robert m gates. the book is "a passion for leadership, lessons on change and reform from 50 years of the service." thank you. secretary gates: thank you for having me. ♪ >> for free transcripts or to give us your comment about this org"ram, visit us at "q&a. these programs are also available as c-span podcasts. if you like this week's "q&a" interview, here are some others you may enjoy. we talk about his book on the two-party system in his op-ed on secretary gates former memoir. we take on the history of the navy and her role as vice chief of naval operations.

you can watch these interviews and others online at c-span.org. >> monday night on the communicators, the longest-serving fcc commissioner talked about the major communication issues including the cost of phone services between intimates, the unlimited streaming by internet providers. he is joined by a wall street journal reporter. >> we should always be evolving, always improving and always attempting to bridge gaps so people can help themselves. this is about enabling individuals to help themselves, providing them with the technological means to get in touch so they can improve.

they need to have educational gapsns, to bridge those , says >> how do we use technology to close them? announcer: what's the communicators at a neglect eastern on c-span 2 -- 8:00 eastern on c-span 2. road to the white house began in iowa. the caucuses which date back to 1972, and then we moved to new hampshire, the quintessential first in the nation primary that has a long and rich history. now we begin to test the candidates and their history. we moved south to the south carolina primary and then nevada . more than likely we will see a number of candidates rabidly dropout, and the field will narrow. and we move into march, winner take all primaries meeting the

delegate count will be critical. as we watch that continue for the candidates, we get a better sense of whose message is resonating and who is on the path to a nomination. next, primeoming up minister's questions at the british house of commons. and then secretary jeh johnson talks about priority for his department in 2016. later, another just to see our conversation with former defense secretary robert gates. during question time this week, british prime minister david cameron answered several questions on the public housing program. he also spoke about youth unemployment and the outcome of the syria donors conference. jeremy corbyn: questions to the prime minister.

>> thank you, mr. speaker. i know the whole house has been cited by the death of harry houtman to cancer. as advisor to david blunkett, he was returned to this, seceding david blunkett himself. he quickly became a popular md, recognized for his commitment to his constituents and his beliefs. it is a measure of the man he can continue to carry out his work after his treatment. we offer his children and wife are profound condolences. i now with colleagues and others, and in addition to my duties, i will have other meetings later today. >> may i say, myself alongside colleagues with the sentiments , for sheffield and rights are.

you -- bright side. i am sure the whole house send our condolences to the family at this time. housing is the number one issue in my constituency. ,ueries on a local plan strongly offering the viewer conservative value of the right to buy. when the prime minister agree that with our how to fight isis, one during the being taken out every 30 seconds, are the right way to promote those savings and membership? david cameron: i have to agree with my honorable friends. one of the most difficult things for young people is to get that first deposit together. and then to buy devices where the match the money. a quarter of a million first-time buyers have health to buy this.

we have seen 40,000 people exercise this right. we are extending that to all housing associations, and we have seen 130,000 people with health divide getting the first house. mostlys more to do, building houses but helping people with their deposit is good for our country. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i joined the prime minister in paying tribute to harry hartman. there was a former minor that passed away last week. a short time ago, inherit used his last question to ask the prime minister russians about the sheffield forge masters. i hope the prime minister will reflect on his diligence in representing that industry as it is agency. -- as his constituency. david cameron: i had a nice

conversation with his widow and family. i asked them to say how would they like to remember harry, and she gave me this message, which i will read out. we have admired the bravery and courage he showed in his life, which was formed during the miners strike and carried him forward to the rest of his life. the for the whole house and rest of the community will remember harry as a decent, honorable man, absolutely dedicated to his community and constituents. we are very sad with his passing. mr. speaker, also following the members at easley, i have a question on housing. i have an e-mail from rosie in her 20's -- [laughter] [applause] [indiscernible]

unfortunately, mr. speaker we don't have the same good housing [indiscernible] but after spring internal, rosie has written to me, in her 20's, workhe says -- my incredibly hard at my job, yet i still live at home with my parents. the lack of housing options, mr. speaker, are forcing her to leaving moving, even the country. she asks the prime minister what acted he is going to take to help young people and young families suffering from unrealistic house rices and untapped rates to get somewhere safe and secure to live. david cameron: first of all, when you get elected, that

