:00:08. > :00:19.Welcome to HARDtalk. My guess today is African-American Democrat Michael
:00:20. > :00:23.Nutter. Mair of Philadelphia. He is here in London to try to attract
:00:24. > :00:30.business and investment to Philadelphia, but how can a city
:00:31. > :00:36.with high levels of crime be an attractive investment for visitors?
:00:37. > :01:03.Mayor Michael Nutter, welcome. Thank tackle violence at home, rather
:01:04. > :01:10.Mayor Michael Nutter, welcome. Thank you. Six year as Mayor of
:01:11. > :01:12.Philadelphia, why did you believe that the national government could
:01:13. > :01:18.be doing more to help American cities? When you look at some of the
:01:19. > :01:25.politics in Washington, DC, primarily in our Congress, the
:01:26. > :01:28.conflicts that many in the Republican party have with President
:01:29. > :01:34.Barack Obama, the budget cuts, the shutdown, these activities hurt
:01:35. > :01:38.American cities. We are coming out of the great recession and trying to
:01:39. > :01:43.make progress. And I think the federal government, members of
:01:44. > :01:47.Congress, can do more to help American cities fight crime, educate
:01:48. > :02:07.children, create jobs and economic vitality.
:02:08. > :02:10.children, create jobs and economic everybody shares your view that the
:02:11. > :02:17.answer lies with the federal government, the Republican Mayor of
:02:18. > :02:24.Charleston says it is always nice when you can get money, but it is
:02:25. > :02:27.not a long-term answer. Is he right? Cities are being creative and we
:02:28. > :02:35.have to innovate. We have to pit up trash and deal with weather events,
:02:36. > :02:38.with snow, people have to be working. So in partnership with the
:02:39. > :02:44.federal government and support, that is always critical. But Mayors have
:02:45. > :02:49.to run cities every day. We cannot shut down, we have to provide
:02:50. > :02:53.service. You basically want more money from the national government.
:02:54. > :02:57.More money and support always helps but we are also doing innovative
:02:58. > :03:16.things without the federal government. Let's
:03:17. > :03:21.things without the federal infrastructure, on improving police
:03:22. > :03:26.patrols. But in Iraq, Afghanistan, not in our own cities. Your premise
:03:27. > :03:31.is that the US government should be doing more to tackle violent crime
:03:32. > :03:34.at home rather than fighting terrorism abroad. Do you think the
:03:35. > :03:40.national government has its priorities wrong? We can do both. We
:03:41. > :03:43.are the United States of America, we can help protect other citizens in
:03:44. > :03:51.other countries and support their efforts, but you always have to take
:03:52. > :03:55.care of the homeland. A great Mayor in New Orleans, all of us can use
:03:56. > :04:01.additional support. It is not an either/or or choice. But where will
:04:02. > :04:04.the money come from? There have been budget tussles between Barack Obama
:04:05. > :04:08.and Republicans in Congress. Budget deficit. The federal government
:04:09. > :04:29.prints the deficit. The federal government
:04:30. > :04:34.for instance when US operations wound up in Afghanistan in 2014, you
:04:35. > :04:38.want some of that money? But there will be competing demands. There
:04:39. > :04:43.always competing demands, but what is the priority of America? It
:04:44. > :04:46.should be educating our children and building roads and bridges and
:04:47. > :04:52.putting people to work, making sure America is safe. As much as we want
:04:53. > :04:57.people to be safe around the world. It is about priorities. It is not an
:04:58. > :05:01.unlimited part, we still have to reduce the deficit and deal with
:05:02. > :05:04.those issues, but it is about the National priorities of the federal
:05:05. > :05:09.government of the United States of America, partnering with cities to
:05:10. > :05:14.make us all stronger. A lot of the work you have done speaking publicly
:05:15. > :05:16.nationwide in the US and in Philadelphia where you are Mayor, it
:05:17. > :05:39.is to say that US cities having Philadelphia where you are Mayor, it
:05:40. > :05:44.everyone -- every 100 people. -- there are 89 guns for every 100
:05:45. > :05:49.people. I think I have the right not to be shot. We have a violence
:05:50. > :05:54.problem in America and it must be addressed. The shootings we see on
:05:55. > :05:59.the news that make the national headlines RA microcosm of the things
:06:00. > :06:03.that go one in cities across America -- or a microcosm. But there are
:06:04. > :06:10.ways to combat that, smart policing, using technology, good old police
:06:11. > :06:13.work and offices on port -- officers on foot patrol. Citizens engaged in
:06:14. > :06:17.the lives of their children and those who might have other personal
:06:18. > :06:23.challenges. Money hopes but it is not the only answer. It is the gun
:06:24. > :06:27.culture. After every mass shooting, people say that you have to tighten
:06:28. > :06:28.gun controls. After the Sandy Hook mass shooting,
:06:29. > :06:51.Senate. He has to have trashy tries to have a ban on big assault weapons
:06:52. > :06:56.but that also does not get through. Americans do respect the right to
:06:57. > :06:59.bear arms and I do support that. But there are many individuals who
:07:00. > :07:04.should never have a gun. There are criminals who get store pictures
:07:05. > :07:08.guns, people with mental health challenges who should never have a
:07:09. > :07:13.gun. Those highlighted cases, there are many issues that never make the
:07:14. > :07:17.news every day. The level of violence in the African-American
:07:18. > :07:24.community, like on lap crime, very serious. Illegal guns is a serial
:07:25. > :07:30.pub -- a serious problem in America and we can protect the second
:07:31. > :07:33.Amendment while ensuring people have the right to peacefully assemble,
:07:34. > :07:36.guaranteed by the first Amendment. We can do both if we are smart about
:07:37. > :07:56.how we address We can do both if we are smart about
:07:57. > :08:00.contributions and relationships. But the American public says time and
:08:01. > :08:04.time again, we want to be safe. So you have collected officials not
:08:05. > :08:10.voting in the interests of their constituents for special interest.
