that they were going to fire a long-range missile over the holiday, and it looks like they are just going to go with the short-range missiles. the think this is a deus bullet tore step by the north koreans? >> i would not call it a deas dilatory step. i do not know their intentions are what they plan to do. i know you guys are talking about how they're going to do something over the july 4 weekend. but i certainly would not characterize it as that. the choice to use short-range missiles, i would not characterize as written down of tensions, on the contrary. >> what about two journalists in north korea? >> as a secretary has said many times, we call for their immediate release on humanitarian grounds.

as i have said many times, hou our swedish protecting power continues to try and get information about them, to try and get access to them. but unfortunately, since that last consulate visit he has had, he has had not had access. that is a long way of saying i do not have an update for you. >> the chinese government announced that they're going to -- [unintelligible] wha>> you know, would you say, s we say, is ringing a bell, but i do not have the details. so let me see if i can get you that information. >> back on afghanistan, do you

have anything to say about the soldier who has apparently been kidnapped? apparently, the soldier has been kidnapped in afghanistan. >> i do not have any information on that. i would refer you to the pentagon. >> the senior prime minister met with senator mitchell yesterday. can you give us anything about the secretary's meeting with him? >> i can give you the readout of the secretary's meeting with him. i will see if i can get information on any other meetings he had. the president and secretary are committed to achieving comprehensive peace. this is part of thithese efforto try and achieve a comprehensive jpeace. the secretary the prime minister had a productive meeting and covered a wide range of issues including the way forward on economic and security matters and also political progress.

our goal is to foster conditions for successful negotiations and the creation of a palestinian state. this includes support for the palestinian authority and a partner for peace with israel. >> any update on the reaction to what is happening in honduras, the crackdown on protesters in the journalists? >> i can give you an update. we're continuing to work with our regional partners through the oas seek a solution to the crisis. in accordance with wednesday's oas institution and the special commission consisting of the secretary-general, the chair of the special general assembly, the foreign minister, the dominican foreign minister, and others. this delegation is moving

forward with the diplomatic initiatives aimed at resolving the crisis and the restoring constitutional order in honduras. >> other particular concerns about the ousted president returning this weekend before a resolution? >> of course, our goal is the restoration of constitutional order. the restoration of the president. there is a process led by the oas which is in place. we think this process should be allowed to play out, and we would discourage any actions that would prove to the an obstacle to this process reaching its desired outcome which, of course, is the restoration of the president in

power. >> are suggesting that possibly his return it to really is stage might be an obstacle? >> it could be. what everybody needs to focus on now is this oas mission that was mandated by the oas special general assembly. of course, i cannot speak for the president, but it is- standing that he is delaying plans to return. >> even as this building moves into a long holiday weekend, the u.s. government and the u.s. will be monitoring events? >> absolutely, very much so. >> what about possible aid cut off to honduras? >> i have an update on that. one moment. the legal review is ongoing.

we're trying to determine if section 70-08 of the foreign assistance act must be applied. in the meantime, we have taken some actions to hit the pause button on the assistance programs to say that we would be legally required to terminate if it is determined -- if the events of june 28 are determined to have been, as defined, something -- as defined under section 70-08 of the foreign assistance act, as defined as a military coup. i also want to emphasize that we are continuing assistance programs that would not be subject to legal determination. -- to legal termination.

this is in order to continue to hope the hon during people. these programs include democracy assistance and humanitarian programs which would be excluded under this particular section of the foreign assistance act. >> would you say this pause button applies to most of the aid we would normally be providing them? any idea? >> that is fair to say. i do not have a dollar figure. >> have we done anything on north korea? any reaction to the test? >> the reaction is that we as seen the reports. we cannot confirm the reports, but reports of these kinds of launches are nothing new. we have seen in many times in the past. north korean knows exactly what it has to do. the international community has spoken clearly, and they need to

