freedom. It is time for someone to understand when america makes up on this, you keep it not just to the farmers and people in the renewable fuel industry. I have no intention of going in and saying we will raise the age at which you retire and take your benefits away from you, because that is your money. It does not belong to congress. It belongs to you. [applause] you did not have a choice about whether it came out of your check. There is no way to the person who took the money from you ought to be able to your. My time is up. I want to thank you for yours. I hope you have a great time at the iowa state there. I need your vote in february at the caucuses. I dont care how cold it is that night, please go vote for me. If for some crazy reason you are not going to vote for me in the caucuses, for god sakes stay home that night and do not leave your home. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] mr. Huckabee one should not necessarily the porkchop on the stick is utterly healthy, it really is. Its fantastic. Things that if i tell you i have to kill you. It will definitely be on my menu for lunch today. Thank you, gabby. Mike huckabee, nice to see you. I wish we could have a few more republicans on the ballot, right . [indiscernible] id like to present you with the keys to the city. I met you yesterday. Ckabee thats pretty neat. I wonder if i could get a picture. Mr. Huckabee sure. Thank you. [indiscernible] it is nice to see you again. Can we get a photo . What are you doing in iowa . They are the most incredible, supportive. We will keep the fight going. What should we do illegals inmillion the country . We have to take care of the first problem before we take care of the second. Do you have a plan for the climate . What do you mean . Versus warming overall. Mr. Huckabee we need to bring stability to the world. To make sure we make it available to people, bring the cost down so everyone can live better. Everybody got what they need . Thank you. I am not in as heavy a uniform as these guys. How can they smile . Hi, there. Great to see you. Nice to meet you. I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I dont believe we should redefine marriage. How important is the fair to president ial politics . In huckabee i will tell you february. One of the things about this, it is an unfiltered audience. This is an audience of people who want to come to the fair. The politician happens to show up, they get to ask me anything they want. They can say nice things, they can criticize me, they can say anything they like. Its a real opportunity to see that dynamic that doesnt exist in other politics. Most politicians dont rub shoulders with people here sweating in the state fair. Every billion dollars we spend on Road Construction creates 13,000 jobs. Jobs. If we are serious about creating jobs we must obe serious about infrastructure. To do it with creative financing for use of improve the economy and make america is more efficient placed function. What would you do [indiscernible] i think we need to keep open the idea of tariffs in china. They have manipulated currency, stolen from us, violated laws of intellectual property. This week the Steel Industry has filed another complaint because the chinese are dumping steel in the u. S. The largest steel producing county in the entire country what the chinese do when they dump steel into this country that jeopardizes american jobs and enterprise. Your hopes are better off than if we continue down this path, doubling the national debt, which this president has done in less than seven years, when the first 43 president s combined did not get us to this level. That is why anybody, any color, anywhere should vote for me. It is great. 48 ofs a reason i have the africanamerican vote in my state. I believe in treating everybody the same. I would love to have your vote. I am going to think about it. It auckabee think about lot. You are going to say that is my guy. You are going to say it out loud. Win berkeley to for me. Weve got to move. You can walk with us. We have got to move. Thank you, i appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you very much. God bless you. [indiscernible] mr. Huckabee among the republicans, i was in third. I think we are in a very good place. What do you need to do to come up in the polls . Mr. Huckabee campaign, talk to people, win their support. There are no shortcuts. [indiscernible] mr. Huckabee if cnn will give me the air time they had given to donald trump, i would be leading in the polls. You like the fair because you get to talk to the voters. Some people do not like the fair. [indiscernible] mr. Huckabee if you want to know america and lead america, you better know who the people of america are. Those are the beep will coming to the fair. [indiscernible] i will let you look at the Financial Reports and you can figure that one out. [indiscernible] mr. Huckabee that figure is something i talk about a lot. Will defeat cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and alzheimers. Those diseases account for so much of the Economic Impact of care in the country. Can cure them, we transform not only the disease and the people suffering from it , including people in my family. My motherinlaw died a year ago last week from alzheimers. Nationsorm the economy. I appreciate what you are doing. [indiscernible] mr. Huckabee i understand. I want to be a good conservationist. I do not want us to get to the place where we become the only nation that is destroying our economy because other nations are continuing to enjoy energy costs that we dont. We need to export our energy and a challenge the russians, so they are not able