hegel is back on capitol hill for the first time in his official capacity.nd a floor bill to freeze the work of the national labor relations board. a lot on the agenda in washington this week. the president, beginning the debate on guns once again in connecticut. hadpoke in hartford, conn., lightness' morning from "the new york post," pushing gun laws in connecticut, meeting with the mother of one of those victims. by the way, many of these family members flying back on air force one last night are here in washington today to lobby members of congress. the story points out -- host: you can also join us online to social media, send us an e-mail, journal@c-span.org, or on facebook, or send us a tweets at twitter.com/c-spanwj. here's the president last night in hartford. [video clip] >> i have to tell you, i have had tough days in the presidency. i have said that before. was the toughest day of my presidency. i have to tell you, if we do not respond to this, that will be a tough day for me as well. because we have to expect more from ourselves. we have to expec

in a letter to defense secretary check hegel, the largest doctors group denounced for speeding. -- defense secretary chuck hagel. detainees launched a hunger strike in february over what they say were envious of searches of their cells and mishandling of the iran. the military denied the charges. -- mishandling of the koran. human-rights groups say it is long past time for the obama administration to fulfill promises. >> not sustainable for the administration to continue the policy of indefinite detention and what to do with the men picked up after the start of the so-called war on terror more than a decade ago. >> still ahead -- ♪ cattle herders of tanzania are fighting the government for their land. plus, hospitals overwhelmed with the worst epidemic in years. more when we come back. >> hello again. the top stories on "al jazeera." at least 13 people have been killed in an explosion and damascus. this happened in the historic and commercial district of marjeh. a bangladesh court has ordered the confiscation of property belonging to the owner of the building that collapsed on wednesday. d

one of the things a secretary hegel and the administration have proposed is an increase in tri-care fees. they have also talked about another round of base closings in 2015. what is the chance of congress going along those two steps and have you gotten any sense of any pressure from the pentagon in pushing for these kinds of changes and increases? >> those of the two steps we need to take. if we are going to be shrinking the force, it will be shut even without sequestration. it is it -- base closing is a tool that the military needs to do to vertically align its base and salacious. commerce is not fond of base closing. but we are making this tribe -- but when we are making this type of transition to international security, it actually has to happen. i've spoken to many veterans groups about this. number one, people who serve in the military, people who have served in our military should have the best, cheapest healthcare that we offer in this country. they do and they will. but in 1996, when tri-care was introduced, the average servicemember paid 27% of the print -- of the cost of their

secretary hegel cautioned that one mistake in the midst of such elevated tensions can result in a disasterf immense proportions. >> it only takes being wrong once. i don't want to be the secretary of defense who was wrong once. we will continue to take these threats seriously. i hope the north will ratchet this very dangerous rhetoric down. there is a pathway that is responsible for the north to get on a path to peace working with their neighbors. lou: we will be analyzing the north korean nuclear threat and whether the united states will respond to those threats preemptively. contributing to a sell-off on wall street today, and so did a particularly maladroit the appraisal of the economy and fed policy. san francisco federal reserve president john williams said the fed could start tapering its $85 billion a month asset purchase program by this summer. wall street promptly lost two 1/4 trillion -- two and a quter billion dollars in market cap. moody's chief economist will be with us to assess all of that. the state of texas looking for the killer or killers of two of its prosecutors tonigh

yesterday, secretary events chuck hegel made it clear the u.s.y is ready to respond if threatened. >> this is it getting very close to a dangerous line. our country is very prepared to deal with any contingency. >> hagel says the bottom line right now kim joung un is so unpredictable that the u.s. has no tries but to prepare for whatever might come. >> about 90 minutes from now, not the entire school just a hundred or so students and it will not take too long for this test. why are you focusing just on a couple of students instead of the entire school? >> the way that tb is spread, someone coughs the germs into the air and we identified the soonest that shared a class or club with the student and a long period of time. they could have been exposed to tb. >> they could be exposed but even if the test comes back positive it means that they do not necessarily have it? >> they could have been infected with the german and it is sleeping in their body. it will get treated so will not get turned into the disease. >> from the time they're exposed to it t

