yes, joe manchin was a democrat but he was a coal state governor. pretty much maintained the role of opponent to environmental regulations, particularly anything to do with the coal industry and coal-fired power plants. just as he promised the people of west virginia he would do when he was running for senate. in 2011, he introduced a bill in the senate that would prevent the epa from revoking clean water act permits. that same year he also co-sponsored an amendment that would suspend the epa's regulation of greenhouse gases. this past summer senator manchin was the only senate democrat to vote against the confirmation of president obama's choice to be the new head of the epa. then came january 9th of this year, four weeks ago. a chemical spill paralyzed governor manchin's state. a chemical used in the processing of coal. the banks of the elk river in charleston, west virginia, at the public water intake for charleston's drinking water supply. that chemical it turns out was stored poorly in tanks maintained poorly been and unregulated storage chemic

the bill that has been recently introduced by senator manchin and boxer and rockefeller would take a major step in that direction to force somebody to deal with that situation at the state level and that would be a significant step forward to actually get action taken to deal with these immediate threats. >> anybody else? very good. i do appreciate your leadership, mr. chairman, enjoy working with you on these issues, this really is an important topic but hopefully we can deal with it. >> i appreciate the cooperation on this committee, we try to do everything we can in a non-partisan manner because it involves public health of the people of this nation. i will give each of you an opportunity to respond if you want to. you heard in the course of this hearing information that would have been very helpful. you heard of the failure to exercise reasonable caution by the property owner in a manner in which it dealt with above-ground storage. and epa currently publishedes 90 contaminants as far as regulations on how to deal with. chemicals are one aspect of contaminants. there can be other

on the federal side we support the manchin-boxer proposal. by requiring epa to establish minimum acceptable standards by which the states will be held accountable we can significantly reduce the risk of similar problem in the future. the program was developed in the late 1980 they recognized over 2 million systems estimated to be located at over 700,000 facilities nationwide existed with little or no oversight and that over 75% of the existing systems were made of unprotected steel, a type of tarng system proven to be the most likely to leak and thus great greatest potential. the success of the program nationally undisputable. the tbof ground stonch tank universe is not nearly as well known. it's regulated by registering. or leek detection monitoring either. the registration requirement in current legislation is the key to us getting a handle on the universe of structures that are currently underregulated. we are optimistic that the legislation currently pepping in west virginia will of this type of incident and we can serve as an example to

joe manchin, thanks for your efforts on this.for your time today. >> thanks, alex. >> after the break, can you really say you're committed to fighting poverty when you are still stuck on trickle-down economics? we'll discuss with former labor secretary robert reich. the end. lovely read susan. may i read something? yes, please. of course. a rich, never bitter taste cup after cup. 340 grams. [ sighs ] [ male announcer ] always rich, never bitter. gevalia. anybody have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three types of good bacteria. i should probably take this. live the regular life. phillips'. ♪ clovers and blue moons shoes ♪ hourglasses, rainbows ♪ and tasty red balloons let's go! ♪ lucky charms ♪ frosted lucky charms ♪ they're magically delicious >>> we don't want to turn this safety net into a hammock. >> hammocks and lies of complacency. that was the old paul ryan. the new paul ryan is a one-man pr machine focused

manchin: thank you very much. i want to thank my colleague, senator wicker, for his concern and long concern about the puerto rican status and how they can govern themselves and work independently. and as you can tell, this is a partisan concern that we have here working very closely together, and as you mentioned, senator wicker, the government accountability office is currently working on a report that examines puerto rico's economy and the cost of admitting puerto rico as a state. i look forward to seeing the results of that report. mr. president, in light of the fact that we still await the go report, in addition to a number of other reasons, i share senator wicker's concerns about the puerto rico status act. on august 1 of last year, the energy and natural resource committee which has jurisdiction over puerto rico issues, held a hearing on the political status of puerto rico, where we had the opportunity to hear from governor padilla, commissioner periluizi, the president of the puerto rican independence part

