rural poverty. there are access issues in urban america, and rural america.f you look at how metropolitan areas are organizing, increasingly there is an urban core, a suburban ring and a rural ring around it. and i think that if there's more visioning done that brings those elements together at the local level, and policy at the federal level that supports those visions, i think there's an enormous opportunity for us to solve problems, instead of having them created by washington. so a lot of what we're doing at u.s. d.o.t. is trying to unearth the thinking that can happen at the local level to bring those elements together, because i think one of the most essential things we can do to fix washington is to really vision well at home and bring those visions to washington, and have folks working arm in arm together. >> so mayor -- >> awesome. [ applause ] >> so mayor we all want to just thank you because we know you guys are busy and you've never said no to an invite. and for us to have the real dream team here with us today is awesome. so i'm going to ask you

. >> the definition of rural america at that.is? >> i will have to have my staff confirmed this but i believe it it is a community of 50000 fewer people. >> and talking about sparsely populated areas were in many cases there is one person in a square mile. but in a state like nebraska we have miles and miles of roads that are necessary for commerce. >> we are following the statutory definition. if there is new definition, we we will follow with the congress tells us. what i would say are couple of other points. points. in the last roundly exceeded that 20 percent minimum. we think of it as a floor but not the ceiling. we are looking constantly to make sure that we see good transformational projects across the country wherever they happen to come from. secondly we have done more our rates to extend technical assistance to roll communities because in some cases it is the communities that have fewer tools are not able to hire fancy consultants to help prepare the applications that sometimes don't get through. we want to make sure we ar

definition of rural america at that point is?taff confirm this. but i believe it is a community of 50,000 or fewer people. >> i'm talking about very sparsely populated areas where in many cases there is one person per square mile. but yet in a state like nebraska we have miles and miles of roads that are necessary for commerce for safety. and i would think we could look at maybe a new definition of rural america. >>, you know, we are following the statutory definition but if there is a new definition we will follow what this congress tells us. but what i would also say are a couple of other points. we in the last round exceeded that 20% minimum. we think of it as a floor but not a ceiling. and we are looking constantly to make sure that we see good transformational projects across the country wherever they happen to come from. secondly we have done more outreach to extend technical assistance to rural communities. because in some cases it is the communities that have fewer tools, aren't able to hire fancy consultants to hanl the

we will talk about president obama's plan to connect rural america next. ♪ >> i'm cory johnson. "bloomberg west." the selfie stick is reaching new heights in popularity. the gadget which is all kinds of hot allows users to take a better selfie. he was dubbed one of the must-have holiday gifts of 2014. i headed to the streets of san francisco with my own selfie stick. you thought the selfie was this -- >> let me take a selfie. >> it is just the beginning. >> i have seen a lot of them since i been traveling. >> no. >> yes. >> we have seen them everywhere. i would not get one myself, but what about you? >> didn't god give us arms? >> or friends who can take them for you. >> these days people bring their fancy camera equipment to take pictures of themselves at the golden gate bridge. >> you can actually get a lot more people in the picture with the phone further away from you. >> got confiscated at the airport, his first one. the second one, they did not understand what it was for, but he bought another one and i thought it was stupid at first. >> the selfie stick clicks the phone's

definition of rural america at that point is? >> i will have to have my staff confirm this. but i believe it is a community of 50,000 or fewer people. >> i'm talking about very sparsely populated areas where in many cases there is one person per square mile. but yet in a state like nebraska we have miles and miles of roads that are necessary for commerce for safety. and i would think we could look at maybe a new definition of rural america. >> you know, we are following the statutory definition but if there is a new definition we will follow what this congress tells us. but what i would also say are a couple of other points. we in the last round exceeded that 20% minimum. we think of it as a floor but not a ceiling. and we are looking constantly to make sure that we see good transformational projects across the country, wherever they happen to come from. secondly, we have done more outreach to extend technical assistance to rural communities. because in some cases it is the communities that have fewer tools, aren't able to hire f

