however, current usda regulations reimburse guam and islands. the u.s. virgin islands at the rate for the continental united states. peer same time, our outline jurisdictions, alaska, hawaii, and puerto rico receive a much higher reimbursement rate. according to usda, the higher reimbursement rates for these states and territory reflect higher costs of delivering these programs in those outlying jurisdictions. well, we agree wholeheartedly that all outlying jurisdictions should be reimbursed at higher rates than the mainland united states because of these higher costs. all five territories and both states outside the continental united states share the challenges of higher costs of living, few you are locally available resources, and greater percentages of school children from undeserved households. indeed, guam and the u.s. virgin islands both have higher lower median g, household incomes, and greater unemployment than the mainland united states. both territories face much higher costs for imported food, transportation, fuel, refrigeration, and other ev

disease bank as a priority at the usda. the final thing i will mention is that it increases the gap for individuals seeking loans under the farm agency loan guarantee program. this program provides financial assistance to farmers and ranchers who want to expand and improve their operations. now under this program, the direct loan cap will go from $300,000 to $600,000 and from $ 1.39 million to $1.79 million for operating loans. increasing both the individual cap for these rwandans and the -- loans and the total amount of money for lending will allow a greater number of producers to utilize the program. farming and ranching has become increasingly costly, this will reflect the inflation and make sure that lenders have flexibility during times of hardship. south dakota producers work hard every day to feed and fuel a growing global population. as in all businesses, some years are simply better than others. during those more difficult times, it's important that our farmers and ranchers have access to tools that can help them k

right now it's f.d.a., usda, couple of places. we move all that into the usda. why? because they are really good at it. it's not to say f.d.a. isn't. wouldn't it be good for people to go to one area? in all fairness, secretary purdue will tell you, there's things usda does that others can't do well. housing component, why shouldn't we go to housing and urban development? we propose to move it to h.u.d. housing component, why they handled the food stamps, snap program, that makes no sense at all. h.h.s. is uniquely handled. we move that to h.h.s. have it centralized so we can deal with it. no one has ever tried at this scale, mr. president. president clinton tried it a ittle bit. a couple of us tried it. no one has done it at this scale. importantly, no one's ever followed through on it. no one's ever given the time commitment these people around the table they have given. no one has -- the stuff president clinton came up are peanuts compared to this. every time someone comes to me and says, this will doesn't have a chance. a couple different things. one of the bigges

right now it's f.d.a., usda, couple of places. we move all that into the usda. why? because they are really good at it. it's not to say f.d.a. isn't. wouldn't it be good for people to go to one area? in all fairness, secretary urdue will tell you, there's things usda does that others can't do well. housing component, why shouldn't we go to housing and urban development? we propose to move it to h.u.d. they handled the food stamps, snap program, that makes no sense at all. handled. uniquely we move that to h.h.s. have it centralized so we can deal with it. no one has ever tried at this scale, mr. president. president clinton tried it a little bit. a couple of us tried it. no one has done it at this scale. importantly, no one's ever followed through on it. no one's ever given the time commitment these people around the table they have given. no one has -- the stuff president clinton came up are peanuts compared to this. every time someone comes to me and says, this will doesn't have a chance. a couple different things. one of the biggest ideas, department of education

and we find ourselves as we did in 2012 and 2017 going to usda and begging for emergency authority to hay and graze some of these acres, which we did eventually get both in 2012 and 2017. that authority was granted to hay and graze environmentally sensitive acres without any adverse effects. so this is an amendment that brings some -- some much needed flexibility to crp acres by allowing farmers a third, a third, a third, every three years or i should say take a third of crp acres in any given year and be able to hay those, also with the reduction in payments, commensurate to that, or to graze those acres in the same way and, again, it's something that we find at least in our part of the country where crp is utilized rather extensively under these mid contract management practices they have to destroy this. it's a valuable commodity and particularly in years where you have a drought. so it gets rid of the need for mid contract management practices, it gets rid of the need for emergency haying and grazing in drought years. this is an amendment that i think ask not only going to be very

