went to the wharton school of finance. great students. and to be a citizen of a foreign country. they learn, to take all of our knowledge, and throw them out. we educate them, we make them really good, they go home, they can't stay here, so they work from their country and work very effectively against us. how stupid is that? top of your class at harvard, and you get thrown out of the country. something has to happen. you have been reading about the white house tour. i suggested that -- actually newt gingrich suggested it for me, it was nice. he volunteered for me that i would pay for the entire year. i said, that's ok. somebody told me, it was very nice of newt. i love newt. anybody who's a member of my club, i love. maybe president obama should join one of my clubs.

that is a sad thing. i understand it will be reinstated, i would certainly be willing to do it. i will give you something, a small but emblematic. couple of years ago, i was at a major state dinner. it was in a tent in the white house lawn. a bad tenant -- tent, probably the guy who owns it made a fortune. i said to myself, here is china, in a tent. i called the white house, at someone i know very well, very high position, i said, i will offer, free of charge, to build the most youthful ballroom there is in the country, anywhere. i will do it, it will cost anywhere from $50 million-$100 million. you get the greatest architects, to get perfectly sympathetic with the white house architecture. it will be fabulous.

they said thank you very much. what an offer. we never heard back. that is the problem with the country. that is what happens. you don't hear from people. now, when you get right down to it, from the standpoint of conservatives and republicans, you have got to win elections. when you have people that are well-meaning, but governors saying it is the stupid party, and i heard that statement, i said, what a horrible statement to make. what a horrible statement. that is a statement that will come back and haunt you and the democrats start using it. you have to change that. you have to change that thinking.

when i watch somebody who spends $400 million on campaigns, with perhaps the worst at the have ever seen. they did ask on obama that i thought was being paid for by the obama campaign. they were so incredible. you remember the famous superhero ad? people wanting superhero. it was done by the republicans. when you spend $400 million, and it is a failure, and you do not have one victory, you know there is something seriously wrong. i have made over $8 billion. when i was thinking of running, i actually filed by financial statement. a lot of people were actually surprised. more than that, i have employed tens of thousands of people. and yet, i am continually criticized by total lightweights all over the place. it is unbelievable. [applause]

you see these guys, these guys on television, they can't buy a clean shirt, and they're saying donald trump, he is nothing. thousands of people. i am very proud of what i've done. if mitt made one mistake, and unlike mitt romney a lot, but if you made one mistake him a it is that he not talk enough about his success. honestly, people really want success. they want a leader who is successful. mitt has done a great job. i feel that the republicans, and mitt, and i told him this, did not speak enough about the things he did. the great things. they were on the defensive instead of taking that offenses. -- offensive. i recently bought a country club, a improperly run for years and years. tiger woods just won the tournament there this weekend. i am going to fix it area that i am going to make an incredible.

i am going to make that place in credible. that is we have to do it this country. we have got to fix it. we have got to make it incredible. right now we are a laughingstock. you see what is going on with afghanistan and karzai, he has no respect for us. in all fairness, we are leaving. you probably said, wow, i will be stuck here alone. still, this guy, when i watch, i say, how can leadership allow that to happen? with iraq, we spent $1.5 trillion and we lose lives, great, great, young wonderful people. we lose so much. we have nothing. when i heard we were going into iraq, some smart people told me we're going for the oil. i said all right, i get that. there's nothing else. i get it.

we didn't take the oil. then when i said we spent $1.5 trillion we should take -- i don't know if you know they have the second largest oil reserves after saudi arabia. so $1.5 trillion is nothing. we should take it and pay ourselves back. [applause] what are we doing? what are we doing? what are we thinking? this is whether it is obama or bush or who ever, what are we thinking? for those soldiers that were killed, i said we should pay those families money. [applause] we should give them money. they lost their sons and their daughters and $1 million to a family is nothing compared to the kind of wealth you're talking about over there. you have someone running iraq and we don't know who it is.

