themselves and some we partner with. and there are other higher order operations where we are also partners. there are no more u.s. unilateral operations. we still participate in some combat operations. the casualties that we have suffered since we have been in baghdad really have been through vehicle accidents or suicide attempts. one happened just as we arrived on deck here. it does not mean that it is not dangerous out there. soldiers are ready to protect themselves. the growth we're talking about is a much more capable of iraqi security forces than we have seen get better and a lot more focused. .

>>. we have already had 1f but the book trade combat teams that return to station. we are down to 3 in the baghdad province. in baghdad, legal and eventually come down to one over time. the decision will be made based on some factors that his staff and hours are working through. >> thank you.

>> cnn. the north still has some problems with violence and insurgents. had he moved any of your forces up to the north to assist there? do you anticipate possibly moving some troops from yours to the north? will they need to keep them past the august deadline? >> there was one organization of the division center that was moved up north to reinforce. that happened before we arrived. there has been some movement around. what i would say is that, while i talked a lot about the successes.

a really emphasize that. there is a belief at times that no one is doing anything. 96,000 soldiers are just waiting for something to happen. we are not in the observe and write about it mode. we are doing things every single day. it looks uniquely different each of the commanders have a different tempo depending on whether it is in an urban area or any rural area. >> nbc.

there are reports coming out of iraq this morning that u.s. convoy accidentally opened fire on a group of civilians today. there were civilian casualties. do you have any information? >> there were two stores. sound like a guy mingle together. one was an envoy that was hit by an ied. we are trying to sort out the nature of that. the second incident was out in downtown baghdad. there were several shots fired. we know there were several iraqis that were killed. we are trying to get the bottle of that -- bottom of that. once the report came in, he and i talked through my training

team chief. we put together a combined inspection team that is on site now, taking in the that what happened. we know there was an incident. there were two people killed. >> were there any casualties in the convoy hit by an ied? >> details will follow later. >> we worked together in baghdad. there was an incident which cause weapon firing.

mu'min's that used to happen in baghdad are partnered -- movement that usually have been in baghdad are partner movement. we work all these movements in the operation centers. it is what we have agreed to do. >> was that a platoon of iraqi soldiers? >> no, it wasn't. it was put in moving into a fixed site. it was a daylihgght movement. >> a movement of u.s. troops?

>> right. it is a platoon of u.s. troops that were moving. >> what was this site? >> it is not a combat operation in the way you describe they were moving to a fixed site. >> it looks like we have depleted our questions. any final thought you'd like to share with us? >> of light to the a couple prospectus. you touched on responsible drawdown. it is not just start or stop the

election process. there is a lot of movement that has happened. we are positioning to turn over a number of american jss's to the iraqis. it is a comprehensive plan. for we continue to find. this will continue through september and beyond. secondly, i would state the environment is incredibly complex. i would also tell you that there are an awful lot of young american soldiers . and they are doing a great job. what we have learned is just how

complex the human terrain is here. we have gotten much better at learning that in many how to deal with provincial leaders, with industry leaders in the cities and towns, call they are. there are partner operations. the army -- i have great respect. it continues to evolve and change. they continue to adapt as well. we are doing a fair bit out here working with the state department for construction teams bui. consider that a supporting line of effort for hours.

we have a strong and vibrant effort working with our state department. it is not unusual to have a session out on the ground where they are working with a small american element. they are out there doing business with iraqi leadership and security forces altogether. that is much different than what we experienced in 2003 or 2004. we've gotten a lot better at doing that. that is what you are seeing play out. i tell you i am incredibly proud of these americans and other forces that aren't new with beth as we do this stuff on a daily basis. the iraqi security forces have grown significantly.

i were helping train them on my last rotation. it was an army of about 110,000. because it has nearly tripled. the iraqi security forces demonstrated that there up to the task. >> i am the year -- and positive continue this. as a movie on the election and the back and forth that will go on with election results and challenges, i'm confident they will provide the backbone necessary to form the next government. if they settle some, there are more than up to the task. they have a very robust command and reaccontrol.

