but when you were confirmed as secretary i think mr. sherman was -- on the first day of your being acting secretary, mr. sherman was waiting for you in your office. can you tell us what was discussed in that meeting with mr. sherman. what was discussed was somebody i had never met before who was standing there and told me for whom he worked. and i listened. and i said thank you. i'm always happy to listen to anyone who wants to talk about veterans. i was not familiar with what was going on. again, that was my first day. in terms of a formal meeting, i believe i spent an hour when i was down at the palm beach v.a. in my first week. >> what was that one-hour meeting about? >> that was actually -- that was actually about the electronic health records. and if i'm going to believe the media stories that the folks i talked to were against it, then i went against their wishes because i approved it two weeks later. >> so was dr. moscow wits at that meeting? because he had some interest in the electronic health records. so that subject must have

mr. secretary. by september 30th the administration has to give a determination or a decision to congress about the levels of refugees that will be admitted into the u.s. for the next fiscal year, and there seems to be a debate or a discussion among some who are thinking of it as more of a national security issue and want to keep the levels consistent at a level around 45,000 while there are some that think it should be significantly lower, in the 20,000s. i'm not sure if you want to give a specific amount, but could you talk about your thoughts about how you're seeing the level of refugees that should be coming in in the near future? >> so there will be an announcement soon. the date, the deadline is, in fact, this fiscal year. and so i'm confident that the national security team will deliver the president's recommendation. he'll make his decision about the appropriate level. it is absolutely a national security decision, and it is also worth everyone here remembering that this is the most generous

mr. secretary. >> thank you so much, mr. secretary, we look forward to working with you going forward. >> thank you, so, so much, mr. secretary. >> i'd like to yield to mr. coffman to do the introductions for our next panel. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'd like to introduce our second panel. girum alemyehu is the co-founder of the ethiopian american development council, based in aurora, colorado. he plays a leading role in several civic edge gaugement and human -- engagement and humanitarian projects in colorado. he is the co-founder and co-chairman of the taste of ethiopia, a nonprofit based in denver that promotes ethiopian heritage community and a festival that brings together over 10,000 people each year. mr. alemayehu grew up in ethiopia and studied not question and played soccer. he pursued a masters of science in agricultural education from oklahoma state university and and is a ph.d. candidate in the walden school of public administration. thank you for being here today. we look forward for

mr. secretary and mr. ambassador to the committee and we look forward to your extraordinary service and look forward to your testimony. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, ranking member boss and members of the committee. >> thank you for the invitation to testify on u.s. national interests and recent developments in ethiopia. i also wanted to take the opportunity in this hearing, my first before you to address eritrea and the regional significance of the improving relationships between ethiopia and eritrea. as a former u.s. ambassador to ethiopia, this topic is of great importance to me personally, so it is a real pleasure to be with you today. >> mr. chairman, ranking member bass, i also want to thank you for your recent trip to ethiopia. i greatly appreciate the focus the congress has on this region which i believe is very important for our national interest, and i welcome the opportunity to discuss recent developments with the subcommittee. allow me to open our time today with some thematic remarks o

mr. secretary. >> take you so much mr. secretary and we look forward to working with you. >> thank you so much. >> i would like to welcome the second panel. please do the introductions. >> thank you, mr. chairman.i would like to introduce our second panel. the cofounder of the ethiopian american development council. he is also a founding member of a sister organization, ethiopian american civil counsel. based in aurora, colorado. he plays the leading role in several engagement and premonitory projects in colorado. -- is the cofounder and cochairman of the nonprofit base and that is in denver. it promotes ethiopian heritage community services and a festival that brings together over 10,000 people each year. he grew up in ethiopia and studied philosophy and played soccer. he pursued a masters in science from oklahoma state university and it has -- is a phd candidate. thank you for being here today. we look forward to your testimony. do you want me to do the second one? okay. then i am proud to introduce from colorado as well,

