health care 365 days a year because they closed the gap. >> do you think -- event obamacare. we had an event and she said one of the biggest mistakes that i wish it wasn't called obamacare. >> i agree. >> we did change the name of bunch of times. [laughter] >> is beyond changing the name. ..

if you take care of individuals you get 100%. all those ram persons are ending. billions of dollars. in consideration for doing this there keeping this pot of money over here so we are taking the worst part vcu and uva are too big hospital care provided indigent care. they are losing hundreds of millions of dollars. >> it's the classic unintended consequence. >> the supreme court allows states to opt out. the supreme court elevated the health care bill and they gave the states the options to opt out and that was unfortunate. then it got into the problems. governor haslam when he talked about is the day tried to do it in tennessee.

understand a perfect example coming back to jobs lake county southwest virginia rural community parts of virginia coal textiles furniture manufacturing so many jobs have been lost. i'm trying to focus on bringing manufacturing thereby lake county just lost their hospital. i'm pretty good at convincing businesses to move. i get no chance of bringing a business to lake county. manufactures not going to move his business or her business to a county that doesn't have a hospital. in the manufacturing plant when your employee has a heart attack are you going to take an ambulance for 110 miles? it's just common sense. unfortunately the most rural parts of virginia are the most adversely impacted by us not closing the coverage gap. >> we have a lot of questions in the audience. they're going to get mad if i don't ask.

we are talking politics. speaking of her particular donkey that everybody here wants to know. pick your metaphor. >> i just broke seven ribs and punctured one lung. >> obviously and metaphors going right to the directives. when is she announcing, what is her role and how is she going to do? >> if she chooses to run she's going to win virginia. listens you will do this on her timetable. she's in a very good position today. there is no rest for her to get him.

the other sides are all in, republicans have a tough primary going on. no need to get in the middle of that so there's no pressure for her. i certainly hope she runs. in 2008 i was the chairman of her campaign. now i'm the governor of the commonwealth of virginia and the most i can do to help her is the model we have in virginia that's working, job creation off the charts economic development. you have a pro-business government, socially progressive that brings all the sides together works in a bipartisan way to get results. today it's working in virginia. that model and i think if i can be a successful governor in virginia is probably the best thing i can do for hillary if she decides to run. >> does that mean you won't be helping with fund-raising? >> i have known the clintons since 1980. i am personal friends with them and i will do everything i can but my job as governor of the commonwealth of virginia. i have to be governor. it's my top priority. of course i'm going to help her.

but i honestly believe that listen virginia and the electoral map that you cut up virginia is going to be a key swing state. there is no electoral college numbers that gets gets you a 270 without virginia in it. i don't know what's going to happen to the other side. you look at the map. if jeb is the nominee florida so you are looking at the different -- every time they come back to it you have to win virginia. working hard in virginia creating jobs people happy today both sides. we have bipartisan agreement on the budget. the "washington post" wrote a huge story how reporters are mad because nobody is fighting in richmond. we are getting along and acting like adults and coming together. we have privately worked together to do with them the best interest of virginia. that's a great message and it continues to do that, to message as well. >> a lot of people is set in fact when you look at what her economic message is going to be it's going to be framed around

president clinton's economic idea. do you think that so works in this context of 2015 and 2016? >> well clearly times are different than we had back in the 90s by 21 million new jobs, booming economy, it's a different time. our economy today isn't very good shape. we have come back. we have come out of the great recession we just had. so it's a different economy then went to then president clinton inherited because when he was in office we were still in a recession. so the economy is coming back and jobs are being created. on average 230000 jobs last month. it's all good news so she will focus just as her husband at about, if she wants and i just want to qualify here. but listen she gets it on the economy and she gets it that job creation is critical. she will work in a bipartisan way to move the economy forward. i think the big issue susan in

this election is going to be where the economy is coming back the middle-class today feels squeeze. for people their take-home pay they are not feeling it today. there still a lot of angst with the economy even with the numbers going up. so i think this whole issue of there is going to be some income inequality, disparity whatever you want to call it is making sure in this middle class that you are focused on the quality jobs and when i talk about job quality job that pays well with benefits. a job that doesn't pay well when you have to work two or three in no time to see your children is not a job. we should do more and i think she will focus on that. >> the economic inequality issue there's there is a concern among democrats that the clinton -- is close to wall wall street democrats of the will. they have obviously become multimillionaires themselves raising money including foreign governments. do you think that's a problem for the clinton's? >> if you look at the upbringing of hillary and bill clinton neither one of them has ever

