find $1.20 trillion in savings. that would also include changes to the mortgage interest deduction. we will look at some specifics. but the idea of tax revenue changes being a part of the effort to cut deficits by the super committee. here is how you can participate -- you can email us, if you wish. here is a story this morning from the pages of "the new york times." this is about this proposal among some republicans of the super committee to possibly put tax revenues as part of the efforts to find savings. this is robert pear out of washington. he writes b -- a little bit more also in the papers this morning, looking at the specifics of it, this is "the wall street journal." to the idea of tax revenue being part of the super committee's work in reducing the federal deficit in light of some proposals coming from the gop this morning. again, if you want to call in, the lines will be open -- and you can reach us by e-mail and twitter this morning. our first call is shown on the democrats' line. caller: i am really just -- i have been on medicare for the past year. there is a lot of talk about cutting medicare. i don't know what i would do being hurt years ago, if they cut medicare. raising the tax on the rich or making them pay a little more, i think it is so important. this economy gets stimulated somehow -- i do not think it would do what, raising tax on the ridge -- but there has to be a support network with the republicans and democrats. host: what about the tax revenue proposals on the republican side? what about the initial offerings from the republican side? caller: well, i believe that we all have to take a chance and figure out who we are going to vote for this year, or next year. i am really a fair -- afraid right now of both parties. there is a chance right now that we have a government that can't make up its mind and take care of the people. i really don't have a comment. host: ok. fort wayne, indiana. joseph, independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call. the question is whether you take drunken, gambling, drug addicted maxed out credit-card for a drunken sailor. the bottom line is you do not have to address the issue of raising taxes. money is not the issue, it is what they do with the money. with the last 50 years we have had a "for sale" in america. until you address the corporate tax rate and you entice companies to come make their widgets back in america again -- and once they come back and employ americans, isn't that going to stimulate the economy? but until we address the issue of what can we make that people want and address that, this will never end. it has nothing to do with the collection of money, it is the spending. host: what do you think about the proposals to collect money coming from republicans? caller: it is asinine. collecting money is not the problem. there is one 1930 dollars trillion of unsecured debt. a 50% of americans to not pay taxes at the end of the year. it has nothing to do with taking in money but what they do with it. unless you have the company coming back to america -- maytag, whirlpool -- you have the head of general electric who sits on the board for jobs in the united states and egypt hundreds of thousands of jobs to china. -- he shipped hundreds of thousands of jobs to china. host: independent line. caller: i agree with the last caller. host: specifically how? caller: energy, fuel. we are being cheated on. host: what do you think about these proposals to raise revenue as far as taxes is concerned? caller: what the last caller said. bring the jobs back here. host: buffalo, new york. chris, democrats' line. caller: hello? yes. host: you are on. caller: i am on disability. and i am on medicare. they are cutting back everything. and the republicans, when they say will raise taxes, but they want to deduct money someplace else, so the government does not get any net revenue. that is all they do is offset the tax's someplace else. so, they don't really care about the deficit at all. and if they really wanted to make extra money, the oil line coming from canada, instead of running it all the way to louisiana, make them build another factory at the canadian border and make the oil companies paid to have a new refinery built. host: from twitter this morning. the american institute of certified public accountants takes a look at the mortgage interest deduction, which is one of the considerations. they calculated, on a household income of $125,000, if your mortgage is $150,000 and your rate is 4.5%, your deduction is about $16,000. -- $1,600. for those with a household income of one half million, and if your house is worth about half a million as well, your deduction on the mortgage would be $7,875 -- again, one of the proposals in the papers as far as possible ways to raise revenue. a story that republicans are offering some ideas when it comes to revenue raising, as far as efforts to redress -- reduce the deficit. we are asking for your thoughts on what this will do for the deficit. if you want to weigh in specifically on that, the lines are on the screen. tampa, florida. larry. caller: the question should be, why should the people have to give up money to fund this government and all of the privilege and expense that takes place there? we see people on this show, c- span, who are various levels of the government. they are sub-assistant secretaries and they are all making more than $100,000. the government should not be entitled to survive financially by taking money from households, corporations, or individuals anywhere in america. in the beginning the united states government had to earn its own money. only recently in the 1900 it started taking money from families and recycling the money back and taking off a person is. what is wrong is the government is entitled to our money and it should not be and most americans do not understand that all -- flaw. host: linda, independent line. caller: i agree with the gentleman from indiana and a gentleman who just call from florida. it is not the revenue but too much spending. solyndra -- let's see. host: what do you think about the latest proposals? caller: i don't like any of the proposals. i think it should be cut. i think they should go back and there should not be any golden parachutes for congressman who retire and even the president when he leaves office. he is no better than us and they make, what is it, they will set up the board's oversight of this and they will probably make $100,000 a year to oversee a 15 cents tax on christmas trees. this is ridiculous. we are going bankrupt. this is the first time in my life i have never been afraid for my children. host: charlotte, north carolina. charles, democrats' line. caller: this is steve from ohio and i would like to make comments on the economy. host: specifically the tax revenue proposals offered by republicans? caller: yes. i would love to have tax revenues increase on the wealthy because i feel they are not paying their share. host: household -- how so? caller: you have all the tax deductions and the bush tax cuts that were in place for all of these years. what we have done is lost jobs. it is not the regulations stymieing the labor, it is the cheap labor being outsourced. we need to begin to tax the wealthiest people fairly in this country, and we need to get the lobbyists out of the congress to allow the jobs so that congressmen can pass some legislation that would bring the jobs back by taxing the products coming into this country and bidding -- putting this country in the dire straits. host: reactions from election day yesterday. this is the political writing about governor's races. meanwhile, the lieutenant governor, bill -- comfortably disposed to pre to succeed popular outgoing governor haley barbour -- disposed of dupree. on your screen is the governor- elect of mississippi this morning. kentucky. thank you for holding on. jim, independent line. caller: first and foremost, we need a president that is a true christian and we call for prayer and asking for blessings. second, this is really easy. all you got to do is don't vote nobody in. host: what about the polls of tax revenues? caller: tax revenues. that is easy. like the gentleman said. it is not what is going in, but what is coming out. the house of congress is taking it out without our consent. i don't mind paying taxes and helping the poor or anybody else, but you have to step in the plate, leave the money in there and let us vote upon it. host: this from twitter -- on election day, a couple of ballot proposals. riding out of columbus -- writing out of columbus -- that is from "the wall street journal" this morning. republican line. caller: my comment is, we are all being enslaved by this debt. we are borrowing $150 billion a month, that is insane. the spending is beyond out-of- control. a little history that should be common knowledge -- i want everybody to check this out. commerce department figures, gdp figures a year after kennedy did what he did. and he was a fiscal conservative. he was a supply sider. it 10% growth after nearly two years in a recession after he reduced the tax burden. within two years of reagan doing what he did, we had 8%, 9%, 8.5% quarterly growth figures. first quarter of 1984, revenue is growing exponentially. the biggest drop in history -- and then we had the biggest surplus in history. host: chicago, illinois. carl, democrats' line. caller: how are you doing, pedro? we had a plan that was working. we have a balanced budget and pay down the debt. the republicans came in and said they do not like the plan, so they cut taxes, they had two wars we did not pay for, we had a prescription drug bill we did not pay for, we had relaxed regulations and the markets and everything, and we found ourselves in 2008 with a financial crisis. this just demonstrates that what they did by cutting taxes and not wanting to pay for any thing was a problem. another problem with republicans wanting to give everything to business. i know the supreme court says this is an individual. but if they are individuals, they also have a responsibility to the country. you can't isolate them and say you don't have to do nothing but go out and make money and not give anything back to the country. i think this is something fundamental -- republicans cannot open their eyes to recognize it. it is not the spending. in 2000, we had a balance the budget. what they did when they changed that plan is what caused the problem. host: where do we go forward as far as revenues and the revenues possibly offered by republicans? caller: you cannot raise revenues by offsets. those wars, they need to be paid for by taxes. a prescription drugs, i do you pay for it by taxes or you drop -- the prescription drugs, either you pay for by taxes or drop the program. host: this is from herman cain's press conference. they have seen the press conference as well, it took place yesterday afternoon. there is also a story from the associated press about another person coming forward, a woman who settled a sexual harassment complaints in 1999. she later accused a manager for circulating a sexually-charged email. with the assistance of her lawyer, who also handled her earlier sexual format -- harassment complaint against cain in 1999, three former supervisors associated with a complaint, which did not include sexual harassment, describes her under condition of anonymity. bowie, maryland. fred. caller: number one, we need to raise revenue. the only way we can do that is what the president has proposed, by closing the tax loopholes. that is a good way of lose -- using revenue. what the republicans are proposing right now, i don't really agree. if i am giving you $10 but at the same time i am taking away $10 from you and you end up with zero, that is what they're proposing. raising tax on companies, that is a line they say every is time they come on tv. the wages for labor -- it is a good thing to get good wages but if you compare to the place is the companies are going to develop their products, the wages are minimum compared to the average worker in america. in china the average factory worker makes about $10,000. demands -- if companies are producing and people are not buying, then there is a problem. i think those are the major problems we have -- demands, we have problems with demands because people are producing but nobody is buying. host: another ballot initiative from yesterday, this is out of mississippi. this is the associated press reporting. minnesota, independent line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i disagree with many of your previous callers. we do have a spending problem. however, we have an enormous revenue problem. you cannot reduce the overall revenue rates to 50% of what they were before the reagan years and expect to finance our government. one of the most glaring examples of what is going on is the highest-paid executives that get their bonuses in the form of stock options, and they cashed them in and a -- and they pay a lousy 15% on those bonuses. a bonus is something in addition to their income, and those bonuses, regardless of whether they are stock options or not, should be taxed as the same rate as income taxes. a good example is dr. mcguire from united healthcare, he harvested more than $60 million by taking the stock options and cashing them in for his boldness, because he only had to pay 15%. warren buffett was right. this should have been changed long time ago. host: a viewer on twitter -- iran is in the news this morning on many of the front pages. this is stemming from a united nations report. the headline on "the wall street journal" -- camden, new jersey. it talking about possible tax revenues coming from house republicans in an effort to solve the deficit. part of the super committee's work. caller: good morning. i think in a crisis, the rich need to pay a little more to offset the burdens on the poor. closing a tax loopholes, republicans need to stop embracing the rich and allowing them to blindfold the poor while the rich man picks their pockets. it is a travesty what is going on. we need revenue. that is it. host: that was our caller from camden, new jersey. we will continue on this topic for a little while longer. but first, today if you probably watched tv at home or listened to the radio, occasionally you know there is something called the emergency alert system which sounds a tone and is usually used in test mode from state to state. today, a nationwide effort will be made to test the system. this is the work of fema. to tell us more is damon penn, deputy assistant administrator for the continuity program. why now for a