usually spells trouble. [laughter] rosie, thed say to rosie that wrote to you is we want to do everything to help young people get on the letter. that is why we have these help isas, and we are cutting taxes. £ 11,000 pounds. she would be able to buy that home, because we are extending the right to buy, and with help supplies she will have the opportunity to register for help to buy, which helps people have a smaller deposit in owning their own home. if she is not owning that much money but wants to be a homeowner, shared ownership to make a real difference in some parts of the country. £2000ly need a deposit of to be a homeowner. i recognize building more houses

following this speech we have got to deliver rosie. jeremy corbyn: michael corbin. >> i am proud for this. as we know, london is very expensive. he talked about people getting on the housing ballot, but the reality is that homeownership has fallen by 200,000, a million under the last labor government. it is somewhat a failure on housing. he said the council hopes selling the right to buy would be replaced with the like. can the prime minister tell us how that policy is panning out? david cameron: let me start with what happened on the right to buy sales, because what happened built, canceled home was 170was built for every

houses sold. that is the record. we have said we will make sure that two homes are built for every canceled home in london that is sold. that is because my honorable friend insisted on that in amendment to the housing bill. these take some years to build, but the money for that, it comes back to the treasury. mr. speaker, the prime minister ought to be aware that one home hasn't built for every eight under his government. people are finding it difficult to find anywhere to live. -- supportedort housing are put at risk, hundreds of elderly people, or veterans, women fleeing domestic violence that need support. can the prime minister tell the house what the housing providers

have made in terms of the impact of this policy on supported housing? david cameron: we are going to increase housing supply in the billionector by an es8 -- counseling sign -- when it comes to housing benefits am a we have cut them because it was completely out of control when he came into government. there were people getting 100,000 pounds of housing benefits for family. think how many people, how many rosie's are going to work, working hard every day, just to provide that housing benefit for one family? we of supported housing schemes and we will look very carefully to make sure they can work well in the future, but i make no apology for the fact that in this parliament, we are cutting social rates, so rosies working

in social -- they will have lower risk under this government. jeremy corbyn: michael corbin. >> i'm glad we got onto the subject of supported housing. half of all supported housing were closed, one in four providers set to close all of their provisions. this is a very serious crisis. i assume the prime minister is not intended to see the elderly and people with mental health conditions and others with nowhere to live -- can he assure the house now that the warm words he just gave us will be met by action and it will stop this cut, which will destroy the supporting housing sector? david cameron: we will continue to support the supported housing sector, and the report he quotes from was an opinion poll with extremely leading questions if you actually look at what he was looking at. the changes we are making,

reducing social rents by 1% every year for four years, that is good news for people that work hard and like to pay less rent. that goes with the lower taxes they will be paying and the more childcare. the other change, which does not come into force until 2018, is to make sure we are not paying housing benefits way above what we would pay to private sector tenants. simple point is this, and this is where labor has got to focus. every penny you send on best spend on subsidies is something you cannot spend on housing. let's take us back to rosie in the beginning. she wants a country where we build homes. where you can buy a home. you cana country where afford to buy a home. all of those we are delivering, and you won't if you go on spending more and more money on subsidized housing and housing benefits. one day, labor has got to

realize the welfare bill has got to be brought under control. jeremy corbyn: michael corbin. >> mr. speaker, the measures in the housing bill could lose 180,000 affordable homes over the next four years. the prime minister is actually overseeing a very damaging housing prices. people are not buying. it is not putting enough on social housing. many people are forced to rely on the private renter sector. the benches behind him recently voted against an amendment put the -- put forward by my honorable friend for human habitation. david cameron: labor invested at 22 billion pounds in government in bringing social comes up take decent home standards. there are now 11 million people in this country who are private renters.

