explain to the honorable lady. she will have to explain to her constituents why labour's minimum wage policy would actually cut the minimum wage in the next parliament. that is how incompetent and useless those on the opposition front bench are. the best thing we can do is to keep growing the economy, keep creating jobs and keep cutting taxes, because we are on track and the plan is working. >> there has been a spate of dog thefts across the bradford district, where a rally has been held to bring people's attention to the plight of murphy, a husky stolen recently. it is very distressing for the owners and dogs concerned, who are devoted to each other. some of these dogs are used in practice for dog fighting, and who knows what fate awaits some of the other stolen dogs? will the prime minister use his good offices to draw attention to this problem and ensure that the authorities investigate these crimes and take them as

seriously as any other crime? >> my honorable friend makes an important point. we are a nation of dog lovers. people are very attached to their pets, and it is appalling when they get stolen particularly for the sorts of purposes he talked about. obviously, the changes we have made on compulsory chipping should help, but my heart goes out to anyone who sees a much-loved pet taken from them. >> last but not least, i call mr. nigel dodds. >> as the prime minister looks back over his achievements in the past five years and considers what he might or might not be doing in the first few months of the next parliament, and further to the question from the honorable member for aldershot, will he commit to maintaining defense spending at 2% of gdp to ensure that our commitments to our nato allies

are met and that our country is secure? >> >> we are one of the few nato countries that do achieve 2% of spending on defense, and because of that, we will see, in the coming months and years, a defense equipment program that is second to none in europe -- two aircraft carriers, new joint strike fighters, hunter-killer submarines and new frigates. we can see a strong defense industry, supported by our commitment that the defense equipment program specifically should be protected. >> order. >> you have been watching prime minister's questions from the house commons. question time is live on c-span2 everyone stay at 7:00 p.m. eastern. watch anytime at www.c-span.org where you will find video of past run ministers questions and other british public affairs programs. >> next, harry reid outlines the

democratic agenda. then it is crushed the white house communications strategy and relations with the news media. after that, a look at the 2016 democratic presidential candidates. senator harry reid discussed the democratic agenda and provided an update on his injuries from an exercise accident earlier this month. this is about 15 minutes. >> hello everyone. >> the first thing i want to say

is this -- all we have to do is look around the world. cyberattacks, north korea, the deaths in belgium, in france and we now are facing a question here in the united states as to whether we are going to fund homeland security. we should put a bill on the president's desk as soon as possible. we need to get it done now. countries around the world, in fact, as we speak, increasing funding for their homeland security. we are trying to fund it. this is outrageous, for lack of a better word. ok, questions? >> can you talk about your recovery, specifically the surgery you are going to have? >> i know there are a lot of

rumors as to what happened, but it is simple. my wife and i were in our new home. i was doing exercises i have been doing for many years. with those large rubber bands. one of them broke and spun me around. i crashed into these cabinets. and i injured my arm. it did not knock me out. but it sure hurt. i was taken to the hospital. i came back here after a couple of days. i have some bones broken around my eye. on monday, as i understand it, we will have to fix that. they are going to reconstruct the bones. the bone that is broken is this one right here. it has been pushed in against my

eye, and they will move that back out. because of the injury, there is blood in the front and back part of my eye. after a reconstruction of that bone there, they're going to drain the blood off of the back part of the eye, and they are confident i will be really quite good after that. >> senator, are you worried about your vision? is there any situation related to this that would cause you not to seek reelection? >> not at this stage. the doctors have been very supportive of my plans. nothing has changed during the time i was in the first couple weeks of recovery. my staff continued to be reviewed for my new campaign. so everything is online. we have quite an operation in nevada. we have not lost a step.

we are off and running. >> are you fearful about your sight? >> pardon me? >> are you fearful about your sight? >> well, i am looking forward to monday, that is for sure. >> do you support the menendez bill that would bring more iran sanctions? >> i'm sorry, what again? >> the bill that would impose more sanctions on iran. >> right now, we have a moving target. i am personally doing everything in my thoughts and wishes for the negotiations to succeed. but until we have something definite on the floor, i will not be speculating on what i will do. right now, we have not had a markup, we have not had a hearing. we will wait until that happens. we have a number of different proposals from a number of different senators. we will be very cautious and deliberate in those i look at. >> republicans have gotten 14 amendments.