forgotten their roots. as you read the biographies hillary and her family, they scrimped and saved her entire upbringing. the same story with president clinton so neither one of them will ever forget their roots and that is what they are focused on. if you look at the two of them and what they have done in public service through their careers they clearly could have gone off into a lot of different things with their lies. they chose to save in public service. even after president clinton got out of office the work is done. i used to be on the board of the clinton foundation. what he is done in africa and all over the globe in helping people, that is who they are. they like to help people. they are sure people have opportunities and success. >> let's get the audience in. in the back their sir. identify yourself for us. >> larry goldman. it's nice to see you again sir. >> hello larry, how are you?

>> everybody is a constituent. >> quickly how many live in virginia? fantastic. >> there's an editorial in today's post about the gerrymandering issue. what can you do to sort of balance that environment so the win virginia have good competitive elections to find the best people? >> that's a great question. i have already said i would veto this particular bill. you have a number in the state senate who drafted a bill who took one republican precinct from a democratic senator and put one democrat on the democratic side. we are not playing this game but of course i would veto that. larry raised an interesting point that i talk about this a lot. i go back in the issues we have in what's going on up here goes back to i put everything back on partisan gerrymandering. what happens in elections today, the house of representatives and senate members of congress have no chance of losing a general election.

it's a guaranteed success. in business you have competition every day. it keeps you moving and keeps you working hard. so we have got to get back -- i'm all for part nonpartisanship. i am all for nonpartisan redistricting. we want to get in line as close as we can to 50/50. so what happens today is the only way you can lose an election is the primary challenge within your own party so it pushes you to the extremes. the middle has somewhat evaporated and nobody should be gearing tdap anything in life. you should have to work hard for it and that's the problem. what happens is you worry about winning re-election and you worry about a primary opponent and sometimes you are not always working for the best interest of your constituents. i think we have to end this partisanship. i would love it if we had nonpartisan redistricting. i've advocated for that i'm going to continue to push for it. we are now under court mandate

to redraw our congressional lines and by april 1 we have to have a mapper proved that if you don't there is not a bill that i signed that will go to the court. right now we are under a court order to redo our congressional maps but it's a great point and we have to get these districts back to where they are competitive. competition is good. it makes you smarter. it keeps you working harder and i think that is what has happened. this partisan rancor. the end of the day they are supposed to be doing a constituents word instead of fighting over partisan political issues. >> i wish we could flash back to your dnc chairmanship. >> i was supposed to be tough on partisan but it's a different job now. i have quite a few hats. >> thank you so much. in the back there, sir.

>> governor mcauliffe since you were associated very closely with hillary clinton and i'm sure if she decides to run you will be summoned to join her trusted advisor group. given that, my suggestion is one of the reasons she lost against obama during the first term was her hawkish position on international sphere and on the wars and so on and that's the reason i didn't vote for her. i have always voted democratic and so my suggestion would be that she should focus on jobs as the lady earlier the woman governor emphasized. you should do that. you should suggest that and playing even-handed role that america is a victim and the war has been imposed on america and not america is in lateral war which is the impression most people get from the current

administration. >> thank you. no question i guess so we will just move right along. >> sort of a follow-up question to the gridlock and the compromise being a four-letter word in washington d.c.. how do you feel about term limits for congress? >> i have always been an advocate for term limits. it's just my personal belief just designed for redistricting. people spend too long in politics and i don't know what the number is. 10 years or whatever it may be. if you look at my career i have done 30 different things in my career. i think it's important always to try and recruit someone to come in with new ideas.

