think. brian, thanks. get a copy of that. thank the intern as well. >> remember follow what's going on in the situation room and with me at the white house, on twitter if you get my tweets at twitter.com/suzannemalveaux and visit our blog, the 1600 report at cnn.com/1600report. i'm suzanne malveaux in the situation room. john king usa starts right now. thanks, suzanne. good evening enchl. tonight new controversy about the proposed mosque and cultural center near ground zero. the developers want tax dollars to build the project, applying for grant money from a fund created to help rebuild from the ashes of 9/11. also a shift in tone from the tsa, heading into america's busiest travel days. the government says it is listening and will make scans and pat-downs at the airport as minimally invasive as possible. the administration also stresses intelligence of threats and says it's first job is preventing another 9/11.

we'll debate the line between your security and your privacy and explore why this issue is suddenly getting all the politicians' attention. we begin with breaking political news at the obama white house. a white house trying to recover from its midterm elections she lacking. we knew the top political adviser david axelrod was leaving to set up the president's re-election campaign. our senior white house correspondent ed henry is hearing that change and others are moving at an accelerated pace. >> cnn has learned all this may be moving very quickly. in fact, david axelrod as you noted has been saying publicly he'll probably leave in about six months or so, is now likely to leave right after the president's state of the union, late january, early february. the reason he's it tired, he's been doing this here at the white house nearly two years, on the campaign for two years before that. he wants to go to chicago as you said, set up the campaign. first wants to take time off before he jumps into 2012. the second piece of information we're picking up is that david plouffe the president's former campaign manager will be coming in as a senior adviser in early

january at the beginning of 2012. what does this mean for the president? it means david plouffe is known as someone a lot more organized than david axelrod, who had a plan he put together in 2008 and stuck with it, relentlessly. there are a lot of top democrats in town who think that david plouffe will help put together a plan in terms of dealing with this balance of power on capitol hill and getting ready for 2012 and they could stick with that, have a tighter ship around here. i think the bottom line is that these are some of the same faces just sort of moving around. it doesn't suggest that this president is going to strike a new tone or have a lot of new blood around here, john. >> to that point, it is another familiar face from the obama political operation coming in to replace one, essentially, who goes out to the new re-election operation. any grumbling saying how about some new voice os are faces? >> in private, yes. senior democrats who around town before the election but since november 2nd have been advising

this white house they need to bring in some new people. other jobs they're going to move around, carol browner likely to leave the energy czar job and become a chief of staff here to replace rahm emanuel, familiar faces, well respected. but yet it's not really new blood, john. it's interesting to see whether not just the independent voters who maybe were looking for the idea that president got the message, but maybe some of the president's fellow democrats will they feel like maybe they're not turning the page? >> ed henry for us at the white house with this breaking news, thanks so much. to a debate getting steam as americans prepare tore for the thanksgiving holiday. i had the full body scan this morning before i flew to new york. you get up like that. a screening technology done something increasingly rare in our country united the left and right on grounds the government is going too far and invading our privacy in the name of security.

provoking ire, the pat-downs these days. the government says it hears the complaints and will make changes if it can but the head of the tsa also urged americans to remember it was just shy of a year ago when a man with hard to defect explosives in his underwear tried to blow up a crowded plane. >> that's exactly the reason we put these into place to make sure we don't have other people like this christmas day bomber trying to kill hundreds of people on passenger airlines. >> here's the question. or questions. is the government going too far or are impatient americans too quick to forget real threats? and, is there a growing sentiment to tell the government hands off or just a small but vocal movement of libertarians and conservatives eager to prove they have growing political clout. let's debate your rights and politics of your safety from atlanta cnn contributor eric ericsson, editor and chief of redstate.com, here in new york, cnn national security francis townsend and serves now on the