also, had some discussion about rural america in it.on under significant risk of title 2, you mentioned that if the commission goes -- proceeds down that path there's, you know, litigation would inevitably have more delays and certainties out there there. and then also, interesting that the harm for rural customers as a collection of regional providers applying a common carriage regime to our service would stifle innovation and investment and do a service to rural america. could you elaborate on that service to rural america? >> of course. we -- our association this year is chaired by ron smith who is president and ceo of bluegrass cellular from kentucky. and we brought our rural carriers in to visit with the fcc. they don't have armies of regulatory lawyers to go and comply with transparency and other burdens. mobile broadband has never been under title 2. the uncertainty has already stifled their deployment. they are worried. they do not know what title 2 brings. and additionally, you know, the wireless -- the wireless industry is ext

could you elaborate on that disservice for rural america? >> of course. we -- our association this year is chaired by ron smith, president and c.e.o. of bluegrass cellular from kentucky. we brought our rural carriers in to visit with the f.c.c. they don't have armies of regulatory lawyers to go and comply with transparentcy and other burdens. mobile broadband has never been under title 2. the uncertainty has already stifled their employment. they are worried. they do not know what title 2 brings. and additionally the wireless industry is extremely competitive. they need to differentiate who serves their communities. they need to make sure that they can compete with different concepts and they are not sure what title 2 will bring in that respect. different lawyers and what tight 28 would bring is unknown. competition and differentiation are important to our rural carriers. that's a risk under title 2. >> my district, especially if you're a small business in an area that might have good coverage, i just talked with somebody not too long ago, about two weeks

but henry ford, even though he lives near a city, he is really a champion of old, rural america. to him, much like to thomas jefferson before him, all of america's virtues were connected with rural america. and he -- he very much was opposed to the very cities where so many of his automobiles would be sold. so, what's interesting to look at is that anti-semitism is going to bring together a lot of the themes that ford champions. that is to say, jews, to his mind, are symbols of modernity are symbols of urbanization. jews, to his mind, were opponents of prohibition, and that was largely correct. a lot of immigrants disliked prohibition. there is a wonderful new book on jews and the liquor trade called -- entitled "jews and booze." very good title. "jews and booze" by marnie davis. it gives us a full view of jews in the liquor trade. ford had some dim awareness of this. but he certainly knew that jews were opposed to prohibition. and one can really see how jews begin for him to reflect the antithesis of many things he believed in. not necessarily many of the things he did, but many

and americans in rural america felt optimistic about how 2014 went. icans in the cities their optimism jumped to 53% saying they felt 2014 was an average or above average year. the jump in rural areas was a 20-point bump. while this rise was across the board, there were a few groups that weren't as optimistic as the overall poll. retirees and folks with a high school diploma or less were somewhat less up beat. maybe it's about their own economic current economic status. even so overall people were more optimistic about 2014 than at any time since 2004. it brings us to our last interesting fact courtesy of our friends at the american communities project. check this out. in 2004 when a similar 47% of americans said that the year was average or an above average year, it was republicans who drove that perception. 72% back then. it was a majority of democrats in 2004 called it a below average year. as for 2014, the trend is reversed. 70% of democrats who said the year was average, good or great. similar split, because republicans said it was a below average

two-stage relieve raise the cost is a critical concern on the margins that have difficulty of rural america. to deploy that an infrastructure in those places will dampen the ability and enthusiasm to reach those hardest hit. >> under the sec began risk of title to to have more delays and also the harm of regional providers with the regime that it would do would this service to rural america could you elaborate on that? >> of course, the association and is chaired from bluegrass cellular and it all have armies of regulatory lawyers to comply with transparency and other burdens. the uncertainty had stifled their deployment, they are worried and do not know what title ii brings. and the wireless industry is extremely competitive they need to differentiate to serve their communities. they need to make sure they can compete with different concepts and they're not sure what article ii will operate without respect. it is called differentiation and that is part of it. >> especially if you are a small business in an area with not a good coverage talking about two weeks ago they had a problem being a

