The t dynamic of region of a world that i can see right now. Thank you. You are modest in touting your commitment to increase another 5 billion of investment in africa. I want to thank you and applaud cocacolas leadership and the newhip with alliance for feud Food Security and nutrition. That is an effort many in this room have joined the United States and some of our partners internationally in supporting. Bringing opportunity and Food Security to people all over the continent, in particular to women and women farmers. Itight turn to you would be helpful for all of us to understand ibms experience and africa. Tell us about the environment you found, the opportunities you found. In particular, the innovation you have brought to the concept of smart cities in africa. Here, veryryone optimistic, not only about the present, but the future. We have had much discussion about the infrastructure and things like oil and gas. Of equal importance is the digital infrastructure. I challenge everyone to think and forrd resources this continent, the information will be the next Natural Resource. Like Natural Resources, you have to refine it. If you can, its returns are endless. This is the foundation for much of what we have been focused on. There, not quite as long. For many years, we were in eight countries. Like many others here today, over the next seven years, we will be investing at least 2 billion across these countries. I am very proud about that. As you look at the development, as many people said, i would offer a different twist on the lens of the opportunity. If you take a look, we talked about urbanization. If you are a business to business company, the opportunity is there are 52 cities over one million in population across the continent. There are over 400 businesses a billion dollars. We talked about the talent. I do not know why a company would not want to be part of growing and having that talent as part of their company, that will exceed china and india. The third point i would mention, the mobile infrastructure. X out of developed countries. As the conference started, i believe africa will be the place will leap frog and the solutions will be created in africa that will be brought to other parts of the world. That is incredibly important in how you approach the continent in many countries. The question about smarter cities, i would say we have taken two approaches. One has been if you look at her urbanization and you want a smarter city, we have done 200 projects across 10 countries and in many cases, where you said to bring people there and vice so you have twowait mentoring. Twoway mentoring. The other side, when you think about urbanization, the Foundation Industries have to be really strong. I wanted to take this , strong Government Services and retail, these are the things let me take the opportunity to announce that we formed an engagement and a partnership with Fidelity Bank in ghana. 100 million that we will work out with them. I would thank president mohamed for creating the rule of law and the climate for business, as for as the founder and ceo these vision about these companies. We are proud to announce the deal with the bank of ghana. It is almost 70 million. I would underscore what you can do, the opportunity that is there, i would latch on about the skills in developing the youth. I commend president obama and the team for the work that has been done. It is a public and private partnership. Is of my biggest learnings it is not about money. It is about developing capability. All of our efforts, we have opened a research lab. We only have 12 in the world. Education problems we offer our software in the cloud, free, to every university. We are training a thousand professors. They are the manufacturers of the future that will have to know the sciences and i. T. We have offered programs one is leading to africa. It is an amazing thought. Students, whos of are from africa, going to school and other countries of the world, and we have put them through internships for two years and they will go back and for, hopefully, for us, or some of you, but they will work across the continent. Africa andading to leading in africa. I am a believer that the contribution we can make is to develop those skills. Thank you so much. [applause] you have had a very distinguished and productive variousce investing in ways in africa, particularly in infrastructure. You have been a pie and nearing partner for which we are grateful. You have built airports. It would be helpful to hear your canpective on how we attract more in the way of foreign investments. Rolethe United States ought to milley role ought to be. Ago, if you try to put into a room, this type of people, and try to talk about africa, the conversation would be very different. Today, we are talking about business and returns. It is great. Coming next six years, you can imagine what that will mean for capital. The manner in which we would like to have capital. On a longterm basis, what it can be able to in hardd also investing assets. Infrastructure contributes to gdp. The whole competitive of the continent is dependent on improving the infrastructure. Is this chile initially, the challenge was to find capital. In our struggles, we were focused, whereby we could not get capital to commit to longterm funds. Initially, very smart capital. Our initial investors. Off with the first 15 year fund in the continent, to enable the type of investment to be able to take place. That thesis is proving itself , we can talk about africa in the sense that we are veryng about today, is a testament of this happening. Theres a lot of capital needed in the infrastructure. Few years, the story gets better and better. The assessment has been proven and had a chance to be made. Had two Pension Funds. We are happy to say, today, you funds. Ient pension we have seen a large reform with Pension Funds in nigeria, starting to invest in the infrastructure. I think it bodes very well for the continent. Those Pension Funds are not doing it because they are just african, but they are doing it for returns. Inasmuch as anything, they have pensions to which they have to look for look after in the future. They have to do the right thing. They do it for the returns. They get benefits after that. Thank you. [applause] we have a few minutes left. I wanted to spend the time that remains on a theme that everyone has touched on in one form or fashion. That is africas Human Capital. Without infrastructure, Everything Else is secondary. With that, africas potential is limitless. Each of you have emphasized that, and invested in real terms, to develop that Human Capital. Invite your to thoughts and comments in ways the United States, both private and government sectors might take our partnership to develop africas capital to another level, and to hear from our friends and colleagues in africa , what is our value added . How can we support africas development of its own Human Capital in an optimal way, and help in the creation of jobs for young people that will be skilled jobs for the future. Thank you. Used an interesting expression when he spoke of shared prosperity. Even as we talk of infrastructure, like power, it is important for us to always keep in mind that they are still millions of african children going to bed every night without a light. Even to read. There are simple things we can solarch as providing lantern so the children can read at night. There are simple things we can do right now building many minigrids because our villages will not receive power from these big power stations. Having a big powerline go over your village and because you build thousand megawatts for the city, when we can also look at how we can use solar power to so children can have access to those simple things. These are things we can do today. We can remove tariffs on things like solar lanterns. There are so many countries who one terrorists on tariffs Something Like a solar lantern. I encourage governments to strip such things away because the private sector can do such things for you today. Education is the key. We have got to get kids into school and to the extent that even the private sector, as we go into these countries, we must ofr in mind that is a piece our investment. It is not about your own workers. What can you do to get kids into not needven if you do them as employees . Thank you. Thank you. Thinked to add that i this is the opportunity of one of these ideas that would be a leapfrog, a grand challenge that could solve the big issue in africa and other parts of the world. And number of students to be educated is so large. I think working together, this grand challenge of taking what you might call massive, online open education elearning to a level of joint, public, private, we started work on this. The childsstand context, the behavior of their learning, you can breakthrough electronically with them on a scale that you can have no chance to do with teachers across the whole continent. This idea that we could have a great breakthrough on the grand challenge of elearning, coming out of africa, it is quite real and the basis of a publicprivate and number of different partnerships to advance that. Of h regards to the use is a global phenomenon. There is a need with regards to what other smart partnerships, in terms of investment, in social infrastructure, education. With the private sector, government can enable the growth in the education sector. New economy, investing that is what is needed. The type of skills we have now, we are not geared up for them. You need to be able to be competitive many years forward, it is going to lead that type of realignment. Thank you. One aspect is that we can help raise the confidence of youth in africa. That is a really important thing. Looked, 15 or 20 years ago, africa was not associated with positive things. War, strife, conflict. Today, i think there is confidence coming to the youth. What is the brand . It is a promise wellkept. That promises a vibrant future. We, in our world of communication, we created a piece of communication that said a billion reasons to believe in africa. 