departing stones-seekers. another plant -- an airplane left today. >> i will ertainly look at the point that my hon. friend makes. it is important that we recognize this. whenever a view we took about the iraq conflict -- whatever we took about the iraq conflict, iraq does have some chance of stability and democracy. where there is progress -- i had a meeting this morning with general petraeus. one of the reasons and that our- brave servicemen and women have fought and died in iraq was to try to make that a more stable country and a country that people who have fled it would be

able to rettrn to. of course, i will look at the particular issue he raises. if we help to make their country save, they should be able to go home. -- country safe, they should be able to go home. >> could he give me his personal assurance that he will do everything in his power to support the people of cumbria >> i can certainly give the hon. gentleman that assurance. working in coverage to bring people together after this appalling tragedy. -- working in cumbria to bring people together after this appalling trageey. they have a very compassionate and caring and strong community. they have shown that in the wake of these terribbe events. we will need after question time to discuss what shall be done nexx.

i think that is important. it is important to recognize that this is a part of the country that can sometimes feel quite cut off. with respect to the amazing work made by the hospital, it really prove itself, facing the most appalling tragedy and a terrible difficulties of so many people with such awful injuries and coming to that hospital at once. sometimes people are inclined to say that that hospitaa was too small to handle these things. it was big enough. big is not always beautiful. >> does the prime minister agree that it is wrong to ask one authority to show what it is a national responsibility? >> i am happy to look at this. this has been an issue in the surrounding heathrow airport.

then i will make sure of that home office ministers of are in make sure that we're taking care of this problem. >> will the prime minister negotiate with the european colleagues to seek in the abandoned [unintelligible] if they do not agree, will he withdraw from the3 >> i think that even with even the most supportive, they would agree that it has not been successful in saving [unintelligible] i think they're good lessons to be learned from other countties who have done better in doing this. that does lead to some very drastic action, in terms of closing some fishing areas altogether.

otherrcountries have done that and have been able to regenerate their fishing stocks.. >> with the prime minister agree with me that we heard a lot of fairness from the bench this morning. but there is nothing fair about the legacy they have left us, $75 billion pounds of debt interest that we will have to pay, that we could have spent in public services. >> thank you. the hon. lady makes an extremely good point. if we do not take action to deal with this deficit, we're going to be paying over $70 billion pounds, not repaying the debt, but just on debt interest in five years' time. all of the revenue gleannd from corporation tax, all of the tax+ on every company paying profits

in this country, that does not even paper half -- even pay for half of the debt interest bill. >> [unintelligible] >> i am very grateful for the issue. i will certainly look at it. [laughter] i cannot promise to arrange all of the stocks on the west coast main line. i will certainly do my best. wil note hat i am a folllwer of my beloved english football team. i ask them to cut the

bureaucracy and fly the flag of england in [unintelligible] >> i have had those conversations. there was some question that there would be a cost impact. i have managed to cut through that. if at no additional ccst, of the flood of st. george will fly -- the flag of st. george will fly over [unintelligible] i am looking at all of the benches here. house, no matter what part of the and united kingdom they come from, they will be shouting, "come on, england!" >> dos -- does he still think that hunting for sport will be

considered in the review? >> everything has to be considered. there is the status of mental visits.people who require%- because of ttagedies, very strict rules come in terms of -pwhat people who keep guus at home ave to do in terms of very strict security. i remember asking how much leakage was there froo legally held guns into the illegal and black-market. the answer was virtually nine. if we are looking for what the problem is, it is clearly that we have a huge number of guns in our society that we have to get rid of. if there is an appalling problem in this case where a switch flipped in someone's head.

we must make sure we have the robuss laws that we need. >> each week, but we dare the prime minister's questions. c-span.org @, -- at c-span.org, you can find videos of the prime minister's comments. >> you can was live questions on wednesday at 7:00 a.m. eastern on our coopaniin network c-span. the response of the gulf of mexico oil spill. later, alex gibney discusses his

latest documentary ttere's another chance to see the prime minister's questions. tomorrow, paul gegare will be on "washington journal." goaltomasky -- michael tomasky will talk about the liberal wings of the democratic party. ryan crocker discusses the recent sanctions against iran afghanistan. >> c-span, and our public

affairs content is available on you can also connect with us on- twitter, facebook, and youtube. signup for our scheduled alert e-mails at c-span.org. >> c-span was invited to tour this facility where we spoke with top-ranking coast guard and bp officials. >> in the unified command

incident command room, what we know as the war room, this is the central room that is providing the direction and developing the strategic plans for operations that are driving 11,000 men and women who are working from the offshore resource area. once floods arrive on the service, although it back to %+uisiana shorelines. our job is to protect the shorelines from any impact. this is one of the commands that are designed to work collaborative lacrosse thh gulf of mexico -- collaborative leap across the gulf of mexico. the second command post is in mobile, alabama. there is a third incident command located in myanmar which focuses on florida.

