>> merry christmas to all of you joining us today. coming into view right now, union station is decked out. whether you are traveling by train or air plane. you may notice a little more inspection if you are carrying thormos-like containers

>> passengers may observe additional security related to concealed beverage containers

>> also in the "new york times" this morning. the story about the results and election in michigan, pennsylvania and ohio are all losing republican seats.

host: good morning and go ahade. caller: i wanted to thank the

troops and wish them good morning and c-span in general. host: gary paton will be our guest in 45 minutes. he's the nato training commissioner. he'll talk about issues involving troop involvement there. cleveland, ohio. tom and the democrat's line. caller: good morning and merry christmas of all. it is my understanding that on the first day of the senate they can change the rules without needing any super majority. your comments and do you think that will happen? host: going to louisiana on the

republican line. caller: i've been watching since the beginning. it was odd that c-span didn't have an opposing view. it struck me as odd that c-span didn't have an opposing voice. the democrats could leave acts in credibility it would make

other changes to streel line senate operation. to louisiana. sam on the democrat line. caller: good morning. i can't believe you are on christmas morning. that's great. host: we are on every day of the year. caller: i appreciate the call

from new orleans. two calls from louisiana, that's great. host: what are your thoughts this morning. caller: just want to say merry christmas to the troops. i am a veteran. merry christmas. happy new year. host: illinois on the republican line. caller: good morning. merry christmas. a couple brief topics. first, i'd like to say merry christmas to all of those who defend us nationally and abroad. as the grandson of a tuskgeege airmen. i simpow these with those who

feel they have to serve our country in secret. my grandfather still cries to this day about how our own troops had tales like monkeys. they were trying to pass out candy. thank god that rumor was dispeled. secondly as a republican. moderate republicans. we never saw any reason to change. for god's sake moderate republicans step up your voices

to those who deem our president as none christian. god bless you. host: talking about the governor of arizona signing law april 23 of this year. may 8 put out by the state party the force is going towards the flites.

primary election set the stage for some of the most compelling and crucial races. if you want to see that, they've lined it up on the politico.com site. opening the phones for the next half hour or so. caller: good morning. merry christmas to everybody. i'm kind of disappointed in this tea party deal. this is the best show on television happy new year to everybody

>> some of the things he is doing well is considering replacements to key positions.

host: south carolina. robert on the deprat line. are you there? ur on. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. you do a wonderful job. you have a very diverse nation and opinion. you do a great job in trying to be balanced and fair.

you had a great show on yesterday. that comment of the man who said the president lied. s in dispickable. i cry to be moderate and be accommodating to other's opinions and stuff. this country is very rich if we could be like nine or ten americans working to one unemployed. i'm fortunate to retire and be a 20-year veteran we got unemployed family members.

my family wouldn't mind an increase of 5% to help those unemployed. i see so much selfishness. the country is so blessed to have president obama. he's so skilled and talented he's trying to help the country and the middle class. you got to help the upper class to help the middle class. taxes are a necessary evil. congress, one in two countries the work we are doing. i'd like to see sausage being made. i came from the country where we made homemade sausage. if you put too much fat that's

what the congress does in general. you got outstanding republicans and inds and good democrats. we can't have it our way. we ain't god and we ain't perfect. host: we'll have to leave it there and move on to the next call in jacksonville, florida. caller: merry christmas. thank you c-span and all the media for doing so much in 2010 for helping people understand mental health problems early

screenings and we also teach lawyers, judges and school students, there will be a huge economic savings. truly, those who have studied and go to conferences. mental illnesses globally are the highest impact if caught early, they can be corrected without medication all of these expensive forms. >> two you think the government will see changes people have

been unable to increase coverage studies show half of the 60 americans will have a mental illness within 14-24 years of age another 15 million onset which explains a lot of problems with teens they loose their job, get teen pregnancy or are kicked out of school.

tea partiers got 68%. they have no majority. all i hear is the downward spiral of this nation. you left out a large portion of the -- those who believe in christ and jehova god with the guestiest.

you have a good day. host: this week on our news maker program. our guest is a candidate for the chairman of the national position. in the discussion he had, one of the thing that's came up was the current management of the rnc by michael steele.

host: from gulfport, mississippi. victor on the ind line. have presents been opened yet or not? caller: yes. good morning to you, young man and merry christmas to you. my comment here is, is there any americans left everyone is calling on these different lines. i wonder why you don't have a

line of just americans. host: why do you say that? caller: nobody can degree on this or agree on these things and healthcare. republicans and democrats can't come to any agreements it is a bit confusing to me. host: one of the ideas that came out was that the president comprimised i'm an american.

i got 24 years in the military. back in my days, i'm 80 years old. i was in the military in the 40's and 50's and 60's. we had a different word for gays and lesbians at the time. i will not say it. we managed to handle our own wherever the case may be. i'm a straight man 100%. the only thing that will happen is that they cut down the

population. going on to write the massive new healthcare homeowners will get a tax break. ness part of the sweeping era.

as the republicans are speaking host: ohio on the open phone. caller: hello. how is it going? merry christmas to everybody out there. it is a beautiful white christmas here in columbus. we are loving it.

host: how many inches? caller: more like a milimeter. host: what's your comment? caller: i am on the democratic line. i think of myself as an american. i'm an african american. born in columbus. went to college in west virginia . i always thought of myself as an american. i lean toward the democratic party. republicans are just quite disgraceful in their actions. democrats are standing up for the american value and people's rights to live.

host: did you see the last skegs. do you think it will ex-tonet next session. caller: president obama obama showed good leadership. they both have good idea. we can watch ourselves continue to spiral down. somebody had to be the adult in the room he's trying to step forward and lead us. china, russia, they are out

there pushing hard. my brother came from a work study in japan the kids over there, all they do is study, study, study. if we zont do the same, we are not going to move forward. tax cuts may help or not. if we all get it together, everybody kind of steps up and pushes their part and stop crying aun all the time, we might make it somewhere. host: that was ohio on the democrat line. that's the train station where

folks come in and out of d.c. as you look at that. we go to north carolina. it will stay that way until about the first of april. >> is this is part of one of the things i enjoy.

how do you think that relates caller: when clinton was in office. we got a lot done. it seems like now, it almost seems obama has a refreshed appearance that maybe now that there is a majority in the house, he might be able to get something done. i have a funny feeling about his actions right now

caller: he'll get good results with this republican majority. i any he will. host: we'll leave it there. from kentucky. go ahead. caller: it's a lot of older people calling. i'm in this category. i wanted to make one comment. i think it happened during truman's administration >> there is 24 hours a day. that leaves 12 hours to mind your own business and 12 hours to leave other people alone. america needs to mind their own

business. host: do you mean international affairs? caller: yes. yes. you have the lady saying that the muslims shouldn't wear things over their face and head. they attack their dress. i could go on with the different things like that. the main thing is take care of things at home here. that's what needs to be done. i'd like to figure out what the problem was good morning and merry christmas.

i'd like to thank c-span for the book i entered a while back. it was "who is buried in grant's tomb." i enjoyed that. thank you for the open phone calling period. it would be need if you could have maybe the first tuesday of the month, a scheduled open phone to save up our comments for a time we know we can offer them. i'd like to thank you for your video library. i really enjoy being able to look up old shows. that's a lot of fun. host: what do you like to look up? caller: the old the-1-1 day, when steve skully looked over

his back. being able to go back and show people moments like that is fantastic. host: on your screen right now, viewers, far right click on the video library. that is video going back to the mid 1980s. if you are looking for a subject, type it in the box, everything related will come up. we have a wide variety of the president and congress.

it was one of those primary processes. it's not been a victory for obama. we would not only have been able to keep that promise. this has not been a victory. it's been a loss. the media continues to position it as a victory. that's not been the case

tomorrow, our guest will talk about that. issues of comprimise and things like that another set at 8:30. you may have heard about last week. it does deal with issues of travel. we'll talk about veterans who leave the service we'll talk about those issues and take a look at your phone calls ohio is up next. >> good morning and merry christmas to you.

if someone is listening, someone willing to do the research, i think we have an idea of how to take care of some serious healthcare issues all the discussions ads must cost a pretty penny. they should be advertising to doctors, not the lay person, i think. what if you take the fcc and restrict commercials like they do with tobacco and alcohol that would put a big chunck in

our pockets. >> thank you for waiting i will say i cannot vote democratic. i believe they are anti- christian agenda with gay rights, abortion. i don't think i could vote democrat if they held a gun to hi head. host: going to twitter.

