(00:00:00) From Minnesota Public Radio. I'm Stephen John Vice President Dick Cheney visits the Twin Cities today to campaign for re-election Cheney speaks in a campaign luncheon in Downtown Minneapolis. Then we'll visit a Mexican restaurant in st. Paul. Meanwhile, the campaign's have Democratic presidential hopefuls are focusing on the state Senator. John Edwards wife Elizabeth is traveling Minnesota today to participate in town hall meetings and meet with Community leaders st. Paul police chief William. Finney has scheduled a news conference for this hour at which time he's expected to comment on the investigation into what an off-duty officer did or didn't do after a fatal shooting at a University Avenue Bar last week investigators are looking into allegations that the off-duty officer left our Neely has bar early Friday without helping the victim 46 year-old. Steven Kuma was fatally wounded less than a minute after he walked into the bar to meet a friend finny says the 10-year veteran officer was six feet away from Kuma when he was shot Minneapolis Police Chief William macnair. Dennis says a fatal shooting in North Minneapolis doesn't appear to be random and may have been drug related. Police. Spokesman. Ron riyer says the shooting took place early this morning about 4:30 5:00 this morning officers responded to 33rd Avenue North on a shooting pain arrival. They found one male who is deceased. He died of an apparent gunshot wounds. There are two females who were transported to North Memorial Medical Center the injuries to the two women are not thought to be life-threatening both homicide and gang investigators are working the case the suspect remains at large. Mostly cloudy today some scattered light snow showers in the north highs from the upper 20s to the upper 30s currently in the Twin Cities. It's cloudy and 35 degrees. This is Minnesota Public Radio. All right. Thanks Stephen. It's six minutes past 12:00. (00:01:57) And good afternoon. Welcome (00:01:58) back to midday on Minnesota Public Radio. I'm Gary eichten. Well during the last hour of. Midday we were talking about this year's presidential campaign. This hour will turn to a former president who was in the Twin Cities over the weekend. Jimmy Carter was only a one-term president, but many historians say he has played a more important role in the two decades since he was President on Saturday former President. Jimmy Carter gave the keynote address at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum at st. Olaf College in Northfield President Carter, you'll recall was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts to find peaceful solutions to International conflicts. Well in a wide-ranging speech, he urged the United States and other wealthy Nations to do a lot more to help developing nations around the world. He also shared his views about the upcoming presidential election the US invasion of Iraq, and he talked about ways to bring peace to warring countries President Carter and his wife. Rosalind heard the our head rather The Carter Center in Atlanta the center Works to promote human rights and alleviate human suffering around the world former US senator Ambassador and vice president Walter Mondale who serve course serve with Jimmy Carter was on hand and he introduced President Carter to the audience in Northfield. (00:03:20) Although President Carter is not the first president to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He is the first to be awarded the prize not only for his accomplishments as president, but also for what he has done with his life since his presidency. The Nobel committee said Jimmy Carter has contributed in practically all the areas that have figured most prominently through the 101 years of the Peace Prize history. He attempted to bring peace about as a more peaceful world. Was and continues to be the mediator who seeks peaceful solutions to International conflicts. He was and is engaged in disarmament and arms control. He is shown and still shows and outstanding commitment to democracy and human rights his humanitarian and social activities have been and still are far-reaching since the presidency. Jimmy Carter has shown that public service does not end with public office. He is also shown that true satisfaction comes not from Fame and personal enrichment, but from dedicated and determined work on behalf of humanity and justice. Not long ago the New York Times said of him of all past presidents Carter stands out. He conducts himself as if his presidency were a Priceless heirloom sacred to him because it is sacred to the people and as this great American that I would now like to introduce President Jimmy Carter. Thank you very much. This is a wonderful Forum that you have here, and I'm deeply grateful to come back to Saint Saint Olaf again to talk to you this afternoon as a recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize and looking down the history of this forum. I noticed that the first such lecture was given by a very close friend of mine. Dr. Norman Borlaug who still works with me and the Carter Center. In 10 Nations throughout Africa in agriculture. He received his Nobel Peace Prize for the so-called Green Revolution in India and Pakistan. And he and I together sponsored by a private Japanese Foundation still go to Africa Rosen. I just got back and I might point out that dr. Borlaug is still very active next month. You'll celebrate his 90th birthday and I couldn't go through this speech without