mr. mccain: mr. president i wanted to discuss one of the amendments that i believe we will be voting on later on, and basically what it does, it establishes a brac-like process in order to consolidate redundant, underutilized and costly post offices and mail process facilities. now, mr. president we found over the years that congress was politically unable to close a base or a facility that had to do with the military. so we adopted a process where a commission was appointed those recommendations to consolidate excess and underutilized military bases was developed and congress was given an up-or-down vote. this is sort of based on that precedent. the bill before us clearly doesn't offer any solutions. according to "the washington post" editorial -- quote -- "the 21st century postal service act of 2011 proposed by senators joseph lieberman and susan collins and passed last week by the senate committee homeland security government affairs -- quote -- " is not a bill to save the u.s. postal service. it

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator mccain. mr. secretary. >> thank you, mr. chairman. chairman levin, thank you, member mccain, members of the committee. i want to start by thanking you all for the support that you give to our sailors, marines, civilians, their families in the department of the navy. and insuring that they get what they need to do their mission. the pride that general amos, the commandant of the marine corps and greenert and i take in leading these dedicated sailors, marines, civilians of the department who selflessly serve the united states as exceeded only by the accomplishments of the brave and completely selfless individuals. whatever is asked of them by the american people through their commander in chief, from afghanistan to libya, from assisting the stricken people of japan to assuring the world has ever known. no one should ever doubt the ability, capability, or the spe superiority of the team. after two long ground wars, it was essential to review the basic strategic posture. the new guidance under the leadership of the president and the secret

mr. mccain: i thank you, mr. president. today i rise to discuss the violence against women act and the policies that impact the lives of women. since its originals enactment in 1994, the violence against women act has been reauthorized twice by unanimous consent under both democrat and republican leadership. the legislation originated out of a necessity for us to respond to the prevalence of domestic violence, sexual violence, and the impact those crimes have on the lives of women. the legislation has worked by and large, even though thr outstanding issues like spending inefficiency and needed improvements to oversight. was most large pieces of legislation, including the violence against ways and means acwomen act,there are debates ad philosophical differences about elements of various provisions in the bill. and while the senate should be allowed to debate an eye and ideally resolve these differences, i don't think any of the points of controversy we will discuss are important enough to prevent passage of the legislation.

mr. mccain: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator froms as a. mr.ccain:man, i rise first of all to comment on our failure to move forward with debate and discussion and amendments on this very important bill. the sponsors of the legislation and i may have very different proposals to address this the compelling issue, but neither the sponsors nor i believe that we should not have debate, discussion, and amendment. unfortunately, again, because of a requirement by members that their amendment be voted on, apparently the majority leader will now move on, fill up the tree, amendments will not be allowed, and which will move on to other legislation. mr. president, this affects 500-and-some thousand american families. we are talking about tens of billions of dollars. we are talk about a -- an urgent need to restructure rand reform the postal system in america. and soy now because of demands of senators to have votes on nongermane amendments, we will now move on to other legislation. i wonder when we will address the issue. may 15 is a very critical date i

mccain? >> thank you, mr. chairman. as you know, mr. secretary, thew

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator mccain. senator lieberman? >> thanks, mr. chairman. thanks to both of you. my friend from arizona. i have a disagreement. i want to come to the defense of the department of homeland security. the fact is that we haven't had a major terrorist attack on the u.s. since 9/11 and you have to give the leadership, bipartisan, over two administrations, and the thousands of people who work at dhs, some credit for that. secondly, in terms of the stove piping, i think a better analogy here, and it's not a perfect one, it's to compare the relationship between the cia and the fbi to the relationship between cyber command, nsa and dhs. cia has authority outside of the united states of america. the fbi has authority -- this is -- speaking about terrorism, for instance or threats to the nation -- fbi has authority within the country. the problem before 9/11 is there weren't stove piped. they weren't cooperating enough. in the same way nsa cybercommand, as you said, has the responsibility to protect america. it's a jewel. it's a national treasurer from attack along with many

mr. john mccain when he said he would electrify the fence.n you're a leader and you hear someone say something like that, you say no, not on my watch. i want to be a uniter. you solve the problems in a more humane way. they will make that effort. i don't think who you pick for vice president is really made a difference for the most part. they may try to do something like that. there's no question that they are going to try to move away from where they have been with respect to this primary. i think it's important for the media to make sure they are honest about who they are and what they have done. >> i have to ask you one last issue about the jails. the system is so big it makes national news. i know we have worked on issues in previous jobs. do you have an issue on what will happen with this huge old jail in los angeles the the sheriff talked about closings down? >> i think he's closing down the old part of the jail. that will be -- the devil will be in the details. i want to make sure whatever we do, we're not just letting people out. we'r

