is, global surveys suggest that one out of every five people in this world have actively paid a bribe to get a health service. a 40% of people view their health care service as utterly corrupt. we know where those survey results are even higher. how do our public health officials -- i will ask dr. dybul first -- how do we make sure our public health dollars are intersecting with the other pots of money we use to improve governance, and are we doing that in the right way and with the right level of coordination? dr. mark dybul: i think the most important word is the last one. i don't think we were there 5, 7 years ago. we have a ways to go, but the progress has been extraordinary. the way the global fund functions, we fund many governments directly. that has brought an enormous

amount of accountability. pepfar does, as well. i will never forget president, in rwanda aside -- president kagame in rwanda said, this is the first time we have been held accountable. you have to report events down to the site level. we are investing heavily in data management systems. it is hard to steal money if you have to show results. it is much easier if you say, i did some things. it is drilling down that accountability to the site level, and then we have layers of investigative approaches that look at how every dollar is used . the reality is sometimes, it does go in the wrong place, but we find it collectively, and then we bring people to justice. people are actually going to jail now for the first time for corruption in the health system in many countries around the world. it's actually really exciting to see.

this is something that these health programs we don't talk about much -- it's driven accountability in a way that really never existed before. sen. murphy: so we should really care about corruption when our dollars are on the ground, but we should care just as much when our dollars are not on the ground, because we won't need to use as much money if the systems are efficiently run. in those cases, who is the right government entity to try to build that capacity? is it our global health dollars, or should those be reserved for running programs, or is it other pieces of the state department who are more in the business of working with governments writ large to make them more accountable, more efficient, less corrupt? dr. deborah birx: the great thing about what dr. dybul just talked about is how that is integrated at the sight of the state department and u.s. ambassador.

being able to get the ambassador data that takes the quality of the work at the site, the cost of delivering those services and integrates them in a three-way analysis, and then compares all the other sites and partners, you can clearly see which sites are out of range. what sites are out of range because they are doing more work with less dollars and high quality and which sites are out of range because it is costing more for a low-quality product? then we send people to go into those sites and define each of those issues, and then the ambassador takes it forward. we are doing this in partnership with the global fund, starting out in the countries where we share impact, 40 countries, and then that same system can be taken into countries where the u.s. government is providing still one third of the dollars through the global fund where there may not be a pepfar program. sen. murphy: you are optimistic on your ability to work with local governments. that is not always the story we hear.

how much does it matter whether you have local governance structure that is efficient relatively low on the corruption scale? i imagine that you look very carefully at those factors when you're thinking about where to put your dollars in your programming. rick warren: yes. that is why i go back to this holistic approach to aid and assistance. the peace plan -- e is equipped service leaders. we believe corruption is one of the big problems in the world, along with poverty, disease, illiteracy, and conflict. you have to deal with all of them at the same time. you can't just do with poverty. you can just deal with corruption. you have to deal with education. you have to deal with all these together. i found in working with local governments run the world, the

most important thing first is to listen, to not assume i know what i know about the country. when i go in the country, the first thing i do is take a yellow clipboard and sit down and listen. i'm listening to their culture their values. i'm listening to what they are saying. i'm not coming in and automatically imposing something. i want to find out, what do you need? there is a verse in the bible that says, when you go into the village, find the man of peace. the piece person in any culture or any corporation -- i have found them in nations, businesses, local -- you find the man of peace. they are influential and open to work with you. those are the two characteristics. by the way, they don't have to be a christian. when jesus said, go find a man of peace, there were no christians yet. i found men of peace who are muslims, atheists, straight, gay . they are willing to work with

you, and they are influential. if you find those kind of people, then you start with a man of peace, and you can begin to expand. i think it starts with listening. sen. murphy: i think that is a wonderful way to think about this. one of the points i'm trying to make is, when we look at the money that we spend and the benefits that are accrued to global health, we shouldn't just look at the accounts labeled "global health." when you are running programs that build men of peace, that promote their ability to have influence, whether or not that is a health item or not, that builds local health systems -- as we are reviewing the budget writ large, it's important to pay attention to the fact that sometimes the titles on the line items don't necessarily translate to their end line benefit. sen. graham: thank you all for participating in your hearing. i think each of you have

advanced the cause of protecting this program, which i am completely dedicated to. i can see how close we are, and the damage to be done if we back off now. a new cycle full of bad news -- maybe we will get five seconds of good news from what you had to say today. one thing i have learned is, if we get extra money, it will go in the data collection business. to all of you god bless. you represent the best of you of our country. this committee stands recess. we will keep the record open for questions. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> flags on capitol hill at have stepped afternoon on news of the death of former house speaker jim wright who died at the age of 92. he represented ft. worth for 34 years, two years as speaker of the house, until he resigned in 1989. speaker john boehner with a statement praising him for his lifelong commitment to service, from flying combat missions over the south pacific to fighting for found -- ft. worth on the house floor. jim wright, passing away today at the age of 92. on capitol hill tomorrow, the new attorney general loretta lynch will testify on the 2016 justice department budget.

she will be before a senate appropriations subcommittee. we will have that live at 10:30 eastern. voters in the united kingdom tomorrow make their choices for parliament. polls close at 10:00 p.m. local time, 5:00 p.m. eastern. we will simulcast itv's election night coverage, political analysis for my tv, getting underway at 4:55 p.m. here on c-span. this mother's day, sunday starting at noon, c-span presents to children and grandchildren of america's first families, paying tribute to first ladies and remembering life in the white house. among those speaking, linda johnson robb, caroline kennedy the bush daughters, and many more. here is a preview of what is coming up. >> unless you study henrietta hoover she was the first first lady ever to invite an african-american woman to tea. it caused a tremendous scandal.

she was the wife of congressman depriest who had been elected from chicago, an african-american couple, and it was a tradition that first ladies invited the member of congress's lives to tea. they were quakers. they were socially progressive. in the context of the issue during their day, they knew it would be a scandal. they tried to handle it the right way but decided to go ahead with it, because this would be a good move for the country. to make her feel better, my great-grandfather invited her husband to the white house. this was the first time an african-american was invited to the white house publicly. teddy roosevelt had invited booker t. washington, but it was a secret meeting. >> the first dinner -- i will be quick -- the first dinner we had as a family, and there is this tension. i don't know if you guys noticed it. when you first go there, you

don't know the staff. they have been there for years and you rotate through. you are trying to get to know each other. everybody is a little formal. we are sitting at the family dinner table. it's myself, dad, mom, sister susan. everybody's trying to figure it out, and my dad was trying to take the edge off. he looks and sees there is a wonderful fireplace in that room . he says, gosh, when we used to go to vail, colorado for christmas, we always loved to have a fire. one of the people who work to their -- this must be the president telling us to light the fire. it hadn't been used in 10 years. [laughter] smoke is billowing out. this is your first dinner with staff, and the smoke is coming back into that dining room. susan and i are coughing. we are trying to get up. i will never forget, my dad

looked at me and said, sit back down. he goes, betty, don't we just love a fire? [laughter] he had such a good heart to try to make them feel good. those are my memories of those first days. [applause] >> the first families program begins sunday, mother's day at noon eastern on c-span. >> they were wives and mothers. some had children and grandchildren who became president's and politicians. they dealt with the joys and trials of motherhood, the pleasure and sometimes chaos of raising small children, and the tragedy of loss. just in time for mother's day, "first ladies" looks at the personal lives of every first lady in history, many of whom raised families in the white

house, lively stories of fascinating women and illuminating and inspiring read based on interviews from c-span's "first ladies" series. "first ladies" is available as a hardcover or e-book, and makes a great mother's day gift. >> here is a look at some of our featured programs for this weekend on the c-span networks. saturday morning at 10:00 eastern, we are live from greenville, south carolina for the gop freedom summit. speakers include wisconsin governor scott walker, texas governor ted cruz, carly fiorina, ben carson, and florida senator marco rubio. on mother's day at noon eastern, members of america's first families remember first ladies, featuring the daughters of jackie kennedy, lady bird johnson, betty ford, and laura bush. on c-span2 saturday night at