that is why senator manchin's l. is so critical because we could could -- and mr. faulk i love lawyers. i'm married to one and my father was one in my son is one. you are eloquent in your philosophy but it doesn't get to the point of where we are which is that we have got people suffering at this time so it seems to me that without getting into an argument about federalism although i do agree with you the state should have absolute flexibility to move on this, i would rather see if we can first of all help you solve a problem which i think since you have a responsibility under current law and states have the responsibility to declare whether water is safe it sounds to me we need some help here in monitoring and measuring and i want to get to that in a minute. but also we want to make sure in the future with these 80,000 chemicals out there mr. weaver do you have any idea how many chemicals might be stored all over this great nation at various area water supply is? do you have any idea that? >> how many? i can speak to our member facilities which i do know about it

joe manchin has asked that it be banned. the one currency trader says joe manchin was going too far. >> in the early days of banking there were bang runs. we came up with government regulation, ftic insurance and the federal reserve. now you trust putting your money into a bank. in the early days, it's expected there's hiccups. >> federal prosecutors in new york and authorities in japan are looking at what caused the bitcoin exchange to shut bun. more than $300 million worth may have been stolen from a tokyo exchange. >> in part two of our look at the citrus problem, farmers get help to overcome the crisis. jennifer london has the story from redland. >> i can see the tree has a broken branch. >> citrus farming runs through bob's blood, passed down from his father, grandfather, and great grandfather. >> we have been farming oranges and citrus in this area since the 1900s. >> the citrus groves have survived snaps, cold snaps. >> it is it the asian citrus psyllid. it's fatal. we'll lose all the trees. it's like losing someone i

here is what manchin said. >> we thought that the tested and checked but knowing, haz-mat material, it didn't have to be, the chemical vaift improvement act which for the first time in 42 years, think about this, 1976 was the last time we ever tried to find out what chemicals we are using and how it affects humans. >> also del the company freedom industries blamed for the chemical spill was asked to be here at the hearing, they were a no-show and in fact didn't even have a statement. no courage you could feel the anger towards that company, some of the people on the hearing committee this morning were just frustrated and wondering where these guys were and why no one is hearing from them even though their in chapter 11 bankruptcy right now. >> thank you very much. a short time ago, accused a man killing a teen over loud music. michael dutton is accused of killing a man back in 2012. prosecutors say he acted in premeditation, but dunn said he shot davis in self-defense. (t) corruption trial of new orleans mayor ray nagin went to the jury a few moments ago. essentially, is ben lemoin is

west virginia joe manchin asking federal regulators to ban the currency.wants the disruption to the economy, but one currency trader says joe manchin may be going too far. >> in the early days of banking there were bank runs all the time, then we came up with the regulations, insurance, and the federal reserve. now you trust to put your money into the bank. in the early days, it's expected there were hick cups. >> federal prosecutors and japanese authorities are investigating what happened. >> president obama making a push to fix the crumbling infrastructure. the president asked congress to approve a $300 million plan to create jobs by fixing roads, bridges and railways. the president made similar pitches, but congress rejected every one. >> farmers got some rain, but not enough to help them recover from one of the worst floods. >> it is raining hard, what does it mean? to give you an example of the impact. dairy farmers need hay and grain for the cows. it requires water to grow. there has been a cost for dairy farmers this area. we had the chance to speak

there were positions where then governor-manchin was with democrats, with the president on. there were others where he was obviously very different. you know, in terms of -- >> the gun issue i remember. which i thought was a great ad. >> shooting cap and trade. each campaign has to make their decision about how they're going to distinguish themselves, not only from the president or national democrats, but obviously with the republicans. and i think if we generalize too quickly or simplify this too easily, we miss the bigger picture. to me, virginia is a perfect example of what happened in the governor's race. terry mcauliffe showed up, did events with the president, and still won. i think it's a question of where you decide the president could be useful. in some states, he could definitely be useful. in michigan, there might be a tough senate race. he might be useful. in other states, listen, lose lose. he's probably not going to be as useful. >> mark begich, senator from alaska, makes this comment. if he wants to come up, i'm not really interested in campaigning. i want to

