and what should people who follow these issues know about tom wheeler? >> i do know tom wheeler. he was a very successful .nvestor between the trade association stints and after he left the wireless industry as well. the two things i will say, he has a breadth of experience on both the policy side and the investment side that is extremely valuable. the second thing often overlooked, he is actually managed some large organizations -- has actually managed some large organizations, to work together to develop and implement policy, analyze things. i think he will be good at that. >> justin lilley? >> i knew tom a little bit as well.

he was the head of ctia. i would agree with blair on everything. he is a very sharp guy. where the bodies are buried, in terms of getting an agenda done, getting things through the commission, which can be complicated. the commission is an area where a lot of different inference -- interests intersect. the power has gravitated to the commission. it makes it very complicated. guystrikes me as a kind of who will know what he wants to do and it's going to know how to get it done. as a republican, are you supportive of this nomination? >> whether i supported are not does not matter. tom is clearly qualified for this job. he has earned the trust of the president and a lot of other groups and individuals in this town. i don't think there's any doubt about that.

he's got some big challenges ahead of him, probably one of the most collocated things the commission will deal with in the long term -- obligated things that commission -- obligated things the commission will deal with in the long term is television auctions. those auctions are going to be very complicated. there's a lot of land mines. clearly got the skills and relationships and know-how to get this done. it is a monumental challenge, probably equivalent to the challenge blair and his former boss faced back at the commission when they implemented not just the 1990 two cable act, but the 1996 telecom act. there's a lot of different interests that are going to want to see how this plays out. the public safety community is going to be on the receiving

end of receipts from the auctions, congress, which is very dependent and interested to make sure those auctions go well from a deficit reduction standpoint. broadcasters are interested because it is their spectrum at issue, and the wireless community which is very their needbecause of for more spectrum for mobile broadband. joining us is paul kirby, senior editor of telecommunications reports. >> the fcc, their goal is to adopt goals this year for the auction. there are a lot of issues still to be decided. some of the key leaders working in that proceeding could be with the change in chairmanship. >> that's correct. having helped manage that agency, i think it is good to

hold people's feet to the fire and have a calendar. , so be it. if you plan on it being in 2015, it will be in 2016. they have a terrific staff, great expertise being applied to this auction. i certainly agree with justin. this is an issue where if the auction fails, it's going to be difficult for the wheeler chairmanship to be seen as success. if it is a success, it doesn't mean the chairmanship will be a success because there are other things that can intervene. it is the compulsory event that he has to do well in. >> is 2014 realistic to hold the auction, justin? >> i think what the current chairman did that is smart is that he put that marker out there to force people to focus on it. my guess is that is what they were thinking and doing that. it is a challenge to get this done in 2014. there are so many complexities

to this, so many issues they have to figure out before the auction, just setting up the rules. there is a whole issue, which is the big exogenous factor, will be the nature of the economy? that will be one of the issues -- the wireless community which will have to raise money to bid at auction, that is one of the big unknowns. that is an issue the commission cannot control. is ambitious. when i rule it out? -- would i rule it out? no. fcc people no longer talk about a total. want to get protections from you about how much spectrum they will get -- predictions from you about how much spectrum they will get. >> they do not get to do this very often. i think every bit of spectrum that goes into the wireless

ofadband is an accelerator growth, efficiency, and other things. we are going to be living in a bandwidth delivered economy. having said that, there are lots of different things. justin has mentioned to some. there are potential changes in the broadcast industry. you are going to have to have. 120 is the right one. -- aspiration. 120 is the right one. what is a success -- what is interesting is that before we came up with this idea in the plan, there was no idea about how we get more spectrum in the marketplace. i think it's a really important thing the commission is doing. >> i agree. it's an important aspiration, but it's quite be complicated. you have border and international issues which could of takingffect something off the top of 100 20

megahertz because of the neighboring stations in canada and mexico. the commission can't control what the nature of the economy is going to be. thecommission can't dictate broadcasters willingness to participate in this auction. this is a voluntary auction. it won't be voluntary how they are repacked after the auction. but whether or not they want to participate is voluntary. that will be a hard thing for the commission to control. i hear different things from different people. they think they're going to get -- even if they don't get hundred 20, they will get enough to have a robust auction. some of the smaller group of owners may be more to participate. the noncommercial stations are an unknown that could help drive higher yield of spectrum. , one of the big unknowns that tom is going to face. >> a couple of the key issues in

