. >> the congress street draw bridge is bridgeport, connecticut's sore thumb-- closed for the past 14ears, it sticks out grimly on the city's landscape, isolating east side residents from downtown. >> they're building bridges in afghanistan and iraq but not here. >> reporter: mayor bill finch wants the federal government to shifts spending to urban infrastructure, fix bridges and roads and in the bargain jump start economic development. with 145,000 residents, bridgeport's share of pentagon spending in afghanistan and iraq would amount to an smaimented $109 million this year. >> can you imagine if that money was every year, year after year, invested in trains, high-speed rail, information technology, new schools? we'd be leading the world again, rather than being behind. >> reporter: mayor finch envisions a federal partnership to convert this seven-acre lot, where an old emington arms factory sits, into a modern train depot where high-speed amtrak acela trains would stop. >> every time you have a train station, you have lots of apartments built, lots of small businesses located, and y

among them, the bridgeport stanford metropolitan area which includes the majority of cities and towns in my district. i strongly support this amendment which removes the language from the bill thattily logically restricts uasi funding to 10 cities. mr. himes: since its creation in 2003 the extent of the uasi program has been to enhance regional preparedness in and around major metropolitan areas and assist participating injures dicks in developing integrated regional systems for prevention, protection, response, and recovery. setting an arbitrary limit on locations eligibility to receive funding is contrary to the intent of the program and contrary to our efforts to address the growing and evolving effects of homegrown terrorism. moreover, this restriction is dangerous. localities with the highest risk of being attacked are often not the locality where those attacks are being planned and can be stopped. in my district, the loss of uasi funding would completely derail a major enter agency communications project. in addition, much of the counterterrorism work underway in fairfield count

host: missouris on our line for democrats out of bridgeport, connecticut. go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. i think this is just a continuation of lack of respect for this particular president. you remember before the committed u.s.-nato forces in libya, everybody was calling for this president to do something. he is ditsdzering. he couldn't take any action. everybody wants gaddafi to go, everybody wants no fly zone. republicans are calling for a no fly zone? libya. when this president finally did, he explained fully to the american people the u.s. role is to protect americans, proprotect libyan people. host: more from the newspapers. the "wall street journal," house votes against policy in libya. back to the phones. california on our line for republicans. greg, you're on the "washington journal." caller: good morning and thank you for c-span. i enjoy it very much. my feeling here is we have come to a very, very strange place politically. i think that we're lacking leadership in both the president and in congress. i think that the two definitely need to

anyway, paul lovell, and he is from bridgeport, west virginia. i want to go back to west virginia.ay. a proud ww ii veteran and was once taken as a prisoner of war in the battle of the bulge. that's all. and ann, i'm so proud of you. i love you. everybody loves you. >> willard, i love you so much. that is so sweet. >>> coming up next, jenna bush hager's adventure in cajun country. but first, this is "today" on nbc. ♪ >>> we're back now at 8:39 as we kick off a special series "america the beautiful." it's our way to celebrate the beauty and the culture of the country's various national parks and heritage areas. "today" contributing correspondent jenna bush hager is here with her very first destination. i like this series. hi. >> today we're taking you to atchafalaya swamp in louisiana, the heart of cajun country. although this country requires no passport. >> reporter: right here, just 100 miles beyond the city of new orleans, you'll find a wilderness of winding water, soaring cypress and curious creatures. the atchafalaya basin, the landscape bountiful and mysterious filled with tw

>> i am from bridgeport, conn. so it is nice to see someone from connecticut here. well, i think with all of its faults, our system and government is still the finest in the world. i really do believe that. i thought about this coming over here today. there were articles that were in the politico newspaper talking about america in decline. and i think one of the articles was written by a member of congress. and i thought about how that kind of language from anyone, and particularly, someone in government, would really i think upset president reagan and i think it would anchor him because if anything, he really believed in america. he believed in americans. i think that is what was so likable about him, too. you wanted to believe in your country, he wanted to be proud, he wanted to accept that we are not perfect and we do have -- yet it is the finest in the world. i think our system of checks and balances is credibly important. it is what keeps us on this. it is why in our country, around the world we are looked at as a nation that can collect and transition and inau