across programs that usda administers. for the past two years in western south dakota precipitation monitoring has been inconsistent, resulting in some livestock producers not being eligible for grazing assistance from usda and i'm sure this is a problem that isn't unique to south dakota but probably occurs in other more sparsely populated areas. this is something that i heard rather consistently from livestock producers in western south dakota and who might in some cases be on adjacent farms or certainly adjacent counties that are treated very differently because the methodology used by usda is very inconsistent. the bill received a zero score from the congressional budget office. i think it's something that from a practical standpoint just makes a lot of sense and certainly would provide uniformity and consistency to this process in states like mine where we have seems like recurring issues with drought. we certainly had that in 2012 and last year in 2017 and i'm sure it will happen again, but it's nice to have good data

the amendment also improves coordination between usda and the department of energy. mr. chairman, i have heard that there were some concerns about the bio gas task force provision, an earlier version of this amendment. i have since eliminated that language based on conversations that i had with your staff and others. i spoke to the national pork producers council and others this morning. they're comfortable with the amendment now. this amendment i offer today addresses the concerns i've heard from the committee and i thank senator smith of minnesota tomorrow joining me as a co-sponsor of the amendment, which is supported by the national farmers union carbon capture coalition and the american bio gas council. i would also like to thank you, mr. chairman, and the ranking member and yours staffs for working with me on this important issue. and with that, i'd ask for a voice vote of the committee. >> all those in favor of senator bennet's amendment will signify by saying aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. are there further amendments to -- are there further amendments

that the usda approves. the amendment would prohibit anticompetitive behavior such as we saw from the egg board, attacking a start-up company that they viewed as a threat. the language from the e-mails was actually stunning, talking about working to kill a business. and the amendment would prohibit checkoff boards from contracting with entities that engage in ag lobbying. i am one of those people, we've got enough lobbyists down here in d.c. so i hope that this bipartisan amendment to implement commonsense reforms will get a vote and that it will receive the bipartisan support it needs to pass. there are two other amendments which i filed that i'd like to discuss. they would help to protect contract farmers. this is the salt of the earth. these are americans whose traditional work, these farmers, many of them who have been on their land for generations, what's happening now is unacceptable to these farmers. the first amendment to protect contract farmers would -- the first amendment that i am filing to prote

right now fda, usda. we have moved all ofhat into the usda. why? because they are really good at it not to say the fda isn't. wouldn't it be nice to have one place where people can go to to get answers to get results to get permits. >> harris: we have been watching inside the cabinet roomened at president spoke to 20 minutes or so. this is pulled tape from moments ago when the president was meeting in the cabinet room and what you see now is the office of management and budget director mick mulvaney, he is talking about completely changing, reorganizing really since fdr was president how the government works. and made the official announcement now that the departments of labor and education will be together. he said this keeps the promise of the president from the campaign trail to make federal government smaller. and what was kind of funny about this is that the president said you want to hear from the director of mulvaney on this, just try not to make it too boring. that was the directsive of the president of the united states. there were a lot o

the usda claims there are 2 million farmers. when you go to the numbers it is a much smaller number of farm businesses that are actually receiving the benefits from these programs. up to 350,000 and perhaps down to nearly 100,000. in some programs it's almost in the dozens of people who are actually benefiting from the programs. you have a very motivated base to keep their particular benefits while in the grand scheme of things sometimes it looks like these programs may not cost us all a lot directly. it is a classic case of that as well. >> beside the cost of taxpayers, why should americans even care how -- about these farm subsidies? >> one reason is that the subsidies do -- it they were responding to the market. some farmers are owg up wetlands. to grow crops and part because the government is making it financially attractive for them to do so. another reason that may be very relevant in a time when everyone is paying close attention to trade is that how we subsidize our farmers, increases or decreases the risk of violating r

the usda says the harvest for all winter wheat could be down more than 5%. updated numbers this week, kansas down 19%. the outlook was left unchanged. many questions as to whether the number is too conservative. corn also had a wild ride this week. here's the bearish case. u.s. crop conditions have been perfect after planting, but the bullish case, corn stockpiles. the usda says u.s. inventories will fall with record exports at the end of august. they could hit about 2.1 billion bushels. rising world demand is finally starting to outstrip production. sticking with food, let's look at cheese prices. under pressure from mexico, u.s. dairy producers count on mexico to buy more than a quarter of the exports. joining me now is bloomberg's head of agricultural reporting. simon, good to see you. it was not just cheese, but also milk taking center stage at the g7. here's what president trump tweeted earlier this week, "canada charges the u.s. a 270% tariff on dairy products. they did not tell you that, did they? not fair to our farmers." how do dairy tariffs work? s