10:00 eastern on book tv's "after words," focusing on the college town of missoula montana. then and done what he talks about her life and military career. in american history tv on c-span3, saturday afternoon at 4:45, remembering the liberation of nazi concentration camps with an interview of kurt cline who as a teenager escaped the german persecution of jews by coming to the u.s., lost his parents at our schlitz, and questioned hitler's personal driver. sunday afternoon at 2:00, the 70th anniversary of the end of world war ii in europe. get our complete schedule at c-span.org. >> president obama yesterday nominated marine corps commandant joseph dunford to be

the next chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. she was previously a commanding general in afghanistan. if confirmed by the senate general dunford would replace army general martin dempsey who is expected to retire over the summer. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president and vice president of the united states, accompanied by secretary ashton carter, ambassador susan rice, general dose of dunford, and general paul selva. >> please, everybody, have a seat. good morning. as americans, we are blessed with the strongest military the world has ever known. yes, our system of equipment and technology, our logistical capacity is unmatched, but what

makes us the best, the reason no other nation can do what we do is our people -- patriotic men and women across our country who step forward, raise their hand and take an oath to defend our nation. it's our men and women in uniform -- and their leaders -- who make our armed forces the very best. among our military leaders, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is the principal military advisor to me and my national security team -- including vice president biden, my national security advisor, susan rice and our secretary of defense ash carter. in recent years, i have been deeply grateful for the service of our chairman, general marty dempsey, and our vice chairman admiral sandy winnefeld. marty and sandy will complete their terms later this year. i'll have a chance to say nice things about them later. i can tell you that they have

been outstanding, and i could not have asked for a better team. but today, i'm proud to announce my nominee to be the next chairman, general joe dunford, and the next vice chairman general paul selva. again, i want to thank general dempsey and admiral winnefeld for being here today. marty and sandy, we are extraordinarily grateful for all that you've done. and we'll have an opportunity to pay tribute to you in the months ahead. i've relied on you both -- your advice, your counsel, your judgment -- as we've navigated the urgent challenges of recent years, from ending our combat mission in afghanistan to leading the international coalition to destroy isil, conducting humanitarian operations from typhoon relief in the philippines to fighting ebola in west africa, and strengthening our security alliances from europe to asia. at every step, you have been critical to our processes, and i

have valued not only your counsel but your friendships. at the same time, marty and sandy have helped to guide our forces through difficult fiscal times -- especially sequestration. they've stayed focused on readiness, and training and modernization. today there are also more opportunities for women in our armed forces. we're tackling the outrage of sexual assault, which has no place in our ranks. we've made progress in large part because leaders like marty and sandy have made sure we're recruiting and training, and equipping and retaining the best fighting force on the planet. i look forward to honoring marty and sandy and thanking them more fully for their extraordinary contributions to our nation. there are other things we're going to miss. we're going to miss marty's incomparable singing voice. [laughter] he will not be singing today. but i'm going to put my request in early for a final number at your farewell.

but on behalf of myself, our entire national security team and our armed forces, thank you. and to deannie and to mary, we are grateful for your families' service. [applause] my choice for the next chairman of the joint chiefs, general joe dunford, is one of the most admired officers in our military. a native of boston, joe is the very definition of “boston strong.” the son of a retired boston police officer and marine veteran of korea, joe followed in his father's footsteps and has distinguished himself through nearly 40 years of military service. he's commanded marines in the field, from the platoon level to a marine expeditionary force. during the invasion of iraq, he led marines in the charge to baghdad. given his combat experience, i

was proud to nominate joe as the commander of american and coalition forces in afghanistan. i've had a chance to work with him. i have been extraordinarily impressed by joe -- from the situation room, where he helped to shape our enduring commitment to afghanistan, to my visit last year to bagram, where i saw his leadership firsthand. i know joe. i trust him. he's already proven his ability to give me his unvarnished military advice based on his experience on the ground. under his steady hand, we've achieved key milestones, including the transition to afghan responsibility for security, historic afghan elections, and the drawdown of u.s. forces -- setting the stage for our combat mission there. so joe is a proven leader of our joint force, including our troops in afghanistan, who he served christmas dinner to. he's one of our military's most highly regarded strategic thinkers.

he's known and respected by our allies, by members of congress -- on both sides of the aisle -- and by colleagues across our government. he's also tireless. his staff has been known to carry around a voice recorder to keep up with his commands and new ideas. he just began his service as commandant of his beloved marine corps. so, joe, i appreciate your willingness to take on this new assignment. i think the only downside in my book is, as a white sox fan, there is yet another red sox fan who i'm going to have to be dealing with. and i want to thank you and your wife, ellyn, for your continued service. in general paul selva, we have a vice chairman with 35 years of military service -- as both a pilot and a commander. as leader of air mobility command, he earned a reputation as a force for change and innovation.

i understand that when it was time to deliver the final c-17 to the air force, paul went to the cockpit and helped fly it himself. as head of transportation command, he's been committed to the partnerships that are a core principle of our national security strategy, whether it's supplying our joint force around the world, in operations large and small, to supporting and keeping safe our diplomats and embassy personnel overseas. paul also served as secretary of state clinton's military advisor for the first years of my presidency, so he grasps the strategic environment in which our forces operate. he understands that our military, as powerful as it is is one tool that must be used in concert with all the elements of our national power. i should note that, as a graduate of the air force academy, paul is especially grateful to the academy because it's there that he met his wife, ricki, who also served in the air force. and, paul and ricki, thank you both for taking on this next chapter of your service together. joe, paul -- we continue to call on our armed forces to meet a range of challenges.

we have to keep training afghan forces and remain relentless against al qaeda. we have to push back against isil and strengthen forces in syria and build moderate opposition in syria. we have to stand united with our allies in europe and keep rebalancing our posture as a pacific power. we have to keep investing in new capabilities to meet growing threats, including cyber-attacks. so, as commander-in-chief, i'll be looking to you for your honest military advice as we meet these challenges. as we do, we're also going to keep working with congress on a more responsible approach to defense spending, including reforms in the department so we can preserve the readiness of our all-volunteer force, keep faith with our troops and our military families, and care for our wounded warriors. this is work we have to do together, as a nation. again, to joe, to paul, to your families, on behalf of the american people, thank you for your continued service to our nation. i urge our friends in the senate -- and i know i won't have a

problem with jack reed, who's sitting right here -- to confirm these remarkable leaders without delay so we can stay focused on the work that unites us all as americans -- keeping our military strong, our nation secure, our citizens safe. thank you very much. [applause]

>> secretary josh earnest was asked about police misconduct allegations in baltimore, the iran nuclear allegations -- negotiations, and tomorrow's election in the united kingdom. josh: good afternoon, everybody. there is a late-arriving crowd to the front row. there you go, which i know you encouraged. i'm happy to oblige. i don't have any announcements.

let's get started with questions today. reporter: hillary clinton says if she's elected and congress won't do comprehensive immigration reform, she will expand on the president's executive actions, but the president has said that he's taken authority as far as he legally can. has he changed his opinion, or what are his thoughts? josh: the president's views have not changed. in fact, we did take the extraordinary step of releasing the office of legal counsel's opinion where we talked about the limits of executive authority when it comes to taking steps to reform our broken immigration system. the president was determined to use as much of his authority as he could to bring some much-needed accountability to our system. that was reflected in the announcement that he made back in november on this. as you know, there are -- there are a portion of those steps

currently bottled up in the courts down in texas. we continue to be extremely confident in our legal position and our legal arguments, and that is working its way through that process. there are other elements of these reforms that we are implementing. the most prominent of those, the discretion that our law enforcement officers are of those individuals who pose a genuine threat to the community. those are the individuals we are seeking to protect our communities from. reporter: if a future president were to expand upon what he had done, would that be illegal? mr. ernest: that will be something for future presidents and future courts to decide.

