He was the first africanamerican student body president and his law degree from new york university. After law school he spent a month in new orleans playing trumpet and becoming friends with wynton marsalis. Then he worked in a law firm and later served in the u. S. Department of justice and on the staff of the house judiciary committee. He returned to charlotte in 2001 to work in a law firm there and got elected to the Charlotte City council in 2005, and he was reelected in 2007. He was elected the citys mayor in 2009, the youngest person ever to hold that job, and he was confirmed as the 17th transportation secretary in june of 2013 by a vote of 1000 a rare moment of bipartisanship. So much for biography now on to the everpopular process portion of our program. As always, were on the record here. Ive been told our guest may commit news this morning and so youre listening to the following ground rules your listening to the following ground rules is important. As is always the case at these gatherings it just chokes me up. Excuse me. [laughter] just an emotional moment. Lets try again. Ive been told our guest may commit news this morning, and so the following ground rules are important. As is always the case at these gatherings please, no live blogging or tweeting. In short no filing of any kind while the breakfast is under way to give us time to actually listen to what our guest says. The embargo comes off at 10 00 this morning. To help you curb that relentless selfie urge, our photographer is here, and we will email several pictures to all the reporters here before the breakfast ends. As regular attendees know if youd like to ask a question, please do the traditional thing and send me a subtle nonthreatening signal, and ill happily call on one and all in the time we have available. Were going to start off by offering our guest the opportunity to make some opening comments, then well move to questions from around the table. With that, mr. Secretary, thanks again for doing this. The floor is yours. Thank you dave, and thank all of you for being here this morning. Ive been in government for a while, ive spoken at a lot of chicken dinners and breakfasts, so please feel free to go ahead and eat. Youre not going to be offending me at all. The first bit of business i want to take care of this morning has to do with an investigation that the department is opening on the allegations of price gouging following the tragic accident of amtrak train 188 in the philadelphia area. We have sent letters to four Airlines Delta american, southwest and jetblue to begin the process of uncovering whether, in fact, the airlines drove up prices in direct response to this incident and created a challenge for consumers who were trying to move in that area at that particular time. So this is the opening of investigation. That doesnt mean that we have closed an investigation but we are beginning the work today. So theres also other news in transportation obviously. Ive spent a good bit of my time as secretary traveling the country and going to more than a hundred communities in 42 states by this time really urging the country to not only avoid highway shutdowns, but to raise our ambitions for transportation investment and what we need in the 21st century. Theres obviously been a flurry of activity on the senate this week on this and ill just say at the outset that the encouraging thing is that we have folks on both sides of the aisle who i think are earnestly trying to do what they feel they can do. We are still in the process of drilling into this 1,000page legislation. It continues to change, and we expect that perhaps there will be some changes introduced today as a result of input that folks have received. So i dont have any hard and fast position on this bill at this time because its still very fluid, but i do want to point out a couple of things. First of all as the agency that is responsible for transportation safety, that is of utmost concern to us. And as introduced last tuesday there were portions of the bill that we found to be highly objectionable. I understand that theres been work to try to soften some of those provisions and well just have to see what the senate comes up with. But thats an area where our department is fiercely committed to raising the standards for the American People, not lowering them. And so with that, im just going to stop and maybe have some opportunity for back and forth. Im going to do one or two and then were going to go to joan lowy from the ap to start and mark janson from usa today, Michael Lindenberger from Dallas Morning News heather, lisa from the l. A. Times, jeff from Bloomberg Brian from gannette and [inaudible] from tax notes. Let me do one in the air and one on the ground. Let me ask you about gunfiring drones. Can you tell us what the department and the fda have learned about the homemade drone that fired a handgun four times while being operated in connecticut park and are those the kinds of things that will be covered in the standards the drone standards that youre going to try to have in september, and will you meet the september target . First of all, this is a matter thats still under review so i dont have anything to report out to you about that investigation. More broadly we recognize that the safe integration of these what the faa calls Unmanned Aircraft has to be done, and it has to be done as quickly as possible. Our small uas rule resulted in more than 3,000 comments weve received. Were sifting through them and trying to push that rule out as quickly as possible. But i also think theres some consumer side issues here over the availability of drones and the use of drones, and we are scouring our authorities to see what, if anything, we can do as an agency on this question, and well have more to say about that as, in the future weeks and months. Are you hoping to meet the september target date for the regs sir, or where does that stand . Well, i think, hopefully we will meet that deadline or come real close to it in terms of getting the rule over to omb and, hopefully, soon thereafter having the rule out there as final. Heres the last one from me, and