i have the pleasure of working for administrator fuget in fema headquarters. fema's role is to coordinate response between state and local governments and his focus, his direction to us really comes down it 3 things. he asks us to always plan for the worst case, the maximum of the maximums and it's go to see the department of defense is incorporating this within the catastrophe policy that was spoken about a little earlier. no. 2, he asked us to sppbld and are able to stabilize an incident within 72 hours. his mantra is think big, go big, go fast but not fast. 3, he asks us to do this within a whole community approach, not only it make sure we utilize the whole community in the response because there's much more responders past the federal-state responders. there's the public being responders and there's many others, private industry need to be in that so we try to integrate that into a whole community concept. and also to make sure when we respond we respond to take into account the whole community. not everybody looks like me and you but we need to be able t

first with regard to standard such as fema, as well as the intelligence community, for a project such as this, it's also been my experience that the folks in dhs who establish these standards are not the people who build buildings, they don't generally fund the construction of buildings and in many cases have set standards that render construction of building such a federal essential pass facilities in areas that are unbuildable. i think it's good and fine to start with fema standards, that it doesn't necessarily mean it's a realistic standard. i think it was previously, i'm sure this wasn't the intent but to clarify for the sake of the public of an implication that geography is not a factor in threat assessment. i don't think that's consistent with the current and best thinking in terms of rva's and risk assessment. i'm assuming it was a risk assessment. we don't want to build buildings that are going to create a disproportional impact or collapse. i'm sure it's now and at the end of the process. it's almost a suggestion that up to this point we have been moving on path of designing

we'll take a look at the fema regulations. >> a judge in a huge cheating scandal. not just kids with crib sheets. we're talking prosecutors going after dozens of teachers and administrators. that's next as we report live from the jersey shore, where 20 minutes ago, it was pushing 70 degrees, and beautiful. now the rain is coming down and it's in the mid-50s. jersey shore. you don't like the weather, guff me five minutes. we went out and asked people a simple question: how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed: the official retirement age. ♪ the question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪ >> 16 minutes before the hour. a grand jury has now indicted dozens of educators in atlanta, accusing them of helping students cheat to pass standardized tests this follows an investigation that began in 2011 and revealed

we've alerted fema so we're

bob fenton, the assistant chief of fema, used to be the division chief in division 9. he is no stranger to this area, born and raised here, this is his home and so he does have a care and an interest in this community and beyond. and so with that it is hard to fill being his replacement at the regional level because not only to fill his shoes all the great work he did in this region, but also because when you see the size difference, it's a little hard to fit in there. but this this i want to introduce bob fenton, the response head for fema coming in from dc to help support this and moderate the panel. thank you. (applause). >> well, appreciate it. appreciate the opportunity to be back with friends and back in san francisco. and i appreciate the opportunity to be your lunch speaker. as i always say, lunch is one of may five most important meals of the day so thank you for that. let me introduce my panelists. here to my left, we have a great group here to talk about stories from the field with regard to fire and 10 years of lessons learned being applied. first to my lef

obama and fema can give them credit for that.t is not only a smart thing to do, but when you ask you can get it. >> should chris christie expect president obama's endorsement for the upcoming election in new jersey? >> i don't think he should expect it nor does he need it. he was one of the most popular politicians in america. i don't think it is drooling. he said he has made every promise he made. he didn't say he has gone over and beyond. i thought christie at the bush library asked how things are coming along in some of the beach towns in particular and he said it is slow sometimes with the beurocracy especially for fema. even if the head of fema says let's get this done. the beurocracy can't get out of its own way sometimes. the thing about mitt romney, if people think chris sh -- chris christie was the cause of mitt romney not winning the election, the republicans could not win future elections. mitt romney's campaign leveled his chance for winning the election. >> i agree completely. it is weird to blame it on christie's re