nationwide test? guest: the system we are testing is over 50 years old and we've never conducted a nationwide test. now is as good a time as any. we need to put the system in operation and find out what works and what doesn't work and we need to make appropriate changes and corrections based on what we find. so, in our efforts to service the american people, we need to test. today it would a day as any. host: what are you trying to find? guest: we don't know what we don't know. local stations are required to do a monthly test and the state's test monthly or quarterly, but we never initiated a whole system at once. we never started with an activation from the white house. and we never had everyone alerted at the same time. we just want to find out what kind of propagation of the message we have, we want to find out who gets alerted and who does not and what quality of alert people receive, and we also have technical things we want to find out. host: walk us through how the test will work. guest: for your listeners, the test is going to be much like the monthly tests they see. there will be a tone and annual here "this is a test of the emergency alert system." there will be a script reminding you it is a test. after about 30 seconds you will return to normal broadcasting. host: this will stem from the white house? guest: the messages are originated in the white house. it goes to our fema operations center and the propagation begins at our operation center. host: when it comes to the people who will hear the test, talk about the various ways -- will this be television and radio, and will include satellite radio? guest: this portion is only testing television and radio capabilities. we have parts of our larger program that can alert to buy wireless connection, internet, and a whole host of other alerting systems. but this will only be radio and television. it will include satellite radio and satellite television, the cable providers, all of the over 40,000 broadcasters we have across the united states. host: how long did it take to call war in a this? guest: a little over two years now. with a strong -- the small -- the strong support from the fcc, we have made a lot of headway. we have done two preliminary tests in alaska this past january and january of 2010, and we learned a few things about our system and made sure we were ready to do a nationwide test. today is really the culmination of two years of effort. host: why alaska and what did you learn? guest: it was easy because we could isolate the the message. we could do one state without bleeding over. part of the beauty of the system is stations relayed the system -- signal to other systems. the other thing is alaska is the most diverse state because they have large populated areas and also small villages with a dozen or fewer families. it gave us something to look at as we tried to test across all of our devices. host: if someone is watching at 2:00 p.m. today and did not get initially that it is a test, who they call to find out more? guest: most people will call their 911 and local emergency managers. we have been in contact with them and they are all prepared to answer any questions anybody has. but again, most people will hear and see what they are used to hearing. host: how long will last, and describe what they will see and hear? guest: you will hear the tone to start the test. the toads will be very similar to what you normally hear. then you will hear "this is a test of the national emergency alert system." we will read a script and repeated and then it will return to your normal program within 30 seconds. host: what is the next step? guest: to gather all the information. each of the broadcasters has a box, and they have a recording device. they will give a printed read out of the message they received, who they received it from, when and they received it, and how they broadcasted it. and we will find out through emergency managers and broadcasters, who actually got the message and who was alerted. we will take the information and use the theoretical models we have been using for the past 50 years to determine who gets alerted and overlay those with who actually got alerted and then find out what gaps we have in the broadcast part of the system. so, that will help us figure out in the future where we need to put additional stations and how the stations need to function and who they need to contact. we will also get feedback on the message itself. for example, in alaska, the deaf and hard of hearing community was helpful to find out that on the television broadcast, the text scroll that went across the screen went across to fast and it was difficult to read. they also pointed out the colors sometimes interfered with the backdrop of the colors that the station put up, so it was difficult to read. so, everything from who got alerted down to the small details of what the video looks like, are all things we hope to learn. host: damon penn is with the national continuity program at fema. thank you for your time. we are talking about proposals from house members of the super committee taking a look at tax increases. at the same time, this story from "the hill" -- atlanta, georgia. on our democrats' line. caller: listen, i am not in the 1% but i am in the 10%. let me tell you this, pedro, for 30 years we have been told that if we -- that money would flesh -- gush and flow into our coffers. take the money out of politics. take it out. you just said a minute ago about norquist? who is he telling democrats and republicans what they can pledge? they should pledge to the people. my last point is this, pedro. get in touch with kevin phillips, a conservative writer, and get in touch with tom hartman, a progressive. get them on the show to talk about our problems. have a nice day. quit voting against your own interests. host: in "the new york times" this morning -- oklahoma city. good morning. caller: i don't think they should talk about cutting off the mortgage deduction because those are people who work and bought a home, unless they are talking about cutting the unearned income tax credit. if they are that poor we already pay for their housing and what they eat. they don't do anything good with the $5,000 they get back. just like in the unemployment, a lot of the people figured out that they are just as good not to work. and we need to cut outpacing the idiots who cannot figure out that too many food stamps are not the reason why people are fat. i did not know anybody who sells their food stamps to go to burger king. they sell them for cigarettes, beer, lottery tickets. their kids already get breakfast and lunch free, so they should be pro rated and anybody getting taxpayer money that we worked for -- the government does not have their own money -- they ought to be drug tested. host: the attorney general in papers this morning talking about the fast and furious program. the right up in the "the washington times" -- wisconsin, hello. you are on. caller: yes, listening and hearing all this kind of stuff about revenue. i am for 20% across-the-board taxes. because you've got people putting changes in their for taxes, and they are like the wolves in behalf -- in the hen house. they are just trying to quiet the folks down. host: credit suisse in the papers. the corporation had some of the american clients with offshore accounts, their names will be appealed to authorities. -- revealed to authorities. "the washington post" this morning has a story about guantanamo bay. this is peter finn. --er ron, he writes miami, florida. go ahead. caller: hello? i want to make a couple of comments. let me finish. people keep talking about reagan and the prosperity. when he came into office, the debt was not even $1 trillion. when he left, it was $2.60 trillion. basically almost tripled it. people talking about the rich paying enough. the top 400% has 500% of the wealth. who will make up the 12% they had? during the time with the reagan and clinton -- we had all of the manufacturing so we had money coming in. this whole thing about the rich paying their fair share is totally incorrect. you cannot pay 50% -- have 50% and pay 30%, that is 12% short. host: from "the miami herald" there is the headline, the most expensive prison on earth. this shows some of the figures when it comes to cost comparisons and the daily food ration. "the miami herald" is where you can find a story. if you have been following occupy wall street, a story about a march being organized. newspaper accounts of this morning showed the occupy protests may have spread across the globe but the next major migration will be easy to see if you are on the east coast any time soon. protesters at take in the movement on the road, literally. starting wednesday, november 8, protesters in new york city will be marching hundreds of miles from lower manhattan into washington, d.c. organizers on the web site revealed plans for occupy highway, the 99% march to washington. protesters will be playing it safe and will ditched the major roadways in exchange for more pedestrian-friendly throw theirs. the intent on leaving new york city wednesday at noon and plan to march roughly 20 miles a day, stopping along the way in trenton, philadelphia, baltimore, and elsewhere before arriving in washington two weeks later. next caller. caller: there should be no change in the interest deductions for home mortgages. today in southwest florida and all across the country, people are losing their homes. it is outrageous and whoever thought of the concept of removed -- the removal of interest tax deduction on home mortgages needs to be voted out of office immediately. host: colorado, go ahead. caller: there has been no mention of the heat factor in the economy to generate revenue. any time a dollar changes hands between businesses or individuals, you generate a spinoff that goes into revenue. no mention has been made of that. right now the factor is almost nonexistent because people are not wanting to spend, and businesses are not wanting to spend, and the entrepreneurs and corporations are not willing to spend money. what we have to happen is we have to take away the regulations and the things that are causing fear of the future that is coming down the pike. with things like obamacare -- i am sorry, the health care program, and the uncertainty about where we are headed. if we take away all of those things, perhaps the businesses will start spending and the corporations will grow, and then the people who are out of jobs who get jobs, and you start heating up the economy. to get that dollar bill to start passing around from one person to the next to generate the money that is needed to fund the programs that are good to take care of the people who are out of jobs and unemployed. host: one more story. new jersey governor chris christie will hit the campaign trail for mitt romney. that and other topics when it comes to republican politics will be the topic of our next guest, matt lewis from "daily caller." and we will take an hour looking at specifics concerning arlington cemetery. we will learn more about that operation later on at 9:00, and you can ask your questions at what -- as well. republican politics is next. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. [applause] and let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. >> he lost the 1964 presidential election to lyndon johnson but barry goldwater's ideas and candor galvanized the conservative movement. the five-time senator from arizona is featured this week on "the contenders." from the goldwater institute, live friday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> i want you all to know those who wanted me to run so badly and those who are so terribly disappointed, that i am doing the right thing. >> i believe 1984 finds the united states in the strongest position in years, to establish a constructive and realistic working relationship with the soviet union. >> with every programs since 1987, the seas been video library is a definitive source for online public affairs. now a new ways to access it. listen to mp3 audio, just 99 cents each. it takes the stand with you on your iphone, android, and any portable device. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us is matt lewis, senior contributor to "the daily caller." talk about herman cain that a press conference, how he did. guest: it is an attempt to stem the bleeding. a week of relentless attacks and things that trickle out -- when you have a story that will not go away and every day something feeds the beast. the problem with herman cain is, yesterday, despite the fact he held a press conference, another allegation -- not another allegation, but somebody who was previously anonymous came forward. this person seems to be credible. that is much more concerning than anything he said in the press conference. host: this is someone -- guest: this is someone who was a 10-year public servants and seems credible. she has not been fully vetted, but once you start to associate a real person as opposed to the anonymous accusations, it becomes much were troubling for cain. host: talk about the setting, a formal press conference. guest: interesting choice for herman cain. i am trying to decide whether it was a smart move. to the clay when a lot of public -- a lot of times when a -- a lot of times when politicians do a press conference is usually for a resignation or to admit guilt. for some bizarre reason the public still published -- punish people publicly. usually they pick one reporter, but herman cain shows the press conference. i don't think it necessarily hurt him. we will wait to see whether or not it spends the time. but again, i think the press conference is largely irrelevant. the real problem is these things continue to trickle out. host: one thing he did address squarely is the topic of sharon -- and in his opening statement he talked about his reaction. >> we are not going to allow washington or politics to the nine made the opportunity to represent this great nation, and as far as these accusations causing need to back off and maybe with a drawl from this presidential primary race, ain't gonna happen because i am doing this for the american people and my children and grandchildren, and i will not be deterred by false, anonymous, incorrect accusations. guest: he sort of tone down a little bit but earlier what i found interesting is his campaign issued a press release attacking the credibility of ms. bialek, talking about a paternity suit, that she was a defendant in several lawsuits and filed for bankruptcy, sort of a character assassination. the question is whether