they rarely get knocked down anymore. it is encouraging to see. it is a pleasure to see how far they have grown. they are in charge now. we are proud to be there. every iraqi leader had a grin on his face. he was beaming with pride with his ability we respond to the challenges. they worked their way through. the iraqi people knew they would. they are encouraged by what they saw. i will close by thanking our

great soldiers. they aren't aligned by the state department folks and other agency friends in the same make this a real team of teams. it is constantly changing. thank you to you for asking lots of questions today. i know that there were a lot of the things competing with iraq now. we believe that as well. thank you for your time. i will stand by for any final questions. >> we are good form here. thank you again for your time. we hope that will get another of state. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >>, a subcommittee books of the annual budget request for the

department of housing and urban development. the him what led 935 eastern time. >> sunday, your chance to talk to karl rove live starting at 10:00 eastern. we will take your phone calls, e-mails and tweets. former defense secretary and the wife. they are interviewed by john lewis. find the entire weekend schedule at booktv.org. >> gordon brown announced the

government would veto the budget on march 24. it could set a stage for nationals elections likely in early may. the prime minister responded to questions on funding for the military in iraq and afghanistan. this is a half hour. >> order, questions for the prime minister. number one -- >> i am sure the whole house will wish to join in paying tribute to the sacrifices soldiers who have lost their lives in afghanistan. these men have made the greatest

sacrifices in the service of their country. the bravery cannot and will not be forgotten. they will be remembered by the british people and by their families. will be remembered with great pride by the british people and by their families. as we honor their memory, we send our sincere condolences to the families and loved ones who feel their loss the most. the debt that we owe them can never be repaid. mr. speaker, the whole house i think we'll want to pay tribute also to the life of michael. you'll be member as a man of the principles was in the views of many the greatest parliamentary debater of his generation. mr. speaker, this point i had meetings with others in addition to my duties in house. i will have further such

meetings today. >> the whole house will want to concur with the words of consoles is the prime minister has offered to those of the rifles who lost their lives. we feel that loss at the loss of the families there intensely but it is matched with pride at what that regiment has become. the army families federation has carried out trials which prove that it is unlikely that the vast majority of our armed forces serving overseas will be able to vote in the coming election. will the prime minister intervened to assure that we don't have the perverse situation that we have people fighting abroad for others to have the right to vote, which deny them that right themselves to? i do repeat again and endorse what he has said. not only about the regiment that he is talking about but about the brady i of the individual soldiers. i do also say to him to justice secretaries making the best arrangements possible so every soldier and every member of the

armed forces overseas will have the vote will be able to cast their vote and i will write to them about all the arrangements that are being made. is absolutely right that everyone should have the chance to cast their vote in every election. >> mr. david drew? >> thank you, mr. speaker. and i asked to be associated with the remarks on our loss of life, and also of the late michael? i believe my honorable friend is in favor of for financial disclosure by parliamentarian. with that in mind, will he assure me the cabinet office is currently undertaking an investigation into the tax returns of the noble? >> mr. speaker, i have been involved, i've been involved in no such investigation of lord ashcroft. i have to tell the house, i have to tell the house i believe the assurances that were made in december 2007, that lord

ashcroft was paying his taxes and was a resident in britain. these assurances were given as an added you by the leader of the opposition. >> mr. david cameron. >> can i first of all echo what the prime minister said about michael, i will say i did not serve with him but i always admired his writing, his brilliant or a tree and his dedication to this house of commons. what i did not agree with much of what he said, at least about the soviet union and disarmament. he held all hoosiers with conviction and with passion, and that is how we should remember him. can i also join the prime minister in paying tribute to the for serviceman who lost their lives in afghanistan in the last seven days. corporal stephen thompson, rifleman jonathon allott, rifleman liam maughan. we pay tribute to their bravery and their service and does the prime minister said, we will not forget what they have done. yesterday we had the inquest into the deaths of four soldiers

in afghanistan in 2008. at the time the defense minister, the honorable member, link to their deaths to the commanders choice of vehicle. this was flatly contradicted by what the coroner said. so will the prime minister now apologize on behalf of his minister? >> the minister apologized at the time and i repeat that apology. the issue for me is, first of all, that our thoughts must be with the families of corporal sarah bryant, corporal sean reeve, lance corporal richard larkin and private paul stout. they also died serving their country. i have read the report from the inquest. that inquest report from the corner will go to the ministry of defense. they've said they will look at every detail that is raised by the coroner. and take whatever action is necessary. there are three areas that have got to be looked at and we've got to be absolutely sure that everything possible is being done. first comma is our vehicles