the auction, do you limit the liability of at&t verizon? house republicans are concerned the the fcctc will violate spectrum act. blair, i want to get your quick views on those two. >> you have identified the two most bullepotent lyrical issues. -- political issues. there is always been a tradition that there are limitations on what any single buyer can buy in an auction. i spent the commission to do that again, whether at&t and verizon think those are the right rules, it would be a mistake. most the experts think it would be a mistake to have an auction in which at&t or verizon can buy everything. , i thinkou do that there will be a lot of debate

about that. me that the law requires the of cc to do some to doof license -- fcc some level of license. unlicensed provides tremendous economic value in terms of its utilization of spectrum. i suspect the commission will do something to utilize this opportunity to repacked, create new opportunities for the unlicensed type of approach. >> i think these are the two most thorny political issues in advance of the technical issues of how to structure the auction, and i think one thing that is interesting, if i am tom wheeler and sitting there as i go into this in my tenure here, we are in the second term of an administration. he's also confronting a situation where one of the chambers of congress -- commerce, this tends to be the

period where people get ornery with the agencies. republicans on the hill have already signaled to the obama fcc that they have very strong views on this. most analysts think the republicans will probably hold onto the house through the next midterm elections. tom is going to an environment where he's got the republicans in addition to the issue of net neutrality. these are issues that they feel very strongly about. these are the kinds of things where you can clash. if you clash on these policy matters, congress can make your life very difficult in other ways. how are these issues going to shake out? i don't know. i think tom is going to find that he spent a lot of time on these two issues in particular, precisely because congressional republicans feel very strongly about them. >> if tom were sitting here, i

would say the republicans are going to try to make his life miserable no matter what. giftedone of the most people dealing with the hill that i have ever met. but i would not approach that by saying, i'm going to appease these folks. you are not. he will be perhaps the oldest person to become chair. i think he is doing this because he wants to serve the public and is going to be looking for history -- towards history, more than what is going to please house republicans. >> stop the cap, consumer industry group has come out against tom wheeler's nomination. this is what they say. our view remains the country, the obama administration could do far better than choosing someone to lead the fcc that has not made a career of lobbying for big cable and phone companies. the most likely outcome of a

wheeler nomination is that he will be quickly approved, maintain the agency's relatively low profile, and avoid rocking the boat too much. even he doubts the power of the fcc to regulate, to affect regulatory change unless those regulated volunteer to submit to more regulation. the industry remains [indiscernible] , hen the at&t mobile deal wrote a lengthy piece indicating that he might be inclined to that would iner his view limit the reach and dominance of at&t. i don't know what this group would think. i don't know what they would think of what tom suggested. that indicates to me that tom

probably knows that this is an , andmely delicate task there is a number of sensitivities that he's going to have to address as the head of the obama fcc. there is no question that tom's experience gives him the ability to work with these groups, probably in ways in which someone who does not have the not sockground -- i'm sure where tom would necessarily end up on a lot of these detailed regulatory issues. a lot of people end up surprising people in this town. maybe they end up feeling differently at the end of the tenure. with both industries, they were not the industries they are today. remember working with tom, trying to figure out how we can enable wireless. he does have a little bit of that sense.

i think those people will be pleasantly surprised by his openness and understanding of the need for competition. they do raise an important point. the agency will face and neck substantial dilemma. you have the open internet substantial dilemma. you have the open internet order. both were fundamentally built on the premise that we give you a monopoly, you serve everybody, we have universal service. as we move to an all data world, the economic foundations of those contracts are crumbling. the auction is probably the single most important thing. the second most important thing for tom to address is what is called the transition to ip. it is in the backdrop. there is a court case that will challenge the fcc's ability to regulate at all.