not this is relevant. clearly he decided to go after her credibility to try to undermine it. but the problem is, it is very possible she could be is sketchy person but also be a victim of this. i thought it was a very risky strategy. and the other problem is it sort of reminds people of bill clinton. this is the third instance i can count where people have been reminded or associated cain with clinton. the fact that he was parsing what "is" is, and you have james carville, and his famous line about dragging a one of the dollar bill through a trailer park. and during the press conference herman cain talked-about the democratic machine, which reminded people of pillory clinton's vast right wing conspiracy. clearly he is taking a page on how to handle these attacks from the clintons. host: the numbers to call -- you said risky strategy. what goes off in your mind when he mentions taking a lie detector test? guest: first tech said he would take it and then he walked it back -- saying if it was appropriate. i think the public generally, if somebody says they are willing to take a lie-detector test -- test, it actually reassures them. it is still a he said/she said situation. nobody knows whether or not cain is guilty. but we can try to judge do we lichen's still, do we trust the accusers -- do we like him still? in presidential campaigns, like ability matters. this is not a legal question anymore but a political question. the facts matter less than they would in a legal, and now it is like ability. that is the problem for cain. herman cain's credibility has never been based on experience, it has never been based on -- some politicians build their foundation on often to city, experience and expertise. herman cain has always been about likability. people like him. that is the reason why this is disconcerting. if people start not to like him, the whole rationale for his campaign goes down the drain. that could -- we could be dangerously close. host: matt lewis is the senior contributor "the daily caller." guest: it was started by tarp carlson and neal patel. it is a center-right website but we practice journalism every day. sometime covering republicans, sometimes the obama administration. a very fun place to work, and i am happy to be there. host: republican line. . i sccia caller: at first i thought maybe herman cain is guilty. now i have my doubts because on the news last night i heard one woman who is coming out works for the obama administration. well, why are all of these women waiting until herman cain is up there on the plateau as the big banana? why now? why are all these women coming out now? can you answer that, sir? not only that -- host: we will let our guests respond. guest: i think he is referring to the civil servants who currently works as a spokesperson for the department of treasury. important to note that is not a political job. i believe she worked also in the bush administration as well. i do not think it is fair to read into that of that she is a liberal partisan. i believe she is a registered republican, although she did donate, i believe $250, to the democratic party. she seems -- again, this is still new and she still needs to be vetted by the press. but she does seem to be somebody who did not seek out the spotlight. it seems like she was somebody who was reluctantly drawn to it. she was outed by "the daily" yesterday. why is this coming out now? because herman cain could be the president. he is a front runner, is not the front runner, republican nomination. it is important to vet all the candidates. i also don't dismiss the notion republicanf cain's opponents were pushing this story and helping to get this out as well. host: in a short amount of time. guest: it happens in politics and we are just a couple of months before iowa. it is not unusual when a candidate becomes more likely to win, that these things come out of the woodwork. some of them may have ulterior motives but the question is whether the allegations are true. host: democrats' line. good morning. caller: basically i believe he kind of mess himself up denying three allegations. you could understand what a person is one mistake and you can deny two, but to deny all three kinda puts him in the guilty range. guest: what he speaks to is whether or not you are denying 3 -- whether 3 allegations exist becomes a problem. the public may dismiss one or two as disgruntled employees, but when you start getting norris people coming forward, then the public starts to say, wait a minute. it is not just one person who has a chip on her shoulder or may be misinterpreted something but we are starting to see a pattern. and the other problem is just the fact that these things trickle out one day at a time. buts an awkward metaphor, strategists use it to tech to the principle. if you have a puppy dog and it cut its tail off, you did do it in one snip or one piece at a time. analogy is if you are the puppy dog, you want one slip but if you're a poet of's is the puppy -- if your opponent is the puppy dog you want it one piece at a time. herman cain could have probably done a much better job had tech early in the campaign, rather than allowing the allegations to come forward by "politico," he could have approached another reporter, maybe somebody in the conservative journalistic community, and brought it forward. he could have chosen his immediate -- media outlet and framed the debate. host: with so much attention to mr. cain and tonight republican candidates taking part in a debate, what do we expect a policy issues to be discussed? guest: this isguest: this is c'd they may not ask him about this. a lot of people think that this is so dangerous for herman cain and it is also a chance to move on. he gives the press something else to talk about in terms of the presidential race. their way that herman cain moves on is now out of his hands. the horses out and he is trying to shut the barn door. no way the story goes away is to tamp things down and for another bigger story to come along. until that webb -- happens, the press will keep talking about this story. host: dwight on the independent line, laguna, california. caller: the national press is an excellent job on stories like the herman cain story, a 10- year-old story about his hanky- panky. it does less credible job in covering stories about economics. for example, it strikes me that the national press are kenseyians and believes that if the federal government increases spending, it stimulates the economy and reduces unemployment. despite the fact that it is never a word. it really came to light for me when ron paul was interviewed on "meet the press," when david gregory -- when ron paul explained in the wake of world war ii, president truman slashed federal spending by 60% and cut federal spending by 30%, and that was in the space of 10 million gi's joining the economy. that led to a boom in the economy, a reduction of unemployment, and within a year or so, the federal budget was actually in surplus. host: your question? caller: why is there such ignorance about economics and recent american history in the context of actually asking intelligent questions of the presidential candidates? guest: 10 i i expect some more intelligent questions about the economy. -- tonight i expect more intelligent questions about the economy. from cnbc. so there is an incentive to talk about the scandals, so they get ratings and ad impressions. but in the case of the herman cain incident, there is another reason why this is important. a goes back to my argument about likability. herman cain presented his tax reform plan. a lot of conservatives did not like it. they said it introduces a new national sales tax. herman cain goes on -- goes up in the polls. herman cain flipped likes -- flip flops on abortions. he still goes up in the polls. his credibility was never based on being philosophically 100%, never based on being a culture warrior, never based on being detail-oriented in terms of being of a fiscal expert. it was always based on likability. that is why this story has legs and is damaging to him. it is why his republican opponents want to push the story. it goes to the heart. in politics, people think you attack someone's weakness. herman cain is weak on foreign policy, attacked him there. that does not work. you attack someone's strength. herman cain's strength is his likability, and they are going after that. host: charlotte, north carolina, republican line the end. -- republican line, dan. caller: you mention bill called -- bill clinton earlier. he was accused of exposing himself and the nursing home woman accusing him and monaco whiskey, his daughter geithner -- monica lewinsky, his daughter's age, having an affair. he is still considered to be -- a lot people think that he should still be president. the approach these things and also for them, and then you have obama going to a church or the preacher was condemning america, and it was almost their racist church. my question is -- do you think the media -- first of all, the you think there is some kind of motive and money passing hands to get these women to stand up there after 20 years and say these things, number one? and then number two, do you think the media treats the democrats on these issues different than the republicans? guest: part of it goes back to the credibility. bill clinton's credibility was never based on being a boy scout. it was always based on caring about people's emotions. that is why he was punished less than a newt gingrich who was also having some scandals in the 1990's. i think it is revisionist history to say that bill clinton was not criticized. he was impeached. i think the press reluctantly but after the drug to report an open the floodgates, the press were all over the bill clinton scandals. because it was good copy, and good for business. i believe that the press did not do as good job of adding barack obama as they should have. i will say that culturally -- it is not in the form of overt bias, but the press by and large seems to be literally biased culturally. i believe we live in a new era where cable news has become a great equalizer. host: houston, texas, mark on the democrats' line. caller: good morning to you guys. i want to say that it is crazy dead their dwelling on this. this is old news. all of this is old stuff. those women are now coming forward because this guy is a front runner. i believe that they are probably paying these women to come forward. just to keep came from winning the republican nomination. i really believe that this country is still racist and that the majority is still racist. the last thing they want to see is two black man running for president. [unintelligible] one of them would be president, to knocky're trying him off the lot. guest: i think that herman cain is no doubt coming under scrutiny but i think his race is irrelevant to that. if rick perry, for example, had the skeletons in his background, they would come out. i think they has up -- the conservatives should hope that this comes out how. the worst thing would be coming in nominate somebody to be your nominee, and zero weeks later, david axelrod brings forward these women. it is better to deal with that out. then it does become old news. it speaks to what i said earlier about how herman cain could have presented this. two of these allegations were settled by the national restaurant association. cain knew about it and brought it up to his strategist, kurt andersen, and accused him of being behind this. so he knew that this was a problem that could come out. then it would have been old news. i have not seen any evidence that this is racially motivated. i think it would be interesting to know whether or not -- and we may never know -- but whether or not that the two white women so far had do it -- accused herman cain is relevant. what if they were two black women? i would hope that it would makes no difference, maybe it does. host: erik erikson is a conservative blocker and wrote this. romney is not that george w. bush of 2012. he is the harriet miers of 2012. guest: right, and he is a prominent, respected, serve it -- conservative blocker. i think that erikson is observing the fact that the conservative alternatives to romney are imploding. he is beginning to see some conservatives start to coalesce around romney. basically accepting that, ok, this is the guy we have to get behind. i think this is a warning to not let that happen. mitt romney is the guy that suddenly discovered his pro-life and that ronald reagan was a good guy. it is a good point that conservatives should be skeptical of mitt romney's conservatism. the problem is, where do you go? i think that rick perry is still viable. he has done some horrible the base. the immigration issue is very harmful, but he has $17 million. the last time that we counted. is the longest serving governor in america. the jobs record -- his jobs record in texas is the best in the nation. i think at this point, heritage people talk about the merger santorum, but i think rick perry is the only alternative. and it may very well be that rick -- mitt romney is the guy. host: is the improving in the debate formats? guest: the last debate, he was a little bit better. running for president is incredibly tough. it does not matter how experienced are good you are. you cannot get in late in expect to be up to speed. mitt romney low ran last time and has been in dozens of these debates. rick perry arrived on the scene, airdropped then, and it was a lot tougher than he thought. host: especially what he said about immigration over the coming -- over the campaign. guest: is a huge mistake to underestimate the immigration issue. conservatives are incredibly upset about illegal immigration. this almost undid his john mccain in 2000. he bottomed out in june or july 2007. he had six months to win new hampshire. the problem for perry is that it is now november. does he have enough time to make a comeback the way that mccain did? host: new jersey, you are on with matt lewis. mickey on our independent line. caller: i would like to make three comments here. fraud yellen statements against a presidential candidate should be a criminal offense. that would solve a lot of that. on revenues -- we should tax political donations at 50% and put that money into social security and that would solve that problem. and in this fast and furious you brought up earlier, i think the people who started this fast and furious should be charged with conspiracy to deny americans their second amendment rights. and i thank you for letting me make my comments. guest: i will go with the first comment. i