they haven't seen a translation and increase others oftentimes at gap. do you have any assessment of what that means and since you mentioned a rural health care

area i believe virginia has stringent regulations to do additional -- are you interested in doing reforms on the supply-side making it easier for hospitals to expand? >> we will take that as a planted question. i have a bill that just passed through the general assembly. we are performing in a twitch needed to be done for a long time to allow more access for more folks. to commend to have more competition. i think that is always a good thing. i think on your health question no question. let's be clear here business folks understand this. these 400,000 virginians today if they get sick where are they going? they are going to an emergency room. that is happening as we speak. the point i used to make to the

business community who do you think is paying for that? you are. you now pay twice. you have paid through aca taxes and that is done. you are now paying twice. these folks are not not getting care. they are going to emergency rooms and places like that and tying up the whole health care delivery system. i don't blame them when they have no other option but if you are a mother with a sick child you will do everything you can possibly do to make sure your child gets health care. remember these are working folks. if you don't have an income you are on medicaid. you have got that. we are talking about the gap here. you make too much to get the medicaid here but they don't make enough to have a high deductible or a high premium. they are in the gap. they are working and when i talked about the folks having two or three jobs, doing home

health care. a lot of these folks are home health care providers. let me tell you that is tough work driving and taking care of the disabled person and their home and driving and driving and working two or three jobs. this is the community that i'm talking about. to provide them with the health care would be life-changing for them. it would be better for their health. better for their whole outlook and it's important. we should be doing this and as i say we have already paid for it. in west virginia they are now getting that care paid for somehow by virginia because we have paid into the big pot. it doesn't make any sense so we want a healthy workforce. jobs is my whole issue. i talk about this everyday. we are doing it and it's working. this is part of that. so in addition to the economic driver of $2.5 billion coming back to the economy a healthy workforce that i can convince a

ceo. i went to china twice last year, tremendous success. the largest deal ever done by a chinese company ever in the history of china. i just opened up a factory that had been shut for years and years in appomattox. a hard-hit area of virginia. it had closed for years. a real plan for chinese investors and you will love this reopened this plant the first deal in 44 years. reopen it, we will manufacture it. guess what? we are shipping them back to china and selling them to them. let me tell you that's a new virginian -- going to help you workforce as part of that and i'm just getting warmed up. >> i think we are actually out of time but it seems like a perfect note to end on. i want to thank all of you for coming to this. it's been a terrific

conversation today. >> thank you very much. thank you susan. [applause] >> this year we have one of the largest classes of veteran governors. some of us got got back in by the skin of our teeth but we also have a dozen new colleagues who are relatively new to politics and in the realm of elected office after many successful years and in the private sector. i think the experiences and perspectives of these governors are going to be of great benefit to not just their individual states but i think of the whole country and we certainly would all look forward to working with this administration. our commitment to an ongoing and lasting partnership with our federal peers at all levels is

continuous and i think that partnership depends upon having people that understand the benefit of that relationship and are willing to invest themselves in that relationship and really understand how governors work. it's my honor to introduce a friend of -- a man who joined us at national at the nga and talked about the work that remains to be done, someone who has worked tirelessly for this country vice president of the united states joe biden. [applause] >> good morning and almost afternoon. thank you. thank you very much. governor thank you for the great leadership you have shown and for that introduction. it's great to be here with so many old friends and i got a

chance to meet a bunch of new friends when i posted the new governors over in my office back in december and got a chance to spend sometime with you all last night. i appreciate it very much. you know the president and i look forward to this every year for real because we get a chance as mary can tell you to actually have real life conversations that usually don't take place in the city over the last several years. you guys and women took office to get things done. you are accustomed to making sure whatever the problem is your city is facing to address the problem. so we look forward to this event every year. and you know, as i said when i spoke as was referenced by your president that i was in nashville back i guess it was in july, and i said then that i

believe and i really mean this that the governors the single best hope for the political process right now. we will get it right eventually back in washington. i know i'm viewed as a cockeyed optimist. the public is not going to put up with this gridlock. but you are the place where it's happening and so many of you are experimenting with and moving forward on plans that are viewed here as toxic with republican demitasse governors, democratic governors. early childhood education to the minimum wage you are working it out and i don't see much difference whether it's republican governor or a democratic governor in this day. you are getting things done and the other part that i have observed is you are used to if

you are used to being held accountable for what you do which i think focuses the attention really closely. you know i got a chance to work with some of you, you veteran governors when we initiated their recovery act. it ended up being over $800 billion everyone said it couldn't possibly work. it wasn't doing much for the economy and it was going to be such a wasteful undertaking. i want to thank you governors for making it look like i knew what i was doing. i spent time with all but four of you at the time on the telephone multiple multiple times. and you took every single solitary project or program you had and you held it to the same standard that i did which was you needed an answer and you would get one and 24 hours and if you didn't get an answer in 24 hours but you got the answer

