I know. Were expecting big ideas out of aspen from you folks today and, i mean, if nothing else, the view is spectacular as we always know this time of year. Yes, i am Bill Griffeth here at cnbc headquarters, where we are watching a final hour of trade not only for this day, for the, month for the quarter, for the first half of this year on wall street, and kelly, as we know, the markets have continued to move higher. This will be the fifth consecutive month where the dow and the s p have moved higher. And by the way, eighth consecutive quarter for russell 2000. I believe thats unprecedenunpr. Well follow these markets here. Well hear shortly from the president as well. Lets tally up the gains this year, take a look at our lineup of heavy hitters as well including David Rubenstein, former treasury secretary Larry Summers. Thats all from aspen. Later on the program, john calmo joining us. Could you want anybody else . Well, yes, were awaiting the president. He is about to make a stateme
Further, i plan to take advantage of the a scale to improve productivity and flow more people to the work. Its clear the va must be more efficient and more productive. The Department Needs to demonstrate that can manage a complex facilities portfolio, that it can create with the department of defense and integrated records system, that it can regularly and accurately produce key data for Decision Makers and oversight entities. And most importantly provide the veterans the highest quality and costeffective benefits possible. All of these things are possible. They are possible through some of the steps ive outlined. If confirmed, i will work to transform the department of Veterans Affairs. I will continue to partner with you at all the departments stakeholders. Va has made Great Strides in serving veterans thanks to the commitment of many dedicated employees, and the hard work with our partners and advocates in the community. But the va is in crisis. The veterans are in need. There is mu
Emails. What were agreed upon such terp with the investigative committees who we would select customians who would most likely have been involved. At this point nobody knows what the answer is. We could have had more that could have crashed. We could have less. Does that not boggle the mind of a small number one about a quarter. We can argue back and forth a quarter or not. There may be others in that subset that deals with the areas were asking me. Thats a perfect example as to why it had been helpful had we been able to complete the investigation of what happened to the custodians. If we hadnt been able to could that people would be aing lets change the question. I asked about holly pass. My point is to the extent we can provide the full story than its a lot easier to know and you can disagree about it. But its a lot easier to know what the custodians. Because the ig is doing that we dont know what the answer is. It could be, ten, five, 25. We hope the ig when he conclude his investi
I dont think youre at the age in your career when you want to move up the career latter. You dont need anything more to your resume. Youve done pretty well. In the midst of all of these problems in the midst of a dysfunctional u. S. Congress and bitter partisanship, why do you want this job . Thank you chairman sanders for the question. I think its a good question. Its a question my family and i have talked a lot about. Desperately want this job because i think i can make a difference. I think that my entire career whether it was starting at west point, being in the second air born division, being in the proctor and Gamble Company one of the most admired companies in the world for 33 years has prepared me for this task. As i said in my prepared remarks, i think theres no higher calling. This is an opportunity for me to make a difference in the lives of the veterans who i care so deeply about. If not me, who . Now tuesdays White House Briefing with press secretary jorn josh eanest. The
Thank you. You have no idea what just happened. Excellent address, and raised lot of good points and sets up an interesting and complex landscape, and i want to go through a lot of them including the state of affairs and debate in britain right now about defense and the military. Relationship to the u. S. , nato, but where to start . I think defense one, we discuss the future of military power. And what comes next, where were going. And part of that big question right now is the use of power, the limits of it, and the purposes of our militaries. Thats a debate going on in this country. I know in the United Kingdom, there is a new kind of recommitment to a future with a major funding announcement, as you said. Explain to us and the viewers a little bit about the background there of the debate in britain of how much to spend, what kind of military to have, and how it should be used. I think in the u. K. , we are very conscious about nato is a very precious alliance, but it is not reasona