reporter: is the president going to weigh in on whether [indiscernible] mr. ernest: the newly confirmed attorney general, loretta lynch is eminently qualified to make this decision. she dedicated a significant portion of her career to being a federal prosecutor, and she has a very good understanding of the way that law enforcement and prosecutorial enterprises should conduct themselves. there is a responsibility for the department of justice to ensure that justice is being instituted fairly, and she will make a decision about what role the department of justice should play in this matter. there are already two things underway here.

the first is the department of justice investigation into the death of fredi gay when he -- freddie gray when he was in the custody of the police. last fall, there was interest expressed by local officials to have the department of justice assist them as they sought to put in some reforms. ultimately, the patterns and practice investigation will be a decision made by the attorney and by the appropriate officials at the department of justice. reporter: the president spoke about discrimination in law enforcement and that statistics show that. does he think that the doj is the right way to address that? mr. earnest: i think the president was very specific about his beliefs that the vast majority of law enforcement officers across this country put their lives on the line to protect the communities they are

sworn to serve and the president believes we need to be appreciative of the commitment that the vast majority of our law enforcement officers make to doing their work and doing it fairly in pursuit of justice. the president has often been clear, as he was in the rose garden last week that it is unfair for us to ultimately put it on the shoulders of law enforcement officers to deal with the wide ranging and deeply entrenched problems that plague so many economically disadvantaged communities across the country, not just in urban communities, but in rural communities as well. it is a responsibility for all of us, not just those in law enforcement, to think about what we can do to address the root causes of these problems. as it relates to some instances where it does seem apparent that the law is not being implemented

and enforced in a unicorn -- uniform way across the board there are a variety of steps we can take to address those inequities. that is part of what was proposed in the 21st century policing task force report. there are some steps that can be taken to -- and have been taken in some communities to good effect to rebuild the bond the between local members of the community and the law enforcement in the communities in which they work. there is a role for the justice department to play. it is not necessarily a role they play independently. i am trying to be respectful of their role in the process even as i answer this question. there is a place for them to use their independent perch to

mandate needed changes, and they should have the opportunity to conduct those investigations, reach those conclusions, and put them forward at a time and place of their choosing. reporter: iran is still holding onto a ship and is saying it will do so until a legal dispute has been settled. is the united states involved with iran or the danish authorities about that dispute and do you think they're handling it appropriately? mr. earnest: this is a situation we continue to monitor. the department of defense is doing that. the a rainy and have suggested the reason for the actions they took was related to -- iranians have suggested the reason for the actions they took was related to a legal dispute. there has been a suggestion that

those legal difficulties could be solved in the next few days and the ship will be released. reporter: do you think iran is handling this correctly? mr. earnest: at this point, i would not render judgment on how they are handling it. there are no u.s. citizens on the ship or otherwise involved. what we have been talking about more than usual in this room for the last couple of weeks is the vested u.s. interest in the free flow of commerce in this region of the world. there is no doubt that these kinds of actions do start to raise those questions. that would explain why the united states continues to monitor the situation. reporter: the fighting in yemen continues to have civilian casualties and aid organizations

say they main need to stop their work there because of fuel shortages. what more can the united states do to relieve the humanitarian situation? mr. earnest: the first thing i want to point out is that earlier today the united states did announce the release of $16 million for yemen. we know that there are some 60 million people in the country who are in need of assistance including 300,000 newly displaced people. we have talked at length about the dire humanitarian situation in that country. there are pretty urgent shortages of basic necessities like food, medicine, fuel, and it's having a significant impact on civilians who are caught in the crossfire. we welcome the recent statements from the saudi foreign minister

ensuring that humanitarian assistance is getting to the people who need it. we strongly urge the coalition to get those in need the necessary assistance. i think you also know that secretary of state john kerry is arriving in riyadh today. among the many things he will be discussing with saudi officials are the details of implementing a humanitarian cause. i would refer you to my colleagues at the state department about the details of that trip. given the dire situation in that country, we believe that the implementation a few military and causes is important to try to bring relief. more important lay, we

understand a legitimate concern saudi's have about the situation along their southern border. the united states has, for a number of weeks provided logistical support and intelligence support to coalition countries that are trying to address the security situation. however, we believe it is time for all sides to try to resolve these differences peacefully. reporter: can you give us a sense of when the next round of u.s.-cuba talks will take place? mr. earnest: the united states treasury department issued some new regulations just yesterday about ferry service between the united states and cuba. that is an indication that we are continuing to take steps to normalize a relationship between our two countries.

we do believe that a ferry service between south florida and cuba will provide another important opportunity to increase the people to people contact between the united states and cuba. we are going to continue to take steps on the path to normalizing relations but i don't have an update for when the next talk is scheduled. reporter: are you concerned about casualties in yemen? the saudis have moved into a new phase but there are reports of civilian casualties. how do you feel about that? mr. earnest: michelle, we continue to be concerned about the impact of fighting on civilians in yemen. there's a pretty dire humanitarian situation shortages of food, fuel, and

medicine in the country. that's having a negative impact on many lives. we continue to be concerned about unmindful of those needs and that is why the united states has announced additional assistance there. anytime you have chaos in a country like this, there are going to be concerns about innocent civilians being caught in the crossfire. we are pleased that the saudi's have indicated a willingness to scale back their efforts, but we have not seen a corresponding response from the rebels indicating a willingness to cease their operations and bring about a dialogue necessary to resolve the differences between all the parties. reporter: there are u.s. ships present. iranian ships turned away at one

point. there's an ongoing nuclear negotiation. do you feel that iran is still playing the same role, or is there a change in the situation? mr. earnest: i don't have an update in terms of our latest assessment of the ties between the rebels and iran. we have this breast -- we have expressed concerns in the past about the impact on the broader region. it is consistent with destabilizing activities we have seen from iran for some time as it relates to the political situation in the middle east. we continue to be concerned about that. i continue to make the case that that is one of the reasons we need to place a priority on preventing iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and we believe the best way to do that is through diplomacy. reporter: just to be clear, you think there has not been a change in how iran is -- mr. earnest: what i have said in

the past is we know there is material support iran has provided to the rebels, but i don't have additional details. reporter: the gulf states don't feel it they are getting a lot of support from the administration. he said they are acting on their own and that is why the saudi's only gave minimum notice before the airstrikes in yemen. mr. earnest: i don't think that is how the saudi's or our golf partners would characterize the level of support they receive from the united states government. the u.s. has supported the coalition in terms of logistical support and intelligence. in fact, john kerry is in saudi arabia today to further coordinate our efforts particularly as it relates to the details of implementing humanitarian causes to try to

allow international aid organizations to bring much-needed supplies to the civilian population there. as you know, next week the president has planned to bring the leaders of the gdc countries to camp david for intensive consultations about our security cooperation with those countries. the united states obviously has a long history in terms of our security relationship with these countries. that relationship has been good for security. it has also been beneficial to the security of the american people. the president is committed to strengthening that relationship, and in fact, one of the chief benefits of preventing iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is that it will have a corresponding positive impact on the security situation of our partners in the region. reporter: retired justice

stevens this week said the government should compensate detainees at gitmo. wonder what your thoughts are on that. he specifically said those that were not deemed a security threat but that remained in custody for years. mr. earnest: the president has placed a priority on closing the prison at guantanamo bay since his first days in office. unfortunately, we have seen congress he wrecked barriers to the completion of that goal. the president is disappointed by that congressional activity. he has made the case publicly many times and privately to members of congress that keeping that prison open is not beneficial to the united states of america and our security. it is not a good use of resources to keep the facility open and operating. it is not a wise use of taxpayer

dollars. the president believes in and is continuing to pursue the responsible closing of that facility. i have seen the news reports about justice stevens's remarks, but i did not read the specific text and i don't have a specific reaction. [indiscernible] mr. earnest: again i didn't see the substance of his remarks, so i would not have a comment. reporter: can you explain why the president chose nike as a site to advance his trade initiative? it is a company that got a norm asleep profitable by sending jobs offshore, not employing american -- got enormously profitable by sending jobs offshore, not employing