:08:11. > :08:14.You have brought the issue of violence in the African-American
:08:15. > :08:17.community, the figures are dismal. Professor Patterson from Harvard
:08:18. > :08:22.University this striking figures, African-Americans, 13% of the
:08:23. > :08:29.American population but they commit 50% of homicides, 80% are lap men
:08:30. > :08:33.killing other lap men. African Americans or imprisoned at eight
:08:34. > :08:38.times the rate of wide people and one in three has a prison record,
:08:39. > :08:42.what is going wrong? When you look at the level of education and
:08:43. > :08:46.property and health and jobs and skills, and the opportunity for
:08:47. > :09:08.someone to self sustain, with other people in that way.
:09:09. > :09:12.Again, that is not an excuse but this -- but is part of an
:09:13. > :09:15.explanation. Not all or an unemployed people resort to
:09:16. > :09:21.violence. Of course not, lap or wide, T know
:09:22. > :09:28.and Asian, the vast majority of Americans are law-abiding citizens.
:09:29. > :09:34.-- T know. You have a relatively small amount of people creating
:09:35. > :09:40.havoc in their areas and policing is a component of that but not the only
:09:41. > :09:47.solution to violence in America. We should invest more in education and
:09:48. > :09:51.job training programmes, we should not cut the community development
:09:52. > :09:54.programme. We should have a transportation bill lasting more
:09:55. > :09:56.than six months or a year, that is about jobs. When people are educated
:09:57. > :10:14.and can about jobs. When people are educated
:10:15. > :10:20.the small group of people responsible for the violence. In
:10:21. > :10:25.Philadelphia, we have seen groups of young African-Americans going in
:10:26. > :10:29.packs terrorising neighbourhoods, popular tourist neighbourhoods. You
:10:30. > :10:34.have said when that has had and, you have said to these youngsters, you
:10:35. > :10:40.have damaged your own race. What did you mean? That was a couple of years
:10:41. > :10:44.ago. Flash mobs, however they might be described, they are not limited
:10:45. > :10:52.to the African-American community. What I meant by that is, it comes
:10:53. > :10:57.from a deep seeded training from my parents and grandparents going back
:10:58. > :11:03.many years where you are responsible for how you present yourself out in
:11:04. > :11:06.the community. You can hurt the image of your own race by engaging
:11:07. > :11:24.in certain image of your own race by engaging
:11:25. > :11:31.speaking to a particular audience and group of folks. -- a lap guy. I
:11:32. > :11:37.am Mayor of the people but I was delivering a particular message to a
:11:38. > :11:44.group engaged in a particular set of behaviours. -- a black guy. You say,
:11:45. > :11:51.Paul up your trousers. Nobody wants to see your underwear. Generally
:11:52. > :11:54.not. You say they should comb their hair and not just limit themselves
:11:55. > :11:59.to the kind of like slang they use, they should extend their vocabulary.
