Meaningful action. He was notified by Homeland Security advisor john brennan. He ordered flags lowered to half staff. This is about 5 minutes. I spoke with governor malloy and fbi director muller. I offered governor malloy my condolences on behalf of the nation and made it clear he will have every resource he needs to investigate this crime, care for theirctimw and families. We have endured too many of these tragedies. Each time i learned the news, i react not as a president but as anybody else would, as a parent. That was true today. There is not a parent in america who does not feel the same grief i fail. Do. The majority of folks who died today were children between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives head of them, birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers, who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams. Our hearts are broken today. For the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children and for the families of the adults who were lost. Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors as well. As blessed as they are to have their children, they know that their childrens innocence has been torn away from them too early and there are no words that will ease their pain. We have been through this too many times. Whether it is an Elementary School in newtown or a Shopping Mall in organ or a temple in wisconsin or a Street Corner in the chicago, these are our neighborhoods. These children are our children. We will have to come together and take meaningful action to more tragediesrk regardless of politics. Michelle and i will help our children tighter. We will tell them that we love them. We will remind each other how deeply we love one another. There are families in connecticut who cannot do that tonight. They need all of us right now. The Community Needs us to be at our best as americans. I will do everything in my power as president to help because while nothing can fill the space of a lost child or loved one, we can extend a hand to those in need to remind them that we are there for them, we are praying for them, the love they felt for those they lost indoors and not just in their memories but also in hours. May god bless the memory of the victims. In the words of spritzer, healed the broken heart and buying up their wounds. House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority leader harry reid and other members of congress have expressed shock at the shootings and offered condolences to the families of victims. The attack occurred in the district of congressman chris murphy. He said he was praying that the children, teachers, and staff would reach safety quickly. Congressman john larsen said his thoughts and prayers were with the family and friends of the victims. The president has ordered flags to be flown at half staff until sunset december 18. An antigun prayer vigil was held outside of the white house in the aftermath. It has been reported that 20 children died in the School Massacre at sandy hook elementary. Participants called on president obama to address gun violence in the nation. This is about 5 minutes. Today is the day. Today is the day. Today is the day. Today is the day. Before we offer our last prayer, we will pause for a moment of silence. We will ask you to lift the scandals as a prayer to the beautiful innocent children that have lost their lives today. To the adults teaching them, let us pause for a moment of silence. Let us lift up our candles as a light shining in darkness, as a light shining in darkness across this country that we can change the worst conditions of our countrys. Together we can change the pain into joy. Together we can change the saar into gladness the sorrow into gladness. Today we can change this moment together. Left of those lights. With them high. But our light shine so everyone can see that today is the day. Mr. President , we are calling on new, citizens who voted for you, who gave you another term to lead us by the state of the union address, please leave out a plan of action of how we may address this search of gun violence in our communities. It is not just in our inner cities. It is not just in our urban settings. It is not just in our suburbs, in our rural neighborhoods. It is everywhere. We cannot escape unless you leave us, mr. President. We call on congress. Have courage. The country is with you. Lead us. Lead us out of this shadow, out of this dark alley of the shadow of death. Lead us. Lead us. Even when men fail us every time. Let us look to our god. We call on you, our god, to comfort the hearts of every mother and father who has lost their child in newtown, connecticut today. We ask you to comfort the hearts of the mothers who lost her son in chicago today, who lost her daughter in philadelphia today, who lost their teenager in oakland today, in detroit, in camden, new jersey, in new orleans, in alaska, in misery, alabama, all across this in missouri, all across this country. Bring us out of this dark place of sadness. Give us correct that we may act and of wisdom gives us courage and wisdom that we may act together. You say blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called your children. God, we ask for your divine wisdom to descend upon this place. Let us as adults model the peacemaking that we so long. We will look to you, our god, the god of all peace. In your name we pray. We shall overcome. We shall overcome. We shall overcome some day. Deep in my heart, i do believe. We shall over some day. Kathy Mcmorris Rodgers spoke about the School Shooting in connecticut. I am devastated by what happened. It is awful. It is so sad. I am a mom. I have two kids. It is heart to a imagine. We need to find out what happened