next year before the presidential relate -- presidential race gets underway, you have seen the president talk about executive actions, small-scale, but he is going around the country right now. he went to denver, talking about taking all the action and republicans will hit on health care. but the president will keep talking about what he can do without congress to move forward. in the white house, they're saying, this is our last strategy and we will have to do it on our own. >> was it a mistake for the not to visit the border? >> i think it was an open question. you never know what will help the president lyrically when it comes to the current environment republican and criticism of him. if it wouldmyself have softened the political debate -- or the political

blowback from republicans this week, if you just gone to the border and did a lap around. the conditions especially in the house of republicans, i do not know what president obama could have done to make things better over there. to the border, there would have been blowback and different way. it does not mean he should not have taken the trip he did hear it drinking beers and playing pool, a preplanned attempt to make him a -- make obama more approachable. and fundraising, that is what created a strange dichotomy in what people were seeing him doing and what happened on the border. it would have been tough either way, telling these children in holding situations, he is actually trying to say, i will deport you. i will deport you. i'm not sure what message he would have put out, but the entire trip was not exactly the

best image for the white house. >> thank you both for being with ." on "newsmakers" >> thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] spoke inresident biden his remarks are in a moment. followed by the homeland security secretary jeh johnson, making the case for the senate approval of the 3.7 emergency request of minors entering the u.s.. >> 40 years ago, the watergate scandal led to the only resignation of an american president. throughout this month in early august, american history tv revisits 1974 and the final weeks of the mixture and administration. here the supreme court oral

arguments as the watergate congressional prosecutor attacked the president's claim of privilege in the overall -- oval office -- >> the president might be right in how he reads the constitution but he might also be wrong. if he is wrong, who is there to tell him shut -- tell him so? free to pursue his course of your on this interpretations. what becomes of our constitutional form of government? eastern onat 8:00 american history tv on c-span three. >> now you can keep in touch with current events from the nation's capital using any phone at any time on c-span radio. call to hear congressional

recapge and listen to a of the day's events on washington today. also hear audio begetting sundays at noon eastern. c-span radio and audio now. long distance or phone charges may apply. >> in about an hour and a half, closingerage on the session of the national governors association summer meeting in nashville. they heard from vice president biden on state federal partnerships. his remarks were about an hour and 20 minutes. thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for being very patient with us. one of the great benefits of being in leadership at the nga is the opportunity to go to work with our leaders in washington, d.c. over the past two years our

executive committee has had the privilege of meeting privately with both president and the vice president to talk about issues, to talk about national priorities and how we can all work together. the vice president himself has taken the lead on several administrative initiatives that require direct outreach and core nation with our states and our governors. i know i've had several one-to-one meetings, direct conversations with the vice president, as well as other governors in the room. is that direct conversation, the direct access that's been very beneficial to our individual states in helping us develop a better state and federal partnership. as the senator from delaware for 36 years, he is a leader on some nation's most important domestic and international challenges. he served as chairman or ranking member at the senate judiciary committee for 17 years and chairman or ranking committee member on the senate foreign

relations committee. and the 47th vice president of the united states, joe biden has continued his leadership on important issues facing the nation. the vice president was tasked with a mini the american recovery and reinvestment act at a time to which i know i personally called each and every governor to talk about the national economy and our state's economy. he also penny to draw on his foreign policy expertise, advising the president on a multitude of international issues. so ladies and gentlemen, it is our great pleasure at the national governors association to welcome the vice president of the united states, joe biden. [applause]

>> thank you all. please, please, please sit down. mary, thank you for the great introduction. as you stood, as you mentioned that i had the responsibility to implement the recovery act, and i got to meet with, speak with, multiple times as all of you, hey, how are you doing? [laughter] a lot of old friends. excuse me. and it reminded me of what lincoln and i used in the. it reminded me of what used to be like serving in the united states senate. we actually liked one another than. we actually got along with one another. and deal with all of you has been one of the pleasures. i mean this sincerely, of my

tenure as vice president. and saw a lot of you back at the white house not too long ago, and i want you to know that i want to thank, i want to thank bill for the passport to get back into tennessee. i appreciate very much. he said you here last week. hopefully you're not coming next week. no, he didn't say that. i was your last week actually. [laughter] but, you know, folks, i probably shouldn't say this, but -- [laughter] but then again, i'm joe biden. [laughter] [applause] as, no one doubts what i mean what is a. sometimes i mean all that i say. but i mean this sincerely. i was thinking about this a lot the last, the last three or four weeks.

the greatest honor of my life was to be united states senator and serve for all those years in the united states senate with some of the greatest, finest people i've ever known in my life. but, and i loved it. and there's always been very, very tough politics of in washington. i got there when there was still some of the old segregationist were still there, james eastland and a whole lot of other folks. but even in those days when i got there, and the politics was intense, ideological differences were real. but it never got to where it is today. it was never personal. it was never cast in the context of you are good or bad.