so i have a bill, it's a bill that i have introduced with joe manchin, senator joe manchin from west virginia, it's a bipartisan bill, and it is going to help provide greater security for kids in our schools. madam president, my immediate inspiration for -- for introducing this bill came from a tragic story that originated in pennsylvania. it's a story that begins at a school in delaware county. one of the schoolteachers, it turns out, had molested several boys and had raped one. the prosecutors never felt like they had enough evidence to actually mount a case against him, but the school knew what had happened, and so they dismissed the teacher, but unbelievably to me, although they dismissed him, they also gave him a letter of recommendation that he could take with him as he applied -- where do you think -- to other schools, because that's what these predators do, they look to be in an environment where they can find more victims. that's exactly what this guy did. he managed to get another teaching job in west virginia. the story, this episode ends in 1997 when that teacher, who by

would senator manchin stand with president obama at a campaign rally this year?idn't stand with him in 2010. not speaking for senator manchin but he has kind of established his own identity in terms of where he agrees and disagrees with the president. i think what is going to end up happening here is there are going to be democrats that will be more than willing to stand with the president, where the president will be helpful, whether that's states like minnesota, north carolina, pennsylvania, whatever it might be, some of the governors races, in particular senate races. but in general when you're talking about states where you have a really tough race, whether it's arkansas, louisiana, it is tough, i think, if i was advising for those senate candidates to say stand with the president because i don't think it is about the president. at the end of the day you've got to establish what your vision is for the country relative to your point go out there and communicate that as best you can. if you sit there and make this about the president's agenda or the president -

west virgina senator joe manchin is calling for a complete ban of the digital currency. he sent a letter to treasury secretary jack lew and fed chair janet yellen, saying the currency is unregulated and allows illegal activity. earlier in the week, bitcoin's exchange, mt. gox, went offline after a series of cyber-attacks. customers lost about $350 million in bitcoins, with no solution for recovery. identity theft tops the list of pricey consumer complaints. consumers lost $1.6 billion to various types of fraud in 2013, according to the federal trade commission. also making the list along with id theft.. credit card theft, false debt collection notices, payday loan charges, government imposter debt claims, and unexpected telephone and mobile charges. in our cover story, "everybody wins at the oscars." that the name of the gift bags that last year, were filled with 48-thousand dollars' worth of stuff-we-all-get---swag for short. and for the companies that provide the goodies--- seeking good publicity---it's in the bag. the storefront of terry's toffee's and shelves inside

i think i think the state and you know governor earl ray tomblin and senator joe manchin are doing everything in their power to stop that regulation from happening precisely because people like jake like reporters donated to governor thomas camping the executives at patriot coal doing to governor thomas camping out financial resources which acquired massey energy which is responsible for. coal blast that killed over two dozen miners they gave money to this government so this this whole administration is in the pocket of the coal industry so i think and tell the federal government steps in and really starts to regulate the state because the state won't do it so i think until that happens you're not going to see much in the way of accountability at the state level that's that's really a shame and i want to ask you about another another aspect of this that it doesn't surprise me it sounds too absurd to actually be true the the koch brothers charles and david koch actually might be connected to these chemicals bills this is something that you've been writing about yourself can you explain that co

continue to be concerned about the safety of their drinking water democratic senators barbara boxer joe manchin and john rockefeller proposed the chemical safety and drinking water protection act that would require state inspections of above ground chemical storage facilities this bill has not yet been referred to committee for more on this we turn to our to correspondent make a. first west virginia residents were told that their water was unsafe to drink now one expert warns that the air in charleston could also be toxic take a deep breath because this one is a doozy west virginia environmental quality board member scott simon testified in front of west virginia's joint legislative oversight commission on state water resources that he conducted tests and found trace amounts of cancer causing for the hide in the air simonton believes this talk cicare is linked to the spill of thousands of gallons of for meth the cycle hexane methanol into the elk river earlier this month state officials have blasted the testimony the west virginia american water company called simon tones opinion misleading and