homeland security advisory board. in provo, utah, republican congressman sent a letter to the president today. minneapolis democratic congressman keith ellison. to the congress men first, and congressman shaft to you first, why is this gaining steam after the election, is it because americans are grow frustrated with this or is it because conservatives and libertarians said we have new power, let's use it in. >> well the problem is, americans are being given a false choice. that is give up every liberty in the name of security. i want the planes to be as secure as possible but we should demand that technology be more effective and less invasive. and there's no reason we should settle for anything less. no reason. >> what's your solution? this is -- 9/11 was a long time ago. you're a member of the united states congress. as you push the tsa congress has oversight responsibility. have there been pressures to have new technology, let's find another way to do it? >> the point i've been trying to make is the threat is very real

and we cannot diminish that but let's do what the israelis do, profiling terrorists. we got to go after the terrorists. we have 2.2 million travelers, 450 airports, 50,000 tsa agents, and a machine that looks at people naked. that is not the formula for success. what we should be doing is put people through a metal detector and then have them walk by a bomb-sniffing dog. the pentagon recently completed a study and found that after spending $19 billion, the single most effective tool in finding a bomb making material is the dog. that's what we should be doing. >> fran townsend, does he make sense? >> he does make sense. i think the american people are frustrated. we associate pat-downs and that sort of behavior with law enforcement, the way we treat criminals. the underwear bomber was almost a year ago. why haven't -- why don't we have better technology. in defense of the government's action, they have deployed more of these scanners. they haven't done a very good job explaining they don't retain these images, they are screened

away from where the public view is. they're trying. but they need to do better. >> congressman ellis, the government tries and needs to do better, do you think that the answer is in technology, more technology at the airport, some new way of screening that perhaps is less invasive, or is it as your fellow congressman suggested, perhaps we're doing this wrong, we should be doing more profiling, using more intelligence outside of the airport, to judge -- to have have a better sense of how to judge people and select who gets more screening at the airport? >> clearly it's both. i wouldn't use the word profi profiling. it introducing discrimination. behavior based monitoring. in the case of abdullah mutallab his father indicated he was a security rising. we need to have less siloing, more har mow nizing and sharing of information and human intelligence that can help identify threats. you can't get around it there's no magic bullet.

what there is can play an important role. this piece of technology i think is too invasive and really is problematic. i think that our scientists can do better. we've got to continue to research how we can do this better to save people. safeguard people in the skies without undermining their privacy. >> eric ericsson, come into the conversation, i want to point out to our viewers you're not only editor and chief in redstate.com. i want you to listen to the woman responsible for this at the moment, the president is most responsible but janet napolitano said today, and this was a noticeable shift in tone from the government saying yes, we understand a lot of complaints coming n we're going to listen, be sensitive, try to be less invasive, but. >> of course we will listen to concerns. of course we will make adjustments or changes when called upon.

but not changes or adjustments that will affect the basic operational capability that we need to have to make sure that air travel remains safe. >> i mean, those responsible for this, my enthey have a pretty ominous responsibility and they hear the intelligence, eric. >> they do, but there's a lot of ill logic in this. when you land a plane in new york you land outside the city, but if you take amtrak you pull straight up into midtown. no one checks my bags when i take amtrak into new york or across the country or what about a greyhound bus. the ill logic and disconnect is problematic. likewise, all of the security we're responding to happened from overseas. the people flying into the country putting liquid explosives in shampoo bottles we responded by three ounces or less. people coming in wearing bombs as underwears, we respond by full body scans and pat-downs, what happens when they use body cavities or you have these

results happen. how absurd with the tsa become. we know the full body scans can only detect things on the outside of the body. we should be going to behavioral checking. we can't scale the full extent of the israeli system but we need to look at it. >> before we take our break i want to go to the congressman first. then congressman ellis to the sense that when the government we're in the middle of the debate now, it's a political debate and getting attention, in the middle of the holiday season, when you come back to work if not before the end of the year in january, what should the congress do to say all right, let's put the heated rhetoric inside go into a room together and figure out what next. >> i think we need to limit the use of the whole body imaging machine as a secondary screening device. i think we need to ratchet up and get the dogs in there as fast as we can. that is the single best way according to the pentagon, to detect these types of bomb making materials. >> congressman ellison? >> i tell you we need to lower

