thank you secretary lahood. thank you to the incredible leadership, senator feinstein, nancy pelosi and mayor lee and the board of supervisors to chairman nol an from the sfmta. i am on pins and needles. do we have anything else to report? it's still at the same point we think they're in commercials. i am reminded from the song from "top gun" "take my breath away" and $942 million takes my breath away and i think to mayor lee for that amount i think we should get a leather flight jacket to thank mr. lahood for the great gift to our great city. the new money that is going to be used here is going to create 1,000 new jobs before the end of the year with many more jobs to come after that. that is something to applaud. thank you again secretary lahood for that. this is one point 7 miles very similar to the length of the golden gate bridge when 75 years ago that was going to be built and little did we know what that bridge would bring to the economy of san francisco and marin and as we look ahead for 75 years it's in

. >> secretary lahood. thank you very much for that wonderful news. >> [inaudible] >> it's a really truly a great day for san francisco. great cities need great public transportation systems, and you know what? you know what makes our city great with all these leaders? they listen. they listen to our communities. they understand -- because for years our communities pleaded we need better transportation systems what makes our leaders so great they listen and they act. that is so wonderful. that is what standard that we have for all of our public officials. secretary lahood if you could thank president obama from all of us. yes. [applause] because i know today we're going to spend a lot of precious moments thanking leader pelosi and congress women fine 79 and boxer and. >> >> we're going to thank all of our community members and from china town and all of them have worked very hard. these are not easy projects. they're very complicated and people had to work at the highest levels to make sure that every aspec

transportation secretary ray lahood. please share this announcement. >> hello san francisco. i am delighted to be here to celebrate with all of you three very important champions for this project. senator feinstein who doesn't often call me, but when she does i pay attention, and four years ago when i went to see her about a number of issues this project was number one on her list. we need to get it done. we need to get a full funding grant agreement. she has been a champion for this project from the beginning going back -- i am sure she will tell you, i don't know how far. speaker pelosi, a champion for this project. [applause] speaker pelosi doesn't call me very often, but when she does it's always important. four years ago when i took this job i went to see the speaker. this was number one on her list. how do we get this project done? jackie spear a strong advocate for this project. you have three great champions, and i will also tell you that in working with senator boxer on the transportation bill this project was always at the top of her list. [applause] so i am delight

transportation secretary ray lahood. please share this announcement. >> hello san francisco. i am delighted to be here to celebrate with all of you three very important champions for this project. senator feinstein who doesn't often call me, but when she does i pay attention, and four years ago when i went

lahood: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield five minutes to the distinguished ranking member on the energy and commerce committee, the gentleman from california, mr. waxman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for five minutes. mr. waxman: thank you very much for yielding to me. mr. speaker, i rise in opposition to the bill. a warmer planet has less ice, higher sea levels, more water in the atmosphere, more powerful storms, more frequent floods, dreier droughts and worse wildfires. two weeks ago hurricane sandy brought a powerful and tragic reminder that the combination of sea level rise and more powerful storms can be deadly, devastating and extremely costly. hurricane sandy was the only -- only the latest and most dramatic in a series of extreme weather events. over the past two years we've had recordbreaking temperatures , the worst drought in 50 years , major floods, numerous tornadoes and thunderstorms and vast wildfires. this is what global warming looks like.

some of these include hillary clinton, leon panetta, timothy geithner, eric holder and ray lahood.and a d.c. council hearing today. it would allow the city to use d.c. tax dollars without the approval of congress. tom davis expected to testify. >> a man -- 31-year-old oscar pleaded guilty thursday to sexual abuse charges. police say he admitted assaulting four woman last august. he faces up to two years in jail when sentenced next week. >> 6:33. but as look around montgomery county. maryland family pleading for help to find a hit and run a driver. this man was hit and critically injured when crossing the street. this and delphi. they told him the car that hit him was involved in a street race and kept on going. >> they hit him they ran the. and i just want to tell them that my cousin is about to die. and i am here suffering with my family. >> police said they do not have many leads. his family says he was supporting his mom as well as a young son in honduras. and now his girlfriend is pregnant as well. and an important hub for drivers and the potomac area. you might want to stay aw