rural poverty. there are access issues in urban america, and rural america.f you look at how metropolitan areas are organizing, increasingly there core, a suburban ring and a rural ring around it. and i think that if there's more visioning done that brings those elements together at the local level, and policy at the federal level that supports those visions, i think there's an enormous opportunity for us to solve problems, instead of having them created by washington. d.o.t. is trying to unearth the thinking that can happen at the local level to bring those elements together, because i think one of the most essential things we can do to fix washington is to really vision well at home and bring those visions to washington, and have folks working arm in arm together. >> so mayor -- >> awesome. [ applause ] >> so mayor we all want to just thank you because we know you guys are busy and you've never said no to an invite. and for us to have the real dream team here with us today is awesome. so i'm going to ask you guys one lightning round question. real light. ha

infrastructure is embarrassingrr and we all know it, and it's really starting to adversely affect people in rural america and in urban america alike. >> reporter: right now, the country is spending just $13 billion annually to fix bridges. scott, that's $8 billion shortth of what the federal highway administration says is needed annually to fix deficient bridges by 2028. >> pelley: jeff, thanks very much. and speaking of repairs, that scaffolding on the capital is part of a total restoration of the civil war-era dome. the scaffolding should be down late this year. today, james holmes went on trial two and a half years after the movie theater massacre in aurora, colorado. holmes appeared in court with dark hair neatly trimmed. it could take months to pick a jury out of the pool of 7,000, the largest in u.s. history. his lawyers admit holmes shot 12 people to death and injured 70 but he has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. we learned today the air asia plane that crashed last month was attempting an extreme maneuver more common to a fighter jet. bob orr has the latest. >> reporter: in the final mo

rural poverty. there are access issues in urban america, and rural america. and if you look at how metropolitan areas are organizing increasingly there is an urban kosh, a suburban ring and a rural ring around it. and i think that if there's more visioning done that brings those elements together at the local level, and policy at the federal level that supports those visions, i think there's an enormous opportunity for us to solve problems instead of having them created by washington. so a lot of what we're doing at u.s. d.o.d. is trying to unearth the thinking that can happen at the local level to bring those elements together, because i think one of the most essential things we can do to fix washington is to really vision well at home and bring those visions to washington, and have folks working arm in arm together. >> so mayor -- >> awesome. [ applause ] >> so mayor we all want to just thank you because we know you guys are busy and you've never said no to an invite. and for us to have the real dream team here with us today is awesome. so i'm going to ask

of agriculture is like being mayor of all the small cities and towns across rural america. it is in the sense being sense being governor of 50 states for rural america because all that you do as mayors and governors do as sec. of agriculture is able to do. it is a job that i love and the job i am well prepared for because of my experience as a mayor and governor. >> let me ask you a follow-up. during during your time as secretary of agriculture he showed an incredible openness and sensitivity to our concerns. what -- transportation has arrived. and undisclosed location. running the country. sec. what do you see is the natural next step for cities in this growing movement to expand urban farming efforts and increase healthy food access our cities? >> this is a great question and a terrific opportunity for mayors. first it does require your staff to fully understand all the tools available. we have microloans for folks who want to get started, loans up to $50,000 the ability to extend the growing season by financing. we we can provide resources to cities to establish farmers

, rural america.basically double-digit unemployment in terms of unemployment numbers. we have to be able to create opportunities. regulation is stifling small business development. right now, we have more businesses shutting down the new business startups. we have to open that door. >> here with us tonight. thank you. we go next to the congressman from pennsylvania. thank you for being here. what did you here from the president tonight? >> i thought the speech was more a political statement than a governing agenda was my initial reaction. contradictions in his speech that struck me. there are areas where we can work together. trade, transportation, infrastructure. he said he was against the keystone pipeline. if we cannot support that, it will be harder to get the broader infrastructure infrastructure, maybe some tax reform. i cannot get a good sense. >> more of a political a political tone to you in the present saying, i have no more to campaign. who is that political tone directed at? >> hearing a l

