Media feet, nonprivate industry, americans Cable Television company is a Public Service and brought to you by your television provider. Please welcome executive director of chicago ideas, Megan Mcdonald. [applause] good evening, happy wednesday. How is everyone feeling . Rate. Happy friday. Just making sure you are paying attention. Welcome, my name is Megan Mcdonald im the new director of chicago ideas. Born and raised in this amazing city that now, raising my own family, just on the street, i feel incredibly proud to call myself a true blue chicagoan. Anybody else feel that way . [applause] it makes me even powder to be part of this fantastic chicago ideas team, who works each and every day to challenge our city and the world beyond, to share ideas and inspire action and ignite change. Chicago ideas is all about curiosity and pursuing conductivity. In the spirit, who doesnt love a good friday night icebreaker . I like to ask you to take a moment to turn to a person you dont know and introduce yourself and share why you are here tonight and share what your most trusted source of political news might be. [laughter] this might be a run so i will give you 60 seconds. [inaudible conversations] okay. Its going to be tough for me to get this, guys. If i can, everyone, if i can get everybody, i love that you are all getting to know each other, theres plenty of time after the program is over. This is probably also a good time, as i mentioned conductivity, i dont necessarily mean the cell phone variety, this is a great time for me to ask everybody to please take a quick check of your cell phone and make sure they are silent. While you are doing that, i would like to mention that chicago ideas is not profitable without the support of our fantastic members, we would like to take a moment to recognize and thank all of our members of the audience to raise your hand away from of members. Thank you. Those of you who are not members might be thinking to yourself, why am i not a member . What does it look like . What i get for my membership . Im glad you asked. Numbers enjoy yearround benefits like comfort mentoring tickets, ticketing resales and member only expenses throughout the city. We have an event coming up in april that the members who enjoy the presale benefit might be interested in hearing about and while i cant go into the specific details because the announcement is on wednesday, i can tell you we have 815 time grammy awardwinning performer who has written a book, who plays the piano as a hobby, you might say the girl is on fire. Maybe. Thats about as far as i can go but the Member Benefits will make the presale opportunity something really spectacular. That is in april. With that great stuff coming up. Consider the membership. You can learn more about becoming a member if you go to our website, chicago ideas. Com. Now onto the main program. Tonights conversation is going to be one you will not soon forget. One that will keep you thinking for a long time. If you hear something that resonates during the program with you, we encourage you to share your thoughts with your Digital Community using our chicago ideas. I would like to thank our partners at cbre for making tonight possible. I would like to welcome the vice chairman, brad. [applause] of micro. How are we doing tonight . Its friday night, we are doing great . I love the energy. My name is brad, on behalf of cbre, or to thank you all for being here. Id like to recognize megan and her team, lets give them a round of applause. [applause] i cant tell you how excited i am to be here tonight, kicking off the tenth anniversary chicago ideas. Over the past decade, its amazing to see the impact of chicago ideas on our city and curious minds all over the country and the globe. They brought us words of politicians, poets and entrepreneurs, philosophers and the list goes on. All of them challenging us to think a little different. Tonight, tonight is no different. Tonight we are joined by two chicago leaders who are going to discuss the role of the cities and mayors who lead them and continue to be the engine for change in our countries and the world. Its my honor to introduce melanie and emmanuel. [applause] [applause] this is going to be fun. We have so much to cover. You have a great idea of what fun is. [laughter] i feel fine. [laughter] looks like the medication kicked in. [laughter] i thought it would be fun. So i would start with what you have a notebook and we are here to talk about it, i will start with how the book opens, which is the beginning is about family and its about your grandparents and their parents and it pulls you in immediately, the story is growing, the story of them came at a very young age from eastern europe. He said there was photos in your relatives houses in black and white with messages to you and brought it down, he said the message they conveyed, we sacrificed and struggled in a family we never saw again, that sacrifice will not be distant. Youre going to work hard to get an education, you are going to make something of yourself. Its one thing to see that visually, how is it that born and shaping you not in theory but in practice . Theres nothing subtle in a jewish home. [laughter] was, down in the tv room or family room in our house, grandmas purse, grandma sophie on my mother side, her purse, her passport, her two sisters, all three of them i think are a whopping 4. 