think political speech should be the most protected speech. if you want to go after people for false accusations, we would have to start with our founder. their rhetoric made today's political campaigns seem tame. one person accused john adams of one in the monarchies and the dictatorship. i few years later, you have entered jackson's wife accused of basically being a prostitute. we need to defend it, the good and bad, and that goes for journalist as well as other politicians. let the public decided to believe. and they usually get a ride in the end. host: louisiana, bob on our republican line. caller: how are you this morning? mr. lewis, i would like to say -- what i would like to see is you and all of your cronies investigate obama and his background and his colleagues -- college degrees that he has got, so nobody can see them, and the only people that ever vetted obama was shot hanna dean -- s ean hannity, and everybody else just let him go. another thing -- host: to what point, caller? what is the point of looking into it? caller: the point is wihen bush run, they looked into all of his college records and what his records were and what kind of scores he had, all of that. another thing -- host: we will leave it there. you put a lot out there. guest: the republicans always think the press does not investigate democrats and not and democrats think the opposite. i would think said the press failed to properly vet barack obama. interestingly, a lot of the outlets like politico, who broke this herman cain story, they have not been all-around -- they have not been around that long. they seem like they have been around forever. you cannot say they did not cover bill clinton, because they have not been around that long. daily caller, we have only been around a year. i think your caller would like to see what we read about fast and furious. we pointed out that nancy pelosi had the most obamacare vouchers in her district. there is a lot of work going on. this is the great thing about the rise of the new media, talk radio, cable tv. it is harder and harder for conservatives to argue that the betting is not happening. my -- vetting is not happening. more and more things are getting better. but are these allegations against herman cain -- do they have merit or not? and it they do, it does not matter if the press did not look into barack obama's educational not. maybe they did not, but everything else is a distraction. host: 28% is where mitt romney stands, according to polling. herman cain is at 27% and new gingrich's at 13%. he could still be a viable candidate. how long does the bottom of the list stay in? guest: i would say until i know of. there is no incentive to do that. -- until iowa. there is no incentive to do that. here is what erik erikson is concerned about. what happens is that you had mitt romney and everybody else. going into iowa, they could split votes. it could be that herman cain and rick perry and rick santorum and michele bachmann carve up his conservative base and mitt romney wins with 50% or something. that is what you have to think about. the way to stop mitt romney if you are a conservative who does not like him is to coalesce around one of the other candidates. it is not happening yet. that could be the reason they're romney wins the nomination. host: and mitt romney is traveling with chris christie. guest: right, that was a very big endorsement. he would be on the short list of vice-presidential picks as well. host: despite what he said. guest: i do not buy that. marco rubio says he will not be a vice president and i did not buy that either. caller: i wanted to say why they are doing this to came. he paid two women i year's wages for what? he had to do something wrong to do that. people do not get paid that for nothing. another thing, obama is the best president we have had. he is not out for the rich. that is my opinion. guest: i would strongly disagree with the premise that salomon's imply guilt in any way. it is unfortunate, but a lot of organizations will go to their lawyers and say, we have this woman alleging inappropriate activity. a lawyer say, we can spend $250,000 going to court to fight this or you can pay her $70,000 and this all goes away. and by the way, we will have ursine a nondisclosure agreement. it is smart business sometimes to make the settlements. i would definitely -- we need to stress the point that the fact that the settlements occurs implies no guilt whatsoever in herman cain's part. i think he is guilty of running a bad campaign, because the should have brought it forward months ago. but i would not read too much into the settlement. host: conway, south carolina, independent line. caller: i believe that four women, some of them reluctantly, would not come out and say these things about herman cain if there was not some truth behind it. as a woman in her early 70's, and a christian of 50 years, i would not vote for herman cain because of this. and i would not vote for newt gingrich because of the immoral behavior in his background. in the bill when and's voted you're going to win. this kind of behavior will not get to the women's vote. guest: i think your caller is probably representative of a certain segment of the population. and that segment could be very troubling for herman cain. i think she hits the nail on the head. if you are the average person, one person came out and accused him. it could be bogus. two women, well. but when you see it trickle out, a lot of people say at some point there must be some merit there. it does not mean that there is, but to the average person, when you have four or five different women, and at least one of them, we have a face and one of them seems very credible, miss bkraushaar, someone reluctantly drawn to the spotlight. it is almost like, is there a shadow of a doubt? this creates a shadow of a doubt about herman cain. host: anything that you would take from yesterday going up into the contest. guest: poll lesson to be learned is do not draw any lessons. one year ago, republicans swept congress and a lot of people assumed there is a huge wave that will last forever. yesterday, democrats by and large in virginia -- in virginia it was different, but democrats seem to have a good day. one year from now, it could be an offset -- he could be different. do not draw many conclusions. host: matt lewis is with a daily column. how often do you participate? guest: i tried a post three or four times a day. host: mr. lewis, thank you. in our last hour, we take a look at operations inside arlington national cemetery. two guest joining us for that period that begins at 9:00 eastern standard time. up next, beau biden taking a look that mortgage finance industry and investigations that they are launching. we will speak with him in just a few moments. first, this update from c-span radio. >> it is 8:23 eastern. president obama signs and an executive order to cut waste across the federal government. agency spending will be cut back on travel, smartphones, tablets, and laptops. they will stop the use of taxpayer dollars to buy swyg. the aim is to reduce combined cost to 20% below 2010 levels by fiscal year 2013. turning to the european financial situation, italy's 10-year boring grade has jumped about 7%, considered by some to be unsustainable over the longer term. this coming one day after pearl was coming -- the italian prime minister announced he would resign. that announcement of affecting the market. dow futures down 200 points. taking on military stationed overseas, a senior u.s. naval commander in remarks earlier today said that he worries much more about north korea and other asian countries, including china. adding that while the u.s. military has an open and robust relationship with china, he spends time thinking about north korea because of its unpredictability, in his war. he took over as commander of the seventh fleet in september. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. [applause] and let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. >> he lost the 1964 presidential election to lyndon johnson, but barry goldwater's ideas and candor galvanized the conservative movement. the five-term senator from arizona is featured this week on the c-span series, "the contenders." from the goldwater institute in phoenix, live friday 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> how would you all today know, those of you wanted me to run so badly and those disappointed, that i'm doing the right thing. >> i believe the 1984 finds the united states and the strongest position in years to establish a constructive and realistic working relationship with the soviet union. >> with every program since 1987, the c-span video library is a definitive resource for public affairs. download audio for every c-span program. just 99 cents each. take c-span with you and any portable audio device. listen to what you want, where you want, when you want. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us on our show right now is beau biden, the attorney general of delaware. hello. guest: great to be with you. host: you recently said that you are launching your own investigation into the mortgage industry. tell our viewers what you are doing. guest: we announced -- i am getting a lot of feedback in my ear, but we have complained that we filed in chancellor court in delaware. it challenges the fact that -- i have to pull this out of my year. it is the entity that provides for the record nation system of many mortgage-backed securities. we asserted in this complaint that we filed two please ago that it is a deceptive practice, violating the separate trade practices act in delaware. that the system that they created back in the 1995, the banks and fannie and freddie and folks on wall street got together and decided that they would create a system called the mortgage electronic registration system, that essentially privatized the centuries-old mortgage registration system throughout america. they did so because their ability to sell mortgages and the residential-backed mortgages security industry was cumbersome from their perspective. so they decided they would not have to -- they wanted to bypass local recorder offices to be able to slice and dice mortgage- backed securities sold it is all the next day and by the time and ends up in an investor pocket, months or years later, it is been sliced and diced 5 4/6 time. they did not want to go to their normal recording process. in doing so, they created a way to avoid literally millions and millions upon millions of recordation fees. every time you have to reassign and record the assignment of that mortgage, you would have to pay a fee. so they decided that was simply too expensive. they decided to simply keep track of it themselves. the problem is that they lost track of what they were supposed to keep track of. he complained -- it became a completely opaque and unreliable system, so unreliable that they are not following their own rules about how they keep track of 37% of mortgages in the state of delaware in the name of mers, 60% in the united states under the name of mers. they began to lose track of who owned what. we determined that 22% of the foreclosures we looked at thus far, 22%, mers began at a foreclosure process on behalf of an entity that was not that entity that owned the property of their own books. in one case, mers initiated foreclosure proceedings on behalf of an entity that no longer -- no longer existed. i'll try to put my ear piece back on to make sure i am not just talking. that is better. that is the essence of our complaint. host: has you in the new york attorney general do this, others have lost their own investigations into the mortgage industry practices. what is the difference in what they are looking at and what you two are looking at? guest: back up one step. we are part of the multi-state investigation of the servicing fraud. we are on the executive committee and still are involved in that. we step back a little bit and look that the mers piece of this for the time being but we're still part of a multi-state effort. my colleagues have been investigating that for over year, led by tom miller, the attorney general of iowa. that investigation is limited to servicing fraud and misconduct. anytime you have 50 attorneys general, half of whom are democrats and republicans, agreeing on something in this day and age, you know something has gone terribly wrong. that's why every single attorney general is investigating the servicing banks and servicing entities for massive servicing fraud and deceit. the rose signing scandal the sum of your listeners might have heard about, written about extensively, it is far too benign the term. robo-signing this fall at -- filing false affidavits in court. one person is calling this the greatest fraud and american history. another thing is to attract, far too benign a phrase. banks are talking of both sides of their mouth. a person tries to get on the phone with their lenders, if they can never do that, the big question i have that. once they do, they have some form of modification because they're white got breast cancer and they are in a squeeze, they cannot afford $1,200 instead at $1,500. they ask the bank for summary peace -- for some reprised. they say that you can be made whole. if you can have that discussion, which is a big if, banks say do that for 90 days or three months. probationary period, and then we will probably modify your mortgage. banks sometimes do that, but on the 100th day, after the borrower has complied with and the modification, they get up phone call from the banks say that we are closing on you. we had a discussion. who did you have a discussion with, i do not men who that is? we are foreclosing on you anyway. host: our guest is beau biden, that attorney general of delaware. you can call him on three lines. the numbers are on the screen. delaware residents, we want to listen to you. in the new york times today, their lead editorial talks about the 50 attorneys general looking into it for their concern is a potential settlement with the mortgage to industry. they are concerned about letting the banks off easy. guest: i agree very much with the editorial in today's new york times. they have got it right. the piecemeal approach initiated a year ago by all attorneys general, i think, is the wrong way to go after this. we're going to continue to investigate the servicing fraud, which i tried to outline. but this needs to be done in a much more global fashion. servicing is related to her originating, related to securitizations. the problem with this is that a lot of