. >> ray lahood: our infrastructure's on life support right now.at we're on. >> kroft: few people are more aware of the situation than ray lahood, who was secretary of transportation during the first obama administration, and before that, a seven-term republican congressman from illinois. he is currently co-chairman of building america's future, a bipartisan coalition of current and former elected officials that is urgently pushing for more spending on infrastructure. according to the government, there are 70,000 bridges that have been deemed structurally deficient. >> lahood: yep. >> kroft: what does that mean? >> lahood: it means that there are bridges that need to be really either replaced or repaired in a very dramatic way. >> kroft: they're dangerous? >> lahood: i don't want to say they're unsafe, but they're dangerous. i would agree with that. >> kroft: if you were going to take me someplace, any place in the country, to illustrate the problem, where would you take me? >> lahood: there is a lot of places we could go. i mean, you could go to a

former transportation secretary ray lahood calls that a joke. >> if you raise the gas tax ten cents a gallon, which is what i'm recommending, you raise $1 billion a law. >> some think that doesn't make senses with more fuel efficient cars. >> they have almost a million cars a year going to alternative fuels where some fuels are paying nothing. >> reporter: one group is proposing a short-term gas tax increase. >> it amounts to a little less than $3.00 a year per person, the average driver and it gives us until 2016 to come up with a long-term solution. >> reporter: engineers say that solution will cost $76 billion, and that's just to fix the bridges that need to be repaired or replaced now. >> reporter: we're waiting the see if the accept nate will approve that. >> something to think about and thank you have a nice weekend. >>> david letterman's farewell appearance on "the late show" was truly epic. a whopping 14 million viewers tuned in, the most in the show's history. conan o'brien tweeted it's absolutely absurd to thank david letterman for all he's done in a tweet, but that's the wo

ray lahood says he rides the train frequently and has often thought about seat belts.said federal investigators should come up with seat belts when they come up with their recommendations. however, a british study recommended against seat belts saying they wouldn't necessarily reduce serious injuries. >>> and just hours after the deadly derailment some house members in washington voted to cut amtrak's budget. the house appropriations committee voted to cut more than $250 million for amtrak for the upcoming year. 21 democrats voted against the cut saying they wanted to increase amtrak spending up to $3 billion. >>> and new information about a speed limit increase on i-95 in delaware. the department of transportation will be raising the speed from 55 to 65. and the split just south of wilmington. signs will be changed starting monday. and that work will continue through thursday weather permitted. >>> an exterminator convicted of killing a local doctor now facing life in prison. a jury convicted jason smith. authorities say smith strangled the doctor inside her philly ci

former transportation secretary ray lahood calls that a joke. >> you raise $1 billion a year. >> some think it doesn't make sense with more fuel-efficient cars. >> you have a million car as year going to alternative fuels or some fuels that are paying nothing. >> one group is proposing a short-term, half-cent increase in the gas tax. >> it amounts to $3 a year per person. the average driver. and it gives us until 2016 to come up with a long-term solution. >> but engineers say that solution will cost $76 billion. and that's just to fix the bridges that need to be repaired or replaced now. the goal is to come up with a spending plan that will last four to six years, tracie potts, nbc news washington. >>> now our investigative unit did go in-depth on the state of bridges in the bay area head to our website, nbcbayarea.com, the story is in the spotlight on the top left. >>> in the spotlight as far as anthony slaughter is concerned, is some serious weather. hitting the midwest yet? >> yeah this massive storm system is affecting us here in the bay area. we had some thunderstorms pop up earl

. >> new york senator chuck schumer, and former transportation secretary ray lahood agree.y seat belts could have limited the number of people killed or injured following that crash in philadelphia. the current transportation secretary just happened to be in the bay area today. he said that he can't comment on the accident in philadelphia, but he is it say the crash will likely draw attention to the nation's aging rail infrastructure. >> our rail systems have been living more or less a hand to mouth existence, and haven't had the ability to make long term capital plans. that's something we've attempted to fix. >> stay with ktvu for continuing coverage of the amtrak crash, and follow us on twitter and facebook for updates around the clock. >>> the warriors playoff run resumed tonight at roaricle in cleveland. >> you were saying, this is the best you think they've looked so far in this series. >> you watch this game tonight, the way it unfolded, the hard to believe that memphis has actually beaten them twice in this series, and had the warriors a little bit on the ropes. toni

secretary ray lahood thank you so much.you guys. >> before we go i just have to -- >> oh. >> dave letterman and mike's only guy that will remember like me when johnny carson left i thought there's no going to be anybody else that's going to be able to fill that space. dave letterman, and you guys point this out, he really did start a revolution. he changed everything about the way we laugh, what we laugh at. it can all be traced to when this guy went on the air in 1982. he changed everything. >> the rules of comedy are completely different because of his run and the piece in the new issue is a really wonderful summation of exactly what he has done over his decades on air. there's also a fantastic piece from jimmy kimmel who's one of the people now attempting to pick up his mantle. >> i just read it it's great. >> he says his first appearance on letterman was the most important moment of his life, including the birth of his children. including. >> wow. okay. >>> ben, thank you, the new issue of "time" magazine is out now. th