but "politico" reports leon panetta, eric holder ray lahood, and several others are all expected to leave thier posts. rumors are swirling over who will be named as replacements. the "new york times" reports president obama wants at least one republican in his cabinet. possibly retiring senator olympia snowe though it's unclear for what post. president obama made a quiet return to the white house last night. after his re-election celebrations in chicago. the obama campaign is still waiting to hear who won florida's 29-electoral votes. even though the outcome won't affect the election. with more than 8-million votes counted. the president holds a 46-thousand vote lead in florida. the official results are due by saturday. mitt romney wrapped up his long white house candidacy by visiting his campaign headquarters in boston yesterday. he thanked staffers and said he knows they gave it their best shot. campaign members say romney and his wife ann were very gracious in defeat, and there was no sense of finger-pointing over the loss. a longtime friend said romney felt badly that his message abou

transportation secretary ray lahood will go to new jersey to help with the recovery effort there. >>> almost everyone back to school and work in our area. still one delay. pendleton county schools on a two-hour delay this morning. the county had to deal with days of power outages following the storm. good morning, welcome to news 4 today. >> and it is friday, november 2, 2012. a live look out over the nation's capital this morning. 44 degrees outside our studios, we're in for a chilly stretch of weather. >> tom kieran with more on the forecast. >> this is what sandy is doing. drawing cold air down from canada bringing in this unusual chill for early november. it does feel more like a winter morning. you will need your winter coat. the little specks of again, getting a few scattered sprinkles, not as widespread as they were yesterday. out over the panhandle of west virginia and maryland. some places getting a few snow flurries and areas in dark blue, only near freezing now, much of western maryland and western virginia where they got the heavy snow. thousands without power there. and f

and now apparently eric holder is considering whether he will stay on as attorney general and ray lahooddepartment of transportation. so is this shakeup as simple as cabinet members get burned out, need to step down and be replaced or is this a case of something more, julian? >> this is standard in every administration. these are very, very tough jobs. they are very demanding and taxing on a family. i think you see all-stars hillary clinton and tim geithner likely to leave. i think the interesting question, however, is whether the president will look to bring in republicans, people like chuck hagel, colin powell potentially in some of these positions and folks from the business industry, people like president of the xm bank and even michael bloomberg. the real thing i think we want to look for is will the president signal different directions by trying to bring in some republicans and people from the business community as well. >> there have been peripheral discussions whether mitt romney would be among those. is that realistic when the president says he is entertaining the opportunity t

the authority's chairman and transportation secretary ray lahood are expects to testify. >>> getting around one of the most heavily traveled parts of the beltway in virginia should get a little easier starting tomorrow. the 495 express lanes open on saturday. the 14-mile stretch of toll lanes run between springfield and the dulles toll road. here's the promise. you'll be able to go at least 45 miles per hour even at rush hour. that is thanks to varying tolls that charge based on congestion and could cost as much as $1 a mile. you will need an ez pass to ride the lanes. the lanes actually open to one special driver today. santa will ride the lanes in a tesla roadster convertible on his way to his workshop at tyson's corner. he's everywhere. he has workshops everywhere. >>> 5:06 is our time. the white house and congressional leaders finally ready to get to work on avoiding the fiscal cliff. >>> panda experts preparing a mother and her young daughter to live in the wild. they're being moved to panda valley. once there, they'll learn to live without much contact. they'll eventually be fr

talking to ray lahood, secretary of transportation, and they had a fema--they're shipping down 200 generatorsators, maybe that can help some of these small businesses, but first we need to get the water out of our subway system, and all of the tunnels connecting manhattan and queens are totally flooded. before they can start repairing it, we got to get it out. con ed doesn't have the power. the federal government--if there was ever an argument for fema and federal cooperation, this makes the case. it's not just new york, it's the whole eastern seaboard. >> eliot: you touched on 18 different issues we're going to come back to if we have time in the next 17 minutes. but i want to touch on the transportation. you and i worked on the second avenue subway connector the two biggest constructions in the nation are right here. >> $48 billion in federal eight and thousands of jobs. and i want to add we added $350 million as a down payment on high speed rail between new york and boston. wouldn't that be great development. >> eliot: what is also critical in addition to adding as a second avenue, high sp