the agency very much has to address this question. every chair, between three to six months in, faces a different existential question when they discover two important things. what got him the job is not what helps them do the job. and where can they really make a difference? where can they personally make a difference? that is the interesting question about what tom will be grappling with. gigi should be noted that stone of public knowledge has put out a press release, as someone who has known tom for years, i believe he will be an independent, proactive chairman who will not allow the fcc to become irrelevant as broadband becomes the dominant mode of communication in this country. tom will have an open door and she hasd, even though no doubt the public knowledge

will disagree with tom wheeler at times. next question topic. >> you mentioned the all ip transition. how difficult was i going to be for the fcc, for tom -- is that going to be for the fcc, for tom to manage? you have got competitors saying , this is just a ruse to say there is no obligation for interconnection, and basically they're going to get cut off. any predictions about how he will manage that? think that his understanding of the industry and its history and technology will serve him and the commission very well. it is a very complicated proceeding. internet connection will be certainly one of the most important issues. i do think at the end of it, we will serve the country well by making sure that industry knows

a date certain and which they no longer have to invest in old .etworks i think we also have to strive to make sure we are continuing a competitive dynamic, continuing to serve certain values such as making sure we have brazilian networks for public safety. on the high level, there is a fair amount of agreement. it is where the details come in that you have disagreement. tom will be an open-minded and fair manager of that process. as part of that process, we also have to continue to drive innovation. one of the great opportunities for him -- you see this with things that senator rockefeller how we need to get connectivity into the classroom. .hat is clearly the case 80% of teachers think the adequacy of bandwidth in the classroom is not there to take advantage of.

those are the kinds of things that are also part of the agenda in terms of making sure that we not just have good bandwidth, but the bandwidth which really drives innovation, education, etc. >> i agree with blair's point. there is broad consensus that everything should be going all ip. congress and regulators ought to be doing what they can to facilitate that. it will take a long time. i don't think the commission will be compelled to make the kinds of decisions they're going to have to make on the broadcast incentive auction, some of these other incentives -- auctions coming up. i think that is a very important issue. it is a little bit on a little bit of a slower burn. at&t has a petition pending for some trials. my guess is that tom will be spending a lot of his time on other issues. in addition to the broadcast

incentive auction there is a possibility that when the trial date comes back to the commission, i think the d.c. circuit will hear oral argument on the fcc's existing net neutrality in the fall. as early as we get a ruling out of the d.c. circuit, and if the court were to vacate the rules, that will raise a very important question which is partly legal and partly political. does the obama administration appeal to the supreme court or send it back to the commission? tom will have a front row seat .n that decision that's going to be a very sensitive decision. there is a possibility that the rules are upheld. the industry may decide to appeal to the supreme court.

if the d.c. circuit doesn't throw out the rules, what do they do -- does throw out the rules, what do they do? >> if he goes back to the commission, does tom try to pursue -- >> it's not clear to me what other avenues they will have left. this will be the second time the commission would have tried a different source of authority, called title i. depending on how the court writes it, it would be difficult to try that. >> i think that is the really big question. prior to what the commission did last time, which was under title i, the general counsel for the fcc published a document which effectively said they have to do title ii. they chose not to, but that was a legal opinion. that's a very tricky thing. at the end of the day, there is a fair amount of consensus about

the kind of internet we want, but once you get below that consensus, there's a lot of different points of view about what the government role is in making sure we achieve that. >> tom wheeler has maintained a blog over the years. you can read his writings at mobilemusings.net. a statement, we congratulate tom wheeler, but we are concerned by his views on merger conditions that can be misused to affect whole industries, not just those seeking merger approval. paul kirby. >> do you think senators will try to bring that up to senate republicans? greg walden do not get involved in the confirmation process. get think they will involved. this has always been a sore spot with congressional republicans.