the barriers that exist between intelligence gathering agencies so we can harmonize intelligence, share information that's out there. one thing about these terrorists they like to talk a lot. we need to make better use of that and put it into effect so we can protect people on the airplanes. >> we'll continue this including a look at specifics, including the episode that had the congressman fire off a letter to the president. listen here, secretary of state hillary clinton's reaction to the new airport screening procedures. this what is she told cbs "face this nation." is this undercutting the tsa's message? >> would you submit to one of these pat-downs? >> not if i could avoid it. no. i mean who would? er! [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus rushes relief for all-over achy colds. the official cold medicine of the u.s. ski team. alka-seltzer plus. daddy, i'm bored.

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we continue our conversation about tsa screening procedures and whether in the name of trying to keep you safe, the government is overstepping the line in invading your privacy. still with us congressman jason chaffetz, congressman keith ellison, eric ericsson. i'm holding up the letter you send to the president today. i want our viewers to take a look at the episode on-line that

prompted this complaint. this is at the salt lake city airport, november 19th, the young man with his shirt off, going through security with his father, set off the metal detector. and, obviously, that in trying to resolve what the issue was this situation reached the point where the young man's father took his shirt off, essentially, to say have a look. you sent a letter to the president just saying to the fact that the act alone they had had to have a shirtless pat-down is an outrage. i want to read the tsa statement on the tsa blog says november 19th a family was traveling through a checkpoint in salt lake city international airport their son alarmed the walk through metal detector and needed to undergo secondary screening. the boy's father removed his shirt after tso completed the screening he helped the boy put the shirt on. the father was standing by his son the entire procedure. in your view what's the outrage, sir some. >> i talked to the local tsa agent, the agent in charge, and

he told me that young kid did not set off the alarm and why i want an investigation. mother walks through, explains to tsa that 4-year-old is an autistic kid. he's flailing around, having trouble. they can't get him to go through the line by himself. they shove him through. dad comes through and says, you know, i'm not going to be able to do anything here because, you know, he's an autistic kid for goodness sake. he did not set off that detector. that's what they told me personally. dad takes off the sweatshirt to prove that there's no threat here. he still gets patted down on the lower part of his body. and the kid is freaking out because he has this strange man patting him down and he's an autistic child. that's ridiculous. >> congressman ellison, do we need, should we have or is this in its own way a form of discrimination, a place where a family that has an autistic child, somebody whether it's a condition like that or somebody who has a knee replacement or hip replacement, should there be a place you can stop at the

airport and self-i dent fay and receive some sort of different, not special treatment, but different and more sensitive treatment? >> yes. as long as it's voluntary, as long as it's not based on your race, your national origin, what people think your religion is, i think that you ought to be able to seek out, you know, more private search procedure as long as it's something that, you know, you can go do. but i tell you this, there's plenty of opportunity for us republicans and democrats to throw to our base. i think we need to get our heads together on this one for the sake of the american people. the story that congressman told i think does raise issues if it went the way he described it and i think that it does warrant us getting our heads together, making sure we come up with an answer on this one. >> congressman chaffetz, did you speaks to the father or parents involved or just the agent? >> just the agent. i've -- i want to contact and talk to the parents. i talked to the gentleman who recorded the video. my point to the president, my

point to the tsa administrator and secretary of homeland security, we need an investigation on this. there are two sides to the story. >> fran townsend if you were asked tomorrow to be the tsa administrator what would you do differently and what would you look straight into the camera and say i'm sorry, i know this is hard, but i see the intelligence, i know the threats, we need to do this to make it safe for you to fly. >> the key here is, talking to the american people about what do we understand the threat to be and why this is necessary. what we're asking the american people to go through. it is the notion that we're being patted down or have these invasive machines and the third piece is how these procedures are keeping us safe. you have to do all three and explain it to the american people. we can implement security policies but we have an obligation to explain and advocate them to the american people we want you to support us. without the support of the american people no security policy on its own will be successful. >> eric we're having this conversation about what happens in washington. how this is debated in