defense secretary chuck hegel announced of the u.s. has evidence that chemical weapons were used in syria. the white house informed congress that the chemical use is believed to be a lethal nerve gas called sarin. officials believe its use originated with the regime of syrian president bashar al-assad. present obama said that in the past that the use of chemical weapons would be a red line that could trigger u.s. reaction. hagel says u.s. officials are still assessing the situation. >> and bangladeshis morning, rescuers are spending a third day looking for trapped survivors from a building collapse. at least 290 people have been confirmed dead but authorities say more than 60 were rescued since yesterday afternoon. the building held five garment factories employing around 2500 workers. survivors say many of the employees went to their supervisors express concern over a number of deep cracks in the building. factory owners allegedly told in the building was safe and to report for workfor 723 a m and a live look over san francisco. gray

the obama administration is accusing syria against rebels last month and chuck hegel said to select membersmunity believes the syrian regime used chemical nerve agent syria denies using any chemical arms and the president and michelle obama in waco texas attending the memorial for those killed when the west texas fertilizer plant exploded. most of those dead were firefighters and is first responders. those here headlines. now back to tracy and ashley ashley: one of the most popular deductions could be on the chopping block which is the mortgage interest deduction and peter barnes is on the story. >> the mortgage interest deduction is back on the cross hairs the house ways and means committee holding a hearing on whether and how to cut back with tax reform. worth 70 billions for 45 million homeowners the proposals and some in congress would reduce it by capping most itemized deductions particularly for wealthier families. also you can deduct the interest on mortgages up to $1 million but now the proposals are to cut that back at 500,000. others want to eliminate the deduction on second homes

we have subsequent meetings here, secretary of state john kerry, secretary of defense shuts hegel, director of intelligence james clapper and others at the white house. however senior administration officials stress that is for previously scheduled meeting of national security principals, so nothing really specifically to do, nor was unscheduled specifically because of the events in boston, that was earlier this morning. news from capitol hill according to bret baier of fox news saying officials briefed lawmakers on capitol hill telling them they really want to get this second suspect alive find out perhaps if there are any more people involved, find out whether they have any training overseas or if they were radicalized in the united states or overseas and that has final implications to this investigation when you consider taking him alive versus not so that is something they're working on. we got everything in boston where all eyes in washington are right now from governor deval patrick saying there are continuing developments, can't talk about them now but talk about them later perhaps a

. >> with the outcome of meeting president barack obama, secretary hegel and i are concerned about thevating our relationship to the next step. considering the situation of north korea we consent our bilateral cooperation. [speaking japanese] >> on senkoku islands i explained japan's position. we're to protect the land, water, and air. [speaking japanese] >> secretary hagel and i are concerned that article 5 of the u.s.-japan security treaty -- we are opposed to any unilateral action that goes to change the status quo by force. [speaking japanese] >> on bilateral defense cooperation we are concerned that bilateral discussions on strategic environment perceptions are under way. [speaking japanese] >> we welcome the establishment of defense isr surveillance and reconnaissance working group and progress of a study on bilateral cooperation presented by bilateral -- [speaking japanese] [indiscernible] are important steps for significantly and -- for significantly mitigating impact on okinawa. we hope to make progress on alliance including the relocation of the usnc in okinawa to guam. [spea

question for secretary hegel and general dempsey. my first is about our ability to maintain, responding to to conflicts and my question to general m. sue will be about missile defense and look shoot look as we talk about iran. -- question to general dempsey. as he is about to leave to the munich conference he made the statement -- we will make sure we can confront and the aggression from any adversary at any time and the place. it's essential we are able to deal of more than one adversary at a time and i believe we have shaped a force that would give us the capability. we have coming up in nato, a joint training exercise currently scheduled in poland. that's important to members of congress because we know how sensitive our relationship is with poland as the administration has walked away from commitments to missile defense. really sure this has the full support of the department of defense. ability as weour look at sequestration and defense cuts to give our allies the assurance we can do to conflicts with a tilt to the pacific. nato