mentioning my good friend and a hero of mine. Dr. Norman Borlaug and I obviously have received, you know compliments in my life and good introductions like Fritz just gave me it's always very important for any human being particular speaker to Bree brought down a little at the time and not become too proud of oneself because of the sometimes unwarranted accolades one of those experiences that Fritz and I experienced together was the involuntary retirement we have from the white house because because the election and Heights hit Haiti and even before that I might hasten to add it was the most glorious days. My life which some of you old enough to remember Prince and I were inaugurated in January 1977 to be the leaders of his country. And we Rosen. I walked down Pennsylvania Avenue. We set on a very cold place and watch the crowd parade go by and finally after the parade was over. We were still freezing. We started walking toward the White House for the first time to take up residence there and my family was will be my mother and my children and so forth and as we walked to the White House, we were surrounded by news reporters the news media television cameras radio microphones and they were wanting to ask me a few questions and how my press secretary Jody Powell said nobody speaks to the news media. The ceremony is over and my mother said Jody you can go to hell. I'm quoting how accurately she said you might tell Jimmy what to do. You don't tell me what to do. So immediately all the news media as you can well, imagine got around my mama and they stuck the microphones in her face and and I was listening to her comments. The first question. She got was misleading aren't you proud of your son in my chest swelled up and mama said which one well anyway, that's what we sometimes need to go through my speech today. I think is given a title peace and change. And I'm going to be a fairly brief with my talk because we want to have time to answer your questions and I think this the title might very well be the changes that will come. If and when we have peace. The Carter Center where Rosen I have now worked for more than 20 years is dedicated to a wide range of projects one of the things we do primarily with a hundred of the most brilliant student interns in the country is to analyze every conflict in the world. Every day you might be interested in knowing that our total list is about a hundred and ten and in an average year about 70 of them break out into violence during that Year's period of time and 30 of them are major Wars a major war by our definition is one with in which more than a thousand soldiers have been killed on the battlefield and in modern day wore on restrained by the so-called Geneva Convention rules for every Soldier killed in a Civil War mostly in Africa. Unfortunately nine civilians perished. From landmines stray bullets bombs missiles and and deliberate depravation our form of food and shelter. This is a tragedy and what can be done about it? One of the things is to understand the causes of conflict. As a matter of fact, I wrote a book a few years ago called talking peace who have tried to encapsulate in a very fairly few pages my experience with trying to bring peace to others and so forth. And I finally realized that the causes of conflict between say a husband and a wife or father and son or among students on a campus like Saint olives or a conflict between two nations are civil war are the same causes. It's an inability to understand what another A derogation or condemnation of another group of person as inferior not worthy to equally shared emotions and hopes and dreams for the future and also quite often a reluctance even to bring in a trusted mediator and that deteriorates into those kinds of problems. As a matter of fact, the Carter Center has seen that piece around the world is also dependent upon People's right to basic Freedom a chance to choose one on ones own leaders. And environment at least we'll let them gather firewood or catch a fish or grow a stalk of corn or wheat. and a modicum of Education or Healthcare And when those kinds of basic human needs which I called generically human rights are not available. There is a deterioration in the heart and soul. Of deprived and suffering and forgotten and ignored and despised person or group of people. This happens all too often. And the reason for it would explain in one brief comment that I made in the Nobel acceptance speech and that is that the greatest challenge that the world faces today is a growing Chasm between rich people on Earth and poorest people on Earth and it's growing because at the beginning of the last century the ratio say between the 10 richest countries and attend first crutches was ten to one. By the year 1960 the ratio was 32 1 now. It's just past 75 to 1 which means that the average person in a rich country makes 75 dollars more per day than the people in the poorest countries. So you see it's growing rapidly and the poverty is not just in foreign coaches, but but the gamut of poverty so called is quite wide even between this country and our poor people and others. I was looking at some statistics this week because I gave a lecture at Emory University who I am. I've been a professor now I'm for 22 years, but the subject was on poverty in the United States 17 percent of the people in our country now, Fall below the poverty line, which is quite disturbing. I won't go into detail about the causes of added height adversely