folks, whether the borrowers were citizens for middle-class americans, americans of all stripes, they are forced to learn a new language. they are forced to learned greek in terms of all of these banking terms. i spent a year-and-a-half learning the language. it is not as complicated says it is made to be. from my perspective, we need to do this and a global fashion. a number of things are wrong with the current state of the settlement, from my perspective. i will give a fair look when it is finally put together and presented to me. but fannie and freddie are incredibly important players in resolving all low -- all that goes wrong in the mortgage- backed security realm and in this industry. fannie and freddie are not even at the table. that is number one. there simply needs to be and there are not contemplated right now admissions of liability. one of the biggest problems we face in america right now, and why you have tea party folks as well as 99 percenters, they see no accountability. no one is being held accountable for anything. in this man-made disaster, the global explosion of the housing market, and the collateralized debt obligation world and derivatives and the housing market on wall street, this is a man-made disaster for which no man has been held accountable. that is what people are angry about. that is why we took an oath of office to do, hold people and entities accountable. this settlement does not do that. it makes no -- it forces no one person or entity to make any admission of any wrongdoing at all anywhere. that is simply unacceptable to me. i think the point that the new york times makes better than i do, this is too little, too late. it seems like a big number, $25 billion, it sounds like a lot of money but it is not to these banks. when using the profits they are making on a quarterly basis. much of this money, the $25 billion from what i am reading in the press, only up to $7 billion of is hard money that the banks would have to pay. the back -- the rest will be credited back and paid for by investors, not the banks at all. there is a lot made of the fact that there is new servicing standards born out of this servicing fraud investigation in salomon. but they should not be rewarding for doing the right thing anyway. you should not have to sell with someone and release claims to make them do what they should have done from the outset. host: we have people lined up waiting to talk to you. my first is actually a tweaked from joseph ramirez. guest: repeat that? host: that the first lender immediately sells the contract and has no stake in whether the deal succeeds? guest: 100%. if i am hearing the tweet correctly, that there is no skin in the game. you know the phrase. that means the investor has no skin in the game, it is incredibly important all point to make. 25 years ago, when you got your mortgage and times became tight, whether the economy or some tragedy that befell your family, you could go to talk to your local banker. they had investment in talking to you because for them to foreclose, they do not want to be in the business of owning your property. that is not what bankers in the business do, owning real estate and selling it. you could have a meaningful discussion with someone to figure out ways you could do something short of foreclosure. but there will be people out there 25 years ago or tomorrow foreclosed upon because they did not honor their end of the deal. but today, the people that actually own the mortgage have no stake in having a discussion with you. to make the larger point, they are somewhere between, the borrower and the investor. the investor owns your note, the borrower is the borrower. in between is a servicing bank. that is the place where you send your money. all they have to do is get their money from the bar were to the investor. at some point, when you stop paying, or they think the borrower is about to stop paying, but stayed they stop paying for four months at a time, $1,000, that principle and interest then due to the investor, the servicer is on the hook to advance to the investor. at some point, that servicing bank that has no skin and the bank, -- skin in the game, they say it is not worth it, fee-for- service is not worth it, and they have an incentive now to foreclose. that is that the heart of salt at the rapid rise of a foreclosure in my bank and california and nevada. the servicing banks have no skin in the game. the only skin care about is making sure that the advances that they have forwarded to the investors, that they are made whole for that. that is why you have the foreclosure problem and you have an economy that cannot be let out of it by the housing market, which is how recovers her typically overcome. host: one more tweet. guest: if he is referring to fannie and freddie, fannie and freddie have a lot of exposure and we're looking at a lot of fannie and freddie's practices. fannie and freddie was overseen by congress. whether or not congress a sufficiently oversaw them, that is a legitimate question. republican dan democrat -- republican and democratic members, there is a legitimate question about whether there was legitimate oversight of fannie and freddie. my job is to hold those accountable scum of those entities accountable that i have jurisdiction over. -- those accountable, those entities accountable that i have jurisdiction over. i focus very much on the banks. if the caller's point, for the tweeter's point is that fannie and freddie have exposure, no doubt they did. when everyone has responsibility, often no one wants to deal with it. but for them to make the point that this is congress's point is ludicrous. host: spring, texas, go ahead. caller: let me get this off the air. out of the way. i supported obama. in his run of to the presidency. but you say you took an oath in all of your buddies took an oath. what about eric holder? he took an oath. all right, you get these credit default swaps. every damn thing, goldman sachs, and all the others investigated by the sec or the ftc, what ever it is, they have got a little bit peacetime's. they made hundreds of billions of dollars over the last 15 years. have walked away with some of them a billion dollars, a parachute, what everyone a call. this was a racket started by jamie dimon, i did not know how much bill clinton had to do with it. bush's treasury secretary is in every one that is a damn attorneys general. host: we will let beau biden respond. guest: eric holder took an oath which he takes very seriously. is the finest attorney general i've ever worked with. your larger point is valid. the reality is that no one has been held accountable. that is why the frustration i hear in your voice, which is very legitimate, which is the frustration i hear in people in delaware. people talk about exactly the same thing you have talked about, a credible and ballot frustration, that no person or entity has been held accountable for this man-made disaster. it is incredibly important for people out there in the real world, in america, that they understand i am frustrated that some of my colleagues do not want to focus on that. there needs to be accountability. i am less interested in getting a major monetary settlement. i am much more interested in your point, in holding someone or some entity accountable. that is why one of the fundamental problems i have with a settlement as described to me in the press is that there are no emissions, and no acknowledgments of wrongdoing and inappropriate behavior, violations of laws, rules, or regulations. look, rules need to be followed in rules were not follow. that is why i am continuing my investigation and that is why eric schneiderman is continuing his investigation, and other colleagues of mine are. as you recall and the caller will know this, in the s&l crisis, which pales in comparison to the crisis we're facing of the last three years, over 1000 people went to jail. over 1000 people went to jail. where the people being held accountable and behind bars for this? host: is that what you're looking for as the and one of your investigation? guest: no, i am a prosecutor in consumer protector. i will not prejudge my investigation by making the larger point in the frustration i heard in the gentleman's voice. in a crisis that pales in comparison to the s&l crisis, which some callers will remember, over 1000 people went to jail. no one or if anybody, no one has been held responsible in a civil enforcement context. what this caller is frustrated about is that some of our investigative partners, with the sec of other investigative agencies he talked about, they investigated and then they settled for what on paper looks like a big dollar amount, but to the party there writes the check, it is not. they do not make any admission of liability or of any fashion. what happens in the criminal- justice is that the system is based on accountability. when you hear in the frustration of the man that just call this, it is easy to write a check and move on. some people what call at the cost of business. i do not, but that is what some people view it has. that is why you see the incredible frustration building across this country, with no one being held accountable for this man mel disaster. host: for beau biden, another caller. caller: i know my mortgage is what bank of america. i had my mortgage for 12 years now. in the last eight months, i have been a little bit late on it. bank of america is driving me absolutely crazy. i have filled out the same paperwork, i am not killing you -- kidding you, 58 times. i am working with them and i am getting letters from tax preparers, i gave the lady in michigan the paper. what i am going to do is pay what i am late, get me back on track, modify my house, i had it for 12 years. i should not have bought by house. i was a hair dresser making $80,000 a year and now make $27,000. i cannot talk to anyone in english. no one knows what is going on. i've ended up getting a liver disease from stress. i did not want to lose my house. i want to keep it. what are we going to do about the bank of america and all this craziness? they are not doing anything. host: go ahead. guest: unfortunately, sir, you are not alone. your story and the situation new phase, you are among many, many, many people. facing exactly the same dilemma. and the essence of the dilemma is that you are unable to get on the phone someone who is willing to talk to you in good faith and who does not force you to recreate paperwork that they cannot keep track of, and that they demand you to have and force you to restart conversations time and time again with different employees of their bank scattered all over the country. one of the things that the servicing investigation is attempting to do and i think will succeed in doing, is having one point of contact. one responsible person for whom you are able to deal with on a day-to-day basis, to see whether or not there is something you can do to work out short of foreclosure and you losing your home. the reality is, some people will be unable to do anything to help modify their mortgage and they will be foreclosed upon. it sounds as though you're willing to figure out a way to find a way to pay your mortgage or pay it at a reduced level, but attack on the arrears on the back end. you can modify the terms of the net for the interest rate, there are a number of ways you can do it that you'd be happy to discuss with your bank. the problem is that that they cannot keep track of the discussions they have with you in their own bank. once you have a meaningful discussion, you get transferred to someone else and you have to resurrect the entire discussion and the terms that you negotiated. that is how bad this is. that is why you see the attorney general of nevada suing bankamerica for just the practice you're talking about. so you're not alone. that does not make you feel any better, but you have folks out there like me you understand it and are trying to do things about it. we're not moving as quickly as we would like. it is something we are very focused on, and one of the solutions is having a single point of contact. if i concur grass -- if i could digressed to delaware, we change the law to death -- in june. it was on just this issue. once the foreclosure is initiated in delaware now, but for the borrower has to answer the complaint, the court has to have a mandatory mediation with the lender has to show up with a person who has resolution authority, who can have that real and meaningful discussion about if there is something short of a foreclosure that can take place. we found out and it is systemic throughout the country, citizens, borrowers, middle- class americans cannot get the banker on the phone to have a real and meaningful fixed -- discussion. it is unacceptable and that is why you see people incredibly angry. i have never seen this level of anger directed at institutions. there are of much of institutions that a lot of people are angry at, and i see why. host: brandon, good morning. caller: i had a question -- is there anything being done, and i like the lawyer talking about passing, it sounds really good. anything being done for the renter? i was renting a home and i did not know that the owner had gone into foreclosure. me and my wife walked up and saw the locks going on. we finally got a hold of the owner, but i did not have time to go to court. i had to find a place to live for me in my family. what could i have done? guest: you can go to my website and contact my fraud division. we would get you in touch with the right people. this is a landlord-tenant issues. we can discuss assistance with landlord-tenant law. caller: thank you for taking my call. my question was partly entered by the fellow from texas. but when your function is to investigate corporations and people for wrongdoing, what you are looking ex are things like mers and credit default swaps and derivatives and so forth. they become the target, and not those responsible for creating them. we need to know who has done this, what they are doing with that, and how you plan the handle that aspect of it. that function exposes that function so it does not hide those responsible. guest: it is a valid point, and our investigation will take us to the entities and individuals, and that is what attorney general schneiderman and i are focused on as we pursue our investigation. as it relates to mers, is the acronym of the mortgage electronic registration system, created by the largest banks and lenders in 1995 or thereabouts, as well as fannie and freddie and wall street investors, to help facilitate the securitization of