and you made it work. at the time he was viewed as something that was not very useful but since then the gao which is the gold standard of this town pointed out that because of you and the way you implemented the recovery act, there was less than 1% waste, fraud or abuse. i think it was not even -- congressman said it was a model for how to implement a federal program and it worked. in addition to that as time has gone on the vast majority on both sides of the aisle have acknowledged this work. the university of chicago did a poll and they found 80% of american economists said that recovery act was worth doing and 93% of them agreed that it lowered the nation's unemployment rate but that's because of you and by the way the mayors. they were equally as

responsible. michael grunwald reporting in a book what he called the new new deal to discuss how it works. in the past year or so i have also had a chance to be in a number of your states. i had a chance to travel with governor cuomo and governor haley in their states to discuss ways to build a 21st century infrastructure. you all know. the last time we met afterwards i sat with some of you and he said if you could just pick one single infrastructure project in your state that would have a profound impact in your view on the economy of your state and the growth of your state and attracting new businesses in your state, if you all came up with one that most of you came up with two or three or four. i don't know how much time we spent terry in virginia talking about what's possible. this used to all be bipartisan stuff and it never was viewed in

such ideological terms that it is here in this city. and so working with governor haslam and mary fallin and governor mcauliffe you are working out strategies to make sure we have the most highly-skilled workforce in the world. and you are doing a great job at it. you are using the community college in the net -- most flexible way it could be used in its working. you are actually putting people back to work and with businesses and with a little help from my federal government and funding and the tiger grants. for every 1 dollar in tiger grants that we put forward you have brought $4 off the sideline. hugh brought in private and state capitol capitals so you understand better than any group of people how this process works. but most of all the thing i want to thank you for is the tone you have set.

you are just, it's the one place in politics that most of the american people feel some sense of security, some sense of well maybe we can get this right. i'm counting on you being contagious. i am counting on you continuing to talk with your democrat or republican, you're elected senators and congress persons to see if we can move this thing forward because we are ready to work with you. we generally see you as a vehicle in order to -- look we have gone from crisis to recovery and we are on the verge of resurgence. we are better positioned than any nation in the world to lead the 21st century. we are so much better position than it's not just us. take a look at what the imf has projected in terms of growth in the united states relative to the rest of the world. take a look at what -- they asked the 300 largest

industrials in the world where's the best place to invest and buy a march or larger than any time in three decades in doing this poll they say the united states in every single sector from manufacturing to i.t. to the service economies. you all know we need two things to keep this rolling. we need the most highly-skilled workforce in the world and we need the best infrastructure in the world. and they used to be bipartisan and they seem to be with you all. we are anxious to work with you and the person who is the most anxious to work with you the man i'm about to introduce now who looks at you as he said last night and i'm paraphrasing. [inaudible] or something to that effect. but you all have been our best hope right now and i think you can help us all change the mindset about making politics

work in this country because we are so well positioned as a country to be the dominant economic force of the 21st century. we have the cheapest energy in the world. we are the epicenter of energy and we have remained so for the remainder of the century. we find ourselves our workers are three times as productive as those in china. we have the greatest research universities in the world and we have you so we are counting on a good year. we are counting on being able to work with you on so many things that are in common interest and the person that is the most anxious to work with you as the man i'm about to introduce now, my friend the president of the united states, barack obama. [applause] >> thank you everybody. thank you. thank you so much. thank you.

[applause] think you guys thank you. welcome to the white house once again. the only thing more glamorous than a black-tie dinner with hall and oates is q&a with obama and biden. [laughter] so we saved the best for last and i know you guys are excited. i want to thank everybody for being here. i'm going to be very brief. as joe said last year was a breakthrough year for the united states. the last year the economy created more than 3 million new jobs and that's the best job growth in any single year since the 1990s read the same was true for manufacturing growth and in fact manufacturing jobs grew faster than the overall economy. the deficit cut by two-thirds energy production at an all-time high. all told business has created over 12 million jobs in the last five years and the best news of