democrats have gotten nine amendments -- >> let's understand this. the success of a congress is not determined on how many amendments people vote on. the success of this congress is determined on what happens to the middle-class. the republicans were very cynical during the first six years of the obama administration. they opposed everything he did. the middle-class has been hurt hurt, hurt. i believe this congress will be determining whether it's a success or failure by what happens to the middle class. right now, what they have spent their time on is foreign oil coming across america, being shipped other places. that does not help the middle class. >> when have the doctors told you that you might be back to 100%? >> i met with one of the doctors

yesterday, and he felt extremely confident i would be fine. they told me i will be down several days next week, for obvious reasons. there is no reason i cannot come back to work a week from monday. >> you've been critical in the past of trade promotion authority. what is your view at this moment? >> i have always been suspect, my entire career in congress, of these trade agreements. i don't support fast track. why? because i have not been shown that these trade agreements will help the middle class. i'm happy to keep my eyes wide open. and if it shows me the trade agreements help the middleclass, i'll change. but until that is shown to me the trade agreements help the middle class, i will not be

jumping on the bandwagon. >> i was wondering if you would tell us about how you're spending your day and also what is going on in your mind as you watch the senate from afar? >> some of you know i'm an avid reader. i've read lots and lots of books. read some good ones during the break. i haven't been able to read. they told me the eye is healing and you try to overwork your good eye, it puts pressure on it. so i haven't been reading . last night, i was able to read. but i have been listening to audio books. i quite enjoyed it, to be honest. i never thought i would. finished a couple books that way. i spent a lot of time on the

staff of my telephone. i have staff meetings at home. my daughter had been visiting with me. i have my son coming this weekend. i have been fine. >> what do you think about what is happening on the floor? >> i think they have done a good job. we have been in touch on a daily basis. i have been heavily involved in everything done on the floor. no surprises. i think mitch mcconnell is doing fine. >> can you talk about what concussion symptoms you experienced and all that stuff? >> to my knowledge, i am not getting any treatment for concussions. i do have a better understanding

of football players in baseball players who have concussions. nobody has told me i have one, but perhaps i have. >> are you looking at a liability lawsuit for the elastic bands? >> if i were, i would not be broadcasting it here. >> have you given any thought to -- [inaudible] >> no, at this stage, i fully intend to run. >> were you consulted by speaker boehner or mitch mcconnell on the netinyahu address? was the address bipartisan? >> no. i was not consulted. here is how i feel about that.

i have a good relationship with netinyahu. he called me, as a matter of fact, about my injury, and i appreciate it. but he is the leader of a country. he will come give a speech. we will listen to what he has to say. >> he said, at this stage, i will continue to run. is there a circumstance where you would change your decision? >> this question was asked of me at the break, and i'm answering it the same way i'm answering it now. i plan to run. >> your predecessor in the democratic role, the whip role -- it's my understanding senator ford passed away this morning. do you have any comments on his passing and any stories you can tell? >> wendell ford is a very unique man. as a new senator, i met with him.

he said, i am from kentucky. i drink kentucky bourbon. i smoke kentucky cigarettes all the time. i was his successor. he is a fine man, a great background. people in kentucky love him, as they should. >> when you come back the following week, will you be back 100%? >> i hope i am back full time. i may not be doing everything as i did before. as of this morning, i am doing pretty well. i am exercising again. there are things i cannot do. i cannot be strained.

but i am walking a long time. i have worked up now to an hour. i am still doing my best. how are my ribs? they are meaningless. it is hard to believe. >> what was the brand of exercise band that snapped? and was it defective? >> when we have it, you'll find out. >> you're a sports buff. have even paying attention to the controversy around the patriots? >> honestly, my first opportunity to read, i started doing what i did before i got hurt. i read the sports page first. i do that because there's such good news in the sports page. i have been fascinated, in recent days, with scherzer, max scherzer. a new member of the team. i am back.

i did miss my sports activities. as far as the weight of a football, as far as i know, i cannot believe the national football league, with the billions of dollars they make, can't determine how much air should be in a football. >> what has senator paul told you about your eye? >> i have not talked to him about that. we have talked about a lot of things. but i have yet to talk to him about that. >> senator, people have some questions, kind of confused about the degree of your injury, and you alluded to people wondering what really happened. how do you react to that, that people are curious about the circumstances? >> well, we did not film it. [laughter] but that is what happened and there's nothing more i can say. >> your left eye, what is the vision in your left eye? >> 20/20. >> has it been impaired at all?