washington. but we look to the list last week. there were 16 airports across the country that have a private company that does their security and then the tsa supervised them, oversees it. is that what you think will happen next, sort of a revolt is a strong word, but a reaction that has local community says we're going make sure we do this differently. >> i think that probably will. we've already seen orlando international and orlando look at it. in macon, georgia where i am, middle georgia regional airport i have chaired the oversight committee. we're considering it. more and more you're going to see that. everyone understands there are real problems. everyone understands there are real issues and security concerns but when you hear more and more stories of thor. who had to have the breast prosthetic removed, the boy who took his shirt off, the nun, it makes no sense. why can't we have a system where when people flying 100,000 miles a year or 20,000 miles a year, can go through a separate system. we know those people probably

aren't threats. seems like we're dummying down security to the lowest common denominator and the day after thanksgiving it's going to be very ugly when you have the busiest travel day of the season and the x-ray scanners and pat-downs take longer than everything we've done in the past. >> would there not be as aggressive or more aggressive outrage if the government decided okay, we're going to pull back a little bit at the airport, but we're going to start listening to more phone calls and am going to use the word profiling, you don't like it, focusing our efforts on likely targets would there not be more outrage then? let's let the congressman go first. >> i don't like the term profiling because it evokes ideas of race based national origin based focus. i don't think that should be the focus. the focus needs to be behavior, things we know about individuals. as we know and we've seen a number of various people who have engaged in terrorism they don't fit a profile. they come in all colors all

backgrounds. i don't think it's good policing and good law enforcement or investigation to do it that way. behavior based investigation i think is the essential thing that we need to continue to do and that means sharing good information. i do believe that the fact is that we can't escape the human element here and we can be successful if we put a strong emphasis on that. >> all right. congressman chaffetz. >> hey, i happen to agree with him. from the right and left we can actually agree on. we need to profile people, not based solely on ethnicity or religion but behavior. i absolutely agree with it. we're the united states of america. we can do anything. i think we have to demand that we become more effective and less invasive and we can get there. the thing is, the technology exists today and we should settle for nothing less. >> i want to thank the congressmen, thank fran and eric. we will stay on top of this. we'll keep our eye on it and when the debate returns to

washington and the halls of congress. still to come the other big headlines and several developing global challenges. should your tax dollars help build that proposed mosque and cultural center near ground zero? to keep in balance after 50, i switched to a complete multivitamin with more. only one a day women's 50+ advantage has gingko for memory and concentration plus support for bone and breast health. a great addition to my routine. [ female announcer ] one a day women's.

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welcome back. let's check in with joe johns for the latest news you need to know right now. >> hey, john, tonight vice president joe biden and his wife hosted a group of wounded u.s. warriors for an early thanksgiving dinner. a pentagon spokesman tells cnn the heads of the military services are preparing their final advice on repealing don't

ask, don't tell. this ere's only one week to go before the pentagon release its long-awaited survey to how troops would react to the ban. irish officials are getting ready to unveil a new package of tax increasing and public spending cuts as part of a deal to secure an $11 billion international bailout for irish banks. and nissan says it news electric car the leaf has been epa rated to get the equivalent of 106 miles a gallon in the city, 92 miles a gallon on the highway. it goes on sale next month but only in five states. i'm hearing $561 a year for electricity. that's your fuel costs there, john. >> the equivalent of 106 miles per gallon? >> that's unbelievable. >> yiks. >> puts my first car a chevy impala way back in the day to high shame. wow. wow wow wow. >> i can't wait.

>> bring on the more technology. we'll try them all. thanks, see you in a bit. just ahead a take on north korea's new nuclear defiance. smile now, his take on an internet spoof suggesting he might have a future on "dancing with the stars." everything you need to stretch out on long trips. residence inn. ♪ everything you need to stay balanced on long trips. residence inn.