62nd piece of communication across every nation in africa. It produced enormous results what we looked at how it connected with people. And write to youtube billion reasons to believe in africa and you can see the 60 second, 90 second piece. They need to believe they can make a positive difference in this world that we live in today, which i believe they will. End. Is is a great place to i want to thank each of our and foror participating adding their wisdom and insight. More than that, i want to thank you for all that you are doing with and for the United States Africa Partnership and helping take it to a new level. Event 10ook at this years from now, we will see it as an Inflection Point in our collaboration and our partnership, based on mutual interest and Mutual Respect. Inc. You all, very much. Thank you all, very much. [applause] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] the heads of 50 african countries meeting for three days of talk on u. S. Companies doing business on the african continent. 1 45 this afternoon, Vice President addresses the group. A discussiond by on issues impacting development. Secretary kerry will welcome the panel and charlie rose will moderate. Obama will close out the session with comments at 2 45 this afternoon. Announce 14d to billion in commitments by u. S. Businesses to invest in the continent of africa. We will have live coverage on cspan. That ak times reporting United States Army Major General was killed today by an afghan soldier. He was shot at close range at a military Training Academy on the outskirts of kabul. He was the highestranking military the american to die in hostilities in the afghanistan war. We will hear more about that briefingin a pentagon shortly. Some tweets from a couple members of congress. Cook, a retired u. S. Marine who has visited afghanistan says my thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the families of those who were attacked at camp qargha earlier today in afghanistan. Mark meadows tweeting sad to hear reports of a two star American General killed in afghanistan, the highestranking to die in the conflict. We will learn more about the attacks when a pentagon when the pentagon holds a briefing. We will cover that live. John kerry spoke yesterday. The first day of the africa forum. It took place at the world bank headquarters. He called africa the new center of global growth. His comments are about 10 minutes. We will leave the event is the pentagon breaks in. Welcome to all of you here. We appreciate the substance of your comments and appreciate your comments on being your senator. This is an exciting week for us in washington. We are thrilled to welcome everybody here. This particular discussion and many others that will take place. To beg your indulgence at the beginning of my comments. I have to speak and run so to speak, because i have a series with so many president s in the city over the next three days, that i am beginning a marathon of meetings this morning, as well as trying to fit in the number of events that we have. I know you will understand that. Kim for hosting us here today. The things i admire most about dr. Kim, wherever he has been in his life, whatever leadership role he has served in, this is a man who has been willing to challenge the status quo. That was true when he found and finding new ways to provide care for hiv and aids at the world health organization. I did work with him on that. It was true when he balanced the budget and led dartmouth through its critical transition. We welcome his leadership. What i think many of you may not know is that when he was in high school, he was a quarterback. Those of you who know american football have to just imagine what it was like for this young guy about 10 years after he arrived in america. He was facing down big miss what big midwestern linebackers. There is no better preparation for todays world and life than that. A few decades later, he was revolutionizing how hiv and aids was going to be dealt with. I was in the senate. We were working then to try to find a way to create stronger trade links, particularly of Subsaharan Africa. Jim mcdermott, a former Foreign Service officer and member of congress at the time, we discussed Creative Ideas about how to break down barriers to trade, while at the same time lifting up the standards for governance and transparency. The result of those early efforts was the advocate africa of growth and opportunity act that president clinton signed into law in the last months of his presidency. For 14 years now, as Michael Fernwood said, this is the 13th meeting annually, but for 14 years ago has been one of the primary tools to push forward greater trade and investment in africa. It is working. We have seen imports from the agoa nations grow by 300 . Whether it is cocoa and cashews or petrochemical products, agoa has served as a catalyst for greater trade and prosperity and has helped promote greater protections for the african workforce. We do have some of our own interests on the line here, too. I say it up front. Agoa has made it possible for Ford Motor Company to export engines dutyfree from south africa, where ford has invested over 300 million so they can supply engines worldwide. The efficiencies of that operation have allowed for it to create 800 new jobs at their kansas city plant as part of the Global Production line. This is how it works. This is what africa is witnessing now. Something like 10 of the 15 fastestgrowing countries in the world are in africa. From day one of the white house, president obamas number one priority has been creating strong middle class jobs here at home, but the president has always understood that the best way to do that is to strengthen our International Economic ties and foster broad growth globally. Everybody here understands how interconnected we all are. Our populations are increasingly Walking Around with mobile devices. Everybody is connected to everybody every moment of the day. That is changing the way people think. It is changing their sense of possibilities and changing aspirations and changing realities of politics on the ground. President obama has said africa is a new center of global growth. Since 2000, banking assets have more than doubled. The Telecommunications Market has doubled since 2004 alone. We know that africa will have a larger workforce than india or china by 2040. It is time to get ahead of the curve. To invest in education. The increasing number of people who, because of todays interconnectedness, are demanding their part in the future. That is much of what is happening. It is young people that motivated and energized the initiatives initially, because of their sense of desire, frustration for the possibilities of the future. It is time to build a more open exchange of ideas. So it is time to build a more open exchange of ideas and information. That is part of the reason president obama had the idea for this ownership. To build our capacity for innovation. Agoa is one of the best tools, most vital tools for pushing forward the dramatic transformation we are seeing today in parts of africa. This is clearly a moment of opportunity for all africans. It is also, i say to you frankly, a moment of decision, because it is the decisions that are made, or the decisions that are deferred will ultimately determine whether africa mines the continents greatest Natural Resource of all, not platinum or gold or oil the talent, the capacity, and aspirations of its people. The entire administration wants to unleash the potential for the benefit of the people of africa and to create greater prosperity for the world. President obama has committed to that transformation. With a seamless renewal of agoa, the question is will we continue to create shared prosperity . For both the people of the United States and for africa and all the others who benefit as a consequence. That is the bottom line of what we are working to achieve today. What we will work towards in anticipation of next year, in anticipation of the forum in gabon, is to achieve this goal. I say unabashedly we want and we will work hard to get more American Companies to invest in africa. We also want more African Companies to invest here in the United States, and there is no reason that they shouldnt. The fact is today africa is increasingly a destination for American Investment and tourism. African institutions are increasingly leading efforts to solve african problems. All of this underscores that dramatic transformation is possible. It is possible in the next few years. Prosperity can replace poverty. Cooperation can triumph over conflict. So, we know that our cooperation, all of us, is essential to promote Economic Growth that can be shared by all africans. I will say to you, fighting corruption is a definitive critical part of that process. To do so will take courage. And yes, it sometimes means assuming risk. But fighting corruption lifts more than the countrys balance sheet. Transparency and accountability attract greater investment. Transparency and accountability create a more competitive marketplace, one where ideas and products are judged by the market and marked by merit, not by a backroom deal or bribe. The market works better with transparency, with sunshine of accountability. Thats an environment where innovators and entrepreneurs can flourish, and i guarantee you it is an environment where capital makes a decision to move according to its sense of security and sense of risk. So, ladies and gentlemen, africa can be the marketplace of the future. Africa has the resources, the capacity, the knowhow. The questions africa faces are similar to those in countries all over the world. Is there the political will . The sense of common purpose to address challenges . Are we all prepared together to make the hard choices that those challenges require . We firmly believe, and i think you will sense, those of you who are here for the next three days at the end of this summit, these meetings, i believe you will have a clearer sense of the fullness of the commitment of president obama and the Obama Administration and the United States to the notion that africa is a natural partner of the United States and vice versa. We believe that the United States can be a vital catalyst in africas continued transformation. It is exciting. The possibilities are endless. We look forward to you to work with you to fulfill the full measure of possibilities. I would like to reintroduce the person who opened this. He has been working on these things, the ties between United States and africa, for a long time. Within the treasury department, at the National Security council, at citibank, and now as president obamas principal advisor on international trade, ambassador michael froman. [applause] thank you, mr. Secretary. Thank you for joining us. We are fortunate to have secretary kerry and the state department as full partners in this effort. He has been a tremendous advocate for trade an investment with africa and Economic Policy more generally. Kim,morning, president a,esident kaberuk secretarygeneral of the economic communities, government collects, public and private sector supporters of the african growth act. As i learned in africa, let me say all protocol observed. We and our predecessors have gathered, representing more than 1. 