pres. bush: thank you. as has been mentioned, in 2006, we came here to warren easton charter school after katrina hit. we are honored and pleased to be back. i can't think of a better place ,o come here in new orleans except for some of the restaurants. [laughter] the slogan that guided the school when we visited is true today. we believe in success. success, thef that schools like this have achieved, you have given all americans reasons to believe that new orleans is back. and better than ever. mr. mayor, thank you for your hospitality. you have been so gracious to us. we want to thank you. if enthusiasm and a good strategy counts, new orleans is in good hands. we thank you very much. [applause] i bring greetings from one of the cochairman of the bush-katrina fund. 41. one of the great lines of all-time, who would have thought getting out of bed at age 91 would be more dangerous than jumping out of an airplane at 90? [laughter] thank david garland, the president of the charter foundation board, all of the folks who have shown up. we had a roundtable discussion. many of our friends were there. people we work with. francis, for example. one of the great minds of new orleans. in spite of the devastation, we have many fond memories. i remember sitting on top of one of those big ships strategizing. i think you were drinking. i wasn't of course. [laughter] it is great to see you. we are honored you took time to come. members ofcongress, the state house, superintendent white, on and on. thank you for coming. i really want to thank the leadership of the school. i must confess a principal is always a teacher. she tried to teach me with the band here. i know she did not say it, but she was thinking this boy needs a lot of work. we are thrilled with your hospitality. twist, hurricane katrina brought despair to what should have been a season of hope, the start of a new school year. who had recently gone back to school had no school to go back to. many had nowhere to live. , as you know,s claimed schools and homes alike. the ground we are on today was under water. to of us are old enough remember the images of our oflow americans amid a sea misery and ruined. we will remember the lives lost across the gulf coast. their memories are in our hearts and i hope you pray for their families. is a story ofina loss beyond measure and of commitment and compassion. i hope you remember what i remember, 30,000 people saved in the aftermath of the storm by by lawlitary personnel, enforcement, and by citizens who volunteered. thepe you remember thousands who came here on a volunteer basis to provide food for the hungry and find shelter for those who had no home to live in. there are people around the country who prayed for you. many of whom showed up so they can say they help to a fellow citizen who was hurting. were thee groups educators of new orleans. it would have been easy to walk away from the wreckage. the educators thought of the children who would be left behind. newunderstood bringing orleans back to life requires getting students back to school. even though some have lost everything, you let nothing stand in your way. today we celebrate the resurgence of new orleans schools. we honor the resilience of a great american city whose levees gave out, but whose people never gave up. of these devastation, you vow to do more than just open the schools. you vow to challenge the status quo. long before the great flood, too many students drifted from grade to grade without ever learning the skills needed for success. choices toked intervene. principals and teachers lacked to chart a more hopeful course. 60% of the students were failing. it was the soft bigotry of low expectations. the decisions made in the dark hours after katrina sparked a decade of reform. rather than reopen the schools, reorganize charter schools that are independently operated and publicly accountable for high standards. more than nine in 10 students now call our charter school home. have the freedom to slice through red tape and the freedom to innovate. parents have choices if dissatisfied. the results have been extraordinary. the reason we know is because we measure and any attempt to undermine accountability does a huge disservice to the students who go to the schools in new orleans. [applause] according to a new report, the percentage of students graduating on time has soared since katrina. the percentage of students who scored better than the state average almost doubled. so has the percentage of students meeting basic standards. you've got to ask why. it just did not happen. a lot of it was structural and requires leadership. people who stared into the eye of the storm and refused to back down. we are here in new orleans to remind our country about what strong leadership means and are here to salute the leaders. i think of jenny here at warren easton. after katrina, jenny left new orleans. was forced to leave. she started a website called warren easton in exile. students.eunited jenny returned, the first-place she went was not her house. it was the school. ratherputs it, i would see my own house burned down than the school. jenny would give anything for warren easton and today we give teachers like her our sincere thanks. [applause] amazing what happened in the city after the storm wiped out the school system. decided to do something about the devastation and the failure. i have met a lot of them when i was president and subsequent to my presidency. one person took a leadership role in new schools for new orleans. he worked with others to launch dozens of schools and turn ideas into reality. as a theoretical exercise, it is important to look at new orleans and realize it is an exercise of implementing a plan that works. he was so encouraged by what he saw here, he is talking up the reforms to other cities. the storm that nearly destroyed new orleans. new orleans is the beacon for school reform. he represents the virtues bill clinton and i had in mind when we announce the new presidential leadership scholars program. we are honored he was among the first class of scholars. achieving these results took librarians salvaging the collections. i know something about librarians. [laughter] i married one. i'm really proud of the larger bush foundation. she has talked about the grants, citizens who supported the foundation who they did not stay very long and yet like many around the country, they care deeply about the future. i hope the students here -- and we are thrilled you're here and staying awake. thepe you realize compassion of others in helping .ou realize a good education it turns out every good school, a school that is succeeding and we know it is succeeding because we measure against other standards, requires strong principles. i is a strong leader. [applause] i love what she says. if you fail, we failed. is our product. we don't believe in putting out anything but the best. in order to succeed, in order to lead properly, you got to set high goals. high expectations. that is what the school has done. school hasd, the graduated 100% of its seniors for the past five years. [applause] you have earned our admiration and gratitude along with our best wishes for a happy birthday tomorrow. [applause] stories like this and others, we see a determination to build better than before. it is a spirit much stronger than any storm. has liftedrit that communities laid low by terrorist attacks. it is a spirit that i saw in new orleans 10 years ago. it is evident today. we see the spirit in the population that has picked back up as family settled down. we see it in the terrorist -- here by who are tron the hotel rooms and restaurants. ura.ee it in la we met her in 2006 when she was a senior. she is happy to be back at the school she loved. she was happy to be back at the school she loved at the time. she said i want to be a teacher. here she is as a member of this .aculty teaching english i probably needed her when i was in high school. [laughter] when i asked how students have overcome adversity, she said we teach them to be resilient. that is in the culture of the city. she is right. is the same that the city show the world's in the wake of hurricane katrina. work ofanniversary, the making a stronger and more hopeful new orleans goes on. you have achieved a lot over 10 years. with belief in success, and a faith in god, new orleans will achieve even more. the darkness from a decade ago was lifted. the crescent city has risen again. its best days lie ahead. thank you for having me. [applause] >> one moment before the band comes up. i want to give -- we want to give president bush a token of our appreciation. ♪ [applause] ♪ night, vanda talks about the u.s. counterinsurgency in state building efforts in afghanistan. >> the u.s. did achieve improvements in security. nonetheless has it been worth it? it is here i hesitate and i interrogate myself in question myself. we do not know how it will end. this moment may collapse. thes also possible and him road we will be back in a new civil war in afghanistan. isis is emerging in the country. than themuch worse taliban. the taliban is deeply entrenched. if we end up five years down the road with a new civil war in havens for and safe the taliban and isis, i would say it was not worth the price. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern and pacific on c-span q&a. the democratic national committee held its annual summer meeting today in minneapolis. presidential candidates hillary clinton, bernie sanders, martin o'malley spoke. the remarks are coming up next. that is followed by george w. bush visiting a new orleans high school on the 10th anniversary of hurricane katrina. and later, we'll hear more about the state of new orleans post-katrina with the former mayor marc morial. hillary clinton was one of four candidates featured at the summer meeting in minneapolis.