for all of these reasons secretary hegel asked me to lead a strategic choice management review working with chairman dempsey and all of the leaders of the department to examine the choices that underlie our defense strategy, posture, and investments, including all past assumptions. the review will to find a major strategic forces and this too shall challenges to affecting the defense posture of the decade ahead that must be made to preserve adapt defense strategy and management under a wide range of future circumstances that could result from a comprehensive deficit reduction deal or the persistence of the cuts that began with this year's sequester . the result of this review will frame the secretaries guidance for the fiscal year 2015 budget and will ultimately be the foundation for the quadrennial defense review due to congress in february of 2014. as the secretary said last week, the national defense university, the goal of the review is to ensure that we can better execute the strategic guidance set up by the present, including our rebalance to the asia-pacific. finally, it is impo

with regards to your question, secretary hegel said the decision was driven from the threat from northkorea. we have a dialogue that my boss, acting under secretary, missile-defense is on the agenda. a couple of points about missile defense, the ballistic missile defense states we do not seek to undermine strategic stability with russia or china. notmissile defenses are directed against china. we will continue to engage china on issues. it is not going to be it is going to be missile-defense, nuclear issues. we want to prevent the possibility of a misperception and miscalculation. i know the chinese have some concerns. we do not think those concerns are warranted. we will continue to discuss and engage with them on the issue. not just it missile defense and other issues on the bilateral agenda. >> two in the back. right there. >> frank, i really appreciate all of the outreach or office does. something that concerns me is how do you envision budgetary concerns affecting your work? >> can we take one more from right behind her? >> hi, i am steve from osd. wasfirst question that about rem

with regards to your question, secretary hegel said the decision was driven from the threat from north that my boss, acting under secretary, missile- defense is on the agenda. a couple of points about missile defense, the ballistic missile defense states we do not seek to undermine strategic stability with russia or china. our missile defenses are not directed against china. we will continue to engage china on issues. it is not going to be it is going to be missile-defense, nuclear issues. we want to prevent the possibility of a misperception and miscalculation. i know the chinese have some concerns. we do not think those concerns are warranted. we will continue to discuss and engage with them on the issue. not just it missile defense and other issues on the bilateral agenda. >> two in the back. right there. >> frank, i really appreciate all of the outreach or office does. something that concerns me is how do you envision budgetary concerns affecting your work? >> can we take one more from right behind her? >> hi, i am steve from osd. the first question that was about remediation. i wo

chuck hegel recently announced that the pentagon asked congress to overhaul the system by scaling backt power that senior commanders have to overturn convictions and dismissed charges. this is a recent "the new york times," criticism. our guest is colonel lisa marie windsor, retired army, serving as a judge army advocate general. john, retired army, hello. caller: hello. colonel, if i may, i want to speak about article 15. to ale 15, can that be court-martial? what i mean by that is -- do you get one or the other? that is my first question. my second question is -- can article 15 be appealed? i am a commander and this guy was article 15. does thequestion is, commanding officer have to be a devised by jag prior to issuing? i will listen to your comments. thank you, colonel. host: stay with us for one moment. when you said your commander was article 15 happy, what does that mean? >> he was right and left, there was one soldier in my platoon who got sunburned and the commanding officer was 03, the commanding officer gave him article 154 destruction of government property, and i thought th

ourselves to, and i would say and that my sense is we have not backed away from that, although secretary hegel, who has just arrived, is in the midst of getting into this issue, and i agree that he ought to have time to do that. >> you do not know of any back way? >> i do not know many. >> i am happy to hear that. i apologize for asking two questions. my time has run out. i got to play by the rules. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, in the fiscal year from 2014 budget request, i note there is funding for just one across the entire country, a major medical facility. that is $150 million for a mental health facility in seattle. not questioning at all whether that is needed or not, but in contrast, the minor construction request is for $750 million, substantially more. that is an increase of 17.8% from the 2013 level. does the v.a. have an estimate of the amount of minor construction funding that is needed to keep the aging facilities patched together until they finally make their way up the priority list, which if we do only one a year, that is going to be a long way. how much money is