over -- in miami which focuses on florida. >> you'll notice that this is a bp building. what is this building usually used for. >> this building was designed to be a training facility for our offshore/onshore oil field operators.+ it is a location where we train, develop, and expand the skills and capabilities of the men and women who are involved with producing oil and gas in the operation. >> you have coast guard people here. i see a lot of people in civilian dress in. >> under the national incident command system, this response has been developed as part of a unified command approach. what you actually find in this building, as well as in our operations, is more than 80 different agencies, companies, individuals who have come from

literally all over the world as experts, brought together to facilitatt and support our mission here. >> can you explain what the different colored vests are? >> under the incident command structure, there typically occur your command staffs that are supporting the overall running there is the unified incident command, the whiteebest that i am wearing. the step that's of -- that i am wearing, and the staff that supports me. what is the most important component of the incident command structure are the five the body of this response effort. they include planning, logistics, operations, finance, and resources. >> tell me what happens in this

room. >> what you're seeing is the convergence of the differing sections. it is their abilities to work together. planning, which you see here in the blue vests, are working to make sure that we evelop the overarching objectives and priorities that are necessary to guide and direct air operations. if you look a little bit further down -- you translate our planning the operationwhitat needs to do. the red vests are our stock -- %+e our operations section. the lead would haveeto be done -pall the water and on the shoreline every day to impact success against the mission that we have, which is reducing oil on the water and reducing the

potential risk of the impact tt our shoreline. >> fat llen is the -- >> the incident commander. >> you would be someone whoois one step under him. >> three steps -- there is the area commander, admiral watson, doug suttles representing bp, a state representative for louisiaaa. equally, and each of the other states, there's a state rep. the command is made of these three principal parties. but it also includes representatives from the epa, the department of interior, and at mms. >> ultimately, who is paying for all of this? >> the responsible party behind this, bp, is financing this

response effort at this time. >> so everything that is happening in this building is funded by bp. >> that is correct. >> and many people do you have here now? >> we have approximately 1000 people within the incident command structure working 24 hours a day, seven ddys a week. there is a 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. shift and there is a night shift. the night shift is useless when our planning and are detailed objectives settings are developed to enable the next ddy's shift to hit the ground running at 6:00 a.m. and -- at 6:00 a.m. [unintelligible] >> -- >> [unintelligible] >> we gather as many people who can spare a few moments to come man and, number one, we remind ourselves of the mission. then we breakdown into four3

first and foremost is to keep our people say it. everything we do has to be looked at through the lens of how do we keep people safe in what we ask them to do. second, we look at, at the lessors, how can we maximize the -- will look at, at the source, how can we maximize the oil that is coming in. thirdly, as it approaches, when it comes past us that the source, how do we respond in the 10 miles to 20 miles range offshore. if it comes beyond that line of+ defense, what do we do in the near shore and shorelines to responn quickly or reduce our remediate and impact when it >> what are your days like? >> long and hard, but energizing. when you surrounded by the%+ caliber of people whose sole commitment and purpose is to bring everything they know every idea that they have and every

pdea that someone else may have that can be a part of the solution or helps us to improve on a daily basis, it is very energizing. it is challenging. nobbdy wants to be here for the reason that created this incident and the ragedy that it initiated. but all of us are here with a commitment and passion for doing the very best of job that we can as a unified team in making a difference. >> this is essentially the war room. this is where we conduct our battle. up here is our battle map. all the people in this room are here for the fight. this shows you, basically, where the spill as that. all those symbols of their symbolize staging areas and the assets that we've deployed for this response. if everybody in this room that you see is in the room and are

supporring the operations in the field. we havv the world's most renowned experts in your 4 -- fighting. we have people from exxon dentes and from overseas -- from exxon valdez and from overseas helping us to fight this spell. >> everyday is a nnw day for a spirit everyday is a new oil spill. -- a new day for us. every day is a new oil spill. we'll take it very seriously. every day is absolutely a new battle. that means new resources, new techniques, new innovations, new ways to fight the cleanup of the soil so that the people of louisiana can go back to their way oo life. this is what we call the main

battlefront headquarters for this fight. we basically develop the objectives and the goals to fight the oil spill. then we also develop strategies. we send that out to all our field commanders and naval commanders and air force commanders out there so that they can work those out effectively. >> how is it working? >> under the national contingency plan,3 the vote and i am the authority here on the ground, here at home for this oil spill. i have had this discussion with bp and their stand that i have 51% of the vote in that authority. -- and theyyenter standard that i have 51% of the vote in that %+thority. we are actually directing under

our uthority this cleanup. >> how do you feel a [unintelligible] >> under the law, bp has the financial responsibility of the cleanup of this spill. the coast guard has the responsibility of cleaning up this spill. it is my job to make sure they're proceeding to make sure the soil is being taken care of adequately. we're trying to exceed that standard by making sure that is done by more than adequately. many in turnnare responsible for making sure that, financially, they're mobilizing the contractor resources, the aircraft, the boats, the vessels, the people on the shoreline to make sure that this cleanup is done. i am making sure that that is being accomplished. >> there are quite a few coast

guard personnel in this building. guard? -p>> there are between 175 peope to two hundred people. it was clear that we needed more coast guard involvement, more direction. that is why you see more coast guard here. out in the field, all of the branch directors that arr on the shoreline operations are staffed charge. bp is working directly for them and the contractors are working for them to make sure that everything is going along the proper lines. we really have three operations going on. we have a naval operation for skimming the soil. we have coast guard involved in

supervising the operation. part of the air operation includes aerial dispersants. part of the naval operations include burning and scamming. then there is the shore base activities. we have shoreline branches to that is going on in the field. one of my responsibilities is to ensure that we involve the local community in this response. that is a big part of my day. i maintain touch with all of the presence to make sure that we have a unified effort going on between the coast guard, bp, and the parish organizations. they are fighting this on their ground and their soil and we want to make sure that they are included. i went to a town hall meeting. i insist that i be involved in that. i am offftonight, but tomorrow night, i have a town hall meeting. i think it is important to meet the people and tell them what is going onnand he would have to say.