themselves. we have ordered 1800 new vehicles since 2006 at a cost of 1.7 billion, to make sure that we of the vehicles that are necessary for the commanders on the ground. secondly, on training, we have made sure the training is better and it will be improved for those who are going to afghanistan. and third on ied's themselves, as everybody knows that guerrilla warfare in iraq and afghanistan lead to them starting to use ied's and we had to take extra measures to deal with that. we have improved our engineering capability, our civilians capability. we have now 3000 my detector machines on the ground for our troops. that will double over the next few months. we are doing everything we can to do with the ied threat. so we are answering legitimate questions that have been raised him and i thought that we could also pay tribute to the dignity with which the parents of those died yesterday. the dignity which they showed is something that i believe press

everywhere throughout all the country. >> david cameron? >> thank you, mr. speaker. the prime minister has now apologize for something that never should've been said by the minister. in the house will be grateful for that. from that apology let me turn to the broader issue of the prime minister is evidence to the chilcot inquiry. following his evidence, one former chief of the staff said the prime minister was being disingenuous. another former chief of the defense staff said he was dissembling. [shouting] >> both of these people worked with the prime minister. it's because they are tories, as it? that said, is it? [shouting] that is what this government thinks about people who serve our country? [shouting] >> i think first of all this prime minister should get up and associate himself completely with what those people have said. [shouting] >> mr. speaker, mr. speaker, mr. speaker, is common cause within this house that we support the

campaign in iraq and in afghanistan. and it is common cause, it is common cause also that we do not send our troops into battle without the commanders ushering us that they are properly equipped for the operations they are undertaking. in every instance where the ministry of defense asks for equipment under you or i, that's urgent operational requirements, that equipment was given. and if i may say so, as far as the vehicles were concerned, the leader of the opposition praise us last summer for what we have done to increase the number of vehicles in afghanistan. so if we're talking that these issues, let us find where the common ground is rather than where there is division. >> mr. speaker, is members apartment, his members of parliament have questioned the integrity of people who serve this country, fought for this country, who are essays in bravery of this country. before we go on he's got to get to that dispatch and associate himself with those disgraceful

remarks. [shouting] >> mr. speaker, i have never at any time criticized the country of anybody who's been involved in the defense establishment for this country. but i think, i think we should have a debate about this, which is both serious and which is based on facts. and i have to say to him, every request that we made, every request that was made to us by the ministry of defense for urgent operational requirements were met. we have spent 18 billion pounds in afghanistan, in iraq, on top of the minister of defense budget. i assure this house that every time, every time our commanders go into action, i asked him for an assurance that they had the equipment they need for the operation. i want to applaud the patriotism of anyone who served our country, and so does the vast majority of this house.

>> the prime minister has given us a lecture this morning outside a house on character, but he hasn't got the character to stand up to his own backbenchers. [shouting] >> it is a disgraceful smear. and it's not -- it is not just sheets of the defense staff who said this, we've had former parliament secretary of the ministry of defense talking about guillotine budget. we've had a serving secretary talk about a serious dispute between the treasury and the m.o.d. we've had the former commander of the pairs in afghanistan say he was and i quote staggered by the lack of any sense of responsibility from the prime minister. why does the prime minister think that all these people, dedicated to the defense of this country, are wrong what only he is right? >> mr. speaker, i put the facts before the inquiry on friday. and i said to the inquiry very clearly, about first love, the expenditure of the ministry of defense which has been rising in real terms under this government. and i sat in addition to that

expenditure, 8 billion pounds had been spent in iraq and that we're spending 9 billion pounds in afghanistan. and i have to say to him that the chief of the defense staff has said on record that we are the best equipped force that we have ever been. at and that is a personable to on the ground and in his position has got to satisfy himself that the forces have the equipment they need. i have also to tell him, i've got to take no lectures on integrity. from the man who wouldn't even answer one question about lord ashcroft. [shouting] >> order, order. government back benches must call them. we must your mr. david cameron. >> the fact is once said he was dissembling of the other said he was disingenuous. the prime minister answers every question by talking about urgent operational requirements. of course, they didn't reject those but they never thought what did that mean for the

defense budget. the fact is he has tried to fight two wars on a peacetime budget. will he confirm this, will he confirm that when he was chancellor the treasury massively underestimate the cost of the war in afghanistan? >> no, mr. speaker. i have to tell him that the defense budget has been rising every year. he might have not a complete if we were cutting the defense budget every year but it is rising every year. the only time the defense budget has been cut was in the 10 years before 1997 when it was cut by 30 percent by a conservative government, by half a billion a year. in the shadow defense secretary has had to apologize for the cuts that the conservatives made. we won the cold war. [shouting]