does the prime minister know how many of those homes don't meet the decent home standard? the last five years, we have built more cancel houses that they have built in 13 years. here was the -- where was when that was going on? an absolutely hopeless record on housing. we are doing and 8 billion pound housing budget that would provide 400,000 new affordable homes, a target to build one million homes during this parliament, getting housing that if it to spend money on housing, and an economy to support the housing we need. asking theker, i was prime minister how many of the 11 million renters are living in a home that do not meet the decent home standards and therefore substandard? one third of those in the

private sector does not meet private home standards. there is damp, mold, leaking roofs, and broken windows. many are struggling to get the home they deserve. more families turned to temporary accommodations, hominis -- homelessness rising. overtandards, overpriced rented sector. young people cannot move out on the family home and start their own life. when is the prime minister going to realize there is a housing crisis in britain? his government needs to address it now so we do not continue with this dreadful situation in this country. david cameron: let me take one of the figures he mentioned. at half the peak today than it was under the last labor government. ,here is a simple point here

you can only invest in new housing, you can only restore existing houses, only build new houses, but people in those a strong you have got economy. we have inherited mass unemployment, an economy completely collapsed, a banking crisis, and now we have got zero inflation, wages growing, unemployment at 5%, an economy growing, and people able for the first time to look to the future and see they can buy and own a house in our country. [applause] jeremy corbyn: [laughter] the daesha woman when came to her village. they tortured her, rates her, speaker, thee story is the same for many of

the women, except the women are held in captivity. she is in the public gallery today. will the prime minister join me in acknowledging her resilience, her bravery, the essential qualities that have allowed her and willh over daesh, he do everything in his power to redouble his efforts to support these women and eradicate daesh? let me thank my honorable friend the way in which he has done so, and welcome this woman. this community has suffered a poly at the hands of this murderous, brutal, fascist organization in syria and in iran. we must do everything we can to defeat that daesh and is a violent ideology. leading role in this, and in terms of iran, where many of

these women suffered, daesh has lost 40% of the territory it once controlled, so we are making progress. as i said earlier, it is going to take a long time. building off the rocky security -- iraqi security forces, building the capacity of governments in both countries to drive the evil organization out. we must stick at it. jeremy corbyn: mr. robinson. condolencesn the with the leader of the opposition in relation to harry hartman. i pass mymight -- wishes to his family. i hope his party find an agreement there will be no detriment to scotland with new arrangements. the u.k. treasury is proposing plans that may be detrimental to scotland to the change of 300 billion pounds. david cameron: we accept the

smith principles of no detriment. no detriment to scotland quite at this time when the transfer is made in terms of scotland having these new tax raising to tax and the detriment players, but also the rest of the united kingdom, who we have to bear in mind as we take into mind this negotiation. i have had good conversations with the minister, and i will complete this very important devolution in a fair and reasonable way. let me remind the right honorable gentleman, if we have full fiscal devolution with oil , willes collapsed by 94% the right honorable gentleman in his party be weeks away from a financial calamity for scotland. thank you, mr. speaker. in the context for scotland,

across the u.k. for eu membership, don't we have a right to know what is promised by the government to be delivered in full? tell the prime minister the treasury time is running out on delivering a pair fiscal time worked -- framework. it is fair to the people of scotland and the rest of the u.k. david cameron: everything committed to buy this government will be delivered. we committed this huge devolution to scotland, and we will deliver. all of the things we said we would, including this rideable vital smith principles. i would say the scottish first minister and the scottish finance minister, they have to realize there must be fairness across the rest of the united kingdom too. but with goodwill, i can tell thisnow what is keener on

than me. i want the scottish national party here and in all the root to start making decisions. what taxes are you going to raise? what are you going to do with benefits? i want to get rid of this agreement agenda and the governing agenda, and then we can see what you are made of. jeremy corbyn: [indiscernible] >> thank you, mr. speaker. this is threatening and undermining all of the work we have done in job creation and supporting businesses. it is quite simply a ticking time bomb. what, mr. speaker, may i ask the pragmatist or, what more can he do to remove the stigma or misunderstanding or problems threaded this -- surrounding this? david cameron: she is right to raise this. you have the enormous respect of dyson, which is hiring skilled

engineers from every area in the country. we will help 3 million apprentices in this parliament, giving special help to teachers but there isects, a lot of business can do to help in this by going into schools and talking about what is modern engineering. how much the film and people can get from these careers to encourage people to change the culture -- how much fulfillment people can get from these careers to encourage people to change the culture. jeremy corbyn: [indiscernible] the pensionsdenied expected an increasingly needy and expose without the social care they need to live a decent life. with the prime minister address these scandals? david cameron: what we are doing for pensions is putting in place the triple loss.