affects them. But that the definition of poverty now is about fourteen thousand dollars for a family of four and if you divide that by 4 divided by 365 days you come up with a figure about $13 per day about half of which order to comes from wages on average and 1/4 from welfare and 1/4 with Social Security $13, but we have to remember which grow brundtland may have told you yesterday over half the world's people live on less than $2 per day and 1.2 billion live on less than one dollar per day. That is and he's a statistic to throw out. But I'd like for you just a moment if it's possible to think about how that would affect you suppose you had to support yourself on a dollar a day. That includes shelter food clothing. And as you can quick to see there's nothing left over. for an education for health care for self respect awful hope that prevails and there's an enormous responsibility for countries like ours and others to help with this problem because it's not only a beneficent thing to do a generous thing to do. But it's also a good investment for the future and safety of our country because as those people do become hopeless and in despair particularly in modern-day globalization where information traveled instantaneously even to the most remote Villages that there's no longer sense that I'm just like everybody else. There's a deep and growing since I'm different. From the ones I hear about on my radio or see perhaps on video and and out of that comes a feeling of Despair and a sense that there's racism involved and deliberate discrimination involved are maybe my government is at stake. That's what causes all the Civil Wars or maybe there's an animosity toward the rich countries. On Earth which leads to violence and quite often. It makes a receptive environment. For terrorists to induce these people to take up arms against innocent people. Well, our country is by far the richest country on Earth. We failed miserably. Not just our government. Not just the Republican incumbents, but our country fails. If you take all of our gross national product and add together we give about one tenth of one percent one thousands. To others the average European country gives four times as much per capita Norway gives 17 times as much. as does the United States, but there's no sense in our country of of Shame or a desire to improve or to be more benevolent more caring more knowledgeable about other people. They're just in a different world from ours and we really don't care much about what happens to them. The Carter Center has programs now in 65 Nations on Earth. The poorest and most destitute but forgotten and needy countries in the world. It's not an accident that of those 65 35 or in Africa. This past few weeks. In fact last week Rose and I have been in several countries. We've been in more than 120 countries and all. I was in Bolivia Bolivia is a landlocked country in the heart of South America's, you know, they had a government elected 2002 for the first time. They're indigenous people the Indians who make up 65% of the population got a place for the first time in Parliament. Those indigenous people for thousands of years have grown coca leaves would say use for chewing if you go to a hotel in La Paz you immediately get coca tea. to help overcome the high altitude And so forth but the US. Embassy is forbidden to communicate in any way directly or indirectly with the leaders of the indigenous Indians. Well in October the incumbent elected president was overthrown. And he's now living in Exile. I think a good man in Washington, but there's a kind of a sense of not being willing through our state department and through our diplomacy to reach out to people and to give them a boost if they disagree a little bit with American policy. Last week we were in. Togo and then Ghana and in Mali These countries have terrible illnesses, which it caught us in is trying to address one disease that we were looking at it. All three countries was guinea worm guinea worm will be the second disease ever eradicated on the face of the Earth. The first one was smallpox 25 years ago. They still have getting one we saw worms coming out of little children. in Northern Ghana First time Rosen I was saw this disease. I won't describe it in detail as kind of nauseating but the people drink water out of a local water hole which fills up during the rainy season and quite often runs dry before the next range. And in the water breeds guinea worm eggs, which they imbibe and then within the next year the worm grows about a yard long makes a horrible sore and comes out of the body and then the people unsuspecting in the past if waited out into the water to get more water or to ease the pain and the guinea worm lays hundreds of thousands of eggs. That's a cycle. We went to get Village and gun. And two-thirds of a total population of about 500 people live in that Village will lying prostrate under the shade trees others couldn't crawl out of their Huts to meet us because they had Guinea worms. They're incapacitating. The adults can't go to the field of plant crops and the grow food to Children can't go to school. Obviously. I remember one woman. I never will forget its own personal thing. I'll mention to you a young beautiful woman who happened to be pregnant guinea worm was emerging from the nipple of her breast. And later after we left we discovered that she had 11 other worms coming out of her body. She was about the same age has our daughter Amy. And it was an emotional