cut out these kinds of provocative actions and return to the talks. >> what about the master? >> will have to get that information. >> considering the special relationship between japan and the u.s. and of these recent tests, will the u.s. be making any kind of statement on the japan special measures will that is in legislation right now? >> i am not aware of that law. we will give you that information. >> north korea has test fired four missiles today. i wonder, i know that the american military has been monitoring closely to the north korean military activities. i wonder if the u.s. navy with the u.s. military in south

korea has tried to intercept north korean missile tests? >> i cannot answer that question. literally, i cannot answer it. it is not a question for the state department, first of all. >> because the u.s. general -- [unintelligible] he said that the united states has a very credible plastic missile defense capability. >> this is true. >> that is why i ask you just now that if the u.s. is try to intercept north korean missiles. because otherwise, there's no proof. nobody can believe that the united states has a real missile shield that is effective with capabilities to intercept north korean missiles. what is your comment?

>> you are getting into areas which are not in my confidence. you have to address these to the pentagon. there strictly military issues. i have to retreat to the pentagon. >> any reaction to vice- president bitden in iraq in the recent comments in the white house that the vice president is overseeing iraq policy? some say this is possibly secretary clinton's role, to oversee iraq policy. >> i am not sure these comments that you referred to the secretary should oversee this. >> the white house comments were that joe biden was overseeing iraq policy. >> i am going to refer your question to the white house. >> in the context of an number

of other issues, she's not going to moscow, and joe biden seems to be taken and every increasingly visible, active role in the central national policy questions, so how do you view it? >> is a said earlier, i see the secretary is very engaged, very involved. she, as i said, shed a full schedule yesterday. she worked from home today. she sees the president weekly and talks to him often. she met with him yesterday. but in terms of the vice- president biden's role, i would have to refer you to his office. >> the president of bolivia has taken badly news that the u.s. will continue some curbs on trade preferences to bolivia, and it is a betrayal of the

obama administration's idea of partnership with latin america. this is the decision was based on false information. the wonder if you have any response to that? >> you know the secretary clinton met with the foreign minister yesterday. we put out a statement about it. he did convey the bolivian government's disappointment over our decision not to reinstate these trade preferences. the secretary listened attentively and welcome the opportunity to engage in a dialogue on this. we continue to look forward to deepening our relationship with bolivia and helping them

achieve their goal of a secure and prosperous future. >> venezuela, can you tell us about the ambassador's first day back on the job, what context the head with the venezuelans and if he is discussing efforts to resolve the crisis? >> first of all, let's step back for a moment. we take it as a very positive signal and of both countries and mutually agreed to exchange ambassadors. we see this as a sign that venezuela is open to deepening communications by having this kind of contact at the ambassador level. the ambassador is pleased to be back in venezuela. he looks forward to engaging the venezuelan government on issues of mutual interest including any

terrorism efforts and, of course, trade relations. i am not aware that he has discussed honduras on a bilateral level. it is quite possible that he has. but you know that our engagement on this issue has been through hasoas, and venezuela as part of the oas. but i am not aware of any specific bilateral cooperation on this is you of reaching our common goal of the whole oas restoring constitutional order in honduras. >> this -- has the secretary been in contact with her counterpart in venezuela in light of the return of the ambassador? >> i am not aware that she has had any contact with your counterpart. >> can you take the question on the black water shooting in afghanistan? >> yes.

ok, thank you. >> later today, a look back at 30 years of close of programming with students visiting the nation's capital, learning about the federal government. at 7:00 p.m. eastern here on c- span. this holiday weekend, discussions with presidential advisers from richard nixon to george w. bush, friday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. relations with the chief executive. saturday morning at 10:00 a.m., getting congressional and public support for presidential agendas. the lessons learned from serving the president of that is sunday at 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., all here on c-span. >> these places remind me of modern cathedrals that donors would build wings on, hoping the wood and have been. thank you is a princeton class of '83 who would like to see changes to the higher education system. >> i think princeton philosophy should be on the web. i think these wonderfully

concentrated islands of talent and well and area addition should be opened up to the larger society and not kept separate, which they still are. i cannot understand why. >> "lost in the meritocracy." that is on sunday night at 8:00 p.m. on c-span. you can also listen on c-span radio or download the c-span podcast. >> this is a forum on american presidential succession in the event of an attack. you'll hear about a new report on potential weak points in the process with former homeland security advisor and political policy l -- political policy analysts. it is just over two and one-half hours.