the usda says the harvest for all winter wheat could be down more than 5%.he fda updated numbers this week, kansas down 19%. the outlook was left unchanged. many questions as to whether the number is too conservative. corn also had a wild ride this week. here's the bearish case. u.s. crop conditions have been perfect after planting, but the bullish case, corn stockpiles. the usda says u.s. inventories will fall with record exports at the end of august. they could hit about 2.1 billion bushels. rising world demand is finally starting to outstrip production. sticking with food, let's look at cheese prices. under pressure from mexico, u.s. dairy producers count on mexico to buy more than a quarter of the exports. joining me now is bloomberg's head of agricultural reporting. simon, good to see you. it was not just cheese, but also milk taking center stage at the g7. here's what president trump tweeted earlier this week, "canada charges the u.s. a 270% tariff on dairy products. they did not tell you that, did they? not fair to our farmers." how do dairy tariffs w

i have been trying for years to get usda to change this mid- contract management practice which to me absolutely makes no sense why you would have to destroy or burn what is very valuable a, particularly in years when it has great value for people who need it in a drought. to me it's the limit or the cap and the flexibility. if the chairman is willing to work with us. >> i'm certainly willing and i would say candace experienced a wildfire burning 135,000 acres an hour in the middle of a drought just as you are up nort north, but i'm certainly willing to do exactly that. i know the senator does as well. >> i would like to express my support for the amendment and hope that something can be worked out on the floor. >> i appreciate your comment. >> with that assurance and to admit i will withdraw the amendment. >> i appreciate that. >> any other amendment entitled to -- in title two. title i? >> that's the intent. here we go. >> title i. i'm sure you're tired of hearing from you on this, but i think as you in the center know we been trying for some time to find a way and i've been working

grown in america and usda certified organic. farm to table fresh in every scoop.c music) - wow, i like it, it's very good. it's delicious. - it's really sweet and tasty. - if i can find something that's ready-made, that tastes like this, i'm good to go. - [narrator] today, join us as we take a trip to the heartland. to the van drunen farms. seventh generation farmers who grow some of the organic vegetables for grown american superfood and you'll learn the secret of why grown american superfood is better than fresh. with everything you want in your food. including super leafy greens, super vegetables, super fruits, and super sprouts and nothing you don't. no added sugars, no fillers, no gmos, no gluten. plus, it's only 25 calories per scoop and so delicious you and your family will love it. - i have a three year old daughter, she loves it. - grown american superfood found a quick and easy way for my family to get fruits and vegetables everyday. - [narrator] stay tuned to find out how you can energize, revitalize, and transform your life with grown american superfoo

recent analysis by dwg shows just how broken are forever satan is using usda data we found nearly 18,000 people, 18,000 people, who live in one of the nation's 50 largest cities but nevertheless, receive farm subsidies in 2015 and 2016. that's not all. again using usda data, we found nearly 28,000 farmers who received the subsidy or disaster payment every single year for the last 32 years. let me say that again. we found 28,000 farmers who received either a subsidy payment or disaster payment everygle year since 1985. so either that there are some very, very unlucky farmers out there, or, more likely explanation, is that our farm safety net has been reverse engineered to pay off every year. and if that's the case our farm safety net is not a safety net at all. the senate agriculture community should support senator grassley amendment and the full senate should be legitimate of the amendments to reform our broken farm subsidy system. in particular, the senate must be able to debate an amendment that cap and means test crop insurance subsidies. at a time of great uncertainty for agricultur

the usda claims there are 2 million farmers. there are much smaller number of farm benefits receiving benefits, perhaps only 100,000. in some programs it is almost in the dozens of people were actually benefiting. you have a very motivated days to keep their particular benefits while in the grand scheme of things sometimes it looks like this program may not cost us a lot directly, but the spiraling costs are extreme. daren: besides the cost to taxpayers, why should americans care about these farm subsidies? scott: one reason groups care is because the subsidies do cause farmers to plant in places they were not otherwise if they were simply responding to the market. some farmers are plowing up grasslands and wetlands to grow crops because the government is making it financially attractive for them to do so. another reason that may be very relevant and a time when everyone is paying close attention to trade is that how we subsidize our farmers increases or decreases the risk of violating wto rules on subsidies and ultimately invit