all wages have started to go up. so america is as well positioned as we have been in a very long time. the question is what kind of choices do we now make together to make sure that momentum is sustained? i have talked about it before and i want to emphasize it again during our conversation. i believe middle-class economics is what works. the idea that not only do we want the country as a whole to prosper but we want to make sure that every single person in this country has the opportunity. if they work hard they can get ahead. prosperity is broadly shared and not only is everybody sharing in that prosperity but everybody is contributing to that prosperity. in order to do that we have to make sure that everyone has a fair shot and everybody does

their fair share and everybody is playing by the same set of rules. we have got to make sure that anybody out there who is scrimping and saving and trying to figure out how to send their kids to college and worrying about retirement that they have got some sense of security and some sense that they can make it. as joe indicated i think one of the governors here the states of this great union of ours cares about the same things and is doing a lot of creative work to enhance the opportunities for advancing for their citizens. you have states like oklahoma that are leading the way to make sure that we are educating our children at the earliest age with high-quality early childhood pre-k education. since 2013 17 states have joined companies like the gap and now walmart to raise the minimum wage to make sure some of the hardest working people in

america are able to support their families if they are working full-time. states are leading the way in removing unnecessary licensing requirements so workers can start filling up some of the jobs that they are to have the skills four. states like california that are leading the way in providing paid leave so that a mom or a dad can take a day off to care for sick child or an aging parent without having to give up a paycheck. and states are leading the way in making sure more people have the security of health insurance. today thanks to the affordable care act more than 10 million americans now have the peace of mind that comes with being covered. i want to thank all the governors democrats and republicans supporters and some opponents of the aca who have expanded medicaid to millions of people over the past two years. i think there is a recognition that it makes sense and it's bigger than politics. governor kasich said for ohio it

saves lives no question about it. if your state isn't one of the 28th that has expanded medicaid i would urge you to consider it because their team is prepared to work with you to make it happen. because some of you may not always agree with my approach or policies i think that we can all agree that it's a good thing when the family doesn't lose a home because of a member of the family gets sick. surely we can agree it's a good thing when businesses have roads and bridges and ports and internet connections that allow all of us to thrive. surely we can all agree that when workers and management come together around helping families in getting ahead, that's a good thing and it's a good thing when workers and businesses can compete on a level playing field with fair and free trade and some of the world's fastest-growing markets. it's going to be my agenda for the next two years. congress may pass parts of that

agenda not others but i'm going to keep on pushing for these ideas because i believe it's the right thing to do. i think it's right for america and i will keep on urging congress to move past some of the habits of manufacturing crises and self-inflicted wounds that have so often bogged us down over the last five years. we have got one example of that right now. unless congress acts one week from now more than 100,000 dhs employees border patrol port inspectors tsa agents will show up to work without getting paid. they'll work in your states. these are folks who if they don't have a paycheck are not going to be able to spend that money in your states. it will have a direct impact on your economy and will have a direct impact on america's national security because their hard work helps to keep us safe. as governors you know we can't afford to play politics with our national security.

so instead let's try to focus on some of the things we have in common and deliver real results. i want to thank governor inslee and fellow west coast governors who hope to reach an agreement to reopen 29 ports and cap business flowing. i have got to add a plug for tom perez who went out there and i think really made an extraordinary contribution to that effort. that's going to make a big difference for the country's economy as a whole. that's the kind of thing we can accomplish when we put aside divisions and focus on common sense steps to improve the economy for everyone and it's an example that i hope congress follows in the months ahead. keep in mind that even when congress does not act or does not act fast enough i think we can still work together to make a difference in whether you are a democrat or a republican, you

know what i have found is that the more specific we are in focusing on problems, the less concerned we are about politics the more we get accomplished. i will give you one specific example and that's the criminal justice area. last year was the first time in 40 years that the federal incarceration rate and the crime rate went down at the same time. the first time in 40 years. let's keep that progress going and reform our criminal justice system in ways that protect our citizens and serves us all. in georgia governor gil has given judges the harsh mandatory sentencing. governor o'malley announced the second chance plan to help former prisoners rejoin their communities. we want to be partners in those efforts. that is what the american people expect. one of the great privileges of being president is you get to travel everywhere and you get to meet people from just about

every walk of life. and what i have found is the assumption that i have made and that i think joe made when we ran for often still holds true. the american people are good and decent and they have a lot more in common than our politics would indicate. if we can just focus on that there's a lot of good stuff that we can get done. so, i'm in the fourth quarter of my presidency or as some of you might call it the kickoff for your campaign season. [laughter] but i think there is still a lot that we can get done together. i think we can build an america that is creating more opportunities for hard-working folks. i think we can make sure that the future for the next generation will be brighter than the one we have enjoyed and i look forward to making progress together at the federal and state levels.