activated ann fema incident management assistance team.hree preliminary damage assessment teams, and we're also standing by to assist in any other way . that level c,ns which is increased readiness. we will continue to monitor the events over the course of today and provide you with updates as they are relevant. i might add, mr. chairman, that many of the things i have just gone through examples of the kinds of activities that have been supported by the cmittee, through fema, to th various grants that we supy, search and rescue be a good example of the kinds of things that grants have been supporting, increasing capacity for response and resilience as a nation. onthat is the most recent the west, texas. with respect to boston, we are and the fbi is investigating this as an act of terror. is partssisting -- ice we have agents assigned to the investigation. in a number ofg way, immediately after the attack. we worked to close logan, to ground air for a few hours, and to institute a special targeting roles, both in the air environment and at

we will talk a lot more later on fema. one of the things that comes up a lot is a state grant issue. the budget proposal, there are some ideas on statutory changes that might be needed. look for a june or july hearing for discussion. we will save that for then. also, osha subcommittee. the coast guard and issues, a lot of issues that touch it. probably more than you wanted. port of lasker interest. -- alaska interest. want to begin with the overall of fema and then i will move on. is a disaster that occurs, a be a small or large disaster, one of the biggest issues is how to information out to the public? as a former mayor, we are the front lines for that. do you think the system you have now has improved significantly? do you think there are other things we can do to help make that first 24ng hours of communication seems to be the most critical prior and as it is occurring. is there roadblocks still out there causing that communication not to be fully developed? where are you at today compared to five or six years ago? >>

i mean, the people that don't have insurance, fema has bailed them out right up front.got a letter from fema stating that we're not entitled to anything because when they assessed this, they said the damages were under what our insurance company is going to handle and we have been waiting and waiting and nothing is happening. >> and here in bay head, darcy green moving forward after battling months with her flood insurer. 80% of her claim for the maximum allowed that money will only cover a fraction of the work that she needs. >> we did have a settlement that allowed us to move forward in a positive way. so, it's -- it has been frustrating. you jump through hoops a lot. but it's all part of the process. we continue to struggle with some insurance issues. but, we are moving ahead. >> darcy's house might be ready by the end of summer. maybe by thanksgiving. many of her neighbors may not be back until next summer, shep. >> shepard: rick leventhal up the shore tonight in bay head, new jersey. up in brooklyn, new york, they're feeling similar pain. statistics there show near

on the issue of the documents that are put together by dhs and fema and from a what i understand, the documents that are put together were at least post 9-1-1 and people who do build major structures, they are not put together by lay people. so, with respect to the geography, i can't speak to that because that's not my level of expertise. i have to depend on all the experts t warriors reason and 49ers stadium are going through a very extensive security system. they don't need to bring it out to the public like we do, but they are, like oklahoma and kansas city, they are. with respect to the safety act designation, the way it works, director, is once we have the design guidance criteria and approved by the board of directors, the next step is we then meet with them again in more detail, we put together and application, there is an extensive application you fill out and denny's will be helping out with that and it's submitted. we are going to submit volumes and volumes of material and they will come in and make their first determination. they told me on first read it's the best candidat

this gentleman is holding a big fluffy kitty says he lives in fema region nine. that is if you want to meet up with him. it's a whole world out there. life is a rich paranoid tapestry for the conspiracy theorists among us. the fact that they have a conspiracy theorists only dating site organized as part of the online scene for this website and talk show, it is a reminder that there's money to be made here. right? there is money to be made in feeding the ragged edge of america's long-standing conspiratorial mindset. if you can get enough people freaked out enough to believe that you are the only person who will tell you the truth, that is a captive audience that kind of needs you for everything. so, you know, dating. if you're on the glenn beck side of the conspiracy theory empire, that means pants. literally glenn beck will sell you patented glenn beck freedom pants. congressman ron paul who has a lot of interesting things about him, but who is almost always counted on the conspiracy theorists to be part of his base, now that he's left congress and out of office

that is from fema. earthquake damage and that is something very important in the bay area. you want to make sure what your homeowners covers. find out what policies complement each other. >> and i was thinking about the horrible situation in san bruno. how could that be covered by insurance. >> it's one of those things that insurers will take a look at typical risk do. all the math and they come up what is and isn't covered. an explosion is covered. you have pg&e who is responsible for that whole process going through and finding where the money is going to come to rebuild those homes. >> cheryl: renters, there are millions of renters and not that many people think to get renters insurance? >> they assume, i don't have that much. i don't need insurance. when you start adding up all your contents, your belongings you realize how much money is in those contents. so one of the things you want to do is look into renter's insurance, you are looking at about $12 a mow for $30,000 policy. that covers the conte