caller: this morning on christmas morning, you've had two talks person scheduled. these are devisivp people who use language to mislead. really treading hard to bring people where they can very independent and truthful medium

on a morning like christmas morning, you should have someone there less deviceive. going forward into 2011, i really want c-span to reflect and return to its roots. people are just coming out discussing what they hear on fox news. they are challenged by c-span. host: i have to remind you. we do discussion a wide variety of views.

we do carry a lot of view points throughout the year. host: calling from ohio. go ahead. caller: my question to you, i've been on social security for 30 years. for 30 years i've been on, i guess the last two years when we've had to take a cut. do you have any answers for that? host: we've talked about that going into the new year. talk a little about your experience though. caller: the last two years that

plan a and plan b has taken about $55 away from me. host: what do you want to see done about it? host: florida. go ahead. caller: i want to say i do lean more toward the republican party. i just wanted to say that i am an american. i admire those people who recognize and distinguish themselves. i think that americans in general are forgetting that we

have rely relied way too much on the government. we are forgetting. i think a lot of americans are really just forgetting where we came from i am actually very impressed with president obama. i think he's done a wonderful job. i'm happy with what has taken place the "washington post" will look at something for next

year. creating the oversite and giving a broad view. while we are looking at it provision by provision. saying in particular, if republicans want to revisit

host: going to the call line. caller: i was thinking about the last few calls it would be worth it to call and let them know there may be some people

that look into the america first party and see what they can think of that. thank you. >> you are on. what i wanted to say. merry christmas, happy holidays i have three things i want to say. politicians should make a new resolution to try not to lie to the public. i look at a lot on c-span. there is a lot of lies. i understand having opposites

on. the media is one sided too. we don't have any biased reporters too. last thing i wanted to say now they can have i pads on the floor. i know why they want to do that. the tea partiers are coming in now. they don't understand a lot of stuff. they want to be able to look up stuff. that's why they want those i pads on the floor.

>> good morning. i think our government is so out of touch. there's a word i hear in the deproshery line, at work, in my neighborhood. that word is revolution. that scares me. you hear it all the time. people are really angry. i hope it doesn't come to that. if they don't get their act together, i'm afraid thb country is in for a hard time. thank you. host: to the democrat line. caller: i want to wish everybody a merry christmas. happy holiday. go back and find out why just was brought to the earth and read his sermon on the mount. we are supposed to love one another. get something done for

americans. people are out of work. we need to come together. everybody, please. let's quit fighting and get it together. thank you and happy holidays. host: a story today in the "washington post" about wiretapping. if of

host:ville, alabama. caller: this guy called in a while ago about people rising up and revolution. i don't think people have the guths to rise up. the same thing will happen. we'll not have any kind of change until these democrat voters wake up and kick their own people out of office like the republicans try to do.

saying that. come back to barack obama, i believe wholeheartedly with all my heart that this man is completely against america everything he has done, they've been against this country, period. i don't care what anybody says. he's not for this country, period. he is a muslim. no question about it. eric holder is muslim. the attorney general. host: weem leave it there. next caller from illinois. caller: i wanted to comment on

the lady who was cut $55. host: what did they cut you? caller: i'm not sure. i've just been getting it two weeks. i got to wait until i get the statements and everything. i went to the doctor. it was outrageous what i had to pay. i don't know how long it takes to kick in. with the way it is now in 2010, i don't know what it will be down the line if this medical keeps up i think it is so high because people go to the doctor when they don't have to host: ohio.

caller: i'd like to talk about the high gas prices. i wish you would cover it more host: good morning. caller: gr morning. it's been a long time since i could get on you owe bomba has been a disappointment to me. things he promised on this campaign he broke a lot of those promises. i'm disappointed. a lot of african americans just praise him. look at who he has in his

cabinet. he's been a disappointment. republicans are devicive. they love these wars they call themselves prolife but they are proliars. some of them should be banned from c-span. i wish we could live better in the country, especially the elders.

host: we'll have to leave you there because we are out of time for this. our guest coming up with the training mission. more coming up after this. >> coming from the airfield in afghanistan. i would like to wish a happy holidays to my family and friends, my three sons in the dhs area. >> stationed here in afghanistan, i want to give a holiday greeting it my wonderful husband, my friends and family. everybody at good soul air force base. can't wait to be home. >> good evening. 32ened division.

>> i'm from alph company 703. >> we want to wish everybody a happy holiday. see you soon. >> love you. >> this message is for the alvarez, evans and stevenson family from miami, florida. i wish everybody a happy holidays. maya i love you. mommy misses you a lot. can't wait to get back home. >> we'd like to wish a happy holidays to madison in pennsylvania, we love you. >> our next guest joining us with the nato training commission.

the commanding general. there's a little bit of delay because he's in afghanistan. general peyton thanks for joining us. where are we now that we've been in afghanistan for 10 years as far as stopping terrorist activity there? guest: good morning. i'm here in kabul, afghanistan. my job is tro train and grow the national army. i've been here 13 months. i can reflect on what we've done in those past 13 months. we've seen great progress. the army has grown by 49,000 soldiers here in the year 2010. a lot of those troops have formed new infantry and suppose

port that has made the army most capable. we have instituted a number of new training programs for non-commissioned officers and drill sergeants and specialists. we have leaders with more quality ks instruction and specialists. leading the army down the road to some day being receivishishent. when do you think that self sufficientish yen si will take place? >> we have a couple of milestones out there. we will begin thinning the lines leading in logistics,

training and fighting, the international community again, mid 12011, we begin the trantsition process. end of 2014 is the goal to let the afghans take over the lead of their security missions. host: what is it about the afghan army that makes you believe that they are ready to be self sufficient? caller: everyday, i saw 4,000

afghans graduate from soldier, non-commissioned officer and officer training. i lead those programs the afghans are smart people but they are not educated. 80% of the army is illiterate. we have that challenge. we have just incorporated reading writing and math into every training. at night, he is getting lit rassy training. the hope is that by the end of nine weeks of basic training, those soldiers are able to rise

to the first grade level of training. to another level, we are giving them 120 hours raising them to a third grade level. this is important as we raise specialists running systems. it is required that it is necessary they have that education that allows them to read, write and count to take those systems over. we are focused on the training program. leader development. the army is short about 10,000 non-commissioned officers. the united states army, the backbone, we need to infuse with more sergeants we are doing that with training programs like i told but this week. . .

if you want to submit something via e-mail or twitter, you can do so. please remember there is a delay between when you ask your question and when you get a response.

ask your question as quickly as possible and then wait for a response. our first call is indiana. republican line. anthony, go ahead. caller: yes, sir. i only have one question for you. when are we going to start burning the poppy fields? thank you, sir. host: go ahead. guest: that question has to do with the poppy fields, which of course lead to the widespread drug cultivation and farming and, as we know, fuels some of the funding for the insurgency and so forth. what we're doing is we're focused on training an army that can secure its country in a lot of different ways. and an army that can secure the

rule networks where farmers can bring their products, their food products, not drugs, but food products, to market, they can secure the delivey of seeds and sapplings and so forth where the good farmers of afghanistan can be more productive. the insurgents and the taliban are all about being oppressive and denying those type of products being cultivated and the farmers doing those sorts of things. so what we're training an army that can secure its nation and can allow the agriculture industry here, which is widespread across the country to be more productive by putting products on the ground that you can eat and that can take better care of and resource the population here. host: next call is california,

charles, democrats line. caller: general patton, this is charles from oceanside, california. i'm 85 years old and spent three years in the service in world war ii. but that's not the point. what i want to ask you about is the tragedy owe curg. i just read a book called war by sebastian junder where he followed the company b through two years of death and destruction. and left it in 2000 2008. and then i goodled it and found out that the army withdrew in 2010. and it filled me with sadness and sort of a hopelessness about the whole afghanistan situation. i wonder if you might comment

on that. guest: first, i want to thank you for the call. i didn't get all the question. i believe some of it dealt with the sadness of the situation in afghanistan and the army today. and the caller did mention he is a world war ii veteran. so i'm sure as a vern he understands what morale is and how important it is to an army. and i can just tell you that our morale is strong. we know we have an important mission over here. we are well equipped, we're well resourced, we're well led. we have good partnerships, strong partnerships with our afghan counter parts in both the afghan army, the police. i meet every day, nearly every day with the minister of defense, the chief of general staff of the afghan army. we have strong partnerships there. they take our advice. we work well together. they're grateful for our service over here in the