mr. secretary, in your mind would that approach, if it was possible, be preferable to the, you know, whamt on some air field? would you rather see the former or the latter? >> let's not kid anybody. we have a lot of leverage right now in terms of the potential of a military strike. the question is whether we can use that leverage to get to our objective, which is an assad who will not use chemical weapons in the future. that was the mistake last year. we hit 'em and there was no follow-up, and the result is we're facing exactly the same situation now. if we hit them military now without any kind of strategy, what will happen is in a few months he will do it again. so the goal here has to be to take steps to say, we will use military action if we do not get the kind of response that we want that will guarantee this will never happen again. this is a good moment to use diplomatic capability. i'm not sure whether this administration has that capability right now. we're focusing on the military side. i'm not sure how much we're focusing on the diplomatic side. that's what bothers me. >> yikes

mr. secretary. i don't know if you do.ching the national left-wing media trying to talk about the market if it has an off day with the dow sitting at 26,000, records for the nasdaq, the s&p at hand. talk about their trade tensions, their jitters in the market. meanwhile it's been a march from january straight ahead to the levels that we are now. it's kind of fun to watch them have to eat crow. >> well, it is. these are the same people who said the economy could never grow more than about 2% a year. and i think if they had been elected, they would have been right. it would not have been able to grow at more than 2%. but their great fear is that the american public is also catching on to the fact that the cuts in the taxes and the cuts in regulation are really what's driving this economy. and they can't stand that because it's the total opposite of what they forecast would happen. lou: i want to turn very quickly to something that larry kudlow, the president's chief economic adviser, i suppose he could be styled, talking abo

mr. secretary? he's had a lot of fun.nes.e a lot of good there's no way you can hold them accountable. doesn't sound nice. they can be the us, they can rob you blind. and you couldn't do anything about it. now you do whatever you want, now you do what's right. doingu have a secretary what's right, he's tough and he's smart. [applause] and i can tell you this is always a good sign. happyl mattis was not when i took him out of the department of defense. we were going to have them for a short while. that's usually a good sign. you are happy, right? months and a few months ago i was proud to sign into law another tremendous victory for our veterans. this is maybe one we kept talking about. years, they couldn't get it approved. makes so much sense. i used to talk about it because i thought i was this great guy that had this great vision. three weeks, four weeks. 12 days, eight days. no good. i said i have an idea. send them up to a private doctor. they are great doctors and they will be taking care of immediately. i thought it

mr. secretary, welcome back to "fox news sunday." cretary pompeo: going to be with you. >> chris: this week north korean leader kim jong un talked about dismantling missile test sites, nuclear fuel facilities. president trump called it very positive. >> very good news from north korea, south korea. they met and we had some great responses. where making tremendous progress with respect to north korea. >> chris: but the north koreans have not agreed to give up a single missile, a single nuclear weapon, nor are they giving us the inventory of their arsenal. is that tremendous progress? >> secretary pompeo: you have to step back to where we began this administration with a well-developed program inside of north korea. we have now achieved the ceasing of muscle testing, the ceasing of nuclear testing. we have gotten the remains of 55 americans. we are in deep discussions about how to respect all might proceed with to denuclearization greater travel to pyongyang for the third time this past week. we are continuing to make progress. these ar

mr. secretary, thank you. this week at the un. >>> up next, we will bring back our sunday panel to discuss secretary mike pompeo's tough talk about a number of trouble spots. and more from our latest fox news pole, house does the battle for congress look, just six weeks before the midterms? >> tech: so you think this chip is nothing to worry about? well at safelite, we know sooner or later every chip will crack. these friends were on a trip when their windshield got chipped. so they scheduled at safelite.com. they didn't have to change their plans or worry about a thing. i'll see you all in a little bit. and i fixed it right away with a strong repair they can trust. plus, with most insurance a safelite repair is no cost to you. >> customer: really?! >> tech: being there whenever you need us that's another safelite advantage. >> singers: safelite repair, safelite replace. against the united states has been going on for years. here's what's different in this administration. to the extent one wants to call this a

mr. secretary, distinguished guests, friends and family of survivors of the fallen, good morning.hose who wereer taken from us too soon on that fateful morning. the 125 service members and civilians working in the pentagon, the 59 men and women and children who flew on flight 77, and those who perished in new york and pennsylvania. none of them anticipated an attack on our nation that day. as we gather here 17 years later, we know that september 11, 2001 will always stand apart from other days. it is a day that our nation and our families will never forget. on that day, terrorists attacked this nation because of what we believe in and of innocents died that day die because of what they were presented. freedom and liberty. these ceremonies today across our country inspire us to reflect on the nation strength and resolve after those brutal attacks but also on the strength and resilience of individual people. who continue to carry on even to drive in spite of the pain of losing a loved one. we should also take comfort in knowing that those who died in part of a legacy of selfless ser