there was a presumption that the other guy or woman you were dealing with was acting in good faith. and governor bryant, you know, both your mississippi centers -- senators act is supported when i tried to get a nomination early on, and we had come on civil rights we were a thousand miles apart. and most importantly you didn't question the other guys motive. you really went after the judgment, you know, it was like hammer and tong fighting over so many fundamental issues. but it was always about a judgment, not the motive. and the way things have gotten today, and i'm not singling out any party or in a group of

people, just the politics, the culture in washington now. it's become too personal. it's too corrosive. and i was saying to peter earlier today that you folks, the democratic republican governors, are the best hope we have to bringing back an atmosphere where we can disagree without being disagreeable. where we can have significant ideological differences, but yet at the end of the day, it's all about trying to find a solution. and granted, it always looked better from the outside than inside. but dealing with you for the last six years, you in an editorial says, the vast majority of you respect one

another. the vast majority of you, i assume all but i don't know, the vast majority of you treat each other with respect. you are not dismissive of the other guys or woman's ideas. and you cooperate in ways that i find badly badly needed. you know, we are, excuse the editorial comment, we are only one country. we always do best when we act like that. and it's not the american people are divided. our politics is dividing them, the way we conduct our politics is dividing them. and so i look to you all. we look to you. i think the answer is not just in terms of innovative things are coming out of you and not congress. it is also joined the ones of the greatest respect among those

of us who are elected in your states, because you are about solving problems. i know, i watched my governor, i think is a great governor. i watch come we have real differences in delaware. i mean deep differences. that i don't, it doesn't get out of hand. it doesn't get out of hand. i watch martin. i know he operates in maryland. i know well. and so i guess what i'm trying to say is, and i'll get on with the business of the day here, but i've enjoyed working with you and i think you've got to lead this out. i think you've got to lead us out of this, this mess we are in. because you and i, we all know the vast majority of people elected in the house and senate, oath parties, want to figure a way out. they know this is corrosive. when you have a national poll showing that republicans in congress have a 78% negative

rating and a 14% positive, but the democrats are 65% or whatever, negative. this country can't run that way. we are the most heterogeneous country in the world. you and i know that in the next five years, those of us who are caucasian, you will be an absolute minority in the united states of america. we've got to get this right. so my editorial comment come we are looking to you. we are looking to you, and this will change. this will pass. but we've got to get past it a heck of a lot quicker than we have so far. you know, and i think the old anglo expression, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, because of your cooperation and leadership, an awful lot of

things are getting done. an awful lot of things are getting done. we had 52 straight months of private sector job creation, a total of 9.7 million jobs because working together, working with you and you with one another, you create conditions in your state that has brought more money off the sidelines. and you've sparked economic recovery in most of your states. matter -- manufacturers have added 600, 686,000 jobs in the past 52 months because working together, you made the needs of manufacturers a simple part of your state policies. diversifying your indeed resources, cutting the red tape, supporting emerging technologi technologies. they are democratic or republican ideas. but you have done it. exports have increased to a record-breaking level for the fourth straight year, $2.3 trillion, with capital goods and and national supply

leading the charge. nudges agriculture. there's always agriculture. then why is it happening? because of the conditions you provided in your states. you make it a priority at the state level to connect this is directly with international markets and opportunities. and many of you, many of you have invested in infrastructure maintenance to give products in your state to the rail lines, the ports, to the links of the world. according, i'm so tired of hearing people in both parties, but this is one part, although the more any other party about how bad off america is. what terrible shape we are in. i have not traveled almost a million miles since being vice president. you will not find a single world leader in any country who would

not trade places in a heartbeat with the president of the united states come to be president of this great country. not one. i challenge you to find me one. the states, the norwegian states, they are doing great, but they are part of the eurozone. there's a whole lot going on around the world. in 2013, i hit about how america is so far behind. one of the leading firms in america does a survey every year, and they do an international survey. and they asked the question, what is the country that is most inviting of and most desirous of welcoming foreign direct investment? where do you want to invest your money? ladies and gentlemen, last year

the united states once again overtook china for the first time in 11 years as the number one choice for foreign direct investment. 2014 survey came out, and begin the united states is number one. but here's the point. pulling away from the pack by the widest margin ever recorded in the history of this survey ever, ever. in every region of the world, in every economic sector, foreign investors see the united states as the best place to invest their money. ladies and gentlemen, simply put, we are in better position than any nation in the world to remain the leading economy for the 21st century. nobody else is close. everybody talks to me about china. i know, i know president xi better than any elected official just because i spent more time with him.

i traveled with him five days alone in china and the traveled for of the five days here in the united states. i recent came back for five a half hour meeting with him. i want china to do well, but china not only has a problem with energy, shortage of it, they don't have water. hear me? they don't have enough water. they have a divided population. they have to create 9 million new urban jobs every year just to stay current. they have to grow at above 10% per year to keep this bargain they have with an emerging middle class which is we will let your economy grow as long as you let us stay in charge. so, folks, if you're ever going to be involved in the business we are all in, this is the time

to be in. it's the opportunities are so immense. but each one of you governors know a note to maintain this advantage, continue to grow our economy, we have to stay ahead of the curve in investing into very important areas. much we can talk about today. mary, you and i talked about and we are about to talk about a lot. the first is infrastructure. and the second is investing in making sure we have the highest skilled workforce in the world. they are absolute basic requirements. basic requirements for us to be the leading economy in the 21st century. and on both scores, on both scores we are way behind. we are way behind. you are the ones leading in your state. without much help from the united states congress.