1 billion people, carrying many flags, speaking many languages for one reason the promise of trade. Agoa is a powerful reminder of that promise. Since it was enacted in 2000, agoa has been the cornerstone of u. S. Trade policy with Subsaharan Africa. In Broad Strokes, it has been a success. The first full year of agoa to the last, u. S. Imports from agoa countries have grown threefold, more than 26 billion per year. Nonoil imports have increased fourfold. As has the stock of u. S. Foreign direct investment. Agoa has contributed to the diversification and competitiveness of Subsaharan African economies and has supported hundreds of thousands of jobs across the continent. What these Broad Strokes cannot cannot capture is the importance of these opportunities for families and individuals. The United States has benefited from agoa as well, not just in the stability that comes with increased global prosperity, but also from the Market Opportunities that accompany africas rise. Since 2000, u. S. Exports to Subsaharan Africa have increased fourfold. Last year, they supported nearly 120,000 american jobs. Good afternoon, everybody. Theief comment about shooting in afghanistan that i will get to your questions. I can confirm an individual believed to be an afghan soldier fired into a group of Coalition Troops at the Marshal Fahim National Defense university in kabul, afghanistan. There are a number of casualties, up to 15, to include some americans. Many were seriously wounded, others received minor injuries. The assailant was killed. Then confirm that among casualties was an American General officer killed. Given that a family notification process is not complete, i will not release any Additional Information about the general. We want to respect that notification process and the privacy. Secretary hagel extends on behalf of the men and women of this department, his condolences, thoughts, and prayers to all those affected. The secretary spoke with general dunford this morning, who dated him. Him. Ho updated he pledged any support he can provide. The incident will be investigated by afghan and isaf authorities. We need to let the investigation proceed before speculating about circumstances. I will take your questions. You say the assailant was believed to be an afghan soldier. Can you elaborate out all . Was he a known member of the army . He was in uniform, using an issue firearm . Now, the investigation is getting started. We believe the assailant was an afghan soldier. By saying we believe, the incident just occurred. Ive seen no indications and we had no indications that he was anything other than a member of the National Security forces. Was there some sort of a large gathering . Was it an instructional situation . As i understand it, it was a routine visit to the National Defense university, which is akin to their officers academy. Foruld point you to isaf the details. It was a routine site visit is how i understand it. The circumstances surrounding how the general . No, by the general and other Coalition Staff members. As i said, maybe i did not make this clear, not all of the casualties are americans. There were other coalition victim to theell shooting. To the a coalition, isaf university. I do not have any more details about how long they had been there, i dont know. Thank you, admiral kirby. I am told this was a soldier who had gone through a series of vetting process for afghan troops. Does this identify weaknesses in the vetting process . We are months away from the u. S. Handing over security responsibility for afghanistan to Afghan Forces like these. Does this undermine your confidence in their ability to take over that role . Too soon to tell on what this means for the vetting process. We believe this individual was a afghan National Security forces, we need to let the investigation proceed before we can lead to any conclusions about the vetting process. On the second question, i generl dunford mentioned this in his discussion with the secretary today, the afghan National Security forces continued to perform at a very strong level of competence and confidence and warfare capability. They have had a good year securing not one but two national elections. By minimizing the impact of countless numbers of attacks throughout the country. Even in kabul. This is a Security Force that we believe goes stronger grows stronger by the week. They are in the lead in combat missions throughout the country and will be completely in the lead throughout the year. No change in that or degradation of that progress. This is not the first time you have had green on blue attacks like this. I wonder if this undermines the trust of Coalition Forces or u. S. Forces in afghan colleagues in the months before they leave the country . Ive seen no indication that there is a degradation of trust between Coalition Members and their afghan counterparts. I would encourage you to speak to folks over there in afghanistan, i am not. I am here in the pentagon. Every indication i have seen is that the partnering in the cooperation gets better and better every week. In the borne out afghanance we see by the National Security forces. After a spate of green on severalider attacks years ago in afghanistan, the u. S. Military institute several security conditions and precautions. Do you know if any of this precautions were in place during this meeting . Was it considered so safe that they did not feel the necessity to undertake those additional security procedures . You are right, isaf did institute some measures to help negate the threat, not a lome, but mitigate. But mitigate. Te, i would point you to isaf for further details. All this will be looked at. Why cant you eliminate that . We have been very honest, the Insider Threat is it is a pernicious threat. It is difficult to always ascertain. To come to grips with the scope of it anywhere you are, particularly in a place like afghanistan. Afghanistan is still a war zone. It is impossible to eliminate completely that threat, particularly in a place like afghanistan. You can work hard to mitigate and minimize it. Isaf has done that. It is able as today is, terrible day, a terrible ingedy, we have not seen, the course of the last year or so, as you describe, a spate of Insider Threat tax. That is a testament to the good work that authorities have done in isaf. Can you give us any details about the incident . Was it indoors, with a meeting, where they out reviewing trips . Any further details . I would not go any further than i went to bobs question. It was a site visit to the university by Coalition Members. I just do not have the details and i would not want to speculate. [indiscernible] was the shooter killed by american or afghan troops . I just know that he was killed in the process of the attack, i dont know who did it. Death you clarify and the of the american officer, is this the highest ranking death of an american soldier in afghanistan since the beginning of the war artist a certain period. Period. St a certain can you contextualize it . I am loathe to make a historical statement without all the casualties from the last 13 years. Certainly one of the highestranking deaths in the war since 9 11. In theprobably know, attack on the buildings on aptember 11 of 2001, threestar army general was killed in the building. We can try to do research on this, i believe this would be the highestranking deaths since then. Can we try to get clarification of that later . I will, and i will point you to army on this. We will do what we can to help you. I do not have that granularity of detail right now. Admiral, does this incident mean that this department and washington needs to look at the way forward in afghanistan in terms of the drawdown and change the makeup of troops being sent there . For more force protection or to guard against these insider attacks . The investigation is just getting underway, im not going orspeculate about what may may not be found. I do not see any impact to the draw downlans to forces in afghanistan and to further support the Resolute Support mission next year. What is contingent upon our ability to execute that mission is getting a bilateral security agreement, which we still do not have signed. Officers ineneral the region receiving extra security, either movements restricted . I would point you to isaf. No idea. With you the highestranking officer in the room . Any believe was he the highest ranking officer in the room . Any reason to believe he was targeted . Your question presumes they were in a room. I do not know. [indiscernible] was he targeted or was it random . Baguettes to the circumstances under investigation. I would not speculate at this time. Tony . A perspective in 2012, when general dunford was up for his isaf nomination, insider attacks were at one of the major stories out of the region, there were 25 to 30 a year, last year there was 13 or 14. Fromou find out from isaf, january until now, how many insider attacks there were. For perspective . An oped in the washington post, the u. S. Is directly supporting the kurds ping withsil and hel military assistance including munitions. Do you have any insight . The Defense Department is let me tell you what we are. Oing we continue to provide coverage and man Operation Centers in erbil and baghdad. We have Operation Centers on the ground. Hasassistance we provide gone through the iraqi government. That support includes the hellfire missiles we have talked about. That is the limit i can speak to about the Defense Department. She says the u. S. Has reacted to isil advances with a shipment of fms weapons programs. Attacksordinating iraq against isil targets. We are not coordinating air attacks in iraq. Is there another u. S. Agency providing air strikes . I am not talking about what we are doing, i have been clear and answered directly as i can. Maggie. To ukraine, it is my understanding, there is a team at the embassy in kiev preparing to move forward to the crash site of mh17. Are you familiar with that story and can you confirm . There is a here they are. At the request of the state department, a small team from u. S. European command did arrive at the embassy in kiev. To provide recommendations to the u. S. Embassy and staff about possible u. S. Support to