the present unit two bedrooms op the one unit and studio in the little downstairs in-law unit. now is a studio living room consider a bedroom or not? staff is apparently saying that it is because they are saying that the new project doesn't have more bedrooms than was the case before. what is the interpretation of what a "bedroom" is? >> i don't know there needs to be an [tp-erpgs/] on what a "bedroom" is and the department of building inspection has their requirements of what a "bedroom" is. "bedroom" you can have a studio with sleeping space in it and one-bedroom apartment with a separate area from living/dining and other area. i have to admit i'm not entirely clear on the questioning. >> when you or another member of the staff did not -- said the project does not -- is not conforming by adding more bedrooms, because you claimed that in your report, that there were already three bedrooms. there were two bedrooms on the top and a studio room, which is being used as a bedroom on the bottom. so therefore, i thought i interpreted it to be three afterward, two before. and that is

units and replacing those with lesser units it inconsistent with the general plan and both the exhibits 3 and 4 says that that is inconsistent with the general plan the department inexplain ably reaches the opposite conclusion and called the new luxury condo to be put in on clemente department does note tyler balancing going on there are policies and regulations and the housing that are in conflict there's tension between the creation of less affordable new housing and the retention of those smaller affordable rent controls this is nothing new that is this issue has existed for decades the resolution of that is also existed for decades it is found in the priority policies of the general plan established by prop m as i spell out on page 2 of our supplemental brief the priority policies were specifically established to be the basis on which inconsistent in the general plan are to are resolved if the department finds itself in conflict with building new concussion it has to find in favor of preserving the existing housing this is what the policies are for and why they're there department a

units that will be in be in block 1. there are a combination of 1, 2, 3 and 4 bedrooms both flats and some town homes there there will be 76 replacement public housing units and 46 affordable units for that 122 total. and then you can see in another unit tab tab at the top, a more refind breakdown of the types of loans whether it be a 1 bedroom flat or 2 or 3 or 4 bedroom flat. the chart shows the number of accessible units. there's a total of 10 percent of all of the units will be accessible. there there will be 15 of those and then there is another 4 percent of units so approximately 7 or actually there there will be 7, that are for the hearing-impaired so total there there will be 22 accessible for visual and hearing-impaired and on on the accessible the balance of the units not accessible will be adaptable. >> here's a ground floor layout of block 1 and it shows the parking spaces so for the 122 units there there will be 61 parking spaces available. and then if you noted, off of arelious walker you turn into donner a

to the unit above. the garden unit is currently a non-conforming units which cooperate be enlarged under planning commission's -- plasing code section 181 and cannot be moved to another location. the proposed move of the non-conforming unit upper unit is contrary to planning code section 181 a and 1991 interpretation of the zoning administrator. on this overhead, you can see that -- this is in regards to the addition. at the pre-apmeeting notice, the addition was 7.5'. and that is what changed to 10'. and also, the measurement of the addition was taken not from the rear wall as required. it was taken from the next level, the second-story pop-out and that is incorrect. it should be measured from the rear wall at the ground level. so that is something that is critical to this case and i hope that you would change that addition to 7.5'. also what i have for is from the richmond review, the planning board of supervisors decision to overturn your approval of 26 avenue and clement. and it was decided that the

in in my opinion i will in the richmond district for a a long time with 3 bedroom new united for 11 hundred secret it's really affordable - >> thank you. next speaker. >> hi, i'm amy lee i'm not not working on this project but speaking as a resident of the richmond district i'm a single mom of 3 i'd love to have those size of rental apartment this is a city that is favorable unfriendly with one bedroom studios i've moved to the richmond and stuck in a house this is too expensive because they're not unit like this available to families like myself i felt strongly but this project and feel for marching she is he is so developed previous projects that are skeptic to the community and i understand you guys have an important citywide policy with affordability but we're looking at 2 units that are 2 hundred and 50 sfooet e square feet and the other one thousand plus not assessable for anyone to rent i understand we have a challenge and major affordability problem but moving forward this particular development it might be weighing on her shoulders being the fact she's looking at building t