financial regulators have been asked to ban the karch by joe manchin. one currency trader said joe manchin may be going too far. >> in the early days there were bank running, fdic insurance, federal reserve and now you trust to put your money into a bank. this the early days it is expect there'll be hiccups. >> joining us to discuss this is david nelson. senator joe manchin brings up a sudden point, follow the closure, $300 million-plus dollars missing. it's more than a major hiccup. >> it's important to distinguish between a bitcoin exchange and the currency itself. we may find out several months from now that it was nothing more than a ponzi scheme. it could be that. red flags showed up for several months. people that had invested said that it was easy to get money in, almost impossible to get it out. the company, their founder, mark kapellis believe they were hacked or robbed. it may have vanished. >> they ceased operations. >> the senator september a later saying: >> if criminals are taking advantage of bitcoin, will regulators step in. >> probably.

and i will tell you there were positions when governor manchin was with the democrats and the presidentut others he was different in terms. >> the gun issue and rifle. that was a great ad. >> so i think each campaign has to make the decision of how to distinguish themselves totally from the president but obviously with the republicans. and if we generalize or simplify it too easily we miss the bigger picture. this is what happened in the governor's race. terry mccull louve did events with the president and still won. you decide where the president is useful. michigan it might be a tough senate race and he might be useful and new hampshire and north carolina. in other states. louisiana probably not as useful to help bring out the vote. >> mark begish? if he wants to come up. i am not interested in him campaigning but i want to show him his policies are not the right direction. that doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement. >> this is a reflection. there was a six year itch in american politics that happen to president bush and happen to president obama and the incumbent president suffers

try to a manchin read blocks , go online there is a lot of voices out there a growing number and try to connect with what people are saying. there is some exciting fiction. when you have friends in the military or veterans but be willing to listen. don't ask them if they have never killed anyone. that is a little tacky. one of the things i encourage people to do is a lot of that's struggling with ptsd have a hard time with i contact. sitting around and drinking is the bad mechanism. so instead of. >> guest: to have of beer? you want to go for a hike or another activity where somebody can walk with you and share their stories about the pressure of having to stare directly at your eyes to have that temptation to over indulge with alcohol. >> thank you for reading your book. i was in kentucky win the war started. i was a reporter and talk to people from fort campbell. i wonder if what we wrote earlier for the first camp -- examples of not giving mental health treatment to those that needed it. but has that changed? with for brag or because they may be blacklisted has that changed? >> my

. >> chris co phoenix and democratic senator joe manchin. brad, let me start wu. you make of what harry reid was saying about people with bad experiences with obama care? >> look if you take harry reid's own words there is no problem with obama care or website or sign ups and delivery of services and people are satisfied with the coined of law that was passed. three big lies perpetrated by democrats, you will keep your doctor and policy, false. when americans tell their truthful story about their experiences with obama care, what does the septemberor do who claim they are political attacks he goes to the well of the senate and attack the americans. it is a disgrace! >> what mcconnell said, chris, his behavior is a stop iing. do you believe the people who have come on our channel, and related the stories of hard ships, are they liars? >> i will not call anybody a li. i will admit people out there had difficulty with the roll out whether it was the website or lost their plan, i understand that. i understand that has happen. what i think our message should be in fixi

. >> host: manchin day the million man march the organizers were of the list verified you are very critical of both have a and the nation of islam. tell us why. >> because people who come out of prison or drugs who are benefited by tradition. i've got to be acknowledged that is a true fact we should not taken the credit away but i was really looking for greater direction in and involvement after the march. after the march if you had 2 million men on the of all you had many more better perhaps ready for action right after that. but will there was policy prescriptions that did carry them on, from that crude it was like nothing. i found it disappointing but nobody's perfect. i thought that plus of missed opportunity. i tend to believe we need to draw people into action. the you want to talk about action, that is like talking directly to the people to organize around the agenda. not let's preached in a room or talk about other worldly type of stuff. at the end of the day i have a clear bias to try to redress the things that are directly you negatively impacting people were by is to organize the