service of their nation and helping get their afghan army and their afghan police up to strength, and grown, and trained. and we're also, we're not saddened but we are in fact encouraged by the progress we see every day in the afghan army and the afghan police. and lastly, i'll just say we're encouraged by the support, the continued support of the american people who supports our mission over here. so i'd say our morale is ever good. i would not agree with the characterization of sads in that i think you were mentioning there. and i thank you for your call. host: general, there's a story in papers today talking about that nato troops had killed two afghan security guards in a gunfight and this is in kabul. can you answer that? guest: i'm not aware of that incident. i know look at our screening

and vetting procedures very closely in bringing in recruits into the afghan army. every soldier who enters the afghan national army undergoes a biomet rirks check which records his rhett nal scan, his finger prints and so forth. those are run against a criminal data base. every recruit has to produce a guarantor letter from community elders from the village where they come from and we also run medical exams and drug tests and so forth on every recruit. having said that, it's not a perfect, fool-proofed system. so i'm sure that the enemy is very set on trying to infiltrate the army with insurgents and so forth. and so that's something we're watchful of. we know it's an enemy tactic. i cannot comment because i

don't know the situations or circumstances of the incident you're referring to in kabul today. but, again, we are very mindful of the quality and the scrutiny of the -- that's neffsfully this environment in bringing in recruits from the population to join the army. host: just to clarify -- guest: and to prevent intilt ration of the enemy into the army and to prevent any sort of occurrences where soldiers might be sympathetic with the insurgency and then turn on one another and that sort of thing. we're very mindful of that and we're working to security measures in place to try and prevent those things. but that is not a fool-proof system by any stretch. host: this is from the "new york times" story, it says that in kabul nato forces acting on apparently faulty intelligence killed two afghan private security guards and wounded three others in a gun battle early friday and goes on from

there. so i wanted to put that in context. guest: i'm not aware of that incident. but the private security companies are a concern. we're working with the president of afghanistan. the ministry of interior, the ministry of defense, the president of afghanistan's intentions are that the private security companies be turned over. the responsibility and oversight of those private security companies be turned over to the government of afghanistan. they've identified a force that is growing called the afghan public protection force and eventually the idea is that the current private security companies would be absorbed by the afghan public protection force. and under the full oversight of the government of afghanistan. and that's to potentially mitigate the risks associated with private security companies, maybe -- and may

relate to some of the circumstances you described today. i'm not familiar with that particular incident. but overall, private security companies is something that is being worked very closely here between us and the government of afghanistan. host: ann on our democrat's line. caller: good morning. host: just keep going because there's a delay. go ahead with your question. let's move on to alabama. republican line. go ahead. caller: good morning, and merry christmas, general patton. you spoke of doing literacy training for the afghanis and i was just wondering what language you would train them in. guest: thank you for the call and merry christmas to you as

well. the trainers for literacy are afghans and they educate them in their native language, be it dari or pash tune primarily. so it's training them in the native languages and also in mathematics and so forth. this, as i said earlier, the afghans are smart people but they're just not formally educated and it's a product of the education system that many of the people in the rural communities don't have access to. and so the other thing in terms of literacy is just to show you how much the literacy can contribute to a soldier, a recent noncommissioned officer that we trained, he entered the army as a lit rat man, as a high school graduate, and that immediately put him ahead of

the other 70% of the army noncommissioned officers who are i will lit rat. and this noncommissioned officer after some initial training was placed in one of the army afghan corps as a finance expert and today, that noncommissioned officer with just a high school education stands out above his peers and is running the finance system for the system of delivering payroll and so fords to the soldiers across the entirety of northern afghanistan where his army is based. so we have seen the utility and value of literacy in the army. a year ago, when i got over here, i didn't see the value of literacy. i was focused on infantry training and so forth. but when you see the power of literacy applied to a position like i just described, it's pretty inspiring and today we have over 15,000 soldiers in the army in literacy training and we've just begun, like i

told the earlier caller, we've just begun putting literacy into every basic training program. so that the soldiers are going through basic training during the day, at night they're doing reading, writing, and arithmetic. thank you for your call. host: ohio, independent line. don. caller: merry christmas, general patton, and to all the army. i was in the army myself. my question is that when americans are going to learn history, you know, we trained the fighter pilots for japan and look what happened there. they turned against us, become cam cazzis. i'm just wondering, when are we going to stop training these other countries and help ourtsdz. thank you very much. host: well, thank you guest: well, thank you for your call. i have to argue with this caller there that i have spent every day in afghanistan, i have been here 13 months. i train the afghan soldiers and

i see them learning, growing, taking responsibility of conducting their own training. i see them joining the ranks of the army. just this past year, we've grown 27 new infantry battalions, 16 new support battalions, ten new head quarters on top of infantry brigades and infantry corps. and the growth is pretgi pressive. but more important is the growth of the unit and army is the growth of the individuals. we're about to turn over ownership and leadership of the sergeant major academy here in kabul to the afghans, the next course we run in january will be entirely afghan-led, afghan-resourced, afghan-instructed and so forth. that's a significant accomplishment. and they'll be producing sergeants majors for their army and filling the ranks of the senior nco. so i see a lot of positives here in the day-to-day training

of the afghan army. and why are we doing that? because, like i said earlier, to produce a self-sufficient army so some day they have the leaders, they have the systems and training, logistics, finance, medical and so forth that enables them to take over ownership, full leadership and functions of their army. and then that will allow us the coalition to bring our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines home because the afghans will have taken ownership and taken over running those systems. so that's why it's important what we're doing today, they'll eventually lead to that self-sufficient army. host: are we going to see pakistan become more involved in this effort? and doesn't your mission depend on the effect of the pakistani government as far as cooperation with you and nato forces? guest: well, pakistan is

central to our efforts to disrupt, defeat and dismantle al qaeda and to deny al qaeda safe havens in pakistan. and i'm going to answer that by saying the political effort to work with our neighbors, the afghan neighbors there in pakistan resides in the a couple of levels above my level here in kabul. so i do know that the government of afghanistan is deeply involved with their neighbor in pakistan. i know our governments and other governments are as well. central to success will be the denying of safe havens, the taliban and al qaeda, in pakistan. our fight here inside the borders of afghanistan -- and just the last thing i'll say about that. pakistan and afghanistan are sovereign nations so they have to work out how they work

across the border and so forth there within their sovereign territories. what i'll say that within the borders of afghanistan, we're focused on developing and growing an affings army. right now it's 146,000 men, it's grown to 171,000. they'll achieve that sometime in the 2011 probably in the late summer or so is our projection. and lots of capabilities being brought into the afghan army as it grows into that level. more than just infantry forces, also building an afghan air force with a sizeable number of helicopters and cargo aircraft. a support force that is able to operate seven different training centers, and so this is a maturing afghan army that's focused on taking care of the security required within

its sovereign nation noge that there are elements beyond its borders that have too be dealt with on the political front. host: off of twitter, tina harold asks guest: you're asking a number of translators we need. i don't have a number for you on that but i do say i deal with afghans every day and i've never been anywhere where i didn't have sufficient translation. we have united states army soldiers in uniform who serve as translators. i have some very excellent british soldiers at the infantry training school that are trained in dari and pashtun and they serve as trance lators. when they operate over at the ministry of defense engaged with the leadership over there,

there's also always sufficient translators on hand. so at least in my line of work and the training institution for the afghan army, i have never been lacking a sufficient or -- a sufficient number or quality of interpreters and translators. host: john on our republican line from pennsylvania. go right ahead. caller: good morning, general. and thanks for your service. i have a quick question. really trying -- i am a republican, a conservative, served in the military myself, actually the army, and so did many members of my family. question, trying to keep the republican-democrat out of this. as a professional soldier yourself, you talked about the programs we're doing over there, literacy, building this and that. it sounds like a nation building mission. and how much longer as a professional soldier do you see this lasting for the american people? 10 years, 20 years,? this has been going on a long

time. the american people are curious. again, thanks for your question, general. guest: thank you for your call. the caller said he's from mecknirkburg, pennsylvania. i'm from the same place. so maybe we're neighbors. my parents still reside in mechanicburg. they might be list ngs. hi, mom and dad. the question is how long are we going to be here. i've been commenting all morning about the institutions of, for medical systems training systems, logistic systems, finance systems and so forth. these are the necessary systems for any army to be able to run itself. it's not good enough just to fight and defeat the enemy over here, which is also going on. that's just not in my particular line of work this tour of duty. and that's also going on here in a very active way across the country with coalition and