>> no. it is 20/20. >> are you in any pain? >> it is not like a spinal injury. i hurt my eye. i take tylenol once in a while. >> thank you, everybody. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> now, a look at what is ahead for congress this week. >> joining us with a look at the

week ahead and the week just passing in congress, we are joined by lisa mascaro. she covers congress for the los angeles time and the tribune. you are starting with the house. you tweak that the gop's border security bill, hr 399 is headed for a house vote next week. what are some of the details, and what does it tell you about the strategy of house republicans on immigration? >> this is the bill's next step. it is a real tough border security bill. michael mccaul of texas is calling it the toughest border security bill out there. this is really the first foray that republicans are trying to take on the immigration issue. as you know, republicans have been very displeased with president obama's executive action from late last year, when the president put together some proposals that are now being implemented to differ

deportation for up to 5 million immigrants illegally here in the country. republicans want to respond to the. one way to do that is to take a look at their own ideas for immigration. first up is the border bill. it is a tough hill that requires completing a 700 mile fence along the border. it requires homeland security to have operational control of the border. some of the hot spots where crossings happen. they have to have that under control in the first two years and 100% control of the border shortly after that. the bill passed out of the committee last week and is on its way to the floor. >> let's move on to the abortion bill. you recently wrote about some of the emerging cloud from moderate republicans, saying that you expect this group to influence other legislation, like the border bill, in the house. what influence is this going to

have in the house? >> is really interesting, what happened last week. it was a first drumming up of -- do not call the moderate. these are conservative republicans. most of the members in the house who had concerns about the abortion bill are pro-life. antiabortion conservative republicans. but they had concerns about some of the details about how the bill was written. they voiced their concerns, and leadership ended up knocking off the bill and putting forward another bill. that, coupled with an earlier vote we saw on immigration that happened two weeks ago, where a number of republicans, 26 house republicans, declined to go along with part of the plan to roll back executive actions by president obama that would help

defer deportation or young immigrants. the republican said, i do not want to do that. it is a real flexing of that point of view after the last four years, where we have seen a more conservative approach from republicans in the house and the senate. >> a lot of that seemed to come out during the retreat, sort of a surprise for leadership. let's move on to the senate. work on the keystone pipeline built that kept a lot of reporters busy in the capital the other night. there was an interesting exchange between the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, and the assistant minority leader, did urban, on the amendment process. what might that mean for the future of the bill? >> what you are seeing on the senate floor for the last several weeks is what senator mcconnell promised as part of taking over the senate. he wants to return to what is

called regular order and let the senate go through vote after vote of different amendments that senators may want to offer on a bill like keystone. what happens is that ran into trouble last night. the senators, the majority leader and the assistant leader were having disagreements about how to proceed on a number of amendments. the time that would be allowed for debating the amendments. in the end, senator mcconnell just sort of plowed forward and left democrats behind. started making motions to table all the amendments. the senator state until midnight last night, tabling amendments. it was a great thing for dancing the bill. they are almost done with the amendment process. however, it left a lot of raw feelings on the democratic side. democratic senators feeling like

senator mcconnell was not holding up his promise to keep the open amendment process going. of course, senator mcconnell says he tried. the the democrats were stonewalling on how to proceed. that is a bit of a standoff. raw emotions. we will see how that turns out on monday. they will have a key vote on the keystone pipeline. a need a threshold to edit and send. they will need to get the democratic senators to support the pipeline on board. >> lisa writes for the l.a. times in the tribune newspaper. keep following her on twitter. and your website. -- and her website. thanks a lot. >> thank you. >>