i think blair and i specifically squared off on this issue in our former lives. this is the kind of thing where congressional republicans get very troubled by the idea that the commission is making mergers. if you have strongly held views on this or that issue, do it through the normal process, through rulemaking. i think they have gotten very worried about the increasing tendency for the commission to not only condition a merger, but the more recent phenomenon where the parties will voluntarily make conditions to a deal. >> you say voluntarily, with a gun to their head. >> correct. this has been the tension between congressional republicans and the fcc for about 10 or 15 years. a lot of times the commission does have trouble getting these things done through rulemaking. parties are eager to get a deal done. it's not unusual for parties to

work out their own arrangement with the commission. congressional republicans do not like this. congressional democrats have a different view. their view is that this is how you preserve the public interest. this will probably come up in tom's confirmation hearing. >> i believe it will come up. there's no point in us debating with the right policy is. but justin is right. that is one of the historical tensions. a lot of conservative think tanks have suggested taking merger authority away from the fcc. between now and when -- now and when he is confirmed to you think she will be an activist and try to get items through or be more arctic -- be more of a caretaker? >> she knows the agency well. i think she certainly will continue to do certain things, particularly on the auctions, that need to be done to me that

timetable. there are other things that she think shet, such as may decide to be more aggressive on moving forward. i don't anticipate it will be that terribly long of a period. there is no pressing need to start proceedings. there are some i think she could start that tom would be perfectly happy to have her start. she doesn't want to do anything that boxes him in. there is already a full agenda. any inkling on who the president may nominate to replace commissioner mcdowell, justin lilley? >> that's a pretty good parlor game in town. dating back to the clinton-dole years, the leader of the opposition in the senate gets to make a quote, unquote recommendation as to who the white house should nominate from the opposing party. my guess is that senator mcconnell and his staff are

playing that pretty close to the vest. they will get a name probably in the next month or so. tom has not been officially nominated. is official nomination will be ready fairly soon. by tradition as well, the senate will pair the two of them to move them together. my guess is that requires senator mcconnell and his staff to be thinking about who would they like to recommend. my guess is that we will see a name soon. >> any predictions? >> there have been several speculations about house and senate. what i know about republicans -- >> you just learned right now. [laughter] it is consistent with what other republicans have told me as well. you would give the nod to the senate. the house person who is being ,entioned is very knowledgeable

former state commissioner, well respected on the hill and throughout the states. mitch mcconnell is not going to call me up, and i'm comfortable with that. >> we have a couple minutes left. you two seem to know each other well. is the telecommunications community in washington, is its tightknit? that small -- is it small? i think the telecom bar is a relatively speaking small crowd. there is a lot of bipartisanship. chairman bliley used to say to , justin, don't worry about it. it's just the rich fighting the wealthy. certain extent, that's true about this industry.

don'tissues typically lend themselves to sharp partisan differences, although you do see some of that on the high-profile issues. is a fairly small community by relative standards. a partisan act was act. the implantation of it was on a bipartisanship basis. -- implementation of it was on a bipartisanship basis. we have always gotten along well. >> is tom wheeler the kind of chair that would relish a new telecommunications act? >> that's a good question. because oftentimes you clearly need the buy-in of the administration anytime you're going to do a big reform bill. tom would clearly be in addition to whoever from the ncaa at that time, would be a spokesperson,

at that time, would be a spokesperson. the stars are not aligned for a major reform bill. it has been a longtime since congress really got its hands back into the video marketplace. the 1992 cable act is over 20 years old. i think it depends. that is one way to leave your mark, to be seen as central to getting congress to agree on a major reform bill. >> i think tom would be great at it and he would relish it. it would soak up all the energy , and soak up a lot of capital. people will stop doing things and stop investing in certain .arkets i think he's just going to focus on the commission. is with thein

aspen institute, former broadband plan executive director for the fcc. of thelilley, president telemedia policy corporation, former republican counsel to the house energy and commerce committee. one of our regulars on the program, paul kirby, telecommunications reports, senior editor. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> c-span, brought to you as a public service by your television provider. >> our first ladies, influence and image program focuses on the life of johnson -- eliza

johnson. later, a look at media coverage in the trayvon martin case. > she was close to being broken by the time she went to the white house. >> this is the earliest existing house. they lived here in the 1830's and 1840's. >> she was educated and taught school. >> she would work. the north and south fought all over the civil war. it changed hands 26 times. they did have domestic help. >> it was used as a hospital, it was used as a place to stay and it was destroyed. >> eliza wasn't able to get out much. >> she brought home many gifts. >> this is the room she returned to.