experience for Rosa de me just to try to imagine the difference in Opportunities and we found among these people in Ghana and Togo and Molly and Haiti and Guyana and Bolivia in Nigeria Ethiopia Mozambique that the people are just as intelligent. And just as ambitious and just as hard working and their family values are just as strong. as mine they just need to have partners with people like me and you Through the American government. Yes, but individually as well we visited Molly perhaps to the most famous city. in the world Maybe not perish maybe not, New York. Timbuktu I heard a Timbuktu before I heard of Paris and we were there Timbuktu used to have horrible guinea worm 0 guinea worm. And the village that we visited the first time and saw these people we went back a year later after telling them what to do and letting them do it not us. No kitty work. We started out with three and a half million cases of this disease in twenty three Thousand Villages. We've been to all the villages. And now the only Thirty one thousand cases in the whole world. We know every one of them that's more than a 99% reduction and it took very little help. The courtesan has been in the lead working with Gro brundtland and others at the World Health Organization and UNICEF and a Peace Corps and others to help resolve. This problem is just one of the problems that I need not mention any further. well We have an example of Mali which I will mention before Gone 91% of the people in Mali make less than two dollars a day. The infant mortality rate is a hundred and twenty-six. Out of a thousand and while we were there meeting with their leaders and others the World Bank officials told us that have all the money available for the entire continent of Africa from the World Bank and IMF and usaid and always government and so forth. That the average African nation is only able to utilize 20% because of a strings attached To foreign aid so-called and because of the inability to have an adequate bureaucracy within those countries to put in the proper application forms and to account for the funds. They already expended so they can get some more in Mali. They only use utilize 15 percent of the available funds. Well, let me say. Toward the end of my talk. that we live in the greatest and most powerful country in the world the only superpower. no, one can challenge us anymore militarily or politically or economically or even culturally but there is something in recent years. That seems to have been lost. And it's very Grievous as you travel around to a country like Bolivia. or to Ghana or to Mali and so forth in Ghana for instance eight and a half percent of the total population has HIV AIDS last year the allotment of us funds through the embassy was one and a half million dollars this year. Despite all the Glorious speeches made in Washington that one and a half million is been reduced in in 2004 to $250,000. Just one six this much. As it was last year. peace is what this forum is about our country has become feared. I'll military budget now and I fit your Fritz and I kept it strong. It's greater than the military budgets of all the other countries combined and the world. And the reputation for the United States is that we don't now any further put peace and conflict resolution. And the alleviation of threats. Two people safety in the Forefront we single hour. potential adversaries who might disagree with US government policy and the almost the first Resort it seems Is a military response? the completely unwarranted almost unilateral war that we started in Iraq is a typical example of this and it's not the only one. We'd brand people as axis of Evil and it alienates them sometimes our leaders obviously deserve condemnation. but it arouses within their people quite often people who are suffering under a despotic leader a sense of fear and and intimidation and aggravation and even hatred of United States. I read in the paper this morning that the third case is coming out to the Supreme Court of what whether we can lock up people. For months and years with no charges made against them. No access to their own families. No access to an attorney. This is unprecedented in my opinion in the history of a nation that has always been looked upon as a the champion. Of Human Rights. Well, where is the problem obviously part of it is in the political Arena. There's no doubt about that. It was when I was president is now but the problem lies among the people of the United States it is time for us to assess what our government is doing and what the policies of our government might be and to shape our voices and our votes in our and our influence appropriately. We still live in a great country with great potential but that potential can only be realized if we adhere to the broadest definition of Human Rights the right of us and every person on Earth. To live in peace the right of us and everyone on Earth to be free to have a democratic government. To have their environment and our environment protected not destroyed. To have rights of an individual not to be abused. and to alleviate suffering that's a description. of the America that I love Thank you. (00:29:04) Former President Jimmy Carter speaking Saturday at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum held at st. Olaf College in Northfield President Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts to find peaceful solutions to International conflicts after his speech President Carter took some