. >> senator manchin. >> thank you very much. congratulations, madame chairwoman. i'm so pleased i was able to vote for you. and we had nice conversations concerning the quantitative easing. i appreciate the job you're doing. >> thank you. >> let me say i sent you along with five other regulators a letter representing my concerns of bit coin. i think it's being used for illegal activities. it allows scam artists and hackers to steal money from hard working americans and it's a bad form of currency because it has a deflation problem. . most recently the major change for bit coin went dark, which led to $400 million in bit coin's evaporation overnight. i'm concerned other countries are ahead of the curve of already issuing regulations to protect their citizens, which may lead americans holding them back. i would like to know your view on the bitcoin and what actions does the fed have planned on regulating this unstable currency? >> so, senator, i think it's important to understand that this this is a payment innovation that's taking place entirely outside the banking

call the water safe when questioned by congressional leaders like senator and former governor joe manchin >> is the water safe? would you use the water with your children and grandchildren? >> i consider the toxicology that exist this chemical is so little and so -- the chemical is so little it started it's very hard to say whether it is safe. >> west virginia state health officer dr. letitia tierney said she drank if the water but when asked if she would call it safe, she stopped short. >> that's in a way a difficult ethnic say because everyone has a different definition of safe. i believe the water based on the standards we have is usable for every purpose including bathing cooking. >> nobody would use that word right? >> appropriate for use i think it's -- >> a way to pass blame. because nobody knows. we do not know if it's safe. >> just straight up ahead there. >> for sarah and kirk uncertainty is not an option when it comes to the birth of their new baby boy. >> you have to spend three months working on this room and you're going to be just moving right out. >> yeah, yeah, he play no

. >>> west virginia democratic senator joe manchin appeared to tay another step away from the health care law at a town hall this week, saying, quote, i will vote tomorrow to repeal the aca, but i want to fix the problems in it. the senator's office clarified his remarks today. quote, i have never supported repealing the affordable care act because i came to washington to find solutions to our country's problems. >>> a republican governor and possible presidential candidate is in the spotlight as opponents try to stir up a scandal. but it's not who you think. carl cameron with new news on old news about a man many consider a rising political star. >> wisconsin republican governor scott walker is in d.c. today for the national governors' association annual meeting. back home, he's in the morning headlines state wide. e-mails released by a wisconsin court indicate when walker was milwaukee county executive and running for governor in 2010, he was copied on e-mails from county staffer whose have since been convicted of illegal lee walking on his gubernatorial campaign from their desks a

a former chief of staff to west virginia senator joe manchin and a fogs news political analyst, welcometh of you. >> thank you. >> we should explain that so far this is only regarding those who are affiliated with the justice department. perhaps it will stepped to others. in the meantime, some would say, angela, that it's a step in the right direction giving equal rights. others apparently not. what are your thoughts? >> well, it's a tref vasty that our chief law enforcer of the land is going against the fabric of our nation which is the constitution. his statements go against the first amendment which is freedom of religion, separation of church and state. and then the tenth amendment states rights. and president obama even though he believes in same-sex marriage, he said that it's up to the states. so eric holder is going against our president, as well. >> chris, do you think the timing of this is interesting or the substantive matter or the fact that the announcement will come from eric holder and not from the president? could the president not have said our justice department has de

i want to get your take on senator manchin on banning this. what is your reaction to that? or is he making a mount continue out ofa mole hill? >> the fed doesn't have the authority to regulate bit coins. and the idea of banning it seems like enormous overreaction. to say somebody lost money in one thing and say let's ban it. >> isn't it a good dwrod have virtual currency or should we not have it at all? >> i think it's fine. >> even though there is no backing and know sort of accountability behind it? >> one advantage is it makes it a lot money to send money internationally. in bitcoin, it would take 30 seconds to five minutes. real money would take days. >> well, it will be interesting to see how it all works out. thanks a lot for coming in. >>> up next, a true hollywood trailblazer is joining us. robert townsend tells us how race can be a laughing matter. he joins us next. [ male announcer ] zzzquil. it's not for colds, it's not for pain, it's just for sleep. because sleep is a beautiful thing™. ♪ zzzquil. the non-habit forming sleep aid from the makers of nyquil®. before