the that owns, malaysia, and other partners that are conducting the recovery operations. There is a small team from u. S. European command at the embassy just to assess and advise. [indiscernible] no, im not going to get into numbers. It is about a dozen. About mh 17, not advising on correct, simply to provide recommendations through the Embassy Staff to partner nations that are trying to investigate or recover loved ones. Are they military or civilian . They are military, they will not leave kiev. What do they know about Recovery Efforts that some of the air crash experts these are experts in communications, logistics, survey, that kind of thing. A wide swath of military specialties. Recovery operations is something, unfortunately, the u. S. Military has to be good at. Expertise inhave that regard. They were asked by the state department to come help. On ukraine, can you give us a sense of the latest numbers of Russian Troops along the border . The New York Times and deputy vershbow were using the number 20,000. You have set around 12,000. Never said 12,000. I have seen the 20,000 estimate. We continue to see russia reinforce units around the border with ukraine. As i have said before, it is north of 10,000. I continue to believe that is true but i will not speculate about the numbers and exactly what they are. Frankly, the numbers are not the key metric here. What matters is that they continue to reinforce these units, that they are very capable and very ready across what we call combined arms capabilities, armor, artillery, air defense, special forces. And if they are closer to the border than they were in the spring when we were talking about tens of thousands of soldiers along the eastern border with ukraine. Units are not as numerous, we do not believe they have got the same number as they had on the ground in the spring, they are very capable and close. They are doing nothing but continuing to escalate the tension that exists inside eastern ukraine. So they are more quality forces . They are ready across what we call combined arms capabilities. Rocket systems, heavier caliber ones, have they moved into the separatist regions of ukraine . I dont have any specific information of their whereabouts. We do continue to see the flow of some heavy equipment across the border to assist separatists. It doesit is ephemeral, not stay. Some of it does. It is difficult to get a beat on what is going and when. The support to the separatists continues and needs to stop. Are you implying that theyre in a position now to actually invade ukraine . What i am saying is that these are highly capable forces. Are relatively close to the border. Closer, in fact, than we saw in the spring. Not begin to try to speak for their exact readiness posture. We believe they continue to be very capable. Yes . With regards the Logistical Support the pentagon has provided to support the americans. Is the pentagon deploying medical personnel or support to the governments to contain the outbreak . We did not transport these patients, i dont know if that is what you imply. They simply, i think it is out there today, the second patient arrived today. Dobbins air force base was used as the airfield to recover the aircraft. It was not a military aircraft, there was no military participation. As i said last week, theres a small number of army medical researchers that are working in liberia and have been for quite some time on the ebola virus, that is all i know. The challenge, is there security concerns about the outbreak . How . It originated or security concerns . Let me put it this way, there has been no impact to u. S. Africa command operations in africa as a result of the ebola virus. Were watching this closely, it is an interagency effort. It is not just the pentagon, it state, we are all talking about this and working on this. Secretary hagel is monitoring it very closely. He stood up a task force in the pentagon to further review the situation and to help get our arms about it and what the impacts could be. There has been no Operational Impact to the u. S. Military as a result. On nigeria, a couple questions. Identpdate on premiss jonathans request . Not tracking on that. I will take that for the record. Did you see the Amnesty International report with a video that seems to show a nigerian soldier conducting some pretty horrific atrocities against the nigerian citizens . I have not. I would be looked to comment loathe to comment before i had a chance to review it. I know youre not going to release the name of the general officer. Was he a 1, 2, or three star . I would rather not. There are not a whole lot of general officers in afghanistan compared to the whole army population. Certainly even fewer in and around kabul. Out of deference to the family, i would rather not. I would like to take a moment, then i will leave you alone. Some of youns have more information and more detailed information on this particular individual earlier today. And did not release it. For those of you who held on to it. That weut of concern share over the privacy of the family, i just want to thank you for that. You did not have to do that. It was the responsible, respectful thing to do. I just, on behalf of secretary hagel, i want to thank you for the restraint on that. Not everybody observed it, somebody did. Some of you did. It is noteworthy. Has secretary hagel, can you say anything about the conversations he may have had with the white house . Has he discussed the assessment with the white house or any options that may be being developed . Conversations in the interagency continue on iraq. Theyve been shared with members of the interagency. Conversations continue about what the assessments say and conversations continue about potential options moving forward. No formal recommendations have been proffered or proposed or set forth. Certainly no decisions have been made. If we get to that point, we will have more to say. Africa question, this week in washington is the largest concentration of African Leaders ever. The situation, you have been helping nigeria with the little girls being kidnapped. See does the pentagon, africa, types of missions over the next decade that the pentagon and military will be performing. Are some on this late today or do you see a broader slice of missions . Difficult to predict the future but we remain committed to our african partners. The whole purpose of standing up u. S. Africa command several years ago was to give us an opportunity and a better structure to resource that commitment. We are doing that. We have had strong success in many places in africa. As you said, quite a widespread of military operations and commitments, from counterterrorism to more conventional efforts. With, i cannot predict precision. I can tell you that secretary hagel remains committed to the continent, to the security challenges that are posed from economy. Whether it is terrorism networks, whether it is pending issues, to just conventional security threats. Were going to continue with that commitment to the security of our partners. The pivot to asia, remember that . [laughter] African Leaders should not be concerned that the u. S. Is going to ignore, the u. S. Military will ignore africa. We have not and we have no plans to ignore the security challenges on the continent of africa. And the rebound to the pacific still remains a key focus. The rebalance to the asiapacific, which is appropriate, i remind you where we are heading this afternoon, the secretary leaves tonight for india and australia. It does not mean we take our eye off the rest of the world, to include the middle east and africa. Thank you, everybody. At todays pentagon briefing, some congressional reaction to that attack on twitter. Jim jordan of ohio says praying for the brave men and women serving in cam cargo in afghanistan. Kenny marchant of texas weeding my thoughts and prayers with the american and allied troops who were attacked this morning in afghanistan. Former Alaska Governor sarah palin headlined this years western conservative summit in denver. She called on congress to impeach the president. Here is a look at the portion of those congress those comments. These days you hear all of these politicians announcing barack obama, saying his he is a lawless imperial president. He refuses to enforce laws that he just doesnt like. That is true. But the question is, hey politicians, what are you going to do about it . [applause] lets call their bluff. Im calling their bluff. We need a little less talk and a lot more action. There is only one remedy for president who commits high crimes and misdemeanors, and it is impeachment. Its the i word. But you can see sarah palins entire speech tonight. Other speakers include jenny beth martin. The annual event is hosted by colorado christian university. The heads of 50 african countries meeting in washington dc this week for three days of talks. At 1 40 five eastern today, Vice President biden will be addressing the group. He is followed by a discussion on the biggest issues to impact development. Tury state kerry will secretary of state kerry will the made. Open the president will close the session. He is expected to announce 14 billion in commitments in u. S. Businesses to invest in africa. We will have live coverage all of that on cspan. Earlier today come at the same summit, we heard remarks from former new york city mayor Michael Bloomberg and commerce secretary penny pritzker. They spoke for about 20 minutes. Good morning. Thank you for joining all of us. I wanted to especially thank president obama and congress pennyary any pritzker brisker for teaming up with us to host this Ground Breaking event. With over 200 corporations and over 50 african countries are presented here, this gathering really does are present a new approach to Economic Development in africa, and a new moment in u. S. African relations. Since the dawn of africas independence movement, americas relationship with the continent has centered on foreign aid and the work of international institutions, particularly the world bank and the land. That part of our relationship still is vitally important. But africa has now developed into a Global Economic force, and so our relationship must evolve and mature. That is the purpose of this forum. In to recast our relationship as a full, equal, and advanced Economic Partnership. A partnership that hold as much promise for african countries as it does for america. Roomve the people in this to make a partnership the success. The morning, i would like to invite all of you to take a few