mortgage- backed securities. onionre peeling back the here, sir. that is the focus of our investigation to make sure we hold individuals and in stupak -- and entities as responsible as we can under the law. i share your frustration. host: you so that you will not release claims that your investigation, including mers securitizations including. why not put that information out there? guest: in our op-ed, what the banks have done from the offset, i'm only one of 50 attorneys general. they came and basically said and this is how i heard it, look, we know you have us on servicing. we know you got as onrobo signing. that is why we stopped doing it on our own. it's like someone coming to my office, you know, we know you got us on the fact that we sold to others that a little old lady did not need. we're willing to settle with you on that. as long as you do not live at the foundation we built for the little old lady and you do not look at the wiring, we will settle with you on the cutters. as long as you do not like anything else. i would never do that with someone who came to me with a home improvement scheme, ever. and i will not do it in context of what has led to the biggest recession in my lifetime and probably the lifetime of anyone listening on the stump. the core of the recession is the explosion of the housing bubble. at the core of the housing bubble is how people began to slice and dice properties, where mers among others lost track of who owned what. all to make a buck on wall street. without any real concern about the impact of the borrower at the end of the day. host: the play that, md., thank you for waiting period occurred on the republican line. caller: i appreciate your efforts. i am a republican but i know the good work that you are doing. to try to correct some any problems. i am a bankruptcy attorney. i have run into these problems all the time. i wanted just to say that the bankruptcy attorneys across the country have been discussing a number of these issues. one of them is the loan modifications, and the hamp program, that home up for modification program. the banks were required to participate in the hamp modification program. which they do not. to our great frustration, the bankruptcy attorneys around the country have been trying to help people get modifications ever since the program came into effect. i would say out of the 25 that i have done over the years, one of them got approved. and that is probably a good representation across the country. but the bankruptcy attorneys have concluded or conjecture at least is that the banks are making more money on the foreclosures than they are on the modifications. so they are not interested in participating on the modifications. host: if you could sum up your thoughts only because we're running short of time. caller: wondering if that is part of your thought process yet, or if anyone is discussing that. guest: sir, you're dead on right. you in the members of the bankruptcy bar, whether republican, independent, democrat, is irrelevant. i have heard from you and the professionals from your bar about this time and time again. the reason that they are incentivized to foreclose versus modify, is because modification takes time and effort. the modification program of hamp, they are not signing up for it to the degree that the administration hoped that they would. the incentives are all for foreclosure for the very reasons you pointed out, as well as the one i pointed out, that the servicing arm's are incentivized to foreclose because they have no skin in the game. they are servicing what they believe to be bad debt and they want the money off the top of the foreclosure that they had to advance to the investor. it is not just my god. it is from spending 18 months investigating this issue. i appreciate what you're doing for your clients and how you articulated this. i appreciate the way you put it. host: from twitter. guest: for a variety of reasons. they are mostly credit card banks. the credit card parts of the banks. delaware is a corporate capital of america. it is something we're very proud of. we have the finest courses in the nation -- courts in the nation, from my perspective, to deal with business disputes. incredibly learned bench, incredibly learned bar. and that is at the core of why so much of corporate america is incorporating there. i have such faith in our courts, by the way, that i am suing this corporation mers, a delaware corporation. it has 56 employees now, interesting va., charged with tracking 60% of the mortgages in the country. i would venture to think that there are counting agencies that have more than 50 employees. one more reason why this is so incredibly screwed up. host: don from illinois, go ahead. caller: there is a gentleman on their representing bank of america and some guy ask him a question in the car really mad and jumped at him, said, what the problem is with you gag, we -- which few people, you'd think that we are a bank. there is all law passed in ohio, people planning two grapevines and saying that they were a form. is that is what is going on with these banks? that his name themselves bank of america and they do this business? guest: well, look, think of of america,anik along with a number of other banks, we are investigating. it might issue is with some of the practices at the highest level of these banks, and how they'll go about not having the discussion that makes it difficult for their customers to have a discussion with them in good faith. i have a lot of views on whether or not, and i have tried to articulate them, how the folks on wall street, the banking community, commercial banking community, as well as fannie mae and freddie mac me to be part of a global resolution of what looks like a complicated issue, but when you dig down into it is not quite as complex as it is made to sound. we need to hold people accountable and entities accountable for the wrongdoing that has occurred that i am uncovering every single day. whether it be some of the larger servicing banks, or other entities here, we need to get to the bottom of what happened. i must end with this if i make. and our complaint only seeks monetary damages of a slide. we seek equitable remedies. we seek the ability for the court to force a change of conduct. that is what we are seeking, a bank-created entity, a bank- owned, and i think if we deal with each of these pieces. wiring of the house, securitization, origination, not just the servicing fees, not just the debtors, we go along way to getting the relief i think the market needs, and most importantly, the american people need. and are not getting. host: 1 political question. your father, vice president joe biden, there has been questions about whether he will be on the 2012 ticket. has he said anything to you about it? guest: the vice president will be on the ticket. host: are you considering another run for the senate? guest: i have never run for the senate. i just got elected to be attorney general. i am in my second term and very happy to be such and proud and honored to be such. host: the delaware attorney general granitas to talk about the mortgage industry. thank you. guest: think you for having me on. i enjoyed it. host: in our last hour as part of art would carry week series, we will take a look at the arlington national cemetery. two people driving us to talk about the processes that go on there, especially the new process seas. -- two people joining us to talk about the processes that go on there. >> an update on the united nations nuclear weapon report on iran. in reports today the president said his country will not retreat, one iota from the nuclear program, but the world is being misled. he went on to say the u.n. international atomic energy association is discredited itself by siding with the absurd united states accusations. these comments are the first since the release of the report they are up on the brink of developing a warhead. -- they are on the brink of developing a warhead. he says the world is heading towards it reversible climate change, and less government cuts fossil fuel subsidies and improved energy efficiency. an afghan officials as many insurance have been killed after the attack bases used by nato and afghan forces in the afghan province. they moved from the border last night. he says afghan and nato forces quickly launched a counterattack, called and coalition aircraft, and the fighting left up to 70 insurgents dead, but no need to service members were killed or wounded in the attacks. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> in the defense of liberty is no [inaudible] . [applause] let me remind you also, moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. >> he lost the 1964 presidential election to lyndon johnson, but barry goldwater's idea galvanize the conservative movement. the five-time senator from arizona is featured this week on the c-span series "the contenders." >> i want you all to know those who wanted me to run so badly and those of you who are so terribly disappointed, that i am doing the right thing. >> i believe 1984 finds the united states in the strongest position in years to establish the realistic working relationship with the soviet union. take of the c-span video library is the definitive source for on- line public affairs. -- >> the c-span video library is the definitive source for on-line public affairs. take c-span with you on your portable device. listen to what you want, when you want, where you want. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] host: if you have been joining us this week at this time, we have been devoting this segment to taking a look at issues of the military. it is today look at the role of the u.s. air force. on monday we talked about the marines. on thursday we will focus on the coast guard. friday we will take a look at other aspects of the armed forces. today our focus is arlington national cemetery. we are going to look at operations and reform effort. it is located in arlington, va., and that is where our guest joins us. joining us from there is kathryn condon, the army national cemetery program. she serves as the executive director of arlington national cemetery. hello. also joining us for this discussion is patrick halinan, who serves as the superintendent. if you want to join in on the conversation with our guest, you can do so by calling these numbers -- host: tell us a little bit about the process that took place at arlington when there were bodies brought in urns brought. what was going on before you are ride as far as categorization, and what has changed since then? what was going on before you arrived as far as categorization, and what has changed since then? guest: we have worked on the changes necessary to bring arlington to this century. we have completely changed from paper records to having a completely digitized cemetery. patrick halinan has worked on operational side. guest: since our arrival, and based on what had happened in the past, it was an extremely important that we put in place a strict chain of custody, some when the remains arrive at arlington national cemetery, we contract goes remains throughout the entire process to the completion of the burial and placement of headstones. host: what was happening a year ago as far as finding out the location of where some people were buried? guest: prior to our arrival, it is a well-known fact with the inspector general report from army, that the assignment of gravesides and some remains being placed in improper great sights or inadequately assigned. improperly assigned or inadequately assigned. we have been working very diligently to restore the trust and confidence of the american people that the problems have been fixed, and arlington is in good hands and and a good stewardship going forward. host: walk as briefly through the chain of custody and what happens when a body arrives. -- walk us briefly through the chain of custody. guest: that is something i would want pat to discuss on the chain of custody. guest: extremely important. chain of custody begins with the arrival of the casket or cremated remains. funeral homes and family members bring it in. there is a six-step process. cemetery rep is assigned. we will go out and meet with the family in the family rooms, sit down with the next of kin. go over the information on the schedule. verify information of the funeral director. the remains will be transported out. the service will be conducted. prior to this service, cemetery representatives will look at the schedules and confirm with the family. we have instituted a process where repaint this section and a great number and gravesite on a concrete great liner and the lid. he or she will verify the schedule and what is on the lid. at the conclusion, they will detach -- attach a biodegradable casket time. section and remember and the date of death. additionally, the cemetery representative will check the temperature marker to insure the information is accurate on the temporary marker. if you want a second internment of a pre-existing grave site, he or she would check the information on the headstone. the processes are detailed. there is a beginning and end to this process prior to the internment where the recession, creekside way out maps, of the grave site map, before the process begins and conclusion at the end of the day. the supervisor will go back and insure the grave sites are properly identified and marked. host: kathryn condon, talk about your role in the process. guest: i am involved with the soldier or airman home in the district. i'd like to make sure -- i say my job is to make sure he has the right equipment, right training and resources to do the day-to-day operation here at arlington and the soldiers home in the district. host: as far as what you have brought over the past year, what has changed as far as resources? guest: what has changed in terms of resources, we have increased the number of employees by 50 percent signed. we have in -- changed and brought in new, state-of-the-art equipment for the work force to do their job. -- what has changed in terms of resources, we have increased the number of employees by 50%. and we have also put in the standards and procedures necessarily to administer every resource here at the cemetery. host: as of today, is everyone properly categorized their at arlington? guest: what we're currently doing is we have an accountability task force that is in place to do exactly that, because we do have a report due to congress december 22 of this year for that accounting. we are 86% through the process of looking at each and every