mr. obama's 20080 opponent, john mccain lashed out, writing president obama is shamelessly turning the one decision he got right into a pathetic political act of self-congratulations. and while mitt romney has praised the killing of bin laden, a spokeswoman said it's now sad to see the obama campaign to use the one thing that united us as a country to divide us and to turn focus away from his failure of an administrati administration. >> i think the way that we've handled it is -- represents exactly the balance you need to strike. >> another political controversy over credit taking when top romney aid told a washington forum that the only reason general motors and chrysler continue to exist is because president obama took mitt romney advice and led them into a structured bankruptcy. he said if not for mitt romney, they would not be vital and back in business today. lester? >> thanks. in a program note, robert gibbs and romney campaign senior strategist ed gillespie are among david gregory's guests tomorrow morn on "meet the press" here on nbc. now to the economy, which we learned this week

mccain. >> well, thank you, mr. chairman.let me thank our distinguished witnesses for joining us this morning and their many years of service to our nation. u.s. strategic command is in the midst of pivotal change in proceeding with modernization of the nuclear weapon complex and tree yad, and cyberattack and the core mission competencies of 21st century warfare. nuclear modernization, encouraged with the unprecedented level of defense spending uncertainty, that the department has maintainedded its commitment to modernizing the triadd of war vehicles, but it's not said for the same nuclear administration, and their proposal to abandon or delay key elements of the nuclear weapons key modernization plan. radification of the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty was conditioned on a proposal by the president for the mission's complex. modernization is universally recognized as essential to the future viability of the nuclear weapons complex, and a prereck sit for future -- prerequisite for future reductions. we have not seen any sign of the adm

mr. mccain large crowds but seemed ill prepared in television interviews. that's from the "wall street journal" today. back to the phones on the subject of the housing market in your area. joan is a homeowner from kansas city, missouri. good morning, joan. caller: good morning. i tell you, it's not exactly that. it's a little different. i haven't heard anyone yet comment, i believe people think this is just for homes. however, the rental market is a complete disaster. and we have -- or i have now. i lost my husband four and a half years ago so it's all on me and i'm having a terrible time, but renters everywhere, people who are needing to rent to make a living -- it's the four apartment building. i lived in one. and we always had enough income from the three apartments to pay all of our expenses from the building which are horrendous. and right now, i had one man that has been here for nine years. however, when this horrible in 2008 recession set in and it's still here very much. so we always had no problem getting seven or 800 for the beautiful, beautiful

mccain. >> thank you, mr. chairman. let me thank our distinguished witnesses for joining us this morning and their many years of service to our nation. u.s. strategic command is in the midst of pivotal change has we proceed with the modernization of the nuclear weapons complex and nuclear triad and further imbred cyber defense and cyber attack and the core mission competencies of 21st century warfare. nuclear modernization i'm encouraged even with the unprecedented level of defense spending uncertainty, the department has maintained its commitment of modernizing the triad of nuclear delivery vehicles. unfortunately the same cannot be said for the national nuclear security administration and their proposal to abandon or delay key elements of their plan. modernization is universally recognized as essential to the future viability of the nuclear weapons complex and a modernization is universally recognized to the future viability of the nuclear weapons complex and a pre-requisite for future reductions. it's now been over a

mr. obama's 2008 opponent, john mccain, lashed out writing president obama is shamelessly turning the one decision he got right into a pathetic political act of self-congratlation and while mitt romney has praised the killing of bin laden, a spokeswoman says it's now sad to see the obama campaign -- in order to try to distract voters' attention from the failures of his administration. the white house says it's all fair game. all part of the president's record on foreign policy. >> i think the way we handled it is represents exactly the balance you need to strike. >> another political controversy today over credit taking when top romney aide told the washington forum that the only reason that general motors and chrysler continue to exist is because president obama's mitt romney's advice. the obama camera scoffed and said both gm and chrysler would not be vital and vibrant and back in business today. lester? >> mike viqueira at the white house. thanks. obama's campaign senior strategist robert gibbs and romney campaign senior strategist are among david gregory's guests tomorrow morning on "

mr. obamover john mccain by more than two-to-one.ng to nail down that edge, the obama campaign launched a series of new spanish language ads today. but the g.o.p. is also in the hunt. the republican national committee appointed hispanic outreach directors in those states this week as well as in virginia, new mexico and north carolina. >> los estados unidos representa libertad, oportunidad, donde todo es posible. >> ifill: romney launched his appeal in florida during january's republican primary. this ad was voiced by romney's son craig. >> soy mitt romney y apruebo este mensaje. muchas gracias. >> ifill: but the presumptive republican nominee has a significant gap to close. a pew research center poll released this week showed the president leading romney 67% to 27% among hispanics. until now, much of the debate has centered on immigration issues, but both sides are focusing on the economy and on education. with the obama campaign highlighting support for pell grants that helped nearly two million hispanic students attend college. and