this is all about tapping into the tenacity and the resiliency of rural america and giving them the toolso make a difference in their own community. so, we've got america's best communities.com is the website where you go on to apply. and you essentially say, we have a plan and vision for our community. you put together an application. we'll narrow it down to 50 communities in march, april, time frame. and then we'll give them seed money, 50,000, in seed money, to help really refine those plans. we'll partner them with adopt a community companies that are also going to mentor and support these communities. the whole goal is to provide tools and opportunities for these communities to change the lives of people living there, to dream big and deliver on that dream. david: kathleen, you're a former fcc commissioner. i have to ask you because the president just gave a speech yesterday, he wants to put the fcc in charge of a lot of stuff involving the internet that your company and other companies like yours provide. do you think that's a good idea, to have this federal intervention, get the fe

rural america, including my home state of west virginia, knows the tragedy of this issue all too well. moving forward, we hope to work with members of congress from both parties on the goals we share for driving down opioid dependency and overdose deaths. this is a critical and complex public health challenge and requires a multifaceted approach. we have an opportunity to work together on improving opioid prescribing practices by enhancing prescription monitoring, data sharing, and clinical decisionmaking. we also want to incentivize the development of youth deterrent opioids and expand the utilization of a drug used to reverse overdoses. there's more we can do together in the realm of medication-assisted treatment to help those who are addicted break that cycle. last session, congress introduced more than a dozen pieces of bipartisan legislation to try and address this problem, many proposing ideas that would help fuel progress in some or even all three of these areas, and we think we should continue to work together. i want to turn for a moment to global health security. the tragic

we will talk about president obama's plans to connect rural america next. ♪ like i am cory johnson andloomberg west. all kinds of hot. they must have holiday gifts of 2014. my own self the stick. the 2014 song "#selfie" is just a trend. >> i have seen a lot of them since i have been traveling. yes. i did not even know about them before. >> i see them everywhere. yes. >> didn't god give us arms to shoot selfies? >> or friends to do it for you. >> these days, people bring their fancy camera equipment to bring pages of themselves at the golden gate bridge. >> in a group, you can actually get a lot more people with the song further away from you. >> got confiscated at the airport, his first one. the second one, they do not understand what it was for. he bought another one and i thought it was stupid at first. >> a camera with a bluetooth -- a bluetooth connection. all for the greater glory of the duck face. >> what is that? is it is with the libs out. >> show him. >> that is the duck face selfie. >> your arms may be too short, but just right. >> i finally see why you need one. >> i am join

now i still happen to believe that america -- and i say that because politics and the culture of rural america what i like to consider mainstreet america is one of a conservative nature it leaves i believe, to the right. i see the ideals of families, faith flag, and neighborhood. australia is more european is perhaps the best way of describing. nowhere near as bad as europe, certainly not america. the culture is different. being a brash, bold, conservative does not work. we are people that much prefer to have quiet, small steps toward an objective and it is perhaps why i am in america more than i am in australia these days because i tend to prefer the hit it out of the park mentality the only country to afford alongside the united states. we thank you. [applause] an example, you would be considered way out there. that is to give you an indication. here are find genuine conservative values of a real. now a lot of that has to do with democracy and a lot of that has to do with the way that our country is lined out. out. i'll give you a little bit of information on that rugged individualists that

the rural broadband development project regularly reviews technology access in rural america. yet the last technology census of tribal nations took place before google before twitter or before smartphones even existed. the best data we do have indicates an ongoing digital divide. while 73% of non-native-americans have access to broadband, sadly enough in indian country it's only 10%. in spite of these barriers tribes are maintaining their place as the first american innovators. just last week president obama highlighted a public/private partnership that brought high-speed internet access to the choctaw nation, in a community where access was once nonexistent today the tribal council has a new tool to engage citizens. the choctaw school of language is offering distance education courses. and broken bow school districts it serves over 1,000 students using smart boards ipads online lesson plans and tools that increase parent engagement. i urge congress and the administration to accelerate work that is under way to partner private sector to expand broadband connectivity in indian