and what this drove this individual to this place. We have to be careful about suggesting that it is new gun laws. We need to look at what drives a crazy person to do these kinds of actions and make sure we are enforcing the laws on the books. We need to do Everything Possible to make sure Something Like this never happens again. That answer has been given by democrats and republicans this year after the shooting in colorado and in oregon at the mall and in previous incidents. If it is not gun control, what about Mental Health and troubled youth could congress due to discuss this issue in a more serious way . We need to ask those questions. We need to search for the answers. That is part of what we can do in congress. Members, rep. We can hold hearings and big brother and try to better understand what happened to and what drives individuals to take the lives of the innocents this way. It is important that we ask those questions, get answers so we can prevent these types of situations from happening. This sunday at 10 00 a. M. And 6 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Next, the ceo of bank of america in the form on feature homeownership in the u. S. In the fiscal cliff and tax filings and how the fiscal cliff can affect medicare payments to doctors. Tomorrow, we will take your calls and offer a perspective on the reaction to the connecticut shoshooting. A look at how states are bracing for sequestration. Advice to those preparing a 2012 federal taxes and how taxpayers could be affected. Washington journal is live as 7 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan. My inspiration was the idea i wanted to explain how totalitarianism happens. We know the story of the cold war. We have seen the archives in the described relationships. We know the main events from our point of view. We have read and written them. I wanted to show from a different angle what it felt like to be one of the people who were subjected to this system and how people make choices in that system and how they reacted and behaved. One of the things that has happened since 1989 is the region that we used to call 1980 Eastern Europe has become differentiated. They have the common memory of communist occupation. More with Pulitzer Prize winning anne applebaum. From her historical narrative iron curtain sun and the clock on cspans q a. Brian monaghan says government lenders and borrowers have to reset expectations on Home Ownership. He spoke at a Brookings Institution and a vent on the future of Home Ownership. This is just under one hour. Good morning. I am pleased to introduce our keynote speaker for today. He has been ceo of one of the Worlds LargestFinancial Institutions since 2010. Bank of america serves many different audiences with a full range of financial and Risk Management products and services. You see them everywhere. The bank one out of every two american households. I have gotten to know brian through my work. Best help underserved americans. Brian grew up the sixth of nine had a job of as bus boy and dug that made industrial magnets. He later attended Brown University which is something we have in common and played rugby well according to some of my rugbyplaying friends and met his wife there. He is a lawyer by trade with a law degree from notre dame and started out in the general counsels office in 1993 which then merged with bank of america in 2004 and was eventually elevated to General Council in 2008. When bank of america bought Merrill Lynch as it was teetering on the edge of the financial crisis he was named c. E. O. Of the Investment Firm then c. E. O. Of the bank. So brian became c. E. O. At a time we all agree was a tumultuous time in the Banking Industry. Under his leadership the bank has focused on reducing noncore business assets as well as its mortgage surfacing portfolio. Fortune magazine wrote of brian reveals that he has proven his mettle as team builder and crisis manager and perhaps uniquely suited for the job of chief executive in the banking world. The business is now so complicated and so fraught with hidden dangers lodged in esso take that leaders are immersed in the details. The ones who service their own risk managers. Thats moynihan. So brian is going to speak and after that will he take some questions and after that we will have Panel Discussions featuring several pabble housing experts. So with that please welcome me in welcoming Brian Moynihan. \[applause] thank you karen. As karen said, she is a member of our National CommunityAdvisory Counsel which several of the members of the panel are, too and we appreciate the insight they give us. Im grateful to be here with the brookings team to put together in important form. When you think about things, theres a saying that says confidence never comes from knowing all the answers but being open to all the questions. To think not mostly about the answers but on the questions. We are tackled to think about the questions and the impacts of the recession and future population growth and future prospects in homeownership and lending standards and how to make sure future homeowner ship is sustainable and strong Affordable Rental Program and the questions about the proper troll government and private sector abounds. By focusing on those questions, we can build confidence in the housing system Going Forward and the distinguished panel later we can discuss these questions and i invite all of you to keep pushing this dialogue forward and make sure we replicate things to make sure we reach outreaching programs. And looking forward having guided through one of the tough periods of time in the countrys and the companys life, i want to make an observation about where we are in the housing recovery. Theres an incredible amount of work thats been done to help home owners in distress. We have implemented programs the government response ert including the home mortgaging bill. Youve seen stability but obviously theres work to do. There are still areas of country that are hurting more than others. The Housing Market is showing signs of real sustained recovery. Overall housing prices are up and Housing Demand is up which means thats a good thing overall for housing recovery and jobs. The National Standards are in place and our Company Acquired countrywide at the height of the housing crisis and in a severely distressed portfolio. Today we have helped nearly 1. 