okay? thank you very much everybody. [applause] >> after the meeting with the present several governor spoke with reporters as they left the white house. >> yeah at lease. >> good afternoon. we have got everybody here. governor walker. we have a couple more coming down the hill. what i would go ahead and start. we just finished an hour and a half of productive in candid conversation with questions and answers with the president and the vice president. as always we have a group of governors from all over the country respectful and trying to find solutions. we are all in each of our situations problem solvers and in many cases the problems we seek and find and create our bipartisan. that is the way we approached

the president. we discussed trade and from a variety of points of view import bank's transportation funding and finding a long-term solution to the highway trust fund elementary and secondary education, reauthorization. we talked about the use of public lands. we talked about the affordable care act and the consequences of the supreme court decision would be affecting that. we talk about investment of crude oil and natural gas and we also had a robust conversation around the department of homeland security and immigration. in each of these cases i think the president was direct candid. he did not try to mince words and in some cases the answers he gave before sometimes said it's an interesting question and let's think about that and maybe

we can look at it in a new way. i thought the exchange was very constructive and certainly for the president over the course of this last couple of days he has spent several hours including last night with the governors and that openness and willingness to have an engaging conversation with us is very much appreciated. my vice chair. >> thank you. on behalf of the national governors association i think we thanked the present and the vice president for his hospitality and willingness to show respect to the governors but i think is appropriate and willing to engage in a dialogue to talk about the issues that face us. the goals that we have earlier the same. we sometimes differ on process as far as how to achieve those goals but that is part of the dialogue we had here today as we talked about a number of different issues. the common theme i think for most of us as governors is the

states have a role to play as what we refer to as the laboratories of democracy. we would like to see the states have more autonomy. the president said do the creative work that comes with solving some of the problems and allow us in fact to find solutions that are unique for all of our respective states. it helps develop better policy across the country. so the aspect of this dialogue in this discussion and bring us together as republicans and democratic governors as the vice president said to us today the governors in the states are the best hope for america to get things done and get good policy. i agree with that and i think most of my colleagues agree with that also. it's been a great opportunity and we talked about a lot of different issues. it's not just a matter of us talking with the president either by the way. it's also a matter of us engaging with congress. they certainly have a role to

play and we need to work with both sides of the aisles as governor so we can collectively impact policies for the good of the citizen. this starts an opportunity for us and new year in congress a new beginning and the opportunities. the national governors association stands ready and willing to play our part. >> the president was chipper and vigorous and -- questions? well there would be no questions. >> i want to ask about rudy giuliani. he reported his critique of president obama. there's an op-ed in "the wall street journal" explaining the comments walking back a little bit and he said he maybe should have taken it different phraseology.

what did you make of his op-ed and do you think he brought credibility in exchange? >> three things. as i've said all along i think the mayor should have used different words to express what he wanted to say. i didn't want to throw him under the bus. the president loves america. he loves her country and there's no doubt about that. further i think the substance, the point the mayor was trying to make is in portland. their many of us that are very concerned about the president's unwillingness to call a radical islamic terrorism and the threat that we face. i think the president has really disqualified himself to be our commander-in-chief because he will not acknowledge the steps necessary to defeat this threat. i point out a couple of examples. in his request for authorization and use of force to congress to things i would like to see congress change. i would like to see a ban on the group of ground troops.