afghan forces fighting shoulder to shoulder in nearly every province in this nation. but you can't fight your way out of an insurgency. what you have to do is put systems in place that allow the army to take care of themselves and build an army that can secure its population and allow the population to gain in confidence in its army, government and so forth. that's why what we're doing in terms of training the afghans to train themselves, train the afghans to run their own army are i think valuable contributions to inevitably allowing us as united states army to leave here. and so i see some of that progress every day. i don't plan on coming back here for another tour. i've spent 27 months in iraq and 13 months here, a total of 40 months overseas, four of my last six christmases overseas, and i don't plan on being here

for many more. so what i'm doing every day is to put systems in place that will allow us to make that transition on afghan-led security framework here in their country. host: general -- guest: answering that question from mechanicsburg, pennsylvania. host: the number of nato-led forces in afghanistan was killed sunday taking a total number of foreign troops killed in 2010 to 700, far by the deadliest year of the war when the taliban were toppled in 2001. have you seen afghan civilians themselves killed in the line of duty? guest: well, in talking about caurnlt, it saddens us and may they all rest in peace and thank them all for their service. you know, we've surged this year by bringing coalition

troops over here and also nato international troops over here. and any time you're dealing with an insurgency and you have more, you've sat rated the area and you have more soldiers, that allows us to go into area where the afghan army and the coalition forces have not been before. safe havens where the taliban has been infested for years. where they've been able to take over entire villages and make bomb factories out of entire villages. where they've gone in and rigged homes, private citizens in their villages have rigged their homes with explosives. and these sorts of things. you know, they've literally, because of the number of troops over here in the past weren't able to get out to some of these insurge nt safe havens. now we're going there. so when you start sending troops to these type areas, you're likely to make more

contact. and then that more contact yields some of the casualties you're talking about there. and it's unfortunate. on the side of the civilian casualties, every civilian casualty is regrettable. we take great measures in controlling our fires and engagements and so forth to try and avoid civilian casualties. it has the utmost attention by bodes the afghans and the coalition leadership and i'll just leave it at that. we pay very close attention to that and every -- our goal is to make civilian casualties zero. but that's very difficulty in the type of battlefield and environment we're operating in. thank you for that question. host: miami, florida, samuel, democrat's line. go ahead. caller: good morning, general. and merry christmas. 50% of the afghan population is female. are you doing anything with the women forces of the united

states army marine corps et cetera to engage that 50% of the population and make a change on that front? as you know, in the afghan culture, women are quite influential. my daughter spent 25 years in the air force and i'm an ex-soldier. and also, i'm a democrat. so i want to know how you're utilizing your female engagement teams as relates to training them to engage in that other half of the afghan population that we need to really influence and make a difference in that country. thank you for your service. merry christmas. guest: thank you very much for your call and thank you for the holiday greetings. merry christmas to you as well. females in the afghan military. we are focused on gender

integration in the army and the police for all the reason that is the caller mentioned there. we've seen the tremendous value of brings women into the service in our own military. i was a cadet at the united states military academy in 1976 when we saw the firstr female cadet come to west point. so i've witnessed over my 31 years of service the tremendous value that women bring to the united states army. now, the afghan army will grow at a pace that the afghan people are comfortable with. right now there's about 300 afghan women in the army. they're noncommissioned officers and officers. just several weeks ago, we had the first ever graduation of the first female officer candidate school class which commissioned 29 new female officers into the afghan army. which is impressive. and we just started the second female officer candidate school

course we started this past week and we have about 20 women in that course. so by 29, 20, and continued officer candidate school courses we hope to integrate more very intelligent, very capable women into the afghan army for all the reasons that we've done in our own army. the national military academy of afghanistan, which is a lot like west point, it's a four-year curriculum, here in kabul. i visit it about once a month. they have some women about 20 or so women in the academy there that are all medical students. they'll complete one year at the military academy and then go off to the medical school to be doctors. we also have, we took about five officers from that recent female ocs class and put them into the air force where they're undergoing pilot training. so at some point in the future we should see a cohort developing of afghan women in the afghan air force. so, again, we're taking some small steps today but we've got the training programs in place,

we've got recruiting systems in place, and we're trying to draw more afghan women in the army and also in the afghan police in order to better integrate it and make it a better army and police force as we've seen in our own country. thank you for that call. host: bangor, maine. republican line. kate. caller: good morning, general, sir. merry christmas. i have a question and it's very simple. how do we as former military, former educators, former university professors, how do we support your troops overseas as a civilian population? how do we support you? caller: thank you for that call. i don't think i understood the question. i think it was how do we support our troops overseas with education, i think was the question. so i'll take that on.

you know, our service in afghanistan is an education in itself. i've learned a lot over here culturally, politically, and every other way just from the afghan people. i learned something from them just about every day. so that's an education itself. i think the call ser talking about more of a formal education. you know, our soldiers are very savvy with all of the on-line virtual sort of education that's now available to them. and i know a number of soldiers that work with me who are involved in, as time allows -- and there's not always a lot of time in the day. but they do get on line and do some continuing education that way. of course, the one thing we're concerned about as an army, as a u.s. army is that because of the frequency of deployments that some of the education

opportunities in the professional military education that we've been used to over the years are sometimes limited because perhaps a 12-15, 18 months time when a soldier has his time between deployments in the past, you know, it was unconstrained and today it's constrained by that time available. so we aren't able to send as many of our soldiers maybe as we have in the past to professional military education courses. and those are some of the ones that we really emphasize and we try and get our soldiers on line, connected with literally virtual classrooms for professional military education, also some of the civilian education. so they can continue that. that's very important to our soldiers to be able to continue their education. . .

the smartest soldiers that i have ever seen and they are very interested in improving their own education at every opportunity. host: what happens today? water some of the basic christmas-related activities that her going to happen today? guest: as soon as i am done with this interview, i am going to go to the mess hall and i will be

serving turkey dinner with all the trimmings to all of the troops over there. it is going to be a very nice christmas dinner. we have a fairly festive atmosphere over there. it is a constant flow of the gifts, packages. i cannot go down a hallway without finding an office that has to give some addressed to anonymous soldiers, gifts that were full of goodies and more importantly wrapped in a glove and encouragement from the american people. i would like to conclude by thanking the great american public held there who support us and encourage us. that is a strong reason for our good morale over here. if my family is watching from northern virginia, amanda, alex, has there, if my parents are

watching from pennsylvania, merry christmas to you, mom and dad. thank you for all of your support and for the support of all of the american people all there. host: merry christmas to you, sir. coming up, we are going to have frank luntz, a republican pollster and ceo of the word doctors. we will look to take of that conversation when we come back.

>> interviews from london. tonight, the labor party shadow minister diane abbott. tomorrow, comparing the british and american forms of government as we talk to our guests about elections, the impact of money in races, taxes, social issues, and the cost of living. tonight and tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. former british prime minister tony blair and an author on the role of religion. former supreme court justices sandra day o'connor and david souter discuss life on the high court. " a closing speech has spent aspect of establishment.

an extraordinary experience for me is coming to an end. but my dominant feeling his pride and the great privilege to be a part of this very unique body. >> search for farewell speeches and hear from retired senators in the c-span library. more than 160,000 hours, all on line and all free. >> "washington journal" continues. host: frank luntz joines us, republican pollster. guest: i do these focus groups on air for fox. i present to both political parties, but i come from a republican background.

however you want to label me, it is christmas, i have no complaints. host: is the word doctors a recent effort of yours? guest: yes. obviously i have not retired. the word doctors' name is about to change. as of the first of january, i have expanded. we are now in five different states, localities, and it is going to have a new name by january 1, but i cannot tell you what that is. host: talking to folks about their opinions on where we are going, one talking about america's best days.

the results are as follows? -- are as follows -- guest: if you look at it over the last 50 years, this question has been asked since the early 1950's. the numbers today are more negative than they have ever been. this is a very good shopping -- this was a very good shopping season, which is the good news. at some point, it had to happen. it is a better season based on a better overall number. the american people look at what is happening and they are angry and frustrated even though it is christmas. people are still going to yell and scream. it is a real tragedy. in the end, i think there is another -- i don't think there is another country that we would

rather live in. with so many opportunities, you have an ipad and the iphone and the ipod, and you think of technology. all of the opportunities that we are given, a true global society. i have already received a phone calls to wish me happy holidays from 2 people in europe, and they used sky which cost them nothing. half of americans think that our best days are behind us. my hope is that we can set aside some of this division, that we can treat each other with decency and civility. disagree -- because we do have disagreements, but do so how we are talking right now, and then we can begin to be optimistic and appreciate the things that we have in this country. host: a lot of it is because of messages sent from both sides,

so you are a part of it. guest: i try to focus on the positive. i tried to focus not just on disagreement but on alternatives. don't just complain. find something better. if you disagree with the president's health-care plan, you have the responsibility to offer an alternative. you have to explain why washington is in capable of solving the problem and why it needs to be solved at the local level and that the private -- and at the private sector level. finally, i do these focus groups all across the country, and i am losing control. i have been doing this for 20 years. i tell you, this year, i lost control. i have never lost control of market participants. host: what do you mean?