questions from the audience. (00:29:23) Mr. Carter. ER Peacemaker, what influence do you at a young age to work for peace? Well, it's hard to know because I haven't always been a peacemaker. I've been a cause of conflict in many instances of my life. I think what what shaped my attitude toward politics more than anything else was growing up in a little Community called archery about two and a half miles west of the big city of planes which now has six hundred and thirty people and living in a in a community during the Great Depression years when all my neighbors were black. And when the United States of America for a hundred years after the Civil War officially and legally ordained the so-called separate but equal policy the Supreme Court upheld at the Congress of for today and it was separate but not equal and I began to see then my mother was a registered nurse who acted as a doctor that this was a millstone around the neck not only of my black neighbors who were my friends and and so forth, but also around the neck of white people who oppress them. I wrote a book about that few couple of years ago called an hour before daylight which Rosen always likes for me announce his still on sale. But but Toyota end of the book, I after several years of contemplation pointed out that a of the five people who shaped my life other than my mama and daddy of those five people only two of them are white and and I think that has been the thing that's causing me to try to bring to other people a better life. And of course when Fritz and I formed a partnership to go to Washington, he and I both agreed that the basic foundation of the United States foreign policy would be the promotion and protection of Human Rights. So during that four years every Ambassador on Earth was in effect our human rights representative and every American Embassy was a Haven for those who suffer and it's been that element of Human Rights knowing that piece is a part of it that I think more than anything else has shaped my political attitude. Mr. Carter What can we as individuals do to overcome the extreme polarization in American politics? Cannot speak with reporters vote Democratic and November. Let me say also that. You're not old enough to remember that. When Fritz Mondale and I ran for president gets a wonderful man Gerald Ford and when we ran four years later against Governor Ronald Reagan, there was no such thing as negative advertisements that would tear down the reputation of an opponent. The only reference we ever made to them or they made to us was my distinguished upon it. And in the last 20 25 years that situation has deteriorated until now. Unfortunately, one of the most attractive political campaign techniques is personally to destroy The character and integrity and reputation of your opponent and unfortunately, it works. It works and I think that's another thing that every person can do is to completely reject any effort by a candidate to tear down the reputation of an opponent on personal basis. Mr. Carter. What is your assessment of the situation in Haiti and the needed next steps? Well, just yesterday afternoon. I was on the telephone with Secretary of State Colin Powell and earlier this week. I was talking to Secretary General Kofi Annan it United Nations and to Secretary General gaviria from the regular head up. The organization of American states about Haiti The Carter Center that Rose and I head has been deeply involved in Haiti for many years. In fact at the time we went over there to help in 1990 when John Earth Bertrand aristide was elected. We were in charge of monitoring the election and we were very proud of the fact that this brilliant young 36 year old idealistic Catholic priest was elected. He was brilliant. He spoke 11 foreign languages. He was found lying on the streets adopted by nuns and highly trained. He's been an absolute and total disaster. He has abandoned his religious beliefs in my opinion suppose. We know he's renounce and cloth. He's become very wealthy and he has become an effect a dictator and so the subsequent election in 1995 to which we did send a representative according to our experts were divorced you like worst election we've ever seen in history and we have monitored 45 other elections in the country. Now, the problem in Haiti is that a group of revolutionaries so-called almost entirely led by former militants that were hired and trained by Eros deed have taken up arms against him because he ordained the execution of one of their brothers one of their leaders, brother. What to do about it is a very difficult thing until a few days ago. All of their responsibilities for bringing about a Reconciliation in Haiti was in the hands of the foreign Ministers of the CARICOM countries. Those are the little tiny countries around the Caribbean as you probably know and they don't have any influence and they don't have any real cohesion since then the United Nations has now become involved in the last couple of days and so has the United States of America and I don't think there's any possibility that will send troops into Haiti to stabilize it but at least the United States is now lending its strong influence in Haiti to try to bring about some kind of ceasefire in the violence has taken place and maybe some future negotiations or consultations between era Steed and his opposition. They're also very responsible leaders of opposition parties in Port-au-Prince. They are not involved at all. So for anybody can tell In the