>> order, order their order. order. order. order, order. order. mr. twig, mr. twig, i'm quite worried about you. called down. mr. david cameron. [shouting] >> and we all remember who was a member the badges at the time. [shouting] >> i ask the prime minister, i asked the prime is a very specific question. did he underestimate the cost of the war in afghanistan. i have a freedom of information request saying the cost of the war was estimated at hundreds of millions of pounds. the cost of this is 4 billion pounds. isn't it the case we got

ministers blending commanders, we've got a prime minister than to take responsibility, a government that has been found that. shouldn't everyone conclude they fail to plan, they failed to act, they fail to prepare and they failed in their duty of care? [shouting] >> mr. speaker, mr. speaker, first of all, first of all in defense he cannot deny the fact that the budget is rising every year in real terms. and he i was told he was in school at the time. [laughter] [cheers] mr. speaker, the conservative party talked about the new

politics. the conservative party talked about modernization. the conservative party talked about change. how could they ever change as long as he is vice chairman? >> order, order. >> i am worried about him. your heckling is as boring as it is boris. -- boorish. >> [inaudible] >> the secondary school is being rebuilt their future programs. kinney karen t that they will continue to invest in the future we can you guarantee that they will continue to invest in the future?

>> there are 3400 shores start centers. -- sure start centers. three and four year old are available for apartheid. place. mr. speaker, is a concerted party persist in their policy, which is to cut sure start children's centers, only to a minority of children, and millions of children in this country will lose out on early education. and the whole country will suffer. >> mr. nick clegg. >> i'd like to add my own expressions of sympathy consulted to the family and friends of corporal stephen thompson from first battalion the rifles, lance corporal tom keogh from fourth battalion the rifles, rifleman liam maughan of third battalion the rifles, rifleman jonathon allott of third battalion the rifles.

all of whom who tragically lost their lives serving so bravely, so selfishly in afghanistan this lastly pick out also also like to add the attribute to everybody on these benches and to the late and lamented michael as we know from the tributes paid order that he was a great parliamentary, a great orator, a great and great integrity. it lifts the lid on labour's dark secrets. 13 years, 13 years of tough talk on crime has actually turned our prisons into colleges of crime. repeat one is the report shows now cost the taxpayer 10 billion pounds a year and the human cost of the tens of thousands of victims is even higher. we now admit the truth, this government isn't tough on criminals because it is during the young offenders of today into the hardened criminals of tomorrow. >> mr. speaker, i just got to tell him the facts.

it is now 25%. so whatever he says he's got to face up to the fact that crime is down in this country, violent crime is down in this country. the number of police in this country has gone up. people have a right to feel safer, and we're doing more with neighborhood policing, but he cannot give the house information that he cannot back up by the statistic. >> how could he defend a record in which nine out of every 10 young men who go into prison on short-term prison services go out and commit another crime within two years? prison isn't working. is spending 11 times more locking children up and stopping them from committing crimes in the first place. so won't he just admit he talks tough on crime, and ignores the evidence and it is that they can to end up paying the price. >> mr. speaker, again, you cannot ignore the facts. there are 20,000 more prison places. youth reoffending has fallen. and if he would support us on

cctv in dna, we might be all able to catch criminals and the right time in the right place. i have to say to him, i share with him a desire that we prevent young people from reoffending. and i share with them a desire that person is better at educating people for the future, but he cannot at the same time acknowledged the advances that are being made and that youth reoffending is down 25%. >> thank you, mr. speaker, in this week which includes international women's day and mother's day is the prime minister aware that moms next is organizing a group of women to come to this house on friday in order to remind us all that there is still half a million women around the world who die in childbirth, and too many children who died in the first day of their lives? with the prime minister commit to action to reduce this international death of women and you need more children? >> mr. speaker, i applaud the work that she does on the