guest: i cannot stop them from yelling at each other. i cannot bring the intensity of the conversation down. i did a session in southern california and i could hear behind me -- you never turn your back on live television, however, no matter what is going on. my participants were yelling so loud behind me, that at one point, i thought there would be a $5,000 fine from the fcc. i turned my back and i said stop! they still didn't stop. that is how intense it has become. we have to chill out and yell a little bit less. host: this comes at a time with efforts from both sides coming to compromises. guest: yes, and the public did

not give them credit for it. i would of thought that the approval rating for congress would have gone up, but when they made the deal on tax cuts and on jobless benefits and on the alternative minimum tax, you would have thought that both sides would of been happy. in reality, both sides were complaining that there was compromise with one another. " did you determine what went into saying or what you asked folks about the best days behind us or ahead of us? what questions did you ask? guest: there is another chart below that the one to address it. to me, this is one of the greatest tragedies that is happening right now. look at that pie chart on the right. a 58% think their kids are going

to have it worse than them. we are, as a country, the most optimistic, the most hopeful, but not anymore. this work was done for a foundation, a study of how americans think about themselves, their responsibilities as citizens, their responsibilities as americans, and the tragedy is we are losing that fundamental faith, that tomorrow will be better than today. host: what is the foundation? guest: it looks at immigration issues. it looks at relationships between citizens and their country. he was one of the founders of the heritage foundation. this is one of the great think tank-type organizations that really does focus on why we think the way that they do, and

they look for solutions on issues such as immigration and health care. host: if you would like to ask a question -- you can also reach us a couple of other ways. twitter.com. also, send us an e-mail at c- span.org. guest: you do is give people so many different ways to interact with you. i was doing the show 10 years ago, and none of that existed. this is why we should be so optimistic. you can yell at me by e-mail or twitter. isn't that a good thing? host: this is also the twitter -- from twitter --

guest: i have always explores the positive approach of some of the most fundamental issues. you cannot just take your information from the web. frankly, you cannot take it to us from cable news. you have to read all sorts of sources. the greatest threat in american society in terms of information is that we get our news to be affirmed rather than in formed. we correct our news based on what we already believe rather than adding new information. it makes it so difficult because even our basic facts which do not agree on. i always read the new york times and the wall street journal because i want to get as many different perspectives as i can.

host: lets start with pennsylvania, on the democrats online. good morning. caller: good morning. c-span aired global warming hearing from the energy subcommittee during which it was asserted that the missions as a threatened to open a hole in the bottom of the food chain. this is a result of intense international research. from what i have seen, particularly from the 2007 lecture on global warming, you were somewhat the leader in the creation of the [unintelligible] i would like to know what you feel about the threat of climate change this time and what we

think -- and what you think we should do. guest: " i have done research as recently as last year on this topic. if we can be more energy independent, not dependent on fossil fuels in general, if we can create more homegrown feels, solar, wind, and in particular nuclear energy, which is safe, secure, and american, the more that we are energy independent, the more successful we will be and more economic strong we will be. i am a proponent of all of this. i think this battle on climate change is unproductive it. what kind of economy and environment we want to have it in the 21st century? all of the work i have done says

that the american people want to explore innovative approaches. they don't want to give up what they have. they don't to lose jobs. i am a proponent of nuclear energy because that sells so many of these issues. thank you for the call. host: how do you react aside from congress? guest: you have to hold people accountable. it was a concern when both democrats and republicans do it. when you have washington making unilateral decisions without the input of everyone involved, i start to get concerned. there has to be a way, which is why congress has to step up and say we can minute, let's take this as a step-by-step approach and allow voters into the

process. host: that rouge, on our republican deadline. -- bad and rouge, louisiana, on our republican line. caller: i watch c-span often to listen to different people in the united states. not as much as the people who appear on c-span. my question is where do we and how do we regain our trust in the maerican people? that includes the government, our local politicians, everyone. who do we believe today? what information today are we getting that is truthful > ? there is always someone who has an agenda.

we have to guess what their agenda is. the one thing i think is a tragic is these two, three, four party system is available -- they get control of our money, control of the united states, control us, the american people, and by getting total control of the hour monday, they will control the world. guest: i'd think the result of the election of 2010 was a rejection of people taking control of your money and your decisions. there were so many surprises on election night. democrat incumbents were defeated. eight months ago, they were regarded as safe democrats, and then they lost.

two points on this. and i have worked in italy and israel, to countries that have had significant political party participation. more like 10 or 12 parties. it is very problematic, that you don't have a stable government, impossible to create coalitions, and the government constantly fall. in reality, you are not supposed to trust any one source. that is why it is so important that you read the editorial pages of multiple newspapers to collect more information and watching shows like c-span. juan williams comes on after me, and we have a very different points of view. you want to hear both of us. then you can come to the decision of what side you support.

ipad. host: in defining the american dream? guest: yes. when you are asked who do you trust, it used to be about freedom. now it is about economic security. one segment of society chooses home ownership. only one. that is the hispanic community. there was a great advertisement from a company i have worked with that promoted that idea of home ownership. this young woman comes into the living room, she is in tears. she is leaving home, so her mother is crying, she is crying. she goes down the stairs into the streets, across the street, up the stairs. casa.ys mi

i am jewish. living across the street from my mother is the american nightmare. host: our next call is from michigan, on our independent blind. caller: good morning. you have been a long time supporter of the republican agenda, you and fox. in 1992, [unintelligible] it seems to me that it is almost over. jobs went to mexico, and then from mexico to china, and then the sucking sound to buy chinese goods. the american dream has always been jobs and the future. you told us about all these benefits that we were going to recruit from these trade agreements. where are they? guest: we have a 9.8% unemployment rate at a time when washington has never spend like

it has and yet it is not affecting jobs at all. washington cannot solve all the problems. i know you want people to come on the air and say that happy days are here again. when i look at debt, that giant sucking sound of finances, it is tragic that we have record unemployment at a time when we also have a record deficit and a record debt. we are a global economy and that will not change. we will continue to buy from china and india if they can sell to us for less. items are going to be cheaper across the globe. how do you make america more competitive? one of the projects i have enjoyed the most is education. i think the focal point, to me,

in 2011, a plan to do a lot of work on education issues. if we can hold educators accountable, if we can demand discipline among students, if we can reward those who do better and still help those at the bottom come up, we can make such a difference. if our school system continues to fail our kids, i cannot find students to work for me because they cannot write well enough. it may not even be their fault, but something went wrong. i think the whole focus, almost every question i will be asked in the next half hour, goes back to education. if we improve the quality of schools, which can make a difference -- we can make a difference. it was a start in the right

direction. you have a democratic mayor in newark. the two of them are working hadn in hand to make a difference and new york city schools. both of them are investing time and effort and they are changing the way schools work. and that is how we should be working together. in the end, more than being a republican and democrat, we are mothers and fathers, and we care more about our kids. we need to give them an education that we can be proud of it. i feel it did not go far enough because in the end you have to challenge the system itself. if teachers say they will not teach the extra hour or they cannot get disciplined in the classroom or kids are not being taught basic subjects, then

something is wrong in the education system. and there is a reason why some schools do better than others, because you have a principal who is so dedicated and involved. you have students who are excited and energized to be there. that kind of environment, whether you are in the inner city or in a rural area, we can make these schools work. host: on our republican line, go ahead. caller: hello, frank luntz. a few years ago, i got hit by a drunk driver coming home from work. i had to stay home. i got very political. and i believe if people would listen to the words of politicians, they would get the

truth out. america -- i believe america is the greatest land and the greatest united states. i would not want to live anywhere else. we take our freedom for granted. people have to come back and see what is good of america. the greed and the fighting amongst republicans and democrats for power, that is not helping anything. and i love what you have been saying. i believe in it. i watch you on other channels. hey, you are right on. guest: i appreciate that. i like doing these focus groups. i like this interaction, even if people are angry at me. i do pay attention to the words.