. >> the white house said it's fema taking the lead federal role for now in something like this. locally they are treating it as a crime scene. essentially just to rule it out. this issue -- i'm sure the issue of plants that could be of danger that somebody could do something, this was something that was of concern to homeland security all the time. the safety and how do you deal with these things, right? >> i think the primary concern would have been reflected in how hopefully people had trained for this kind of explosion. one of the things that fema has done and more dramatically the positive results of what they've been able to do over the past ten years through the department of homeland security is grants to states for training, for exercises, to definitely mutual aid protocols profoundly demonstrated with the response to the tragedy and horror up in boston so fema has a role to play and it's playing a role right now obviously with the folks in that is that texas community. >> is there a focus on trying to get communities around places small towns where chemical plants or fe

fema is well represented and we have several defense coordinating officers here over the past couple of days. certainly the california national guard is represented heavily here. obviously they are going to be the first guys to respond to a disaster and they have several interesting roles not only from a state perspective but as they get federalized or with the dual status commander managing federal response and federal authorities of military authorities flowing in. and most significantly, we're represented today with the commander of northern command, general jackoby. as you know, defense report to civil authorities is not a primary mission area for the department of defense. we have codified it in policy over the years and certainly things have advanced since 9/11 and hurricane katrina, but there has been a real gap in detailed preplanning for emergency response, particularly as it works its way down the chain into the tactical forces that would respond, most specifically i think those on active duty. this is an area that we don't tend to pay a lot of attention to and very often w

congressman eric swalwell is leading the effort calling on lawmakers to allocate money to fema's security grant program in an effort to keep passengers safer. recent federal report shows mass transit systems are difficult to secure making them vulnerable to terrorist attacks. >>> bay area residents and lawmakers examined ways to end gun violence at town hall in palo alto today. representatives mike thompson and anna eshoo were both on hand to talk about gun legislation. thompson says members of congress talked to people from all sides of the gun control debate. >> we've met with people who believe like the one member that there shouldn't be any guns. and we've met with the nra leadership. and everybody in between. >> the u.s. senate killed a number of gun control measures this week including expanding background checks for gun buyers and banning assault weapons. >>> well, the suspect in the boston marathon bombings is in serious condition and has still not been charged. as people around boston try to get back to normal, investigators searching for the how and why behind the bombings. cbs

. >> reporter: now they have walls and heat, but still no final flood map from fema. >> we're very willing to raise our house to stay. it's only a matter of knowing how high we have to go. >> reporter: their second floor interact, the mcgraths never left their home, unlike many other new yorkers. 250 families are still living in hotels. in the rockaways, perhaps the most obvious signs of progress are the empty streets. beech 130th, once charred -- >> this is a firefighter's home. >> reporter: -- is now empty. >> people are back. most of the homes are repaired. they are a proud people. resilient folks. we're doing better than i thought we would six months later. >> reporter: more than $8 billion has been paid out by fema and the national flood insurance program so far to people along these shores. helping a recovery that for many is still far off. brian, this is the seaside heights boardwalk. it, like so many others up and down the shore, are being hurriedly rebuilt hoping to bring normalcy and business back for the summer season. brian? >> katy tur, seaside heights, at what will be the boa

fema had this ridiculous rule you had to build it exactly it was before.in. i am confident knowing the fiber of the people here, their strength, the beauty of this area, a year from now, this will all be back. bigger, better than ever. >> let's hope so. joe and mika are in asbury park this morning. they have a question for you. >> hi, joe, hi, mika. >> hi. >> senator schumer, there is frustration. there is, obviously, frustration, the rockaways and frustration along the jersey shore for the reasons willie stated, how long it took for congress to get something done and now three months past the bill even getting passed. what do you tell them as we move towards the spring and the summer and, obviously, family businesses been around for generations that are going to feel the terrible impact of the slow rebuild. what do you tell them about how you help them be made whole? >> here is what i tell them. because this cdbg money is here, go rebuild and keep your receipts and keep your checks and you will be fully reimbursed. instead of a narrow constricted program