there can never be a 75 increase that we saw under labor. they know every year it would either be wages, prices, or 2.5%. the pension is so much higher than when i became prime minister. we need to make sure there is a fair settlement for local government. we will be hearing more about that later today. this ability of local councils to raise special counsel tax for social care will help an area where there is great pressure. jeremy corbyn: adams. >> the spitfire was a crucial --inning the battle of britain and keeping the territory. there are some who says are independent nuclear deterrent could be obsolete under spitfire. can my right honorable friend

the prime minister assure the house and the country that this is not the case? david cameron: it takes a quite put the brave mariners and spitfire together in one go. another ludicrous labor position on the bench. out, she saidcame oh dear, oh my god. need to go to rest in a darkened room. i'm threatened by the rest of our party. jeremy corbyn: [indiscernible] >> thank you, mr. speaker. [indiscernible] committee,'s select we confirmed that the government won't support the eu commission on dumb tocurrent

steal from countries like china. why would the u.k. government support the u.k. steel? david cameron: we have repeatedly stood up for u.k. steel, including the board taking anti-dumping measures in the eu. we will have to get behind the procurement for steel and that is what we are doing. you behind reducing energy bills, and that is what we are doing. we need to support communities like his own, and that is exactly what we are doing. we know what a vital part britain's base, that is why we are backing it. jeremy corbyn: gloria atkins. >> thank you, mr. speaker. julian assange is accused of rape and is on the run. in spite of this, nobody has seen --rd of, he has been arbitrarily detained. does

my right honorable friend agree with me that this was a ansensical decision, that mr. ssange should have himself over to the swedish authorities, and if anyone should talk about this, it is the british taxpayers that had to pay 12 million pounds to police his ecuadorian heart out? david cameron: my honorable friend is absolutely right. this was a ridiculous decision. you have a man with outstanding allegations of rape against him. he barricaded himself into the ecuadorian embassy and get claims he was arbitrarily detained. who detainedon himself was himself. what he should do is come out of that embassy and face the arrest warrant that is against him. he is being asked to stand trial in sweden, a country with a bear repetition for justice. he should bring an end to this

whole story saga. jeremy corbyn: mike weir. there is serious concerns that change in housing benefits may force relocation of many refugees. will the prime minister disclose refugees from these? david cameron: i said in answers to questions from the other opposition, we need to support in manysupport constituencies, and we have seen how important they are. these changes we are talking about don't actually come into place until 2018, so there is plenty of time to make sure we support the supporting projects . >> next week, milton keynes will host an apprenticeship fair. is there not something for a control shift in -- cultural shift for career advice for

universities? david cameron: i think my honorable friend is absolutely right. her career advice, there is a choice for every school. universityapped places or internships because we are funding 3 million of them in this parliament, and if you become an apprentice, that does not rule out a doing a degree or degree level provocation later in your apprenticeship. learning is stronger than it has been before. jeremy corbyn: [indiscernible] >> thank you, mr. speaker. does the prime minister agree that how we protect human rights in the legal system of the united kingdom deserves full and careful to consideration, and will he give an assurance that his repeal of the human rights act will not conflict with the and collection in scotland

other areas of the administration? david cameron: i would say to the honorable lady and others, the idea that there were no human rights in britain before the human rights act is absolutely ludicrous. this house has been a great fashion of defender of human rights. jeremy corbyn: andrew. mr. speaker, i have spent my working life in children's hospitals who rely heavily on donations from organizations for children in need. famous -- recently someone passed away. when we pay tribute to terry prime minister cameron: i am very happy to do that.