transportation secretary ray lahood lauded brand new express lanes in virginia as a model for americancture. drivers have the option of paying a toll or carpooling the ride inaster moving traffic. it fluctuates depending on how busy the road is. over the weekend, there were reports of several crashesvoing multiple vehicles that were all caused by the drivers swerving or making lane changes to avoid the toll lane. monday, in the first rush hour test police investigated a four-car collision at the start of the morning commute. transportation authorities are scrambling to make clear and more extended markings intending to my mize upbe safe lane changes. ♪ ♪ >> shannon: our top story at the bottom of the hour. cease-fire between palestinians and gaza and israel began 90 minutes ago. midnight local time. leland vittert on the human toll for people who are not fighting. >> reporter: fox news cameras traveled the streets of gaza city. you wouldn't know it's the most densely populated place op earth as the streets are empty. the shops closed. the only sound ambulances. [ sirenning ] in souther

. >> ray lahood is indicated he doesn't plan to stick around. not usually a high position, but the president keeps talking about infrastructure. he's made this a major push for practical as well as economic reasons. possible contenders for that position? los angeles mayor, ed rendell, congressman steve latuorette of ohio. what's important in that decision? >> you mentioned infrastructure. that's a critical part of this job. which is really selling the infrastructure proposals. we have lost sight of it, but we still have work to do on jobs and infrastructure is key in the president's agenda. so he needs someone who can make the case around the country. stepping back we need to look at the diversity in the cabinet and make sure there's representation of what america looks like. in a sense, stronger numbers amongst latinos and african-americans than many people expected. as you look at the entire cabinet, the white house will also look at diversity. but i don't know all of those candidates actually have a lot going for them. >> we only have a few s

the authority's chairman and transportation secretary ray lahood are expected to testify. >>> relief and shock, that is the reaction on both sides after a not guilty verdict in the bowie state university murder trial. after just a few hours of deliberations, the jury acquitted alexis simpson on seven charges, including first degree murder. the she was accused of stabbing her roommate, dominique frazier. the two got into a fight over loud music in the dorm. defense attorneys argue that simpson was bullied and fighting back when the stabbing happened. simpson took the stand in the final day of testimony. lawyers say her testimony helped jurors make a decision. >> there's no question in my mind that alexis acted in self-defense. we are very gratified by the verdict. >> we did the very best we knew how to do. we presented the evidence the way it was, and the jury gave us their verdict. >> sheriff's deputies escorted the 12 jurors from the courthouse, and they did not comment on 0 the case. the frazier family did not speak publicly after the verdict. >>> this morning the husband of star m

he could replace ray lahood.is name is being floated to run the dnc. >>> vice president joe biden and his wife, jill, ate a turkey dinner with a group of wounded soldiers and their families last night. biden was telling the group we can never, ever repay you for your sacrifices. >>> and senator marco rubio is being criticized for an interview he gave to "gq." how old do you think the earth is? his answer, i'm not a scientist, man. i can tell you what recorded history says. i can tell you what the bible says. he went on to say at the end of the day, i think there are multiple theories and this is a country people should have the opportunity to teach them all. and has this ever happened to you, you meet a nice guy, a nice girl, and this situation follows. >> well, there's something you ought to know about jen. she's a liberal. the last three years working for greenpeace. >> you're kidding, right? >> thanksgiving turkey is made of soy. will, she voted for dennis kucinich. >> red state date and blue state date want t

. >> and one point, chuck hagel is, of course, ray lahood was a republican but i think ray is probably going to leave as well. chuck hagel would be a great appointment and he's best suited for defense. wouldn't you agree with that? >> i think that's probably right. >> if you have reached a consensus on it -- >> chuck it is. >> i have decided not to leave this position for secretary of defense. i hate to say it now, ahead of the actual -- >> who would be better to take on the military end strum stril complex than you. >> we have to go to break. president obama turns mitt romney's 47% problem into a 51% re-election but can the president turn a public mandate into a political one? we will ask new york magazine's jonathan chait next on "now." ♪ these are... [ male announcer ] marie callender's puts everything you've grown to love about sunday dinner into each of her pot pies. tender white meat chicken and vegetables in a crust made from scratch. marie callender's. it's time to savor. i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announc