5 million, thats 1. Are 5 Million People avoid forclosure through short sales and other programs. Today our company has ooh,000 plus people working on this, 50,000 people working on borrowers every day. To put in in perspective, only the industry has put tremendous resources to work in helping company get the right solution. The relocation systems in some cases up to 30,000. And we have principle reduction solutions. These prasms continue to make a difference for those commerce that can be helped but in general principle forgiveness, default rates are still high in these programs. Why . Why is that true . Because at this point, that the point in the cycle, it isnt the lack of the programs. Its other issues causing it. Many commerce are still fighting unemployment or underemployment or have become unemployed or have unpredictable employment possibilities coming forward and lack the cash flow to sustain payments even the modified ones. So to help the customer get the right seclusion even if that means transitioning to rebel. 40 op. Forclosures sales the property is actually vacant so we also must become more efficient on how we move those homes back into the system. So we get them useful again. Getting Vacant Properties back on the market as soon as possible makes it better for neighbors who dont want to see Vacant Properties. When a home is taken possession by us, we sell it within 6090 days and others who donate rehabilitated vacancies. We partnered with habitat for humanity. And we have committed to donating over 1,000 properties to those focused on returning military. We have completed 150 donations to Army Specialist sler know who suffered serious injury in his last tour of duty in afghanistan. He and his fiance credited the new home with providing the fresh start they and their family needed. So when we think about the future of housing, how does this supply it underscores a need to shape a system that keeps borrowers out of a home. It means shifting the conversation to those who own homes. As the Housing Market strengthens, now is the time to have this dialogue in earnest so we can be set to a more secure sustainable system for all those involved. I would like to frame the rest of the remarks for the homeowners and home buyers, lenders and the government. Want to discuss some of the assumptions we need to challenge and questions we need to ask in terms of what a reset might look like. For homeowners what are the re sets we need to make around homeownership . What is remarkable is given everything that people have been through in the past several years that survey after survey continue to show that the overwhelming majority of Americans Still aspire to homeownership. Most Americans Still rank homeownership as their view as part of the American Dream. But to look deep they are in those surveys, you will see much of the value is emotional, not financial. Take for example the most recent Fannie Mae Housing survey. The top two reasons for homeownership were to have a good place to raise children and to have a safe place to live. As a just Democratic Society we are all a good, safe place to live but a roof over ones head doesnt always have to come with a mortgage. Some cases it shouldnt come with that. Homeownership is valuable. It stabilizes a community, those things have been proven over time. For those who purchase a home over time, a home can also provide a vehicle for wealth creation. Its important to recognize that much of the value provided during the housing bubble was more about expanding credit than it was for historically longterm average with homeowner appreciation going back to 1995 was 4. 6 that includes the recent bubble and burst years. Since 2001, the average appreciation has been 2 . So leading up to the crisis the purchase of homeownership, stability and security and savings got disconnected in the 2000s from the act of homeownership. The they are all for building longterm equity to cashing gains in many it became more about less about a safe place to live and more for creating profits. To 28 in 2006. Homeowners have a leverage in their home became the norm. Cashout refinances so using the money for other things other than improving or developing the home completely disconnected that from its value. For eight consecutive quarters the height of the buildup in 2005 the cashout received 80 of refinancing so the question we need to consider is if people are going to take cash out of a home and buy for investment or properties to rent, should they be able to do so with mortgage capitals, especially mortgage capitals backed by the government . We need to ask if homeownership is right for everyone . We also have to challenge the assumption, mobility versus stability. Other factors is twoincome households, all the things that have become a port of our modern society. Work flexibility is locational decisions. In the case of the last recession and has been the case up until today. According to karens research the volatility of Household Income rose nearly 30 in the last four decades. In addition to