you know, i live in fema region nine or whatever, want to meet my kitty?are not new, they're not even the exclusive providence of the american right. right now anti-government conspiracy theories are anti-the obama government. and that appears to be too convenient and too appealing for the supposedly mainstream right to leave unharvested. so the fringe has become the center. so the republican chairman of homeland security is writing conspiracy theory letters about the real bomber and they're convening conspiracy theory hearings and republican senators are introducing conspiracy theory legislation that actually says the government is stockpiling bullets so they can kill us all. they're doing it on theed 5 vice of the folks that say the newtown shooting is a hoax, and that michelle obama is she'lling the real bomber of the boston marathon because it was an inside job like 9/11. there's always going to be a very, very, very exciting market for these things. when a political party sees profit, when a political party decides to seek political advantage by traff

many are sending tweets asking me where fema is right now. i would image they would be on their way or coming out here soon. this is a catastrophe that has happened at about 8:00 last night 9:00 eastern when this massive explosion rocked this tiny community of about 2800 people farming community 80 miles south of dallas texas. this explosion so large some people in south dallas, about 80 miles away thought it was an earthquake. they felt the ground actually shake all of the way up there. that gives you a sense for how powerful a concussion was experienced. we are hearing from some of the first responders who were up close paernld. let's hear from texas department of public safety who characterizes this thing as a battlefield. listen. >> i was there. i walked through the blast area. cinched some houses earlier tonight. just like iraq, just like the murray building in oklahoma city. anhydrous exploded so you can image what kind of damage we are looking at there. >> obviously this nation is on high alert following the events of boston this week.

gerri: did fema help you? >> if you receive a certain amount, he did tonight. not able to apply for that. gerri: you are caught between a rock and a hard place. >> if you are denied fema, you are in eligible to apply for the state grant as well. you cannot apply for that. gerri: we are showing pictures of your home. this must be heartbreaking for you. can you tell us about this? you are a single mama made 5-year-old. >> we are displaced from our home, our family has been in a new school, new friends and new house, it has been really hard as he does want to get back home. gerri: what do you think? >> you cannot live in fear. that is one of the biggest things with several factors that caused this won't be as big as it did. i could go anywhere, i could get hit by a tornado or whatever and you can't keep running from things. i feel like breezy point is such a strong community and it is amazing. gerri: tommy about what is going on in your neighborhood. are people rebuilding? >> there are many others. some have moved back home. but there is many it's a homes have to

since 2009 fema has responded to more disasters in texas than any other state, and yet senator wouldll cut their funding. and even though he now wants assistance, last year when sandy slammed into the northeast, and representatives asked for help cruz released a statement saying quote . . . to call senator cruz a shameless two-faced hypocrite would be an insult to all of the shameless two-faced hypocrites that have come before him. so let's just say we respectfully disagree with the senator from texas. they are at it again, the koch brothers are hatching more schemes. our own pesky kid david sirota will help us foil them again. and our second cartoon villain is up for reelection and there isn't an progressive in the country that doesn't want to beat the garter sox off of him. and later our third cartoon villain is turning a popularity turn around act. it's wednesday. you are in "the war room," and we will be right back. ♪ >> michael: yesterday the career website, careercast.com released its list of best and worst jobs of 2013 at the very bottom of the list of 200 was newspaper report

and they've be talking about the fema and dhs regarding major events in san francis francisco.at note you know this past week we had the boston bombing and we are praying for the folks in boston and thanks to outlining all the boston police department for all their good work. >> events. i'd like to update you on some recent eventsor on monday we'll be hosting a advisory board. work together all year long and this is an opportunity toh@ Ñ c together to share they're good ideas and hopefully, they'll help each out. we'll be meeting with them on the 29th. those meetings by mayor are being held throughout the city. this week we graduated 33 members of new recruits. i attend and the chief attend the initial frays and we were there for their graduation.i@Ñ i was dispatched to another meeting and2fthe mayor addresse community concerns represented to public safety. personally met with the commissioner of singapore and we discussed our community policing theories, our technology issues together and it was a great discussion great challenge and now they want to come and join us in the pl