if you have a chicken it's governed by the usda.hicken lays an egg, covered by the government. break and egg and make an olelet, that's kgoverned by the usda. >> why does this make any sense to anybody working for the labor department? >> first consider the irony of a president seeking to make government work better after he has denigrated federal employees as the deep state, as he has left over 200 key positions unfilled. after these asked for significant cuts in critical social programs. we can stipulate government needs to be reformed. there's a lot of things that don't make sense. i. stnchts bro i.t. is broken. but this proposal simply 14ishi the box on a organizational chart and doesn't recognize the fact congress will never go along with this the same with they rejected similar proposals to create a department of business back in 2012. >> an important point and wonder why it is. argue how thoughtfully this process has been designed, or this program has been designed here. why is it that congress is so involve and cares so deep

those applications were already under review by the usda when the rescission package was introduced. projects are ready to go and jobs are waiting to be created with this funding. it makes me very angry to see that the administration's rescission proposal describes these grants as wasteful and specifically identifies a chocolate covered peanut project as an example of alleged wasteful spending. ok, this is not about chocolate covered peanuts. this is about helping farmers diversify their businesses and providing consumers with new products they're willing to spend a little extra on. farmers are fatesing very challenging economic times. and i think we should be ding everything we can to support farmers in finding new markets. whether that's by processing mil millinging to make yogurt or even coating peanuts in chocolate. ironically on the same day the administration released its rescission proposal this the usda's economic research service released a report on how successful the a.p.g. has been. -- vapg has been. it showings that those who receive vapg funding are more likely to succe

i sort of love the idea of in 1958 some usda employees sitting down somewhere to write an instruction manual on how to eat a cracker. [ laughing ] >> but the instructions that came with the crackers said that sort of every adult gets six crackers per day. 125 calories per cracker. so if you're doing that math real quickly in your head, that's not a lot of calories to get through. but the suggestion in the instruction manual was that you should break that into six separate meals over the course of the day because there wasn't a lot else to do in the fallout shelter. [ laughing ] >> so if you broke it into sort of six one-cracker meals, that maximized the entertainment value of the crackers. and then after the two weeks when the crackers ran out, the fallout would have in theory would have lessened. and then we would flee out of the fallout shelters and out into our national parks. but the idea was that the national parks were not going to be targeted by nuclear war. and so your friendly neighborhood park rangers would have spent those two weeks while everyone was hiding out in the shel

down here, we talked about food safety, right now at fda, usda. moved that all to the usda. why?ause they're good at it. not because the fda isn't, one place to get answers, to get results, permits and deal with regulatory affairs. at the same time, in all fairness and secretary purdue will tell you this, there are things the fda does with other agencies. a housing component, why wouldn't that be better off at housing and urban development. move that to you hud. similarly they moved the food stamp, the snap program that makes no sense at all. hhs is uniquely set up to handle. that moved programs to hhs and have it centralized to deal with it. no one has tried at this scale, mr. president. president clinton tried a little bit, a couple other presidents tried it. no one has done it at this scale, and importantly, no one followed through on it. no one has given the time commitment that these people have given for the last year and a half. and no one came up with the ideas. the stuff president clinton came up with are peanuts compared to this. every time someone said this is great, i

this will really encourage the collaboration we know we need between usda and health and human services to address the specific healthcare needs of rural communities. i'm very happy to see that included. thank you again chair roberts and ranking member and i look forward all look forward to continuing work on this bill. with your permission i would like to recognize our leader, senator mcconnell for his three minutes and 21 seconds left bac back. >> thank you, mr. chairman. ranking member, i'm happy to be here this morning. senator, could i just say one thing. thank you for commitment not only to be here, but your commitment to everyone and also with regards to senator schumer. both leaders have committed that once we finish our business here we can finish our business on the floor of the united states senate. thank you. >> let me mention, thank you, mr. chairman, we will turn to the farm bill before the fourth of july. i am hopeful that the house will get to theirs. it will probably look a little different from ours but i'm hoping they will get to theirs shortly which will give us a ch