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afghan strategy. here to talk over these developments fa zakaria. let's start with north korea an american scientist was there, says when he was in north korea not only did he see they were back at the nuclear business but says in a facility he was stunned at the advanced technology in the centrifuges and like. should the united states be worried? >> sure. this is one of the most worrying places in the world. i often say if you are worried about some kind of accidental unforeseen, unplanned taking place, this is the place to worry about. i don't think north korea is trying to develop nuclear weapons because it wants to go out and strike people. but it is doing so as a kind of insurance policy for it reese geem. and when the regime is itself going through some kind of difficult transition period, it seems that they double down on the insurance policy, they buy more insurance. very weird kind of insurance but if you think about it they have been rattling the saber in

various ways, the sinking of the south korean ship, look at what these revelations are and they seem to suggest we're going through a period of transition, don't mess with us. >> and to that point of transition, listen to the language of admiral mike mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff on "state of the union" yesterday used the term belligerent and then if you listen here he sounds frustrated. >> i've been concerned for a long time about instability in that region and quite frankly, north korea has been at the center of that. we've worked hard with other countries to try to bring pressure on them to have them comply. they haven't done that. >> long time he says, but do you see any of this new developments, the new revelations tied to ses session? >> i think so. i think whenever they go through some period of internal instability, they try to create circumstances where it becomes more difficult for the outside world to intervene and they

essentially try to send out a signal, don't mess with us. now, the complicating factor here is that there's so many great powers involved. there is, of course, south korea, there is china, there is the united states, and making sure everyone is on the same page and there are no miscalculations is very tough. so far, things have not worked out that well. the south koreans, for example, are very upset with the chinese because they felt -- they have felt that the chinese have been protecting the north koreans who are their allies, over the issue of the thinking of the south korean ship. similarly the united states feels china is not pushing north korea hard enough on the issue of the nukes. so you see what i mean? not only do you have a crisis in the region, not only do you have a rogue state, an unpredictable actor, but you have all these great powers circling around and what you're now seeing are miscalculations, feelings of lack of cooperation. it's a combustible mix. >> let's move on to the lisbon

summit. the president returned home from that nato summit saying it was a great achievement. the key document was a document that says that the control of afghanistan, the military control, the handover will start in 2011, next year, and that by 2014, it will be completed. a reasonable timeline? >> i think it's a reasonable timeline. i think that the president's policy has always been a sensitive to two realities. there is the reality that al qaeda presents a threat to the united states and it to our allies that it was based in afghanistan which chased it into pakistan but the two regions are effecti effectively, the two countries are part of one region but the second one is this cannot be an open-ended, nation building commitment in the third poorest country in the world where we could just be there forever. it is an attempt to say at some point we're going to responsibly say we're going to scale down and should have created some level of success with the afghan army, with the afghan police, and at that point we transition to a counter terrorism role.

i think other countries were happy to hear that message because nobody wants to be engaged in what would be the second decade of an occupation of afghanistan. you know, the real question is, what happens when you draw down, but you've got to test that at some point. 2011 seems as good a time as any. >> even as the president celebrate wlads he views as a significant achievement out in the open in his language and from president karzai evidence of the continued tension between the two leaders if you will, the lack of trust, listen to the president's words here. he speak from a policy standpoint. here a very highly personal way the president of the united states essentially was telling president karzai you better get it. >> you've got to understand that i've got a bunch of young men and women from, you know, small towns and big cities all across america who are in a foreign country, being shot at and having to traverse terrain filled with ieds and they need

to protect themselves and so if we're setting things up where they're just sitting ducks, for the taliban, that's not an acceptable answer either. >> i was struck by that language. essentially the president of the united states saying listen mr. president, to president karzai, i have other things to worry about than what you say. >> i think that was a very calculated decision and it is a response, i think, to a series of feelers and signals that karzai is sending out. the most prominent of which was an interview with a pakistani journalist which rasheed wrote up in the "financial times" in which karzai has been bitterly complaining about nato, about the united states, saying in this article, rasheed says he has essentially he, karzai, has essentially become anti-western, and anti-american. remember sort of a hand-picked choice of the about bush administration to lead afghanistan after we overthrew the taliban. karzai has been lashing out,