organizations, to highlight the avoidable loss of maternal life during childbirth, and at the same time, the damage that arises because the children were born are without mothers. and i do say to her that the theme of the g8 this year will be to make advances on my turtle mortality and make sure that mothers are better prepared and given better help. and it is not a huge amount of money that each mother needs so that she could have a safe pregnancy, but it is vital that we all, together, make sure that the supplies are available. it is one of the great causes of our time to reduce my maternal mortality. i hope the whole house can support that cause. >> mr. speaker, the prime minister referred order to vehicles training and ied's as the three issues need to be examined. but the wiltshire and swindon corner, david masters, was very

clear that the soldiers he named earlier were killed unlawfully. that was the verdict. because they had unsuitable vehicles. they had inadequate training and they had insufficient bomb making equipment. so the question is, why would he send people into battle with unsuitable vehicles, inadequate training and unsuitable -- insufficient bombing equipment? >> mr. speaker, i just, i just had to say to him that before any operation is carried out, and we ask those people who are in charge if they have the equipment that is needed to undertake this operation. what we are dealing with here is a situation where four people in a snatch land rover face a huge mine that blew up. at that stage, the mine detection equipment is not as good as it is now. it is a lot better now and we have learned lessons over the last few years, and that's what i say there are 6000 my

detectors to be out in afghanistan in the next few months. as far as training is concerned, the ministry of defense have already said that training has improved and they will look at how it can improve. as far as the issue of snatch land rover's are concerned, he knows that in 2006 we decided at the recommendation of the chiefs of staff that we would allocate 90,000,002 buying masters, two buying ridgeback, to buying other vehicles and he knows also that a contract for 200 vehicles to replace a snatch, that's patrol vehicles, has been the work in the last few days. everything we can do to make sure that our vehicles are safer is being done, and that's what a lemon hundred new vehicles are out and available since 2006. and that's why we spend 1.8 billion on it that i cannot bring the soldiers back to life, but i can assure him and their families that we're doing everything we can to ensure that training is improved, to ensure that equipment against minds is

better than it has been, and to make sure that the vehicles in which they are driving are safe. >> labour party never need and don't take down patriotism. [shouting] >> michael foot was on the greatest patriots of this country has had. rising from the speech, rising from the speech and the former head of mi5, which he made yesterday, can the prime minister tell us when protest were made to the united states over the barbaric use of torture? wended mi5 officers know what was happening? and is it not quite clear from our experience in northern ireland that torture, such torture was used in the united states, is counterproductive and would not help in the fight against terrorism? >> we do not support torture. we do not condone torture. we condemn torture.

any instance where allegations are made about torture, these will go to the proper authorities to be investigated. >> thank you, mr. speaker, last week 170 families in my constituents learned they had not been offered a place at a local high school in my constituency. that means there are many boys and girls in my area who are the casualties of unfair mission system that has condemned them to go to schools that are unpopular miles away from their homes. will the prime minister look at my bill that sets out proposals to do with this issue? will he take the steps necessary to ensure that no child gets left behind in this way against the? at the moment as he knows the framework assure that all parents are free to consider the rights go, not just the nearest. laster over 85 percent of secure both the three most preferred schools. so i recognize the intention behind the honorable members comments, but i have to say to him in anything which mirrors the range of schools available to all families is not something

we can support. >> will robertson. >> thank you, mr. speaker. will my right honorable friend allay the fears of my constituents and myself on the, and not do with the leader of the opposition, and also as a defense spokesman and say that we will open up any contracts in look for clauses in day one of the next government? >> mr. speaker, once again were committed to the aircraft carriers and to the program that is necessary for the navy and for the defense of our country. and where going ahead with the aircraft carrier program because we believe on the recommendations of our defense staff, that it is the right thing to do. i think he's right to say that it would be far better if there were all party consensus on this issue. and that we have support from the opposition party on aircraft carriers. and there is silence on this issue today suggests, the silence on this issue today, the

size on this issue today suggests that they cannot commit themselves to the aircraft program. and as the shadow chancellor has hinted, it may be one of the first cuts under a conservative government. i think the public is owed an answer from the conservatives about what their position really is. [shouting] >> mr. speaker, in view of the answer which the prime minister gave to his honorable friend a few questions ago, could he say why, when stonecutters are running at more than 3600 deaths of children in the first seven days of life aren't running at over 1700, he has yet to implement the recommendations of the new nato task force would report to the government last year? >> mr. speaker, i do know a lot about this issue, and i do know about the problems that arise. and i do know that there are issues affecting health inequalities as well as issues