present violence, but in the northern part of Haiti as you probably know around compassion and Capac and others are there is a present death dearth of food. So benevolent assistance and negotiation is something if and when are estate is out of office or grease to an honest election The Carter Center will be very eager to resume our role as one of the monitors of that process right now. I really can't give you any hopeful analysis of Haiti and he's going to get worse. Unfortunately before it gets better. Mr. Carter, how do we constructively get out of Iraq? Well, as you probably noticed that my completely unbiased assessment of the right the there was no need for us to go into Iraq because the United Nations had already certified to the best of our ability with almost unlimited access that there was not any weapons of mass destruction. And there's never yet been any proof of any kind that Saddam Hussein as horrible as he was was connected to Al-Qaeda or with the terrorist organizations that struck against the United States. So those false premises either by mistake or maybe perhaps deliberately is what took us into Iraq with just a British and a few other troops cooperating with us after the 9/11 tragedy. The United States was blessed with perhaps the most most unanimous and heartfelt approbation and support and partnership that this country has ever seen. Almost every nation in the world was eager to work side by side with us in combating and controlling terrorism including get to the root getting to the roots called root causes of terrorism that's been lost now. So what can we do next to answer your question specifically My Hope Is that the United States government will is sincere now that we've had to turn to the United Nations at least to some degree in bringing about an honest transfer of power political power to the Iraqi people. I think there's now a growing consensus even in Washington and including United Nations that free elections will have to be held within the next eight months or 10 months or next year. In the meantime some kind of interim government might be formed. It would have to be approved by the Shiite leaders as you well know. It may be that an expansion of the present governing Authority would be permissible. I think that's still up in the air, but the sooner the United States gets Politically and as soon as we are able or willing to share economic control of the all wealth and so forth with other countries, and as soon as we are able to retain I think responsibility for a number of years of a security risk prescription security demands any write those three things are the only Avenue in my opinion to getting out peacefully and with dignity for us and for the Iraq, he's so honest elections as soon as possible sharing economic benefits of above all it so forth with other countries and the United States maintaining its leadership role in maintaining security. That's the key to it. Mr. Carter, what is your hope for peace in the israeli-palestinian crisis? They have been to. sincere efforts in the last 25 years or so that have been successful one was at the Camp David Accords when Fritz Mondale and I went to Camp David with prime minister Bagan from Israel and from and was President Sadat from Egypt and after 13 days, we negotiated a very successful a completely successful agreement with them and in six months later in a few days. I'll be exactly 25 years. There was a peace treaty signed at the White House between Israel and Egypt who had been at war with each other before that four times in the previous 25 years not a single word of that peace treaty has ever been violated now in 25 years. later, the only other the only other piece agreement that was worked out since then was by Norway not surprisingly and this was done by. A social science group who went into Gaza first just to investigate the plight of the Palestinians, but they soon found that there was a receptive ear among the Palestinian leadership including NYC including Arafat and also the leaders of Israel and they negotiated was known as a slow agreement, which is a wonderful agreement since then. Unfortunately prime minister of being was assassinated. As you know, as was Anwar Sadat and the situation is now deteriorated. Those are the two major efforts that have been made until the last until three years ago ever since Israel was founded as a nation in 1948. I ever since the war the primary of War took place in 1967. Every president of the United States has been deeply involved in this process of attempting to find out a way between Israel and her adversaries are neighbors how to negotiate on mediate a peace agreement. The president ministration has abandoned that effort. You might say completely. They have aligned themselves exclusively with the Israeli government under Ariel Sharon. And as you know Arafat with all of his faults is now imprisoned in one or two rooms and can't go out even to meet with his own people or to try to take charge of easing the animosity that exist. The Palestinian attacks on Israelis are abominable and should be condemned. And so I don't think now as long as Heroes your own is prime minister and we have the present Administration in Washington. And as long as Arafat is in his present plight that we have a chance for for peach, but it can come I would hope that if you are generously interested it you would get a copy. Of the so-called Geneva accords that were unveiled in Geneva last November the Carter centers