perhaps for domestic political reasons, perhaps out of genuine frustration, but the obama administration seems to be telling him, privately and publicly, look, there is a limit to which you can do this kind of thing and continue to enjoy our moral and political support. the 150,000 troops from the west that are sitting in your country, as president obama says, trying to do your work for you, and, of course, the billions of dollars of aid that the united states provides, mr. karzai. >> let me get your thoughts on another issue where we hope this is routine medical treatment but many are worried, it could be something more than that. the saudis sair their 86-year-old king is seeking treatment in the united states. hearn kneeated spinal disk and blood clot. he is 86 years old and the fact that he needs medical treatment has some nervous. >> it has me nervous and i'll tell you why. let's hope it it's routine. there has been enormous progress in saudi arabia in terms of the

battle against al qaeda, the battle against islamic fundamentalism the battle against extremism. the saudis have turned essentially 180 degrees compared to where they were five or six years ago before the king ascended to his throne and consolidated power. many feel these forces of reform in saudi arabia boil down to one man, the current occupant of the throne. that if something were to happen to the king, first of all it's entirely unclear who succeeds him. saudi arabia has an extremely mysterious process of -- by which this happens. ordinarily there's a snail's pace succession where the next oldest brother is chosen. we are told there is a new document that might provide for a different method. whatever way it is, it there is no one on the horizon right now who has anything near the dedication and the authority to pursue the kind of reform against radical islamic, against

extremist in favor of women's rights, education rights, so -- and this will happen at some point, the man is 86 years old. i would rather it happen later than sooner. >> let's end on a more upbeat or uplifting note. the this is the final week of "dancing with the stars." if you go on-line to this thing called spooktimes.com you come across this. known by millions from his duties as editor of large of time magazine, the indian born is less well known for his life-long interest and enthusiasm for dance. now there is something i did not know. you're a contestant maybe for next year? >> somebody sent that to me and i have to confess it is a good example of kroerdsly effective humor. usually political sattire requires some kernel of truth to begin with and as my wife can tell you there is not a kernel

of truth. i can't dance to save my life. >> between now and next season, we can both practice our dancing, how about that. >> not together, not together, john. >> no. i'm sure you're way ahead of me. i have no ability when it comes to that. when we come back we'll review today's headlines and come back with our political panels on today's big stories. [ s. greenlee ] i would love to have been a musician but i knew that i was going to need a day job. we actually have a lot of scientists that play music. the creativity, the innovation, there's definitely a tie there.

one thing our scientists are working on is carbon capture and storage, which could prevent co2 from entering the atmosphere. we've just built a new plant to demonstrate how we can safely freeze out the co2 from natural gas. it looks like snow. it's one way that we're helping provide energy with fewer emissions. we asked people all over america itwhere the best potatoes comeg the best potatoes? idaho. idaho! idaho. and how do you know you're getting idaho potatoes? well...uh... uhm... heh.. (sighs) not all potatoes come from idaho. so if you want the best, you have to do one important thing. always look for the grown in idaho seal. i knew that. i knew that. look for the grown in idaho seal. host: could switching to or m insuranceu fifteen percent dochuck wo host: could switching to or m insuranceu fifteen percent

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the people trying to develop that controversial islamic community center and mosque near ground zero apparently would like some tax dollars to help. they've applied for millions of federal grant money set aside to rebuild lower manhattan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. our contributor broke the story

today on the daily beast.com and joins us with republican strategist ed rollins who joins us from washington tonight. john, park 51 are the developers. they want to take $5 million is that the right number, from a fund that was set up, local manhattan development fund, but its money some of its money came from federal tax grants and they want $5 million to build that site. >> that's exactly right. money from the lower manhattan redevelopment corporation set up after the attacks of september 11th. they applied in secret for a $5 million grant for a cultural and community development. they applied earlier this month. we broke the story today. the real issue is just the appropriateness of the ask. did it did not seem to occur to them this would be controversial or inappropriate. that's a big deal. this is a group that at the end of the day is not a xwrr. this is not what some of its opponents have called it, some kind of islamist conspiracy to build a victory mosque.