senator joe manchin, thanks for your time. [applause] >> i'll introduce my colleague with senator richard blumenthal. >> good morning. thank you for joining us. we appreciate the opportunity to talk to you. i wanted to give a quick reminder those to to participate in the polling question and we'll get to that. i want to start where you left off, what was the one thing -- the biggest thing you learned about the president last night? >> that he is frustrated with congress as the american people, as i am and going to use the full reach of his authority, not exceed it, not overreach, but use all of the authority that congress has given him to give action to the american people and whether it's the minimum wage or immigration where he has already acted or veterans, which is such a pauferfully important issue, he is going to use -- how were fully important -- powerfully important issue, he is going to use executive orders and promulgate the regulations that are delayed. one of the problems is the overdelay in issuing rules in order

senators jay rockefeller and joe manchin testifying about the situation in their state. co-sponsoring a bill to streamline oversight of chemical facilities like the one that caused that 300,000 people to lose their water for about a week. is that a step in the right direction? >> yeah, look, i think the take home message here is very clear that when you spill thousands of gallons of a toxic meth ol coloral hexane in the elk river that fresh water is the most precious thing we have. we have to protect it at all costs. >> we'll leave it there. thank you for your time, sir. >> we're also keeping a very close eye on the markets today, showing signs of a gentle bounceback after yesterday's 300-point nose dive. i want to talk vice president biden's former economic adviser about the overall health of our economy next. this was the hardest decision i've ever had to make. jim, i adore the pool at your hotel. anna, your hotels have wondrous waffle bars. ryan, your hotels' robes are fabulous. i have twelve of them. twelve? shhhh, i'm worth it& what i'm trying to say is, it's so har

joe manchin actually wants federal regulators to ban the currency, calling it dangerous. disruptive, highly unstable. we've mentioned of course there's other regulatory approaches here, but before you get that far, right, you have to look at whether people on the internet think they can actually use this service with any trust. what is the kind of mood out there right now? >> bitcoin was created by the famous winklevoss twins. on the overall filter, it's still 43% positive. there's a lot of people who believe there will be an internet currency that bitcoin is in the lead, and they like what's called the democratization of currency, not run by governments, but run by free market. so it's quite a roller coaster ride. >> i think you put it well. the very thing that makes it cool also makes it very unstable. it is new, unknown. interesting for people with money to play with, not a place to put any of your retirement savings. on a more serious topic that we've been covering, arizona's religious freedom bill. it has been vetoed by governor brewer, but this story is bigger than

. >> so now you have as well senator manchin of west virginia, who you know is pretty much in a swing sort of a state and has been critical of obama care. well, he said this quote yesterday. i will vote tomorrow to repeal -- meaning obama care -- but i want to fix the problems in it. he's been a vocal critic of the health care law. now he apparently said that at a town hall meeting, but now he's sort of changing his tune in the statement he put out about repeal. because, let's face it, that's a huge headline if a democrat who voted for obama care now wants it repealed. >> absolutely. he had a statement on his website where he never refuted that he ever said that. my understanding is there's a tape of this town hall meeting. i don't actually want to repeal it, i want to fix it. i'm not surprised he's backtracking. because he was elected to his seat in 2012. he came in originally in 2010 after senator byrd had passed away in a special election, but he took that seat in 2012. he's not up for election right now, but since he is one of those red state more conservative leaning democrats, w

bill introduced in the senate by pennsylvania republican pat toomey and west virginia democrat joe manchin failed to pass a critical hurdle in the legislative process. and that's despite getting more than 50 votes. in fact, the "new york times" reports that last year the gun control movement actually lost ground. 109 state laws passed, 70 of them loosening restrictions primarily on things like concealed carry. if anything, the obama years have been for the business in the gun industry very, very good. and according to the atf, the number of guns manufactured in president obama's first term alone nearly equals the number manufactured in president bush's two terms. as an editor for a pro gun magazine told business week, barack obama is the stimulus package for the firearms industry. the program director for moms who demand action, which was formed in the wake of the newtown tragedy. jennifer, quantify for us in your view the impact that the brady law has had on the u.s. since it was passed. >> well, it's impossible to quantity guy the effect because goodness knows how many lives have been sa