finally, there's we're really interested in findings what is our role in the 10 thousand units through the entitlement process first one we did was take a look at how long does it take for long term and middle units from the environmental review to the construction we take a look at basically 50 units size projects those thresholds are at the time set for that if we want to produce the units on time the largest project will be entitled to the planning department in 2016 and starred construction in 2018 this helps us zoom in on what the planning department needs to achieve some smaller projects stretch auto past the timeline bus that's our initial piece we've made great progress and working to create a web tool to allow the public and folks to see our intermediate goals and progress throughout the years. >> and then specifically there have a lot of questions how to reach the 10 affordable units that to me that's the biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity of the work we're doing and as you can see this is a profile of with where the units we know about and the affordable housing p

and 248 will be affordable housing units these two types of units will be developed by the developer on future housing authority land and the remaining units will be developed and there there will be 382 market rate units and ami levels between eighty and 120 percent and and 120 percent. all the obligations pertaining to the alice griffith development are captured in the master development agreement including all of the financing provisions further described by jeff white the program manager. >> good afternoon commissioners and director bohee. so i'm going to give you a little bit more background that's more specific to the dd a. before the redevelopment agency and some of this you are probably already familiar with but i i wanted to run through it pretty quickly again the former agency entered in a disposition and development agreement dda or with cpdefco an cpdefco an affiliate of lenare the below market rate housing plan is an attachment to the to the dda we call it the housing plan and specifically describes the roles and responsibilities related to the redevelopment of alice gri

so what george washington wanted as president of the united states was some territory for the united states to govern over and wanted a definition of the state boundaries and a clarity of the nation and the peoples' lands. what the president was trying to do was stop any possible encroachment by european nations, stop any overreach and harm to native people by the states and to enter into secured peace and friendship forever arrangements with the peoples. he was trying to secure the northern and southern, western borders of the united states. and these were buffalo, savannah. we're talking about really eastern western borders at that time. and that was the united states. so the nations had similar goals. they wanted peace and friendship with the united states as a matter of necessity as well as a matter of inclination. they wanted someone to be in charge of stopping the aggressiveness and the lawlessness of the people who were flooding into their lands from europe. and these were europeans and new americans, settlers of all kinds who were encroaching on the native lands. so they want

these units are being offered at 30 percent ami we provided start up fubding for the creation of a new program at bishop, the bill sorrel housing program, named for the late beloved community activity bill sorro this provides assistance in completing affordable housing applications and we also acquire this had year a small residential site in soma where we were able to stabilize 5 low income households and maintain their rents as permanently affordable and we also built a pedestrian street light for russ street in front of minola park. we are seeking $500,000 in expenditures. mohcd released a request for proposal in august of this year foe 3 program areas. first was acquisition of a community program, 2 was for college prep and 3 was strategy consulting intended to provide fund develop. consulting for the entire soma fund portfolio. 7 bidders came but we only received one proposal. the proposals we received were reviewed by me along with a member of the soma cac, we made recommendations to the full cac to fund west bay and up at their full request and the cac voted unanimously to appro

units. the commission unanimously approved the project one of those neighbors also appealed the building application based on same concerns. however the board of appeals affirmed the commission's decision and voted unanimously to deny the appeal and uphold the issuance of the building permit. >> thank you. >> commissions that places you under general public comment not to exceed a period of 15 minutes. at this time members of public may address the commission on items of interest to the public that are within the subject-matter jurisdiction of the commission, except agenda itemsment with with respect to agenda items the opportunity will be afforded when the item is reach in the meeting. each member of the public may address the commission up to 3 minutes. i have no speaker cards, but i will take a look. >> is there any general public? seeing none, general public is closed. >> item 9, case no. 2015.0515e. this is the potrero hope sf project draft ivory and eis and please note that written com