7 therefore foot seven, 448 from about that. Their passports and on either side across the wall of the black and white photos of relatives both on my mothers and fathers side who never made it to america. That was the holocaust or my uncle on my father side, they never made it. That was the message, basically thought, the is are staring at you, its an image from a reminder of our response ability. I was a very important part of our life. The other part, this is true about our relatives also, my mothers father banger . Bangka. I got treated on the dna four. 6foot four, 300 pounds, Eastern European, steelworker, meat cutter, truck driver. I do not have any of that dna. [laughter] i got all the stuff that went to israel, i got none of the Eastern European side. He meets my grandmother on the right side, if you know the history of chicago, all the Jewish Community that was non german on the west side, thats why we have a standard club, german jewish, everybody else. They needed to dance and they happen to grow up and colby, they dont know. They get married, mother is raised in north, they moved to albany park. Every sunday without any changes, went about, everybody went over to the house to grandma and grandpas. This was your whole life . Every sunday. Third floor. Kids are running around, people are screaming and yelling, which is a conversation. [laughter] theyre all arguing about politics and everybody is yelling and screaming and the reason is called big bang up because he would bank on the table when he wanted to get hurt. What about this piece that you would make summing of yourself . You would look at your brothers, on the family. You got but doctor, famous doctor i would not recommend his bedside manners to anybody. I want to get too close month my dad just died from my parents to their credit, they raised us with a sense that we have this response ability to do something for their life and youre not going to just pass through. Were they saying this to your . Nothing no inflicted, was explicit. I was a total soccer because when you walked into our house, he walked in, your distance is the refrigerator side. Whats on the outside . Everybody comes in the house right there. Your report card. [laughter] it stayed up until the next report card. That one comes on and the other goes up. He would seek in a and then it was my report card. My parents at the dinner table, you could not miss dinner. You participate in sports and had to be home for dinner 6 00 friday night. We have guests, family members, ill get to grandpa in a second on back, dinner was, we discovered ust you have see fighting at the dinner table. Grandpa, when he lived with us and grandma, he retired, grandma is very sick and even though hes in chicago, he wants to die in israel. We had to wait to get his papers so hes living with us in burma for two years. He would get up every morning at 4 30 a. M. , make us breakfast, boxer underwear, pink top and slippers. And the newspaper. Had a fourth grade education and he would just hate you. I was his way of saying i love you. [laughter] he would yell at you, in this weird thing, the hitting and the yelling was an expression of affection. What i dont understand, this is a big missing piece. I guess the chaos is is covered by blue cross and blue shield . [laughter] i get the grandfather, the short, you paint a vivid visual but then you say it would surprise us all by you are a quiet, attentive child. Were you just observing this going on . I cant believe that. [laughter] well, im not making it up. As a very quiet like up until 54 . [laughter] they took me to therapy, i was not talking. As a very quiet child. The change in my life occurs later when i was 17. So you lose a finger i lost my finger or half of it. Yes. I lost my finger, i didnt go to the hospital. I had gangrene spot, to bone in the arm. Understood save my life, i lost three roommate, they all died. Its not like the clouds open, the sun comes through beethoven starts playing but in those seven weeks, i walked out about 20 pounds lighter and im a change person. My mom and dad noticed im a changed person. You came out fighting or i determined to make every day count and i was going to do something with my life. So that night her voice was louder . [laughter] i think i found a purpose for my life. Originally, i was going to do ballet, i thought about child psychology and Child Education from i worked on a campaign and decided this is what i want to do. Its 1980, your political director of Democratic Congressional ready, he joined the clinton campaign, we know the rest is history, a lot happens, he went from there daily. [laughter] i love the city of chicago. [laughter] s. [laughter] thats so scary. Stop. [laughter] you get eldon yelled at for eight years straight, he imitated pretty good. What did you learn from him . Get your backpack, i could be here for like eight days. Bill clinton is one of the most incredible talent. He had a capacity like ive never seen to look at something and drill politics policy, communication, ill give you a funny story. He sitting across the cabinet room, the president back is to the window part of the cabinet room, the tiny chinese premier is there, we have our cabin there. They are trying to work something out. If you go with the chinese and ministers, they read your response, they respond to your, everything is literally typed out for the entire hour. Theres like zero creativity, zero . They are having trouble, he doesnt know the chinese premi premier, how they will handle themselves. Clinton goes, let me tell you how to do this. He sits there and walks the chinese premier through how to handle selling this back to china and heres how you would handle it. The chinese premier, everything is choreographed out, no moment, he starts labs laughing hysterically. I need you come in with me. [laughter] clinton had a capacity to walk through anybody elses shoes politically, understand difficulty, think about the policy. How did you then if he was gifted, what did you take away from back that you could apply in a way that made you better . Up until him, i was always doing politics. Bill clinton i think its relevant to this, bill clinton always said the biggest thing thats always depreciated in politics is ids. If you understood ideas, you could make politics. I used to say this to my kids, this is true about everybody but is very true for mayors, governors and president. You have this idea you need own idea big enough to know what you are doing and ruthless enough to get it done. [applause] i added the ruthless part. [laughter] if you go back and think of our great president what you write about. S. Kennedy, lincoln, roosevelt, etc. Lincoln does not start as an abolitionist. They think is to moderate, always comprising, he always knew how far he could get ahead but not outrun public opinion. Hes constantly doing policies but at the end of the day, he moves slavery and withdraws. He doesnt deal with that. He doesnt have