seconds to introduce yourself to the person next to you, or someone you havent met yet. [laughter] [chatter] we can go on with this, this is doing exactly what we want to do. As we all know, as we all know, whether it is in our family or our businesses, or our countries, relationships are what matters. That is the whole idea here today. To get to know each other, to develop contacts, and to show our Mutual Respect for one another. Thank you. Clearly there is a lot to talk about. There will be more opportunities to continue our conversations. There are so much to discuss, because africa is todays biggest Market Opportunity in the global economy. If you think im kidding, just look at the numbers. Africa is expected to reach 5 overall growth rate in 2015. It boasts six of the worlds 10 fastestgrowing economies. It registered 400,000 new companies in the last year alone. Is the fastestss growing in the world. The fact is, africa is no longer emerging. It is here, now. As africa begins a new stage in its journey, we in america want to walk by its side. Have somealize we catching up to do. Foreign investment in africa has reached record highs. The United States is being driven more by its own to mystic domestic and we on policies, and we are letting europe and china go faster than the u. S. Only 2 of our total exports note africa. Go to africa. We are missing out on a major opportunity to create jobs here at home. In america, there is a disconnect between the reality of the math of the African Market, and the reality. As conference is aimed at fixing that. Countries and companies that ignore the African Market do so at their own peril. That will become increasingly true with each passing year. The business that i own, bloomberg lp, has offices in Six Companies in africa, eight cities, employing more than 160 than 120ncluding more fulltime and freelance journalists. We are growing there. The First Business trip that i took after leaving office in january was to south africa to help expand our offices both in cape town and in joubert. A 10 million Training Program to increase Financial Reporting on the continent, and help make African Markets more transparent. We worked closely with african financial institutions, private companies, and central bankers, to help them maximize efficiency , mitigate risk, and increased capital flows. That not only helps the local financial markets, it also helps attract more foreign investment. My foundation has also been investing in africa for years. We didnt just start helping africa, we have been doing it for a long time. The research is clear, perhaps the best in the investment you can make to spur Economic Development is to improve public health. In zambia, were working to stop the spread of malaria. In other areas, we are helping to prevent deaths. In 34 countries, we are fighting to reduce the deadly scourge of tobacco use. Those efforts are saving lives and supporting Economic Development. The healthier a society is, the more productive it is, and the greater its potential for growth. We are also working to create jobs reTraining Programs in rwanda, and the democratic republic of congo. President of uganda, and the president of the democratic republic of the congo are both here today. Leaders ineen promoting sustainable farming. To support that work, we provide the resources and training to help women create independent Coffee Farming businesses. More than 108,000 women have benefited from this program so far. If you had a cup of coffee this morning, youre benefiting from it to. Benefiting from it too. If you didnt get enough sleep last night, had another cup. [laughter] an african labor force that will surpass indias and triple the size of europes. In africa where extreme poverty as we know it is virtually eliminated. With a consumer class rising incomes has greater purchasing power. Where Broadband Access stretches from cairo to cape town, and all points in between. Change policies that protect africas coastal cities and farmlands towheaded go hand inconomic hand with Economic Growth. Were people want to live and k intolerant societies. As the africa that africans want for their children, and their childrens children. It is the africa that all of us can help bring to life if we seize the moment. Based on the Incredible Energy in this room, i have never been more optimistic about africas future. I know the president obama and secretary pritzker feel the same way. The secretary deserves an enormous amount of credit over leadership in pulling this conference together. It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to her. Secretary pritzker. [laughter] [applause] thank you. Good morning. Welcome to all of the heads of states and leaders of businesses here with us today. Thank you to Michael Bloomberg for your leadership, and thank you to bloomberg philanthropies for your partnership in organizing this forum. I also want to it knowledge my deputy chief of staff who played the lead role in the department of congress in putting together the six ordinary event. I have known Michael Bloomberg for over a decade. I have admired the way he led new york city. The way he has run his businesses. And the way he has committed himself and his organization to africa and its people. It is always a great pleasure to work with him. It is part of the largest gathering of african heads of state ever hosted by an american president , we are both excited to welcome you to this historic event. Bringing together remarkable number of ceos, to discuss Business Opportunities in africa. Year, president obama traveled to the university of cape town to usher in a new chapter of the u. S. Africa relationship. There,ed on students along with leaders from the 54 distinct countries of the african union, and leaders from the United States, to embrace key tenants of his vision for our alliance. To advance progress in democratic institutions. To strengthen peace and prosperity. To encourage opportunity and development. Growth,o spur economic trade, and investment. As americas chief commercial officer, i feel strongly that this last pillar, the economic relationship, is fundamental to our mutual peace and prosperity. Serve ashat businesses a key bridge between our confidence. We also share the conviction that this tide of commerce can be stronger, deeper, and more lasting. When i lead a trade mission to nigeria and ghana this past may, i heard a variation of this message for public and private sector leaders alike. The u. S. Africa commercial partnership is essential. The time to do business in africa is no longer five years away. The time to do business there is now. Today, on both sides of the atlantic, there is a clear mutual desire to deepen our ties of trade and investment. Will spuring so growth across the United States and the countries of africa. Investing in africa will create jobs in charlotte, north carolina. And expand the power supply and ghana. Because of the 175 million deal signed by an Energy Company to upgrade across electricity grids. A direct result of our recent trade mission. Will supportafrica workers in california, and strengthen the health of patients in nigeria because of the mo you signed by environmental chemical arporation to construct stateoftheart Cancer Institute in a bid on in africa. Investing in africa will spur in cincinnati. Th nigeria, itands in supports thousands of jobs at home. These deals and investments demonstrate that the time is right to Work Together as partners. In us. Of Mutual Understanding and respect. Of mutualriod understanding and respect. To address the challenges that impede our ability to develop closer economic bonds. Make no mistake, our economic and personal partnership is a twoway street. Goods answer is exports from the United States goods and services exported from the United States support roughly 200,000 jobs here at home. As africas middle class continues to expand, we hope to see our export numbers grow also. And through select usa, the administration is actively encouraging African Companies to increase their presence here in the United States. Closer economic ties and rising demand creates ample opportunities for businesses in the United States and africa to build new partnerships, reach new markets, and support new jobs in the years to come. With each passing day, a commercial connection events. Arebusiness bonds increasing, and archery partnership is maturing. Yet we have only just begun to scratch the surface. President obama and the department of congress are ready to write the first pages of the new chapter of our relationship taking our allies to the next level. To advance our vision for africa, we are expanding our Foreign Commercial Service presence. These are our economic diplomats on the ground in country that help american businesses navigate each African Market. We are doubling the number of commercial offices in africa. With new sites in angola, ethiopia, mozambique, and tanzania. Offices andding ghana, kenya, libya, and morocco. And we are returning a Foreign Commercial Service presence to the African Development bank for the first time in three years. The department of commerce, along with our partners at the u. S. Trade and development 10ncy, is today announcing new trade missions to africa, and 10 reverse trade missions to the United States by 2020. Our National Institute of standards and technology is launching the Global Cities teams challenge, to create teams of cities and innovators working together on issues like air quality, resource management, health care delivery, and modern energy grids. Technologythe best to build smart cities. And to promote u. S. Industry engagements in africa. We have created a onestop shop web portal. Trade. Gov dbia. Where american businesses can learn about africa. They can discover contacts and resources. We want to make doing business in africa easier for everyone american company. This is the moment of opportunity. Lookade from now, we will back at this moment as the start of something important. Or see a missed opportunity. The choice is up to all of us gathered here today. Todays agenda features conversations on financing and development. Energy and infrastructure. Good government and Public Private partnership. All meant to highlight the choices before us. Forumistoric for him will give you a chance to explore new partnerships, new relationships with colleagues on the other side of the atlantic. Only theering marks beginning, i catalyst for each of us to pursue new deals, new investments as we go to the next phase of the partnership between