Deval Patrick in CNN N. H. Town Hall

On Civil Rights: Events in Charlottesville show we are in deep trouble

PATRICK: I got thinking about it most especially after Charlottesville. I was worried about this president from the beginning. Disappointed. And I kept thinking that the gravity of the office would somehow settle on him. It seems kind of quaint to say that now, doesn't it? And then Charlottesville happened, and I thought, "we are in deep trouble. He is bringing out so much of the worst of us." We had a rollout plan in November of '18. And 2 or 3 weeks before, my wife, Diane, was diagnosed with uterine cancer.

Explanation from Wikipedia: The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist and neo-Nazi rally that was conducted in Charlottesville VA, from August 11 to 12, 2017. On Aug. 12, a car was deliberately driven into a crowd of people who had been peacefully protesting the Unite the Right rally, killing one and injuring 28. The driver of the car had driven from Ohio to attend the rally.

On Corporations: Focus investments on community as part as long-term value

PATRICK: I founded a fund at Bain Capital to invest in companies for social and environmental good. Because I wanted to prove what I believe to be true, which is that this notion of having to trade financial return for social good was a false trade all along, that you don't have to. And we proved that we could get a competitive return and have measurable, meaningful social & environmental good. We've been practicing a kind of capitalism in this country for a long time that was all about short-term gains, next quarter's results, without due regard for the long-term interests in the enterprise, of the people in the community and the planet. We've got to get back to a different definition of long-term value. And I think it's an incredibly important proof point for business generally and for investment in particular.

On Crime: Black Lives Matter doesn't mean you hate police

We get sold these competing slogans. And you know, you've got to choose one slogan or another to prove your bonafides, rather than getting down to the business of solving problems.

On Education: A year of college fees for a year of service

PATRICK: I think the fact that we are divided is one thing. The fact that it's so easy to divide us is another deeply concerning thing. It's one of the reasons why, in something we call our democracy agenda we have proposed essentially universal national service, either civilian or military, as a way to bring people from different parts of the country together to work alongside each other in service of an unmet national need for a year or two or three. Indeed, for every year of service, we provide a year of college tuition and fees, as well.

On Energy & Oil: Cap-and-trade via Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative

PATRICK: First of all, my plan is built on things we actually did and accomplished. We joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in this region, on the first day I was in office, which is a cap-and-trade system. We used all of those proceeds to invest in energy efficiency in Massachusetts, retrofits, you know, tighter windows and doors, insulation, subsidies in particular for working people, incredibly meaningful in terms of their costs and their comfort. It also helped catalyze a new industry, a whole bunch of jobs. We closed the remaining coal fire power plants. We set very ambitious--indeed, the most ambitious goals in terms of reducing emissions, the most of any other state. They were goals that we were meant to achieve in eight years. We achieved them in three.

On Energy & Oil: Massachusetts met Paris Climate rules while he was Governor

We went from 900,000 megawatts of alternative energy generation to 4.7 million megawatts of alternative energy, most of it solar, some wind. And in the meanwhile, we created this whole new tech industry, clean tech industry, which was one of the fastest growing in the commonwealth, and one of the reasons why we came out recession faster than most other states.

The only thing we haven't done, and that I am open to, is a carbon tax. I'm open to it. That might be, and some have suggested that's a better idea than a cap-and-trade. But in my view, it works best if we take, just as in the example I offered of the cap-and-trade system, if we use all of the proceeds to plow them into moving us faster to a green future.

On Families & Children: In my youth, whole community raised its kids

PATRICK: Not SOME nights.

Q: What did that teach you?

PATRICK: You know, there were a lot of things we didn't have. We had big and broken and under-resourced, sometimes violent public schools. But we had terrific teachers. We had broken sidewalks and broken families, but we had a strong community. Because that was a time when every child was under the jurisdiction of every single adult on the block, right? You messed up down the street in front of Ms. Jones, she'd go upside your head as if you were hers. And I think what those adults were trying to teach us is that membership in community is understanding you have a stake in your neighbors' dreams and struggles, as well as your own, that we belong to each other.