>> i guess before congress and went on their easter recess, they write about senators telling shut hegel the d.e.a. backlog is simply unacceptable. a group of bipartisan senators with high veterans population said to help address the backlog of claims. carol from alexandria, good evening. caller: i am concerned about how we can ensure veterans who are incarcerated received the appropriate health care they need. these are complex situations with complex injuries, and the person who is put in jail as a veteran who loses his veteran administration status. >> can you give an idea of perhaps how large the population of folks would be to our veterans and incarcerated? >> i know we have 5000 iraq and afghanistan veterans in jail right now, and there is a lag time in terms of how people are processed, so i cannot give you a number. they do not offend either greater rate than the population, but veterans who do offend and end up being incarcerated are 4% to 5% more likely to have committed a violent crime and spent two and a half times more in jail and the rest of the population. >> patricia, wha

ourselves to, and i would say and that my sense is we have not backed away from that, although secretary hegel, who has just arrived, is in the midst of getting into this issue, and i agree that he ought to have time to do that. >> you do not know of any back way? >> i am not aware of a back away. >> i am happy to hear that. i apologize for asking two questions. my time has run out. i got to play by the rules. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, in the fiscal year from 2014 budget request, i note there is funding for just one across the entire country, a major medical facility. that is $150 million for a mental health facility in seattle. not questioning at all whether that is needed or not, but in contrast, the minor construction request is for $750 million, substantially more. that is an increase of 17.8% from the 2013 level. does the v.a. have an estimate of the amount of minor construction funding that is needed to keep the aging facilities patched together until they finally make their way up the priority list, which if we do only one a year, that is going to be a long way. how muc

he talked about the assessment because he initially opposed former senator hegel going to the defenseepartment. >> are pretty critical of him along with other people in your party. how would you rate the job he has been doing? i would probably give him an a. >> why? >> very good about him at this point. it has only been a month on the job. >> he called mate when he was nominated. i did not know him. i did not have a vote and he asked me what my concerns were and i told him and we discussed them. to be not found him saying one thing and doing a different thing. oppose him when i watched the hearings. i did not think he did well in the hearings. my concerns were not alleviated. i opposed him but it did not mean anything. he called me. i was going to call him to congratulate him but he called me first. he said we will be working together and he wanted to reach out. around here, that's not a normal thing. swearing in. i listened to what he said. i like his demeanor. i liked what he says and i like the way he is acting. he changed his schedule to meet with me in afghanistan. he came over t

. >> with the outcome of meeting president barack obama, secretary hegel and i are concerned about the significance of elevating our relationship to the next step. considering the situation of north korea we consent our bilateral cooperation. >> on the seine cocoa islands i explained japan's position that islands ioku explained japan's position. we're to protect the land, water, and air. [speaking japanese] >> secretary hagel and i are concerned that article 5 of the u.s.-japan secretary -- of the -- weapan security treaty are opposed to any unilateral action that goes to change the state by force. [speaking japanese] >> on bilateral defense cooperation we are concerned that bilateral discussions on strategic environment are under way. [speaking japanese] >> we welcome the establishment of defense isr surveillance and reconnaissance working group and progress of a study on bilateral cooperation presented by -- teral [speaking japanese] >> a realignment -- the boat meant [indiscernible] are important steps for significantly and -- for significantly mitigating impact on okinawa. we hope

committed ourselves to, and i my sense isnd that we have not backed away from that, although secretary hegel, who has just arrived, is in the midst of getting into this issue, and i agree that he ought to have time to do that. >> you do not know of any back way? >> i do not know many. >> i am happy to hear that. asking twoe for questions. my time has run out. i got to play by the rules. thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, in the fiscal year from 2014 budget request, i note there is funding for just one across the entire country major medical a facility. that is $150 million for eight mental health facility in seattle. not questioning at all whether that is needed or not, but in contrast, the minor construction $750 million, substantially more. that is an increase of 17.8% from the 2013 level. have an estimate of the amount of minor construction funding that is needed to keep the aging facilities patched together until they finally make their up theto party -- priority list, which if we do only one a year, that is gone to be a long way. how much money is going into trying to keep aging fa