>> all right. i think we will get under way. i am norman ornstein of the american enterprise institute. i want to welcome you all to this event on presidential succession which is key to run the release of this report, "the presidency, preserving our institutions," which is the second report of the continuity of government commission. that was created in the aftermath of 9/11, out of the recognition that washington will remain a key target for terrorists and that a key objective is to do as much as possible to disrupt american's institutions of governance. and what flows, unfortunately, from that is that we have an adequate plans in place, and the constitution and in the law to make sure that we have adequate insurance to get those

institutions, especially the three key branches of government that represent the first three articles of the constitution, up and running affectively with the confidence of the public, without disruption, as quickly as possible. with presidential succession, this is something basically regulated by law of the constitution after the vice president allow congress to create a line of succession. we have had three separate pieces of legislation, at some that were done. the most recent, 1947. as their report suggests, it was designed not to deal with the kinds of threats that we have in the modern day world. we're going to explore this issue from a variety of perspectives. we are going to start with a keynote by frances townsend. fran has as strong a background as anybody possibly could to engage the public and the

commission and the rest of us on these issues. she served as assistant to president bush for homeland security and counterterrorism and also shared the homeland security council for almost four years from 2004 to 2008. she also has a long career in government. she was with the coast guard and served in the justice department for many years. and as a prosecutor. she is now with baker botts doing a strategic consulting on risk engagement abroad. so fran, thank you for joining us. >> norm, thank you for inviting me. i will warn people that i am sort of the warm-up act. it is a serious subject, but i hope to get you to juggle a little this morning with some of the sort of honest stories about

behind the policy and all the initiatives. this is hard. it was hard in the executive branch. you know, when you think about the history, and there have been some very useful reports by the congressional research service, looking as some of the history here, and while the introduction is a very kind, he is the person who i would look to and read his stuff when i was thinking about the policy initiatives in this area. you know, there is great attention to this subject, as you know, going back to the cold war. but between the end of the cold war and a september 11, there was not a lot of attention here. because we thought the greatest threat from a state-on-state perspective was well behind us, and we did not really believe, in a fundamental way, the other threats, non-state actors, post

sort of a real strategic threat to our existence until september 11 and that tragedy. even then, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 when people said we need to turn our attention back to this, we realized the paradigm of cold war contingency planning -- still, even that did not quite fit. of course, that presumes intelligence and warning capability so you can begin to go to warm and hot at your offsite facilities. so even that would be helpful but not dispositive about how we approach the whole area of continuity. you know, it is interesting, and i suspect it is not an accident, but if you look to the prior presidential directive -- i will talk a little bit about the one president bush signed on continuity. but if you look at the one signed by president clinton in october of 1998, of course, you'll recall that is only

months after the east african embassy bombing in august of 1998. why, at that point in time, dick clark was chairing the interagency community group at the nfc. i was participating in that from the justice department. it was that group that formed the basis of the thinking for the policy between -- behind pdd67. we reviewed again with president bush. and added to that. of course, remember when president bush signs the new presidential directive, 51, of course, now we have a new department of the department of: security. and things have changed to the progress. you can imagine that after september 11, the president was incredibly frustrated by his inability to communicate with the american people. the debacle see in communications even within his own cabinet. so there was an immediate turn to the ship continuity of the presidency and supporting of the

media person and staff for the presidents of the united states. that was the first real priority in the aftermath of september 11. of course, while people here well understand it, it is worth me saying that i obviously cannot talk about the details about the continuity of the presidency because that is classified, but i can tell you that there millions upon millions of dollars and a lot of time and attention that was turned to that. and president obama inherited a far superior -- not just for superior but superior by almost any standard or anything else we understand about our allies around the world, a far superior system for his long term, and not just his, but left a legacy in terms of the continuity of the presidency that is much stronger than anything i think anybody would have contemplated. but of course, as you begin to look to the continuity of the presidency, you immediately realize that will only be as effective as the plans that are