i guarantee he is building his palace and everything over there and it is a very sad thing. look at what is happening with syria and south korea. i buy all my televisions from south korea, i'm sorry to say. i just ordered 3,000 televisions from south korea. we don't make televisions in this country. so north korea as it does gets frisky then we pay them off and they get less frisky. north korea gets frisky, what do we do -- get out of it? we send them down and stop whatever is going to happen, what do we get out of it? we get nothing. the fact is we're run by either very foolish or very stupid

people. what is going on in this country is unbelievable. our country is a total mess. a total and complete mess. what we need is leadership. now, by fixing the economy we're able to solve the problems that we really do need to solve immediately as a nation, medicare, medicaid, social security, they become affordable when we become a wealthy country again. you know part of the reason that the republicans and even the democrats they're talking we have to cut, we have to talk because our country isn't doing it. new technology has shown that we have tremendous wealth under our fete in the form of energy. right under our feet. north dakota is a great example.

[applause] we're not allowed to go and get it. so we go to opec nations that think we happen to be, they are all friends of mine. they think we're the stupidest people on earth. they can't believe what they are getting away with. we could become so easily the energy capital of the world. so what i say is this, we have to start building things. we have to start manufacturing, not just taking care of people, not just taking care in terms of health care. that is not manufacturing that is money going out. we have to bring money in. this country has to start building things again. we have to build take back our jobs from china. we have to take back our jobs from other places. [applause] when apple talks about apple building all of this stuff and we're proud of apple they build almost 100% of their stuff in china so china should be more

proud than we are. we have to start manufacturing and building again. we have to make america great again. our problems will be solved. thank you very much. it is a great honor. thank you. thank you. thank you very much. [applause] ♪hank you.

>> 2012 republican presidential candidate mitt romney addressed the conference. mr. romney thanked the crowd for his support and received a standing ovation when he promised to work with them in the future. he is introduced by south carolina republican governor. this is 20 minutes. >> thank you very much. it is great to be here in washington, d.c. not really. this place is the hardest part about my job and i will tell you the president and washington, d.c. are the hardest part about being the governor of south carolina. i will tell you they have thrown it at us pretty good. when you look at the fact that him and his union thugs through it at a 1,000 non-union workers in south carolina. do you know what we said?

not in south carolina. [applause] those workers are now 6,000 workers. his department of justice threw it at us and said we can't have voter i.d., we're not going to let it pass. do you know what we said? not in south carolina. [applause] every election in our state now requires photo i.d. before you vote. [applause] and now they are trying to throw obamacare and says that we have to bust our budgets and expand medicaid. do you know what i'm saying, not in south carolina. [applause]

as long as i'm the governor of south carolina, we will not expand medicaid on president obama's watch. we will not expand medicaid ever. we're going to make sure we take care of the people that we know best to take care of and we don't need washington's help to do it. [applause] i have the good fortune today to tell you there is something very special when you see a leader, and a leader fights for what they believe in, a leader fights to prove and make a difference in the country. a leader fights and goes threw what is a challenging race and it doesn't go our way, what makes a true leader is when they come back to talk about it. [applause]

michael and i have gotten to know mitt and anne and i will tell you the part i wish everybody could know. these people are such strong people of faith. they have a love for their family that everybody should cherish. they have a love for this country that a race doesn't take away, that love only grows stronger. he is a patriot. he knows how to create jobs and doesn't expect jobs to do it. thank you. he understands the fact that you can go and fix an olympics that is broken and be better for it. this is a leader who is a servant because he loves this country. he this is a leader who is back to tell you thank you. this is a leader that we need to stand up and give the loudest applause ever and say we appreciable your love and -- appreciable your love and support for this country. please welcome governor mitt romney.