it's a sign of a great disorganization inside the organization, call hasness and cluelessness when it comes to applying for the grant and the story blew up today. >> so this mosque and islamic center is before us for political debate. i assume not a healthy thing for the developers. >> not a healthy thing for the developers. it gives the congress an excuse to bring this together and look at where they're spending their money. it was done in secret. it's no longer secret thanks to john's efforts and i think it will be closely scrutinized. once the spotlight goes on something like this it becomes more exposed and vulnerable. >> the application was put in earlier this month. to take such a bold step knowing what happened throughout the summer in this country, what does that tell you? >> you know, here is where you are at to a certain degree you have to stand with people's rights and not play a double standard. if it's okay for a clutch or another organization to apply for these funds the guys say it's okay for them to apply from

these funds. from a pr standpoint is the best timing no. for us to say they shouldn't or can't apply for these funds when others can is a double standard that's fundamentally wrong. >> cornell, this is not about their right to apply for those funds but their lack that they did not disclose showed there was some awareness this would be controversial. i live in lower manhattan, i was a witness to 9/11 and not opposed to the park 51 development. many reasonable people are not. however it's a question of the right to build a mosque with private funds on private property versus the right and wisdom of using public funds, dedicated to 9/11 in the wake of 9/11 to do so. that is clearly a third rail. and that should have been brightly obvious to the developers when they applied for it. >> no look -- >> it is a third rail but bottom line is, do they have the fundamental right to do? yes, they have the right to do this. call them out on that is wrong. >> cornell, there's no fundamental right to taxpayer money. there is not.

>> if another organization can apply for this, john, they have the right to apply for it as well. >> john, cornell is a dem, which they always think they have a right to someone else's money. >> oh. >> if you go to the website, the development corporation's website and ask questions your click on that, who can get this money essentially. religious organizations can make a funding request as long as the request is for a facility or portion of a facility dedicated to nonreligious activities or uses. i'm going to play devil's advocate. yes there's a mosque but a community center and a host of nonreligious activities. by the rules seems okay. your point is insensitive and why do it in secret. >> the point president obama made. they have a right to build that mosque. the wisdom of the decision is another matter. they were in the rights of this application and the islamic -- the community center development has a prayer room but it is largely devoted to a community

center. that's important for people to understand. look, this development has been much more controversial outside the lower manhattan community than it has been inside the lower manhattan community. >> this is a decision, this is a decision that clearly doesn't pass the common sense -- >> i have to make one quick thing before you go, john. when is it okay for me to apply for my rights? when is it right for me to apply for something i have a right to? that's the fundamental problem. >> it's an interesting point and debate. a time-out here. when we come back a lot of other big political stories to talk about. we got word this afternoon about the woman, she made national headlines during a presidential town hall a few weeks back. "the washington post" reports velma heart has been laid off. remember when she asked the president this question. >> i have two children in private schools and the financial recession has taken an enormous toll on my family. my husband and i joked for years we thought we were beyond the hot dog and beans era of our lives.

it's starting to knock on our door and ring true that might be where we're headed again. i need you to answer this honestly. is this my new reality? >> again, the report tonight is velma's reality is she lost her job. reaction when we come back and discuss the white house shakeup or accelerated shakeup in the post-election obama white house. stay right there. compromise what i like to do. i take care with vesicare, because i have better places to visit than just the bathroom. ( announcer ) once-daily vesicare can help control your bladder muscle, and is proven to treat overactive bladder with symptoms of frequent urges and leaks, day and night. if you have certain stomach or glaucoma problems, or trouble emptying your bladder, do not take vesicare. vesicare may cause allergic reactions that may be serious. if you experience swelling of the face, lips, throat or tongue, stop taking vesicare and get emergency help. tell your doctor right away if you have severe abdominal pain or become constipated for three or more days.