nested beneath it. continuity of the government, of operations across the federal government. because of course, you may provide for continuity for the president and staff, but who are they going to talk to? he will provide them staff support, policies abroad, and operational support the need to be effective? a funny story on the continuity of the presidency. you can imagine it, while i was one of the people who was charged with the responsibility of thinking about this every day, most of my colleagues, very smart, very focused, very disciplined people, did not think about this at all. as it were not required to vw can imagine, just like most things, if you do not practice the, you do not do it very well when there is a crisis. so we would have been briefed. i ask the military of is to have them briefed. we would take them off site and walk them through what to expect. i cannot always help but chuckle. one of the scenarios we walk

them through was imagine a biological or chemical attack and imagine having to go through a decontamination procedures. we literally blind people of the facility and walked through -- walked the enter exactly what it would look like. as you can imagine, imagine what you think it decontamination facility looks like. this is not the four seasons bathroom, right? it is not luxurious or pretty. by the way, you're not having an individual shower. some people up, and they get in. it would be a three-person facility. walk in. they are explained that there is a little cover the starts here. you work your clothes off. you are naked and walked in 3 and atop one of the woman turned around and said which way is the women's shower -- no, you're not getting this. there is no women's shower. you'll be in there together. oh? she says, i am glover -- we told

them that you had to have this back to your desk in case you have to be whisked off. so she said she had her clothes. but we told her not apply in a decontamination even. she said, welcome our their clothes? yes, no designer clothes, but we will put you in something. it was very funny because you realize people who do not, like the cat -- panel, like the commission, like me, people who do not have to think about this every day really do not have any conception. now that is ok as long as they're prepared. part of the planning is walking people through psychologically what to expect. otherwise, they are going to use that mental been with in the crisis to be dealing with this unfamiliar situation that they were not prepared for when the president needs them focused specifically on their area of expertise. i will tell you, what we did was -- it is funny. one of the things in this

presidential directive signed by president bush, i was appointed the national continuity coordinator. it was pointed out that it was not clear what authority i had because i cannot direct federal agencies. having read that, i feel compelled to explain to you that that was really a function of, as you understand, white house is in the wake of iran-contras. the white house staff is made clear that they're not operational. that means they do not direct operations out of the west wing of the white house. the idea was that would coordinate policy, and i would assess informants, but i was not directing operations inside and federal agencies. for those of you who have not worked and the white house, i should tell you that is a turn because when you report directly to the president and are in proximity to the president, the cabinet secretaries will understand that once policy is agreed upon and has been signed by the president and being implemented, you have a good

deal of moral suasion to be able to say your plan is inadequate if order is insufficient in this way and you need to redirect resources. in addition, as you well know, the power of the person is a porn. you'll find in the directive the director of omb working with the person in my position or to assess on an annual basis budgeting, funded, and performance for this continuity programs. so while you cannot actually direct it, there was a good deal of authority that allowed you to be pretty influential in being able to do that. we had a series of meetings among the interagency committee each cabinet secretary did a. one individual in their department responsible. we talked about the standards and requirements. we did practice. we would have even as were the would have to go to their offsite facilities. almost every nmajor nash --

national even was a good opportunity to exercise. you saw the state of the union, a political convention, the inauguration -- all of those are national security special events that triggered continuity exercises and capability. so each time you do that, you learn something you did not think of. you learn some way to strengthen it, and you learn your vulnerabilities. as we get further from september 11, i do worry about people's time and attention to this issue. i have always said one of this country's great strengths is its optimism. and we do not want people to be constantly worried or fearful about another attack. that said, we have to be cognizant of the fact that our enemies continue to plan every day. so we need to be ready. there needs to be people in said the government devoted to this topic