the usda agrees. please, take it. no problem. so that's the rationale behind it. >> and you believe t iha will streamline -- or the people that report to youve t streamlined process within hud is going to be beneficial to rural communities? >> absolutely. >> all right. thank you, mr. secretary. i yield back. >> gentleman yields back. chair now recognizes the gentleman from colorado. >> mr. secretary, thanks for taking the time today to visit with us. let me preface my remarks. mr. ellison started talking about the housing situation in the minneapolis area where affordable housing is really becoming hard to find. colorado, in my district, i represent the suburbs of denver. the denver metropolitan area, we've enjoyed a good economy probably five, six years running. to the point where my district, i've been under 3% unemployment for at least five years now. so very strong. but as a consequence, we've seen a lot of congestion in our highways, so an infrastructure issue, and housing, particularly for the disabled, the elderly, the low

usda estimates that my home state of arkansas will be third most impacted. the state behind texas, illinois and iowa. iowa will be the fourth most impacted state. this provision does not discriminate against regions. it discriminates against farmers and those who feed and clothe this nation. i am very much opposed to this language, but i am thankful that the house did not take this tact in crafting its farm policy. i'm committed to working to remove this provision before we enact a final farm bill this congress. we must provide a farm bill that gives producers certainty and predicability without further exacerbating the difficult farm economy that they are facing. if we can commit to continue to follow the fair and equitable approach that was exhibited when we fashioned the bill in committee, we can pass a farm bill that has a chance to become law. let's not squander this opportunity. our farmers in rural america need this bill. let's get it passed so that we can provide our farmers and ranchers with the certainty and predicability they need to succeed. and

the usda says inventories will fall with record exports at the end of august and they could hit aboutlion bushels, world demand is finally starting to outstrip production. sticking with food, let's look at these prices. under pressure from mexico, u.s. dairy producers count on mexico to buy nearly a quarter of the product. it was not just cheese, but also milk taking center stage at the g7. here's what president trump tweeted earlier this week, "canada charges the u.s. a 270% tariff on dairy products, did not tell you that." how do dairy tariffs work? >> in canada, they have supply management established in the 1970's. it is basically matching production with the demand. that is in order to maintain a very stable income for farmers. is very popular with farmers there and farmers here and other countries as well. alix: 270% is blended dairy powder, what is that? >> there is a plethora of dairy products out there, the president is essentially correct. beyond a small import quota, tariffs are increasing dramatically for this category of different products. that is something, it is an eye

the usda says inventories will fall with record exports at the end of august and they could hit aboutillion bushels, world demand is finally starting to outstrip production. sticking with food, let's look at these prices. under pressure from mexico, u.s. dairy producers count on mexico to buy nearly a quarter of the product. it was not just cheese, but also milk taking center stage at the g7. here's what president trump tweeted earlier this week, "canada charges the u.s. a 270% tariff on dairy products, did not tell you that." how do dairy tariffs work? >> in canada, they have supply management established in the 1970's. it is basically matching production with the demand. that is in order to maintain a very stable income for farmers. is very popular with farmers there and farmers here and other countries as well. alix: 270% is blended dairy powder, what is that? >> there is a plethora of dairy products out there, the president is essentially correct. beyond a small import quota, tariffs are increasing dramatically for this category of different products. that is something, it is an e

subsidies, it deals with development, housing, pretty much every sector of the rural economy because the usda is very expensive. every area gets modified by the farm bill, but that particular area doesn't have incredibly major adjustments. i would not expect huge changes in how business is being done. host: james from wichita, kansas. what is your question? caller: what we have learned from other countries in regard to food policy. alan: what can we learn from other countries? on subsidies you see a lot of changes in regimes, everything from new zealand getting rid of farm subsidies and going very export oriented, the u.s. doing that. the european union is having a big debate over the common agricultural policy. agricultural systems become a big part of trade disputes. we see that in nafta with canadian dairy, the tpp. there is a lot to learn. how we can apply to the u.s. farm bill applies to the context. from spring hill, florida, snap recipients. what is your question? caller: i wanted to make a comment. i am a food stamp recipients, work at walmart. as a cashier. i see what people by with

in terms of rural housing hud already does more than usda does.so, that is not a difficult move at all and the usda agrees and they said please, take it. no problem. that is the rational find it. >> you believe that a streamlined or the people report you believe it will streamline process within hud it will be beneficial to rural communities? >> absolutely. >> thank you, mr. secretary. i you back. >> mr. secretary, thank you for taking the time to visit with us. let me preface my remarks. mr. ellison talked about the housing situation in the minneapolis area where affordable housing is becoming hard to find. in colorado in my district i represent the denver metropolitan area and we've enjoyed a good economy for five or six years runnin running to e point where my district i've been under 3% on appointment for at least five years now. very strong but as a consequence we have seen a lot of congestion in our highways so in a production issue and housing particularly for the disabled, elderly, the low to moderate income has really become hard to find.

