t.j. kennedy: correct. peter: what is the role of public providers? t.j. kennedy: there are a number of private providers that could offer on this opportunity, and i believe that carriers are one of them. there are others as well. and we talked about that extra capacity peace, we would be looking for folks that have interest in leveraging excess capacity, but would deploy the network as part of that. this is what our acquisition is being built around. we are looking for good competition, but also leverage to deploy on existing infrastructure where it takes cents. the act nose and talks about getting this out as soon as practical, but when you look at the united states in the territories, there is a lot of geography to cover so the act actually calls out three different ways that we can leverage existing commercial infrastructure, that we could leverage rural infrastructure as well as government infrastructure. howard buskirk: you talked about heather will be extra capacity do you have any idea yet how much capacity you are going to be able to make available

t.j. kennedy just to help us understand how firstnet would operate, let's take the recent train derailmentin philadelphia. what would be the role of firstnet in a disaster like that? >> guest: the role of firstnet would be able to provide especially a data and broadband network for first responders. so police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians who are responding to that incident, that are on the scene of that incident in the future when the firstnet network is up and running would have the ability to have video of things from the scene being sent to incoming responders, to have pictures from the scene, to be able to have important situational awareness data on where everybody is on that particular scene. today not everybody would have the ability to see where the other ambulances are staged that might be coming in to pick up additional patients, and a mass casualty situation you would be able to leverage it for triage. you could go so far as to think of today there's technology like, you know fitbits and different wearable technology that you're seeing in the fitness wor

t.j. kennedy: that's a good question. it takes some time to work through the process of vetting and interviewing to get an appropriate fit for the position. we are far from that, and we will see what happens in the air future. peter: tj kennedy is the acting executive director of firstnet, and howard buskirk. t.j. kennedy: thank you. announcer: c-span. created by america's cable companies 35 years ago. announcer: on this weekend newsmakers johnny isakson is our guest. he is the chair of the veterans affairs community and talks about ongoing efforts to reform the v.a.. senator isakson: i am an optimist, and i would say succeeding is not the main goal of the v.a. statutory changes needed as well as leadership changes. that's why i have said we need to have bob mcdonnell's back and get the force of congress behind him to make sure he does the accountability measures necessary. i want to underscore this -- we have some of the finest health care professionals and technicians in the world. our problem is more the administration

t.j. kennedy, you talked about three different funding sources for firstnet. what are they? how much from each? >> guest: one was initial spectrum sales that already started to occur and that would generate $7 billion going into the construction fund for the firstnet deployment. that funding has come in and it is a terrific set of progress for firstnet because we can count on that going forward. the second part is leveraging the capacity of the seven mega hertz spectrum. a a way to leverage the excess capacity so there when is unused capacity it can be leveraged to bring in funding that will maintain and operate the network as well as build it out. the third fee is user fees. the public safety users and the core user fees coming from the network is the third major element that will help sustain the network over time. >> host: so the user fees come from the 60,000 emergency responders teams? >> guest: correct. >> host: what is the role of private providers in building and operating firstnet such as verizon? >> guest: there are a number of private providers that could offer on

t.j. kennedy on the creation of one nationwide broadband emergency communications network for first responders. >> firstnet would be able to provide especially a data and broadband network for first responders. so police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians who are responding to that incident that are on the scene of that incident in the future when the firstnet network is up and running, would have the ability to have video of things from the scene being sent into coming responders to have pictures from the scene to be able to have important situational awareness data on where everybody is on that particular scene. today not everybody would have the ability to see where the other ambulances are staged that might be coming in to help pick up additional patients. and a mass casualty situation you would be able to leverage it for triage. you could go so far as to think of today there's technology like different fitbits and wearable technology you're seeing in the fitness world. what if that was done for emergency medical services where they could actually place that on a patient

t.j. kennedy is the acting director of firstnet. thank you. >> and you are watching booktv on c-span2 television for serious readers. this memorial day evening here is our prime time lineup. we are featuring books on the first lady's beginning with a look at michelle obama. this is a new book out by peter slevin. after that a book featured by c-span based on the television series on the first ladies we did last year. and finally kissing cousins, a look at elenore roosevelt and relationship. >> and now on booktv's afterwards peter slevin discusses the life of first lady michelle obama from her childhood to the whitehouse. he is interviewed by cassandra clayton at the university of maryland's philip merrill college of journalism. >> host: peter slevin thank you for joining us to talk about your new book, "michelle obama: a life." >> guest: thank you. it is great to be here. >> host: this is the story of the women you call the most unlikely first lady in modern history. it isn't the story of her life but a story of modern american hist

t.j. kennedy, on the creation of one nationwide broadband emergency communications network for first respondersirstnet would be able to provide especially a data and broadband network for first responders, so police officers firefighters emergency medical technicians who are responding to that incident, that are on the scene of that incident in the future when the firstnet network is up and running would have the ability to have video of things from the scene being sent to incoming responders, to have pictures from the scene, to be able to have important situational awareness data on where everybody is on that particular scene. today not everybody would have the ability

communicators," acting executive director of first net tj kennedy on the creation of one nationwide broadband emergency communications network for first responders. t.j.: it would be able to provide a data network for first responders. police officers, emergency medical technicians who are responding to that incident, in the future, when the network is up and running, would have the ability to have video of things from the scene being sent to incoming responders to have pictures from the scene to be able to have important situational awareness data on where everybody is. today, not everybody would have the ability to see where the other ambulances are staged. a mass cap the situation, you would be able to leverage it for triage. you can go so far as to think of, today, there is technology like fitbits and wearable technology. what if that was done for emergency medical services where they could place that on a patient and get vital signs? not necessarily with devices today, but think of the innovation that can happen. if you knew where your patients were, you could track their vital signs and send them to hospitals and track them and make sure they a

t.j. kennedy on the creation of one nationwide broad band emergency communications network for first responders. >> would be able to provide especially a data and broad band network for first responders. o to have pictures from the scene. to be able to have important situational awareness data on where everybody is on that particular scene. picking up additional patients and a mass casualty situation you would be able to leverage for triage. today, there's technology like you know fit bits and different wearable technology that you're seeing in the fitness world. what if that was done for emergency medical services where they could place that on a patient and be able to get vital signs as an example. not necessarily with the devices today, but think of the innovation that could happen. and you would know where all of your patients are. you would be able to track their current vital signs and be able to send them to hospitals and track them there and make sure they're handed off and there's continuity of care and adjust to a changing situation in a rapid fashion. >> tonight at 8:00 eastern on "t