tion. >> we will switch it up a little bit and get the social media. what are you going to do about the illegal immigrants in the country? >> it is such an important issue because for obvious reasons it is an important issue as well because i think it is continued existence as a problem corroding people's faith in government. i was start by securing the basics. people have been talking about it. his close something the federal government is responsible for.

when government doesn't do its basic job people lose faith. the illegal -- the legal immigration system has been broken for decades. half the people came here on a legal visa and overstated. letting a lot of people go home, putting the wrong people and. we have to fix the legal immigration system, something we can do. finally, we must finally, we must decide what to do with the people here illegally. you don't get the privilege of citizenship because there are a lot of people who play by the rules, worked hard to become citizens. maybe you know some.

they study, take the oath, take the privilege of citizenship seriously command i do not think that it is fair to say that someone who has not gone through any of that gets the same privilege. perhaps you can earn legal status, perhaps her children can become citizens. americans are compassionate people, but we are fair-minded as well. we have to be fair to those who worked hard, play by the rules and earned the privilege of citizenship. >> take it away. >> thank you. how are you. new hampshire, someone who are as minimum wage, less than $300 per week, barely enough to pay rent, let alone other life necessities. what policies would you enact to increase minimum wage? >> i think that minimum wage is a classic example of a policy

that is best carried out in the states because if you are here in new hampshire it is not the same set of economic conditions or expensive living as los angeles or new york city. to me a national minimum wage does not make a lot of sense. secondly, if states raise the minimum wage -- and many have. people have to realize that there are trade-offs. one is, we have extremely high youth unemployment in this country. one of the many things that young people do is start in minimum wage jobs. a lot of people start in minimum wage jobs not because they want to end up there but because they want to learn skills that allow them to get a better job. i say to young people all the time, not being paid very well as a secretary starting out, don't wait for the perfect job.

just get a job. any job you get, you will learn things, skills, about yourself the world around you. when we make it harder for businesses to hire young people i worry about that because i'm people do not get the skills they need. the final thing is, the most important job creation engine in this country is small and family-owned businesses. the nine person real estate firm i started out in, the family-owned autobody shop my husband started out as a tow truck driver, i come from the world of technology. we celebrate steve jobs and bill gates, but we should celebrate the nail salon, the dry cleaner, the corner cleaner, the corner coffee shop, the autobody shop the real estate firm. they create two thirds of the new jobs in this country. for the 1st time in us history we are now destroying more

businesses that we are creating the businesses of a small and family-owned businesses unless we get that going we won't get the middle class. >> thank you for the question. i want to ask you this, get a perspective. influence of big business. given your former position to -- does that offend you? >> it is true. >> as the ceo of a $9 a $9 -- $90 billion company i may not have liked regulation are taxation or legislation but i would hire accountants and lawyers and lobbyists to try and change it and understand it and understand it, that nine person real estate firm can't. the truth is big government and big business and big labor get all intertwined and work the system.

too big to fail, five banks, 3,000 community banks have gone out of business. >> we have to wrap this up. for now we are signing off the television portion. thank you for joining us. this will continue online in our mobile app. you will find another 30 minutes more of questions commercial for now, thanks for watching. have a great night. now another interview any serious called -- in the series called conversation with the candidate. bob ehrlich took questions on various topics including isis and the health care law. it is 25 minutes.

[applause] host: good evening and welcome to our conversation with the candidate series. our guest tonight's former maryland governor bob ehrlich. we will learn where he stands on the issues. i will be asking the candidate some questions. after a break, our studio audience will ask questions in a town hall style format. before that, a quick look at his biography. bob ehrlich was born in 1957 in maryland and a small suburb outside of baltimore. he studied political science at princeton university and co-captained the football team. he got his law degree from wake forest university school of law. ehrlich move back to maryland to work for a law firm and ran successfully for the house of delegates. he was elected to the u.s. house of representatives and would serve for terms and d.c. as a congressman. in 2002, he was elected as governor of maryland.

he enacted marilyn's first ever charter schools law. ehrlich continues to practice law and is considering running for president. ehrlich is married and has two sons. >> with that, governor ehrlich welcome to the show. mr. ehrlich: you got it all right. host: every now and again we get it right. you have been in the news this week because of what is taking place in your home state of maryland, particularly your home state of baltimore. mr. ehrlich: i'll may west baltimore kid, tough times. not unique to baltimore. people think i have some insight into what is going on, there is some specific insight as being a west baltimore kid, but these urban areas these suppressed areas this particular area has not seen a lot of economic development in many years. the issue of race plays into it.

it played into the decision of the governor whether to move the national guard into town. the so-called lessons of ferguson, militarization, all these issues come out like we talked about before the show. the mother who has now gone viral, just literally in my view a tangible example of love running to her child to save her child, but also raises questions of the denigration of family and where are the fathers and the quality of public education. they are some of the toughest schools in town. many of them do not have good marks in their ability to educate kids. this is a familiar set of issues, but it's very personal in this context for me right now, and it's the reason i guess you are probably tired of seeing my mug on tv, but hopefully some good comes from this. host: i want to get you on a couple of different things.

