and from beijing is victor gao.former chinese diplomat and is now vice president of the centre for china and globalisation, which is one of the most influential think tanks in china. he's also a regular commentator on the media. so, that's our panel, welcome to you both and to our questions. i'm going to give you a round of applause here. and remember, you, too, can join the conversation. it's #bbcglobalquestions. and now without further ado, let's go to our first question, and it is from new delhi in india. and fire away, please, your question? wildlife markets, neighbourhood wet markets and worldwide industrial farms have been breeding grounds for zoonotic diseases like the covid—19. is this time for us to reboot and rethink consumption habits? all right, victor gao, that's one to you, cos we've heard a lot of criticisms about the wet markets in china. isn't it time for the world to stop this? the traditional wet markets are very much part of the lifestyle of the people in many countries, including china. i would

gao also raised majothe gao alsr concerns about the executive branch stonewalling in very, saying in the report that the blocking of the investigation rose to the level and, quote, it is a constitutional significan significance. view participated in that as the white house lawyer assigned a letter that we would not provide a substantive reply. just answering the mail, yet you were nominated and confirmed as the inspector general here and you wrote to an agency with information about one of the issues they were investigating and they refused to respond. would that be acceptable to you? >> no, sir. i was answering the mail and wanted to make sure that they have received an answer. i respect the gao and wanted to make sure the inquiries were responded to so i stepped in and made sure that they got the response and that the council responded to the questions. >> i have the letter you cited 2019 responding to the general counsel of the gao. the white house doesn't plan to respond separately two-door letters and can you tell us the white house didn't have information that was responsive to

ithe government accountability office with the gao. i think the head of the gao said it best and they will for a long time. it's making the government more efficient in other important ways. there are ten different agencies with 23 different overlapping fragmented definitions for sexual violence. to the efforts to clarify the definition and improve data collection so that we can address this issue head on. another co-authored with none other than senator barack obama put all federal expenditures online so the taxpayers can simply googled to find out how their tax dollars are being spent. since the freedom of information act the public website usa spending .gov is hoping to keep washington accountable for every cent is spent. the splurging on unnecessary things like tons of tater tots, $4.6 million on crab legs and lobster and even a foosball table. when i heard this outlandish spending, i embraced my inner tom coburn and took action in the use of her lucid spending spree tom coburn wasn't afraid to work across the aisle to find comprom

evicted gao there. —— victor.ro, "a one—man fund raising machine", as prince william described him. his simple goal was to walk a hundred laps of his garden to raise money for nhs charities before his 100th birthday, which was on thursday. well, he's made it many, many times over — the fund stands at more than £30 million. the tributes have been pouring in, as you can imagine. david sillito reports. # happy birthday to you! # happy birthday, captain tom, daddy, grandpa # happy birthday to you #. cheering i never, ever anticipated, ever in my life, anything like this. it really is amazing and i want to say to everyone thank you very much to everyone, wherever you are. captain tom moore. it began as a little challenge in his back garden. 100 laps to try to raise £1,000 for nhs charities. and today, he was being honoured with an raf birthday flypast as the total reached £30 million. this is the culmination of an extraordinary few weeks and also a celebration ofjust how one man's cheerful determination has inspired pe

the law he authored requiring the government accountability office or the gao to identify duplication within federal programs has saved our taxpayers more than $260 billion to date. i think the head of gao said it best, this law is, quote, the gift that keeps on giving and it will for a long time, end quote. this effort is not just saving money, it's making government more efficient in other important ways. an egregious example found as a result of coburn's duplication law is the fact that there are 10 different agencies with 23 different overlapping and fragmented definitions for sexual violence. if we can't even define the problem, how are we going to stop it, folks? that's why i'm proud to say that i've joined senator ron johnson's efforts to clarify the definition of sexual violence and improve data collection so that we can address this issue head-on. another law coburn authored with none other than then senator barack obama put all federal expenditures on-line so that taxpayers can simply google to find out how their tax dollars are being spent. hailed as the greatest government