on one application for the in-law units the department a working to have an accessory unit go will overtime a residential can't add an additional unit this handbook will help with the san franciscans in our area there are 3 ongoing efforts related to the second goal of achieving affordability you i'm to direct your attention the mayors you housing group has been exploring the alternatives in the inclusionary housing program currently offsite projects provide 20 percent of the offsite units located within one mile and have it's first certificate of occupancy at the same time as the principle project those are currently under review and considering ways to make the offsite alternative more appealing the department is working to develop a local bulthsz program under state law the housing program with 5 or more units that provide onsite affordable housing are eligible for benefits we want to understand a program to implement the law and courage more affordable housing to be built on site the mayor's office working group sets high targets the central selma plan is a plan currently under review t

unit. close. united intervention force. this is a us-led mission. we are not going there with permission to be there. if you remember some of the footage, literally the marines are coming in from the beaches catchhe cameras there to it. they're coming in with very aggressive rules of engagement. they have the right to defend themselves if they are attacked. they are not going to duck and cover. these are u.s. marines. they just got finished fighting the gulf war. they are not going to let some 18-year-old threaten them. it comes in as a robust military mission into somalia ad it is, by any measure, success. it goes in, almost immediately the starvation stops. it is a fairly >> thing to move food from boats onto trolleys to get them into relief camps. almost immediately the mission begins to do what we think the mission should do what did this happen. we can think of it as the cne and -- cnn affect. of whatcertainly part brought us here. but there were studies done. what is the role of the news media here? did it bring us to somalia or did policy mak

but to be clear today, it's two rent control units and today, there are two residential units neither one is going to - >> okay. >> and has not been. >> supervisor kim. >> thank you i just had two questions actually, i wasn't going to ask but there are actually a member of the public said she was a tenant in 2003. >> there's a care taker it was broken into and it is vandalized so one of her sons friend that graduated from college looking for a job and so she offered the apartment for him to stay in while he's looking for a job so the place will be vandalized. >> when did the owner purchase those. >> in 2013. >> in 2013 so when it solid it was vacant. >> yes. >> and the last known tenant was the caretaker. >> not consider taker didn't move in until may have 2013 and he didn't pay any rent. >> okay. back to actually, my earlier question because i'm interested in looking at a number of different options what did the option look like in terms of i'm not the your building on the vacant lot next to the two unit building. >> the problem is again, the size of the lot what is left of it by the

present could be expanded if built right could fall under rent control they can add more rent control unit by expanding the building so the thought we're trapped into options we don't have is not true here's with the developers the department asked them to do a 25 percent rear yard on both of the rear lots there are a lot of confusion the lots have not obey subdivided it's one lot here's what the department pretty much asks for 25 percent of each lot at ground floor they saw an exception and said the reason we need this exception we can't put rear yard or synonym those are odd lots this is much of a disappointment from the neighbors they were not flexible about the rear yard and open space they proposed less than 10 percent zero rear yard and open space in lot a and the possibility of expanding the lots and building on b there's a lot of possibilities out there there's really no limits on what can be approved as dictated by zoning it requires the demolition of sound rent control units thank you. >> thank you, mr. williams colleagues any questions to the parties? okay. at this point this he

rockefeller, i am concerned about the united states of america, in the united nations or global government. when we look at things that are in the united nations, cumin rights commission and the they things, we understand recently the parents of michael brown from ferguson, missouri travel overseas to europe to go make a complaint before the united nations commission on terrorism. i got a big problem with the united nations trying to come in and supplant our rule of law and the status by which we established the united states of america. think about the un resolution 16-18 and how that is classifying certain speech against certain religions to be seditious and you could be open to criminal punishment. those are the types of things we have to be concerned about. the united states is a sovereign state and when you have people don't believe we have a border that should be protected, that should cause you a lot of concern. that does not say that we as americans are not benevolent. we are the most benevolent people in the world but the founding fathers wrote in three different parts of the cons