On Families & Children: Simplify funding for mental illness treatment

PATRICK: So I think the simplest response, Mary, is simplify, simplify, simplify. Flexibility--you know, there's so much need for resources. And the need, as you said, is different from community to community. And when we are dealing with the kind of public health emergency we are around both substance use disorders and mental illness, we have to trust local leadership and local decision-makers to make decisions quickly that get relief to people.

On Government Reform: Democracy Agenda: first legislative package as president

Because without that, moving so much, so many of the big ideas that I and others have, will be doubly difficult. So that's some of how I think about it, thank you.

On Gun Control: State gun laws don't matter when guns come from other states

PATRICK: Doesn't it just blow our minds that we're preparing children for active shooter drills? How did we come to this? I share the consensus that exists in America around most or many gun safety measures, national registries, background checks, closing the gun show loophole. This is one of these issues that has to be dealt with at the federal level. We have some of the best laws in America in Massachusetts. They were good before I was in office and we added to them. But it doesn't much matter if you can buy a crate of guns elsewhere and bring them into Massachusetts. We have to have--we have to have a federal solution. I would also ban assault weapons. And I would do a voluntary buyback, as well. I believe there is consensus on many of those, and other, measures.

On Health Care: Crying need for research of Alzheimers & disabling diseases

PATRICK: We have a crying need for deep investment in research around Alzheimer's and other chronic and disabling diseases. We used to do this in a robust way through National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and others. We need to get back into that business. It was the withdrawal, in part, of that kind of research that has a link to why we pay higher drug prices today, right? We used to invest in basic research through government, much further along the development chain, if you will. So that when it comes time to commercialize, the private investment is smaller and therefore the need to harvest a return is not as great. This is beside your question. But let me say, I'm committed to science. Isn't it a ridiculous thing to have to say?And we have to invest in basic research at the government level, because that is one of those long-term investments that serves our long-term interests.

On Immigration: Allowed MA to shelter Central American refugee children

And I remember that President Obama asked a number of governors if we would shelter the children for a period of time while they were being processed as refugees. And I agreed to do so. We had the facilities. We had done it before. And I explained my reasoning to the people of Massachusetts as being based in both patriotism and faith, patriotism, because this country has given shelter to desperate children for a very long time.

One time we didn't, we turned a shipload of Jewish children back to the Holocaust. It's been a blight on our national reputation ever since, as I fear the separation of children at the southern border will be.

On Principles & Values: I am a man of faith; my decisions are grounded in faith

PATRICK: I don't know him well. He's always been a gentleman to me. But on the point of faith, I mean, I am a man of faith. I have made decisions on the strength of my values, and many of my values are grounded in faith. In fact, it's one of my frustrations with Democrats, because sometimes we are really squishy about the language of faith, when, in fact, so much of what we are about has its roots in the lessons of faith. My reasons [for many policies as governor had] to do with faith, that we were taught--all major religions are taught--we will be judged by how we treat the least of these. And I believe that. So the notion that faith would bear on his decision or someone else's, particularly when it inspires generosity and fealty to truth and to justice, that seems exactly right to me.

On Tax Reform: Raise the estate tax to 55%

PATRICK: There is no "the problem." There is a problem of purpose and direction and efficiency, in my view. For example, I think we should radically simplify our corporate and our individual income tax system. And while I do not support a wealth tax, I do support raising the estate tax. I think it ought to go back up to 55 percent, which is where it was. We know it works. I think about that as nonrecurring revenue. And I would use those revenues in part to pay down national debt. The other things we have to do, though, are invest in the things that enable us to grow, because that's the other solution to our national debt. And so education, innovation, infrastructure, a formula that we used to terrific effect in Massachusetts, is something we need to scale.

On Technology: Infrastructure creates jobs now and builds base for future