the United States and africa. One of the highlights of my trade mission to africa at the spring was visiting the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of technology and ghana, were young innovators receive the training, mentorship, and guidance needed to take their ideas and turn them into vibrant businesses. These intrepid Young Africans want to learn how to build thriving enterprises. If they had access to capital, there would be no limit to their potential. With the speed of technology today, and the global reach of communication, these entrepreneurs can build their businesses using only a cell phone, then sell their products around the world. Any young person with a good idea can bring their products to the rest of the globe. At meltwater, i witnessed what the future of ghana and the entire continent of africa will look like. If we do everything we can to support young entrepreneurs, and continue to build lasting partnerships, these inspiring entrepreneurs are living proof of what Robert F Kennedy described nearly 50 years ago at the university of cape town. Represent ripples of hope. Every entrepreneur in ghana, nigeria, angola, or elsewhere, who starts a business and embraces a new idea represents a ripple of hope for the prosperity of the community. Every student in morocco, ethiopia, or elsewhere who earns a degree and joins the workforce represents a ripple of hope for the future of a family. Every Business Owner in mozambique to my kenya, or elsewhere who decides to reach new customers by exporting more goods represents a ripple of hope for the growth of todays entry. Contrary. Every african leader who embraces Greater Transparency and market assess access, represents a ripple of hope for greater prosperity for their people and for hours. Together, these ripples of hope will form a torrential current that list of all of us lif ts of all of us on a wave of opportunity. Our mission is to promote the future of shared prosperity for both the United States and the nations of africa. As one of the mandela fellows told other young African Leaders , and president obama just this past week africa is no longer a sleeping giant. But is awake, and open for business. With the leadership in this room, and we will keep the u. S. Africa Economic Partnership opened for more growth and success. We will keep the United States and africa open for business. Your business. Thank you very much. Enjoy the day. [applause] the heads of 50 african countries meeting in washington this week for three days of talks on u. S. Companies doing business in africa. One 45 eastern, Vice President joe biden will be addressing the group. It will be followed on a discussion on the issues impacting development. Secretary of state welcomes the panel, and charlie rose moderates the discussion with the heads of four african countries. Wrap up theama will session with comments at 2 45 eastern time. Announce 14d to billion in commitments by u. S. Businesses to invest in africa. We will be live with all of that here on cspan. Members of the house and senate tweeting about their activities during the fiveweek august recess. Sayssented steve womack delivering meals on wheels to fayetteville, arkansas seniors. Weeding im atnd the tomasson upson rotary club giving a congressional update. The senator from indiana says he stopped a Pioneer Village at the indy state fair. Postorter from huffington joined us on todays washington journals talk about the key issues that members of congress are dealing with during the august break. We watch that now until live coverage of the u. S. Africa is a form continues at 1 45 eastern. Back with a political order from iran to post talking about the politics of the recess. Congress has left washington. They are going to be talking to their constituents. All four to 35 up for reelection in november. The border legislation, one of the last things the house dealt with before they left. What are republicans going to need to say to their constituents, and or explain to their constituents when they go back home . Guest i think a lot of their strategy is going to be to blame this on the president. The argument that they made prior to leaving was that the crisis was of the president s own making. What they will have to explain is why they voted to try to strip funding from his deferred action program, something that will be at odds with some of the messages of 2012, trying to reach out to latino voters. I think Steve King Artie faced an angry already faced an angry constituents. There will be republicans on the defensive. This was a time when they were supposed to be moving towards Immigration Reform, not further from it. Host what you expect the president to do on this border bill . The house passed their version, the senate didnt get it done. The president says i think im going to act on my own. Guest i do think he has some authority to act on his own. In terms of the funding, that is something that the dhs has said that it needs. They said they would run out of funding by the Time Congress him out of recess. There is flexibility, perhaps they can move around funds. But there has been talk of executive action, looking into maybe september. What they might do at this point is unclear. He has been looking for ways to extend his deferred action program, which everyone knows was a temporary measure. They are exploring their options. They have been cautious because they have a lot of vulnerable red state democrats who were facing reelection in the senate. A couple of them didnt even vote for the package that Senate Democrats put forward on the issue of the border. What are the president do that would satisfy hispanic groups that wanted to take action, but not go too far that it jeopardizes some of these democrats . Guest i think he is going to outto continue and figure how to get as many of these kids and the facilities as they can. Appointoint how to the appropriate legal revisitation. Representation. In terms of the executive action, im not sure he will do something sweeping before november. The white house was angry that House Republicans were trying to undo even the little executive action that he had taken in 2012. I think they are increasingly convinced that there wont be any form of Immigration Reform, even at the start of the year as john boehner had promised. It looks like it would be increasingly difficult for the speaker to get that passed. I do see executive action around the corner. What happened with democrats on the deferred action policy. . They seem to be before this, then they switched. Guest some of them were for changing in the 2008 trafficking law. Of the issues that happened package that both Senate Democrats and House Republicans are trying to push separately is theythe president said embraced the changes to the 2008 law they made. He didnt say what that meant. Republicans kind of jumped on that and push for a proposal that change the 2000 a law in a way that immigration advocates that would speed up deportations rather than certain circumventing them. They were trying to reduce deep rotations, now we have a humanitarian crisis and we are potentially making changes to the law it would only deport more kids more quickly. Happens with this issue when they return in september for 12 days . Guest i think there will be a number of things on their plate. It is going to have to be something that will be resolved, if in fact dhs is running out of money. The crisis is only growing greater by the day. He also have to deal with government funding. They dont want another government shutdown. John boehner has been clear that there will not be another shutdown. Whether or not they address the issue of funding for their border crisis in the context of funding the government, providing the funding there, or as it continues to be politically fraught, that something that will be remain to be seen. They will be hearing a lot from their constituents that could in theory prompt some kind of action. Host there is a lot of talk about courting the republican hispanic vote. They need to reach out to hispanic voters who are sometimes conservative socially. This is a piece in the New York Times this morning. The boat is unlikely the vote is unlikely to deal even though republicans one only 30 of the vote. Even though hispanic vote in that year was higher than the midterm elections. Guest that is why john boehner was comfortable bringing this bill to the floor that wouldve ended deferred action. They would have angered immigration activist. This is an off year election where democrats suffer from a turnout problem. House republicans are poised to keep their majority. It is really not at stake for them to have a floor vote on something that isnt going anywhere. This is a time where they can get away with something that is mostly political stunts to keep conservatives pacified. At the end of the day, that has dictated a lot of the asked us progress in the commerce this year. Host on issues of immigration and other social issues, that may or may not appeal to different voting sectors . Guest i think the applications are stronger depending on what House Republicans do or dont do on Immigration Reform. Social issues do come into play. They will have to look at how to make those resonate with hispanic voters. Listening be able to to get away with listening to ted cruz come november. The question remains whether he is in a position where he feels like he can do that, perhaps he will feel emboldened after the next election. Having said that, it doesnt seem like he can rally is conference around many votes they considered to be too risky. As everyone knows he complained about that fundraiser. He was largely referencing Immigration Reform. Revisit the will longer roadmap to the white house after return midterm. Toy havent done much improve their image with hispanics. If they do pass some kind of Immigration Reform, that would it be at least a few steps in the right direction. Host on the other side of the aisle for house democrats, how is it looking their chances of possibly taking back the house . Guest at this point, people would say they are not going to take back the house. Their best shot really came in terms of turning the tables last year during the government shutdown. I was a turning point where republican poll numbers plummeted to record lows. I did not sustain itself for too long. At the end of the day, people in the very shortterm memory. When the government reopened, people forgot about that. The obamacare rollout happened, that became a very contentious issue. When