response required, but i just wanted to reemphasize what chairman levin and senator mccain were saying. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you very much, senator webb. senator faheem. >> thank you, chairman for being here this morning. hopefully i am the last person that you have to hear from. i figure on this committee we always save the best for last. i actually want to begin where some of my colleagues left off, and particularly senator bagitch and that is on the issue of medicine. i want to thank you specifically, senator. the water held a field naerl. we had a ship named after her in the mountains for us to have a hearing on. it was a nice benefit to the hearing, but it was. and it's one i wish everybody on this committee could have gone the difference that moving towards alternatives. . and the second boint. nation national. . if we can defend ourselves against foreign oil, we're in a mch position die to tornado answer. >> the federal government is the biggest energy user within america. the department of defense is the biggest energy user within federal government. and oz you so rightly ountd i

mccain. >> yes, and mr. liema areaot vib you seem to be wantingcouldpp.s carolina. when i tao powers. we need it. the coun thof council is cachnd somehowy tounies do you consider your friends othean violence by tomorrow morning,ssd syrian blood they would have helped us get back land octcued couldn't be done at the betweens whether we are talking about one inherited the job from h main mother homeland. that syria. >> rose: he was groomed by his , called minorities and see and haveo th you believe the cease-fire; whatever we call it complaining about the other sid. democracy, strengthens human international di iostates. why would the united states shouldn't come from wron the wei arabia be ad fuing libya.he gro. i said it also many of thesreenl the way upto pen and 15 feet fromhe gentleman >> it's notttend the world ino e viennd qatar helpedwhh ctr150,0c io people forrs time. welcome. >> thank you very >> dave: who's working for an 1s or 36 hole the syrian government. tombined is just..wa the syrian state. where president. areok it enough. and then theother. >>aki d broken by the payin

mr. obama lost to john mccain. married women without children and white women, a group the g.o.p. took by 7 points. >> thank you very much. inflation remains in check rising .3 a percentage point. dow lost 137. s&p off 17. nasdaq dropped 44. >> the attorney for zimmerman may have a conflict of interest. he's charged in second-degree murder for the death of trayvon martin. the judge said her husband works for an attorney who referred zimmerman to his current council. >> oklahoma prosecutors filed hate charges against england england alvin watts to confessed to the shootings of five people, three of home died. >>> how the gsa tried to fake out taxpayers. and next, live to bret baier in colombia for a look at how president obama is hoping to curry favor long distance with american hispanics. wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. fohalf the calories plus vgie nutrition. could've had a v8. this is my grandson. and if it wasn't for a screening i got, i might have missed being here to meet him. the health care law lets those of us on medicare now get most preventive care for

mr. obama so that they wanted him to get involved. i will give you an example. two senators were yesterday on the syrian/turkish borders. >> rose: john mccain. >> yes, and mr. lieberman. >> rose: joe lieberman. >> and both of them called, publicly speaking, for arming the opposition. >> rose: that's not new for them. they've... >> this is wrong, charlie. this is wrong. this is against... this runs against international law. >> rose: why do you think they did that? >> >> for their domestic agenda. they have personal agendas. >> rose: you don't think it has anything to do with their own sense of outrage about what they perceived to be the circumstances? syria? >> i don't think so. if they were careful about sere t syrian people's interests and syrian blood they would have helped us get back land occupied by israel since 1967. in the golan there are syrians who live there and they need freedom and democracy and they need to live with their brothers and sisters and their main mother homeland. so we need people to understand that syria is somehow a victim of what's going on because of what i said at the beginning, there are three dimensions of t

. >> reporter: and in a statement statement, senator john mccain, writes that mr. obama is, quote, doing a shameless end zone dance, to help himself get reelected, unquote. >> for the first time today, the white house acknowledges the covert practices of drone strikes against al qaeda targets. the president says he wants to be more open with americans. >>> three generations killed in a horrifying car crash in new york today. the man who lost seven members of his family reacts. vic is in the newsroom with more. >> azario says he is so shocked, he can't think or feel anything. he said he doesn't want to live. his children, cousin, wife died saturday. their suv plunged into a park. 22-year-old maria gonzalez lost control of the suv. police say gonzalez was speeding when she hit the median. she damaged her tire, sending it bouncing into traffic and over the rail. the children ranged in age from 3 to 10 years old. >> this is the second time this year that a car has gone off the same stretch of the bronx river parkway. the cause of the accident is still under investigati