mr. secretary, i just want to say thanks. i've learned long ago not to be at eloquent as magoo woltors and thanks to afa and the team here. as my brother jay talked about, talking about fighting in a contested environment or a contested fight. i'm glad we're having this conversation because, i was just out in colorado and visiting relatives and i had one of them ask me if all of this hype about nds and hyper sonics is just that, hype, just to get more market share of the dod budget or to get more out of congress. you know, when you walk them through it in very pedestrian terms it kind of set him back in his chair and i think it's more than just having the conversation, it's talking about the implications and what we need to do. so, i'm glad we're doing that. i've seen a few things out there under the nds where we kind of talked about things as buzz words and i want to go just a little bit beyond that. so having now spent three years in europe and general wolters showed you the slides of the picture there, every day going to w

mr. secretary, let me shift the topic a little bit. you're talking about what nato is doing and how important it is to our mutual security but let me shift a question to public diplomacy and public support for nato both here and in europe, it's been over 30 years since the cold war ended, the challenges today from russia are somewhat on the one hand they are similar and on the other hand they are entirely different, many younger people who were not alive during the cold war are being asked to support and even participate in some cases in military operations on behalf of nato, can you say a few words about how we need to go beyond sort of making the case, if you will, to states and politicians and experts to the public at large about how important nato is to the security particularly for younger people? >> of course, the support for nato forgiven, new generations who don't remember and have never experienced the war, of course, it's a different thing for them. but having said that, i think the good news is that when you look at the opin

mr. secretary, thank you.this week at the un. >>> up next, we will bring back our sunday panel to discuss secretary mike pompeo's tough talk about a number of trouble spots. and more from our latest fox news pole, house does the battle for congress look, just what if numbers tell only half the story? at t. rowe price, hundreds of our experts go beyond the numbers to examine investment opportunities firsthand. like a biotech firm that engineers a patient's own cells to fight cancer. this is strategic investing. because your investments deserve the full story. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. you wouldn't accept from any one else. why accept it from an allergy pill? flonase relieves sneezing, itchy, watery eyes and a runny nose, plus nasal congestion, which most pills don't. it's more complete allergy relief. flonase. >> the trade war by china against the united states has been going on for years. here's what's different in this administration. to the extent one wants to call this a trade war, we are deter

mr secretary general of the united nations excellence is with robert ladies and gentlemen on behalf of the republic off yemen and. its people as governments i'd like to extend to you madam representative offer ecuador a friendly country i want to extend to you my congratulations on your accession to the presidency of this general assembly i would like to wish you all success in your efforts. also i'd like to thank your predecessor for. his outstanding efforts at the head of the previous session. in addition i would like to thank. his excellency secretary general of the united nations force outstanding efforts especially his efforts to advance peace in my country in yemen. my thanks also extended to a special envoy mr martin griffith. for his continuous efforts which we totally indorse. madam president i salute. i stand before you for the fourth time on this podium since twenty fifteen although we are still in the grips off a war which has been and pulls on our authentic yemeni people by armed militias that are supported by iran and hezbollah they are supported financially through the m

mr. secretary, towards a constitutional crisis?> i, frankly, think that we have been in a constitutional crisis for a period of time here because this president has been erratic, because he operates by chaos, because he makes decisions without thinking about the consequences of those decisions. i think all of that raises concerns about whether or not our system of checks and balances is working effectively to try to make sure that this president doesn't do something that could be harmful to the country. >> secretary panetta, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. >>> just ahead, you're going to get more reaction to the new reporting on rod rosenstein and whether it is giving the president a reason to fire him. what does it all mean for the russia probe? will krichristine blausey ford accept or reject the senate's latest offer to testify on wednesday about her allegations against brett kavanaugh? we just learned the deadline for her response has now been extended. we have details right after this. u.s. it's america's most popu