branson is so american. i used to be a collector of this snow globes. i could go there and get so many. looking at the people there, it makes me appreciate this country. if i could give you an amount of money for you to never stepped foot in the 50 states, and the amount of money you could keep forever, you could live in toronto or vancouver, but you could never come back to america, was that i'm not be $1 million, $10 million, $100 million? no amount. host: you are asking me if you paid me a not the money to never step back in the country again. guest: correct. a 40% of americans say no amount. i don't care how much you could

give me. i went to school in britain for three years, and i could not wait to come home. there is a different openness here. i appreciate what the caller had to say about this country. host: talk a little bit about the last couple of weeks. the president had to get republicans and democrats on board for the tax bill. what do you see as a personal opinion for him going into 2011? guest: he had some of the best weeks of his presidency. no matter what party you are, if you are willing to compromise with the other side, you can move things forward. i know republicans and conservatives are mad as heck because they felt if you installed you could've gotten better legislation from their

perspective. yet this is what the american people expect from our elected officials. don't go for 100% or 90%. move the country forward, even if it is small steps. the way that obama held himself and the way the republicans worked with him was a success. democrats or agitated that the president compromise on taxes, but they supported "don't ask, don't tell," the continuation of the start treaty, and they approved most of the legislation that passed. they were very mad at the tax bill. you can't please all the people all the time. host: buttner, pa., the democrats' line. caller: merry christmas. my question is if you are so

concerned about the american public and the direction we are headed, why do you spend all of your time working for republicans? you do not seem to do any bipartisan work. guest: once again, i have presented to the democratic governors' association on many occasions. because of a lot of my work being public, it is all open and is all available to anybody. do they seek it out and extend invitations? the truth is, i am involved. a lot of my work now is a corporate so there is no public component of its. i have my own philosophy and convictions. one of the most important objectives in 2011 is the objective of the civility and the objective of engagement such as this.

we are both more informed as a result of the process. i have reached out and have talked to a lot of people across the country. i have probably done now over 1000 of these focus groups, probably over 1 million people i have talked to. i am tired. host: the next call, on our republican line. caller: merry christmas to everyone that is out there. i think the reason that the country is now sounding a more pessimistic tone it is because of a couple of things, really, the first of which is this the galloping socialism which obama

and the current party is trying to lead the country into, which i think will be the end of us if allowed to happen. secondly, is an effective surrender of our national sovereignty as made manifest largely by this tremendous load of illegal immigration. i think we have arrived at a very sad point in the country where the moochers are now the majority. you can bet they will vote to keep it that way. have a good day, merry christmas. guest: i want to see if i can find a way to bridge the gap between parties. i will give you a summary. what the american people want are tall fences and wide gates. what most americans also want is to ensure that illegal immigration -- legal immigration

is done in an effective fashion. i know many companies who are dying to hire the best talent from all across the country, from across the globe, yet they can do it because the immigration rules are so tight and outdated. there is genuine and legitimate concern about the illegal population and what it is doing on social services, the demand on hospitals and schools. what we need to do is find a way to address the illegals. it is a matter of national security. quite you are going to find 80% of americans who agree with that boy. you send in the national guard, the troops, and you just say no. if we can't control our borders, we cannot control our future because we are a global economy,

the brain drain. this was 20 years ago. i was trading with a student. he wanted my walkman, my genes, all the stuff that i had which was american. i just wanted to talk about politics. i thought -- i want america to be the home of the best and brightest of the globe. of what the europeans, the agent, the africans, and south americans to come to this country. unlike the culture. unlike the brain power. i want us to have the best doctors and scientists, and that is not going to happen unless we change our legal immigration policy. we have to do both. let's open up the gates to come here the right way to contribute to all that is great about

america, but let's build that wall or whatever it takes to ensure that illegal immigration stops. host: "don't ask, don't tell" was influenced heavily by polls. guest: it was split 50/50. what is interesting is that the american pit be -- the american people believe in the defense of marriage and are opposed to any kind of discrimination whatsoever. that makes this so tough. right now, it is about 45% in favor -- in terms of the phrase gay marriage, is almost two to one opposed. this is agreed example of a words making a difference.

if you talk about discrimination, several union, the public wants to make sure everyone is protected from discrimination. host: you: the phrase -- guest: i had a conversation with a reporter -- host: the lie of the year. guest: i coined that phrase back in 2010. it took them a year to get to it. they claimed they reached out to me. i never got a phone call. these guys is put it out. and i will give you the information. number one, there is now a mandate that everyone has to have health insurance.

that did not exist before. based on the bulls are regulations, corporations are limited in what they can do and what they can do in changing policy, and they can face serious financial consequences. there is a definition of what that care would be when the government steps in and when it doesn't. because of those aspects, a government that was not involved in health care is now involved in health care of every single american. that defines a government takeover. the last point is the american people clearly voted in november. i am sure the person that wrote that e-mail, and david from tampon, feels that it isn't, but the rest of america apparently feels like it does because florida elected a center that supports appeal by 20 points.

florida kicked out three incumbent democrats. " of the republicans have more seats in the legislature than any time since 1928. if that is not a repudiation of the takeover of health care, i don't know what is. host: we have a few more calls. caller: opinions and calls are based on public opinion. the public should be well informed to get a complete section of the facts. the regular public that is polled do not do that. they gather information from the immediate media. if it is not correct, there is no retraction. if a newspaper makes a mistake, they have to print a retraction.

just recently, the sunday times in london had to print a retraction on the front page of the repudiation of global warming. there is no repudiation from the media. when it is also by the public, they take it as a fact. guest: that is a fair point and an important one, one of the reasons why the public has so little faith in politics right now. we don't trust the media. c-span is an independent arbiter. we don't trust the courts because we regard lawyers as having polluted the system. we don't trust hollywood because we think it creates entertainment that is not good for our kids or the culture. i think we have even lost faith in the catholic church. all of these institutions, there

is one institution that is still trusted. we still believe our american military, even if they make mistakes, that this still operate in a humane fashion, that they are still appreciated for all that they do for us, but almost every other institution has lost significant credibility. who do we turn to? i think the answer is we have to turn ourselves -- i think we have to turn to ourselves. american citizenship is a right or irresponsibility? fortunately, 55% think it is a responsibility. there are things you are required to do to be in form, to vote, and to participate. that gives me hope for the future. host: bruce is on our democrat''

line. caller: i watch you on fox, msnbc, and you do a great job. can i just make a suggestion? you have access to a lot of powerful people in washington. during world war two, we went from nothing with the manhattan project to ending the war by developing the atomic bomb. i would like to see you do something with your access to people in washington. i think the president should propose a project where in the next three years we are going to build a high-speed monorail system all around the country to supplement the airlines. we developed 21 nuclear power

plants around america, all identical, and build a national monorail system, put millions of people to work. we have interstate 95. we have huge access to land where it is not being utilized. we could put construction, trained builders, computer people. we could establish a model for the entire war world in three years, and the republicans in congress and in the senate and president obama, everybody would end up looking like a hero. we could create tens of millions of jobs and have the respect of the world and create something marvelous and magnificent for this country. guest: i do take it seriously. it was explained to me before the 2008 campaign, that the people that i know and what i can do have an impact. i was trying to figure out what

i wanted to do. i appreciate the caller's point. i do believe our transportation system needs to be fixed in this country. our highway system needs to be upgraded. i got fired from a speech in las vegas from what i am about to tell you. they hired these crews and as you are driving past, they will take up miles of space with cones and traffic. there are too many construction workers standing around and not doing anything. we have to hold these people much more accountable for how they build. we are paying too much because of the rules of this administration that said that if you have a government contract you have to be unionized. why? if they are charging more money and you are not getting better service, why require unions?

why not go to the most efficient builder? i want us to do something bond incurable diseases. what mike milken is doing on cancer is incredible, and he is doing its separate from the government. i have been involved with alzheimer's. i want us to focus on those diseases because if we can make this country more healthy, that in itself will save billions of dollars and improve quality of life and make it worth living for millions and millions of people. host: one more call from north carolina caller: thank you for taking my call. i have two points, one point and one question.

here we sit in our country with the un implement rate, and yet we are spending $2 billion a week over in afghanistan doing what i have no idea. the other question i have -- you'd say you speak with corporate people. what are their thoughts on rebuilding our very, very badly eroded industrial base in this country? guest: i think that is a great way to go out. in 2011, the number of the job postings on line had increased considerably over the last few weeks. in addition to higher consumption and more purchases, we are seeing more job opportunities. we are just starting, i think, to see the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the recession we have been in. what i appreciate the most about

corporate america is a new sense of commitment to the community, a sense that profit is not the be-all, end-all. i love the idea that over the past two years, with town hall meetings, there have been get together recessions. -- get-together sessions. i have interviewed some of the top ceos in america. they are engaged. you can e-mail them, calls them, challenge them. this did not exist 10 years ago. the more accountable we are and the more there is a give-and- take, the healthier the society is and the healthier the business relationship. i think that will rebuild what was destroyed over the past

couple of years. i am a pessimist. i work 16 hours a day in the hope that i can change that. i think we have learned a lot over the past few years, and i think we are ready to change the direction. i just hope that on shows and organizations like c-span, which will find some sort of common ground so we can change it together, to agree to disagree, but at least we can agree to communicate. host: thank you. coming up, juan williams, a political analyst for fox news. he will be on right after this.