whether they are our plans to use ground troops or malice -- military need the tools to defeat islamic terrorist. we need a three-year timeline. the real timeline should be we are done when we have hunted down and killed these terrorists. in the ministries you have for example people at the state department saying they can't sell her way to victory. you have a spokesperson saying when a job programs for better governance. this is a war against radical islamic terrorism. the central point was they would be better for the president -- and necessary always to point out those kinds of things rather than actually identifying the threats we face. i think american speak for themselves but again i wouldn't have used those words. i think the president loves our

country. there are many of us concerned about this president's unwillingness to identify and take on directly the threat of islamic radical terrorism. >> he said there was a robust discussion about dhs immigration. can you talk more about that? was there any opposition by the governors about the executive order is there any signs there could be a concern from governors about how that would be integrated? >> the governors came up with the dh -- dhs issues but their number of governors want to make sure that funding continues. i would say almost all governors want a solution to this as quickly as possible. the president made a robust defense of his executive effort around immigration. his point was essentially that the number of people coming into this country illegally is at the lowest level. addressing the most serious issues and that is what his point was executive efforts to really say it's ridiculous if we

deported all of these people. it would have a negative sense on our economy for a variety of reasons the unthinkable. as we are limited by resources for people that they feel are the highest priority than 300 to 400,000 people a year why haven't those other people unable to have a driver's license, not be able to in an accident feeling like they have to flee to make sure the guilty parties are brought to justice. all of those he is trying to address by executive order. he was not backing away in any sense from what he sees as a failed system and again from the beginning he has maintained that he wants a comprehensive solution to immigration reform and he wants to work with

congress to do that. i think all of us governors want to see a comprehensive solution. we may disagree on some of the details but everyone recognizes the time has come that immigration needs to be solved now. >> and i just amplify on that on behalf of the association? there's not any governor here that does not want to have the department of homeland security funded. we all have responsibility of homeland security and our stay we understand the importance of a shared responsibility for public safety with the states and with homeland security. we also want to have immigration reform done. it's been an issue that is emotional. it's complex and we should keep keep -- not kick the can down the road on the immigration issue. we are trying to resolve those issues and it's high time. again there might be four or five states on conference of immigration reform. let's start with one that we can agree with and get it done and

build number two but let's work together the executive branch and congress to get immigration reform and fund homeland security. >> what the governors like to see a temporary solution worked out? >> i would like to have a permanent solution. a temporary solution maybe that's a fall back solution. we will be debating it for number of years. >> whether the executive order exceeds executive responsibility responsibility, so again i would not freeze herself in action. if that means a continuing resolution to get it done but let's look for a permanent solution. let's not look for a limited solution. >> with the president stop the

filibuster so that could be a debate in the senate? >> the governors don't take one slant or another. the governor said every single state dependent on resources -- homeland security resources and the temporary solution of the continuing resolution doesn't address the grants. if someone does have a natural disaster how did do they use the traditional federal resources to start the resiliency in the rebuilding? we didn't get into who is right and who is wrong. one of the things the governors are relatively good at maybe we have not perfected the process yet. trying to look at the bigger picture and say let's look at first what our goal is to try and work our way down to get there. >> to be fair the governor did ask that question. the governor did ask that question. >> what was the answer from me

present about the filibuster? >> the president did not agree to tell the democrats to allow there to be a voted he said he would veto the bill. >> is their popular move to defund the dhs to protect them as they? >> i don't think the president looks at it from that perspective. he is looking at how -- certainly he is trying to find a way to deport people that are the highest priority to leave this country and make sure that they are is a system of solutions that recognizes a lot of these folks are living in the shadows. i would urge people to look at the utah compact on line. it sets forward basic goals and i'm not in any way endorsing one part or another part of the president's executive order but the bottom line is the notion to try to make our communities safer, the notion that we are

going to try to keep close families together that we are going to recognize the economic vitality that we are trying to extend to our economy is all part of what he is trying to accomplish. >> you were nodding your head there about the filibuster. democrats are saying why not fully fund the dhs now that the courts have stepped them and i wonder what your device is for republicans on the hill? should they continue to fight to only partially fund dhs? >> there was a question brought up by governor -- to the president that he might consider asking the senate democrats to go ahead and vote on the bill for dhs and give it a vote which we have the same in the court and deal with the issue of immigration later. that is what i was nodding my head about. there was a discussion about that. i will mention one other thing that i was encouraged about. i asked the president about

signing the keystone pipeline bill and i told them i'd be happy to stand by him as he signed that which he told me he wasn't going to do. he was going to veto that but i asked if he would consider allowing the united states to export crude oil or lng gas and he said he was open to that discussion. so i was encouraged that there were some areas that we could find to work together and that is one of the reasons why we meet here at the national governors association. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. here's a look at more parts happening on capitol hill this week. >> host: jeff mason white house reporter for reuters. good morning jeff. looking at it from the white house perspective what is the presence posture in the dh bill and isn't likely to change about? >> guest: i think it will not change in this posture.