132 units. 15 of those will be inclusionary units bmr, below market units. you will receive updated package which includes horizontal performance and data table combined with schematic designs and development agreement. the commission will also be making environmental findings with ceqa. ship yards context and history. the development will be done in two phases with the hunters land shipyard itself totaling nearly 800 acres. the first phase of the shipyard was approved in the development agreement fl 2003 and the second one approved in 2010. the mixed use development program for 12,000 housing units. the location block 56 and 57 on the hill top portion of the phase area on the upper portion of this slide here. as i mentioned the commission approved these designs initially to make it more feasible the background on the previous approval on july 2013. for 98 housing units 12 of which are bmr units in the entire package units for designs and vertical dda. under the phase 1 dda the developer has 12 months to execute an article dda or seek an extension. they can

is he already in the united states? >> he took another plane outside cuba into the united states. you are understanding, he is in the united states and will be staying here. u.s. official said to me that this information that he provided the u.s. government was critical in terms of wrapping up intelligence networks on the u.s. military bases, on information about cuban exiles here in the united states. officials today calling him a hero. >> but they haven't released his name yet? >> they're not going to release his name for security purposes. >> can i just say what we're seeing play out here already on the political side. we've just learned that house speaker john boehner is against this normalizing of relations. we says the united states has given what he calls mindless concessions. you add to that what we heard marco rubio say, jeb bush has also said we shouldn't be negotiating with an oppressive regime. marco rubio saying we have conceded to the oppressors. generally what this plays into is the story line of republicans heading into 2016, of course, that this is a president who

and will replace them with 6, 3 bedroom unite increasing the housing stock but eliminating two units of rent control and each other also i'll say the demolitions of the building like this are not in the richmond district by throughout the city i'm trying to keep that in prospective we have to focus on sections 303 and 317 from our codes i want to say i was trying to look at the infraction framing we're trying to make tough decisions one year ago the mayor ed lee issued a directive 1301 for the preservation of housing stock any read of that directive we should be doing everything to preserve the rental housing stock as we're going through building more market rate units especially and also trying to understand how this to listen to the san francisco housing plan with the objectives one, 2 and 4 that really promote the preservation of the existing affordable housing stock in our city as well with that, i'll say that the residents who are in support of the appeal i feel they're raising significant and important concerns about the loss of this affordable housing and whether a project lik

between united players and john hommond and second, resolve if within the tenure of the period of the grant united players enter into contract to sell 1038 howard street and acquire a different building for the same purpose, united players may transfer the equity of the property to the new property provided that some of the conditions that claudine delrosario described, one, that you obtain prior approval from the mayor's office, the building is located within the soundaries of the south of market as described in planning code section 3-18, which is the enabling legislation, and the building is used to provide services for the residents of soma under the requirements of the south of market stablization fund and finally that all recitals per the grant agreement apply. >> thank you so much for the details on that agreement. thank you so much. any questions, colleagues? >> thank you, we haven't heard from the budget analyst yet but i'm looking to make an amendment based on the input from miss delrosario >> so we have a report from our budget analyst. >> yes, mr. chairman, supervisor aval

if the united states is faltering because it's basically a bankrupted country. the credit was gone by the fall of 1814. they might have made the leap in the spring. we won't know because peace comes along to interrupt all of this. >> since we're here in jefferson land, jefferson said that the conquest of canada is a mere manner of marching, and i was wondering if you got the sense that either in washington or actually on the ground on the american side of the border, that was sort of an active understanding of how this plays out. wave our flag and hand out an invitation, and there would be no real fighting in the war of 1812. >> well, there's a widespread belief that there will be some fighting, but it will be very easily one. it is in large part because they think, well, look, most people in upper canada are american, and they won't fight us. we'll deal with the british regularrers and roll over them easily, so jefferson's quotes say we can get to the gates of quebec in year one of the war, and then year two will be mopping up, capturing quebec and oust the bri