[cheers and applause] >> thank you. thank you so much. thank you so much.

you have touched my heart again. thank you so very much. what a -- what a sight you are. what a privilege to be here with you again. how much i appreciate your support and your help. thank you to the governor for her wonderful introduction. she's a woman of uncommon courage and conviction and her principles guide her and we need more governors like her. [applause] and thank you for your support from the very beginning, you were there from the very start. you made a difference for me, your campaign gave me an early boost. you worked on the front lines and you made calls and i oeach of you for your -- owe for your support for the campaign.

with your help i was given the nominee of the united states. i was given the great privilege of experiencing america in a way that anne and i never anticipated in a way that we thought we would get to do. of course, i left the race disappointed that i didn't win. but i also left honored and humbled to have respected the values we believe in and speak for so many good and decent people. we lost races before in the past, but those setbacks prepared us for larger victories. it is up to us to learn from our mistakes and my mistakes and take advantage of the learning and we take back the white house, get back the senate, and put in place conservative principles.

now it is fashional in some circles to be pessimistic about america, about conservative solutions, about the republican party. i utterly reject pessimism. [applause] we may not have carried on november 7, but we have not lost the country we love and we have not lost our way. our nation is full of a pier ration. we're a nation of invention and reinventing. my optimism about america was not diminished by my campaign, in fact, it grew. it grew as i staw people of america and heard their stories, i saw people's determinations. debbie summers in las vegas she runs a furniture rental. when the recession hit that tanked her convention business.

but she did not give up. she did not close down the business, she did not lay off the people. she taught her people how to make furniture. i see the perseverance. harold drove a truck for 10 years so he could afford to go to college. he was studying geological surveys and concluded that there might be oil in north dakota. he drilled a dry hole, he drilled 16 holes, they called it harold's folly up there until the -- folly's up there until the 17th. they are estimated to have hundreds of barrels of oil up there. i've seen risk taking. the losses in the mounting business.

the mill needed to shut down and the plant manager they borrowed and invested everything they could find to buy the business. they saved the jobs and of their colleagues and they grew sale from $5 million a year to $50 million a year. people of the great faith, i'ved that honor of being in the home of these men of god. i met heros in our armed forces. men and women who resigned with the national guard after multiple tours in afghanistan. they knew they would likely be in another tour. i met heros of the homes in the nation. single moms working two jobs so their kids can have the same thing other kids have.

dads don't know what a weekend is because they have taken on so many jobs so they can keep the house. the heart of america is good. our land is blessed by the hand of god. may we as the people, always be worthy of his grace and his protection. [applause] like you, i believe that a conservative vision can attract a majority of americans and form a governing coalition of renewable and reform. now, as someone who just last the election i'm probably not the best person to chart the course for the next one.

with that being said, let me offer this advice. perhaps because i'm a former governor, i would urge us all to learn lessons that come from the greatest success stories and this is 30 republican goffers across the country. [applause] they are winning elections but more importantly they are solving big, important problems. the governor in georgia secured a constitutional amendment to make sure they can have charter schools. governor rick snyder got a right to work in michigan. [applause] a number of these republican governors were able to secure tort reform and a hoard of republican governors inherited budgets that were badly out of balance and replaced deficits with surpluses.

[applause] these governors have shown they are able to reach across the aisle, offer innovative solutions and they are willing to take the heat that you have to do to do important things. we need the leadership. the ideas and the vision of these governors. we particularly, by the way, to hear from the governors in the blue and purple states because those are the states we need to win to get back the white house. these are the people we need to listen to and make sure their message is heard loud and clear across the country. [applause] now, we can also learn from the examples of principle and passion that we've seen in the last few weeks in washington, d.c. by republican leaders. i might be biased but i applaud the clear and convincing voice of my friend paul ryan.

[applause] now, if i were to offer advice to any person who was or became the president of the united states it would be this, do whatever you can to keep america strong, to keep america prosperous and free, and the most powerful nation on earth. it is no secret that the last century was an american century. it is no secret that over the span of the coming century that is not written in the stars. america's position is not guaranteed. the consequence, if america were to be surpassed by another nation would be devastating. why do i say that? the other leading contenders for world leadership, china, russia, not one of them excepts freedom as we understand it.