one, how do you think the leadership reacted in the immediate aftermath? mr. ehrlich: i'm prejudiced. larry hogan, the governor, was my appointment secretary. i worked for his dad. i think he has done a good job. i understand the reasons why the guard was called in when it was. the mayor, obviously, not receiving quite so good marks. the issue of allowing -- it appears, i started out defended her, but it appears the callout to the police was allow property destruction, let them do that, the whole nine yards, and that resulted in that. give them space, but if your car was between them in your space your car was torched. if your business was between them in the space, your business was torched. host: and you disagree? mr. ehrlich: well, i do. a couple hundred cars were torched, that cvs that you saw a symbol of this neighborhood.

people shopped there. this area is a pretty tough area. but she is now receiving some criticism. i thought she misspoke and that her staff did not fix it, but in reality it appeared that she meant what she originally said which was give them space to do their thing. host: and we will probably get some related issues, but i want to get to a couple other things. you are considering a run for president. i'm sure that it's no news to you there are others in the field -- mr. ehrlich: there is? host: with such a wide open field, what motivates you? mr. ehrlich: i've been a governor, i've been in state congress, the state legislature, i have been the author of two books, i care about the country. i have a 15-year-old and 11-year-old, two boys. i care about where we are and where we are going, and i don't like where we are going.

as you introduced me, you talked about this sense of insecurity considering our economy and culture and national security. it's why i wrote my second book. this is my seventh, eighth time in new hampshire. host: foreign policy is a major issue, all the candidates talking about it, whether it is isis, the nuclear deal with iran, or our general approach to people. mr. ehrlich: nobody is going to say they are surprised. the president said no precondition, i will sit down with tyrants, miscreants, i will sit down with the bad guys of the world, no preconditions, and as a result we are paying the price. you see that intangible form with iran and cuba. it is a sense of weakness and acquiescence and indulgence. the greatest force for good in the history of the world is

thrown out. as a result, our allies are not trusting us and our enemies are not fearing us. host: how would you be dealing with isis? mr. ehrlich: the intelligence was they were serious, and now we are sort of renting iranians to fight isis, which is a position of weakness. host: the iran deal? mr. ehrlich: i don't know how anybody can have a definitive opinion because nothing has been defined yet. how are you going to have snapped back sanctions if you have to go through the u.n.? host: do they have a right for a nuclear program? mr. ehrlich: we changed the denominator. our policy has always been no nuclear iran. now it is a nuclear iran on a schedule. that is a destabilizing force in the world. now the sunnis are saying, hey what about us. and do you extend the american

nuclear umbrella to the arab allies like the saudis, the jordanians, the uae, and that is the question. the denominator has changed. host: a lot of people think we don't need a coalition built. a lot of people think we do. any immediate reaction to isis? mr. ehrlich: you always need coalitions in the world, but you operate from a position of strength. again, what do we get from cuba, what do we get from burma? it appears to me this president is predisposed -- and i think it is his philosophical approach to the issues -- predisposed to be relatively weak and indulgent. he began his presidency with an apology tour to the world. by the way, we never heard about all the american blood that was spilled over the years for the muslim world, for example.

it was basically an apology tour. i think the president thinks we are an imperialist country. if we are in a peer list country, we are the worst imperialist in the world. the first question the american public asks whenever we put our service and the harm's way is what, what are they coming home? when are they coming home? we are a great country obviously, and you are giving me the sign so i will end, but we are not imperialist. but we should not be weak were apologetic for projecting american strength and interests around the world. host: stay with us. a lot of topics to cover. we will be right back. ♪ announcer: now conversation with the candidate continues. host: welcome back. tonight's guest, former maryland governor bob ehrlich. let's get right to our first

question, coming from maureen. good to see you. >> welcome, governor. what do you feel is the biggest impediment republicans face in getting the party elected president? mr. ehrlich: young women and minorities. the democrats painted a narrative last time that a lot of young women bought into, the anti-woman's world, the woman thing, that mitt romney was going to prevent them from getting birth control pills, literally. republicans are against birth control, they are going to eliminate birth control. these ads may be anti-intellectual, they may be silly, but people buy them. a couple cycles ago, there were republican senator candidates. these are two candidates, but in politics they take those comments, which are horrible

comments, and they play into the narrative, and the narrative plays out, and then negatives work. in politics, people say they hate negative ads. guess what, if they did not work, nobody would use them ever. they work, trust me. the biggest problem in my view was the gender gap. the democrats have a gender gap, too, called e-mail gender gap, but women vote more than men and the female gap with republican candidates is there and very stark terms. i think as something to do with abortion, but less than it used to, quite frankly. it has to do i think with some of the messaging from the party as well. if you are a young woman with kids and you don't have an education, you are trying to make your way, do you want to hear talking about independence and entrepreneurship and freedom, or do you want to hear the democrats talking about, hey, we are there for you and we will help you, we will have a social welfare state to help you? part of it is the messaging from the parties.