i know i'm preaching to the choir when i talk but importance of infrastructure. almost everyone of you in this room i've had private conversation with about a major infrastructure project in your state from a highway to report to a canal that would have a significant economic impact on your state, if you have the resources to be able to do it. these are the projects which would pull millions nationwide, billions of dollars off the sidelines, not just federal dollars, billions of dollars off the sidelines, creating a virtuous cycle of more efficiency, more productivity, more jobs in your state. i stood on the water's edge with the governor on ally and governor haley -- governor on ally and governor haley discussing the need for modernizing out east coast ports. to accommodate these really new massive can.

>> ships. i took several of my colleagues down to the panama canal to witness the construction. it looked like the great pyramids. they are gigantic. they will accommodate ships that are 160 feet wide. they are five and six stories high. they carry twice the cargo at half the cost. yet for a significant number of ports from the gulf of houston all the way up to maine, they can't birth in the sports -- in these ports. martin can tell you. governor haley can tell you. the state of georgia can tell you. port of savannah, it accommodates 278,000 jobs in that state. i forget the number in maryland,

but it's gigantic. and yet we are diddling. you are doing all you can. you are attracting investments. the federal government is sitting on its hands because they can't get the so-called worker fell through and they finally got to overtime to figure out how to allocate those funds. i walked with governor quinn along the mississippi river, talking about the critical connection between rail lines, highways and waterways. and i sat with governor cuomo in albany as you laid out a remarkable upgrade in new york's power grid, bridges, tunnels that are being rebuilt in the wake of say in the. but being rebuilt to a higher standard, not being rebuilt to the status quo, to a higher standard.

going beyond fundamentally rethink and reinvent the states infrastructure in the 21st century. one of the primary responsibilities of the federal government regard to infrastructure is to provide the seed money for the infrastructure. all the way along for the beginning we have done this. the first national road was built by the congress in 1808. you had the governor in new york named dewitt clinton built a thing called the erie canal, generate in those days millions of dollars off the sideline. connecting the east coast with eventually to the west which at the time was ohio. interstate highway system, folks, you know that manufactures locate where they can access modern railroads, highways, ports, airports, canals to get their products to

market more efficiently. you can make them at the same price in hong kong, the united states, that you can ship them to market 25% faster and 40% cheaper, where are you going to go build your widgets? and manufacturing is coming home in droves. why? because we are the cheapest energy in the world now. has we have can we protect intellectual property. with the court system that adjudicates and disputes fairly. we have the most productive workforce in the world. that's not my judgment. that's just an outside group, three times as productive as chinese workers. how long are they going to stay? imagine i if governor kasich, io know if he's here, i just don't seem, from ohio, he can tell you project we built that he ended up building, but the railroads

built in east baltimore, ohio, connecting, it is a gigantic switching station that makes the chicago stockyards of the old days look like it small. really. it's 100 acres sitting out in farmland, but they will have double-decker trains, i mean, be able to double stack boxes, boxcars, containers, taking all the stuff westinghouse is making, and carrier, and all the rest and the old manufacturing and they will get to the port of baltimore one quarter of the cost, three times the speed. what we are doing, what you are doing is we're widening tunnels so the stress can go through with a double decks on on them, switching yards are changing. it's kind of a profound impact.

tractate transportation system is today, and i know you know all this, more than 52 million tons of goods worth nearly $46 billion every single day. almost 40 tons of freight per person per year for everyone who lives in america. that's only going to grow. what about the rail system? is a growing anywhere near proportion? what we need now, let alone, let alone, we are going to need. big debate, you know this in alabama is whether not you've got to slow down rail freight because it's too dangerous. you've got to move it at higher speeds. it ain't the rail car, gov. it's the rail bed.

but you all know, today's infrastructure is instead prepare. the american society of civil engineers says we need $3.6 trillion, with the key, and investment in infrastructure by the year 2020 to maintain, to maintain our needs. yet we only and best 1% of our gdp in infrastructure. we write 28 -- we rank 28th in the world among advanced nations in investment in infrastructure. looks as though the congress will do a short-term extension of the highway trust fund anyway, and by the way, you all deserve the credit. ..

airports, and i know i get in trouble. i wasn't the only one that set it. the governor in the state of new york said it. it wasn't a criticism. i put you in laguardia airport or an airport inside your states and drop you at an airport in beijing blindfolded at 4:00 in the morning asking where are you. you're thinking of the united states, and you should be. when you're in some of your big airport you're going to think you're in another place. why is that?

what are we doing? what are we doing? infrastructure used to be -- and i served the united states senate for 36 years -- used to be the only fully totally bipartisan issue there was. when that all of a sudden our memories go dim? the plan we've put forward were open to other suggestions related to that was a plan that existing taxes, closing tax loop holes and rewarding companies, that reward companies for going overseas. there may be other combinations. this is the way you pay for it. in the investment infrastructure will create millions of