the honorable member representing pudsey, which has such a connection with children in need, is absolutely right to raise this. terry wogan was one of this country's great icons. like many people in the house, i him,i grew up with watching him present "blankety blank" or all the many other things he did. perhaps many people's favorite was the "eurovision song contest," to which he brought such great humor to three his work with children in need was particularly special. john nicolson: on monday, i attended the work and pensions tribunal appeal hearing for my constituent, mrs. jackie millan, a brave, inspiring woman who has dwarfism. despite being unable to climb staircases except on all fours, she was awarded zero disability points by her assessor. can i ask if the prime minister,

himself a constituency mp, attended any tribunal hearings? if so, did he find the process fair, dignified and compassionate? prime minister cameron: i am very happy to look into the specific case he raises. as a constituency mp, of course, i have people coming to my surgery with inquiries about either employment and support allowance or indeed, disability living allowance. i also have the experience, having had a disabled son, of filling out all the forms myself. i am looking forward to the new system, which i think, with a proper medical check, will work out better. i have listened to the arguments, but we have to have a system of adjudication that is independent of politicians. >> growing up nearby, i always knew i was nearly home when i saw the iconic cooling towers of the rugeley power stations on the horizon. on monday, the owners of the remaining power station announced its likely closure this summer.

will my right honorable friend asked the secretary of state to meet me to discuss further the government support that can be given to the 150 workers, and the provision that can be made to ensure that the site is redeveloped as quickly as possible? prime minister cameron: i will certainly arrange for that meeting to take place. we should thank everyone who has worked at power stations that come to the end of their lives for the work that they have done to give us electricity to keep the lights on and our economy moving. she is absolutely right. as coal-fired power stations come to the end of their lives, we must ensure that proper redevelopment takes place so that we provide jobs for constituents like hers. clive efford: the football supporters federation is considering calling on fans to hold mass walk-outs to get their voices heard about ticket prices. will the prime minister act to give fans a place at the table in club boardrooms so that their voices can be heard when issues

such as ticket prices are being discussed? prime minister cameron: i will look very carefully at the suggestion the honorable gentleman makes. because there is a problem whereby some clubs put up prices very rapidly every year, even though so much of the money for football comes through sponsorship, equipment and other sources. i will look carefully at what he says. julian lewis: the vital debate and vote on the trident successor submarine should have been held in the last parliament, but was blocked by the liberal democrats. given the fun that the prime minister had a few moments ago at the labour party's expense over trident's successor, it must be tempting for him to put off the vote until labour's conference in october. may i urge him to do the statesmanlike thing and hold that vote as soon as possible because everyone is ready for it and everyone is expecting it?

prime minister cameron: we should have the vote when we need to have the vote, and that is exactly what we will do. no one should be in any doubt that the government is going to press ahead with all the decisions that are necessary to replace in full our trident submarines. i think the labour party should listen to lord hutton, who was defense secretary for many years. he says if labour wants to retain any credibility on defense whatsoever, it had better recognize the abject futility of what its leadership is currently proposing. i hope that when that vote comes, we will have support from right across the house of commons. gareth thomas: in the light of today's damning national audit office report on teacher shortages, will the prime minister take urgent steps to help excellent schools such as those in my constituency to recruit and, crucially, to retain the best teachers, including by extending the so-called inner-london weighting to all harrow schools and other suburban schools in london? prime minister cameron: obviously we will look carefully at the report.

there are 13,100 more teachers in our schools than when i became prime minister, and our teachers are better qualified than ever before. people are shouting about increased pupil numbers, but they might be interested to know that we have 47,500 fewer pupils in overcrowded schools than in 2010, because we put the investment in where it was needed. where i agree with the honorable gentleman is that we need schemes like teach first and our national leadership program, which are getting some of the best teachers into the schools where they are most needed. andrew mitchell: my right honorable friend the prime minister deserves great credit for the results of the syria replenishment conference that was held under his co-sponsorship in london. he will be aware, however, that that can only address the symptoms of the catastrophe and not the causes.

what more heme thinks the british government can do to try to promote the political track and ensure that it reaches the most speedy possible success? prime minister cameron: i thank my right honorable friend for what he says about the syria conference, and that gives me the opportunity to thank my cohosts, the norwegians, the germans, the kuwaitis, and the secretary-general of the united nations. in one day we raised more money than has ever been raised at one of these conferences, more than $10 billion, and i pay tribute to my right honorable friend the secretary of state, who did a lot of the very hard work. that money helps because it will keep people in the region, feed and clothe them, and make sure that they get the medicine they need. but we do need a political solution and we will go on working with all our partners to deliver that. that requires all countries, including russia, to recognize the need for a moderate sunni opposition to be at the table to create a transitional authority in syria. without that, i fear that we will end up with a situati