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with our digital bus and local content of vehicles. created by cable, provided as a public service. >> "washington journal" continues. host: mr. williams, the washington post has a headline? -- the washington post has a headline -- guest: when he was running for the president -- he is not going to take over. his role will be running the communications division of the white house. but he will be doing so with much more of an eye toward the narrative, for bursting the president out of the so-called so he isuse bublble

involved with our reach. supposedly having rahm emanuel as chief of staff because he and the david axelrod were all about working with the congress to do the behind-the-scenes politics necessary to get some of these efforts to achieve, notably health care. what i think you will see now is an effort really to prevent republicans from taking apart things like obama healthcare, wall street reform, just to prevent them from repealing legislatively. i think the president will focus on defending some of those accomplishments. host: if you had to boil it down, how would you describe accomplishments in the congress as far as what the president wanted over the last two weeks?

especially with "don't ask, don't tell." guest: let's divided into two pieces. either over the last two years or over the last two weeks, there has been an historic level of legislative accomplishment. i think you have to go back six years to see anything comparable. secondly, even in terms of the lame-duck session, the fact that they got so much done there was unprecedented. it is really an incredible record. if you ask me what does it boiled down to, they got a lot done but it was not necessarily that made the president or democrats more popular with voters. it looks like president obama is now weaker than he was when he came into office. he was seen as a transitional figure. i think a lot of that air has

gone out of that balloon. clearly, he does not have a level of rock star excitement that attended him previously. he is a really bright guy put some people just do not like him. host: he characterized what he accomplished over the last weeks. i want to play a little bit of that and get your comments on it. >> we took a shellacking after the midterm elections, and i take responsibility for that. but i think what has happened over the last several weeks is a victory for the american people. the lesson i hope that everybody takes from this is that it is possible for democrats to republicans to have the principal disagreement, to have some lengthy arguments, but to

ultimately find common ground to move the country forward. that is what we did with taxes. those arguments have not gone away. i still believe in it does not make sense for us to provide tax cuts for people like myself who do not need them when our deficit is rolling. that is a debate that will continue into 2011. i think that we are still going to have disagreements in terms of spending priorities. it is vital for us to make investments in education and in research and development, all of those things that create an innovative and economy, while at the same time cutting programs that are not working. there will be debates among parties on those issues, but what we have shown is that we don't have to agree on 100%. to get things done that enhance

the lives of families all across america. if we can assist in that spirit, regardless of how the politics play out in 2012, the american people will be better for it. that is my ultimate goal. host: mr. williams? guest: i think if you look back over the lame-duck session, in particular, there is a real effort to try to get republicans working with democrats to find a common ground. if you consider what happened -- i think the best example would be the passage of the bush tax cut extensions. you see the republicans and democrats finding some common ground. you could extend that into talking about "don't ask, don't tell," talking about some of the other efforts that proved successful.

i think it was 19 judicial nominations that went through the system. you have a lot going on where people were able to find common ground. the start treaty is another example of that where you had 16 or so republicans joined in to get it passed. i think what started to dawn on many republicans is that it is beneficial for many of them politically to get something done with the government, not just sitting there and hosting a rhetorical flourishes and and greek debates. i think the american people want that. president obama said just before going to hawaii that republicans are beginning to understand that with greater power they have a greater accountability. they seek that they have picked up six seats in the senate.

they will have to change their approach for dealing with president obama in the white house. host: so in essence, what is at the base of those changes? guest: there has been this highly polarized period. i think you are much more locked into the idea where we have strong points of opposition with president obama. there are those of us who want to use health care as an issue to defeat him going in to put the 12. you can say here is what we stand for, here is what republicans stand for. here is what i stand for. now, the dynamics are fascinating to me. president obama and the white house are all about focusing on middle-class values, protecting

the american middle class, especially those who have been subjected to a dramatic job loss from the recession. now you are hearing the idea that we have to maintain innovation but also to give people a sense that they can still climb that ladder of upward mobility punishing people who are about innovation and invention that we have to take care to make sure that we remain in innovative economy because what else do we have? host: juan williams will be our guest for the rest of the program today. calls are lined up. illinois, kim is on our democrats' line. caller: i would like to get the

speaker's opinion on labor just recently. this country was built on the backs of labor. our industry, our manufacturers have strived on the progress we have made on this infrastructure, based on labor. for some reason, they think that turning around and giving more money to corporate giants, which are not reinvesting in the infrastructure in this country, and they continue want to attack labor and the cost of labor, we cannot compete globally with the economies that did not use labor for years to build infrastructure. now we have to equally compete with these people. they want to attack us when we continue to seek the higher executive levels reach higher and higher levels of income while the lower levels continue to decline.

what is your opinion? guest: to me, this is an untold story of america. so many people are now being left out, and in some cases, being left behind. when you are talking to me about labor unions and the criticism we are seeing -- this has been really harsh in terms of the relationship between organized labor and teachers and schools in this country. that, right now, is an ongoing story of crisis in terms of the quality of public education and reform. when you are seeing is people involved in blue-collar industries watching their jobs being outsourced or even disappear. they don't know what to do or what to say. clearly, they believe in labor unions. labor unions going back to the

1930's and 1940's. they provided the means for the growth for so much of the infrastructure in this country. " we see now is a declining level of of unionship in the country. this year, the arguments over a supreme court case on campaign financing -- people are saying that the big corporations are going to be paying for campaigns and buying politicians, and it turned out that unions spent more money on the midterm elections. there is this criticism of what is going on with unions and what they represent in the 21st century. host: allentown, pa.. caller: thank you for taking my call. and every christmas.

-- mary christmas. why does the liberal media keep pushing the obama government and the congress to get out of afghanistan? is that this war is no good -- that this war is no good. the war is not between afghans and america. the war is between pakistan the taliban and america because there are five. thousand pakistanis that were the taliban fighting america. the truth is not told to the public. the minute that americans get out of afghanistan, the pakistan taliban will take afghanistan in 24 hours. calleguest: this is an interestg

conversation. to try to stop the idea that the pakistan taliban will be supporting what is going on between al-qaeda and not only pakistan but in afghanistan. there is a lot of pressure. you say this is not a legitimate war involving americans, but i think if you were to talk to general petraeus and others, they feel the united states is on the line as well as some of our allies. " the united states will start to reassess what is going on there and the diplomatic investments to try to keep peace in afghanistan and to make it a place where the al-qaeda cannot

take root in the future and where the taliban will not be a host to some of the terrorist activities that led to 9/11. you said people have to understand who exactly is at work. you must understand that from the u.s. perspective, they have a special obligation to try to make sure that people involved with al-qaeda now do not spread from afghanistan and don't spread into somalia and create al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula that has become a source of more terrorist activity according to american intelligence agencies. their idea is to not only control afghanistan and pakistan but to control a worldwide. the question is how soon do we get out of afghanistan. how soon do we feel it is possible that we are able to control the growth of terrorist

activity in pakistan and in afghanistan. host: detroit, michigan, good morning. caller: the people do not care what type of government day have. my stomach has been empty for four years. these democrats in power in the house and senate and in is the executive branch for two years. they have accomplished nothing for the american people. they wasted time on a medical bill, legislation that is not worth the paper is written on. they have given rights to gays and continue tax breaks for the rich. by an independent. i am not a republican or democrat. i already knew where the republicans stood when bush was in power.

i waited for two hours tuesday in line to vote for obama. i voted for change. i have seen no change. since the leadership of this government, regardless of whether republican or democrat, cannot respond to the average guy, i propose that we have an insurrection against the government and take what we need. thank you guest: i am not sure what you would need to take. i don't think you could have any success there, so i think it would be a bad outcome for you personally and anyone who joined you. the idea that people are in political upset and desire some sort of change, i do not disagree with that. every time the american people have high hopes that something different is going to come out

of washington, i think people talk about what the midterm elections in 2010 represent. why did we see six more republicans come into the senate? i think the economy was the big and there. people thought there was not significant change. and i don't know if it was about health care or support for ending a "don't ask, don't tell." i do not know if it was about the stimulus package. i think it is 9.8 percent and unemployment at the moment. why are these guys not doing something about jobs? i think it was answered copper in the president's news conference this week before he left for hawaii.