then well go to my colleagues. A lot of talk this week about car hacking as a result of wired magazines report on it, the Entertainment Systems in jeep cherokees and other chrysler products where you can get control of steering, brakes and transmission. Wanted to know your view of the proposed legislation by senators markey and blumenthal and also where, what the department is doing on that subject. Of hacking. Look, this is a place where the government and the private sector have to be working very closely together. And we have urged the Auto Industry to develop a round table of sorts to focus in on issues like cybersecurity when it comes to these technologies. A lot of the technologies are proprietary in some respect but theyre common issues that the industry has to deal with, and we have found in other industries that these types of collaborations are useful. And weve offered to extend the resources of our department to help that work. So we, we feel like this is an area where the government and the private industry are going to have to step up in a big way. But we cant do it by ourselves. In the meantime, for the typical driver how concerned should they be about hacking . Um, you know, this is, you know its an issue. I think, you know, as we look forward into the future of transportation, well also see each more of a even more of a push towards technology with connected vehicles and Driverless Cars and things like that. And so the time to get on this is right now, and as i say we will push as hard as we can within government but as industry develops this technology theres going to be no substitute for Public Private collaboration to insure that the security of our vehicles is airtight. Joan lowy from from the ap. Yes. Actually i have two questions so i hope youll help me. Okay. One was i was hoping you could elaborate a little more on the pricegouging investigation that youve opened. You said, im sorry, how many there are four airlines. What is your evidence of this . Is this just the northeast corridor between washington and boston . And then the second part was the highway bill question. Okay. And i know youre still drilling down on that bill but republicans have made a lot of tweaks to it in the senate, and im wondering if you actually got a bill like this, do you think its something how would you feel about it . Do you think that its an advancement, a step forward or not . Okay. On the investigation um, its still very early. We Just Launched it today. But there are four airlines that were looking at. Ive identified them already. Those airlines have allegedly raised fees beyond what you would ordinarily expect in the northeast corridor at a time when the amtrak line was shut down. And our investigation our inquiry is focused on getting to the bottom of whether there were unfair practices involved in setting prices at that time. On the on the highway side, um, i think its fair to say that as introduced on tuesday a very mixed bag. Again, i want to give credit to folks on both sides who have been trying to figure this out. This is not easy. If it were easy, we wouldnt have had 33 shortterm measures in the last seven or eight years or be a decade since weve had the last sixyear transportation bill. But, you know, i think some of the glaring problems with it had to do with the safety provisions, and i know theyre working to try to accommodate some of the concerns there and well just have to see how far theyre able to get on that. I do think the this country is hungry for e for robust transportation, and the problems of congestion that have gotten worse over the last several years, the potholes in the road, the bridges that need to be repaired, you know, i could go on and on about the problems. And i think one of the questions is does this bill help us solve those problems in a substantial way. And we will continue reviewing as the Senate Continues the very fluid work theyre doing on this legislation, and once they have settled down, i think youll find us settling down into a position on it. Mark janson from usa today. Thanks for coming, sir. Sure. I guess ill ask one more on the investigation, can you say anything about what clues what hints about the airlines actions raised the suspicions to start the investigation . Do you monitor prices . What sparked the investigation . Well, theres, there were a flurry of concerns raised in the wake of the accident in philadelphia. Weve been asked to consider an investigation by senator murphy from connecticut, and were doing our Due Diligence through this investigation to determine whether, in fact, there were unfair practices involved. And on another airline question how soon might we see scheduled flights to cuba . [laughter] thats actually we play a role in that, but that also involves the state department and commerce department. Youre aware that secretary kerry is planning to visit cuba in august and my guess is that as we continue moving forward, youll see those flights resuming at some point in the very near future but i dont have a date to give you today. Were going to go to michael lippeddenberger from the Dallas Morning News. Good morning a quick follow up on the investigation and then a question about rail. On the investigation, i mean, it strikes me its probably legal if they just rose their prices raised their prices in response to a sudden demand. But is what youre concerned about them colluding to do that in an illegal way . And is it your investigation or the doj . Do they get involved here . So the department of justice focuses on criminal inquiries and what were doing as bears no relationship to what the department of justice is doing. We are looking at this from a consumer standpoint, and yes in fact, there is natural shift there are natural shifts in pricing depending on what demand is. The question really is was this, was this beyond the pale . And we will find that out in the course of this investigation. Were going to go next to heather from politico. Where are you . There, down at the end of the table. I had a follow up on okay, im sorry. Sorry. Texas your predecessor and folks from the Rail Administration came to