to fund weapons of destruction. [indiscernible] mr. Huckabee we should enjoy the environment, use it. We should allow it to become an important resource for our benefit. I do not know to say yes or no. Thank you. Governor huckabee, i want to get a picture with you. What are your plans to assure safe and affordable electricity in the future . Mr. Huckabee we need to be importing and exporting it. We need to be the exporter of energy all over the world, europe and asia. The power structure of iran. It brings jobs to america. That is what we need to be doing. [indiscernible] mr. Huckabee hi there. What are you doing now . How are you. Welcome. How are you . Mr. Huckabee good. [indiscernible] we need a bigger than life picture. Wilson wilson [indiscernible] yeah, yeah, yeah. You are out and about. All right. Ok. All right. Here you go. One more. Mr. Huckabee thank you. Thank you very much. Mr. Huckabee you are very well compared great to see you again. You, too, man. Mr. Huckabee hi there. How are you all . Asked for coming out. You have fun today. Just thanks for coming out. You have fun today. Still having fun . Rainy day bad. [inaudible] mr. Huckabee, good to see you. Mr. Huckabee good to see you. How are you guys doing . Nice to see you. Nice seeing you. 26 years, well i guess you should. You are here most of the fair . All of the fair. The crew around here, mr. Huckabee is this part of your equipment . That is something we are giving away. Mr. Huckabee very nice. This is awesome. I recognized some of the sign work. I would like for you to meet my son scott. Where is scott at . He is the one that run the operation. He is down there selling somebody. [laughter] mr. Huckabee you mostly sell corn, soy beans. Probably a lot of soybean there. We sell more soybeans. Were not into rice. Mr. Huckabee it is great to see you guys. Thanks for stopping by. Mr. Huckabee you bet. How are you doing . Thank you. Nice meeting you. When are you coming to tampa, florida . Mr. Huckabee i have got to get invited, first. All right, here we go. What is a tampa guy doing in des moines . I live a pretty boring life. Mr. Huckabee you probably know where some great fair food is. Thank you. It is great to see you all. You are so great. [indiscernible] mr. Huckabee i would suggest give to the candidates you want. Sometimes, there will be all sorts of organizations. And you do not know, they are keeping the money and not even getting it. That would be helpful. A few are running a great campaign. I am glad you dont Pay Attention to trump. Mr. Huckabee i will not say anything unkind about any of the candidates. It is just not the way to win the election. Thank you. Great to see you again. I am sure i will see you. Right now, we have got to be in atlanta. Do you have your camera ready . We do. We are ready. 1, 2, 3. Thank you so much. You mind if i take a selfie with u. S. Well . Thank you. Mr. Huckabee 1, 2, 3. Perfect. Thank you. Good luck. Here you are. Kids hi [kids yelling] almost. Mr. Huckabee half pound tenderloin. Onion rings. Porkchops on a stick. I highly recommend it. My wife will not let me. That is good here and i would love to. I would need to get her busy doing something. Reprising the role of Michelle Obama today, making it very difficult for me to enjoy the iowa state fair. You go ride rides and i will go eat some stuff. There you go. I think it worked out. It has all evened out. What . Mr. Huckabee that is full of sugar. I would be better off with a corn dog. Yes. Corndog. Such a spoilsport. Mr. Huckabee probably keep walking. You are a christian of course. So am i. I am antiwar. Would christ have supported the iraq war . Mr. Huckabee i would never presume to tell you what jesus would have done. That would be beyond my capacity or anyones. I think it is a dangerous thing for someone as lowly as me to try to say here is what jesus would absolutely do. Only he to tell you that. Ok, sure. I do not want this to end but i know they need you. Some good photos . Good. Mr. Huckabee normally they do that after something outstanding. Agriculture, business, to really talk about that. We really understand supporting manufacturing. I think you would love the speech i just gave. Take a look around. We would love to have you in here. Thank you so much. Absolutely. [indiscernible] mr. Huckabee mind your step. Chris, you are doing some heavy drinking there. [laughter] mr. Huckabee hi there, how are you . I recommend the porkchop on a stick. How are you doing, sir . Thank you. I knew you were a smart guy. All right. Can i get a picture real quick . Thank you. Good luck. Mr. Huckabee how are you folks . Have fun at the fr. Good to see you all. [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. 2015] we will have more lives coverage from the iowa state fair of a weekend. Jeb bush will be at the fair this morning. Remarks. Ave his later, donald trump, currently willcheduled to speak, hold a townhome meaning in hampton, new hampshire. Coverage start that 7 10 p. M. Eastern. Webb athear from jim the iowa state fair. He served as secretary of the navy. As secretary of the navy. Senator webb thank you very much. It is a pleasure to be here with you today. I know this is a 20 minute timed event. The first rule you learn in marine corps leadership is you never put your crowds face into the sun, whether talking to marines or citizens out here today, so i apologize having to put you through being in the sun during this next 20 minutes. Ive been here and about been here about an hour and a half. I thought it walking through and saying hello to people. Its a great opportunity to meet people and listen to their views, and before i say anything else, i