people helped negotiate those Accords in a very minor way the primary negotiation was directly between Israelis and Palestinians who followed up on President Clinton's effort. And took it to a final conclusion that includes the withdrawal of Israelis from the West Bank and Gaza with some major exceptions approved by the Palestinians over half the Israelis under this agreement would be permitted to stay in the West Bank and not disturb their livelihood or their place to live. The right of return so-called was addressed with very few Palestinians being permitted to come back into Israel. Only Those whom the Israeli government approved. But with the Palestinians having right to their own State, I think that this is a best approach to the future of Israel and its right to live in peace to be recognized by all its Arab neighbors to live in peace and for the Palestinians to have Justice and a state of their own. So if you are interested in the best approach in my opinion, and in the opinion of the vast majority of people in the world, it would be the Geneva accords and you could find those. I'm sure on the internet. Thank you. Mr. Carter, could you speak about the ways in which military force can be at times a force for peace? Yeah. Well as a matter of fact, I'm not a very good one to claim to have peace as a mantle all my life because I volunteered as a very young man to go to the u.s. Naval Academy and to become a naval officer and I served in the Navy and all for 11 years my role primarily was as a submarine officer and I I dedicated my life to the fact that if I couldn't you security was in danger or our principles and moral values were in danger that I would give my life for that cause and take the lives of those who opposed to us. That was my life. As a matter of fact except for Dwight Eisenhower. I've served more years in a regular military than anyone since the Civil War but so I believed and still believe in a very strong and capable American military force. I don't think so that our nation should use this military force unless it's absolutely necessary and unless all other opportunities or possibilities of resolving difference with other countries have been completely exhausted and I think that we also should use our military strength to try to bring peace to others even though our own security is not directly threatened or we're not directly involved in it. So a last resort we had some some very difficult challenges. When Fritz Mondale and I were together and the White House, we finally negotiated the peace between Israel and Egypt which was a much more serious threat to World Peace then than before because there was always the opportunity or possibility or even probability that if a war broke out between Israel and the Arab countries the Soviet Union and the United States would be directly involved. In fact at the end of the 1940s 1973 War Israel was on the way to Cairo Egypt and the Soviets said that they would use every means possible to stop the Israelis. And that's the only time in history when President Nixon and Brezhnev martialed Nuclear armaments so that was a threat to the world. Peace. We had 35 years of in capability of dealing with the Chinese. We normalize diplomatic relations with China the first day of January 1979 and we try to bring an end to apartheid in Rhodesia and made Zimbabwe out of it and so forth. We tried to use anybody but in every case, I think it was not not insignificant that the United States power as a military entity was a very important factor in helping us induce others to resolve differences with the United States peacefully and to bring peace even to others and I've always been thankful for the fact That when Frets and I left office after four years of very troubled times including the holding of American hostages by the Iranians. We had never Dropped a Bomb a launched a missile or parental fired a bullet. I'm glad that we did that and it's not impossible. This will be the final question. Mr. Carter. Would you be willing to run for president this year? The answer is no. Thank you Brian. I'd rather be here with you. Thanks a lot. (00:48:58) Former President Jimmy Carter speaking Saturday at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum at st. Olaf College in Northfield President Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts to find peaceful solutions to International conflicts in his wife Rosalyn had the Carter Center in Atlanta which works to alleviate human suffering and promote human rights around the world. By the way, if you missed part of President Carter's remarks, we will be re broadcasting his speech at nine o'clock tonight rebroadcast at 9:00 this evening. Next Tuesday, of course is Precinct caucus day here in the state of Minnesota and unlike most years. Minnesota is getting lots of attention from the presidential campaigns. We are said to be one of those Battleground States this year Democrats John Edwards and Dennis kucinich were in the Twin Cities over the past weekend Edwards wife Elizabeth is campaigning in Minnesota today and John Kerry is due in the Twin Cities. Is on Wednesday Republicans are also targeting Minnesota and Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne are in Minnesota today for campaign stops in both Minneapolis. And st. Paul Minnesota public radio's marks a deck like is on the line now with an update on the Cheney visit over at the Hilton hotel in Minneapolis. Right Mark. That's right Gary. I'm in the ballroom where