. >>> former transportation secretary ray lahood said there should be seat belts on trains. november victims on tuesday's derailment in philadelphia had injured rib when they were ejected from their seats. however, a 2007 study by england's rail safety board recommend not installing seat belts, saying seat belts would not necessarily prevent a high number of serious injuries during a crash. >>> a group of suspects accused of defrauding a cell phone store is now charged with trying to run over a mountainview police officer. police tweeted a photo of the scene last night at grand park plaza shopping center. the officer was responding to a complaint at an at and t store. >>> a bay area rap artist and three others have filed a federal lawsuit against san francisco police. they claim they were harassed by police while filming a music video in the bray district on march 8th. >> on your these. >> hands on your heads. >> the lawsuit says every member of the group was subjected to an unreasonable search, seizure, and arrest at gunpoint. police say two men were arrested, including tod

. >> you raise comments that ray lahood made about how crazy it was to not raise the gas tax. why is it not an option? where else would the money come from? >> the political reality is it is difficult to get through this congress or any congress. even ray lahood did not come out in that position until after he left office because the obama administration said they are from a gas tax increase. >> i want to touch on a tweet you said about the democrat. his district is portland oregon. he says essentially he does not want to see anymore short-term patches. what is happening here? keith: he is offering an amendment that would ban any extension after this one. this one expires in july. he would prevent any extensions that are not a six-year long-term transportation bill that would end the cycle of temporary extensions we have been on for a decade now. >> does he have supporters behind him? keith: he has supporters and the desire for a long-term bill, but i think there is a realization the only thing that can get through is this temporary extension. >> we will have your tweets. than

former transportation secretary ray lahood calls that a joke. >> if you raise the gas tax ten cents a gallon you raise a billion dollars a year. >> reporter: some think that doesn't make sense with more fuel efficient cars. >> you have almost a million cars a year going to alternative fuels where some fuels that are paying nothing. >> reporter: one group is pro prosing a short-term half cent increase in the gas tax. >> it amounts to less than $3 a year per person. the average driver. and it gives us until 2016 to come up with a long-term solution. >> reporter: engineers say that solution will cost $76 billion and that's just to fix the bridges that need to be repaired or replaced now. >> we'll see if any of that money gets approved here on capitol hill before lawmakers leave for the holiday break. the house is approved a two-month extension. the senate is planning to try to get everything done that, plus the patriot act and other legislation today. >> lawmakers acting with urgency. we'll see if they get it done. >> on a holiday weekend. >>> it might not see like there are a lot of bri

state is a -- lahood is the sun bam of former transportation secretary and illinois representative ray lahoodthat is in the hill newspaper this morning. also in "the hill" is a story white house rips rain or on trade as they continue to debate that tpd. the financial times this morning has endorsed, and a full column, david cameron for reelection as prime minister of england. they reinforce -- they endorse the conservative party. that election is may 7. we have covered a couple of the debates and we will cover the election -- a plan unveiled to overhaul the failing destroyed school system by creating two districts, one to manage paying off millions of dollars in debt, the other two manage the day-to-day operations of the school. the plan was met from opposition from the school. hundreds of detroit teachers called in sick to attend a protest at the state capitol in lansing. their absence shut down 18 public schools for the day. teachers argue that his plan would not improve outcomes for detroit children and it was a step toward turning the district into an alternative district. that is in "the

fuel economy and construction cost inflation the estimates last time they ran estimates was when ray lahoodwas secretary. $0.1.7 a gallon. i don't think they believe they will lose there election. progress of the digital sign golf the miracle. that doesn't solve if you just did that problems, but you would then project that cash flow and we would borrow a lot of money will put it in the trust fund and dedicate that anchorman on the increment on the gas tax for as long as it took to pay that down. when he ran the numbers we get a bar a hundred 40 billion paid back in 15 years. us all the immediate problem in the mid-turn problem. midterm problem. are still an issue about what we will do going forward, but it gets us through a really good six your robust bill. that has not caught on come although there has been -- more and more people have talked about the potential. it's been since i was not getting anywhere with that i thought to try something else. another way to go and this has been done recently virginia did away with the retail gas tax and did it in a somewhat complicated way. and penns