united intervention force. united. because this is a us-led -- u.s.-led mission. this is not a touchy-feely peacekeeping mission. we are not going there with permission to be there. if you remember some of the literally, the marines are coming in from the beaches with the cameras there to catch it. they're coming with very aggressive rules of engagement. you can read some of them up there. they have the right to defend themselves if they are attacked. they are not going to duck and cover. these are u.s. marines. they just got done fighting the gulf war. they are not going to let some 18-year-old thugs who are likely stoned on a narcotic they chew, right, threaten them. so the u.s. comes in as a robust military mission into somalia and it is, by any measure, a tremendous success. it goes in, almost immediately the starvation stops. because the marines are largely unchallenged, right? it is a fairly simple thing to move food from boats onto trucks and trolleys to get them into relief camps. almost immediately the mission begins to do what we think the mission should

we will speak to a member of the united nations committee against torture. then a new report reveals u.s. drone strikes kill 28 unidentified people for every intended target. we will also speak to a peace activist, father of four, who faces two years in prints and dutch prison in sentencing today for protesting outside air national guard in syracuse, new york. >> a kangaroo court. as has been mentioned, these orders of protections which are a very and installation of the law, getting away with this. they're trying to keep what goes on over there a secret. the true scene of the crime. >> and organizers in the united states are holding a national day of action to protest the u.s. role in the mexican drug war and the disappearance 43 mexican students in september. actions you'rehe going to hold will have repercussions. not only for us, but students of the school, but for the parents and the thousands of families across the country. >> and finally, a climate caravan is stopped in ecuador. their bus confiscated on its way to the u.n. climate change conference in

there are 7 blocks with 504 total units, 256 of those units are replacement public housing units and 248 are affordable units. block 1 will have 122 units and in another slide i'll present the breakdown a little bit more but as you can see there's a total of 7 blocks and they are blocks 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 14. this slide shows a breakdown of the units that will be in block 1. the chart to the left shows the number of replacement public housing units and the number of affordable units that will be in be in block 1. there are a combination of 1, 2, 3 and 4 bedrooms both flats and some town homes there there will be 76 replacement public housing units and 46 affordable units for that 122 total. and then you can see in another unit tab tab at the top, a more refind breakdown of the types of loans whether it be a 1 bedroom flat or 2 or 3 or 4 bedroom flat. the chart shows the number of accessible units. ther

the last vote at the united nations on this question of an embargo of the united states, the united states was on the short end of that by a count of 192-2. so the president saying that you do something for five decades, it is clearly not working it's time to change strategy. what a dramatic event for the president, to be on the phone for 45 minutes last night with raul castro, the first and really only communication we know about in some five decades. >> indeed. jamie if memory serves me directly, president obama had an impromptu handshake with raul castro at nelson mandela's funeral this year. but this is taking a lot of people by surprise. >> and one of the things that people are debating is what did the united states actually get out of this deal? that was part of the criticism from marco rubio, and one benefit the u.s. right reap from this, is support from many of the countries in this hemisphere as mike viqueira pointed out, the u.s. was pretty much alone in the world in supporting this embargo. and it was a problem for other countries in central and south america, because whe

it has been done. >> but given that john do you think given that fact, that the united states the united states could possibly create some kind of coalition of nations that have some kind of standards for cyber spying in some way? it seems very unlikely at this point. >> sure. >> you can see standards or somethi something. our adversaries in an aggressive way but the question is how effective would a pact among our allies be in stopping what the north korean versus done in this case. >> guys to john's point there it was just a year agatha the united states actually indicted five chinese military officials and said they were involved in cyber tacking against the united states and the united states and china has been on going although very subtle and not with this level of damage politically and economically visible as we're seeing in the sony attack. >> exactly and to his point remember when he came to california in 2013 the president was going to raise the chinese cyber hacking in a serious way and then the nsa disclosures came out and that hamstrung his ability to confront the chinese.