he believes the congress and republicans in congress should absolutely signed dhs. he will use his executive authority to issue the executive order that the white house announced last year that would shield up to 5 million immigrants from the threat of deportation. right now i think he is eager and curious to see where congress will go and it's not going to change his position on what they should do. >> host: the story on dhs we expect action perhaps today is the president's going to ask an appeals court to issue a stay on this amnesty and junction. >> guest: absolutely. last week a judge in texas issued an injunction which is essentially a temporary stop to the order that the president issued an basically puts on hold his plan to grant the shield of

deportation for up to 5 million immigrants. with the white house said on friday is that the department of justice will seek a stay on that injunction. what a stay would do is essentially allow the department of homeland security to continue preparing its program to allow illegal immigrants to stay. basically they're trying to have the court set aside an injunction to allow the preparation to continue. >> host: we know the president is traveling to miami florida wednesday for an immigration town hall. what is the message going to be there from the white house? >> guest: well i think the message they are will be an opportunity for obama to talk about this issue which is so important politically in florida and in the other states of the country. the issue of immigration will probably be a huge deal in the 2016 presidential campaign and the white house wants to highlight the fact that it is

trying to give opportunities for immigrants to stay in the united states and reach out to hispanics and latinos to whom that's an important issue. i think this will be a chance for the president to address what the republicans are doing in congress. he did say a few words last week after the court's decision but he hasn't gone much further than what he said so i think this is a way to keep the issue in the news and in the white house with the president in particular to make his arguments are quick to the american people. >> host: there's a lot more out there for the white house as we have heard from reuters and one is the pending veto on the keystone oil pipeline legislation. has that been sent over to the white house the white house or is it coming soon? >> guest: i believe that's coming soon and for your listeners and viewers that has to do with a pipeline that the canadian company wants to build that would bring oil from

alberta down to the u.s. gulf coast. basically the president the white house position has been that the state department is eyeing the project and suspending the project and should be up to the state department ultimately the white house to state whether they want to go forward. congress led by republicans have passed a bill that would force his hand on that and the president said he will veto it. once it lands on his desk which is likely to be this week we will see that veto and that will be sorted the culmination of a showdown between the executive and legislative branch and that's very controversial project. >> host: couple of more topics before we let you go jeff. one of them is a piece in the "washington post" today congress takes a sharp divide as it debates the war resolution. this is the aumf legislation that the president sent up to the hill. the white house's role on this resolution? >> guest: that resolution is basically seeking authority for

the president to continue the united states attacks on isis and the islamic state. the president has put forward this resolution keeping backing from congress for what the government is doing and the controversy there is a little bit as to how far it goes. their republicans in congress who say the authority he is asking for is not going far enough. there are some lawmakers who think it's an open-ended request for united states to be at war. basically that's going to be debated right now in the white house is open to negotiate a little bit on that with congress so that is what they will probably start doing. >> host: briefly a couple of tweets you put it recently jeff. one of them talked about the president meeting with the governments -- governors as they wrapped up a meeting. obama delivering remarks about what he calls the consumer protection announcement. >> guest: more information on that this morning.

he will be announcing today during an appearance at aarp his direction to the department of labor that they should come up with some new rules or write some new rules that would give that would remove conflict of interest between what he sees or what the administration sees for financial brokers making return advice to clients. basically suggesting that some financial brokers don't always follow what's in the best interests of clients when they steer people towards more expensive investment products that would pay a higher commission to them and not necessarily a higher return to their clients. that is something you would hear about today and is a little bit controversial for republicans and financial firms. they believe it will lead to less income from their brokers and not necessarily better products. >> the last few seconds of the conversation we take you live to

the senate floor. the senate starting the day with annual reading of george washington's farewell address and leaders debating the homeland security spending bill which has provisions to block president obama's executive actions on immigration. that debate expected to start at 4:30 with a procedural vote on whether or not to move forward at 5 30:00.