we were going to focus on jobs and growth. i think a lot of people were saying what did you do before? i think there is no question now that he understands his reelection prospects are directly tied to getting that on an, rate down. it looks like with the passage of the bush tax cuts extension that the economy, if you look at what wells fargo and others are saying, it will do much better next year, and that could set the table for president obama for a successful second term. host: what do you think redistricting means for the 2012 elections? guest: what is going to happen is a lot of the newly republican legislatures and governments are going to be setting the district's 4 what is to come.

the census shows growth in states that have been traditionally republican the states, so they are going to get more seats in congress. what is interesting is that you also have a growth in terms of minority populations in the united states. what they do is separate the blacks and hispanics into districts. in exchange, they build more conservative voters into republican districts that securities republican districts. it is a really, i think, sinful exchange in which we hard and lines of misunderstanding and allow it to become politics in america in which certain minority groups are written off instead of a politician having to react to everyone in their

district. the districts are created so he only has to appeal to people of like mind. it reminds me of the old segregationist saying. when you have white politicians fighting to be the one who can out-segregate the other. we do not talk about this structural problem with politics. this is part of it. i think it is problematic. you asked me what the impact would be of all of this gerrymandering going forward. the answer is you are going to have more votes to be in republican hands. it is going to be harder for president obama and any other democrat to get elected. the second thing to say is that the country looks to be more and

more divided. we talked about going back to the 2000 election, red states and blue states. i think those lines are becoming harder. host: juan williams our guest. martin, go ahead. caller: good morning and merry christmas. mr. williams, i cannot agree more. anarchy is never a good idea. [laughter] it messes up the whole thing. you come back to the point about why president obama -- the popularity he had in 2008. it is simple. it is an absolute, this girl i attack from right-wing talk radio like rauschenberg -- like rush bloo. you seem to be the only voice of

reason on the mighty fox. it is relentless. it is almost like a political advertisement for the past two years with rush limbaugh finding every possible thing to be disagreeing with presidential or democratic policy on anything. it is just so obvious. i have been in the media for 30 years myself, and i know how bad radio is doing. clear channel and viacom and a few of the other large companies grab all the radio stations. now they are trying to dump them because their stock is so low. our industry has taken a really large hit with downsizing. it is all basically all around the same conservative political philosophy that got a hold of our air waves.

large, corporate america knows where the money is, and the money is in talk radio. it is so obviously negative. host: we have to leave it there. guest: this is an interesting point. the idea of being highly critical of president obama has proven successful. if you look at what republicans in the house and senate did in the first two years, which is basically to say no, we don't want president obama's policies. we think of him as this far left, liberal, and even some said socialist. this has fueled the t party to some extent and it has acted as a base for the changes we saw take place in the midterm elections. people were not happy. president obama did not do a

good job with telling their story and explaining why the steps they were taking were being taken in the best interest of the american people and would make us a better country. instead, they assumed that they were going to get the hard work done in terms of advancing a legislative agenda. people on the far right really took over much of the conversation even after the passage of the health care reform bill. i think that is why it is viewed as losing support. certainly, conservative talk radio in the country has been very hard on president obama. my view is that president obama has not done a good enough job in stepping up and telling his own story.

i think david axelrod's job will be taken over in the white house. the washington post has a story about an offensive to be launched by the obama white house, more of an effort to get him talking with people. i think you saw a little bit of it with the business community to try to do away with the sense that this president, this cabinet is not listening to business, not hiring or investing in research and new facilities. i think some of this change is coming, but you are right in that the media is a part of this story. telling stories to people that oftentimes people

host: what about those coming into the house because of the tea party and those with this other person? guest: i think the reaction to michelle obama efforts to get a leadership role, i think there is a sense that -- half the incoming freshmen are related to the parties on the republican side. they have a lot of energy and urgency. there is tremendous passion. before the republican leadership and even some of the young people who thought of themselves as radicals not long ago, you will have to deal with a push coming from the tea party generation coming to the house in 2011. right now, they are not sure how

to handle this. harry reid said wind mitch mcconnell took those nine senators away from the omnibus funding bill, he said the large part was that the republicans in the senate have become a subsidiary of the tea party. you guys are about complaining in one budget cuts, but you do not go about the business tough decisions about what stays in the budget and what goes out. you have to make decisions if you really want to govern in this league. same thing in the house. are we just about making noise? what can we hold them accountable for. that is what obama is picking up on as well. let us hold them accountable in

terms of leadership and our men. not just put them down from the president's perspective. host: independent. caller: good morning. having holidays. i was like to ask you about some of misinformation that the dogs have continuously waged. it is regarding a golden parachutes. my question is if you are so far right in this movement, you are accustomed to some of the guys that you work with. [inaudible]

a reportedly $3 million in a golden parachutes, but with regards to a working-class people, a union, working-class -- i respect you. i believe one person is racist. and the attacks on president obama has been racial. you defended them. i was not surprised that they welcome you into their club. my question is, how much more of this left and right will america continued to take back the strongest demonstration for may this year or past election was though they were able to take the house, america did not give them the senate.

guest: i am not sure where to start on this. i think the feeling is that somehow, republicans attacked the president. and to say i am in this conservative fact -- i am proud of my association. it does a good job of pointing at problems that come out of the white house. the idea that i am fair and able to have conversations certain people on a human level, where we make real points to each other, i think then you are aware of what is going on as you watch. i will let you be the judge of

what happened, but i disagree about what happened. in terms of what people say, it does not affect my ability to have meaningful conversations. i am happy to talk with the. some of the images in questions about whether obama is an american or a christian, that stuff worries me. that is not the heart and soul. worrying about the economy and health care, those are the big issues that can move the country.

host: you have a book coming out? guest: yes, i am writing a book about free speech as a result of what happened to me and the comments i made on npr. host: has that changed regarding this issue? guest: it was so hurtful to me. i worked there for 10 years. i am a journalist. someone asked me to respond to this controversy and i began by saying, i understand there are radical muslims that advertise

the fact that they will attack america. we're not dealing with reality. i get anxious when i see some muslims getting on an airplane. i am not saying we should discriminate against anybody. i was acknowledging that i had a feeling. then i was portrayed as a bigot or a bad guy. i think that is a chilling attack on the idea of free speech and expression and allow people to learn from each other. then to go on and say there are certain things we have to protection this country including religious columns. i think people were selective and it was punishing not only to me but to anyone who wants their voice to be heard freely in this

country. the united nations asked me to get involved to go and speak about the attacks taking place on mexican journalists. the result is if you attack the journalists, sometimes the store does not get hold. it is the government taking on the drug business in some stories like that do not get covered. i had an experience where they spoke about the importance of journalism. but there could be a dead body

outside of a house and no mention of it in the newspapers or the news the next day. why would that story not be told? there is such a fear among the journalists that the drug cartel controls which stories get into the papers. kids are saying, we cannot hang out on the street anymore because of the violence. what happens this they have a house party and 14 teenagers get killed in a house party because they think one of the kids was involved with the drugs. then it turns out a bunch of drug dealers were killing each other, but these kids were having their lives changed by this dramatic level of violence.

so we were talking about the children and the impact the violence has had on the children. host: nashville, tennessee. go ahead. caller: bear with me. i can understand people are hungry of fear regarding jobs. why do we have conquered in america? -- why do we have hunger in america? guest: a previous caller spoke about his stomach is hungry and there are so many people trying

to address the hunger issue. it is something that gets hidden in america. there is increasing class divide. we have to be careful. it is something that we cannot tolerate as an american people. we have always been a giving and caring people. i love it remains essential was our endeavors in america. host: thank you for your time today. program, three guests lined up for the day after christmas. we will look at politics as we always do. the decision by the sec this

week. the campaign for america's future. roger hickey. then lenice stanton -- lynn stanton, and then brian stann. and i just want to thank everyone behind the cameras to help put this on. to all of you, thank you for the hard work that you do. thanks for tuning in. we will be back with another program tomorrow. we also have those sang happy holidays from afghanistan.

husbandike to wish my in colorado springs, colorado and very happy holiday. i hope to see very soon. >> i am from afghanistan into want to wish my wife merry christmas and happy new year. >> hi i am giving holiday greetings to texas and to my son and my mother. >> hello, i am in afghanistan. i would like to wish my dad in arizona a very merry christmas and a happy new year. >> i am from iraq, and i want to wish my family in every wish my family in every christmas in washington,