removed, and i also know the gao's had the entire structure and said it was not set up in accordance with the law. removeldn't we just everyone from the current one as it stands and go back through another rewrite? rather than a piecemeal approach? developing awe are comprehensive approach for classification. as i've stated publicly, i think post the regulatory implementing natures that we took for that law, we have now a clear framework. our category one institutions are prolific institutions. implementingg on regulation that will allow that

finally, victor gao, let's go back to china and transparency. scenario. so, do you think we will shortly get to know the origin of this coronavirus? i think it's really going to require a lot of extensive scientific work by the scientists and urologists throughout the world —— virology —— virologists around the world. the vaping investigation in the united states is important, we need to do all of the homework by scientists in many countries really get to the real origin of this coronavirus. 0k, victor gao, thank you very much for your time. thank you for having me. next. there's a simple, but crucial number at the heart of understanding the threat posed by the coronavirus. it is guiding governments around the world on the actions needed to save lives, and it gives us clues to the extent that lockdown can be lifted. it's called the reproduction number — or simply the r—value. 0ur science editor, david shukman explains. what is called the r—number is a way of measuring how easily the virus spreads. if the rate is one, that means anyone infected i

i think the head of gao said it best, this law is quote the gift that keeps on giving and it will for a long time,". this effort is not just saving money it is making government more efficient and other important ways. an egregious example found as a result of duplication law is there are ten different agencies with 23 different overlapping and fragmented definitions for sexual violence. if we cannot even define the problem, how are we going to stop it, folks. that is why am proud to say i have joined senator ron johnson's effort to de- sexual violence and improve data collection so we can address this issue, head on. another law he authored with none other than then senator barack obama, put all federal expenditures online so the taxpayers can simply google to find out how their tax dollars are being spent. it is the greatest government transparency reform since the freedom of information act. the public website, usa spending.gov, is helping keep washington accountable for however recent is spent. if you go on the website today, you can find ridiculous examples of binge buying bureau

all right, victor gao, that's one to you because we've had a lot of criticisms about the wet markets't it time for the world to stop this? the traditional wet markets are very much part of the lifestyle of the people in many countries, including china. i would say many items traded in the wet markets are perfectly fine. there are very restricted items including exotic animals which should be completely banned. and i think starting in january this year, the chinese government has tightened the ban on the trade, hunting, buying and selling and consumption of many wildlife. and i think this is absolutely the right thing to do. it should be introduced throughout china and gradually, i hope, such wet markets will be very much reduced. this is very important for public health and whatever that will remain of a wet market, need to improve the hygiene conditions and people who visit these markets should abide by strict rules. good enough for you stephen moore in washington? hi, everyone. yes, i agree with victor, i agree with everything he just said. i think there is a real global health iss

are all of this, in support of gao. and who was gee i joe. he was the unshaven, heart and soul, blood and guts of america. a citizen show soldier. the immortal image of the american fighting man. to fight on and triumph. again a few years later, at the battle of new orleans. fighting man. he had been a wrong recruit, but emerged the victor in gettysburg, and one the great an amazing civil war. he was, and is the american soldier. personified. and who were his leaders? marshall, eisenhower, mcarthur, mike nair, bradley paton, clark. cruger. -- men who possess the spirit and genius of washington. wind feel scott, andrew jackson grant, sherman, sheridan, george meade, robert e. lee this was the heritage of american leadership in world war ii, they would not and could not fail. the one and only goal was victory. from the private, to four star generals, these were the outpourings of america's greatest resource. democracy in action. our dream that their forefathers had fought for, and made a reality, and of which these their sons, were fighting to

they referred to a gao report in that letter that is well over a year old and it was about what we put on our website and we even had to make clear that under the regulations and under the statutes we do not have day-to-day control over those nursing homes however we feel it is part of their national duty to support those homes, to support our veterans and support civilians and provide help in saving lives across the country which we are doing in the form of hundreds, hundreds of nurses we have dispatched to help in these situations, these tragic situations. >> we always appreciate your willingness to talk about these tough issues and provide a little context for what is going on so thank you. arkansas leading the way bringing back concerts but wait until you hear how this is actually going to work out, we will explain next. a credit on their auto insurance. because it's the right thing to do. we're also giving payment relief options to eligible members so they can take care of things like groceries before they worry about their insurance or credit card bills. right now is the time to