mr. secretary, please call the first item. >> clerk: thank you, invites chair. the first item is item one, roll call. commissioners, please respond when i call your name. [roll call] >> clerk: the next order is business is item 2, announcements. the next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on september 4, 2018, at 1:00 p.m. at city hall, room 416. the announcement of proceed hibition of sound producing devices during the meeting. please be advised that the ringing of and use of cell phones, pager's and other similar sound prousing electronic devices are prohibited at this meeting. please know that the chair may order the removal of anyone from the meeting for use of a cell phone, pager or other similar sound producing device. please be advised that my member of the public has three minutes to make a comment to the commission. it is strongly recommended that members of the public who wish to address the commission fill out a speaker card and submit the card to the commission secretary. the next item, item three are items to be acted on from previous meeting.

mr. secretary, you've got this book "every day is extra". >> hold it up. help you out. i want to ask you a question >> who is that young guy >> where'd he go >> what would be a personal failure that you had that really turned into being a success and help you become an even better leader >> oh, boy i mean, i talk about failures in this book. some on a personal level one a failed marriage which i thought was one of the most horrible things in the world i think that there were moments in my career i made beautiful mistakes early on when i was in a myrrh hurry and later on when i believed the pronouncements being made about iraq. and unfortunately they proved not to be true that they were going to do certain things before we went to war. i regret that moment it was unfortunate but i feel all in all and the book makes it clear that i kept faith that you use your life to be purposeful. you try to get things done and i loved being a public servant. that was a great job getting things done. >> you actually looked like that picture back then. >> i did some truth i

mr. secretary-general.like to commend you on the job you're doing. i've long said the united nations has such tremendous potential. all of these great world leaders. people we all know and read about on a weekly basis, sometimes a daily basis. the yuunited nations has an incredible potential to bring people together. truly a direct -- has a direct relationship to the time i spent at the united nations meeting some of you. many of you are now friends. when i first came here, even though lived in new york, it was a little bit of a foreign territory to me, the united nations. but now it's like home. but so many great people, so many great leaders in this room. and a lot of terrific things are happening. we covered, as you know, during my speech, north korea. last year, my tone was somewhat different on north korea than it is right now. tremendous progress has been made. and i think you're going to see an outcome as the expression goes who knows, but i think you're going to see a very, very great outcome. i hop

mr. secretary general, world leaders, ambassadors and distinguished delegate, one year ago i stood before you for the first time in this grand hall. i addressed the threats facing our world and i presented a vision to achieve a brighter future for all of humanity. today i stand before the united nations general assembly to share the extraordinary progress we've made. in less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country. america's so true. [inaudible] didn't expect that reaction, but that's okay. [applause] america's economy is booming like never before. since my election we've added $10 trillion in wealth. the stock market is at an all-time high in history in jobless claims already 50 year low. african-american, hispanic american and asian american unemployment have all achieved their lowest levels ever recorded. we have added more than 4 million new jobs, including half a million manufacturing jobs. we have passed the biggest tax cuts and reforms in american history. we started the construction of a major border wall

there's absolutely no love lost for mr secretary in russia but i think people now can appreciate that he never went as far as cutting the ties by being so maybe it was not so we the bull it was no so just both for many russian people but russia really enjoyed was successful to create the absolutely russian feeling especially in generations so he was trying to do this he wanted. yes fortunately not fortunately so what is very important to say yes of course if you mention recognition of a president. this was very painful for me and for georgia for the country and for the people i think it was a mistake from russian side think it was an over reaction from the side of pressure and mistake because it brought in a very difficult situation and we have to find right now solution how to find solution between russia and georgia between. georgia. in georgia but i hope to members that i see that there is a political will in russia or to find. some possible ways of improving russian george generalisations including conflict solutions you know a few years ago when i was interviewing former presiden

mr. secretary general, world leaders, ambassadors, and delegates. one year ago, i stood before you for the first time in this hall. i addressed the threats facing our world and i presented a vision to achieve a brighter future for all of humanity. today, i stand before the united nations general assembly to made.the progress we have in less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country. so true. i did not expect that reaction but that is ok. [applause] boomings economy is like never before. my election, we have added $10 trillion in wealth. the stock market is at an all-time high and jobless claims are at a 50 year low. african-american, hispanic american, and asian-american unemployment have achieved their lowest levels ever recorded. we have added more than 4 million new jobs, including 500,000 manufacturing jobs. we have passed the biggest tax cuts and reforms in history. we have started the construction of a major border wall and we have strengthened border security. we have