only america and american strength can preserve freedom for us, the rest of the world, and the people we love. [applause] freedom depends on america and american leadership depends on a military so strong, so superior that no one would think to engage it. our military strength depends on an economy so strong that it can support that kind of military. our economy depends on a people that are so strong, so educated, so resolute, so hard working, so inknow vintive, so focused on the creating a great future for their children. that is the america we grew up in. that is the america that our children deserve. [applause]

just think about america. what nation but ours would have enjoyed military power for 25 years and never used it to seek revenge against it's foes or to seize natural resources from the weak? what nation is the first to bind up the wounds of the injured from hurricanes and tsunamis and war? what nation is the largest contributor to the fight in africa against aids? what nation came to the rescue of others in the face of tyranny in korea, street nan, bosnia, afghanistan, kuwait, iraq. when you think of this -- whatever you think of these interventions, the impulse behind every one of them is little bit per ration not -- liberation, not con

quest. in all of human history, there has never been a great pow their is so often used that -- power so use that power to liberate others. we must teach our children and we must, ourselves, never forget. [applause] i'm inspired by a nation for people who live for something bigger than themselves, their schools, their community, their faith, their country. i marvel at the brilliance and the sacrifices made by the founders. i'm proud of our immigrant heritage.

proud that so many of us came here because we wanted to be here. because they wanted to raise their families here and have a better future and because they wanted to worship their god here. i was at a campaign stop in san antonio, texas. i met a guy who came here in 1976 to escape the killing fields in cambodia. his first job was picking fruit. in 1976 -- later than that he joined a campaign of george herbert walker bush as a volunteer. he was given a job to work in the white house then the state department. then he was appointed as the united states ambassador to the united nations. he said that when he stood to speak in behalf of this great country he would ask himself, in what other country in the world would a impoverished cambodian refugee become an ambassador to the united nations? [applause]

this nation began with an idea, noble one.e.-- a the idea was that every person is endowed by their creator with unailable rights. freedom flows in american veins. it invigorates our enterprises and inspires us to live beyond ourselves. it calls for us to care for the suffering. it has made us a great nation. the country is in per real by mounting debt, failing institutions, by families stressed beyond the limits, by schools failing to make the grade and public servants are more focused on scoring political points than scoring national victories. each of us in our own way has to step up in and meet our responsible. i'm sorry i won't be your

president but i will be your co- worker and work shoulder to shoulder alongside you. [applause] because you see in the end, in the end we'll win. we'll win for the same reason we won before because our cause is just and it is right.

look i -- i want to thank you again for your support and your help along the journey. anne and i are going to treasure the memories we've had throughout our life. god bless you. god bless this great nation. we love you. thank you so very much. thank you. [cheers and applause] >> our live coverage from the conservative political action conference continues tomorrow. speakers include sarah palin, david keene, ann coulter and texas senator ted cruz. that is live beginning at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span.

defense secretary chuck hagel announces the launch of interceptor missiles on the west coast. >> a more private first lady, elizabeth monroe did not want to make social calls. she spoke french inside the white house. we'll explore the relationship with her husband and the close relationship with her successor. we'll see the important role she played in the election of her husband john quincy adams. went include your questions and comments by phone, facebook, and twitter live monday night at 9:00 on c-span.

the pentagon will spend $1 billion to add 14 interceptor missiles, along the west coast to the u.s.-based missile defense system. secretary chuck hagel made this announcement, saying he was determined to ensure the protection of the u.s. homeland and state ahead of the north korea missile program. this is 25 minutes. >> good afternoon. i have a statement, and then i will take a couple of questions and ask the under secretary, the vice chief to address the specific questions you have about the topic that we will talk about. today, i am announcing a series of steps the united states will take to stay ahead of the

challenge posed by iran and north korea development of long- range missile capabilities. the u.s. has missile defense systems in place to protect us from icbm tax, but north korea, in particular, has recently made advances in its capabilities and has engaged in a series of irresponsible and reckless situations. specifically, north korea announced last month it has conducted its third nuclear test this appears to be a road mobile icbm. also, it is using the taepodong- 2 missile, demonstrating

progress in their development of long-range missile technology. in order to bolster the protection of our homeland and state ahead of this threat, we are taking four steps. first, we will strengthen the homeland missile defense by deploying 14 additional ground- based interceptors at fort greeley, alaska. that will increase the number of ground-based interceptors from 30 to 44, including the four gbi's at vandenberg base in california. -- 50is nearly a fifth to% % increase in our missile capability. second, with the support of the japanese government, we are planning to deploy additional radar in japan. the second radar will provide improved tracking of any missile launched in north korea at the united states or japan. third, as directed by congress, we are conducting an bar mental impact studies for an additional situation in the u.s.