i said to the troops this morning thaa this is not just a battle for oil spillage. this is about somebody's way of life and the people of louisiana. unless you put that face on this bill, you really do not know what you're fighting for. -- on the spill, you really do not know what you're fighting for. >> this is the situation status map. we have numerous layers of defense. we have the source here. it is the red star. the red line is where we spotted oil could it does not necessarily tell you the thickness or if it is recoverable or if it is scam kimmable. we want to eliminate it as close to the source as possible. at the source commo we have our most capable skimming vessels. -- at the source, we have lerma

skippable skimming vessels. -- at thh source, we have our most capable skimming vessels. the blackest oil is close to the source. it is fresh and recoverable. further away from the source,+ we're looking at what we call "alternate response technology," such as controlled burning. that has been very successful for a spin we also have room for area dispersants. when we get permission to do that from the regional response team, we use dispersant out there as well. we have around the patches, we

have smaller and skimmers. -- we have smaller skimmers. we have a whole army of people out there on small boats, each cleaners, picking up the stuff that does get to shore. numerous techniques and strategies are used to get rid of the oil. we've triee to prevent the oil from getting to the beach for the marsh. we've usedboom to do that -- we use boom to do that. it is very difficult to keep the soil where we do not want it wwth the the weather. but we also have manual recovery. this is sort of the projection of some of the impact -- sorry, this is the boom map.

this is a projection of where we see oil. it is not necessarily recoverable oil pared some of this is sheehan -- oil. some oo this is sheen. but we try to prevented from getting on the beaches. source control is out of houston. but then we have search recovery, burning, dispersing, leading edges recovery, and shoreline production. that is different activities from mental pickup of tar balls and and collecting observance. we have beach cleaners out there. it is a big tractor that picks up the sand, washes the sand, basically, and it is much more eefective than one guy picking

up eight powerball. it is very hot -- one guy picking up a tarbel ball. it is very hot out there. we are moving boom around. our job is to support those guys out there. we do that mostly by being on the phone all day long and talking to people. if somebody has a problem and can i get something done, hard job is to find a way to support that person who is out theee doing the job. it is a very difficult battle to fight. most oil spills, use secure the source. every day, we are fighting a new oil spill, which is a challenge. the best people in the world are working here on this. ttey are doing amazing things out there. we are doing things that have never been done before. we are burning longer than they

have ever done. we are using your capabilities and learning from it every day. if it is a pretty amazing group of people out there. ww are not necessarily getting credit for our success is because we get harps on for wha!!not to doing as good a jobe want to do. people are working 14 hours to 15 hours a day at this job. >> basically, this is the controlled burn unit. you can see that we have cameras aboard all the vessels. we can see what they're doing in real time. we're trying to capture the soil in the gulf.

the boom. we will send an igniter team over. the oil and lighted off, back away, and as it gets roaring, the crude-oil will start to burn. .

>> the center of this is actually where the incident occurred. >> this is the incident right here. here.is our task orce right anything from around here where the oil is coming up, this is where we are capturing. all these vessels here are skimming the oil off. whatever they cannot get in the skimmer, they are trying to get in the burn. taking place? >> i think 60 miles offshore. just around the site, because that is where the good, burnable oil is. the oil is either dispersed or becomes emulsify by weather and is hard to burn. we cannot get it lit. it takes the good, black crude oil for us to get to burn. there definitely is a lot ofd.

smoke. that may be yet-to them, to see the air pollution, but as much crude oil as they are burning off, i think it is a positive. there is very little esidue on this. if we disburse it and spread it out -- if we disperse it, we spread it out, but if we burn it, it is gone. especially if we get it right from the source. as soon as it comes up, burnet, it is done. -- burn it, it is done. >> thank you. >> primarily, what happens is, they send off a request, and the request goes through all these people in this room, and they basically identify it and

purchase it and get it back to the field as quickly as these gentlemen here, that is the airport ordered short -- alternative response team. the team is designed to look at all these suggestions people have and evaluate those as far as they can contribute to the response or not. >> this room is our environmental unit. we have here the world's foremost experts in oil science. we have some private industry folks. their job primarily is to look at what the oil is going to do to thh environment, how quickly it up, and make sure we are taking care of the environment?

she has been one of my mentors, and i have worked with are for over 20 years. they want to ask some questions about your expertise and your experience with the exxon valdez. what would be somm comparisons? >> comparisons are always a pittleetricky, because there are so many variables among the oil spills. the setting of alaska vs. louisiana, the oil is different. this is happening in a much so comparisons are difficult to do. the only generalization you can do -- it depends on a lot of variables.

