governor jack markell and rick scott and john sununu. "starting point" begins right now. good morning, welcome, everybody, our starting point, those two americans and egyptian translator being held hostage in the egyptian desert and threats more americans could be taken. the state department is working with the egyptian government to try to free all of them. their captor is described as a member of the prominent tribe in the region and wants egyptian police to free his uncle from prison and told a newspaper unless that happens, he'll take more hostages or worse. one of the hostages, reverend michel louis offered himself up to spare the parishioners and pastor louis's children join us, gene louis and daniel louis. thanks for talking with us. gene, i'm going to start with you if i can. what do you know is the latest about your dad, his condition and how he's being held? >> good morning, soledad. i thank you for having us on this morning. and soledad, we're going to tell you what we've been telling all of the news media outlet's that has been interviewing us and we thank the

host: governor jack markell of delaware is the incoming chair of the governors association. joining us, robert, republican, good morning. caller: hello governor. i've got two questions. guest: good morning. caller: first 11 -- first, one concern, there's nowhere to help the workers unless the governor gives his approval and number two, gas is at an all-time low -- [inaudible] what i want to think about you think -- what you think about natural gas prices. guest: i didn't hear the first part of the question about a strike? which strike? host: i didn't hear it either. if you would address the second part, particularly on the larger part of energy and if that's going to be a topic at this year's meeting guest: the energy, obviously incredibly important, as a factor in all of our states. one of the things that we're seeing is that as a result of the drop in natural gas prices i think we've got a better and better chance to bring more and more manufacturing back to this country which is very exciting, because the more that we can actually make things in our country the better off

practices and a collective voice on national policy here's what it's new chair delaware governor jack markell had to say about the group and its upcoming annual meeting which will be held this thursday through sunday in williamsburg washington may be caught in the grips of partisan paralysis but in state capitals across the country governors are having to figure out ways to keep people working together the national governors association means twice a year including next week for its summer meeting bringing governors together to see what's working and the far new ways to work together in critical areas like jobs schools public safety and cost cutting. sounds pretty great right it's kind of like a summer camp for governors but they can solve the nation's problems they catch fireflies roast marshmallows and sing kumbaya except a few of your details are actually missing here see first there's the fact the public money is paying for some of this getaway through membership dues and state funds and that includes amusement park trips golf outings five star dieting an outdoor concert and a fireworks e

i am delighted to be here with a good friend, the delaware governor jack markell. and i have known each other for more than a decade and research together as state treasurers. i want to thank him for the support he is giving me this year as the vice chair. we have worked together on a variety of issues in different capacities. i have great respect for jack and the work he does as the governor of delaware. working with jack and all the governors is one of the things that makes the nga unique organization. provides governors a platform to have a bipartisan candid conversation about developing innovative and a group approach to governing. it has been a privilege to serve as the chair of the mta and i'm proud of our successes and out like to share a couple of those with you. during the last year, we were able to streamline the nga policy process and change the way we do business of the governor's priorities are at the forefront of everything we do including our lobbying efforts on capitol hill. for example, governors worked together on the issue of d- block and urged c

with us now from capitol hill, we have the democratic governor of delaware, jack markell, also the newly chairman of the national governors association. congratulations, governor. >> thank you. good morning. >> good to have you on the show. we have been just painfully picking on dan senor who, of course, represents the romney campaign. >> coming here is like stockholm -- >> i know it's going to be tough for you. you're going to have a tough week. i have to let you have the first question. >> hey, governor. >> good morning. >> basic question, you have a successful business background, you're now engaged in public service, if you were running against president obama, given the economic record of the last 41 months, would you be focusing this election on economy? would you be making the case on the economy the same way governor romney is? >> i think the president has taken some incredibly important steps in terms of making the economy better. if you look at it, 28, 29 months in a row of job growth across the country. recently signed the jobs act, which was terrific and makes it easier for c

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including by the new chairman of the national governors association, delaware's jack markell, who plans to make this his signature issue. we talk to two individuals closely involved witthese efforts. senator tom harkin, democrat from iowa, is the chairman of the health, education, labor and pension committee. and jill houghton, the executive director of the non-profit u.s. business leadership network. we thank you both for being with us. >> thank you. >> woodruff: senator harkin, to you first. at a time when most everybody in the country worried about employment across the board, why is it important to focus on those with disabilities? >> well, because 22 years after the enactment of the americans withisalities act have an unemployment rate among people with disabilities approaching almost two-thirds. two out of every three people with detectives are not working. this is just unconscionable this many years after the a.d.a. i know we've had a recession. as you've pointed out they were let go, laid off at five times the rate of non-disabled workers so as our economy starts to improve or c