record here at the cemetery. host: our guest will join us until 10:00. there is a lot of background noise. if you could talk as loud as you can, we appreciate it. louisiana, charles of the republican line. you were on with kathryn condon -- are on with kathryn condon and patrick halinan. caller: i would like an answer to this if you can come and it may seem corny to some people, but i can remember years back he would always see crosses out at arlington. crosses all over the fallen comrades. i do not ever see that anymore. has there been any movement to remove crosses from the brawl solid grade? i used to see crosses all the time. guest: i am not aware of arlington ever using crosses at this national cemetery. i am aware of the american battlefield monuments, the graves overseas where they use the white marble crosses the calller is speaking up. i do not believe there has ever been a history here. host: the lines for veterans. good morning. caller: i am from fort church, virginia. and i am a veteran from the u.s. marine corps. in 2001 i was actually trying to find out who would be the point of contact to solve some of the issues, and i am happy to report they have been taking care of. i have solutions that can really improved operations and helped the loved ones to find their locations easier. if you have a solution to improve operations, who would be the point of contact to bring those ideas or suggestions? guest: i will take that one. one of the efforts we're doing in the cemetery is to truly digitize the cemetery, and we are currently working on a smart phone application where you can literally locate your loved one who is buried in the cemetery and have directions to get there. we are a few months away from that, sir, so i think we're already well aware of addressing your concern. host: how many soldiers are there? guest: i would like to answer that. currently as of june, as part of the task force accountability in digitizing of record, 250,958 great sites. we have added approximately 150 per week. those of the grave sites. it is estimated there could be more than one person, as we do and hurt attendance also. ter dependents also. caller: i was wondering what is arlington going to look like in 50 years? in other words, are you ever want to run out of room? guest: right now the projections currently for running out of space at arlington is 2024. however, we have two expansion projects we're working on in the cemetery that will extend the life of the cemetery well beyond 2050. one of the jobs for us is to extend the life of the cemetery as much as possible, so we are we looking at each and every design and all of the available space here on the hills of arlington. host: how many visitors are there at the site, and what does that do for the notion of upkeep there? probablyght now we're the second-most visited site in the washington, d.c., area. we estimate we get over 4 million visitors per year. as for the upkeep, there is nothing more important than up keeping these hallowed grounds for our veterans and loved ones are buried. the more visitors we get to share the history of arlington, the more we welcome each and every day. host: mount pleasant, texas. best on the independent line. -- beth on the independent line. caller: i respect the cemetery and oliver soldiers buried there, but that cemetery was taken from robert e. lee, and i was wondering if they ever heirs?sated his erro guest: they did that take the issue to court -- they did take issue to court and was compensated financially for the seizure of their property during the financial civil war, and he turned around and relinquished the property back to the united states government as a national carrier ground. host: baltimore, a maryland. john on the republican line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am a retired army non- commissioned officer. i do not have a private burial plot. " i qualify when my time comes to be buried at arlington, or are there certain criteria that has to be met? guest: there is eligibility criteria, but you are eligible if you are retired and have served honorably and you will carry on in the entire met -- retirement role. if you are currently receiving retirement pay, you are eligible for burial here, and i think you for your service. host: how many calls do you get like that per week? guest: we average about 200 calls per day, not all about eligibility. we work with the families and assist the families. they need to provide documentation, so to have a copy 214. dd the burden of proof is on the family to bring that information forward. host: one of issues that came up was that a customer service. people calling in and asking questions and getting responses. what changes have been made? guest: one of the major changes we have implemented is we now have a consolidated call center. we now contracts each and every phone call that comes into the cemetery, and as he does stated, we now can tell you that we average 43 of those callers are the of remembers calling in to schedule a service for the cemetery. our focus from the beginning that we took over in the cemetery has been to focus on the veterans and their loved ones who are the ultimate customers here at arlington national cemetery. host: $45.8 million for the fyi 2012 budget. 250,000 service members independents are buried in arlington. 27-30 funeral services per day. tell us about that. guest: one of the things we have had is there is no cost that is too high to honor our veterans and their families. we have had the support of the department of defense and congress to provide the resources that are necessary to up keep arlington national cemetery. guest: if i may add, from a customer service standpoint, we now operate six days per week. arlington is the only national cemetery, and this is as a result of the new leadership team and the hard work, we enter six days per week. it they wish to come in on a saturday, we will perform it on a saturday. the intent is to provide better customer service and great flexibility within the monday through friday schedules. >>host: joining us is kathryn condon and patrick halinan to talk about arlington national cemetery. jake on the republican line. caller: good morning. and i am a young veteran. the first question i have is what percentage of reserve component soldiers or airmen as far as national guardsmen, percentage do you have in the cemetery, and has there been no budget cuts for congressional actions that have adversely affect the cemetery at all, and in no way, shape, or form? guest: the first question about the reserve components buried. i do not have an accurate number, so i do not want to give you a number i am not sure of. but if you're in the reserve component and if you do retire or are injured and sustained an injury while on active duty with the reserve component and you did die as a result of those injuries, or you retired, you would be eligible to be buried here at arlington national cemetery. as far as the budget, congress, on behalf of the american people, has been extremely supportive. we have tremendous oversight based on what happened here in the past, and we have to justify what we go to congress and asked for, and if we do our homework, i am sure it would justify the need, i am very confident congress in the american people will be there to support us. host: how many people on staff? guest: currently 143 civilians on board. we also have that supplemented by 200 contractors to provide the services, mainly landscaping services here at the cemetery. host: annapolis, maryland. thank you for waiting. caller: good morning. i have three or four questions. the first one is i have been to the cemetery, and my taxpayer money goes to a great cause out there, but the tour mobile was not a business as of october of this year. my family was going to have a burial, and i am concerned that my family members are elderly that really want to come to the cemetery will not be able to come on to the cemetery, because most of the tour buses come outside the facility. only that was allowed to come on to the facility. the resources is no longer there, and they're not able to walk around the cemetery. what is in the works to get another contractor to address the mobility issue, especially for our seniors who just cannot walk around the cemetery? guest: i will answer that one. first of all, on behalf of the cemetery, we apologize for the fact that the tour mobile went out of existence, by it i am glad to announce we a been working with the national park service and are in the process of getting another contractor reinstates the tour mobile, because there is nothing we're more concerned about, is to make sure that our veterans and their loved ones who may not be ambulatory are able to visit the following grounds of arlington national cemetery. host: lancaster, south carolina. good morning, arnett. caller: i am a veteran, 1968- 1972. i was arrested at the arlington cemetery outside of the cemetery on the walkway. i was selling water, because for selling statue selling t water and poultry. i was selling water on memorial day, and i have no problem, and then i came back and was handcuffed by the park police. find permits to sell or have a vendor ship in or around the cemetery? guest: sir, you would have to do that through the national park service, because memorial drive is part of the jurisdiction of the national park service. host: behind you we can see the headstones. what information is on there? guest: the information you will find on the head stone will be emblems of belief that the military personnel or their family members served under. name, date of birth, date of death, rank, branch of service, and some headstone's may have a term of endearment byte request of the bay of way. host: how often are they cleaned and maintained? guest: we try to clean them on a yearly cycle. we use soap and water to protect the headstones. we're very successful with the headstones better in the sunlight. very challenging for those better underneath the trees. the mold has a tendency to come back. guest: if i could add, you are looking at just one of 70 sections of the 624 acres that we have here at arlington. do that calculation of the number of headstones that we maintain on a yearly basis. host: are the headstone's made on site? they are not made on site. host: is the contractor with in the united states? -- within the united states? guest: yes. caller: i wanted to make a comment that my husband was buried at arlington seven years ago, and the service they afforded my husband and our family, he was a private, and it magnificentt significant = service. the caring and the chaplain that took care of us, the military people that participated. there was so much honor conveyed to us, and respect, that my whole family will never forget what everyone at arlington did for us that day. it was a terrible experience, but it was a wonderful experience in that we were so cared for. i just wanted to thank you for that. host: what kinds of things went into the service? caller: they had a 21 gun salute. there was a representative from the secretary of the army that presented as with a card. i am sure she did that so many times, but she looked me in the eye and it was so personal, and the intent of it was so caring. the chaplain called me at home a few weeks before the service and talk to me about my husband, and wanted to make it as personal as he could. he spent an hour on the phone with me talking about my husband and the service that he performed was just wonderful. relative of mine that was very high up in the navy, he died and at a service at arlington, and his daughter came to me and said this service was even more meaningful than the higher up officer. it was beautiful. we felt like we were in a cocoon of care. host: if you could respond to that or expand on that. guest: id like to thank the calller in give her my condolences. -- and give her my condolences. you only get one chance to do it right here. these are memories that last for ever with the family. i am really happy she was treated with respect and compassion. that is what the expectation is that we have a. lastly, the service and honors her loved one received were earned. he earned that on behalf of the service to this nation. we are honored and humbled to be in a position to offer the service on behalf of the american people. want to setu though to call in and ask questions, we have set aside a special line for veterans. you can also send us an e-mail. i will ask either of you to respond to a tweet asking is this the only military burial site in the united states? guest: arlington national cemetery is not only military burial site. the department of veterans and the fair has 133 burial sites. they have a number -- a number of states have state burials. host: can you talk a little bit because there are some key sites that people visit, talk about people that still come to the tomb of the unknown soldier, and what other sites to people visit when the come there? guest: i can begin with the tomb of the unknown. the tomb of the unknown is probably one of the most visited sites for tourists. heads of states and dignitaries from around the world come to the tomb of the unknown, along with the american people, to pay their respects for the fallen. very emotional in striking ceremony. the tomb is guarded. it is an actual army post. 365 days per year. the sentinels in changing of guard. -- and changing of the guard. in the summer months it is on the half hour. the soldiers who do such a dedicated and fast it job -- fantastic job. it will pace that tim 21 steps as a symbol of a 21 gun salute, the highest honor a citizen can receive. they will do a facing move, hold for 21 seconds, and then began to march again for another 21 steps. as i stated, if you have come in witnessed it, you cannot help but leave with the last thing and oppression. and -- with a lasting impression. guest: the memorial to 9/11 commemorates all of those who were killed, either on the plane or the pentagon that day, in the significance of that memorial is that literally bases the pentagon. that is also one of the visited sites here at the cemetery. one of the other most notable sites here that visitors come to is the grave of president kennedy. when jacqueline kennedy decided to bury president kennedy here at the cemetery and to like the eternal flame, that has become one of the most visited sites here at the cemetery. as you know, jacqueline is now buried there, along with the president and two of their infant children president kennedy is not the only president we have here at