there are things that helpp minimiie the effect that we could see if it were a different set of conditions. >> can you talk about that? >> certainly the oil and the warm weather and the act that the gulf of mexico is a wide open body of water. what you are trying to do is put this in the larger picture and an oil spill is always a bad thing, there are situations that make it better than it could be. >> what are you doing here? >> we have a small group of technical specialists who are trying to assess ddspersants and a body weight types of this person's reevaluate types f dispersants, as well as the

government agencies to have to decide what is the best long- term plan for the spill. >> what do you say about the dispersants? >> it is premature to make a judgment about. >> this is the shoreline cleanup assessment team, and these are the people who are looking at he shoreline and the evaluating strategy and tactics to deal with that. that.rd can give you more about- >> you are in the scat room now. everyone recognizes that some oil will come ashore, and when it does, we need to find it, decide what to do, and then clean it up.

that in effect is what our team does. we have teams in the field right now in helicopters and on the ground, in boatss and walking shorelines. what they do is track and document whereethe oil is. the team that is doing this is the unified team. we haae people from the federal and coast guard and state representatives and other landowners and stakeholders. we got together and find oil, document it expertly and consistently, and then make decisions about what to do. for example, youuhave marsh areas, sandy beaches, all sorts of different types of shorelines. for eacc of those different shorelines, there are different cleaning techniques to achieve different results. a critical thing hereeis to recognize what kind of shorelines we haae, what are the

sensitivities, and how to clean them. we gather that data together and put it together into technical instructions and get operation's working to those instructions. experts folks back out in the field monitoringgwhat they are doing nd making sure it is done effectively. i can show you the room, so you can see exactty how it is. all our folks are out ii the field right now, so this is a very busy room at the beginning+ of the day.3 they are out gathering data. this is a big logistics operation. we have about maybe 17 out in the air, in boats, on the ground, and they decide where they are going and what they are going to go and document. then we have folks onnthe phones

and the radios making sure they stay safe. when they come back from the field, they are at this desk. they then discuss everything, so every day all the surveyor's come back, and we discuss exactly what we have seen. they have been trained and our exports and what they do. they can describe in ways that can be replicated consistently so we all understand what we are looking at. -pthen they put it altogether in documentation and put it into a data base so we can generate reports, and every day we come up with things like this. this is a shoreline map. it is a cumulative maps showing areas of heavy pollution, medium, and light pollution. the blue areas showed no oil. we know exactly where the oil is, what is there, and what it consists of. that is essentially how we generate things.

then we go and work with the guys in the main room with the red jackets on. they are out there in the field organizing. one of the other things i should say, we have people from noaa and polaris who essentially were the architects of this process 20 years ago. you need to be experts at what you are doing. plus all the local folks, louisiana state representatives, who are critical in making sure that what we are doing is absolutely the right thing to do. we do it right and did not cause any other damage. if there are wildlife sites that are concerned, for example, if there are archaeological sites that need to be protected, we keep people away from them. so it is the right approach for the right place at the right time. those are the critical aspects

of shoreline assessment. are you would be th!!with bp? >> my background is crisis management. i am based in the u.k. and i am out of the corporate headquarters. weathee is a far explosion, flood, or whatever, i am one of the small team that determines how we operate. i have trained in consulted in 26 countries arrund the world. i have been pulled in to make sure that the shoreline response program is tightly ocused. >> what is the biggest challenge >> each week we get a different

challenge. first, just logistics'. getting folks out into the field from that helicopter to car to another truck to an airboat. it takes hours to get people to some of the most remote locations. right now, the challenge is heat. it is hot out there. there are significant logistic and safety challenges just to get to the job. that is ooe of the key ones. if you are talking about oil onshore, the challenge is the marshes. you have very sensitive marsh land areas. contrary to what the general public might think, the best way to clean up the march is not to just go in there and start stripping it ut and taking the oil out. marshes are very sensitivee environments and need to be carrfully handled. the biggest challenge is getting people to understand that doing very little, flushing the oil out gently, taking care of the marshes, don't of trampling on

the vegetation. doing a little bit of effective work is much better than doing a lot of ineffective and damaging pork. if you contrast that to a sandy beach, you can clean a sandy beach very quickly. the idea of going in in getting a quick -- getting people to understand that just cleaning up oil is not just about going in scooping it up. there is a loo of expert work that needs to go into working out how to do it. >> there are a lot offfolks looking at a lot of data. they are looking at health risks to responders. in ann situation where you have+ a response and a lot of people moving fast, there is an element

of risk. that is true on the land, and out at sea. there are a lot of folks devoted to looking at all data, looking at how the cruise or ooerating and doing business, and out in the response area, and making sure that everybody is safe and that we continue did it -- drink the mission. crew and responder held ii paramount and needs to be effective. -- crew and responder health. >> we are feeding between 7005850 people three times a day. among the services we offer our paundry service -- people are staying at hotels and motels all

around that area, and you can drop your laundry off 24 hours a day, as long as you get here before 8:00. you can pick it up anytime around the clock.. we are going up to where we have full-time medical services available. we can get a glimpse in there, sure. if the door is open, but they have folkk in there right now. their operations come from this office over here. 24 hours a day, there are pilots with this system available to deploy all the resources, both fixed-wing and helicopter assets, that are

necessary. any given day, we have as many as 125 operations being directed out of this area. those are the commander offices there. this is the caucus of the entire unifiid command -- the office of the entiie unified command. we also have a spiritual side

here. we have an employee assistance program and we have a chapllin, services are offered throughout the week. >> i have alertenotice there are traders. can you talk about hht? >> it is take a look outside, rahm the parameter, there are a lot of mobile command posts. strike force trailer set up.al some are being constructed in. as we continue to grow as a unified command, real estate becomes an issue. we really want to give our folks room to work, have enough dedicated desks and phone lines.