the gun lobby, talk about it, as well, having significant impacts on manchin-toomey, changing backgrounds second on the fact that lobbying in and of itself is not necessarily the problem as much as the resources behind lobbying. just gets a dirty name and associate with it, i think, oftentimes for no good reason. >> well, i think we all have the right to political advocacy. and the problem is that the political, the democratic playing field has been tilted toward corporations. and the amount of money they have to spend on campaign contributions, on lobbying, it just way out of proportion to what average citizens have. and i think if we want to have a set of policies and laws that protect public health, we're going to need to level that playing field. and i think corporations are not only threat noting public health, but also -- threatening public health, but are jeopardizi jeopardizing life through climate change and forms of pollution we have stark choices as a people about what we want for our future. and i think we certainly don't want a future where our children have shorter life span

senator joe manchin, democrat from west virginia asking the fed chairman about bitcoin. >> the federal reserve simply does not have authority to supervise or regulate bitcoin in any way. >> and that's pretty much puts a period on it, all that. obviously getting attention as sarah said. again, the rest of the hearing. >> and we've kind of made this addiction to debt amongst we're studen our students. i'd like a comment on that and also i'd like a comment on an issue that i've raised before and i know you've not -- you felt i perhaps over stated it but with our financial institutions now having $2.4 trillion in excess reserve deposited at the fed and i know that 25 basis point interest rate you pay, you feel isn't that much. i would simply say that, you know, when you've got other central banks like the bank of denmark which has made a negative, that has pushed their institutions to get more of that money lent out, which actually then might assuage senator shelby because you might not have to do as many asset purchases if some of these banks were doing more to sim stimulate and get that

. >> to politics, a congressional hearing led by senator joe manchin sought answered about the chemical leak that contaminated drinking water for hundreds of thousands last month. there alingering concerns by residents that the water around charleston, west virginia, may not be safe to drink. this, despite repeated assurances by state and federal officials there is no threat but last week, five charleston area schools temporarily closed because the water smelled like licori licorice, associated with the chemical mthm. one teacher fainted, several students claimed burning sensations in their nose and eyes. residents don't believe the water's safe. >> i'm not drinking the water. my wife is not drinking the water. none of my neighbors trust the water. >> when will we stop smelling the water? when will we hear the chemical leak is completely stopped? >> why cannot one of you say our water's drinkable. >> the question's been asked and answered a couple of times. >> no one wants to answer the question. >> the experts said there are concerns there hasn't been enough testing. >> the biggest fea

. >> you have to admit one of the counters to that is senator manchin is one of the democrats known foresident and some of his policies. that would be, i think, partly the conservative argument, yes, you can win if you come over to our turf. before we go, robert, i wanted your general thoughts on what you expect from the president today. again, he's going to be speaking momentarily to the democrats retreat and this is a period where the democrats made a signal towards immigration. what do you think we will hear from president obama? >> i think the president's going to be optimistic. i think he's going to be very bullish on immigration, although speaker boehner said it's dead on arrival. the president is going to say, look, run on our record, the affordable care act, focus on the positive and not on the negative, and i think the president's also going to say, look, at the end of the day, i'm still president for the next one and a half, two years, whatever the case may be, so i think the question becomes whether or not that audience who are on the ballot, not the president, is going to be

for example, joe manchin was praising this idea. people are tired of the war, tired of supporting the war, want the troops to come back home. i expect easier for obama to pull this off than it would have been maybe a year ago. >> i think that's right, sam, and the folks looking at this as a substantiative level have to be real about karzai and the total lack of cooperation here, which is just a public fact, and that's different than rhetoric you have of staying to win. david, i want to put up to that point what john boehner said. he said, "succeeding in afghanistan is national to our interests and must take priority over any calendar dates." that's fine as it goes, not a super tough reply. what do you make of that from the speaker? >> interesting, afghans are going to pick a new president in april and each of the candidates said they will sign the agreement. and i think if you look sort of out broadly, there's a lot of pressure still to keep forces there, because, you know, analysts are concerned that this will sort of dissolve into