arlington. president taft is also buried here, along with his wife helen. host: saginaw, michigan. ed, go ahead. caller: how are you doing today? i am just calling just to tell you all that cemeteries -- it is a very nice cemetery. i have been there about three times in my lifetime, and the changing of the guard, that is an awesome thing to seek, and upkeep -- every time i come there, the upkeep of the place looks very wonderful. i think you are doing a fantastic job. guest: thank you. i think the calller and i would add -- thank the calller, and i would add that when we look at varying the service members, and when it comes to maintaining these grounds, we need to maintain these followed grounds defending disservice and sacrifices of all of those buried here. that is our mission. everything drives on that, whether it is budget issues for a lot of the questions on eligibility that have come our way. that is the focal point of our mission. guest: if i could add, you stated you visited this absolutely lovely cemetery three times. i hope that everyone gets an opportunity in their lifetime to visit arlington so that they can honor, remember, and explore these hallowed grounds that have such a rich history of our nation. host: if anyone was coming because of the veterans day holiday, what kind of activities are going on? guest: veterans day services start at 11:00 in the morning, but people better planning to come here need to come here much earlier that day so they get your prior to 10:00. it starts out with a public wreath laying ceremony at the tomb of the unknown, followed by a ceremony that is hosted by the veterans affairs at the amphitheater. host: mass., a line for veterans. go ahead. caller: i have an ancestor who served in the civil war and buried at arlington. he has a rather large cre gravestone, not one of those in the background. he passed away in 1911. i was wondering if you could comment on the types of gravestones you have there now. guest: there are a number of different types of headstones. but government headstones are the upright marble. the side of your family member, ancestor you speak of is a private marker. there are 17 sections of the 70. one or private markers are allowed. based on information your giving me, the family decided to utilize a private market that is not a government worker and inscribed the information of the veteran, and i believe his wife. host: an e-mail asked, how can a very couple of a veteran get buried side by side? guest: both eligible military members are entitled to a grave site. some family members just want to be with their loved one, but they are entitled. when we have arrangements for a couple burial, both members are eligible and serve the military, we will issue it side by side, and each has their own grave site and own headstone. host: tennessee, good morning. caller: i would like to know if the headstones are made in the united states right here. guest: yes, they are. they are contacted with granite and marble companies in the united states. host: hilton head, south carolina. democrats line. jennifer. caller: i wanted to first of all say that i have been to arlington quite a few times with my sons, and my father is a veteran of world war ii. he fought in the battle of the bulge, and so respect him and thank him for what he did, and when i went to arlington, my heart just was -- i was so proud, but i was so moved at the same time. i come from the vietnam era, and i love going down at the wall, and -- the great wall. what i wanted i heard there was a veteran's program, and i do not know whether this is part of your area or not that you service or take care of where your family members name on its and the military serving in the army, and is that program is going -- i have heard rumors about it. you take care of that? the great wall? that is most likely the park service. we're not involved with the wall let you speak of. our responsibility is to guard the grave sites. we can put up a memorial marker whose remains were not properly bound or were donated to science. guest: the vietnam wall is part of the park service. host: what is the process in terms of time of having someone buried in arlington? guest: right now we get an average of 43 people calling per day to schedule a service for their loved ones to be buried. we can adopt on an average of 27-30 services per day. the wait time for a loved one to have their veteran buried here at the cemetery all depends on the honors that are rendered. when the use of the chapel, a chaplain and case on. it is conducting only 30 per day. the average wait time depends on the services that the veteran and their family desire to have at that time of the service. host: did you give us a sense of how long that takes. guest: currently we are currently averaging based on their desires, as core units are involved, possible flyovers, the use of loopholes drought, the average wait time can be 73-74 days. that is the current time frame, and the time frame we would like to reduce. at the same time, we want to be careful that we do not impact the families by rushing them. we have the matrix and know the number. we are looking at improvement, but always being mindful of processes. guest: as was stated previously, we are now conducting services on saturday for those families who want to do just placement only and not have the honors, so that is helping us reduce the weight time to bury a loved one here at arlington. host: las vegas, nevada. daniel on the republican line. with a long process that you mentioned to go through to bury the armed services, how is it possible for you to misplaced the remains? misplace the remains? guest: we have instituted a new chain of custody procedures. since we started in june of 2010, we can say that with the procedures we have put in place, that that will not happen in the future. guest: just a follow-up on the caller's question, it is really about the wait time to arrange and ordinate the resources for the military to provide honors that that person has earned. we are looking at reducing that time frame. when it comes to the placement of remains accurately, that is different from the wait time. that is an operational issue, and we monitor that very strictly and closely. host: to both of you and the topic of processes, there is a story on the front page of "the washington post" when it comes to mishandling of soldier remains at dover air force base. guest: the incident at dover, i am very confident that the air force is handling that incident properly and looking into other procedures that need to be corrected. guest: i have learned about it, and it is disturbing and is a concern, but the information is out there. the air force inspector general had investigated and taking corrective action. i am confident that they are aware of the problem and address the problem and taken the correct steps to ensure the remains are being properly handled. host: were either of you contacted by officials at dover about this? guest: we have not been contacted. we are focused on arlington right now. i do think based on what i've seen and read that the united states air force has the correct oversight and that issue under control. guest: one of the things the air force did that we did is put in place a procedure for people to call in that have concerns about what happened at dover, which is what we did here at arlington national cemetery. host: newberry, south carolina. stephen, go ahead. caller: good morning. i would like to sincerely thank kathryn condon and patrick halinan for their efforts. i will take opportunity to remind everyone tomorrow is marine corps day. guest: happy birthday marines. host: tim, conway, south carolina. caller: good morning to you all. i would like to thank each and everyone of you that work at arlington. my father is karoly and has just recently been and turned in pennsylvania. -- my father is currently and has just recently been buried in pennsylvania. i ended up serving in desert storm. i was quite taken aback by the amount -- the words escape me sometimes, the sacrifice that the members of this nation have given in order for us to maintain the freedom. one thing i did want to say as far as the question is when i was there it was a real quick tour that took us into this place, and there was not enough time to see all of the sites on this particular tour. is there anything being arranged to fully tour that site in arlington, so someone that may have sites about service can understand the sacrifice that takes place? guest: one of the things that we're putting in place is to enhance the visitor experience here at arlington through not only a new tour mobile but also to our visitors center, because we true we do realize the value of this hallowed ground to not only our veterans and their loved ones, but for future generations to learn and explore about arlington and military service and all those that have sacrifice for our nation and freedoms. host: north carolina is next. dave on the democrats' line. caller: is there any well-known sports players or actors buried in arlington? guest: as far as sports and actors, i think you have hit the to that everyone is aware of. there are many notable americans that have contributed significantly. to come out here and explore these grounds. i amount here every day, and every day i see something that i did not realize. i look at a heads down and see the history and i learned more about my country the one thing i will say with veterans day coming up, we will pause and remember our soldiers men and women who have fallen, but it also a day to honor those that are with us, my fellow veterans who are out there, to show our appreciation and spend time with them. as the prior calller mentioned, when you come to arlington and walk through these grounds, it tugs at your heart. you really do know what the price of freedom is. you do know about the services sacrifice. we're mindful of that every day. guest: if i could add, we have a new web site, arlingtoncemetry. org. host: is it searchable? guest: it is searchable. cemetery.mil.cemete host: the work they were doing in the summer, as far as taking pictures, will that be available? guest: that is a feature we will be putting in place, as well as an application for your smart phones where you can literally locate where your web one is buried. we are couple of months away from that application, but you will soon be able to look at your smart phone and locate anyone who is buried here in the cemetery. host: york, south carolina. todd on the democrats' line. caller: you all have a beautiful cemetery. i have several family members that were in the military. my question is that i seen it on tv, and in the movies, the headstones, do you leave them or take them up when the scene is shot? guest: if they use what you described as would not be a true headstone. they normally will see the actual headstones. they do a scene at the gravesite, and it is for a movie, that stone would be removed. that would be a replica of a government headstone. that would not be left out here. guest: we respect the privacy of each and every loved one was buried here at the cemetery. -- who is buried here at the cemetery. guest: reservist s are eligible. everyone has access. the cemetery belongs to the american people hos. caller: thank you for taking my phone call. i have an uncle buried, and i used to hear the song from the netherlands quite frequently as i worked around the pentagon and places like that. you do not seem to hear that as much anymore. has it stopped ringing? guest: it still rings. i am not aware of any problem they have had. i have heard them ringing across the field sir. guest: i heard them ringing yesterday. host: if someone wanted to visit, what would you advise as far as a strategy for touring the cemetery? guest: one of the first things i would advise them is to put on comfortable walking shoes. we have 624 acres of the cemetery, and there are every hadst -- every headstone has a story. just do not explored the sites that the tourists normally go to, but walked among the 70 sections, because that is where the true history is. host: melrose, mass.. good morning. caller: good morning. i am convinced of your devotion to duty, and i think you very much for it, and i appreciate c- span giving the american people a chance to be involved. my question is regarding our territories such as lawn and pr. -- guam and puerto rico. guest: great question. if they are in deep eligible and served honorably in meet the criteria of arlington national cemetery, they can -- they do come back and are buried here. host: what are the operating hours of the cemetery? guest: operating hours -- visiting hours, depending on season, 8-4:30 in the wintertime. later in the summertime based on the time of the season. operationally we have times for the stuff to address the workload. host: going back to where it started, to make sure the information is taken correctly, what goes on from here? what are the next steps? guest: we, as i stated previously, have completely digitize the operation at arlington. we will -- our accounting will carry that forward where we will have a photograph of each and every gravesite that will be digitally attached to the record that are buried of the individuals that are buried here at arlington, and as i stated before, we're working to expand the cemetery grounds for the future at arlington. host: you talk about having a process. who oversees that? who was directly responsible for that? guest: everyone is responsible for the chain of custody of remains. myself, that become a general foreman, work leaders, a senior members of the groups. that responsibility lies with all of us. we spoke to digitizing the records, but we're also looking forward to we could operate effectively in the 21st century. we want the technology to be capable as we go forward to assist families, and also to help us do a better job of operating and maintaining the grounds. host: one more call on our veterans line. samuel. caller: good morning. can i first go ahead and second everyone's opinion that this is a great forum to discuss such a worthy institution. the question i have is are there any reports, history, any instances where the paranormal or what could be considered supranatural, or what could be considered downright out of the ordinary, has there been in any instances of that? guest: not that i am aware of. i have no personal experience of it, and i am not aware of others, but i am sure if your here alone and walking around at here alone and walking around at

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