even attorney general eric holder and transportation second ray lahood, the only republican left in thecould be leaving as well. in 2008 obama told "time" magazine he wants his cabinet to be a team of rivals saying, quote, i don't want people who just agree with me. i want people continually pushing me out of my comfort zone. what should we expect this time around? i would bring it to the table. so i think the biggest one people are talking about is who is going to replace hillary clinton. the two names who have voted is u.n. ambassador susan rice and john kerry. i have no problem with susan rice. i think she's fantastic and unfortunate how she's been treated recently. i tell you, john kerry during this campaign has been fantastic in his debate prep with the president. i thought his speech as the dp nc was brilliant, and i think he would be a terrific diplomat. there's concerns that if he was nominated then the senate -- his senate seat would be open and scott brown could have another shot at getting into the senate. i don't think that would be the worst thing in the world for the presi

secretary lahood is coming. the head of fema is coming. >> congresswoman, i hate to cut you short.er my question but i forgive you. thank you for coming in. mitt romney, eric cantor, bffs, heaven help us. busy in here. yeah. progressive mobile is... [ "everybody have fun tonight" plays ] really catching on! people can do it all! get a quote, buy and manage your policy! -[ music stops ] -it's great! well, what's with the... -[ music resumes ] -music? ♪ have fun tonight dude. getting a car insurance quote. i'll let it go to voicemail. [ clears throat ] ♪ everybody wang chung tonight ♪ putting it on vibrate. [ cell phone vibrates ] -[ loud vibrating ] -it'll pass. [ vibrating continues ] our giant store and your little phone. that's progressive mobile. >>> mitt romney once implied that the unemployment rate would never drop under 8% under the current president and then it did. he then said the reason it was down was because people were leaving the workforce, but they weren't. they rejoined it. and so here is mr. romney's final assessment of why things are so bad, even though they're a

transportation secretary ray lahood. ken salazar and steven chu. while the president makes his case to the public, he may have to sell his position it to top democrats who are drawing their own lines in the sand as it to what should or shouldn't be part of the conversation. stephanie cutter served as the president's deputy campaign manager. she joins me now. you look rested. >> thank you. >> welcome back from the time off i assume you took. let's start with when it comes to the fiscal cliff and the mandate the president believes he has on taxes, we understand that, is the democratic base going to accept changes in medicare? >> well, you know, chuck, we need to work through a process. the president has a balanced deficit reduction plan already on the table that includes a medicare savings and medicaid savings, about $340 billion. over the course of the next ten years including savings we've already put in place, that's more health care savings than even simpson-bowles achieves. so if we want balanced deficit reduction, we have to look at everythi ev

ray lahood has been coordinating the response for the transportation system. i am sure there will be requests for infrastructure, for people. it is a disaster beyond belief. there has to be a commission to look at ways we can try to prevent this in the future. in new york, a lot of infrastructure was in the basements of buildings. in hospitals, they have these huge electrical systems and phone systems in the basement. it is all destroyed with salt water. in nyu medical, the smell was almost unbelievable. the combination of this type of electric communication systems rotting. everywhere you see on a lower east side, the palms are working trying to push water out. fema and the national guard and the federal government are moving to hundred generators to manhattan -- moving to hundred generators to manhattan to help back up the pump system to get water out of our communications network. we have over 700 miles of subway system that needs to be inspected after you remove the water and begin the repair of it. there has to be a rethinking of how we build our building

are round of world that ha was context and the ray lahood contract the callous like no unions and walmartre happy to perish in a fire -- people were happy to get out of work. you should be happy not to get up and go to work, that somehow being an american, you shouldn't have to go to work or count on slave wages. the nobel prize went once to the guy who started the micro loans in bangladesh. we are talking about $500 loans. that is the first step towards capitalism and yet a greater step towards capitalism, great points against unions and they're defending unions. charles: can't we agree it was funny? they were nasty to you. charles: the part i don't like is the e-mails and stuff on none of it is smart. it is all insulting. stuart: here comes the highlight reel. it is next. >> here it is, the highlight reel. roll it, please. >> they're pretty steamed about the idea you tax the rich and the middle class will feel better. >> this is worse than the mitt romney 47% comment. >> it would have a good aspects to the morale. warren buffett is at it again. >> when is he the of the rich in this coun