allows for 8 unit as stated by the planning staff will there be 8 smaller units. >> no, this building is all right. maxed out in terms of height so if you go to one to have 8 units urge you to have to take one of the 8 bedrooms and reduce it in size. >> i got it okay. but it's great to hear there's an interest in working out a solution we need more time to talk to the members of the public but i appreciate there's movement on the dialog. >> colleagues any further questions to the project sponsor. >> okay. at this point why not hear from members of the public who wish to support the project sponsor. >> good morning supervisor i'm george i'm the retired real estate business broker along richmond resident i have a question i'd like to address a question that supervisor jane kim brought up this builder she built a of unit building and 3 of them are actually affordable as you can get square footage is 11 hundred secret so to swedes 3 bedrooms in 11 square feet is not easy that's pretty much any private builder can do on affordable basis now if you take an additional unit for the affordable

>> sir, you need to come up to the microphone. >> you're required to have a parking space per unit. >> we can condition it. >> i just asked the question so okay. >> great. >> just the public hearing closed i'm not sure. >> we're in the midst of commissioner comments. >> we've not closed the public hearing and the public hamburger period is closed. >> you're answering because unifying your representing the project sponsor. >> okay, i will just is this is a my one question misunderstood and my one i definitely like going from one unit to two i have no particular anonymity towards two or three it would be nice to say units in the mix of the units that are there when you look at the design of the building and have it better respond to the neighborhood the unit size will not necessarily restrictism i have no comments on the current design i think the unit size will be more responsive to the neighborhood so thank you. >> commissioner hillis. >> so, i mean i can support a continuance we need direction we're hearing things from the neighborhoods my kids go to ma kindle some people want to kee

day here in the united states. i hope you will come many times to the library to see our exhibition. this concludes our program. i would please ask that you remain in place while the special delegation exits the hall. thank you very much. [applause] [drum roll] ♪ [applause] >> you are watching american history tv, 48 hours of programming on american history every weekend on c-span3. follow was on twitter at c-span history for information on our schedule, upcoming programs, and to keep up with the latest history news. the c-span cities to her takes book tv and american history tv on the road, traveling to u.s. cities to learn about their history and the very life. this weekend we partnered with time warner cable for a visit to waco, texas. >> as we began to receive the files to be digitized and saved, we began turning over that be sides of the 45s. gospel music was not widely heard in the white community. if it was, it would only be the hits, if that. the b side would be heard and even less. bewas incredible how m

we're the united states. we're not some small country halfway around the world we're the most powerful country on the planet, we're their closest neighbor. their number one priority of the cuban government is to affect u.s. foreign policy towards cuba and you see this consistently reflected in the people they try to influence in academia and the editorials that have now been a steady stream of editorials in the "new york times" and the folks that are walking around the cabal here and the members and colleagues of mine that are constantly being reached out to by the regime. -to-try to get them on their side for these changes there's a reason for that. they know if they can open up u.s. markets they will have american companies investment in the status quo in cuba. and what you're going to have now is american companies doing business in cuba advocating here for us not to do anything to disrupt the status quo because it's good for their bottom line. and i know that to be true because last week we passed a bill

now he's here in the united states. >> this is a foreign asset now in the united states. it's good that he's back. >> and the price the u.s. paid, though, was it worth it? >> i'm just saying, wolf, in reality, when you go into these negotiations, get something that makes the negotiation worth it. at the end of the day, what would have been worth it is to get cuba to open its system so that workers are paid directly. >> so mr. chairman, if that happens, if there's an easing of the oppression. remember, result castro, fidel castro, they're well into their 80s right now. we don't know what the new leadership is going to do. but if in fact this step by president obama eases the repression, improves the relationship between cubans and americans, it will have been worth it? >> if we get this other step that i've just suggested where the workers are empowered to get their paychecks directly. and the money doesn't go into the account which is spent to subvert governments. i'm just back from latin and central america. i've seen the damage cuba has done by funding revolution in sou

i wanted to thank rudy, misha and the whole united players crew that came out today. your work is incredibly inspiring and hopefully it spreads throughout the city, the spirit you bring into the chambers today. i think the dream people talked about for a safe space and secure home for philipino people and low income people of color in general is a dream for many and this is an example of how the city can really support that for the future and to the cac and the stablization fund folks that have spoken, it's really a great example from the west bay work to housing justice in this horrible crisis of displacement that's going on around us, but it's an inspiration and thank you so much for bringing that into the chambers today and i would like to be added as a cosponsor of this as well. >> supervisor avalos has a motion to accept the underlying item as amended. we can take that without objection. >> mr. chair, before that i would like to request that the department provide the clerk's office with the amended legislation before 9:00 am tomorrow morning. >> okay, we will ma