i think we can do a better job at it. with regards to minorities particularly the hispanic vote look at the new deal coalition. i married a polish girl, i'm german, all these immigrants and that used to be -- that was a new deal coalition, active ethnic urban immigrants. that was 50, 60 years ago. what is the basis of the republican party today? suburban, ethnic immigrants, second, third generation. as a result with regard to hispanics, i think in the hispanic humanity in general we can do better, do well. there are a lot of values in the hispanic community that are with republican values, and we need to do a better job of selling it. that leads to immigration. we have to pass an immigration bill. security, sovereignty, we can get into the details, but as long as the democrats have this

ability to say they are anti-immigrant, they are nativists, they don't care about you, if they play that narrative, we will have a problem in this community. it is why mitt romney lost. with regard to african-americans, this is a show unto itself. the disconnect is gigantic. mike steele was my lieutenant governor, the first african-american governor in the state of maryland. i have been to lots of black churches and talk to lots of black pastors. the disconnect is real. mike steele was impeached as a function of his skin and the party was ridiculous. it was racist. we have to get to a country where it is ok to be black and republican. mike was pro-life and catholic too. and right now, in certain segments of our society, that is not the case. we have a lot of work to do. by the way, i don't use the term reaching out, because it's a two-way street. i believe and i'm cautiously

optimistic, very optimistic for the hispanic vote. the women vote we need to work on. african-americans we have a long way to go. host: all right, so much for the one word answer. mr. ehrlich: it's a complex question. guess what, that answer is a function of where the country is going to go. because if we can do some of that and make progress, we will win the election. host: thank you, governor, and thank you for the question. next question. >> welcome, governor. how do you suggest that we expand social security and preserve social security? mr. ehrlich: raise the retirement age, fix the disability -- social security disability has increased fourfold over the last six years. i don't think claims have increased fourfold over six years. and i think we have to make these very difficult decisions. i wrote about this in my second book.

we are living longer. the life tables are what they are. we are not in the depression, we are not in the new deal anymore. so i think the next president at some point has to get serious about entitlements. and it's not just social security. it's also medicare. it's also medicaid. we need a reconciliation bill in congress that we can get enough democrats to vote on. president bush tried, as you know, tried. he was absolutely, absolutely crushed trying to reform social security. as long as class warfare is a component of the attack on social security, it will be difficult to attract democratic votes to get real reform done. but real leaders lead. ronald reagan sat down with, who? tip o'neill. they did not agree on anything

and they sat down together and , they agreed on comprehensive tax reform that lasted until now. by the way, we need comprehensive tax reform. everybody agree with that? they sat down together. presidents lead. to achieve reform, medicare, medicaid, social security, whatever it is, you need to lead. this president does not even talk to congress or the senate. he doesn't talk to-- it is not his comfort zone. we need a president who will go up the street, sit down with the majority leader, minority leader, and lead the country. this is the only way it will happen. as long as the republicans agree unilaterally, the republicans will get crushed. and that disability, that will be bankrupt in less than two years. >> what about eliminating the cap? mr. ehrlich: on. >> social security. mr. ehrlich: everything should be on the table.

it is in my book. you have to be honest with the numbers. host: our next question, erica. >> i'm right here. mr. ehrlich: everybody screws up my name, too. >> welcome, governor. there is a growing opportunity gap in america. lower income kids often start school behind and have difficulties catching up with their peers. do you think the public investments in early childhood intervention such as preschool can reverse this trend and help ensure that all kids, regardless of their backgrounds, can have an equal opportunity to succeed? mr. ehrlich: the objective evidence does not show it as quite successfully as you would hope it to be, but i for all of am the above when it comes to school choice. getting back to baltimore, i fought these fights in the past. i thought the unions, i thought

fought the status quo. i'm a scholarship kid. i got the opportunity to go to a private school because i was an athlete. a lot of kids are not athletes. but i can tell you this, in the fights i had in maryland, they were significant and i lost. i lost. the unions and the progressives beat me. and i'm talking about schools where the passage rates were 10%, 20%, 30%. in my view, when we accept that multigenerational dysfunction, we are denying those kids their congressional lights. -- rights. it is immoral, and bottom, after line after all is said and done, , we are making our society more unsafe. i have been to more jails -- not as an offender, but i have been to more jails than all of you combined. trust me when i tell you this -- a lot of these kids were sent to dysfunctional schools, but the

two denominators, the two elements i heard most often were i did not have a dad and i started with marijuana. when you add those two elements to dysfunctional public schools, we are literally denying these kids their constitutional rights. and as someone who thought these -- fought these battles in the past, we need to be for all of the above. if it is dysfunctional, private vendor, charter, residential charter, i don't care what it is. because when you go home tonight and you think about what started this riot the other day, think about the education those kids are receiving and think about with more dads in homes telling their son not to show up at the protest rally and start looting, maybe baltimore is not the story of the country today. host: thank you. let's keep going, dan. a piece of legislation you may have heard