transportation secretary ray lahood is among those scheduled to testify. >>> bad news for hostess.will begin to shut down operations after asking a bankruptcy court for permission to close its doors and sell off its popular brands. the company says this is all the result of a strike involving bakers who claim their new contract cuts wages and benefits. hostess says 18,500 workers will be laid off. unfortunate. >> we'll be following that story. >>> let's switch gears now, check in with tucker barnes. he's got -- >> i know. you are -- i've never seen you eat a twinkie. >> we don't have them in the snack machine. >> took them out of the building. yeah, they did. we've had many ho hoes together, haven't we? >> we have. ding dongs. >> okay, okay. let's move on. time for my first 5 photo of the day. we all need a pick me up. >> that's me when i was little. >> it is? >> kind of what i looked like. >> were you that cute? >> not quite. >> this is roman levi taylor of greenville. >> adorable. >> what a great picture. smile on the face. >> look how little he is really. >> isn't that great? th

and i am sure there will be at least one republican in the next cabinet to replace ray lahood, who is leaving. but i wouldn't expect many more than that. i also would not expect many of them to come from the hill because those seats are precious to barack obama. just as george bush famously said -- george bush the elder, even though he had great relations with members of congress, having served there, he made a conscious decision not to choose anybody from the hill. >> the parlor game is kind of fascinating in terms of how -- gaming out -- could you take this person from this state and would it be a special election or a governor who appoints, and is of the governor democrat or republican. i am guessing the white house learned of their election a little bit in 2008 when they took so many prominent democratic stars -- and i am thinking of janet napolitano. janet napolitano, they gave for the worst job in the world, homeland security secretary. it is a thankless job. anything goes wrong, it is your fault. if anything goes right, nobody notices. she is a woman who was enormously successf

he did have -- ray lahood is his secretary of transportation. he's a republican from illinois.ates was his secretary of defense. he was a republican. it's probably a pretty good idea, although i'm not necessarily convinced he's going to name a republican to either be secretary of the treasury or secretary of state. >> look what the president did last night in his speech. he said he was going to call mitt romney in the next few weeks and talk about how to move forward together. that was incredibly generous and also incredibly smart politically. if he begins to go that way, last time he's elected president, he immediately moves to the left, health care, lots of spending. if he does what he maybe started doing last night it will help him politically, strengthen him politically and also be -- >> as you know, who he picks as secretary of the treasury to replace timothy geithner will have a powerful message to wall street, the business community, the international community. he could go bold. >> he could go bold. that's not what one has been hearing in washington, as you well know. w

and i'm sure that there will be at least one republican in the next cabinet to replace ray lahood whos leading, but i wouldn't expect many more than that but i also wouldn't expect, many of them to come from the hill because those seats are precious to barack obama. just as george bush famously said, or decided, george bush the elder, even though he had great relations with members of congress having served there, he made a conscious decision not to choose anybody from the hill. >> you know, the parlor game is kind of fascinating in terms of like how, you know, gaming out, could you take this person from the state and what the elections or the governor who appoints, the governor of democrat or republican. and i'm guessing that the white house learned their lesson a little bit in 2008 when you took so many prominent democratic stars, and i'm thinking of janet napolitano. janet napolitano, they give for the worst job in the world, homeland security secretary. it is a thankless job. if anything goes wrong, it's your fault but everything goes right, nobody notices. this is a woman who was

within a day of the disaster, secretary ray lahood provided $3 million in emergency relief funding to open roads in the state. as we consider efforts to support the recovery, i would note that this was the third major disaster that has hit rhode island in as many years, reflecting this climate activity which is unusual and i don't think will dissipate. we've had hurricanes in 2011, 2012 and a major flood in 2010. each of these disasters has affected a majority, if not the entire state. the size and frequency of these events coupled with the very harsh economic and fiscal climate in the state has made it very challenging for rhode island to fund the portion of the recovery that they must fund. and for this reason relief in the form of additional federal funding through disaster cdbg funding and economic development administration grants as well as cost share flexibility for fema assistance have been important to the state in the past and will be again very important for post-sandy recovery. in addition, resources at the department of transportation's emergency relief program will be es