. >> today the united states of america is changing its relationship with the people of cuba. and the most significant changes in our policy in more than 50 years, we will in an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests and instead, we will begin to normalize relations between our two countries. >> president obama announces the united states will restore full diplomatic relations with cuba for the first time in more than half a century. part of the deal includes cuba's release of u.s. contractor alan gross, as well as a cuban spy. the u.s. released the final three members of the cuban five. cuban president raul castro also addressed the cuban people. >> this in no way means that the heart of the matter has been solved. the economic, commercial, and financial blockade, which causes enormous human and economic damages to our country, must cease. >> we will spend the hour in a roundtable discussion, we'll go to havana to speak with kornbluh, who wrote, "back channel to cuba: the hidden history of negotiations between washington and havana." gd we will

he was sent here by the united states as part of u.s. programs to essentially instill democracy in cuba. there was a failure and alan gross was caught almost immediately. he didn't speak spanish. and they used him as a bargaining chip to get these other intelligence agents back which is really what the cuban government wanted more than anything. i've been told from sources over the year that if fidel castro had to choose from lifting the embargo and getting these three men back, he wanted his men back. he's a military man and apparently no man is left behind. it's very interesting that why there is this loosening, of course the cuban embargo will remain in place. president obama cannot lift that. but he's doing just short of that which is allowing more american to travel here, more american to send money here. and cubans are just waking up and learning this news. it hasn't been reported yet in the cuban press. this will be very welcomed news for the people who felt a cut off from their neighbor, the united states. >> president obama will

the united states is a pacific power. we have a vital interest in freedom of navigation and overflight in these disputed areas which are vital to economic security and lawful commerce in the region. these are universal rights, i want to repeat that. these are universal rights. not rights granted by some states to others. not rights that china thinks it can dominate and be aggressive in terms of claiming the seas as its own, even though many of those seas are literally thousands of miles away from mainland china. tensions in the east and south china sea have been stredstedly increasing for the last several years. provocations have become bolder and more freak and little progress has been made on a code of conduct in the south china sea to establish rules of the road among them. when i went there more than a year ago with chairman royce we were told by the government of the philippines and japan that they were very, very concerned with what china has been doing in claiming. but the united states does not take sides in these

one way i could read the news is the united spend some -- united states build up an iraqi army and as soon as they were left alone they fell apart. which would imply the money was wasted. was it? >> most of the money was wasted. much of the economic development money was wasted. much of the money we spent sending american troops improperly trained for counterinsurgency was wasted. a lot of the actions many units took including some actions my own unit took exacerbated the insurgency rather than clamping get down. >> on the macro scaled the trillion dollars, $2 trillion we spend much was wasted. the money we spent training, equipment, raising the iraqi army allowed him to depart in 2011 with an iraq that was recently stable, reasonably democratic and that the president of the united states and the vice president of the united states proclaimed as an american success story. it seems so very long ago but what they failed to do with having made that enormous investment, the continuing investment, a life-insurance policy to rein in the sectarian influences of the iraqi government and conti

no other building that and have a more moderately he seized unit it's over the height unit once you consider the penthouse fire escape stair landing if he has they've been most receptive in meeting with us but the changes they made were minor they might have already had you know those plans ready this is not an egregious project but it should be better third-story with one modestly priced unit thank you very much. >> thank you. next speaker. good afternoon. i'm one of the homeowners on the street thank you for staying this late to hear our concerns pittsburgh it's been a very long day as my husband mentioned we appreciate some of the minimal efforts the architect has made for the proposed height and footprint but we don't feel they've heard our impacts on the neighborhood and specifically open our home i want to support the efforts against the demolition of the third-story we're not opted to alexander units but san francisco has an affordable housing and home and replaces it with two unaffordable homes it's the economic and architecture diversities is clipped away by people rvrp the