americans, and using sweatshops. mr. earnest: i would refer you to nike for the specific criticisms you have outlined. i am sure they would be happy to explain their record to you on these issues. we will have more about the president's trip as he travels west later this week. what i can say is a general matter is that the president is looking forward to visiting the nike headquarters and using it to illustrate how a responsible trade agreement that includes enforceable labor and environmental standards would strongly benefit middle-class families and the american economy. that is why the president is pursuing that kind of agreement with the countries in the asia-pacific. we are trying to work in bipartisan fashion to promote

trade legislation that would make it easier to reach that agreement. we continue to work to build bipartisan support. reporter: critics say the environmental and labor standards are the ones that were in previous agreements that have not really changed conditions on the ground for workers. what assurances are there that they will be more enforceable than past agreements? mr. earnest: the key difference here is that the contemplated in the transpacific partnership are provisions that would be enforceable. nafta has previously been cited by critics of this potential trade agreement. in nafta, efforts to raise labor and environmental standards were essentially included in letters on the sidelines of the agreements. the way the trade promotion authority legislation has been worked out and what the president in visions for the

transpacific partnership agreement is to ensure that those labor and environmental agreements are written into the agreement to make sure they can be enforced. again that is indicative of the precedence commitment to ensuring that we are maximizing the opportunity that exists for the american economy and most importantly, for american middle-class families, when it comes to the terms of this agreement. the view of the president is that the united states is not the one that is engaging in this economically dynamic region of the world. we are essentially ceding ground to china and china will most assuredly try to write rules of the road that further disadvantage american companies who are trying to do business in this region of the world. at a minimum, we know they would lock in the current low level -- low labor standards in place. we know they would lock in the

low environmental standards because that gives them an advantage. what the president envisions is going in and reaching an agreement that would raise those standards, essentially leveling the playing field. the president continues to be confident that if american workers have a level playing field on which to compete, they are going to perform very well. reporter: senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is expected to bring a test vote to the floor tomorrow on iran. i am curious how the president feels about that. does he believe it is a bipartisan effort? mr. earnest: if it reflects the bipartisan compromise reached in committee, in which democrats

and republicans unanimously supported the legislation, we have already indicated that that is legislation the president would be willing to sign. again, we have to see what happens on the floor. there have been a wide range of amendments offered or at least publicly discussed. they would either undermine the fundamental unanimous compromise or they would interfere with our ability to continue negotiations or implement a final agreement. as long as they don't violate those -- as long as amendments that don't violate those criteria are not tacked on at the last minute, then i would imagine the president will sign. reporter: we want to stay with iran for just a second. the supreme leader saying that at least to you this -- two u.s. officials have threatened iran with military action if the risk once -- if the talks fail. mr. earnest: i am not sure who

the officials are that are referred to in that report. it continues to be the view of the president that by far the best way to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is to engage in diplomacy with the international community. the framework of the agreement that emerged in april would shutdown every pathway iran has to a nuclear weapon and ensure that iran cooperates with the most intrusive set of inspections that have ever been imposed on a country's nuclear program. that is the best way for us to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. it will not, however, address the long list of concerns we have about iranian behavior in other areas. it is precisely because of that concern that we have made preventing iran from getting a nuclear weapon a top priority. reporter: was there a threat of military action? mr. earnest: again, i am not sure what those reports refer

to. reporter: lastly, i want to ask you about texas. any news about the allegation that isis may have been involved with the attack in texas? mr. earnest: no, i do not have an updated intelligence assessment to share. these facts are still being reviewed. let me see if i can give you a better sense of fort they are looking at. -- of what they are looking at. they are looking at doing more than just authenticating the claim published yesterday. the analysts want to review whether the claim is accurate and if so, at what level isis may have known of or potentially sanctioned this attempted attack. it's more than authenticating a twitter feed. it is examining what is said and authenticating that information.

there is a lot to review here and that work is not yet been completed. reporter: we reported that intelligence services did have two gunmen under surveillance. they were not high priority. do the various intelligence services not have the resources to monitor dangerous individuals like this? mr. earnest: the president has made countering violent extremism and priority. he convened leaders from across the country, including law enforcement and the intelligence community, to talk about this issue. this is something this administration is keenly aware of, and we are aware of the threat that it poses to the american people. there are any number of examples

of arrests that were made by law enforcement officials of individuals who either sought to travel to syria or the region to take up arms alongside isil or individuals who expressed a desire to carry out acts of violence in this country in the name of isil, so there is a robust response to this, both in terms of trying to prevent individuals from becoming radicalized in the first place but if they are, mobilizing law enforcement officials. reporter: it suggests that maybe the resources are not sufficient. you have a lot of people being monitored. here are two good you did not expect to do anything, and they did. mr. earnest: there are a lot of

challenges in trying to root out and prevent lone wolf attacks. based on what we know now -- and there is still a lot more that we have to learn -- this is consistent with a lone wolf attacks. two individuals do not appear to be part of a broader conspiracy. identifying those individuals in keeping tabs on them is a lot of work. even if our resources were unlimited, this is the kind of thing that would be difficult to deter and prevent. one of the things we can do is make sure we are clearly communicating with local law enforcement across jurisdictions to make sure they are prepared. when you have an event like the one we saw outside dallas over the weekend, that we know is likely to attract a lot of attention, we can make sure we are communicating with local law enforcement and beefing up resources to keep everybody participating in that event

safe. and that is what happened. reporter: following up on the question about immigration is the white house position that the president did all he could do within his powers on this issue? hillary clinton is now saying that what she would do using her executive powers if elected president, would be to extend action to parents of the dreamers, for example. given what you said your suggestion that what hillary is proposing is beyond what is legal. mr. earnest: i did not go to law school and i am not a judge, so i will not be able to render a legal opinion. reporter: you said the president did all that was within his legal power. mr. earnest: absolutely.

and we released the opinion of the legal counsel to buttress that opinion -- to buttress that action. reporter: hillary is saying she will go further. she is proposing to go beyond the bounds of what is legally permissible. mr. earnest: again i will let secretary clinton and her campaign described exactly what steps they envision making and why it is legal. i think we were surly heartened by the fact that secretary clinton so forcefully supported the president's executive actions. the other thing she said that also happens to be true is that the best way for us to solve this problem is for congress to act. mr. earnest:reporter: you said that legally the president went as far as he could. hillary clinton is saying she

would go further. mr. earnest: that is something you should ask them about. reporter: i am sure you watched the hearing with senator clinton today. mr. earnest: i was paying rapt attention. reporter: we heard from the senior official responsible saying that hillary clinton's use of private e-mail for public purposes is clearly beyond the bounds of what is permissible. do you agree with that? mr. earnest: i did not see who the official was. i was joking when i said i paid rapt attention. maybe i missed something good, but i didn't see it. reporter: the position was simply that the use of private e-mail for official business is

-- the message was loud and clear that that is not acceptable. mr. earnest: well, we have talked about the kind of guidance we give to administration officials particularly to white house officials, in terms of the use of e-mail. the guidance we received is to use public e-mail or government e-mail when carrying out official activities. reporter: so you would agree that the use of private e-mail for official business is clearly not acceptable. mr. earnest: this is a flashback to a couple of months ago, but again, the guidance we continued to give administration officials is that they should use their government e-mail when conducting the official business of the united states government. reporter: one other question on an entirely different subject. the family of one of the americans in prison and now in iran and a marine veteran who

served in iraq and afghanistan his family is now ask inga red cross -- asking the red cross to visit him. 17 months of the more than three years in prison have been in solitary confinement the use of tasers on his kidneys, sleep defloration -- sleep deprivation and a whole host of other terrible treatments, they are asking the red cross to look into that. mr. earnest: the vice president was traveling in detroit this week in and had an opportunity to meet with his family. they had a pretty long conversation about both the concerns that his family understandably has about the treatment of their loved one. the vice president also had the opportunity to detail for them the length the administration has gone to to try to secure the