senators john mccain and joe lieberman also toured the camps today on a separate trip than annan's. getting a better reception than mrn. we spoke by phone. senator mccain, the syrian government agreed to withdraw its troops from major cities by today as part of kofi annan's peace plan. has the u.n. been played here? clearly, they've gone beyond the deadline. >> i think it's very obvious they've been played, just like the arab league proposal that bashar al assad had agreed to before they were played. the fact is, anderson, if bashar assad withdraws from the city then the protesters obviously take over, and he can't do that. the resistance will take over the cities the moment the tanks and artillery are withdrawn. >> senator lieberman, have we reached the end of the line diplomatically? >> well, i think we have. i don't know how many times world leaders are going to have to be deceived, lied to by assad before they realize that this man can't be trusted. to me one of the most profoundly troubling parts of the trips that john mccain and i have made these last couple of days is talking to the syrian opposition to the fr

last time around, john mccain could not match barack obama in the debates. the senator simply refused to highlight mr. obama's telling n.i.v. world experience. reverend wright, that kind of stuff. in the end, mccain did not have enough persuasive power to overcome the charismatic obama. that was then. now, the president has a record and many believe it is weak. we have a new fox news poll that will demonstrate that in a moment. can mitt romney exploit the shaky economy? rising gas prices? and out-of-control debt? that is a question. romney can expect no help from the media. new study by george mason university says that the three networks and fox news are pretty much the same when it comes to scrutinizing the republic field. isn't that interesting? while the president and the democratic party believe fnc shils for the g.o.p., an academic study says that is not the case. also both rick santorum and newt gingrich have complained publicly that fox news was not fair to them in the campaign, favoring romney. the george mason study says that is not true. talk radio may help governor romney but that's about

mr. chairman. i wish i had more time to calculate, getting into this thing that was brought up by both -- primarily by senator mccain the mandated changes in your 50/50 program on the field that you would be purchasing, just a minute ago in -- mr. secretary, you said that every time the cost goes up a dollar, it cost the department $30 million in extra fuel costs. in fiscal year '12 alone in large part due to the political unrest -- well, if you do the math on this thing it appears to me -- senator mccain mentioned the purchase of 20,000 gallons of the algae fuel that was $424 a gallon. now, i assume that's all behind us now and that was an experiment and that's gone. but what we are doing now is talking about the cost of the 50/50 blend. the 50/50 blend as i understand it, and i'm taking the figures from you guys, would be 26 -- it would be $15 a gallon. now, your jp-5 as i know from my own purchases is between $4 and $5 a gallon. so you're talking about an increase of $10 a gallon. is my math off here? >> no sir, it's a test amount. that's exactly correct. it's 450,000 gallons of biofuel that we bought to do a dem

. >> reporter: and john mccain writes that mr.bama is, quote, doing a shameless end zone dance to help himself get re-elected, unquote. this isn't exactly a new theme for the obama campaign. vice president biden who has been doing campaign event for a while just last week, put it this way. he said, a good bumper sticker for the president's re-election would say, osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive. of course, the question is will this or any other issue matter more than the economy? charlie? erica. >> bill plante, thank you. >>> in new york authorities are trying to find out why an suv drove off a highway, went over a guardrail and landed upside down inside the grounds of the famous bronx zoo. as terrell brown reports, all seven people in that vehicle were killed. >> reporter: the accident happened shortly after noon sunday. police say an suv carrying seven people, all from the same family, bounced off a median of the bronx river parkway and crossed three lanes of traffic and flew over a guardrail and plummeted 100

last time around, john mccain could not match barack obama in the debates. the senator simply refused to highlight mr. obama's telling n.i.v. world experience. reverend wright, that kind of stuff. in the end, mccain did not have enough persuasive power to overcome the charismatic obama. that was then. now, the president has a record and many believe it is weak. we have a new fox news poll that will demonstrate that in a moment. can mitt romney exploit the shaky economy? rising gas prices? and out-of-control debt? that is a question. romney can expect no help from the media. new study by george mason university says that the three networks and fox news are pretty much the same when it comes to scrutinizing the republic field. isn't that interesting? while the president and the democratic party believe fnc shils for the g.o.p., an academic study says that is not the case. also both rick santorum and newt gingrich have complained publicly that fox news was not fair to them in the campaign, favoring romney. the george mason study says that is not true. talk radio may help governor romney but that's about

john mccain i knew because we had served in the senate together. mr.tually, in a couple months he's going to start to put out attack ads? >> yeah, it's not the best introduction. >> jimmy: not the greatest way to get to know someone. >> yeah, there are better ways to do it. >> jimmy: is this campaign going to get ugly, do you think? >> well, part of the problem we have is these outside groups, because of this ruling by the supreme court, citizens united, there's unlimited spending by outside groups, many of whom don't have to disclose where they're getting their money from. if you look at the republican primary, i wasn't even involved at that point, millions of dollars were spent in negative attack ads, but there's no accountability because the candidate can say, well, i have nothing to do with it, and meanwhile, millions of dollars are being spent on their behalf in negative ads. that's part of our democracy we're going to have to fix. [ applause ] >> jimmy: it's kind of crazy, when you think about it. >> who else we got? >> jimmy: this one is from @s