you can see that some of the rooms are really starting to pack in. the unified command is continuing to grow and we want to give them room to ggow out and have ssace is to ork in. >> a look now at the effect the oil spill may have on pensacola, florida, with a local reporter. >> carl is writing for the pensacola newspaper. he is joining us on the phone. thanks for being with us. host: it is the first time to the region since the oil spill. what will the presidency? >> lots of anxiety. many people hoping -- we have beautiful beaches here, easily among the most beautiful and well. it is pure, white sand. the picture of the oil coming ashore is very ugly.

you have pretty much a beach economy here that will be brought to an abrupt standstill. host: we saw some of the pictures over the weekend as phe oil now in the form of large balls, once it hits the sand begins to melt on the white sand you just referred to. guest: yes, we have heard various things, including that once it hits the sand is fairly easy to clean up. the problem is that once the weather hits, it just keeps coming. once you are inside the bay have been active in oyster fishery, on the east bay on the of mullet shrimp in the bay, so we're very concerned if it gets inside itbay. host: what will be the long- term economic impact?

guest: we had just been recovering from hurricane ivan in 2004. many people were looking to the beginning of the tourist season, as the first season that would really turnnut. we were having some new hotels open, and everyone seemed to be having a good spring with hotels and restaurants up, and phis brings it to a halt. it is hard to overstate it. it just kills everything. tourists don't come to the beach you cannot swim. the charter fishing is gone. it is really bad. host: in one of the editorials you took aim at ken salazar -- what kind of job do think has been doing? and more specifically, mms which is gone through its on transformation as a result of the april 20 spill?

guest: obviously, mms has done a terrible job. at this time i don't know how much we can expect the federal government to do. certainly, there is no expertise to stop this well from leaking. it will have to be bp. we would like to see -- it is hard to understand bp's responne gutted by the coast guard and pushed by the federal it seems to be so strange, lacking. -pthe oil is appearing close to here and we would like to see a whole fleet out there hitting phe edges of it before it hits, but they keep telling us that there are skimmers ut there. we do not see many. we are expecting to see an overwhelming response. we want to see bp i do like this is their own backyard and we're not sure that ww are

seeing that. host: yet we do see a new advertising campaign with the ceo tony nayward saying that they will get this right, essentially. do you dobp? >> did you believe bp? guest: they clearly understand it is a mess. the problem is, going back to the story last week with bp's plan -- they essentially did not even think that the oil would give to the beaches because they claimed their plan was so effective -- i have come nowhere near that. -- they have come nowhere near that. the numbers were wrong, the websites were wrong. m.m.s. was supposed to be in charge of vetting that. bp clue realizes that they have messed up in every day that

goes on they have done worse and worse. i don't think they're purposely trying to do a bad job, but there were not prepared. host: first of all, the president is traveling to the gulf coast tomorrow. it will be his first-ever night visit since the oil spill on april 20. then on wednesday, bp executives are summoned to the white house to meet with the president. as result of the next three days, the think that anything will change? guest: no, because again, i just don't know -- if this were just a matter of someone and the white house saying okay, you have to do this and that will solve the problem, then yes. at this time, i assume that bp is doing everything technologically that they can. i guess they can hire more people on theebeaches. there have been suggestions they put up anywhere from $1 billion up to $10 billion in escrow and give it to states and

let them control it. i do think that would be a good idea. if we did tell obama to do anything, it would be that. it to tell bp to turn the money over to local cities and states and let them do things. but other than that, i don't believe thereeare any magic bullets. host: joining us from pensacola, florida, thanks for being with us, carl. >> amar, president obama begins a two day visit to the gulf coast. he will tour recovery efforts in mmssissippi, alabama, and florida. hearings continue on capitol hill and elsewhere. tuesday, the heads of the largest oil companies will testify on u.s. energy policy before the house energy and commerce subcommittee on the environment. tuesday night, the president will address the nation on the oillspill cleanup from the oval

office. the white house has invited the key executives to meet with the president on wednesday. tonn heyward testifies before congress on thursday. both of those hearings are live during the week on c-span3 and c-span radio. >> to watch the latest readings and congressional hearings or our llves bp of the oil spill, log onto c-span.org. p host: welcome back, this is norman solomon, a national board member of the progressive democrats of america. guest: it is a pleasure host: how is the president doing? guest: i'm afraid he is undermining the two goals that are overarching for millions of americans who call themselves progressives. probably tens of millions very consciously are disappointed. the first goal is to maximize

chances of keeping republicans out of the speaker's office and majority senate office, and out of the oval office after 2012. the other goal is to move policy in a progressive direction. unfortunately, on both counts unwittingly the obama administration has undermined those two goals. i'm with a group that this coming wednesday will hold will recall brown bag vigils at more than 100 congressional offices around the country. we realize that whether you talk about war, jobs, the informant, civil liberties, we have a huge problem with this administration. host: a couple of things that have happened in the past week. let me get your reaction. big labor arkansas bust.

today, in politics as in sports, success is measured by moral victories are usually claimed by those on the wrong end of the score. $10 million spent in the arkansas senate runoff. blanche lincoln received 52% of the vote and won. guest: yes, the white house pointless expenditure by organized labor. i wonder what we would say about $1 billion in afghanistan, more than pointless and terribly destructive. it seemed to be a message from the white house to organized labor, just let us run the show after 16 months, the results are clear. it was supposed to be a priority of this and ministers in.