of medicine in baltimore. and i do assure her that we're doing everything that we can to reduce the number of infant deaths, to make sure as i said to my honorable friend before, that mothers, too, are safe in childbirth. i can assure her we will do everything we can. >> thank you, mr. speaker. onto the house will join in offering condolences to the family of those who died so tragically in my constituency on sunday. turning to the economy, does my right honorable friend share the views of the executive board of the international monetary fund and a growing band of leading economist, to slash public investment this year with drivers back into recession and destroy jobs? >> mr. speaker, i share the condolences he has expressed for those who died in his constituency on sunday. it is not just the senior adviser to the conservative

party on fiscal policy who has said, who has said that we cannot remove the fiscal stimulus now. it's every sensible piece of opinion and every sensible opinion in this country and other countries. and how the conservative party can be in a position now where they're wanted to cut public spending at the moment that the recovery is fragile, i do not know. they were wrong on the issues as we entered the recession. they were wrong in calling for cuts at the height of the recession. they are now wrong in calling for cuts as we try to escape the recession. on every major economic policy question, they've been wrong, wrong, and wrong again. [shouting] >> mr. speaker, will the prime minister give an unequivocal commitment that no labor government will renege on the negotiated in the 1972 european communities accession treaty, 20 rate, value added tax on food,

children's clothes, newspapers and books? >> mr. speaker, we made a decision in november not to go ahead but to go ahead with a national insurance price. the party that has raise it is a conservative party. it went from 18 percent to 50% and then they raise it to 17.5%. the tory tax is vat and they have imposed it many, many >> they are defeating soviet expansionism. >> order, order. >> prime minister? >> i think it is important in

this house that people recognize where there is agreement and when there is not. there is agreement among all the needed to do to end the cold war. there has been agreement that we need to take action in iraq and afghanistan. it shows is hunted and of the behavior is. >> it is in conflict to the government passages. the cost of rail fares have gone up in real terms. it is above the inflation every single year. they will end of this policy.

>> the railways are carrying more passengers than ever before since the second world war. we will make sure we have the most modern railways for the future. to mark to expand our railways and to make sure we have the most modern railways for the future. and i believe the passengers welcome the fact that not only have we better trained services but trains arrive on time. i think it's important to recognize the huge investment that this government has made in the railways of this country. >> is my right honorable friend aware of integers campaign of them undermining of public service and the bbc in particular? as the goes to a general election, will reaffirm that this government supports public service broadcasting and the bbc? >> mr. speaker, what worries me more is the conservative campaign to undermine the bbc

and british telecom. and the conservatives have made an announcement that put at risk the future of digitalization and broadband in this country. we're determined that everyone in this country has access to broa >> next wednesday's questions began an hour later than usual. you have a live coverage on c- span2. >> obama invokes the idea that the government is deciding celeries. this is a life lesson in progress. >> founder and president of the policy institute on the work to promote conservative women in leadership roles. >> we announced this year's winners in our students cam

competition this is 15 minutes. thank you. host: this is a special time of year for us, the time that we get to announce the winners of our c-span student competition. lots of hard work, this year we had more entries than ever before. over 1000 young people sent us their videos on issues of the day. our grand prize winners, we have a video of them receiving the great news. >> maddison, laura, samantha? >> yes? >> i am glad that you are together. my entire education team is here this morning. we have good news for you girls. you have entered our studentcam competition and you are winners. congratulations to you. even bigger news, you are our national grand prize winners. >> [giggling]

>> they were so quiet for a second, i think you have gotten a reaction out of them. >> we are very proud of you. as you might remember from last year, we had manner -- winners in the middle school category and high-school category. you girls are all eighth grade winners, competed throughout most of our judging process for the middle school category. but for the grand prize you look at everyone. you even beat out the high school documentary. >> did you not say that there were like a thousand folks that entered? >> there were over 1000 videos. >> this video, "i have got the power," is terrific. madison, how did you pick the topic? >> like uncle works at a nuclear