also want to say that i belong to one of the most unique fraternities in the world. It is a saturday that has to go across all business and ethnic lines, and that is the u. S. Marine corps and one of my great friends who served in the platoon in vietnam is with us today. His name is dan broome. For those of us who are in the infantry during that time, it was a brutal time. We lost three times as many marines in the vietnam war as were in the entire korean war. In 1969, more americans died, and in fact, twice as Many Americans died in vietnam as have been lost in iraq and afghanistan combined in the last 12 years of war. It is always a great honor for me to be able to give my thanks to the people who served with us and yesterday was the anniversary of when dan broome was wounded. He was wounded twice. It is great that he is with us. [applause] senator webb also, general washington, i got to meet him backstage. I was wanted to meet general washington, because my greatgrandfathers served in the revolutionary war under general george washington. Those of you who remember the encampments of valley forge across the delaware, general washington reminded me of how much he appreciated his virginia soldiers during that engagement. I was also glad to see that governor huckabee preceded me. My mother is from arkansas and ive been to arkansas many, many times. And it is good to have his views in this election process. One thing i would like to say in this short timeframe is our country right now is going through a very emotional process. When you look at all of the debate that is going on about issues that are bothering people and the attention that some of the candidates who are more on the extreme are getting in the media, and the way that people are trying to figure out where the country needs to go, the one thing i would ask you when you are looking at who you want for your next president is, when all of this cool down and comes down and you have to make your decisions about who you want as commanderinchief, who you want has who has a record of demonstrating judgment across party lines, i hope you will look at my career. You are going to need a commanderinchief. Number one responsibility of the president of the United States is the burden of being commanderinchief and making these ultimate decisions about Foreign Policy and when to use military force, and what it is wise not to use military force. I have been around the military my entire life. I grew up in the military. I was honored to serve as a marine in vietnam. I spent five years at the pentagon, one as a marine, and for as four as assistant secretary in the navy. I was in beirut when our marines were in beirut just before the bombing that killed more than 220 americans in one day. I was in afghanistan as an embedded journalist. And the experience ive had in the senate as a member of the Armed Services committee and the Foreign Relations committee is something that has prepared me in the best way that anyone can be prepared to be your commanderinchief. The second thing i would like for you to think about is how we are going to make this a better country in terms of issues like economic fairness and social justice. Ive been speaking about the breaking point between the people at the very top and our working people for 10 years now. It was one of the primary issues that i put into my Senate Campaign in 2000. It was the first in 2006. It was the first issue that i stated in response to president bush. We have a long record here. And you have to remember we are the most unique society on earth. We are the greatest country on earth. We want to live the American Dream. The American Dream has three pieces to it. The first is, if you have your ideas together, if you can get yourself into the process, you can shoot the moon. You can go all the way. We want to preserve that. The second thing is, we are not doing our job right as your government leaders unless we insist that along that journey everyone has absolute fairness. Everyone has absolute access to the American Dream. And the third part of that is that for those who have fallen on hard times, for those who are in retirement, for those who have suffered disability, this country has always guaranteed a safety net under the people. That is the american trifecta, the dream at the top, fairness along the way, and the safety net under our people. Ive heard people say that we have that system in place economically right now. Ive heard other people say we have five billionaires at the top who are controlling a lot of how our economic process works, and in a way they are kind of both right. If you look back at this recession that we endured going into 2008 and 2009 and how we have climbed back out of it, in april of 2009 as we started coming back out of it, the stock market has a most tripled. It has gone from a little bit above 6000 and above 18,000. If you own stock, if you have capital asset, you are probably doing very well right now. At the same time, wages and salaries for our working people have been flat, and actually have gone down, as have loans to Small Businesses. So if you are not in the flow of capital, of owning stocks, real estate, those sorts of things, you are probably not doing very well right now. And we need to make sure that the american worker, who is the hardest, most productive worker in the world, gets a share of this economy as we bring it back. [applause] the one thing i can guarantee you, if you look at the record i have put on the table over many years within government and out of government, is that i can take complex problems and work with people from across a philosophical spectrum and