any weight to hold so the battle because hes going to be seen as a loser who has to go and slavery as a way to end war. You have to be knowing why you do what you do and thank you got to be tough enough to see it through. Clinton, and i think all chief executives are capable, clinton taught me that to have this immersed myself in policy, which is why this book and the other book i wrote are all about policy, you have to have ideas to eliminate what you are going to do and then youve got to be really tough enough to seek the ideas all the way through. There are things i talk about as we go on about chicago that were very influential, the mentor he was. Its interesting because you say as mayor, you have to have ideas. You have to get things done theres nowhere to hide. People are there every minute. They will come to your home and find you. [laughter] and they did. They know where you are. You think the future of society right now, around the world, this was the city. Explain to everyone how important this is. The basic premise of the book is why also iran but i believe my whole career until this moment is about president Clinton Congress and president obama and the national government. When the mayor ship opened and not seek reelection, i wanted, if you grew up in chicago, the mayor is the office. I was on one trajectory in congress, wanted to come home and run for mayor, i thought i was the time to do something. Did you think it was odd . You know david, he called me and thanked me, why would you leave the most powerful position in pop progress . I would you become mayor . David, very involved in the city, hes like, mayor of chicago . You dont get it then. There is a premonition that there was a shift, a third of the book is about the center of gravity of our politics moving out of washington, out of london to local. Because of the upton . Part of it is dysfunction, all of the weaknesses you see. Dysfunction, disinterest. They match up against all the strength you see local. Intimate, immediate and impactful. We have been here before. Whats interesting about this moment is not only things returning locally but then local governments now are taking up more and more the real estate you see. Is a real estate or slack . Local government are leading the charge on climate change. Local governments are leading the charge on immigration. When i say its not just talking about the city to vibrate to having immigration owners to deal with citizenship from local governments are taking on the leadership on inclusive growth or income inequality, ill give you one example, research. It always used to be the federal government. This brilliant idea of putting the Cornell University and ten years later, new york is now rivaling the west coast. We are now doing it with the discovery center. Research centers was never the mayor would come up with an idea so while local government had always existed and played their important role, is taking on more and more things of the federal government stepping back. I like to answer your first third questions and then ill answer. [laughter] one quick thing, a third of this science, a third is politics and a third of it is you know the famous winston churchill, when he lost his election towards the end of the war, how do you think history will treat you . Is it how do you know . He said i plan on fighting it. Thats a third period thats what it is. Two things i would say, is it good or bad . It is both simultaneously. When you think about where you work, where you live, where you play, how to get from home to work . What other amenities in your Community Ask all of is your local government. None of it comes from the national government. It is disneyland on it right now, its not part of the light. So thats number one. [laughter] number two, ive been to thousands of conferences about high school is no longer enough. So we came up with a number of staff, we came up with the chicago star scholarship. [applause] Community College is free. 8000 kids have done it. Boston, denver, louisville, oakland, just to name a few and there are other cities all replicating. We have 8000 kids in growing in chicago that have already used it. You think betsy devos called . [laughter] using betsy devos is forget chicago. Its all the mayors and seven governors. They come up to washington. Do here. I think that is horrible. Im not saying its the most important education but i think its in the top three dynamic United States of america. If you do think three quarters is from high school in seven cities in the United States starting something equivalent to this era with a High School Education was so the 20th century, either congress attended or the secretary of education. You have not one city, give multiple cities. I did the research for this book and i was really shocked at this fact. I think this doesnt tell you anything, going into world war two, which country has the highest education . The United States of america. 90 of the men and women, many men with a High School Education, higher than any other army in world war ii. Before the war is over, 44, roosevelt announces the g. I. Bill. I know a lot happened at the High School Education the beginning of the center, the g. I. Bill at the middle of the century, the rest of the american center. We havent done anything from now im proud, we have the chicagos star scholarship, if you keep be average while at Community College, every college and university and city of chicago gives you 20 to 50 off tuition. I would like the federal government, if the federal government does i dont think they will ever do it but if they said, any city or state that adopts this, well double the problem, then you can take an idea and make it universal but to me, i knew this was happening in chicago, you cant wait so you have to move. How do you compare that with, obviously it is political season bernie says wipe out all the debt. How do you swear that . This is not to attack bernie but since you asked [laughter] i dont think taxpayers should pay for three kids to go to college. Thats crazy. We can afford it. Income inequality, i write in the book, its masquerading divide. That is whats happening. If yo