the vice president has just wrapped up an address here. He's on his way right now over to the west side of st. Paul and the El Burrito Mercado restaurant have a short visit there and then he's out of Minnesota on his way south to Wichita, Kansas for another fundraiser here at the Hilton Hotel in Downtown Minneapolis. There was a room for about 280 people in this banquet hall and I would say there was maybe about 250 or 260 who actually sat down and then we're here for the Cheney speech. The invitation said it was in a thousand a $1,000 a plate event and not a real large number. Well known Republicans at least that I was able to see in the crowd there were some of the elected officials owed led by a senator Norm Coleman Republican. Senator Norm Coleman, obviously and Republican Representatives. John Klein and Mark Kennedy were here as well. Vice president Cheney was accompanied by his wife Lynn and he as expected got a very warm reception from the faithful here in Downtown Minneapolis. We spoke for about 20 minutes and he really went through in the tail the war on terrorism and citing what he called progress in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and he talked about the continued threats that terrorists pose the United States and the commitment on the part of the Bush Administration to continue moving forward with the so-called Bush doctor and that says, you know, if you Harbor anybody who might be involved with terrorism you're as guilty as a terrorist himself than he made it clear that sets the policy that the bush-cheney team will continue to move forward on. He also talked to Gary about the US economy. And basically said that the Bush tax cuts are working to revive the economy. He called for making them permanent. And he also called for the Congress to pass the bush Energy bill and malpractice insurance reform and sort of looked ahead to some other policy things. He said campaign season is upon us right now and that he and the president are going to run hard and work hard to win and they're hoping they can take Minnesota's this next time they lost by less than 3% and 2000 and they see real opportunity in 2004 here Garrett none often times. When especially when the president vice president of peer or a protester show up, were there any outside the hotel today? You know Gary it's so controlled as to where we can be and where we can't be in for a couple of hours. We've been sort of waiting in this room. So I really frankly don't know what's going on outside early today when I arrived here, there were not groups of protesters anywhere. But as you say that's generally the case from where I've been I just can't see that though. Okay. And now as you say he's off to West st. Paul for a for a stop at a Mexican restaurant. Yeah, and I don't know exactly. He's going to take very long. He probably. As the neighborhood of 250 to 270 thousand dollars and in Kansas this evening. He's expected at a fundraiser there again, another thousand-dollar ahead event. So this is a big fundraising day for the White House. Thanks a lot Mark. Appreciate it. Sure Gary. That's not a public radio reporter. Mark said act like checking in from the Hilton Hotel in Downtown Minneapolis. Course, Mark will have much more on the vice president's visit at well later this afternoon all in all on all things considered and if you want to keep up on all of the latest campaign events might we suggest you check out our website. It's just chock full of good information. Minnesota Public Radio dot org is our web address, Minnesota Public Radio dot-org. Well that does it for our midday today Gary I can hear. Thanks so much for tuning in. I hope you can join us tomorrow. I'm going other things tomorrow. We'll talk with former Minnesota. Senator Dave durenberger who's been heading up a gubernatorial advisory commission looking. Health care and how to contain healthcare costs the commission is coming out with its report today and we'll talk with Senator durenberger tomorrow. I hope you can tune in (00:54:20) all the tax cuts. We passed are set to expire with the Congress giveth the Congress taketh away president aristide said that he's ready to give his life to defend Haiti. This is the most promising research in health care, perhaps in the history of the world. You count on Minnesota Public Radio for the latest local National and international news. We rely on you for support your contributions allow us to bring you coverage. You expect help us continue to deliver the stories Beyond The Sound Bites click and join today at Minnesota Public Radio (00:54:49) dot-org Talk of the Nation coming up next here on Minnesota Public Radio. (00:54:57) On the next fresh air the efforts to hunt down Osama Bin Laden before September 11th. We talk with Steve coll author of ghost Wars The Secret history of the CIA Afghanistan and Bin Laden from the Soviet invasion to September 10, 2001 (00:55:12) call is managing editor of the Washington Post join us for the next fresh air. Eight o'clock tonight are on Minnesota Public Radio your to 91.1 Cantor wfm Minneapolis. And st. Paul cloudy Sky currently 35 degrees in the Twin Cities in the Weather Service says it might hit 40 if this afternoon tonight we can look for some fog to develop with an overnight low around 25 degrees then tomorrow essentially a re-run of today Cloudy Skies through the day good chance for Fairly dense fog in the morning tomorrow. And once again tomorrow tomorrow high in the middle 30s about 35 degrees.