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across the country when the economy tumbled, jpmorgan chase set up new offices to work one-on-one with homeowners. since 2009, we've helped over 200,000 americans keep their homes. and we're reaching out to small businesses too, increasing our lending commitment this year to $10 billion and giving businesses the opportunity to ask for a second review if they feel their loan should have been approved. this is how recoveries happen. everyone doing their part.

this is the way forward. until the combination of three good probiotics in phillips' colon health defended against the bad gas, diarrhea and constipation. ...and? it helped balance her colon. oh, now that's the best part. i love your work. [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. let's get back to our discussion. cornell as the democrat our ed henry reporting at the top of the program a bit of acceleration and changes at the white house. david axelrod he said will leave earlier than initially planned. he had been telling friends march but look like it will be earlier. david plouffe will now come in to a white house role. this is just normal see ya later after the election changes or a lesson learned maybe? >> i don't think it signifies anything. they had already talked about axe going out getting ready to

gear up for the campaign and plouffe coming back in. two great guys. two friends of mine. as ax says he needs time to organize and get rieady. i talked to a lot of democrats out there. there is a perception that more people need to be brought into this, newer voices, broader sort of table brought here. i think the white house over time will do that. >> when you were in the reagan white house and got thumped not as bad as these guys, did you bring in same idea friends of the president or did something new? >> we did something new. the key thing we started preparing for moving people out of the white house to run the re-election, not in the white house. what you're getting is another campaign person. you need to bring someone who understands business and jobs and i think the american public would feel better about that. >> that's true but i don't think this is what this appointment is about. it helps account the fact this he were flawless for

communication during the 2008 campaign and troubled in that department to date. plouffe is one of the guys who has consistently talked about independent voters. he seems to understand they are key to the electorate to govern and campaign. and if he brings that focus to the white house job he'll help enormously. >> tonight on "larry king live," the former president george h.w. bush and the former first lady barbara bush are on. as part of the conversation larry asked mrs. bush this question. >> larry: what's your read about snrp sarah palin? >> i sat next to her once thought she was very beautiful. i think she's very happy in alaska. and i hope she'll stay there. >> larry got a laugh out of that. should we? >> just sticking in the shiv. well done former first lady. that was brutal. >> she's always been very candid. doesn't have a thing to do with anything happening in politics today. it's one person's opinion but certainly not going to have an influence on sarah palin. let's just say she was half

right. she is beautiful. >> i do think this speaks to the rift here with the republican establishment wanting someone other than sarah palin and the grassroots of the republican party certainly energized and she certainly speaks to them in a way i argue the establishment doesn't. >> she'll make a career out of beating up the republican establishment. >> this is glenn beck on his radio program today taking offense at mrs. bush. >> really insulting baselessly. really insulting when you say -- when you say a woman -- when weighs your read and you're in this mode. you're in this mode. >> she knows what he's asked. >> exactly right. well, i think she's very beautiful. oh, really? talk down to me, oatmeal box lady. i mean really. >> going to the quaker oats box. >> yeah. >> i'm not sure i would ever in a conversation put a former first lady of the united states

on a quaker oats box. >> not a beloved one and mrs. bush was a beloved figure. >> yeah, just kind of weird. that's really sort of a bizarre tangent. i appreciate the attempt at humor but a big no gracias. >> this guy is out of bounds. he's always out of bounds. this is another case of him being clearly out of bounds and insulting the first lady. >> thank you for coming in. i'll leave it right there. i'll accept it as weird and go from there. what do more americans know to this question? who makes the android phone or who controls congress? quiz yourself. pete on the street after the break. ♪

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our offbeat reporter pete dominick here. i understand you were catching up on reading if. >> last weekend they had the pew research poll. i love to take the test and see what i know. i do three hours of radio and talk to you every night. 88% of americans knew that bp ran the oil well in the gulf. only 46% knew that republicans took over the house. 26% knew google's phone software is android. did you know that one? >> yes, i did actually only because of my son about. >> and only 15% knew that the prime minister of great britain was david cameron which i understand that one. but my question is, are we -- i often say i'm not like bill maher and say americans are stupid. maybe we're apathetic and don't care about things that are important. >> now that there's so much information available to us people are self selecting what they learn