. >> so from a perspective of fema, we not only have a defense officer appointed by dod embedded with us during a disaster but we actually practice and have communications interoperatability over our systems to be sure we can communicate with each other on similar platforms and also support state and local platforms, whether it was katrina or other events we've actually been able to bring in national guard platforms to provide 911 systems for cities that have lost those systems. we recently in the joplin tornados and also tuscaloosa tornados we brought in dod equipment to replace what was destroyed. from the fire side i know there's a lot of things you are doing to work around the interoperatability issues with regard to communications between fire and dod and maybe if ray or anybody else wants to speak to that. >> our communications challenges still exist. we have excellent telecom communications, we have a layered effect of our radio systems. we have mobile command posts that we can exercise. so we're prepared for power outages, reduction of telecoms, we have a layered effect for ou

i worked from fema we're doing the bilingual independence workshop to first names in chinatown. and i'm glad i had the chance to show my public speaking skill. i hope you can restore the funding and help youths like me >> thank you very much any other members of the public wish to commit? i want our city attorney supervisor alluded to it and i appreciate everybody citing we saw a lot of them at the counsel u town hall the other night but we do have legal restrictions rewarding city departments what cb os to fund. so we will understand how it works >> john deputy city attorney the charter provides that they can't interfere with the separation of powers they have the ability to make decisions about how to award the fund but the board makes the policy decisions about what the priorities is of the department will be. so it is appropriate for the board to look at how different communities are being served and allocate funding and priorities to serve at the different community in the cities but the board can't cut the funding for particular entities. >> thank you, mr. city attorney. c

they're keeping an eye on this and they're really doing this through fema.ill tell you this is very much a state operation there. the texas department of public safety is very much the point organization. as you know, texas is a big state with a lot of capability. so as of now, it appears that this state is largely handling this situation on their own. but i'm told that, by a fema official, that the federal authorities here do stand ready to help if needed. there are actually a couple of damage assessment teams on stand by and a federal urban search and rescue team that has been alerted but not deployed at this point. at this point, though, fema coordinating their efforts with state and local officials there in texas, either regional office in denton, texas. again, john, this very much a state operation in texas, appears to be handling this. >> the president headed to where we are in boston today, brianna? >> that's right. president obama heading to boston for this interfaith memorial service taking place at the cathedral of the holy cross. he will be going

with respect to fema, i can, when saw the response in boston and a coordinated it was, even given the level of destruction, i would remind the committee that just last november, boston held a massive exercise on how to deal with a mass casualty event. and that exercise was the kind of exercise and exercise is supported by the committee through fema to local areas, and again increasing our ability for response and resilience. we have worked with the fbi and ietotate lct ross e critical infrarurs d oprators, and we've been reaching out to faith-based organizations, community organizations and others who want to know what they can do. we are implementing a number of security measures, both seen and unseen at airports, transit hubs within the maritime environment, and at ports of entry. the coast guard is provided security on the ferries in the boston area. viper teams are doing searches on terms of ground transportation, and the like. and, finally, with respect to the public, we do urge the public to remain vigilant. we are all in this together. security is a joint responsibility. they "

evelyn durata child and he is sitting there overlooking all of his sheep hanging out in front of fema camps and the i.r.s. and fellow reserve the builder birds and see if. we are the nanny state now where we are being watched almost everywhere we go by security cameras and satellites and drones flying over us we've got our military now to extend democracy out there to the rest of the world and as long as we're sleeping we're just watching t.v. everything's going to be just fine there was a while they lose one of us and they don't really like to lose us but it's all collateral damage. now and. the people here believe very strongly in peace we're pacifists we are anti-war. we believe at the same time though that very strong defense and being able to protect your life your liberty and your property is also very important so as we walk through here you may see scattered across the building there's a a r fifteen back here in this corner along so our marketing director tray. and so you'll see a lot of people carrying and. and doing things that most normal business would normally do. as the