just look at usda amany. on d-day. d-day was us attacking germany. d-da a great way to note the strength of the commitment and the historical solidarity between us and our world war ii allies. germany is a lot of things, but on that day in particular our relationship witerath germany ths withur allies. and that's one thing if you're like failing a book report in fourth grade, maybu ve played some weird dystopian alternate history video games where the u.s. didn't fight the nazis in world war ii. so you're confused as to who might have been on which side on d-day. but if you're the spokesperson for the united states state department, on the d-day anniversary, this is -- this is something else. this is -- this is our lives now during the trump administrat lots of news today. senior staffers at the epa are jumping ship, we have learned tonight, leading to lots of speculatn tonight that epa administrator scott pruitt mighf his nih life ae st scandal-written t in the trump administration cabinet. we'll have more on that story in just a minute. >>> democra

the usda should be fair and treat our dairy farmers with the same, same support. i want this emergency funding to go directly to those farmers who need it so they can keep producing milk without going bankrupt, long enough for the industry to come together to balance supply and for congress to create a fairer milk pricing system. and i urge my colleagues to support this amendment, too. it affects all of us. i know you believe, mr. president, that our farmers work hard every day. they need our support. i urge all of us to stand with them. i yield the floor. and i suggest an absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: is quorum call: quorum call: mr. hatch: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hatch: is is there any objection to me making a short speech? the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. hatch: thank you. mr. president, allow nisei a few word -- all

this is a step in the right direction and would move some processes to the usda and make the entire systemore efficient. shery: given the challenges farmers are facing, how important will be farm bill that passed yesterday be? >> incredibly important to farmers and americans. we are blessed to live in a country where we only spent 6% of our income in grocery and part of the reason is the farm belt we have had the last several decades which decreases is finallys -- it important to the consumers and more so to the farmers, agriculture producers, who rely on the farm bill for five years of certainty. this is a huge step forward yesterday for this country. david: they got to the house but what about the senate? >> it is an uphill battle in the senate but have confidence in senator pat roberts, he will have several tricks up his sleeve and we will get a bill through the senate next week. it will not line up perfectly with hours. that gives us july and august to conference it and get us -- get it to the president in time before the farm bill finishes in september -- december. is roger marshall,

pizs governed by food and drug administration, if you put a pepperoni on it, it is governed by the usdareat to be back. charles: great to have you back. the one that grabbed headline was merger potential merger of department of labor and department of education, this sounds brilliant to me. >> a particular report, a start on draining the swamp. this a great example. department of education does a lot of worker training programs and higher education. and department of labor does a lot of the same, bridge them together. we don't need both departments, they both could be scaled back and american people would be better ouch. >> you think this is a goofy idea if your idea of education has nothing to to with what kids are doing after they graduate. and any idea of being prepared for an actual job market. that is not to dismiss the humanity, but i think a lot of us would argue you a lot of universities and k-12 have lost a got of ground work of good education. important too remember is key, it not that you, ditching the goals and purposes of regulation, but get them to try to work right, you m

usda officials say the sharp decline is due to a booming economy and donald trump's crackdown on fraudograms. rob: dangerous flooding, this pickup truck was swept away in wisconsin. incredible video showing the road completely destroyed by the storm. jillian: the damage in michigan, floods washing away roads causing dozens of sinkholes and more rain on the way. meteorologist janice dean joins us in studio, we have been hit with severe weather all over. >> severe weather and heat indices will remain high today, dangerous heat, a lot to cover. you see we have the radar, moisture streaming in from the gulf of mexico dealing with potential of flooding across texas and louisiana and severe threat today exists from the midwest through the great lakes toward the northeast and cold enough for snow across the northern rockies. severe threat across the plane states stretching towards the mid-atlantic a large hail, damaging winds, isolated tornadoes and all of this tropical moisture surging in from the gulf of mexico. the flooding threat is ongoing throughout the day into tomorrow across portions