release of him and other americans we believe are being unjustly held inside iran. those efforts continue. obviously, one of the reasons we would like to see those individuals released is that we are concerned about the kind of treatment they may be subjected to while they are imprisoned. our concerns about this are concerns that we share with the family. reporter: you can get back to me but again this is an american citizen, a marine veteran, the family of the red -- the family asking the red cross to be able to visit him because they are concerned about his health. can you tell us if the white house agrees with that? mr. earnest: i will. reporter: what was it about nike that scheduled you to meet out there? mr. earnest: we have not been to

the nike headquarters yet. once we have the event on friday, it will become much clearer to all of you why this is a useful illustration of the significant economic benefits us a gated with -- economic benefits for the american people and for middle-class families, associated with finalizing and implementing the transpacific partnership. my guess is there is an office somewhere with fairy well compensated and extremely skilled professionals -- communication professionals who have all sorts of nice things to say about nike. what i am saying is that on friday, we will have a more specific robust discussion about why exactly the president is there. something i look forward to. i hope you do as well. reporter: you mentioned the

counter extremism summit. i wonder if the white house is planning any additional actions or programs to address this problem. reporter: part of the goal of the summit was to try to amass best practices to identify what communities across the country are doing to prevent certain individuals from being radicalized, and applying those lessons and best practices in other communities as well. there is an important role that the administration can play to help other communities meet this challenge. this is ongoing work. it is something we continue to be very focused on. reporter: there is a bill in the house with a tassel over immigration language.

i wonder if the white house is concerned that another piece of legislation is being held up by an immigration fight. mr. earnest: we have indicated a long list of concerns with a variety of provisions in the defense authorization, including continued reliance on us lush fund to fund basic -- a slush fund to fund basic priorities. i don't know about the immigration issue you're talking about, but it would be consistent with the kind of actions we have seen republicans take in the past two try to inner -- to try to interfere with must pass legislation by attaching unrelated, controversial ideological writers -- riders. reporter: cities like baltimore say that trade affected the city, by many industries leaving

and going to another country. that is why we have poverty in our cities, particularly places like baltimore, because of this trade. what are the safeguards in this proposal when it comes to protecting cities to prevent the kinds of cycles of poverty that we are seeing? mr. earnest: the argument the president has made is that to not try to address this essentially locks in that status quo. right now we have seen companies take it manage of unfair labor practices in other countries in order to get a competitive advantage. and those on the knees -- those companies did leave the united states to pursue cheaper labor, and that did have an

impact economically across the country. what the president is saying is that if you're concerned about that impact, you should support raising labor and environmental standards around the world. if we raise those standards, we level the playing field, and no longer will companies have an incentive to ship jobs overseas. in fact, they will now have an incentive to ship jobs back to america because america has the advantages, the best colleges in the world, the most innovative economy in terms of people being able to take good ideas to market and to capitalize them quickly. we know that america has the most ambitious entrepreneurs the hardest working people. if you are concerned about the impact previous trade agreements have had on communities, what you want to do is try to level the playing field. the way you level that playing field is by entering into the trade agreements that include enforceable labor provisions,

because if we don't, we know that china will step in. china will either lock in labor standards or seek to lower them further. it will put american businesses at an even bigger disadvantage and create incentives for companies in the united states to try to go benefit from cheaper labor. if we want to stop the cycle you refer to, one important step we can take is to give more u.s. businesses the opportunity to do business overseas. reporter: there has been a light on baltimore, particularly in the area freddie gray came from. what is the president prepared to do about those areas? of magnifying glasses on it, and people are saying we didn't know that was there all along.

what is the president prepared to do in the last remaining years or months that you have to try to begin to change the tide in these core demographic areas. mr. earnest: the first saying i would point out is that the dire economic situation in certain places in baltimore may be new to some people, but it is not new to this president. a year ago, the president travel to baltimore and visited a school that had a very successful kindergarten program. he spent time at a local business that was capitalizing on creating jobs at the port. he also traveled to the center for urban families, a nonprofit organization geared toward supporting principally young men of color, but those communities of color, as they sought to get job-training skills that would allow them to get a job and provide for their family. the president is keenly aware of

these challenges particularly as they relate to baltimore, and he is been focused on trying to address these challenges even if other people are not paying attention. he's trying to pass criminal justice reform get early childhood education for every child in america, ensure that hard-working college students can have access to years of free community college. there are a number of steps we can take. there are a handful that we feel where he may have an opportunity to capitalize on bipartisan agreement to make progress. but many of the things i have listed are things republicans have vastly opposed. and that's unfortunate. and when i say republicans, i just mean republicans in congress. some of these things are the kinds of things republicans across the country support, but

for political reasons, republicans in congress locked the efforts we know would make a material difference in the lives of men and women in economically disadvantaged communities across the country, both in urban settings like baltimore, but also in rural settings, where you see americans who are locked in a similar cycle of poverty. reporter: is the president thinking of going to baltimore? the situation is calming. mr. earnest: i don't have any updates on the president's schedule. i don't anticipate him traveling to baltimore in the near future but i think the president himself has indicated a desire to go back there at some point. reporter: going back to yemen there is not a serious -- there is now a serious humanitarian crisis. was the saudi air campaign a bad idea?

mr. earnest: the saudi's launched an air campaign in conjunction with some of their allies in the region because they have concerns about the security situation along the southern border. what you cited is an illustration of the concerns they have. united states has offered our support to the saudi's and to the broader coalition in the form of logistical support and intelligence assets that we can use to benefit their efforts. what we've told the saudi's is the same thing we have said publicly. the only resolution is a resolution that starts with all parties engaging in diplomatic negotiations to try to resolve their differences. we have been gratified that the saudis have indicated a willingness to deescalate their campaign but we have not seen anything on the part of the rebels. if anything, we have seen them accelerate their action and that

has been counterproductive to the broader efforts to stabilize the turmoil inside yemen. just as importantly, and perhaps more urgently address the humanitarian need in the country. reporter: would you agree that yemen is no closer to prosperity and stability than it was when the airstrikes began? . mr. earnest: i think the principle cause of the instability is the rebels engaged in unceasing violence for the last several months in a way that has destabilized the central government pretty dramatically and thrown the nation into even more turmoil and chaos than they previously experienced. the saudi and the gulf coast -- or the gcc coalition, i think has responded to the understandable concerns they have about the possibility of that violence and chaos breading

to their countries. -- spreading to their countries. again, the clearest illustration occurred in the last one he four hours. -- 24 hours. the rebels fired shots into saudi territory. the united states has released additional resources to address the humanitarian need that is evident to anybody who looks at that country. anyone who looks at the saudi-gcc coalition through the provision of intelligence resources and logistical support. it's also why we encourage all sides to engage in this u.n. facilitated process, to try to bring about a political resolution to the conflict. reporter: final question on iraq . was there any discussion of a timetable [indiscernible] mr. earnest: if there was, i will not be able to read it from

here. reporter: the senate has said trade will come up after they finish the iran deal. the president is working on a deal in congress. is there an update on what sort of interaction there has been between the white house and leader mcconnell and whether the president has scheduled talks this week on the trade issue? mr. earnest: i can tell you the president has been engaged on this and continues to being gauged in making the case to democrats and republicans about the wisdom of pursuing this approach. those efforts have continued this week, but i don't have any details to share with you. reporter: including phone calls? mr. earnest: including conversations with members of congress yes. reporter: benjamin netanyahu is

facing a deadline to form a government. it looks like he may. will the white house invite him here for a meeting given all of the drama around the array talks after he forms a government -- iran talks after he forms a government? mr. earnest: the president did not envision a meeting with mr. netanyahu prior to the completion of a government. the president was also clear that would have no impact on the deep cooperation between our two countries. we know the support the united states provides to israel is critical to the safety and well-being of their people. that is a venture in which we are deeply vested and one that will continue. prime minister netanyahu himself has observed that the level of security cooperation between israel and the united states under president obama's watch