it comes to democrats in congress, the focus is really on the senate. They can afford to lose too many seats. There is a chance they could lose their senate majority. The majority of the money is really being spent on the senate, on trying to retain that control. There are a couple of competitive house races where they might believe they have us have a chance to pick up seats. Theyre not going to change the status quo. There are six primaries this week the people are keeping an eye on. Where are the most vulnerable democrats . Becausets interesting, there are only four names that are thrown out at the center level, that kay hagan of north landrieu ofd mary louisiana. Facing people who would doing a better job than people thought they would do. Seems to teeter back and forth. Is fairlyieve that he safe in alaska, when it comes to kay hagan, who is facing tom tillis, that looks like it will be very difficult for democrats to hold. Shes up against a rising gop star. Hails from a political dynasty in that state. Host we are talking with sabrina from the huffington post. One or both parties talking about as they head home to visit all of you and talk with all of you ahead of the november elections. Republicans, call 202 5853881 , democrats, call 202 5853880 , independents, call 202 5853882. We want to get your questions and comments here, so start dialing and now. For these vulnerable democrats in the senate, one of the issues that are hurting them . Guest i think that part of the reason why the president has been reluctant to take executive action is not because Immigration Reform isnt an issue. All of these horrible democrats voted for the conference of building pass the senate. Is the increasing amount of conversation over the president s use of executive authority this year. And labeling him as someone who has not been following the rule of law. That is something republicans have been doing. If you are in a conservative state, you dont want to see him building up our too much. It hurts you. As a democrat who was already up against a tough line. Hadhealth care rollout improved. Its not to say that the stumble had not impacted them. But ifntering things continue to go well, it shouldnt be too much of an issue. About i think it will be his favorability could impact democrats who are having to answer for a lot of the potential failures of his administration, or areas where he made taken the kind of action that is easy for the rest of his party, but difficult when you are in a red state. Host republicans are hoping obama careage nsa an antiobamacare message would stick. They are groping for an exit obamacare meshes that sticks. Or 57 of them. Democrats are likely to vote for a democrat, this Health Care Law not likely to them. But what about independents . Guest the important thing to health care is that remains unpopular on a national level. Independents, they are not overwhelmingly antiobamacare. A lot of this depends on the experience that some of the americans have had with health care from the start. It is difficult to see how it might impact their votes. I think that some of the other aspect of this administration, and over the last year, might have more of an impact on how these races play out. Theres been a lot of attention on the foreign crisis that keep coming up. Some of the socalled scandals that this administer is ration u. S. Based, the controversy over the wait times, its going to be accommodation of a lot of issues, rather than just the Health Care Law. People have been able to sign up for health care and access insurance. Host surely is up first in tallahassee, florida. Caller thank you to cspan. Im wanting to speak to the guest. Enter the cspan audience. And the cspan audience. Theres a dynamic that creates a lack of governance and as theion of governance congress is there to govern. As well as the president. Ask if cspan would bring on a section that would particularly in florida. We keep saying that the president somehow is a factor. A factor in the dynamic of the lack of governance by the congress. The president signs the bills. The congress and house of representatives creates the bills to go to his desk. How is it that we are saying that his dynamic is somehow influential impact when we also have the gerrymandering that is going on the nation . Cspan two comments on the dynamic polarization and lack of governance that is the congress pretty. I wish cspan would give us a section where we get the impact of this lack of governance. We the people are the ones who are suffering with this. Host im going to leave it there because we have no foreign calls more phone calls. Guest shes blaming the president for congress not doing his job. That plays directly into the politics of the last few months. We know the House Republicans voted to authorize legislation the few to sue the president over executive action, for taking too much executive action. They are saying theyre going to focus on the Health Care Law, and some of his unilateral delay of employee benefits. There is an argument that the white house is trying to push to counter that, saying that if congress is not going to do their job, the president has little else to do but to take matters into his own hands. Federalhy he assigned action to expand lgb protections in the workplace. I do think when it comes to the issue of governance, the white isses way of looking at it if congress will continue just refused to work with the president come then its about his legacy and agenda. Host were talking about the low Approval Ratings for president obama. The congressional Approval Rating languages at low levels, more than one in five say are placing all members is the best way to fix it. We go to jim, baltimore maryland. Speak i would like to about the Republican Congress representatives going back to their districts and trying to explain why they want to go , as far asdent obama the Affordable Care act is concerned. And then, i would like to speak on the issue of not helping out people who are unemployed by extending the unemployment insurance. Theorys a trickledown that i had thought of. First of all, the people who need that money really would put andack into the communities the states that they live in. These people were not looking for a handout. Some of them are professional people who lost their jobs because of jobs being shipped overseas. They will have to dip into their savings before they even apply for unemployment security in the first place. Host ok, jim. Andt the issue overnight employment benefits, i think that is something that kind of underscores how quickly Congress Moves from issue to issue. There was a time when they were working day in and day out to try and get some kind of compromise to reinstate Unemployment Benefits and retroactively provide paid to those who lost their benefits. Paul ryan is someone who already membersd backlash from from certain constituents who really went after him for implying that Unemployment Benefits prevent people from looking for work. That they lead to a culture of laziness. Goingomething i dont see away for a lot of republicans when they go home. Each one of them knows that in their district, theyre going to be people who are unemployed. Responding toto those charges, that this is their fault because they have not renewed the benefits, i do for see republicans trying to turn the tables and say that the economy has not improved enough, and thats a reflection of the president , and not themselves. They need to work more on job growth. It will have their standard talking points. Its an issue that has longerterm applications. In november, it wont have too much of an impact. When it comes to reaching out to , that will once again be a debate to be had. Their complete opposition to a lot of governments programs will be a president ial your issue. Host cleveland, ohio. Joe. Caller i want to give a different perspective here that sometimes we seem to ignore. The Republican Party is becoming this,ve party my point is gutierrez from california wants to open up the borders for 5 million to come back they were deported. We have people from all around asia and, particularly south america, wanting to come to this country because of prosperity. We are losing job after job, that is why unemployment is high. If someone were to say lets open the eastern borders to all of what europe, i wonder what the terms of racism would be cast upon people who fell for that, while these other races are calling for the open border for their own. I think the white liberals better wake up to what they are doing to america. I thank you for your time. Host your thoughts . Guest when it comes Immigration Reform, part of the problem is that is a very sensitive issue. You have to convince at least one group of skeptics. You have to help them understand why Immigration Reform is important. What the benefits of Immigration Reform was. Are people who are creating more job growth in the country. That is the line certainly the white house has tried to push. Its the line the democrats and some republicans have tried to put forward. It would have economic benefits, this will paul ryan said. Republicans are cognizant of that being the central message when it comes to advocating for Immigration Reform. The problem is that it has not resonated with their base. Time,s current point in certainly liberals are not the ones who were standing in the wave Immigration Reform. Its a problem on the republican side. I think they will at least try to make some progress on it. Prior to the 2016 president ial election. Host joe, and south carolina. Caller good morning. I would like to turn 2016 politics. We have heard a great deal of talk about Hillary Clinton wanted the democratic nomination for president if she decides to run. Talked about is you would be on her short list of her Vice President . Host getting right to it. Guest there have been a lot of names thrown out. It seems like an or Martin Omalley of maryland would be one of the few to challenge her in a potential democratic primary. He is not confirmed it, but there are strong signals that he too would like to run for president. Whether or not she would cap Martin Omalley to be a vp pick, its not clear so far. But that is something that, as we know, has been done previously. With people who were both engaged in a primary. The other name that has been thrown out is julian castro. There have been a few rising stars whoseatic names have been floated. Like there are a lot more conversations on the republican side, because they have a much larger field. Not only