:12:00. > :12:02.You say white people get out of elevator is when black people go in
:12:03. > :12:07.or people cross the street when they see young black males, are you not
:12:08. > :12:11.buying into racial stereotypes yourself when you use that strong
:12:12. > :12:16.language? Act and speaking the truth. I have a particular
:12:17. > :12:17.perspective as a young black guy growing
:12:18. > :12:36.perspective as a young black guy things you need to do. You have to
:12:37. > :12:43.go to school, you need to graduate, you have to go to college or
:12:44. > :12:51.university. Do not get statues, you have said that, do not slept in your
:12:52. > :12:55.chair. -- tattoo is. It is already tough for black men and the
:12:56. > :12:58.African-American community. Over time, black unemployment has
:12:59. > :13:03.generally been higher than the national average, so there are some
:13:04. > :13:11.things you have to do. Should you say that kind of thing? Somebody
:13:12. > :13:15.from Colombia University has said that if this discourse had been led
:13:16. > :13:20.by Ronald Reagan, people would call him on his racism, but now you have
:13:21. > :13:25.a black face, it gives them legitimacy. I told the truth. People
:13:26. > :13:26.in the African-American community will
:13:27. > :13:48.in the African-American community efforts to move on and have a better
:13:49. > :13:53.life. You say tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime and you
:13:54. > :13:58.have been increasing police and community controls, you have also
:13:59. > :14:01.increased curfews from 7pm to 9pm for youngsters and you have searched
:14:02. > :14:08.children who repeatedly break their curfews, it is the parents who will
:14:09. > :14:13.be fined, putting up the flying from $300 to $500. You have made speeches
:14:14. > :14:17.at the Baptist Church in West Philadelphia, decrying absentee
:14:18. > :14:24.fathers, talking about parents who do not know where their teenagers
:14:25. > :14:28.are, describing them as idiots. You not punishing the parents? These are
:14:29. > :14:32.often parents living in deprived circumstances.
:14:33. > :14:54.That was a little over two years ago, we had some situations,
:14:55. > :14:58.That was a little over two years people since that time. Those
:14:59. > :15:01.weren't the only things I did. We increased hours aft recreation
:15:02. > :15:05.centre, we provided more services for young people. It was not all
:15:06. > :15:08.stick, there was a lot of carrot. You talk about the carrot, for
:15:09. > :15:12.instance there are those who say you have fine ambitions to improve
:15:13. > :15:16.education opportunities for youngster, yet you wanted to close
:15:17. > :15:20.down 11 libraries? We were in the middle of an economic crisis, I did
:15:21. > :15:24.not want to close the library, what I needed to do was save money. I
:15:25. > :15:28.have said this publicly, that was one of the big mistakes I made in
:15:29. > :15:32.how we tried to go about that. None of the libraries ever closed, we
:15:33. > :15:37.figured out another way to save the money, that we wanted and today,
:15:38. > :15:42.again, that was back during the recession in 2008 and 2009. Today?
:15:43. > :15:44.Every library in the city of Philadelphia is open. Every pool is
:15:45. > :16:05.open and we have more services and Philadelphia is open. Every pool is
:16:06. > :16:11.am a big supporter of public education, the fact are, which the
:16:12. > :16:18.teachers did know is that the city of Philadelphia over the last two to
:16:19. > :16:22.three years has put in an additional $155 million annually while the
:16:23. > :16:25.state has been making cuts over the last two years, so I think there is
:16:26. > :16:29.a lot more clarity about what I have been doing and my support for
:16:30. > :16:33.education versus others. You have talked about the carrot-and-stick,
:16:34. > :16:37.let us mention another example of the stick, you have a stop and frisk
:16:38. > :16:43.operation in the US, we call it stop and search in the United Kingdom,
:16:44. > :16:47.look at the figures in 2005100,000 such cases, in 2009, after about a
:16:48. > :16:54.year-and-a-half when you were mayor, that number had gone up tow 250,000
:16:55. > :16:56.and the American Civil Liberties Union says African-Americans make up
:16:57. > :17:15.40% Union says African-Americans make up
:17:16. > :17:19.of the folks we arrest for murder are black men. We go where the crime
:17:20. > :17:28.is. So here are more facts, since I have been in office, murder is down
:17:29. > :17:37.36-37% since 2007. The year before I came. That is year before you came
:17:38. > :17:46.in. If you look at 2028... That was down 15%. It was the same later. You
:17:47. > :17:53.know I know the numbers right. So 331, 306, 324, 321. When down, went
:17:54. > :17:58.slightly up and this year we are down nearly 30% as compared to last
:17:59. > :18:04.year, and you know, as every life is precious, one homicide is too many.
:18:05. > :18:06.I think we will see some significant reductions in 2013, even compared to
:18:07. > :18:25.last city. Nothing. I think if you look
:18:26. > :18:30.at the numbers and talk with people in the community, because it is not
:18:31. > :18:33.just about numbers, you will find that there are increasingly, folks
:18:34. > :18:36.in Philadelphia, you know, the wonderful thing about America is
:18:37. > :18:40.that anyone can say anything they want, whether it is accurate or not.