power plant. i was thinking about that, we were interested and we wanted to know more. >> what did you learn, lauren? >> we learned a ton. when we went to visit the current -- company where her uncle worked, we learned how it actually is and how it works. everything has so much precaution. >> samantha, what was your favorite part of the process? >> when we got to go to the nuclear power plant, it is hard to get in there. you cannot just have a school id. there was a lot of cool stuff in there. students have not been allowed in since 9/11, so that was my favorite part. >> we enjoyed the photograph of the three of you in the plan

with your hard hats on. your student population for the nuclear fission reaction, were they adults or students to participate on the playground? >> they were all students. in our school we had our four core teachers. >> it was very effective. this is quite a topic. you had access to a lot of people to be interviewed. your video was just so well done. do you want to hear what you want? >> sure. >> you will split the grand prize of $5,000. your teacher has won $1,000 in digital equipment for the school. pretty great news. did your minds change about nuclear energy?

you did a great job showing multiple sides of this issue. what did you learn? what surprised you? >> it was surprising the amount of security that it took to get into the power plant, actually. all of the precautions that they took. we also did a survey that showed how people really perceive it, it was so different from how it is perceived. >> you just did an incredible job in presenting this complicated topic. i learned from it, all of our viewers did. your video is available on our website. we thank our time warner cable affiliate in milwaukee for getting this on camera for you girls. we want to see you. just a huge congratulations from us and a big win in beating out

all the other winners to bec the toam prize -- to be the 2010 studentcam prize winners. congratulations. >> thank you. host: meredith, tell us more about those young ladies, who they are, and studentcam. guest: as you saw, we were calling the grand prize winner of our annual c-span documentary competition for students. in the clip that you saw, those are eighth graders from racine, wisconsin. this year we had over 1000 entries and only 75 winners. what we would like to do right now is give some context to our viewers to show us the grand

prize video. >> we have identified a significant lack of knowledge in the general public with relation to nuclear energy. when we asked 100 adults and 100 students how many nuclear power plants are presently operational in the united states, responses were all over. >> i have no idea. >> two? >> many understood the concept of a nuclear fission reaction, where neutrons are absorbent by the nucleus of the uranium 235 adam, splitting and giving off more elements in each neutron. these ones strike other atoms, causing a chain reaction. this energy is used to turn water into steam, spinning

turbine into electricity. is this challenge worth the benefit? >host: quite a wide range of videos. what are we asking students to do this year, and what were the issues? guest: they could choose between two topics. a strength of the country or a challenge that the country is facing. our grand prize winners focused on nuclear energy as a challenge to overcome energy consumption. in the challenge category, our top five, the highest number were entries on the economy -- sorry, health care. second was the economy. third was education. fourth was the war on terrorism. the fifth was homelessness and poverty. students could also focus on the strength, we got videos looking

at strengths that america had. our first fries high-school winner focused on a strength, their documentary was on diversity in america. we want to show you a clip from that one. >> my background is kind of a different one. i am chinese, jewish, greek and russian. majority chinese, then jewish in terms of religion and ethnicity. >> using the term culture, i do not think that color or religious a necessity -- i like to think about social structure. we are going to get those people, the tired, the hungry, the poor. >> people from asia, europe, south america, all of these places. we are all coming to gather here

in america. >> there is no one american culture, it is a big melting pot of lots of different cultures. if it were just one culture, america will lose something. >host: great individual stories out there. what was the criteria for judging? guest: we were looking for five things. first, we were looking for inclusion of c-span programming, one thing this students needed to do. adherence to the time limit. quality of expression. showing multiple or various sides of their topic. the last thing is also focusing on the thoughtfulness of the actual theme. in the documentary be just what

from our high school winner, that was from a student in oklahoma. she is an 11th grader. it was a very intimate look through the eyes of four students and one teacher about the influence of diversity and culture in america. we would like to show you a clip from our first prize middle school winner, focusing on a challenge. a great example of the incorporation of c-span from ramming. >> six years ago the kids played outside after school and on weekends -- 46 years ago, the kids play outside after school and on weekends. mom stayed at home. they do a dinner. now kids have about five hours of screen time per day, including the computer, television. kids no longer play outside after school. they take the bus to school or

their parents drive them, they do not walk. we have become a fast-food nation. as a consequence, childhood obesity has more than doubled since 1980. one out of seven children are now obese. now obese. this is a anything host: us about that video? guest: that video was created in honolulu. he is a seventh grader he intertwine c-span programming so well he actually had it at a voice over. he shot his own b-roll.