the transportation secretary for the obama administration ray lahood a former member of congress.ks for joining us. it's alarming to hear the ntsb say this train went into the curve going 106 miles an hour and shouldn't have been going more than 50 miles an hour. what does that signal to you, a human error or possibly mechanical error? >> i would rather not get into the idea of who to blame here. that's really up to the professionals. the ntsb is the most professional organization in government that will be looking into all of this and interviewing the person driving the train and trying to look at the information from the black box. i think it's better really just to get all that information, then hear what the ntsb has to say about it. i'm not going to lay blame. i'm not in a position to do that. >> i know you are advising amtrak right now. what have they said to you about this horrific derailment? >> you know i talked with the chairman this morning. and he was just getting briefed by a number of people. i have not had a chance to talk to him here at the end of the day. he and i

because ray lahood the former transportation secretary is joining us as well. major news, mr. secretary. the fact that there may be three trains in the philadelphia area. may have been hit by some sort of object or projectile. what do you make of this? >> you know, i don't really know wolf. i all i know is what i've been watching on your program. and if it's true obviously that would be a huge distraction. to the conductor and engineer and the folks that were providing the leadership and providing you know conducting the trains. and you know, that if it's true it would be a tremendous distraction for them. >> because you heard robert sumwalt, the ntsb lead investigator say they're going it take a look at the window of the amtrak 188 to determine what if anything the object was. they're looking at the local commuter train. now they have this acela they want to take a close look at as well. i know you're an adviser to amtrak. have they said anything to you, mr. secretary, about the possibility that something was going on three trains relatively within the same am

ray lahood, a republican who was secretary of transportation for president obama for a long time said our transportation system should be called the pothole because that's all the highways are any more. so the trade bill is an example of not helping the middle class. it's an example where we focus on multinational corporations. my friend, the republican leader talked about the fisa bill foreign intelligence surveillance act. i have the -- the republican leader and i are friends. we served together for decades here in this body. but with all due respect to him i think i take the word and the opinion of the head of the f.b.i., attorney general of the united states, the man who is in charge of all of our intelligence -- james clapper -- who have said without any question that the bill that passed the house of representatives by almost 390 votes is what we should be doing here. among other things, in a letter that they wrote to senators leahy and lee -- quote -- "the intelligence community believes that the bill preserves essential operational capabilities of the telephone metadata progra

. >> so we have former transportation secretary ray lahood saying he wants to wait for the full investigatione ntsb before making any direct correlation of issues with funding, but he did say that america is in crisis when it comes to its infrastructure. he's a former -- also a former illinois republican congressman, but, senator, when we talk about the need and the aging infrastructure of america, why isn't that more on the minds of you and your colleagues? we've spent $60 billion in trying to rebuild iraq. shunned we try to take some of that money or that type of attention for money and pour it into our own country? >> absolutely, and that's what we've been trying for years. you go back when we were in the depths of the recession. the stimulus bill we tried to get a lot more money into infrastructure, into roads and bridges and railroads and all of the infrastructure that's falling down. we tried to get it and we didn't get the votes. there are not the votes here. is it going to take more of these crashes and deaths to wake up the members of congress who keep wanting to slim down the budget

yesterday former republican transportation secretary ray lahood said, the idea that amtrak doesn't need more money to implement positive train control is nonsense. and yet yesterday republicans in the house appropriations committee voted to cut the amtrak budget by $252 million. this congress' policy of starving our infrastructure system is endangering americans. enough is enough. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has spiret. for what purpose does the -- expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you. mr. speaker, i rise today to talk about with my colleagues to pass a long-term re-authorization of the highway trust fund. if we don't do it now, it's about kicking the can down the road once again. mr. norcross: it's this dysfunction we have here in congress that we can't get something done. it's what people talk to us day in and day out about. how disgusted they are. we can't do things. they are crying out for this predictibility. if you were only going to get two payc

they're the words of former republican secretary of transportation ray lahood longtime member of congress, a republican from illinois. that's how he described america's crumbling infrastructure america is one big pothole. it's hard to argue with sending lahood's assessment. according to the federal highway administration half the roads we drive are in disrepair and what are state legislatures doing? raising the speed limit. there are a number of places in america the speed limit is 80 miles an hour. that means that this weekend memorial day weekend as american families lead up to their cars and head to the beach or the lake or to visit loved ones, half of the highways they travel on are in dire need of repair. if that weren't troubling enough 64,000 american bridges are structurally deficient. as each day goes by these roads and bridges get worse. one big pothole. it's not just our roads and bridges, our nation's infrastructure affects every means of travel. we're all distraught by last week's train derailment in pennsylvania. eight people were killed. hundreds were injured. it's been rep