talk about the excitement over highspeed rail early in the Obama Administration. Texas at that time had an opinion that there was no role for government and so it didnt get any of that big money out of stimulus. And six seven years later its moving forward with the private sector rail. Yes. Billions of dollars. And most of the places where the federal government has, had initially supported highspeed rail have either rejected the money or come into some slowdowns, etc. Im just wondering how big of a priority is that still for the Obama Administration . Is there any regret in the way they handled it Going Forward . Was it just the wrong time . Im just trying to get a sense of where you see the nations highspeed rail. You pick any big project that has been done in this country and there was opposition to it at the beginning. I dont care what youre talking about, the new york subway system, the the brooklyn bridge, you name any big the Golden Gate Bridge you name any big project thats happened in this country, there have been choruses against those projects initially. And i dont think highspeed rail is different in that respect. But we are seeing highspeed rail gaining traction in this country. The california project broke ground in january. Even florida the state that rejected the highspeed rail money back in the recovery act days, is working on a highspeed rail project connecting orlando and miami. And the work thats being done in texas to do high speed between houston and dallas, i mean, you know how its done is less important than that its dope. And i think youre seeing that its done. And i think youre seeing folks realizing that the president was right, that we these to connect our major city fares in this country, give people a different choice to get from a to b and youre starting to see it happen. Heather . Thank you, mr. Secretary. Hi. Has the administration been counseling senators over the last week to vote against this mcconnellboxer plan, and what happens when we if we get to december 18th and theres no tax reform deal to bail out the trust fund . Um, the short answer to your first question is no. Were not in a position to be either for or against the whole bill. Theres certainly portions of it that we find very troubling and weve been communicating those concerns. But because the bill is in such a fluid state, there hasnt been a settling down of a position because it continues to be a moving target. Your second question . What happens if we get to december 18th and theres no tax overhaul to bail out the trust fund . Well, this is the perpetual question weve been asking ourselves for the last 33 extensions. And at some point the music does have to stop and we need to get on with building the country. You know, i think the good news here is that youre seeing people struggling in earnest with how to get there. I just hope that we dont keep perpetuating the problems of, you know, looking more or just at what we think we can do and not looking squarely at what the country needs us to do. Because those can be two different things. Rich [inaudible] from reuters. Sure. Its the end of the month dead hugh on the highway bill, does the department do any recalculation of revenues on the chance that you could actually go a bit longer if Congress Fails to send the president a bill . And are there any steps contingency steps the departments taking in case that doesnt happen . Well, look if so when we think about the impact of the highway, cliff, you know, its not a small impact. You have internal to d. O. T. Probably 4,000 of our employees that would be furloughed. They range from folks on the federal Highway Administration who do permitting work to nhtsa to federal motor carriers. Those are primarily the agencies that would be impacted. External to d. O. T. We sent out letters to all the states and the territories explaining what we would do in terms of Cash Management in the event that we started to go below the prudent be balance which is 4 billion in the highway account. And, essentially we would apportion to those states programmings of the percentages of the remaining revenue until we ran out of it. On top of that, lets just be frank statements have already been adjusting their ambitions to the federal environment, and we have six states that have reduced projects, 2 billion worth of projects already and probably more states that we dont, we dont know about. So all this basically comes down to jobs, it comes down to the fact that our countrys infrastructure comets continues to deteriorate. And not only for me and our president , but for future people who sit in the chair that i sit in and that he sits in, im very concerned that folks in these positions in the future are going to be managing a declining system. And thats not in the interest of the American People. So thats a little bit of what the impact would be. And any recalculation of the [inaudible] you know, the last report i saw basically stuck to the set time frame which is that we will we will fall below the prudent balance sometime in the early part of august if they dont find a way to move forward. And, again, that will be a bad day for many states and many communities across the country. Lisa from the l. A. Times. Thank you mr. Secretary. Yep. Again on the investigation that youre announcing this morning yeah. Realizing these things take time, do you have any sense of the timeline and how involved its going to be, and then a question on the bill. Weve submitted information requests from each of the four airlines that i mentioned and [inaudible] we sent it, i think letter went out yesterday. Today. Its going out today. And, you know we expect within a reasonable time that well get that information back and well go where the information takes us. But we expect the information to be sent back to us promptly, and hope any we can close this out as quickly as possible, but i dont have a timeline. And just a follow up on that. Can you say what youre asking them for . I can get you a copy of the letters. And you say how optimistic or pessimistic you are that there will be anything either than simply a stopgap measure to keep t