mr. secretary, i want to come back to the question of whether the country is safer.obviously, depends in part on communities in the u.s. and in particular the muslim community sharing information that they say, sharing worries that they have with law enforcement, with the fbi. do you worry that that cooperation is weaker now because of the kind of rhetoric that has come out of this administration that may have weakened those interactions? >> david, i do worry about that. as you may recall, when i was secretary, i spent a lot of time in american muslim communities building those bridges, encouraging them to work with local law enforcement when they see someone going in the wrong direction. and that effort, i fear, has largely atrophied in this administration. and i think given the current homeland threat and the threat of self-radicalized actors, that's key to public safety. and it's something i spent a lot of time on when i was in office. i was the first secretary to address the convention of the islamic society of north america which is a huge gathering of american

mr. washington. is there anybody else wishing to speak? seeing none, i will close public comment. [ gavel ]. >> madam secretary, please call the next item. >> the next order of business is item seven, report of the chair. mr. vice chair? >> there are no reports. >> the next order of business is item eight, report of the executive director. madam director? >> thank you. just commissioner just as a follow up commission item on the bayview neighborhood amenities map, at the last meeting, chair mondejar made a request for a map of the surrounding of the projects, so a copy of that has been provided to each of the commissioners in your binder, as well as it was e-mailed, as well, last week, and that's it. >> the next order of business is item nine, commissioners questions and matters. mr. vice chair? >> are there any questions? no. seeing none, next item, please. oh, commissioner scott? >> yes, regarding the amenities, and is it just restrained to the area that's shown because there are a few others that are beyond that street that would serve the community within a mile of this. >> i can go back and check with my -- the planning team. this --

mr. secretary, during your time as secretary, it's en striking what a parapathetic cabinet secretary you are. you have been visiting a lot of farms and areas. the secretary of agriculture is a point person toward rural pleark. you take a look at election forecast. there are a lot of worried republican lawmakers right now and many are in rural districts. as you go out there and talking folks, are you picking up concerns of the administration's policies in farm country? do you feel the administration is doing is getting through to them? how do your efforts and those other efforts end up affecting the campaign environment for this fall? secretary perdue: is that a euphemism for a.d.d.? alan: active all the time. [laughter] secretary perdue: interestingly, conversely, what i see is optimism among small businesses, not just farmers, but even in the trade disputes, even in the tariff disruptions, we see people who are -- who are really thrilled about the united states of america again, literally. look at unploifment look at the economy. look -- look aunt employment. look at the economy. look a

mr. secretary, during your time as secretary, it has been striking what kind of secretary you are. you have traveled across the country and visited a lot of farms and rural areas. the secretary of agriculture is often a point person for the president's policies toward rural america. you take a look at congressional forecasts, election forecasts, there are many worried republican lawmakers right now and in rural districts. as you are talking to folks, are you picking up concerns with the administration's policies in farm country? do you feel that the message of what the administration is doing is getting through to them? and how do your efforts and others' affect the campaign environment? sonny: is that a euphemism for add? [laughter] alan: active all of the time. [laughter] sonny: interestingly, conversely, what i see is optimism amongst small businesses, not just farmers, but even in the trade disputes and tariff disruption, we see people who are really thrilled about the united states of america. look at unemployment and the economy, look at what people are doing. there is an opt

mr. secretary? >> my hope is that the work going on by our friends with ustr on things like nafta and then japan and all the other bilaterals will bring this back. that's my intent and that's what we're doing to supports them. >> how do we bring this back when we are in the process of another $200 billion in tariffs in the next month or soso? they won't tell us the exact date when it's coming but that's 200 more. they've said another 267 is coming. it seems like the light tend of the tunnel is a train coming mate farmers and there are farmers because we both know them, care about them, love them. they're our friends. they need to know that there's an off ramp or an end to this because what young man or woman graduating from purdue right now is going to go into farming when they look and see this is the situation? >> it's tough and i've talked to several and all i can say is, we're right-sizing things that should have been right sized over the many years past. when i was in front of you i talked abou