their nominee maybe, but who their potential running they may be. Has not aatic side lot of name recognition when it comes to who will be potentially of the pick for president and Vice President. Has theur website headline Martin Omalley is seriously considering running for president. That is a quote from an interview he did. When asked if you would endorse here is how he responded. Im seriously considering running in 2016. But the most important politics of all is to govern well. The the website backs me up. Each time he talks about running for president , his signals get stronger and stronger. Its nothing just short of officially declaring of course. I think they would like to see at least a primary. Having said that, they dont want to many people to challenge hillary, because they really believe that she is the best shot. They continue to believe that despite some of the fumble she had on her book tour. I dont think they want to have an ugly primary process, where her opponent is disparaging her in a way that will make it more difficult when we moved towards a general election. Mike, an arizona. Republican caller. Caller good morning. As the border ist our connection terrible. another line. Call in on another line. We go to tommy. Caller good morning. I enjoy this commonsense discussion about Immigration Reform. The question i have is here in tennessee, Illegal Immigrants are pouring in. The question i have is would be better for the childless couples in this country to adopt some of these immigrant children . Since its obvious we cant send them back to their wartorn countries. Who goes toman church with me, who adopts from wartorn country in africa. I think it would be a great idea. What is going to happen with the children across the border . The house passed legislation, the senate did not. What is happening in the interim . Guest at the moment, the government is trying to house them in as many facilities as they can as they await a trial. Course, we have to make a case for why they can stay in the country. Reality is, there will be children who are sent back. They wont all be able to stay here. Part of what i think the caller has raised is the point that immigration advocates are trying to make. This is a humanitarian issue. This is different from the immigration that is associated here,eople who are coming in search of greater economic prospects. Who are coming to look for a job. These are children who are fleeing countries where they and their families have been threatened. They have been victims of violence. They have been threatened to be killed, raped, they have been forced into the drug trade. They are refugees. They arent just Illegal Immigrants. I think that conversation, and the messaging around that, could shape how they are treated by a court of law when it comes to whether or not they will be deported. Again, because of the numbers well over 50,000, for unaccompanied minors, the reality is that some of them will be sent back. Those who are at least being housed in facilities for now, the hope is that there will be enough funding for them to have legal or presentation, and really make the case for why they can stay. Host this debate playing out in New Hampshire, where scott brown , the former senator from massachusetts, has aired television and radio ads and launched an online petition calling on voters to tell president obama and mrs. Shaheen it that their emigration all of these are hurting this country. He has stumped on the Authority Issue on the a veterans of foreign wars hall in kingston. This is you coming into play in New Hampshire. Been, fortt brown has republicans, not a strong of a candidate as they had hoped he may be. When it comes to challenging Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire. She seems to be comfortably ahead when it comes to the polls. Thats why a lot of scott browns tactics have been to really blame them the current on theon the border president and Jeanne Shaheen. Theis not only boarded immigration supported the immigration agenda, but voted for the bill that passed the senate. Whether thats effective in New Hampshire is entirely unclear. Scott brown in massachusetts had positioned himself as a moderate. It is a little at odds with the image that he has created for himself. The issue ofng Immigration Reform, which most modern republicans have supported, including his own former Senate Colleagues who come into the scheme of things, and may have supported the immigration bill he is now attacking. Guesthost an update on the mississippi primary. Conference foe vote challenges the gop primary loss. Host does he have the backing of the party . Guest no. I believe it has been the most , whene about perhaps looking at the way it played out. Not just mcdaniels as a candidate, and the controversy where supporters of mcdaniels photographed cochrans wife in her nursing home, just bizarre incidents that happened. Even when politics to be very dirty, that really takes the cake. But not excepting his loss has now dominated the headlines in mississippi over the last few weeks. Once they clear that went into a runoff, that cochran was able to go back and spend more time in mississippi than he had probably spent leading up to the actual primary. He really put in the effort, and of course, the party put in the money to make sure that he stays put. I think the Republican Party would like to see mcdaniels go away. They would not like to see this drag out any further. Ways, as, at least some testament to the fact that he Party Challengers have not fared as well this year. If you are going to compare it with 2010, certainly, we started to have some losses in 2012. That continued in 2014. Host all eyes will be watching to see if the tea party can get a win in kansas. He is facing a tea party backs challenger, martin wolf. Looking like maybe this incumbent, senator roberts, and other incumbents, learned a lesson from thad cochran and others. D others. They have. Guest the lesson has been to go home and take the challenge seriously. We saw what happened to eric cantor. That was depicted as a major win for the tea party. When in fact, it was not really a story of a challenger who was particularly strong, a lot of the Tea Party Groups did not even spend money on the man who defended defeated eric cantor. But he didnt take the challenge seriously. It allowed them to be established as everything that is wrong with washington. He never went home to his district to defend himself. The only further intensify the by staying in washington and raising money around the world. Incumbentsepublican need to do. That something the Mitch Mcconnell did very successfully in his own primary, where people thought he was genuinely a risk. All he had to do was put in the time. And of course, put in the money. The only thing that hasnt clear in the midst of these challenges is that they have forced republicans, incumbent republicans, more and more to the right at a time when they were trying to shift back to center after 2012. On immigration and other issues. It has changed what it means to be a moderate republican or conservative republican. That is troubling for them going in to the next election, but future elections to come. Host we will talk more about primary day today in our last hour of washington journal. Including the primary the states that are holding primaries today, there are four. We will talk to reporters to get a local feel of what is happening ahead of polls opening up. Washington journal, live every day. Well even now to take you to remarks from joe biden that the u. S. Africa Business Forum in washington. I will your 412 speaker. I am flattered i was invited. I want to welcome the visiting heads of state, ministers from almost every country. Members of congress, bothpreneurs, investors, from africa and United States. I want to recognize our cohost, a very good friend of mine, the former mayor of new york city, Michael Bloomberg. His commitment to developing [applause] his commitment to the Great Potential of africa is matched only by his vision. A great champion of americas business, our United States secretary of commerce any penny brister. Get to know her. She is the secretary of commerce, and she is smarter than you. [laughter] it took me a while to figure that out. About 10 seconds. She knows of what she speaks. She is excited to be cohosting this as well. I dont have to tell the folks assembled in this room that africa is emerging. As a kind of Incredible Energy and limitless promise. That energy is fueled by population whose median age is less than 20 years of age. I think the population of africa shares president obamas view when he said i do not see the countries and peoples of africa as a world apart. I see africa as a fundamental part of an interconnected world. Year,g at nearly 5 last with a gdp of more than 2. 5 trillion, 90 million african households have Household Incomes that exceeded 5,000 a year. Exports have quadrupled. Since the year 2000. In more wealth has been created in the last 10 years than any previous decade in history. I had an opportunity to meet with the president of south africa today, and i made a bit of a joke. We were talking about investments. Not only in south africa, but around the comment. I said i started my career as a 30yearold kid trying to get businesses to disinvest in south africa. And now i am busting my neck to get them to invest. So that is a mark of the progress we have made here. It is a completely different paradigm. And it is good. America is excited about the prospect of africa, because twoca presents possesses incredible resources. An overwhelming abundance of Natural Resources, and the resources of its people. Both its people and its Natural Resources warrant significant investment and develop and. I would like to focus just for a moment on the people. As i said, when i spoke yesterday at the African Civil Society meeting, the people of africa, and their leaders are ag to tackle the establishment of sound political and economic institutions, the creation of wealth that reaches beyond the elite, to provide people with Economic Opportunity throughout the continent, including women and girls, forging a peace in some countries still torn apart, protection of the health of your citizens. You all know the great talent that exists in africa, but turning that talent even in a greater capability requires significant commitment and significant investment. But if africas governance and institutions can put its people in a position commsu
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