[applause] spain secretary shaun donovan. [applause] >> the senate is about to gavel and to debate changes to the u.s. postal service. they will discuss closing post offices and other postal facilities, changing from six day delivery to five days a week and refunding overpayments to the postal retirement fund. at 11:00 eastern senators will vote on moving forward with a bill. then they will recess at 12:34 caucus lunches and return it 2:15 eastern for more legislative work. the house meanwhile live on c-span will spend the afternoon on a bill opening federal land to hunting, fishing and recreational shooting. a number of amendments will be considered. lighthouse coverage again on c-span and live coverage now hear of the u.s. senate. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. o lord, we know you're mighty around we're weak, but we take heart because your power makes mountains tremble. as our senators rely on your strength for t

and we will be joined today by the secretary of housing, shaun donovan.and we been joined by the education secretary, arne duncan. and certainly, we were joined on wednesday by the family of trayvon martin, as the news was broken that george zimmerman was behind bars for. [applause] we do not have much time today, so we're going to get right into it. and without further ado i'd like to bring forth the president and founder of national action network, reverend doctor al sharpton. [applause] >> all right, good morning, and again, thank you. we are pulling people from the practices, but i would ask as they came and they come in quietly. many of you, we thank you, because we want to start on time and we must end on time. we are very happy that all of our panelists took time from their scheduled to be with us this morning. let me introduce the panel, as they are seated. let me first say that this, and i want is to be real clear, i'm moderating this so you all know i am a firm moderator. i'm not going to let you go from the subject, because this is a very serio

but hud secretary shaun donovan says there must be safe guards to prevent the gses from purposely defaultingin relief. the fhfa is evaluating whether financial incentives will be enough to cover the cost of fannie and freddie writing down mortgage debt. >> is this principal write down? or through reduction on interest rates, extending -- >> a lot of things you could do. this isn't going to happen. >> you wish they would have said -- do you wish dodd frank had something in there? would that have made any sense? >> if you forced fannie and freddie -- >> dodd was the biggest -- he got more money from fannie and freddie. and then you had -- >> would it be possible to have that conversation without it being political? >> how is it not political when the reform is dodd frank and you have barney frank says i'm willing to throw the dice. >> how about it we approach the issue of what to do in the context of what would be best. >> that was the spirit of the renlg question. if you were trying to solve the financial crisis, how come fannie and freddie weren't involved in. >> and i would argue it should

and listeners that on "newsmakers" this week, the secretary of housing and urban development, shaun donovantalks about what the administration is trying to do about underwater homes and a settlement with the latest mortgage services groups, after a hud investigation. he also talked about construction workers, and we began our conversation talking about construction workers. this is what the secretary of housing and urban development had to say. [video clip] >> we need to do more for the markets that are hardest hit, and particularly the shadow inventory, the distress sales. there, the president has proposed a project rebuild the one put construction workers back to work, renovating and rebuilding homes better sitting vacant, dragging down everyone's home value. if you live next door to a home that goes into foreclosure, even if you are paying your bills, the very day in the full closure sign goes up, your home loses value. we have to do this to help neighborhoods overall. host: you can see the entire video sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on c-span. timothy homan, your thoughts about this

. >> all right, secretary shaun donovan, great to have you on the show.e back as well. >> who do you have on your show at 1:00? >> the great mark halperin and richard engel. richard engel from pyongyang. >> and i'm sure you'll be doing a special segment, perhaps eight minutes long, on joe's birthday. >> we'll see about that. happy birthday, joe. >> thank you, andrea. >>> still ahead, we'll talk to new york mayor cory booker. this is delicious okay... is this where we're at now? we just eat whatever tastes good? like these sweet honey clusters... actually there's a half a day's worth of fiber in every ... why stop at cereal? bring on the pork chops and the hot fudge. fantastic. are you done sweetie? yea [ male announcer ] fiber one. on december 21st polar shifts will reverse the earth's gravitational pull and hurtle us all into space. which would render retirement planning unnecessary. but say the sun rises on december 22nd, and you still need to retire. td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life. we'll even throw

eastern this afternoon, our "newsmakers" interview with sean donovan -- shaun donovan. >> tonight onthe u.s. senate youth program -- was one of the greatest experiences of this week was the opportunity to meet both of my senators. just being able to meet them and talk to them pierre >> some leaders like leon panetta, he talked about how important it is to be financially sound. if we are not financially sound, devoting money to national defense will be worthless because you will not have any money to devote to it appeared >> high school students from all 50 states participated in a week-long government and leadership program at the nation's capital shared their observations as they interact with members of congress, the supreme court, and the president. >> all of my congressman and senators said that there's a lot of partisanship going on in congress and i'm the only one reaching across the aisle. everyone that we have met here has said that. it makes me wonder -- everybody is saying that, but there is nothing happening. i wonder if there's a discrepancy between what they are actually

. >> sunday, shaun donovan joins us. he will talk about the settlement with the mortgage lenders, and what is ahead for fannie mae and freddie mac. "newsmakers" airs at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern here on c- span. >> tonight, the president of planned parenthood, cecile richards, talks about women's health care and politics in america. >> i think most of us believe health care should not be politicized and it does not come with a political label. i just left arizona. we just voted down the birth control ban hin arizona -- dan in arizona. good things can happen. in arizona, planned parenthood was started by peggy goldwater, barry goldwater's wife, right? and we have hundreds of thousands of republican supporters. we are republicans, independents, democrats, because we believe women's health care does not come with a political label. >> you can see all of her remarks tonight on c-span. >> the world affairs council on thursday hosted a debate on iran code of nuclear program. two professors argued for and against the att