the survey system is surveyors are encourage today -- encouraged to create deficient and that same gaor:ed that 99% of those deficiencies were not severe and many of them were paperwork issues. the reality is that the coronavirus violates all of the normal concepts of infection control because normal infection control is symptom related. now that we know that we are adjusting our behavior and that's why we are starting to see recovery and visitors are no longer allowed to come in buildings, every interaction patient and staff now have mask on, patients, residents are not eating together in the same room, they are eating privately in their own rooms, so now that we understand the nature of the virus we are able to control it much better. chris: nursing homes in new york and new jersey have been especially hard hit by the pandemic as well as the entire states and in march, governor cuomo issued that nursing homes must accept covid-19 patients to try to alleviate and prevent overcrowding at hospitals. here is how the governor described it and explained it this week. andrew: a nursing home

reportcussion of the gao on infection control problems in nursing homes. live at 7:00 eastern this morning. join the discussion. the secretary for veterans affairs and other department officials testified before a

in fact, they refer to it, and gao reports in that letter that is well over a year old, and it was abouthat we put on our websites, and we even had to make clear that under the regulations and under the statutes, we do not have day-to-day control over those nursing homes. however, we feel it is part of our national duty to support those homes, to support our veterans and to support civilians and provide help in saving lives across the country, which we are doing in the form of hundreds and hundreds of nurses that we have dispatched to help in these situations, these very tragic situations. >> shannon: mr. secretary, we appreciate your willingness to come on and talk about these issues and provide a little bit more context for what is going on. thank you, sir. >> thank you for having me. >> shannon: arkansas leading the way bringing back concerts? but wait until you hear this and how it is actually going to work out. we will explain that next. ♪ ime for action. so, for a second time we're giving members a credit on their auto insurance. because it's the right thing to do. we're also givin

recover from the economy and the downturn for what we have already in the toolbox on top of that the gaoound last year the title 17 loan program only promulgated 8 percent fiscal year 2018 and only 40 percent fiscal year 2019. i expressed these concerns at the budget hearing in march he shared he initiated a new formal review of the program and requirements. do you have an update or can you provide me with an update of the formal review to share that it will ensure the program will obligate for appropriations? >> we share your concern about the low program on - - loan program office have resources they can get the money out the door we requested outreach on that. one thing to consider initially in the energy policy act and then later amended by congress so it has several statutory requirements before any applicant is qualified to receive funds and that is to lower the emissions and the second one is the new technologies. traditionally if you will they are technical hurdles to meet. 's what we have done is we have asked for a review of our regulations and policies to see if there is anyth

the gao issued a report in 2015 concerning recommendations on military bases. and i'm not quite sure that any of that has been followed at this point. we've not seen any follow-up. so my simple question, i would like to get to a little more to the bottom of this, but i have just a simple question for both you, ambassador brathwaite and general anderson. are you committed to looking at those reports, looking at those recommendations, to try to see if there are things we can feasibly do to prevent killing of men and women in the service, but also potential civilians on the bases as well. look at the gao report and try to implement those things and work with our office to try to see what we can better do to protect our men and women, ambassador brathwaite. >> as mentioned i was stationed in pensacola and that incident came close tower me because one of my ship mates in the navy, his son was training there, as we discussed within that building and literally left just minutes before the shooting. anybody who goes aboard any military installation has to show an i.d.

standing committees as wt as the oversight commission on that, the gao, that is also not to mention the department of nes justice and the ftc. the last thing that the corn of iceis c effort needed another committee. whats wa we need to do is hold p accountable people responsible for the crisis. the democrats walked away from a china coronavirus task force save thousands of jobs fromall still, workers, welders at a time when an estimated 100,000 impossiblenesses hadtheir closd permanently democrats on this committee made it their first priority to try wat to make it impossible for american figuring companies trying to keep their head above water. the world abmore important than figuring out why chineseg? doctors and citizens that tried to alert the world about coronavirus keep disappearing? or why the chinese government is slowing down theou internationalr scientific effort to trace the origins of the effort? or why china is sending counter foot ppe to the u.s. and all over the world? why china is trying to be theths heroes working on a coronavirus vaccine? or how china co-opted the worl