>> this administration. i commend a group called bold progressives, and other such groups -- those that worked very hard to put up a fight against a blue dog corporate democrat named blanche lincoln in arkansas.. the advice coming from the white house foo progressives including organized labor too just say ok, tell us what to do, that does not comport with history if you look back fdr from the 1930's, john kennedy and others froo the 1960's. all the great movements came as a result of the base mobilizing. to the extent, the press has made a mistake of deferringgto the white house for the last 16 months. we have de-mobilized and de- energized our own progressive+ base.

host: here is a summary -- is not clear that obama cares so deeply about leading his party. guest: it is a fair question. in 1994 the republicans took over the congress with the democrats and the white house who had shafted human rights, organized labor, thrrugh nafta. by any other name it appears the obama administration with the and was different from so many progressive groups and individuals in the last year or more has basically engaged in a triangulation. to continue to placate the republican right wing which cannot be placated, and will never offer anything but opposition and hatred, to try

to placate them is a huge mistake. we will not win many of these closely contested theeelections in november as democrats unless we can mobilize the base. we cannot mobilize with a bunch billion.ric or belated $50 another thing, jobs are crucial. the republicans claim that they will create jobs by funneling tax breaks to business puts to shame which should be a legacy of the new deal. jobs programs that create jobs. host: with a $13 trillion loominn deficit, how you spend additional money?

guest: with fiscal austerity we could start with blowing ttese hundreds of billions in afghanistan. this war is catastrophic. one year ago many progressives were saying in private but they're beginning to say more openly. this war is death, not only for so many americans as reported on the front page today, but of course afghans. the fiscal implications are huge. we need the money at home for job creation, education, housing, green jobs. house says to expect an increase in casualties' in afghanistan. they write the military's intelligence network in afghanistan is designed for tracking terrorists and insurgents and it is increasingly focused on

uncovering corruption that is rampant across afghanistan') government. further into the story, they're looking into how to conduct a widespread perversion of authority by afghan power brokers or senior officials. it is a plague on the american- backed effort to win support of the afghan people. guest: that story was response to administration makes and is laughable. i was in the capital of afghanistan last summer and the corruption of those karzai government is clearly extreme. we hear in the paper today about how the u.s. military will now carry out corruption -- it is not a mystery. go to the brother of the president of the country, to kandahar and you find karzai -- a massive drug dealer, grabs

massive amounts of land -- to call a corruption is an understatement. that is the u.s. proxy government in afghhnistan. the policy will not work by any measuree unfortunately, one of the defining characteristics of the obama administration has been that the president maps out as he did in his west point speech about afghanistan last december a very clear, shrewd analysis of history. then he proceeds to announce a policy which is often nearly a 180-degree departure. many people looked at his language and say this is a smart guy making a lot of sense, then at the policy and it is

very different. i have gotten to know the pentagon papers whistleblower and he talks about afghanistan in similar terms to the vietnam war. some very smart people in the administration can do very stupid things. that is a good summary of this escalation of the afghanistan war. host: why do you think the policiee have continued? some say they're similar to the bush policies. is it because of robert gates has stayed on in his role? guest: the president chooses all these people. it is not hyperbolic to say some money buuh administration policies have been pursued by this administration. the executive director of the aclu said a few days ago that the obama administration policies, in terms of civil

liberties "disgusted him." i think that tells us how far removed from the hopes of from the bush administration host: yet this comment by twitter says that progressives have to grin and bear it. guest: well, two bowls -- we as progressives, and there are so many of us around the country, can do the equivalent of walk and chew gum at the same time. it comes down to november, and we are given a practical choice between extreme right-wing republicans, and we saw what the reagan and bush err did to our country. that in no way should prevent us from fighting for the soul of the democratic party. in its own way, thht is a bill that bill halter ran against

blanche linnoln. coming up in rhode island for the vacancy of patrick kennedy, who is leaving the congress, we have a genuine progressive. david segal in the state legislature is going to fight for productive principles against basically a couple of corporate democrats.+ these are battles that have to be fought around the country by progressives, including in the primaries. the comments coming from the white house about how we were told a few days ago from the obama administration, that $10 million in arkansas was less down the toilet, we are going to ppsh back and say no, primaries exist for reason. we are born to do what robert kennedy did, what eugene mccarthy did in 1968. we are going to speak up and speak out. host: another comment, the elephant in the room is the

military complex. andy is joining us from oxford on a republican line. caller: thank you for taking the call. i have one question and then i will hang up and wait for the answer. here in oxford,,we find our local school with property-tax is. if someone in trenton, new jersey wants to lower people teacher ratio and not raise pretax is to do that, why is it my responsibility to pay more federal taxes so they could pay less? caller: whether it is highways ann public transportation or clean air, we all have a shared destiny here. that is what henry wallace talked about in terms of the century of the common man. we are in this together. that is the hhstory of elevating our sites and the