how we we're going to get small businesses, role america pockets of prosperity in the country rural america basically double-digit unemployment in terms of unemployment numbers. we have to be able to create opportunities. regulation is stifling small business development. right now we have more businesses shutting down the new business startups. we have to open that door. >> here with us tonight. thank you. we go next to the congressman from pennsylvania. pennsylvania. thank you for being here. what did you here from the president tonight? >> my thoughts on the speech, more a political statement than a governing agenda was my initial reaction. at some.on the one hand he says we need to come together and at other times he throws down the goblins. contradictions in his speech that struck me. there are areas where we can work together. transportation to and infrastructure. he said he was against the keystone pipeline. it will be harder to get the broader infrastructure infrastructure, maybe some tax or form. i cannot get a good sense. >> more of a political a political tone to you in the prese

a sense being secretary of agriculture is like being the mayor of cities and towns all across rural americagovernor of 50 states for rural america because all that you all do as mayors and governors do as secretary of agriculture is able to do. it's a job that i love and it's a job that i'm well prepared for because of my experiences as a mayor and a governor. >> secretary, let me ask you one follow-up. during your time as secretary of agriculture you've shown an incredible openness and sensitivity to our concerns, you know, as we work to improve our local food infrastructure. what do you -- transportation has arrived. >> undisclosed location. >> run into the country. >> what do you see as the natural next step for cities in this growing movement to expand urban farming efforts and increase healthy food access in our cities. >> this is a great question, and it's a terrific opportunity for mayors. i think first it does inquire and require your staffs to fully understand all the tools that are available through the united states department of agriculture in cities. we have microloans for folk

two-stage relieve raise the cost is a critical concern on the margins that have difficulty of rural america. to deploy that an infrastructure in those places will dampen the ability and enthusiasm to reach those hardest hit. >> under the sec began risk of title to to have more delays and also the harm of regional providers with the regime that it would do would this service to rural america could you elaborate on that? >> of course, the association and is chaired from bluegrass cellular and it all have armies of regulatory lawyers to comply with transparency and other burdens. the uncertainty had stifled their deployment, they are worried and do not know what title ii brings. and the wireless industry is extremely competitive they need to differentiate to serve their communities. they need to make sure they can compete with different concepts and they're not sure what article ii will operate without respect. it is called differentiation and that is part of it. >> especially if you are a small business in an area with not a good coverage talking about two weeks ago they had a problem being a

he wants to expand high-speed internet, even in rural america. he's going to talk about cuba tonight, immigration, and climate change. he will outline his new tax plan. americans are not looking for a partisan hack to degrade and dismiss the president of the united states. the country wants to congress to work with president obama. earnest is just another republican against everything the president wants to accomplish and on every issue. the best thing republicans can come up with a rookie senator from iowa? for mcconnell to select her is not what america is looking for. america wants you, mitch. mitch mcconnell or john boehner should be responding to the president tonight. this is a real opportunity to unite with the president and move the country forward. now whether the gop agrees with the president or not, it should come from leadership directly. people are going to be walking away from tonight thinking well, this is just more of the same. mitch mcconnell i think, is missing an opportunity to lead and i think it speaks volumes of what really

it is for access to the internet and in three out of four americans, this is especially true in rural america, it really had one provider and is question of what we do -- this neutrality has been injected into a major new issue, which is new and that is we take away jurisdiction from the fcc, that is a fundamental question that requires an enormous amount of attention before we make a decision to go forward. i appreciate the point you made about uncertainty because if you make big investment decisions knowing what the rules of the road are, the uncertainty goes both ways and if you have legislation, it is very hard to change it and let's be real. if you have regulatory policy it is they are. it can respond to issues and i appreciate how specific you are in the legislation and the third is the broadband protected by the network connection and if there were a problem in any one of those three areas, who would resolve the remedy it was part of it. >> there was a direction and the bill to establish this process, which sounds nice and practical and is not the provide the kind of certainty and deta