i want to say a special thank you to the staff and to my co- chair or vice chair jack markell in assisting me in this effort. this leads us to our keynote speaker jim collins. he is a student and teacher about great companies about how they grow and how they obtained superior performance and how good companies become great companies. having invested and nearly a quarter of a century of research into the topic, jim has author or co-author of six books that have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. they include the classic "built to last." the international best seller," good to great." "how the mighty fall"examines how great companies can self- destruct. his most recent book is "great by choice, on certainty, chaos, and look and why som thrive despite them." based on nine years of research, it answers the question -- why do some companies pride in uncertainty and chaos and others do not. fortunately, we will not only have a presentation from him but he will answer every single question for us and by the end of the day, we will all know what we need to do to go from good to great -- j

before i turn it over to governor markell, i would like to say a few words personally about jack. have known each other for a long time. i have great respect for what he has done as the governor of delaware. but more important for what he did for me as vice chair. we have had an absolutely terrific partnership. i can talk to jack about any single issue. we can have a great conversation and move forward on behalf of the nga. my wife sally who walked in, we were honored and pleased to get to know jack and carla. we want to thank both of you for all the you have done for us, but jack, it is now time for you to take over. here is the gavel. good luck and congratulations. [applause] >> thank you. i want to tell the governor of how good it feels to know that it is only after a serious drinking i was selected to be the chair of this organization. [laughter] something my staff will not be surprised about. i want to thank my wife for being here as well. so to the governor macdonell, thank you again. thank you so much for your hospitality. scott, we look forward to being in milwaukee. i'm g

i want to say a special thank you to the staff and to my co- chair or vice chair jack markell in assistinghis effort. this leads us to our keynote speaker jim collins. he is a student and teacher about great companies about how they grow and how they obtained superior performance and how good companies become great companies. having invested and nearly a quarter of a century of research into the topic, jim has author or co-author of six books that have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. they include the classic "built to last." the international best seller," good to great." "how the mighty fall"examines how great companies can self- destruct. his most recent book is "great by choice, on certainty, chaos, and look and why some thrive despite them." based on nine years of research, it answers the question -- why do some companies pride in uncertainty and chaos and others do not. fortunately, we will not only have a presentation from him but he will answer every single question for us and by the end of the day, we will all know what we need to do to go from good to great -- jim coll

. >>> we have the delaware governor jack markell and rick scott and john sununu.verybody, our starting point, those two americans and egyptian translator being held hostage in the egyptian desert and threats more americans could be taken. the state department is working with the egyptian government to try to free all of them. their captor is described as a member of the prominent tribe in the region and wants egyptian police to free his uncle from prison and told a newspaper unless that happens, he'll take more hostages or worse. one of the hostages, reverend michel louis offered himself up to spare the parishioners and pastor louis's children join us, gene louis and daniel louis. thanks for talking with us. gene, i'm going to start with you if i can. what do you know is the latest about your dad, his condition and how he's being held? >> good morning, soledad. i thank you for having us on this morning. and soledad, we're going to tell you what we've been telling all of the news media outlet's that has been interviewing us and we thank them also. the information t

host: governor jack markell of delaware is the incoming chair of the governors association. joining us, robert, republican, good morning. caller: hello governor. i've got two questions. guest: good morning. caller: first 11 first, one concern, there's nowhere to help the workers unless the governor gives his approval and number two, gas is at an alltime low [inaudible] what i want to think about you think what you think about natural gas prices. guest: i didn't hear the first part of the question about a strike? which strike? host: i didn't hear it either. if you would address the second part, particularly on the larger part of energy and if that's going to be a topic at this year's meeting. guest: the energy, obviously incredibly important, as a factor in all of our states. one of the things that we're seeing is that as a result of the drop in natural gas prices i think we've got a better and better chance to bring more and more manufacturing back to this country which is very exciting, because the more that we can actually make things in our country the better off we'll be

i am delighted to be here with a good friend, the delaware governor jack markell. jack and i have known each other for more than a decade and research together as state treasurers. i want to thank him for the support he is giving me this year as the vice chair. we have worked together on a variety of issues in different capacities. i have great respect for jack and the work he does as the governor of delaware. working with jack and all the governors is one of the things that makes the nga unique organization. provides governors a platform to have a bipartisan candid conversation about developing innovative and a group approach to governing. it has been a privilege to serve as the chair of the mta and i'm proud of our successes and out like to share a couple of those with you. during the last year, we were able to streamline the nga policy process and change the way we do business of the governor's priorities are at the forefront of everything we do including our lobbying efforts on capitol hill. for example, governors worked together on the issue of d-block and urge

at that meeting, democratic governor jack markell of delaware talked yesterday on the "washington journal" about the affordable care act and his particular view on individual states moving forward with health care reform. we're going to see what governor markell had to say and then give governor branstad a chance to respond: >> [[video clip] >> there's been so much vitriol about the affordable care act the people have forgotten how unacceptable the status quo is and i can tell you when i was running for governor in 2008, health care was the number one issue i was asked about and that came from people who were concerned about rising costs and it came from people who were concerned about having access. and importantly, the affordable care act addresses both of them. i'm not convinced that a single payor approach is a good one. it's not something that i would support in delaware. i think we've got now with the affordable care act the outlines of a good first step, but as i said earlier, there is plenty for us to do in each of our states to focus on and improve and sort of moving from the sic