quality of life for all americans. every child has a right to quality education. and to make that contingent on wherr he or she happens to be born, i think would be a mistake. i would also tie and how this is connected with the comment we just heard. the reality is, there is a huge elephant in the room. we have aaout one trillion dollars a year on military spending.3 is one of the biggest suppliers of oil and gasoline to the u.s. military. these issues tend to weave together. martin luther king talked about

in terms of guided missiles and misguided men. we have the technology to wage war anddwe have the access to give money to some and not to others, depending on where their children are born and sent to public school. a more egalitarian society is going to be a stronger society. host: how many books have youu authored so far? guest: 12 so far. host: what is your criticism of the maanstream media? guest: not enough scrutiny. it is parallel to the government that should have a regulatory function. we have too much deference,

often beccuse of the media are corporate outlets.tised in it puts a short leash on what we i would say a body politic needs vigorous ideas and debate from a wide range of ources and voices. i would argue that we get blockage in terms f bailout for wall street, while people are desperate for a of jobs in this country. we have the wars in iraq and afghanistan. we have this horrific continuing oil catastrophe in the gulf of mexico that is both a profound corporate, district of, criminal act against nature and the planet and our legacy on earth, and a profound regulatory failure coming out of washington. the press needs to be vigorous in scrutinizing, not just after the fact, but ongoing.

host: there is reporting in that there is more a military in afghanistan and iraq. next we will go to steve in panama city, floridaa caller: >> mr. solomon, i agree with you with afghanistan and the war and everything. i am surprised more people are not screaming about whyyare we over there and spending all this money. does that have something to do with oil? is there a pipeline that will be coming from the north through afghanistan and pakistan? i did hear it, but i have never heard it in the neww or anything. i ammjust wondering, is that true? guest: wars have been for a lot of reasons.

others have documented, in the 1980's there was a great deal of interest from the u.s., and in the 1990's, in securing for u.s. oil interests, pipeline axis from the central asian republic to a water port in pakistan. i would not put too fine a point on that. right now, this is the war that keeps going, and is much more to start one. -pif you think about the amountf money being spent that is going around to all kind of military contractors, and let me remind you, we are organizing around the country to block the $13 billion supplemental that is now being moved to the house by the obama administration. you might remember last year, early in the year we were told that was the last supplemental, that war spending was not on the

books. now we are being encouraged to forget that, and a supplemental measure is being pushed through. pe are going to be watching how they vote on the supplemental measures. host: we have critics on our guest: nobody is going to save us. obama himself is someone we need to look at realistically. he is a person, as cornell west said, he is a corporate politician. that is what obama is. we have our own responsibility as citizens, as people ho can affect the future, and as critical as i aa of the obama administration's policies in many areas, i am at least as critical or perhaps more so many

people who know better, who have muted their voices. we have to organize. we have to do what was done in earlier years by people who pushed and pulled and demanddd and created a political atmosphere where we could get and forced the white house to move. host: do you think we should give him the time line and leeway he proposed? bush or mccain that he is president. in terms of a time llne, this could go on forever. time.s gone on for a very long%- that was the rationale during the vietnam war. we have gone over the cliff. to get more chances to compound the world felony. host: you compared the president's visit to lyndon johnson's 1966 visit to south

vietnam. guest: it was chilling for me to go back in the archives and read about lyndon johnson and howl of be the soldiers were to hear the president saying that we are going to nail the coonskin cap to the wall and that sort of thing. that is not do us any good, because the reality is, they are different countries. the psychological mechanisms, the process along pennsylvania avenue in washington to try to justify the unjustifiable, the failure of congressional leadership to use the power of the purse to respond to public opinion, we have a poll this

country is now saying in this war is not worth it, and yet the war goes on and continues to escalate. host: the situation in southern afghanistan, a look at how u.s. military officials are trying to save some of those troops picks it is a photograph of the battle line in afghanistan. he seemed to indicate that obama could become a president who have a work that consumed johnson, nixon, and bush. guest: his reliance on a bleak -- basically republican mechanisms, you have the vice of the economy and the war, which -pare related to squandering ths money. many people are brought into the military because they cannot find jobs.

we are in that situation, and denial does not help us at all. that is why the leadership has to come -- not from congress right now. has to come from the base. we have to organize and raise help to stop this war. host: john says norm is one of the fewwgenuine progress cents. he is a commie hiding behind a fake name. guest: i thought that was kind of an anachronism. i did visit the hill as a teenager. host: reed is joining us on the democrats' line. caller: mr. solomon, i have been a really good example of somebody who is a cross between

zero working democrat and liberal democrat. this is feeding into the terrible bashing that president obama is getting as a communist. you are absolutely losing poderates for the democratic party. you are example of making the perfect the enemy of the good. please support the president. i actually voted for hillary, but i have to belleve that you president of the united states.e the alternative, are you kidding me? you are also one of these people that reminns me -- of wood rather always be out of office.