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they're working with the usda to serve meals to kids who normally receive reduced price and free meals during the school year. meals will be provided on a rst come, first serve basis. lshere are a number of locations you can seehe where a in our app, search "summer meals." >>> discovery may be move -- m discov be moving its headquarters out of maryland and up to new york. now it appears the media giant is ready to invest the other side of the potomac. irginia governor northam says discovery will p$16 million into expanding its technology and operatinsub in loudoun county. that project will me 240 new jobs for the commonwealth. loudor beat out bids maryland and new york to get in investment. >>> as a local businessman and community fixture, he's raised money for a number of charities over years. >> now jack taylor's latest cause is close to his heart. our david culver on the illness that slowed h down and the accelerated effort he's leading to help find a cure. >>> and new at 6:00, scott mcfarnd shows us what local school districts are doing now ex make kids safer n aruna miller: almost

. >> usda research found high levels of cross contamination of food in kitchen surfaces mostly because people aren't washing their hands preparing a meal. nearly 6 million households transfer bacteria from raw poultry to salads. nearly 57 million could have bacteria contaminated spice containers. more than 12 million could have bacteria on refrigerator handles and 97% of people in the story failed to wash their hands successfully preparing food. >>> coming up next on "today in the bay," major international breaking news. president trump will meet with russia's president vladimir putin. bob radell is live in europe with a unique perspective. >>> a destructive crash sent several people to the hospital. details about the hit and run and who police are looking for. >>> and good thursday morning to you. 5:30 right now. taking a live look in san bruno. looks like a small town feel. good morning to you all. thank you so much for starting your morning with us. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm laura garcia. mild temperatures once again. enjoy it. kari's got a look at the forecast. >> you can see t

a few years ago, the valley's cacao trees were genetically tested at a usda lab and proven to have identicalao in the world, this stuff, the real deal, pure nacionale. don fortunato is our cacao connection, a farmer whose family has been working these mountains for over 40 years. >> chris: so they're just absolutely beautiful when they start out. absolutely beautiful. >> anthony: really kooky looking pods as they just come right off the trunk of the tree. >> chris: this -- >> anthony: they sorta look like somebody, you know, glued them to the side of a tree, you know. this is a once a year crop? >> chris: it goes continuously, but this is the peak season. >> eric: see the way it comes out? try that. like take one in your mouth. bite it, and you see those -- the nibs inside? those are the cocoa nibs. >> anthony: so, where does chocolate come from? >> eric: um -- >> anthony: the bean. okay. here's where chocolate comes from. the trees produce pods. you split open the pods and take out the beans. the buyer sun dries the beans, then roasts them. after roasting, the beans are extracted from their

two adults and two children between the ages of 8 and 17 needed between $1,109 and $1,249 to follow usda's recommendations for ahy diet, including the time to prepare nutritious meals. the research found this type of family, a family of four with two older kids would need an additional $627 per month to eat a nutritious diet. overall the research dmined that cnt snap benets only of the a 4 % to 6 food budget -- 43% to 60% of the food budget. these underscores the need for congress to protect snap and further expand access to nutritious food by increasing benefits. this is especially important as we continue to learn about the negative impacts erte by hunger and lack of access to nutritious food. ununatel some in this have d effos he o constituents put food on their table when times are tough into an ideological crusade. quite frankly, it's unconscionable. food out to be a fundamental right for every single person. republicans on the house agriculture committee and in the republican leadership of this house advanced a farm bill last month that would have done irreparable harm to our anti-hu

self-regulating, i think we've got a -- we're doing a study at the moment at 24 different schools, and with a usda grant, and u.c. berkeley is doing the study for us, and they're measuring plate waste and food and vegetable consumption, and we're going to get a report at the end of july, and so i can share it with the board. but preliminary findings suggest that some of the interventions that we're trying to do that go beyond just the meals that are served are having an impact on that, as well. and the move to scratch cooking, yes, we're absolutely committed on that. so with the 2016 bond, we're actually gearing up to open up -- we've actually just hired a culinary manager. we have our first chef that we've had at the -- in the district has just been -- that classification has been created, and that position has been fulled -- filled, so the team that are doing our pre-k meals, they're all prepared by the staff that do that. so that's all cooking from scratch and procurement from scratch. we're going to be redesigning the culinary center, and that'll be our first upgraded kitchen with the bond. th