and i am sure there will be at least one republican in the next cabinet to replace ray lahood, who is leaving. but i wouldn't expect many more than that. i also would not expect many of them to come from the hill because those seats are precious to barack obama. just as george bush famously said -- george bush the elder, even though he had great relations with members of congress, having served there, he made a conscious decision not to choose anybody from the hill. >> the parlor game is kind of fascinating in terms of how -- gaming out -- could you take this person from this state and would it be a special election or a governor who appoints, and is of the governor democrat or republican. i am guessing the white house learned of their election a little bit in 2008 when they took so many prominent democratic stars -- and i am thinking of janet napolitano. janet napolitano, they gave for the worst job in the world, homeland security secretary. it is a thankless job. anything goes wrong, it is your fault. if anything goes right, nobody notices. she is a woman who was enormously successf

ray lahood has been coordinating the response on the transportation system, but fema is coordinating the overall response. i'm sure that there will be requests for infrastructure, for people. it is a disaster beyond belief. and there has to be a commission to look at ways we can try and prevent this in the future. one of the problems in new york is a lot of the infrastructure was in the basement of buildings. for example the hospitals, they had their m.r.i.'s, these huge electrical systems. and othercies testimonies in the basement. it's all destroyed with the saltwater. i was touring n.y.u. medical yesterday, and the smell, the stench just from a few days was almost unbelievable. the combination of this type of electric communication systems rotting. everywhere you see on the lower east side, the pumps are working, trying to push water out. some of our larger institutions do have generators, but fema and the national guard and really the federal government are moving 200 generators to manhattan and to brooklyn and queens to help back up the pumping system to get water out of institu

ray lahood has been coordinating the transfer system, the fema escort aiding the overall risk of. i'm sure there will be requests for infrastructure for people. it is a disaster beyond the least and there has to be a commission to look at ways we can try to prevent this in the future. one of the problems is that a lot of the infrastructure was in the basement of buildings. for example, hospitals and mris come a electrical systems and phone systems in the basement. it is all destroyed with the salt water. the smile, the stench is almost unbelievable as a combination of this type of electric communication systems rotting. pumps are trying to push water out. phenom and the national guard and whether the federal government are moving 200 generators to manhattan and brooklyn and queens to help back up the pumping system to get the water out of institutions and out of our communications network. we have over 700 miles of subway systems they need not to be inspect it after we remove the water and begin the repair of it. there has to be a total rethinking of how we build in the future. we

lahood never say no. -- i would never say no. part of it was going after the factor that i was not going to do something i did not want, but i was not going to do it not only because i thought my kids needed me, that is the easier part -- your kid needs to, you are there. it is because i realize that not want to look back at the end of my life and have missed the last four, five years of my children at home. i had a son who turned 16 yesterday. parents at my stage -- he is going to be gone before i know it. and i treasure that time. it is a choice. it is not a sacrifice. it is saying, i want this and i am never going to be able to have this back and i hope i will still be able to have the other. if i cannot, so be it. >> you are talking clearly to a lot of women who are -- about a lot of women who feel like they have to choose somehow between a career advancement or a career and their family. but why don't you think men have to make that very same joyce? >>-- joyce? >> my father and brother informed me loud and clear they had mad

i asked the president and secretary lahood for emergency funds to repair highways and bridges and to expedite assistance to all impacted modes of transportation. i called on the president to dispatch emergency fuel and power supplies to new jersey to ease the fuel shortage and to keep emergency vehicles running in the immediate aftermath of the storm and to ensure critical infrastructure, water treatment and sanitation facilities, we received the help of the army corps of engineers to have these facilities remain operable. and the federal government also responded with $10 million in emergency funding for some of those critical transportation needs, freed up 2 million gallons of fuel from the northeast oil reserve, and the e.p.a. took action that rerouted the fuel to new jersey when it needed it the most. the federal response also included a grant for new jersey to hire a thousand workers to help communities clean up from the storm. but despite all of that, many families in my state are still suffering. they have lost much. many are displaced. some permanently from their homes. that'