guest: president obama, unfortunately with his policies, is enabling and empowering the right wing. the white house has aligned that is not the proper stance for democrats in office. when democrats put geithner and summee in top economic policy positions, that enables and strengthens the right wing postulate to make gains. i would say the situation is more a 180 then what you describe. this policy is strengthening, not weakening, the right-wing backlash. when these become the correct side of this divide, it will be a progressive populism that challenges the economic forces

in close, cleared solidarity with working people. host: they listen to glenn beck at all? guest: not really, i prefer to read the transcripts. guest: he says they are preparing to put americans into concentration camps. guest: i think the concern about civil liberties is much clearer in terms of what we have seen since 9/11. and i understand i will not be invited back again. he invited me on his tv show to attack general electric as owners of nbc. he also challenge the owners of his network, and i don't think he was too happy with this segment. all kinds of crazy things will be set by glenn beck and rush limbaugh. -pit can set your watch on that.

it does not mean because the enemy of our enemy is somebody who has policies in place and now we just need to defend those policies no matter what. it is not a matttr of the perfecttbeing the enemy of the good. it is a question of whether the policies right now are ones that will move this country in a progressive direction, and that regulatory fellow lawyer in the gulf of mexico, military spending that is out of control, the failure to protect civil liberties and create jobs where they could be created with new deal programs, the opportunity to have organized labor part of polarizing organized labor. these are huge problems in the sense that we need to sseak up

and organized to it save this administration from itself. not only in terms of the policy wisdom involved, but in terms of winning this election in november. if this progressive base does not feel bound and connected to this administration, then a lot of voters will stay home, and we will have a very of the result. guest: could the prrsident be challenged in the primary? guest: >> in terms of 2012? it is too soon to say.3 what happened in 1967 when a turned a deaf ear to a base that was opposed to an escalating war. the polls tell us that about two-thirds of obama votees in 2008 are very much opposed to this war in afghanistan. host: elena kagan's nomination wiil go before the senate

judiciary committee two weeks from tomorrow. by all accounts, she will be confirmed as the next associate justice and the supreme court. guest: a painful irony that the stevens seat will be filled by miss kagan and it will move to the right. very few legal analyst will disagree with a clear analysis that stevens has been a much more of strong civil libertarian than kagan. er than elena kagan it is a sad day when a democrat in the white house mak a t the supreme court toove an overly nservative, court furtro rit. host: is the presiie of x in? if you put someonen oo far to

face at could publican libuster? guest of the president x in. dide what is wrt fighting f. he hasbeen willing to fight fo nhingand not for othe. fewoments we heard out w the he also has broken many of his good campaign promises, but not broken the one to escalate the war. the president and sometimes unfortunately the excess of apologists make excuses for him. he can fight on capitol hill when he wants to. he could fight for genuiie civil llbertarians for the supreme court. instead, he nominated someone who is not a strong backer of civil liberties. that is a mistake. it is possible to face down the senate. many persons believe many presidents have done it, and i

am regretful that this president has chosen not to throw down the gauntlet for civil liberties. host: our conversation on this solomon. this morning from tampa, florida. caller: iihave been on hold here por awhile, so i apologize if i ask something that was similar to somebody else. i republican. first of all, i am an american, and i am a republican, but i am moderate, independent view. i am quite interested in what mr. solomon's view would be on pavid stockman book, "triumph in politics." he was president -- president

reagan's supply-side guru. during his book, i read that president reagan -- i am not young, but not ood either, ronald reagan was my first election. going back and reading a little bit about history, i learned that ronald reagan quadruple our deffcit. he increased military spending, and eventually i learned that he'd quadrupled our budget deficit. bill clinton got us out of that mess, and bush jr., $200 billion in a rat hole. i am not saying obama is doing everything right, but i do note the republican house, the republican administration left the car in a deep ditch.

i do not know about a man who is supposedly a democrat, why you are railing againss obama when we should be trying to come -ptogether. it feeds the republicans and as the republican whom it has kind of seen the light, i am trying to understand where you are coming from. guest: ccming together is good, but not money policies hat are escalating the war in afghanistan, costing us a tremendous amount of national treasure and allies of plunge -- the lives of young people and making us less secure in afghanistan and around the world. coming together is not a great policy when its failure of basic regulatory functions hat lead to allowing outfit slight bp to

do whatever they want. instead of addressing the problem aggressively, we have these nickel-and-dimed approaches and subsidies through tax breaks to businesses. it all makes the question of how we can move this country forward in a way that sustains the quality of life and provide real security. if we look at it up fairly narrow but in important partisan electoral lands, i think it is fairly clear that when the president of the united states bonds with wall street's, and absolutely refuses to do what fdr did as president when he denounced those he called the economic roils, when our president could be leading with help from the grassroots an enormous shiit for social, progressive change. when our president bonds with

wall street rather than challenges it, that is a deficit for democrats going into the november midterm. if we do not engage in it ass democrats, the right-wing populism will take over, and that will be worse for democraas come election day. >> tomorrow on "washington journal, call the president of the national aasociation of public affairs network discusses the importance of state networks. the former director of national intelligence talks about u.s. security issues and the nomination of general james clapper to be the next head of the department of national intelligence. michael tomasky xamines president obama relationship with the of progressive and liberal wings of the deeocratic party. ryan crocker, former ambassador to iraq and pakistan, discusses recent sanctions against iran