has been unprecedented, and the unprecedented cooperation continues. i do not have any additional meetings to announce at this point, but if and when a new government is formed i've prime minister then yahoo!, i would expect that the united states will continue -- formed by prime minister netanyahu, i would expect the united states will continue to work closely with the government. reporter: the armenian president is in d.c. this week. why didn't the president meet with him, and did it have anything to do with the ongoing issue of the use of the word genocide? mr. earnest: he did not meet with him because of his very busy schedule this week. but he will be attending a prayer service where the armenian president will be in attendance. reporter: there are some

questions raised and concerns about drones over baltimore. i am wondering if you can articulate what the administration's policy is on this type of surveillance especially given the concerns that they often catch a lot of people who are doing absolutely nothing wrong. mr. earnest: you will recall that within the last several months, the faa has put out some basic regulations regarding the private use of unmanned aerial vehicles -- drones. you can go to the faa for the details of those regulations. obviously, those kinds of regulations apply differently when it comes to law enforcement assets, but for questions about law enforcement, i would refer

you to the relevant law enforcement officials. i think that would be the fbi. reporter: does the administration have a policy on that? are there other conversations about it? or is this a situation where policy has not caught up to technology? mr. earnest: i am confident there is a policy, but if it refers to use of law enforcement assets, i would refer you to law enforcement. reporter: the governor is coming and pushing for a billion dollars for hospitals. what is the administration's message to the governor? mr. earnest: there have been a range of issues of concern about governor scott's willingness to work with the administration to maximize health care benefits for the people of his state. i asked about this right before he walked out here and the meeting was -- i before i walked

out here, and the meeting was still ongoing before i walked out here. i would know what to say anything before the meeting is concluded. i will get you some more information about how that meeting went. reporter: this week, governor fallin and obama signed a bill on mandatory sentencing. there is a bill, mike lee, dick durbin, is this all thing, given that there is pretty strong bipartisanship out there for criminal justice reform, that the president might get out in front of? there is a framework there with the league urban bill. mr. earnest: this is something the president has discussed with members of congress in both parties on a couple of occasions.

you will recall that a month or two ago the president did convene a meeting in the cabinet room to discuss this very issue. this is something the president would believe is important to address some concerns about inequities in the way the law is enforced. the president has been gratified that both democrats and republicans recognize that this is a priority and that putting in place extensive reforms would be good for the country. the president is certainly interested and willing to work with democrats and republicans anybody on either side of the aisle that understands why this is an important step for our countries to take. reporter: do you have any thoughts on the legislation that was signed this week? . mr. earnest: i am not familiar with it, so i will reserve comment. reporter: what about former speaker right? does the white house have any comment on him? former speaker jim wright?

any comment on his passing? mr. earnest: i was not aware that he it passed away. -- had passed away. reporter: there are reports from the cbc that president obama is using numbers to get trade passed in the house. i am wondering if that is a tough sell considering the baltimore issue and the loss of manufacturing jobs in urban areas around the country. reporter:mr. earnest: again, i think the response i shared with april's relevant. for those members of congress concerned about the impact previous trade agreements have had on their communities, it's all the more reason they should be supportive of the kind of transpacific partnership agreement the president envisioned. and the reason for that is

simple. failing to act in this way would essentially lock in the status quo. companies that have left seeking cheap labor are going to come back or would consider coming back if we can succeed in leveling the playing field. but right now they have a built-in incentive to capitalize on cheap labor in other countries. if the united states disengages, i think we are seeing an erosion of standards -- we will see an erosion of standards that only gives companies more incentive to invest outside the united states. if we can give a reason to invest in the most economically dynamic region of the world, not only will we give american businesses in this country an opportunity to compete on a level playing field, we will give his nurses around the world and incentive to consider

relocating in the united's -- businesses around the world and incentive to consider relocating to the united states. access to cheap labor out ways, in their calculation, other benefits available to them in the united states, things like a stable legal system where they can rely on the ability of their companies to do business here, access to the greatest colleges and best educated workforce in the world, access to the kind of innovation, research, and development going on in this country. if we can level the playing field, more businesses are going to consider those benefits in the united states, and that's going to give them a good reason or good reasons to further invest in this country. i believe that our case for why democrats should support a transpacific partnership agreement along the lines of what the president has described

is strongest among those who are concerned about the impact previous trade agreements with an enforceable labor and environmental provisions had on their communities. reporter: there is still a huge trade deficit. it's at an all-time high. i wonder if there's a way to sweeten the deal for congressional black caucus members by putting anything in the works to attract businesses to the blighted communities the president has talked so much about in the last few weeks. mr. earnest: there are a couple key facts were being mindful of. the first is that these numbers were taken from march, than the

month after the labor standoff at the west coast ports was resolved. there was an influx of ships and that would account for some of the increase in imports. the strong value of the dollar has had an impact on our trade relationships. more generally, what the president does envision, is doing everything we can to promote investment in all communities inside the united states. there are a variety of programs that commerce and small business administration could talk to you about in areas where investment is needed most, but any time a company is considering moving their business to the united states, that significantly increases the country. that is what we're focused on.

we know that contributes to gdp growth and job creation. jared. reporter: one follow-up about surveillance in baltimore. you responded about faa and drones. the cessna flying over was acting on behalf of both local and federal law enforcement. that violates potentially the 14th and fourth amendments respectively. the white house does not have a position on whether that is an inappropriate surveillance of thousands of people? mr. earnest: for those kind of questions, i would refer you to law enforcement. reporter: you don't think there is potential damage done if thousands of people are surveilled by aerial forces? mr. earnest: i'm not sure that is what happened. to confirm what happened, i would refer you to law enforcement. you don't have to spend as much

time conjecturing. you can actually deal in facts. reporter: is the white house saying that isn't what happened? mr. earnest: i am going to move on. reporter: what the president be ready to do an executive order [indiscernible] mr. earnest: the president has indicated a willingness to use as much of his executive authority as he can to take steps he believes are consistent with the national security interests of the united states and that is closing the prison a guantanamo bay. he does not believe the millions of dollars extended every year to keep the prison open are good use of taxpayer resources. it's not. it's counterproductive. unfortunately, we have not seen cooperation from congress in this regard. we have seen members of congress repeatedly go to great lengths to try to prevent the closure of the prison a guantanamo bay. that has been a source of

disappointment to the president and it has not prevented him from continuing to push his team to try to go as far as we can to reduce the population there and to ultimately get to a place where we can close that prison. reporter: these are nativ trial is coming to an end. the jury will decide life or death. mr. earnest: i would not want to weigh in while deliberations are ongoing. reporter: [indiscernible] mr. earnest: as i mentioned to jc yesterday i am going to reserve comment on the elections because i don't want to be in a position of even leaving you with the impression that we are favoring one side or the other. the president is monitoring the results of the election and awaiting the risk -- monitoring the election and awaiting the results.

because this is i am confident that relationship will under regardless of who the next british prime minister is. the depth of the relationship is so strong it will continue. reporter: the brits don't campaign on election day. interesting. mr. ernest: good luck with the british results. >> tomorrow, the right to -- loretta lynch is confirmed as attorney general. also, parliamentary elections in great britain, david cameron

seeking another term. his challenger is ed miliband. polls close at 5:00 eastern. c-span begins our simulcast of itv election night coverage. >> here is a look at our featured programs this weekend. saturday morning, we are live from greenville, south carolina. speakers include ted cruz, carly fee arena, and marco rubio. on mother's day, members of america's first family remember first ladies featuring the daughters of jackie kennedy lady bird johnson, and laura bush. on c-span 2, book tv's afterwords.

sunday evening the first female four-star general speaks about her life and military career. and interview of kurt cline who escaped the persecution of jews by coming to the u.s. and he question hitler's personal driver. in the 70's anniversary of the end of world war ii in europe with dignitaries and veterans commemorating the event in washington. get our complete schedule and c-span.org. >> here are the book festivals will be covering this spring. we will visit maryland for life coverage.