the same united nations that did nothing when cuba, last year, was caught helping north korea evade united nations sanctions. this entire policy announced today is based on an allusion. on a lie. the lie and the illusion that more access to goods will translate to political freedom for the cuban people. all this is going to do iis give the castro regime -- which controls every aspect of human life -- the opportunity to manipulate, to perpetuate itself and power. these changes will only lead to greater wealth and influence for the regime. especially the military, which controls most if not all of the cuban economy. and controls all of its oppressed people. these changes will lead to legitimacy for a government that shamelessly, continuously abuses human rights. but it will not lead to assistance for those whose rights are being abused. it is just another concession to tyranny by the obama administration, rrather than a defense of every universal and an inalienable rights that our country was founded on it stands for. in short, with these changes are going to do as they will tighten this reg

will be replaced with 6 new units a net dollars have had units and replaced by 15 bedrooms through the existing units are subject to rent control they would be rent out at current mandatory as the new units will be in addition the appellant claims it was contrary to public policy we described it our memo the project is unbalanced consistent with city policy and the necessary finding for conditional use and the removal were found and approved by the commission now, it's good to note the finding of the consistent involve a balancing of all of overall consistency so the board should reexamine the finding perhaps this project talked about the city's crisis we look to you how the policies should be interpreted don't be mislead by the journey for the appellants you've mentioned past cases the board has denied units those with not new housing instead those were mergers where the city sees a loss of units we disagree this approval is contrary to all public policy the general plan policies courage the retention of the housing and it is a rare project that is consistent with all of the policies

for people preaching from the united states? just to a jury's briefly your questions. there are differences. one common theme is the attraction of foreign fighters to the conflict, the idea that sunni muslims are being attacked and you to be defended. this is a fairly common theme throughout the conversations i have had with our foreign partners as to the reasons -- the primary reasons -- the foreign fighters are tracked it. there are variations on this theme. i have had conversations with officials who pointed to the fact that foreign fighters from their country are coming from the poorest areas, and their foreign fighters are being told that if you go to syria, you get paid and have a job. you will have status. the ideological element is less important. i have talked to partners in southeast asia, where in some cases the motivation seems to go to get training, get skills they could be brought back to the home country to potentially be used in terrorist activity and the home country. again, not so much ideological motivation. t

what would happen if one of to the united states? to get into going hypotheticals -- i do want to somebody has where been identified as a foreign for isil in hting syria and it is possible to person, they e on a be in all likelihood no-fly list that will attract a great deal of attention before they can get on a flight to the u. s.. >> let's be as specific as we can. regarding the no-fly list, they would never be able to come to the u. s.? >> they would not be able to fly here. obviously, the no-fly list does not apply to other forms of transportation. continue continue live online at cspan.org. we will leave it there. there are nine bills to be debated in the house today. they're coming up after 6:30 pm. we continue to hear the president obama will nominate ashton to take over. both will happen throughout the afternoon. coming if the senate is into session -- it is in session, a number of lawmakers voting. before the house gavel, house and senate republicans are planning a retreat in january. republicans scheduled to convene in hers

historically the united states government would not be -- and then that person migrated to the united states. historically the united states government would not represent that person diplomatically. the question -- the second question relates to whether -- the broader question that robert has addressed and that is the premise, as i understand it of our discussion about helmsburton, is that the president has authority to modify the regulations and presumably that would implicate and incremental adjustment and not a comprehensive adjustmented, that that would raise much more difficult questions under helmsburton. i'm not prepared to address that broader question today but maybe robert is. >> in the handout, i talk about trade. under current regulations, all imports from cuba are prohibited. it's a specific section. but the president can amend that and has in areas like allowing cuban medical products to come into the u.s. the problem is -- you could do it wholesale, you could do it incrementally in the case of non-state producers in cuba or you could do it wholesale. but, you run into