was the administration is not made a decision on whether to proceed, conducting the impact studies will shorten the time line, should that decision be made. and fourth, we are restructuring the sm3-2b program. as many of you know, we plan to deploy the sm2. the timeline for deploying this was affected by recent cuts. they're also looking for advanced kill technology that will improve the performance of being gbi and other versions of the sm3 interceptor. we will be able to add protection for missiles from iran soon and provide additional protection from missiles of north korea. the nato missile defense. that remains on plan.

the missile deployments the united states is making in three phases will be adapted with sites in poland and romania. we will also do as planned by 2018. the collective result of these of for your decisions will be for the to improve our ability to counter missile threats from iran and north korea while maximizing scarce taxpayer resources. the american people expect us to take every necessary step to protect their security at home and u.s. security strategic issues abroad, but they expect us to do so in the most efficient manner possible.

by taking the steps i outlined today, we will strengthen our defense, maintain our commitments to our allies and partners, and make clear to the world that the united states stands firm. thank you. bob? >> mr. secretary, can you say with confidence that the ground- based interceptors in alaska will shoot down a north korean missile aimed at the u.s., given their test performance? >> well, as you know, there was an issue regarding our gyro system. as you probably know, we are going to further test this year. we have confidence in our system, and we certainly will not go forward with the additional 14 interceptors until we are sure we have the complete confidence we will need, but the american people should be assured that our interceptors are effective.

>> when it? and do you believe this could be a deterrent against a country like north korea? >> well, we are looking at having all 14 interceptors in place by fiscal year 2017. the reason that we are doing what we are doing, and the reason we are advancing our program here for homeland security is do not take any chances, is to stay ahead of the threat, and to ensure any contingent's. that is why we made this decision that we have. >> secretary, in hindsight, was it a mistake to take the missile off-line and now having to spend the money to reactivate it?

>> well, i'm going to ask either the vice chief or another to answer that question, because they have been through the process. i will take one more, and then we will get back. >> when north korea will have a true, intercontinental ballistic missile. >> well, one of the reasons, again, we are doing what we are doing based on the intelligence we have is to assure that whenever there timelines are, we are not reacting to those timelines, that we are ahead of any timelines of any potential threat. we feel confident that to have the 30 in place now and the additional ones before the end of 2017 and that gives our country the security it needs, and people need to be assured that that security is there.

let me ask the undersecretary and the vice chief to take your specific questions. thank you. >> can you be clear on one thing? deploying the additional 40 interceptors by 2017 is contingent on the defense agency approving that the warhead is verified and can hit a target. is that it? >> that is exactly right. we will continue to stick with our approach. as was noted before, the ce2 interceptor had a couple of test failures. we had a successful test flight on january 26. we are looking to go forward from that successfully, the interceptor test, in the coming months.

the schedule is not yet set. we will be looking within this calendar year, and then going forward, we would be looking to make changes to those that are currently in place and then the new interceptors would also be ce2's. i think you talked to jim. he had very high confidence that we would be able to do this in a reasonable time frame. if i could also just take this opportunity to say whether the earlier decision to put a pause on this was a mistake. at the time, based on the intelligence assessment we had, it was a good bet. we received resources at the time, but at that time, the threat was uncertain. we did not know that we would see today what we are now, so it is a full concept of having a hedge and being prepared to go from 30 to 44 ground-based interceptors, recognizing the threat was uncertain and to implement it from 34 to 44. that is where we are today.