the next photo was taken on 10 november, 1967, in the village, i hope i pronounce this right, of gao. as a goodwill gesture members of headquarters company second brigade first infantry division provided lunch and several sundry items to the villagers. here you see staff sergeant -- and a small vietnamese goaltender laughing at some of the events going on. i also believe there was a helicopter coming in at about the same time. i think that's why she was smiling. the children in these pictures are now in their early 50s. i can only hope -- they all survived and are having good productive lives. my final selected photo was taken on 21 november, 1967. this was my last shoot for daspo, vietnam, so needless to say it was one of i never saw an actual picture of this until i returned. it was used as a cover on family weekly magazine, a sunday supplement for many major newspapers. didn't know it, never got a credit line. you can see what the operation was like. however, dan bauer and i were extremely lucky. while we were photographing the 199th fellow daspo cameraman, staff sergeant, burke pe

the gao issued a report concerning recommendations on a military bases and i am not quite sure that any of that has been followed at this point. we haven't seen any follow-up. so my simple question i would like to case two a little bit more to the bottom of this are you committed to looking at those reports and recommendations to try to see if there are things we can feasibly do to prevent the needless killing of men and women in service not only of the military but also the potential civilians around the bases as well as looking at that report to try to implement those things and work with our office to try to see what they can do to better protect. >> absolutely, senator as you and i discussed we were stationed and that incident came because closer to me one of my shipmates in the navy, his son was training and just minutes before the shooting. anybody that goes aboard any military installation has to show an id card and it gives you a sense of security when you do that whether you come to this building or the pentagon or any of our military facilities around the world so i pledge to

the gao issued a report concerning recommendations on military bases. and i'm not quite sure that any of that has been followed at this point. we've not seen any follow-up. my subquestion -- simple question -- i would like to get to the bottom of this, but just a simple question for both you, ambassador braithwaite, and general anderson. are you committed to looking at those reports, those recommendations, to see if there are things we can feasibly do to prevent the need this killing of men and women in service, not only of the military, but of the potential civilians that are on these bases, as well? let's try to implement those things and work with our office to try and see what we can do to better protect our men and women. ambassador braithwaite? >> absolutely, senator. i was stationed at pensacola. that it's ended came -- incident came a little closer to me because one of my shipmates, his son was training there and was in that building and literally just left minutes before the shooting. anybody who goes before any military installation has to sho

reportcussion of the gao on infection control problems in nursing homes. watch live at 7:00 eastern this morning. join the discussion. the secretary for veterans affairs and other department officials testified before a house appropriations subcommittee on the agency's response to the coronavirus pandemic. careecretary updated the provided during the pandemic and talked about some of the challenges moving forward. this is 2.5 hours. >> a military briefing for a full year. when my dad was the artillery commander, they asked the second airborne to come visit. he was troubled. so i have touched royalty. >> secretary wilkie is here for important testimony. do i have the mic on? i can officially call the subcommittee on military construction, veterans affairs, and related agencies to order. i would like to welcome secretary wilkie, who is our witness this morning, joining us. since this is our first hearing with some numbers participating remotely, i would like to begin by offering a brief explanation of how it will work, in order to benefit both members and th

removed, and i also know the gao's had the entire structure and said it was not set up in accordanceith the law. removeldn't we just everyone from the current one as it stands and go back through another rewrite? rather than a piecemeal approach? developing awe are comprehensive approach for classification. as i've stated publicly, i think post the regulatory implementing natures that we took for that law, we have now a clear framework. our category one institutions are prolific institutions. implementingg on regulation that will allow that to be done comprehensively. i don't want to use this as an excuse, but i think it is a reason that a has been picking up by responding to the crisis. wehink that will -- that will take comment and additional input as we look at it. sen. tillis: thank you. like my promise to chair mcwilliams, this is something that i will be staying focused on until we get to a reasonable conclusion. mr. vice chair, while i'm on you, i know you sent a letter asking congress to modify the collins amendment. i know you referred to it, i was listening in on the commit