:18:41. > :18:44.The facts are numbers are down, communities are safer, when you look
:18:45. > :18:48.at our rising programme and you look at the gun stat and trying to get
:18:49. > :18:52.illegal weapons off the street. Targeting individuals who are
:18:53. > :18:55.engaged in that behaviour, all across Philadelphia, people know
:18:56. > :19:01.city-wide that the numbers are down and Philadelphia is a safer city
:19:02. > :19:08.today, than it was when I... You talk about Filly Rising. The
:19:09. > :19:12.President of black men at the Penn school of social work says the major
:19:13. > :19:16.problem lies in young black men returning to their communities from
:19:17. > :19:33.prison and finding limited or no resources
:19:34. > :19:35.prison and finding limited or no release. Through the mayor's office,
:19:36. > :19:39.working with people who are returning citizen, those who have
:19:40. > :19:46.just returned to Philadelphia from prison, we need to get those folks
:19:47. > :19:55.job training skills, a job, and the soft skills that go with being
:19:56. > :19:58.employed. Chad is friend, I agree with him. Many businesses are
:19:59. > :20:02.willing, to hire someone with a previous criminal record, we need to
:20:03. > :20:08.find them. Where does your stand up pay up initiative work in this? In
:20:09. > :20:14.2010 you began to ask returning people leaving prison and going into
:20:15. > :20:18.the community, they have to pay fines for past bail that has not
:20:19. > :20:22.been paid, or failure to turn up at court appearance, and you know, you
:20:23. > :20:25.say look, you ought to do this but it means that these ex
:20:26. > :20:47.bring this down, how does that fit in be your narrative about wanting
:20:48. > :20:53.people to get a living wage job when they have debt? We need to make sure
:20:54. > :20:58.our audience understand, those are issues the people has with the court
:20:59. > :21:01.system. But you back it? If someone jumps bail, if they have fine, if
:21:02. > :21:06.they haven't paid past Child Support they should do that. We need to
:21:07. > :21:11.remove many of the barriers to employment and make sure people get
:21:12. > :21:16.the services they need, can get an identification card, get job
:21:17. > :21:19.training, and there are instances there were barriers in place that
:21:20. > :21:24.prevented people, even when they wanted to do the right thing. We
:21:25. > :21:30.have to fix the systems. I want to ask you Barack Obama, there have
:21:31. > :21:33.been criticisms he has not done enough, Frederick Harris says he had
:21:34. > :21:55.had little to say African-American community,
:21:56. > :22:00.particularly violence I disagree with many of the premises laid out.
:22:01. > :22:04.As you said about me Barack Obama is President of the US, of all
:22:05. > :22:11.American, so the President's focus on early education programmes an
:22:12. > :22:14.universal precare, as well as trying to get the class of the college
:22:15. > :22:19.education down. African-Americans benefit from those, and we look at
:22:20. > :22:23.the affordable care accuse and all the politics that goes on with that,
:22:24. > :22:26.people forget that seven million African-Americans who never had
:22:27. > :22:31.healthcare will get healthcare as a result. When we talk about the
:22:32. > :22:35.transportation bill, other initiatives that the President put
:22:36. > :22:39.forward, to deal with gun safety issue, all of those help the
:22:40. > :22:43.African-American community as they help all America. Are those who say
:22:44. > :23:02.it is not Barack Obama who is to blame it is Congress who are re--
:23:03. > :23:04.it is not Barack Obama who is to tried to stop virtually every
:23:05. > :23:08.initiative that the President has put forward. Let us think about the
:23:09. > :23:11.affordable care about act. Approved by the Congress, signed by the
:23:12. > :23:15.President, challenged in court, made it through the US Supreme Court,
:23:16. > :23:21.House Republicans voted more than 40 times to try to end the affordable
:23:22. > :23:25.care act, shut down the federal Government in their efforts to stop
:23:26. > :23:30.it, and it still is going forward. That is the kind of insanity that
:23:31. > :23:34.you see coming from House Republicans in their assault on
:23:35. > :23:40.Barack Obama. Finally and briefly, Philadelphia, America's fifth and
:23:41. > :23:44.largest city, it is where the US declaration of independence was
:23:45. > :23:48.signed. We have talked about the poverty, the crime and son, do you
:23:49. > :23:51.think you have done enough to say to investors and tourists and other
:23:52. > :23:53.visitors come to Philadelphia, we are open for business? I would never
:23:54. > :24:13.say I have done enough. There is are open for business? I would never
:24:14. > :24:17.historic but a fairly modern world class city, that is why I am excited
:24:18. > :24:23.to be here in the UK, promoting business and getting trade going
:24:24. > :24:29.back-and-forth between Philadelphia and the UK. Michael Nutter, thank
:24:30. > :24:33.you for coming on HARDtalk. Thank you.