>> what is the reaction from china and russia? and in japan and india? >> let me just say that, first, we have talked to the republic of korea and to the japanese, and they understand the rationale for this going forward, and the japanese and the secretary of indicated that they have agreed to move forward to improve our coverage for both the united states and japan. we have informed the chinese, and this point, we cannot characterize their reaction. >> did you consult with them or just inform them? >> we informed. >> sir, what about missiles that would defend the united states? i am curious about the american possessions in the western pacific, guam, those areas.

will this affect those areas, too? >> not just the continental united states but all of the united states. >> the second in japan, is this the one that secretary leon panetta mentioned? >> that is correct. >> and endorse substantive question, also talking about an adversary. there is capability and intense. the secretary talked about this new capability we see the north korean testing, but how much of it is an assessment of the intentions of the new leader based on the incredibly hostile statements?

>> the policy that we have four missile defense, particularly listed in the 2010 missile defense review, is to stay ahead of the threat in regards to north korea and iran. that means staying above where we think their capability is and is not contingent on any assessment. >> time, there was a question about going about deterrence, and the fact of the matter is that the deterrence exists based on their objectives, and the other is the cost if deterrence fails, and i think the national security advisor made very clear in his speech that we not only intend to put mechanics and place for any potential north korean attempts to launch a missile to the united states, and we believe this ought to be deterred by that --

>> on the second intercept test, how soon will you know whether or not you'll be able to conducted by the end of the calendar year? >> the intent is essentially wanted to make sure we had a successful test this january before we proceeded. in fact, that test was extremely successful. we have a kill vehicle out there. it passed with flying colors. so now, the real deciding factor that will take us to conduct the next test against a target, testing another interceptor, both another kill vehicle, with the modifications that the national defense agency has made to fix the problem, so it is really just a question of doing that. we are acquiring the components and assembling it. that is a very technical piece of equipment to put together. >> can you talk about the estimated cost for this entire project and how this fits in with the sequester? also, this may be obvious, but i do not know, where the third gbs is. >> the cost of this step will include, first of all,

additional funding for the missile field one, to complete that, and then for the additional interceptors, or, in fact, we will do is take test assets and bring them up to the standard and then replace them with additional gbi's, so there is another 14 ground-based interceptors because of this. very real numbers. overall, that is our best current estimate. >> they have delivered 53, and there are 70. >> as you know, the last test failed. there were a number of these in various stages of production, and that was halted. when we have a successful test, that will resume. those existing missiles on the production line would continue. i do not have the exact numbers

on how many. we need to get the specifics on that. >> are you going to stop work anywhere else to fund this billions in the project? >> the funds that we will be requesting start in fiscal year 2014. it is part of the budget bill that we will be submitted to congress in the coming weeks. congress mandated three locations for a potential additional site in the united states, and they mandated that two be on the east coast, so the agency is currently assessing what locations on the east coast, and we will most likely have the third be where we have interceptors.

>> you cannot be more specific? >> not yet. >> obviously, it is a question of regional interest. will this program announced today have an effect for plans for a site in poland's? >> it will have no impact on that. we will go forward as planned with the first three phases of the european phased approach, employing about 23 interceptors, sm3 interceptors, same time on, same footprint, with u.s. forces to support that, and as the secretary said, the same coverage. >> to that same point, did not the secretary say that you were saving some money on that? >> that is correct. the prior plan had four phases. the third was about interceptors in poland, and we will continue with the phases one at route 3.

additional, other types of interceptors would have been added. we no longer intend to add them to the mix, but we plan to have the same number of deployed interceptors with the coverage for all of nato europe. >> the upshot is that the europeans will see no difference in their ballistic missile defense. the phase four was about continuing defense of europe but also being able to extend that defense to part of the united states. it turns out that by doing what we are announcing today, and remember, phase four was not going to appear until 2020 to or beyond, but the threats are growing faster. we are going to get better defense of the united states and get it a lot sooner, so it makes complete sense to do this.