-- live coverage. we will close out at book expo america where the publishing industry showcases upcoming books. then we are live for the chicago tribune lit fest. that is this spring at c-span2. >> the new congressional directory is a guide to the 1 -- to the congress. also, district maps, a foldout of capitol hill, and a look at congressional committees. . order your copy today.

the next washington journal focuses on the criminal justice system in america. first a conversation on prison reform with fred patrick. nj correlates -- jake or let's talks about juvenile incarceration. then race and urban policing with lester spence. washington journal live on c-span with your coverage and tweets tomorrow morning. now, a conversation from this morning's washington journal on asymmetrical warfare. hour, we will head to fort ap help military base in virginia where pager will pick it up from here. host: the reason we are on this base, it is about an hour and a

half south of washington dc. the reason we are here is a -- is it is the site of asymmetrical warfare training. complete with multilevel buildings, a subway, a train station, even underground tunnel . the purpose is to have u.s. troops develop skills needed to fight in urban conflict zones. here to join us about the center and its mission is colonel john petkosek. he is the commander of the u.s. army asymmetric warfare group. thank you for joining us. guest: thank you for having me. host: can you tell us about these buildings behind us? guest: what i'd like to do is just put it into context in terms of why we have the training center here. the asymmetric warfare group provides operational advisory support for the army and joint force commanders. what that means is for things for the service here we provide operational advisers around the

world where u.s. forces are deployed. we do that too identify capability gaps. we develop solutions for those gaps and then integrate them into the army system. that is what the facility is designed for. it is a place to develop solutions for the army. it serves a secondary role as an army training center. host: these buildings are life-sized in realistic, but they are fake and a sense and used for training? guest: exactly. the army has always looked at the need to have a diverse place to train. in the past we had training areas that were simple concrete buildings but they did not provide the text sure that you need to get that our soldiers -- soldiers need today. the buildings of glass, windows, doors, all the things that a soldier would encounter. host: give us a feel of what we will find. this is an embassy behind us but we have some other structures as well.

guest: what we do see is the place is designed to be able to change to adapt to whatever environment our soldiers might be in. there is a six story building out there that might be and never see one day and maybe a hotel on another and eight warehouse on another. we can change the settings to meet the kind of environment our soldiers are going to face. we are trying to provide a place that can a variety of training areas so we get the most utility for it. host: you are going to see video of soldiers at a been here at the asymmetric warfare training center, running scenarios in these various types of buildings. you will see a lot of examples that we will get the kernel to talk about. we will talk more about the purpose of the center. the mission of the group. if you have questions about this kind of training that goes on, about the center, about how it is used worldwide, now's your chance to do so would john -- colonel john petkosek. here's how you can call. on the eastern and central time

(202) 748-8000. in the central and pacific time zones you can call (202) 748-8001. other areas of the world can call (202) 748-8002. tell us a little about the places where once they are trained, where the soldiers go? what kind of involvement are the and worldwide? guest: soldiers today are employed all over the world. when you look at with the u.s. army is doing and the u.s. military, we are doing different things. the recent ebola outbreak in africa. there were army soldiers helping beers we can nepal. -- earthquake in nepal. they can be anywhere around the world. the facility is designed for us to replicate the kind of environments we may face around the world. when you talked about the subterranean portion of it, that is a big thing.

we have to look at something -- if they have to go in to a subterranean environment. the first time they are doing it should not be the first of a try to save a life. these are the types of equipment i need to the commerce these missions. it supports soldiers deployed all around the world. that is what it is built for and it is tailorable so that we can replicate any environment. host: give some examples of recent training is gone in here and areas of the world where they have been involved?. guest: i think one of the best ones you talked about was the tunnels and subterranean pieces. what we realized early on is you see the environment around the world. sometimes you see continuity there. when we originally designed the facility, we were heavily engaged in afghanistan. at that time, the soldiers faced these water draining systems.

they had to understand how to go down into those. how to fight in those things. it started out that way. only look at the subterranean threat in other places around the world with economic plight you look at -- where that can apply, you look at bunkers were chemical weapons i be stored in a country like syria where they took them out and destroyed them. they have to be able to go and do that. this is a threat you might see anywhere around the world. host: in fact, we shot video of people in 1500 feet of tunnels. we have video of it of soldiers and training. that is what goes on here the asymmetric warfare training center. we are here to take your call and talk to colonel john petkosek, the commander of the asymmetric warfare group. the first call is from herbie in mississippi. go ahead. caller: good morning.

these buildings look like united states buildings. the way the police are throwing back -- black people in the inner cities in the uprising here in america, it looks like we are getting to fight against her own people here. it looks like you guys are trading to invade the inner-city . it is mighty strange because everyone is training to do some thing overseas. it does not look like overseas training. it looks like this is right here in america and that is kind of scary because of the situation where he can i get police locked up for what they are doing to civilians. and the stuff that is going on here in america. it is kind of damaging. you all are doing so they secretly here, i think. guest: herbie, that is not really true. what we are doing is training u.s. soldiers to operate in any contingency around the world. when you look at what the u.s. army soldiers do, they have to

be able to operate from disaster relief to high-end military conflict. that is what the center is designed for. to be able to replicate any environment we might have to fight in. as we said, we are in virginia and that is where we live. we are stationed in the united states. the center is located here, so it is convenient and easy to train on. really what you said is far from the truth. we want to be able to replicate any environment where our soldiers might be able to fight. as a said earlier, we used to train very rudimentary training facilities with simple concrete buildings and our soldiers were not prepared as well as they could of been by just adding a little bit of texture. this facility is designed to increase soldier survivability and save lives in combat. that is what it is for. i think if we put it in that context, that is what the u.s. army is doing with this facility. (202) 748-8000 for those of you

in the eastern and central time zones. for mountain and pacific, (202) 748-8001. for active military, (202) 748-8002. our guest is colonel john petkosek. john from pennsylvania, you are up next. caller: hi. i am concerned like the last caller. i sell your facility on the internet. i saw someone in john deere caps saying please is a my guns. i've seen your videotape. what safety, or what do we have to guarantee us that these training facilities are not being used to confiscate our guns in case of another economic meltdown like we had in 2008? like the gun confiscation that went on during katrina. u.s. troops in afghanistan walk

the streets of new orleans and confiscated every gun that was there. what do we have to guarantee that we will be protected from that non-happening in mass like it did in katrina. thousands of guns were confiscated by regular army and national guard units. guest: i cannot speak about what happened in katrina, but i can say i do know everything on the internet is not necessarily true as we see it. you come back to what the facility is designed for, we shared very openly. there are no secrets to be had. the united states constitution is what protects us and that is what the u.s. army is for, to support and defend the constitution. and i would hope that all of us -- our listeners and viewers out there would appreciate what our soldiers are doing for this on a day-to-day basis. it is the opposite of what you articulated. host: if the idea is to come up

with solutions for situations across the world, how are the solutions? developed who comes up with the strategies? guest: when you talk about the subterranean piece, i think that is a great example. when they realized we had difficulty whether it was operating in afghanistan or in bunkers or how are your gun get into these places, what we were able to do is look at some the historical samples -- examples in the past. the last on the u.s. army faced a threat like this was in the tunnels of vietnam. we looked at howard that our soldiers fight their. how do they fight in open our. -- open our --okinawa. we use the facility to build underground bunkers and realize if there is a metal door, how will we breach the door? once we do that, how will we get in there? what if we have to evacuate casualties? we develop material and nonmaterial solutions.

a particular way to carry your kit. or we realized he might need a different kind of get to operate in an environment. how are you going to brief? one of their fire and smoke? how are you going to operate? that is one of the great things we do here. once we do that, what is really special about this particular organization and what we do for the army's we have the ability to take that we weren't and institutionalize it. that is what we -- it is about. how quickly can the army learn. when we talk about what is special about the u.s. army, it is not about the tanks of the ships or the things that we have. it is the people. and our ability to adapt rapidly , more rapidly than our adversary is really what is special. i think this is a location where we can adapt quickly and you can see change happen right here. host: before we go too far in this topic of asymmetric warfare, defined what it is in english. it defines a change in nature as

far of those that would use this type of warfare and can't -- conflict zones. guest: what i think about is there are two dissimilar forces. the way that they approach a fight with equipment they have. you don't attack an enemy's strength, you attack his weakness. the best way to articulate is the way world war i was fought. that was asymmetric conflict. it was all about who of the most guns and him and hammy soldiers you can get on the ground. the armies were essentially the same and it was whoever could get there the fastest with the most. you had to similar forces clashing. at a point during that war summit he came over the idea and said what we put a machine gun under the cover of armor and we called it a tank. that is an asymmetric approach to try to overcome your adversary by attacking his weaker point. that would be able to attack with a tank.