certain policies and law making is having a negative impact on jobs and the economy mostly in rural america energy-producing areas of our country. >> reporter: at jake's tavern, a popular hangout in coal country, energy worker brandon allee says the issue is more about wyoming's rugged independent mentality not politics. >> the idea is we have been here for generations and the e.p.a. coming in here and telling us what we can and can't do or making it hard for us to do what really needs to be done doesn't set well with a lot of us. >> reporter: wyoming exports more energy than any other state, so there's a lot on the tine lion in the debate over the clean power man. for the pbs "newshour", leigh paterson, in wyoming. >> woodruff: u.s. attorney general eric holder today announced a major shift in how state and local police departments are permitted to seize and auction off property from those who are not convicted of a crime. hari sreenivasan has more. >> sreenivasan: the practice by police departments is known as civil forfeiture. and it's raised nearly three- billion dollars for local depar

2,008 when things started to go bad and i think that really exposed fisher in this industry and in rural americaso talk a little bit about this sort of campaign that started out. >> so that whole movement to my mind kind of starts in two places. the 1st is that in 2,006 what are known as the swift rates were immigration and customs enforcement showed up, up seal the doors although everyone away and homeland security buses and then there was a similar raid at agro processors in iowa. and this gave the immigration and customs area kind of black-eyed because what they succeeded in doing was not just rounding up these undocumented workers but in a number of cases especially where you had two to parents who were working in the same plan they rounded up people who had children who were in school at that time he suddenly had no parents and had no idea how to contact him. and in many cases were born in the us and therefore were legal citizens. so there was this decision to change that strategy by immigration and customs and not do that sort of thing but for the people who were hard-liners on immigration

my chief focus will continue to be the deployment and adoption of broadband in rural america something i'm interested in as a senator from mississippi something that the distinguished president pro tem is interested in as a senator from louisiana. broadband has become a vital economic engine in this country and around the world. in many ways the proliferation of the internet is likes the construction of the internet -- of the interstate highway system in 19 -- in the 1950's. we need to ensure that people in rural areas have the same quality broadband as those in urban areas. to that end our committee will continue to examine ways to foster broadband growth and development. we also need to find ways to make nor spectrum available for wireless which can help spur innovation and economic growth in the mobile broadband space. i also expect the senate this year mr. president to deal with legislation regarding the environmental protection agency and the obama administration's environmental executive overreach. the administration has proposed a litany of costly environmental rules targeting e

and my recommendation is the belief they could take a young kid from rural america who has never seen a latino and african-american and the full interaction is what they see on tv. is there an opportunity to be introduced to sensitivity? and that majority as well. the more you can expose the officers to the lessons the stronger they are. >> and i have one additional question. i often hear and a half of this challenge in my community but many do. often times we find it difficult to recruit african americans, hispanics, people of color. in many communities across the country for a variety of reasons. so the question in that i posed the i think is critically important is even though i think any agency should not stop trying to recruit that population and no matter how challenging because it is essentially imported to provide good police service butted absence of that, would any of you agree that you have to have good human beings who are richer, sensitive, a good self-esteem, and a very strong internal control of selfie and confidence and some life experience with the level of education

. >> i think that really how are you going to get small businesses, people in rural america, we havepockets of prosperity the president was referring to. where we still have double-digit unemployment in terms of the unemployment numbers and we have to be able to create those opportunities, regulations are stifling small business development and by now we have more small businesses a new business startups in this country and we have to be able to open that door. >> scott, thank you so much for joining us tonight on the state of the union. coming next to the congressman from pennsylvania. what did you hear from the president tonight. >> on the one hand i thought the speech was more a political statement than a governing agenda and that was my initial reaction. at some point we need to come together, another time there were those predictions in the speech and we can clearly work together on trade and hopefully transportation infrastructure and that is a bipartisan project. and so maybe on some tax reform, i didn't get a good sense on tax reform. >> he said it's more of a political tone