>> sir, you said this threat is going faster. can you expand on what we are talking about here? >> particularly with north korea, but we are also keeping a close eye on the iranians. last april, we saw a parade in p'yongyang that had mixed accounts of whether they were real or fake missiles, and we have also seen a third nuclear test recently. obviously, without getting into intelligence aspects, we watch this very, very closely. as you know, at the beginning of this missile defense attorney, we knew that we would have to be

potentially adaptive, so we have continuously build this hedge that we could select if the threat either goes faster or slower than we thought, so the korean threat went a little bit faster than we expected, so we pulled the tools off of the shelf. >> let me just add to what the admiral said. >> do you know that that's kno8, whether it has the range to reach the united states? >> we probably want to avoid the intelligence aspects of that, but we believe and probably does have the range to reach the united states, and where it exists is something else, too. >> the nuclear test. has the u.s. been able to confirm that that was, in fact, a nuclear test, and if so, was it a uranium device or a plutonium device?

>> i would not want to get into that. >> to japan, wendy you expect to deploy it? >> we continue to build and deploy additional sm3 interceptors. we are moving from deployment. with japan, the number of those interceptors will continue to grow, and that will be true, including our continued efforts for the pacific. you will see a growing number of sm3 interceptors. with respect to the timeline, we

are in conversations with the japanese government about precisely when that can be accomplished, and at this point, i would say it is a matter of the least some months. >> with what we have over there, do we expect more? >> the exact number of bmd capable, on my fingertips, it is about five. the doctor really hit the point on that. this is about filling the tubes rather than the number of ships. >> this scale back to europe, does that in any way affect japan's ability is? >> no, not at all. >> on the deterrence issue, can you tell the public why they should have any confidence in the system, given that it has not had successes since 2008? >> yes, we have two types. there is being ce1 and the ce2. we have successfully tested them. we have confidence in that missile, and we are going to test it again, and as congress

said we should continue to keep testing these missiles. in the meantime, we wanted to improve it, so we developed what is called the ce2, and there are upgrades to it. what we discovered is that it was vulnerable -- it was something we could not test on the ground. it was something we can only test in space, and missile defense has done a great job of thoroughly looking at that problem and has tested that missile, and it has performed beautifully, and we have a lot of confidence. even the ce2, if it is successful this fall, we will have to test it.

and americans should have faith in that mosul and that we can defend ourselves against a potential north korean threat as it exists today. that threat as it evolves, and also against iranian threats. we are going to flight test it and hopefully do it after we build it this fall. >> do you have any initiative in your mind to bolster this? >> we have had very strong bilateral discussions, as you know, with both japan and south korea, and we have begun to initiate some discussions, as well. we will see where this will go. there is value pursuing that. >> and clarification of coverage. how much of the united states will be covered by these interceptors? >> the entire united states. >> as far as iran and north korea are concerned, with their missile system, these two countries --

>> that is a good question. it is an intelligent question, and we are not going to answer it today. >> what will be the chinese reaction? >> i will not predict that. i hope they understand that we need to take the steps necessary to defend ourselves against potentially emerging threats from iran and north korea. it is important for us to stay ahead of that, and we are taking prudent steps. >> thank you. >> thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] next, live, your post and comments "washington journal."

, continuing coverage of the conservative political action conference. is not paying as much attention as i am and you are and those of us who are a part of this political community. there is, what i call the political community, is probably about 10 million people. it is the people that watch c- span, meet the press, that watch , butews, they watch msnbc they really care about politics. a lot. , 130 millionillion voters. most people just get -- and a lot of what goes on in politics ,, background noise. -- background noise becomes comes pretty much from the mainstream media. people forming an opinion of romney and obama and so on.

fox news does not reach most of those people. fox gets great ratings, has a loyal audience, but look at the shows. the bill o'reilly shows the most popular one on cable news. it gets 2 million, 3 million people a night. that is not the electorate. we have a big country. only reaches a tiny chunk. >> more with political mondayator fred barnes night on "q and a." the chairman of the american conservative union talks about the future and challenges of the conservative movement. then, bob edgar, president and ceo talks about how advocacy groups are moving to