that is how warfare evolved. if you're going to succeed in conflict, you don't want to attack your enemies strength. when you going to a config like that anyone soldiers to survive and come home, you want to make sure it is not a fair fight in that u.s. soldiers are equipped as best they can and best repair for that type of conflict. host: our urban centers the new battleground? guest: when you look at what is happening in the world today there is a huge population growth. you look at the growth of the megacities all of the world where there are millions of people in very close quarters. if conflict is going to occur in regions like that, we want our soldiers to be able to understand what they have to apply in those environments. you want to do it here in virginia the first time we call on her shoulder to have to figure out how you're going to get to the top of that five-story building with no elevator, no rope. host: lenny from arizona you are

next. ahead. caller: good morning, colonel. i went to alert our citizens and get an excellent nation if we could for jade helm 15 which is all over the internet. it involves 10 states and there will be civilians participating in towns like big spring, texas. could you explain the magnitude of that and what the purpose that is? apparently they have crisis actors in their enemy soldiers dressed in uniform and nonuniform. critics when it to us? thank you very much. guest: unfortunately it is not selling i am familiar with. i cannot really explain that. i do know that those type of things are things that we do here. we give our soldiers the opportunity to work in an environment where there are civilians and soldiers. one of the things i could talk about, unfortunately, i don't know about that particular exercise, but when you talk

about soldiers operating in an environment with civilians one of the things were looking at here is a program of using autonomous robots. we take a number of robots that can operate independently and walk up and down the streets. we can dress them up and uniforms or a civilians and we can use it as a chance here to trainer soldiers how to discriminate between primitive -- friendly forces and those that need to be evacuated. that is one of the great things we can do here at ap hill. host: tim in florida, your next. caller: good morning. i wanted to do differentiate the people between the politicians and the patriotic individuals like the kernel there. i am wondering when we are doing international foreign warfare -- urban warfare, where be going around the world and getting involved in international urban

warfare? we are hated everywhere. people come here to do things i could do in texas. there is only one of you were that. why can't people mind their own business? i thought we were broken only have this ongoing military in parts of the country. a lot of the people i speak for, we support people in the military. we do not support people's formulae these wacko policies by overthrowing the government of ukraine and putting in people who were not elected because there's trouble with russia and they are in the crimea and they are interfering with the u.s. starting problems in the middle east. thank you. guest: you bring up a good point. the world it has changed quite a bit in just a short time that i've been in the military. when i first came into the army what really drove the military strategy was something called

airland battle. we had to win against an enemy. i was a lieutenant in the cold war was still going on. that was the war we faced. it was a math problem. we had have better tanks and aircraft and we had to be able to fight a force that we know in a very symmetric way. the world has changed. the army has changed with it. the army has change their operating concept to say what we want our soldiers to be able to do now? that is fight in a conflict -- complex world were asymmetric threats are out there. this facility that you see here today is meant to replicate that so we can prepare our soldiers to do things where we might not know they're going to operate in the future. i really think that the facility itself here is designed to serve our army and help our soldiers face the challenges they are going to face in the future. we really do not know what that is going to be. it is a very, gated world of their and things have changed.

we want our soldiers to be agile and adaptive leaders and soldiers so we can do, is what our nation asks host:. host:host: ford ap hill in virginia. 300 acres devoted to these buildings reaction you this morning. also, tunnels underneath and very structures on the campus. justin from petaluma california. go ahead. guest:caller: i have to reflect what a lot of the colors have said today. this is just very scary stuff. this looks almost like american cities rather than being prepared for what we are going to face in other countries. as the colonel said, we have be prepared for this and all of that.

this is almost almost -- every caller and i think everyone understands this is a very scary and new thing that the military looks like it is going to be taking on. they could be against its very own people. the american people. everything i have seen except for the one mosque has been in english, main street. main street. host: but our guest respond. guest: what i would say is that it is a very, gated world out there and you should not find it scary or frightening. it is reassuring that we are fighting our soldiers to be able to operate across a broad spectrum of facilities. as i said, i have been in the army a little bit of time and we walked through the woods learning how to fight in the

would like and how to navigate with a map and compass and areas like that. and then came to realize that when we were called by our nation to perform a mission, we were operating in an urban center. and how we did that, whether it was us helping soldiers operating in the current conflicts that we must recently operated in, all of those were it in an urban environment. we had to learn how to operate in and among were people are. the u.s. military as we operate across the world, there are enemy forces and they makes themselves and with family forces all the time. the robot example i gave. we need to be able to have her soldiers discriminate between what is friendly and what is enemy. when i was growing up in the army, one of the things he used to say about our soldiers is no soldier is doing the right thing when they do the right thing when nobody is watching them.

our soldiers are disciplined in doing the right thing. as the world changed, we have to build ask her soldiers to do the right thing when the whole world is watching because there are a lot of things out there on the internet. whatever we do is going to be out there and broadcast. we don't have any secrets to hide. this is a great opportunity for us to showcase what are people -- our soldiers are doing for the iraqi people. -- american people. host: you do have a church in a mosque. what are the relevance of the structures? guest: it could be a church today and a town hall tomorrow in a store the next day. what is important about the environment as we replicated, we wonder soldiers to be sensitive to the fact that all these things are going to be encountered when they are out operating around the world. we all know the media reports of soldiers causing harm to our cause by being insensitive to those things.

i haven't is located here, we can sensitizer soldiers to the fact that you will be operating around places that are since -- sensitive. that is the kind of thing people will be emotional about how we want them comfortable operating in an environment here in virginia because for they go forward. -- before they go forward. an earlier commander of the group used to say you have to become double being uncomfortable. -- the comfortable being uncomfortable. we have to not only become double in these -- and be comparable in these situations, our soldiers have to be able to thrive. that is what we are doing here at fort ap hill. we are providing all these cues that'll make them think because that is what we want our soldiers today. our motto is think, adapt, and participate. that is what we want our soldiers to do in virginia before they go into harms way.

host: you are hearing from colonel john petkosek, talking about this training center and asymmetric warfare. next is vincent in dayton, ohio. go ahead. caller: sir, my question is for the national guard units and domestic law enforcement authorities also using the center for their training. guest: vincent, all different types of units use this facility. it is a national asset, a military asset. it is used all different times. even this afternoon it will be used by a unit coming in as a law enforcement unit to understand how to operate in these environments. it is not just the army. it is the joint force. we use this facility by the

army navy, air force, marines, other government agencies use it, and they use it to come here so they can train to do what we're going to ask them to do, wherever that might be around the world. it is used by a number of organizations and all of those organizations are able to benefit from the investment that the american people made here in virginia. that is what we are trying to do here. we built this facility and it is great. it is one of those places where you can broaden the possibilities for training the things we might not even have thought of. that is what we are trying to achieve here. sometimes we learn from our partners in that respect. we might work with other organizations that say here is a way that you can go down into a tunnel and be able to brief that we might not have explored. this is one of those places where we can share information. host: are there international partners a coming train? guest: they have come here periodically.

for example, one of the things we might do is typically what we do in the asymmetric warfare group is we work by, with, and through other u.s. organizations. we might not necessarily work with foreign forces, but other elements do. one of the things we look at his what soldiers, upon a facility and it might be an ied making facility or a lab are one of those kind of facilities, we replicate them here. a can see it firsthand here before they are faced with that in reality. it comes to mind because one of our recent partners here as we've been working with is the mexicans. they have come to look at the facility to differentiate between a drug lab and in ied lab. if you break this glass jar and some kind of gas comes